A Tale of Thousand Stars (2021)

Orchestra of heartstrings

Honestly, it's no surprise that a story that began with a heart transplant would tug at the viewer's so much. I don't think I've ever gotten more teary eyed in any other series I've watched to date but I don't regret a single moment of it. This show was outstanding from beginning to end. Quite frankly, I'm rather speechless to be able to point out any specifics. Suffice it to say, this was beautifully done from the storytelling to the cinematography to the acting and everything in between.

If I really had to nitpick, there were a couple of things I could have done without which is the only reason it's not a 10 rating for me. Some silly little things like how the rangers are always in camo but then when they are out in the sunny daytime hunting down guys in the forest, they are in black so they stand out like a sore thumb... like, that's the whole point of having camo, guys. And the fact that the mom wants Tian to go to the US to get a teaching degree when he'll be coming back to Thailand to teach and they have completely different curriculums. The whole thing doesn't make sense and it just prolongs his future even further. I'm also not a fan of the kids-having-to-live-their-lives-for-their-parents trope though I know that's "a thing." But when Chief is literally telling Tian to live for himself and do whatever his heart wants and yet throwing him back to his parents to fulfill their wishes, that is one heavy oxymoron in a single breath.

But, like I said, this is really pulling at threads here because the show had so much good to it that the bad is easily forgiven/forgotten.

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You will keep this one handy to watch again...

Loved this series. LOVE the connection between Earth and Mix. The playful banter. The shyness - who wants to admit it first? Everything. When I saw this the first time - I wasn't sure how the whole heart transplant thing would fit into the overall story but, it was handled so well.

I liked the level of detail of having the Chief know almost everything that was going on - with the exception of what happened to Torfun beyond dying. The side characters are entertaining and I loved that the corruption was kept to the area and didn't branch off into dangerous mob territory that could/would never end the tormenting of the villagers. Think - small town crime.

One of my favorite moments is when Tian meets the Chief for the first time. The writers and director took the time to build up to that moment beautifully. We know he is still recovering and it takes this moment for us to see what could happen when you push yourself too hard post surgery. Beautifully photographed and captured. How many of us dreamed of being in Earth's arms at that moment? LOL

Happy the child actors were up to par - believable and you got to know them enough to care about what happened to each and every one of them. Would love to see a sequel - just for the pure joy of seeing the whole cast again.

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A lovely and comfy show.

A Tale of a Thousand stars is, before anything else, a really comfortable watch, the show handles the setting really well, immersing us in this quiet town, setting up a great atmosphere and tone for the show.

The soundtrack was fine, nothing too crazy about about the songs expecept for the main theme, who even though is really soap-operay really pulls on the heartstrings each episode.

The characters are really charming, especially the secondary cast. Chief Phupha and Tian have great chemstry that is somewhat bogged down by the sloppy writing in the finale.

My main problem with the show is the third act, this big bombastic ride of revelations and misencounters was handled a bit poorly in my opinion, characters are too hasty, ommit information without any reasons, take really roundabout ways to make a point, the scenes drag on and on a drama that could've been easily solved if the characters talked like normal humans. The last two episodes were especially guilty of this when there are whole segments of Tian just doing nothing of importance.

Even though I have this big gripe with the show, I can recomend ATOTS, for its amazing setting, great story with a hint of mystery and its great characaters.

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The show if you want to have it warm and cozy

This is one of my comfort-shows from now on, and I tell you why:

1. The setting: Finally we have a BL that is not situated in a school, uni, or big city, but no, we're in the mountains of Northern Thailand and wow is this place beautiful! It really gives the entire show a unique feeling, and you get to learn more about Thailand in general.
2. The story: Even tho they use a common trope, it is executed really well, because it goes beyond a love story propelled by destiny. It also shows how an environment shapes oneself, how we never stop growing and that we can find home anywhere with just the right people around us. It is a coming-of-age-story that convinces on every aspect.
3. The cast: I was shocked when I found out that this was Mix' first acting job – he's done it so well! I knew Earth from one or two other series, but never as the main role, but he also convinced me every step on the road. The amount of emotions both can portray through their eyes gave me life.
4. The cinematography: P'Aof is just a talented director. After watching ATOTS and BB I was convinced to watch everything this man would produce/direct. This show will give you goosebumps because of how well this story is shot and told.
5. The music: Every time now when I hear the Khlui flute, I will have butterflies in my stomach! Very well-chosen music and lyrics that fit the atmosphere of the story sooo well!

The standard for BL's just has risen to a new dimension!

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This drama had a great premise - and it featured Earth Pirapat, so yay! - but it just didn't click with me much. The characters' reactions always seemed a bit... off for me and the last two eps, almost twice the length of a normal episode, dragged terribly. So even though it only had 10 eps, it still felt too long.

There was nothing inherently wrong with this drama and it felt quite ambitious because it tried do squeeze so much into the story - from various social issues to ecology - and there was only one pairing so the story wasn't scattered all over the place but it still felt... well, off. It's hard to describe why. It just bored me a little.

Still, I'm giving it 7/10 for its ambitiousness and for definitely telling a different kind of a story from the usual university shenanigans.

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We could have had it all

I’ll start by saying that, when I was on episode 5, I thought “Wow!! This is the best BL I’ve ever seen!!!!”
Like, I could not believe how good it was: the acting, the story, the production, the editing, the shots, everything was amazing and super high quality.

But.

Once they started wrapping up the story (around episode 8) things took a turn. Tian/Phu were kinda distant, and there were so many issues between them that we barely got those lovig scenes we had earlier.

Also, but more importantly... it kind of felt like there was no payoff. The story was so interesting, the plot was so good, but the romance just fizzled out and died at the end.
There were SO MANY scenes where it would have been perfection them to have a dramatic kiss. And then for us to be able to see them as a couple for a few episodes.

But they chose to kinda kill the romance before it started and then Tian left. At this point I was just so sad and disappointed with how it went down, that even when Tian came back, it sort of all just fell too little too late.
And I also feel like we deserved some proper kiss scenes. They had so much chemistry!! It would have been so good! So this almost felt censored.

If I had my say in it, I would have them confess to each other and kiss before the Torfun reveal (or after the shooting) and then Tian saying that he is not leaving. I don’t think there was any point in him going to America, he already knew what he wanted, and he doesn’t need a degree to teach at the village.

Overall, I would recommend this, because the beginning is so good. But the ending was a bit meh.

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Too many episodes, Not enough story.

I watched this and by the 4th or 6th episode I started enjoying the little ads at the end more than the actual show. The acting was good but a large percentage of the episodes were basically filler. It didn't need as many episode as it had to tell this story.

It had potential but the story dragged along for most of the series. It really did not have enough story for the number of episodes it has. The story is not a complicated. It is quite simple & straight forward with a little mystery to spice things up but story was stretched too thin across the series.

It probably would've been better if it had less episodes & better pacing.

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A leason in life

Wow just finished and it's actually one of the Best drama I've seen in 2021. For a BL drama they made this one with so many emotions of a true love.
This was well worth the wait and antisipation . It's truly an amazing drama the storyline is the first in its kind. The cast is phenomenal and the chemistry is awesome.
It's about Tian a young man who is rich and loved by his family and has everything he needs, but suffers from a failing heart.
Then there Torfun who is a volunteer teacher in the village who loves it, but is taken advantage of by her aunt who only want money.
Then we have phupha who is a chief of police/military and Dr. Nam who's his best friend.
One day tian is hang out with his friends and makes a bet for a car race his friend Tul call someone to make sure the light stay green. As they walk out tian is getting light headed and ask his friend to drive and if he win gets to keep the car. Tian goes back inside and collapse and Tul takes him to the hospital. Torfun aunt tells her to come back as she needs money, Torfun doesn't want to go she has a crush on chief, but goes reluctantly. She on the bus and argued with her aunt then gets off bus stop and open her diary and looks at the chief picture and the wind blows it into the road. She never looked for traffic just bent down to picks it up and bam she hit by a car. Next we see her and tian in afterlife and she tells him to take care of it/him as she touches his heart as he turns phupha is there and he wakes up. Now a few months later he's going crazy at home so he's trying to find out who the donor was and once he does he goes to the aunt and says he looking for something and finds the diary.. As he read it he feels the need to go and Finsh what she started. He leave a note at home that he needed to get away for a little while and not look for him. It takes a little time and the villagers take to liking him and so do the school kids. As time goes on he and chief start to get close, but I'm not sure if is his true feeling or hers and same with chief. Tian has caused a few problems and has been feeling guilty alot so he decided to tell the villagers that Torfun died and he was given her heart and he is partially at fault for the accident. They are crying tears of sadness and betrayal as they felt lied to and they had chief to tell him to leave the village asap. So he is alone now and very sad, but at the same time Dr. Nam is looking into it the accident as he feels that tian is not the kind of person who would do that and finds out tian was hospitalized at 12:00am and Torfun accident was at 1:00 AM so he didn't kill her. Now phupha is mad and feels guilty for how he treated tian and goes to find him, but he's been taken by the bad smugglers and the chief and his men show up and there a gun fight as the bad guy shots phupha protect tian and gets shot in the back. Now both tian and the chief are hospitalized and tian dad gets a call late at night and rushes to hosp. and see his son as tian is trying to figure out who called him. On his way to the chief room he hears his dad talking and thanked the chief for keeping his son safe and for him to send him home. So now they are fighting as chief knew who he was from the beginning as tian is now questioning if his feeling are true, as we flashback to memories it seems that chief was always taken care of him. As tian packs to leave the villagers and kids all apologized for therebad behavior and he decides to go to the Mtn to count a 1000 stars while he's crying the chief shows up and they argue and makeup but he still send tian home. Sorry now you need to watch the show to see the ending. There is so much more that I couldn't write everything. A Must TO WATCH ❤️❤️❤️

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2nd review - after seeing all 10 episodes

This is my 2nd review of ATOTS; I posted the 1st one after ep. 1 aired (see below) and gave the series an overall rating of 7.0 (story 7.0, acting/cast 6.0, music 8.5, rewatch value 7.0) – I also made 2 “awful predictions”, none of which came true (for which I’m very grateful). Rating the series now, after watching all episodes (and rewatching ep. 10 multiple times) I gave it a higher score – the story is still lacking, but turned out to be okay (see more detailed remarks below for what I didn’t like about the script), the music is less diverse than I thought it’ll be and the whole show rests firmly on shoulders of Mix and Earth – hence I increased the score for acting and rewatch value.
WHAT I LIKED
1/ Most of the script is good. Setting the show out of Bangkok – great. I enjoyed everything connected with Tian finding his way in a new surrounding – as a volunteer teacher, a fish out of water character, someone who needs to learn the basics of life. I liked even more that the script didn’t stop there: Tian learns how to gain the trust of villagers, reacts to injustice, helps the village and makes enemies in the process. Becoming responsible for others – first the children, later the village – suits him well (I wish we’d see Tian acting in this capacity towards Phupha, even briefly – just to reverse what we got in the show for a moment).
2/ EarthMix. They shaped the dynamic of Tian and Phupha, making both characters very likeable and their story – our story. Their chemistry is insane – probably due to the fact that Mix and Earth have known each other for 7 years. Where the script is lacking – EarthMix carry the story. Countless tears I shed watching ep. 8, 9 and especially 10 are not the only proof of how good EarthMix works – they generated tension, emotion and drama lifting a slightly underwritten story to the much desired tearjerker master level. “The feels are real” and even their argument in ep. 9 was handled in a great way. But Earth and Mix were even better at creating joy and satisfaction, teasing each other and banter – which was showing throughout the whole series and was highlighted by the last 10 minutes of ep. 10.
3/ Earth. Didn’t like his acting initially (truth be told ep. 1 was his weakest), but now I think he did a good job of portraying an ex-soldier who hides behind an image of a reserved, strong, armed man in a uniform, believing in discipline, obedience, duty, rank and hierarchy. Seeing Phupha turn into a cute cuddly hunk madly in love with the volunteer teacher was a delight.
4/ Mix. Tian is mostly Mix, right? All the quirks, humor, mischievousness, frolics and banter – that’s Mix and I loved every bit of that. At times he’s frightened, unsure, vulnerable and fragile, but also brave, defiant, committed, stubborn and jealous. He’s a complete, 3D character. I enjoyed his self-confidence, especially in the last episode; it wasn’t vanity nor arrogance, but true strength. I commented elsewhere how much I liked the hilltop scene when Phupha embraces Tian’s waist; this wasn’t a sign of taking possession – Tian was actually in control, beaming with confidence, casually leaning on Phupha. Our young adult displayed more maturity later – the whole sleeping together scene was written the way it should have been, with request for consent from Phupha and Tian giving consent. Very well done, even if it’s partly played for laughs, to lighten the tone of the finale. Mix shined in ATOTS and I hope to see more of that in future projects of his.
MY COMPLAINTS
1/ Unnecessary Torfun and heart transplant. What was the point of all that? Was that a plot device to get Tian to the village? If so – it’s not relatable nor believable. We got (despite one of my “ugly predictions”) an explicit confirmation that Tian was gay and his feelings for Phupha were his own – they did not stem from him receiving Torfun’s heart. The metaphysics (like Torfun appearing in Tian’s dream and replacing his reflection in a window pane) ended before it really started. Tian feeling guilty for Torfun’s death – even Phupha and the villagers forgot about that within one episode, which says something about our main character’s motivation. I get that Torfun and the transplant were in the novel, but I’m not reviewing the novel; the series is an independent piece of art and needs to stand on its own. And in the series a lot of things would make much more sense than the whole Torfun and her heart bit. What made me even more displeased with that aspect of the story was how it was revealed – one piece at a time, leading some (me included) to assume (in ep. 1) and to believe (in later episodes) that Tian was the one who killed Torfun (in that case his desire to replace Torfun, complete her work etc. would make much more sense). Nothing came out of that, no dark secret (hinted for several episodes) was revealed, Tian was innocent and plagued by (in my opinion) baseless guilt.
2/ Little to no character arcs. Phupha’s “character arc”: starts as someone who hides feelings, falls in love with a city boy, admits his feelings with greatest difficulty and changes into a living human being for the last 5 minutes of the show. Tian’s “character arc”: starts as a bored rich kid, goes to village where we find out he’s actually resourceful, kind, fair, strong-willed, caring and gay, goes back home after his boyfriend tells him to and becomes a bored rich kid again. Obviously I’m exaggerating for dramatic effect, but what struck me was that no one who knew the “old”, pre-transplant Tian, noticed any difference once he returned home. Not Tul, not his parents, not anyone else (I’m not including the audience here – we saw this version of Tian for mere minutes). But maybe I got it all wrong, maybe this wasn’t about Tian having a character arc (=changing), but about him discovering what he’s capable of – a voyage of self-discovery which pushed him to drop out of engineering school (wonder if it was the same that Tonhon attended) and pursue a career in teaching.
3/ Tian’s parents and the 2 years in the US. Remember ep. 1 and Tian running away from home? Back then his parents didn’t seem to be an obstacle for him doing what he wanted. How come they became an obstacle in ep. 9? It was solely due to their insistence that Tian had to return home and later to go to America. 2 years passed and Tian – again – was free to do what he wanted, including returning to the village? Seriously? Was there no other and more convincing way of splitting Tian and Phupha to generate drama, to have the audience sob and weep during the airport scene? What did Tian’s stay in the US change, what did it solve? What was the point of creating a no-problem issue, making it an issue, blowing it out of proportion and then “solving” it off-screen by skipping 2 years? That’s some very lazy writing from beginning to finish. You either make the parents a genuine threat to Tian’s freedom (like making him dependent on them, having to obey them) or forget about the parents and introduce a real problem our mains would have to solve (on-screen – this is a TV series, you need to show us stuff) to be/stay together.
4/ Friends underused. Tul and Longtae could have played a more important role in the story. My idea: cut the Torfun stuff entirely and give her screen time to Tul and Longtae, who could do what Nam, Rang and Yod did for Phupha. Make Tian a truly arrogant and obnoxious spoiled rich kid (Tul would be the one to notice Tian’s change) who goes to the village for a compulsory internship and discovers there’s more to life and to himself than he thought. The series would still be 10 episodes long and would still focus on Tian and Phupha becoming a couple, but without the whole guilt thing.
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1st review (which most if not all comments are about):
What I like about episode 1? That it partly takes place in a new setting. We still see a lot of big city scenery (as well as an exterior shot of a nice modern house used as Tonhon’s parent’s house in “Tonhon Chonlatee”), but the action seems to be slowly moving away from the city and into the country. Oh, seeing Drake was also nice (no Khaotung in episode 1? too bad). The rest… Well, Mix and White were okay, but Earth has the acting range of a wooden board. Also let me make some awful predictions – basing on what I could guess from both trailers (including the first one, released on 15.10.2019 and still available on GMMTV’s YouTube channel, which used completely different takes, shots, scenes and even costumes than the second one, released on 07.01.2021; I assume they produced the 1st trailer prior to filming the series), foreshadowing as well as gaps in the story presented so far:
1/ Tian will fall in love with Phupha because Torfun’s heart is now beating in his chest, which is a new take on the heavily criticized “I’m not gay, I just love you” approach (Dear writers, please do at least this bit right and make the two main characters fall for each other without any convoluted "explanations" and "reasons"),
2/ we’ll find out that Tian did race after he left the casino (in episode 1 we are led to believe he was hospitalised after collapsing at the casino) and that Torfun was killed during that race (why do I think so? cause Phupha already declared that he will never forgive the person who hit Torfun – that’s ideal for some drama which will become necessary around, let’s say, episode 7 or 8, when Tian’s and Phupha’s relationship will become unbearably blissful).
At least we should see more of Thailand’s beauty in future episodes (instead of Bangkok and some more of Bangkok) - that always good.

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OMG. I was already stress thinking about my school works and activities including my thesis. But why? Why I feel relieved and relaxed seeing this two smiling. Like whuuut duhhh. Eerrrr.
And wait episode 7 teaser made me scream. Cant wait ?
Ang tagal ng friday, parang isang buwan akong nag hihintay.
Pakigawan na agad GMMTV ng season 2 para tuloy tuloy pang panonood namin. Ayokong mawala si Mr. Seetian at si Chief Phupa.
Ibang iba talaga yong kilig putcha? yong tingin pa lang nila nakakatunaw na kaagad.
This was my favorite thai series so far in year 2021.

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Been waiting for more than a year

The much-awaited and the most anticipated thai bl drama of the year! And one I've been waiting to watch since the first trailer came out more than a year ago! WHY'D IT TAKE SO LONG?!?! But I'm not complaining anymore because omg 'A Tale of Thousand Stars' (1000stars) is everything I didn't know I needed.

It's only been five eps but i can see it getting better and better. So far, it's a slow and steady journey, which I really appreciate cause I wanna take my time adoring and loving them, and understanding every part of this series. The first episode kinda scared me because I've been looking forward to this series for a very, very long time yet it wasn't giving me the "THIS IS IT!" vibes... More than half of the first ep was about life "before" Tian's life in the village, and I was honestly getting bored, but when ep. 2 came out, I was relieved. It was what I've expected, and more! I have a feeling 1000stars is gonna be a well-paced, beautifully-told story that'll leave me wanting more and more every single time. Fingers crossed it doesn't take take too long for it to pick up its pace ^-^

So the story is about how Tian's life turned upside-down the moment he had his heart transplant. Maybe his life the right-side up was never the life meant for him :) Once he was bestowed with a new heart, he was given a second chance. No longer was he that rash, ignorant and cold, rich guy. He's now "Mr. Seetian", the soft and kind (with a bit of a stubborn streak) volunteer teacher at the Pha Pun Dao Village with a thousand-star promise somehow involved between Tian and Phupha. Phupha's a Chief Forest Office who, at first, wants nothing to do with Tian cause he thinks the younger's just a spoilt, rich boy who's come sightseeing into the village and would 'run for the hills' once things get tough. But Tian is not who he was anymore. He's a changed man, or more like he was becoming a changed man, so he's not gonna back down from a challenge anymore. As the series progresses, you can also see Phupha softening up to the "city boy", or maybe he was already soft for him from the moment they first met <3 Also, none of the people at the village know that Tian's carrying a heart that used to belong to someone dear to them, and I'm actually looking forward to when that secret's exposed. Though I'm terrified, too... Will things change? Between Tian and Phupha, but also with the villagers, because now Tian has made a home for himself at the village. They're his family now, and they adore him as much as he does them. Phupha's found out about Tian's chest scar and questioned him about it but all Tian said was "heart surgery"... There's a difference between heart surgery and heart transplant, Tian... Better tell Phupha the truth before it's too late. Better he finds it from you than from somewhere else.

Besides the plot, how can we NOT talk about the chemistry between Tian and Phupha?? It's sizzling! The way their eyes portray emotions words cannot express, I'm mind-blown. As actors, they're seriously top-tier. In real-life, Mix and Earth are already so close and you can clearly see that reflected on-screen. The relationship between Tian and Phupha is so soft and "traditional" where all they do is flirt through their eyes and love each from afar, but once they meet in the middle, game's over cause I'll be ded. Even without touching or any skinship you can see the chemistry plain as day. I'm looking forward to the day their lips touch (I'm suddenly so shy).

Another thing I'd like to comment on... Tian, my boy, what are you doing to your health? You're basically a patient but you go around climbing mountains and hills, eating spicy and unhealthy food, running around and playing vigorously, and getting yourself into fights (even though some of them aren't your fault). The way it's going, you losing consciousness is bound to happen, cause there's only so much your frail body can take. You got yourself a second chance, but third time is not always a charm. Look after yourself, please.

So, the story is progressing slowly, nothing too shocking or mind-blowing except for Tian fainting at the end of the latest ep... But I hope their engines start soon because it's already going to be ep. 6 next week and soon the series will be over ;---; Downside of being a Thai BL fan lol it's just too short x__x

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