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Vice Versa thai drama review
Completed
Vice Versa
4 people found this review helpful
by Kazuha77
Oct 1, 2022
12 of 12 episodes seen
Completed
Overall 10
Story 9.0
Acting/Cast 10.0
Music 10.0
Rewatch Value 10.0
This review may contain spoilers

This series has been unfairly commented on

I'm going to write a very subjective review because I think this series received too much unfair criticism since the very start of it and I want to defend it. Of course, this series is far from perfect but it was still really good and I'm really going to miss it as it was the only one series at the moment that I was looking for each week.

So I'm going to start by talking about all the things that I love about this series (and there are a lot!).
- First, the casting, especially Sea and Jimmy. Contrary to what I've read, the two are fantastic actors who had the chance to prove what they are capable of as main leads and they did wonderfully. Their acting is very natural as they manage to show their emotions only through their eyes. I also need to point out their crying scenes which are so well done. Of course, the rest of the cast adds so much to this series, especially Neo and Aou whom we see a lot. Pepper and Boom are nice side kicks but they appear less than the two above, which is a shame because it feels like Talay is not so close with them compared to Up and Aou. I also have to mention Ohm and Nanon who act more like special cameos than real actors of the series (and it is even specified in the opening credits - in Thai, of course). So I'm sick of people complaining about how they would prefer watching Tess and Tun's point of view instead of Talay and Puen's and I only have one thing to say to those people: go rewatch Bad Buddy. Vice Versa is not their series and it was clear from the very first trailer that aired about a year ago. I love Ohm and Nanon in this series (and others) but I'm glad it was not all about them.
- Talking about the cast, unlike a lot of people, I absolutely loved all the cameos. Everytime a familiar face appeared on screen, I was screaming like crazy. I think the cameos blend really well in the story and they add some very funny scenes. It is also full of references about other series that I like such as 2gether or Theory of Love (which is normal as Vice Versa was written by the same author).
- And talking about references, I really love the differences between the two universes (even though there aren't a lot). Especially the way they have to count things. I burst out laughing when I saw Talay trying to count in the new universe way and stopping at three because he didn't want to be rude! Or everytime Up or Aou are showing their ring finger to count four. I thought this was hilarious!
- It was also a criticism that I've often read on this page: Sea and Jimmy's chemistry. I'm so sorry for you to be blind but their chemistry is totally off the chart. My heart melted every time they were looking into each other's eyes and we can totally feel that they are comfortable with each other, like two people in love. I especially love Jimmy's confidence at kissing Sea (and I'm talking about real kisses not those aweful sniff kisses that we too often see in other series). I was so happy they were doing real kisses that I felt disappointed when Jimmy did the only sniff kiss of the series in the last episode. Thank God, Sea responded by a real kiss right after! Anyway, we can really see a couple in love acting on screen which is often a problem in other BL (or non-BL) series. We need more actors like them comfortable with intimate scenes. For the moment, I only know one other actor that is as confident as Jimmy kissing his partner (and others) and it is Nanon (which is kind of funny when we know they were body swapping in this series).
- Another criticism that I've often read was about the story in itself. People were criticising the fact that Talay and Puen were not actively trying to find their portkey and that they were too much focused on the scriptwriting of their films. And even though I agree on the fact that the plot did have some problems, those mentioned above are definitely not one of them. Why? Well, first, Talay definitely tries to actively find his portkey at the very beginning of the series and Puen accompanies him when he arrives in this new universe. But then, what? What would you do in their place? Sleep with all the newcomers until you find one with whom you are dreaming? That is not that easy and the story showed it several times. Talay needed to learn about love (which is not something you do in just a few days, this is not a Disney...) and Puen to rest a bit from this actor's life with a family and friends. I can understand that some people don't like the slow burn type of stories but in that case, move on and stop torturing yourself. Also, I think the series perfectly managed to represent the two types of people that form our society: those who will try to adapt in this new body and life to avoid as much as possible the bad effects of this body swap on the life of the one you take over like Talay and Puen (let's face it, we all would love to have someone like Talay and Puen take over our lives if this kind of thing was possible), and those who will not give a f**k and continue living as they did before like Tess and the one that was in that uncle's body, completely ruining their life (which is apparently how the majority of the people on this site will react if they are confronting with the same situation...). Don't get me wrong, I understand why Tess quit Talay's job but, first, he could've done it in a more amiable way and, second, there's no excuse for him to have cut ties with Talay's friends.
- The cinematography and the colouring of each episode are so wonderful to watch. Each shot is a pleasure for the eyes.
- Last but not least, the music. I absolutely love it since I've watched the first episode, and even more when I've listened to the OST sung by Sea. I listen to this song at least once a day. Now, I just need to find the opening song but I can't find it anywhere, which is a real shame because this music is a gem.

Now, the things that I didn't quite like in this series...
- The very first thing (and a lot of people agree on that one): the product placements. I know that they have to be sponsored and thus, promote the products of those sponsors but it was too much. First, this is the only series (I remember) that had FOUR ads at the beginning of each part of each episode! Usually, there are only two so I don't know why they accepted so much for this series (money, of course, but it was a poor decision...). Second, the product placements were too out of place. They didn't fit in the story very well and sometimes, there were too many product placements in a short period of time. Of course, this is not the only series in which the product placements were poorly integrated into the story (it is the case in every and each GMMTV series) but they could've made some effort. Especially when some of the products were better integrated like the scooter or even the choco pie ones (yes, I know that most of this product placement scenes were as weird as the tea or the toothpaste ones but at least, it gave us one of the best scene in a BL series: the nom-nom scene).
- As I said above, the story also has some problems. For instance, I felt like Talay's problems when he came back into his own universe were resolved way too fast. So his work problem can probably be justified by the special feature of the director of the company (I don't know his status) he was hired in at first and the problem he had with his friends can probably be justified by... how awesome his friends are, but I felt like it was too easy and it only took a few minutes from the episode to be resolved. Also, many locations in this series were new to me (and I've watched a LOT of Thai series) and I really felt like it was another universe because never used in another series before. But as soon as Talay and Puen are back in their universe, the locations previously introduced in the other universe appear in their universe as well (the greenhouse, the mall, the café and the restaurant in construction on the roof). So it felt not so special anymore. I will also add the fact that, in episode 12, we can see Talay drinking from a beer can that is covered by this weird black thing we could see covering beer cans in the other universe all along. I thought it was a special thing from this other universe but apparently not, and it felt a bit out of place to see it in the real universe. I'll also add that when they took pictures, there's one time when we could see Talay's and Puen's face on the photo, which is not normal because we should've seen Tess's and Tun's. I'll finish by saying that the passing of time in the series is a bit too rushed. We don't feel like almost two years have passed even though it is clear that time passes by as they are writing two films. But it doesn't feel like it as we watch Talay and Puen live their lifes as Tess and Tun.

I think I wrote enough about this series and I'm really happy to have done so as I was really bothered by the too many bad comments written on this site. At least, my mind is free now!

Of course, I recommend 100% watching this series, you won't regret it (unless you are one of those who want to watch only for Ohm and Nanon or think Talay and Puen don't make any effort to go back to their universe - as if it was the most simple thing to do...).
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