A Tale of Thousand Stars (2021)

The acting is so good.. Even the cliche romance make you excited n not cringe..

As an Indian.. and a kdrama watcher.. I found the plot cliche.. but the concept was so completely different from the usual doctor engineering college boys love.. also.. introduces to the traditional rural Thai culture in some bits n parts.. both the leading actors were so perfect for their roles.. the action scenes were a bit lame.. but the subtle blooming romance will give you butterflies... I personally have watched way too many Asian dramas n bl's that I cringe at the same old *looking in the eye to accidental kiss to all same romance*.. but the romance in this series gave me butterflies after such a long time even though it is the same cliche romance.. the chemistry between the leads is absolute killer.. after watching the whole series... I realised that a series could be so romantic even though the one n only kiss is the last scene of the series.. I'm definitely going to re-watch it..
(also.. Tian is very very handsome.. ?❤️)

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A Prince playing pretend at being a Pauper

Not only was I disappointed - I was offended. Don't bring up a haunted past of a character that lost a parent when you only mention it twice in the drama and never again. Some people have had close calls concerning death and have lost loved ones - so this was just offensive, laziness, and irreverent. No thank you.
Also - stop using the struggles, pain, and death of a female character as a catalyst for a gay couple! (Or any couple really!) Torfun doesn't deserve such disrespect! This reminds me of Manner of Death and I strongly disliked that drama too. Gave it 1.5 stars because it was bad and disappointing but it didn't offend me as much as this drama did.

If they wanted to be serious about the topic of death - why add unnecessary comedy, or an attempt at blatant romance or an idea of redemption arc - if you weren't going to follow through?! It's a rural setting in the forest, in the middle of nowhere with poor, impoverished villagers with a 'chaebol/prince' character doing community service for three months thrown in the mix.
Poor Torfun.
I feel bad that the village, the villagers, and especially the children are just plot devices to get the two main characters together. All of the drama was in the direction of 'get the two guys together - to do what? To be what? A causal attempt at drama/slice-of-life with nonexistent BL? (Why do Thai BL dramas sometimes have characters be attracted to the same sex like it's happened to them before but it never shows that evidence IN THE DRAMA AT ALL!?? Sexual fluidity is real you know?)

The romance wasn't even romantic and the plot twist in episode 7 was quickly shot down by the next episode when the drama couldn't go through with the idea of Tian actually being the one to kill Torfun directly in that car race. No. He's innocent of murder so let's focus back on the romance and his 'redemption' for the 'guilt' he feels for having Torfun's heart. Not the guilt of stealing medical documents he should have never been privy to, or lying about why he wants to volunteer, or running away from home after a HEART TRANSPLANT SURGERY BECAUSE HE ALMOST DIED - possibly worrying his family to death scared he can be anywhere dead in a ditch somewhere, or lying and manipulating to the villagers into thinking he can teach at all, or never telling the village doctor that he has to take daily medication that lowers his immune system?!?!

As a pre-med student - this hurts to watch. My head hurts from trying to follow the show's logic when the only logic is: 'get the two main guys together'. That's it.
It's not having Torfun's heart that Tian should feel guilty about - it's the fact that he's a whiny, sheltered, reckless, selfish, inconsiderate, spoiled brat that can't seem to do anything right. He almost had a child drown on his watch after numerous adults advised him to not take the children to the waterfall that day. A day AFTER Phu tells him that the waterfall is really close to the border and it's not safe to be at that waterfall unsupervised! Reckless. After some casual child-endangerment, back to the romance of Phu, the 'stoic' and mean Forest Ranger and Tian, the volunteer Teacher that means well???? I don't think so.

Imagine how good this drama could have been if the writers actually allowed the characters to be people with real struggles and real solutions to their problems. Tian is a horrible son and the actor for this character could not come through on the emotional scenes to make this character feel like a natural, breathing person with fears, hopes, flaws, dreams, and passions. (Was the only hobby he had before he found out he had a heart disease was playing with toy cars? What is the director thinking? Or is it the writer's fault again? Someone dropped the ball here unless everyone involved has butterfingers.)

Instead, his three facial expressions have to convey what's supposed to be happening and the music cues are supposed to help the viewers know how to feel because I can't tell what's going on when watching him on screen. Tian's parents are a part of the problem but their money is Tian's first solution to his biggest problems. Nepotism is strong in this drama. That and the social divide between classism and the glimpse into the socioeconomics in Thailand. Why bring up such topics if you will not address how bad it is and how as a society when we watch these dramas should feel about such injustice in the world. I guess it's not important if it doesn't concern the possible relationship between two guys, that's why.

If Tian creates more problems? Solve it with money or say you are the son of so-and-so to save your life. I wanted Mr. Sakda to kill Tian then. The drama would have finally been good then - but that's a terrible thing to wish on a person. Fictional or not, right? Right?!

I want my time back that I wasted on this drama. I want the writers to apologize to Torfun and all the other women in this drama for using them for plot devices (especially Tian's mom. She was just there to be dramatic and 'an overbearing mother', screw you writers!) and I want my time back. Once again, that's messed up.

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If there is 1000 stars rating on MyDramaList, this drama truly deserves 1000 stars!

The best BL ever made (as of April 2021)!

As a fan of the novel, I would say (and I believe most readers agree too) that this drama adaptation of the novel really made well. This drama did justice to the novel although there were some changes here and there.

This drama is full of emotions ride. We were blessed with romance, happiness, drama and emotional stories in one go. If you are looking for a BL that is not typical, does not revolve around school-university students life with different setting, then this is the one.

Why I like it:
Great directing! (kudos P'Aof)
Great acting!
Great storyline!
Great music!
Great cinematography!
Great editing!

The chemistry of Earth and Mix is insane. We immediately felt the connection between Phupha and Tian the moment they met. The tensions and attractions of Phupa and Tian toward each other were crazy, greatly done and made me smile each time I saw the romantic scenes. Earth really did a great job in this drama. He improved a lot and managed to convey his feelings and thoughts through his expressions only and we immediately felt that. Mix, as a newcomer was amazing. He could carry this heavy role and express all complex feelings really well. His acting is natural and doesn't have "acting template" which sometimes some other actors look unnatural when they acted some difficult and challenging scenes. I felt connected to Tian's struggles, feelings, emotions and stories through Mix's acting.

Other characters did an awesome job too, they are there to fit the purposes and not just a character to fill up the storyline. I like Longtae, Khama and Dr Nam characters the most. One thing I particularly like is the cinematography of this drama. All scenes were beautiful and the camera work was really good and there was no awkward camera angle. I like the colour tone of this drama which gave warm and calm feelings whenever I watch it. Also, I must credit P'Aof for giving us such a high quality drama with good editing and storyline. Each episode did not feel boring, storyline was written and planned properly and the stories developed with sensical plotline and editing. The other beauty side of Thailand was portrayed really well in the drama and this made me really happy.

One last thing to note, I really love the conversation between Tian and Tul in which Tian expressed his feelings and fond of Phupa. He understands his feelings, he acknowledges it and there is no bullshit reason to tell why he likes Phupha. Also, the editing of that scene alone which also showed the conversations between Phupha and Dr Nam was beautifully done.

If you have watched this drama, I recommend you to read the novel too (I think English translation of the novel is available). If you haven't watched, please watch this beautiful drama. You will not regret it. It's hard to move on from this beautiful drama and I am sure I will watch this over and over again till I get tired or till new BL that can beat this drama produced. I haven't felt this kind of feelings after watching a drama for a long time and I would say the one year plus waiting for this drama was totally worth it!

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PROBABLY ONE OF THE BEST, IF NOT THE BEST BL SERIES EVER MADE

The word "BRILLANT" is an understatement to even describe this series, because it's that good. This series doesn't only allow your eyes to solely focus on the main characters' (Tian and Phupha) love story, but also on addressing social and environmental issues that I believe is lacking from other BL stories. There's so much values and learnings you can bring out from this series. Also, may I just applaud not only Backof for outstandingly directing this series, but also the main cast, especially Mix that even this is one of his first projects, slayed the role. I wouldn't be surprised if he wins awards for this role. All I can say, this has replaced UWMA as my fave BL of all time. This is just brilliant. Dear, Bad Buddy, you have big shoes to fill. Hope you can live up to the expectation. <3

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The director did a great job ~

The main character had awesome character arc and I liked him so much! I l also really liked all the people from the village. The plot was inspiring. Romance was fine... kind of something you have probably seen before. For some reason most of the time I felt like there was still something missing.

There was some awesome shots and interesting editing. It sadly still had too many of those slow pretty moments that don't add anything to the story (sadly this seems o be in the style right now...They usually just make me wanna check my phone...)

My favorite episodes where #1, #5, and the last one (I wrote messy, long and detailed episode reviews from my journey)

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BEST THAI BL OF 2021 UNTIL NOW!

This series SET THE STANDARD DURING IT'S INITIAL AIRING.

If you want a slow burn love story, then this one is for you. But what I also like about this is that IT'S MORE THAN A LOVE STORY. It's also about personal redemption, finding yourself, and your life's purpose.

Earth and Mix chemistry is literally off the charts. Acting is excellent, not just the leads but the whole cast. By the way, this is also Mix's acting debut and he was able to give justice to a challenging role like Tian.

The location of the series is breathtaking. It is really difficult to shoot on these locations, yet they were able to create a beautiful masterpiece. The cinematography is excellent.

Overall, this is an excellent show! Re-watched it for like 15 times now. I would say the Best Thai BL from 2021 up to this point.

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