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Cringey but with some good points
I didn't like this drama, it was too much cringey and on the ridiculous comedy side for me. That said, there were some things that I really appreciated.1. The focus on insecurities. I think it's the main theme of the whole drama, with different reasons behind it for Toh, Jao and Daisy.
2. The main character having a multifaceted personality. Not always shy or helpless.
3. The trans (or at least very feminine) friend having a love story and not being only a comic relief. Even as a cis girl, I appreciated a lot.
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Don't let the reviews trick you into watching this
I felt like it was needed to write this review in the sea of positive reviews on this site because I was tricked into watching this really bad series where the only reason I kept watching is because everyone said that it gets better .. Shockingly (not really) it doesn’t, so here we goThe series is about Toh who is stalking (and yes I do call it stalking because what he did is not the same as having a crush on someone) Nuea who is a star player of the basket ball team, somehow through I don’t know what they end up together and their friendship group somehow one by one end up together.
In theory this shouldn’t be this bad but I think I just could not get over the normalization of stalking in this series, its not cute at all and I found it cringy and creepy most of the time. You’d think by the end that Toh would learn that whatever he did was wrong however Nuea justified his unhealthy obsession and fed into it.
To add on that the show was littered with cringy, creepy, unnecessary not funny jokes left and right that I could not really take anything seriously which maybe is what the writers are going for but I just felt like I was -.- the whole time. I stuck around till the last episode and I felt like it was truly a big waste of my time. In all honesty I thought that both Nuea and Sky were pulling a prank and had a whole bet on who would sleep with the guys first but I guess my brain was trying to make the whole situation make sense.
While I’m at it just wanted to give a quick shoutout to Sky and Jao for actually being cute in this series and having good character development and story. I did like the casting if Nuea, I think the actor did well for what he had to work with. I really didn’t like Toh at all, maybe its because I hate the character but I could not stand looking at him at all.
To anyone who asks why I finished it, I’m like this .. I never drop series, if I start I have to finish no matter what torture I have to go through
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Extraordinary and the Ordinary need love too!
Let me tell you, the secondhand embarrassment was running rapid in this one! The story was definitely unique, and not what I was expecting when I came across this. Also someone had recommended this to me, and while the first episode I found really cute, but it was really awkward with the collecting of items, but I GET IT. I kind of fell for it when I noticed Nuea noticing Toh doing certain actions, and I'm like okay this show has a lot of potential to be really amazing!The idea of those ordinary people that are usually the butt of the joke in certain BL dramas or don't get the necessary love that they deserve, you'll see it here! I loved and when I say loved, I LOVED both sets of friend groups. Especially Toh's friends, Daisy, Som, and Jao. They are always there for each other unwavering, and you don't always see that in shows. They let always let him know that keeping things wasn't cool but understood why he did it. It was a unique story, and just really cute and super cringe but that's the type of show I love. It's personal taste, but I'd definitely recommend this show.
The chemistry between all of the couples in this is what made me stay! I enjoy seeing actors who actually want to be acting together. I cannot wait to see more things from this director and see more of the cast in their separate things. I'm definitely gonna keep a watchful eye on them!
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This show is a fantasy for all of us who belonged to the "nerds", the "weirdos", the "fat" people or whatever group we belonged to and thought we would never have a chance to get the popular guy -- to make our secret crush our one true love.
First of all:
1. Toh is a very special kind of guy. His brain works differently to "normal" people. (I think people nowadays call that neuro-divergent.) He's also a rather campy gay man, which marginalizes him further and colours his world view heavily. This makes his actions hard to watch, although for him, they all make perfect sense.
2. Toh's friend group is loud, queer, a bit weird -- the whole show is made of camp.
If you can accept that and roll with it, you will have a very good time with this show. If you can't, then you should probably watch something else. I get that these over-the-top kind of shows are not for everybody.
Second:
1. What I loved most is the friendship between Toh, Daisy, Som and KaoJao. They are all supportive when it counts, pushing the other when it's needed,and not above teasing each other. It was also great how easily the two gangs mixed, the weird one and the popular kids. Toward the end, they were still very much present, and that's not something you always have, that the couple(s) don't forget their friends.
2. The second main thing I loved was: Those characters who are different (nerdy, queer, chubby ... just "different") usually only get supporting roles, mostly no love interest, and are often there mainly for comic relief. In this series they are the main characters! And they all get a love interest! AND, and this is the thing that made me give ten stars, none of them is required to change for that to happen. How often have we seen that the "ugly duckling" turns into a beautiful swan in the end? Not here, Toh remains his usual self, glasses, bowl cut and short trousers included.
Third:
* Kudos to the director: There are so many ensemble scenes, and even if they are not in focus, I haven't seen one actor fall out of character. It's a joy to watch the reactions and interactions in the background.
* Colour, audio and overall cinematography was fine. The background music was always there, as if whoever was in charge of it had a "horror silentiae", and sometimes too loud. I do love "แอบหลงรัก ", §ดั่งดาว" and, yes, even "Ooh My Loove".
* One thing that threw me out of my enjoyment of the explicit scenes was that they opened the condom packets while still dressed -- where are you going to put it then? (Also, I'd really like some lube sometime...)
Fourth, and that's the last one:
And I have to talk about it because I like to rant about the prevalence of top/bottom-tropes in Thai BLs, this was actually toned down a lot here. It was still there, and I wish we could get away from the "pushy" top. (Even though Sky was quite sweet later on, I'm not too happy about how he pursued Jao in the beginning and the grabbing around the neck/chest thing.)
Still, there was no feminizing a partner who was not like that in the beginning, that's good. Also no infantilizing whatsoever. The use of "wife" was mainly used to describe the roles during sexual activities, not as a character trait. Partners in two couples offered to switch roles if the other wanted it.
"Tops" were also at times insecure, emotionally open and one of them not really adept at flirting.
I also firmly believe that the bandana in Nuea's right backpocket (in episode 7) was intentional, and you can pry this headcanon out of my cold, dead hands.
Overall, a firm recommendation from me, if just because of the great representation of characters who are otherwise never in the spotlight.
[This is a slightly edited version of the review I posted on Viki.]
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it's very shameful
I wasn't giving anything to this bl but my friends made me watch it. I loved it!! They are so strange and funny at the same time that I died of embarrassment, I cried with laughter. I loved the squad!! they are very dear, it's a light bl and good to watch! I really loved all the couples and also the subjects they talk about on the bl (issues that we don't see being discussed in bl's) ❤️❤️❤️ Toh Daisy Som and Jao They turned into my babies I want more from this squad and their union so much babies <3Was this review helpful to you?
Something new and well-made disguised as something old and badly-made
While watching the first episode and seeing who were the main characters, I immediately started guessing what would happen in the story. I expected the usual clichés: the main guy with glasses and a goofy smile would get a makeover and suddenly turn conventionally attractive, his panicked friend would get consistently (and uncomfortably) hit on, and their feminine friend would just be the comic relief of the show. Anyone's stalking or harrassment would never be addressed and the bad behaviors would be just romanticised. If it wasn't for the countless positive comments on this page saying that this show is actually good, I wouldn't have been able to keep watching.In the end, all my expectations were destroyed for the better, which I guess says it all about how actually good this show is. The usual tropes were subverted, making the series a lot more interesting to watch. After feeling a lot of second-hand embarrassment for some ridiculous scenes at the beginning of the show, I got so invested I finished watching everything in the span of a few days. The actors were all amazing and I really hope I'll get to see them again in other future projects.
I also want to compliment the translation team, because the subtitles were some of the best made I've ever seen - providing not only the translation for the dialogue, but also captions for sound effects, and context and cultural information about what was going on at given moments.
I recommend watching this one at least once!
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Repulsive, simpering main character
I found the character Pete (played by Saint) in Love by Chance to be rather unlikeable due to his constant internalised I'm-not-good-enough-for-you-P'Ae homophobia. Secret Crush on You presents us with an even worse main character, Toh, who could not be more ridiculously annoying. His absolutely constant and pathetic simpering is just repulsive. Who is this infantalised non-personality meant to appeal to? It beggars belief that the character of Nuea would be attracted to him. In real life he'd be given psychiatric help, or the slap across the face he so desperately needs. I feel so sorry for the actor having to play such an utterly nauseating role. One also has to feel sorry for the actor playing Nuea because he has so little to play off.The side characters are far more interesting. The relationship between Sky and Khaojao is much more realistic, especially Khaojao's reticence about officially becoming boyfriends and Khaojao's naivety is sometimes is used for comic effect. The exuberant character of Daisy is great and it's wonderful to see him getting his chance with Intouch by episode 9. He has some funny lines too and I love the costuming for him.
So, in summary my advice is to fast-forward through anything to do with Toh and Nuea because it's so dreadful (perhaps written for a 13yo female audience, rather than for actual gay people without a love for simpering, infantalised non-characters). Thailand's gay community deserves a much better depiction than what we've been given.
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The name says it all and funny
It's a must watch!Very Light, Easy, Funny BL that boost your mood and make you laugh crazy.
A very good stress reliever.
I Love the Cinematography and nice OSTs
It going smooth, well played and I love the bond between Som, Daisy, Khaojo and Toh.
Neau and Toh makes me scream for joy, Toh is just helpless in love.
Sky and Khaojo situationship is very cute
Toh's is always in dream land and makes us reminisce on how we crush on people we love or our favourite Stars and Artists.
Intouch and Daisy very Lovely
The GL "Fon and Kongkwan" Cutie
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I get where some points in other's reviews are coming from, but give it a try and watch I would say, the first three episodes at least. (2)
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Cute but cringy
Cringy, very cringy. Breaks are very needed all throughout the series because of secondhand embarrassment. Cute scenes, okay acting, but you want to claw your eyes out and lose your hearing 60% of the time while watching.I like how some scenes are more realistic than other bl's. the dialogues actually make sense, and they're able to talk out their problems right away and not make a 3 episodes long problem.
If you like spicy scenes in bl's, you can enjoy this. It has a few. but if you don't like spicy scenes you won't be overwhelmed by them as it's not a lot and they're usually not long.
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It's VERY cringeworthy, but fun all the same
This psycho, embarrassing, overdramatic, weird, cringe-worthy show somehow became one of my favorites 🤣🤣🤣The secondhand embarrassment from this show is STROOOOONG in literally every episode. Both the main leads are CRAZY, one being a over-obsessive stalker and the other being a horny manipulative narcissist and somehow it works
It's funny. It's cute. It has you going through literally all your emotions at some point in the show and I love it. Both the expected and unexpected happen and sometimes, somehow, simultaneously. It's beautifully written despite it being very toxic 🤣
Plus. Jao is literally adorable. I love the SkyJao relationship so much
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Excruciatingly Difficult Watch
I love a silly little drama as much as the next person, but halfway through this show I stopped having fun...I have never seen a show with such horrible pacing before. The silence between each line seemed to increase with each episode and by the finale, I had to pause every 15 minutes and take a 30 minute break because I was getting unreasonably pissed off about it ☠️ And I did all of that for Literally Nothing to happen in that finale... yet they had the AUDACITY to make it 60+ minutes long 😖
Honestly if we condensed this into 8 episodes, I probably would've loved it. The premise is ridiculous and I love that but my GOD it has no right being this damn long.
I wanted to like this... I did like this... It was amusing for enough episodes that I didn't drop it, purely because of the sunk-cost fallacy. Unfortunately, I'll remember this show as one of the most painful watches I have had so far.
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