The more I think about it the more I'm convinced that the show that aired is not the show they intended to make. There are too many things that don't add up or that are disjointed to assume it was intentional.

I don't think the actors failed, necessarily. They didn't elevate poor material but I don't fault them for that. I know some of these actors are much better than what is seen in this series. The problem, as I can discern, falls entirely on the writing and editing (and possibly direction).

Trigger Warning: I will be discussing the suicide of one of the characters.

The first almost half of the series really builds up what happened to Blue. Him somehow holds some culpability in his fate, though only Te and Him seem to ascribe any blame to him. Chao and Dream, in fact, don't seem to know what happened to him at all. Early in the series there are comments made by various members of this group of friends that imply a) Blue is alive, b) something bad happened to him, c) not everyone knows what happened to him, d) but everyone DOES know Blue is still somewhere he can be reached.

I suspected early on that Blue attempted suicide at some point and that Him was somehow at fault for that. However I also assumed he failed in that attempt. A big reason for that was the way the characters who knew him spoke about him. The way Te spoke about whatever terrible thing Him did almost implied he was in contact with Blue at some point after the event, or even currently. Te had so much disdain for Him this entire series. Him had such deep guilt and shame this entire series. Until the last few episodes where Him was alleviated of wrong doing by the revelation that he didn't really do anything wrong (though he was kind of a dick to his very codependent boyfriend when his mom wound up in the hospital). And then Te just magically gets over his grudge. What?

My theory is that Blue was originally intended to survive his suicide attempt and come back later in the series. I also think Him was originally supposed to be more of a factor in why Blue made the attempt. However I think the plan changed at some point after the show began airing. Perhaps the original story for Him was too dark and someone felt he couldn't be redeemed properly for a happy ending. Perhaps they felt Blue returning made things too complicated to wrap up in the number of episodes they had. I don't know, I can only hypothesize unless someone involves in the production speaks about it and either confirms my theory or confirms this is what they intended to make.

We go from regularly getting 40ish minute episodes to getting 25-30 minute episodes. We get huge holes like the fight at the end of episode seven leading to an entirely different fight in the opening of episode eight and then everything being magically better later in that episode without explanation. The second half of the series requires you to assume a lot of things happen off screen and make up what exactly happens in those conversations. We also have the atrocity that was episode nine (I think it was nine), where the editing was clearly not completed and the audio is a disaster. Entire lines are missing from the dialogue track and you only know what was said because it was included in the English subtitles. I don't know what Thai speakers did to make sense of that episode. The plot very quickly runs out of plot around episode eight when things are magically reconciled and the entire show shifts to focusing more on Chao and Phai at that point. To me, all of this suggests they had to scramble to cut material that was already included in the final episodes and then had to shoot new material for the last few episodes. The finale was basically a throwaway episode for NC scenes.

Other than how very messy the plot was, my other problem with the series were the characters who made no sense and the terrible "relationship" between Chao and Phai.

Type was a caricature villain. What was his problem with Him? Was it really just an inferiority complex over his family having less money? Why was he so intent to fuck Him over and even hurt someone he didn't know at all to do it? Then we get the out-of-left-field plot of him trying to get back with Phai so he could sell a sex tape of him and him pulling a gun on Chao because he "thwarted" his plans by discovering them and telling Phai. What? This was cartoonish and poorly written, to say the least. Once again, I think there may have been a real reason Type hated his cousin that ultimately got cut from the series but I don't know.

Te. Just...what? I already covered how his hate of Him doesn't really make sense. Sure, he had a crush on his friend who he never confessed to and who ultimately dated his other friend. Blue was clingy and codependent and got overly emotional whenever he didn't have all of Him's attention. Because Blue got so upset Te got angry that Him was in a position to treat Blue poorly (in their eyes) in the first place while he, of course, would have taken better care of Blue. But this does not explain why he would doggedly pursue Nail. Sure, he's Blue's doppleganger and he resents Him because Blue chose Him and later took his own life for reasons that (from what we're shown) don't even really have anything to do with Him. Either there's way more substance to that grudge or he's way more unhinged and obsessed with Blue than we are ever shown.

Then we get a sudden alternate love interest for Te who just materializes out of thin air. This man has had no interest in anyone other than Blue or a Blue replacement for 10 episodes but here comes Piece and he's all for it. What? Piece didn't even appear in the credits until then, which reinforces my idea that he wasn't originally part of the series but someone added in later after airing had begun. We get an apology to Him that I don't think almost any of us would have accepted and then he goes off to flirt with Piece. Don't get me wrong, I enjoy the dynamic between those two. They have good chemistry. But Te is a completely different person with Piece than he is at any other time in this series. It comes off as slapped on at the end to make Te palatable, to cover up rewriting the end of the series or to just fill time because they realized they didn't have enough material for twelve episodes.

Chao and Phai...dear gods, save me from obnoxious, intrusive puppies and people who can't reinforce their words. On the one hand, we have Phai constantly telling this kid he doesn't want to date anyone and they are just fucking, then on the other hand he also constantly allows Chao to run amuck all over that boundary. He tells him to sleep on the couch or leave but never makes him. In the last few episodes we see these secret little smiles implying Phai has finally succumbed to a form of Stockholm Syndrome and now finds Chao endearing.

Chao, however, knows how to do nothing other than doggedly pursue Phai, violate every boundary Phai attempts to place and just shove his way into a relationship. Phai says no so Chao whines and badgers until Phai gives in some small amount. Phai says he doesn't want a relationship so Chao repeatedly declares he wants to be in one with him. Phai doesn't want him showing up at various times or has plans with others so Chao shows up. If anyone is somehow unclear: THIS IS A RED FLAG PEOPLE! This guy is exactly the person you should never ever date and if they keep coming around you should report them to the police for harassment.

Did I eventually feel a little bad for Chao? Sure, I did. Phai very easily could have explained a number of things to Chao but chose not to. He even was willing to explain things (such as how he was definitely not getting back together with Type) to people who WEREN'T Chao. He brushes off Chao's emotions and requests for communication. He decides Chao doesn't need to be told anything even though they are in a sexual relationship with some elements of friendship. (This is also a red flag, people, it's just not one that requires police intervention.) He made things so much harder unnecessarily just because he didn't want to ever explain anything to Chao, as if letting him in at all would violate the boundaries of the relationship he was telling himself they had.

Don't get me started on Chao telling Phai in the finale that if he wanted to have sex they needed to be in a relationship and Phai suddenly just agrees after months of insisting it wasn't what he wanted.

Did we really need Pae and Somsom shoehorned in as a couple at the end? Did that couple even make sense?

This novel is long enough as it is and I think it says most of what needs to be said about this series. I would like to see the actors in other series with much, MUCH better writing. I think a lot of them could do really well with good material. I think there was some failing in direction here, but there was a much bigger failing in writing and editing.

It's a mess.
Do yourself a favor.
Skip it.
There is no rewatch value. It's a dumpster fire of confusion, loose threads and dots that don't connect the way they tell you they should.