My oh my what a mess this drama was. The synopsis left me intrigued, but the short length left me apprehensive which it turns out I was right to be. While the general concept of it is interesting and could have been used to create a decent drama, what was actually done is pretty underwhelming. A mediocre story, cast, and characters coupled with plot holes, poor editing choices, and a major plot twist that actually doesn't work all combine to create a confusing web that never gets fully untangled or explained leaving us with more questions than answers in the end.

The general idea behind the story really does have promise, it just either needed to be better honed for the shorter number of episodes or there needed to be more episodes for it be fully realized. As it stands, it didn't work for me. The world building was seriously lacking with how the coffee shop worked. For one, there needed to be more explanation for where the cards came from. If it was something where people just picked them up, then fine, but Thana just seemed to have his and Ryou had his drop in front of him. There was no consistency. The scene jumps of characters being in one place and then suddenly in front of of the shop were jarring. The wishing aspect also needed more explanation. It felt like there should be some rules a la Genie from Aladdin, though I think it is mentioned here that reviving the dead is not an option. But the wishes the characters all made felt very cliché. There was nothing original about them. The flashbacks that happened throughout were initially confusing because they weren't obvious as flashbacks, so it took a second to realize what was going on. I didn't find them particularly interesting mostly because I didn't find the coffee shop owner, Kaew, very interesting. I really didn't care about her backstory and I think leaving her character as a mystery and focusing more on how the wishes and coffee shop worked would have been more beneficial.

The pacing was all over the place. Mai and Ryou's relationship was very rushed. I understand they couldn't take their time developing the relationship because of the short number of episodes, but I've seen other dramas do a good job in a limited time so I think they could have done better. And Thana and Phathit's story was a rollercoaster ups and downs. I frankly didn't find their relationship to be that interesting and I was more invested in Mai and Ryou's story.

Like I said, I found the wishes each of the characters made to be overall cliché, but also mildly interesting in a what were you thinking kind of way. Thana wishes for a new job. I honestly wondered at that, because he was so concerned about not matching up to Phathit, why didn't he wish to be his equal or something along those lines? And then the big plot twist is that it's revealed that Dena, for whatever reason, wished that no one would ever remember her, Ryou, Mai, or Nack, but would instead only know Darin, Phathit, Thana, and Naphat. It seems that this made them forget their childhood together or something like that. The logistics of this wish is, of course, not explained so we're left to guess. Now this wish is important to mention first, because Nack wished that he could kiss Ryou, a wish that doesn't come about until he as an adult Naphat kisses an adult Pathit. I will give credit to Nack for the fact that he didn't wish for Ryou to love him which is exactly what Ryou did, wishing that Mai would love him with his whole heart which then begs the question, did Mai/Thana actually love Ryou/Phathit or was it the wish making him do so?

Going back to that plot twist, there is rather massive problem with it. In Episode 3, at least, and I want to say something similar happens in another earlier episode, there is an instance where Ryou and Nack are grocery shopping together and Phathit is seen at the same store. This is when Mai gets locked in the locker room and Ryou runs off to go rescue him. There is a shot after this that has both Phathit and Nack in the same frame. Now if Nack is supposed to be a young Naphat, this is obviously impossible. I frankly found the plot twist to be very disappointing for a couple reasons. One being that, before it's reveal, I had liked these couple of brief glimpses of how their lives were connected, even tangentially. They never actually interacted, but they existed in the same sphere. And then there was the plot twist which just ruined that and also went to show just how incredibly poorly it was planned out. Besides that, there just never felt like there was a connection between the characters. They could have done something really cool with little hints and similarities that once it was revealed made you want to smack yourself on the forehead because, yes, Ryou made an offhand comment related to medicine or Thana said something about not wanting to be alone. There were so many little ways they could have connected them and I didn't notice any which is why that twist felt out of the blue and more like they were going for shock value than it was a well thought out, developed choice.

The characters really nothing special. There was one character that I genuinely liked, but I'll get to him in a bit.
-Thana and Phathit: I initially thought they were going to be interesting characters because of their dynamic as an established couple that had been together for over ten years. Instead, I didn't really find them to be any different from the less established couples I've seen in countless other BLs. I was expecting their communication to be much better than it was. After ten years together, I would have expected Thana to be less reticent to talk to Phathit about what was going on both in his personal and work life. And a little bit the same with the inferiority complex he had, it felt too fresh when Phathit had obviously been a doctor for a while. So those aspects didn't work for me. They didn't feel particularly realistic for their situation. Thana's struggles with work and feeling neglected by Phathit were more relatable though. Finding a job that actually feels like a calling is hard and when you don't have someone you can talk to about it, that makes it even harder. And while I understood that he felt neglected by Phathit, I had trouble really sympathizing with him because he never communicated how he was feeling until he lashed out. Phathit was relatable in his focus on work to build them future but at the same time neglecting Thana and their relationship. Finding that work/life balance can be a struggle, especially when you work in the medical field. And while Phathit was a good guy, he was not a mind reader and couldn't be expected to know what Thana was thinking when he didn't speak up. Thana's insecurity was a huge issue in their relationship and a large reason for the friction that developed between them. I was frankly glad that Phathit wasn't willing to just let him off the hook after he cheated. While Thana was obviously remorseful for what he had done, it also seemed clear that he had no intention of telling Phathit what had happened if he hadn't been caught which makes me wonder if he would have continued otherwise. Frankly I was hoping they would stay separated, but maybe the new beginning will work out for them.
-Mai and Ryou: The relationship for these two pretty much jumped out of the gate at a sprint. There's a bit of an enemies to lovers hint to the beginning of their relationship, but it's not well developed due to how fast their relationship progresses. While I understand time was limited to build their background and grow their relationship, I think more time was needed for it to really help understand their characters and to make their relationship more cohesive. Particularly with Mai, we understand that he gets lonely, but he was living alone just fine at the beginning, so when his parents decided to move, why didn't he opt to move into a dorm? Was it just because he wasn't ready to admit his feelings for Ryou? We also see his struggle as he realizes that he's starting to fall for Ryou when he tells Ryou that he can't fall for him and that he's straight. But we never fully understand why he's fighting so hard, his parents are never shown disapproving of the LGBTQ community. There's also Ryou's reluctance to admit his own feelings. It felt disjointed because we have him unwilling to at least verbally speak his feelings to then going to the coffee shop and wishing that Mai would love him with his whole heart. It feels like there's a lot of missing information with them that would help things make sense. I could go with the assumption that it's deliberate to feed into Dena's wish and how it worked, but I think that's giving it far too much credit. Their relationship is also lacking in open communication and then there's the instance where Mai very nearly rapes Ryou. Neither is a particularly great foundation to build a relationship on.
-Thana and Time: When Time initially showed up, I was certain that Thana was going to cheat on Phathit with him, but as more time went on and nothing happened, I grew hopeful that they were just going to continue on as friends and I really loved that for both of them because it was clear they had found something in each other. Of course, then they went and had multiple drinks, smoked and got together. I was very disappointed. Time was the one character that I actually genuinely liked in this drama. And by that I don't mean that he was a good person because he knew that Thana was taken and he still let things go to the next level. But as a character, I loved him. He was flawed, but I also found him genuine and straightforward. He didn't mince words and he called things like he saw them. Beneath the bravado, he was a good kid, willing to help a new friend and cheer him on. And I really liked him and Thana together. They had fantastic chemistry together, both as friends and in that brief NSFW scene. They fit together well and seemed on more equal footing than Thana and Phathit and it was nice to see Thana have someone he could talk to. Like I said, I was really hoping they would continue on as friends, I figured it was a vain hope, and sure enough, it was. My heart did break a little for Time during their last conversation, just because he'd finally found someone he clicked with and then there he was being abandoned again.

Acting was a mixed bag. This is now the third drama I have seen Gun in as a lead and, I'm sorry, but the man is just not that great of an actor. He has brief moments where he does well, very brief, but emotional scenes feel overacted, he makes the same face repeatedly, and any scenes that require physical intimacy are almost physically painful to watch. If you are that uncomfortable kissing men, honey, please stop doing BLs! He had zero chemistry with Mig of any kind and I am laying that solely on him, because Mig absolutely had chemistry with Bank. Mig did a pretty good job for his first role. It was obvious at times that he's pretty green, the more emotional scenes weren't as strong, there were some times where it felt like he was just delivering lines, but there were a lot of other moments where he absolutely nailed it. I think he has great potential. Bell is also brand new but, wow, does he know how to use his eyes. He has an expressive face in general, but his eyes especially just give his performance that extra je ne sais quoi. Bhu has had a bit more experience, but I can't give him the same praise. His performance didn't have the same brilliance as Bell's. He just didn't give Mai a whole lot of personality and often came across as a bit lifeless. He did have his good moments though where he was engaging, but he wore his character like armor almost and it didn't allow for him to shine.

There really is nothing luminous about The Luminous Solution. It's unfortunately quite dull and disappointing, sad considering it's potential. Despite it's short length, this isn't one that I would recommend watching. It's such a confusing mess, it's not worth the time trying to figure it out for such little payout.