3
5
jpny01
Tries to be too many things
The novel from which this series was adapted was apparently porn, and fairly transgressive at that. I can't help but ask if that was really the most suitable material.
This starts of as an Enemies to Lovers story on steroids, with the two being so awful to each other that it's hard to imagine coming back from it. Later on it emerges that Mangkorn has liked Yai for years. You mean like when you drugged and raped him, filmed it and used the footage to blackmail him? I might have started out by asking him on a date, but I guess we all have our playbooks.
Do note that Mangkorn discovered that Yai planned to do that to him and turned the tables, so It's not like Yai is some innocent victim.
Anyway, they fall in love, of course, and have all the typical BL problems from demanding fathers, arranged marraiges, inapporpriate jealousy, and implausible lack of communication, before the most inexplicably dull finale imaginable. One commenter called them "matured". Yes, matured if you mean married for 40 years and no longer have any passion left between them. There's a large chunk of their conversation that revolved around who was ordering flowers. There's even a flashback to provide the backstory to who was ordering flowers. Do we watch dramas to listen to people have a conversation like our elderly parents might have, or do we watch it for, I don't know, drama?
I don't necessarily need a realistic portrayal of what would happen if two 20-something men who are passionately in love and haven't seen each other for a year came together (hint: tons and tons of sex), but I do want to see the joy and passion and chemistry, not discussions of who ordered the flowers and career goals.
The transition from mutual attempted rape/blackmail to Disney princess is non existent - we really don't see the progression in their relationship, they just go from firey hatred and a desire to destroy each other to waiting up for the sunrise when they've been apart for a year (note: airliners have WCs and people have been brushing their teeth on them since the dawn of flight. Airports also have WCs, and if you're rich and flew Business, the lounge even has invidual fully-stocked private bathrooms).
There's apparently a Season 2. Joy.
The acting is quite good in this - I didn't notice at first, but both leads are considerably above average. There is good cinematograpy, but there are times when a shot is so obviously set up that it takes you out of the moment.
My intial reaction to this series was quite negative, and then it steadily grew on me, before taking a downswing with the finale where everyone started talking like greeting cards. It's not the worst series - I'm not sure I'd recomment it, but if you can get past the first three episodes it starts to get better. If not for the finale, I would have given this a 7.5.
This starts of as an Enemies to Lovers story on steroids, with the two being so awful to each other that it's hard to imagine coming back from it. Later on it emerges that Mangkorn has liked Yai for years. You mean like when you drugged and raped him, filmed it and used the footage to blackmail him? I might have started out by asking him on a date, but I guess we all have our playbooks.
Do note that Mangkorn discovered that Yai planned to do that to him and turned the tables, so It's not like Yai is some innocent victim.
Anyway, they fall in love, of course, and have all the typical BL problems from demanding fathers, arranged marraiges, inapporpriate jealousy, and implausible lack of communication, before the most inexplicably dull finale imaginable. One commenter called them "matured". Yes, matured if you mean married for 40 years and no longer have any passion left between them. There's a large chunk of their conversation that revolved around who was ordering flowers. There's even a flashback to provide the backstory to who was ordering flowers. Do we watch dramas to listen to people have a conversation like our elderly parents might have, or do we watch it for, I don't know, drama?
I don't necessarily need a realistic portrayal of what would happen if two 20-something men who are passionately in love and haven't seen each other for a year came together (hint: tons and tons of sex), but I do want to see the joy and passion and chemistry, not discussions of who ordered the flowers and career goals.
The transition from mutual attempted rape/blackmail to Disney princess is non existent - we really don't see the progression in their relationship, they just go from firey hatred and a desire to destroy each other to waiting up for the sunrise when they've been apart for a year (note: airliners have WCs and people have been brushing their teeth on them since the dawn of flight. Airports also have WCs, and if you're rich and flew Business, the lounge even has invidual fully-stocked private bathrooms).
There's apparently a Season 2. Joy.
The acting is quite good in this - I didn't notice at first, but both leads are considerably above average. There is good cinematograpy, but there are times when a shot is so obviously set up that it takes you out of the moment.
My intial reaction to this series was quite negative, and then it steadily grew on me, before taking a downswing with the finale where everyone started talking like greeting cards. It's not the worst series - I'm not sure I'd recomment it, but if you can get past the first three episodes it starts to get better. If not for the finale, I would have given this a 7.5.
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