PROS:

- the characters were amazing. ying ying is a great main character as she’s quite reasonable in her choices & feels very relatable to the viewer. noina is a little more over the top, but she’s so cute it’s hard to be mad at her, even when she’s too desperate & pushy for her own good. korn is extremely bland & boring at first, but for once in a male lead it’s actually on purpose, and seeing him come out of his shell little by little was very satisfying. as for pat, he’s basically the perfect man. he’s mature, a great friend & boyfriend, but still very funny when he’s scared & as an ex-playboy. wisa is frankly one of the best villains ever? she’s both completely cartoon-ish in her villainy, yet has very real moments that show her struggles to define herself outside of how her parents view her. I kinda stan her ngl :’)

- the acting was really good! whoever thought of pairing baifern & mild as bffs deserves a raise, bc the chemistry of these two in emotional scenes is THROUGH THE ROOF!!! you feel every emotion they’re going through. as for nonkul he did great, and this is actually the first role of his where he leaves a positive impression on me as his other roles were honestly just too bland. ploy was also amazing as wisa, she feels like a whole other person from her usual sweet roles so it was great to witness that! all of the other actors were great in their own way too!

- the chemistry was also top-tier, which is pretty amazing considering ying ying & korn spend most of the show apart, and even when they’re together ying ying is trying to make him like noina so it’s not like too much romantic stuff can be going on. even with that, the way those two look at each other was enough for the viewer to completely feel the love between them. pat & noina were an amazing side ship who are way more light than the main one, but the chemistry which already existed in girl next room: richy rich absolutely continued & even deepened in this series :)

- the friendship in this series is great, and showcases why exactly female friendship is simply superior™. gonna be honest I almost feel like this show is more about ying ying & noina than their love stories, and I loved seeing how close & loyal to each other they are. these two are basically sisters, and it was great to witness such a beautiful friendship on screen.

- the story is entertaining as hell, it definitely has a lot of over the top elements that come with lakorns & simply this type of story, but behind all of that it still feels pretty realistic. the choices made by the characters make sense, their character development is written well and it all fits very well into a cohesive story.

- I literally never comment on it, but the costume design was TOP-NOTCH!!! I loved how ying ying’s outfits are a bit more boyish & streetwear compared to noina’s hyper feminine & cutesy outfits. I love how wisa’s extravagant clothes match yoo’s top-tier wardobe compared to korn’s bland one. I love that the two doctors dress very simply as fashion is clearly not their priority, but that pat is often seen wearing stripes, as if it was his favorite pattern in clothing. this costume design was just very well done in my opinion, and it’s one of the rare times I actually noticed & appreciated the clothes used in a show.

CONS:

- I gotta say the transphobia in the show made me pretty uncomfortable. I feel like there’s two separate things about it: firstly they’re trying to show the transphobia that pang faces, but it does feel pretty clumsy considering her transphobic dad accepts her out of nowhere after having completely denied her gender for years... secondly there are other instances that just feel insensitive, like when ying ying introduces pang to korn as her “big brother... oh, I mean big sister.” that remark really bothered me bc ying ying has known pang’s gender for years at this point & is very close to her, so there was no reason to introduce her like that apart from making it clear to korn that she’s transgender, which... is simply not her place to say that at all. idk, I know the show had good intentions, but for me that wasn’t what was translated on screen.

- like every romcom, this does fall into pretty cliche territories. ying ying & korn HAVING to be each other’s first loves was v obvious & pretty unoriginal, though I like that they’re balanced by pat & noina who are not each other’s first loves. there’s a few moments in this show that feel like that, and it’s not like the show as a whole isn’t incredibly predictable. I don’t think you’ll be surprised once during this show, there’s no plot twist whatsoever. but I don’t think it was the point anyway, so... yeah. it’s just what keeps me from giving it a higher grade.

WOULD I REWATCH IT: why not!

CONCLUSION: This was a really lovely show that completely exceeded my expectations compared to its trailers. In terms of straight romances, this is definitely one of the best I’ve ever watched from Thailand so I’d definitely recommend it! It also gives pretty good lessons about love & marriage that feel way more realistic than most romcoms.