dodoubleg1785
Toronto, Canada and New York, USA
This review may contain spoilers
No expectations is the way to go.
It should be a general rule that one should not go into watching a series with expectations. Having a preconceived idea about what should happen takes away from what actually happens and more often than not leads to disappointment.
I think this may be the case for most of the negative reviews this series is getting. That and the fact that when we see the same pairings over and over, we get into the mindset that these characters should be playing a certain role in every project they do. I think some people forget that these are actors and they can be anything and anyone the script calls for them to be.
Unfortunately, I think this is what hurt this series the most. Sure, it just finished and there's still a lot of watching to be done, but I'm concerned the bad reviews will turn people away before they even give it a chance to make their own opinions. In my opinion, it was a decent watch though it certainly wasn't anything to write home about. And, while I can't see myself watching it again, I may look up some scenes occasionally.
Regarding the main actors and their roles.. I get it. I know this is based off a novel but it really feels like a manhwa or manga. It's got the "everyone chasing after one of the lead characters," an older uke with an innocent, puppy-like seme, not much dialogue between the couples... etc. And the second couple was practically non-existent except for their NC scenes. I even remember thinking at one point, "why doesn't the doctor have many lines? Are they not confident in his acting and only using him for eye-candy?"
In this respect, I though Ja actually portrayed the character well, actually. I may prefer him in a more serious, mature role but that doesn't mean he didn't capture the essence here. It was almost believable that he was younger and more immature than First's character. First, on the other hand, in the attempt to seem older and more put together, seemed to be mostly expressionless throughout 80% of the series. I think he just has way too much passion and charisma to try to pull off that aloof, in control older-man vibe. I appreciated the attempt because I like it more than the whiny brat he was in TharnType 2 and the start of Don't Say No, but it still felt a bit flat and 1-dimentional to me for the most part.
Early on in the first few episodes, I was about ready to drop the series on account of the supporting female cast.. the actress doing the series with Ashi and the 2 managers were driving me nuts but, thankfully they don't get all that much screen time as the story between Punn and Ashi progressed. The managers just get enough to actually further along the plot which was nice after a while. Even Worra became amusing after a while with her over-the-top performance in the lakorn within the series. I wonder how many times the real actress, Noon, had the crew cracking up with her antics and found myself looking to the other actors to see if they crack any smiles.
Ming was a very good character. He is the best wingman and "daddy" to Ashi and Punn. His scenes with the doctor were nice to watch too, being that they were always banging. But hey, it was hot and well done. It was hard to get invested in the doctor as a character since they didn't develop their relationship much or even develop him as a singular character until they gave him a half-assed backstory in the second to last episode. The writers/director put more emphasis on and effort into explaining how Title became such an a-hole than they did with showcasing the doctor and why we should care about him as a supporting character.
Speaking of Title, he was your standard, cookie-cutter villain where he is so in love with the main character that he will do horrible things in order to get his crush to notice him. It's a trope I'll never understand because what good guy "hero" is going to be like "wow, look at how awful that guy is.. he must really love me. I want to be with that guy." And then you have Title doing the whole "well, if he won't love me then he can't love anyone" thing. Like, he flat out says it, not just hints at the mentality with his actions.
Them going to Japan was a nice change of scenery as I don't think I've seen any Thai BL use this storyline yet. Usually if a character goes abroad somewhere, we don't usually see them in that country. Off the top of my head, I really only remember Kirin briefly being in Korea in Cutie Pie and Shi De being in the US in We Best Love. The scenery and architecture in the Japan portion of the show was stunning, especially with the snow. It was mainly because they were filming a period piece but it provided some great visuals and of course the use of hot springs.
The pacing felt a little weird since Punn and Ashi's story at times felt dragged out while Ming and the doctor could have used so much more. It made the whole thing feel unbalanced though I was still invested enough to watch to the end and feel entertained all along the way. Again, it's not the best series but it was an enjoyable watch for what it was.
I think this may be the case for most of the negative reviews this series is getting. That and the fact that when we see the same pairings over and over, we get into the mindset that these characters should be playing a certain role in every project they do. I think some people forget that these are actors and they can be anything and anyone the script calls for them to be.
Unfortunately, I think this is what hurt this series the most. Sure, it just finished and there's still a lot of watching to be done, but I'm concerned the bad reviews will turn people away before they even give it a chance to make their own opinions. In my opinion, it was a decent watch though it certainly wasn't anything to write home about. And, while I can't see myself watching it again, I may look up some scenes occasionally.
Regarding the main actors and their roles.. I get it. I know this is based off a novel but it really feels like a manhwa or manga. It's got the "everyone chasing after one of the lead characters," an older uke with an innocent, puppy-like seme, not much dialogue between the couples... etc. And the second couple was practically non-existent except for their NC scenes. I even remember thinking at one point, "why doesn't the doctor have many lines? Are they not confident in his acting and only using him for eye-candy?"
In this respect, I though Ja actually portrayed the character well, actually. I may prefer him in a more serious, mature role but that doesn't mean he didn't capture the essence here. It was almost believable that he was younger and more immature than First's character. First, on the other hand, in the attempt to seem older and more put together, seemed to be mostly expressionless throughout 80% of the series. I think he just has way too much passion and charisma to try to pull off that aloof, in control older-man vibe. I appreciated the attempt because I like it more than the whiny brat he was in TharnType 2 and the start of Don't Say No, but it still felt a bit flat and 1-dimentional to me for the most part.
Early on in the first few episodes, I was about ready to drop the series on account of the supporting female cast.. the actress doing the series with Ashi and the 2 managers were driving me nuts but, thankfully they don't get all that much screen time as the story between Punn and Ashi progressed. The managers just get enough to actually further along the plot which was nice after a while. Even Worra became amusing after a while with her over-the-top performance in the lakorn within the series. I wonder how many times the real actress, Noon, had the crew cracking up with her antics and found myself looking to the other actors to see if they crack any smiles.
Ming was a very good character. He is the best wingman and "daddy" to Ashi and Punn. His scenes with the doctor were nice to watch too, being that they were always banging. But hey, it was hot and well done. It was hard to get invested in the doctor as a character since they didn't develop their relationship much or even develop him as a singular character until they gave him a half-assed backstory in the second to last episode. The writers/director put more emphasis on and effort into explaining how Title became such an a-hole than they did with showcasing the doctor and why we should care about him as a supporting character.
Speaking of Title, he was your standard, cookie-cutter villain where he is so in love with the main character that he will do horrible things in order to get his crush to notice him. It's a trope I'll never understand because what good guy "hero" is going to be like "wow, look at how awful that guy is.. he must really love me. I want to be with that guy." And then you have Title doing the whole "well, if he won't love me then he can't love anyone" thing. Like, he flat out says it, not just hints at the mentality with his actions.
Them going to Japan was a nice change of scenery as I don't think I've seen any Thai BL use this storyline yet. Usually if a character goes abroad somewhere, we don't usually see them in that country. Off the top of my head, I really only remember Kirin briefly being in Korea in Cutie Pie and Shi De being in the US in We Best Love. The scenery and architecture in the Japan portion of the show was stunning, especially with the snow. It was mainly because they were filming a period piece but it provided some great visuals and of course the use of hot springs.
The pacing felt a little weird since Punn and Ashi's story at times felt dragged out while Ming and the doctor could have used so much more. It made the whole thing feel unbalanced though I was still invested enough to watch to the end and feel entertained all along the way. Again, it's not the best series but it was an enjoyable watch for what it was.
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