The alternate universe and BL romance

Have you wondered if there are parallel universes in which Israel does not invade and colonize Palestine and its peoples were like brothers, each within their own borders, or the small, sovereign, rebellious and heroic Cuba is the one that imposes a genocidal blockade? economic, commercial and financial to the United States? Science is not willing to deny the possibility that there may be other realities parallel to ours in which things happen differently, but, for now, that only exists in film and television.
Our own universe is limited by the laws of physics, but when it comes to shows and movies, these rules can be bent and broken to create parallel universes and alternate realities where the possibilities are endless and the impossible is no longer impossible. Therefore, by managing to blur the boundaries between fiction and reality and, as a result, they leave us with great innovative stories, characters and incredible worlds that make us want to explore them, while testing the limits of our own mind.
The creators of 'Why R U' know this, who to curl the curl of their delirium of poetic science fiction and BL romance, decided to present a parallel reality in this 2020 Thai romantic series, to, through the multiverse, explore the possibility of getting to know a character in a million different ways, changing stories and destinies, correcting contexts, offering second chances or simply playing with our minds, with the aim of achieving an addictive and entertaining product.
Imagine waking up one day in a dramatic world written by your sister in which everything has become completely opposite to reality: your best friend is in love with his archenemy... and your lover is your nemesis.
In his personal vision and a distinctive style in his own cinematographic process, director Cheewin Thanamin Wongskulfat proposes the aforementioned synopsis to bring us a romantic comedy that revolves around two main couples, those made up of Tutor (Saint Suppapong Udomkaewkanjana) and Fighter ( Zee Pruk Panich), and Saifah (Jimmy Karn Kritsanaphan) and Zon (Tommy Sittichok Pueakpoolpol).
Intimacy, love, self-discovery, acceptance, sexual diversity, the search for happiness and coming of age, are some of the themes that the series explores through the dynamics of the characters, achieving hilarious scenes unique to the series. Thai drama, as well as intense, tender, romantic and dramatic moments, which are also inherent to the entertainment industry of that Southeast Asian nation.
The development of rivalry to friendship and from this to romance is one of the hooks to attract the public in Thai BL, and on this occasion it does not fail, despite the fact that the story of the alternative reality suffers some setbacks. along the way, or the poor development of events and secondary characters, especially Zon's friends, whose roles and performances, as comic relief, contribute little to the story.
With good, genuine performances and competent direction, the cinematography and scenery are surprisingly valuable. But the script falters at times. Perhaps I'm being too harsh, given all the Covid-19 production and post-production issues during the filming of the series, and the obvious hasty script rewrites.
The final episode is one of the great demonstrations of terrible writing. It rushes to the end of the series without anything interesting to say or show. And it's unfortunate, because the central story of the alternate reality has a lot of potential. It is right there, in those failures, when the creators try in their efforts to make the public understand when they are facing the real world and when they are facing the alternative reality, that all the cheesy clichés of the BL genre are incorporated, and the good work ends. , while satire and romantic comedy are left to their own devices.
The four main characters are introduced at the very beginning of the series through a dream sequence. In it, our main character, Zon, discovers that his best friend, Tutor, is in a relationship with his archenemy Fighter. But his astonishment increases when, suddenly, he discovers that his adversary Saifah approaches him and begins to show him affection, which obviously causes him to reject him and, scared, flee.
And at this point the series incorporates a component rarely used in Thai series: animation. Zon will continue his dream through the use of this film technique, allowing Cheewin to show a new facet as a director, since directing live action and animation films requires similar skills but results in very different experiences for the director, because although the task consists of direct the project in terms of its story, soundtrack, cast, costumes, special effects and editing, both types of productions have their determining characteristics.
But this will not be the only novelty, as the series has another big surprise in store for us, when Zon has hallucinations that involve several very popular BL characters. We are then fully introduced into a parallel universe.
Saifah is a very popular musician who frequently engages in pranks with his college friends. One of his most frequent pranks is playing pranks on Zon, so the two always end up involved in a fight every time they meet, in public or private.
For his part, Zon is a shy, but opinionated online science fiction writer. Much to his chagrin, his younger sister, Zol, maintains a vlog in which she writes and publishes successful BL novels whose characters are based on real people.
When Zon discovers that Zol is writing a BL story about his imaginary relationship with his nemesis Saifah, he insists that he delete them. She shamelessly asks him to swear that he has no feelings for Saifah, knowing beforehand about the two's accidental kiss during a fight. Zon hesitates to answer honestly, but swears anyway. And this is your mistake? His obvious lie throws him into an alternate BL universe, where Zol's boy romance story seems to come true.
Fighter and Tutor make up the other main couple. Tutor is an intelligent and wise engineering student who acts rationally. His family, once rich, now lives broke. To pay off his parents' debt and support himself financially, Tutor accepts several part-time jobs, including at a coffee shop near the university and his tutoring classes.
For his part, Fighter is an arrogant, emotional and aggressive final year student of the same major, who from the very first day he meets Tutor, when he goes to him to obtain his signature in that absurd process of welcoming students, New entrants to Thai universities, thanks to a misunderstanding, begin to treat each other with coldness and animosity.
Like Zon and Saifah, the relationship between Fighter and Tutor begins with contempt and eternal arguments, only to discover their true feelings for each other.
Their approach, both physical and emotional, begins to occur when Hwahwa, Tutor's childhood best friend, convinces Fighter to hire Tutor for private English classes that will help one to pass the subject and the other to improve. their economic position.
Between tutoring classes, Fighter discovers Tutor's personality and internal struggles. And what is expected happens, especially if we take into account that both look at each other with lust from the very first day they met.
Although everything seems to be going well for the couple and their relationship seems fluid and tender, both will face challenges and their love will be tested on more than one occasion. While the scene in which Tutor kisses Fighter's Adam's apple is considered one of the rawest, most beautiful scenes seen in a BL drama, Fighter's confrontation with his father when he discovers his son's romantic relationship with a boy, is without a doubt the most dramatic scene in the series. Tutor will be ordered to abandon the romance and leave Fighter alone.
Fortunately, both boys have friends, who will help them stay together and accept the challenges imposed by a society in which, despite homosexuality being legal, gay marriage and homosexual relationships are not recognized, and all those behaviors, Sexual preferences and identities that transgress the social regime and are outside of it - as is the case of lesbian women, gay men, transsexual and transgender people - occupy a marginal situation within the heteronormative system and are therefore discriminated against. , made invisible and persecuted through different mechanisms.
Both Tong and Hswahwa, Tutor's sister and best friend, respectively, will be among the people who encourage the couple. The first will be in charge of encouraging Fighter to follow his heart and love bravely. For their part, Zon and Saifah will also contribute to Fighter's father finally accepting the two young people's relationship.
Another moment to remember is the scene where Fighter and Tutor get into a fight that completely annihilates the former. Without going into more details so as not to give away too many spoilers, anyone who has seen the series will know exactly which scene I am referring to, but it would be correct to add that this is not the only occasion in which Zee and Saint show the talent of the two actors.
For Saifah and Zon, the innocence of their relationship is maintained so well throughout the series. To their surprise, Zon and Saifah have been chosen to perform at the university concert as a duo. Initially, they are unwilling to share the stage, but, forced by circumstances, both begin regular practices on campus and at Saifah's house. And this is how the romance between the two begins.
Of note are two moments of the couple: the torrential rain scene under which both boys begin to run holding hands, and the pajama party after which Saifah develops an interest in Zon.

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Dismantling the myth of a teacher-student relationship with the particularity of being a gay romance

I find it a very valuable series because of the theme: the reciprocated love of a minor and an adult and the consequences that this can have.
(And talking about this topic is enough to get you accused of being a covert pedophile)
Our society has a general taboo when it comes to the subject of a supposedly pedophile relationship, but it is something that is there, that happens every day, that minors fall in love with adult people, (and vice versa) and want to live their love despite of laws to the contrary, or of social customs. Many long-term gay couples are made up of people with a large age difference. Sometimes they begin when the minor is fifteen or sixteen years old, and last a lifetime.
The social problem is how to distinguish between abuse by an adult "who forces or dominates" and when two people with an age difference can love and respect each other as equals.
If society did not ignore it, there could be ways to help these young people face a relationship, certainly premature, but which can be not only loving, but also mutually enriching, as it was in classical Greek times in the form of pederasty.
At that time everything was institutionalized and that protected both parties.
The series makes us sympathize with the older protagonist, due to his innocence, despite possible social rejection. And this is already difficult. And at least it makes us think about the issue of pedophilia, not as something that can simply be rejected, but as a complex issue that requires further exploration.
From Nabokov's Lolita, in which a forty-year-old professor becomes obsessed with a twelve-year-old girl, to Bernard Schlink's The Reader, where a student falls in love with an almost forty-year-old woman, passing through The Dying Animal, the novel by Philip Roth that tells the story of a sixty-year-old critic and renowned professor who becomes involved with a 24-year-old intern, the bond between teacher and student is written in fire in literature.
Film and television are not far behind in telling a love story between the master and his disciple. Asian series generally have a fun way of approaching love. When it comes to stories that have a secondary school or university as a background, they do not always show romance between students, because upon discovering this feeling some may develop a crush with their teachers.
The stories range from one-sided infatuations to those in which teacher and disciple meet again years later and it is then that they can begin a relationship. However, there are others in which some decide to take the risk and start a romance in the middle of the classroom, the school hallways and, why not?, in the gym. The latter is the case of the Japanese romantic comedy 'Sahara-sensei and Toki-kun', from 2023.
From director Shibata Keisuke Sukiyanen (who also directed 'Kedo Do Yaro ka', 'Nare no Hate no Bokura', 'Yukionna to Kani wo Kuu', 'Rokuhodo Yotsuiro Biyori' and 'Waltz of Turtle', among many more, the series tells the romantic relationship of Toki-kun (Hachimura Rintaro), the rebellious 17-year-old student at a Japanese high school, and his handsome Physical Education teacher, three years older. The former only needed a fraction of a second to fall in love.
With the minimum age of sexual consent met, according to the legislation of his native country, and close to reaching his majority, love makes Toki-kun grow. That student always involved in fights and absent from classes stops looking for problems and his life takes a 180 degree turn to give way to a totally different person. He will be the first to arrive to the classroom, he studies hard and participates in all curricular and extracurricular activities. He is guided by a single objective: to attract the attention of his beloved instructor Sahara-sensei (Kizu Takumi).
The person in charge of adapting the manga to television is the screenwriter Miura Yuiko, also the author of works such as 'Ultraman Geed', 'The Sango Ranger', 'Screaming Class' and 'Itazura na Kiss: Love in Tokyo', among others.
What do 'Sahara-sensei To Toki-Kun' and the series 'Big', from 2012, have in common; 'A gentleman's Dignity', 2012; 'My Rommate Gumiho', 'Hello Mr. Right', 2016; 'Hello, My Teacher', 2005; 'Teacher Monarch', 2018; 'Somewhere Only We Know', from 2019; 'Doctors', from 2016; 'Sensei', from 2017; 'Tunnel of Love: The Place For Miracles', 2015; 'Thorn', from 2014; 'My Rainy Days', 2009; 'Close Range Love', 2014; 'My Little Bride', 2004; 'High School Teacher', 2003; 'Flower Boy Ramyun Shop', 2011; 'Doctor Crush', 2016; 'Exclusive Memory', from 2019; 'Secret Love Affair', 2014; 'A Story To Read When You First Fall In Love', 2019; 'Daytime Shooting Star', 2017; 'I'm Sam', 2007; 'Met Me After School', from 2018, among others?
All of them raise the teacher-student love relationship as a theme and view it from various points of view. But there is a decisive factor that differentiates them: while these latest television productions narrate a heterosexual romance, 'Sahara-sensei To Toki-kun' addresses a gay love.
This 8-episode series debunks the myth of the romance between teacher and student. The program at no time plays with the viewer. It doesn't give them false expectations. Let no one think that they are facing the umpteenth story of forbidden love between a teacher and the teenage schoolboy. There are no first kisses or secret sexual encounters here. There is no rape or pedophilia here. Here we are not in the presence of sexual abuse of minors disguised as falling in love.
We witness a pure, sincere and innocent love, even clumsy. As the chapters progress, it's easy to forget the age difference between the two. The story encourages you to accompany them in that sincere passionate and tender love. They will soon confess their love for each other. Communication is quickly established and they face problems together.
Who has never known love before, much less in a man, sighs every time she has classes with Sahara-sensei. He looks for him in the hallways or in his office that he shares with other teachers. You need to see him, be by his side. And for this he will look for a thousand pretexts. He waits after school or in the morning when he arrives at school for the being that seems to him the most attractive, most perfect and most complete in the world. He fantasizes, he dreams about him, he listens to music thinking about him, he walks through the streets with him in his mind. Sharing with the only person who really looks at you and understands you will become your priority. Thus a sincere love arises between these two people who are too pure.
As soon as he discovers love, an antisocial Toki-kun becomes friends with Rise Tatsumasa (Sono Shunta), a student in his same classroom whom he had never paid attention to before. The personal growth of our protagonist does not stop. He will also make friends with Todo Shinji (Matsumoto Hiroki), a third-year student and friend of Sahara who is in charge of being Toki's tutor; and Todo Takuya (Momose Takumi), Shinji's foster brother. Although less interesting because it is not developed well, there will also be a romantic bond between these last two boys.
The love of the two protagonists will be tested when Nekoto Minato (Hori Kaito), whom Sahara-sensei declared her love for when they were both studying at the same school years ago, returns to take over as teacher and claims that she also loved him since then, but he did not have the courage to recognize it and today it is ready.
Is the temptation of the forbidden the driving force behind Sahara-sensei and Toki-kun? Is it the idea of ​​a forbidden relationship that generates the fantasy of being able to sexually possess something taboo? Is the possibility of being discovered what motivates you? Is this a love with an expiration date because once the “hidden” is overcome, one falls into normality and from there to boredom? Is the intention to challenge the norm the main characteristic of your relationship? Perhaps it is the desire to control, to exercise power, an emotional need or seeking to make an illusion come true that moves them?
From Toki-kun's point of view: Could it be an attraction out of admiration and curiosity? Will your interest be in possessing something from your teacher, such as his or her knowledge and skills?
From Sahara-sensei's point of view, is what he feels is basic sexual attraction or the pride of feeling important and admired by his student? Is feeling that attraction from your disciple exciting to you from a sexual and emotional point of view, since it is a strong validation?
Are we facing a power relationship? Will Toki seek to take advantage of the person who has more power? Is the need to control the situation when the matter is complex the factor that generates this relationship? Will it be difficult for an athletic, runner and fighter like Toki-kun to pass the Physical Education subject? Should the teacher avoid a loving bond with the person he loves? Is the solution to postpone the relationship until the student reaches the age of majority and is no longer under the “shadow” of the teacher? Will this relationship have a future? Is it just desire or a fantasy and will it eventually die? Will it prosper and become a lifelong romance, as the two young people have vowed?
The protagonist, a boy who is not at all insecure and with very high self-esteem, very mature for his age, is not a victim, and takes charge of his actions until the end. Knowing that he is in love, he is able to acknowledge his love to his friends and classmates, despite living in a society where homosexuality is illegal. That confession will define him.
For her part, Sahara-sensei is not the archetype of the manipulator. He is a serious and responsible adult. He is aware of his strengths and weaknesses. He shows that he knows his physical and moral limits when he resigns from being the advisor of the Swimming Club, a position for which he was proposed, or when he stops swimming due to a fracture in his spine.
He admits to being afraid of losing the trust of others. His personality, sensible and calm, becomes one of the most rational, balanced and endearing in the BL universe.
He conveys the feeling of being a friendly, unique, wise older brother. He respects Toki-kun, gives him his space and freedom of decision.
The relationship is based on mutual respect, trust and friendship. There is healthy communication and complicity between the two. Everyone is happy with the person who is next to them. They both feel valued and their limits are respected, both physical, emotional and sexual. In other words, Sahara-sensei and Toki-kun fit perfectly into the relationship established by them. They complement each other.
There is no morbidity or adrenaline in the actions of either of them. Their brilliant performances elevate the story and make the characters much more interesting and fascinating to watch. Both actors are capable of transmitting feelings and emotions naturally. Hachimura Rintaro and Kizu Takumi's outstanding performances have delicacy, subtlety and depth
As for the relationship between Toki and Sahara being unhealthy because it is a relationship in which one has power over the other, as one is a student and the other is his teacher, nothing could be further from the truth. The two agree to wait for each other. What are you waiting for? Why don't you give free rein to your love? Why don't they kiss in the corners of the school or in the park, away from it? Why don't they have sex in a hotel room, if they both want each other? Wouldn't theirs be consensual sex? Isn't Toki 17 years old? Don't the laws in Japan set the age of sexual consent at 17? Isn't that an age when kids fantasize about sex all day? Isn't that the age at which you dream of losing your virginity, if you haven't already? What then prevents them from loving each other freely?
They both wait for Toki to finish graduating from the Institute and go to the University to be an “adult” and thus be able to help Sahara in a life together, as the young boy stated to his lover.
The series even goes as far as NOT to violate their relationship, when the agreement to wait for each other is NOT sealed with a kiss, with sensual hugs, with genuine expressions of love, as anyone would expect. They sealed it with a fist bump and a smile on their lips. That is the purpose of the series: we are NOT faced with a power relationship. The teacher does NOT exercise any authority over the student nor does the student take advantage of obtaining possible advantages from the teacher to the detriment of the rest of the students.
In the final moments, Nekoto will reveal to Sahara that she always loved him, but she refused to be his boyfriend because she did not want to be a burden on him, since Sahara was destined to be a star swimmer and fear that a relationship with him would obstruct her future.
Learning the truth from Nekoto himself will allow Sahara to heal her still open wounds. Sahara can now close a page of pain in her life that meant rejecting her love for the man she loved. Now Sahara can be happy with Toki because Nekoto's ghost will no longer haunt him.
This revelation opens up a range of possibilities for Sahara between rescuing her relationship with someone she knows well, of the same age, someone with whom she shares beautiful memories and indestructible ties, on the one hand, and, on the other, with a new love like Toki. As we could see, Sahara chose Toki. Sahara distinguished the person he loves today above the person he loved in the past, despite the latent age difference, or that one is a minor or the teacher-student relationship. This contributes to debunking the myth of teacher-student romance.
The Japanese use kintsugi as a perfect metaphor for resilience because not only is the damaged piece of pottery repaired, but even it becomes more beautiful, stronger and more valuable. This centuries-old technique consists of reassembling ceramic pieces that have broken or developed cracks with resin mixed with gold dust.
Toki-kun becomes a potter who heals Sahara-sensei's wounds through kintsugi. The professor sees himself as a heartbroken person. He needs to get over falling out of love. The student becomes the new love that repairs the broken pieces of the teacher's life with golden strips to make it stronger, more resilient. I do not doubt that in his thoughts, Sahara-sensei asks Toki-kun not to abandon him, since without him he will once again feel empty, destroyed, hollow. A person in these circumstances gives themselves to their loved one with devotion. I would never hurt her. I would never try to lie to you, manipulate you, hurt you.
Regardless of the possible interpretations, what there is no doubt about is the ability of the director and screenwriter to dismantle a myth, give other causes to the theme of homosexuality in dramas, make the BL genre thunder, shake it up. , wake him up and dress him long in fine and new clothing, due to both the effectiveness and the organicity with which the creators integrate an entire arsenal of romantic cinema resources into the narrative.

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'My Damn Business' is a romantic drama with LGBT+ themes in an intimate key, which focuses on friendship and love in a work environment.
Han Woo Jim is the leader of sales team 2 who has received a dissolution notice amid the company's management crisis. He is in charge of closing deals with the associated companies he has managed within a period of three months. Left alone in his office, Yoon Su An, a deputy manager of the support team, is sent to temporarily help sales team 2.
Yoon Su An is a young man capable enough to work under Han's orders. And the latter ends up falling in love with the personality and beauty of his office colleague, when a small incident brings them face to face with each other. In this way, the lives of the two young people will change when they come into contact with each other.
With just the two of them in the office, Han can't help but notice Yoon's distant attitude. But the constant closeness will make their hearts end up broken as the days go by and they will have to deal with an office romance.
The South Korean small screen has office romances as one of its calling cards, thanks to numerous series that reflect the romantic relationships that occur between people within the four walls of any institution, relationships that can be short-term or long-lasting, and They can occur between co-workers at the same level or workers in a hierarchical relationship.
'My Damn Business' follows the path started by other series that have provided us with clear proof that love can be found in the most unlikely places, such as the also South Korean series 'Business Proposal', 'What's Wrong With Secretary Kim', ' My Secret Romance', 'Her Private Life', 'Romance Is A Bonus Book', 'My Shy Boss', among others.
Many Asian television stations are not far behind in telling this type of romance. There we have the Chinese 'Capture Lover' ('Bing Tang Xian Jing') and 'Beloved Enemy'; the Thai 'Step by Step', 'Paint With Love' and 'Cherry Magic Thailand'; the Japanese '30-sai made Dotei Da to Mahotsukai ni Narerurashii' and the Taiwanese 'We Best Love: Fighting Mr. 2nd', 'HIstory 4: Closet to You' and 'Be Loved In House', to name just a few, but The latter have in common with 'My Damn Business' that they address a love story between boys.
Even animes like 'Atarashii Joushi wa Do Tennen' address romances taking place in the offices of any company, series that at the same time expose relationships of camaraderie in work settings between employees and between them and managers, and serve as a fascinating portrait of the work life, many times without them being about anything in particular, but they are perfect for those moments when one just wants to disconnect from one's own reality.
Back to 'My Damn Business': this series, produced by GND Studio, fully inserts its plot in a company office in the South Korean capital, to mock the strict human resources policies that make it seem like romances in the environment work are doomed to fail, while reflecting the birth of a romance between two co-workers.
In a comedic tone, bright, affectionate and without great pretensions, from the first frames you will be hooked on its fun and romantic story, while it embroiders a story that describes the love of a boss and his subordinate. Quite a guilty pleasure for many viewers.
And it successfully meets that objective. The characters of Han Yu Jim and Yoon Su An breathe truth. The second one is definitely coded as a shy cat, and Han Yu Jim is the big doggo who complements the dynamic perfectly. Despite their different characters, they merge a loving relationship that arose in the heat of everyday life in the office.
With small doses of comedy that really works, the story of 'My Damn Business' stars actor Jung Jae Bin in the role of Han Yu Jin, and Jeon Yu Bin, who wears Yoon Su An's clothes.
Jung Jae Bin is known for starring in the film 'Three of Us' and the series 'BReal Bro&Sis', both from 2022, and Jeon Yu Bin is remembered by BL lovers for his starring roles in the drama 'Actor:eal', 2024, and for playing Yu Yong in the film 'His, Ice Cream' (2022), and Lee Hyun Woo in the series 'Judo Boys' ('Blue of Winter' - 2022).
For his part, Hwang Min Hwan, known for playing the Boyfriend in the drama 'Fake Buddies', from 2024, and Park Jung Woo in the series 'Sweat Romance' (2019) and 'Sweat Romance 2' (2020), intervenes to play Hwang, a recruiter in charge of introducing the two protagonists.
Han Woo Jim and Yoon Su An are credible beings who even become endearing to the viewer, despite the series not having a deep plot, a serious conflict, or a story arc that delves into the psyche of the characters. and is only interested in showing the daily life of two young people who, due to circumstances, are forced to work side by side, resulting in them getting closer, getting to know each other, beginning to help each other, while they discover what they carry inside. In short, a kind of balm for an escape from reality.
A type of series that I don't know if they are becoming more popular or if I am paying more attention to them now, but every time I am coming across more of these comedy or romance stories.
In a delicate mix of wit, silly humor and heart with a lot of potential, through these two characters, the director creates a drawing – deep and noble, individualized, rich in color and warmth – of two young people who fall in love between computers and sales management charts.
I know that at first glance this is not a series for everyone, that the short duration (only 7 episodes of 11 minutes on average) does not allow us to delve deeper into the personality of the characters or to develop conflicts and tensions, a small cast in terms of quantity and diversity of characters, the absence of a specific plot beyond "have they already confessed their love or will we have to wait for the next episode?" and that humor that is enjoyed even if sometimes it is not understood because it is very "Korean", I would encourage giving 'My Damn Business' a chance because it is a fun and tender series with which to have a good time and disconnect from everything .
But despite this, or because of it, when seeing the way in which the director transmits the feelings, humanity and the growing romantic relationship of his central characters - without grandiloquence, with virtuous simplicity -, one cannot help but think about series like ' 'The New Employee' by Kim Jo Kwang Soo, 'Love Mate' by So Joon Moon, and 'Jun & Jun' by Kim Eun Hye, all Korean, all 2023. And that's the biggest compliment I could receive 'My Damn Business'.

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A story closer to real life than the usual BL and an ode to indie cinema

Hope (Night Yodsakon Khamnang) is a fried dumpling seller. Nine (Kong Chindanai Boonruang) is an actor from the Chiang Mai BL production company, who reluctantly accepts a leading role in a new boy love series. The young man is reluctant to the proposal of York (Sak Kidtisag Makongrach), the director of the company, to be part of a new couple to replace the one formed by the main cast, whose members were forced to abandon the film project after the expiration of their contracts.
The worlds of Hope and Nine intersect when the former parks his sales cart in front of the production company and in one of those turns of life the young people meet. The two begin a journey when they realize that they are united by unexpected and uncontrollable feelings.
I highly value series like 'My Star', from Wayufilm Production, for the same reason that others will surely deny it: good execution, level of acting, filming and production, despite its low budget; characters far from the clichés of attractive boys that populate BL series, many of them with nothing to contribute other than their beautiful faces and contoured bodies; simple stories that are much closer to real life, truly passionate actors and a production team in each installment, and a firm determination not to kneel before the giants of the entertainment world with their very common mediocre stories interested only in making money, and whose proposals frequently fail, among other reasons, for not taking their fans seriously.
We are faced with a Thai BL that is not cheesy and unpleasant. The couple has very good chemistry. They are actors who have starred in other projects, such as 'LGBTQ+ Dramas Season 2', 'Our First Time' or 'Midnight Love', among others, and they know each other well.
Furthermore, the editing team chose exceptional music to accompany the miniseries.
I also appreciate the tenacity of the creators to not succumb to the dictates and whims of commercial companies, eager to contribute funds to the production of many BL audiovisuals in exchange for advertising their products, something that we frequently criticize in other series of the genre, thus respecting Wayufilm Production its ethics and principle of being a production company that is committed to indie cinema.
'My Star' can be considered within the name of independent cinema because it has a low budget, is made in more precarious conditions than the so-called official cinema, deals with everyday themes and is closer to the public, lacks mass distribution and, therefore, having fewer possibilities of obtaining large income and being made by a director outside the world of large production companies.
Being able to film without falling into the rigid schemes of the studio system is one of the highest aspirations of every director.
Written and directed by Thai filmmaker Nitchapoom Chaianun, CEO of WayuFilm and founder of MongKlong Studio and GoodJob VDO, 'My Star' joins other dramatized films of his authorship that address issues related to sexuality and gender identity, such as since he debuted with his first short film 'Fresh' (เฟรชเฉิ่ม), in 2006, which was followed by 'Fresh Cool Story 2' (เรื่องเฟรชเฉิ่ม 2).
Determined to delicately portray the diversity of human relationships, dismantling the prevailing stereotypes regarding what is "normal", and contributing to the struggle of Thai LGBT people, Nicchi, as he likes to call himself, has obtained popular recognition with his films and series BL-themed feature films such as the feature film 'My Bromance' (พี่ชาย, RTGS: Phi Chai), 'My Bromance 2: 5 Year Later: The Series', 'My Bromance: Reunion', 'Key Love', 'NightTime', ' The Rain Stories', 'Yantra' (อาถรรพ์ยันต์มหาเสน่ห์), among others.

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From friends to lovers, an unsatisfactory ending and the use of multilingualism

Cinema and television have told many stories that show that it is possible to conquer love through friendship and achieve happiness. One of these stories is undoubtedly 'Eccentric Romance'.
Produced by Hanyang Studio, the series is part of an international audiovisual project that unites South Korea and Thailand, both in story and cast, as it did before with 'Peach of Time', 'Love Is Like a Cat', 'Why R.U?' ('Waialyu'), which should be added at some point, among other series, 'Wuju Bakery'. On this occasion, Studio Sky and Studio Target also participate.
If in the aforementioned series they combined romance with the supernatural, a plot of healing, love and the fusion of two opposite worlds; the stories of enemies to lovers; or how a novel becomes reality, this time it tells us a youth and university story that excellently mixes suspense, crime and police investigation, before becoming a story of self-discovery and acceptance.
Jagwan Gong, also known as Kong Ja Kwan, who spent his early career making adult films, such as 'Pornmaking for Dummies', 'Pizza Dare 1' and 'Pizza Dare 2', 'Buddy's Mom' and 'A Unique Movie ', before moving into the mainstream with his first theatrical feature film, 'The Sex Film', in 2006, he is the director of this LGBT+ themed romantic drama, which uses the quasi-thriller mechanism of a murder mystery in the that the two protagonists will involuntarily find themselves involved. But its narrative transforms into something much better and deeper. 'Eccentric Romance' is actually a story that rises about friendship and love.
Because as the background of a budding romance, the scriptwriter imagined a crime and tells its resolution, step by step, having as investigators some inept and even laughable protagonists and their closest group of friends, all so that the viewer is sometimes deceived, but putting the clues under our noses in such a way that we overlook them and suspect at times of one, at other times of other characters.
This series is the first of a three-level Hanyang Studio project Y Evolution 2023, and began life under the name 'PT is Love', however, shortly after the filming schedule was announced its title was changed to ' Eccentric Romance', although for a time it was also often called "Bizarre Romance".
In just six chapters, each divided into two, each lasting about 17 minutes, the series plans to tell us the story of how a boy does the impossible to be close to his best friend, and in the process, such At the same time, he also conquered something more than his heart, since from the beginning the main organ of the circulatory system of each of them is already in his power.
The story tells us about Jay, a young Thai man who travels to Seoul to meet Seong Hun, his best friend, to study the same degree as him at university. Both, who hide their feelings from each other, which are more than those of one friend can have for another, have built a solid friendship for 8 years, but the last four years they have been distanced, at least geographically, since each one has must attend secondary education in their native country.
With a vibe as dark as it is interesting, the series tells how the two friends are enrolled in the same college elective class called "Health and Happiness" and must submit a physical body assessment for their final project. Although Seong Hun already exercises regularly and has a well-developed physique, Jay does not believe he is in the best shape and wants to develop his physique in the gym.
For this reason, Jay convinces Seong Hun to take him to the gym where he usually goes and thus get in better physical shape to be able to complete the academic exercise.
At the gym, Jin Uk, a personal trainer, shows a special interest in Jay, much to Seong Hun's chagrin. However, there is something strange about Jin Uk. Despite his kindness towards the Thai boy, suspicions begin to arise that Jin Uk may be involved in the murder of a man named Jin Wook. Is there a happy ending in store for Jay and Seong Hun, or will Jay's budding relationship with Jin Uk cost him an untold price?
Will it happen, as in every beautiful suspense story, that nothing is exactly what it seems? I'm waiting for a delicious plot that will surprise me with its twists and turns.
Scripted by Yeon Joo Lee and Yong Ju Lee, 'Eccentric Romance' is based on a story by Keum Lim Lee.

IS IT WORTH IT OR NOT TO WATCH 'ECCENTRIC ROMANCE'?

In reference to the performances, Yoon Jun Won manages to give life in a credible and well-crafted way to a sports-loving boy who shows from the first shots that he has feelings for his Thai friend. It's one of those performances that hits the sweet spot of a friend-to-lovers relationship with the audience. The dynamic, chemistry and sexual tension created between this actor and the one who plays Jay is fascinating.
Yoon Jun Won, the actor and former member of the "multi-tainer" group THE MAN BLK, is known for participating in numerous films and series, such as the three seasons of 'Best Mistake'.
For his part, Save Saisawat, who plays Jay, steals the spotlight when he enters the frame, the happy and sincere way in which he relates to his friend, the laughter that flows from his lips, the secret glances at his friend, along with his facial gestures, he conveys to us from the first moment who we are in front of and what we should expect from him.
Save Saisawat has extensive experience in BL productions. In 2022 he starred in the series 'Why You... Y Me?', and that same year he played Chonlathee in the drama 'Ai Long Nhai', and in 2023 he appeared in the film 'Ai Long Nhai: The Endless Love'.
This main group of actors is missing Lee Geon U, who will play Seung Ju. This actor played the romantic interest of Mew Suppasit in the series and film 'Love is Like a Cat', by South Korean director Kwon Nam Ki, and Taeha, also known as Momoland, as 'Ji Won'.
Finally, after the interesting meeting between the two protagonist boys and Jin Uk, a character played by Go Byung Wan, known for participating in the dramas 'Love Returns' (2018), and 'Bad Thief, Good Thief' (2017), it ends to propose the main elements of the scenario, from which the series begins to take shape to know in the following episodes what the most interesting awaits us.

THE USE OF MULTILINGUALISM

There is one issue that seems to bother some viewers: each of the characters speak their native language instead of a single common language. However, this is not a problem for the development of the series.
The actors maintain a special dynamic even though some speak Korean and one of them speaks Thai, as they are perfectly synchronized, comfortable in their own languages, and give the idea of ​​being able to understand each other fully and fluently, achieving a connection with the viewer.
In my opinion, South Korean director Jagwan Gong has been free to use the tool of multilingualism to provide characterization and establish tone, and also to entrench certain linguistic stereotypes.
This situation allows me to remember a brilliant and masterfully choreographed scene from the film 'Everything Everywhere All at Once', by directors Daniel Scheinert and Daniel Kwan, winner of awards in the categories of acting, editing and direction, as well as the coveted award for best film, at the 95th edition of the United States Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences Awards.
I'm referring to the scene where three generations of a chaotic immigrant family speak three different languages at dinner.
This is a solid example of how screenwriters and directors use language in film to do much more than convey dialogue: language and subtitles also help characterization, set the tone of a scene, and anchor fictional stories to the story reality.
What is annoying for some when they watch 'Eccentric Romance', evokes in me the moment when the South Korean filmmaker Bong Joon-ho in his acceptance speech at the Golden Globes for 'Parasites', in 2019, when he stated: when the audience overcomes the "subtitle barrier, a richer cinematic world awaits."
Telling authentic stories in a modern, globalized and multicultural world means fairly portraying the languages spoken and adopted in our society. Hence, sometimes, the need for subtitles.
In some of the best scenes in Todd Field's 'Tár', its protagonist, Cate Blanchett, uses German only during orchestra rehearsals and completely dispenses with subtitles.
Non-German-speaking audiences may not understand the words Blanchett speaks, but are instead encouraged to focus on the visual aspects of the character's communication: her facial expressions, her physical tics and tremors, and the mounting tension, both visible as audible, between her and everyone around her.
Another example of the use of multilingualism in audiovisuals can be found in the Japanese film 'Drive my Car' ('Doraibu mai kâ, Ryûsuke Hamaguchi', 2021), one of the most interesting and stimulating films, and, why not say it, most awarded, of 2022. In it, a Japanese playwright, Yusuke Kafuku, a character played by Nishijima Hidetoshi, intends to stage a new version of the play "Uncle Vania" by the Russian playwright Anton Chekhov. Except for a long forty-minute introduction, the entire film takes place between the rehearsals prior to the premiere and the car trips that the stage director makes daily between his hotel and the theater driven by a laconic woman, Misaki, a role assumed by Miura Toko, that they have assigned him as a driver.
A peculiarity of this new update of Chekhov's text is that the cast of actresses and actors who are going to participate in the production belong to different countries and that they each recite their sentences in a different language (Korean, Mandarin, Japanese and even French. of Korean signs) that is not understood by others. It seems as if gestures and body language were enough for the interpreters to be able to transcend their linguistic particularisms and elevate us to the universality of emotions.
The relationship between Kafuku and Misaki will also strengthen despite the silence, the absence of words, that presides over a good part of their trips. Hence it is no coincidence that the play to be performed is "Uncle Vania." Because the same inability that human beings seem to have, and that Chekhov points out in Russia at the end of the 19th century, to face change, taking refuge in melancholic loss, to assume our desires, abandoning ourselves to guilt, resentment and frustration, of getting out of boredom, routine and boredom, letting ourselves be carried away by a kind of moral inertia, is what Hamaguchi observes in 21st century Japan. And also, and of course, the lack of communication, the insufficiency of language to account for the deepest layers of the human soul. Because both Chekhov's characters and those of the Japanese filmmaker express themselves more in what is not said than in what they really say.

UNSATISFACTORY ENDING

But the series ruins everything towards the end. On the one hand, it fails to engage with the expected increase in tension or an explosive and surprising closure regarding the crime expected by the viewer: the criminal investigation falls into the hands of some inexperienced university students. Although several police officers at one point began the investigations, they were never seen with their investigations again. Will the South Korean Police be so inefficient?
I can't find a real motive to commit a crime, kidnappings and multiple attempted murders. Instead of great villains, the murderers are laughable at most, while the central mystery stops being gripping, if it ever was. The characters never go through dark, dramatic and complicated situations.
The criminal investigation carried out by Jin Uk, Jay, Seong Hun and Ji Won (Kim Tae Ha) also compromises the development of the romance between the two main characters, as they will find themselves lost in the midst of the labyrinth of suspicions and persecutions instead of strengthening the loving bond.
Bottom line: the ending is lackluster and doesn't live up to expectations, it's like a bad dessert after a good meal, and it leaves the viewer with a bad taste in their mouth.

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Shoma: like a rearing horse

Neti Suwanjinda, director of BL series such as 'Love Sea' and 'Wedding Plan', and editor of 'Only Friends', directed the Thai version of the novels "Love Storm" (พายุรักโถมใจ) and "Love Sky" in 2022. (พระพายหมายฟ้า), written by Orawan Vichayawannakul, or simply Mame, the prolific writer of boys' love stories at Dek-d.com, and co-founder of the production company Me Mind Y.
With the title 'Love Storm' ('Love in the Air'), this series, about two romantic relationships, taken one from each book, which will be sustained by the handsome friends of motorcycle racers and car mechanics Phayu and Prapai, with Rain and Sky, respectively, the shy, naive and cute college kids. The characters were played by Boss Chaikamon Sermsongwittaya, Noeul Nuttarat Tangwai, Fort Thitipong Setjai and Peat Wasuthorn Chaijindar, four young actors who have managed to win the hearts of genre lovers thanks to their appearances on screen.
A very popular series, it received diverse criticism, especially among those who disapproved of alleged toxic relationships and non-consensual sexual approaches, on the one hand, and those who did not spare praise and valued it for its effective display of intimacy, realistic representation of sex, stories of mental healing, overcoming trauma and developing the couple's relationship. In my opinion, a decent romantic drama that will keep you excited if you haven't skimmed the book. Even if you've read it, it's still a very good story.
Although specialized criticism does not contradict it, it was not that big of a deal. Just a fast-paced and sexy series, which gradually seasoned its plot with accessories of motorcycle racing, college drama, senior-junior relationship, and a strong erotic touch. Depending on the latter, Noeul and Peat were there: to inflame Boss and Fort, respectively, and to make them race on their motorcycles at more than a thousand kilometers per hour in a desperation not so much to win a race, but to return to each other's arms, and the bed, of his lovers.
Japanese television decided to revive the well-known plot, now in a series with the title 'Love in the Air: Koi no Yokan' (2024), one that also arouses mixed comments for the same reasons, but has even awakened the desire to watch it on many of those who ignored the Thai version.
The series deviates very little from the Thai television original. In addition to the logical adaptations of the environment, it softens the speeches, slightly redraws the profile of the characters, changes their names to Japanese patronyms, and incorporates a plot within the university classrooms, the automotive workshop and the race track. The light and slapsticky Japanese humor or physical comedy is to be celebrated, as a form of scandalous and simulated violence that it contributes to the remake.
But at the same time, it maintains the essence and vibrations of the characters, while capturing the Japanese aesthetic and enriching the actions with its beautiful photography and soundtrack.
With a slightly more agile pace than the Thai original, which like this one brings together two novels in a series, but unlike that one, the remake must cover in 10 episodes of about 26 minutes each the content of 14 chapters of 45 minutes approximately shown by its predecessor. Thus, creators must be vigilant to avoid filler and stay focused on the central story.
Now, the motorcycle racers and cunning saviors who raise storms in the hearts of the two best friends are composed of Nagumo Shoma and Suzuki Asahi, who play Hayase Arashi and Kawai Fuma, in that order; while the university students who will let the motorcyclists steal their kisses and burn with passion are Nagatsuma Reo and Hamaya Takuto, actors who play Sorano Kai and Amemiya Rei, respectively.
The latter is responsible for awakening Shoma's goat-like sexual fury.
Rei, although she may seem a little annoying and silly to many viewers, somewhat less than her counterpart Rain in 'Love Storm', reflects precisely the type of irritating, clumsy and even childish character written in the script and the novels. Despite not being the kind of character I like to appreciate, I have to admit that the Japanese version of Rain is better than the Thai version. In this sense, the Japanese actor gives me cuter vibes than Noeul.
Naguno Shoma forges here one of the most defined compositions of his career, after playing Naoki in 'Atelier Kiss', and Komine in 'Growth Kiss', stories that make up the BL drama 'Kiss x Kiss x Kiss: Love ii Shower' , a classmate of Akira in 'Minato Shouji Coin Laundry', and Yamase Kazuma in '25 Ji, Akasaka de', all recent Bl dramas, and looks much more captivating than usual: necessary faculty to compose a character who accepts the challenge of falling in love with Rei in less than a month, at the same time subjected to extreme emotional tensions, who goes through various emotional scenarios and complicated circumstances both within and off the race tracks.
His almost permanent presence before the camera creates an effectively constructed material; with very good supporting actors (especially Higuchi Hina, who plays Furuta Rinka, a student at the university where Rei and Kai study; Tajima Yusei, an actor who plays Kurosaki Gan, a car mechanic who is a friend of the two racers, and Mochizuki Ayumu as Tomaru Taiga, a haughty lover of illegal speed racing; the latter character written with grit and precision regarding his arrogance as a daddy's son and connoisseur of the world of motorcycling sporty.
In fact, praise must be given to its experienced creator, Tomori Atsuki, an all-rounder in Japanese commercial television fiction, who, in addition to being an actress (she does not intervene in the drama as such), is a screenwriter and director, and manages to effectively film the remake of the Thai original , introducing successful and slight changes.
With only two episodes viewed at the time of writing the review, I will wait for the series to progress a little further, or even conclude, to issue new evaluations.

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One of the most memorable phrases in cinema: "I'm just a girl, standing in front of a boy, asking him to love her", is uttered by Julia Roberts to Hugh Grant in the film 'Notting Hill', one of the comedy classics romantic from the 90s.
The truth is that marriage proposals are one of the most anticipated moments, both for men and women. It is when they declare their love and the hope of staying together for longer, sharing a life. In television series, many characters have waited a long time until the moment arrives, or they have not been able to decide, but the truth is that when it happens we cannot take our eyes off the screen.
With flowers? With candles? In the moonlight? On a plane? On a sinking ocean liner? In a movie theater before the surprised gaze of spectators? With the most beautiful words we have ever heard? Kneeling on the ground?
All of us love to show in detail how much we love our partners. Sometimes we do it with flowers; other times, inviting him out to dinner or preparing a romantic dinner at home; others, doing something for the other that we would never dare to do. In this sense, perhaps you or your partner are considering going one step further and asking the other person to marry him/her.
Beyond the ring or getting on your knees, what you will remember all your life will be the words they say to you and that moment in which the world stops spinning, or maybe it spins faster than usual, because you and your beloved boy They are the center of the universe.
Ai and Yu, the protagonists of WeTV's 'Special: I Saw You in My Dream: You & I in Our Dream', walk these paths.
Four years after the events narrated in the series, the two boys are a happy couple. One night, Ai dreams that Yu makes her one of the impossible-to-forget movie proposals, but the next day she sees in a dream that her boyfriend breaks up with him.
Puzzled about what the future holds for him, along with Yu, Ing and Yo, he travels to Chonbury for a three-day vacation.
And if it seems that Ai and Yu have a radiant and healthy relationship, some incidents could suggest just the opposite. And this worries the young man in love with his neighbor and lifelong friend.
Are they ready to take that big step before the altar (remember that they are Catholic? Do they have shared purposes or not? Do they trust each other? Is one the safe harbor for the other? Are they convinced that their future fiancé really motivates you to be better people? Are you ready to take on a life together? Doesn't committing yourself mean being by that person's side forever? Doesn't this mean being able to feel happy, calm and inspired by your side and that the first one? The emotion you feel when thinking about the other is: joy!? Between doubts and insecurities, Ai struggles.
It won't be "I'm just a girl, standing in front of a boy, asking him to love her" the phrase we will hear from Yu's lips, but, to play with the entire series: "Our wedding won't be just a dream... because it's going to happen" be real", feeling both their feet sink into the sand of the beach, receiving the warm sea breeze on their faces, in the light of the bright sun, with their hearts racing, and with Me and Ing as unexpected witnesses.
I hope to see other marriage proposals in Thai BLs, the last one more emotional and touching than the last.
Let 'Special: I Saw You in My Dream: You & I in Our Dream' serve as the fair and definitive demand for Thailand to finally approve the Equal Marriage Law and, above all, to combat discrimination and harassment of people Thai LGBT+. At least the first of these wishes seems to be close to being achieved.

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The story will keep your interest and make up for its shortcomings (First update to original review)

After a few years marked by an unexpected and unthinkable pandemic, ideas that have the coronavirus as another protagonist continue to arrive at the script tables. As it is often said: ""There is no evil that does not come with good"," and this saying has been carried out to the letter by audiovisual creators.
Series that had signed new seasons, movies pending filming or festivals waiting to be held, were paralyzed, postponed or canceled worldwide due to COVID-19. Despite not being a topic of good taste and having been discussed since its terrible appearance until today, the coronavirus has marked an era in the lives of citizens globally and, therefore, the scriptwriters have wanted to introduce it into their stories so that do not fall on deaf ears and give it the importance and validity it deserves.
The famous Thai youth writer who publishes her works under the pseudonym Yeonin, author of the novel "Unforgotten Night", which was adapted into a television series of the same name in 2022, was writing "Live in Love" ('รักผ่านไลฟ์') when it appeared the coronavirus. Although she had a writing project well underway, it was interrupted by the health situation, so she decided to remake the fiction to introduce greater truthfulness into the story.
Yeonim has publicly stated in interviews and on her social media that 'Live in Love' is inspired by two real people she had been following during the first pandemic quarantine period. She felt that the beginning of getting to know each other was interesting. So, that drives her to write a story and continue it according to her imagination.
From the effort to put a human face on what has happened with the pandemic, which could not stop our lives, but did change a lot, a pure and pleasant love story emerges between Kla and Cake in times of coronavirus, where the romance begins through from a live broadcast to gradually turning into love.
The quite different style from other stories that characterizes the novel written by Yeonim, full of happiness, joy, tenderness and warmth, did not go unnoticed by Hearth Chindanai Decawaleekul, the young actor known to the public for his participation in the dramas 'Love Songs Love Series: Belief (2018)', 'Love Syndrome III' and 'Twins', the latter two from 2023, to adapt and turn it into the first BL series and first project of Studio On Fire, the new film studio built by him same in August 2023.
With the title 'Live in Love, Love Through Live The Series', Hearth Chindanai not only debuts in the production of films and series, but also as one of their scriptwriters. To write the script, Hearth relies on the solid experience of three renowned romance and BL writers: Patty Patraputrasorn Warissaraphuricha, the author of the lesbian dramas 'GAP' (2022) and 'My Marvelous Dream Is You' (2024); Jungjing Wanna Kortunyavat, who debuted as a screenwriter in 2020 with 'TharnType', and also wrote the scripts for the dramas 'Lovely Writer' (2021), 'Second Chance' (2021), Hidden Agenda (2023) and 'Unforgotten Night', as well as the film 'After Sundown' (2023), and May Thidaphon Phrueksamaswong, writer of 'Unforgotten Night' (2022), 'Bed Friend' (2023), 'The Middleman's Love (2023) and 'Battle of the Writers ' (2024).
"Ball" Kanathorn Tabvilai was called to direct the series, a cinematographer and director who debuted in 2024 with the BL series 'Twins', which was followed by 'Night Dream', of the same year and genre.
'Live in Love' is a gay romance between young Thai adults. The cast is young and fresh, and the plot is light with a bit of seriousness. The story takes place during the COVID-19 pandemic, so everyone is in quarantine. Because of this, most of the action takes place online on social media, live streams, and video chats. To keep the story moving and maintain interest, the cast is overly emotional and almost comical in some cases. And it works well.
The series revolves around a boy named Kla, a young university student and heir to a resort in tourist Phuket, who loves photography, playing the guitar and computing. Despite his cold and hard-as-a-stone heart, he is loved by his friends Bee (Omnmon Poppat Lertpradit), Dol (Chan Phuliwat Yananruenon) and especially Poon (Boat Napat Srinakluan – 'TharnType' and 'TharnType Season 2: 7 Years of Love'), with whom he will weave a beautiful friendship.
Gina (Mimi Ruethaiphat Phatthananapaphangkorn) and Khing (Nina Pichayanin Pichayadechakarn) are also part of Kla's close circle of friends. Khing has developed feelings towards the character played by the actor who graduated in Marketing from Mahidol University International College for the Faculty of Business Administration and who was one of the eight Bravo Boys.
Hearth is a revelation. His performance is very intuitive and layered, with a gaze that traverses the screen. It conveys the awakening of Kla's sexuality through subtle emotional twists and shifts in consciousness. There is between him and Junior Chokkorn Deotrakul, the actor who brings Cake to life, a wonderful chemistry, the kind that creates a deep relationship that allows the relationship of their characters to mature despite the short time on screen... characters that feel deep, vivid and real.
Introduced to this protagonist, it is the turn of Cake, the warm, expressive and popular student from another university, who likes to play the piano and maintains a close relationship with his brother Itim (Tee Vitsarut Suwinijjit - 'Restart (ed)', 2022), his best friend Gam (Tiger Tanawat Hudchaleelaha - 'Love Syndrome: The Beginning' (2024) and the rest of the lively gang: Pao (Worachai Areewong), Pat (Jamee Jameekorn Wongcha-oum ), Fat (Debbie Kanchanisa Lim), and Jim (Thitivut Susereechai).
Cake's cheerful group will soon be joined by the lonely Af (Haii Sarunsathorn Tanawatcharawat), an actor known for playing Ken, one of the protagonists of the BL series 'Chains of Heart' (2023), and for getting into the shoes of Cirrus, a character from 'TharnType Season 2: 7 Years of Love' (2021), who will develop an unhealthy attraction for Cake and will do anything to have him.
Junior Chokkorn Deotrakul is one of the protagonists of the BL series 'My Universe', from 2023, in which he got into the skin of the character of Mok in the stories 'Friends Forever, 'Right Time, Right You' and 'You Are My So(ul) Mate'.
Initially, this romantic drama would star Hearth Chindanai and Non Ratchanon, as main characters, a secondary couple in the drama 'Love Syndrome III'. However, Non decided to resign, and the role was eventually awarded to Junior Chokkorn.
They are both actors in their roles and bring their characters to real life... and virtual. Dialogues, emotions, cinematography and script combine quite decently to make this a work that will delight BL lovers.
And if Kla and Cake could have met on another previous occasion, since their mutual friend Poon has invited them to share dinners and walks, this was prevented by the mandatory quarantine and the closure of study centers, which led to university students They must study online and do most of their activities at home.
However, the inevitable will happen, and the meeting of the two main characters of 'Live in Love' will take place accidentally, when both meet through 'live', after being invited by Poon to participate in a virtual meeting.
Hearing such a delicious name brings back memories of that enigmatic moment Kla, whose personality has not been able to be unraveled by his friends or by so many girls who, like Khing and Amp (Auttarinya Uengsilpsrikul), have tried to get his attention with gifts of appetizing pastries, whom he has equally insistently rejected. And suddenly, his nature is revealed before Cake's bright and innocent smile, which will make the heart of the young man who has never looked at or given hope to anyone, beat in his chest.
Kla's perfect world is put to the test when she meets Cake. That virtual meeting is one of those instant connections. Sparks fly immediately and Kla's desire is awakened for the first time in his life.
And Poon does not miss the nervousness evident in both young people when they meet. It's as if he understands that there is a crush between his two friends, as if he has taken their pulse, which has begun to accelerate after their gazes meet and even remain there for a while, while they try to hide their emotions.
Who gave rise to the hashtags #Dare to eat cake? Who would have thought that teasing from friends was a challenge at first? Who would have imagined that the germ of a love relationship would be a provocation? Who would think that a "teasing" would spark a romance? Poon came up with the idea of ​​using hashtags like "#กล้าเค้ก (#KlaCake)" and "#กล้ากินเค้กไหม (Dare 'Kla' Eat 'Cake')", which cemented the already awakened love interest between the two boys since they met.
Therefore, Kla and Cake decide to do a joint live broadcast on social networks. #Do you dare to eat cake? And this is the beginning of a beautiful love relationship, which became an online trend overnight, and which both build, little by little, into a triumphant gay fairy tale. And with the possibility, like all fairy tales, that they can live happily ever after.
What begins as a friendly joke will end up becoming a journey of no return. 'Live in Love' continually puts at risk the boundaries between the mandatory social distancing caused by the pandemic and male friendship. Suddenly, both characters feel attracted, but that attraction is not only physical, but also intersects with a virtual attachment in which they share tastes, conversations, memories, feelings, waiting for the opportunity to meet in person and go out street to shout your love. All of this is collected in the adapted novel, which should also be a must-see for lovers of the genre.
By telling a story whose main characters are university students and by being set in university and social networks, 'Live in Love' is full of diverse characters, young people who have just left adolescence and moved towards adulthood or are in this process, young people like those of today and those from anywhere in the world, with the cell phone as an extension of their hands, who like going out in groups, showing the world online as they perceive it, exhibiting their skills for use of technology, characterized by spontaneity, interactivity, critical thinking and the constant search for new experiences.
Likewise, the series addresses topics such as family, acceptance, coming of age, coming out, the use of social networks, digital harassment, the use of hate speech on the Internet, the violation of the privacy of people in digital media, and individual and collective protection against the deadly risk posed by the pandemic. In this sense, the viewer can visualize the use of masks and various protection products by the characters involved in the story.
Although the story is very simple, the director is smart enough to keep it that way, with a casual pace that works. It will lull you into the story while keeping your interest. The acting isn't bad, but it makes me wonder how much better it would be with a more experienced cast. The series is good enough that this won't ruin it, it's just an idea.
In short, 'Live in Love' is a decent series for those who enjoy a slow-paced character study. The story will keep your interest and make up for your shortcomings.
In summary, 'Live in Love' is a good series for those who enjoy a slow-paced character study. The story will keep your interest and make up for your shortcomings.
YA

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From 'The Hidden Moon', Thailand and its BL dramatic universe

Everything seems to indicate that the Thai series 'The Hidden Moon' does unequivocal justice to its name. In its frames there are many mysteries and secrets hidden in the light of the moon and the viewer must unravel them as the episodes go by.
Many like the exciting journey full of visual elegance provided by this series directed by Intorn Lokaew, director of 'Low Frequency' (2023) and producer of the romantic comedy and musical 'Hug Jao ​​E Lee', from 2022. The series shows a drama that is carefully detailed and has all the shots and frames perfected for an elegant audiovisual presentation.
It is no secret that the BL (Boys' Love) genre productions of the Southeast Asian nation have, for more than a decade, stolen popularity in the market, and have become an international cultural phenomenon thanks to their plots that show attractive couples, in bucolic landscapes and with a message about being true to oneself.
It is no secret that the BL (Boys' Love) genre productions of the Southeast Asian nation have, for more than a decade, stolen popularity in the market, and have become an international cultural phenomenon thanks to their plots that show attractive couples, in bucolic landscapes and with a message about being true to oneself.
When and how did it all start? Why so many followers? One might also wonder about the "magic" exerted by production companies like GMM25 or Dee Hup House. However, in the face of so many doubts, a great certainty delivers a blow of reality: with lovers or detractors, the world does not remain indifferent to the consumption of a solid and intelligent industry.
For example, the number of BL produced in Thailand increased from 19 between 2014 and 2018 to 75 in 2022. And it continues to grow at present. These television series are popular even in more conservative countries, such as India, Indonesia and Malaysia, although their followers must hide it, because if they say so publicly they may suffer sociocultural and religious pressures.
Thanks to these series, in Thailand the LGBT community enjoys more visibility and tolerance than in previous times, and it is expected that before the end of 2024, equal marriage will be legalized after being approved by the Senate of that country on June 18 of this year, with 130 votes in favor, 4 against and 18 abstentions, in its third and final reading.
Despite their popularity, these series do not realistically reflect the lives of people in this community in Thailand, where activists believe there is still work to be done to change mentalities. The life of gay men in Thailand can be quite tragic, as they still face discrimination and harassment.
Returning to the series: 'The Hidden Moon' demonstrates the television charms attributed to the Southeast Asian nation. As for the form, it is useless to deny the hypnotic effect of its image. The colors speak for themselves of a seductive Thailand, although sometimes greyish, always beautiful. The instrumental music penetrates the memory with an indescribable power, while the luxurious, but terrifying and mysterious old two-story house in the middle of the forest, at the foot of a mountain, welcomes the conflicts of its protagonists: Mas, the son of the owner of the place, and Khen, a writer who arrives in Chiang-Mai with the aim of writing about an old mansion.
However, his journey becomes a supernatural experience when, after suffering a car accident, he begins to experience inexplicable events. It is in this context that Khen meets Mas to tell us an exciting story, full of emotions and twists.
Said like that, it seems like the making of any Thai series of the BL genre. Precisely, these attractions that serve as eye drops are part of that group of characteristics that support the formula for success, but are only the visual and artistic components repeated? Although the exoticism of a distant country, populated by people with apparently perfect physiques, manages to connect with a vast audience, the classic plot lines of a romantic drama, in this case fantastic and supernatural period drama, are not left behind; that is, its content.
A production team featuring an energetic new copywriter travels to Chiang Mai to compose stories about two-story Thai houses in the country's northern region; a mysterious woman in a room at the end of the hall; an atmosphere that makes your hair stand on end; ghostly encounters on rainy days; terrifying events that surround those present in the mansion; the story of the two Moons at a different time orbiting together in the darkness of the night sky; a young man who must protect the house in the absence of his father who went to war, trapped people who cannot get away from the place where they are somehow imprisoned, the supernatural ability to see and hear things that should not be seen or heard, including to the son of the owner of the house in the past, the person whose name means "Luna is just like him"; bittersweet love, heartbreak, beautiful historical setting; a deep relationship wrapped between supernatural events and cruel secrets; a group of young people in alleged danger; couple made up of a modern-day boy who, after a car accident, travels to the past, precisely to a moment located during the First World War, to have a romance with a ghost with whom they are separated by a hundred years of difference, come together in this series vintage "Duean Prang".
These are topics that scare us in our lives but that we love to see on the big screen or television. Supernatural mystery series, suspense, ghostly apparitions and disappearances without answers are engaging like no other, and if you add romance to this, the delicious dish is served.
A maxim of series is that they engage, and for that to happen there is nothing better than suspense, intrigue and a good mystery to solve. If there is a genre that we love, it is these that combine all of the above. What's more pleasurable than the feeling of that edge-of-your-couch tension interspersed with sequences of high-stakes action and romance?
Now we have so much to choose from that many go unnoticed without us knowing their existence.
Thailand resorts to these ingredients again and again, because ultimately they capture the taste and attention of a viewer rooted in the typical plots that, despite reinventions of the genre, will always be there.
It is worth remembering the different socio-historical context, conservative and inclined to patriarchal laws, as well as the role of women in society and the controversial emotional and family relationships. These situations can accompany an afternoon coffee, but we should not "enjoy" them uncritically.
Starring David Matthew Roberts (in his acting debut) and Kin Thanachai Sakchaicharoenkul ('Love Hurts', 2023), in the roles of Mas and Khen, respectively, the romantic, dramatic and fantasy genre series is an adaptation of the novel " The Hidden Moon" (เดือนพราง), by Violet Rain.
The series is produced by the renowned Dee Hup House, known for its success in series such as 'Step By Step' (2023), 'Something In My Room' (2022) and 'Lovely Writer' (2021).
In the series, Khen does not travel alone with Mas. The production team that he is part of and that travels to Chiang Mai is made up of Bing (Santa Napakawat Kettreekorn), Toh (Tonkla Patittada Photajareon), Thaen (Jimmy Nuttapong Phaojinda) and Nanwha (Bam Panichada Kongsawanya), while Sompho (Meme Kansuda Chanakeeree), Aisaeng (Pom Kamonpop Kaewdiao), all newcomers, and Khampuan (Tian Atcharee Buakhiao), an actress remembered for giving life to Mei in 'I Feel You Linger in the Air', join the journey in the mysterious house. They all defend their roles with conviction.
The script for this series is written by Kak Supicha Anantachat ('In Time with You').
Beyond the depth or intentions, the nuances of society or particular thematic moments are not completely ignored. Such is the case of 'I Feel You Linger in the Air', a series released in 2023 based on the novel of the same name by the same author of 'The Hidden Moon', and 'Dead Friend Forever - DFF' (2023 – 2024), two series coming from the powerful Thai BL industry. If you view them, you will find entertainment close to the novel dilemmas enjoyed in 'The Hidden Moon'.
I'll come back later to update the review.

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Three in one, for the same price, and the perfect hysterical

My first impression when I learned about its future premiere was that a series with 24 episodes was not ideal for me. But after the beginning, we begin to realize how things will go: There are 8 chapters for each of the three main couples. That is, it works as if they were three independent series in one. And yes... this way perhaps it would have worked the same and even better, but this would go against GMMTV's winning formula.
The series offers us three separate stories, but at the same time connected to each other because the characters are friends and all study at the Faculty of Engineering at a Thai university. They are, in fact, members of an exclusive circle of "Perfect 10 Liners", a group made up of extraordinary students from various years, and which will include Arm (Book), Wine (Mark) and Gun (Santa), first year students, when they participate in a drawing to determine their peer mentors.
In this way, these three students, who also do not know each other until they meet on the university campus, will meet Arc (Force), Faifa (Junior) and Yotha (Perth), who will be their tutors, but also with whom, also in that order, will begin a love story.
'Perfect 10 Liners' is a youth comedy and romance series that follows the story of these six young people, who come from separate and parallel universes (we don't know anything, at least yet, about social origins, family relationships, etc., but These are also not questions that many Thai BLs delve into, in general) but their encounter leads them to try to find a new direction, with a new world and a new version of themselves. The sextet will pursue their dreams, their struggles with friendships, romantic relationships, social norms and acceptance/self-acceptance, while trying to discover who each of them is, exploring their different student interests, their emotions and their sexual identities.
However, as is typical in the productions of New Siwaj Sawatmaneekul, its director and creator of numerous BL series, such as 'Make It Right: The Series' and 'Until We Meet Again', among others, the path to true love is full of obstacles and challenges, so the protagonists will face student difficulties, difficulties between friends, heart problems and other dilemmas. But what comes after each first love encounter of the six main characters? A journey of self-discovery, dreams and, of course, love. But this is said in the synopsis, episode 0 or Special broadcast days before the official start of the series, and various trailers, and as viewers we will have to discover it.
At the end of the day, this is a fiction about how you reach maturity and that is a road that never comes without bumps.
Why the decision to separate the plots and not develop them in parallel, as in 'We Are', for example? In my opinion, this is because, unlike the aforementioned series, there is no main couple here. Each couple has equal weight in the narrative as a whole, and in this way each one will have its story, which does not mean that one will stop combining with the others.
But the fundamental reason is that, unlike others that address university themes and multiple couples, the series presents us with three protagonists who do not enter university in the same academic year, but in different academic years. In this way, by the time Wine is introduced to the other members of "Perfect 10 Liners", Arm and Gun are already in the upper years of their careers and have been dating Arc and Yotha, respectively, for some time.
Therefore, the second and third stories, those that would be told from episodes 9 to 16, and from 17 to 24, would be those of the other four members of this select student club. We see the story from Arm's perspective, and it starts just at the moment when Wine asks Arm how he started his romance with Arc?
The setting is sublime with the faculties, dormitories, gardens and dining halls of the university, and in the background that incomparable mix of art, architecture and ancient culture and modernity that responds to the name of Thailand.
With a project that has points of contact with other of his productions, and through a territory explored by other directors and by himself, such as university romance, New retraces his steps and brings us another of his plots focused on different stories of several couples of young university students who go through a stage of falling in love with experiences of excitement, love, hope, happiness and certain emotions that are part of a romantic relationship, as we saw in 'We Are' and 'Fourever You', also of his authorship, but with the difference described above.
We agree that in the series business, BL or not, commonplaces abound, right?
Well, pretend that New and screenwriter Inthira Thanasarnsumrit, his usual accomplice in creating BL, like 'Star and Sky: Star in My Mind | Sky in Your Heart', 'A Boss and a Babe', 'We Are' and 'Our Skyy 2', took all the platitudes from every college story ever, but instead of "rehashing" them, they updated them.
As? With all the youthful concerns of today. From the use of social networks and group chats as a meeting point for students to the carbon footprint we are leaving, including sexual diversity, going to a university far from home, fitting in with strangers, the search for recreation and fun between exams and a thousand more conflicts.
The result is very interesting because it fuses the best of what has always worked in this industry with the best of what lovers of BL romantic comedies expect, all presented through beautiful cinematography. It's ultimately the perfect mix of rowdy antics and cuteness, all with quirky character dynamics.

THE FIRST STORY

Force and Book star in the first story in this series that follows a classic romantic premise. The plot revolves around two university students, one in the third year of Civil Engineering and the university's heartthrob, and the other in the first year of Electrical Engineering and administrator of the faculty's virtual page, both of different personalities, whose destinies are they intertwine in a context full of anger and withholdings, often with a setting that underlines their connection, such as a shower in each other's bedrooms when they barely know each other. Despite their differences, the protagonists fall deeply in love from the first moments in which their eyes meet.
After watching the first episode we can make some evaluations. These are preliminary considerations, because only the first of the 24 episodes that the series has has been broadcast, but viewing them tells us that we are facing a luminous post-adolescent drama, optimistic in just the right measure and that knows how to focus on the benefits of its characters. to transcend beyond the undeniable interest of the plots focused on their most mundane problems.
For example, it's very lighthearted but quick to see the way Arc and Arm begin to create a bond that goes beyond that of senior and junior. Both are specialists in hysterics, that flirting that acts like begging or simulating indecision.
The creator seems to be infatuated with the actors and their homosexual side, and here he accentuates it with total creative freedom, for the good of the followers of BL series in general and these two stars in particular. The first scenes of episode 1 already indicate where things are going, showing the two going from strangers to enemies and from there to... well, almost lovers.
Anyway, why beat around the bush if everyone already knew that the protagonists of this plot and main romantic attractions would be them. But hey, let's hope they are characters that gain much more depth and development. Because yes, romantic, sweet and humorous moments contribute a lot.
I mean, the first episode works very well. When Force and his Arc appear, the series gains a lot of momentum. His mere presence on screen makes my heart burst with joy and gallop at more than 120 beats per minute. He is a proven actor, with extensive command of television codes in relation to camera treatment, to work a character with so much continuity and chapters, with so many diverse locations. For example, his role in this series is a co-lead, and as a result, extremely active in his relationship with other contexts and dramatic situations.
For his part, Book is one of those actors who find it useful to focus on the authenticity of the character. Despite being somewhat theatrical for television, its approach is always to seek the truth of each situation. The way he works is to understand why the character reacts in a certain way, whether with more grandiloquence or less, and making sure that authenticity is present in each scene.
The dialogues are not very sharp and bright, but with an intention, in my opinion: to set the tone and the light plot. The plots of the other students remain in the background. They don't attract but they don't bother either.
The director also offers us the intervention of Amy and Fluke as Yipun and Jet, respectively, the couple who will make our protagonists meet and begin their rapid push and pull and the future of the relationship between both boys.
It is also encouraging to have Fluke Gawin Caskey, Drake Sattabut Laedeke, and Marc Pahum Jiyacharoen, who return to the BL series to play Arc's three friends, while Poon Mitpakdee and JJ Chayakorn Jutamat will play Arm's friends. These characters are much flatter and most of them are very stereotyped, but the public who loves these actors always receives them with open arms.
The story has many characters, but they are all united in various ways, so it makes sense to me to see so many people. Navigating the day-to-day cast of characters in real life is no different than what is shown here, especially in a school or work environment. That said, this is still a comedy and many of the situations were done in a humorous way with a certain dramatic touch. But the actions and emotions of the cast were appropriate for the roles they play.
There are those who will say that it is stupid, that its protagonists repeat themselves in their roles, that the dialogues are not profound, that the performances are exaggerated, that Force keeps repeating his silly expressions while Book maintains his ridiculous expressiveness, that they are too old to walk between university hustle and bustle..., but the truth is that 'Perfect 10 Liners' fits perfectly into a genre that serves as GMMTV's flagship: the cheerful university romance, a successful formula that continues to resonate with audiences in Thailand and beyond its borders.
This is a type of show with stories that are intentionally accessible to all types of audiences, and provides viewers with love stories that are tender and funny alike, and that we can all identify with.
The truth is that it fulfills its original proposal of making the viewer entertain and brighten the day, while mixing established actors with others who have a true school in the established figures and in the series, and this perfect combination between experienced and new, is a determining factor in the general quality, in addition to adding freshness and diversity.
The budget and execution are good: optical locations, cameras, lighting and grading (no one ever talks about grading, and it is an art).
'Perfect 10 Liners' stands out thanks to its main protagonists, who have already won the affection of all of us with their characters in other BLs and will continue to conquer us with all their plots in this series.
Also in its favor are the lyrics of the songs, the main one, "Perfect", performed by the six protagonists, and "Love Suspect", which identifies the first story, and which we will hear in the voices of Force and Book. It is these musical themes that become threads that unite moments, emotions and characters in an artistic fabric that seeks to tell the story of a group of young people who will discover who they are on the way to finding the best version of themselves. Likewise, through the lens of this creator, a world is revealed where the representation of a wide diversity of voices and experiences takes center stage.
The series is entertaining. If all the episodes maintain the tone and rhythm of the first, we are in for a long series, or three in one, but we will have a good time watching it. It's a young people's soap opera, yes, but the characters are fine, they have more or less real problems that any young person from anywhere in the world would face (it's a series, it's not perfect, it's always a little stereotyped), and they approach things with relative intelligence. and good humor.
Finally, at least for now, since I will surely return at another time to update the review, I recommend the series because it is designed for two groups of people: fans of romance and the classic BL format; and the eternal lovers of Force, Book, Junior, Santa, Mark and Perth.

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