Tonhon Chonlatee (2020)

Why did they Change the Novel?

I think this would have been a much better series if they stuck to the novel. The author allowed 10 chapters to be translated and Tonhon was not as homophobic and even knew that Ai and Nai were a couple, Chonlatee was more girly, but did try to hide it, Miriam was not in the novel, so she wasn't even in the equation.

Why did I enjoy it? I took it for the farce it was, and I enjoyed the interactions between the male leads and the second MxM couple. I think they just went wrong by changing the essence of the novel by filling it with gags and characters that did not add relevance to the story. I can't blame the actors since they had to work with what they were given. This series is also an example of how production companies shouldn't make such drastic and unnecessary changes.

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SPOILERS | Started off great and then fell ALL THE WAY OFF

The first couple of episodes were enjoyable and funny, but then they decided to go with ALL the problematic, played out tropes. I started skipping through episodes very early on.
SPOILERS BELOW



PROS: Miriam, Chon's mom, Pang, Ai, and Ni. Chon's mom calling Ton's dad a limpd**k.


Again SPOILERS


CONS: Ton a.k.a Mr. "no homo bro," Ton's lack of balls when dealing with his ex(who still falls for I Dare You 's as an adult? ), homophobic man is actually gay trope, disregarding bisexuality, homophobic old man realizes that homosexuals are people only after they help save him trope, Chon's mom telling off Ton's dad only for her to retract her statements just because he got a stroke FROM HIS OWN DRAMATICS, Ai and Ni not calling out Ton for his bull, Nueng still showing up on campus and not getting charges filed against him after he tried to sexually assault Chon(why tf was everybody walking around like that didn't happen?), Ton knowing that Amp is a threat to Chon's wellbeing but still being nonchalant about her WALKING INTO HIS HOUSE UNINVITED, the tattoo explaination scene, and FEMALE CHARACTERS ONLY BEING PRESENT TO FURTHER THE MAIN/SIDE GAY COUPLES RELATIONSHIPS/PLOTS. Again Ton being toxic masculinity personified.

Ridiculous.

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Wasted potential

I really wanted to like this. I wanted to ignore the reviews and just enjoy some of my favourite guys in a silly little series. I wanted to ignore the cheesy writing, the overacting and absurdity, because that's what we normally do with these type of shows and we love it. However, I just couldn't enjoy this.

The plot is cliche but a trope we all love: boy love boy next door, it takes forever for boy next door to realise his love, some drama happens, then happily ever after, right? Well, that's more or less what this show does, only the steps it takes to get there ruin the story.

First of all, Tonhon's obsession with MANLY MEN isn't only toxic as hell, but just weird? I get it's because of his dad, but there was just something unsettling. Forcing his friends to go to a brothel was obviously supposed to be comedic, but it really just came across as abusive. I know Ai/Ni were comic relief and the whole idea of Ton not realising they were gay was obviously meant to be funny, but it was just stupid, I personally think.

Then the whole thing with Amp and Neung was uncomfortable. The thing it, Amp convincing a boy who had been sexually assaulted by his own senior to repeat that behaviour to a junior is bad, but had it driven the plotline it would have been somewhat acceptable. However, it didn't; it was a throwaway moment to make Ton look possessive, but it didn't really - I'm pretty sure he would have reacted that way if it was any of his friends. Then there's the fact that Chon didn't seem to care much afterwards when he was sober. (I would like to ask why there's no punishment for sexual offenders in these shows, but then I remembered real life, and, well. Bleak.)

I didn't feel much chemistry between Khaotung and Pod, which was probably a result of Ton being such an unlikeble character.

I'm rather angry that every kiss between Ai/Ni was cut off. Top/Mike have AMAZING onscreen chemistry and I would love to see more of them. (I know there's Ai Long Nhai but the fact it's different cast kinda bugs me. I probably will watch the show at some point when this one isn't so fresh in my mind.) Even Ton/Chon's romantic scenes weren't very romantic. The very short kisses and hugs just felt...empty.

Pang and Miriam were absolutely fantastic and were probably my favourite characters, if I'm honest.

The pacing was very off for this series, if I'm honest. Like, one second Ton is homophobic and is horrified that Chon kissed him, but then he's suddenly like LOOK I LOVE THIS BOY OH ALSO BTW I'VE BEEN IN LOVE WITH YOU SINCE I WAS A CHILD. It would have been a lot more acceptable as a viewer if we'd actually had a little bit of a process of seeing Ton have a moment of, "shit, I like this guy." Also, the final episode was like whiplash. Ton's dad is suddenly not homophobic if he can get a grandkid anyway? That was some toxic drama right there. Like, as soon as Ton is finished school he's going to be a dad (and Chon, too, who is like 3 years younger and probably still in school).

It's a shame because this show had potential. Even the problematic stuff could have been 'acceptable' had it been paced and edited a little better.

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If you're thinking about watching this... don't.

A few months ago, I probably would have told you that this was a great BL series since it was the first one I ever watched... but boy was I wrong.

The series was okay in the first few episodes but after episode 5, it went all downhill. After episode 5, there is an attempted r*pe plus lots of unnecessary drama. The biggest problem though is the pacing. From episodes 1-7 it's just Chonlatee crushing on Tonhon while he was a homophobic jerk most of the series. Suddenly after episode 7, Tonhon claims that "he has loved Chon since they were kids" and decides to HAVE S*X right after confessing that he has feelings for him. After that, he kisses his ex-girlfriend to show his "masculinity". It didn't make sense to me at all and it only hurt Chon in the end. GMM definitely rushed their relationship through the last three episodes and I didn't feel much chemistry with them.

Only watch this if you have either watched all other BL series or if you REALLY want to watch a series with Khaotung as the main character.

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Bruh...Idk why people are ripping on this series so much.

It's almost like people forget BL stories are STORIES that encompass a multitude of characters and personalities. I, for one, found this series hilarious. It doesn't take itself too seriously and if you watch it simply for what it is, a BL story, you get that.

The 1st thing that I found phenomenal are how the characters are portrayed and how great the cast was at acting. Outside of the main leads, the support cast didn't get too much of a background story. However, the times they're on-screen are so valuable. From the words of wisdom they share to the banter they provide, there was never a dull moment where you wanted to fast-forward through their scene. For example, Ai and Ni's ship actually played relevance to the plotline. Even more so, their physical reactions to the dialogue and narrative of the story were so on point that I forget they're acting. And omg, Chon's mom calling things out as she sees it but in an endearing way where you don't question the wisdom she passes off. Like damn, okay! The whole cast felt so connected to me that I genuinely felt they were as close as they portrayed on-screen.

The 2nd thing I really enjoyed is the humor in this series. I loved the humor built around Ton's denseness and obliviousness to same-sex relationships throughout the series, only for us to learn later in this series why he was this way. Even the light banter and teasing the characters had for each other was fun. Like when Chon's mom went off on Ton's dad, and then Ton's dad response to her was "How did you know I had erectile dysfunction?" while suffering a stroke/heart attack, like omfg. I lost it lmao. There honestly wasn't an episode where I didn't find myself laughing at least once, and I appreciate that. For some folks who take themselves to seriously, this may not be for you if you don't like characters poking fun at each other and with each other.

And lastly, I really appreciated the complexity of the characters and their actions. For example, it turns out Ton had been raised by a homophobic father with the pressure of being the family heir and so those values and beliefs ultimately left an imprint on him. Because the series is only 10 episodes, there's not enough time to build in scenes to showcase Ton's development of processing through and challenging what he's learned all this time. However, the writers and director do a great job at showcasing how Ton's development shifts through his actions: apologizing to Ai and Ni, accepting Ai and Ni, and ultimately acknowledging and accepting his feelings for Chon. Ton was this homophobic guy who repeated what his dad had taught him and had to reconcile with who he is and what he had been feeling all these years. So I get it; a character like this will face the wrath of not being a flawless, perfect oppa we all envision our BL leads being. But for a character that is developing and unpacking the toxic beliefs and values that have been instilled in him his whole life, I appreciated that we got to see Ton move past some of his struggles and reconcile with the people that mattered to him.

The only thing I didn't like is the 2nd lead syndrome with my boy Na. I get he was plot relevant, but I wish the series was longer so there would've been more screen time for viewers to get closure with his character. After he helps Ton and Chon get together, we don't hear from him again except for when the time skip happens and he has a boyfriend. Instead of writing him as a love interest, I wish they would've wrote him as someone who also wants to be friends with Chon so that the story would've resolved cleanly. Now I'm left wondering if he still has feelings for Chon and if he will have his happy ending too.

All in all, I felt the cast did an amazing job. The chemistry was great. Comedy was hilarious. Story-line was clean and straightforward for the most part. And we get the amazing eye candy of Podd. If you're looking for something light-hearted and a good laugh, definitely check out Tonhon Chonlatee.

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A guilty pleasure

Yes, my headline pretty much says it all for me. As many have noted in the comments, this series had a lot of troubling issues, and I agree with that. Still... I will admit to enjoying it. Here are my pros and cons.

PROS:

ACTORS. For me, each actor played his/her role pretty much perfectly. Special mention to the actress who played Chon's mom. Loved her!

PODD'S BODY. Whoa! How'd I miss that before? For me, his "Sun" character in DBK was my least favorite, I thought he was boring. And I NEVER expected to see that body underneath. Wow!!

AI, NAI, MIRIAM. Sure, they were silly, but I enjoyed their"Three Musketeers" escapades.

NA. Loved him. Would have preferred him with Chonlatee. But I'm happy he found love in the end.

THEME SONG. I liked it.

CONS:

TON/AI/NAI. So Ai and Nai spend half the series (and a few years) hiding their relationship from Ton, because they're sooooo afraid of his homophobic behavior. Then, when Ton finds out, he's perfectly fine with it. So what was all THAT about?

THE EARLY EP AT THE BAR AND BROTHEL. Worse than ridiculous. I can't imagine anyone going along with that, just to suck up to a friend.

FLYING AROUND IN THE ANCIENT COSTUMES. What the hell?

AMP. She makes everyone's life miserable but, somehow, she talks Chon into drinking with her, and Ton into kissing her. Just... no.

STEREOTYPICAL/OUTDATED TROPES. 1) "I still like women, I'm just gay for you." No, no, no, no, NO. At least call yourself bisexual. So sick of this "gender doesn't matter." Umm... yeah, it kinda does. 2) The homophobia was so overdone, to the point of being laughable. 3) I can enjoy a bitchy ex-girlfriend character, but this was ridiculous, and we didn't get the satisfaction of seeing Amp get what was coming to her at the end. 4) Neung assaults Chon in what looked to be an attempted rape, and no one calls the police? Yeah... riiight.

Ai/NAI'S (hidden) KISSES. So they show a number of "almost" kisses between Ai/Nai, but the camera always conveniently cuts away. At first I thought it could be because of caution due to COVID, but Ton/Chon had plenty of kisses. So what was up with Mike/Toptap? Did they refuse? I'd have rather seen NO kissing attempts between them, than this weird camera cutting away.

BL is evolving in many countries, but Thai BLs appear to be stuck in an old school, formulaic rut. It's not working well anymore, but I did enjoy the actors in Tonhon Chonlatee.

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I really wanted to like this bc I love Mike and TopTap but :/

I usually don’t write reviews bc it takes forever, but I feel like I need to express my disappointment in this. This was so cringey. When episode 1 aired I thought the Chinese fighting scene was supposed to be ironic and funny but the longer I watch this ugh. Ton is so annoying acting jealous and yet insisting on Chon being his “brother”. Chon was being annoying bc he kept going back to Ton even after all the homophobic things Ton would say. The only redeeming characters are Na and Chon’s Mum. Poor Na deserves better. I started watching episode 8 but when they finally get together is just so cringey and rushed. Them kissing for the first time and immediately having sex was weird. Ton was supposedly disgusted by gays but all of the sudden wanted to do it? The scene when Ton came to pick up Chon on his motorcycle is what made me stop watching lol. It was so grossly cringey and the fact they’re trying to make it seem cute just gave me shivers I had to stop. There are so many good bls GMM needs to step their pussies up.

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“Being gay is not like Covid-19. It’s not infectious.” – Nam, Chon’s mother

I tried to like the series, I really did, but it fell flat for me. There were things and characters that I absolutely loved and think were done incredibly well, but there are also plenty of problems that came with that.

The plot is simple and is something that has been done plenty of times before. Which is why it needs to be done well to be good. The start was good, but I think it went downhill very quickly. I did have a lot of problems with the pacing of the plot. It was very slow at first, but it felt super rushed towards the end.

They tried to include a comedic aspect in the series, but I feel like it often fell flat. Often they exaggerated in scenes to make them funny, but I didn’t find them funny. A lot of Ton’s jealousy scenes didn’t really translate well through the screen either.

Tonhon & Chonlatee: I found Chon adorable at first. He appeared quite clueless at times, but he showed that there is a lot more to him. He knew exactly what was going on around him but decided to play dumb a lot of the times. But his actions in the later episodes really made my blood boil. It just didn’t sit well with me. Ton is not a very lovable character. At least I didn’t really like him most of the time. He made a lot of homophobic remarks, and while I know it stems from his upbringing it is not an excuse for his behavior. He can also be incredibly pushy to the point of everyone around him being uncomfortable with it. I can’t decide if he is as dense as he portrays himself or if he is just so deep in denial in regard to what is going on around him. Pod and Khao are both great actors, I have seen them in other things and I know they are capable of doing much better, I just don’t think that the plot truly gave them the chance to showcase all of their talents.

Ai & Nai: The two of them are sweet together. However, considering that the two are together and are obviously attracted to men, I found their friendship with Ton annoying. Not only were they enabling Ton to keep festering his homophobic views, but they also often went along with his comments and made such comments themselves as well. The fact they went as far to get a fake girlfriend to fool Ton is absurd. Mike and Toptap have always been one of my favorite side pairings in GMMTV series, the two have (had) great chemistry together, I just once again feel like they were not given a proper chance to show it in the series.

Miriam was nice, but I wasn’t the biggest fan of her. I felt like her character was unnecessary. I do admit that Jan did an amazing job, don’t get me wrong, I just didn’t see the point in having Miriam be part of the story. Pang was a good friend to Chon, I really liked it.

The fact that we got the typical evil ex-girlfriend plot was a bit annoying, I do admit that. But I can see what Amp and Ton were together. They are very similar in many different aspects. From their homophobic views to their “main character” energy. It also makes sense why didn’t work out. What Nueng did and tried to do is never properly addressed and that pisses me off. And that Amp was the one that orchestrated the whole thing and gets off with no consequences as well… why, just why?

Out of everyone, Chon’s mom was my favorite character. She is very supportive of her son; she knows everything about it. She is not quick to judge others and she really raised Chon the right way. But she is also not afraid to call people out when they do something wrong. It doesn’t matter who it is, if what they did is wrong, she points it out. Her telling Ton’s father that being gay is not like covid-19, it’s not infectious, is probably my favorite quote in the whole series.

I liked the production value, the OST and the filming locations were beautiful. I just think they wasted a lot of potential. The series could be great, it had a really solid cast and a basic plot that could have been done much better.

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Could've been better

This crap was so messy. The story had potential and they ruined it in the last 2 - 3 eps. Like Ton, why the fuck?! What was the fucking reason? Ok so Imma give my reasons and explanations on why I gave everything wut I gave it

//Story//
As I said, the story was fine. It was kind of cliche but wutever, I'm a hopeless romantic and lonely bitch. Gmm just ruined it so bad in the 9th and 10th ep. How does Ton love Chon if he'll cheat just to prove a point? Boy, you got a mouth right?
Also, the homophobia was just *NO*. Like you can add it, bc there are situations where it's "used correctly" (I do not in any way, shape, or form support homophobia) but why use it for comedy!? Fucking crazy. Also, stop with the shitty stereotypes, just bc he's feminine doesn't mean he's gay and just bc he's masculine doesn't mean he can't be gay. That's why I gave it a 4.0, it was good but they didn't execute it well.

//Cast/Acting//
I fucking love the cast, Mike, Top, Khaotung, Gunsmile, and most of the rest. But damn, the acting was so-so. what do you expect with such a bad script and execution of the story? They did their best with wut they were given. The cast saved it.

//Music//
Idk why but I found myself singing the intro all day. Literally the only part I liked.

//ReWV//
I'm not watching this again. Never. I'm gonna try to forget it was ever made. I will be telling my friends not to watch it.

A few more things.
There were cute moments, that's no lie. Unfortunately, I found myself skipping a lot of the end just to get it over with. You know it's pretty bad when I write a review and skip. This is also the first review I've written, I was too lazy to sign in and type, but I felt it was necessary.n Yea that's wut I thought. Gmm give these boys a better show. And dude give Na some happiness.

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Underrated

Problematic tropes are used in this series, but they are actually addressed unlike older BLs. It's refreshing how the characters explicitly talk about these tropes. They say things that BL audiences have been thinking about these issues for for years. Characters may also seem stereotypical at the start, but as the series goes along especially near the end, pleasant surprises that break the mold are thrown in. What's more skillfully done is how these tropes are used together with other devices to provide a funny, entertaining experience. I was just laughing every episode. Just when you think the scenarios couldn't get any more ridiculous, they will, and you laugh more and louder. It helps that the actors deliver in both comedic and dramatic scenes. The supporting cast is absolutely hilarious and endearing. Watch this memorable, underrated, even subversive series.

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Its cute. I would watch it again

Im not sure why all the bad reviews. Is the show oscar worthy? No but almost none of these school age BL's are. Once you've seen a couple you've basically seen them all. The plot isn't terribly original but it was hilarious. The ML's are cute and the supporting actors are too funny. Especially the mom and the girl who plays the fake girlfriend. I laughed all the way through. To me it was almost a spoof of BL series. If you pay attention there are a lot of commical references to other thai and chinese bl's. I didnt even notice the music. I think it was just normal background music.

Its a good flick if you want something light to binge watch. I would recommend it.

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