The TENSION
This is by far the most mature BL I've ever watched and it was absolutely beautiful. The skinship simultaneously feels the most natural and the most tension-filled, and the angst is just immaculate. The kiss scenes are few and far between but when they happened it truly felt like the entire world stood still.I know Teh got a lot of flak for the way he acted but I forgive him for all of it; instead, this drama really depicted the fear and pressure of a teenager trying to find himself and coming to terms with his sexuality — it made the story all the more heart-wrenching. And Oh-aew is just perfection.
The friend group and side characters get just enough screentime; they're obviously not the main focus but they add so much to the drama's feeling of youth and nostalgia.
There's still some parts of this that feel really dramatic, or some developments where I wish we could've spent more time on to explain why the leads or fighting, but I understand that it's just a side effect of only having five episodes. Overall, I don't mind the pacing at all because I think this drama did everything else right, including just having absolute gorgeous cinematography.
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This review may contain spoilers
Amazing. One of the best coming of age show I've watched.
It is really relatable, and is very different from other MLM series I have watched. It depicts alot of emotions that the community can relate to. Teh's confusion about his sexuality was spot on, really brought me to tears. Oh and Teh's actors were really good at portraying their roles too. This series has brought me a rollercoaster of emotions. It's not a typical love story, it is much more than that. The soundtrack and the cinematography is phenomenalIt is very realistic. The bra scene made me emotional, it really showed the question among gay men is: "Would he like me If I was a girl?"
Actually, alot of scenes made me emotional. The scene on the roof top with Teh's brother was super realistic. I loved how they portrayed the struggles of coming out as bisexual. I loved how Teh had internalized-homophobia, on how scared he was that his Mom would be disappointed and such. Really showed what alot of LGBTQ+ people are struggling with today.
The kissing scene — the kissing under the water was just amazing.
Amazing show. Would rewatch if I have some time. Kudos!
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Heartbreaking in the best way
This show is so insanely well done and beautifully shot. It's devastating and painful to watch. I'm not normally one to cry at a show, but this one deserved it.The internalized homophobia is portrayed in the most realistic way, to a point of it hurting. As a queer person, watching this was painful. It felt like such a true and authentic representation of a queer experience, even if that meant that it hurt. A lot. I feel like most BLs throw queer characters into an otherwise heteronormative storyline, but ITSAY didn't. It was a beautiful portrayal of what it feels like to realize you're queer, without shying away from the difficult aspects of this. The building of the tension in the relationship was so well done, and the interactions between the leads were almost too realistic. This is a show that I'm glad I watched once, and I don't think I could rewatch.
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Just perfect
First off. The entire cast…they made these two shows fantastic. Such great acting by the entire cast. The leads were fantastic. Drew me in right away. Beautiful cinematography as wellI needed that ending. Tough road for them both. Such a great portrayal of real life. You can grow apart and made that’s the end, maybe not. Honestly cried through the last two episodes but pretty much the best bl I’ve watched. You need to be okay with angst cause there is a lot.
Story 1 ended on a high note.
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This review may contain spoilers
Heartbreakingly beautiful
Man... I feel emotionally drained after that roller coaster.. I can't fathom what another season / sequel is going to do to me. But it was so incredibly well done that I don't mind all the tears and pulling at my heart. I see why it's rated so high across the board.In reading some reviews beforehand, I saw a lot of dislike toward Teh and, while I can see where the dislike is coming from, I can forgive him to an extent due to the fact he was confused and scared about his own feelings which is never a good combination. It stood out to me how much Teh was pacing back and forth in a lot of scenes as if he were lost. He was clearly struggling with his thoughts/feelings throughout the series. You could feel the frustration coming off him.
I definitely loved how Bas was not ashamed to be seen with a boy and I think both Oh and Teh really needed to see that in order to experience it themselves. Bas's monologue at the end of cram school was basically Teh's inner thoughts and feelings only Teh wasn't brave enough to say it out loud and it cost him his chance with Oh. While Bas laid it all out, it was such a beautiful scene because we watched as Teh realized it all too, even though he didn't say a word.
In that respect, I'm curious to see how many pages the script was for this series because I feel like there wasn't all that much dialog for 5+ hours. However all that they said with their expressions was deafening. The actors were really good at portraying their inner emotions.
I usually don't like series centered around high school age because I feel like I'm too old for that.. But this was amazing and I didn't feel like I was watching teenagers, if that makes sense.
Besides the acting, the cinematography was absolutely stunning and I liked that it wasn't set in the city. The music was great and really helped set the tone for each scene, especially the piano version of the song they sang together. A lot of little touches like that really helped with the ache the viewer felt along with the characters.
I'd definitely watch this again and would recommend it to anyone who doesn't mind a bit of frustration to go along with a truly beautiful piece.
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My heart and soul? Sure I guess I don't need them!
This series ground my whole heart and soul into dust. I was in perfect agony the entire time, sobbing my life away. I imagine this is what going through a meat grinder or wood chipper would feel like.The acting was amazing. TOO GOOD. I cannot even bring myself to start the next season just because I don't know if I hand handle it! The angst served. I'm in shambles. Believe it or not this is a positive review.
If you want to be in shambles and feel all your feelings you've ever suppressed, please proceed.
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A coming of age LGBTQ+ story, less of of a BL
I had already watched a lot of BLs before seeing ITSAY, and I was already late to the party because I saw ITSAY in January 2023 (soon after Viki released it). I immediately saw that it was unlike the BLs I had seen before, more of a coming of age LGBTQ+ story about two boys in Phuket. I immediately fell in love with the scenery, the MCs and the rest of the cast, esp. Bas and Hoon. These two were the perfect support for our two MCs whose lives were undergoing such momentous changes.Having seen several lakorns, what struck me about ITSAY were the understated motions, subtle eye & facial movements, the softly spoken word. Then, we are treated with incredible cinematography and the corresponding music. My heart was all over the place with sadness, joy, laughter, angst, anger.
I get that Teh and Oh are imperfect characters. That's what makes them interesting and relatable to me. At that age, I was similarly selfish & selfless, wanting intimacy & dreading vulnerability and was loving & insufferable. Just Like Teh and Oh, I was a contradiction unto myself.
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Writing to raise the criminally low ratings
ERM 8.2 for this masterpiece?? NOT ON MY WATCH.ITSAY is a classic, a must-watch ThaiBL for good reason. It has heart wrenching and artistic scenes with gorgeous cinematography. It makes you feel and then go numb after simply because you fall into post-drama depression. It is a true masterpiece in terms of acting, music, cinematography which is EXTREMELY rare to find in ThaiBLs.
The only reason ITSAY gets 9.5/10 and not 10/10 is cos I'm anal and refuse to believe anything can be perfect (Although ITSAY, honestly is to closest thing to perfection imo)
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Refreshing change
Excellent BL drama and a refreshing change in the genre, delving deep into the psyches of teenagers and love, with all its complexities.The angst and heartache are brutal and takes one back to those years when we too experienced the same feelings.
I admit to being a little frustrated with the character of Teh - felt like giving him a kick up the backside at times but he was going through some major stuff himself, with emotions all over the place. In fact I actually felt so much empathy for the character.
Brilliant acting, great location shots. Wholeheartedly recommend this one.
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love of my life
i told sunset about you has my whole heart and it was my first bl drama ever, definitely a good start. incredible series with incredible acting and portraying emotions. the documentary is as good as the show so i think it's a need to watch it after! last twillight in phucket is also very good but we better don't talk about i promised you the moon. i'm very attached to characters and i wish poeple will understand teh more. it's one of my all-time favourites, worth watching!!Was this review helpful to you?
I told sunset about you
This series was amazing. The acting. The story. The way you can watch it over and over and it still feel fresh. The music.The music in this series was amazing and I still have it on my playlist to this day. The acting was well done and they really made the viewers understand how they felt in the situations. The story was very unique and interesting.
Definitely a 10/10 and would recommend for anyone as their first bl. Not only was it a bl but the plot explored more than just that and just didn't stick around the bl factor and made the whole series based on that. It had amazing plot not only for the main characters but also for each and every support character and guest role.
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Just perfect.
I started this series because of reviews I had read previously, and wow, I definitely did not expect this much of a masterpiece.The main thing I liked about this series is that the main storyline is very spaced out, keeping you on edge until their first kiss, with lots of beautifully portrayed scenes of confusion, betrayal, jealousy, anger, and lust in between. Unlike other dramas I have watched, it doesn’t seem rushed or undeveloped, which allows for a lot of character development and an understanding of their feelings.
The amount of butterflies I got while watching this is seriously unmatched! The tension and pure emotion between these two actors is really unbeatable.
However, prepare to be severely frustrated while watching this… like I said before, this storyline is quite spaced out, and it is an friends to enemies to lovers storyline, meaning that sometimes the characters make decisions which make you want to scream at them through the screen! (I for sure did…).
AND DON’T EVEN GET ME STARTED ON THE CINEMATOGRAPHY. The shots in this series are absolutely gorgeous and are extremely visually pleasing. The colour grading is gorgeous and the shots really show the true beauty of Thailand.
Overall, this is an excellent series, and is a beautiful coming-of-age story of youth and finding out who you are. It certainly lives up to its hype, and definitely deserves all of the awards it’s gotten. Beautiful storyline, acting, visuals, music, and cinematography. Just perfect.
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