Subjective Gut Rating: 7.75

There’s a lot to like in “One Year:365 Wan Ban Chun Ban Tur”, especially the general plot and side stories. Unfortunately, execution of the romance storylines are not quite as good as the family stories.

The main plot is quite simple. Mama wants to get married to her boyfriend but she never told her daughters that she was actually dating this long-time guy friend. The girls are up in the arms and are pissed off. The solution is to merge both families and have them live under the same roof for a year as a trial period. If at the end of the year, no one is upset, then the parents can get married. It’s not hard to see how conflicts arise when you live under one roof.
* Someone doesn’t get along with the other family’s sibling
* Someone doesn’t like the future stepdad
* Someone is jealous
* Someone is totally against the idea and not just targeting a person
* Someone is optimistic and agreeable
* Someone falls in love with someone
* And then another person falls in love with someone
* There’s another someone who has an unusual relationship with a classmate

There are conflicts within the family, and there are conflicts against other people. There are no plot twists and you could probably guess the outcome in the end. But despite all that, this is a very enjoyable watch. I love the sisterhood between the sisters and how they always have each other’s back. I love the unique birthday cake and it shows how much the oldest daughter loves her family. I love the interesting dynamics between the mother and the oldest daughter. There is laughter, and a whole lot of tears as well. The family is so lively that I want to be a guest and hang out at their place every weekend.

Unfortunately, the adults in the drama don’t really make very good judgment calls. You can’t drop the bomb and let the other family move in without having a family meeting. You can’t sell a house that your son has big plans for without telling him and wait for him to tell you first. This is too much of a change to just spring upon your kids. The adults did not think things through and caused so many problems.

Comparatively, the romances are not well-written and developed. I would love to see a little more pining for each other, to build a stronger foundation, tension and chemistry before they get together and chaos hits. I don’t question the decisions of two of the daughters regarding their boyfriends because I can see where they are coming from. What I don’t like is the guys don’t seem to put in the effort to fight for their girlfriends. They give up too easily. The chemistry between the couples is lacking. I also don’t like how one of the daughters backing off and not chasing after her best friend since birth to explain and save their friendship. There are also many decisions by different characters that don’t make sense and just create plot holes and unnecessary drama.

Regarding the acting of the cast, most of them are pretty decent. Special props to Mama Mook (who seems to play the evil mother in every other lakorn but this one), nice guy Papa Tum and Tawan (so different from her role in Bad Genius). The weakest acting comes from the boys. Boom was bad in the first few episodes but got a little better as the drama went on. Celebrity Mark isn’t that great either. The rest of the sisters are OK but not outstanding.
Despite all the flaws and me ranting, I did have an enjoyable watch. It’s an easy watch and I binged all 10 episodes in one go on a Saturday, non-stop. Unfortunately, I would not recommend this drama unless the plot interests you and you are a fan of the actors.



Completed: 3/31/2024 - Review #423