The Best Story (2021)

It's may look like simple and cute story but it's not just that it's a story about the things that happen to many people who has crush on someone when the crush start to grow more than just crush but they cant do anything feel hopeless. Even though I haven't experienced anything like this but just by watching this serir you can feel so much pain. It's how having friends are good in many ways especially having such a supportive friends is very important when you are that age where friendship make way where you go and other having friends is also bad like having friends like fern who harm you for their own benefits. And last how parent can manipulate their children just for their own desires and reputation. It may mini story but it is pack realistic acting (ESPECIALLY WAR he such a good actor and YIN also he has improved alot than tosorra ) and pain full crush or first love that may have everyone has felt but hasn't chance to express it.

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The Dew Best Story

This mini series, where to start; I was smiling at the sweet puppy love crush, Best was having throughout the series. The friends also made me smile, one of the best of friends to have really, except Dew's acquaintance cause that rat sure isnt a friend. Anyways, War's acting was amazing as always, tore at my heart and squeezed it when it needed to be and Yin improved as well, actually bawled when he did so yeah bring tissues along for your binge. Shame it wasn't longer to really show off their talents with a HEALTHY COUPLE's storyline. Loved the chemistry between the friends as well.
As far as production goes, I was a little annoyed at the missing subs especially at a crucial part, luckily fans in the comments translated it but hope they fix it for the future watchers of the series, the cast deserves the best. Would I watch it again? Yes. It's my favorite YinWar series they've done. Gonna miss Dew and Best. Spin off for Ray and Dave seems possible from the hints of something going on throughout...or a second season would be great.

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I won't call it an unhappy ending--it's actually nicely done

The first two episodes are very good. The third episode suffers from missing subtitles at crucial points (for international fans) and a negative portrayal of a female character. But I hope viewers would give the series a chance instead of rejecting it thinking that it has a sad ending. The ending is cleverly done and one one the most deftly crafted endings I have seen in a BL of late, as I will explain in the last part of my review.

THE FLAWS

Let me get the flaws out of the way first. I have to admit that the plot is rather clichéd: a teen guy has a crush on a schoolmate and enters a "Does he like me? Or does he like her?" sort of crisis, especially when he sees his crush being close to a female schoolmate. In Episode 3, the female character who likes one of the main characters gets him into trouble after she is rejected, by telling his mother the possibility that her son likes guys. The homophobic mother decides to send him elsewhere to study.

The redundant female villain in BL is becoming a thing of the past these days, and to be fair, the female character here isn't that villainous. She seems sorry for what she has done out of jealousy, but the problem isn't really that the story uses its sole prominent female character as a jealous villain. The actress is pretty good in her role, but the way she outs her crush to his mother seems out of character and written in purely to serve the development of the plot.

THE STRENGTHS

The series has rather good production values, however. The song that the main character, Best, sings is nice and suits the mood of the story. The cinematography and editing is generally excellent. There are plenty of flashbacks in Episode 3, but the flashbacks reveal a bit more than what the scenes in the earlier episodes show. Used to bring across the characters' thoughts and emotions, the flashbacks are rather moving, particularly the part with Best's voiceover reading the notebook/diary. I find War's acting as Best convincing, and he gives a fine performance in the scene in which he walks away after almost writing a message of Dew's shirt to tell him that he likes him.

THE ENDING

Many are slamming the series for it's supposedly sad ending, and I was actually quite ready to slam the ending too. But it is actually executed with finesse, It is not really an unhappy ending, and it's really touching for several reasons:

1. Some are upset that Best does not even get to confess his love to Dew--he starts writing a message on Dew's shirt, but stops halfway through. BUT: the reality is that he has managed to confess to Dew through the notebook that has accidentally ended up with Dew. The messages inside the notebook are actually more than what he can possibly write on the shirt, so Dew knows about Best's feelings.

2. The flashbacks in Episode 3 also reveal that Dew has been having a liking for Best quite early on and has known about Best's feelings for some time though they haven't really had a chance to be a couple.

3. The series ends with Best crying, but it's not really an unhappy ending if we observe carefully. Best cries after he gets a message from Dew. The message is a photo of a page in First's lost notebook, but with something added by Dew. Dew has written down in the page the same (incomplete) message that Best has written on his shirt (but with an ellipsis behind).

By sending Best a picture from the notebook, Dew is effectively saying that he knows how Best feels. (Consider Best's confession done then.) By writing the same incomplete message, he can mean a few things. Firstly, it can mean that he knows what the whole message is and is saying the same thing to Best (that he, he likes Best too). Secondly, the repetition of the incomplete message with an ellipsis may indicate that that he hopes that that's not the end for them--he hopes for a continuation of their story. This is perhaps also the message for the audience, whether there is a sequel or not.

Best's crying is actually more complex than indicating a sad ending. Yes, he may be sad that Dew is leaving to study elsewhere. (But that can happen even if they are a couple, right?) He is crying also because he knows that he has managed to let Dew know about his feelings, so he won't regret being so hesitant to confess all this while. And lastly, he is also crying because he knows that Dew has feelings for him too.

Unfortunately, for many international viewers, the subtitles for what Best writes on the shirt and what Dew writes on Best's notebook are missing. This contributes to the misunderstanding of the ending, I believe.

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Yinwar, I’m a fan ❤️

For such a short series I can say the impact this series gave me is big. It’s been awhile since I cry watching a BL and boy I cried a lot ! The simplicity actually what makes this series so relatable, no over the top drama that sometimes can make me go “what??”. If we ever experienced crush during high school, I bet you can relate to Best. Definitely worth the time. For a 3 episode series, you will be satisfied ??

I really really like the acting, like when Best got shy, we all got shy. When he cried, we cried with him. War is always an amazing actor, but he proves me again why he should be one of the best actors out there! Yin also improved a lot ! The way he expressed his feelings through his eyes nailed it ! Not to mention how hot he is ???. Everyone acted so well even the extras !

The cinematography and the scores in here UGHHH chef kiss ! It was shot mostly in school, but why their school looks so dreamy? The lighting, the coloring?? It’s like a movie! And don’t get me started with the scores! Amazing how they can picked songs that fit so well with every scenes, the scores actually one of the reason why I cried so much, it just tugs to your heartstrings.

Overall I enjoyed this series so much, what an experience. Can’t wait for yinwar's next project! I’m a fan definitely ?

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Ending did not Live up to Potential - Soundtrack was great!

**Spoilers**
High School awakening of sexuality and love. Fine acting by War, and cast, but War is the standout. I thought the cinematography caught the heavy makeup on the actors here and there, but I overlooked that.

The soundtrack and singing was fantastic. War is very good at singing and the love song was wonderful.

This mini series really did a fine job showing how teens grapple with their new feelings of sexuality, love and attraction. Where it went wrong is when one of the female classmates (Fern) used her feelings over unrequited love to destroy the very person she claims to love (Dew). Fern uses Dew's mother as the weapon to separate Dew from Best even before the guys even expressed their feelings toward one another. Dew's mother makes sure that he attends university across country so that he doesn't "turn out" like Best, the gay. Dew's mother is so lame that she uses the "you're my only child" reason to guilt Dew into capitulating. It shows that women aren't always the allies in these situations.

Upon first watch, I was angry about homophobia winning again, but upon reflection, I realized that Dew returned Best's feelings in the very last 10 seconds of the series. Best was going to confess that he liked Dew when he autographed Dew's shirt, but stopped writing when he saw Fern's autograph expressing her ongoing love. According to Thai translators, Best wrote, "I li" on Dew's shirt. At the very end, viewers are shown a photo Dew sent to Best where he wrote "I li" in the lost notebook where Best wrote about his feelings for Dew. Not only did Dew confess, this also revealed that he had the lost notebook. Maybe now that their feelings are on the table, and are reciprocated, there will be room to defeat the homophobia keeping them apart.

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SEASON 2 PLEASE!!! ??? HAVE A MERCY

The story are cute, sweet and adorable. This only remind me how unlucky I am during my teen-ager life ???.

The subbing team they didn't translate the signages and texts showed in the series. Also some conversation don't have English subtitle especially in Episode 3.

The story went nicelyy, but before the curtain closed, the editors, authors, producer striked first, they blow the bomb to the audience with shocking and unexpected ending. This is so bad, so worst.

If this series with good Subbing Team, and with happy ending or additional season/episode (Happy ending) this will be one of the top series of this year.

If we want to change the concept of the society we need to be idealistic than realistic. Their is no destination for realistic.

Fictional story gives hope and disappointment.
The important thing is the audience can be entertain, there are a lessons to the movies / series. And also can give hope to the viewers.
Unhappy ending is unentertainting.

We can spread love and sweetness in the society by showing good story, through this the society can change and I hope the conservative idea can accept same-sex relationships.

We want equality and happiness in our society but even in fictional story the authors and editors can't give an happy ending to their story,

So dissapointing.

I hope Dew and Best can have Good ending???

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A 9.5/10 ‘cause why not? I wouldn't say I am very liberal or too stingy giving ratings that are above 9, but ‘The Best Story’ hit every sweet and sad spot a middle school rom-com can.

With just three episodes, two main characters, a simple storyline and no kisses and/or mature scenes, ‘The Best Story’ will get you more emotional than most romances will. In this case acting is of top importance because there is no cushion for the show to go on. If the viewers don't like the main couple then there is nothing else to keep the show afloat.

This is the story of Best and Dew. At it's core, ‘The Best Story’ doesn’t bring much in terms of a new plot but the pacing out and presentation of this saccharine and bittersweet story and the amazing acting supplemented by the beautiful ost and soundtracks got me really emotional. This is a story of first crush and a youthful love which is nipped in the buds by a narrow-minded family. Kudos to this show for the representation of a boy who knows he likes men—

“Sometimes I wish I liked girls, it would be better that way.”

—and one who isn’t sure of himself but he is sure of his first crush.

“I li(ke you)”

This simple story is supplemented with a great portrayal of relationships. The thing which stood out to me here was how beautiful the friendship of Best, Bright and Ray was. Most Thai shows don't portray friendships properly but seeing these three I felt I could watch another series based just on them. Bright is full of bad ideas and crackhead energy, Ray is the calmer and cooler balance and Best will cheer on and go along with both. But while friendships can be beautiful some people turn out to be untrustworthy, like Fern, Dew’s best friend.

The story is rounded off with the B E S T acting. War, as I have said during Love Mechanics and continue to say so, has the most wonderfully expressive eyes and a beautiful expression to match his other skills. He is a different species in the sense that his eyes are actually his communicating appendage. In the face of War’s acting, I feel that Yin gets overshadowed a lot. But Yin conveys the character's emotions really really well too. The way he slowly lets his tears out is a contrast to War and I think such differences just establish how different but similar their characters are.

Unlike most Thai shows, the actors didn’t seem to be bursting out of their uniforms. The costumes and desk heights were managed properly and I felt they were actual school kids (this irked me a lot in the Gifted series, the actors seemed to more older than the age they were). The bashful or boisterous natures of the characters had me convinced that these were actual school kids.

So, The Best Story managed to make me smile and remember my first crush, gave me a sweet friendship to laugh over, feel the pain of love that is requited but forbidden and an actual gay character (as opposed to two dimensional characters who can't get over the fact that they are gay). It broke my heart on it’s knee but didn’t piece it back together because that’s how it is sometimes, even when you are brave it doesn’t work out always.

Apart from this, huge appreciation for the film crew. For one, the product placement wasn't awkward. Great camerawork and soundtrack. Unlike most Thai series (there I go again XD) which have random weird sound placements, TBS has sound effects which contribute to the crescendo of emotions it evokes in its viewers. Despite the small budget, they delivered on aesthetics and quality. The symbolisms here are just awesome but sometime it maybe difficult to grasp for international viewers because the subtitles yeeted themselves for a few crucial minutes in episode 3 but if you are paying attention then you will notice that what Bet wrote on Dew's shirt was what Dew put on his instagram story. The comments under the episodes (available on youtube) have explained everything btw so make sure to check them out.

Doesn’t it deserve that 9.5 if it managed to do all this in just 3 episodes? I have an unhealthy relationship with “The Best Story” :') it is one of the most 'delightfully sad' stories that left me in 'sad tears' by the end but it's the kind of story that I won’t forget for a while and I plan to rewatch it.

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Wow, just Wow

I decided that I would go head first into this series without other people's judgments, and wow, was I pleasantly surprised. I wasn't Love Mechanics' biggest fan, (for many reasons) so I went into this with little to no expectations, but, again, I was shocked at how many emotions this itty-bitty series brought out of me. The Best Story was a tragically magical astonishment with its way of telling this sympathetic first love story, and all the shit that comes with it.

Let's Dive In.

Let's start with production. I have to cut at least one star for how unstable the subtitles were. The grammar was sometimes really hard to comprehend or just worded very incorrectly, along with scenes passing by with no subtitles (thankfully someone was nice enough to sub them in the comments). Again, I realize this series wasn't intended for an English audience in the first place, but knowing that BL is big internationally, it's something to for sure look out for. Other than that, the production was decent, along with the OST (I really enjoyed Best's song).

My initial thought during episode 1, that this was going to be a cheesy high school story. Technically, yes it was, but with some good screenwriting, and a perfect performance by the actors, this turn into something more than that. War again stole the show. His acting is so subpar that it scares me. Even Yin did better this time around. At first, I was cringing at the thought of this series, but by the second episode, I don't understand how they did it, but a switch went off in me. Best being just so giddy and anxious and nervous around Dew was just so natural and expected from someone in high school. The best part was his friends. They really created such a healthy dynamic of boys just being boys, but supportive and caring, I couldn't contain the tears when Best cried on their shoulders.

I could see Yern outing Best from a mile away. It's overplayed, it's hurtful, and it sucks; but it happens, and I applaud this series for teaching the audience about how dangerous outing can be, and how it can really cause big changes if the outcome is severe. Yern outing best to Dew's homophobic mother caused her to up and move Dew to another town, hoping that it would somehow fix her son's gayness, or stop it before it happened. It was incredibly difficult to watch, to just see how hurt Best is to see how conflicted Dew was. I wanted Best to say something, to confess his feelings, but that is honestly not an easy thing, especially being in high school. They're still so young, and feelings can be scary, so I completely understand Best keeping his crush a secret (well, not really cause Dew knew, but you get my point) the ending is just HEARTBREAKING. Be warned, it might say Best, but this is far from a happy ending. Dew finally reading the notebook and crying broke me, Best seeing him post the notebook broke me even more. Again, an amazing performance from these brilliant actors. I'm really hopeful for a season two after Dew comes back from his studies, it just makes sense for the perfect ending to their story.

Overall, I highly recommend this series. No, there's no physical intimacy, but the way these actors were able to portray their characters' feelings for one another through expressions and emotions will tear you to pieces. A lovely watch, a sad one albeit, but a good one.

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Hits many cliches but still likeable

It’s a really simple story that we all saw hundreds of times. A shy boy and a popular boy on their journey to getting to know each other. Nothing groundbreaking or new about it.

What makes it worth the watch is the acting and the simple concept. Many times the writer and director tries to shock the viewers with over the top plotlines to compensate for a limited length of the shows - it’s truly unnecessary. The Best Story keeps it relatively simple, with few characters and plot lines. What’s best in my eyes was War’s acting. He truly aced the “shy teen crush” portrayal.

Some characters are more likeable than the others. Some you will just end up hating, it’s inevitable. Be ready, because it might be a frustrating watch, especially since the show tries to tackle some sensitive issues by the end, but has not enough time to dwell on it more.

For a mini series like that, the production quality was quite good. I loved the few aesthetic shots and that they did what they could with a probably limited budget.

That said, the ending caught me by surprise and left me with a big “WHAT” on my face. My initial reaction was closer to: That’s it? Wait… there’s more, right? There will be a 2nd season or something, right? After a few minutes of calming down, I don’t hate it. I don’t think it fits the vibes of the show that well, but it fits reality.

Overall: Since it’s a short watch, I’d recommend it if you want to watch a simple inducing frustration teen love story with little to no plot, but good acting. Going with no expectations would be best.

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A REAL STORY

1- STORY
I think that this story is so realistic. When Best is falling in love with Dew I can clearly imagine what he is feeling; during all the scenes where Best hide while seeing Dew, I can find me in his behavior. 'If I were Best/Dew I would also do something similar, that's what I thought while watching the series. This is new for me: I have never felt like this towards a character before. There were also no 'cliché' except for the female character.
Let's talk about this cause I'm tired of seeing a negative representation of female characters. What she does in the last episode is so cruel: you don't have the right to talk about other people's (that are also your friends, that trust you) feelings with their parents (Dew's mother in this case). Doing this girls will be hated too much :(

2- ACTING
The acting is great, all the actors did well! I can feel Best and Dew's anxiety and shyness while meeting or seeing each other (so cuteee). The actor I empathized the most with is Best especially when he was crying cause he thought Dew likes Fern; I cried with him :(

3-MUSIC
The OST is enjoyable; War's voice is so gentle >-<

4-RW
I will find it difficult to rewatch the series because of the subtitles: a lot of sentences are missed, so disappointing. (P.S. I don't consider the rewatch value in my final rating).

P.S. HOW ABOUT A SECOND SEASON?

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