Our Days (2022)

Surprisingly I loved it!!!

This is a bizarre series, slow-paced and sweet in its own -um unique- way!


I will try to explain why I like this series so much, even though admittedly it had its shortcomings. Personally, I like the main couple and their dynamics. It is one of those rare times that we get the chance to see a couple of two similar personalities that suit and complement each other. Both MLs are introverted, quiet and a little bit depressed. I enjoyed how they seemed to attempt to achieve a more happy outlook and get some goals in their lives -especially Mon- through each other's influence. The dedication they both showcase to each other and the support and friendship that progressively turns into something else were the wining points for me. If you're looking for an intense romance, full of declarations of undying love or jealousy outbursts, this would not be your cup of tea. But if you like to see how a very closed off, nearly antisocial guy re-opens up his heart through the care and support of the one person that strives to help them resume following their dreams, then maybe you'd love this as much as I did.
Also, it is notable that the second lead here not only isn't annoying and exhausting as usual, but he's lovely and his intense feelings for the ML do not go unnoticed by the viewer. He is so lovable and honest that you find yourself supporting him and wishing to see him happy and loved as well.
The music was maybe the most bizarre part of the whole series. At times I tried to decide if it even fit the scenes or made them more awkward but after a point I got used to it. Also, having Soh being a music major and having his own band, I think maybe they could have developed their music choices more. This, however, in addition to the long pauses in several scenes. gave you the time to get into the characters' mentality and inner thoughts.
In general, this series is a breath of fresh air that will give you some time to think, relax and appreciate what most of us take for granted everyday. The cinematography is very well done, and the characters are complex and flawed. I got really invested while this series was airing and the excitement for what would come next never left me. They did follow some cliché patterns that could have been avoided, but as it was very mild in terms of the shock element, those moments gave us the chance to get to know the characters and their feelings better. The ending for me was the perfect way to end this series and suited both characters but also the reality of such a relationship! I hope more people give this series a chance and can enjoy it as much as I did!

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Wow, that was as dull as dull can get.

This had a lot of good ingredients - it's well-shot, the central love story is reasonably coherent and realistic, and it's full of charismatic and beautiful actors. Regrettably, all except the main pair.

Soh starts out well - he's strange and awkward, but he ends up more or less unlikeable for the ridiculous cliche he's saddled with to generate drama near the end of the series. Mon is dull and tiresome all the way through. The problem here is that when you put two depressed, introverted emotionally distant people together, there's really not a lot of chance of chemistry or any sparks at all.

The character of Saint is interesting and different, and played by the etherial and beautiful Offroad Kantapon, who I hope we see a lot of in the future, but I'm not sure what the point of the character was - but you could say that about almost all the characters.

The cast is gigantic, with characters coming in, taking up some time, then disappearing without ever accomplishing anything., and somehow led to not even one secondary couple, which was desperately needed to contrast with the almost supernaturlly dull main couple. One of Soh's bandmates, Q, has an interesting interaction with Mon's youngr brother Micky that had so much more chemistry than the main pair that I wanted them together badly, even though Micky's a bit too young to date a college student - I hope we see more of the actor, Copper Phuriwat, too. He's adorable and charming. The characters Poon, Q, and Tack also made impressions, but the caliber of the supporting actors was in general high.

The problem with this series is the pacing. Not the pacing of the plot, but the pacing of each scene, more specifically the dialog. They are way too long, with people taking 45-minute pauses between each phrase, a strange virus that's infected Thai BL lately. The acting style of the genre is already very understated - adding to that an incredibly slow line delivery is just fatal.

This also had the misfortune of airing on the heels of the much better You're My Sky, another basketball series. Why is basketball the only sport allowed in BL? It's not even in the Top 10 of popularity in Thailand - far behind volleyball and badminton. I guess because it wouldn't be the same if ukes got hit in the head with a shuttlecock whenever they stray near a badminton game.

Anyway, I can't recommend this. There's no payoff for the time invested, and it's so boring that it feels dull and slow even set on 2X speed.

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Lost its way

Overall: I had some issues with the beginning episodes but things really went downhill at episode 8 with a cliche plot point at the end of episode 7. Watched on Gagaoolala.

Content Warnings: suicidal ideation?, non con/dub con drunk surprise kisses, two punches, slap, comments about weight

What I Liked
- the crack comedy moments like the ukulele randomly appearing during their road trip
- there was an apology for the drunk/surprise kiss which was nice
- they stopped their friend from driving his motorcycle while drunk
- Saint (I hope the actor gets a lead in another production soon)
- some good spitting truth lines like "if you don't respect my decision, then don't be my friend" and "whether you win or lose doesn't matter, as long as you are doing something that you love"
- (neutral) it has some comedy sound effects

Room For Improvement
- overall the plot felt disjointed. Characters would appear and then disappear. As I predicted, 14 guys were just too many (and how did we not have a second m/m ship that developed???) The basketball was a thing, then it vanished, then it returned. The random play for one full episode.
- Soh's nonsense lying, then nonsense getting Mon back and a (once again) pointless love triangle where I wanted the second lead to end up with the ML
- neither Soh nor Mon could give reasons why they liked each other
- Amy liking the basketball coach, ummm no
- Mickey being really immature for that whole episode totally sank his ship
- odd things, it was weird Mon started out with that sucker in his mouth and then had it his whole trip? (we learn more about the sucker in a later episode but it was odd not knowing the reasoning for it). Who sleeps at a dining table and wouldn't go to sleep on the couch?
- the one friend basically said he was going to stay with his girlfriend because he loved her even if that meant he couldn't hang out with his friends
- choppy, it went from "tell me how you got here" to Mon being at college then jumped back to the apartment with Soh and his friend
- slow pacing, I watched most of it at double or more speed
- the finale was disappointing (there is an after credits scene, but we don't know if it's a dream or not)

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A Totally Dysfunctional Show

I just finished watching episode 12 and I still don't know what exactly did I watch or what was the whole purpose of this show.
Luckily for "Our Days", worse shows like "My Tee", "Don't Say No", "Love Area Season 2", "The Shipper", and "Gen Y 2" still exist and that prevents me from putting this show as one of the worst just because it comes from a relatively modest company with actors that clearly need some help improving their skills. However, this show had some many plot holes (nearly the size of moon craters), so many weird scenes, and so many loose ends that its a miracle its getting a 7.5 average last time I checked. In my opinion, several things ended up hurting this show... here are some examples:

1) The plot:
Can someone explain to me in one or two sentences what the show is all about without resorting to the synopsis provided by GagaOOlala or Atime26? Here is my summary: Mon comes from one of Thailand's provinces and loves basketball but one day, his high school classmate Saint (more on him later) joins the team and takes Mon's starting role... so Mon tired of being a benchwarmer does the childish thing to quit the team and stops playing basketball. They graduate high school, Mon goes to college in Bangkok, he is looking for his friend Pond (also a former high school classmate), ends up meeting So by accident, they kiss while drunk, they end up sharing an apartment with 2 other guys, Mon likes So, So likes Mon, So rejects Mon because he is going abroad forced by his parents, Saint admits he always liked Mon, Mon rejects him, Tim (Saint's university and basketball teammate) confesses to Saint in the last episode, they all play basketball... there are other characters that don't do or make much sense in the plot. Everything happens waaaaay too slow for a 45-minute episode. Mon and So end up together, So goes abroad, he comes back right at the last second. The end.
That's it... the show didn't focus too much on basketball like "You're My Sky" did just recently, as they do play basketball but Mon's team is not that good and Mon and Saint actually play way more basketball on their own than with their teams. The handling of the Mon-So-Saint triangle is quite bizarre... Saint never confesses until near the end of series but you always know he likes Mon. So likes Mon but decides to avoid him for 2 episodes just because he is going abroad (hooray for Thai BL clichés of sending away a character). So even flirts with his cousin (Mon doesn't know she is So's cousin) so Mon feels worse and ends up, yeah, you guessed it, running away again.
Even Mon's younger brother, Micky, also runs away after fighting with his mother and ends up in Bangkok and kissing Q out of nowhere. This was supposed to be the secondary couple? No clue, as their story outside of the episode where Q takes Micky around Bangkok and randomly kiss was the only extended moments they had together. They briefly appear in the flash forward moments near the end of episode 12 and they look like a possible couple but nothing is said. Tim confessing to Saint this late in the show also left everyone without the chance to see if their relationship could develop, especially since Saint accepted the fact that having Mon as a friend was the only option. Again, in the final scenes of episode 12, they are both playing basketball shirtless but nothing is confirmed for sure. The lack of a secondary couple made the plot holes more obvious and put even more pressure on the lead couple to deliver, which they don't do.
The characters are dull and predictable with Mon and So's roommates providing some of the comedic relief, Pond providing some of the sound advice to Mon and So and being heartbroken because Amy prefers the coach and ignores him, Tack acting like an arrogant bully towards Mon but then softening up a bit when So confesses to Mon in front of the team in episode 11 and he does a "thumbs up" sign to So, but then being cold to Mon again in the final episode. We only meet Mon and Micky's mother and So's mother but they provided ZERO to this show despite So's life being completely controlled by their parents who want him to study piano abroad.

2) The acting:
Mhing (playing So) and Gap (playing Mon) are cute, particularly Mhing, but sadly, both need A LOT of acting lessons to improve. I'm sure Gap was instructed to play an expressionless and cold character who barely smiled in the first half of the series... but he took it quite to the extreme with scenes where not a single muscle in his face was actually moving. Mhing was a bit better but the long silences during a scene, almost similar to "Bite Me" (another BL disappointment), made the lack of facial expressions even more evident. The chemistry between Mhing and Gap was not quite there, it was better than other shows, but it felt awkward, especially during the kissing scenes in episode 12 when it is hinted they will have sex. Both look quite weird as Gap never opens his mouth and at one point he appears quite uncomfortable as he really tries not to open his mouth while still trying to look like he is kissing Mhing.
The only exception in the cast is definitely Offroad (playing Saint). He is making his debut as he was selected during the Laz Icon contest and became a Thai idol just recently. He even had a cameo in the series "Rak Diao/One Love" in episode 8 to promote the 5-member boy group and he is scheduled to appear in another BL series called "Game On". He still needs to improve his skills to convey some of the emotions the scene requires, but he was a pleasant surprise in the show. He really stole most of the scenes as he looked better (acting-wise) than Gap and Mhing when they were together.

3) The odd things:
Several details that were awkward or just odd and made not a lot of sense like... Micky kissing Q, Amy liking the basketball coach so much (which I'm sure would be a violation of several school rules), Mon's childish behavior with all the running away moments he had, So deciding to avoid Mon then deciding to pursue him despite going abroad, So-Mon awkwardly kissing, So's parents controlling his life and him having no courage to tell them no and even admitting at some point that he wants to go abroad (I mean, then why through all the emotional drama), some characters having misplaced motivations like Saint loves basketball because of Mon, Tim loves basketball because of Saint, Mon doing these weird bets and promises with Saint while So looks at both and fears Saint might ask Mon to be together if he wins the basketball game (Saint wins but only asks Mon to be friends again), Mon calling himself an asshole so many times in the series (low self-esteem anyone?!), So and Mon both thinking that they didn't deserve to be happy until they change their minds in the last episode, So's luxury apartment that he barely uses.

In the end, whether it was the poor screenplay and editing, the flawed acting or the disappointing directing combined with the super slow pace of some of the scenes, this show was a boat adrift without any clear direction.

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Loving the series and the main CP

After watching from the very start of the series
Overall I really love it!
It's kinda slow and dragged until almost the end
But the ending have really unexpected scenes and I'm loving it
I don't really know why people really like Saint I know he is hot and likeable but to be honest he just not for Mon. His character also deserve to be happy but just not with the ML. As he said his change for Mon's love just gone a long time ago. Off-road did good for portraying Saint, just want some more natural expressions from him.
As for Mon, love the character development from the start towards the end, how the introverted guy tried to pursue his dream with the help of the right faen on his side. Gap portraying Mon in a good way.
And for Soh, the sweet perfect guy at beginning but become confusing, but then back on track, really love all the detail expressions that Mhing made in every scenes. He looks natural in every scenes and the dialogues seems real. Mhing also did a great job portraying Soh the awkward sweet introverted musical guy. Love how the stories tell that people can change to be a better person. Soh tried to support Mon pursue his dream and that's what we love from the beginning. While Saint just went away back then. And that's why the production team choose Soh Mon as main CP. They must be very selective
since the very beginning for every scenes include for make out scenes hahah.
The make out scenes at the end is a surprised for us fans but it's turn out to be really good, not too much, hot and sweet at the same time at the right portions. I can't imagine if the second lead did these scenes it will be really awkward. Because the second lead bond is more like brotherly bond.
Loving the chemistry of the main CP so much. Watching from the very beginning , the development is really good, how at first Mon hate Soh the most but end up love him so much. We can see how Mon really feel safe and comfortable around Soh. We can feel the different between them, when Mon with Saint, it's like brotherly bond, while with Soh it's like faen or boyfriends bond.
It will be totally cringy and strange if Mon have those romantic relationship with Saint. As we all know that since beginning it will always be Soh Mon. Love can't be forced. Mhing and Gap showing a really great chemistry here, sweet, cute, awkward young love but still really loveable and hot at the same time. The cinematography is a chef kiss. All Scenes are really beautiful. I really wish for season 2 as I want to know more of Soh/Mon future love stories. I will miss Mhing Gap and the rest of the gang so much.

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Tedious

I could barely get through this (and I barely did). When it came down to the last few episodes, I skipped bits and pieces and just watched what I wanted to. This series isn't "bad" per se, just hella boring. Unless basketball games heightened your excitement, then Our Days might not be the series for you.

Let's Dive In.

The concept of this series was something we've seen before, it gave me a lot of "You're My Sky" vibes, with the basketball and the beautiful cinematography. Mon goes to school in the city and meets So who ends up kissing him on a drunken night and stirs feelings between the both of them for the rest of the series. Some more basketball bs and an old friend and then it's happily ever after (kind of?).

For me, this was just really boring. Most parts dragged on for too long, discussing things I was just highly not interested in. This series was able to grab my attention for like two seconds and then it disappeared. This is a sports BL, which I don't usually mind, but this was entirely too much basketball. Basketball this, basketball that, and I skipped pretty much every single game/practice sequence. Mon comes off to me as a sore loser who got his feelings hurt because he sits on the bench, sad sure, but not sad enough for them to play somber ballads in the back and for me to be sympathetic to.

Talking about Mon, I wasn't really feeling it with his relationship with So. To me, they look like two completely straight actors trying to play gay characters and it doesn't work at all. That's what most BLs are, but these two had no chemistry and looked like they'd rather be anywhere else than be stuck together and have to act in love. Most of the time I got "bro" vibes. Towards the end when they're banging on the kitchen counter, it's so sloppy and messy that it also doesn't work for me. These are rookie actors, so I'll give them the benefit of the doubt, but I would've liked to see something better.

I was really intrigued with Mickey and Q but we don't go very far with them, which I can appreciate to some extent. Mickey is Mon's little brother and Q meets him through Mon. They end up becoming really close and hanging out. Mickey runs away and goes to Q where we get an awful kiss, and then something able "not having responsibilities" and then nothing else. I think I'm okay with that just because Mickey is young, so sure, he's still learning, but I would've liked a conversation to at least happen between the two of them (and not about the running away).

Pond was by far the best character and Poon was the best actor, I sure hope we see him again. Saint felt like a nuisance. He was weird to So in the beginning and because of that, I could never come around to liking him. I didn't care for his flashback story with Mon and I didn't care that he had feelings for him either.

The cinematography and the sets were beautiful; it's what really had me holding on (and Pond cause I loved him). I was so close to dropping this, but I held on. And again it wasn't bad, like plot or acting-wise, just boring.

Ratings:

Story: 6.5 - Didn't really intrigue me. It might be for someone else, but I was more bored than anything. The romance also didn't do it for me. I'll give three stars to Pond and 3 and a half stars to Mickey and Q.

Acting: 8.5 - Good enough. The main leads weren't the best, but it wasn't so bad either. Poon was the best out of everyone, I hope to see him again.

Music: 5.5 - Decent,

Rewatch value: 1 - No. Just no. I couldn't sit myself through this again,

This will be very forgotten about soon. I don't recommend it unless it's something that catches your eye. I tried watching this a few months back and put it on hold because it was so tedious, but I picked it back up and just pushed myself through it. I probably skipped over some important parts, but I simply just don't care. Watch if you want or don't.

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slow and moody with added basketball

I know this seems to be the main criticism of this show... but I liked how this series spent time allowing the characters to be flawed. As a depiction of young people at a time in their lives where everything is changing, it did a good job of exploring how uncertainty about your self and your future, alongside your mental health, effects your relationships with your friends and family. So, i think the slow pace and frustration that Mon made me feel at the beginning of this show was actually pretty good.
But then for me, it is not always necessary to "like" characters – and this show is more about watching someone in a bad headspace make bad decisions until eventually they start to pull themselves together (with a lot of help from their friends and family).
There were some things that i think were bad writing choices that served only to drag things out another few episodes (im looking at you, So and So's mum...) and at times I think a little more positivity (or at least depictions of fulfilling relationships) would have helped to give viewers a bit of a break and made this show more enjoyable to watch. I'd say it ought to have been an 8-10 episode run instead of 12.
Overall, this show was well-crafted and I enjoyed watching, but probably won't re-watch. Without giving too much away, lets just say the vibes kind of stay pretty melancholic throughout.

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Not Very Entertaining

In another twist of irony, admittedly the screenplay is one of the best written for a Thai BL series to come across in a long time. It had some great dialogue between characters, and life’s lessons in transitioning from childhood to adulthood is well described. But as good as some of the screenplay was, it did not translate into memorable scenes. Two reasons for that. The main actors were too monotonal and were not given proper direction in how and when to change from being themselves into other versions of being themselves. That may sound counterintuitive, but there was no drama in their acting. The two had the same flat affect from the beginning to the end and therefore our interest in them waned as time went on. Second, there was no clear focus here.

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Squeaky shoes

I don't know how I came across this series so I'm not sure what I was expecting, but I didn't get it. This series definitely highlights basketball (as it should since it's part of the theme) but it didn't take long before I got tired of it being the same stuff different ep. There were visuals for miles but considering how many support cast there were it didn't focus on them much but still managed to give the same content of every character. It wasn't a bad series but it was either rushed where you had to figure out what happened or it was so slow you forgot what was happening.
This is BARELY a step above what should've just been bromance. The kissing scene was quite terrible js
but overall if you can handle squeaky shoes you can handle anything this series has to offer lol The basketball squeaks almost killed me!
Enjoy...

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IT HITS ME IN THE GUTS AND LEFT ME BLEEDING.

(This is my personal point of view, relay more on your instinct than a review from someone you don’t know ?)

I’ve just watched the last episode and I could not sleep without writing about it.
This series targets at adult minds and I make it clear that I am not talking about age I am talking about experiences.

It made an exceptional impression to me that, while there was no great event or shocking revelation, the whole series captivated you with comedy, cruel truth and realism.
The creator of the series, the writer, the director and the actors achieved something very meaningful for me. They "fooled" us by superficially using BL codes and forms to talk realistically about the truth of life, romance, love, friendship, family, self-confidence, personal growth, maturity, the all-mighty running time and about all the situations, we encounter daily, but everyday life does not allow us to recognize it as it is... LIFE. This is the life of all of us…this is “OUR DAYS”.

To achieve the above there are some smart writing and directing choices such as:

- No character main or secondary is completely good or bad.
- There is a smart, sophisticated, refined humour throughout, with the jokes slowly building up to the appropriate punchline.
- The development speed of the story and the emotions is in real time.
- All characters identify themselves firstly by who they are and not by how they feel about others. Even in their mistakes.
- All secondary characters have a minimum amount of time to show at least one deeper aspect of themselves and, for that reason, they seem real.
- The music selection is an EXCELLENT mix of western background sounds and classic BL songs (a big plus is that most of the music is played live and not on playback)
- Last but certainly not least, the romance and love in this series on one hand deprives us of the "fairy tale" we need for a happy ending but, on the other hand gives us the realistic perspective that you don't need a fairy tale to love or fall in love. All you need is to LIVE.

Some things could definitely be improved such as:

- Kissing scenes could look more natural and the actors less restrained.
- The speed of some dialogues is unnecessarily slow.
- Some relationships could be simpler at the level of pure friendship so as not to create the impression of running parallel-unresolved stories
- I would like the reasons that push the protagonists to make a big decision to be better structured.

Other than that, …If I may... Please watch this series.

PS. A personal observation: I have read that this series is a slow burn. What strikes me is that it seems difficult to recognize the real time development of things - unless our lives have the characteristics and speeds of a mainstream BL (!!!) and I don’t know it- while, at the same time, I've seen other series praised here as “masterpieces” … series that needed 12 hourly episodes, with the main characters on top of a mountain (I'm not writing a title for obvious reasons) to love and kiss in the last scene of the last episode...THIS IS WHAT I CALL SLOW BURN MY FRIENDS.

ENJOY ?

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Strong Start, Disappointing Ending

I felt this series started off positively. There's good writing and acting, and the bonds of friendship, teamwork, and roommates were the strong points. This series is also proof that the final episode could almost ruin the 11 episodes that came before it.

I appreciated that the normal looking guy won the heart of the ML over the hot, charismatic guy. On paper, Saint was the likely choice because due to my own bias, I place more emphasis on history, than I do other attributes. In other words, Mon has a long-standing, close friendship with Saint until internal jealousy and envy got in the way. They had a very trusting friendship, and great chemistry together, but Saint missed his opportunity, probably due to insecurity and immaturity that we feel in high school.

I really did not like the final episode. I don't like when as a viewer I feel jerked around. Mon and So go through this drama, admit mutual feelings, then So leaves for school. The final narration makes it seem like they drifted apart, then after the end credits, it makes it look like So came back to Thailand to be with Mon. Yet, it could have been symbolic.

I also didn't like that the ending showed the kind and sensitive Pond as a player, just because Amy ended up falling for the coach.

I fast forwarded through most of the basketball scenes, so there's that.

I recommend episodes 1-11, but skip episode 12, it brings down the whole series.

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Another Attempt at bl That Failed

This is among the worst of the bl's that I have watched and rated.

First, the storyline is never really complete, especially when they attempt to introduce side characters and leave them hanging. Secondly, I could never really tell what the point of this show was really supposed to be. The story veered in too many directions, and it was all very slow.

The characters were not good actors, for some reason I disliked So from the very beginning... and he constantly acted like he had something to say, but he never did. I was really more into the storyline between Mo and Saint - the acting and dialogue was so much better, and they seemed to have better chemistry. The ending of the show was a hot mess with nothing resolved.

The only good thing I could say about this show was there were no screaming side characters, but that's not saying a lot. If you watch this series, be prepared to feel the urge to fast forward through a good deal of it. The only kiss scene towards the end looked incredibly fake and even more so because they never had any chemistry throughout the entire show.

No Rewatch Value For Me!

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