1
kaya
planting broccoli
This review may contain spoilers
"I don't know what you look like, I don't know who you are, but I like you."
I'm someone who loves anything to do with transmigration and body swapping tropes, so when I first saw the mock trailer in GMMTV 2022, I was immediately enamored by this show and added it to my PTW list. I first started watching around the period when EP8 aired, thinking that it had already finished airing, and was ready to binge, only to realise too late that I was wrong. However, the show was just so 'my-type', that I couldn't help but immediately watch all episodes and anticipate the next one every week.
Some things I especially loved about Vice Versa were the use of colours, considering Talay's career as a colourist, as well as how the characters were written and their dynamics. With each episode came a new colour, not just for its title, but also for the colour scheme of that episode's scenery and Talay's outfit (his outfits as Tess never failed to slay, honestly). That made Vice Versa all the more visually pleasing and meaningful for me. And with regards to the characters, many of them appealed to me, especially all 4 of the boys in the Friend Credits team. Talay, who's a closed-off but sensitive colourist. Puen, the flirty actor who's lonelier than anyone else. Up, the moodmaker who never fails to make people smile. Aou, serious yet always sweet. It was even better when Kita and Fuse were thrown into the mix, making the six of them all the more powerful as a group who would always be there for one another.
I'd also found myself smiling and even squealing a lot at PuenTalay whenever they had moments on the screen together, and especially alone. And in that sense, I felt that Jimmy and Sea truly brought their characters to life while playing them. You could always really see how much Puen and Talay loved each other, even through their eyes, and I think that's something really powerful especially for JimmySea who are rookie actors. Their chemistry was amazing and I'm really looking forward to their future projects next year!
Music also was an important factor in Vice Versa, especially considering that PuenTalay connected over the songs from their universe in the very beginning of their relationship. I just thought that 'Have I Found' and 'By My Side' were very well used throughout the series, even growing on me even though JimmySea's singing voices aren't... really my favourite (though that goes for a lot of GMMTV OSTs where the actors sing it too). Other than that, I also really loved the use of 'City' by Three Man Down! There can't be a more appropriate song for PuenTalay, and that song always gave me the goosebumps when played in the show.
But then again, there were also many points in the story itself that stood out the wrong way to me. I felt that it lacked proper world building and loses its plot halfway through, although it seems to have found itself back towards the end (which I feel might be a trademark of Jittirain?). What I mean by that is that in the beginning, PuenTalay appear to be finding ways to go back to their own universe, which they do by trying their best to look for their portkey. However, in the middle, it ends up with the two of them simply working on making a successful movie with the rest of the Friend Credits team.
In my opinion, I think the plot would have developed better in the middle had they filled in some plot holes, which would have better answered some questions. Some major ones for me were - how and why the body swap and parallel universe travelling happens, as well as the whole premise of a portkey (it was always pretty vague and didn't exactly match with the way Puen actually got back home).
Vice Versa also lacked in developing the stories of some important side characters, which may have been understandable considering the time constraint had they left out 50% of the product placement (I only forgive the ones for Lays and some of the OK Mama Noodles ones). By the end, I found myself wondering what happened to Pang after the success of Romantic Non-Comedy. Did she find her portkey and go back? We never saw her after that, nor do we see her in PuenTalay's universe, even though she was pretty important to PuenTalay's development as a couple. How Tess and Tun somehow made up in their world was also a little questionable for me, considering how Tess appeared to have been an ass to (not only) Tun for the two years in Talay's body, but I guess I can assume that Talay solving Tess' life issues for him had a part in that.
Overall, I would say that anyone who's debating whether to start the series or not should definitely give it a try despite its flaws, especially if you aren't the kind to nitpick on details. It's a feel-good show with very fluffy moments and a lot of kisses, and I see myself rewatching my favourite scenes, just not Vice Versa in its entirety, often!
Some things I especially loved about Vice Versa were the use of colours, considering Talay's career as a colourist, as well as how the characters were written and their dynamics. With each episode came a new colour, not just for its title, but also for the colour scheme of that episode's scenery and Talay's outfit (his outfits as Tess never failed to slay, honestly). That made Vice Versa all the more visually pleasing and meaningful for me. And with regards to the characters, many of them appealed to me, especially all 4 of the boys in the Friend Credits team. Talay, who's a closed-off but sensitive colourist. Puen, the flirty actor who's lonelier than anyone else. Up, the moodmaker who never fails to make people smile. Aou, serious yet always sweet. It was even better when Kita and Fuse were thrown into the mix, making the six of them all the more powerful as a group who would always be there for one another.
I'd also found myself smiling and even squealing a lot at PuenTalay whenever they had moments on the screen together, and especially alone. And in that sense, I felt that Jimmy and Sea truly brought their characters to life while playing them. You could always really see how much Puen and Talay loved each other, even through their eyes, and I think that's something really powerful especially for JimmySea who are rookie actors. Their chemistry was amazing and I'm really looking forward to their future projects next year!
Music also was an important factor in Vice Versa, especially considering that PuenTalay connected over the songs from their universe in the very beginning of their relationship. I just thought that 'Have I Found' and 'By My Side' were very well used throughout the series, even growing on me even though JimmySea's singing voices aren't... really my favourite (though that goes for a lot of GMMTV OSTs where the actors sing it too). Other than that, I also really loved the use of 'City' by Three Man Down! There can't be a more appropriate song for PuenTalay, and that song always gave me the goosebumps when played in the show.
But then again, there were also many points in the story itself that stood out the wrong way to me. I felt that it lacked proper world building and loses its plot halfway through, although it seems to have found itself back towards the end (which I feel might be a trademark of Jittirain?). What I mean by that is that in the beginning, PuenTalay appear to be finding ways to go back to their own universe, which they do by trying their best to look for their portkey. However, in the middle, it ends up with the two of them simply working on making a successful movie with the rest of the Friend Credits team.
In my opinion, I think the plot would have developed better in the middle had they filled in some plot holes, which would have better answered some questions. Some major ones for me were - how and why the body swap and parallel universe travelling happens, as well as the whole premise of a portkey (it was always pretty vague and didn't exactly match with the way Puen actually got back home).
Vice Versa also lacked in developing the stories of some important side characters, which may have been understandable considering the time constraint had they left out 50% of the product placement (I only forgive the ones for Lays and some of the OK Mama Noodles ones). By the end, I found myself wondering what happened to Pang after the success of Romantic Non-Comedy. Did she find her portkey and go back? We never saw her after that, nor do we see her in PuenTalay's universe, even though she was pretty important to PuenTalay's development as a couple. How Tess and Tun somehow made up in their world was also a little questionable for me, considering how Tess appeared to have been an ass to (not only) Tun for the two years in Talay's body, but I guess I can assume that Talay solving Tess' life issues for him had a part in that.
Overall, I would say that anyone who's debating whether to start the series or not should definitely give it a try despite its flaws, especially if you aren't the kind to nitpick on details. It's a feel-good show with very fluffy moments and a lot of kisses, and I see myself rewatching my favourite scenes, just not Vice Versa in its entirety, often!
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