Baker Boys (2021)

Good acting, but a confusing "plot"

For those who don’t know, Baker Boys is based off the manga series “Antique Bakery.” I mention this because a) a lot of people expected a BL storyline, which if you’ve read the manga that’s NOT what this story is about at all and b) if you read it, you’ll understand why some of the artistic decisions this adaptation took worked and why others did not.

Story: If you’ve read Antique Bakery, you’ll understand that the story takes place over several vignettes rather than an overarching story. I think in order to keep the viewers’ attention, the writers felt obliged to create an overarching plot which meant stretching out some of the vignettes into larger stories. However, this sometimes creates disjointed and tiring plots. The first 5 episodes are rough to get through because they keep introducing all the plot points and worry about resolving them later. Then, when they finally resolve them, they’re drawn out longer than necessary.
Episode 6 is really where the show starts to find its footing, and it’s frankly the best episode of this series in my opinion. Going forward every episode starts to capture the vignette storytelling and all for the better. We still have the overarching mystery, but it takes a back seat to the more interesting character developments that happen in individual episodes. I wish the series would've focused more on containing plots to individual episodes rather than desperately dragging them out for filler.
Finally, the whole “Family Detective agency” plot did not work for me. The actors were fine, but the characters seemed very amateurish, and they only serve as filler for a lot of the episodes. Their whole social-media, investigative journalism operation just doesn’t make sense…but then again other Thai dramas have shown how ineffectual the Thai police are so maybe that was the angle. However, he culmination of the murder-kidnapping mystery was actually quite good and actually gave the series some suspenseful action it needed for a satisfactory ending.

Cast: If you watched the “Sweet Day Tour” special before the series, the director goes into his reasoning for choosing the actors he did for the main cast, and I think he was spot on. Weir is portrayed slightly different from the manga, but Singto’s portrayal is to die for; his humor and coyness is amazing, and out of the whole cast he captures his character the best. Pluem and Foei are tied next for character portrayal. They’re both funny and entertaining when they’re in the background for an episode, but when they have their spotlight episodes they deliver an emotional performance that really sells their character development. Finally, there’s Lee. I generally like Lee as an actor, but I think he might have struggled a bit in Baker Boys. Lee has a trouble with conveying vulnerability, and he sometimes looks stiff doing so (I’ve noticed this in other dramas of his), which makes it a little hard for his character development in the final episodes. I think he captured the character the writers created, BUT Punn is the furthest away from his portrayal in the original work. Punn is written as very shallow and not very bright. Baker Boys captures neither his business acumen nor his quiet empathy as seen in the manga. I don’t fault Lee for this, I think the writers thought he’d be more entertaining as the laughable and clumsy ladies man.
The rest of the minor characters are a mixed bag. Jamie does a very good job as Mone, it’s just her character’s significance to the plot gets lost as she (and her parents) act as filler for the plot. However, when she needs to be humorous or emotional, she delivers a good performance. Unda does an amazing job as Piglet for such a young actress. I enjoyed her screentime and she was very compatible with Foei. Wave Khoo as Jean was also very true to his character, but like Jamie/Mone he has a very specific plot point and once that’s resolved he becomes filler for a few episodes as well. For the sake of spoilers, I won’t comment on some of the other minor characters, but most do well when their spotlight comes.

Music: The background music for the series was ok. Sometimes, dramas pick background music that ends up being more distracting than entertaining, but this is not the case for Baker Boys (though I’m not sure why the Tony Bennett like music was chosen). The closing themes are also just ok, but it’s hard to tell because they don’t really have any other purposed to the show. The producers clearly felt obliged to have a unique theme song or two for this series (I wouldn’t expect anything less from GMMTV), but it would’ve been nice to have them featured more in the actual episodes themselves.

Did I need to lower my expectations of this show? Yes, I tried to look at this show as its own entity separate from the manga, but even then, you will find yourself bored with the plot at times. Do I regret watching Baker Boys? No, it has its shining moments making it worth a watch through and if you are a fan of any of the actors and actresses that appear in this series, you’ll enjoy them in this.

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Cute Feel-Good Comedy

Shall I call this a comedy about four dysfunctional men in a cafe known for its desserts? One is afraid of desserts because of some traumatic childhood event One is afraid of women also because of some traumatic event. One has to start a new life because his boxing career is over thanks to a medical condition. One takes it upon himself to be a bodyguard to protect his "boss" except that he's not cut out to be a bodyguard. As you can expect, there will be plenty of funny situations.

But this is not a comedy that just makes you laugh. It can be a touching, if episodic and slight disjointed, story on the friendship between the four people and how the support the give one another help them cope with their personal crises.

There's a lot of cuteness in the story, and the more serious parts are not seamlessly worked in. Besides all the relatively trivial events, there is a series of kidnapping that goes in and out of focus in the storytelling. Children have been killed and the killings are not treated as jokes, but hey don't seem to be taken seriously enough. The scenes of dead children seem a little out of place. Perhaps there is a challenge when it comes to making a live-action adaptation of a manga. There is something cartoonish about the characters that enhances the humor but it may not go down well with everyone especially when it is juxtaposed with the scenes of child murders. (There is probably some unintentional social commentary: the police seem so thoroughly incompetent that they don't even think of what a journalist does: check the cafe's CCTV footage to try to find the kidnapper.)

Unlike previous drama adaptations, this one lets the gay character be all-out gay. He flirts openly with men and there is no attempt to downplay the character's sexual orientation, especially when his ex-boyfriend comes into the story. This is nice in itself, but perhaps we are too often teased with the prospects of a Punn/Weir romance. Since times have changed, why not make an adaptation with an actual BL subplot even if it is not between Punn and Weir. After all, if the adaptation 20 years ago could totally remove the character's sexual orientation, why can't an adaptation in 2021 add in a BL subplot?

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OMG. Confusing and bizarre

I was deeply puzzled by this utterly disjointed series, a bizarre amalgam of truly disparate elements. There was a gruesome mystery story, utterly vile, really, about murdered children, good grief. A story about a ... "bakery" which wasn't a bakery at all, but a café where hardly any pretence was made of baking anything. There was a story about a father and daughter. Another one about a family detective agency. A gay character who did all kinds of utterly weird un-gay things and was in reality scared of women - not a lover of men. Then there was a tangle of storylines around the owner of the café. Oh yes, and a dramatic sentimental saga about a young boxer. And so on.

But worst of all, there were really disturbing, repellent items which it's hard to forget. Clearly I should have stopped watching. This is not a spoiler, so I can mention these elements again here. First, the story of the murdered children. Truly horrible. Not comic. Utterly gruesome. Next, the repeated depiction of young children as players in some sort of heterosexual romance - the "first love" of one's life, etc. Again, no no no. Kids of that age should not be portrayed as engaged in adult romantic relationships. Finally, worst of all, the message that a crazy fear of women is what makes a man gay! Does Singto, who has given us some other gay roles, really believe this - that a gay man is only interested in men because he has a pathological terror of women?

Absolutely, this is not a BL. No way. But that has nothing to do with my reservations. They are exactly as stated above.

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A dull mess.

This is adapted from a manga, and it's the third time it has been so adapted - there are previous Japanese and Korean versions. The story is over 20 years old, and it shows. TBH, I can't understand why anyone would adapt this once, let alone three times - the original material does not lend itself to a series.

The story is a mess, as too much was attempted - there is a child murder/kidnapping plot (actually, there are TWO child kidnapping plots), plus all the characters have totally unrelated and clashing storylines, none of which are interesting.

The casting is OK, except for Singto, who is terribly miscast as "The gay conqueror" - he has zero sex appeal and thinks flirting is acting like a five year old pretending to be a cat. He's so totally unbelievable as a gay player that I'm not sure what possessed anyone to cast him - both Lee and Pluem are so sexy and beautiful either would have made much more sense.

The acting is good throughout (except for Singto - I'm not trying to rip on him, he's good in the also-airing Paint With Love - he's just not the right actor for this role and that's not his fault), but there are so many extraneous and unnecessary characters that it doesn't save the show. The Scooby Gang amateur detectives/reporters/social media influencers are tiresome, implausible, and add nothing to the story, nor does Pooh's family, which actually contradicts one of the main themes, which is of found family - it doesn't work if one of the main characters leaves the found family to recreate his real one.

If this was going to be remade, it needed to be refreshed with some new elements, like for example BL, since the cynical decision was made to cast actors that would draw in a BL audience. In the Manga, one of the main (male) characters falls in love with the gay chef - so why was that deleted from the series? The actor of that character has played gay, so he's not afraid of it.

I can't recommend this series. If you really hate kids, you might like it since you get to see many dead children, and childen violently abducted and tortured.

Story: 3 - I would rate the manga higher, because it's episodic, which works. This attempts a unified story and fails miserably.
Acting: 8 - good overall, with the exception noted above.
Music: 7 - Pretty good - nothing special but appropriate
Rewatch: 1 - I can't imagine any circumstance that would cause me to rewatch any of this. Nobody even takes their shirt off.
Overall: 6.5 - it's not terrible - it's competently made in every way (except the writing), but there was no reason to make it, and there is no payoff for watching it.

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Comedy but confusing plot

Once again a drama that let me down with the heading!

I expected this drama to be a little more interesting then what we got, it does make for a good comedy and pretty delights, but it terms of the story this was a late down or more accurate it was weak. 4 guys each have there own issues to work through and the bakery shop served as a base camp for them. There was a few minutes of actual baking but nit enough screen time.

This for me was also not a BL in the way a BL should be, but more of friends working and helping each other out when there was a problem. Then we got a family who plays detective to try and resolve child kidnapping, honestly this for me just felt like a waste of time, cuz there was no real background to it.

Overall this was a bit of a late down, so dont go into it with high expectations, the comedy side of it is what kept me going or i would have dropped it.

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A MUST WATCH

Firstly I watched the trailer and I was super excited and moreso a bakery affair that involves all workers it had my best interests that the results make me unable to help it but talk too much.

With the airing of the first episode I was picking up momentum and further devotion to the show but suddenly everything breaks off from episode two, first I thought that the series was about the missing children and how they are linked to the bakery but I was disappointed when it seemed that they were starting to pursue much more different storylines as we get the jumbled story of how all the main characters start to live and adapt with one another and generally I don't mean to say that it wasn't nice but I think it still needs some work because the case concerning the kidnappings tends to merely feel like a leftover to the story that is to say the person writing the script somehow felt bored and said maybe let me just add it for the case or they had to spin a wheel for it.

The characters though well presented I think the bl romance bit of the story is far fetched and a bit too shallow, no offense there are excellent characters and very cute moments as you feel the comedy and the fun in every dialogue but I think Weir's character charms me the most while the owner of the bakery says the "TAKE A PICTURE WITH ME." line too much that I get too bored hearing it over and over again.

I picked up the pieces of the tale and analysed them despite having such shortcomings I believe that I am very lenient enough to say that I don't hate the series, in fact, if compared to others like BITE ME and LOVESICK which are sweet Thai BL originals it's much more outstanding as the cast really suited the roles and they are all handsome heart throbs and additionally, the story may feel humbled but I did appreciate it.

Except for the above few loopholes everything else about the series was very good which makes it worth watching and I'd highly recommend it for anyone out there and if you aren't a fan of the bl elements then you will love it because to me I feel they were quite shallow anyway but all in all we have the most wonderful Bromance as a whole

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Baker Boys is in my heart to stay

I was truly enamored with this Series - Baker Boys is truly amazing - This series made me laugh, cry, mad and so happy. The story was so simple and so sweet. My favorite Characters were Weir and Pooh > Punn , Krating added to the pack. This was such a good series and I waited in anticipation every week. The finale was so emotional for me , the teacher and his "mother" needed help. I cried for all the children lost. Trent's story made me cry as he lost his son and has no idea where he is but apologized to Punn for what he did to him, Yes it was wrong but he at least felt guilty and wanted to apologise, This was a truly amazing series I urge you to watch this one, I know I will over and over
Love is Love Mychelle

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A fun, slice of life show - but don't watch while you're hungry!

If you are expecting a BL, you won't enjoy this show. Because it's not a BL.

What it is, however, is a fairly well-made slice of life dramedy with a healthy heaping of foodporn on top. It reminds me of "I'm Tee, Me Too" in many ways.

The good: At its core, it's a found family tale with a cast of GMMTV giants, all getting together to play in the sandbox. It's clear that each person in this cast is having a lot of fun, and that makes it fun for the viewer, too. There are plenty of laugh out loud moments, especially from Foei as the bodyguard Pooh, in addition to heartwarming lessons about friendship and family.

The not-so-good: Of course, it has its weaknesses. The plot is, admittedly, all over the place. There are often abrupt tone shifts from silly comedy to serious murder mystery, tone shifts which some viewers might find jarring.

However, if you lean into the absurdity and take it for what it is, this show is a fun watch. It isn't complete yet, so my rating might change, but as it stands I give this show a solid 7.5 overall. Give it a shot, and you might be surprised by the fun (and the cravings) you have along the way.

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Not so much romance but found family romance

You may just have to leave your brain at home to watch this drama... not much makes sense and not all is perfectly done in anyway but you do get an entertaining mix of Bromance, friendship, gorgeous food, gorgeous people (inside and out) and just the sweetest bunch of characters ever... actually making me long for a second season with more romance and less investigations...

Though it does lack romance it does not lack fluff having both a lovely selection of fluffy desserts, fluffy friendships and fluffy lighting... So yes this is definitely a feel good fluff piece with a side order of kidnapping and the sad sad story of the forgotten kids... or something along that way, though they do bring up some important issues it is not really well and as I wrote earlier you will have to forget most of the things you know about the world to find it intriguing...

But all is compensated by the beautiful food, found family, friendships and mances... Just not a romance...

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Slow, humorless, soap-opera version of a great Japanese manga.

This is the fourth take on the Fumi Yoshinaga's "Antique Bakery", and the least enjoyable. It is written to pander to a traditional "soap opera" audience, so BL fans, LGBTQ audiences and others are likely to be disappointed. Its one bright spot (in addition to the cute and handsome cast) is that there is occasional emphasis on cooking details. They even show Weir lowering the temperature partway through baking the cannele! However, this endearing sensitivity to food is then wasted with brute force product placement. The worst was Carnation Condensed Milk in a tube being put on a mango/rosemary topping. Yuck. The original "Antique Bakery" manga itself is not strictly BL, and "Baker Boys" even less so. This version lost the playful absurdity that the manga , Korean and anime versions maintain. I'd say it's mostly humorless, except for random humor thrown in to "lighten the mood". The producers seem more interested in tackling serious topics, but then seemed to show minimal understanding of abduction, child abuse or any of the many dysfunctional family dynamics it attempts to deal with. Many of the scenes are too long; we found ourselves multitasking on our smart phones waiting for the next scene. If you do watch it, don't be afraid to watch it at 1.25 or 1.5 speeds. I didn't start doing this until episode 10. Surprisingly, the music sounded better at 1.25 than at normal speed. This series could be edited down to a single 90-120 movie that might have re-watch value. The music was sometimes heavy handed, too much drama for the scene, or the wrong mood for the scene.

As a slow soap-opera, it does very well. As an entertaining and lively version of a classic Japanese manga, not so much.

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I wanted to...

I was prepared to blast this series....a BL with bakers and a kidnapping murder story just don't fit together. Now that I understand where the story came from then I understand the fact that it wasn't really a BL. The book is a punch of stories loosely strung together. I loved Krating and Pooh. The story and their characters and how they were played. I really didn't care for Punn. His character and his story. However, I did shed some tears at the ending speech and did remember some other monologues that he did which really elevated my opinion overall. The detective media family was just confusing but more understanding when i view that as a part of a vignette. Based on it's own merit as a separate entity. Still, GMMTV should know it audience especially after casting Singto. Hated Jean the character. I was happy with guest appearance by Mike (teacher) and Na (Host). Always good to end on a good note.

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Things that I like from this series:
1. Singto as Weir. He is cute and flirty. I love his flirty acting.
2. Singto and Lee's dynamic. I love it whenever Weir teased and flirted with Punn and Punn be like: panicked. It creates good comedies.
3. The four, cafe staff's relationship. It's warm and funny. Krating who likes to ridicule Punn, Pooh who devotes to Pooh, and Weir who loves to tease Punn too. And Punn, as a tsundere, despite of against everything he cares a lot about every one.
4. Punn's narsistic trait. It's quite funny tho because no one take him seriously.

Things that I dislike:
THE ENDING! The last two episode is too rushed and unconvincing. Especially the kidnapping scene. I mean like Mone hasn't even swallowed the cake but she has already fallen asleep.

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