Reviews

My Only Sunshine – one of the most solid GL series right now

My Only Sunshine establishes itself as one of the most compelling GL productions in the current landscape—a series that, even for viewers with limited experience in the genre, clearly stands out through its coherence, pacing, and character construction.

The story avoids the trap of monotony, even if at times it seems to drift into an ambiguous narrative thread. In reality, this ambiguity is carefully calibrated: the knots are gradually untangled, and the transitions remain smooth, without abrupt breaks. Flashbacks are not mere devices, but add emotional depth and provide essential context for understanding the characters’ motivations.

A major point of discussion among fans was the controversial moment in episode 3 involving the character portrayed by Atom (Aphichaya Kamnoetsirikun) as Flint. The audience reaction was immediate, yet the subsequent development proves that Flint is, paradoxically, one of the most fitting choices for Sun.

Atom delivers a challenging performance: a successful businesswoman who appears cold, strict, and inaccessible, yet remains almost impossible to read (there are perhaps only two or three scenes where you can truly guess what she thinks or intends to do next).

Unlike the classic “tough but vulnerable” archetype, Flint offers no clear emotional cues—she does not reveal her intentions through glances or gestures, opening up only slightly in key moments. She is a character that resists transparency, and this opacity becomes, paradoxically, one of the performance’s greatest strengths. When cracks finally begin to appear, the impact is all the more powerful.

In contrast, Mersedese (Siripath Sarakune) impresses in a dual role: Sun, the successful actress, and her twin sister, Ianuarie. The distinction between the two is clear and convincing—from fragility and empathy to toughness and moral ambiguity. The emotional shifts are well sustained, and transitions between affective registers feel natural. The relationship between the sisters becomes a driving force of confusion and dramatic tension, without slipping into excessive melodrama.

The secondary couple adds a significant layer of dynamism. The characters portrayed by Pataravadee Thitivoodtikul (Fey) and Deviyabha Uddhachandra (Peach) function both as emotional support and as a narrative counterbalance. Fey is the anchor—childhood friend, confidante to Sun, and at times the voice of reason for her older sister Flint—while Peach introduces moments of levity and humor without undermining the dramatic stakes.

Another notable strength of the series lies in how it uses secondary and episodic characters. These are not merely decorative presences: they either contribute to thematic development (including subtle social critique) or complicate the plot in an intelligent way, without disorienting the viewer. It’s a rare balance between narrative function and memorability.

From a technical and artistic standpoint, the series shows no major flaws. The script is well structured, the performances are strong, and the pacing maintains engagement throughout. Moreover, it offers an interesting glimpse into the life of a celebrity in Thailand, including the often tense relationship with fandoms and the phenomenon of fan service—a detail that adds both authenticity and contemporary relevance.

Synopsis
Sun, a famous actress, has been in love with Flint since childhood but never found the courage to confess. Years later, the two meet again. Although their relationship is, on the surface, professional, it quickly becomes deeply personal—yet not without complications. Will they manage to stay together?

Main Cast
Siripath Sarakune – Sun / Ianuarie
Aphichaya Kamnoetsirikun – Flint
Pataravadee Thitivoodtikul – Fey
Deviyabha Uddhachandra – Peach

Where to Watch
The series has 8 episodes, each approximately 54 minutes long, and is available on Bilibili.

Verdict
My Only Sunshine is a strong example of storytelling in the GL genre: well-written, well-acted, and carefully constructed. A series that not only entertains but also delivers substance—without excess and without obvious compromises.

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what a healing drama <3

Oh my goodness, where do I even begin with this drama??
First of all, this drama made me a fan of ZLH and Xu Ruohan. Their chemistry was so so good, and I just loved how natural their scenes were.

If I could describe this drama in one word, it would be comforting. It feels like a warm hug or a fuzzy blanket or jacket being draped around your shoulders when you are cold. This drama really spoke to me in terms of how hesitant Shen Xifan was when it came to love. Her ex-boyfriend is horrible, and the fact that he ghosted her?? (oh absolutely not!!!) My heart hurt for her throughout this drama, especially when her ex was saying nasty things to her.

Xifan being hesitant of love and also entering a new relationship felt very relatable to me. While her rejecting He Suye at first did sting, I do think that it made sense for her to do so because of how draining her previous relationship was. I mean, the poor girl literally developed insomnia from the strain that the relationship was taking on her, as well as the physical demand of her job as a hotel manager. She needed to take time for herself to decide what she really wanted, and I honestly loved that. She didn't want to rush into a new relationship when the first one left such a deep scar on her. She also didn't fully love herself, and perhaps didn't think that she wasn't deserving of such affection and kindness from He Suye.

And honestly, don't even get me started on her friends and her parents. They were fantastic, and also excellent support systems for Xifan. They were there for Xifan no matter what, and gave her comfort when she needed it. Her friends also didn't reveal their relationship to Xifan right away, which I honestly appreciated? I don't know why, but I kinda like that they kept it lowkey.

And I mean, we HAVE to talk about He Suye. I mean, he is the literal definition of a green flag man. He can cook, is a doctor, and is also a total gentleman but also shameless?? YES PLS!! Also, I absolutely LOVE how he protected Xifan from her ex-boyfriend without having to resort to violence. The way that he just naturally showed up at her doorstep under the pretense of giving her food that he had prepared?? And then stepping in front of Xifan to shield her from her ex?? UGHHH and its the way that he didn't have to say much? Also, can we talk about how patient he was with Xifan?? Even though she rejected him, Suye never gave up on her, and still showed that he cared for her, even though he was hurt.

ALSO can we PLEASE talk about these quotes?

"In my eyes, you get better and more deserving of love than the last. So, from now on, just focus on loving yourself. As for the rest, leave it to me."

"Give me your life's time, and I'll give you my life's love. Everyday, I want to wake up with you in the sunlight, fall asleep to the sound of rain, run with you in the sunset, and chat with you under the moonlight. Just like this honeysuckle flower, after this winter passes, we will be like two flowers on one stem, with all my heart."

"But, in my heart, you are the most beautiful scenery in this world. Falling in love with you is the luckiest thing I've ever done. Loving you is the best thing I've ever done."

"We met at a not so good time. At that time, I never even thought that every day with you would be so interesting. You made my gray life suddenly be full of color."

Yeah, these quotes brought tears to my eyes. They are just so beautiful and it just shows how much He Suye loves her:((( This drama was so comforting and healing, and I loved that He Suye and Xifan became each other's safe spaces <3

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A timeless piece that will make you love film and music

As someone who watched just about anything and everything, this drama is truly one of my favourites. I came across it on Netflix when they started adding more J-dramas and decided to give it a try, and boy am I glad I did. I rarely give shows such high praise, but this one absolutely deserves it.
Starting off, even though it’s nearly 30 years old, it feels completely timeless. From the start, the way the main characters were portrayed drew me in. You could see they weren’t perfect,they had flaws, made mistakes, and carried their own limitations.
Listening to the male lead play the piano will make you cry one way or another. The feeling I had whenever Sena played for Minami was so overwhelming and profound,I genuinely loved these scenes, You could feel and see everything he was unable to express, all the thoughts and words left unspoken. Even though I don’t relate to it personally, it still hit deep, and it’s one of those things many people can relate to even now.
The show bought this sense of nostalgia and genuineness that is really hard to find in modern dramas, and I love it for that.Also all the dynamics within this show were done so well, and genuinely engaging - from minima and her best friend to Sena and the professor.They made the story meaningful .
Some people might say it’s too fast-paced or that the characters needed more development, but for me, I thought the pacing worked perfectly. It lingered and stretched at times throughout the episodes, but never for too long. You still get to see the journey and character development the main characters go through, especially how they come to terms with their own feelings.
The music in this show was a work of its own. There were no unnecessary plots or overstepping by characters, and even when things got a bit messy at times, it never once felt like a problem.

Compared to other dramas, though I haven’t watched any as old as this: Long Vacation truly one of the best serves as a timeless piece that will make you love film, and music

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Another grossly overrated one

Unfortunately it's all rather dull. Yet another one of those "reincarnation" tropey dramas, even though they've dressed it around FL witnessing a bad alternative future by reading a book.

It's mostly about FL's domestic family squabbles, with her cartoonishly evil step-mother and her brother trying to make FL's life shit again either by killing her, trying to marry her off like a commodity to whomever is the most profitable for the family, or impeding her business. Even though FL succeeded in accumulating wealth and connections to be more independent in her current life, she's still just a woman bound by rules and family obligations of that era.
But the drama still drills the main feminist idea in every episode to state that if only women had more rights, were taken more seriously and families were less controlling over their heirs, then everything'd be rosy and peachy. It kinda did ring true in some cases here, but some characters were simply evil bishes and there's nothing you can really do about it.

Parallel to that, we have yet another typical baby boy general who, like FL, also has a shitty family and so he went to the army to find his father figure in his uncle. But just like in the bad future, he failed to save his boring ass general uncle from a conspiracy plot. He's trying to get to the bottom of it, but it's all very dull and frustrating on purpose. It's of course yet another high ranking official with unlimited power at the court who's either corrupt or jelly, or both. And since FL's evil uncle is in cohoots with whomever is responsible, ML and his dumb soldiers for the longest time are sus of her, even though she always tries to help him, since she knows his future as well.

Oh, and the leads were called "fated" by the autistic monk/scholar who gave FL the magic book in the bad future, so of course you gotta believe it. He's also in the know in the current life to help her out (or does he?). If your eyes weren't rolling before, they should at this.

The plot later moves to the palace affairs, but same ridiculous drama and family squabbles are happening there as well.

There are also some very questionable things this drama does for drama's sake. For example, early in the drama, ML and his soldiers barging into a random mansion to get shelter for the night while secretly carrying his disgraced uncle's child. For the mansion dwellers to not blab about it, they plotted to kill about a hundred people there, FL included, and thought it justified. That's the hero we have here.
Or ML's dumb uncle getting accused of all the random bad things at court without any evidence, but then being brutally killed before arriving to stand trial before the Emperor. Instead of investigating the matter, the Emperor imprisoned ML for not being polite enough when he came in grief demanding answers.

The drama also has too many side characters that don't contribute much to the plot and could have been combined into fewer, more prominent characters to make them memorable. The bad guys are also so obviously evil, you can just tell who's the bad guy by their acting. Everybody's wearing a disgusting hypocrite mask, everybody's greedy after money, power and status and are using family ties as stepping stones. If it was a kdrama, I'd call this type borderline makjang with how ridiculously cartoonish some of the characters here.

I'd only recommend this to those who don't mind boring plotting for plotting sake and aren't afraid of their blood pressure rising because of how frustrating some of the drama is here, especially when it comes to ridiculous family affairs.

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Cute

I absolutely loved the premise of the male lead arriving in the present day from 500 years ago. His fish-out-of-water moments were incredibly funny! The chemistry between the main leads was a highlight for me, especially when he first arrived from the palace as a "young master." It was also refreshing to have a story without genuinely evil villains to ruin the mood, and I thought their wedding vows were adorable.
​However, I have to be honest: I was very disappointed by the ending. The fact that it felt like their love story never actually happened ruined the experience for me. That ending is the only reason I’m not giving this a full 10 stars.

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The true Legend of the Female General story

Pursuit of Jade feels like the story that Legend of the Female General was aiming to tell, but even then, it doesn’t fully commit to its own setup.

At its core, this becomes Changyu’s journey to becoming a female general. That in itself isn’t the issue. The problem is how completely it sidelines Xie Zheng in the process. He’s introduced as a feared, cold, and ruthlessly powerful general, yet the narrative rarely allows him to embody that reputation where it matters most: on the battlefield.

Instead, most major victories are driven by Changyu. Not as a partnership, but almost entirely by her, with Xie Zheng contributing minimally. This imbalance weakens both the dynamic and the stakes. What should feel like a formidable duo instead feels uneven, with revenge and larger political motivations gradually being overshadowed by Changyu’s individual arc.

That said, the chemistry between them is undeniable. It’s what carries the drama, especially in the first half. Xie Zheng’s duality is particularly compelling. His ability to shift from gentle and deeply caring with Changyu to merciless toward those who threaten her creates some of the most satisfying moments in the series. Scenes like his brutal reaction when Changyu and her friend got attacked.

Which makes it more frustrating that this cruelty doesn’t translate into the larger conflicts. In battle, where his reputation should peak, that edge is noticeably absent.

Ultimately, Pursuit of Jade succeeds in building an engaging central relationship but falters in delivering a balanced narrative. It promises two powerful leads, but only fully realizes one.

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Whose Theory of Love is this?

Where do I begin? This drama had me holding *Third* in a warm embrace each time I felt his heart hurt & saw his tears fall (I cried with him). Unrequited love is sometimes a hard battle to walk away from, especially when it's with someone that you've wrapped your heart around completely.
Third is a character that wears his heart on his sleeve & his devotion is unmeasurable... yet I just wanted to shake him at times and tell him that *Khai* isn't worth his precious tears. His heart deserved to be warmed by a love that someone could not stop embracing him with. 
I was happy to see him breaking away from *Khai*, because the toxicity was tearing *Third* apart emotionally. What *Khai* said to him when they were both yelling at each other was totally unforgivable. Yet, that's not how *Thirds* heart works. A simple I'm sorry from *Khai* was enough... which had me furious that *Khai got off that easily. Then, what *Khai did to Third in the bathroom, while saying some girl's name, made me sick... but not surprising. I couldn't imagine how *Third endured that attack (It was an attack... in my personal opinion). However, once again... Third says nothing... NOTHING to Khai so he can own up to his actions. As the drama continued... It's apparent that this path that *Khai has to endure is a long distance to find his way to *Third. 
Understanding what Love is... can't be found in drama's, movies, books or advice by others that are in love. In my opinion, I felt Khai didn't really love himself... but lost in a world that had to include only him & Third, while finding relief in the women he so-called dated.
The friendship with Third, was more than he knew. How can he be into a man when he loves being with a woman? Yet... why couldn't he commit to just 1 woman, but kept Third so close? When watching this drama .. you start to see the cracks in Khai's connection with Third. It's obvious how Third feels from beginning to end... but Khai is the one you can see his layers starting to drop.
Although this drama got tedious with the relationship with Khai & Third. It was worth the watch. Love is different for each of us... a journey that has a different meaning .. but also carries the Warmth of Trust that only you alone can understand. Khai and Third worked through an emotional journey of understanding the Love that only they can embrace.
My personal rating on this: 7/10 .. I felt it dragged too much, but the storyline was good. Wasn't too sure about the pairing & chemistry was missing. I'm not going to recommend this, but if you do watch it... enjoy.

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Chemistry is Chemistrying all the way

Subjective Gut Rating: 8.25

I love the chemistry between all the actors in “You Are My Fateful Love”. And I am not just talking about the romantic chemistry between the leads, but actually everyone.

**ML + FL - great chemistry from high school to adulthood; slow burn romance but full of fluff towards the last 10 eps
**2ML + 2FL - funny pair and I LOVE the scene when 2ML poured his heart out, thinking it’s going to be a sad ending.
**ML + 2ML - these buddies are hilarious. They are so fun and I would watch their scenes all day long
**FL + 2FL - awesome supportive sismance in life and in the workplace
**Familial relationship - ML + sister, FL + parents, FL + ML’s sister = everyone is so adorable and supportive. The best family you can ask for
**Sis and her BFF/BF - young and cute together

The characters are the best part of the drama. We have two green flag MLs, but they are not boring. ML is smart, but petty. 2ML is sweet yet emotional. The girls are not without flaws, but are so likable. The two romance storylines are different but enjoyable in their own way.

The main romance is slow burn, but their high school stories are slowly revealed. If you are patient enough, you will be rewarded with a lot of sweet and romantic moments. “You Are My Fateful Love” is not one of those dramas with a rushed happy ending. It spends a great deal of time in the last couple episodes to show you this is a true romantic comedy.

Having said all this, why am I not rating this higher? It’s not a perfect drama. The plot could be written a little tighter. We could probably shorten the drama to about 24-26 episodes. The slow burn is really slow burn for a rom-com. Towards the end, you know ML’s father's story and why they moved to San Francisco will be shown. Yet, the way it’s done somehow breaks the rom-com feel and becomes a half-baked law/crime story. Although I applaud the actors for speaking English and not getting dubbed, it was still quite hard to understand. I like many songs in this drama, but some songs are overplayed. You also get the typical cheesy rom-com bright white light during a kiss scene, romantic music playing and slow motion twirling.

I did have a pretty good time watching “You Are My Fateful Love”. This is a good drama to watch if you want a low stress romantic comedy to kill time. Fans of Miles should not miss his handsome face and awesome kisses. In the end, my heart tells me 8.25 is probably the highest I can give because I like the chemistry and the characters so much, and the actors are not dubbed.



Completed: 4/22/2026 Review #685

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A drama. a tragedy and a farce.

The structure of the plot is great, the exposition is credible but the roll-out is often farce. What do I mean by that? Well the structure is deciding things like A betrays B, the exposition is the world building around it and the roll-out is how everything actually happens. And how it happens is the difference between credible and ridiculous.

There were three different directors for this drama. And my perception was that there were three distinct styles to the beginning, middle and end. The beginning was solid, but the middle was eye-rolling. Even a daytime soap would have struggled to match the melo that swept all before it. It was not in general the fault of the actors (Lin Jing excepted), imo, although they all did a nice line in pop-eyed surprise at some point.

The OTT voice acting, the cringe-worthy false laughter, the overly dramatic editing, the piling up of catastrophe on catastrophe, the average script, the relentless impossible fights and tedious predictability, all added together to take their toll. Getting people into a tight spot is relatively easy, getting them out of it dressed in the shreds of credibility requires ingenuity and imagination and tbh there simply wasn’t enough of that to go round.

Occasional moments in the first half but much of the second half provided me with a lot of laughter. Unfortunately, in all the wrong places and for all the wrong reasons. The pinnacle was the prince and the candle. If you’ve seen it, you won’t forget it. It took me out for at least a minute of convulsive mirth.

Apart from lots of loose ends for most of the characters, the last 6 episodes largely redeemed the deficiencies of what had come before. Although the emotional stakes were ramped up, this director turned down the wailing melo with the result that it really made an impact. Ethan Juan did a great job of Wuji and his voice actor, Ma Zheng Yang didn’t let him down. But unfortunately not everyone was as fortunate and the ranting and maniacal laughter continued in some quarters.

Somewhere underneath however there is something to praise in this drama. Even if the CGI and the unbelievably tacky military costumes (the sort that are garishly awful and look like something your mum ran up on the sewing machine for a float at the Lord Mayor’s Parade) left a lot to be desired. It had some interesting characters, a great plot structure, good twists and to start with some sizzling chemistry (well on ML side at least). Admittedly that paled into a sort of fond married couple dynamic later.

It rips along at a cracking pace and drags you along with it and there’s enough in there to satisfy most tastes and desires. So, if you’re the type to not notice the glaring faults and you can take rampant excess in your stride, go for it, you’ll love it. There’s plenty of folks that do.

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