I want to give an honest review, as a fan of the cast before the show started airing and a big fan of the novels. This review will not contain any novel spoilers. By the time I'm writing this review, only 1 episode is released.

+ Novel similarities +

I was very impressed by the first episode. The storyline followed the novel closely, but they skipped over many scenes, added new scenes or completely changed things, but they didn't skim over anything important. This was a very good choice of the screenwriters/authors. All our favorite scenes and the core of the story and characters are still there. The changes made the characters more relatable and seem more 'human'. Also, the story was more fast paced, which I liked a lot. It would have taken much longer to reach the scenes at the end of episode 1 otherwise.

Also, the chess game between Chan and Korn was very interesting, it is foreboding that there is a game being played here by Korn. I wonder if they follow the novel, or do something entirely else?

+ Acting +

Mile and Apo did a fantastic job, bringing the characters of the novel to live. First, I had to adapt to the personalities of Porsche and Kinn, because for two years we followed Mile and Apo and I had to tell myself, wait they're Porsche and Kinn now, don't look at them thinking of Mile and Apo! While watching the episode, I was able to turn the switch about half way.

Mile as Kinn, to me, was so sexy, so hot, without showing a lot of skin. It's the confidence, power, mannerisms. I really couldn't see Mile anywhere, the smiley, happy man was replaced by Kinn. He was so amazing. Porsche was borderline annoying, but that means Apo did an amazing job because I remember thinking Porsche was annoying in the novel too sometimes haha. But he's also serious when he has to be, especially when it comes to his brother. Really loved seeing Apo as Porsche, he really is perfectly casted, just like Mile.

Porsche's uncle, Korn, Big (nodt), Ken (Perth), and Jom (ping) are really good actors, especially Nodt (Big) caught my attention each time he came into view, he's really great.

Barcode as Porchay, sometimes I thought he looked nervous while acting and not convincing, but at other times he really did a great job, especially at the scenes with the letter and the more emotional scenes with Porsche. He's very young and this is his first time acting, I think overall he did a good job and I could feel the brotherly love between him and Porsche.

+ BGM & Close-Ups +

At certain times, the music was nice, but sometimes it was not very memorable or non-existent. And there were scenes without background music, where I think BGM would have made the scene better. I hope when the dvd or blu ray set is released, they will do something about the music. Because music in film conveys emotion and feelings, it's so important and adds extra dimension.

Also wish there were more close-up scenes to provide context and visual interest. Close-up scenes of hands, faces, touches, looks, but also the setting, are so important to give more information about the character and the scene, but we got very little. Especially in a Boys Love drama, it is important because it helps create tension between characters, anticipation, and conveys emotions and mood. I hope the future episodes, especially the more intimate scenes, will have more of those close-up shots. Since the first episode was mostly action, I can understand why they save those kind of shots for later episodes!

+ Final Word +

All in all, really good episode, very high re-watch value, and I'm so excited for the next few episodes, especially Vegas and Pete who will play with your emotions a lot. We saw Pete for one second blurred in a corner, and I was so happy to see him, but I guess it wasn't his time to shine yet!