3
5
jpny01
Absolute Masterpiece
This is not really a BL. The secondary couple is more "typically" BL, but they serve as a contrast to the main story - more on that below.This is a very complex and layered story - it's not so convoluted that it's incomprehensible, but it will help a viewer to go into it understanding that how people act is not as simple as it first appears. The two leads are not hard to look at, and neither are most of the secondary characters. There is humor in this story, but it's not a comedy and it's certainly not fluff. Keep in mind that it's very consciously framed as a fairy tale - and fairy tales always have a positive message to give, but they also contain a lot of darkness.
As you've probably noticed, the reaction to this is either a "10" or a "1". I feel like it's impossible for this to be a 1, just based on the acting and quality of the production - but I think many people don't understand what they're watching, or were expecting a BL, in which case maybe I can understand, because this contains none of the standard BL formulas. If you're looking for something cute and fluffy, I would recommend against watching this. But it does have one of the most affirming messages you could find in a drama, and is clearly designed for family viewing.
A lot of people have absolutely no mercy for Nut, the main character, extremely well-acted by Job Thuchapon - "toxic, abusive, gaslighting (!) and selfish". It's clear early on that this is someone who as experienced very serious trauma, included sustained emotional and physical abuse - to the point of PTSD. This is a young man who has suffered all that, and has, completely alone, had to support a mentally ill mother since he was a teen. As the story progresses and you grow to understand the true depth of what he's suffered, it's hard for me to believe that so many people can't develop any compassion for him. He's not perfect, and so he's "canceled".
He's one of the first protagonists in a BL-ish story that's complex, realistic, and fully realized - he's not an archetype, and you don't even know if he's a seme or uke - because there's no such thing in real life, so there isn't in a realistic story, either. He's complicated, the product of his life, and flawed, like all of us. And also explicitly and unambiguously identifies as gay, which is rare in BL, but fortunately this is starting to improve.
The secondary couple has a lot of "typical" BL characteristics, including the enemies-to-lovers trope, but this is a conscious choice with a specific purpose. The key to this is their parents. Gen's are wholly and completely supportive, and Song's father is obviously loving, but absent and ambivalent about Song's sexuality - but ultimately this is worry, not lack of acceptance, and his reaction is quite a bit more typical in the experience of lgbtq+ youth than the more ideal parents Song has. (Regretably, Nut's experience is all too common as well.)
The reason for this is to show the contrast between getting love from a healthy family and the horror Nut faced from a monstrously abusive father and a weak and ill mother. Song's relationship with his father is not idyllic, but shows healthy resolution of trauma (the years-ago death of Song's brother) and bridging diffrences through love and understanding.
Nut only receives this through a miracle.
It should be fairly clear fairly early on that you are probably not going to get the ending you would want - but it's the only ending possible. A quick comment on that is below as a spoiler.
The production is first-rate - this must have had a serious budget and so much love was poured into this.
The ending is bittersweet but not sad. The message of this fairy tale is powerful and beautiful: there is no power greater than love, not even death, and there is nothing that it can't overcome.
Story: 10. There are a couple of flaws that I believe are the result of cuts to the length - I understand several hours had to be removed to get it down to 16 90-minute episodes. But the writing is easily the best I've ever seen if you count this as a BL, and among the best of any series of any kind I've ever seen.
Acting: 10. In Sarin is perfect as the innocent teddy bear - innocent but not stupid or weak. Job's role is challenging as the complex and damaged Nut, and he's wonderful. Um Apasiri is powerful in every one of her scenes as Nut's ill mother Na. Tee Thanapon, who was underwhelming in 2Moons, has improved enormously and holds his own with a strong cast. All the minor roles are well-acted, including the annoying female coworker (who will grow on you once she gives up on her hopeless love, and is the character who voices the underlying message of the story).
Music: 9: Just right and ably supports the story, and never drowns it out.
Rewatch: 3: It's rewatchable, and I think anyone would benefit from a second viewing to pick up a lot of the subtleties that might have been missed the first time. However, it's 24 hours long and very heavy, so it's hard to imagine watching it again.
Overall: 10. This is a beautiful and powerful series - it will stay with me, and will always be one of my favorites.
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Really cute and with a good message
On the face of it, the main character, Fukuhara, has terrible luck. One day, he realizes the popular Shinomiya is the opposite - he has fantastic luck, and Fukuhara decides to get close to him to take advantage of this, and accidentally becomes his boyfriend.This seems a fairly straightforward fake relationship to real relationship story, with the lucky/unlucky framework. But where the story takes on some complexity that is easy to miss, is that Fukuhara sees everything in black and white - good luck vs bad luck - but he never considers how good luck can be a curse too. Shinomiya never knows when people really like him or if they're trying to exploit him - he doesn't have to develop any skills, or work at anything, or can he get a sense of satisfaction for accomplishing anything, because everyhing goes his way. In fact, the first time they meet, it's Fukuhara that rescues Shinomiya from being swamped by adoring girls - and it's "bad" luck that brings Shinomiya into his life. It's very yin and yang - good luck and bad luck are also each other.
But the other message of the story is that luck is a matter of attitude. Have you ever noticed that when you're in a hurry, all the traffic lights are red? Why is that? It's because when you're not in a hurry, you don't really notice them. They're just part of driving. Likewise, if you have a negative outlook, you focus on unfortunate things that happen, and might miss all the positive things happening around you, or fail to take advantage of opportunities that come your way. The opposite is true for someone who has a positive outlook.
How unlucky is Fukuhara? Everyone likes him, and a beautiful man, inside and out (especially out) falls in love with him instantly, both for his looks and his quirky personality. A lot of the "bad" luck leads to positive results - it's just that he doesn't see it that way because he's focused on the negative. Even the final crisis - was it unlucky? It certainly appeared to be spectacularly unlucky - but nothing bad happened, and nothing bad could have happened, but it had a very positive outome. So wasn't it actually lucky?
Deep, right?
The writing avoids predictability and cliche - Shimomiya is a classic Prince Charming, but there are times when Fukuhara makes confessions that in a "standard" BL would result in a serious and romantic swoop by the seme, but here Shinomiya cracks up laughing - and it's perfect instead of cringey.
The acting is wonderful - both actors have great comic timing. Soto Ryosuke is adorable and hilarious, OTT, but in just the right way, and Sato Yusuke is just beautiful. Especially when he takes his shirt off. (I'm shallow. And I own it.)
What prevents this from reaching 9 or 10 territory for me is that it's really almost a bromance, and there's really no particular reason for this. A little too much of the run time is taken up by what feels like a repetitive cycle of Fukuhara resisting Shinomiya. In the discussion forum, people came up with many justifications - Fukuhara felt guilty, Fukuhara had low self-esteem and didn't feel worthy, etc. The problem is that we hear Fukuhara's entire inner monologue, and he "thinks" none of these - he just feels the needs to resist. This, and the lack of any physical resolution to their relationship - not even a hug - smells of institutional homophobia. The writing isn't explicitly so - Fukuhara never says "I can't be gay!", and Shinomya appears to be gay, as he states what his "type" is. Fukuhara doesn't think he can manage to fall asleep in the same bed as Shinomiya, suggesting he's sexually excited by the intimate proximity, etc. But, well, actions speak louder than words, and at the end they have a tickle fight, which is cute, but not really the most satisfying end to a romance.
Still, this is a pleasant watch, with some funny moments, more depth than it appears to have on the surface, sharp dialog, and plenty of eye candy, so I have no problem recommending this to everyone - it's hard to imagine anyone not liking it.
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Possibly the worst... anything that I've seen.
You know how when you pass a huge accident on the road you can't help but look? Well, at least in that case something interesting has happened. This more like passing a cactus and staring at it until it does something.I gave it a '1' for story, because there's no "0". That sounds harsh, but there's actually no plot. There are times you may think there's one, but it's a trick. This series is so random that I almost always had to go back and check that I didn't skip an episode because the current one never really had a connection to any of the past episodes. There are so many random things thrown into this that it's bewildering. There's even an entire new character with apparently nefarious intent (judging by the ominous music cues whenever he appears) thrown into the very last episode that is totally unconnected with anything else and you have no idea (and never find out) what he wants or intends. That happens a lot. This really feels like there was a pile of 30 BL scripts on a desk and someone accidentally knocked them into a shredder and this is what they came up with by randomly taping scraps together. That sounds exaggerated, but it's not.
Let me give you an example: It's hinted that one of the characters has done something wrong. Barely hinted. Then at the end of an episode, everyone's phones start dinging - they all glance at their phones, then turn to stare at the character. And that's it. We never find out what the text said, or what the character in question did, nor does this have any meaningful effect on the story.
Another example: Milk and Pun suddenly have a kid. He's 5 years old as there has been a time jump. There are scenes of Pun being a cute dad. Then the mother shows up and says - "Thanks guys, I'm talking him back." I guess she realized he's old enough to vacuum her house now or something. To be fair, Pun is depressed, but as is standard for a BL, a damp towel wipedown cures him of that.
I slogged through this because the main character, Milk, is so cute that puppies are goblin sharks in comparison (don't google that before bedtime). And Dr. Pun looks extremely good when he steps out of the shower. And I hoped they would get together in some beautiful and romantic way. In the end it seemed like neither of them had anything better to do.
This series is so dreary that when their relationship is formalized everyone is sitting on one side of a table in what I would have thought was a conscious imitation of The Last Supper, but it can't be because there's a story behind the Last Supper and that would mean that whoever wrote this is aware of the idea of a story.
There are BLs where there is no kissing. That's OK in many cases, because they're set in high school and the characters have never dated or kissed anyone before. This series ends with the characters in their 30s, and Milk still acts like the creature from Alien is unhinging its jaw next to him whenever he's in danger of being kissed by Pun. There is a 5-year time jump, during which time they've been togther - and living together, sleeping in the same bed, and they still have never kissed, let alone had sex. Even when Pun proposes marriage, all he gets is a grunt and a peck on the cheek. The lack of intimacy in this is so severe that I don't know what else to call it but homophobia. They don't even directly refer to relationships - it's easy to miss because everyone speaks of them in oblique terms. They could be talking about working together, accidentally bumping into each other in an elevator, running over someone with their car, or being in an LTR - it's hard to tell.
This is full of people pontificating about life and happiness with the profundity of a greeting card you pick up at the supermarket because you forgot your nephew's birthday. There are very, very long monologues about this at random times when it has no relevance to anything else that's going on.
This diretor/screenwriter also did Love Sick 2 and Friend Forever, and after those two valiant attempts has finally succeeded in making the most boring and miserable series possible.
The technical qualities of this are OK, but not ever exceptional. There are a few funny mistakes, like a big red 'X' taped to a bench to indicate where an actor should sit. (To be fair, he sat on it, so it worked.)
Acting: 5. I don't think anyone's actually acting, so it's not any more terrible than people standing around talking, but nobody every really does anything involving more skill than people standing around talking. Son Ravisut makes an impression as Milk, and Petch Jakkaphet makes an impression with his exposed glistening torso, but both of those are shallow qualities. There are occassional glimpses of ability in Son, but I can't be sure given the material. And other than cuteness, there's not really much to recommend him. If you refuse to engage in m/m intimacy, then don't accept a role in a BL.
Music: 1. There are three snippets of stock music the editor downloaded. One is that standard bassoon melody for light moments, then there is something bland for normal stuff, and an ominous track for when something dark is happening. Dark is too strong - more like a tiny diminution of light like when a moth is flying a meter or so from a lamp. That's about as much as the tone of the series ever changes.
Rewatch value: 2 - there is one scene I've rewatched. Dr. Pun takes a shower and stands around for a minute or so glistening and wearing only a towel around his waist.
Overall: 2.5 - This is truly terrible and a complete waste of time. It's absolutely incomprehensible that this could ever have been made.
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The Circumstances of Pungdeok Villa Room 304
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A little formulaic, but cute
The acting and dialogue are good, and there's no useless uke. The wardrobe is spectacular, and it's an easy watch.Maybe too easy a watch - I don't have any clear memories of the earlier episodes, so it's a bit forgetable. A few things that stand out is that despite the large power differential, the characters are equals, which is a refreshing change from the Thai formula.
There is an unfortunate plot trope in the second-to-last episode that it would have been very nice to avoid - it's a real stinker - and their relationship changes a bit fast, so I think it could have used two more episodes, and I'm starting to worry that BL writers are all alcoholics, but all-in-all it's a cute series, the leads are very attractive, and you can't really go wrong by watching.
But you're unlikely to remember it a few weeks later.
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That was bad.
I think everyone here was in the same boat, wondering why on earth we were watching this, and yet we did. For me, it was about the discussion section, which was far more entertaining than the series. This wasn't the worst BL I've ever seen, but it was the most boring and pointless.I'll start with negatives and end on positives, if I can think of any.
- There was no plot. None. Nothing happened the entire season. Well, one thing happened, but I'm putting it under positives.
- Even given there was no plot, the writing was truly terrible. Nothing really made sense. Like Kit and Mark practicing to be apart for almost the entire season. If there was a reason why anyone was watching this, I imagine it was MarKit, and we got almost none of them. There's an episode where a third of the runtime is taken up by a discussion about putting on a play. Not an actual play, but discussing the details of a production, like how the props would be done, and who would play which characters. Much of the rest of the episode was people texting each other. Riveting.
- The main character, Wayu, is the most useless person imaginable. He doesn't do anything, can't do anything, and he has no agency. He's everything wrong with the seme-uke dynamic.
- The romances were so tame that most viewers have likely had racier relationships in primary school. They are nauseatingly saccharine and totally passionless. The only moment of heat the entire season was when Pok attacked Tong in the shower.
- Sandee was criminally underused. Bank was easily the best actor in this, and by the end of the series even he'd given up.
- Big, who plays Pha, never once took off his shirt, and that bod needs to be shared. You'd think laying in a hospital bed for an entire season that someone would give him a sponge bath at some point. Speaking of which, why would you bother to have a character that does absolutely nothing but lie in a hospital bed for an entire season? Although I'm not complaining because his death, funeral, and tombstone are 95% of what's good about this series.
Positives:
- Bank as Sandee. The way he can pack malice into a subtle look, or mischief, loneliness, or all of the above made for a character that much of the audience was cheering on, and he was the villain out to destroy everyone. Sadly, he failed.
- There were things in here that were so bad that they were good. Kit and Wayu go to see Pha at the hospital. and as they arrive, his crying mother is exiting the room, and she says "he's gone! (i.e. dead)". So the boys go in and have a conversation with Pha, who has either resurrected, or he had been asleep and his mother just assumed he was dead and didn't bother to check. It's a good thing they're Christians and didn't have him cremated prematurely.
When he did kick the bucket, his funeral involved plopping onto a lawn a tiny casket that might possibly fit a small child, which suggests they had Pha dismembered and stuffed into it. I guess Pha's mother was on a budget and decided to forego gravediggers. She also didn't attend the funeral. That along with her apparent indifference to whether or not he was dead at any given moment created the impression she didn't much care for him.
In a later episode, it appears that wild animals dragged off the coffin as they are wont to do (which is why you need grave diggers), and in its place was the most hysterically funny tombstone you will ever see. That sounds exaggerated, I know. But it was. I couldn't tell if it was a novelty cake or made of styrofoam, except whatever production assistant made it accidentally ran over it with his car and tried to tape it together or something.
Story: 1 - There isn't one.
Acting: 5 - I hate to criticize actors, but none of them except Bank (Sandee) put in a good performance. I think it was probably terrible directing, because I've seen some of these guys do good work elsewhere. But here the directions seems to have been "keep your face and voice as blank as possible, pause for ten seconds between every phrase you speak, and always move unnecessarily slowly."
Music: 1 - you will want to smash things listening to that same two bars of music over and over for 12 episodes.
Rewatch Value: 1 - forget the gun to the head - you'd have to threaten to nuke a country to get me to watch this again. Except the funeral scene. That I could watch again.
Overall: 3. The suggested was 2, but a score that low would have to be for something aggressively awful, instead of passively awful like this series.
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It's good, but...
Given the limited budget, this is extremely well-made, with obvious passion invested by everyone involved, which I've come to expect from this group. The cinematography and directing are wonderful with fantastic performances pulled out of talented actors, the music selections ar great, and the German subtitles are first rate, so I hear.It's great to see Art Pakpoom in a leading role again, and Michael Kiettisak puts in another top-tier performance - he may be the most underrated actor in BL - I'm still haunted by his horrifying abuse victim in Call It What You Want.
The story, however, prevents these ingredients from reaching their full potential. It perhaps tries to do too much - social commentary, messaging about how short life is, wanting to be a '90s Gregg Araki film, horror, adventure, romance, comedy...
So while I appreciate how well-done this is, the big question is, did I enjoy watching it? Not really. It's very violent, it's a bit all-over-the-place as a genre, and commentary about the corruption in society and the human condition are either extremely unsubtle (like who gets to go to the bunker - that was hammer-over-the-head commentary), or undermined by the contrasting trio of antagonists. Because the villains were all psychopaths, they contributed no meaning. If we're looking at different choices in how to spend the last two weeks of your life, basically good people versus people who want to violently murder as many people as possible before they die says nothing. There is nothing about them identify with, you can have no sympathy for them, they have no point to make, they're just evil and must be destroyed.
Why not have people who are so greedy that they steal and accumulate wealth, or so desire power that they try to rule everyone else? Or even if they had wanted to have sex with as many people as possible before the worlds ends, that would be relatable, for sure if everyone looks like the cast.
So as a result, the series gets bogged down in with a large amount of screentime being chewed up by horrible people who have nothing to do but have surprisingly graphic and sweaty sex (probably the most realistic sex scene ever in a BL) and kill people, which they do, a lot (unfortunately the killing, not the sex).
In addition, instead of examining how impending doom might affect the course of romance, the main pair fall into a depressingly conventional seme-uke pattern, where Art acts like a Victorian twelve-year-old, when even a Victorian twelve-year-old would throw up her hands, say 'f$%& propriety', and want to bang Golf and his brother 24/7 if the world were ending. But Art acts like a kiss on the cheek in a completely abandoned world is scandalous. Art has no agency and is helpless and useless, requiring Golf to do everything for him.
Everything is too predictable, and you end up stressed out knowing characters you don't want to die are going to die, stupid decisions to be made are telegraphed - decisions that are inexplicably out of character, which is lazy writing.
And to get it out of the way, there was an incredible amount of criticism of the faulty astrophysics - if the moon were on a collision course with the Earth, the Earth's gravity would break it up, and there would be horrendous natural disasters, so this is too unrealistic. THAT'S the line you're going to draw in the sand? There are BLs where one of the main pair is dead, or a vampire, nobody sweats after running a mile through Bangkok in the afteroon while wearing a wool suit, every male student at the school is gay and rich, you can turn a straight guy gay if you trip and have him catch you - but not having earthquakes and tsunamis in a project that likely had a 5-figure budget is unacceptable? Anyway, the moon crashing into the earth is symbolic and metaphorical - it doesn't need to be realistic.
So do I recommend this? Yes, unless you don't like gore. All the positives I mentioned at the top make it worth your time - this isn't a rehashed plot, it's not full of tropes and cliches, and you get to watch very attractive people who can both act and look great with their shirts off. If that seemed like a lot of criticism, it's because I think this could have been one of the best BLs of all time instead of merely good. While the characters are largely more appealing, this doesn't quite have the polished genius of Call It What You Want.
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So bad it's good? No. Just plain awful.
Well, that happened.You know how a lot of BLs have eight episodes-worth of story stretched out to 12 and have 4 totally unnecessary characters that just chew up time? Well, this series has 4 epsiodes of story stretching into 18 with 40 totally unnecessary characters that just chew up time.
So again we have Fluke Natouch paired with a talking mannequin that makes him cry a lot. That's OK, though, because we have the sublimely handsome Peterpan Thasapon and Noh Phouluang, who I had thought was dull because he was in Nitiman, but he's actually really sexy and appealing, and together they make one of the better BL couples I've seen in a while.
So naturally, they're separated for literally half the series and their story is resolved offscreen. This is so frustrating that it's hard to express how much, especially as I had to wade though 9 episodes of utterly static story hoping to get more Rain and Payoo - but nope. They did manage to introduce an entirely new couple in episode 17, but no Rain & Payoo. There are 5 secondary couples. Only one of them gets together.
Nothing in this makes sense. All the characters' lives are perpetually in danger, accentuated with truly OTT music cues, and since you know nothing bad can ever happen to anyone, even if they jump out of an exploding helicopter from 50 meters in the air (this happens), there are no stakes. Ohm's character's brain is bleeding for 9 episodes, and instead of hospitalizing him and having bodyguards protect him, he's dumped in the middle of nowhere for three months to engage in archery and equestrian sports. Is it a good idea to race horses when your brain is bleeding? I don't know - I'm not an expert, but intuitively it feels like a bad idea. Fluke will die unless he eats apples. You know this because whenever he goes without one for too long, he melodramatically clutches his heart and keels over. Or at least that's what I think causes it. He's an uke, so it could be sunlight, or walking, or maybe he didn't dry his hair thoroughly enough.
Speaking of which, we reach a new low this series when an uke manages to cut himself with a butter knife. I'm waiting for one of them to accidentally garotte himself while trying to floss.
Whoever wrote this series doesn't know anything about music, despite it being about musicians. They couldn't even be bothered to get a real cellist - it's all synthesized, and sounds like a casio keyboard from the 1980s.
I think we've gotten to the point in Thai BL where we need some self-examination. Are we really so desperate that we're willing to be exploited like this by productions that aren't even trying anymore? This story is infantile. I'm not exaggerating, it feels like it was written by a 12-year old (no offense to 12-year olds - I realize most of you could have written a better story than this). It's so boring, repetitive, poorly thought-out, overstuffed with characters and endless melodrama that it's just tiring.
Story: 1 - There is one, sort of.
Acting: 5 - This is generous. Peterpan and Noh have a certain presence in the first half. Fluke cries a lot, and Ohm is there. Everyone else is passable and the villainess (the villain of the story is hidden. It's a big mystery. Who could it be?) would be twirling her mustache if she could. She almost literally shouted "And I would have gotten away with it too, if it weren't for those pesky kids!!!"
Music: 1 - it's awful. Oppressively schmalzy, with overblown dramatic cues, MY brain was bleeding by the end listening to that synthesized cello.
Rewatch value: 3 - There are a lot of hot guys in this, so there are individual scraps I'd watch again.
Overall: 3 - probaby generous, but the first half did have a "so bad it's good" vibe. Then it just got bad.
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This was a real surprise
When I first watched Ep 1, I could barely get through it - it just seemed so ridiculous, slapstick, and annoying. But a friend urged me to go back to it, and I'm so glad I did.When you first watch, the laugh track and sound effects will be annoying. If you're not Thai, some of the laughs appear to be in the wrong places, but remember, a lot of wordplay is missed in translation. But soon you stop noticing the track, and it is toned down after the first episode.
This is a classic enemies to lovers trope, but there are some original spins on it. The series appears at first glance to be episodic and without progress in the relationship, but it's there. It moves at a different pace for Diao than it does for Rak, whose feelings are fairly clear by the middle of the series, overtly revealed in a powerful moment - you'll know it when you see it. And by the end things start moving so fast that it's quite surprising, but never feels rushed or unearned. There are many, many moments that you'll really feel. Yes, there are the way-too-long stares (a LOT of these), but somehow they work (and when you're watching the full-episode version, you're getting both ends of a segment break, so that makes these even longer). But by the last quarter of the series, the way Rak looks at Diao could make a block of ice burst into flame.
I've seen commentary and reviews deriding the seme/uke dynamic between Rak and Diao, but there's a point being missed. First, Rak holds "power" at work because he's the boss, but Diao does at home because he's Rak's landlord. Rak is older and much more mature than Diao, but Diao isn't a classic uke at all - this is highlighted by the opening scene, with him showering and showing off his ripped body, usually the preserve of a seme. He's smart and capable, strong-willed, and can walk without tripping and chop vegetables without cutting himself. In fact, it's Rak that ends up having the physical mishaps and Diao has to take care of him.
This is highlighted in contrast by the fujoshi, who throughout the series is writing a BL about Rak and Diao - and in her story, the guys are an extremly classic seme-uke duo, and their interaction in her scenes, which are adapted from observing the "real" Rak & Diao are far more overtly romantic and tropey. And as such, they lack the electricity of the real interaction, and the power struggle and heavy ribbing are smelted down into stock BL cliches. This is a critique of the seme-uke duality, and underscores how pigeonholing characters into these boxes removes a dynamism in their interaction which has so much more heat when there's an equal give-and-take. Normally all the teasing is done by the seme, which makes the uke sulk. When Rak teases Diao, Diao hits back just as hard, and occassionally even wins the exchange.
As an example, there's a scene where Diao is going on a date, and he wants Rak to stop him. The fujoshi sees it, and in her version Diao wants Rak to give him a reason to not go, and Rak says "because I love you." and Diao responds "that's all I wanted to hear" and they embrace. The "real" scene is wrenching and the desolation and longing are visceral.
The main pair are the usual heteronormative types that are ubiquitous in almost all BL - but neither show any interest in women at all. Diao expresses an interest in the idea of finding a woman, but is never interested in any actual women, and when he realizes who he loves, he accepts it without any of the common "but we're both guys!" And their chemistry is insane.
The two leads are excellent. They both have great comic timing, but are also capable of subtle emotion and speaking without saying anything - Diao is especially good at a glance that is not OTT, but clearly says "f&*% you." Both of them are easy to look at, espcially Rak, who is absolutely gorgeous, and the wardrobe is outstanding - their outfits are often wow moments, although there are a couple that won't age well, like Rak's fluorescent blue plaid suit. Rak tends toward a masculine wardrobe, and Diao is high fashion, with beautiful color combination.
I would never have expected it, but this is one of my all-time favorite series, and I can't recommend it highly enough - but give it time if you decide to watch it. You may not like it much at first, but I guarantee it's not as silly as it first seems.
Story: 9 - the episodes are tightly written and almost all of them are self-contained, and yet part of an overall arc. Things that happen don't disappear never to be referred to again - in fact, there are things that happen in the first episode that are very important towards the end. The balance between the characters is handled with great skill, and nobody behaves like an idiot just for the sake of the plot (although there is immaturity, but that's not the same thing).
Acting : 9 - excellent with surprising range, especially Win as Diao, which is a tough role. He's impulsive and immature, often almost obnoxious and often ridiculous, but fundamentally sweet, and when he's sad it hits you, and his drunkenness is the most realistic I've seen in a BL.
Music: 9 - some of the best I've encountered in BL. It doens't just support the story, it elevates scenes and gives them quite a bit of extra power.
Rewatch: 10 - I've seen each ep three times - once raw, once with fan subs, and again with the offical subs. There are scenes I've watched a dozen times.
Overall: 9.5 - I'd have to put this in my top handful of BLs. It's not the most profound thing you'll see, but it's a real pleasure to watch, and it's a lot smarter than it first appears.
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A refreshing and original story.
This was a surprise - it went places I couldn't have predicted, and that's a pretty big plus in a genre where everyone can plot out the entire series with 95% accuracy after watching the opening credits. This also has a stronger LGBTQ+ sensibility than usual without leaving the BL genre.The main character, Le, is a sincere and unselfconscious nerd (a very handsome one), who doesn't waste a lot of time agonizing over his sexuality, only his mother's feelings. In fact, there's a twist to the story that reveals he loves someone because of their gender, not despite it, which is a nice reversal of the norm.
The acting overall is good. There are a few times where it was a bit much, but not often, and it's made up for in some very moving scenes which all of the main cast pull off well.
There is a standout side character played by Lin Wei Jie, who is so cute I can't stand it. I really hope we see more him.
This is well worth your time. There are a couple of eps in the middle that lag and where the series appears to abandon its originality and uniqueness, but it gets it back in a major way, so don't give up.
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Complete Waste of Time
I hate to give such a terrible review to any Korean BL, but this one was terrible.100 minutes is plenty of time to tell a story - there are very few films that are longer than that. But it's a problem when you try to tell a 1,000 minute story in 100 minutes and so you film 100 of those 1,000 minutes, but apparently randomly selected.
It's perfectly OK to hint at backstory without fleshing it out, like the relationship between Yi Bin and Ki Jin - that was fine. It only takes a few seconds to set the stage & show us Yeong Woo's life - that was fine too. But what is the story that was being told? I have no idea, because it was entirely skipped and no context provided. Did Ki Jin break up with Yeong Wu? Ghost him? Give his job to Yi Bin? Flee the country for several years? Or did only a week or two pass? Yi Bin more or less says that everything we thought was happening didn't happen, so where was Ki Jin for the last few episodes, and why was he suddenly behaving like an old woman instead of a puckish young designer?
If Ki Jin broke up with Yeong Woo, that might have been a nice scene to see. If there was a big fashion show (which appeared to be the climax to which this was building), I can understand it not being shown due to cost, but we could at least have seen the aftermath. Likewise, in Nobleman Ryu's Wedding, we didn't need to see the actual wedding - people complained about that, but do you really expect them to produce a Joseon-era noble wedding? That would blow the annual budget of a small nation.
The production quality of this was very average, and perhaps below. There are lots of sound mistakes, and the acting is mediocre - the two mains are good enough to enjoy, but uninspiring. The best that can be said is that the kisses looked pretty good, not the usual rubber lip-touch.
My best guess is that they filmed a lot more but the acting or production quality was too poor to put in the final cut and they didn't have money or time for reshoots. Either that or the director's dog ate the script and they had to dig whatever scraps of it that they could out of its poop.
I would stay away from this one.
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An unexpected gem.
I expected to like this because I had love at first sight for Tee Khunakorn and sat through Cupid Coach for him. But I didn't think I'd like this because it's really good, which it is.This isn't a particularly original story - high school students with their blue shirts and all the rest - but there are some unusual aspects and some interesting variations on the usual bag of tricks. It's very G-rated, and cute from beginning to end without ever being cloying.
One refreshing aspect is that both boys are unambiguously gay, and identify as such. Another is that homophobia is not magically absent. It's magically a lot weaker than in real life, but it's presented with more complexity than usual - Q's mother is afraid her son is gay, and at first is resistant, which made the audience hate her, but her motivations are realistic - she's afraid his life will be harder and that people won't accept him, like she saw happen with her heavily-muscled gay brother who I want to climb. Likewise, Q's two best friends are shocked when they find out, which is also normal and realistic, but everyone in the end accepts him without reservation for who he is.
There are no horrible people in this - both female characters are unrelentingly positive and supportive, with one not even having a problem with her prom date bailing to go help their friends. Everyone is capable of distinguishing between what's important and what's not.
All the dialog is excellent and well-thought out, and the humor is actually quite funny.
But most important, the central theme is about communication, and how when there is a misunderstanding, you have to talk it through, not jump to conclusions. The writing skillfully brings all the misunderstandings together in an intrrelated way that reinforce each other without being repetitive, tiresome or (overly) preachy (it's a little preachy).
The twist on the "food on your face" trope is so well-executed and cute that I nearly squealed, and tropes usually make me roll my eyes so hard that I can see behind me.
And best of all, no seme & uke. Both of them are just guys who like each other. They can be individuals instead of being boxed in by articial roles. I think that's part of the success of the couple.
The cast is absolutely stellar. All the actors are charming and have wonderful chemistry with each other, down to Q's friends with his mother and uncle. Tee was good in Cupid Coach, but he's much improved here, with a greater range and more sincere delivery. Bever as X is charming and adorable, and he and Tee have a lot of potential as a couple - I really hope we see them together again. If you've seen Cupid Coach, you know Tee has no problem showing skin or engaging in intimacy.
The actors are all so charming that I even invested in the straight storylines - Toy and Mook are so cute, and the resolution of the awkward Frank & Mild storyline is well-handled and reinforces the don't-jump-to-conclusions theme with a contrasting situation. (It's also subtly suggested that Mild is a lesbian, which is kind of nice but not stepped on or exploited, and makes you think the misunderstanding is one thing when it's another).
It's clear that a lot of love went into this project - I think you'll feel it too and you'll love it right back. But go into it understanding it's 4 episodes. A lot of people had a problem with the length, but sometimes less is more. The pacing is efficient and unrushed, and although there is the get-together-in-the-last-10-seconds thing, the boys have essentially been boyfriends and interacted as such for some time, so it doesn't feel like the letdown that such an ending usually is. I highly recommend this.
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Truly wonderful series
I think this is only the 3rd time I've rated something a 10. Note that this is a review of the uncut version - the cut version is significantly less good, and it also cuts out almost all the love scenes, which are mostly very well-done and lovely kissing.The writing is excellent, and personal to the author, which shows in the realism of the writing. The characters are not 2D archetypes - they are complex and flawed, and there are no villains or heroes. The plot is well-thought out, and does not go for a cheap ending. The writing respects the intelligence of the audience, which is a nice change, and there are none of the tired cliches that seem to clog every BL. The two leads don't fit into two neat seme/uke boxes - they are fully realized characters, who react like normal people to situations. Even the house's protecting spirit is a complex character.
The acting is some of the best I've seen in a BL. Partly that's because there are a lot of adults with important parts and they cast very experienced and effective actors - but the two leads are fantastic in this. I thought Nut was terrible in Oxygen, but that must have been bad directing because he's amazing in this - he does the most realistic crying I've ever seen, managing to communiate real grief without childish sobbing. Green has a 2-ep role and he's truly spectacular, putting in a powerful performance (and he's clearly a trained dancer), again contrasting with The Tuxedo where he's distinctly underwhelming. Plan Thanawat as Phat is so cute I can't stand it, and on top of that he can really act - his character can be childish and self-absorbed in a realistic way, balanced by all his good qualities. I really hope we see a lot more of him.
This is not just a cute ghost meets boy story - it really explores how things don't always work out like we hoped, and the need to both seize happiness wherever you can find it, and let go of things you can't change, like the tragedies we all have to face - and even how sometimes you can't completely move on.
There was not a single episode that I walked away from disappointed. None of them are filler, and there is no manufactured drama in Ep 9. There are a few plot lines that probably seem pointless in the cut version, like a lot of Dream and Luck, but their story reinforces the importance of respecting each other's beliefs.
The music is great, from the theme to the use of classical music to the instrumental score, which which does a great job of supporting the story.
I really loved this, and for me it's the best BL of this year so far, and this is turning out to be a fairly strong year.
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All the puns on the series title are already taken, so I'll just say it's awful.
I'll start with the good:There's a scene where Gawin is almost naked.
End of the good.
OK, not quite, although that's why I gave this a rewatch score of "3". I will rewatch that scene. Many times. Although there's a better Gawin naked scene in Not Me (and even without the Gawin nudity, one of the best scenes ever, period. But that's not important right now.)
Force does his best as a noob playing Akk, and has some real charm, although he leaned heavily on his sad-puppy-dog face, which is cute but gets tiresome by the end. To be fair, there are some cute scenes between the main pair - the scene at the LOL fake Eiffel Tower was a rare well-written moment - not fairytale perfect, but just right for people that have been best friends their whole lives.
On to the problems:
The writing is terrible. The entire plot (except for the last 2 eps which fling a series of non sequitur plot devices in the way of our heroes) hinges on Theo's hunt for Enchante, a mystery suitor who defaces a library book to leave one single message for Theo, which makes him obsessed with finding the guy. If they had several back-and-forths that were beautiful and meaningful, we could have invested in the idea of Enchante - but because this did not happen, it was completely mystifying why he cared about this, and since it's clear by watching the opening credits who Theo will end up with, it's doubly pointless, which makes the entire rickety plot unable to support the leaden weight of this series. (To be fair, they do give a solid explanation near the end why he cared, but it will make you hate him.)
This could have been at least partially salvaged by casting somene who can act as Theo. I hate to criticize actors, but Book is terrible. I will mitigate this by suggesting this series had poor direction and he was playing a truly awful character, so only the most charismatic actor could have made him remotely sympathetic. But I noticed that really talented actors like Gawin and Fluke weren't great in this series, so a lot of it is probably poor direction.
Which brings us to the character of Theo. Having a spolied-brat malignant narcissist as your main character is not a great idea. Theo is the most self-absorbed and selfish person I've ever seen as a protagonist in a drama. I can't think of a single thing he did for anyone in the entire course of the series. EVERYTHING is about him. His parents' marriage (the actors who play his parents are super-good - needed to throw that out there), saving the literature department, Enchante, it's all about him. He never once asks a friend how they're doing (even though his supposed best friend Akk looks tortured all the way through this) - he just seems to expect the entire world to revolve around him.
At one point, it's revealed that Akk knew about something that he was aware would upset Theo, but it was absolutely not his place to reveal it, and if he had, Theo would have rejected it and reacted even worse than he did. Theo is extremely upset that Akk didn't tell him about it and won't speak to him. The problem is that just before this it is revealed that Theo had orchestrated a colossal, monstrous lie designed to manipulate Akk and which caused him an immense amount of pain over a prolonged period, so the hypocrisy is so mind-boggling that it's LOL funny, after you first stare numbly at the screen until it sinks in that you did just see what you saw. Also, what Theo is upset about and how he reacts to it is how a pre-teen child would process this, not a 20-something, where it's so immature and self-centered that you wish he were an actual baby so that you could shake him.
At this point you actively hate Theo and hope he dies (or is murdered by Akk) so Akk can get someone way better (like Saifa. Or one of the hot football extras). This is made even worse by the lack of chemistry between the main pair, which is curious because they have it in BTS and other promotional material. Some of that is also directing. For example, there's a key cuddling scene where there's a huge stuffed animal between them so their bodies aren't actually touching.
Some of these problems, as well as a possible reason for the weak acting by Book, is almost certainly that a soft-fliter is used throughout the series that is so strong that I thought I had glaucoma. I think a lot of shadings of facial expressions are blurred away by the soft-focus. Note to Thai BL productions: We don't care if an actor's complexion isn't perfect. Nobody's is. We don't love actors for their perfect skin, we love them for their six-pack abs and chisled pecs. And their acting ability. And their muscled thighs. And gorgeous faces. Pert butts. But mostly their acting and the character they're portraying.
I can't recommend this. There really aren't enough redeeming characteristics to be worth slogging through the terrible writing and enduring Theo. I hope to see Force in a better production than this, so we can see what he can do.
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Beautiful Short Series
This was really something special, with a really unique plot, relatively sensitive depiction of mental illness, top-rate acting, beautiful cinematography, and one of the best OSTs I've encountered for a BL.I was dubious they could stuff all this into four episodes, and while they don't quite accomplish it, it's done better than I expected. This is a series that respects its audience and doesn't load most of the run time with flashbacks. The actors really committed to this, inhabited their characters, and weren't afraid to demonstrate love and affection - it feels real.
It did need one more episode or so to fill in a couple of gaps - there's one in particular that really needed a better resolution - but a budget is a budget and you have to do what you can. More happened in this than the majority of series with 12 50-min eps, so I can't really complain.
This has the best soundtrack I've heard in a BL in a long, long time. The endcredit theme is perfect.
Anyway, I highly recommend this - you have to pay attention though - it's not something you can watch while doing anything else.
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Not too bad. But not too good.
This is probably worth watching - probably most of the first half, and the rest with judicious fast-fowarding. I'll start with the bad to end on a positive note:- Gun is not a good actor. He's a good comedic actor, and when this series is being OTT or comical, it works. When it strays into sappy melodrama, which it unfortunately does far too often, then it's excruciating to watch his scenes. Lots and lots of melodramatic crying, and anger all at a loud volume with teeth bared. You'll learn to FF.
- The plot is totally predictable, and almost every moment you can see coming. The enemies portion of the story ended way too soon and suddenly you could almost hear the Tchaikowski Romeo & Juliet overture firing up. Actually, that would have at least made it funny. The problem was that you didn't get enough time to invest in the relationship, which for me was carried entirely by Boat, who is extremely attractive and also a good actor.
The good:
- Bank's storyline
- Bank's smile
- Bank shirtless
- Bank.
I'm being funny, but Pitch & Bank are likely to be what keeps you watching what is otherwise a forgettable experience. But be forewarned, they are not in it much, and apparently a large portion of their scenes were not included, which seems mystifying and criminal. Maybe the actors woudn't allow any producer "bad touch" and were being punished.
Boat is a really good actor, He does drama, comedy, and action very well. He's good at subtle expression and letting his eyes show you what he's feeling, as opposed to Gun, who only has one setting: OTT loud and teeth-baring. There are a lot of action scenes, and they're actually pretty good by BL standards.
I would advise you not to do what I did, and watch too much of this on normal speed for fear of missing any Bank.
Story: 7. The predictability was unfortunate, but the overall plot was decently laid out and coherent. The romance went from 0-90 too suddenly, but all-in-all it wasn't bad. There were no toxic females - there were women who liked the boys, but they weren't at all manipulative or scheming, and they never really got in the way of the main ship. They were sincere, honest, and mature, and if anything they were cruelly used by Sky. Although Juno needs to learn to take a hint faster. There are a lot of tropes, especially early on, but some of them are obviously exaggerated to the point of satire, which I appreciated.
Acting: 7. I'd probably have rated it 8 or 9, but Gun was a 2, so he dragged down the average. Boat is very good, and Tenon (Bank) is strangely enthralling - I guess he manages to pull off a sincere innocence that's endearing.
Rewatch value: 5. I'd give it a 1, but there's a scene with Bank in a tank top and a scene with Bank shirtless that I'm likely to rewatch many, many times. It may not be coming through, but I like Bank.
Overall: 7. I generally don't like to go below 7 unless it's really terrible. This is not - it's entertaining, although it loses steam by the end. If they had left out some of the repetition (how many times does Sun need to leave Sky unattended resulting in his abduction before he learns not to do it? He never learns not to do it.) and put in more of the secondary couple, this would have worked much better.
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