Non-Original Plot but Original in Execution

Let's be honest, we've seen the University plot with Engineering students many times before. There are many tropes that are represented in this drama but the brilliance of it is held with the phenomenal execution.

Story:▷▶ Honestly, the story has been done before but so has every other story. The telling of it is what's original, the drama openly mocks the problematic tropes in previous BL and addresses them in an exceptionally natural manner. The drama also doesn't rely on shock-value or any unnecessary quarrels between male leads which eliminates previous drama toxic tropes. Instead, the drama picks out its issues and deals with them nicely and allows the characters to be human and not pawns for melodrama. Pat and Pran have by far one of the healthiest relationships in BL, they communicate with one another and also don't shy away from being affectionate towards one another and truly feel like a real couple. Their comedic scenes and quarrels that they face is treated with maturity that communicates to the audience their feelings perfectly. The key theme is that the couples and friendship bonds feel exceptionally real in this drama and it gives a refreshing experience to watch! I've never been more impressed by chemistry amongst actors as I had been throughout my entire watching experience. This drama feels no need to exaggerate or stretch out cliché plot points, it instead approaches them at a natural pace and makes the character feel the consequences of their action at redeemable amounts. It's perfection in a simplistic plot.

Acting/Casting:▷▶ Perfectly done. Ohm and Nannon sells their roles perfectly, the two bounce of each other with phenomenal chemistry and control that draws the audience in and truly allows the audience to enter this drama's universe. Nannon's facial expression to portray Pran's sarcastic yet witty personality creates some of the best bonding scenes between characters I've ever seen. Ohm equally portrays a playful and charmingly childish Pat flawlessly through his body language and facial expressions. When it comes to the heart breaking/ raw moments between their characters, these two actors have mastered the skill in subtle expressions that are filled with extraordinary amount of emotions, which further adds to the atmosphere of their given scenes. I can't compliment them enough because this drama was truly amazing. Jimmy and Drake also deserve a round of applause by their comedic duo at the end of the series and their more serious quarrels at the start. Their characters had the best development as side characters and further added to the likeability of all the side characters. Love and Milk also did an amazing job at portraying a GL couple, their portrayal of their characters was very sweet and tender that was a pleasure to watch, I'd love to see them paired again!

Music: ▷▶ I loved it! There's not much to say as not much stood out to me, though the OST and how music was used to portray the growing relationship between Pran and Pat was done beautifully.

Overall:▷▶ This drama is truly worth a watch. It's not like other University dramas and it does not disappoint in its deliverance.

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Eh.... More like a Bromance/roommates?

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So... It's a drama.... Not particularly impressive nor atrocious. Honestly... it's plain and has very little redemption, arguably the only reason why I moderately like it is due to Mike and Gunsmile's roles as the comedy relief characters. This drama had potential but a lot of it was wasted, perhaps due to the boring, risk-lacking directorship.

Story:▷▶ It was... Okay. I enjoyed how sweet it set out to be and it does follow one of my personal favourite tropes but unfortunately it was executed quite poorly. I struggled to find a reason why Tine started to like Sarawat or even why Sarawat liked Tine apart from a poorly added in "love at first sight" reveal during a flashback. A lot of the story felt undeveloped and flat in contrast to the performance that the actors brought to the screen. This entire story felt more like an awkward wannabe bromance, it's like the writers forgot that is romance is actually allowed to be developed and represented in BL dramas. It felt like I was watching a bad censored-gay character drama, which got worse when they forced a relationship between Mil and Phukong. That relationship suffered to poor development on the same level that Sarawat x Tine did.

Acting/cast: ▷▶ The best part. Mike, Gunsmile, Drake, Toptap & Frank did great. I loved their characters and how they interacted with each other.
Now, for our leads.... Bright and Win are talented actors with fantastic visuals. The two had some good snippets of chemistry. Win especially did amazing during his emotional scenes.
The biggest issue, I believe, lies within the writing and directing of the drama. Bright and Win are new to the Bl scene, and a drama in the likes of Sotus is not bad. However, this drama does not come close to Sotus' greatness in the Soft BL sub-genre. Sotus genuinely had character development, and portrayed the characters' feelings perfectly... 2gether, however, expected the audience to fill in the blanks and failed the actors. The actors did phenomenal, I personally loved them and they're my favourite part!

[ I strongly recommend watching Bright and Win's new drama F4 Thailand: Boys Over Flowers, alongside Mike's new upcoming drama where he stars as the main lead with Krist!]

Music: ▷▶ It was okay... Didn't blow me away.

Overall:▷▶ It's barely a mediocre drama. I think it's just underdone and missed its full potential. Sarawat and Tine never felt like a real couple no matter how many times the "boob" gag happened alongside the "I'll kiss you till you drop" line was said.
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Good story, dreadful Directorship & Acting

Reading through other reviews, I see the common excuse for the awful acting as being that the movie aims to replicate the "manga" and "anime-style" acting. Problem is: that's a problem with Japanese directorship lately. Japan can produce very beautiful masterpieces, however, when they try to desperately stick to their anime brand it results with this cringe-filled content that is difficult to watch never mind take seriously. P.S: I can't speak on behalf the manga, but I will speak from the Anime adaptation that in my opinion was amazingly done

Story: I personally loved it. For a movie adaptation, I enjoyed the change from a straight wedding to a same-sex wedding. I also enjoyed that Izumi was the one to comfort Ryoma and that they removed his awkwardness in front of cameras. However, there's no impactful scene in the entirety of this movie like there is in the anime. In the anime, we have multiple impactful scenes from Ryoma finding out Izumi is a boy to Izumi's debut as himself into the showbiz world. Those were amazingly done. In the movie? Well... there's barely any substance and it was hard for me to watch it.... The movie is boring. The director has failed to capture many key moments from the anime, and has replaced them with monotone scenes that don't really provide much of anything.


Acting & Casting: This is by far the worst part of this movie apart from the massacre that has occurred to the characters of this series. I'm not sure whether this is the actors' fault or the director's but this "anime style" acting does not work in live action media, that is not based on a fantasy environment where I feel like it's easier to get away with. The acting strips the characters of all their remaining life in the most ironic manner possible and makes them hard to even care about. Honestly, it's hard to take this movie seriously and it feels like a bad YouTube original. The anime works because it is animation but also the anime doesn't neglect animating the characters naturally when it is needed. Izumi has very serious and well directed moments in the anime, particularly when he explores his sexuality and attraction to Ryoma. Ryoma equally has his raw scenes as he fights for Izumi's affections with the few bittersweet moments between him and Shogo. In this movie, however, the acting is unredeemable and fails drastically to represent the mixed emotions the characters develop throughout the story.
Another things that puts me off is the casting. Though not terrible, neither of the actors or the way in which they're styled represent their characters. Ryoma barely looks like the cool and flashy actor that he is and for a 2020 movie, it has already aged awfully. DISCLAIMER: I am not hating on the actors directly, I am sure they're great but personally I do not see them in these roles. The actors hold no chemistry together and honestly, they should've chosen a different casting. These actors do not sell their roles.

Characters: What happened?! Ryoma is NOT Ryoma! Ryoma in the anime adaptation is represented with a quite puppy-like love towards Izumi and is also represented as naive to contrast his public image of a cool guy. The huge contrast between the on-screen Ryoma and the Ryoma we see interact with Izumi is huge. That's what makes him charming to the audience and root for him. In the movie? He's just a dull, cringe-worthy character that lacks all charm. This issue mainly comes down to the directorship and acting, it's hard to watch. Izumi is honestly the dullest character and it's the reason why the argument of the movie staying "true to the manga" doesn't hold. The characters, the most important element, are not true to the predecessors. Izumi charms the audience because of his naivity but a cutely represented love for Magical Girl LalaLulu that he is often seen to use to boost his confidence in himself In this adaptation, he is a boring character and nothing feel earnest. The only part in which Izumi is likeable when he calms Ryoma down during filming in the first 10mins of the movie.
Rei also significantly has collapsed as a character. From a cool, admirable character to a flat, uninspiring side character who barely gives the same flare to the movie as he did in the anime. More so, his relationship to Shogo is so lazily thrown in! Shogo is quite literally the only character that is true to the other adaptations.
This is the easiest thing to get right and yet this movie completely fails at it,

Music: Boring.

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