st_caracola
This review may contain spoilers
The Best Thai GL of 2024
You know how there are certain anime you can show your non-anime-watching friends that won’t scare them off? 23.5 is kind of like that, but for Thai GL. Which is why its reception on this website is a little bit bewildering to me. Based on all the one-star reviews, and the somewhat low average rating, 23.5 seems to be a divisive, love-it-or-hate-it kind of thing. I’m honestly surprised by the strong reactions, since 23.5 is a pretty middle-of-the-road series, imo—not a masterpiece by any means, but a competently made and extremely likeable piece of work.
I don’t mean to turn this into a meta-review where I review the other reviews…but sometimes, reading the opinions here, I feel like I’ve watched a different show. The most upvoted review on this page complains that 23.5 has no soundtrack. Um, what? There is music playing in almost literally every scene. If I have any complaint about the music, it’s that it’s overused—although thankfully the GMMTV budget means they can afford more than four tracks, so there’s lots of variety, at least. The same review also claims that there aren’t enough costume changes to show the passage of time. Y’all…the show is set in a school. The characters wear school uniforms in like 85% of the scenes? I’m sorry, it’s a weird review, but I digress.
I’m not sure what would inspire someone to dislike 23.5 so much that they invent fake things to criticize about it, especially when there are real things to criticize. It’s pretty heavy on fluff, low on substance—don’t expect to learn much about any real issues facing LGBTQ students in the school system. There’s a lull for an episode or two, after Ongsa and Sun get together, where there’s not much wind in the plot sails, although the side characters help pull the story along. The comedy can be a little overdone, and there are far too many “HAA??” reactions. Some side characters, like Alpha, deserved more time in the spotlight.
But for me, at least, 23.5 checks all the boxes that a sweet coming-of-age romance ought to check, and avoids a lot of annoyances that plague other GL dramas. Just a few things I appreciate about it:
1) It’s a corny but cute touch the way all the character names and episode titles help tie the astronomical theme together. Pluto tries something similar but the execution is much better here.
2) With the exception of the parents, who only exist to be kind and supportive every once in a while, the cast of 23.5 has so much charm and personality. My personal favorite is Charoen, the devout Buddhist girl, but even the minor characters are fun, like the poor local monk who high school kids keep pestering for advice. School scenes are populated with recurring extras who have only one or two lines, but whose presence makes the school feel like a real place.
3) The trans characters are more than just comic relief for once—they are allowed to be people with their own lives and story. They are also funny, yes, but because their personality quirks are funny, and because they play off each other well.
4) The low stakes help keep the drama down-to-earth (sorry). There are no soap opera homophobes who suddenly fall to their knees and see the rainbow, and there’s only slightly more crying in the final episodes than there needs to be. The conflict is straightforward, relatable, and mostly resolved in a way that makes sense.
5) The fluff! What people find cute is subjective, and I’m not sure I could give you a rational explanation for why the fluff works for me here and not, say, in The Loyal Pin—but the fluff really works for me. Maybe it’s just that there’s always a tiny bit of tension when it comes to first love, even if it’s just the tension of watching a movie together and not knowing how to act. At any rate, 23.5 is adorable. It’s embarrassing how often I squealed out loud watching this.
6) The comedy! Some of the comedy is too over-the-top for me, but I can’t deny that there are some classic lines and moments. “To me, love is like an art film….It’s incomprehensible, but you can tell it’s good.”
I want to stress again that 23.5 is not the pinnacle of art, but it does know exactly what it wants to be, and succeeds at being that with confidence. In a major year for the Thai GL industry, with the meteoric rise of popular love teams, and the release of hype monsters like Pluto and The Loyal Pin, it’s that humble and unassuming confidence that helps 23.5 stand out from the pack as the best GL of 2024.
I don’t mean to turn this into a meta-review where I review the other reviews…but sometimes, reading the opinions here, I feel like I’ve watched a different show. The most upvoted review on this page complains that 23.5 has no soundtrack. Um, what? There is music playing in almost literally every scene. If I have any complaint about the music, it’s that it’s overused—although thankfully the GMMTV budget means they can afford more than four tracks, so there’s lots of variety, at least. The same review also claims that there aren’t enough costume changes to show the passage of time. Y’all…the show is set in a school. The characters wear school uniforms in like 85% of the scenes? I’m sorry, it’s a weird review, but I digress.
I’m not sure what would inspire someone to dislike 23.5 so much that they invent fake things to criticize about it, especially when there are real things to criticize. It’s pretty heavy on fluff, low on substance—don’t expect to learn much about any real issues facing LGBTQ students in the school system. There’s a lull for an episode or two, after Ongsa and Sun get together, where there’s not much wind in the plot sails, although the side characters help pull the story along. The comedy can be a little overdone, and there are far too many “HAA??” reactions. Some side characters, like Alpha, deserved more time in the spotlight.
But for me, at least, 23.5 checks all the boxes that a sweet coming-of-age romance ought to check, and avoids a lot of annoyances that plague other GL dramas. Just a few things I appreciate about it:
1) It’s a corny but cute touch the way all the character names and episode titles help tie the astronomical theme together. Pluto tries something similar but the execution is much better here.
2) With the exception of the parents, who only exist to be kind and supportive every once in a while, the cast of 23.5 has so much charm and personality. My personal favorite is Charoen, the devout Buddhist girl, but even the minor characters are fun, like the poor local monk who high school kids keep pestering for advice. School scenes are populated with recurring extras who have only one or two lines, but whose presence makes the school feel like a real place.
3) The trans characters are more than just comic relief for once—they are allowed to be people with their own lives and story. They are also funny, yes, but because their personality quirks are funny, and because they play off each other well.
4) The low stakes help keep the drama down-to-earth (sorry). There are no soap opera homophobes who suddenly fall to their knees and see the rainbow, and there’s only slightly more crying in the final episodes than there needs to be. The conflict is straightforward, relatable, and mostly resolved in a way that makes sense.
5) The fluff! What people find cute is subjective, and I’m not sure I could give you a rational explanation for why the fluff works for me here and not, say, in The Loyal Pin—but the fluff really works for me. Maybe it’s just that there’s always a tiny bit of tension when it comes to first love, even if it’s just the tension of watching a movie together and not knowing how to act. At any rate, 23.5 is adorable. It’s embarrassing how often I squealed out loud watching this.
6) The comedy! Some of the comedy is too over-the-top for me, but I can’t deny that there are some classic lines and moments. “To me, love is like an art film….It’s incomprehensible, but you can tell it’s good.”
I want to stress again that 23.5 is not the pinnacle of art, but it does know exactly what it wants to be, and succeeds at being that with confidence. In a major year for the Thai GL industry, with the meteoric rise of popular love teams, and the release of hype monsters like Pluto and The Loyal Pin, it’s that humble and unassuming confidence that helps 23.5 stand out from the pack as the best GL of 2024.
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