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Theophilus Silas
Alright,
This is my first review of a series in months and boy, am I happy that it is with Bad Buddy, that was the perfect reintroduction into the world of BLs I took an unexpected break after Manner of Death. I felt a lot of things while I watched Bad Buddy, so I would break down my review into parts. To the best of my abilities, I would avoid giving you any spoilers in this review.
1. Introduction
2. General Review, Themes, Specific Issues
3. Story arc and Storylines
4. Characters and Casting
5. Acting
6. Misses
7. Production
8. Rewatch Value
INTRODUCTION
When I heard about Bad Buddy, I was excited because of Ohm and Nannon, I mean you could give them the most basic story possible, and I would still love the show because I like that much. But however Bad Buddy really came from west field to become one of GMM’s best BLs ever, competing with the best of them all (they for certain have one of the best GMM kisses hands down, I mean episode 5 kiss was top tier). In a lot of places, the storyline stayed safe and a little bit basic, but this did not take away from the overall enjoyability of the series in the least bit, heck I think it enhanced it further.
Coming into Bad Buddy, expect a lighthearted series, with a lot of fluffiness and cute flirting, a little bit of irritation from side characters (Wai walks in) and surprisingly, girls love side theme, which I very much loved about the show. But what stuck with me the most was how this series tackled stereotypes, I would handle this more under my general review, but I would just say this is what you get when a queer person directs a show, you get actual good content not based on exaggerated stereotypes. An example of this is the fact that Pran was the top in this relationship, I mean even I as a gay person lowkey started to fall into that stereotype of what a top should look like or be like.
So Bad Buddy really is that series that hit a lot of the right cords with me. Into the review we move now.
GENERAL REVIEW, THEMES, SPECIFIC ISSUES
1. Tackling Stereotype: I absolutely loved how bad buddy came for Thai BLs necks in this series, like they brought all their legs over fire, and I think that was one of the major themes of this series that it tackles so many stereotypes.
a. “I AM NOT GAY, I LIKE ONLY YOU”: You know in previous Thai BL series, it has always somehow seemed like they were scared to say the words “I am gay”, which Pat and Pa make fun of it in the episode where it became public that they were together. Not only did they acknowledge Bisexuality as a legit orientation, not that you just randomly fall in love with that one guy and no one else. They also introduced the possibility of Pran being gay, simple, and short. I love that because that is something GMM has lost me on for the past few years, like YOU CAN JUST SAY THEY ARE GAY OR BISEXUAL, IT WOULDN’T HURT YOU
b. “HUSBAND AND WIFE”: I love that they also addressed how weird it is that Thai BLs over the past few years have insisted on having this tag this is my “wife”, to refer to the person who is more likely to be the bottom (TharnType, I see you). When Pran called out Pat to realize how stupid it was to say “wife” and “husband” in a gay relationship, try to make a gay relationship heteronormative doesn’t make sense.
c. Another stereotype they handled, that ironically, I felt into this too, was the concept of a clear identified bottom and top in a gay relationship based on some physical traits and qualities. I wouldn’t lie it reminded me that we cannot just assume who the top in relationship and we fall into a dangerous pattern of profiling the LGBT+ community should be against as a community
2. The kisses and Fluffiness: if you have watched Bad Buddy then you would know that they now hold the crown for the best GMMTV kiss and now ranks in the upper echelon of BL kisses alongside MaxTul, TharnType, KinnPorsche, The History Franchise and My Day. I mean so many things about the series was right, but nothing gets me better than a kiss well executed, not disgusting, not looking like they were afraid to kiss or anything like that. So, they got me there
3. Shoving Ohm’s/Pat’s Package in our faces: why did I make this more than once????? and at that point it was becoming a pattern and thus a theme. Like I am a hundred percent certain that someone in production intentionally did this, probably thought to themselves to rile up the fans a little bit. And I mean we are ever grateful for it, in the most non-perverted way possible
4. Social Media: So, this was not so much a major theme, but I loved a part of the series where Pat kept posting secret pictures of him and Pran, when Pran asked him, he was like “social media is for bragging”, I liked this because it kind off addresses a lot of the flaws that our society has come to be especially in the era of social media. But like I said this wasn’t a major theme, just something I noted on the side.
5. FRIENDSHIP: You know I got two contrasts of friendship in this show. The first were Pat’s friendship in this show, I mean there were Pat’s friends, especially Korn who were the ideal idea of what a friend should be, he was cool when everything came out about Pat and Pran, supported them and everything. Wai on the other hand is a plain b*tch about it, I mean outing your friend, I don’t care how angry you are, you don’t just do somethings.
On a closure of general review, I liked all the components that came together to make this show, I don’t think it could have been any better this.
STORY ARC AND STORYLINES
I liked the trajectory of this show, they didn’t waste time on some areas in terms giving us unnecessary scenes. What we basically get is two boys who have been trained to hate each other right from birth, overcome tons of obstacles and find their way towards each other. They show us that love is something you can control, it could be towards even your worst of enemies. The story is one of love, fluffiness, overcoming obstacles to be together.
The story had a few lessons like
1. We don’t and we can never control who we love, either in terms of sexual orientation or the person themselves. It really is an uncontrollable phenomenon of nature
2. The way we interact with our friends really matters. Because it can really make or break a person. An example is the fact no one in their friend group picked up that they were dating
I loved the story overall
CHARACTERS, CASTING AND ACTING
I love the characters, while they were core characters that make up the entire story, I love how they tried their best to give each character a little bit of something, they did not always succeed but it was great though, I love that they had 3D characters, no caricatures of characters though I wish they did more with some characters.
Alright I would take this character by character and how well I believe the casting fit and I would start in order of how well I liked the character.
The character I love the most was Korn, that man gave me so much joy, like he was so stupid and supportive, I loved him every bit for it. If we are being honest, we all know that Korn was the Captain of PranPat ship and no one will take it from him. Like I love that Drake was casted for this because I have come to realize it seems Drake always kills it as a side character. In this show he particularly brought out the essence of Korn. He was simply my overall favorite character, the part he particularly sold me was after he was an ass to Pat for dating Pran and didn’t allow Pat stay with them, when he brought food for Pat, I thought to myself, what a loveable fool?❤️?❤️?❤️
Then Pat was next. I absolutely loved Ohm as Pat, I mean Pat is somehow dense and foolish, he moves with the flow (case in point how fast he accepted that he was in love with Pran) but he always had good intentions (him willing to pretend he broke with Pran so that Wai would talk to Wai again, I mean if that is not the epitome of love). Pat’s character was executed so well I absolutely loved it,
Then there was Pran, I don’t think I need to say much under Pran, except he gave us all the perfect vibes of Tsundere, a tsundere that was always in love with the other person. You know I loved that Nannon could capture all the emotions Pran was feeling in his eyes, which basically made his acting and character all the much better for me. He gave me the conflict of love but understanding the societal position they had and trying to create a balance between the two.
PaInk, it was nice to get a girls love theme in this. I mean I came to this for the BL, but who am I to say no to a good GL side story.
WAI…. NEVER IN MY HISTORY OF WATCHING BL HAS A CHARACTER MADE ME AS MAD ABOUT THEIR EXISTENCE LIKE WAI… LIKE DUDE WAS SO ANNOYING AND HE KEPT OVERDOING IT. I ABSOLUTELY LOST IT WHEN HE OUTED THEM, LIKE WHAT???????????????? I DON’T CARE WHAT PRAN DID TO YOU, EXCEPT HE KILLED YOUR ENTIRE FAMILY, YOU HAVE NO RIGHT TO OUT HIM, HOW CAN YOU EVEN CALL YOURSELF HIS BESTFRIEND???? You know what, I don’t want to say anything further on Wai.
The friends and Parents, honestly, I was lowkey indifferent about them. I just felt they were all childish.
I think overall, the core 5 or 6 characters showed a little bit of depth, that they were thought out to some extents and to make us understand that humans are complex 3 dimensional people, we dong just fit into a one for all box... Though I wish they did more with side characters sometimes but it's fine
MISSES
I want to say Bad Buddy had no misses but one thing I was confused about, was the concept that their seniors in Architecture and Engineering asked them to boycott their friends just because they were dating someone from a different faculty. I mean the math was not mathing for me.
But there was no miss to this show that was detrimental though.
PRODUCTION
The production and direction of this was awesome to me, the fact that it didn’t feel rushed or forced at any point in time. I loved that about the show . The Pacing was generally okay, so I do not seriously have any issues with them.
REWATCH VALUE
I WOULD ABSOULTELY REWATCH THIS… EVEN TODAY
OVERALL
This was a series that was made with a purpose and they executed perfectly I am so grateful to everyone who was a part of this movement because you truly took us on a beautiful journey, one I would never forget, you made me care for people, made me happy, made me laugh, cry with someone in their pain if that is not arts at its best I don’t know what is.
This is my first review of a series in months and boy, am I happy that it is with Bad Buddy, that was the perfect reintroduction into the world of BLs I took an unexpected break after Manner of Death. I felt a lot of things while I watched Bad Buddy, so I would break down my review into parts. To the best of my abilities, I would avoid giving you any spoilers in this review.
1. Introduction
2. General Review, Themes, Specific Issues
3. Story arc and Storylines
4. Characters and Casting
5. Acting
6. Misses
7. Production
8. Rewatch Value
INTRODUCTION
When I heard about Bad Buddy, I was excited because of Ohm and Nannon, I mean you could give them the most basic story possible, and I would still love the show because I like that much. But however Bad Buddy really came from west field to become one of GMM’s best BLs ever, competing with the best of them all (they for certain have one of the best GMM kisses hands down, I mean episode 5 kiss was top tier). In a lot of places, the storyline stayed safe and a little bit basic, but this did not take away from the overall enjoyability of the series in the least bit, heck I think it enhanced it further.
Coming into Bad Buddy, expect a lighthearted series, with a lot of fluffiness and cute flirting, a little bit of irritation from side characters (Wai walks in) and surprisingly, girls love side theme, which I very much loved about the show. But what stuck with me the most was how this series tackled stereotypes, I would handle this more under my general review, but I would just say this is what you get when a queer person directs a show, you get actual good content not based on exaggerated stereotypes. An example of this is the fact that Pran was the top in this relationship, I mean even I as a gay person lowkey started to fall into that stereotype of what a top should look like or be like.
So Bad Buddy really is that series that hit a lot of the right cords with me. Into the review we move now.
GENERAL REVIEW, THEMES, SPECIFIC ISSUES
1. Tackling Stereotype: I absolutely loved how bad buddy came for Thai BLs necks in this series, like they brought all their legs over fire, and I think that was one of the major themes of this series that it tackles so many stereotypes.
a. “I AM NOT GAY, I LIKE ONLY YOU”: You know in previous Thai BL series, it has always somehow seemed like they were scared to say the words “I am gay”, which Pat and Pa make fun of it in the episode where it became public that they were together. Not only did they acknowledge Bisexuality as a legit orientation, not that you just randomly fall in love with that one guy and no one else. They also introduced the possibility of Pran being gay, simple, and short. I love that because that is something GMM has lost me on for the past few years, like YOU CAN JUST SAY THEY ARE GAY OR BISEXUAL, IT WOULDN’T HURT YOU
b. “HUSBAND AND WIFE”: I love that they also addressed how weird it is that Thai BLs over the past few years have insisted on having this tag this is my “wife”, to refer to the person who is more likely to be the bottom (TharnType, I see you). When Pran called out Pat to realize how stupid it was to say “wife” and “husband” in a gay relationship, try to make a gay relationship heteronormative doesn’t make sense.
c. Another stereotype they handled, that ironically, I felt into this too, was the concept of a clear identified bottom and top in a gay relationship based on some physical traits and qualities. I wouldn’t lie it reminded me that we cannot just assume who the top in relationship and we fall into a dangerous pattern of profiling the LGBT+ community should be against as a community
2. The kisses and Fluffiness: if you have watched Bad Buddy then you would know that they now hold the crown for the best GMMTV kiss and now ranks in the upper echelon of BL kisses alongside MaxTul, TharnType, KinnPorsche, The History Franchise and My Day. I mean so many things about the series was right, but nothing gets me better than a kiss well executed, not disgusting, not looking like they were afraid to kiss or anything like that. So, they got me there
3. Shoving Ohm’s/Pat’s Package in our faces: why did I make this more than once????? and at that point it was becoming a pattern and thus a theme. Like I am a hundred percent certain that someone in production intentionally did this, probably thought to themselves to rile up the fans a little bit. And I mean we are ever grateful for it, in the most non-perverted way possible
4. Social Media: So, this was not so much a major theme, but I loved a part of the series where Pat kept posting secret pictures of him and Pran, when Pran asked him, he was like “social media is for bragging”, I liked this because it kind off addresses a lot of the flaws that our society has come to be especially in the era of social media. But like I said this wasn’t a major theme, just something I noted on the side.
5. FRIENDSHIP: You know I got two contrasts of friendship in this show. The first were Pat’s friendship in this show, I mean there were Pat’s friends, especially Korn who were the ideal idea of what a friend should be, he was cool when everything came out about Pat and Pran, supported them and everything. Wai on the other hand is a plain b*tch about it, I mean outing your friend, I don’t care how angry you are, you don’t just do somethings.
On a closure of general review, I liked all the components that came together to make this show, I don’t think it could have been any better this.
STORY ARC AND STORYLINES
I liked the trajectory of this show, they didn’t waste time on some areas in terms giving us unnecessary scenes. What we basically get is two boys who have been trained to hate each other right from birth, overcome tons of obstacles and find their way towards each other. They show us that love is something you can control, it could be towards even your worst of enemies. The story is one of love, fluffiness, overcoming obstacles to be together.
The story had a few lessons like
1. We don’t and we can never control who we love, either in terms of sexual orientation or the person themselves. It really is an uncontrollable phenomenon of nature
2. The way we interact with our friends really matters. Because it can really make or break a person. An example is the fact no one in their friend group picked up that they were dating
I loved the story overall
CHARACTERS, CASTING AND ACTING
I love the characters, while they were core characters that make up the entire story, I love how they tried their best to give each character a little bit of something, they did not always succeed but it was great though, I love that they had 3D characters, no caricatures of characters though I wish they did more with some characters.
Alright I would take this character by character and how well I believe the casting fit and I would start in order of how well I liked the character.
The character I love the most was Korn, that man gave me so much joy, like he was so stupid and supportive, I loved him every bit for it. If we are being honest, we all know that Korn was the Captain of PranPat ship and no one will take it from him. Like I love that Drake was casted for this because I have come to realize it seems Drake always kills it as a side character. In this show he particularly brought out the essence of Korn. He was simply my overall favorite character, the part he particularly sold me was after he was an ass to Pat for dating Pran and didn’t allow Pat stay with them, when he brought food for Pat, I thought to myself, what a loveable fool?❤️?❤️?❤️
Then Pat was next. I absolutely loved Ohm as Pat, I mean Pat is somehow dense and foolish, he moves with the flow (case in point how fast he accepted that he was in love with Pran) but he always had good intentions (him willing to pretend he broke with Pran so that Wai would talk to Wai again, I mean if that is not the epitome of love). Pat’s character was executed so well I absolutely loved it,
Then there was Pran, I don’t think I need to say much under Pran, except he gave us all the perfect vibes of Tsundere, a tsundere that was always in love with the other person. You know I loved that Nannon could capture all the emotions Pran was feeling in his eyes, which basically made his acting and character all the much better for me. He gave me the conflict of love but understanding the societal position they had and trying to create a balance between the two.
PaInk, it was nice to get a girls love theme in this. I mean I came to this for the BL, but who am I to say no to a good GL side story.
WAI…. NEVER IN MY HISTORY OF WATCHING BL HAS A CHARACTER MADE ME AS MAD ABOUT THEIR EXISTENCE LIKE WAI… LIKE DUDE WAS SO ANNOYING AND HE KEPT OVERDOING IT. I ABSOLUTELY LOST IT WHEN HE OUTED THEM, LIKE WHAT???????????????? I DON’T CARE WHAT PRAN DID TO YOU, EXCEPT HE KILLED YOUR ENTIRE FAMILY, YOU HAVE NO RIGHT TO OUT HIM, HOW CAN YOU EVEN CALL YOURSELF HIS BESTFRIEND???? You know what, I don’t want to say anything further on Wai.
The friends and Parents, honestly, I was lowkey indifferent about them. I just felt they were all childish.
I think overall, the core 5 or 6 characters showed a little bit of depth, that they were thought out to some extents and to make us understand that humans are complex 3 dimensional people, we dong just fit into a one for all box... Though I wish they did more with side characters sometimes but it's fine
MISSES
I want to say Bad Buddy had no misses but one thing I was confused about, was the concept that their seniors in Architecture and Engineering asked them to boycott their friends just because they were dating someone from a different faculty. I mean the math was not mathing for me.
But there was no miss to this show that was detrimental though.
PRODUCTION
The production and direction of this was awesome to me, the fact that it didn’t feel rushed or forced at any point in time. I loved that about the show . The Pacing was generally okay, so I do not seriously have any issues with them.
REWATCH VALUE
I WOULD ABSOULTELY REWATCH THIS… EVEN TODAY
OVERALL
This was a series that was made with a purpose and they executed perfectly I am so grateful to everyone who was a part of this movement because you truly took us on a beautiful journey, one I would never forget, you made me care for people, made me happy, made me laugh, cry with someone in their pain if that is not arts at its best I don’t know what is.
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