City of Stars (2024)

two green flags, could have been a 9.5

Overall: the leads were mutually interested, sweet and flirty so this could have been a 9.5 with some changes. Series got better as it went on. 12 episodes about 45 minutes each. Aired on iQIYI. Re-Aired on YouTube. Star Hunter Entertainment also produced: Big Dragon, What Zabb Man, Gen Y, My Mate Match and The Moment I Need You

Content Warnings: non con recording/sharing, cyberbullying, past death, homophobia, sexual harassment, transphobia, manhandling, unwanted public outing

What I Liked
- dynamic between the leads including: mutual respect, communication, ongoing physical affection (although Krom needed to work on his communication skills, even at the end)
- sweet/cute moments
- a few funny parts like the bubble tea catch
- supportive friends (although the 1 friend put his friend into unnecessary pain with his "plan" in episode 4)
- worked in anti-smoking messaging in a less preachy way, also added other messages however the 'respect a person's privacy' was undermined by Krom's friends taking video/sharing without permission and spying on them
- the interaction with his fans in episode 3 made me tear up, very sweet
- a trans character that felt like a real person instead of the stereotypical characters that we normally see
- excellent dreams
- good intimacy
- conversation about preferred position, willingness to adapt to a partner's needs
- avoided ep 11 curse

Room For Improvement
- too many comedy sound effects that actually detracted from the comedy (seemed less prevalent in the second half thankfully)
- the second couple needed more screen time and he needed to mature more
- several exposition dumps, the voice overs were used too much to tell the story
- too much time spent on the talk show stuff in episode 3, overall this could have had tighter pacing
- nonsense stuff: why didn't his (obviously not American) coworkers use AI translate apps/websites?, someone else filling a person's prescription, an allegedly good friend letting a very drunk person go off with that guy, not coming up with an obvious solution to the problem shown at the end of the series, etc
- how much time passed was unclear at times
- showing a character texting when using the bathroom

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Not awful, but not amazing.

I was suitably amped up to see Kimmon in a drama again, albeit in a supporting role. From the trailers and teasers I expected a bit more drama and more exciting plot pacing.

I don't regret watching the series so far and I will finish up with the final episode when it airs on iQiyi tomorrow. I may edit this review if anything in the finale changes my mind.

The pros:

This series had a glorious lack of the typical borderline cheating/doubting feelings to the point of disrespect that some series display. I was very happy with the relationship dynamic of the leads.

I love, love, love the inclusion of a trans character that is authentic and not simply included as a plot gag.

The friend group dynamic of both lead characters is warm and supportive. I appreciate the lack of "playful" disrespect towards their relationship.

The cons:

I am not a huge fan of the quick and easy plot fixes. I feel that there was little to no actual tension building in the storyline. The fan backlash lasted what seemed mere seconds. The disapproving mother is suddenly okay with the boyfriend after one very underwhelming conversation. The money hungry ex has a sudden change of heart. Overall everyone just seems very okay with everything. Which is fantastic from a real life outlook, but makes for a dead dull drama plot.


I feel that the leads could have benefitted from a more intensive workshop for the intimate scenes. I quite like them both individually as actors, but when they had to come together in those moments there was a definite stiffness and breakdown in their chemistry.

The dialogue, just wasn't as good as it could have been. I think I could have overlooked the lack of chemistry in the romantic scenes if the scripting had been a bit more dramatic. Or had there been any type of displayed character development. We see the programmer go from detesting the actor to adoring him in a couple of episodes, with no major conversations to show the cause of that sudden transformation.

Overall, I enjoyed the series enough to finish it. But not so much that I was counting days until the next episode release.

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City of Pure Enjyoment

Oh, I'm so surprised how much I absolutely loved this series. It's been hard for me to enjoy any Thai series outside of GMMTV, so I'm elated that I actually enjoyed this series. City of Stars was definitely not perfect, but it was such a genuine delight to watch and sit back and enjoy the series for what it was.

Let's Dive In.

City of Stars starts off with a trope that I absolutely love, a famous guy falls for a regular ole dude, and then it takes off from there. I'll admit, it takes a minute to really get into this series, just cause the first couple of episodes are only okay, while it doesn't start to get really good until the closer Fueng and Krom get. The last few episodes were ultimately the best for me. I think the structure of this keeps itself in balance with everything that it needs, while connecting you to these characters so that you actually start to enjoy them and their journey on screen.

For our main couple, I really enjoyed them more than I anticipated. They work so well, except there were a few times where I don't a hundred percent believe their relationship on screen (there are some rather awkward moments when they're looking at each other, or sometimes when they kissed they stood a mile apart lol) but for the most part, I really liked it. They had some great NC scenes and they know how to kiss, so I can't be too upset.

Oh, I loved Kor and Namsom. They didn't hook me in the beginning, but by the end, I was rooting for them so hard. The way Kor spoke to her and made her feel worthy had me in tears. Their relationship is so fragile, but in such a beautiful way that it took me by surprise how much I really enjoyed them.

On to some more nit-picky things, I kind of don't see the appeal with Fueng having fallen in love with Krom. Because his parents talked about him? And not to be mean, but there's nothing out of the ordinary about Krom, so it's a bit of a weird concept. I think it would've just worked out better if they met when Krom got back and fell in love then.

We were also teased with another side couple, but then it never advances anywhere, so that's pretty annoying. IDK if they were setting up for another BL, but we got practically no screen time between them, not even a canon.

Ratings:

Story: 8/5/10 - really good! Their build-up to dating is done so nicely and then they execute it perfectly. I also loved how they nag on some of the bigger problems in the BL industry, like the actors not being able to date outside their pairing, or when they come out and then lose brand deals, or when the entire community harps on someone for something minuscule or irrelevant. I love the portrayal of all of that, including how it can end up working out in the end.

Acting: 8.5/10 - This was Porsche's (Krom) first time acting ever and I think for what it's worth, he did an excellent job. I don't know why he went from being a dental student to an actor, but he did good. It explains now why some of his scenes can feel a bit awkward, but for the most part, he did an excellent job. Job (Fueng) did well too, and I loved seeing him shirtless, So I'll add a half point for that. Kimmon!! I missed him so much, it was so nice to see him play a somewhat serious character for once, and his partner was delightful. Everyone else also did an excellent job.

Music: 7/10 - I didn't pay much attention to it, but it wasn't distracting so that's good.

Recommendation Value: 8/10 - I really liked this! Not the first I'd recommend, but out of the Thai BLs I've seen so far in 2024, this is at the top of my list. It was so well done!

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Read the novels, currently regretting that I did before watching the series.

I read both the novels and they might be my favourite Thai BL novels EVER.

Novel spoilers ahead————————————————-

It touches on SO many topics, like shipper culture, homophobia, the toxicity of the media, the loneliness of being a celebrity and there were conversations about being gay potentially ruining Fueang’s career, Krom being potentially pan etc etc.

I am not sure if all of the above topics will be mentioned, I’m not hopeful for very obvious reasons. But 2 episodes in, I am pretty sure I need to manage my expectations.

The acting is mid at best, they all seem like they are reciting lines. The comedic undertone and overusage of comedic sounds… The tropey accidental falls ?

I am hoping that they get more comfortable with each other over time and that they are not going to stray TOO far away from the source.

I loved the novel, I highly recommend it to anyone who reads source material! It’s available on MEB.

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One of the Best!

I’ve never written a review before. Not even for my favorite series. But I had to do it for this one. I absolutely loved City Of Stars! It had the healthiest relationship I have ever seen in a BL. Fueang was the greenest of the greenest. & it was so adorable hearing Krom say “P Fueang”. If you have doubts about whether to watch it or not, I say go for it! You’re gonna love it as well ? Job & Porsche did a great job as Fueang & Krom. The 2nd couple also had a beautiful story. Definitely worth the watch. City of Stars covered so many important topics concerning artists & their personal lives. Will definitely teach you a lesson or 2.

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Behind the screen

Starting this series, I never imagined I would be feeling and writing half the things I did and am about to, but here we are.
One thing before I say anything else: this is an extremely slow drama. Not slow burn romance, just the pacing is extremely slow. The story is actually quite simple and could have been done concisely, and after the first few episodes when I didn't think it would ever pick up, it did.

The principal reason why I actually began liking it as much as I did, was because of the leads. Two green flag leads who communicated, supported each other and never argued. Well, they disagreed, but instead of having full blown out fights, they stated their point of view, expressed their support and love for the other person and just moved on. And even better was when every other character in the drama was just as much as a green flag as the leads. Just as supportive and kind and reasonable. One of the very few dramas where it's entirely reasonable to love all the characters. Of course, there were a few people who were incredibly annoying, but watching the rest of the characters deal with them with the utmost poise and integrity made it better. For a series so focused on romance and interpersonal relationships, they nailed it.

I was kind of let down by the rest of the story though. They tried to tackle so many difficult and relevant topics and kind of addressed them only halfway. By the end of the series I just asked myself, “Is that how they really tied everything up?”, because I was dissapointed. There was was a proposed "solution" involving the app, and let's just say, I was left wanting more.
Building upon that, the app that pretty much set up this story, was way underutilised. It was barely mentioned at the beginning and just when they needed it to save the day, they brought it back in the script. It genuinely could have been used several times during the series, but oh well.

This was the one thing I wished they had done better, because otherwise this was a pretty good (albeit slightly slow) series. The couple was genuinely green flags all around, in addition to being incredibly cute and just all around amazing, the characters felt well rounded and were likeable and the romance really hit. It was worth giving a shot on a whim and I quite enjoyed the watch.

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Tried Too Hard

Sometimes the characters went deep while at other times, they were clones of other BL stories. While the overall story is a rather interesting one, its execution was just plain awful in places. The story creates too many side issues to prove that these two young men are worthy of our attention. Yes, they are, on the whole, good guys, and one does not need to constantly and continuously provide evidence that they are. They are morally decent guys who occasionally have fallen down, pick themselves up, brush themselves off, and move on. This series is a good series. It is just not great.

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Too much of this, too little of that

Well, this must be a first. I usually complain about needing more eps for the story to be properly told, but in this case I could have done with (far) less eps. 12 (and a half) was just too much!

Reason for this was mostly the copious amount of fille scenes. The supermarket scenes were mostly uninterestin and unimportant, The scenes in the "USA" (where nobody seems to speak proper English) could have been anecdotal instead of literal. A lot of small scenes could have been shorter. All of this would have benefited the story and the pacing.

The lead couple (New actors foer me) did a decent job. The characters were a little too flat, all mischief came from the best friend Kor, played by Kimmon. His part was interesting, and he did very well. I liked tha fact that he has a relationship with a trans woman. I would have liked this relationship to be less vanilla though, but that's me.

Overall this was really cute. The NC scenes were aplenty (maybe even a little too much) but very well done. Tastefull and loving.

Due to the flaws as described, this does not exceed a mediocre rating for me. Could have been better, but certainly not bad.

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VERY STRAIGHTFORWARD WITH INITIAL RUSHED PACING

City of Stars is a straightforward Thai BL that offers a familiar yet refreshing take on the actor-idol-in-love trope. While the plot follows a predictable trajectory of love, challenges, and a happy ending, the series manages to stand out with its brisk pacing and engaging character arcs. The rapid development of Fueang and Krom’s relationship, although unconventional, allows for more intricate conflict exploration. Unfortunately, some of these conflicts feel rushed, depriving them of the emotional depth they could have attained.

Job's portrayal of Fueang is commendable, with his expressive acting and undeniable chemistry with his co-star. Krom's character, on the other hand, initially comes across as monotonous but gradually evolves into a more nuanced portrayal. The series effectively captures the dynamics between fans, actors, and the media, highlighting the importance of respecting artists’ personal lives. Although laden with kisses, the intimate scenes feel genuine and contribute to the overall sweetness of the drama.

It's a pleasant surprise to see Kimmon, known for his role in 2 Moons, reprise his acting career as Kodit. His noticeable acting improvement is impressive, and his presence adds depth to the series.

Ultimately, City of Stars is an easy-to-watch series that delivers a satisfying conclusion while providing some valuable insights into the pressures of fame.

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textbook romcom BL

In fact it starts out as a textbook romcom BL, does throw in a bit more dept.
I was wondering how Kimmon would be without his Copter. The scenario for him was good and respectful with a transwoman, an honest kiss would have been the cherry on the cake, but didn’t show. Also good to see Flluqe in the manager role evolving a lot from her Gen Y presence. That makes 2 transpersons put at play gracefully.

Back to the mains, Job plays a villain in movies, would have been good if we got to see that in some clips, what we saw was more of a nice character when playing movies. 10 points for working out a nice chest like he’s showing. Porche is probably the sweetest actor in BL I’ve seen. He has most of the times good chemistry with Job. At first I found the kissing good, but looking further , it came down to a bit of “lip hopping”, no tongue involved (not expecting it in a vulgar way but gentle as Job says at the very end, but nope). Nevertheless their cute time was well spread around the 12+1 episodes.
The coming out from and artist and the consequences was well done and it’s only the second time this trope is used after Love Stage!! in 2022. I must admit, it was a bit more convincing then as here it seems to come across not to damage too much the straight image of the actors (hope this make sense). In a BL the “being gay” is always a tough one, but if played subtle by the right actors it can be convincing.

I say a maybe to a rewatch value or give the actors a chance to play in another BL.

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