j729
This review may contain spoilers
I enjoyed this series, not sure why all the hate.
This is far from a bad series like many are saying. I would even place it above some popular and recent series like Golden Blood, Tharn Type 2, and Call it What You Want. This is MUCH better than Ghost Runner, My Bromance 2, Cupid Coach, and My Boy.
The sound and video quality was good, and the translations were decent. But I do like it where the translations are more literal and not interpretations of the script. I like when they include the P' and Nong and Khun, and so on in the translations.
I liked the story, and I thought it was written and directed just fine. Some call this story a ripoff of other stories, but at some point with the proliferation of BL series, things are going to start to look familiar. I personally thought it was different enough that it wasn't a rehash of other series, the idea that they all had a secret was unique. The tropes are sure prominent here though, lots of falling into each other, staring into each other's eyes, and more.
The couples were all cute, and I though the acting fine, especially for more inexperienced actors. I couldn't take my eyes off Copy and MaiEak, they are so pretty! Again, I will go against many here where I say there weren't too many couples. With a 15 episode series, and 5 couples, I think it was varied and interesting to see the contrast between the couples. Some series drag out for dozens of episodes with just 1 couple and it sometimes gets repetitive. I didn't get that here.
As far as each couple...
* There is Lukmo and Simai where the family secret tears apart this couple. They share a father, but it turns out they aren't really brothers. The parents are too scared to tell Simai the truth about Simai's father. This puts Lukmo (who at some point knows the truth) into a very bad position. Lukmo already has emotional baggage due to his mother dying, and his father running away and abandoning the family.
* Phob and Eak are best friends, Phob has a crush on Eak, but Eak is oblivious to it all. (I will put a different spin on things here compared to some reviews). I think Eak was not really straight, rather he didn't know what he was. Lots of younger guys are confused about things and date girls in High School or College, but find out later it wasn't their true feelings. Then you have the complication of Phob moving on with his life and dating others which really makes Eak come to terms with his feelings, probably too late though.
* Copy and Nampu are a bit of a role reversal where the younger presumably "uke" pursues the older and presumably "seme". Nampu is apparently very openly gay, where Copy isn't ready to be open to his friends or family. Their story is probably the least messy here, but Copy's inability to be open makes Nampu second guess everything.
* Plawaan and Suea can't tell each other they like each other I think Suea is giving the hints he likes Plawaan, but Plawaan might see Suea as a brother or just a classmate. Suea's character is also younger and he seems to be controlled by his mother. So Suea tries to be with Plawaan at all times through the guise of Plawaan teaching him basketball. There seems to be some progress toward the end.
* Both and Newyear are virtually playing themselves right down to their jobs. Some complain that they were calling everyone else "kids" but they are older than everyone else here, both in real life and in character. There was some jealousy involved, and their secret revolved around getting married. Both thinks they aren't mature enough or ready (at age 26/33!) where Newyear has been pestering Both for years about marriage. I thought it was different to have a real life couple, but maybe they should have changed their names and made them more of a character. The line sure is blurry between real life and character here.
I think people don't like the ending, and thus the poor ratings. Apparently Covid played a role with the last couple episodes, and I can forgive them for that. Lots of series were delayed or cancelled or had odd plots due to Covid. People are saying that they should have stopped and resumed production rather than producing the last episodes the way they did. I am sure there were timelines to be kept, and if they did stop production it would be very hard to get everyone back together so you would end up with the mess of Cupid Coach where switching characters totally wrecked the series.
I hope they do a movie or a part 2 at some point to wrap things up, but I could see where leaving it as is would be fine too. Eak for example might never get Phob as implied in the last episode. Or you could guess that Simai finally got the truth from his father and that is why he returned. But still, seeing an on-screen resolution for each couple would be nice.
The sound and video quality was good, and the translations were decent. But I do like it where the translations are more literal and not interpretations of the script. I like when they include the P' and Nong and Khun, and so on in the translations.
I liked the story, and I thought it was written and directed just fine. Some call this story a ripoff of other stories, but at some point with the proliferation of BL series, things are going to start to look familiar. I personally thought it was different enough that it wasn't a rehash of other series, the idea that they all had a secret was unique. The tropes are sure prominent here though, lots of falling into each other, staring into each other's eyes, and more.
The couples were all cute, and I though the acting fine, especially for more inexperienced actors. I couldn't take my eyes off Copy and MaiEak, they are so pretty! Again, I will go against many here where I say there weren't too many couples. With a 15 episode series, and 5 couples, I think it was varied and interesting to see the contrast between the couples. Some series drag out for dozens of episodes with just 1 couple and it sometimes gets repetitive. I didn't get that here.
As far as each couple...
* There is Lukmo and Simai where the family secret tears apart this couple. They share a father, but it turns out they aren't really brothers. The parents are too scared to tell Simai the truth about Simai's father. This puts Lukmo (who at some point knows the truth) into a very bad position. Lukmo already has emotional baggage due to his mother dying, and his father running away and abandoning the family.
* Phob and Eak are best friends, Phob has a crush on Eak, but Eak is oblivious to it all. (I will put a different spin on things here compared to some reviews). I think Eak was not really straight, rather he didn't know what he was. Lots of younger guys are confused about things and date girls in High School or College, but find out later it wasn't their true feelings. Then you have the complication of Phob moving on with his life and dating others which really makes Eak come to terms with his feelings, probably too late though.
* Copy and Nampu are a bit of a role reversal where the younger presumably "uke" pursues the older and presumably "seme". Nampu is apparently very openly gay, where Copy isn't ready to be open to his friends or family. Their story is probably the least messy here, but Copy's inability to be open makes Nampu second guess everything.
* Plawaan and Suea can't tell each other they like each other I think Suea is giving the hints he likes Plawaan, but Plawaan might see Suea as a brother or just a classmate. Suea's character is also younger and he seems to be controlled by his mother. So Suea tries to be with Plawaan at all times through the guise of Plawaan teaching him basketball. There seems to be some progress toward the end.
* Both and Newyear are virtually playing themselves right down to their jobs. Some complain that they were calling everyone else "kids" but they are older than everyone else here, both in real life and in character. There was some jealousy involved, and their secret revolved around getting married. Both thinks they aren't mature enough or ready (at age 26/33!) where Newyear has been pestering Both for years about marriage. I thought it was different to have a real life couple, but maybe they should have changed their names and made them more of a character. The line sure is blurry between real life and character here.
I think people don't like the ending, and thus the poor ratings. Apparently Covid played a role with the last couple episodes, and I can forgive them for that. Lots of series were delayed or cancelled or had odd plots due to Covid. People are saying that they should have stopped and resumed production rather than producing the last episodes the way they did. I am sure there were timelines to be kept, and if they did stop production it would be very hard to get everyone back together so you would end up with the mess of Cupid Coach where switching characters totally wrecked the series.
I hope they do a movie or a part 2 at some point to wrap things up, but I could see where leaving it as is would be fine too. Eak for example might never get Phob as implied in the last episode. Or you could guess that Simai finally got the truth from his father and that is why he returned. But still, seeing an on-screen resolution for each couple would be nice.
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