This review may contain spoilers
TL;DR - This is chock full of Thai lakorn clichés and it got too much for me. The part when they were in Chiang Mai was the best, but things went downhill when they were in Bangkok. I would still encourage people to watch this as it is light-hearted and fun, and the episodes are pretty short. It was just unfortunately not my cup of tea.
If this series only consisted of the episodes where the leads were in Chiang Mai, then I would've rated this higher. Unfortunately, I can't base my rating on a select few episodes just because logically it wouldn't make sense (even though sentimentally, I wanted to like this more). I can't deny the bad parts that soured my experience of the lakorn. A lot of people seemed to enjoy this and if you are one of them, then that's all that really matters. All of this is my opinion only.
Basically the first part of the series where they were in Chiang Mai was the best in terms of story pacing, character and romantic development. While it wasn't something I hadn't seen before and predictable, it still had unexpected emotional punches that made me feel connected. I loved the setting in the village and seeing the way of life there; the traditions, the way people spoke Thai and the clothing. Northern Thai clothing is so beautiful. The villagers, especially Khun's dad, were all adorable, well-meaning and innocent. I also thought Bua's acting shined here, as she was able to make her spoiled princess character bearable to watch and showcased her development well. The romance was also progressing well here, and it seemed to be going well until the leads went to Bangkok.
Oh boy. It seems like when they got back to the city, everything from story to romance went down the drain real fast. The story pacing became slow and hard to immerse in, and it didn't help that they used every Thai lakorn cliché in the book to drive plot. You have a shitty parent figure who wrecks havoc but gets a redemption in the end? You got it. A female lead who means well but gets herself in multiple sticky situations and ends up getting saved by the ML every time? You got it. A male lead that is so tight-lipped about his love for the female lead that you need to create a whole scenario with the 2nd ML to push him to admit it? Yep. An irrelevant female character comes to destroy the relationship between the leads even though it's been 6 years and she and the ML never dated? Oh man. The list goes on and on. The clichés were tolerable in the beginning but it really got too much and in my face. There was no subtlety. When you rely on clichés to tell your story, it just tells me that you're a lazy writer and it makes story progression feel unnatural and superficial. I felt like especially with the last scenario I mentioned (with the side FL) it added nothing except unnecessary drama and making Khun look like a fool.
The romance at this point also relied on clichés too much where it was detrimental. Sure on the surface, Khun and Fah seemed perfect for each other and their wedding at the end was really nice. But if I really thought about it, their relationship felt oddly superficial because they put clichés where they should've put meaningful dialogue/action. The only significant conversation I can remember is in the very beginning when Fah and Khun are talking about their siblings during Fah's initial visit to the village. After that, the leads get swept up in love rival drama, family drama and drug trafficking drama, and that takes up more of their time than actually sitting down and having a conversation. The same two situations play out where Fah needs help and Khun saves her or Khun feels insecure and cuts Fah off, and Fah has to track him down and figure out what's going on. In all this, I don't see where Khun gets the confidence to say that he will only love Fah for the rest of his life; also I don't know how Fah can rely on Khun when he tends to shut her out of his problems. Presumably they get their issues sorted out by the time they get married, but we don't really see that progress. Overall I wasn't satisfied with the romance.
MVP of this show is the 2nd ML, Kawin. I admired him for trying to fight his 2nd ML fate and attempting to break out of the friendzone with Fah. Although it was futile, I will remember his attempt for a long time to come (for real I was impressed haha. Haven't seen a 2nd ML like this).
The music was okay and appropriately played. This did not play out as I'd hoped, as I like both leads. I will just look for more of their lakorns to watch. Would not re-watch.
If this series only consisted of the episodes where the leads were in Chiang Mai, then I would've rated this higher. Unfortunately, I can't base my rating on a select few episodes just because logically it wouldn't make sense (even though sentimentally, I wanted to like this more). I can't deny the bad parts that soured my experience of the lakorn. A lot of people seemed to enjoy this and if you are one of them, then that's all that really matters. All of this is my opinion only.
Basically the first part of the series where they were in Chiang Mai was the best in terms of story pacing, character and romantic development. While it wasn't something I hadn't seen before and predictable, it still had unexpected emotional punches that made me feel connected. I loved the setting in the village and seeing the way of life there; the traditions, the way people spoke Thai and the clothing. Northern Thai clothing is so beautiful. The villagers, especially Khun's dad, were all adorable, well-meaning and innocent. I also thought Bua's acting shined here, as she was able to make her spoiled princess character bearable to watch and showcased her development well. The romance was also progressing well here, and it seemed to be going well until the leads went to Bangkok.
Oh boy. It seems like when they got back to the city, everything from story to romance went down the drain real fast. The story pacing became slow and hard to immerse in, and it didn't help that they used every Thai lakorn cliché in the book to drive plot. You have a shitty parent figure who wrecks havoc but gets a redemption in the end? You got it. A female lead who means well but gets herself in multiple sticky situations and ends up getting saved by the ML every time? You got it. A male lead that is so tight-lipped about his love for the female lead that you need to create a whole scenario with the 2nd ML to push him to admit it? Yep. An irrelevant female character comes to destroy the relationship between the leads even though it's been 6 years and she and the ML never dated? Oh man. The list goes on and on. The clichés were tolerable in the beginning but it really got too much and in my face. There was no subtlety. When you rely on clichés to tell your story, it just tells me that you're a lazy writer and it makes story progression feel unnatural and superficial. I felt like especially with the last scenario I mentioned (with the side FL) it added nothing except unnecessary drama and making Khun look like a fool.
The romance at this point also relied on clichés too much where it was detrimental. Sure on the surface, Khun and Fah seemed perfect for each other and their wedding at the end was really nice. But if I really thought about it, their relationship felt oddly superficial because they put clichés where they should've put meaningful dialogue/action. The only significant conversation I can remember is in the very beginning when Fah and Khun are talking about their siblings during Fah's initial visit to the village. After that, the leads get swept up in love rival drama, family drama and drug trafficking drama, and that takes up more of their time than actually sitting down and having a conversation. The same two situations play out where Fah needs help and Khun saves her or Khun feels insecure and cuts Fah off, and Fah has to track him down and figure out what's going on. In all this, I don't see where Khun gets the confidence to say that he will only love Fah for the rest of his life; also I don't know how Fah can rely on Khun when he tends to shut her out of his problems. Presumably they get their issues sorted out by the time they get married, but we don't really see that progress. Overall I wasn't satisfied with the romance.
MVP of this show is the 2nd ML, Kawin. I admired him for trying to fight his 2nd ML fate and attempting to break out of the friendzone with Fah. Although it was futile, I will remember his attempt for a long time to come (for real I was impressed haha. Haven't seen a 2nd ML like this).
The music was okay and appropriately played. This did not play out as I'd hoped, as I like both leads. I will just look for more of their lakorns to watch. Would not re-watch.
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