Ready, Set, Love (2024)

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***DISCLAIMER: This is just my opinion. We don’t have to agree and I’m not here to argue with anyone.***

Tropes: enemies to lovers, dystopian society, grumpy sunshine, childhood friends to lovers, forbidden love etc.

This was honestly so much fun to watch. I was smiling, giggling and kicking my feet the whole time. I can’t explain how much of a serotonin boost this drama me. Ahhh I’ve been in the biggest kdrama slump since Marry My Husband ended and I couldn’t find any airing dramas that piqued my interest but this — THIS DID IT FOR ME!

OVERVIEW:

Picture a dystopian world where the population of women to men is 9:1. Boys are essentially harvested (rounded up) and brought to a place called the farm where they are raised until they are of age and eligible to take a wife. Except this doesn’t happen organically it happens by way of a game show. So picture hunger games meets Barbie princess charm school (lotto system) meets a dating / game show. Basically 5 civilian girls are picked to join in on this exclusive game show “Ready, Set, Love” to vie for any of these chosen “gentlemen’s” hearts. Our protagonist Day wants nothing to do with this “stupid” game show as she’s quite content living her life and taking care of her sick sister. But what she doesn’t anticipate is that her sister has been buying “moo milk” and entering her name in the lottery religiously. It’s no surprise (to us viewers) when Day’s name is called as one of the contestants but Day has no idea and is totally shocked (her reaction was priceless) Initially she is upset and doesn’t intend to go as she doesn’t care for the lottery and has to take care of her sister. Out of curiosity she eventually goes under the ruse that she’s going to get Son’s autograph for her sister. She meets all the girls and guys and she’s not impressed in the slightest as she’s more focused on eating the food provided. Then she gets a phone call that her sister has gone under and is in the ER for her illness. She immediately wants to drop out but Ms. Jenny convinces her to stay as the ultimate chance of winning the game or even getting to pick a gentleman and live on the farm where she would be able to get medical care for her sister is far greater than what she’d be able to do on her own. In a turn of events, she decides to stay and give the games her best shot.

GENERAL REMARKS:

The chemistry between the leads was so damn good. Like ahhh you could feel the tension / angst through the screen and I just ate it up. I loved all the other gentlemen too… I still can’t get over how silly their names were lol (Paper and Almond especially threw me off) But other than that they were all likable characters. The second couple I loved and rooted for since the beginning was Max and Chanel. They were so cute and I’m glad she chose him in the end. I also liked the side stories of Ms Jenny and her wife as well as Jin and Chun.

I have to say though, When Son and Day were in their enemies to lovers era I low key started to root for Almond (Al) and day because he seemed like green flag. I’m so disappointed to find out he was the invisible witch / enemy hidden in sheep’s clothing. He betrayed his friends and played as a double agent of sorts even though he kept saying he was only trying to help them. I felt bad because Valentine risked everything to find him for her mom and in the end even when he found out she was his sister and had the opportunity to leave with all of them he was a coward and said he couldn’t. In my opinion he was far too brainwashed by the Farm and thought he was better off inside that glass house / glass world than on the outside. I understand he’s afraid of change etc. but he would’ve had his friends and his family. Plus now that he decided to stay he’s basically a prisoner and they are trying to get information out of him even though he’s feigning innocence.

I loved the ending. It calls for a season 2. I can’t help but think Chanel’s mom is plotting something and that the man in the photograph (the leader of City Ground resistance ie. Son's dad) is the man she fell in love with when she was younger? I feel like there's some connection between them. Also I don't understand why he wouldn't have returned to Son by now? Wouldn't Son recognize him? I need answers and I need to see more of his backstory and how he escaped. I’m so excited to see this storyline continue.

Although Day and Son + the rest of the gang were not able to achieve freedom for all civilians I feel like this was a step in the right direction. Given a few more years I believe more people will grow tired of the capitals games, manipulation / control and resist / start an uprising. Nevertheless, I am so happy that Day, Son and their child are safe and they can live in harmony. It warms my heart to see them raising their little family.

FINAL THOUGHTS:

Overall I think this drama was very enjoyable. Yes I agree that the drama lacked in some areas in the sense that parts of it were slow and other parts were skipped / glossed over. However, for 6 episodes I think they did a pretty good job. Maybe if it was any longer I would’ve lost interest and gotten bored. Plus, this was my first ever Thai drama and it made me so excited to check out more.

If you’re deciding to watch this you definitely should. I promise you won’t be disappointed especially if you have no clue what to watch or you are currently in a drama slump like I was.

With all of that said I give this drama a an 8.5/10.

Ready, Set, Love is a light hearted rom-com you can’t miss.

Thanks for reading and happy watching!

❤️

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Ready, Set, Love - a colorful mini series for Valentine's Day

Netflix Thailand really opened their 2024 with a fantastic original work. Ready, Set, Love is a dystopian romcom miniseries (6 episodes) with a LOT of comedy, a hint of thriller, the cheesiest and corniest writing but also a lot of heart. The perfect Valentine's Day binge in my opinion.

STORY
Set in a dystopian world the female population outnumbers the male, our protagonist Day (Belle Kemisara) got selected into a government-sponsored reality competition called "Ready, Set, Love" where women compete to win the affection of five "Gentlemen". While the premise is original, I thought the execution of the story was a little bit of cliche and predictable at times. I definitely feel like I caught many references to The Hunger Games and Divergent and other popular dystopian genre works (Eve Capital????). But besides the cliche writing, there were a LOT of LGBTQIA+ positive messages sprinkled throughtout the dialogues and LGBTQ+ representation. I was so happy to get a scene where our supporting lesbian couple having an ultrasound of their baby. Althought the series promoted itself as a romantic comedy series, I think Ready Set Love is was much darker than I had expected for a Valentine's Day release. But with a tight-pacing, the series did well to tell everything in the span of 6 episodes while covering all the characters' subplots as well as not leaving any loose threads (BUT THAT CLIFFHANGER POST-CREDIT SCENE? @NETFLIX BE SERIOUS). The series got very dark all of a sudden in the last episode but I thought it was a reasonable writing choice.

ACTING/CAST
Our ML is Son, the most popular and handsome Gentleman, played by Blue Pongtiwat. I think the romantic scenes between Belle Kemisara and Blue Pongtiwat were believable but not crazy insane, just decent enough because they're two incredible actors. I think the supporting characters definitely stole the series a little bit more for me. I particularly love Paper (the youngest Gentleman), May (Day's younger sister) and Valentine (Day's bestfriend) and Chun. The actors for these supporting characters were delivering top-notched performances even with the little scenes they had. The miniseries did very well in giving all the supporting characters of the series a lot of room to fully portray and tell their stories.

MUSIC
The score is bubbly and fun. I love the jazzy opening intro and the graphics fit it perfectly. There's this song that the character Chun (played by Kunchanuj) sings and I absolutely adore it. Music is a huge part of Paper's storyline and I love the songs seletion for this series.

REWATCH VALUE
This is one of those series where I don't think I'll rewatch because the mystery plot only really works the first time that you watch. But I do think I'll rewatch certain episodes for the cinematography because the color palette of this series is so vivid and vibrant, I was in awe the wholetime. It reminds me of the color palette of Pushing Daisies, which is a favorite series of mine.

PRODUCTION
This was such a high value production from Netflix Thailand, I'm surprised by how bad they're marketing this. I keep mentioning the colors of the series but I'm not kidding at all, it is truly beautiful and so gorgeous. The set, the costume, the visual effects. You can FEEL the high budget for this series from just the first episode because the fictional world they've created is honestly very realistic.

OVERALL
If you're looking for a high-value, fast-paced, quirky campy romcom Thai miniseries (6 episodes) with a dash of dystopian and thriller element, Ready, Set, Love is definitely a must-watch Netflix Original.

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Thailand is now bringing us into dystopian

Clever, imaginative, well-written, and well-executed. Don’t get swayed by its cheesy title since the show has a deeper story to tackle about. I am a big fan of the concept of dystopia; showcasing injustice in a society and bringing a creative set-up on the way people live, was truly a chef’s kiss. Thankfully, the show succeeded in offering this to us. The story's foundation of having an uneven ratio of two genders where the chance of giving birth to a male child is too low was phenomenal.

They also managed to give depth behind the characteristics of everyone from the show with reasonable development throughout the end. The majority of the cast is likable, the same with their cute and fun little games with budgeted props that make it more lively.

When I finished its pilot episode, a question came to my mind, “If all existing gentlemen are living in a small luxury city, what would happen if one or two of them fell in love? Not to a woman but to a man since they aren’t that pretty exposed to the women outside their living environment.” Fortunately, my BL heart was satisfied enough with Pepper’s story. A man from The Farm fell in love with another man who is living in a hidden place called City Ground.

This is certainly a mini-dystopian series that is rarely produced by the entertainment industry in Thailand. Although I felt that the progression of the story lacks in terms of expansion and solving cases, it is still understandable since they only have eight total episodes to fit everything. The open-ended conclusion was great since it allowed people to be hyped for a possible sequel. Yet, I honestly think that the four-year time skipped before the ending credit was unnecessary and they should just stick with the cliff-hanging part of what will happen to them after freeing from the government. I want to see more scenes of how they will fight back the injustice and bring peace and prosperity to the people.

There is only one time from the show that I feel extremely frustrated. It is when on EP02, they labeled Almond as the best cooker among the gentlemen. Yet, he happened to be the clueless one when it came to finding the right ingredients for Thai dishes and desserts. That was just naive of the production that they let this idea end up being aired for the sake of romance between the second lead. Despite some of its flaws, the overall impact of the show was cool and entertaining. Blue Pongtiwat introduced me to this series and I am grateful for that. I’ve been following him on his Instagram for a long time but this is the first time watching him in a drama. He does prove to me that his undying charm is there for a reason. He is indeed a good actor, the combination of his appeal and acting was well-balanced.

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Bizarre, but enjoyable and deeper than expected

I enjoyed watching this drama a lot. I started watching because I like that Thai dramas often don’t take themselves too seriously. And the story starts in the most hilariously bonkers way. It takes, however, a turn into a much more serious direction around the middle of the episodes. It is not easy to review this drama without giving spoilers because I think it is best to watch it without knowing too much about it. There is a much darker and bitterer story about power abuse, exploitation, social injustice and political oppression lying underneath the poppy colors and glossy surface of “Ready, Set, Love”, and the drama barely touches the surface of these issues. It is mainly about romance, friendship and simply watching the eye candy actors interact. But it is very well paced and finds a nice balance between romance, entertainment, humor, thriller and tragedy and above all gives food for thought about what could really happen in a world where men are this rare that they are considered ‘national treasures’.

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More than a fun adventure

At first, when I've heard this serie, I didn't expected anything and I thought it could be a funny romantic drama and I wanted to discover the cast since I only know some names (the two main leads, Blue and Belle and by the way they are cute together) but haven't watched their series except for Man TrIsanu with Step By Step and 6ixty 9ine the series. I could feel it was cringy and strange but I still wanted to give it a try like, why not? Let's watch something fun.

I was partially wrong because I didn't thought I would really like it so much, it was entertaining to watch (maybe because at that time I wasn't feeling down so it cheered me up with their sillyness LOL)
I binge-watched the 4 episodes but I thought, the last two episodes have some small moments or scenes that felt a bit too long or it's me but overall, I love the pace, the acting was good, the storytelling, it was not only funny but also interesting to watch! It has some mystery, thriller vibes as well.

And the soundtracks are really good, groovy and chill to listen especially Beyond the Wall, my favorite!

Ok so, Ready, set, love is a really nice short dystopian drama and I wouldn't mind if they plan to make a sequel

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The Bachelor + The Hunger Games = The hilarious and fun Ready, Set, Love

Subjective Gut Rating: 8.25

My first impression of “Ready, Set, Love” is BRIGHT! The colors are so vibrant and it feels so cartoonish! This is the perfect drama to watch if you want something light, a little over-the-top and hilarious!! Is it the best drama out there? Definitely not! But it brings me joy when I need some lightheartedness in my daily life. It feels like a live action adaptation of an anime.

The plot is nothing unique and is actually quite predictable. I would describe this as a combo of the American reality TV show, “The Bachelor” plus the movie, “The Hunger Games”. We have women competing for the love and attention of 5 eligible bachelors aka Gentlemen. The ladies are thrown into ridiculous games to beat out each other, in order to win the chance to choose one of the 5 gentlemen they want to marry. Additionally, in this dystopian world, you can’t really escape the political commentary of this supposedly perfect world inside The Farm.

I really enjoy the competition part of the drama including all the hilarious characters from the Gentlemen, Ladies to the commentators. If you don’t mind over dramatic acting, this is perfect. The romance is not bad, just not quite enough for my taste. The couples are cute, but I wanted more fluffy scenes. I do appreciate the inclusion of a lesbian couple and a gay couple (just not enough screen time). On the other hand, I like the portrayal of sisterhoods between FL and her sister, and 2FL and her BFF. With only 6 episodes, the political plot and commentary might be the weaker part of the story. It’s no surprise they included this in the drama, but there is just not enough time to develop and write a satisfactory ending to that. Everything seems too easily resolved, and I was never worried that things would turn out badly for them. You can probably see from a mile away how the drama is going to end.

Nevertheless, I had a lovely time watching this. I will recommend this if you are looking for some over-the-top fun with decent acting and chemistry, a good-looking male cast (especially one who wants to show off his abs at any given chance) in very vibrant HDR colors but am OK with a simple plot.


Completed: 3/15/2024 - Review #418

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It caught me off guard.

It surprised me a lot, as I wasn't expecting much. The characters are very captivating, and the soundtrack is impeccable (especially Beyond The Wall, which every time it played leaved me in tears)! The script was very well done, and with each finished episode it made me want to keep watching more and more. I hope there is a second season, if only for some of the questions to be answered! (I have many theories, in fact). The only negative point was that some characters were left aside very easily. I wasn't able to get attached to two of the singles as much as I would have liked, because they weren't even that prominent. What about representation? I LOVED IT!! I couldn't expect anything less from Thailand.

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Ready for a drama-filled world where women reign supreme? Tune in to find out!

The dystopian love rom com Ready Set Love is not only light hearted, but also highly entertaining. Also adding to the drama is the dating competition concept . Aside from being a good pick-me-up, this drama also provides a thoughtful commentary on gender roles. Considering the world's majority is female, the show explores how power dynamics and relationships would differ in a female-dominated world. This film also challenges traditional ideas of romance and love, making it a refreshing and thought-provoking experience.Overall, this drama is a must-watch for those looking for a unique and engaging romantic comedy.

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