Switch On (2021)

How I loved Switch On, let me count the ways!

Let's start with all of the awesome things.

First, I'm a sucker for gaming stories. I grew up watching "Tron" and then "Tron Legacy," so yeah, I love stories where people disappear into or out of games. Is it an original idea now? No, but that doesn't matter, because for me, it's a favorite plot. So all of the VR glasses and the moving between the game world and the real world was awesome. I also love the concept of AI becoming sentient (thanks Terminator), so having Akin reach a level of AI sentience where he can no longer be manipulated by anyone in the game or outside it is brilliant.

Second, his name is Gee and he plays Akin. Yes, please, and thank you. Gee has such a dynamic and expressive acting style. He sold every single experience his character(s) are going through, and by the second episode, I was completely invested in his side of the story. He also managed to wring chemistry out of his female lead, Aom. They were outstanding together, really just sold the relationship elements, and I suspect she wouldn't have given such a strong performance if she'd had a different male lead.

Third, and randomly, but I can't get the soundtrack out of my head which means it's a winner. Love that. If anyone knows the name of the song, please let me know in a comment.

Fourth, Michael, I mean, Peter Tuinstra who plays Michael. That guy is pretty dynamite. He truly knows the language which lent his acting a whole lot of credibility.

Now on to the not-so-great.

First, yes, there is a "twist" ending. But I saw it coming so I wasn't bothered by it, and it kinda made sense, but at the same time, the drama would have probably been stronger without it. Oh well, just skip the last 3 minutes of the series and you'll be fine.

Second, the secondary cast, almost all of them are extremely stiff and wooden, except for Phukhao who plays Leo who I liked. But everyone else, there were times when I felt like they were just reading their lines. This is a shame because I think with a stronger secondary cast the show would have shined more.

Third, yep, we've got some production issues, not so much in the filming itself, but in the fight scenes, doctor scenes, etc. I'm sorry, but I watch a lot of Japanese dramas where they know their martial arts to such a degree that they literally come without a hairs' breadth of connecting with their opponent. It feels real. This did not feel real, so that was disappointing. Gee needs more martial arts lessons if he's going to continue to do these types of dramas.

So there you have it. Even with the flaws, I am personally still rating "Switch On" 9 stars because I love it that much. I know there are complaints from people that it's a "rip-off" or "copy" of a Korean drama. That's fine. Let it be a remake. I love Thai dramas, and so I'm not supporting folks who are going "oh, but the K drama is so much better." That's your opinion and it's fine that you have it, but stop trying to influence folks to not even try "Switch On." If you like Thai dramas and enjoy sci-fi/gaming stories, then go for it. Maybe you'll love "Switch On" as much as I did. One can hope.

Coming up soon will be me watching "Let's Fight, Ghost" with SaintSup, and I am extremely stoked for that one. I actually did watch the original Kdrama "Bring It On, Ghost" and liked it a lot, but since I'm completely in favor of a Thai remake, like I said, I'm stoked. I'm sure Saint will blow all of my expectations out of the water. Because that's just what he does.

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I wanna give this a lower rating so bad...

But honestly, it's just because I'm annoyed. If I forget the last ten or so minutes of the drama, it was an amazing watch. In the first three and last three episodes, the acting seems a bit awkward, more in the beginning than the ending. It got better in the middle, though there were still some parts that seemed awkward to me, mainly coming from the FL, the second FL, and the FL's dad.

I was surprised by how much I grew to like the ML. I found this show through a clip I watched on youtube, and he was threatening the FL with a gun in that clip, so I really didn't like him going in, but he totally redeems himself. It helps that I'm not trying to compare him to Lee Jeong Suk, because there's really no reason to. I've seen some unflattering comments made about him, but he's cute when he gives a genuine smile, and he's easily the best act in this show.

The drama did leave me with a lot of unanswered questions. There were also a few mistakes that I caught that weren't really explained away. The fight scenes leave much to be desired, especially in the final episodes (final 3?) Some scenes felt so forced because they were trying to stay true to W and yet they didn't make sense in this story, I don't know if it's just the sub translations that made the scenes seem off. Also, that annoying ending.

I would rewatch it, but only the parts I really want to see. And I'm going to act like that ending never happened.

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The series was good but that plot twist though

Overall, I liked the series, but the finale has left me intrigued.
I get it, but not at the same time.

So apparently, Nisa and Akin were playing a game in which they were the avatars. There is, however, a real nisa and akin. Do they have kids? So my thought is that they are telling the story of the avatars Akin and Nisa. Nisa and akin come from two different game worlds. It made us seem like akin was going into the real world, and Nisa was coming into the game world. However, we know that it wasn't like that in the end. They tricked us. Both the worlds were game worlds.

One thing that got me a little annoyed is how they kept erasing akin memory, and he kept having to fall in love with Nisa all over again. However, I enjoyed the process because you see that with his love, he always manages to go back to Nisa and fall in love with her again. He does repeat the same steps of when he fell in love, and they were different all the time. I also loved that akin did anything to protect Nisa from his world. If he did not want anything bad happening to her or knew the outcome, he risked his life to reset himself or delete himself. I love Nisa. I love how she was always there for akin when he was in trouble or hurt. She was his life-saver. They both protected themselves from the bad. They managed to overpower people with their love and show people that their love won't die so easily.

Another message that I saw throughout this show was Family. Nisa and her mother left the house when Nisa was young, and that's because Nisa's mother did not like how Nisa's father was so preoccupied with the game he was trying to develop. Nisa's father one day came home from a long day from work and saw that his wife and daughter were leaving. Years later, Nisa's father developed a "Better world" game. Things started to go wrong in a better world, and Nisa's father went missing. Therefore Nisa went to look for her father and discovered what he was hiding. Once she found the VR set, she stumbled into the game. In the game, Nisa became confused; however, she met someone who changed her life for the better, and that person was Akin. Akin and Nisa become acquainted. When Nisa sees a man needing help after the mystery killer stabbed him, Nisa tells them that she's a doctor and then saves Akin life. Later on, things get complicated for Nisa, and she's trying to escape the game but doesn't know, her father suddenly appears, and his partner makes him choose between giving up every right to the game to his partner or letting his daughter die. Nisa's father at first tricked his partner. Nisa's father's partner made him choose, but he realized that Family comes first. Nisa's father put everything down the line to protect his only child. He realized then, because of Nisa, that Family is always first, no matter what.

The series did get dragged out; however, I enjoyed the story, the acting, and the overall plot. If you look at the show from a different perspective rather than the duration and how many eps there were, realize what the story was about. I like the writer's message in the series, and it's a good message about love. Love doesn't always come easy, and you have to fight hard for what is yours. There were many obstacles between Akin and Nisa's love; however, they managed to overpower through those obstacles and beat it out with their love.

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NON-SPOILER REVIEW

Overall, this was an enjoyable watch. Its a bit of a soap opera and gets a bit repetitive and tedious toward the end; they stretched it out further than they needed to. Plus I did not like the very end, but if you ignore the last few minutes of it, it's pretty good. Also, that ending can be interpreted in more than one way, as I have learned from other reviews, which can make it better too. For the most part I found it fun, entertaining, interesting, and in places really cute and/or funny. But don't expect it to make any sense. The technology is hardly explained at all and what little explanation they do give makes no sense at all. (What the hell do radio waves have to do with anything??) And the rules for the game seem to be made up as they go to suit the needs of the storyline as it progresses and are subject to sudden changes without notice or explanation. But if you can suspend logic and just watch it for that which it was primarily made for--a cross-universe romance--you will enjoy it.

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Not as good as the original

It’s been hell of a ride. And I must say not in the good sense of the term.

First of all, it took me a long time to finish it. I started it for the first time like a year ago but couldn’t go any further than the episode 2. Something felt off with it and I just could bring myself to finish it.

I decided to give another shot after watching the Chinese version. I said to myself why not try again?

And I indeed found it better than the Chinese one, but with the ending it had, it wasn’t that complicated to be honest.

Unlike ‘Next Stop Your World’, which is literally a copy-paste of the Korean version ‘W: Two Worlds’, ‘Switch On’ took its liberties and reinvented the story.

I like the fact that they took the idea and made something new with it.

However, it stop there. Other than that, there were far too many things wrong with it. Too much things going on at the same time that you end up some time getting lost. Some characters and their actions don’t really make sense at some moments. And I personally felt like the story was getting dragged on for too long. It could have definitely been shorter. I literally binge-watched in a hurry the few final episodes because I just wanted to finish with it.

The series was not bad, but it wasn’t great either from my point of you. I feel like the ending is disappointing because nobody is really held accountable for what happened (especially Michael) and the final scene? Totally didn’t make sense for me.

So I’m happy I’ve watched it until the end, because I don’t like to drop series, but honestly I would definitely not watching it again. It would be a total waste of my time.

For all the people who are wondering whether watching it or not, if you ask me, I think you should stop at the original ‘W: Two Worlds’. The 2 remakes, whether it is ‘Switch On’ or ‘Next Stop Your World’ are not even close to be as good as the original for me. You will be disappointed.

However, if you like everything related to video games or virtual worlds and you’re be able to take a step back from the original version, then you can give it a go, you might end up enjoying it.

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Are you really in control?

I didn't expect to love this series as much as I did. The story was intriguing; Being able to fall in love with your favorite character and visit their world? Sign me up!And I'm aware of the Korean version, I'll have to watch that one at some point but when this one isn't fresh on my mind to not compare. I loved the acting, especially done by Gee Sutthirak; His acting as Akin was amazing, I enjoyed every second he was on screen, looking forward to watching more of his projects. Aom as Nisa also impressed me, tho I was more familiar with her acting as I've seen previous works of hers still she didn't disappoint. Her chemistry with Gee gave me butterflies and all the feels. Phukao and Meiko as Leo and Emily, loved them as well. By the end I was kind of shipping them and the relationship between Akin and Leo warmed my heart. Suam as Moo-han is another I grew fond of. He had me laughing a lot of the time. Honestly everyone did great from the script writers of the game and Nisa's dad down to michael and the small appearance of Mark by Talay( Who initally got me interested in starting it). The end left my jaw on the floor. Admitedly there where some things I was confused about but it didn't hinder my ability to enjoy it so I give it a 9/10 and a 10/10 recommend.

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Put you in a cliff hang

As you already know this is remake of W two worlds may be the story seems similar but they are entirely different . I don't want to spoil to much but if you really like w two worlds .you will like switch on more at end of every episode it will leave you a suspense end and i used to wait for a week for the next episode

But I have to say this for me the end was not very satisfying because i expected more . But for this reason don't skip the drama it goes really enjoying.

About the chemistry between leads it was good but can have been better and at the villain character when compared to w two worlds i felt satisfied.you will know when you watch it. Male lead character it was good and i liked the assistant of the male lead ?.

I hope you enjoy the drama

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Another bizarre way how to get to "romance" nowadays

'Switch On' is funny in many respects. Just the phrase "switch on" which is supposed to activate the game is something thai are not able to actually pronounce, lol. It's supposed to be an online game using virtual reality head set which provides experience so vivid, that main heroine is actually questioning whether it's all real, lol. Someone keeps hacking the game, resulting in changing the game's events. Everyone is mostly concerned with this, while the fact that the heroine "returns" from the game (the phrase "switch off" is just as difficult to correctly pronounce for her, plus it's not very discreet to leave the game only by saying it out loud, lol) with her clothes stained with REAL blood is laid aside, lol. Also, 1 hour of real time equals 1 day in the game. The main heroine spends 2 months in the game, meaning 2,5 real days, without as much as getting tiny bit dehydrated, lol. But perhaps her meals she had within the game somehow magically counted. Like the blood, lol.

Episode 4 finally adresses this, and the FL's friend asks her if, when she kissed in the game, her lips felt wet and whether it was a real feeling, lol. Then he explains to her more and more rules further and further, but it's all so contradicting that after a while I completely ceased to understand, lol. Obviously any logic needs to be thrown out of the window if one is to continue watching. Let's just try to enjoy this weird... romance? Next, FL surprises ML taking shower. She gets to see his "naughty bits" as censored. Eh... lol? He then kisses her again but it's not a good kiss, and Gee Sutthirak needs to crouch gracelessly towards short Aom. They visit her childhood home, which looks like her real childhood house as it has her childhood drawings she did draw on walls when she was a kid, though many of them are placed so high on the wall it's a wonder how a child reached there. Oops, forgot to turn off any logic thoughts again.

End of episode 5/24, FL even tells ML that all his world is only a game and switches off right in front of him. So he starts searching whether he and everyone around him is real person and what kind of reality he lives in. For him, it all kinda turns into some kind of metapsychical experience, which means the "gaming" fun is kinda out. For her, episode 6 she already finds her father for whom she entered the game in the first place, which means that ceases to be long-time plot and passes briefly instead of being "emotional reunion" near the final. The actor portraying the father is great, though. Someone needs to add him on MDL.

So, what now? Episode 7, we let the game guy physically materialize in the real world. But no, let him chat with the mainframe for almost whole episode first, lol. Then right after he appears in real world, let the episode end:-) I'm sure many people opened episode 8 right away after such "cliffhanger", but I NEVER binge, just so you know what kind of a viewer I am... I require SERIES to actually work IN episodes. I smirked about how the guy having a conversation with zeroes and ones looked rather stupid. When I returned for episode 8, I found out the guy thinks his game-world is actually a parallel world, equal to ours. Despite being clearly shown that all it takes is to put a virus into the game and PEOPLE around him start disappearing, even memories about them erased. LOL. Then he decides to sacrifice himself. That too happens as soon as episode 9/24, far from the final. Radical conclusions coming this quick, I wondered what was this show's aim, then? When even a game character entering the real word was soon discarded and nothing much came of it?

Well, episode 10, instead of disappearing, Akin starts acting like a conceited wacko, having pompose speeches and new stupid nickname. Actually, he gained personality the game developer wanted for the game to become more "action". Too bad for the FL, though. Her guy just lost his character. We then keep watching the game programmers and the girl's father trying to make the guy act this way or that way... And I must say I was getting tired of these scenes. At 1/2 of the series, the whatever excitement about entering the game from the real world or entering the real world from the game rather dropped, and it didn't matter to me that much whatever the characters were to do next.

There is a game developer bad guy or whatever and it's supposed to be all top secret machinations, while at the same time anyone can watch everything that happens in the game online, LOL. The smart people controlling the game seemed to be getting dumber by the minute... I got bored watching them solving the game problems. The whole show probably took a wrong turn since early eps. Perhaps had they just let the FL "enjoy herself" in the game, without it necessarily having an impact on the real world, it may have stayed fun.

Even after the old personality "game pra'ek" returns, and 1st thing he does is he whines he's been "treated like it's a game", it's funny and... annoying. He complains so much that he's been created for her amusement. While the girl looks at him apologetically. I don't know whether all the gamers were supposed to watch this scene too, but NOW I really don't get this show's aim. Imagine you DO create a perfect partner for yourself, and then that partner starts nagging you just like typical one from the real world, lol. I just wished we could return to episode 5. Why the hell did the girl tell the guy it was just a game? She should have never.

Now, I do understand that next 12 episodes probably will be about dealing with all the adversaries and obstacles and fight for some kind of sappy happy end for the couple, but I can't say I really care for it. The fun is gone.

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