It is actually really rare for me to give a drama, especially one that is solely romance with no other significant plot component, 10 stars. And that is simply because I feel like giving a 10-star rating means that it's so good that I can love it in its entirety despite its flaws and that doesn't happen to me very often but "Bad Buddy" was one such case.

Does this drama have flaws? Definitely. Were they enough to taint my memory of this drama? Definitely not.

What I love about this drama is that while the main enemies-to-lovers conflict still feels very over the top and exaggerated like in most romance dramas, it still manages to utilize this trope effectively to discuss very real problems. This drama did not feel like something that was made by straight women in an attempt to satisfy their fantasies about queer men; it felt like something that was made by people who really cared to create something that would resonate with queer people.

Pat and Pran's feelings didn't just come out of nowhere. They didn't simply hate each other one day and suddenly realized that they actually loved each other since long ago. Their romance felt like an organic by-product of them being forced to spend so much time together and always having to look out for each other specifically *because* they were enemies and eventually realizing that they had more in common than they thought they would and that their personalities actually meshed together pretty well. You can clearly see the natural progression of them developing these feelings but then being set back during high school because they were separated by Pran's parents and now that they are in their early adult years and can make their own choices, they just decided to not hold back anymore.

The build-up to their relationship was silent, which is another thing I really enjoyed watching because that's how it is for most queer people. There is an innate uncertainty that comes with dating as a queer person that goes beyond the usual "Will they like me or will they reject me?" that straight folks experience because you don't just feel scared that they will reject your feelings but your entire being, fundamentally destroying the potential for any kind of future relationship with them, may it be as friends or just acquaintances. The pining looks and tender smiles Pat and Pran gave each other resonated with me because I could relate them to my own experiences as a queer person.

Another aspect of the story that I really enjoyed was how they essentially gave the two main characters the same inner conflict of trying to align their desire to be accepted by their families with the wish to please them and fulfill their expectations but still created two unique approaches as to how these conflicts play out. While Pat is much more willing to give up his family for Pran and live a life where he constantly faces rejection by them, Pran ponders over this problem much more. Despite the fact that his parents have enforced unreasonable rules over his life and have most likely inflicted some sort of trauma on him just because of their own personal problems, he is struggling to withdraw from his family and really wants to forgive them and wants them to approve of his relationship with Pat, even if this approval might not come immediately. You can see how these two characters try to find a middle ground between their respective views and are willing to accommodate for each other even if it goes against the grain of their personalities because they are just so in love. While I can personally identify more with Pran, I also appreciated Pat's storyline and am sure many others could see themselves in him.

I also loved the introduction of Ink, a character that wasn't in the novel. Unlike a lot of characters that are just created for the screen adaptation of something, she organically fit into the context of the story to the point where I didn't even realize she wasn't in the novel until I read it. Although she and Pa are just a side couple, their relationship felt fleshed out and realistic and really made me want to root for them. I also liked how Ink wasn't just treated as a plot device to cause a rift between Pat and Pran and enforce some sense of heteronormativity over them but was a memorable character of her own and subverted the trope of girls in BL only being there to either cause drama and break the main couple apart or to be someone's sister or mother. Ink is a good friend to both Pat and Pran and while Pat did have a crush on her at some point, it isn't treated as something that "makes him straight" but is instead used to showcase his bisexuality. In a similar way, Ink also serves to show that Pran really has no romantic interest in women and the series doesn't shy away from actually calling him gay— he isn't just in love with Pat but otherwise straight like so many characters in BL but he actively denies ever having any interest in women beyond friendship and even though you can clearly see him appreciate Ink and enjoy her company, his relationship to her feels fundamentally different than his relationship to Pat. By extension, Pa fills a comparable role wherein she isn't just used to cause some unnecessary misunderstandings between Pat and Pran but actually diverges from the usually passive sister role in BL to indulge in her own love life and fulfill her role as a good and supportive sister to Pat.

The drama also strikes a good balance between depicting sexual acts but not sexualizing the characters. A lot of BL dramas that do include sex scenes make them feel very fetishistic and make the male leads fall into stereotypical top/bottom roles. Yet at the same time, dramas that completely shy away from even addressing sex while featuring allosexual adult characters have a tendency to feel very stripped-down and adapted to the general public's level of acceptance towards queer content and often don't even feature the characters kissing aside from the one big kiss at the grand finale. But "Bad Buddy" shines a light on all facets of their relationship in a respectable manner: between showing these soft scenes of them just holding hands or laughing and being dumb together to these small, soft pecks they share that feel like the characters really adore one another and sex scenes that intentionally feel vague enough so you cannot definitively say who was the top or bottom in this situation, if anyone even was, but also definitely cannot deny that it did happen.

So after raving about this drama for so long, was there anything I actually didn't like? Yes, and that "thing I didn't like" is called Wai. I hated Wai's character and I wanted to punch him in the face on more than one occasion. I hated how he treated Pran, acted unnecessarily aggressive, and even outed his supposed best friend in public just to frame himself as the victim afterward. However, I can understand why Pran forgave him in the end because it is in line with his character in the rest of the show: he is someone who desperately holds onto his friends and family, even if they hurt him. While I didn't agree with his choice to forgive Wai, I could sympathize with him and could not confidently say that I would have acted differently in his stead as we share a lot of common characteristics.

Overall, the drama has its flaws but the acting is just phenomenal and you really feel for the characters and their stories and I cannot deny that I probably cried like a baby multiple times while watching it. I would definitely recommend this to anyone who is interested in BL and wants to see a healthy, cute depiction of a gay couple.