If plots are skeletons of stories then Vice Versa is full of broken bones. It’s a meandering mess that doesn’t have a red thread to guide it. The idea of traveling to a parallel universe is an original one, considering how most BLs barely expand the university setting but unfortunately its execution falls flat because it’s used as merely a concept for the setting rather than a mechanism for plot progression.
The rules of how and who excatly travels between universes was never made clear as weren’t the rules of how to return to your own universe. To get back you have to find a person who‘ll be your portkey and then start dreaming. How is this person determined? How to find them? No idea! Apparently that person will be somehow connected to you or the body you inhabit in the parallel universe but it’s never truly explained how the supposed connection works.
As for the reason to these exotic travels? Well, apparently people travel to learn something and our main characters traveled to learn about love and that’s the most nonsensical idea the writer could’ve come up with! Why did they have to travel to another universe for that? They literally could’ve done the exact same things and learned the exact same things in their own universe. In fact it would have been much better if they never traveled anywhere and Talay got to know Puen by working with him on the same set. Nothing would’ve changed, the same interactions would‘ve happened.

Now let’s talk about the meager semblance of a plot point that there was: the filmmaking shtick which btw was painfully oversimplified in its portrayal.
Talay wanted Pakorns attention, so he used his position as Tess to approve of Pakorns script. That far it kinda makes sense, I can suspend my disbelieve for that. It crossed the line to unbelievability though pretty fast because our young friend group apparently managed to make a feature-length film in a span of only a couple of months (lol). Their movie bombed - no surprise there, they’re amateur filmmakers with no experience whatsoever. Also, it’s impossible to release a full feature-length film in a span of a couple of months. Maybe that’s why it bombed? They half-assed the job because that’s the only way a full fledged movie could ever be released in such a short amount of time. It’s honestly hard to say because none of the reasons why it failed were explained or even mattered in the great scheme of things. Then they decided to give up bc apparently that’s what determined people do but then they changed their mind again bc they seemingly change their mind at the drop of a hat, for very shallow reasons.
Talay and Puens romantic development was done very superficially too. How or why did they fall in love? Who knows. Their feelings don’t ever go beyond the kitschy „I love you“s bc the story wanted to zoom in on superficial fluff rather than explore the depth of their feelings.

Considering all this silliness and naïveté, Vice Versa felt more like a childrens series, apart from the insertion of gratuitous kisses of course, and tbh I could forgive it if it was targeted at preteens but then again I don’t think it was.
The twist at the end of ep 10 was probably the most interesting thing that had happened but was never truly explored in depth or even explained at all. Weirdly enough it had no real impact on the story either - again, no surprise there since that would actually introduce an interesting plot point to Vice Versa and that clearly wasn’t what the screenwriters ever meant for this series to have.

Another thing that’s hard to ignore was the unending string of sponsorships that Vice Versa needed to include. Considering that 11 out of 12 episodes were filler I can’t say the product placement took away important screentime but it did make the series look like an extended string of ads instead of an actual continuous series. Added to that, the actor’s way of promoting the products felt like a Bad Buddy 2.0
While the ads in Bad Buddy were funny and creative, Vice Versa pretty much copied them, which made it feel forced and annoying. Pat and Pran cleaned each other’s faces? Talay and Puen needed to clean each other as well. Pran shoved his black inhaler halfway up his nose? Talay or Puen needed to do it as well.
I understand that Vice Versa wanted to ride on Bad Buddy’s coattails which is obvious by Jimmy being the ML and by the insane amount of sponsored products it had gotten but there is a reason why copies almost never get as good as the original. It seems Vice Versa bombed in Thailand and I’m not surprised.

The plethora of random GMM actor‘s cameos and different BL lines that were taken from their more popular BL works (and were used as passwords?!) were distracting at best and felt like GMMs biggest ego stroke. Why? Were they too lazy to think of their own original memorable lines for Vice Versa?
Anyway, the acting was mostly ok, Sea is a great newbie actor but I think Jimmy isn’t quite ready for a main role yet. On the first glance he seemed to be doing ok but as his scenes went on, it became obvious that he’s struggling, especially in longer scenes. Also, he has a pair of the deadest, most unexpressive eyes I’ve seen on an actor, which didn’t help.

Now onto the positives: I liked the idea of parallel universe traveling even though it sadly amounted to nothing. I also really liked the soundtrack. Sea is a good actor and I do hope to see him again in a different and better series this time. Visually Vice Versa was aesthetically pleasing to look at, as the colors were nice and vibrant and the settings and moods were well conveyed. I liked Ohm and Nanons cameos bc they reminded me of Bad Buddy and my boy Neo made every scene he was in actually enjoyable.

In conclusion:

Vice Versa consists of 11 filler episodes full of forced romantic interactions and kitschy lines, interspersed with product ads. My favourite moment was when Talay ordered his sponsored chicken but actually ran away to find Puen before said chicken arrived. A true twist! bc I didn’t expect him to abandon a sponsored product like that.

I’m usually not a big fan of Jittirains stories but this one has to be her worst one yet..