A Rant on Girl From Nowhere: Was It Worth the Hype? (Part 2)

{This article contains major SPOILERS}

Content Warnings: Violence, gore, rape

_{Sawasdee Kha, MDL readers, I'm back with Part 2! If you'd want to read my review of Season 1, it'll be in Part 1. I'm going to discuss Season 2 in this article. As previously said, each episode was riddled with plot holes and ambiguous undertones. I also saw a lot of people abandoning this series on Reddit. I was about to give up when my curiosity got the best of me. I'd want to explain my point of view here! Let's just get started!}

As compared to season 1, I find season 2 to be a bit more unnecessary, so to speak. There are, as usual, good episodes and bad ones. Season 2 is unquestionably more brutal and gory than Season 1. It truly begs the question, "Why?" In Season 2, all of the characters deserve punishment, unlike in Season 1, where some I don't think are necessary. But, is the punishment too much? For example:

Minnie (Patricia Tanchanok Good) is the main character in this episode. She's a compulsive liar. Her father takes her car away for a month as a punishment but she didn't listen. She loses control of the car and crashes while drinking and gloating on the phone to her buddy, Je t'aime. Ploen and three other victims are also run over by her. Minnie lied that someone messed with the brakes on her car. Her father also claims Minnie has never touched alcohol. Minnie is only sentenced to 300 hours of community service and fines; she is not imprisoned as a result of her actions. Minnie's driver smashes the car as the family drives away because the brakes fail. Minnie wakes up to a heinous groundhog-style vengeance day, with Minnie waking up perfectly fine once more. Minnie's legs are crushed first, and then her teeth are extracted. Ploen's parents, who sawed her limbs off, are among those who came forward. Her final death is caused by her own father choking her. Minnie has finally opened her eyes to see Nanno telling her she's only died twice. A red-ribboned girl reappears and said she has audio and video evidence of exactly what Minnie did. As the episode comes to a close, Nanno descends to the ground floor but is slightly taken aback by Minnie's impending death. It comes out that Yuri was actively involved in this event and that Minnie was thrown out the window.

Was it necessary for Minnie to die so many times even if it is just a dream? She did make a mistake, no doubt. But she realizes that her father, the one who has always protected her the most, is the one who is causing her irreparable harm. He has ensured that she never has to confront the repercussions of her acts by ensuring that she is unaware of the weight of those actions. Minnie and her father are both deserving of punishment. But, when a child or teen is in distress, it is natural for them to listen to their parents. Minnie has no choice but to listen to her father and, as a result, make a false statement in court. She knew she shouldn't lie about it, she did rebel, but a youngster would always believe their parents want the best for them. Shouldn't it be Minnie's father who sees ghosts following him? Because he was the one who chose to cover the matter instead. I'm not suggesting Minnie is innocent, but her punishment is excessive. Or it is done incorrectly. Minnie's legs being smashed? Sawing off her hands? What would she learn as a result of those punishments? These punishments are quite irrelevant to her wrongdoings. Wasn't Nanno always attempting to give them a taste of their own medicine? What happened in this episode?

Not all problems can be fixed using Nanno's approach to punishment. I believe that simply putting Minnie in jail, where she deserves to be, is sufficient justice for what she did. Of course, she'll be there with her father. Alternatively, Nanno can make their lives a living hell. Make them impoverished. Make them lose all power and connectivity. Seeing their world crumble sounds like a nice idea, too, and I'm sure Nanno can make it happen with a Thanos-style snap of a finger. 

Minnie really died until the end and Nanno is obviously not okay with it because that is the easy way out of guilt. Perhaps Yuri's existence influenced Nanno's method of punishment?

After a few episodes, they eventually unveiled the red-ribboned girl in this episode. Yuri (Nink Chanya McClory) is her name, and she was supposedly once Nanno's target. This episode presents her as a meek student who is lured in by Nana and Tuptim, two Mean Girls-style queen bees who clearly use her as a lackey who buys their lunch and pays them unnecessary lip service. Yuri makes sacrifices just to be involved, such as bullying another student named Meen who allegedly flirted with Nana's boyfriend. Yuri reveals that she is well aware of how she is being mistreated, but she is playing the role in order to con more money from Nana and Tuptim in order to spoil her mother, who comes from a poor home. Yuri's self-awareness lends her a distinct personality. What she requires from Nanno is motivation to actually accomplish the things she's only fantasising about - as Nanno says, money isn't the sole kind of currency, and Tuptim and Nana definitely have secrets they'd prefer to keep hidden. Among those secrets are videos of numerous girls being raped. Nanno was their next victim but she reveals that she has already uploaded the evidence from the laptop to the cloud, not just the videos of girls being raped but evidence of transactions including all their names. Nanno continues to antagonize them until the girls brutally beat her to death with a nearby candleholder — all of which is captured on camera. Yuri takes the opportunity to blackmail them with this evidence, confessing her own long con. Her whole game was to steal their business for herself. But as she turns to leave, the men who rape girls drown her in the bathtub where Nanno’s corpse is. They leave with the camera and the laptop. Nanno, being Nanno, can certainly be resurrected. The surprising twist is that Yuri opened her eyes underwater as well.

I don't see people talk about Nana and Tuptim enough! I know they are not the main characters so everyone is so focused on Yuri. But does everyone think the business they do seems normal? It's sick! Like, in what sane mind concept is this to see girls like themselves getting raped? And it is not as if they are filming pornography. They simply just want to see girls they dislike getting raped, collecting videos so they can blackmail them. Who in the world gave them this idea, let alone have thoughts about it. The rape scenes came out of nowhere and I don't understand why they did all that wtf.  Yuri, on the other hand, is just genuinely evil. Again, why would she think of continuing the business herself like what in the actual world?! Wasn't she one of the victims? The men that raped girls also randomly killed Yuri for whatever reasons. Who is gonna supply them with money if they killed Yuri? Or are they simply looking for a way out? Did Nanno make it happen so Yuri will somehow accidentally drink her blood in the bathtub? 

Nana and Tuptim got out easy. They just die! What about some good karma? A little retribution for the sick business they're running? Sure, they were raped, but their deaths are not the kind of karma I want to witness. I'm not sure what kind of punishment I want to see, but they're being inhumane by conducting business in this manner. Can Nanno convert them into something non-living? I don't care. Perform some strange witchcraft on them and curse them. Anything other than their death and no one acknowledging what they have done.

I don't understand why would Nanno want Yuri to be immortal like her. Gives her all these powers to punish (kill) people like Minnie and many more. 

Kaye (Aim Bhumibhat Thavornsiri) is the main character in this episode. This episode focuses on a Thai tradition known as "Sotus," in which seniors haze juniors. It is frequently done to allow everyone in the faculty to get to know one another. Basically, it's like an ice-breaker session. However, there are times when seniors go too far with the games and activities. Kaye was one of the victims of seniors who went too far with their hazing sessions. As a result, as a senior, he wanted the new juniors to go through what he had gone through. Nanno was one of the new juniors, but she was unfazed by all the terrifying activities, such as stripping clothes or being tied down with balloons and getting hit. Even though the horrible hazing session was filmed, the school still covered it up for Kaye. Kaye was kicked out of school and started all over again in a new school but he has to go through Sotus again since he's a junior. There he encounters Nanno as his senior. Kaye can eventually take no more and tries to escape from Nanno’s captivity and torture. He hides in the back of a Toyota flatbed and is driven away. When he wakes up, though, he’s right back where he started, a representation of the cyclical nature of the torment inflicted by the hazing — he did unto others what was done unto him, and now the cycle repeats itself. 

I know I shouldn't feel bad for Kaye BUT this episode is way too stressful! I know this is perfect karma for Kaye, but still. Kaye was mistreated, then he gained power and did the same; he crossed a line, but every student was doing the same thing; they never told him he was going too far, even though they were in the same year; the only thing he did alone was killed Nanno; why is he the only one punished? He'd already gone through something similar, and it had simply resulted in him abusing the new kids; nothing new would happen the following year. I don't like the idea of treating humans like a dog. Hell, we shouldn't even treat dogs that way! The fetching and barking are already on the verge of being inappropriate. How are they even able to cage Kaye? It's a categorical NO! And it's not even in a size that he can fit! It's exhausting to see him struggle in that cramped cage. 

YURI! For whatever reason, released him and then began to crowd hunt Kaye!? She killed the dog only so they could blame it on Kaye?! Is this the karma he deserves? NO! I know it's fiction, so it's obviously overblown, but still! Yuri is obviously adding fuel to the fire in the episode and it really fried my nerves.  I feel like the lesson Nanno gave Kaye was already enough but Yuri wants more despair for Kaye. 

This episode is pure stress. :/

This episode features JennyX (Minnie Phantira Pipityakorn), the school's golden child, a well-known influencer. She has to be a good girl all the time in order to maintain her image. As we learn more about Jane's life, we realise that her parents are trying to make a living off of her. Jane is tired of her current situation. Nanno approached her as her biggest fan and wound the girl up. She confides in Nanno that she wants to simply vanish and go somewhere no one can find her. Nanno smiles mischievously and advises that instead of leaving, she might commit "suicide." We then cut to another JennyX live stream in which she expresses her desire to commit suicide. Jane eventually slashes her throat and collapses on the floor. Rosie, her new alias, was given to her after she was reborn. Unfortunately, this plot is derailed when an anonymous tip to the press suggests that Jane had staged her death. And who is this anonymous tip? Yuri. Yuri launched her own channel and profited from JennyX's incident. This irritates Jane so much that she eventually agrees to meet Yuri on the rooftop. Following Yuri's lead, Jane makes it appear as if Nanno was attempting to murder her after stabbing the girl in the stomach. As Jane presents herself as JennyX, the comments said that she is a fraud and that the actual JennyX has returned... which happens to be Nanno. Jane goes away, defeated and understanding the mistake of her ways. When she does, Yuri and Nanno talk about what happened. Yuri told Nanno that she was evil. It's also evident that Nanno is beginning to question her own tactics, as her wound hasn't healed.

It really is confusing whether Jane deserves what she got in this episode. She was a teen, and her parents were taking advantage of her despite the fact that they loved her. This episode made Jane appear to be a pawn in Nanno and Yuri's game of chaos. I honestly believe Nanno merely wanted to get Jane out of her awful situation. As in S1E8, when Jane returns to her parents, they will discover how horrible of parents they were. I don't believe it was Nanno's intention for what transpired to occur, but Yuri intervened and had Jane attempt to kill Nanno, which I believe resulted in a harsher sentence. It is clear that Nanno was too harsh this time, as she begins to question herself; mortalizing. Jenny's final question in this episode, "Did I really deserve this at all?" caused her to pause, but Nanno's actions make me wonder whether she did so to prevent Yuri from killing another target, such as Minnie.

Nonetheless, Jane is wrong too. She has free will and chose to make it appear as if she killed herself, she chose to create a new identity and flee home to live a new life free of her parents' obligations, and she chose to assault Nanno. She didn't have to listen to Nanno/Yuri or obey any of their orders; she could follow her own conscience, reasoning, and morals. On the other hand, the faults Jane made, at least before Yuri butted in, were minor and didn't require Nanno to punish her. Jane wasn't a nasty person in comparison to the others Nanno had dealt with; she just wanted to get away from her life as JennyX.

Does she really deserve this at all?

This episode is such a mess that I don't even know how to summarize it. I couldn't even differentiate which is the main role here. Anyhow, the episodic format seems to stop in this season as in this finale, Nanno's cut from JennyX is still visible.  Foreshadowed glimpses of Nanno being stabbed sees she awakens suddenly from a bad dream. A girl called Junko (Ploy Ploynarin Sornarin) was introduced and she’s pretty docile. We soon find out her mother, Waan (Yarinda Bunnag), has donations set up to help her out. Nanno heads over to their house, where she finds Waan looking after her. Waan turns out to be the same woman who Nanno envisioned stabbing her. Anyway, Nanno asked Waan about a teacher she’s trying to find. Mrs Supatra Meesiri was her name, although she had left the previous semester. However, no one seems to know where she is, and she appears to have left without saying goodbye. However, she isn't the only one. In fact, there have been others who have recently left. With photos of her basement damning her, Nanno asks bluntly what Waan has been putting into her daughter. The teachers, at least the ones who questioned her about the serum, are all dead, and Nanno now has proof. Waan was intentionally sedating her daughter and making Junko sick. Waan was keeping the contribution money for herself in order to supplement her income. Junko, Waan confesses, is the one who murdered the professors. Junko embarked on a murdering spree after regaining her ability to walk, with Waan covering everything up to protect her own daughter. Yuri, on the other hand, enters with Junko, wheeling her out to the courtyard, handing her a knife and letting her stab Waan several times. Nanno rushes in and grabs the knife just as Junko stabs Waan in the stomach. Waan then turns around and repeatedly stabs Nanno. Yuri stands up and laughs uncontrollably. Nanno's eyes well up with tears. With Waan dead and Nanno seemingly meeting the same fate, Yuri cuts her hand and runs a bloodied finger over Junko’s mouth. 

This episode is all about gore. I'm not sure how I feel about this episode. It reminds me of the case "Murder of Dee Dee Blanchard," in which the mother makes her own daughter sick in order to get money. But, to my surprise, Junko is actually murdering people, and not just murdering but also dissecting them. And Waan, although being labelled a monster, is also protecting her daughter at some point, and Nanno, to some extent, appears to comprehend Waan's actions. The scene where Junko plays with the intestine stays with me for a long time. I think it doesn't matter who is at fault in this episode because it appears to be a fight between Yuri and Nanno.

I'm still wondering if Nanno is still immortal. She clearly feels sympathy for Waan. She is aware that Waan loves Junko. She intervened to prevent Junko from stabbing her mother because she knew it was too much. Both are victims, yet they are also deserving of retaliation. Nanno's stopping acts, on the other hand, show that she has regained her humanity. BUT, she reappeared at the end, proving that she is still immortal. So, was it all a ruse for Yuri to believe she had won the game?

Nonetheless, the notion that Junko is likewise immortal bothers me. What is this blood-drinking concept for turning them into immortals? Vampire Diaries, anyone? Is it possible to become someone like Nanno simply by consuming their blood? What if Yuri feeds it to everyone? Is there a way to un-create immortals if there is a way to create them? Because Yuri is getting on my nerves, thus it had better exist.

[6]

As usual, episodes that I did not mention just indicate that everything is well. I see some common sense and can digest it in my thoughts. S02E06, in particular, piques my interest. "Liberation" alluded to the greyscale of things, and how Nanno has been tormenting people but begins to comprehend how morality is not as black and white as right and wrong but grey. Aside from this premise, I admire the usage of colour in this episode. It makes the episode very aesthetic and memorable.

But, there is always going to be one episode that I thoroughly enjoyed, which can easily be:

This episode has the easiest summary. Nanai (James Teeradon Supapunpinyo) is the most famous boy in school and is set to be the next school president, but he's also known for being a jerk who impregnates girls but refuses to accept responsibility. He'd simply ask the girls to perform an abortion. As predicted, Nanno attracts Nanai's attention and the two begin to grow closer, displaying all the signs of a couple hopelessly in love.  The entire school begins to wager on how long this relationship will continue. Nanno eventually agrees to sleep with Nanai, bringing the bet to a close after 3 days, 3 hours, and 33 minutes. As luck would have it, this coincides with one of Nanno's own bets, who wins the entire pot. As she walks out of the classroom, she flashes the money to Nanai and tells him she, too, is playing a game. Basically, Nanai became pregnant as a result of the hookup and tried numerous methods to get rid of it, but he was always unsuccessful. He realises Nanno is responsible for his pregnancy and confronts her at school. Nanno, on the other hand, shrugs it off, telling him it was all in good fun. This is enough for Nanai to realise his mistake. Finally, his baby girl was born, and his animosity washed away like a wave. Nanai apologises to Nanno as he answers the door. She offers him a gift and then walks away, shutting the door in his face.

James is too hot in this episode. Great Man Academy was the first drama I saw him in. The differences are far too great. I'm generally taken aback by his performance. If I'm at that school, I'd say the chances of me getting pregnant are extremely high, HAH. His expressions were superb and so alluring. Ok. Done with the fangirling. 

This is my favourite episode because Yuri has yet to appear. This episode is the closest to what Nanno did in S1 in terms of the target deserving karma. She was still doing things her way, and no one was standing in her way. The episode's message is also quite obvious! Let this be a lesson to you, kids: doing it without protection is never a good idea. Aside from that, it teaches boys to be responsible and to attempt to see things from a girl's perspective. When a teen mother is pregnant, she faces unique challenges. How a girl's feelings and coping methods for the fact that she has no idea what she's doing, that she's going through it alone, and that she's losing everything because of one pregnancy. It's a very creative method of portraying it with a man since if the main character is female, only a female will have sympathy.

I don't care how he got pregnant or how he even got the baby girl out, but it was satisfying. It's equally satisfying to watch him get morning sickness and suffer because he has no one to care for him. I'm sorry if I sound sadistic here, but yeah. xD This is the most moral act Nanno has ever done. I'm not a big fan of Nanno's laugh, but her laugh in this episode makes me excited. This episode is fantastic. It accurately depicts how men will never realise how difficult pregnancy is unless it occurs to them. This episode also finally makes me feel, "Yea, Karma is a b*tch." Because this karma is perfect, unlike the others where I would question the necessity.

Conclusion

Was Season 2 worth the hype? Despite my prior article's rage on S1, I'd say I prefer S1 to S2. The main reason, though, is unquestionably due to Yuri's existence. S2 also abruptly changed its format, since it was previously episodic, with no apparent connection between episodes. Everything seems to link in S2, even Nanno's wound.

I couldn't describe how much I disliked Yuri enough, but I'm sure you could tell from my review above (no hate against the actress). Nanno, on the other hand, exhibits some remorse and empathy, but Yuri is simply vicious and unquestioning. Nanno expressed it best when she just wants to kill and kill. Nanno, on the other hand, seemed to operate with a purpose—teaching a lesson.

Yuri is impatient. She is always thwarting Nanno's plans and refuses to listen to Nanno's advice despite claiming that she wanted to learn from her. She simply resorts to death and murder rather than teaching people the consequences of their behaviour, which is the entire objective of the show, at least in S1. S1 was more enjoyable because it is based on karma and the repercussions of one's own actions, but S2 is just Yuri acting irrationally and going on a killing spree and at the same time, kind of manipulating Nanno's head. She was even trying to guilt-trip Nanno at some point.

Still dislike this blood-drinking vampire way of making others become immortal. Nanno, hopefully, is merely taking a step back and watching how these two people deliver justice and fulfil their masochistic desires. She is aware that she has the ability to control them if she so desires. After all, she is the ultimate final boss.

If there is an S3, I hope it's just Nanno taking down Yuri and Junko and letting them know who's boss. Also, MAKE THEM MORTAL AGAIN.

This two-part Girl From Nowhere review has finally come to an end! I'm grateful for the ones that stayed and read this long, long review <3 Thank You So Much! Theories and explanations are always welcome! Share your expectations upon S3 too. 

As for now, Goodbye!

_{P.s. I don't claim to know a lot about Girl From Nowhere. I basically wrote down my opinions. If I made any mistakes, please don't come at me, instead educate me. :')}

Thank You For Reading!

Ellie

^{Edited by: devitto (1st editor)}