23.5 (2024)

the earth tilts to the cuteness in this show

I think everyone who likes gl's and espacially cute and wholesome gl's would love this show.

What I liked:
- Aylin, do I have to say more? Her line delivery was amazing and she was just such a vibe. Tbh I was not sure if I like her in the first episode but at the end of the first episode she already was my favorite. Her relationship with Luna is insanley cute and I loved every scene with them. And most of the funny scenes were her scenes. I cried a little bit when she told everyone why she sees herself as an alien. She just shows everyone that being yourself is the best thing anyone can do, even if you don't fit in. She still found someone who loves her very much even though she's different and was seen as "weird" by other people. I love that message.
- Sun and Ongsa are very cute as a couple. I especially enjoyed the scenes of Sun being jealous, very funny. The whole plotpoint with "Earth" was wrapped up very well and didn't feel to long. Sun being mad about Ongsa not telling her parents that they are dating was completely justified. I still enjoyed it because it went very well with Ongsa's established character. But I'm thankful it was only one episode. My heart would not have survived seeing them apart for more.
- THE TEACHERS!!! I love them. Not only are they funny but they also genuinely worried about their students and tried to help them.

What I disliked:
- It was a little boring at times. Sometimes scenes just dragged on for a little to long.
- I seriously did not enjoy Ton and Charoen. As stand-alone characters and especially not as a "couple". Ton kinda worked well with Mawin.
- I know they are only minor characters but it's kinda disappointing that we didn't see more of Mawin and Tinh. They were cute, I wanted more.

Aylin really carried that show. Not to say that the rest was bad or anything. She was just the best.

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WE, WHICH REVOLVE AROUND THE SUN

23.5, how I love you. How could I not? I love love LOVEEE MilkLove and ViewJune, but as much as I was excited for this series, I may have let my expectations take a toll on my rating.

STORY: Ongsa, whos just moved to Bangkok, meets Sun, who's a bubbly and bright person, just as her name suggests. Although it may seem like they've never met, Ongsa secretly has known Sun. How? They met through Instagram, of which Ongsa uses a fake name as "Earth." Scared of how she'll react, Ongsa keeps this a secret from Sun, as she doesn't want to lose her and this friendship that begins.

LIKES:
-Luna and Aylin my cuties😞😞
-The patience in the couples relationship
-The friendships within the characters
-Side Characters in General


DISLIKES:
-The awkwardness between the characters.. Weren't they supposed to be together? They had known each other for a bit before, yet could barely speak to each other without one of them either feeling flustered or just not knowing how to speak inn general. I can understand if it's due to their ages because I'm around that age range, but even I have seen less awkward couples.

-I was looking through other reviews and someone mentioned the fact that they didn't even really have a reason to like each other, which I slowly began to agree. Other than the fact that they share a bond for the fact that they have a FRIENDSHIP, they don't really have a valid reason to of liked each other. I understand if it's just you fell in love, but we didn't even see any of that.

-The story overall went downhill after halfway. I only continued to watch for the cute scenes of the couples, but even that almost couldn't keep me up. I loved MilkLove in Bad Buddy, but this.. It's just not doing it. I'm usually good at keeping ongoing series, but I got episodes behind because I just couldn't get through episodes.

OVERALL:

I can't bring myself to give this lower than an 8, for the fact that I love these two couples too much. This won't stop me from loving them, but this just wasn't it. Other than the cute scenes and great OST, there wasn't anything special. Just a plain gmmtv high school series but gl version. It's not a horrible start at gl for gmmtv, but it definitely could've been better.

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Way too silly

Watching this is good because there are a lot of pretty girls, though the plot is super childish. Even if there's a plot, it feels like it's written by a bunch of middle schoolers? I could imagine it working for an anime or webtoon but not live action drama. It's too silly. And they keep getting sidetracked, filling episodes with stuff that don't help Ongsa and Sun's relationship. I think this is GMM bad habit. In school or office dramas, they keep filling episodes with activities or events where all characters can participate or load it up with ads. Trying to stretch out the drama until it reaches 12 episodes. How about these writers write better stories?

These side characters... Hmmm. They're like caricatures, like they're supposed to be a stereotype; the popular guy with hordes of fan girls, the beautiful and though student president, the socially awkward nerd, the alien-obsessed girl. They have no depth or complexity. High school is more than 10 years ago for me but I don't remember high schoolers to be like this. This is more of a parody of high school. It gets even worse when they get coupled up without sufficient build ups.

I'm sad and disappointed. Disappointed because I was really looking forward to this couple after watching them in Bad Buddy. I thought they had good chemistry. Sad because this is my first GL series and the writers fumbled this hard.

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It’s okay, but not really the best

The dynamic between Milk and Love take on an endearing quirkiness (without being too cringey) as their characters in 23.5 are the polar opposites of each other.

Like many other series, the conflict revolves around a lack of open communication. This is perhaps unsurprising since 23.5 is intended to be a fluffy show about high school life. Teenagers are still learning to navigate their way around relationships and issues, and it’s completely understandable if they are poor communicators.

At times, the cringey awkwardness of the characters in 23.5 serves as a reminder of how nobody magically has it all together. People grow into more evolved versions of themselves with more experience and wisdom gained.

But the main point is this: For teenagers, many things can feel like the end of the world. But with support and help from others, it’s possible to get through anything.

It’s okay, but not really the best. The show started off quite cute but lost steam towards the end with a weak conflict and ending.

Full review: https://asianblreviews.wordpress.com/2024/06/11/23-5-gl-review/

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Watchable and cute, but seriously lacking in storyline.

I already know I wasn't the target audience for this show (high school romance is *not* my jam), so I wanted to really give it a fair shot before reviewing. But honestly? I think my review might have been more positive if I stopped after the first few episodes! While the design of this show is absolutely adorable, with lots of bright colors and space themes, the characters are completely empty and lessons learned are... pretty questionable. I'm also disappointed with GMMTV's continuous fumbling of disabled characters across several shows. This was not the best of efforts, and with several other GLs airing and upcoming... I don't feel like forcing myself across the finish line.

-The Full Review-
STORY:
This story is abysmal. I'll start with the major problems and work down to the nitpicks. Most importantly: the characters lack personality. While Ongsa and Aylin are can scrape by on a cartoonish, stylized choice, Sun and Luna are disappointingly one dimensional. Ongsa, Chareon and Tinh have more chemistry and repartee than any of the couples. Sun is supposedly popular, but 8 episodes in, I don't even know her friends names and she seems to ditch them without question. There doesn't seem to be any depth to any of the relationships--romantic, friendship, or familial.
My second largest issue is the treatment of Aylin, who is portrayed to have autism or some similar neurodivergence. Don't get me wrong: Aylin is leaps and bounds ahead of Penneung from Home School, so I'm grateful for that. But the way she is portrayed as "Luna's project" as someone to change and push into a social creature is just offensive. Half the times the Alien allegory works really well, and have the times it feels like a serious infantilization of an already infantilized group.
As for the nitpicks... I don't like how the show handled Ongsa's self-confidence issues. I understand shows need sponsorships, but to suggest the solution to Ongsa's feelings of "being ugly and unworthy" is to put on some L'Oreal LipstickTM and all the school will fall over you is some seriously anti-feminist drivel. Don't get me wrong, I have nothing against femme lesbians... but Ongsa is Not! Or at least she is not portrayed that way until exactly the moment she strives to feel worthy of a girl. I don't think Sun's approach is appropriate either, and hate how her jealous prevents her from hyping up her hot girlfriend.

ACTING:
It was fine. Milk is wonderful at physical comedy and slightly less compelling with the more emotional beats. Love was very cute, but watching Home School simultaneously made it very clear how little she has to work with here. I am not at all a fan of View or her shaky attempts at cripping up, but I know I'm in the minority here. I don't really feel anyone else has enough to work with to properly judge their skills. About the best I can say is that everyone created a very cohesive, heightened, cutesy high school universe, which was nice. They matched energy levels very well, which made scenes fun and bright.
On another note, I wish they'd given this show to more age appropriate actors. While they did a valiant job of making a 27 year old look like a young high schooler, it simply didn't always work. The extreme youth and innocence of the script really worked against the actors here.

PRODUCTION:
All that said, it was enjoyable to watch. While the cinematography was frequently extra slow and drawn out, the set designs and costume choices created a beautiful and bright world. I really enjoyed the way they stylized the youth of these characters and exaggerated their interests to really fill the space. The design of the bedrooms went a long way to filling in the absent personalities of the characters. I, of course, have to take my hats off to the costume crew working over time to make these grown adult women look like they could possibly be in high school--an effect that works way more often than I expected.

INTIMACY:
I haven't watched anything with MilkLove before, and seeing the hype around this pair.... I was expecting more? There's decent chemistry. It's not unwatchable or unbelievable. But I feel like the sound and lighting cues are doing a LOT of the heavy lifting in the romance here. I'm not sure what happened, or if it's just an effect of Ongsa's shyness? They were particularly compelling to me, as a romance.

In all, it's pretty much what I expected from a GMMTV high school romance. They definitely have their audience that enjoys this concept, and I'm glad those people are getting fed. But it does feel like a waste of their talents and time to put out such a shaky end product. I would really like to see GL push harder to develop some truly complex characters and more interesting plots.

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A conforming series: Bland and saltless

For those who don't like drama, this is the perfect series as there is no drama at all. Before I start talking about how I DON'T LIKE ONGSA, I'm going to say what I liked about the series: Aylin and Lua. These two could have their own series. They made the whole series happen.

Now I'll explain why I don't like Ongsa: She keeps making her life difficult and acting like a child. Take a look: She lives in a perfect, loving family, has perfect friends and lives in a perfect school. Her parents are both alive and happily married. They, as well as Ongsa's sister and cousin, live in harmony. When Sun and Ongsa's relationship comes to light, they all accept it very well, without any resistance. Ongsa's friends and school do too. Sun's parents too. Just happiness.

"SO WHEN IS THERE ANY DRAMA?" You may wonder. And I respond: "When Ongsa acts like a 5-year-old child trying to get attention."

For example, when Sun discovers the truth about "Terra", Sun is super open to listening to Ongsa, but instead of Ongsa saying how things happened to get where they are, she simply runs away. Leaving her entire family looking for her ALL DAY! Her family was very worried about her, if they had any doubts they would call the police! All because that idiot Ongsa ran away and hid crying. Then you might even think “This could happen!”, yes, it can. With A CHILD, not a high school girl who is almost AN ADULT.
Sun goes after her (which she didn't need to do, as it's Ongsa who should have gone after Sun to explain herself). When Sun calls Ongsa to talk, what does she do? Exactly, she runs away again. Sun was ready to listen to Ongsa's explanations from the first moment she ran away, now she was open to listening to Ongsa's explanations again and she ran away again. It was Ongsa who acted wrongly, she was the one who deceived and betrayed Sun's trust, she was the one who should be running after Sun, not the other way around! Even so, having two chances to tell the truth to Sun (who was open-hearted to listen to Ongsa's explanations) she chose to run away.

Sun goes after Ongsa for the 3 TIME, and simply gives up asking for the truth (after all, Ongsa might run away again since she is soooo mature), instead Sun decides to simply pretend that they are getting to know each other again and that this story of "Terra" never happened, after all, just so the little baby that is Ongsa would stop running away! Wow, how angry at this girl! She's not ready for a relationship if she acts like a little child running away from her problems.

I keep imagining Sun dating Ongsa, and I feel sorry for her. Every time Ongsa messes up, she acts like a child and runs away from problems, or simply tries to solve problems like a child too. Sun will have to always seder, always choose to "forget what happened" instead of talking about things.

And when Sun broke up with Ongsa why didn't she want to admit their relationship? Remembering that Ongsa's parents CLEARLY showed that they would not be against this, as they found out about Lua and Aylin and were super in favor. Sun was also suffering, but she was silent. So how will Ongsa get her friends' attention so they can comfort her? Acting like a child! She ran and screamed around the court like a child who doesn't have the toy she wants, of course all of Ongsa's friends will run after her to "comfort" her. Our almost 20 year old baby. Even Sun felt embarrassed about it.

I hope Sun finds a better person. Ongsa, until you mature, stay away from Sun, it's a favor you do for her.

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It's really nice and cute!

I dropped it in the second last episode because the way they treated coming out of the closet. Till then it was perfect. Maybe I am just overreacting and they are immature kids. But I lost the urge to watch the remaining 2 episodes. Till 10 it was just perfect. So I want to only remember till then. The chemistry is too cute to handle sometimes! I wish there were more shows with such great pairings.

Edit: I watched the rest and loved it. I still feel the coming out part should have been dealt better, at least by the adults. The relationship issues they had were extremely relatable. I really like the conclusions of all of the relationships.

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Breaking Boundaries with Heart: A Review of '23.5' – A Sapphic Triumph in Thai Drama

"23.5" isn't just a Thai GL series; it's a beacon of inclusivity and warmth in a landscape often fraught with stereotypes and biases. As I reflect on its profound impact, I find myself compelled to share my heartfelt review of this precedent-setting show.

In a genre where representation often falls prey to sensationalism or marginalization, "23.5" stands tall as a testament to what can be achieved with sincerity and heart. The creators have crafted a narrative that transcends cultural barriers, inviting viewers of all ages and backgrounds to join in its heartwarming journey.

What truly sets "23.5" apart is its ability to entertain without relying on tired tropes or sexualization. As a 46-year-old who grew up with content that often failed to capture the depth and beauty of sapphic love, this series feels like a breath of fresh air. For once, I can sit down with my family and immerse ourselves in a story that celebrates love in its purest form, free from the burden of unnecessary sexualization or problematic storylines.

At the heart of "23.5" lies a narrative brimming with endearing characters, heartfelt moments, and a genuine sense of wholesomeness. Ongsa and Sun's journey from misunderstanding to friendship to love is portrayed with such sincerity and authenticity that it's impossible not to be moved. Theirs is a love story that resonates deeply, not just with LGBTQ+ audiences, but with anyone who has ever yearned for connection and understanding.

The cast and crew of "23.5" deserve immense praise for their commitment to authenticity and representation. From the stellar performances to the impeccable direction and cinematography, every aspect of the series comes together to create a truly unforgettable viewing experience.

As I eagerly await the possibility of a continuation in "24.0," I can't help but feel hopeful for the future of LGBTQ+ representation in media. "23.5" has proven that stories of love and identity know no bounds, and I can only hope that more creators will follow in its footsteps, embracing diversity and inclusivity with the same grace and sincerity.

In a world often divided by fear and prejudice, "23.5" serves as a reminder of the power of love to unite us all. May its legacy endure as a beacon of hope and acceptance for generations to come.

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a breath of fresh air; worth all the hype

bl and het shows have a wide range of silly romcoms to choose from, but the sapphic genre is mostly filled with angst, so this is really a breath of fresh air. i usually don't like highschool plots, but this one in particular is very enjoyable. for something so highly anticipated, im glad that i havent felt any disappointment so far. all the characters are rly interesting and im glad the side charas dont seem to be treated like mere foils (like alpha, for instance. my fave. im looking forward to how theyll unravel her chara's depth as we go on). i love when showrunners treat most charas with respect and not like theyre disposable, even if some of them are just for comedic relief. i think its nice that theyre gradually developing the romance between ongsasun as they establish their dynamics with the ppl around them. i like that even tho some elements are cringe and comical, it just feels humorous and not distasteful. it's a feel good show that rly represents the youthful sapphic experience of self discovery, fitting in, and falling in love while finding a community of queer friends. im excited to see more of ongsasun and aylinluna. every interaction of the two lesbian couples so far has been so "kilig" and i cant wait to see their relationships grow deeper as we uncover more layers of each of their charas individually.

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‼️SPOILERS‼️ I loved the first GL drama produced by GMM

The company (GMM) obviously gave the series a very LOW budget. They only have 4 locations: Ongsa's House, Sun's House, S-TAR, and the park (also Ongsa's oversized shirts 💀)
So many good scenes from the novel were left out like the Valentine's Day, camping: Sun singing and Charoen playing guitar; jealous Ongsa, them getting back together, Ongsa's mother accepting Sun as Ongsa's gf and inviting her to their house, Sun being anxious if her parents will accept her relationship with a girl, Ongsa learning how to play a guitar, OngsaSun college and adult life.

Disappointing about the series:
-it only has 12 eps. The series needs to have 16-18 eps if the Director and Writers want to show us so many things. ‼️23.5 👏🏼IS👏🏼 NOT👏🏼 HOME👏🏼SCHOOL👏🏼‼️ for y'all to showcase many characters and couples. They should've considered # of episodes before developing the characters (I searched about them and Home School was the director and writers' common denominator.)
-Sun's POV. We only know less about Sun. It's as if Sun became a supporting character and they didn't even showed that Sun is a popular student, etc.
-Time element - VERY VERY DISAPPOINTING. We don't even know how long OngsaSun are together and there are so many more.
-Unnecessary character: Mawin. (So sorry for the actor) They don't need to give Tinh a partner
-TinhCharoen and Sun's friends' less screentime - they played vital roles as OngsaSun's support in the novel. It sucks that we haven't seen them more.


Good things about the series:
> Easy and SAFE to watch. 23.5 unlocked a new side of Thai GL media where the characters don't need to lust over each other, no hot, steamy romantic scenes. It easily became my comfort gl series. (I don't get the Ongsa hate where some ppl drop the series because I was as awkward and clumsy as Ongsa when I was her age so I understand her 😅 and she's a highschooler who is still trying to het to know her self and trying to figure out the world)

> AylinLuna - For my interpretation, they are fragments of novel OngsaSun. We get to see ViewJune kissing instead of slapping and hairpulling.

> Teachers NidaBambam - more sapphics representation 💃🏼🎉 + they are so cute and lovable!

> Sun unintentionally outing AylinOngsa - for some ppl it's bad. But for me, it's important part for Ongsa to pull herself together. Girl obviously has no intention to tell her parents about them.

> Sun's parents' words of wisdom. I just wish parents would watch this and open their minds about different forms of love.

> Comedic scenes never miss. I had a good laugh because of Ongsa, Ton, Charoen, and Aylin. I also like that they tweaked Ton's character and involvement in the series so that we can see more of Sun's jealousy.

> Breakup scene - The dialogue is more realistic and relatable. I commend MilkLove's acting skills. They portrayed the emotions really well 👏🏼👏🏼👏🏼

Overall:
- almost perfect casting. All of them have great chemistry together
- 9/10 acting skills
- plot can be improved if there will be a remake in the future.
- Breathe of a fresh air from Thai GL media

I hope GMMTV at least makes a special ep about Sun's POV and/or about OngsaSun's college and adult life. And more project for MilkLove, ViewJune, and all the actors.

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