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If you haven't seen this, drop everything and go watch it right now
This review is basically going to be me raving over this series for however many paragraphs it takes.Take that as your first and final and only warning.
Where do I start?
The story is of two young men who are studying in different faculties in the same university. Pat, Engineering. Pran, Architecture. Historically, the two faculties have been rivals and several of Pat and Pran's friends take this all very seriously. The first scene of the very first episode is a bunch of Engineering students chasing down and beating up an Architecture student, so you know the rivalry is intense.
To make things even more complicated, the two young men grew up right next door to each other and their families absolutely loathe each other. We don't find out why until nearly the end of the series, but it's not a trivial reason, and the hatred on the part of Pran's mother towards Pat's father is warranted and justifiable.
Unknowingly, Pat starts courting Pran (it's a mix-up that does completely make sense) and, when he discovers who it is he's been exchanging notes and gifts with, he doesn't immediately have a meltdown at the mere though of liking a boy (which I half expected, because it's such a trope in BL), he doesn't punch Pran or accuse him of deception or any of the other things that happen in these situations in other BL's.
No, they pretty much agree to stop being rivals and start being friends, before things develop into more. They use bets and competitions as flirting and it is hilarious.
They have such good communication with each other. They talk about things honestly and openly and they both apologise to the other for their mistakes and they stick by each other when one of them is in trouble and....it's so refreshing and wholesome and good to see.
The acting is on another level, especially for a BL. Ohm (Pat) and Nanon (Pran) are both very skilled and it shows. I already knew Ohm was good, having seen him in Make It Right and He's Coming To Me (I recommend the Book/Frame cut of Make It Right if you haven't seen it, and He's Coming To Me is an excellent shorter series in which Ohm partners with Singto. It's a gem.)
I hadn't seen Nanon in anything else, though his resume is quite impressive, so I wasn't sure what his acting would be like going in, but I need not have worried. He's so good it's almost unbelievable. If they gave out awards for TV acting in Thailand, he should be up for Best Actor. His emotional range is impressive.
The chemistry and dynamic between Ohm and Nanon takes this series from great to excellent.
There are only two songs used throughout the series, and one of them is kind of over-used, but both are still lovely and the incidental music is good too. I like the fact that they avoided so many of the ridiculous sound effects that other shows tend to overuse. Moderation is key, and it's clear the director and editor agree with me.
Even the product placement, whilst definitely there and noticeable, has been toned down, which is so good to see.
And, to make things better, we get an actual GL second couple in this, even if their relationship isn't as developed as the main leads. There's talk of a sequel to this, and to be honest, I don't want one. I'd like a spin-off instead, focusing on Ink and Pa's relationship. There's a time jump at the beginning of episode 12, and I'd like to see how their relationship developed over that time.
REWATCH VALUE: high, high, so so high. I'm rewatching it now, in fact.
I've said in other reviews that no show is perfect, and this isn't either, but this is the only one that I've felt justifies the full five stars/10 out of 10 rating. I watched this and I didn't feel cheated, I didn't end up feeling like I'd wasted my time and the ending was satisfactory and fulfilling.
That, to me, is the hallmark of a great series.
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We Best Love: The Runner-Up Strikes Back
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not as good as its predecessor
I really, really wanted to like this series. I loved the first one and I thought sure, surely, the writing for this one will be just as good.Sadly, I was wrong.
And it was the writing that let it down. All the acting was on point. The entire cast knocked it out of the park, so to speak, even if the script they had to work with was dodgy. The music was beautiful, the editing good and the story itself, if it had been translated into the script better, would've worked.
The plot involved Shi De and Shu Yi meeting again after five years. After unexpectedly having to stay in the U.S. for two years, rather than two months, Shi De comes back and runs into Yi's father, who has confiscated Yi's phone. He tells De, in less subtle terms, that he's not good enough for Yi, which brings back a whole lot of insecurities that De already had about their relationship and he agrees to stay away from Yi for five years.
Three years after that, De is running the successful Hua Cing Technology company on behalf of this mother, when who should walk in the door to oversee the company's merger with Cheng Yi Group?
What follows is the rekindling of Shu Yi and Shi De's relationship along with some incidental corporate espionage thrown in to make it all more dramatic.
My main problem with this series is the writing. I don't know what Lin Pei Yu was thinking with this. I was confused so many times about when scenes took place in the timeline. Non-linear storytelling is fine, but it needs to be clear and concise and this was neither. Scenes were just thrown in and we were just supposed to, what? Intuit that they were set in the past?
Also, whilst in a visual medium you always want to try and show rather than tell, you have to actually show things so people understand them. I don't want to just make assumptions - I want it to be clear that I'm making the *right* assumptions. And I shouldn't have to go on social media to find out what the writer is trying to show. I shouldn't have to reference other media to understand the one I'm watching.
Why did Shu Yi suddenly forgive Shi De between one episode and the next? Why did Pei Shou Yi go from (apparently??) rejecting to accepting Yu Zhen Xuan in the space of about five minutes? Come to that, why is Pei Shou Yi running a bar instead of being a Doctor? Did I miss the explanation for that?
Was that blonde woman actually Ashley? I assume so. Is Ashley Shi De's stepsister? Is she the nanny? My assumption is stepsister. Why throw in that special episode and answer no questions about it? Because Shu Yi has decided that he trusts Shi De (apparently out of nowhere) that means we, the audience, don't get to know?
Tell me how I did with my assumptions, show. Tell me!
A smaller, yet as important problem, is also the casual ableism that runs through this series. Yu Zhen Yuan has real feelings for Pei Shou Yi, but they are dismissed as him being "crazy" because Shou Yi thinks Zhen Yuan suffers from filial imprinting, paranoia (which we see no signs of) , Aspergers, mild depression and prone to autotomy (which apparently means Zhen Yuan is prone to cutting his own limbs off.)
Pei Shou Yi makes all these diagnoses despite the fact that he wasn't a psychologist and hasn't been an actual medical doctor in years.
It's like the writer just went for an out-of-date DSM and randomly picked things she thought would make the character as woobie as possible.
And, even assuming that all these diagnoses are correct, that still wouldn't mean Zhen Yuan's feelings for Shou Yi aren't real. To claim so is ableist and wrong.
Pei Shou Yi himself says he suffers from an affective disorder (but never specifies which one) but if he suddenly declared he had feelings for Zhen Yuan, nobody would call him crazy.
A third series was teased, and I'd like to see Bing Wei and Zhe Yu's wedding, because that proposal scene was lovely and they're the most sensible couple on this show.
I can't give this as high a rating as 'No. 1 For You', but I still rate this highly and I did enjoy most of it. It is fairly re-watchable and I give this my sincere recommendation.
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what even is this???
I need someone to explain this to me, like I'm three, because I just don't understand how this not only got approved, but filmed and aired.Who thought this was a good idea?
To be clear, i don't blame Mew or Gulf for this mess. They're actors, doing their jobs, and doing them pretty well in spite of the terrible writing, bad direction and awful editing.
I want to start with something positive. But there's nothing really positive to start with. This whole series is a mess.
THE PLOT: It's been seven years since Tharn and Type got together. They're now sharing an apartment and, after his brother announces his engagement, Tharn decides he wants to marry Type.
Type does not want to get married, for reasons which are valid but which Tharn completely ignores.
Type is working for a boss that seems to hate him (we never find out why, not really), which is causing him a lot of stress as his boss just piles the work on - even work that Type is not supposed to be doing as part of his job - and it's putting a strain on their relationship.
That's basically it for about eight episodes, then things take a hard right and suddenly Type has left to go stay with his parents and become a monk.
THE PROBLEMS: Tharn is lost in his own world. Type and he barely communicate about things, especially important things, and Tharn becomes so obsessed with having what his brother has (an engagement and a wedding) that he doesn't listen to Type at all and completely dismisses Type's very reasonable fears and objections. Tharn's wanting to get married appears to come out of nowhere to Type, and to us as well. Tharn never seems to consider actually talking about why Type doesn't want to get married and makes it all about him.
Cir and Phu just confuse me. Cir acts like a five year old and Phu acts like a combination of his brother/father/guardian. How am I meant to believe these two are a couple?
Fiat and Leo also confuse me. It's obvious from the first episode that Leo is in love with Fiat, and if he'd just have said something the worst of this story's problems could have been avoided (Fiat acting like a little stalker, and Type kidnapping and threatening Fiat) but Fiat, who is probably the most realistic character out of them all (eh, he's still a teenager and lacks emotional maturity and does stupid things - sounds about right), could try and take a hint. Hint: best friends don't let you lay all over them. Next to them, yes, but not full body contact all over them.
Techno, who I rather liked in S1, has been ramped up to eleven and gone from funny and charming to obnoxious and annoying.
a bit like the sound effects that are overused to the point to stupidity through the story.
The Doc and Champ had a rather sweet relationship, which was nice, but sadly their screen time was limited because the writer clearly wanted to focus on the other couples.
let's not even get started on the female characters. It's a Thai BL so it won't end well.
S1 had it's problems, but at least it was a cohesive story and every episode felt necessary. Half the episodes in S2 feel like filler as things rinse and repeat (Type gets in trouble with his boss, Tharn and Type have an argument, Tharn does something romantic and they make up, start again) and nothing changes until the last three episodes or so, when the pair of them finally learn to communicate a little better (which shouldn't have taken seven years.)
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I didn't know what to expect when I watched this, I just thought the idea of man waking up and realising he is in a world of BL, with all it's tropes and cliches, was going to be funny.I wasn't disappointed.
The opening titles in themselves are worth a watch. The disco-esque song with the retro costumes makes for a great bop.
There isn't really a lot to say about this series. I enjoyed the acting, the music was great, the sets were a little low-grade but believable and, whilst I've become a bit jaded about special effects, the ones in this series (animated roses blooming around character's face and head and the other character apparently being able to *see* them) make sense in the context of the story and aren't over-used.
The series is comprised of four episodes, which are themselves comprised of three smaller episodes. They're clearly titled you know where you are in the story and the pacing is fairly consistent.
The show ended on a sort-of cliffhanger, so I hope there's a second season, but all in all this was a funny, charming and interesting little series that will take you maybe a couple of hours to watch, so why not?
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the movie was better
I didn't have high expectations going into this, having read a lot of the comments and the reviews about it. I was mostly watching it for New, as i really liked his performances in Kiss Me Again and Dark Blue Kiss. He was as good in this as he has been in everything else I've seen in him. His emotional range is excellent, especially in the later episodes.My problem is that this series goes for too long. They could have cut the episode number down to 10, or even 8, and still told the same story. Most of the scenes feel like filler. And tedious filler at that. So much of it is unnecessary.
I thought the conflict between Waii and his father was very well done. It was something I could relate to. I liked the portrayal of Coach Tee and Kan's relationship. Despite their 20 year age difference, there were no hints of abuse or manipulation (unlike the godawful relationship between Bright and Farm in Together With Me) and their relationship seemed more focused on supporting each other and honest communication, which was refreshing to see.
I liked the slow build of Waii and Apo's relationship, and how Apo always supported Waii whilst not hesitating to tell him the truth and giving him solid and well thought out advice.
I also liked the relationships between Kluay and Achi, and Wan and Min.
If the show had just stuck to the relationships between these characters and left the swimming club as more of a backdrop, it would have improved things considerably.
As it is, we get a terrible lesbian-meets-the-right-guy-and-turns-straight-for-him storyline (which wouldn't nominally be problem, but the show never says she's bi or pan, and we get so little of the 'L' representation in LBGTQ+ stories, especially in Thailand, that it really annoys me when this happens) that's made worse by the bullying she subjects the poor young man to. We get a half-assed plot about a play to raise money to save the club, which goes nowhere; a plot involving Min and his ex which also goes nowhere; and a lot of scenes of fit young men lounging around in tiny swim shorts - lovely eye-candy, but pretty much pointless.
And, of course, the ever-present love triangle, because a male character with a girlfriend can't fall for another man and then just do the right thing and break it off with her, because where's the drama in that? Maybe if this had been the first BL-ish series I'd ever watched, I might have let it go. Unfortunately, I've watched quite a few now and it's really, really over-used. I'm bored by it.
And here it's not even done right, because it's made clear that Waii wants Apo (he literally asks him to stay forever) and then, when his girlfriend tries to break up with him because she knows something is going on, he refuses to let her go and promises to stop being with Apo.
Refusing to break up before you're sure of your own feelings for another person is one thing. Refusing to break up after you've already kissed another person and told them you want to be with them forever? An entirely different thing altogether. It's just another plot device to up the melodrama and drag the story out some more.
I've heard the movie is better, so that's what I'm going to go watch next.
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sweet and fluffy with a touch of angst and a happy ending - pretty dang good, actually
Let's start with the plot, such as it is.That was a little too sarcastic, really, because this plot has some differences and I rather enjoyed them. First of all, unusually for BL, this drama starts at a beach instead of ending up at one (or going to one for the honeymoon period) and we see how this plays out over several flashbacks.
Flashbacks themselves are an overused plot device, but they work here because they're inserted at just the right moment, don't go on long enough to become annoying, and connect with the ending. So, no complaints from me about those.
So, Tozaki is sitting on the railing at the top of a set of steps that lead down to a beach, where he's not-so-subtly ogling his first love, another student named Kurata.
In the present day Tozaki, now a freelance writer, meets Kurata whilst working on a job and they begin a relationship.
They begin by having sex, and then Kurata leaves and Tozaki thinks it's just a one night stand. Until Kurata comes back and Tozaki begins to fall in love with him all over again, this time with a clear picture of who he is.
Kurata obviously feels the same, but doesn't say anything. Neither does Tozaki and things just start to unravel slightly from there, with each thinking the other is only in the relationship for the sex and each trying to show, not tell, the other how they feel.
Tozaki's ex, who is also his boss, still has feelings for Tozaki, which throws another spanner into the works.
I enjoyed watching this, and it was quite well done. The production values were better than I expected and the acting was fairly good by the three leads, especially Tochihara Rakuto. There was one particular scene where the range of emotions that he showed on his face in the space of about a minute was impressive.
My one gripe with this was with whomever it was that did the costuming. Everyone was fine, except for poor Takahashi Yuta. For scenes where he was wearing a suit (and there were a few) he looked like a child dressed up in his Dad's clothes. I don't know that happened, because I could see the clothes fitted him, but somehow the proportions were all wrong and it was so odd it was distracting. I found it hard to take him seriously as an adult.
Would I rewatch this? Yes, I think so. It wasn't exactly a chore and it was a lovely little movie.
Oh, and one more thing: if you're reading this and thinking I've ripped it off from the other person with my user name and photo who wrote this review - i haven't. MDL decided my original account wasn't going to work anymore, and I had to make a new one. Which means I had to go and repost all the reviews I'd already written under my original account.
I did try to contact MDL about this problem, but got no answer.
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Good, but nothing you probably haven't seen before
This series has its moments, but it really isn't anything new.Solo, a freshman university student majoring in music, has been lonely ever since his mother died. His father is distant and controlling and has clear ideas about what he wants his son to be, regardless of what Solo actually wants.
One night, Solo wanders into a cafe and meets Gui, a fourth year engineering student (yes, again) whose kindness and caring start to open up Solo's frozen heart.
This had the potential to be really good but alas, it suffers from an overabundance of characters - most of whom I didn't like and couldn't bring myself to care about.
Instead of focusing on the main leads, and then one single side couple, this just had to throw in a ridiculous love square between Khim, Gui's co-worker at the cafe, Dr. Petch, his friend Dr. Perth and Khim's brother Khem. It's badly written, badly acted and painful to watch.
The side couple, Kao and Phu, are the best thing about this series. Kao is exuberant, ebullient, fun and mischievous whilst Phu is serious, solemn, sincere and upright. He even has a thing for rabbits.
Hmmm. I wonder who these two remind me of?
There was a rival for Gui's hand in the form of a junior from his dept., but he was there for about two episodes and gone again, so I don't even remember his name.
I try not to be critical of child actor as they are, y'know, children and are still learning, and little Moon was quite cute but I honestly wonder what his inclusion did for the plot.
Except....hmmm. There go those parallels again.
This series leaned full on into the terrible father trope, and then went even further with the catty love rival in the form of Linda, who was chosen by Solo's father to be his personal assistant and future bride even though Solo doesn't care about her at all and it's clear she's just after his father's money.
If you haven't watched a lot of Thai BL, and you're looking to get into it, this isn't a bad place to start. And I can't even say it's a bad series, it's just nothing new.
The main theme was kind of done to death, but I don't care because I love it and I want it on my BL playlist.
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Sincere in it's bonkers-ness
I wasn't going to watch this because so many of the comments on the show's page are so negative. So much complaining about the production, the acting, the script, and they aren't.....wrong. Not exactly.This show is completely bonkers. It veers from good, to great, to terrible, back to great again. It has moments that are so good, especially with Ace and Sky, and then the rest of the cast gets involved and it drops.
It is, however, so very sincere and earnest in it's bonkers-ness. Just when you think it won't commit, it does. It goes there.
I don't want to put anyone off watching this because, as I said, it has it's great moments, but you need to accept going in that there are going to be things that might make you cringe.
The acting by the two leads, Aki and Miko, is fine. It's great, in places, especially during the romantic and dramatic scenes, but everyone else is just so-so. And not because they aren't talented, but because they go way over the top and it verges on descending into caricature at times. (I am not Filipino, though, so this could be something in that culture that I'm ignorant of.)
The thing is, somehow, even though the acting skirts the line so closely, it never goes over it. These characters are characters, not caricatures. They all feel real. Honestly, now that I come to write this review, sometimes it all feels very meta. Like these characters are acting out their lives in over-the-top way. Like the characters themselves know they're in a t.v. show and are just doing their best to put on a performance.
This impression was solidified for me in the later episodes where the characters Ken and Jam are recording a vlog and give shout-outs to their actual, real life, you tube channels. And Kim calls up the fashion house that the actress playing her runs in real life, to order a dress. The name of the fashion label is then dropped all throughout the episode.
All in all, I enjoyed watching this and I would recommend it. It does have rewatch value, especially episodes 8 and 11, If you've already watched this, you'll know which scenes I mean. :-)
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We Best Love: Forever the First
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a lovely series that showcases how good Taiwanese BL can be
Zhou Shu Yi has been fighting to be number one since middle school. He's highly intelligent and an excellent swimmer, but he always comes up short behind Gao Shi De. When he goes to one university, and Gao Shi to another, it's a relief. Finally he can be number one. Until , that is, Gao Shi transfers to the same university, and their rivalry starts all over again. But is Gao Shi really out to beat Zhou Shu just to be annoying? Or does he have another reason?Spoiler alert - yes, he does. He's been in love with Zhou Shu for most of his life, and beating him is the only he can keep Zhou Shu's attention. When Zhou Shu's two best friends declare their love for each other, leaving Zhou Shu upset and a little lost, Gao Shi steps in and things progress from there.
The pacing for this story is consistent and fluid. Nothing drags, nothing feels like filler and no scenes are wasted. indeed, sometimes there are scenes that are too short and some things could do with extra attention, but everything still works well. There are no nonsensical sound effects and no blatantly obvious and out-of-place product placements.
The acting is excellent, especially by the two leads, and their chemistry is sizzling. When they finally kiss, it's with real passion. You can practically see the steam rising off of them. This probably shouldn't have surprised me as much as it did, as I have noticed that so many Taiwanese actors who do BL don't have a problem with the more intimate scenes. I've yet to watch one where I got the impression any of the actors were uncomfortable. If they were, they didn't show it at all.
This is exactly the kind of BL I like to watch. The plot is simple, the acting is great, the pace is perfect and the soundtrack is wonderful. It's a sweet and fluffy series with some angst sprinkled over for drama's sake and a happy ending.
It is absolutely re-watchable, and I highly recommend it.
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En of Love: Love Mechanics
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I'm going to open this by saying that if I had to choose one word to describe this series, it would be 'disappointing'.It was truly awful, and not even in the good way, where the angst abounds and you want to cry but it's all so well done that you don't mind.
The acting was pretty good, especially by War (Mark) but the story and plot were just a mess of scenes thrown together that contradicted each other and made no sense.
Let's start with what passes for a plot, shall we? Mark is pining over his fellow student, Bar, and goes on a bender to drown his feelings in alcohol. Mistaking another student, Vee, for Bar, Mark demands to know why he's so unlikeable.
Instead of taking Mark home, Vee kisses him and they have sex. No, you know what? That's too polite. Vee rapes Mark. And don't come at me to disagree. Mark is so drunk he can't even tell who he's talking to, which means he's in no position to give informed consent.
The problem is, Vee is already in a relationship and he's caught his girlfriend cheating, so he's only sleeping with Mark to get back at her. But Mark starts to have feelings for Vee, and Vee seems to reciprocate but can't let go of his girlfriend.
Deciding to break up with her, he leaves Mark to tell her it's over. And then doesn't come back, leaving Mark waiting for hours. Mark phones Vee who says he's told his girlfriend that it's over, but that he still wants to be friends and they're going to a bar for a farewell drink. He invites Mark to come along. Mark does. Then he catches Vee kissing his ex.
Mark leaves and cuts off all contact with Vee for a month, then comes back to school with a new boyfriend? (it's not made clear) and ignores Vee, who's spent the whole time trying to call Mark to sort things out. They eventually talk and get together in one of the worst finales I've ever seen.
My problems with this show are numerous, but I'm going to stick to the two biggest ones.
1. War's acting is great. He expresses so much with his eyes, you're just drawn in. The same cannot be said for the majority of the cast, especially Yin (Vee) who just comes off as lacklustre. Next to War, he shows no depth of emotion and I didn't connect with him.
2. I'm so over the love triangle trope, and this story just made it ten times worse. Vee is horrible person. His self-awareness levels are lower than Khai's from 'Theory of Love', and that's saying something. He's selfish, cruel, manipulative and thoughtless. He abandoned Mark to go to a bar with his ex-girlfriend, and then kissed her knowing full well Mark could walk in and see them because he'd invited him! Then, we he finally gets a chance to talk to Mark, the words 'I'm sorry' never cross his lips (I re-watched the scene to double check this, and that is not an exaggeration - he never actually says the words.) He makes excuses for his behaviour and then thinks he can solve everything by saying "I love you" to Mark. Since this is BL, it works - which just ended up making me angry.
Are there any bright spots in this show? Well, yes actually, and their names are Yiwaa and James, who are great friends and stick up for Mark and are on his side and I love them.
Rewatch value? This show has none. it's a dumpster fire from start to finish, and one could argue that's mostly due to 'Rona' but, from the little I could glean from the comments, the source material isn't exactly wonderful and this is an improvement. Too bad it wasn't enough of one.
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A return to good form for Thai BL
In terms of writing and acting, was this the best Thai BL I've ever seen? No.Was it better by far than some of the other show we've all been subjected to recently? Absolutely, yes.
This has so much going for it. There is no glaringly unsubtle product placement (yes, this series could've been sponsored by Jenga, but it's not constantly in your face), no over-the-top sound effects punctuating every other sentence, no scheming female characters trying to break up the couples and, thank goodness, the shippers behaviour was restricted to a bit of gossip and didn't verge on harassment and stalking.
The plot revolves around a group of students in their last year of high school. Paper, Tong Fah and Chris are all close friends. Chris has a crush on Jeno, who is being bullied by his ex, Arthur. Tong Fah has a crush on Paper. And another student, Near, works at a local gaming cafe and is being courted online through a game. He doesn't realise that it's his fellow cafe worker, M, who's doing the courting.
Now, this series can get a little preachy at times. Some of the dialogue starts to sound like inspirational speeches and it's sending a very obvious and clear message about how the end of high school should be approached and how to manage people's expectation of what comes next.
The bullying gets very egregious in parts, especially in the first three episodes, so consider this a warning if bullying is a trigger for you. Unlike other Thai BL's, though, where you wonder why the adults are even in it because they clearly don't care, this behaviour is addressed and the student being bullied is listened to, believed and supported.
The student doing the bullying suffers actual consequences and, even though they're not harsh, it's such an improvement on how other shows I've seen deal with abusive and violent behaviour. I'm sure I don't need to name names.
Also, the bully recognises his behaviour is wrong and apologises sincerely - again, character development we rarely see.
This is a small series consisting of only six episodes, all of which I watched in a day. The episodes are an hour long, however, so it isn't like you're left feeling short-changed and, even if Near and M didn't get the nearly the amount of screen time as the other characters, they still had plenty of development.
The pacing was fairly consistent, the editing relatively good (there were some parts where I was slightly confused because I was watching flashbacks that weren't differentiated from the present time in the story, but I did understand it all by the end) and the music is lovely.
The acting isn't so great sometimes, but given that for two of them it was their first acting job and for the others they've mainly had support roles, it's not horrible. There's some real talent in this cast.
This is a good series and I enjoyed it. It definitely has rewatch value and I'm happy to recommend it.
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En of Love: This is Love Story
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What is this, and how do I get back the time I wasted on it?
After watching 'Tossara', and being generally happy with it, I was looking forward to 'Love Mechanics'.'Love Mechanics' turned out to be a huge disappointment, but I thought, I'll give 'This Is Love Story' a go. It can't be worse, right?
It wasn't, but it wasn't great either.
THE STORY:
Nuea, a uni student in the faculty of engineering (because, where else?) falls in love with Praram, one of the twin younger brothers of Gun (Bar's love interest from Tossara.) Despite having never even spoken to the younger man (he's 19 turning 20, so he is properly described as a young man) he declares to his friends he's going to start a relationship with him. What follows are his attempts to get to know, and court, Praram.
ACTING:
The same actor plays both twins (Praram and Prarak) so they're not often in the same scene together, but Benz does a great job distinguishing the two characters.
Prom doesn't do a bad job as Nuea. It helps that all the cast has been in all three series, so they've improved since Tossara. Yin (Vee) is actually watchable now, though he still lacks chemistry with War (Mark.)
THE BAD:
We see too much of everyone else, and not enough of the main couple. I'm biased, obviously, because my palms itch every time I see Vee. He's not so much of an asshole in this, because it isn't his story, but that doesn't stop me wanting to slap his face anytime he appears on screen.
Most of this series is Nuea sitting around typing on his phone or laptop. This may have something to do with C-19, but that's still not an excuse. I'd rather have waited for this to be released than suffered through it as is. One character sitting around for 10 minutes typing on a laptop is boring.
The costume dept. is still struggling, apparently, because Mark is missing his engineering shirt (they didn't have enough to go around?) and they've still got Win (Gun) in those godawful glasses that do absolutely nothing for his facial structure. No, really, he's wearing a different pair in his MDL bio pic and they work much better.
And we're missing an episode. There were supposed to be four, just like 'Tossara' and 'Love Mechanics', but we only got three. So, the story (what there is of it) is rushed. Oh, and apparently "congratulations" are an acceptable birthday greeting and, despite the brothers being identical twins, only Praram was turning twenty.....
Yeah.
THE GOOD:
Not much. The OST was pretty good, and the one scene with Nuea and Praram talking on the bed was actually great. Normally, in these kinds of BL's, the older male lead is all over the younger one being pushy and forceful and demanding and jealous.
Nuea had one brief moment of jealously, apologised for it, was genuinely sorry for it and told Praram that he wanted to be 'good enough' for him. It was lovely seeing an honest, mature declaration of feelings and intentions from Nuea, giving Praram the choice to say no, and not just a lot of demands.
REWATCH VALUE?:
Nope, none. I could barely get through it the first time, I was so bored. Studio Wabi Sabi needs to up their game and know when not to release something. Quality over quantity or quickness, please.
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skip the first two episode, watch the other four
This is a series of six small episode featuring some very popular pairings from Thai BL. They are stand-alone episodes and only run about 15 minutes or so. Like everyone else, I'm going to just rate each episode and go from there.EP.1 'Pretend to Love' starring Ohm Thitipat and Fluke Natouch as Pierce and Typhoon respectively. I don't know who thought this was a good idea. Pierce was an insensitive asshole and, as nice as it is to watch Fluke dial up the tears, all I wanted was for Typhoon to have more agency in his own story. I'm not sure what the writers were going for here, but they missed the mark by a mile. My Score: 3/10
EP.2 'Just Friend' starring First Chalongrat as Moo Joom (a cat, apparently) and Ja Phachara as Xin. I don't even know what to say about this. What the f*$k? sums it up pretty well. It wasn't clear at all what was going on. I have no problem with people being affectionate with their pets, but that scene in the bathroom? That went beyond "being affectionate" and into something else. I was so disappointed that this is the story they chose to give First and Ja. What a shame. It's better than the first episode, but still weird as all get out. My Score: 2/10
EP.3 'Willing or Not' starring Max Rujeerattanavorapan as Titan and Nat Uareksit as Mini. This one brought the whole series back around to good again. It was funny and charming and sweet and lovely to watch. Titan was so enthusiastic about teaching Mini judo and supporting him in the competition and Mini was all for trying to Titan save his club, albeit a bit reluctantly. My Score: 8/10
EP.4 'Just one Life' starring Lay Talay as XiaoPing and Yoon Phusanu as Peam. Continuing the rise upwards, this is another great episode. In this one, Peam has just been dumped via text and XiaoPing takes him through several rituals at a various places (a buddha statue, a maze, a mountain, a bridge) to try and change his karma and get his girlfriend back. This one is very sweet and, although I personally would have preferred Lay to act with Perth Nakhun, Yoon and he do have great chemistry and this episode is wonderful. My Score: 8/10
EP.5 'Dear My Star' starring Jimmy Karn Kritsanaphan as Night and Tommy Sittichok Pueakpoolpol as Mekhin (Mek.) I'll admit I'm biased about this one, because Jimmy and Tommy have had my heart ever since 'Why R U?' and I am on tenterhooks waiting for 'Middleman's Love'. I also love the fact this is set in 1995. For someone who was a teenager in the '90's, this was a heartwarming trip down memory lane. Night and Mek having to call each other over the landline and not having any privacy because there was only one in the house and it was out in the hallway or lounge where everyone could get to it....yeah, I felt that. This episode is what pushed the rating from a 5 or 6 to an 8 for me. My Score: 9/10
EP.6 'Imagine You' starring Kimmon Warodom Khemmonta as jedi and Copter Panuwat Kerdthongtavee as Ray. This was another odd one, but nowhere near the levels of WTF as episode 2. Mostly I was just left wondering if Jedi was talking to Ray through the VR or if Ray was imagining everything. Either way, it doesn't actually matter, because it's Kim and Copter and I didn't realise I'd been missing them so much on screen together until I saw them. My Score: 8/10
These all are what they are and, for the most part, they're an enjoyable little break from sometimes not-so-great real life. You can sit down and watch with the beverage and snack of your choice and just escape for a while. I'd still skip the first two episodes, but the last four are definitely worth watching and you wouldn't be wasting your time.
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cute and fluffy but overall very confusing
This series had a good a premise if you just go by the description given here on MDL, but the production staff took that premise, threw it on the ground, and then jumped on it for good measure.The basics of it are there, I'll give them that, but that's it.
The thing that really ruins this BL isn't the budget, the acting, the script, or even the directing - it's the editing.
I don't know who was in charge of the editing or who was making the final decisions, but it's shocking. Scenes don't transition smoothly, the pacing is terrible and there were times I was genuinely confused about what was going on.
There is no excuse for this. I've watched five minutes fan edits on YouTube that are a masterclass in editing - if someone who isn't even in the industry can do it, the people behind the scenes for this production should have been able to do a much better job.
Honestly, this series is tedious and boring and, although it has some sweet moments and cute actors, it really isn't worth watching.
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Slightly better, but not by much
This was fairly obviously an attempt by the production team to fix the problems that caused the barrage of complaints about 2gether. It was a good try, but it still didn't fix everything.I don't believe these two are a couple. I know they love each other, miss each other and are happy with each other, and they definitely communicate with each other better than some couples in BL I've seen, but they are still two of the most chaste young men I've ever seen on screen.
Someone tell Sarawat that "I'll kiss you til you moan" implies actually kissing. This series, like the last, has exactly one kiss between Tine and Sarawat and, whilst it's better than the one from the first series, it's still not exactly filled with passion.
I know this, and 2gether, were made at an awkward time. The pandemic has f*ck%d everything, but I've seen other BL made during the same time period that manage to have more than just one awkward kiss. And some were made in Thailand, even.
I really, really wish that production companies would stop hiring actors who won't commit to the roles, and that actors wouldn't take roles they know they aren't going to be able to fully commit to and aren't comfortable in.
Because it's clear that's what's happened here. Bright clearly doesn't want to be kissing Win. Win seems a little more comfortable with it, and I suspect he'd probably be better if he wasn't acting with Bright but that's what he's got to work with.
I did like this better than 2gether, and I enjoyed seeing more of Phukong and Mil and them having an actual relationship. Green and Dim were very funny and sweet together, even when they were arguing and Type and Man made a lot of strides in their relationship and had several mature and honest talks which impressed me.
This has slightly more rewatch value than the first series and it's worth a watch if you haven't yet.
All in all, not a bad series.
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