Be Mine SuperStar can be summed up in single word: disappointing. This was a drama that had a potentially cute story, good actors, gorgeous filming locations, and yet still managed to completely fail. The plot is all over the place, the characters were a combination of cringe, problematic, and charming, the comedy aspect was boring, and the supposed love between the characters ranged from almost nonexistent to only about sex. Getting through those last few episodes was almost physically painful. If anything, this drama gets the reward for most pretty crying scenes in the shortest amount of time.

The premise didn't sound ground breaking, but it doesn't need to be either to tell a good story and be fun. I mean, how many of us have dreamed of meeting our celebrity crush and them falling in love with us? It seemed like if nothing else, it would be relatable and an entertaining rom-com. It wasn't. Frankly, I don't even know where to start with this mess. The plot was a bit all over the place and very inconsistent. It was only towards the end that it became a bit more cohesive. The comedy aspect was forced and overdone. Very little of what was played for laughs was actually funny. There were a few amusing parts, but they were few and far between. The angsty drama, mostly centered around the managers, was excessive and unnecessary. It was, I think, supposed to be amusing. It wasn't. It got old very, very quickly and took far too long to get resolved. Some arcs felt a bit unfinished, particularly with Priew and Title. Priew was arrested and Wan released the video of Title threatening to hit her and then that was it, there was no real resolution as to what happened to them. There didn't need to be a huge deal made about it, but something along the lines of mentioning that Priew was being prosecuted or Title was thoroughly disgraced and no one wanted to work with him would have wrapped up their stories a little more cohesively. The love stories were both very lacking. The romantic chemistry between Achi and Punn was almost nonexistent. Achi was too passive and Punn seemed more obsessed with Achi than in love with him. It just wasn't well developed to make it believable that these were two people in love. Lack of communication is almost always the source of conflict in dramas and this one is no difference. Despite being advised to communicate with each other, we never see them communicate effectively. Throwing Title in as the villain to their love was cliche and boring. He was not an effective or interesting villain. Muang and Ning's story was both troubling and boring. Muang was a red flag multiple times during his pursuit of Ning. The way they actually entered a relationship was glazed over and rushed. One second Muang is clinging to his leg begging him and the next they're having a drink and talking. There was too much left in the air. And once they finally did get together, pretty much every scene they had together was a NSFW scene or they were talking about their friend's problems. Other than obviously being sexually compatible and physically attracted to each other, I have no idea why they even liked each other. In general, both relationships lacked substance and meaning. The pacing was inconsistent, it positively dragged toward the end and ended being mostly filler with a lot of pretty crying and staring wistfully into the distance. It was a very anticlimactic ending to an anticlimactic drama.

The characters were lacking...a lot. Very little background on most of them which was disappointing because having that background can make or break a character. In this case, that lack didn't allow viewers to get a better understanding of the characters and help them understand their actions and behaviours. I had initially gotten the impression that Punn's history with Achi was going to play a bigger role in their story, but it was pretty casually brushed aside and basically only served as the starting point of Punn's love for Achi. A lot more could have been done with that to enhance the story and characters and I was disappointed that didn't happen.
-Punn was a struggle for me. There was a part of me that kind of liked him, but mostly I just found him to be incredibly immature and his behaviour to be very cringy. I don't know what they were going for with his character, if he was maybe supposed to be socially awkward or neurodivergent, but it didn't work. One of the questions I feel like his character brought up is whether the love we feel for our celebrity crushes can be romantic love or just a form of hero worship. True, Punn met Achi before he became famous, but it's clear they never actually knew each other and Punn's love for Achi did seem more hero worship than romantic to me. He came across as obsessive at times and he also didn't seem to fully appreciate or understand the boundaries Achi set for when they were in public given that he broke them multiple times. He just didn't seem mature enough to really be in a relationship. And some of his actions made zero sense. For example, when Priew was blackmailing him, rather than going to Wan who he knew would be in his corner, instead he went to Muang who also didn't suggest going to Wan and told him to sign the contract. What exactly were they thinking? And then there was the absurdity of his reaction to Achi's notes which served as the catalyst for their fight that took up the last couple of episodes. I feel like it's fairly common knowledge that actors and artists in general infuse their emotions and real life experiences in their art. That's part of what makes it realistic. So Punn taking Achi's notes as a sign that Achi was using him seemed unreasonable. Also, Punn had proven himself to be gullible at times, but to so easily believe Title when he knew Title didn't like him and was in love with Achi just seemed unrealistic. I really wanted to see Punn grow in maturity and come into his own as the drama progressed, but that just never seemed to really happen.
-Achi was a bit of an enigma. I struggled with his character because he seemed too passive at times. His words and actions just didn't match up for me. He said he loved Punn, implied that he was the love of his life, but I didn't feel it and didn't really see it. He seemed to find Punn's hero worship of him alternately amusing and, at times, vaguely annoying. I can understand if his character wasn't meant to be overly demonstrative but there needed to be something to show that he truly loved Punn. The build up of his love for Punn was also lacking. You could see him coming to tolerate Punn more and developing a certain level of affection for him, but where that crossed over to love wasn't clear. Essentially, there was a clear physical compatibility between them, but not so much a mental or emotional one. His lack of setting up boundaries with Title became an issue and why he didn't communicate that he was off the market, even if he didn't specify who he was with, is beyond me. In general, he was just a bit too trusting and seemed almost naive at times which didn't quite track with someone who'd been in the entertainment industry for a while.
-Muang was the highlight of this drama for me and for the most part I really loved him. He was funny, loyal, selfless and generally just a gem. Except for one glaring fault which would be with Doctor Ning and their second encounter together. I get that Muang was head over heels for him, but the fact that he was willing to take advantage of him when he was inebriated was a huge red flag. And then it was pretty much brushed aside and never mentioned again. That didn't sit well with me and felt out of character. In general, Muang's behaviour regarding Dr. Ning prior to them getting together was not great. He essentially stalked the man and wore him down, but not in a healthy way. Their relationship in general didn't seem particularly healthy and I was not a fan of it. For all that Muang said something to the effect of their relationship was not just about sex, that's pretty much all we saw them do. So that aspect of his character, I didn't like. Muang as a friend though was great. I liked how he took Punn under his wings and really did in some ways become a father figure to him, helping him, guiding him and supporting him. He was also a good friend to Achi, serving as a sounding board at times and supporting him as well.
-Title was boring. I know he was supposed to be the big bad coming between Achi and Punn and causing issues between them, but he was such a cliche that I just found him to be pointless and ineffective. His whole spiel of if I can't have him nobody can was eye rolling. The thing is, I think he could have been more interesting if he was given more depth and purpose.

The actors did a decent job given the garbage they were working with. Both Ja and First are talented actors. I've watched almost every drama they've been in so I've seen that they have good chemistry and work well together. Here though, the story and the script just failed them and they seemed to struggle. I was excited to see First in a more serious, mature role and I think for the most part, he did a decent job except for when it came to the romance aspect. He was too stoic and, like I mentioned before, I struggled to tell if he truly had feelings for Punn or not. For Ja, again, I'm not sure what they were going for with his character, the level of second hand embarrassment he generated was extreme, but he was consistent with it. I wasn't overly fond of the character, but Ja did commit himself to the role. Their chemistry was lackluster, nothing like in previous dramas such as Don't Say No or Remember Me. Bosston did a good job as Muang. He generally lit up the screen when he was on and was the one overall bright spot in this drama. His physical chemistry with Jo was good, I just would have liked their characters to have more than that. Wayo worked well with what he had. His character was just lacking in addition to the script and I can't really blame him for not being able to save it. I hope he has better opportunities in the future.

The one production aspect of this drama that really shone was the costuming. The costumes, whether within the drama they were filming or their regular clothes, were so well done. The sets were also well done, particularly the filming ones. Beautifully designed and they were well used. The cinematography, particularly in Japan, was beautiful. They really made use of the snow and snowfall to create some really beautiful shots. Some of the shots on the drama set were well done too, I particularly liked the one of Achi and Punn looking at each other through the fan. It was creative and oddly beautiful.

I was excited for this drama and the seemingly fun, romantic story it was going to tell. I was excited to see Ja and First again since their last drama, Remember Me, wasn't particularly good. And I was excited for the beautiful scenery the trailer showed and all of it's possibilities. The only aspect that didn't disappoint was the scenery. The rest was a bust. I kept hoping that things would get better, but they never did. It got to the point where I was looking forward to the next episode just because it was one step closer to the end and I wanted to be done with it. This isn't a drama that I recommend. It's got a few good parts, but overall, it's just not worth it.