This review may contain spoilers
One of the Best BLs I've Seen
I'm completely re-writing this review after seeing this a third time. I've seen maybe 30 BL dramas now and this is among the best. The story about two guys who grow up near each other and fall in love rings true. There's a profound message under the surface when straight Cake declares he'll "be gay" just for Seeiw. Who cares who you love? Who says it has to be someone of the opposite gender? And when Seeiw apologizes for being gay, Cake asks him why he thinks he's gay. I think the point of Cake's question is, "who cares?" Why all these labels? Overall, this drama hits all the right notes. The score is beautiful, highlighted by Boy Sompob's OST, which brought the series to my attention in the first place. I had given "My 12 Percent" 10 across the board but in this revision I'm downgrading it to 9 on Seeiw's character. All of his crying wears thin pretty quickly and, toward the end, becomes almost comical. It's one-dimensional and really needed a stronger arc to have some kind of crisis for Cake where Seeiw could have stepped up to help him. On the other hand, I loved Santa's enthusiastic performance of Cake. BL dramas tend to be pretty timid when it comes to romantic scenes and Cake's unbridled kissing really sells his relationship with Seewin. It's even more remarkable when you consider Santa is only 19 and has much less acting experience than Earth. The great kissing scenes aside, this drama is surprisingly timid when it comes down to romantic scenes where Thai BL films like "WhyRU" and "A Chance for Love" have already set a high bar. This isn't to say that a bed scene is required, but please note there are endless references to Cake and Seeiw taking a shower -- separately. So there was a missed opportunity to show a change in the intimacy of their relationship to shower together. The supportive secondary characters are welcome departure from the homophobic cliches that seem to infect so many LGBT-themed dramas. In sum, a few minor complaints aside, highly enjoyable with a top re-watch score. I look forward to seeing this edited down to a two-hour movie.
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