NOT THE BL YOU NEED

This is a psychological series that focuses on internal struggles, inhibitions, traumas and overcoming all of that; the main characters just happened to be both men and fell for each other in the process.
As for typical psychological series, you have to guess the state of mind of the main characters at different points, there is no dialogue nor narration to show you what and how the characters are feeling/thinking about; which is not something I want to watch when I search for BLs.
Furthermore, the scenes are cut either very intentionally or just damn poorly. You have to connect the dots (which I don't have a single clue) whenever the story progresses by cutting. Again, a love story (not a psychological series) shouldn't be "testing" the audiences like that. Like I said, this is an internal psychological war series that both the MCs happened to be men and have feelings for each other.
However, all my praise goes to the sound effects, the lighting/colors, the camera settings, the directing of this series. It was unique, captivating and absolutely beautiful. I'm so in awe and attracted with the production. Moreover, the actors and actresses really carried out well with their jobs. The persuation and realistic acting will definitely elevate your experience.
However, I said what I said, this is not a BL and for those who are expecting a BL the way a BL should be, you will feel the same.

Read More

UNGRATIFIED HOPE

This could have been so much better. Yet, I didn't regret any time watching the series. It was a flash of sparkling potential. Therefore, take a few deep breaths and let your mind at ease before you decide to start chowing down the series, okay ?
The recreation of the 2000 cityscape was a huge letdown. It didn't carry anything that screamt the year 2000 (or at least anything universally recognizable) and also, the modernization of 2022 totaly slipped into frame. So, the visual setting at the beginning was an entire failure.
In terms of the main actor who leads the plot, let's just say he is a level-headed person and his reaction to the sudden change in time and space were mild, that, I can accept. But why did a man like that refuse using hand sanitizer (which was the magical tool to bring him back to his own time) when people obviously say they're in the middle of a pandemic ? Furthermore, he was so sure that he could return to his time when he didn't even know how. He knew how to exploit money from his future lover but didn't have a clue on how to get back, yet, he was determined that he wouldn't have to pay back if he failed the mission (in ep 2). It was ridiculous and illogical.
In addittion, all evidences pointed out that the m.c had switched bodies with another person, yet, I never saw a glimpse of what the other changling was doing in the year 2000, in fact, the director and/or writer decided to actually "delete" the other changling, which makes it...dumb.
And then, the development of the couple just shot right into space on lightspeed in episode 5 (5/10 ep). I was shocked and in denial those were the real events and was not one of the main characters' dream (when they suddenly expressed intimacy out of nowhere). After that, the drama between the m.c and his boyfriend (who had been inevitably made into the company's CEO) just flew into the room like nothing, without making itself clear on why it is dramatic. And...all that was yet to be the end.
However, beside plot holes in almost every single scenes, I truly enjoy evey remaining components of the series. The cast was exceptional attractive, all of their faces captured me in different ways, and I don't have any complaints on that. Even so, the make-up artist actually killed them by not applying colors on the actors' lips, which made them look half-dead. On to the the acting, it was convincing and charming with them delivering lines in their trained tone of voice and completely natural facial expression. I was moved in almost every take. The camera work, the lighting, the camera placement, I love it all.
In short, if set all the plot holes aside, I have wonderfully enjoyed this series. I hope everyone did/will, too.

Read More

YOU'RE IN FOR A NO-DRAMA DRAMA

I said what I said because there's literally almost no drama in this series between the main characters other than couples bickering and finding their way to love one another. All the other dramas scattered within the series has insanely easy solutions to them that you don't even feel excited or thrilled when it ends.
Also, Chen Nai is the cutest character i've ever seen through out BLs I've watched. Yet, the reason for that was because they designed the character to be very VERY dumb. Anyway, beside the fact that he's dumb, he still holds the gold medal for being the cutest bottom i've ever watched on screen. They did the character badly and well simultaniously.
The story was interesting, digging into unexpected aspects, which keeps the audience stayed in their seats but like I said, I was not carried out well.
Nevertheless, I'll save this drama for days I feel like I need to have a boost of silliness and pure joy, with no conflicts and unfortunate incidents happening. I'm sure I'll find my smile back by watching this series. 🌟

Read More

WORTH THE TIME

This series has been so productive with their OSTs that I'm overwhelmed. Furthermore, the whole series is about love and family and music, and they did a magnificent job writing, directing and editing it, I enjoyed it with all of my heart.
The series allocate different components (such as love, family, music, drama, leisure time...) very well. No factor is showcased more than another, though, that could be a downfall to some people out there who only enjoys BLs being about the main couple exclusively. Yet, I enjoyed it without a doubt.
Another thing to add is all of the factors like the story, the struggles, the inner emotional war, the shifts of emotions among the characters were valid and credible. That is something worth treasuring since it has been a big ordeal for many series. This one really fulfilled it's mission.
They produced a lot of OSTs, might be the largest collection throughout all the BLs I've watched (and let me tell you...I've watched MANY), which is great in the sense of telling stories without adding more acting. Some of them were hits and some were misses. However, composing and producing and distributing them correctly has already been an achievement itself.
I do love the characters and their acting, but the actor playing Gun didn't deliver me the sadness, the confusion, the hopelessness very well, but I guess, he just needs more practice, every other characters did not carry a plethora of responsibilties so they did their jobs very well.
In short, your time watching this series with all of its well-planned features will not be wasteful nor will it put you down. I support the series and support you guys watching it all the way. ❤️

Read More

IT WAS A SAFE ROMANCE

I like the fact that the series started with a very good hook; it gave you a very clear overview of what's going to happen and to whom. The first 3 - 4 episodes were great, very captivating, funny and pronounced, sadly all of which started to deteriorate after that, the story became predictable and incredibly dramatic.
Kanghan made sense in all of his actions and intentions...up to the series' first half (or perhaps just a bit more than that), and then he became nonsensical. Also, i wished the series didn't force so much drama into itself, yet, it did. I was choking with unworldly conflicts and unworthy infighting. In short, they didn't exact a good plot after the first few episodes.
The thing that might be the saving grace for this series was the ost and the acting. About the actors, we had familiar and good faces to counted on, they surely delivered, only that Chimon's acting in couple scenes did not persuade me. The character of his relationship with Kanghan was playful, supportive and unconditionally loving, he showed me some of that but not the loving part, i didn't feel like he love Kanghan, more like a special friend...and that did not give me butterflies. Perth however, actually played all out, we felt love oozing out of him for Sailom, we felt his fear, his anger, his joy and that's powerful. For a BL series, we need all that to make it work, to make it persuasive and empatheticable. All the side couples weren't give enough ground to play their parts, yet they did their jobs and deserve praises for that. I would like to say that Euro played his role beautifully, he was actually so natural and convincing. I love his acting.
To conclude, this series did not pass as a great series, but it's a good series, at least give it a whirl to experience the plot and the love.

Read More

ALMOST GOT A STANDING OVATION

The plot is nice, intricate and somewhat logical. You might think it's not logical at all, but when you place yourself in the characters' shoes, you'll know why they at the way they did. Still, plot holes and cliches are still there.
For the acting, however, it's not good when the main character can't cry. Taehi didn't shed any real tears in the movies, thus, I can't feel him. The other actors did great on their parts.
The camera work on this series is very basic, it did its job, but didn't not stand out.
Overall, i'm impressed by how the story is planned out and organized. I would recommend every bl fan friend of mind to watch this.

Read More

It was a little off and then IT WAS ON !

The plot seems a little tacky and clumsy at first when there wasn't enough background info (intended; yet didn't do a good job to secure the audiences' attention and understanding) and the way Pisaeng developed affection for Kawi was too easy (but that's how love works). Despite that, from around episode 4 onwards, the plot made total sense and was very logical (if the audiences are logical and empathetic enough to undersand the writing). It became real, sympatheticable and understandable.
I especially love how the series targeted multiple points of philosophy and humanitarianism. It was just right (not overdone), impactful and digestable. I was given a chance to look at multiple new aspects of life through the writing. Also, the couple's progress through friendship and love was so interesting and so cute. They actually built a realistic and believable love progress, no big gestures, no going out of boundaries and I absolutely respect that because love stories in real life aren't majestic.
However, the only plot hole I find to be brain-itching is the time traveling of Pisaeng. On episode 12, He traveled back to the day he first turned the globe in Kawi's room when they had just received acceptance from Pisaeng's mom. So on his first try with the globe, where did he go ? What did he experience ? How did he feel ? Did he affect anything in the past and the future ? So...that took down a point.
Despite all that, i praise the two main actors heavily ! They kept it real and made it lively. I fell in love with the chemistry between them and cried for them when they fell apart. The two really delivered a prominent yet dilemmatic love.
All in all, this series will probably not be the best of this year but will definitely feed your soul well so i recommend you watching it.

Read More

THIS IS WHAT I PAY MY INTERNET FOR

It has been so long since I last felt pleased this much watching a series. A ghost x a person, that story/concept could go wrong on so many levels, yet, this one didn't. The two's emotional development took place smoothly and was absolutely convincing.
Yes, there were many plot holes, but they were minor, and it didn't affect the main events at all, so I'll just let it slides then, it is harder to find series WITHOUT plot holes, anyway.
The ending was so pleasing and comforting that I couldn't have asked for anything else.
The acting was superior ! All of them were significant, present and believable. I'm glad that I found a series that has actors who can really bring out all the basic emotions within a person. Although, they could actually act like they were not seeing anyone instead of avoiding eye contact altogether when interacting with the spirit of Med. But that did not push me away, therefore, it doesn't affect the watching experience that much.
And the music~~ Oh my lord ! It was beautiful and meaningful and was placed appropriately throughout the series, I was impressed (and some of the copyrighted soundtracks has become my favs, too).
To conclude, this series will quech your thirst of having a good BL to dive in, do not miss out.

Read More

COULD HAVE BEEN BETTER

First of all, this series has got a very good plot with truely amazing ambition. A smart and talented, yet, untrained heir of the biggest business in Thai living in solitude within the social envy for him while facing the loss of dear family members and running away from hitmen, while meeting the love of his life. I bet you can't find another one like this.
However, there are minor to apparent plot holes that happened:
First, Where is Ma Mam's employees when she was shot ? It's a hostel, the employees were supposed to be there since early morning, therefore, she wouldn't have died from a gun shot. And, Her wound was in the stomach, how can you physiologically die from that in such a short amount of time ?
Next up, how did Neung found out his uncle's plans and the uncle's son's involvement when he had just got back ? Did he receive a message from the universe ? I don't think so.
And lastly, where were Neung's abundantly hired bodyguards in the last ep ? They could have saved Palm's a bullet, I guess Neung had ran out of money before the event happened.
So as you can see, many plot holes.
In addition, the 2 main actors did not deliver persuasive tears during sad scenes. They looked like they were laying eggs instead of crying. But you know what, they're one of my favorite BL couples out there so I can let it slides. On the other hand, the supporting characters did a wonderful job. They fulfilled their missions of conveying the emotions to the audiences, especially the actor who played Neung's uncle/Chopper's dad. There were no scenes in which he appeared that didn't make me mad, which is the best thing that he had done playing the villain. I praise him.
Nevertheless, I enjoy the copyrighted soundtracks the inserted into the series, It support the atmosphere extremely well. The OSTs however, there was only the Pond's soundtrack that was impressive.
To conclude, this series had room to be made better. But not at all bad or unworthy of you time. If you are not a detailed person, you would surely enjoy this series.

Read More

I ADORE EVERY SINGLE EPISODE

The pace was a bit slower than normal but didn't bring any discomfort.
The acting was on point, everyone did their jobs beautifully.
The plot was a masterpiece, don't get me wrong, it wasn't anything out of this world or exclusive, it was just a really well written love story of 4 people while struggling with their daily problems and loneliness, slowly finding true comfort and care from each other and decided to rely on it and take care of it. It was emotional, genuine, comtemplative (characters) and gracefully hilarious. It brought me lots of laugh, that's how funny it was.
The story was well written for the main couple but not so much for the side couple. However, I don't have much complain since the side couple's story was made good enough that I didn't object anything.
Overall, it was such a blessing that I got to watch this series. I'll rewatch it some time.

Read More

TAKE A STEP, IT AIN'T THAT BAD

There is always that one employee who is bullied in an office, and there is always a strict and indifferent office chief, and there is definitely always a love triangle between people that you know. This series has been a refreshing breeze blown into the BL industry.
Step by step showcased a real life development of a realtionship of working adults, without that Love at first sight effect nor the Magic of television bringing characters together with little effort; it was real, full of endeavors and persuasive. There was that employee getting pushed to the limit of resigning soothed by his self-reflective office chief and they spent time and mercy on one another and on themselves. In time, they found out their hearts had already reserved a place for the other person. That was full-proof and credible. It also brought up the genuine confusion and hesitation of people being in love with someone out of their reach. The absence of crazy mind-bending dramas were actually good in this series because we actually got to see how love hurts, how love lifts, how envy and disappointment projected into actions. Almost everything were close to reality, understandable and well-captured.
However, the series seemed to had taken a turn for worse since the latter-half of ep 9 to the end. Suddenly, the character, the integrity of the series just went off; we had jumbled timeline, we had people making nonsense drama, we had characters going against their nature and made bad decisions, we had plot holes-making time jump and we had problems being solved so easily that it should have been illigal. It became so off-putting and dissuasive when now, I can't figure out what had happened during that time jump, I can't piece together any development of the characters and I was so surprised to see nonsense drama appeared making the core value of the series depreciated.
All things aside, I do love the acting of the actors, almost everybody did their parts wonderfully and they were expressive and persuasive; making the whole journey became enjoyable despite the down turn that I mentioned.
All in all, this series didn't win the prize for me but It definitely did what it could and I would recommend everybody to give it a try, you'll be stunned by the main couple's chemistry.

Read More

IT IS A LOOK INTO AN ADULT LOVE

The series is a showcase of adults' love lives. It's not the kind of love that you would commonly find in the other series. You may think that wearing university uniforms would mean this series would be as lovey-dovey and buoyant as the rest, but you will be wrong. There are some plot holes and intentional story-prolonging takes, yet, the love in the series was profound, emotional and well-thought-through.
First of all, I don't think people would find the story pace enjoyable, at all. It was long and draggy, the characters were given short sentences in intervals with long pauses and sloppy speaking pace. I myself had to put it on x2 speed (on less important scenes) just so that I didn't have to wait too long for them to finish 10 sentences. However, the greatest compliment I had for the dialogs was every single one of them has supportive meanings for the process of developing the characters and for the story itself. Nothing was redundant.
Looking at the acting, the actors did not do so well. They acted very well in scenes where the characters were happy and were enjoying themselves, on the contrary, in scenes where the characters were depressed or sad or crying, they didn't had it in them. I was even annoyed by the feigned cry. But still, there were far less crying and being sad in this series than laughing and being silly.
On the other hand, the camera work was so refined and beautiful, I thought I was watching something made with a billion budget. Except for when they play basketballs, every other scene was filmed beautifully and carries within itself a span of emotions. For someone who adores picturous camera takes like me, this was a candy for the eyes.
The biggest praise I give is to the written characters. The 2 main characters were a lot of things, and some of those, might be you; I know plenty of those were me. Zo/Zoe/Soh/So was a calm, chill, caring, silly, selfless and mainly matured character. His interactions with the second main character would always revolves around (and can be explained through) these qualities. Anything he does, he does for a good reason. His desires conflicting with his rationality was true and understandable. The only illogic action he did was refusing to confess his love until episode XXXX. But as I said in the beginning, the series was intentionally prolonged on some things; Next, we have Mon, he was going through mild-severe depression (which made him inactive and socially distant), he was also a sensitive and stubborn loner. Therefore, If you don't understand this type of person or that you have never seen one, it would be really upsetting to see him interacting with the Soh, nevertheless, if you do know/understand this type of people, you will surely sympathize with him. The funny thing is, because they were both so sensitive that they mistreated each other many times, yet, they were the match that you could have never replaced.
On top of that, the music was brilliant, the music was not magnificent itself but it was placed at the right time, in the right scene, in other words, was used to its fullest. Thai series don't usually pay that much attention to music but this one really hit the spot, in every important scene, you have the music guide your feelings and sometimes, even tell you things that the characters didn't say aloud. It translated, it conveyed. They really deserves a standing ovation with the music.
Lastly, I would like to quote a dialogue from the series: "You did the right thing. You were right. You were so right...that it was irratating...Being a good person, doing the right thing, I say it's bullshit. Don't you want to follow your heart ?"

Read More