3
5
jpny01
Kind of a guilty pleasure
This is not good. It's not terrible, but the writing is unimaginative and derivative. It's almost saved by its cast, but there is a glaring problem that prevented this from being the best execution of this plot type.
The problem is the main couple, which is a pointless and cliched story that is poorly written throughout, which is unfortunate, because none of the side couples (and there are three of them) have this issue. Even then, it might have been saved if the actors were fanastic with electric chemistry. And Fluke as Mek has a certain charm. But Earth... his acting is wholy lacking in authenticity - everything he does looks fake, even blinking (how can blinking look fake you ask? I don't know. But Earth manages it). He's not assisted by the writing, which makes Kim a prissy, grumpy and unpleasant person, who has no character developmen at all. As opposed to Mek, who turns 180 degrees from who he was like a light switch being flipped - he goes from a charming carefree prankster into a featureless dullness which paired with Kim makes you resent the amount of time spend on them in the finale.
The side couples are some of the best you'll ever see. Lee and Park are rather unusual in the way they meet and get togther, which is refreshing and interesting, and allows the story to examine a much different set of issues. Acted by two beautiful and talented actors, Daniel Cheng (Marco from Call It What You Want) and Bew Sitthikarn, a newcomer who I hope we see a lot more of, this is a compelling couple.
Bear and Bomb are a high-contrast couple, played by the lovable Por Patsakon and the pouty-sexy Yut Kritsadayut, with great chemistry and complimentary personalities. Tim and Mai don't get much screentime, but they also become interesting later on as the brooding popular boy and the perfect man for him in his taken-for-granted best friend who's always at his side encouraging him.
This series is too full of tropes and cliches to give it a high score, but if it had dispensed with the main couple and focused on the other three pairs, perhaps with Lee & Park as the main, this could have been an 8.5 or 9. I'm not sure why this keeps happening - I think maybe it's because the main couple has a "gimmick" and ends up having its story constrained by it, while secondary couples have more freedom. Also, for reasons that I'm not sure I understand, rookie actors are cast as mains, relegating the experienced and talented actors to side roles.
Anyway, despite the above, I do recommend this series - it was a guilty pleasure for me, but for the side characters. The cast is unusually attractive and charming, and I did get a lot of pleasure from it even if I had to put Kim & Mek on 2x to get through their tiresome scenes.
The problem is the main couple, which is a pointless and cliched story that is poorly written throughout, which is unfortunate, because none of the side couples (and there are three of them) have this issue. Even then, it might have been saved if the actors were fanastic with electric chemistry. And Fluke as Mek has a certain charm. But Earth... his acting is wholy lacking in authenticity - everything he does looks fake, even blinking (how can blinking look fake you ask? I don't know. But Earth manages it). He's not assisted by the writing, which makes Kim a prissy, grumpy and unpleasant person, who has no character developmen at all. As opposed to Mek, who turns 180 degrees from who he was like a light switch being flipped - he goes from a charming carefree prankster into a featureless dullness which paired with Kim makes you resent the amount of time spend on them in the finale.
The side couples are some of the best you'll ever see. Lee and Park are rather unusual in the way they meet and get togther, which is refreshing and interesting, and allows the story to examine a much different set of issues. Acted by two beautiful and talented actors, Daniel Cheng (Marco from Call It What You Want) and Bew Sitthikarn, a newcomer who I hope we see a lot more of, this is a compelling couple.
Bear and Bomb are a high-contrast couple, played by the lovable Por Patsakon and the pouty-sexy Yut Kritsadayut, with great chemistry and complimentary personalities. Tim and Mai don't get much screentime, but they also become interesting later on as the brooding popular boy and the perfect man for him in his taken-for-granted best friend who's always at his side encouraging him.
This series is too full of tropes and cliches to give it a high score, but if it had dispensed with the main couple and focused on the other three pairs, perhaps with Lee & Park as the main, this could have been an 8.5 or 9. I'm not sure why this keeps happening - I think maybe it's because the main couple has a "gimmick" and ends up having its story constrained by it, while secondary couples have more freedom. Also, for reasons that I'm not sure I understand, rookie actors are cast as mains, relegating the experienced and talented actors to side roles.
Anyway, despite the above, I do recommend this series - it was a guilty pleasure for me, but for the side characters. The cast is unusually attractive and charming, and I did get a lot of pleasure from it even if I had to put Kim & Mek on 2x to get through their tiresome scenes.
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