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Chances are (pardon the pun), if you've seen one BL from Thailand, you have seen Second Chance as well.
Second Chance was a six-episodes short series filled with all imaginable clichés you can find in lakorns, BL or non-BL. It revolves around the theme of forgiveness, begging for a second shot at a relationship that never came into fruition (hence the title, "Second Chance").
We start off with our two leads, Paper and Sky, fighting over a misunderstanding in a scene that is very reminiscent of Dark Blue Kiss, with the latter being pushed into a pool in reckless abandon. While I have to admit that the pool scene was filmed very well, I can't help but wonder: Thais love filming underwater, don't they? Seems like the creator of this series tore several pages off Dark Blue Kiss's book.
And then we get that big ol' flashback: we see Paper and Sky being the best of friends, both ranked top of the class, both with great ambitions for their future. They have grown up together as best friends but, in the Thai BL universe, no two seemingly straight guys can remain best friends forever.
We now get to see that basketball scene --- a game that elevated Paper and Sky's relationship into a new level after falling on each other's faces when one of them lost his footing. Sigh. This kind of scene again? I could swear these lakorn creators have run out of ideas. We get the usual 5 seconds of silence as the two boys stare at each other's eyes, and as they picked themselves up from the floor, they just knew from that moment that their friendship will never be the same.
Then enters the third guy in their circle: the overzealous yet directionless Chris. Apparently he's been a long friend of Paper and Sky yet he totally has no clue that either of his friends could be gay. Hmmm, where have I heard that concept before? Ah yes, in about 95% of the Thai BLs I've watched. If Paper and Sky borrows plenty of elements from Dark Blue Kiss, the story of Chris is a watered-down ripoff of another beloved yet questionable Thai BL, Love by Chance. You see, on the outset, there's no reason for us to suspect that Chris is also gay. He's ready to rumble, goes to a Muay Thai studio every week, being the joker in his circle of friends, etc. But for some reason, he is charmed head over heels by Jeno, a shy gay schoolmate who is being chased non-stop by bullies. Do you see now the resemblance with Love by Chance?
Chris is basically a carbon copy of Ae yet is light years behind him when it comes to being physically, emotionally and (possibly) sexually abusive to his partner. Disgusting little creep. Anyway with that being said, I could describe Chris as a much improved version of Ae as I have never seen him harm nobody. He truly loves Jeno, but for reasons that have never been made clear to the audience.
Similarly, Jeno is an improved version of Love by Chance's Pete in the sense that he actually does something to defend himself from his bullies. Funny enough, Jeno's bully is also a carbon copy of Pete's bully as they both literally disappear mid-season, leaving no proper conclusion to their plotline. One thing that confuses me about Jeno is that his personality makes a complete 180-degree turn literally the day after signing up for Muay Thai classes. From weak and bashful, he suddenly became brash and snobbish. I wonder what happened during his first session?
We also have this weird plotline involving a third pair. M and Near are working in a boardgame cafe being frequented by the Paper/Sky/Chris gang. I have to say that this subplot is the one truly original contribution of Second Chance to the BL universe as it introduces a concept we've never heard of (so far) --- about two guys catfish-ing each other. While keeping their identities hidden, M and Near falls for each other through an online game. Yet their story suffers from one of the lousiest writing I have seen. Similar to Paper/Sky and Chris/Jeno, there was zero development in these characters' arcs.
Outside of these three subplots, there's also this annoying supporting female character that is just so fucking corny.
I wonder why the comments and reviews are praising this little "gem" when there is little to be praised about it. Acting is subpar (though I'd admit that Mawin and Run, who played Chris and Jeno, were quite good), writing is lazy, and there literally is only one score in its entire soundtrack (that guitar strum is repetitive/annoying AF). But surely there is something to see here, right? Well yes, if you are a hardcore fujoshi who gets off at seeing guys making out, Fluke and Tong (playing Paper and Sky) had an intense makeout sesh at the middle of the series. Right off the bat I would say it was one of the hottest kisses I have seen in Thai BLs, where most leads would simply press their lips with each other and sell that off as a "kiss." But Fluke and Tong put their hearts into their big reveal apparently, showing boys (and girls) how it's done!
Overall: 2.5/10
Second Chance was a six-episodes short series filled with all imaginable clichés you can find in lakorns, BL or non-BL. It revolves around the theme of forgiveness, begging for a second shot at a relationship that never came into fruition (hence the title, "Second Chance").
We start off with our two leads, Paper and Sky, fighting over a misunderstanding in a scene that is very reminiscent of Dark Blue Kiss, with the latter being pushed into a pool in reckless abandon. While I have to admit that the pool scene was filmed very well, I can't help but wonder: Thais love filming underwater, don't they? Seems like the creator of this series tore several pages off Dark Blue Kiss's book.
And then we get that big ol' flashback: we see Paper and Sky being the best of friends, both ranked top of the class, both with great ambitions for their future. They have grown up together as best friends but, in the Thai BL universe, no two seemingly straight guys can remain best friends forever.
We now get to see that basketball scene --- a game that elevated Paper and Sky's relationship into a new level after falling on each other's faces when one of them lost his footing. Sigh. This kind of scene again? I could swear these lakorn creators have run out of ideas. We get the usual 5 seconds of silence as the two boys stare at each other's eyes, and as they picked themselves up from the floor, they just knew from that moment that their friendship will never be the same.
Then enters the third guy in their circle: the overzealous yet directionless Chris. Apparently he's been a long friend of Paper and Sky yet he totally has no clue that either of his friends could be gay. Hmmm, where have I heard that concept before? Ah yes, in about 95% of the Thai BLs I've watched. If Paper and Sky borrows plenty of elements from Dark Blue Kiss, the story of Chris is a watered-down ripoff of another beloved yet questionable Thai BL, Love by Chance. You see, on the outset, there's no reason for us to suspect that Chris is also gay. He's ready to rumble, goes to a Muay Thai studio every week, being the joker in his circle of friends, etc. But for some reason, he is charmed head over heels by Jeno, a shy gay schoolmate who is being chased non-stop by bullies. Do you see now the resemblance with Love by Chance?
Chris is basically a carbon copy of Ae yet is light years behind him when it comes to being physically, emotionally and (possibly) sexually abusive to his partner. Disgusting little creep. Anyway with that being said, I could describe Chris as a much improved version of Ae as I have never seen him harm nobody. He truly loves Jeno, but for reasons that have never been made clear to the audience.
Similarly, Jeno is an improved version of Love by Chance's Pete in the sense that he actually does something to defend himself from his bullies. Funny enough, Jeno's bully is also a carbon copy of Pete's bully as they both literally disappear mid-season, leaving no proper conclusion to their plotline. One thing that confuses me about Jeno is that his personality makes a complete 180-degree turn literally the day after signing up for Muay Thai classes. From weak and bashful, he suddenly became brash and snobbish. I wonder what happened during his first session?
We also have this weird plotline involving a third pair. M and Near are working in a boardgame cafe being frequented by the Paper/Sky/Chris gang. I have to say that this subplot is the one truly original contribution of Second Chance to the BL universe as it introduces a concept we've never heard of (so far) --- about two guys catfish-ing each other. While keeping their identities hidden, M and Near falls for each other through an online game. Yet their story suffers from one of the lousiest writing I have seen. Similar to Paper/Sky and Chris/Jeno, there was zero development in these characters' arcs.
Outside of these three subplots, there's also this annoying supporting female character that is just so fucking corny.
I wonder why the comments and reviews are praising this little "gem" when there is little to be praised about it. Acting is subpar (though I'd admit that Mawin and Run, who played Chris and Jeno, were quite good), writing is lazy, and there literally is only one score in its entire soundtrack (that guitar strum is repetitive/annoying AF). But surely there is something to see here, right? Well yes, if you are a hardcore fujoshi who gets off at seeing guys making out, Fluke and Tong (playing Paper and Sky) had an intense makeout sesh at the middle of the series. Right off the bat I would say it was one of the hottest kisses I have seen in Thai BLs, where most leads would simply press their lips with each other and sell that off as a "kiss." But Fluke and Tong put their hearts into their big reveal apparently, showing boys (and girls) how it's done!
Overall: 2.5/10
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