BEST BL SERIES IN 2023
Everything is a top-notch! ((not biased)) The story is well-explained, not too fast or too slow. The acting from the casts are amazing. The casts ability's to show us a wide-range emotions from the character deserves a standing-ovation. For the production, from the camerawork to the color grading, it's just perfect!! The way they ((sometimes)) blurred Jom –put the focus on Khun Yai– is a smart things to do! I'm not going to give any spoilers here, but there's a logical explanation why the team decided to do that, and that's brilliant! This series has 4 osts and all of them are nicely made! If you ask me to choose the best from those 4 songs, it will be a hard decision for me because every songs have their own meanings and it perfectly aligned with Khun Yai - Jom story.This series ungraves deep in my heart. I'm happy that I've waited for almost a year for this series because every hours that I spend waiting for this is all worth it.
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It lingered with me
This one is a real gem of a time travel romance. Ironically, I actually found the world-building and time travel aspects more interesting than the romance at times, but I'm going to put that down to personal taste.The production quality for this show is truly excellent, the cinematography, music, and editing are all absolutely wonderful and serve to create that romantic and melancholy atmosphere that seems to have resonated with so many viewers, myself included.
The performances and script are absolutely stellar as well; you can tell just how much love and effort was put into this entire story.
The characters are all interesting and complex and their sheer likeability makes all aspects of the story more enjoyable and impactful, from the romance, to the humour, to the tragedy and drama.
Personal favourites of mine are James and Mei, but I honestly would happily watch an entire drama dedicated to pretty much any one of the supporting characters.
A lot of folks have praised the show for the varied and diverse relationships it depicts, as well as for how unflinching and brutally honest it is in showcasing the realities of life for servants, the lower classes, women, and queer people in 1920s Thailand - and rightfully so! The show-runners do a fantastic job of highlighting the social and systemic oppression these marginalised groups used to and still do face to this day in a way that is both realistic and relevant to story.
However, there is one aspect of these depictions that I take some issue with, which is the sheer amount of rape scenes included in the show. Don't get me wrong, they are very well done and brutally effective in how uncomfortable they are to watch, but some of them felt unneeded and borderline gratuitous. I don't think any of them are intended to be outright voyeuristic or titillating, but some of them end up unfortunately somewhat coming off as such, at least in my opinion.
If nothing else, I feel it's necessary to give potential viewers a heads up about this, so consider this your trigger warning.
All in all though, I really loved this show and can't wait for a potential season 2 to pick up where the finale left off (and shout-out to the kind souls in the comments who explained the ending more thoroughly than the show did). Seeing all the character dynamics change and evolve in a present-day setting would be an absolute delight and I hope we get to see it.
Meanwhile though, I would recommend this show to anyone looking for a beautifully shot, beautifully realised historical romance, or to any enjoyers of serious, yet wonderfully charming queer love stories that feel almost time-less.
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Deserve higher ratings
Impressed by the story and great acting of the two major actors, desperately looking forward the season 2.By the way, do I have the chance to watch the season 2 in rest of my life? If not, i will die with my eyes open. Bright and Nonkul, i know you two from this series, but it’s not enough. I hope both of you to show us more good work in the future.
Who haven’t watched this excellent series yet? It’s a great pity you know! Just watch it immediately. It won’t let you down .
Finally, the story and bright &nonkul will linger in my heart for a long time!
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This review may contain spoilers
A True Love Story
Not to hate on any other love dramas because at the end of the day love is a abstract thing that can be seen, felt, shown etc. in many ways. But this drama depicts true love and forbidden love so damn well. From the actions to words everything being shown makes me feel warm inside and makes me crave this kind of love from someone, the chances of a lot of us experiencing this kind of love ever is probably rare, mainly because of todays society. But I'm going off task now, I just have so much to say about this show because when I say this I mean it, this show was an absolute masterpiece.The Acting
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I mean what can I say, it was spot on. Every emotion and feeling is portrayed extremely well and realistic, everything is so beautifully shown, raw, and real, it makes me dive into the story even more while I'm feeling what the characters are feeling. All the actors did an amazing job and I honestly give props to that since it's hard to do so good.
Cinematography
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Spectacular, this show conveys the old/vintage aesthetic and the whole vibe so well with its cinematic scenes. I loved how aesthetically pleasing this show was to watch with its effects and beautiful cinematography, so eye catching that you would be lost in it along with the story and music.
Music
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Honestly another rare thing that shows have in general is good music, some shows even play music in scenes that don't match the vibe or just aren't ear pleasing. But omg this show had such amazing music that along with the acting, story, lines, and cinematography it dove you even deeper into the story until you felt like you were there with them.
Fav Quotes/Lines
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The actors lines, and quotes were so poetically said, mainly by Yai, he was so poetic with Jom and that also made me feel so warm inside and I felt the love that was being shared by them both. Their love is beyond and so beautiful. Some of my favorite lines/quotes are:
"Not a drop of liquor to interfere, drunk on love's celestial bliss. I've tried to resist this sweet intoxication, no matter how drunk I am, sobriety comes with the morning light. Drunk on love, my heart undone every night". -Yai Ep 4
"I've missed you. We haven't slept together for only a few days. I couldn't help but yearn for you". -Yai Ep 10
"For you, I'm addicted to you". -Yai Ep 10
“With the matter of time, I might already be your past, but for me you are my future”. -Yai Ep 12
Yai is such a poet with these lines, he shows so much love towards Jom and honestly Jom deserves every bit of it because of his past, I know if I was Jom I would feel so loved with these words and actions that Yai shows to Jom. Absolutely beautiful.
The Ending
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I didn’t necessarily get half of the ending, but upon reading some comments on here I understand it a bit more. I didn’t get how Yai was waiting for Jom and how they got to meet during the current time (2023) but apparently it was a reincarnation of Yai aka Lek’s (Yai’s little brother) grandson (Yai Kanthorn) that also remembered his past lives, therefore he knew about Jom and that’s why he was waiting for him. Now the only part of the end I don’t get is the part where Jom goes back in time again? Maybe even further back in time possibly? Not sure. What I’m wondering is why? And how? What could’ve possibly made this happen again? And what’s the reason if they apparently met again in Jom’s timeline (2023)??? There’s so many questions just from those last couple minutes and it’s a MUST to have a second season to answer these questions and make this show clearer at the end. I know there’s a special episode but I can’t see it or find it anywhere since I think it’s released in specific countries or a country (not sure) so it’s very difficult to see. This doesn’t help the ending case since idk if that episode answers any questions. Idk if we’re getting a second season but I hope so, this story was absolutely beautiful and I would love to have a second season to enjoy even more of this masterpiece.
Overall such an amazing show and would recommend to anyone, it’s a love story, a cinematic masterpiece and just a beautiful show overall with so much representation for multiple communities and even history itself. Worth the watch even for the 1hr+ long episodes, and I hate watching long episodes but this made it worth it.
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10's all around
Probably my most favorite show ever! The cast, music, production, storyline, characters, literally ~everything~ was amazing.I really enjoyed the themes and plot of the show.
I look forward to a season two, really hope they make one to help flesh out the rest of the story!
The ending left me in ruins, but also hopeful.
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A beautiful love story
FINALLY, a historical BL love story that didn't end in tragedy. I am absolutely in love with this series. Although they've changed some things from the novel, the setting, the acting, and the chemistry between the cast really enriched the story as a whole. The pace of the show was a bit slow for my taste, but I think they did it so that you'd have time to appreciate the Thai culture and history, and of course, the architecture of the houses. Also, the OST is absolutely fantastic, and really showcased the love and emotional connection of the two leads. Overall, I'm really happy with how this series turned out, and I can't wait for season 2 to come out.Was this review helpful to you?
Best TV show of the year
As a massive fan of the book I think this series definitely did it justice. While they did have to change some bits to make it more suitable for TV they didn’t take any of the essence away. I really hope they can do a season 2 with Commander Yai (but without the ridiculous moustache) and flesh out the ending a bit more.Overall the actors and writers did a great job bringing this book to life, if you haven’t read the book, I definitely recommend you read it because it gives more details, especially the second part and the ending.
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The Best BL Series Ever
Before watching this, I won't be able to answer if someone would ask me, "What's your all-time favorite BL series?" I've been binging BL series these past weeks; many are good, some are mediocre, but this is exceptionally good!Everyone in the cast is great! I'm surprised that only Nonkul is popular among them! Bright deserves more main roles; he's so, so good for a "newbie" actor! I couldn't imagine someone else take his role. Kim is such a pleasant surprise! As a pageant fan, I've already known him as the Mister International, yet he surprised me here. He needs to have a main role, too! June and Alee are so gorgeous, and they're amazing here, too. How did the team behind this series get these great actors and actresses?
The plot itself is intriguing. I was concerned with how they'd execute it, but they pulled it off! No awkward scenes. I just felt that the story was a bit rushed in the last episode. Maybe they should've just made this series have 16 episodes, or a season two!
The intimate scenes were so good, unlike most BL series which are either too much or lacking. This shows how professional Nonkul and Bright are. They don't even know each other for so long, yet they were able to do such challenging scenes.
I understand that the production company behind this masterpiece is not huge yet, but this deserves to be available on major streaming sites and channels. Every BL fan must discover this gem!
"I Feel You Linger in the Air" is definitely deserving of more. 10/10 No, 11/10.
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Cultural Time shift story
For me the OST is the best since Dark blue kisses, very well.Nonkul, I believe isn’t know in the BL field much and it shows a bit like his kissing. Probably Bright isn’t familiar either, but gives a more convincing gay character. Gradually both do grow towards each other and chemistry is getting there with some good kissing scenes. The story itself starts quite slow and has Nonkul moving in as major domus for Bright. Both do take a convincing stand in favour of being gay and show these sweet moments. I’ve seen other shows with great acting and strong commitment wording to gay life but no proof of the pudding (like teddy bear).
Some of the episodes are a bit too long, but don’t miss out on the cute moments.
The sceneries are very nice and a good eye for the detail and architecture.
One of the better BL’s in 2023, maybe a sequel given the open end?
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Una gemma, non solo tra i BL
Ho voluto guardare quest'opera nella versione più lunga, in quanto ritenuto che fosse probabilmente più comprensibile e comunque più aderente a quello che doveva essere stato l'intento del regista. se ciò si è tradotto, in certi momenti, in qualche lentezza, penso che la mia scelta mi abbia comunque permesso di guardare un drama molto più ricco.Sarebbe ingiusto incasellare e quindi declassare questo drama in una casistica denominata BL. siamo in gran parte propensi a pensare e a credere che un prodotto con queste tematiche debba essere per forza un prodotto di nicchia, un po' snob o magari un po' all'acqua di rose, fatto solo per passare qualche ora di divertimento un po' fuori dal coro, magari un po' pruriginoso.
se a volte può anche essere, e non vedo cosa ci sia di male, non è assolutamente questo il caso. Quello che ho appena finito di vedere è un drama che rasenta il capolavoro. Non assurge a questo titolo, a mio modesto e personalissimo parere, solo per qualche incongruenza, probabilmente dettata da necessità cinematografiche, di trasposizione dal libro originale che non ho letto, e così via. C'è una scena madre in cui al maggiordomo Jom viene consentito di interrompere un pranzo con personalità importanti per presentare un'esibizione che non si sa bene come sia potuta avvenire, c'è forse qualche coincidenza di troppo, e ci si potrebbe legittimamente domandare come un subacqueo con muta, pinne, e tutto l'armamentario, sia pronto a salvare il protagonista caduto in un fiume. Ma, per quanto questi accadimenti disturbino sul momento il fluire meraviglioso di quest'opera, sono peccatucci veniali che si perdonano più che volentieri perché sommersi dal flusso indimenticabile di tutte le vicende.
La prima cosa che si nota in questo dramma è la stupenda cinematografia. Colori, inquadrature, transizioni, sfumature, tutto grida professionalità e, prima ancora, arte. ambientazioni e costumi sono spettacolari, pur senza essere sontuosi perché non ci si trova in un ambientazione di palazzo. Ci sono molti riferimenti, allusioni, per esempio tutto un gioco sui fiori di frangipane, splendidi, profumatissimi, ma velenosi e proni ad appassire in fretta.
La storia ci narra le avventure di un architetto, Jom, che sta rimodernando una casa di un secolo prima ed è perseguitato da sogni e da quelle che crede di essere allucinazioni in cui si vede assieme a un uomo in quella stessa casa. Lasciato improvvisamente dal proprio compagno, si ubriaca e finisce con l'auto in un fiume, per poi risvegliarsi nello stesso luogo ma cent'anni prima. Lì conosce l'uomo che vedeva nei suoi sogni, che risulta essere il figlio di un signorotto locale, e i due avranno una passionale storia d'amore. C'è tutto un contorno di relazioni burrascose, forse un po' troppo concentrate per essere all'interno di una stessa famiglia, mentre il nostro Jom risulta essere pivotale al cambiamento nella famiglia, molto all'Antica e incentrata, come spesso all'epoca, su un patriarca duro ma con debolezze.
I personaggi di spalla e secondari sono tutti ammirevolmente recitati dagli attori a cui sono stati affidati, non assistiamo, se non forse in rarissimi casi, ad eccessi di recitazione, il che contribuisce a rendere questo titolo ancora più godibile.
Ma la standing ovation va sicuramente alla coppia principale, due attori magnifici che hanno saputo interpretare una coppia di amanti contrastati in modo persuasivo e coinvolgente, senza praticamente mai sforare nell'eccesso di melodramma. Le musiche e le canzoni hanno sapientemente accompagnato tutta la visione, molto adatte alle immagini e sicuramente coinvolgenti nei testi.
Dove forse è mancato qualcosa è nella contestualizzazione storica delle vicende: sappiamo che avvengono nel 1928 , periodo che nella mia ignoranza penso sia foriero di grandi cambiamenti in Thailandia, ma del quale non so nulla di più. Tutta la vicenda è concentrata nella magione padronale, che risulta essere un po' avulsa da spazio, tempo e accadimenti. Stiamo comunque sempre parlando di un isekai, e quindi questa cosa ci può anche stare.
Il finale, dopo le ultime due puntate costellate da tante lacrime impossibili da trattenere, è una chicca che perdura anche dopo i titoli di coda, per cui si raccomanda di guardare l'ultima puntata fino all'ultimo secondo.
Ci sono coppie e amori che trascendono lo spazio e il tempo. Non è vero, ma fa tanto bene all'anima pensarlo.
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This is a story about fated love
Just finished watching this very sweet and excellent fantasy drama that left me in tears and with a big smile.Everything about this production was well thought out and flowed. The BL relationship issues were tastefully handled with great sensitivity. Both ML's were invested in their roles and very believable. Some of the other characters were also top notch and overall the standard of acting was very high. There are side characters and other family dramas playing out but the focus remained firmly on Jom and Yai.
It was interesting to get a glimpse of an older, more feudal, Thai family of the 1920's and the dependence of their servants.
I was very invested in their love and anxious right until the end to know how they could resolve this time-span issue. The intrigue and suspense is masterfully maintained and I love that there are not trite answers, I was left happily wondering ................
Simply wonderful and raises the bar for future BL's
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Life goes on, even for those who wish it wouldnt
What a captivating story that was so much more that two men falling in love. The two main actors were phenomenal, enhancing an already solid script to greatness. I think there was a lot of plot lines untied though, but if you forget about that this is such a nice and fufilling watch. I dont know how i feel about the ending, i kind of wish they ended up not being together, which is strange but it would make so much more sense, but thats just me. In conclusion, a great start to my 2024 and i would love to see something from this company again :3Was this review helpful to you?
