Reviews

A breeze of fresh air, a fresh plate of pancakes

If three years ago you would have told me that Domundi was going to produce a heartfelt, university romance where two autistic boys fell in love, while also discussing parental neglect and abuse, the risks of love bombing, and showcasing what is nothing short of a trauma response; all the while drizzling the corniest and most delightful humour on top of it – I would have probably laughed out loud.
Now, I am happy to be proven wrong.
Duang With You is, if I may continue with my syrup metaphor, a stack of pancakes. Complete with blueberry jam, whipped cream and syrup. Mistakenly, at first, I thought I was going to eat it the same way I ate 2gether: happily guzzling the sweetness of what is presented, while the tanginess of the blueberries would be an after taste a couple of episodes would give us after some sloppy pacing.
Once again, I love to be proven wrong, for Duang With You needs to be savoured pancake by pancake, episode by episode. Some pancakes you will enjoy with the funny whipped cream of Duang and his friend’s shenanigans to get Qin to fall for him. Some others you will also sponge in some of that delicious syrup when Qin starts to sweeten up for Duang. And then, you will get to the pancakes that have been soaking in the tanginess of the blueberry jam. And then, full already, you will realise that this show has been preparing you for one of the most graphic and well-acted scenes of child abuse. And the result of that on an untreated, traumatized young boy. You will look for a scoop of whipped cream, for a drizzle of syrup, but this show is going to tell you to wait, to understand that life comes with its horrors and its blessings, and that sometimes having the right person by your side is what you needed all along. Not someone to save you, or solve it for you: but someone who hugs you through it. Someone who just wants validation, an OK, the green light from you to be let in.
And then, it’s whipped cream and syrup again. You can still taste the lingering tanginess, but you know it’ll fade out eventually. It too shall pass.
I don’t think I can describe this any better, I don’t think I want to. This show is a genuinely beautiful experience, perfectly crafted and paced, and even more so acted by two debutant actors who committed to their roles with professional care and responsibility. The environment and setting of this show are constructed so meticulously, every detail helps you piece the character’s inside world like a fun little jigsaw puzzle. A small hint from Duang to help you fall in love with him. Domundi hasn’t come out to play, they are coming to clean out some tropes, and refresh the stale air of the Thail BL world.

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New Siwaj, slow down.

MY ROMANCE SCAMMER
In any normal context, while consuming any normal media that is an adaptation, I’d make the effort of at least consulting the bare minimum facts of the original source material, before considering giving my review. With Thai BLs, this does not change. What, just because the quality of these works is subpar at best, I will give them no such respect? You must have me confused. As much as I can, I like to do my due diligence in being interested in the source material. Unless the edits made in the adaptation are well needed for this to work on screen, or to be any good. So, imagine my surprise when a well deconstructed couple like U and North get nothing but crumbs of attention, and our main couple, Tim and Pai, get caricatures of their struggles instead of the fleshed out, introspective moments of pure dilemma given in the novel.
My Romance Scammer was set off to be a well, as it says in the title a ROMANCE comedy. That’s what the first pilot promised. And that was my first mistake: never trust the first pilots. Bonus mistake, never trust a New Siwaj promise. For, in the middle of the filming, starring actor Junior comes out of the woodwork to let us now that this is going to be a drama. As in, this show will dive deep into the characters, which should have also been a red flag: New Siwaj, as we known, can’t do character-driven stories even if he had a step-by-step guide for it. It happened with Faifah in Perfect 10 Liners, and it happened here with U and North. Which, I could concede on as we had 12 episodes, and a whole mess to resolve, some comedy relief was needed.
Still, here are my points: U and North weren’t a comedy relief. They were a weird mix of goofy, voice of reason, background noise. Their characters too dilute to have a true purpose on the show. Sure, a character can contain multitudes, but North’s and U’s were never fully defined, because there was no actual interest in diving into their background. North’s ex who broke his heart, U’s dilemma of resorting to do what his mother does, although he knows how everyone suffers from it at the end. The redeeming, the rekindling. It was too rushed. I’d say too out of character if we knew what kind of characters they are besides: goofy, airhead, naïve rich boy (literally all of Poon’s characters under Siwaj), and sincere, kind, genuine poor boy. That’s it.
Not like I expected any grey areas or complexity, but I wanted some cohesive narrative that could show me their shadows.
Because shadows we get with Tim and Pai, so that’s not my issue. My issue is that someone must have lost some pages of the script, because we were told that Tim’s parents abandoned him; yet he is the one asking for forgiveness. For resorting to scamming after being practically destitute, unable to finish his career and find a job to sustain himself, and also, being forced to help his parents pay THEIR debt. So, that was not only bewildering, it was bad all around. Nobody noticed? After the many times of reading the script? During filming? Editing? Or was this scene filmed first and the backstory later?
If that’s the case, that shows another problem I have with New Siwaj: he thinks he can handle all of that. Sadly, he can’t. You can’t possibly pretend to release 5 projects in the same year, and have them all be a hit. Even less any good. You can’t possibly focus on 5 projects at once, one of them being the mammoth called Fourever You with 5 couples, and have them all score any higher than a 5/10. The only saving grace for Siwaj is the acting. Because boy, were they acting. Junior has the range (graduated from the Nadao School) and here we revert back to his debut in Midnight Museum, where we saw a yearning, grieving boy. Here we have Tim, a smart, calculating yet sweet man, who in face of adversity strategizes, manipulates with surgeon-like precision. Yet, he is too soft-hearted to commit.
Now that’s a character description. We can do something with that. Junior did. And Mark, because he is also incredibly talented, and I can’t wait to see more of his acting range in 21 Twenty-One; bounces off Junior’s acting like a dream. I can’t sing enough praises about Mark’s acting in the wedding crash scene. I felt that in my gut. So, as I said, New Siwaj works with great talent yet he gives them absolutely nothing to work with. Feeds champions a strict diet of ice soup and boiled chicken with plain rice.
Because yes, U and North were lacklustre, but Ohm and Poon’s chemistry was pure gold. They felt comfortable, there was that invisible magnetic pull of attraction, undeniable and almost tangible between them. They just fit together, and it was absolutely beautiful to see Ohm on his goofier side. But, if I may have my last complain: where is the bed scene, New Siwaj?
So, to conclude: great premise, awfully executed yet brilliantly acted.

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Screenwriter's hatred for WOMEN is off the roof

Xue Fangfei promised Jiang Li so many things, only to be a huge let down. I could dismiss all the silly plotholes, weird tone shifts, and the FL dumbing down for the ML since it's a Mary Sue revenge plot, but the screenwriter's seeping misogyny was too hard to ignore.

The story basically dumps all of the two FL's suffering onto the stepmother and those stereotypical evil women side characters. These characters are one-dimensional, existing only as plot devices to push the story forward, with no real personality or emotional depth. Even when there's no real reason to hate Xue Fangfei (jealousy?), the story still forces and amplifies it. The real Jiang Li knows her father is the real instigator and hates all of the Jiang family equally, whereas Fangfei ends up reconciling with father Jiang, disrespecting Jiang Li's dying wish. This is a textbook case of excusing men and shifting responsibility away from them.

In this storyline, Fangfei even comes off as an enabler of patriarchy. Fangfei has enough money to buy Qiongzhi's freedom. But instead, as a woman, she turns a blind eye to Qiongzhi's suffering and exploits Qiongzhi's body to save a man.

Xue Fangfei is a hypocrite. She said she hates rumors that tarnish a woman's reputation—but only when they concern herself. To others, she’s more than willing to add fuel to the fire. Imagine surviving sexual violence then dying from it, only for your boyfriend’s sister to tell him you ran off and wed someone else—misdirecting his grief while erasing your victimhood, your contributions, and your reputation—in a society where a woman’s worth was tied to her virtue. That's a surprising low EQ move coming from a protagonist that had good performance up until now.

The malice toward supporting female characters (all good and evil) is expressed through the destruction of their reputation, appearance, bodies, and reproductive organs. There are countless ways to justify antagonist Princess Wanning's fall into darkness, yet the writers once again resorted to sexual violence. Likewise, there are countless ways for the protagonist to defeat Princess Wanning, but the writers specifically chose childbirth.

I can't believe something like this is able to get a 8.8 rating on MDL, where the main users are female. It's 6.6 on Douban.

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Phantom Lawyer isn’t your typical stiff legal drama. It’s an emotional rollercoaster that plays with the impossible to tell us some very human truths. If you thought the first episode was just "okay," the series quickly proves that it was only the warm-up.

Unlike other dramas that blow all their fuses at the start, the script here is clever: it unravels the story bit by bit, making the mix of supernatural, humor, police drama, and legal genres feel natural rather than a chaotic mess.

The heart of the show is, without a doubt, its cast:
Yoo Yeon-seok and Esom have a special chemistry that jumps off the screen. Their relationship doesn't feel forced; it develops naturally. It’s one of those bonds that grows with the plot and leaves you wanting more.

Kim Mi-kyung and the supporting cast: As usual, her presence elevates the entire production. The supporting actors make the series feel real, providing the warmth needed amidst all the crime and ghosts.

Choi Kwang-il (The Villain): We have to applaud him. He’s pure evil without a hint of remorse until the very last second. He manages to spark genuine hatred in the viewer, which is the ultimate proof of a masterful performance.

The Moral Dilemma:
Even though fantasy lets us dream, one chapter presents a harsh reality: a crime committed 40 years ago is still a crime. It’s hard to 100% empathize with someone carrying such a serious offense, no matter how much time has passed or how many good deeds they do now. Regardless of how the drama tries to justify it, there is no excuse.

Phantom Lawyer hits the golden rule of entertainment. It keeps you hooked, It manages to get a laugh out of you with well-placed humor, builds tension through police drama, and delivers deep satisfaction (or frustration) with its legal twists.

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Divorce is not the end, but maybe the start of a new relationship

Good Partner turns out to be a great legal show. This show brought a new way to see a divorce case from another viewpoint. They clearly depicted the sturggles and pains in every divorce case. Also it emphasized that divorce is not the end of the world, but maybe a new way to re-arrange the relationship. Not only and always about the clients, this show put spotlight on the divorce attorneys and the challenges on how they handled the quarelling couples. More importantly, being a divorce attorney doesn't mean that they're exempt from marriages and divorces themselves. The depiction of the cases were close to realistic, there were several cases being dragged intentionally by the clients, while some chose to withdraw prematurely.

Jang Na Ra deserved a praise here, she got that Daesang for a reason. Impressive job from all of the casts, including the divorce clients. I also like the character developments. Cha Eun Gyeong was once a cold and profit-oriented divorce attorney. She matured a lot after the divorce hit her hard.

Although it's been a great journey, I think this show would be better if it ended after Eun Gyeong opened her own law firm, or even after her divorce finalized. There were several unimportant plot, and even a bit draggy, that seemed forcefully inserted just to meet the episode numbers requirement. These subplots couldn't match the importance and tense of the spotlight plot of Eun Gyeong divorce, especially the Daejeong management change plotline. It felt very unnecessary.

It's been quite a while since I saw a good legal show. It's very recommended, particularly because the divorce-cases-focused theme is fresh and rare.

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Too many plot holes

This started out well, an action thriller, but lost itself in the game.
The only character I felt drawn to was the husband, and even then, the writers did not draw any of them to make us like them, let alone feel for any of them.
There was no chemistry between FL and both her husband and bodyguard. The age difference between the male leads and female lead was noticing. The FL's acting, was stiff, and not believable.
Unfortunately, it was like bits and pieces of a story, thrown together, some good parts, but wasn't flushed out well enough to make it work..
Too many plotholes.

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My mister-esqe

I headlined this as My Mister-esque because honestly, I didn’t know how else to correlate the feeling you get while watching this.

It is deep. You feel sorrow, warmth, happiness, and you are constantly responding emotionally to what is happening on screen. At times, you even catch yourself wondering how long this actor’s dialogues are going to go on, and how much more he can really eat or keep stuffing his face. :)

I loved the supporting cast. Oh Jung-se nemesis/friend of the male lead has done a wonderful job, as he always does in all his roles. He keeps you laughing, sometimes he irritates you, and then suddenly you pity him. That is not easy to pull off. The rest of the supporting cast has also performed very well and adds a lot of weight to the drama.

I learnt after 8 episodes this drama is written by the same writer of My mister/my liberation notes I had been wondering why this train signal scene feels kind of familiar , now I worried that this might also not end up with a good/positive ending, though this writer's work is mostly about the journey than the end.

I really wish this gets a positive ending, cause this has scope where you just have to win once.

Edit: Last episode or last few minutes were rushed or were more out of the place with storys pace and placement but thoroughly enjoyed the depth of acting by all the actors.

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Good chemistry, weak storyline that had potential to be better

There really was sufficient material here to make this way more interesting. And it started much stronger than it finished. I liked the mains and I'm a sucker for a vampire story. (Yeah, I went there.) The story didn't explore many things that could have made it more satisfying. More about their individual histories. More about the conflict with the brother. More about vampire v non-vampire issues. And they took time (precious time in a short format like this) to do things that didnt really advance the plot. Its actually harder to make a short format piece, imho, because you have to be really efficient with the time you have. No filler at all.

It was cute. I'm not mad that I took time to watch it.

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Never felt my emotions surge up so much until this Drama

As someone who watched tons of dramas during COVID and reduced them and only watched the popular or eye-catching ones post COVID, this was a MASTERPIECE. I barely say this, but this truly felt like I was part of the drama.
As someone who has experienced something similar, I felt my emotions were being touched and felt by someone else.

Coming back to the drama, what I liked the most is how it showed the priorities people have in real life and showing how different emotions lead on to different outcomes.
This is my first ever drama I have watched of the leads. I have heard how Arthur Chen, lacks in his acting skills but this proved it wrong. Sometimes being quiet and actions show them more. I did read a review or a comment saying how they were annoyed about Zhu Yun, but I think those feelings and emotions last for quite a while when you have very strong feelings for your partner and vice versa. But it haunts you even more in the end, when they act like they never had those feelings and you can never get a closure. Anyone who experiences such events, heal in different ways or sometimes they don't. The only thing I didn't like in the drama but can't blame Zhu Yin is how easily she let herself weak for Li Xun when they met each other again. I think they should have let her not forget how she suffered those years because of several peoples action.

Onto the support roles, as much as GJH pissed me off and he acted so pathetic during the drama. Everyone gets jealous but getting obsessed about it without caring how it affects everyone around you is definitely another level of patheticness. I'm not sure if the he deserved what the ending was but yeh FZJ definitely got a good ending. He could have definitely had some self respect and reduced that ego. Same for Li Xun, I get he is godly and stuff, but high ego never does any good to anyone.

I also didn't like FSM, such a two faced friend but at the same thats also reality. Not all your friends and roommates will support your side, everyone has their own priorities whether your being right or not. Thats what I liked about this drama, It showed the reality of campus in terms of friendship to some extent. Not everything can be captured in one drama but this definitely had those aspects that most dramas do not show.

Though it is a slow burn drama, and I myself hesitated for 3 years before I watched it and YES I DEFINITELY GOT HOOKED.
I would recommend to anyone who is trying to find dramas with good reality check and slow burn romance about struggles. (But yes it is more on the emotional aspect over physical struggles experienced).

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Excellence

A few scenes of mob/gangster scenarios and inferences. But kept to a minimum. Nothing excessive or gratuitous. Trope: My boyfriend cheated with my best friend. After breaking up I married his father. (Different in that the marriage was done so she could claim her inheritance, not as an emotional response to the infidelity or for revenge.)

Visually elegant. Everything about this is close to perfection. A chance to see some real craft skills. Kudos to casting. Performances, including several supports, more than impressive. Zhao Ting Yi was dominant, even when not on screen. He and Deng Ling Shu were a stellar match. Newer actors (Li Yu Tong & Shu Han Yu) were surprisingly outstanding. Zhu Xiang as Ma San? Awesome! And that's an understatement. The actress who played the clan matriarch managed to be both loving and a true dragon queen. Every one of her and Zhu Xiang's scenes were a treat.

A top rewatch and on my all time favorites list.

AKA - My One and Only

Note: REALLY WANT TO KNOW WHO PLAYED THE CLAN MATRIARCH! And expanded cast info.

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Mostly a failure, especially for those who watched s1/read the novel

this is a continuation of PA, no point in denying it bc it is nearly impossible to understand the plot otherwise. if it was a standalone it would be a 7, as a continuation it deserves a 5, thus i put a 6.

cast wise: most of the actors are good. not princess agents cast good, but talenteded enough to pull you in. particularly, the actor of yan xun and then zhuge yue. the fl situation needs to be nuanced: 1) she played the role of young chu and she looks a little similar to the og actress--> easier to accept her, especially whith the pain of the whole cast being new. 2) her acting is acceptable, not great, sometimes even lacking, which can be justified by the writing choices and her inexperience, none of which are the viewers fault. this is mostly a miscasting issue. 3) the scandal surrounding the actress doesnt particularly affect me, her age can even be overlooked. yes it is jarring seeing such a young face for a renowed general and even more how her age impacts the chemisty (or lack of) between her and the ml. knowing yue and chus relationship, they could have pulled it off without any intimate scene, but the writers didnt help with that and the actress is partially to blame.
characterisation: messed up. 1) chu was brave loyal idealistic but not stupid. walking into traps and enforching immediate change to a structural problem shouldnt have been handled this way. 2) yue: a cold strategist with a soft spot for chu. as we progressed in PA, some might have perceived it as a change in charcater towards a masochist lover, which for the grand finale is acceptable but shouldnt have been a recurring theme in rebirth. 3) yan xun: he is a nuanced charcater, between a loyal man who would never kill chu and between a now cruel victim who would hurt her in his journey for revenge. an innocent soul who was wronged and now is hurting others but also someone who should prioritise yanbei. he can become obssessive to a degree. rebirth couldnt consistently deliver these nuances, some scenes showed it while others reduced him to an obssessed unfit king. 4) chun ner: her story arc was completed in PA and even in the novel her role disappeared, bringing her back was a choice. i can understand her actions and motivations till she reached biantang but after that, her role with the 13th prince and zhang che was an overreach. 5) zhang che/prince: they took the one stable character who values huamn life and bent him in the last eps, which could have been an interesting way to see how morals bend against hardship, but the comical way in which his herat changed again in the last ep and discarding his relationship with an eqully moral general that could have brought him back to the right side was a bad take.
scenario/plot: the love story between the 3 main charcaters could have been better. the fragile trust, the obsession, the different values and hardships in life due to their statues could be displayed better. PA has already done the characters development arcs which would make it repetitive to replicate in rebirth and flat if the characters dont change much. seeing how these new personalities interact could have been a repalcement, but rebirth played more on the battles between them than the trust or loyalty that was the cause of the tension.
the battles and deaths were more valued than the plot, making it a repetition of the love betrayal and death triangle without any real tension.
most of the scenes that characters werent acting logically and other measures could have been taken.
yet again, the repetition made the plot weaker, in the first 2 eps, chu falls in the lake twice, there are 2 assassination attempts and in the first 10 eps there is a constant cylce of her being chased and saved in weird ways.
slavery: ending slavery is a moral contemporary ideal that might have existed in ancient china but wouldnt have that much support from influtential people who benifitted from it. its abolition in biantang and opening shops for women as if that would end a structural problem in 2 days was simply wishful thinking.
the role of religion in politics seemed overstated, not bc it doesnt exist but bc neither PA nor the first eps of rebirth have esteblished its role, yet the faceless god's sect have played an important role in the finale that we weren't prepared for.
visuals: a saving grace even if too cliched.
novel/PA: ik the mark on her back wasnt in the novel, but seieng as how loosely rebirth followed the novels, it would have been more interesting to put it back, especially with the title being rebirth that seems to have lost its meaning when we look at the plot.
s2's aim was a closure after yue's sacrific but the last ep wasn't the closure we needed and not the one in the novels. the end trying to be poetic and seeing different endings was a nice concept with bad execution. the timeline is messy, between the moths spent travelling/in battle, the death of li ce and the rule of ximeng, we have contradicitng statements and s2 could have taken from 3 to 6 yrs. chu not appearing in the fianl scene even tho yuwen said she is alive was abd choice. killing off all side character was meant to show the brutality of war, but had a comical effect between all fo them appearing in each others dreams, dying at the same time and having no main chacter impacted. the recurring theme of a main charcater dying and coming back to life simply was badly executed, e.g yuwen yue dying and his corpse being with xinger yet coming to save her int he last ep and somehow managing to find her between 220k fightng soldiers in the same time. audiance's imagination /nostalgia add some of the tension missing.
on a final note, to all those who watched PA or read the novel, i am not unhappy to have a resemblance of a closure (evemn if badly thought out and acted) through rebirth. however, in my mind, i can imagine a 100 better scenarios that use the visuals from rebirth to make a plot that wither follows the novel more closely or makes a new season absed on the the ice power subplot and an=ll the analysis and yearining for this series, developped during the alst 10 yrs.

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