puwupy
Too little and too much imbalance to make it worth watching
I really wanted to like this show, which is the reason why I watched until the last episode, but there's just too many things about it that I found incredibly annoying and unsatisfying.
Starting from the plot: there is the interesting premise of an enemies-to-lovers romance, where Rak and Diao pick on each other at work or at home based on where they have the power to do so. I was hoping some kind of balanced war between the two, with the protagonists giving and taking the same energy from each other, but it didn't happen.
The first episodes are all pretty much independent from each other, then toward the end there is a more evident continuity. A good chunk of the episodes weren't even useful for the sake of the plot or the characters, which is a pity - I wish they got rid of episodes 2-6 (and maybe episode 7) and used that time for more developments after episode 15. Since the only episodes that have some proper content are only about half of the total, I can't say that it's "worth it", especially because the only episodes I actually enjoyed are the ones from 11 to 15.
Rak was obviously written to be a perfect character, way too much to get back at Diao at work and being unprofessional, or even put up any kind of resistance against anyone. I had the impression that he was being pulled and pushed around by the other characters at all times, without him even complaining about it because he is "too nice" and "loved by everyone". Not saying that a character can't be like that, but if that's the case, then why would you use this characterization in a story like this one?
Diao, on the other hand, is just too much, to the point that I had to fast forward many scenes (and in a couple instances, entire episodes) to avoid the second-hand embarrassment his words and decisions gave me. He acts unprofessionally at work, then keeps pranking Rak at home "for revenge", even when it was all his own misunderstanding. I'm not going to say that he's the worst I've ever seen, but his juvenile behavior makes it very hard to grow fond of him.
The actors are both good and their chemistry is great, but while Win got to show a lot in the series (especially toward the end), Earth felt a lot more limited in his expressions. Not sure if that was because of the directing or if it's all on him, but still.
Leaving aside my two biggest complaints about the series (the imbalance in both the plot and the character dynamic), there were also multiple smaller things that I found annoying, such as the continuous sexual harassment from almost all the characters toward Rak, the transphobic lines that someone thought would be funny (they aren't), and the very invasive sound effects and canned laughter that are spread all over (sometimes they are even used during the most serious moments, it was very annoying).
I can't say that it was all trash, because the final few episodes glued me to the screen and I also found it funny here and there, but that's it. If you're interested but you want to spare yourself going through all of it, I can only recommend watching the first episode, then skipping to episode 8 and watching the rest.
Starting from the plot: there is the interesting premise of an enemies-to-lovers romance, where Rak and Diao pick on each other at work or at home based on where they have the power to do so. I was hoping some kind of balanced war between the two, with the protagonists giving and taking the same energy from each other, but it didn't happen.
The first episodes are all pretty much independent from each other, then toward the end there is a more evident continuity. A good chunk of the episodes weren't even useful for the sake of the plot or the characters, which is a pity - I wish they got rid of episodes 2-6 (and maybe episode 7) and used that time for more developments after episode 15. Since the only episodes that have some proper content are only about half of the total, I can't say that it's "worth it", especially because the only episodes I actually enjoyed are the ones from 11 to 15.
Rak was obviously written to be a perfect character, way too much to get back at Diao at work and being unprofessional, or even put up any kind of resistance against anyone. I had the impression that he was being pulled and pushed around by the other characters at all times, without him even complaining about it because he is "too nice" and "loved by everyone". Not saying that a character can't be like that, but if that's the case, then why would you use this characterization in a story like this one?
Diao, on the other hand, is just too much, to the point that I had to fast forward many scenes (and in a couple instances, entire episodes) to avoid the second-hand embarrassment his words and decisions gave me. He acts unprofessionally at work, then keeps pranking Rak at home "for revenge", even when it was all his own misunderstanding. I'm not going to say that he's the worst I've ever seen, but his juvenile behavior makes it very hard to grow fond of him.
The actors are both good and their chemistry is great, but while Win got to show a lot in the series (especially toward the end), Earth felt a lot more limited in his expressions. Not sure if that was because of the directing or if it's all on him, but still.
Leaving aside my two biggest complaints about the series (the imbalance in both the plot and the character dynamic), there were also multiple smaller things that I found annoying, such as the continuous sexual harassment from almost all the characters toward Rak, the transphobic lines that someone thought would be funny (they aren't), and the very invasive sound effects and canned laughter that are spread all over (sometimes they are even used during the most serious moments, it was very annoying).
I can't say that it was all trash, because the final few episodes glued me to the screen and I also found it funny here and there, but that's it. If you're interested but you want to spare yourself going through all of it, I can only recommend watching the first episode, then skipping to episode 8 and watching the rest.
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