The Best Story (2021)

When homophobia wins the game

'The Best Story' (Thai: ครั้งหนึ่งที่รัก) is a Thai BL and LGBT-themed television series broadcast between July 9 and 23, 2021. Played in its lead roles by Wanarat Ratsameerat (War) as Best, and Anan Wong (Yin) as Dew, the series depicts a romance between two young high school students.
Directed by Ratthapon Keawmeesri (Heavy), the central thread of the three-episode series is the way in which both boys begin to forge an emotional relationship and the obstacles they must face. Four other teenagers also appear: Brigght (Prat Itthichaicharoen) and Ray (Thanakom Minthananan (Win), Best's best friends; and Dave (Nadol Lamprasert - Bonz) and Tar (Patsapon Jansuppakitkun - Bever), Dew's inseparable comrades.
From the Line TV network, 'The Best Story' addresses topics such as romance, homosexuality, emotional diversity, secondary education, friendship, homophobia, youth and its way of relating, or personal evolution.
I don't intend to give much spoilers beyond what I have to say due to the focus of the review.
We are faced with a sweet, tender and brief love story, both for the length of time it lasts and for the brevity of the series, which follows the code of the best Thai BL: the main character, usually a high school or university student, He secretly falls in love with a fellow student, but does not dare to confess his feelings. Both boys will deepen their friendly relationship in the hope of declaring their love for each other. But this moment, expected by everyone, never comes.
While the shy Best does not confess because he believes that Dew loves a girl and, therefore, his feelings are not reciprocated, Dew does not confess his feelings for Best either, first also due to his shyness, and then to passivity, hopelessness and the fear of his mother's homophobia.
This light but realistic teenage romantic drama stands out for its evocative music and the good acting of the two protagonists, whose on-screen chemistry shows emotional physical interactions full of naturalness, warmth and positivity.
The romance is palpable in the small everyday moments that manage to convey the affectionate relationship of the characters played by War and Yin, whom we have previously seen starring in the 2020 Thai BL drama 'En of Love: Love Mechanics', where they also play a romantic couple. This same series also features the participation of the actors who play Ray, Bright and Tar in supporting roles.
An aside to talk about the magnificent cinematography. Despite having few settings, such as the classrooms, the school hallways and courtyards, Best's bedroom or the kitchen-dining room of Dew's house, the camera work is indisputable to make the viewer feel the emotions of his characters. characters with immense closeness and authenticity, with memorable intimate frontal and side shots with the characters looking into the lens or walking in front of it.
But Heavy's work is not only good in its colorimetry; It is also outstanding in terms of planning and use of the frame, bringing together the vast majority of the attention centers of the shots at the same point to ensure that the subsequent assembly of the series is legible at all times.
But, as I said from the title of the review, this focuses on homophobia and intolerance, and not only for being present in the series, but for coming out victorious over love.
Although everything seemed to indicate that the main couple would have a happy ending, related to the confession of love by one of the two boys, presumably Best because he was the one we knew from the beginning is in love with Dew, the truth is that later We know that this also corresponds to your feelings.
However, the romance is spoiled by the actions of the only two female characters in the series: Fern (Masa Marisa Kittelberger), the girl in love with Dew and not reciprocated by him, and Dew's mother.
Dew nobly rejects Fern, his friend and fellow student, who has been secretly in love with him for some time. Once again, Dew is honest with her, and confesses to being in love with a boy. Everything indicates, after the pleasant and confidential conversation held by the two, that Fern would respect Dew's sexuality and support him in his relationship with Best.
However, Fern betrays the friendship and trust placed in her by Dew by confessing her most intimate feelings, and full of hatred, homophobia, jealousy and meanness, she goes to Dew's homophobic and also intolerant mother to "save her son." of the influence of the homosexual Best". Is he doing it out of spite? So that Dew won't be happy with the person he loves? Why does she think that abruptly outing him will make the boy love her? Did he have the right to reveal Dew's sexuality?
If we do not know the answers to the first questions, it is true that, in relation to the last question, no one would ever act ethically; That is to say, it is not right or fair to violate someone's privacy, to remove them from the drawer, especially when it is motivated by petty and selfish interests.
Why does Dew's mother react so cruelly to the rumor that her son might be gay? Will you listen to your son? Will he also oppose any homosexual relationship of his son in the future, when Dew is of age? Will he continue to throw him out of the house with each new gay relationship? Will he ever accept his son? Will she be willing to prevent his happiness for life?
And Dew? Why don't you defend your love? Why accept your parent's decisions, which lead to the loss of your future and happiness?
If until that moment, the story was tender and cute, from this moment on, already in the final moments, homophobia prevents the two boys, who admit that they love each other, from being able to have their happy ending. The romance between Best and Dew can't even begin.
Dew, practically expelled from his home by his mother, will only be left to write partial sentences on social networks that say: "I like-", but without daring to complete the phrase with a "I like you", much less place the name of who they are addressed to.
What is the intention of the creators in giving this ending to the series? Will it be a denunciation of the reality suffered by the Thai LGBT+ community, and in which society and the family, especially parents, have a great responsibility? Or to promote the viewer's debate and reflection on such cruel and real topics as homophobia and intolerance, or jealousy and betrayal? Only if these were the reasons, the outcome of the series seems good to me.
While it is true that Thai BL series have contributed to the Southeast Asian nation being seen as a welcoming place for homosexuals, it does not mean that its laws are egalitarian or that it is truly respectful of the rights of members of the LGBT+ community. . As a general rule, Thai society in general and parents in particular do not accept the homosexuality of their children, and in some cases they even expel them from home.
The harsh reality is that lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people in Thailand may face legal situations not experienced by non-LGBT residents. Same-sex sexual activity is legal, but such couples and households headed by same-sex couples do not have the same legal protections as heterosexual couples. It is estimated that around eight percent of the Thai population, five million people, are part of the LGBT demographic.
In 2013, the Bangkok Post states that "while Thailand is seen as a tourist haven for same-sex couples, the reality for locals is that the law, and often public sentiment, is not so liberal."
For its part, a 2014 report from the United States Agency for International Development and the United Nations Development Program notes that LGBT people "still face discrimination that affects their social rights and employment opportunities," and "They face difficulties in gaining acceptance of non-traditional sexuality, although the tourism authority has been promoting Thailand as a gay country."
A decade later nothing has changed. There is still constant and systematic discrimination against Thai minorities, including the LGBTI community. Despite the country having a law against discrimination against sexual minorities, there are legal gaps that still allow the stigmatization of said human group.
As I point out in the title, homophobia may have won the game, depending on the series, but it will not win the fight for human rights. Hate may win some battles, but the final victory will be love's.

Read More

The best story is not really the best (pun intended)

I was really excited when I saw that YinWar is having another series together. I loved them in En Of Love (honestly they're the only ones I liked in there). I think that they have one of the best chemistry in the Thai BL genre.

Story-wise, it brought absolutely nothing new to the table. A homophobic mom (parents), the female character turning evil, guitars and bands. But it still got me interested. I was hoping it would put in a nice twist somewhere. Since we are going into teen angst, I was hoping they'd go full on the angst factor but it didn't. I don't think it's the length though because I enjoyed their installment in En Of Love just alright even if that's also a mini series. I don't think it's the open ended finale too because I'm fine with sad endings.

Acting wise, War is hands down a solid actor. Yin improved a lot too. This story was in Best's POV and War hard carried the show and the character with little to no background story.

Overall, it's not the best out there and I think the show knows it.

Read More

Could've been better

This was a cute short BL series, however I have a few issues, particularly with the plot. I felt as though Best and Dew weren't given enough time to develope their friendship/relationship. There were so many scenes that could have been cut/shortened to accommodate for better character development for both of them. Best spends so much of the series writing songs for Dew, talking about Dew with his friends, longing for Dew but never officially makes a damn move towards Dew ??. I guess that's sort of realistic. Most boys in Highschool probably wouldn't have the guts to come out and fully confess their feelings for another boy, but this is a BL, we don't need realistic, we want happy stories that give us fanciful hope lol. I liked how supportive Best's friends were of him having a crush on a guy and how they would always gently push him to interact with him. However I hated a particular scene in which someone in this series outs both Dew and Best because they were rejected, very childish behavior; which is likely the reason we got the ending that we did. Overall a cute BL that can be binged quickly but doesn't use it's time effectively to further the plot.

Read More

Reality hits hard!!

This drama was short and beautifully showed how reality hits hard. Even in 21st century not everyone is open minded. The leads were so cute together. I wish they do many more dramas together. I wish this drama had more episodes.
You can fall in love with anybody at any part of time. The first meeting of the leads was so cute.
Why does parents don't understand their children and allow them. The happiness is more than anything you wish for the other person. Hope a sequel of this drama airs soon.. I want a happy ending. I wish they overcome all the difficulties together. And be each others strength rather than weakness.

Read More

Short but gold

This miniserieses is really a gem. I discovered this after watching love mechanics because I loved the main actors and they didn’t disappoint in this show either. The cinematography and the acting is amazing, especially War, he can convey beautiful strong emotions without having to say anything. The story was short but fresh and very realistic. It depicts the normal life and struggle of young gay guys without having to make it too complicated. The only downside was the ending, it was kind of abrupt and it looks unfinished, but I feel like it was done like this on purpose. In real live there isn’t always an happy ending, and it’s nice to see it sometimes. However I still wish they would have end it more clearly.

Read More

SO much better than En of Love

It was short, shorter even than En of Love, yet it was so much better, and it all came down to the pacing, directing and storyline of the show. With En of Love, you could tell they were trying to fit a longer story into a couple episodes and not only could you not do the story justice, it was butchered so badly, I almost wish they hadn’t tried. I had to scour reddit to be able to understand En of Love, whereas here, the story was clear, short and sweet, and the characters and actors (War) got to shine. I highly recommend watching this and rooting on these actors for the bigger and better things they deserve.

Read More

Just because it's cliché, it doesn't mean it's not good! Sometimes all we want is some simple and cute story about teenagers discovering love. And i missed Yin and War, I'm glad they did something different from Love Mechanics. Just took 1.5 point away for those homophobic bitches though lol they ruined the ending I got SO pissed. We could've had such a sweet ending with Best confessing and Dew confessing back to him, but that BITCH named FERN decided to mess up her so-called best friend's life. And his mom is the worst as well. In my head Dew came out to his dad later and he said "son, love who you wanna love. go to him NOW" and then we'd get those cliché scenes of them meeting again and finally getting together pleeeease that would be amazing! Let's just imagine together, shall we? Although it was not the ending I truly wanted, I was easily able to enjoy this series. Good job but please let us get a sweet ending next time!

PS.: ray and dave were so cute looking at each other in the show's scene! I wish I could've seen more of them together besides ray slightly mentioning dave, but i get it was a short series. Anyways I'm gonna imagine a spin off for them because I was invested.


(reposted from july 25th, 2021 bc my old account got suspended)

Read More

The first love

Right now we are watching Yin&War's Love Mechanic series and coming across this miniseries is like introducing ourselves to the characters as a teenager, with feelings so mixed up and difficult to clarify. the performance of both actors is excellent but as always War stands out with its unbeatable emotional expressiveness. In this case, it is a pleasure to see their friends as normal non-toxic people and without scenes of drunkenness justifying toxic approaches. The female character is well played but, as usual, she plays dirty and doesn't know how to “lose”. It's a shame to always give that image. The mother on this occasion is not the typical understanding one who accepts and supports them, but the manipulative and uncompromising and homophobic. Very real unfortunately. The music with the song played by War is beautiful and the nod to the old songs with the cassettes in the Sony walkman. a great series whose only drawback is the subtitles, which disappear in the conversation between the mother and the bride-to-be and are crucial. and another drawback is the ending that is not clear no matter how open it is left. Season 2 or a special chapter is needed and please with a happy ending without the tragedy of being gay condemned to abandonment that we are so tired of seeing and suffering. WAR and YIN are a great couple acting together. that alone is worth it.

Read More

Oh the woes of having a crush.

For those who are wondering, this short series does not have a *happy ending*
However, it ended beautifully. Still got me crying while typing this.

TAGS: unsupportive parent, selfish female character, ultra supportive best friends.

To start it, I just want to say that War's acting is top notch in this series. It reminded me once again why I fell in love with him as an actor in En of Love. YinWar's acting got me back to the past where I had these high school crushes and it hit so deep that I can see myself with Best.

Another thing I love in this series is the friendships. Such supportive friends and they are not judgemental as well. No bias whatsoever. I love them. The actors also acted very natural as best of friends.

The plot flowed naturally even though it is only three episodes. It is short in a way that I want to watch more, but it is also short in a way that it gave us viewers the liberty to think up what could have happened next.

Things that I didn't like comes down to the characters only. I really don't like when BL series makes a female character selfish especially a female character that acts as if she's sweet, but is bitchy behind the back. I also don't like parents who are close-minded and controlling. I feel so bad for Dew.

Lastly, I just want to say that I don't think it was a one sided love whatsoever. This series is bittersweet and well directed. A must watch!

Read More

ONE WORD... AMAZING!

Been a fan of YINWAR ever since Love Mechanics and I thought that was the best series they could ever have but I am mistaken because this one is as good as that in a very different way, what I mean is that War in TBS has a very different character personality than LM I don't know but I live for shy War I'm not comparing since they are the same person but I prefer War in TBS since it suits his face the shy type cutie boy hehe. There is so much to say about this series and I mean in good way. Although this is just your typical Bl troupe nothing really special or unique however, it gives you butterflies every time they encounter and the character development is a top notch for me no need for so much drama just to understand their feelings with each other. Really a good actor especially War my cutie boy he really deserve an award and of course same goes to Yin who keeps improving. And I fell in love to their OST who sang none other than our cutie boy War adding this in my music list :) It's also a good choice to add Ray and Bright in the story I just love the friendship between the three of them. And lastly I really hope that they will give this series a longer version just like what they did to EN love Mechanics or atleast a special ep will do or season 2 or any sequel... gosh will wait for an announcement, hopefully.

Read More