Not as bad as some reviews make you believe...

After two years I watched the series again to review my initial rating and it's better than I had in my recollection.

First of all the master question: Are they all in a toxic relationship. The answer is no. It's not a toxic relationsship for both couples. In the beginning it's controlling and harsh but not toxic. You may feel that way, but they are not constantly fighting, there is no abuse besides some harsh words in the beginning. The big problem for them is communication and insecurity. All of them are insecure of themselves.

While they dragged the story out a bit and they resolve their issues close to the end, this story is better than most crap we get nowadays. The story has a logic to itself, it goes not out of bounds with silly things which would not fit, and even the ads are not that much in the face as nowadays. Yes they do a lot of fan-service but in a sensual way and not just for doing it, it fit's in the narrative. They also did not overdo the comedy bits, so the series has a good flow. I only feel sad, that the third couple did not get enough screen-time. Many say there was no character development, but I would disagree. The conclusion of the show is to be yourself, to not hide yourself from yourself or others and they just accomplished it. It's a very positive note for me.

The story itself is not stellar, but again compared what we get in 2024 especially from Thailand, the production quality is stellar, the music is great, Nunew's singing is exceptional. All in all an entertaining show, which does not try to give you only good vibes. I was surprised, that I find this show now much better compared when it released, but that's ok for me :)

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Every year a top notch production from Taiwan

Last year Taiwans BL industry had "Kiseki Dear To Me" with the highest production value and this year it must be "Unknown". They also had a troubled background story with some mafia elements and general hardships for at least one character. While the story is not perfect the series conveys all the feelings very well. Chemestry between the leads was also top notch imho and they kept the intimate scenes to the story where it mattered. Only LiLi left something to be desired, not really grown up to the end.

To read a review where I'm told I'm weired because of "incest" even it isn't "incest" was even more weired for me. Does incest even count between same sex? Incest is only not allowed because of gen deficits the children will get, see Europe and Habsburger :)

While not perfect this show transports all the feelings in an expectional way, with a top notch production value and cinematography. I can overlook all the the little story problems especially at the end. I would have prefered to see the surgery and not LiLis baby. Regardsless a show to recommand.

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As usual disappointing....

There is an introvert with serious personality issues meeting an exrtrovert who is a musican. After that it does drag on.... In reality I doubt that many humans would have the patience for such a partner. Especially if one of them has a traumatic experience and is not talking about it. Of course that does not help at all. The chemistry between the MLs was partially akward. As usual lazy writing, because the side couples have limited screen time and there stories are not fully explored especially Game & Biu and they are missing mostly in the finale. The other couple felt rushed.

For a show where a band has a leading focus, there were not much songs in it. In the finale God says he is writing music, but of course we did not get to expierence that. The band was not that great imho. Also in the finale Diew overcame all his issues which is also rushed for me. Humans don't change that fast,.

This show had the ingredientience to be a good show but as expected it was medicore at best. All the fluff moments and the high production value do not save this show. A very very big minus is the turtle imprisoned in a little box. In many countries this would count as animal cruelty. So, there is nothing special about this show and I would recommand other shows.

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Much better compared to Middleman's Love, but stil lazy writing

Some positives first: chemistry, costumes, and the better episodes later in the series, not romantising to try kissing a sleeping person and calling it out, sensible intim moments, some fluff, making the writing in a book play out.
Some negatives: Cringe, forced funny moments which were not funny, weak writing and no "battle" at all, bad adlib for the chinese actor, weak ending.

Maybe it's my guilty pleasure but I personally found it not that bad compared to other shows and they outdid themselves with the visual presentation. Lazy writing still prevails in Thai shows, so that was a given, but an improvement of the last show for the MLs.

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Man that dragged forever

A typical turn off your brain GMMTV show with shallow, lazy writing, only one story arc quite interesting and an abundace of overall childish scenes which were not funny at all (and no soundeffect will help it).

Even when a setting is located around students, they should have some more mature attitudes even when some childish elements have it's place, but they overdid them.
So for me it was a very disspointing show especially for the lead characters because their story run in circles.

This show in only half the episodes would have been even better because it dragged on for too long. The only highlight was Winny and Satang (Q and Toey) with an interesting arc. So, for me, it's a medicore show, most of the time nothing interesting happend. I was disappointed in the director who can deliver much better shows, I expected tons of annoying soundeffects and the lackluster kissing in many scenes in a thai BL show.

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Starting slow, heating up...

This was a nice surprise... what started like a boring series (story-wise), got more intense as the episodes got on. The depecition of Inspector Chas past was done very well and the spidernet of corruption layed bare. Due to the end of this series I expect we will see a second series where they root out the corruption at the police again.
They did find a nice balance between action and detective work, also one case is interwoven most of the time with the next case is a novum of such series.
The cast was great, just the stereotype bad guys where a bit much, except Lee Taeju of course, he is just a very slimey but intelligent villain.
Overall a very enjoyable series.

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simply mostly cute.

I don't understand all the low ratings this show received.
While it's not perfect, it's watchable, with some laughs and some tears.
It's by far not as bad as "The Middleman" or the absolut horrid "Crazy Handsome Rich".

This show has its cute moments, also it's serious moments.
While some of the effects looked cheap, you have to consider that this was not a high-budget series, so you should not take that so much serious. The effects in "Law of Atttraction" were much worse, but I didn't see 1.0 ratings.

For me this show was enjoyable even with some overacting on the comedy parts and with the stupid noises, but the gist of the story and what the director wanted to transport was positive and the acting ranged from cute to good. I don't understand why people have expectations regardsless of who is acting or writing or directing. Regardless, reviews with 1.0-3.0 ratings are unfair compared to many other worse shows.

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OMG, they ruined the story....

While the first four episodes were entertaining and interesting it falls apart in the fifth and sixth.

Why did they need to do a timejump? I don't get it, especially if the actor is looking more or less the same. Secondly could they not have adapted the original story so they timejump would have been shorter so it would make more sense. Or if the timejump had to be that large, they would need an other actor and four episodes to explain if Aksorn a) recognizes Songjam and b) can love a twice as old person.

So for me, they ruined the series and I don't get a 10 review at all. Also even a 7.7 which is the rating now while I'm writing this is much too high. I can't understand why a director and screenwriter does not make the effort to keep that part of the story as realistic as possible and I also don't understand why the producer does not say "stop it, that does not make sense". I have to say, I'm really pissed that they wrecked this show which had so much potential.

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Still wholesome...

Many reviews complain, that season 2 is really close to season 1. Because there is not a timeskip you should not expect that Minato will change so soon. He is still childish, overthinking, overreacting, anxious, frightened, timid and overly shy. Yes, for western cultures this is annoying, but you should see the context and that japanse culture is different. At least I think in the finale he realizes that he can't be all that anymore and has to make a step forward.

To have the "side couple" play a more active role is also a positive for me and and at least here the adult steps out of his confort zone and he's trying.

So for me, this was really a very good BL and I hope they will continue with another season where we would see a more grown up "Minato-san" and how his life changes with Shin.

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Very sweet & cute, lacks some substance but still a good show

The story is nothing new, but executed well. Only the finale is a bit disappointing. We could have had two episodes and could have seen Amasawa growth and reflection of what happend, not the typical "but we are two guys" ? stuff, But that's expected from a manga done by a woman for women. The (male) directors/screenwriters did change the end of the manga which now is more sensible and makes more sense, but not really got into the struggles for Amasawa in depth. We also don't know what happend betweens Isumi and his dad, except what he told him (Amasawa). The only thing which does not matter is, if they are the same age or 10 years apart. Who carez about that? I don't. What I also appreciate of the directors was that the two characters did not have the dominant masculine and submissive femenin vibe and Isumi is also not a Tsundere which would be also typical for JBLs. So they did improve from the manga a lot.

So the final verdict is that Tanaka Koki was the showrunner and without him, this show would be very forgettable, He did an exceptional job and filled his character with emotions and made it fun to watch. Isumi itself is a contrast with his puppy look but deep timbre. They also avoid stupid things which are Thai shows are famous for and for gods sake no stupid sound effects ?. As usual in most JBLs there isn't any real kissing which is lame. Production quality was great, filming in "their" confined apartments must have been a nightmare.

Even if it's a womans fantasy it's a good show. So after watching heavy stuff like "Happy of the End" an episode of this will build you up and will ligthen your mood considerable and at least for me, made me smile a lot. This is a light comedy done (mostly) right.

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Not an redemption arc!

While I am happy that "Up" had a chance to play a different character (and we all did really hate him), I'm disapointed in the story. Ming understands what he did was wrong, but he did not change his character that much. I can believe that he now really tries hard to be a better partner, but we have no idea if his control and power issues has been dealt with and I doubt it.
There were scenes where he was lying on the floor not eating, just drinking and not doing much, but this did not help to change his narcisistic flaws which are still present in the finale. I guess the screenwriter are contradicting the character because they wanted an redemption arc.

I also would have wished, they used "Winner" for the first part of the show and only "Poom" for the second half. This would of course complicated filming, because both actors would have to learn the same mannerisms for their characters which would have made the story more interesting and the immersion in the story more believeable. That the same person plays both characters irked me a bit.

I'm not happy with Mings character development and the same for Joe. Joe is always Joe not standing up for himself, not understanding when to say no. I can understand you love whom you love but there should be a moment when your brain says "enough is enough!". This show had so much potential, the first four episodes had me hooked and I thought about how they will solve the redemption. And because of the lack of a real redemption arc this show fails. For me the finale was especially lackluster because everyone is now "happy", all is good and even Mike got Mings secretary as future BF (They should have expanded that arc as well), because most of the later episodes is a repeat of the first ones without the violence and lack of self-reflection on Mings part but he forces Joe once again repeating the same mistake again.

So overall the show is still above average even when the story-writing falls of a cliff. It did at least try to do something different in the sea of average shows, it did try to give us a mature story in the sea of university settings. And Up as Ming was really great!

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While not perfect the acting was on a whole other level compared to any other 2023 Thai BL.

I have no idea why people find the story messy or hard to follow, especially if you take your time and re-watch the episode if you really can't follow.

The concept is unique and while some writing is questionable especially avoiding the death of each main character. I have no idea if it's exactly the same in the novel, but they could have taken some leeway to change the story in this aspect. The show's highlight is the acting of Tor and Teng which is completly on an other level. It's neither cringe nor creepy to love whom you love especially knowing they have met at the same age. Their chemistry and acting is nothing I have seen in this years Thai BLs which is the main reason I can overlook all the faults this series has especially in the finale. I would have ended the series when they met again at the cinema, all the continued story was completly unecessessary and irrelevant and would have resonated more positively with the audience.

This series also did a great job to convey he feelings of the young Ongsa and old Suansoon which will move emphatic people to tears (as it did with me). Because the acting was so great I rate this show as high, because you can only watch in reverence of such a performance.

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heartwarming and beautiful...

Japan does it again with an unconvential story. While the age gap may some people turn away, it shows love can happen regardless of age too. They come closer over food while the younger character is an energized editor, the older character is an experienced but disenchanted chef. Ishida has abundance of energy, he sometimes feels like a child experiencing new things in life. Chef Mitsuya has closed himself off from the world and positive feelings. Ishida slowly but surely changes Mitsuyas views comulating in heartwarming vocal expression in the finale.

Both actors did an amazing job to portrait their characters. There is even fluff even albeit in other ways you would normally expect. Of course it's a classic JBL so they didn't even try kissing, but it does not matter for this story.

I can wholeheartly recommand this show.

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Typical GMMTV show with many spicey scenes but not much substance

After the first three episodes I did expect a more mature story with dark streaks and interesting twist. But as usual when watching a GMMTV show in most cases you get disapointed. The lead couple at least compensated with great chemestry and some sensual moments which really were done well.

Would it not have been for the lazy writing this show could have been actually good. It seems like for GMMTV BLs are just a mass market product where the focus is pleasing aesthetics (actors and filming) and a shallow story which does not require much brainpower. The most annoying thing is, all characters are really flat, there is no character development at all, there are always some clichés involved and there is always a bit of sillyness or childish behaviour, unnecessary story elements or elements not explored enough.

The first BL side couple was of course cute but Fluke was a bit stiff at times. The second BL side couples did not really have a story at all, it just "happened". And then is Dr. Ter, first rejecting Dr. Wandee, then forcing him and then he finds a girl - WTF?
The conflict between Yoryak and his fathers felt strange, because if you hold a deep resentment against a family member both would struggle to solve it. Most of the time the characters are not overly mature, so to have a nice ten minutes chat and it's solved is a bit unbelievable. Also the nightmares of Yoryak were not explored deep enough, we did not see any therapy session and so his resolves feels out of place for me, As I said, lazy writing.

Overall it's not a bad show, but it lacks in story-telling.

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