Tokki Jangnim
This review may contain spoilers
Most Underrated Hidden Gems of BL Dramas Ever!! | When Hana Kimi Ikemen & Hunger Games Reincarnated
Seriously guys, the chance to know this drama was only once in my YT's feed through its trailer. This was one of the best decision I've ever had on watching something! Even tho it's not a perfect drama but it's definitely worth your time. If you're also a fan of "Hana Kimi Ikemen Paradise" or "To The Beautiful You" and "Hunger Games", this drama will suit your taste!
Here's a piece of my thoughts..
What I love from this drama :
❤The story : Unique, with great LGBTQs message, not that fresh or new but still executed almost properly and decent story pacing except for me it needs more episodes! Rarely we saw BL dramas that incorporated with Fantasy, High School theme & Bisexual characters, this drama was different! It basically the BL version of "Hana Kimi Ikemen" whereas there's this one girl-Love, who fell in love with our (supposed to be) Male Lead-Vier, so she tried to get in to his all boys high school, but the twist is that she actually literally turned into a boy with the help of a magical unicorn. Fast forward, it turned out Vier was not that perfect as she imagined before. So, she actually ended up with Tangmo (supposed to be 2ndMale Lead) the way it somehow sailed my ghost ship on "Hana Kimi Ikemen", just on another universe. I ALWAYS LOVE to see 1stlead ended up with 2ndLead!
It also revolved around daily conflicts of coming of age teenagers esp in high school phase where we would see their struggle with their insecurities, identities, love, responsibility of being a soon to be adult, maturity & honesty.
Set aside the 'weird and doesn't make any sense' settings & plotlines that I often saw in any anime or Japanese live actions, I love the way they brought up important messages of self acceptance (either it's their sexual orientation, gender, their goods and their flaws) & the importance of family.
It's intriguing to imagine the struggle of Love in the way to accept her identity & the way Tangmo embraced her, either as a boy or as a girl because in the end, they're both her, or even how her friends handled this serious matter maturely. Can you imagine falling in love with a girl that turned out to be the same person who is your guy best friend? It's simple but if you think about it, it's deep. Not everyone could handle that kind of plot twist in rl.
❤The Casts : I love every single of them! Must give the standing ovation to our Main casts that played Love, Vier & Tangmo. Without their great performances, this drama wouldn't be this good. They brought out the characters beautifully and lively. I also just knew that 7 members from a Thai Boy Group (Nine By Nine) played in this drama, so I think as rookie actors that came from a non acting background they did excellent! It reminded me of how Korea made a drama that involved K-Pop group members to promote them.
❤Music : Not the best but it stucked on my mind for a while. Iconic to put it simple.
Move on to what I didn't like..
(-)Numerous plot holes! Like for example how the hell Love boy was able to get Great Men Academy's uniform & even joined in that school that fast?? Every school needs parent approval right?? How every single of their subjects & tasks were not academically related but it just focused on how to become a real mature & gentleman?? Honestly guys, to enjoy this drama to the fullest, you should just have an open mind. Again, don't mind the "doesn't make any sense" plotlines, as this drama has different charms.
(-)How come they 80% focused on Vier (even tho technically he's the 2ndlead)?? Yes he's one of the pillars of the story. But I just couldn't hide my disappointment to see limited screen time for Tangmo and even more the relationship development between him & Love. If it wasn't for his insane charms, great acting performance & the satisfying ending, I wouldn't like this drama like the way I do rn. How come we were able to get to know almost everyone's background story even Nuclear & Menn's (they had more screen time too than Tangmo) but Tangmo didn't get proper story time? I guess they wanted to highlight the "youth & slice of life" genre?
(-)Cinematography : I love the story's pacing, but if you want to dig deep, the way they transitioned from one scene to another scene was rough & it affected my understanding with their settings. I was like "whoah, how do we get here?". I don't have any problem other than that rough cutting & editing. For the camera shots I think they did it beautifully.
Conclusion : I'll give this drama an overall points of 8,5 because I think it's wortg the points & it deserved more exposure. I didn't think I'd found a rare gem with this kind of genre that I never found in any other Thai dramas. It even has this 2006-10's vibe of fantasy & high school drama. I'd definitely rewatch this drama again, as they had one of the best character development I've ever seen, the best plot twists that you never expected & the messages that were actually quite deep if you think about it.
So what are you waiting for, guys? Watch this drama, I really, really recommend this!!❤❤
Here's a piece of my thoughts..
What I love from this drama :
❤The story : Unique, with great LGBTQs message, not that fresh or new but still executed almost properly and decent story pacing except for me it needs more episodes! Rarely we saw BL dramas that incorporated with Fantasy, High School theme & Bisexual characters, this drama was different! It basically the BL version of "Hana Kimi Ikemen" whereas there's this one girl-Love, who fell in love with our (supposed to be) Male Lead-Vier, so she tried to get in to his all boys high school, but the twist is that she actually literally turned into a boy with the help of a magical unicorn. Fast forward, it turned out Vier was not that perfect as she imagined before. So, she actually ended up with Tangmo (supposed to be 2ndMale Lead) the way it somehow sailed my ghost ship on "Hana Kimi Ikemen", just on another universe. I ALWAYS LOVE to see 1stlead ended up with 2ndLead!
It also revolved around daily conflicts of coming of age teenagers esp in high school phase where we would see their struggle with their insecurities, identities, love, responsibility of being a soon to be adult, maturity & honesty.
Set aside the 'weird and doesn't make any sense' settings & plotlines that I often saw in any anime or Japanese live actions, I love the way they brought up important messages of self acceptance (either it's their sexual orientation, gender, their goods and their flaws) & the importance of family.
It's intriguing to imagine the struggle of Love in the way to accept her identity & the way Tangmo embraced her, either as a boy or as a girl because in the end, they're both her, or even how her friends handled this serious matter maturely. Can you imagine falling in love with a girl that turned out to be the same person who is your guy best friend? It's simple but if you think about it, it's deep. Not everyone could handle that kind of plot twist in rl.
❤The Casts : I love every single of them! Must give the standing ovation to our Main casts that played Love, Vier & Tangmo. Without their great performances, this drama wouldn't be this good. They brought out the characters beautifully and lively. I also just knew that 7 members from a Thai Boy Group (Nine By Nine) played in this drama, so I think as rookie actors that came from a non acting background they did excellent! It reminded me of how Korea made a drama that involved K-Pop group members to promote them.
❤Music : Not the best but it stucked on my mind for a while. Iconic to put it simple.
Move on to what I didn't like..
(-)Numerous plot holes! Like for example how the hell Love boy was able to get Great Men Academy's uniform & even joined in that school that fast?? Every school needs parent approval right?? How every single of their subjects & tasks were not academically related but it just focused on how to become a real mature & gentleman?? Honestly guys, to enjoy this drama to the fullest, you should just have an open mind. Again, don't mind the "doesn't make any sense" plotlines, as this drama has different charms.
(-)How come they 80% focused on Vier (even tho technically he's the 2ndlead)?? Yes he's one of the pillars of the story. But I just couldn't hide my disappointment to see limited screen time for Tangmo and even more the relationship development between him & Love. If it wasn't for his insane charms, great acting performance & the satisfying ending, I wouldn't like this drama like the way I do rn. How come we were able to get to know almost everyone's background story even Nuclear & Menn's (they had more screen time too than Tangmo) but Tangmo didn't get proper story time? I guess they wanted to highlight the "youth & slice of life" genre?
(-)Cinematography : I love the story's pacing, but if you want to dig deep, the way they transitioned from one scene to another scene was rough & it affected my understanding with their settings. I was like "whoah, how do we get here?". I don't have any problem other than that rough cutting & editing. For the camera shots I think they did it beautifully.
Conclusion : I'll give this drama an overall points of 8,5 because I think it's wortg the points & it deserved more exposure. I didn't think I'd found a rare gem with this kind of genre that I never found in any other Thai dramas. It even has this 2006-10's vibe of fantasy & high school drama. I'd definitely rewatch this drama again, as they had one of the best character development I've ever seen, the best plot twists that you never expected & the messages that were actually quite deep if you think about it.
So what are you waiting for, guys? Watch this drama, I really, really recommend this!!❤❤
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