Cutie Pie (2022)

I will change to love someone who loves me – to what extent?

Arranged marriage? Age gap? Childhood crush? Yes, please! I feel like the series had incredible potential. I can’t think of any other arranged marriage BL series, so I was really looking forward to watching this one. It’s definitely a trope I really like, especially when it’s done with a well-done age gap romance.

Lian & Kuea: I know Hia Lian was supposed to be cold and kind of emotionless, but it felt kind of overdone at times. Kuea was fun and rebellious yet decided to show a completely different self to Hia Lian. I can understand why he did what he did, he wanted to be the perfect person for the one he truly loved. He took that very seriously. I liked the initial conflict between the two of them, but as the story progressed, things got a bit repetitive at times. I feel like something that many failed to realize is that the only person Lian has to blame for the disaster that happened in episode 11 is himself. He knew all about Kuea’s true self, yet he kept quiet about it. Understandable, he was giving his boy the chance to confess on his own. But because Kuea still thought that Lian doesn’t know who he is, his reaction was the only correct reaction he should have.

Yi & Diao: Diao is a cutie pie as well. He is a bit too clueless at times, but he is ana amazing friend to Kuea. Even if that means getting dragged into his schemes. Yi is another tight-lipped man. I see a pattern here. I do think the two of them are cute together, but Yi felt extremely controlling at times. Like the whole curfew thing. Diao is an adult; he should be allowed to make such decisions for himself. When he is or isn’t Yi’s boyfriend. It just didn’t sit well with me. It felt like a parent – child relationship at times instead of the pinning-after-each-other kind of relationship.

Nuer & Syn: The two of them are so adorable! The way Syn would not admit his feelings for Nuer throughout the series was kind of fun. He kept insisting that Nuer makes him mad, yet he could never take his eyes off him. And Nuer knew what buttons to push. I am certain that he was never actually interested in Kuea, he saw him as a potential friend. His focus was always on Syn. And their kiss scene? It was so sweet!

Saying that the chemistry between the actors is amazing is an understatement. They all seem very relaxed around each other, and I feel like we can see that through the way they interact in the series as well. The OST was done really well, I wouldn’t expect anything less considering the fact that Kuea is a musician. Nunew’s voice is incredible soothing. And the songs they used really fit the storyline well. They carry a lot of meaning too. Change made me shed some tears. Nunew delivered this one so well. I think I am not the only one that could feel Kuea’s pain through the song.

However, there were some not so great things. The first being the first kiss of Lian and Kuea. It was a great kissing scene, don’t get me wrong, but the fact Kuea was incredibly drunk didn’t sit well with me. Also, the fact that both Kuea and Diao are terrified of their partners is not fun. If anything, it should be concerning. I feel like we don’t get enough backstory on a lot of things, which makes it difficult to put certain things into perspective. But my biggest pet peeve was the lack of communication between both Lian & Kuea and Yi & Diao. Do you know how much better things could be much earlier on if they just talked? I know that lack of communication tends to be a favorite plot maker in BL series, but there is such thing as it being too much.

Read More

Half and half

This series has approximately 1 million flaws, but Zee and Nunew's acting, chemistry, and visuals are not one of them. For that alone, this drama is worth watching.

That said, it seems like this plot was written by two different people -- one who is extremely good at writing and one who is extremely bad at it. I really loved the series until about halfway through episode 8, and would have given it perfect marks up until that point. But, after hands down the best love scene in all of BL history in episode 8, the quality comes to a crashing halt.

Let's start with the secondary couple. Ugh. They were one of the biggest problems for me. You have Yi, a rich and successful businessman and Diao, a...... yeah, I never figured it out either. Who is he? He goes to university, for what, we don't know. Who is he to Yi? Because he lives in Yi's house, which, apparently, Yi does not live in for quite some time. How did this random guy come to live in Yi's house? It's played up as this huge mystery, but basically, Yi caused harm to Diao in the past (which Diao doesnt remember, because the harm caused him to lose his memory... only of what happened this one time). Yi feels so guilty about it, he lets him live in his house. Along the way, he fell for Diao. Okay, sounds good. But when we actually find out what happened, it's a huge letdown. First of all, it was an accident, there's literally no need for Yi to feel guilty for 20 years, but i could let that slide. However, it also happened when they were kids.

Wait a minute. They knew each other as kids? Where did that come from? All we knew about Diao thus far was that he's Kuea's best friend and they studied in the UK together. We know Kuea and Lian are childhood friends, but now Diao and Yi are, too? And each pair just happens to be best friends with each other as adults? What?

Also, the accident should have left physical scars, especially if it caused him to "lose his memory," which would have been apt (and cute for Yi to kiss later, you’re welcome for that idea), but Diao has none. All we have left to hope for is that, when Diao remembers what happened, or Yi tells him, they can finally communicate and forgive and move on. But it turns out Diao did remember, suddenly, somewhere in the middle of the series, but off camera, and just casually drops that he remembers and it's no big deal.

When Yi is confessing his feelings to Diao, it's cute and all, but this man was already living in your house. Under what context did that even happen? He wasn’t even your fake boyfriend before? It really just was a, "here, childhood friend I barely speak to, live in my mansion and I'll just crash at work because I cant bear to look at you for years" kind of thing? And Diao just goes with it? But cimplains the entire time that he’s lonely? Ugh!!!!

Okay, next major problem: all of the drama between the main couple could have been resolved by them having one five minute conversation. Miscommunication and keeping secrets and "I'm waiting for the right time to tell him," are common tropes, but they're played to the extreme in this series. At one point, Lian literally says, "I'm waiting for the right time to tell him," but somehow finds time to confess that he loves him and that they should get married, if not today, then tomorrow. Lian's character always knew about everything Kuea was hiding, but not vice versa, and it was ultimately a weird power balance. And weird that Lian kept insisting he loved Kuea, and wanted to marry him, but wouldn’t confess the secret he was hiding that ANYONE could have known would hurt Kuea if he found out about it and didn’t understand the reasons behind it. Lian was also very good at percieving Kuea's feelings, up until the time Kuea had a clearly miserable look on his face all the time; it was then that Lian decided everything was great between them and he should publicly propose. Ugh!!!!

And then there's the end, which just felt rushed and shallow. Yes, the message was sweet, but the ending would have fit a 2 hour movie better than a 12 episode series. The entire actual plot would have fit into a movie much better. So much time was wasted on the 2nd and 3rd couples, the excessive screen time of random characters like the club owner that no one was even friends with.

But I don't want to do a disservice to Zee and especially Nunew. I literally cannot believe this is Nunew's first acting role. He did an incredible job, and put shame to every other actor in this drama except Zee and the veteran adult actors. Zee was great too, and kept up with him, but Nunew really shined. I hope to see so much more from this couple in the future. They have the potential to make incredible work and bring huge social change as well.

Read More

So much good yet eh

This was one of my first dramas I’ve watched in a long time and I wanna give this drama perfect scores but I just can’t.

Let’s start with the good!
The chemistry between the main couple is adorable when they eventually ACTUALLY get together. They're dynamic after they get together is so fluffy and cheesy it's really cute.
The transitions and the overall camera work is very good and the music is pretty.
Them openly talking about the LGBTQ community was very nice, it felt like they actually cared about it and not only had a BL just for fan service and for them to not give a crap about the community they are trying to represent.
Also it’s unproblematic in the sense that all the kissing scenes are consensual and there’s no insensitive joking as you see with a lot of shows.

Now on to the things I didn’t like!
It is sooooo slow in the beginning and the overall dynamic between the main characters is just weird and so dragged out.
The fact that the parents wanted them to get married since Kuea was born was just icky, like I know its an arranged marriage but asking a 5 year old to marry this person who WAS JUST BORN AT THE TIME-
Also why tf was the same tropes were used for multiple characters? Like we get it, you're a closed off rich guy that can't show emotion and you're dating another rich person who can't stand up for themselves? Like it feels like a copy and paste, make it their own original story?

With all these cons I wouldn’t completely knock it, it just depends on your taste and how high expectations you put on to it.

Read More

Second time around

I originally watched this a few months ago but held off writing a review, knowing I would watch it again when the sequel (Drama Special) came out. Part of me wanted to see if I felt the same way about the series the second time around and, for the most part, I did.

The premise seemed interesting and it was nice to have a BL not centered around University life. (Even though Kuea is in University and there are plenty of scenes with him at University, it's not centered around University life, seeing as Lian is older.) But even though the characters are older and supposedly more mature, they sure didn't act like it half the time. Take the misunderstandings that come with school dramas (the ML thinks the other lead is in a relationship with pretty much anyone they talk to) and replace it with a different kind of miscommunication consisting of lying and keeping secrets from each other. This really stood out to me the first time I watched it although it didn't hit as hard this time around. I mean, I can see they had their reasons but those reasons didn't seem like enough to justify the lying to go on the entire series.

It would have been so much better if, after Kuea first calls off the engagement in the first episode, that he actually does what he said he'd do and be his true self. In the first episode, we see him as a total bad-ass, riding motorcycles and playing drums but putting on a masked persona around Lian. Then, when he wants to call off the engagement, he still tries to seem obedient around Lian, even though he supposedly decided that he doesn't want to be married to him anymore and shouldn't care about his opinion. Because, let's face it, Lian was an ass to Kuea when all he wanted was reassurance that their marriage would mean something.

All that being said, I still enjoyed watching the show. There was enough investment in the side characters to help break up the constant lying of the main couple. (Excluding Diao and Yi who had their own issues that pretty much mirror the above.) I really loved the relationship between Diao and Kuea; that best friend who will drop everything (even at the risk of being scolded) to help each other out. And the engineering crew was hilarious. I enjoyed their interactions with each other and always laughed when they all would murmur "sadhu" when Syn would say his words of wisdom. I liked the healthy, professional rivalry between the Pentagon and Gemini and the interactions between Jay and Lian. They had respect for each other even though they were essentially in direct competition. Jay's support of Kuea's music career was nice to see as well... pretty much Jay brought in a good balance of what healthy relationships looked like against all the messed up stuff going on with the two main couples.

The music was enjoyable and catchy. At times I felt like this series was more of an attempt to launch NuNew's music career rather than his acting career but, either way, he deserves it.

Now that I've seen it twice, I don't know if I'll watch it again, to be honest. When the next sequels/spin-offs come out, I may browse through it on those respective couples (with pit stops along the way to see Jay) to refresh my memory on what we've seen of them so far.

Read More

Warto dać temu szansę

Przy pierwszym podejściu poddałam się po około 3 odcinkach, ponieważ jakoś Kuea nie przypadł mi do gustu swoim charakterem. Jednak jakiś czas później postanowiłam ponownie zabrać się za te tajską dramę i w sumie nie było tak źle jak na początku. Podczas przerwy od oglądania dowiedziałam się sporo na temat głównych bohaterów i bardzo ich polubiłam - głównie dzięki instagramowi, co na pewno później pomogło mi w oglądaniu.
Mimo, że fabuła nie jest jakaś mega ciekawa, a niektóre sceny są lekko za długie przez co czasem nudne to cieszę się, że dałam temu drugą szansę.
Cutie Pie jest bardzo przyjemne w oglądaniu, a postacie zarówno główne, jak i te drugoplanowe są bardzo dobrze dobrane (np. Nuer i Syn). Uważam, że jeśli ktoś miał z początku tak jak ja lub podobnie to warto się przełamać i to obejrzeć :)

Read More

Mid, freaking mid

bro..... no let me chill, gotta start with the good, I did absolutely fall in love with Lian and Kuea. the production was great, clearly they put a lot of money into this.

Now...Kondiao and his man made me so uncomfy ion how to explain it. their relationship seems so odd. I did not like it, it was awkward and I had to skip or watch it at a high speed. the constant reference to the past with little explanation, the weird misunderstands, the feeling that they are terrified of talking with each other CONSTANTLY .

Ultimately, the charters are flawed / written too badly. iono if it's the acting or sometime but some scenes felt forced..iono I just felt it was not that good.

Read More

For All Those That Enjoy Fluff

Ok, I initially checked this show out bc Zee was in it and I hadn't seen him in anything for a while. I really enjoyed the side characters and the chemistry between everyone was great, but that is kind of where my list of compliments ends.

In my opinion it really dragged in the middle. I don't know if it was just me but there was a point where I just started cheering for them to argue because I was bored of all the fluff. Keep in mind, I'm the type of person that gets annoyed with other shows for dragging conflicts out for to long or basing the entire plot on miscommunication. But at some point I was really just wishing for something, ANYTHING other than the constant stream of fluff and kiss scenes.

In series like 'Ingredients', lengthy periods of just fluff didn't bother me but I was just expecting more conflict and the multiple episodes of not really anything happening threw me off. I feel like this show could've been shortened to like ten episodes. My sister felt the same, but it might just be our short attention span.

I didn't particularly like or dislike the main couple, even if it was a bit vague to me when exactly Lian fell for Kuea. One moment he's insulting him and saying he doesn't want to get married and the next he's suddenly in love with him.

I'm not going to say much about the second couple since I was pretty indifferent to their storyline and tuned out most of their scenes while watching. I'm not going to bash them since from the very beginning their storyline really didn't interest me. But the one thing I will say is that I HATE the way they were dressed in this. My sister pointed out that they literally look like father and son at some points in this and I just couldn't get the thought out of my head. Khondiao is dressed so colourfully and playfully, which isn't bad, but next to Yi who is always wearing a suit he looked like his son more than his boyfriend.

Long story short, if you go into it knowing there's minimal conflict once the show reaches the halfway mark you might enjoy this. It just wasn't for me.

(also, English isn't my first language so excuse the spelling and grammar mistakes)

Read More

A simple concept concluded haphazardly

I had such high hopes with this series when I read the synopsis and saw the first few episodes. Alas! with every consecutive episodes the hopes died a slow death.
The story is about Lian and Kuea bethroted to each other at a very young age. But when they grow up Lian has no love towards Kuea. Kuea, heart-broken decides to end the engagement only for Lian to realise that he has feelings for Kuea. The concept was new to me as I have not seen a series with arranged marriages before let alone between 2 men and this got me excited. The series starts promising where we get to see the contrast between the 2 characters. Lian being a strict businessman with only limited time for his fiance and Kuea being a singer and a lover of fast cars and bikes but hides his true self from Lian. They separate from each other due to Lian's indifference towards Kuea and so starts a journey of self-realization and getting to know your true feelings.
This is where the story starts to lose me. The story of the arranged marriage was not convincing as the families just wanted Lian to take care of a very young Kuea. The mention of marriage was said in jest. Not sure why these 2 pursued that idea till their adulthood?
The sudden change in Lian's feelings towards Kuea was confusing too as there was nothing that justified either his love or his initial indifference.
There is clearly an age difference between Lian and Kuea however Lian saying that he loved Kuea from the day he was born just gave me the creeps. Not sure who thought that it sounds romantic or endearing?
The parallel story of Khondiao and Yi needed more explaining. Khondiao has lost his memory but we dont see how that has affected him in any sense. Unless Yi says it we dont even realise that Khondiao is suffering from memory loss. In fact we dont even know which memory has he lost.
In conclusion a simple concept was made confusing by inconsistent characteristics of the 2 leads, moving from bizzare or unbeliveable. The actors however did a great job with their performances and the songs are worth listening to. Its not too bad to not give it a try. Watch it for the performances and the songs.

Read More

Really over-hyped. Not worth your time if you want a good story

I'll start by saying -
If you want a fluffy bl with a lot of cute scenes and annoying characters watch it.
It was not for me but I still gave it a 7 because I know that if you wanted to watch something like this you will like it..

That being said.
I put this series on hold. I got to ep 11 and could not watch . It took me 3 weeks to watch ep 11 and 12 till the end. The romance was... somewhere but I need to say the CHEMISTRY was almost perfect
Is the story okay ? Somewhat
Is the acting okay? Yes, it was actually good
Will I ever try to watch the 2nd season or re-watch this one? NO, absolutely no

Read More