Siew Sum Noi (2021)

An enjoyable low quality comedy to turn off your brain and watch.

In no way this is tropes free, but has an unexpected charm. It doesn't take itself seriously, doesn't pretend to be more than what it is either. Specially fun and enjoyable if you are into over the top comical nonsense. There's no much deep into it other than the acceptance of the families but it doesn't need more, it doesn't pretend to be an emotional wrenching drama, just what it is, fun, nonchalant, easy to digest.
I die with the musical moments, two characters are talking about something and it becomes a musical scene all of the sudden, with two not so good singers signing a definitely not so good song. The alone ones are truly a sight as well, amusingly bad and hilarious. They know this and exploid it.

Now to the 3 bl couples.

The main, Ig & Ruk is probably my least favorite. Is a bit messy, you want to punch Ig on the face and make him understand the situations he is in during the first half. They are cute together and i like that both are masculine just in diferent sizes. I like when they get out of the stereotypes and don't pretend to make all the couples have masc/fem type of roles. At the end they are solid.

The 2 couple is my sweet spot. Kui is the handsome goalkeeper that goes on vacations with his friends and finds an unexpected love. I like how it wasn't dragged, he never liked a guy but meet the sweetest watermelon sunshine and just felt head over heels. He felt it, was honest from the get go and went for it directly. They are the sweetest couple and their love story is soft and lovey dovey, sad that they don't have a lot of screentime or any relevance in the final episodes.

The countryside couple, Ruk's older brother with the cute famous singer is beautiful. They put the little deepness that this series has. Their love is strong and consolidated already, an steady couple.

I would say go for this one if you liked the comedy in Fish upon the sky, imagine that (specially the brother of the protagonist kind of humor) on a lower budget and production quality, mixed with bl loves from the past like Make it right. Take it to the countryside and you get Siew Sum Noi. An enjoyable turn off your brain watch.

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Soft and Cute series to watch

This series Is really heavy on the Comedy and musical theme,
So u guys better not expect something like a drama or deep story if u want to watch this series.

It's very good show to watch if u want something soft and entertaining ..

Personally, I love all the couple in this series, they'all have a good chemistry , especially Ruk and IG

The song were very Excellent , no doubt ..

But I do hope they will make thia series available for internasional fans , Cause this series got so much potensial..
And I do hope they will make a Second season for this series , with More Drama and Character development of course .

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This is both good and awful in a really confusing yet entertaining way, and it has heart.

First Few Episodes:

At the beginning, most of the humor in this is dependent on homophobia. Once again, all the characters "straight" except for one openly gay person who has a woman's voice (it's even explicitly stated it's a woman's voice) and touches the main character inappropriately whenever he's within range.

I don't understand why a genre that is about male-male love has to use homophobia for humor. It's dangerous to promote the that gay = predatory woman in a man's body and that homosexuality is a choice.

There are way too many scenes that flashback to the previous scene, as if we can't retain info from 30 seconds ago. This happens constantly - by the end of the second episoode it already felt like I'd rewatched this three times.

So far, this is a regressive checklist of tropes with no originality or anything of interest except for how the two mains look shirtless, which is admittedly impressive.

Remaining Episodes:

I actually dropped it but a friend here convinced me to give it another chance. I did, and it did get better, in a both "so bad it's good" way as well as in actually good ways. The homophobia fell away - except for one character's father, but that's OK as it was part of the plot. However, it does involve violent assault which is handwaved away with a brief apology. "Sorry I tried to beat your kid to death". "It's OK, he lived."

Here's the confusing part: The plot revolves around one of the characters being a great singer. But the actor is a terrible singer (or is acting a terrible singer). And the song he writes must be intentionally awful - the lyrics are about someone's mother selling chicken rice before she switches to clothing - so I'm not sure what they're aiming for. Also, most of the characters burst out in song at least once, usually sad ballads, which is hard to take seriously, but these are generally sung, I wouldn't say well, but not awful, either. Maybe I'm just putting too much thought into it.

The acting of the main characters is good, the pairings all have chemisty, and the two leads are very hot, individually and together (and the villain is really, really hot), which is what made me endure this - if you're not enjoying the series but find them appealing, I might suggest watching with judicious FF - you won't miss much as their romance doesn't really have much to do with the plot, i.e. although the romance itself has a story, it doesn't really connect to the main story about the band and male cheerleading club. There are side couples, but they are also not connected to the story, so you can fairly easily follow the couples you're interested in.

The main couple have a scene towards the end that is... steamy. Not porn-ike, it's quite romantic, but yikes, you won't be disappointed. And almost a BL first, they don't wake up fully clothed the next morning! The enormous size difference between them is super-cute. The smaller one has to get on his tppy-toes to kiss the tall one. And yet, it's not the formulaic seme/uke thing - in fact it's a comedic point that people keep asking them - they're both just... guys. In fact the small one is a much superior athlete and very feisty.

Also unusually, there is humor in this that's actually funny - most of the actors have good comic timing. I'd say overall that I recommend this - it's a little too much of three series rolled into one, and the story could have used a lot more focus, but the actors are not holding back and really commit. There's a lot of heart in this that overcomes its shortcomings.

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Hey-I'm shocked that I actually enjoyed it!

I have watched four dramas from this company (including this one) and I must say that this series takes the cake! I can safely say that I enjoyed this series the most out of the four. The company, though, needs to find away to get there series to the international fans, cause it's really hard to find subs (except for Love Poison 2 hat was made available with English subs on WETV).

Story-8/10
While it was a simple and repetitive story (pretending to be boyfriends), it was still enjoyable. The main coupe were cool. The side couples were awesome. The friends were like the best part adding the majority of the comic relief. The parents/ grandmother was actually bearable (nearly thought that hands needed to be thrown for Ruk's dad). I hated Tunwa so much and was glad with the ending that he did receive (although we don't see it on the screen. but he deserved it!)

Acting/Cast-8.5/10
I am highly impressed with this cast as some of the actors starred in Love Poison 1 and 2 as well as Love at 7-11. Their acting as improved vastly, especially those who starred in Love at 7-11 (I gave them a 5 for their acting). And as such I give them an 8.5/10.

Music-7.5/10
Because I know from the tags that this is a musical, it wasn't as annoying as it was in Love Poison 2 when they burst out singing all the time. And some of the songs were actually quite enjoyable. so for that reason, I give them a 7.5.

Rewatch Valu-8/10
I actually do see myself watching this series again. it was enjoyable and entertaining. Plus, I really liked the best friends antics.

Overall-8/10
This is the highest that I have given to this company to any of their series. I truly did enjoy it and was glad that I binge watched this over a few days. The comments section for once did not lead me astray.

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Quirky but fast-paced and entertaining

You wouldn't be wrong if you think this is a BL that uses a not-very-original "from fake boyfriends to real boyfriends" story. That's really what it is, but it also has its own character. It's the sort of series that is not afraid of being a little quirky with its use of a musical style (the characters break into song every now and then ) and the main setting in Isaan rather than Bangkok. The series has good looking actors but does not make them unrealistically good looking. The end result is something both familiar and unfamiliar enough to be accepted by a wide audience.

The story is light-hearted but does work itself to some moments of heightened tension, so it is not an entirely light and frivolous offering. Together with the fast pacing, however, this means that there will be times when the shifts in tone are a little too abrupt. We can have a break-up one moment and a comic scene the next.

There are three BL couples in the series, and they are all rather likable. The main couple, Ruk and IG, could have had a more fleshed out story--it's cute when they become a couple, but the break-up occurs quite quickly after that and it doesn't feel as heartbreaking as it could have. The two side couples do not get that much attention but, especially for Nukrob and Grateen, manage to be likable enough for us to care about them.

The last couple of episodes give closure to the story, but do not seem to be as good as the earlier episodes. Some parts feel a little rushed while other parts feel draggy in the last couple of episodes. Still, this is quite an entertaining series. It's not the kind that will leave you craving for a second season, but nice to watch when you just want to relax.

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Fun series with music and comedy

I enjoy the series for the most part. IG and Ruk are cute together, my favorite couple was Gui and Petch. It showed character growth and nice to see the development of the different relationships. Love how the characters showed different parts of themselves. I enjoyed the lighthearted comedy and the singing was fun. Was not a fan of Ruk's father as he is overdone as an angry person most of the series. I was happy that we got to see the mom and grandmother bring heart to many parts of the story. Love how all their friends always had each other's back. Was fun to see some of the friends find relationships and support each other in all the different situations. A lot of ups and down with the story but was fun to see where everything went between school and vacation. Overall it was enjoyable, the girl from the neighborhood who was obsessed with Ruk was not needed. I was also very bored and annoyed with IG going back and forth with the girl when the girl was playing both IG and his friend. The ending was also very confusing with IG saying he was leaving to become a music Star, need a better understanding of the ending. For me, the ending was poorly done.

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enemies to lovers, fake relationship, one sided crush

I had a hard time finding this one so initially I dropped it as a DNF, then it turned up with fan subs so I decided to try it again. (I have found I often prefer fan subs for the Thai stuff.)

Frankly it’s better then we have a right to expect from this sort of Thai BL pulp, especially if you can make it through ep 4. I like the northerner vs Bangkok and how the different characters handle the classism of it. The side couples once we get up north are super cute. There’s even an out gay character. The actor playing IG is great at pining. Only Ruk didn’t really do it for me, too tsundere without purpose or reason. And he’s the main character so the drama rather sags because he can’t take the weight of it. It reminded me of Hometown Embrace or Friend Forever, only, frankly, better. Ep 8 where the friends cover for Rak by all kissing each other was very funny.

Still we are in serious pulp territory with ALL THE TROPES including “the homophobe faints.” Objectively it’s not very good and the terrible singing in every single episode made me dock a whole point. Sing your feeling is one of my least favorite BL tropes.

RECOMMENDED ONLY IF YOU’RE WILLING TO PUT WITH SINGING AND ALL THE PRODUCTION ISSUES OF A THAI PULP

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Some low-production value, charming fun.

This is the perfect show to turn your brain off, not think too deeply and just enjoy the quirkiness of this show. There is nothing mind-blowing about it but it is a nice break from all the polished, high-budget, high-production value shows and captures the undeniable charm that many of the early BLs used to have.

The main couple was cute and different from the normal cookie-cutter visuals and the setting of Isaan and the heavy feature of the Isaan dialect makes the show interesting.

The only parts of the show that I found myself skipping through where possible were the completely random musical numbers around the middle of the show. The opening song however was mildly addictive and I rarely found myself skipping.

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Dead fish kiss country musical

In a gist! LOL

Coming from the makers of campy, silly and highly enjoyable Love Poison, SSN is another offering featuring Isaan, the region, the language and the music!

The story is nothing original: your ordinary enemies to lovers in high school while playing football and singing!

Ruk comes to Bangkok from countryside Isaan on football scholarship and immediately clashes with IG, school and internet star. They are friends with a group called Good Guys Gang within which there is another couple in the making, (friends to lovers trope) . During school break they discover they originate from the same region where they both go for vacation. There, their respective brothers (cousins?) are in a relationship they are hiding from everyone. Relationships are created and undone and afterwards they all go back to Bangkok to finish the school year. The misunderstandings are eventually resolved, there is overall acceptance and they all live happily ever after. The usual BL plot format!

Cue in, the musical part where these couples all suddenly burst into song expressing their love for each other. Read the lyrics of these songs, they are hilarious :
"It melt, melt I want to swallow you whole"
"The economy is bad, my house is in trouble"
"Wanna feed your dog and cat, just order me to do so"
"In Bang Khae you help your mom sell chicken rice"

The guys can barely sing, it is bad but the feelings are there and they are really invested in it.

The support characters are a colorful lot: the all accepting and understanding fujoshi mother, the authoritarian and funny grandma, the macho set in his ways father, the girl childhood friend who wants to be more and cannot, the ex girlfriend who keeps going back and forth. And the comic relief Good Guys Gang! As if the series was not funny enough!lol

The main characters are all the usual high schoolers: immature, high on hormones and thinking they are invincible! I did not like the height difference (another one of my pet peeves!) between Ruk and IG but they had decent chemistry.

There is a lot of kissing in this series: there are so many accidental kisses it became hilariously ridiculous. Unfortunately the majority of kisses between Ruk and IG, even when consensual and not accidental, are cute but frozen in time dead fish ones. The other couples go at it with gusto: not these two!

A fun watch, though not as good as Love Poison! It might be also that the novelty wore off pretty quickly as well: the first time was amazing, the second serving of the same is not as amazing. Production is low budget but they managed to make it look nice, nothing exceptional but nice.

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Just ok

One again, don't expect too much of this low-budget Thai BL set in Northern Thailand.
The show is full of the usual Thai BL clichés and the storyline is not that original. Many of the actors appeared in other low-budget BLs, so are somewhat familiar faces but the acting has not improved much since then.

Here are some highlights and some low-lights:

The good:
1. The setting. I always appreciate BL stories that are not set in the usual big city like Bangkok and go out to explore one of the many regional settings that are available in Thailand like in this case when the main characters are from the Isan region.
2. The characters. There are 3 BL couples in this series but IG-Ruk takes the center spot, we know it, they know it. This is not like a GMMTV BL series with 2 or more couples with the secondary couples taking some time on-screen that prevents us from seeing the main couple and that is ok. True, I wished we could have seen a bit more backstory between Nakrob and Grateen, especially when we know Grateen is adopted because his parents were killed in a car accident. But, the interactions between IG and Ruk are ok. The side characters have their funny moments, especially Garto (playing Kaengsom) who gets a smack on the back of his head in nearly every episode. Garto is scheduled to appear in another BL show, "The Tuxedo", as a support character, so hopefully we get to see him in other situations aside from being hit by the other characters.

The not so-good:
1. The acting. Virgo (playing IG), Ohm (playing Nakrob), Pitchy (playing Thunwa), Fam (playing Mes) and a few others actors, have appeared in other BLs such as "Love Poison", "Love Poison 2" and "Love at 7-11" but given the budget constraints, I'm sure they don't get the luxury of having many acting workshops like GMMTV or Nadao productions have, and they might not even have an acting coach with them 100% of the time on set. So, some of the acting is not done very well with some dramatic scenes not conveying the right emotions.
2. The storyline. It seems the director/writer just ran out of ideas by episode 8 because from that episode until the end they fill a lot of time with songs. The show almost turns into a musical because on every episode there are at least 2 songs being sung by one of the characters. In some cases, the song does match with what the characters are going through, but they take forever and don't provide much since we can clearly see all are just doing a very bad lip-sync.
3. The never-ending clichés. If there is something Thai BLs have taught us is that they always bring some sort of cliché to their storyline. "Siew Sum Noi" is no exception to this. We have the jealous girl that likes Ruk and ends up showing pictures to Ruk's father. We have Ruk and Nakrob's father who first acts like the usual father who rejects his son being gay (he discovers Nakrob and Grateen in bed and sees the picture of IG and Ruk kissing on social media), he becomes violent and beats Nakrob and Grateen, he then chats with Grateen's grandmother and suddenly he changes his mind and begins to accept their relationship as if nothing really happens (and this all happens between the middle of episode 8 until episode 10). We also have the love rival as Thunwa declares his love for Ruk. And, we also have the typical arguments between lovers when Ruk and IG break up and get back together after a series of misunderstandings and miscommunication.

In the end, a mild BL series that was somewhat entertaining but did not provide much in terms of originality. Watch once and then come back to it after some time and when you don't have nothing more interesting to watch.

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