Magical; GMMTV's best BL yet

I think everything good has already been said in the other reviews and in the comments. We waited more than a year for A Tale of Thousand Stars to air, and I am so glad to say, the wait was definitely worth it. I only have the following takeaways:

1. Before ATOTS, Earth was never in my radar as a leading man material. He's got the body, yes, but acting and appeal wise, I thought he had none. ATOTS changed my perspective of him, and I could not imagine any other actor from GMMTV's slate that could play Phupha better than he did. It is his best work, and his performance is definitely one of the greatest I've seen. What I loved the most about his version of Phupha is he does not really communicate through actions but through his eyes. Earth did it so well, and very few actors can do that.

2. For Mix, I would say that he's still got some room for improvement, but that does not mean his performance was bad. In fact, he carried the show so well. It wasn't hard to sympathize with Tian because Mix just transformed himself into the role smoothly. But there were still some moments in the series where I felt he was lacking. However, if GMMTV can give this guy more opportunities to improve, I have huge faith that Mix will turn himself into one of the studio's most treasured leading men. Just watch the old trailer of 1000 Stars and you can see how much he has improved in the span of a year.

3. ATOTS was a refreshing take on the Thai BL genre, which after 5+ years of feeding us student-student relationships, has grown quite bleak and tiresome. Correct me if I'm wrong, but this is probably the first GMMTV BL that is not set within university walls? The point here is, ATOTS highlights that the idea of making a boys love series not involving students can actually work. I am very excited in seeing how ATOTS' success will impact the studio's future lakorns. Will we finally get our wish to see a BL between two grown men? A BL set in the workplace? We'll just have to wait and see.

4. I think 1000 Stars had the best set of supporting characters and actors. I loved how they utilized some actors on the GMMTV slate that have not been getting any good roles lately. For instance, I haven't seen P'Champ in a series since My Dear Loser: Edge of 17, and that was way back in 2017! I like the fact that despite not having much lines, he was still largely present throughout the show. There's also Nammon, who played Dr. Nam, probably the best character in the entire series. This is another guy I do not see often lately. It is unfortunate that he already left GMM, but I find it amazing that he gave the studio his best work in his very last project for them. It is such a fitting ending to a career he's held with GMM for many years. Drake was given a surprisingly small role, too small that they did not even bother including him in the show's poster. This was a guy who had been getting main roles in the recent past, I wonder what made him settle for less? I don't have much to say about his character of Rang because his time in the series was just too limited. Nevertheless, Drake can give a solid performance if he is given the right material, you can check out Cause You're My Boy that was aired back in 2018. P'Thanom's performance as Khama is very reflective of his long experience in the industry. His last scene in the drama where he was on the verge of tears was my favorite moment of his. Aye and White, despite their very short screen time, were also effective as Torfun and Tul, respectively. And Khaotung, thank God he rebounded quickly from that Tonhon Chonlatee travesty. His performance as Longtae is so far my favorite of his own work. Although I think he is getting a bit typecast as that caring, sensible friend to the show's leading man. And we should not forget about Tian's students. Each of them had his/her own charm and was completely indispensable in the story.

5. I don't care much about songs, but ATOTS's soundtrack is too incredible to be ignored. Among all the songs linked to GMMTV series, I only liked two: Gun Napat's title song here and Gawin Caskey's song in Dark Blue Kiss. Gun's song may even move you to tears if you understand the full context of the show that it goes with. Moreover, one thing I noticed about P'Aof's past series is that he tends to overuse silly sound effects. I guess he learned how those SFX can ruin the mood of his dramas, so he minimized them significantly in ATOTS, which I truly, truly appreciate.

6. The location was shot so beautifully, it almost feels as if you have been transported to Pha Pun Dao. I noticed that P'Aof does out-of-town scenes particularly well. From In and Sun's episode in Our Skyy to ATOTS, not only did he capture what the scenario looks like but also how it feels to be there. What contributed to this feat was that the ambient sounds in the mountains were captured very well. I also loved the lighting for the nighttime scenes, which does not look artificial (in itself, this feat is superb because lakorns (at least from what I have seen) usually suck in making nighttime lighting look natural!). The production design was just the cherry on top. Heck, this is the first time I actually commented on a lakorn's production design! That just shows how groundbreaking this series was!

7. The only negative comment I can give is related to some unresolved conflicts in the story. The one that really sticks its head out was: what happened to Sakda's men? After all that gunfire, I could not believe it just ended right then and there. There was no resolution to his story at all. In addition to that, the problem regarding the village losing its major source of livelihood was also left open. When the stocks of those teabags were burned down along with the school, the issue was not brought up again. Although I understand that we were never given closure about these two key issues in the story since the drama's priority is Tian and Phupha's relationship, these issues are quite serious and we can't just pretend they never happened.


All in all, a highly recommended show. SOTUS and SOTUS S have just been dethroned as the best BL that GMMTV can offer. It will take the studio a long time to upend this feat.

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Yikes

YIKES. This is the worst show I have seen from GMMTV. I hope the careers of everyone involved would be able to recover from this tragedy.

The show went on a freefall after the pilot episode. That Untamed spoof would definitely go down as one of the best prologues to a BL ever, but I could only hope that the creators invested the same amount of effort in filming/writing the rest of the story. The writing of Tonhon Chonlatee is possibly the laziest I've seen from GMMTV. Khao, Neo, Ciize, Mike, and Jennifer were all good but not enough to save us from this cringefest. Attack me if you want, but the PoddKhao tandem never worked. The two had no chemistry at all and they were just too... different. Podd had a much better partner (Gawin from Kiss Me Again/Dark Blue Kiss, who had the right amount of angst and tall enough to appear pretty beside Podd) and Khao is better paired off with someone his own age. Without any chemistry, I found it difficult to show empathy for either of the leads.

I especially hate those scenes where the characters were just seated in the living room. Absolutely zero creativity there. Their discussions did not go anywhere. I was also hoping that they showed us more of Na, who is probably the funniest and most three-dimensional character in the show, but apart from Episodes 7 and 8, he barely had anything to do in the series.

And that ending. DOUBLE YIKES. That was beyond bad.

I quite understand why we got this from GMMTV. The pandemic forced them to delay/abandon some of the most anticipated series they have for 2020, so they had to come up with "temporary fillers" quick: shows that are relatively easy to write and film amid the restrictions. But man, I have seen better fiction written by giddy teens in Wattpad...

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Pales in comparison with other BL dramas

I've seen several BL dramas, so it was rather shocking to hear people claiming "2gether" as the best BL there is. I respectfully disagree.

2gether owes much of its success to the fact that it was released during a pandemic, a time when people had no choice but to stay in and look for a distraction, and 2gether perfectly fits the bill --- you watch it to waste time but there really isn't much to expect from it. I'll admit the first five episodes or so got me hooked, but the series just kind of disintegrated from that point. The main weakness of this series is that there really isn't much to tell, so the creators just kept on stretching it until the story became tiresome.

I'll be enumerating below the three main strong and weak points of 2gether:

Weaknesses:

1) ZERO interesting sidecouples
Mike and Gus, who played Man and Green, respectively, were so hilarious and continued breathing some life to the series at times when things fell flat. However, I don't see the point of pairing them up with Type and Dim because they can do well on their own. Their pairings were so uninteresting, especially Dim and Green. Although Toptap and Mike had a lot of funny scenes together, they don't have any chemistry at all. As much as I love the Frank and Drake ship, Mil and Phukong were probably the most uninteresting characters in the series. Drake, who showed so much talent and energy in My Tee, was cast as the cold and bitter Mil, a role that does not suit him at all! Frank on the other hand was not given much time to shine as Phukong here; he was mostly left in the background throughout the series so I cannot comment much on him and his character.

2) Shameless plugs
2gether had so much shameless plugs from its sponsors that scenes were specifically built for them. The other series I've watched managed to circumvent this "problem" in creative ways (i.e. they make the sponsored product a "part" of the story instead of just plugging it in out of nowhere).

3) There's nothing much to tell, really
Tine hired Sarawat to pretend to be his BF to ward off a gay admirer. When it was revealed that Sarawat had genuine feelings for Tine, they entered a relationship and moved in together, but after that, the series had nothing else to show. It could've ended after Tine accepted Sarawat as his BF. Like I've said before, the creators just extended the story as far as they could until it became boring.

Strengths:

1) Metawin
In every series, there is at least one actor or actress who proves himself/herself to be a cut above the rest. In 2gether, that actor was Metawin, who played Tine. The entire series revolved around his character, and Win completely understood that the project would sink if he screws up in his delivery. Despite this being his first series (I think Win is the only actor in 2gether who has zero acting experience), he showed admirable acting chops, and it somewhat saved the entire show from sinking into oblivion. Bright, on the other hand, is a sure eye candy and can deliver excellent fan service along with Win. However, he does not do well on his own; his character Sarawat only becomes interesting when Tine is around, and that pretty much justifies Tine /Win's importance in the whole show.

2) Supporting players: Green, Fong, Man
Like I've said before, Man and Green give so much life to their scenes, they can easily steal the show. Khaotung as always plays the wise, supportive friend. Small parts such as theirs can definitely make a change.

3) Soundtrack
Music plays a big part in 2gether, so having a great soundtrack was a big achievement for the show's creators.


In sum, there are tens of other dramas that are better than 2gether. The series is just so-so. As much as I hate using the word, 2gether is extremely "overrated." People should stop treating it as the holy grail of Thai lakorns.

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Second lead syndrome

I am not a TayNew fan, but after watching them in Kiss Me Again (the only couple worth watching in that entire show), I felt tempted to watch this followup to their story. But boy, the PeteKao here is not the PeteKao I loved in Kiss Me Again. They are particularly stressful to watch, especially Pete, who acts so much like a child that I want to bash his head in.

THANK GOD the creators decided to carry over a side couple from Kiss Me Again to DBK -- Sun and Mork. While everything turned out to be a complete mess on PeteKao's side of things, we take refuge in watching the volatile relationship between SunMork flourish. I would even dare say that I would rank DBK much lower if SunMork was not included. For this reason, in my review I shall only focus on SunMork's part and pretend that PeteKao's story died along with Kiss Me Again , lol.

ACTING/CHARACTERS: Podd Suphakorn... by the time DBK was released he was relatively new in the drama scene, but how he played Sun was exceptional! I would even rank his performance as the second best I've seen in any lakorn. In Kiss Me Again he was quite shallow and uninteresting, perhaps due to the fact that he wasn't given much material apart from being a nagger to Mork and Rain and driving a wedge between Pete and Kao. But when his character finally found a solid ground here in DBK, Podd really showed us how much he is capable of doing acting-wise. I wish I could say the same for Gawin, but it felt like his acting here was merely reactionary and he was only going along with whatever Podd was doing. I am not saying that he delivered a bad performance, it's just he could've done more to make his character stand out because without Sun, his presence in the serie becomes bland.

STORY: Same old enemies to lovers trope. Sun is the disciplined type, whereas Mork is into roughhousing. Their personalities crash entirely, but the mutual attraction between them prevailed. Nothing new to see here. But it was a delight watching these two try to reconcile their differences because at the end of the day, they still want each other so badly. How Mork tried so hard to avoid fights but violence seems to make its way to him, while Sun, being the confident gay, did everything in his power to tame the beast inside Mork, going so far to abducting him.

Production design wise, you would need to watch Kiss Me Again before DBK in order to truly appreciate the aesthetics of the Blue Sky Cafe. That was a major upgrade, and it is one of my most favorite sets I've seen from GMMTV. The scenes in the mountains were also a delight to watch, and like I've said in my review for 1000 Stars, director P'Aof does outdoor shoots particularly well.

Soundtrack wise, DBK has the most addictive intro which I bet no one would even dare skip. I also liked how they actually filmed a scene specifically for the title cards; usually GMMTV series would only show a montage of clips as an opening, but no, DBK did not go that route, which makes it stand out from the rest! If you are observant enough, you can also see that the intro itself serves as a summary of the entire drama. Apart from the intro, DBK has two theme songs, one sung by TayNew and the other sung by Gawin. Tbh the TayNew song is something I ALWAYS skip because 1) singing is not TayNew's forte, and 2) it had nothing to do with the series at all. By contrast, Gawin is an underrated, excellent singer and the song itself carries SunMork's flow of the story too well.

One thing I wish they could've improved upon is how they handled the Manow problem. Any average viewer would know that Manow was only introduced in DBK as that girl who tries to "un-gay" one of the leads (around 90% of BLs have this character, I swear), but ultimately she was not used at all. I would probably say it was a great decision to leave her in the sidelines and focus on Sun and Mork's relationship, but without her playing her role as a potential homewrecker, I thought the Manow character should have been completely removed from the serie.

All in all, a very satisfying conclusion to the SunMork story, and I will honestly defend the PoddGawin tandem with my life because they just click with each other. One could only hope that GMMTV creates another series with these two paired again.

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Starts off cute, but becomes disturbing -- romanticizes rape and abuse

Love by Chance, previously considered the reigning BL until 2gether joined the race, was quite a mess. Let me enumerate its main weaknesses and strengths below:

Weaknesses
1) Boring, uninteresting and disturbing subplots
There are four subplots running simultaneously in LBC - PETExAE, TINxCAN, KENGKLAxTECHNO, and TUMxTAR, of which the last two were so irrelevant to the story that they can just be completely omitted and it won't change a thing. Obviously they were just included in LBC to serve as a "cue" for a prequel or a sequel, but they had no connections whatsoever with the main story - that of Pete and AE. There was actually another subplot, that of Tharn and Type, but the other half of that story did not appear in the series at all; there were just fleeting mentions of his existence.

I can also describe these four ships as "disturbing." Let us start off with Pete and Ae. Ae starts off as that sweet, protective boyfriend, but midway into the series, he starts to show his abusive side: he gets mad at Pete for talking to other boys, he literally drags him around, and he dictates what Pete should and should not do.

Tin and Can's relationship is not based on love but rather an exchange of needs. Can is "poor," and he gives in to Tin's demands in exchange for material things. Can is a very impressionable, carefree character and is generally unfamiliar with the concept of "love" until Tin came along. He is the complete opposite of Tin, so it's a mystery how and why these guys were paired. It's like pairing a child to a fully grown man.

The story between Kengkla and Techno romanticizes rape. Kengkla obviously took advantage of Techno and even conspired with the latter's very own brother so that he can take him to bed. Kengkla even pinned the blame on Techno and basically blackmailed him into becoming his boyfriend. It was NASTY.

Tum and Tar are step brothers who have developed feelings for each other. I am not sure how it goes in Thailand, but in other countries, such relationship is generally frowned upon. These two characters do not interact with anyone else in the series (except for very few scenes each of them is talking to Type).

2) I am not a big fan of characters that are introduced in one episode and then completely disappear from the series afterward. LBC has three of such characters --- Trump, Money and Chompoo. Trump's conflict with Pete was left unresolved; I was actually waiting for him to appear somewhere in the end to bring closure to his subplot but there's nothing. Money appears around EP 4 to invite Pete to join the cheering squad. Pete accepts, but not a single cheering scene can be found throughout LBC. Why mention it then? It was so pointless.... Chompoo never knew that Ae was in love with someone else. She just literally disappeared, so her purpose of making Pete jealous was also pointless.

3) Underutilized characters: Good, Bow and Ping. These characters have so much potential and, along with Can and Pond (the latter of whom was thankfully given a bigger part!), they are the only source of laughs in the entire series. Sadly they have been pushed aside in favor of much less interesting characters such as those I have mentioned above.

4) BS sponsorship scenes: The first 8 or 9 episodes of LBC had no plugs from sponsors, which is an admirable feat that I have never seen in any of the Thai lakorns I have watched. So I was disappointed at the last few episodes when LBC started showing pointless scenes that are specifically built for its sponsors.


Strengths:
1) I want to single out Saint, Perth, and Yacht from the rest of the cast because they played their roles so well. Saint completely embodied Pete (him saying "krab" so many times was cute!), Perth played Ae without reservations (however I think there are scenes where he played him too well---remember that humping bed scene, anyone?), and Yacht was all around great. I can even say that without Yacht's portrayal of Pond, I would've rated this serie much lower because he brings the series to life without fail each time he appears. I think it is unfair that he was ranked as a "supporting character" even if technically he plays a big part in Pete and Ae's story.

2) There are so many "conservative" Thai BLs that can't show anything else beyond innocent pecks on cheeks or two lips merely touching each other, leaving straight and gay fans disappointed. The creators of LBC apparently understood this so they went all out: multiple scenes of boys making out, having foreplay, showing near nudity, and talking dirty, so in terms of fan service, LBC excels in all counts. However, not every member of the audience is interested in this kind of stuff...

3) Music --- a very trivial point, but I loved the sounds in Love by Chance.


LBC was a messy show all in all. There are two followups to this series (TharnType and A Chance to Love), but I think I'll just put them aside for now given the many cons I have observed from this show.

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Cause You're My Boy -- TAKE 2

I wrote a review for My Tee/Cause You're My Boy several months ago but eventually decided to delete it. Months after finishing this series and starting/finishing several other lakorns, I still couldn't get this one off my head. It was special, in a sense.

What I appreciated most about My Tee was its RAWNESS. For months I kept thinking that My Tee was so different from the other series I've seen from Thailand. The term I was looking for lingered at the tip of my tongue and it was only today that I realized the perfect adjective to describe the experience -- RAW. My Tee served CRUEL REALITY. It does not go for the love/hate dilemma of SOTUS. It does not go for the fiery, burning passion of Dark Blue Kiss. It does not go for the fluffy cute shit of 2gether the Series. While the characters in My Tee are no different from those we've seen in other lakorns, they are shown under different light here. These are kids thrown in difficult situations that only adults are known to face. It was because of this that I found some scenes quite painful to watch. I thought at first it was pure cringe, but it wasn't. I just thought these kids didn't exactly deserve what they are going through.

So many people have already commented on FrankDrake, so I won't delve deep into their chemistry/relationship. All I can say is that Frank needs to attend more workshops because his performance here leaves so much to be desired. He was the weakest link in the entire cast, and in a sense it was a death sentence for the series because he is playing one of the leads. Thankfully though, we have Drake playing opposite Frank. Drake has shown so much versatility in the roles he's been taking, and by far, he gave his best performance in My Tee. He carried all of the drama on his shoulders yet he pulled off the role of Mork with so much ease. His acting chops at the second half of the series bested the rest of the cast: it was at this part where Mork was going head to head with Tee's mother, dealing with his separation from Tee, his expulsion from school, etc. This is a performance that you just have to see in order to appreciate. Drake outshone all of his co-actors by a mile, and it offset the film's big weakness that is Frank's performance. Unfortunately, Drake is yet to land another lead role in a film/series. I hope GMMTV invests more in him because he is one of the strongest actors they have in their roster.

Another strong point of My Tee was Gord-Morn sidecouple, which has accumulated a small fanbase of its own. GordMorn was the only thing that was constant in the series; while everything around them seemed to crumble down, these boys are still looking out for each other, except for that very brief episode of the two not talking to each other after one of them felt betrayed by the other. I would even dare say that GordMorn was better than TeeMork, and I really appreciate that they were given enough screen time here instead of being left in a corner until they are completely forgotten by the audiences (the ill fate of most sidecouples in the lakorns I've seen). Their relationship is too pure; it was puppy love at the truest sense of the word. I can't even complain about the lack of skinship between them (that would be disturbing considering their age!).

Muad, Au, Ton, and Tee's grandma were just as special as the four leads. Muad was the quiet father to Morn and Mork who just quietly accepted his sons' orientations without making a big scene out of things. Au and Ton's gestures of unwavering loyalty to Mork were so heartwarming to watch. Tee's grandma was basically a female version of Muad who was more expressive of her support to her grandson's life choices. Then there's Tee's mom whose purpose in the series was to represent the hypocrisy of the members of the Thai society --- or society in general --- in their acceptance of the LGBT+ community. She makes her first appearance in the series as a motivational speaker telling children to be accepting and tolerant of people who are "different," and then in the next few episodes, we listen to her tirades about why it is not okay to be gay. I am fully aware that audiences hated her inclusion in the story, but I think that without Tee's mom, the story of My Tee would just go nowhere and it will just be as typical as the other Thai BLs.

Now let me get to the "realness" of My Tee. First, My Tee is probably the only lakorn I've watched where the main characters are from the lowest class of society and touched upon the topic of struggling families. Mork was reduced to selling illegal pornography, while Morn desperately clung on the dream of becoming a 'net idol' and unwittingly buying fake followers on Instagram --- and they both did these things to support their father's struggling barbershop business. Second, My Tee was the only series I've seen where Thailand was not portrayed as completely modern or upper class. Each scene seemed to be painted in a darker, more natural hue, which starkly contrasts the other BLs where almost all scenes have been shot in full light. Interestingly, a lot of scenes in this series have been shot at night, where children are at their most vulnerable to crime and vice (and there are actually several scenes throughout the series where our young characters actually fell prey to this kind of stuff). It somehow sends a message that Bangkok is not the paradise that other series have portrayed it to be; it is no different from other notoriously dangerous cities in Asia, like Manila for instance. Third, GMMTV series rarely seemed to touch upon the topic of homophobia, yet My Tee shed full light on such topic and how members of the LGBT community, including the young ones, are struggling with it. This feature also completely contrasts the other series I've watched where it seemed that being gay is "completely OK" in Thailand.

Then there's the production issues. My Tee was apparently shot on a limited budget that they couldn't invest in better sound editing or at least in a continuity director. There are so many scenes in the film where you can barely hear the dialogue because the environmental noise was too loud (thank God for subtitles). One can also see "jumps" from one scene to another that do not make any sense at all.

There are also characters that have been grossly underused --- Bambi and Ching. I feel that we were supposed to have a third couple in My Tee, a lesbian couple at that. I don't know why the creators decided to drop it, but if they kept it in, My Tee would've become a landmark BL series for being the first to showcase a lesbian subplot (to the best of my knowledge). We only get two short scenes of the two throughout the entire series --- one near the beginning (where Bambi makes it clear that she does not feel the same way for Ching and the two never spoke to each other after that) and another near the end (where the two finally reconciled). Given that this potential GL subplot was eventually left on the cutting room floor, keeping the scenes of Bambi and Ching seemed pointless because they don't actually contribute anything to the story (besides Bambi being the sister of Au and Ching being that annoying friend of Mork).

And then there's the completely unnecessary sexualization of children. First off, we should keep in mind that almost everyone in this series were underage at the time of filming. With this in mind, I found several scenes in the show that were disturbing in so many levels:

1) Morn and Gord's encounter with an online sexual predator: I'd actually let this pass as it somehow sends a warning to children that these kinds of people actually exist and that anyone can be targeted
2) Mork groping Tee: This was a key part of the story that shows how Mork is struggling with his sexuality. But I'm sure there are lots of other ways to achieve the same purpose...
3) Mork and Tee buying condoms at a convenience store: This scene was so random and completely unnecessary.
4) Au 'subtly' attempting to rape Mork by intoxicating him: Now this is completely unforgiveable. What the hell is up with whoever decided to write this in? Did s/he also write Love by Chance, by any chance (pun intended)?

There are also a lot of scenes in the show that do not make any sense at all:

1) Mork and the gang chasing after robbers: This scene was so awkward, it was just so pointless.
2) Mork meets Tee's 'stepdad': There was this long scene in the series where Mork was speaking to Tee's stepdad yet it was never made clear how this person is related to Tee. However, I think that this is more of a subtitling problem than a case of lousy writing
3) Tee's gay father: Now THIS is a case of lousy writing. I am sure there are countless better reasons to explain why Tee's parents are no longer together. I seriously LMFAO'd at an otherwise dramatic scene near the end where it was revealed that Tee's homophobic mom divorced her husband because she merely 'suspected' him of being gay. I mean how psycho was this bitch?
4) Au and Bambi, Bambi and Ching, Bambi and Tee: Seriously, the character of Bambi should've been completely erased from the series if the writers couldn't use her right. It was never made clear what is up between her and Au, Ching and Tee
5) The school principal calling Mork a "cancer in society" IN FRONT OF HIS DAD: Are school principals in Thailand like this?
6) The transgender in Muad's barbershop: She only appeared at the beginning of the series and never showed up again. What's the deal with her, no one will ever know.
7) All Bambi+Ching cuts: Already mentioned above


But I am willing to let go of these limitations because overall, I was impressed with the series and how it lingered in my head for a longer time than, let's say, Love by Chance and 2gether, which are considered by mainstream audiences the "reigning BLs from Thailand." You've got to be kidding me.

Overall rating: 8 over 10

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Exceeds all expectations --- What a SHOW.

I am so appalled by people downrating this because they were expecting a full BL. Deep down at its core, My Dear Loser: Edge of 17 is a very solid series. I dived into this show with expectations that it will just be a cute teenage romantic comedy that I can waste my time on. Yes, it was a cute teenage romcom, but I am surprised that it had soooo much more to give.

I think of MDL: Edge of 17 as a two-part character-driven serie: OHxPEACH and INxSUNxAINAM. For this review, I shall treat these two storylines separately and just focus on the characters involved and their respective stories.

OHxPEACH:

Oh has two versions in MDL: Edge of 17. The "loser phase" Oh refuses to stand up for himself and has very few impressive qualities to speak of. After a major character makeover at around Episode 5, the "post-loser phase" Oh begins to fight back and unwittingly gets himself caught up with a gang of bikers. He's a very solid, three-dimensional character in my book and always a pleasure to watch, mostly because of how he was brought to life by Nanon for the small screen.

On the other end of the spectrum is Peach, who has her own loser (Copper) and post-loser (post-Copper) phases. She's that typical girl in a Hollywood teenage romcom with a jock boyfriend and is being (indirectly) pushed around by people around her. Judging by the comments from other viewers, she's probably the most misunderstood character in the series apart from In (to be discussed later). From my perspective, I think that she definitely knows that something wrong is going on around her and she wants to help Oh, but being a teenage girl whose fame and power rest only on the fact that she's in a relationship with the most powerful student in the school, she thinks of herself as too weak to change anything.

Nanon was phenomenal in playing Oh in his loser and post-loser phases. It seemed to me that he was actually playing two different characters here. I only saw previews of his two other famous works--Blacklist and The Gifted--so it was very refreshing to watch him do a comedic role and he excels at it. Surely he will soon emerge and be acknowledged as one of the best actors working in Thailand. There's also the members of the biker gang that stood out, especially Nicky, whose unscripted, hilarious one-liners created so many scenes in the series where Nanon, Lee, and Sing break character.


INxSUNxAINAM:

The INxSUNxAINAM story steals the entire series from the OHxPEACH subplot in all aspects. I have never been so invested in a fictional character in a lakorn as much as I did in these three. Writers can even create an entire spinoff out of this subplot!

The main conflict in this subplot is that In, Sun and Ainam are engaged in a love triangle: Ainam likes Sun, Sun likes In, and In likes Ainam. The guy responsible for this conflict is In, who was ejected from his clique of school bullies but soon found new friends in Ainam and Sun. In is a very complex and well-written character. To borrow the words of a YouTube commenter, In is like a "chameleon" who has no personality of his own but instead molds himself based on the people he's currently with. Initially, viewers will not understand In, but as the series progresses, we begin to realize how poetic this character truly is. The actor who portrayed In (Pluem) apparently understood this and did a good job in making himself and his motives appear ambiguous.

Ainam is one of the best female supporting characters you'll probably ever see in a BL story. She is the complete opposite of Peach, the other main female character in MDL. At such a young age, she behaves like a fully grown woman: mature, knows and stands for what is right, and wise beyond her years. Although she was rejected by Sun, she still helped him get the person he actually wants to be with. I don't know if she received any award or recognition for her performance, but Puimek absolutely nailed the role, especially in two key scenes: Ainam asking In if he is really in love with her, and Ainam telling In that she doesn't believe in the LGBT label: people "just fall in love with each other."

Most viewers of MDL would probably relate with Sun, a character so beautifully brought to life by Chimon. He is pretty much the male version of Ainam: someone who is especially protective of people who are special to him. Throughout the entire series, his scenes with In were probably the most special. There is one scene in particular that I loved: in that anti-climactic bed scene, we see Sun shed tears on his left eye (away from In's view). A few seconds later, he turns to his side to face the camera and we see that he was actually shedding tears in both eyes. It just shows how much In means to Sun that he will even shed tears even while In is watching. That moment is so subliminally dramatic, it's quite beautiful.


I have so many other things to say about MDL: Edge of 17 to justify my 9.0 rating, but I think this review is getting too drawn out. I'll just end this by saying that MDL doesn't revolve around INxSUN; you cannot judge the entire serie based on a single subplot. You have to view it as a whole to gain a full understanding of things.

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Cringefest

I wanted to like My Engineer. It was marketed very well, and the dynamic among the actors (well, if you exclude Raff/Ryan) feels so good to watch. It has been in development hell for years, with parts being casted and re-casted after several rounds. The story runs in four different streams, so I am going to split this review into four parts:

Bohn x Duen (1/5):
The main problem with My Engineer lies in the main couple, BohnDuen. They are just so ridiculously incompatible, and the actors who play them, Cooper and Poy, only have that brother-like chemistry going on. I liked Poy as Duen as his bubbly, happy-go-lucky personality in real life fits his character very well. However, Poy comes up short in the acting department in a lot of scenes. The one where he cries for example - that was quite honestly one of the worst I have seen. I also have a major problem with the Duen character. In the beginning he was cute and fun to watch, but as the series progressed, he became so childish and immature to the point that he turned into one of the most unlikeable leads I've seen in a BL.

I wish I could say positive things about Bohn, but there is not one positive bone (pardon the pun) in his body! He was the absolute worst: he basically bullied Duen into becoming his boyfriend and he is just too unbelievably nasty to everyone (who isn't Duen) around him. Throughout the entire series, he carried this mentality where he feels that he is superior to everyone. He was an incredibly bad character, and if the creators would want to redeem themselves in My Engineer SS2, they'd better give BohnDuen a much smaller part. Acting wise, I haven't seen any of Cooper's past projects, but his acting here was very boring. I guess the character of Bohn never gave him much material to work with.


Mek x Boss (3.5/5):
MekBoss revolved around the theme of keeping your feelings to yourself. It was a story of two long-time friends who unwittingly hurt each other with their actions. The story was undoubtedly filled with BL clichés, but MekBoss was still a nice escape from that terrible BohDuen plotline. Raff/Ryan and Inntouch, despite having obvious difficulties in communicating with each other, developed an undeniable chemistry between their characters.

Raff/Ryan was Chinese and despite trying to learn Thai for his role, he never gained much proficiency in the language on time, hence forcing the creators to dub nearly all his lines in the show. The creators of My Engineer were basically forced to include him in the cast to get the much-needed funding from their Chinese investors, and when the show proved to be a success and they no longer needed the Chinese backing, they cruelly disposed of Ryan/Raff as well, citing that he has been "unprofessional" throughout the filming. But Raff/Ryan wasn't that bad; he actually played the part pretty well despite the poor dubbing. I especially liked how he conveys his emotions through his eyes. This silent-type acting is not easy to do, so this was an admirable feat. Inntouch on the other hand did not have the showy-type of acting yet still maintained a loveable presence all throughout. But the "jokes" that he made throughout the series fell flat and even sounded cringe-y.

Thara x Frong (4.5/5):
Thara and Frong have been in the series since the first episode but they weren't matched together until the last few episodes (I think things only started happening between them in Ep. 12). And when that happened, things went ELECTRIC! I don't understand the other reviews who thought that these two were boring, but these two guys were basically eye-fucking each other in their scenes! MD and Shane showed such explosive chemistry for the limited time they had, and I really loved how they kept that going on even when they are behind the camera. If SS2 actually happens, these two needs to be given more time to shine.

Ram x King (5/5):
Ask anyone who watched My Engineer who their favorite couple is, and most likely they will answer RamKing. I agree wholeheartedly with that sentiment. RamKing had the best development in the entire series and were the only ones to completely avoid the usual tropes we see in Thai BLs. It started with King feigning interest (with no romantic implications whatsoever) in Ram, a quiet freshman of foreign descent who rarely speaks to anybody inside or outside his circle. Throughout those 14 episodes, we watch King try to break the shell where Ram was hiding himself only to realize in the end that he was actually falling for him and that Ram was willing to reciprocate his affections. I would definitely rank RamKing as one of the best-written couples in all of the boys love series I have seen. I would die to watch them further develop this strange yet very charming relationship in SS2. In real life, Talay and Perth basically had the same interests in life and were not far off each other in terms of age (I think Talay was only a year younger than Perth) , which made them the perfect choice to play the show's most-celebrated couple. Talay basically acted as himself throughout the show, and Perth, who is quite the funny child-like type in real life, was incredible in playing the cold, stone-faced Ram.

Outside its plot, My Engineer had lots of problems:

1) What is up with the OST? I could swear the same song will play about 5 to 7 times in a single episode, it is so tiresome and ridiculous. They could have invested in expanding the selection of music they will be playing in this show considering its length (BLs with more than 12 eps. is quite rare for Thailand).
2) My Engineer excessively relied on flashbacks interspersed with dramatic background music, which is pure cringe!!! I was watching the cast reactions on YouTube and I can tell that these guys were so bored watching these flashback scenes and were just trying really hard to hide it from the camera.
3) Bad acting from supporting players: the woman who was playing Ram's mom had such a laughable performance, and her English was horrendous. Again, it was pure cringe. I could say the same for the guy who played Ram's brother and basically every single kid who appeared in this series (look very closely and you'll see that they even stare directly at the camera)
4) Sloppy editing all throughout. I don't notice this aspect of filmmaking usually but it was very evident in My Engineer.

Two extra good things:

1) Ting Ting and her two friends were a riot, but I wish they could've given them more material to work with instead of creating them merely as the "funny friends" of the lead.
2) I loved how non-existent ad placements were in this series. That's quite a feat.


Despite the relatively low rating I have given for this series, I am still looking forward to season 2. The cast was so fun to watch, but things would be much, much better if they have been given a more solid storyline (with the exception of TharaFrong and RamKing, which were already perfect).

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Far from the best

I have no idea why it is so popular to be honest. I never saw the appeal. Too many things bothered me about Tharntype, the top five of which are:

1) Man, people walk so slow in this world.
2) The homophobe-turned-gay trope is getting very tiresome.
3) I could not finish watching that scene where Type was literally having a nightmare about being sexually abused as a kid without knowing that Tharn was molesting him while he was asleep. I actually closed my eyes and waited for it to finish. Jfk, this MAME girl has issues.
4) The two leads need to up their game in the acting department. Mew was stone-faced nearly 80% of his screen time, and Gulf acts like he never really was sure of what he's doing. I literally haven't seen him do anything apart from having that irritated look on his face.
5) Mew looks like he already finished school 10+ years ago, lmao. It would take me a lot of convincing before I can believe that this guy can actually play a senior in college.

There are some saving graces though:
1) I loved Mild's version of Techno. I think he is the most seasoned actor among the leads, and he shows it well. He knows that Techno is mainly created for comic relief, and he delivered.
2) I appreciate Tum and Tar's story, which left me with a lot of questions when I watched Love by Chance. I actually preferred Kok and Hiter over Title and Cooheart in LBC, and they were good acting wise. The chemistry between them though seems forced, and thinking about these two caring for each other is quite disturbing since technically they are family.

Other points:
1) A lot of sub-plots in the series seems forced. For instance, Lhong's 180-degree turn was quite a nice touch, but he literally was absent throughout most of the series. It would have been great if he maintained a constant presence throughout the show instead of just appearing near the end to do that one big scene. The girl who 'slept' with Type was another example. Clearly she was there to make Type doubt his sexuality and after 1-2 eps, she was gone. The cameo from Pete and Tin also never made any sense. It would have been great if the scene that immediately followed Pete walking away from Tharn and Type was the same scene where he was run over by Ae. That would have been epic; it would have brought the entire story full circle.

2) I have never been a fan of this trope where they introduce a character in one ep and then suddenly eliminate him/her after s/he serves his/her intended purpose. Thai drama writers really need to stop making their supporting characters seem disposable. Pretty much 90% of the supporting characters in TharnType was treated like this: Klui and Seo (who were so funny and could have been used well!), Tharn's ex, and the same guys I mentioned in point #1.

3) Tharn's needlessly long and slow-motioned crying scenes were pure cringe.


This is the second series from MAME I've seen that was a huge letdown. I should really stop buying the hype when choosing which BLs to watch.

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The game changer --- A rite of passage for people new to Boys Love

I think everything that needs to be said has already been shared by the other reviewers. SOTUS defined the BL genre; every BL series that followed owes its success to SOTUS. I hate giving perfect 10 scores but I think SOTUS deserves this rating. It is just perfect in every way.

First, the buildup of romance between Kongpob and Arthit was so beautifully done. It runs in a slow pace yes, I think when we get to that point when they finally admit their feelings to each other (which does not happen until the last 2-3 episodes), the feeling of satisfaction is just purely immeasurable. I, as a viewer, felt that I was "rewarded" upon reaching Episode 15. I rarely get that feeling when watching TV shows.

Second, there is no single character in SOTUS that you can despise. All of them are so loveable in different ways. Arthit, as cold as he is in the beginning, was hiding in a shell this whole time. It was a side of him that we'll never get to see if Kongpob chose to follow what he wants (enroll in Economics) than what his heart wants (enroll in Engineering). You see this is why I highly appreciate the flashback scenes in Eps. 14 and 15. Whoever thought of leaving those two key scenes (end of Ep. 14 and beginning of Ep. 15) for the end was a genius. It was such a nice touch. When I just started watching SOTUS, I couldn't believe why they chose such a character to be the romantic lead. How foolish I was for making such a premature judgment. As for Kongpob... what can I say? There is literally not a single bad bone in him. He's the perfect leading man because we can easily ride along and relate with what he feels. As for Singto and Krist, I could never have chosen a better couple to play these leads. In the special Episode, Krist mentioned that they actually auditioned for each other's parts, but the director eventually decided to switch their roles. Man, that was probably the best casting decision he'll ever make in his whole life.

As for the supporting characters: I loved the variety in their personalities, especially Arthit's fellow hazers. It was so funny watching how they behave when they are not playing their hazer roles. Kongpob's friends were a hilarious bunch. Newwiee was perfectly cast as the slow yet charming M opposite to Prince, who played that one friend who always leads the group in mischief. There was one thing I didn't like though; how Tew was under-utilized throughout the series. While his friends were given things to do, he mostly stays quiet in the background.. it's like his role in the series was just to "be there" with M and Oak. The creators made up for this though in SOTUS S--a series that I have yet to watch--by giving Ouajun a bigger part to play and even a romantic interest. The girl group of Maprang, May and Prae was also highly entertaining: I think Maprang should have been given a bigger role because she was hilarious, and making Prae a lesbian was so unexpected yet also added a nice touch to the story. May's crush on Kongpob was very cute, and Neen did such a great job in that scene where her character was both physically (after falling from her bike) and emotionally (after being rejected by Kongpob) hurt at the same time. There was actually another person in Kongpob's circle of friends that mysteriously disappeared mid season: Wad. I am not sure about the reason behind his disappearance, but if the creators pushed through with the Prem+Wad pairing, that would definitely raise this show to greater heights. Probably the creators thought it better to just stick to one ship for the entire show so that the audiences can better focus on the dynamics between Kongpob and Arthit.

Lastly, the best thing that impressed me the most about SOTUS was how it makes sense of hazing and the gear that symbolizes the engineering school (the same gear we are seeing in SOTUS posters and title cards). People merely think of hazing as a ritual every one has to go through, but SOTUS goes deeper than that. Arthit and his senior P'Tum did a perfect explanation for this, so you'll have to watch the entire series to understand what I am talking about.

I know that I have soooo many other things to say about SOTUS but I can't talk here forever, can I? You'll just have to watch to the end to understand its appeal. It will be one of the most rewarding viewing experiences you will ever have.

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First BL hit from Taiwan for 2022

Just finished it in a binge. I find DNA Says Love You the most endearing of all Taiwanese BLs I've seen, but my appreciation for it does not reach the point that I would start defending it against detractors. First, let me just get the negatives out of the way:

1) The drama should have given more details about Amber's backstory. It seems that they dedicated only a few minutes to explain his condition, and none of their explanations had brought clarity to the topic. Suspension of disbelief is obviously needed here.

2) The second "couple" was a complete waste of space, and the series dedicating a whole episode for them was a poor decision since they have been largely absent in any of the other episodes, not giving the audience any reason to care. They are not worth the investment.

3) Editing was quite sloppy and obviously lacked budget. One scene that irked me in particular because of editing issues was that part where Le started crying to his mother.

Now for the good parts:

1) The production design is really good, as expected from a Taiwanese BL. DNA Says Love You also has the nicest collection of music I've heard in a BL drama.

2) Acting wise, I think that none of the actors in the ensemble did a bad job. I have to single out Lukas and Tannie Huang (are they siblings?) for their performance, though Lukas could've done better with his crying because it looked so forced; a huge contrast to what I have seen from him in the other episodes.

3) I liked how DNA Says Love You is a boys love drama but does not really fit into the conventional definition of BL since the lead is not really in love with a man per se... Probably some fans of the genre will not like it (remember how they thrashed The Shipper?), but I think DNA Says Love You handled this delicate topic very well. The idea is definitely one of a kind, a very welcome breath of fresh air for a genre that seems to repeat the same tropes over and over again lately.

Å small thing also worth mentioning here is that the kiss between the leads looked very awkward. We see touching between the lips, but there was zero passion behind it.

Overall, it was a good run, I honestly had no expectations for it but ended up pleasantly surprised by how the story moved me. I'll be giving DNA Says Love You an 8.5.

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Meh

Chances are (pardon the pun), if you've seen one BL from Thailand, you have seen Second Chance as well.

Second Chance was a six-episodes short series filled with all imaginable clichés you can find in lakorns, BL or non-BL. It revolves around the theme of forgiveness, begging for a second shot at a relationship that never came into fruition (hence the title, "Second Chance").

We start off with our two leads, Paper and Sky, fighting over a misunderstanding in a scene that is very reminiscent of Dark Blue Kiss, with the latter being pushed into a pool in reckless abandon. While I have to admit that the pool scene was filmed very well, I can't help but wonder: Thais love filming underwater, don't they? Seems like the creator of this series tore several pages off Dark Blue Kiss's book.

And then we get that big ol' flashback: we see Paper and Sky being the best of friends, both ranked top of the class, both with great ambitions for their future. They have grown up together as best friends but, in the Thai BL universe, no two seemingly straight guys can remain best friends forever.

We now get to see that basketball scene --- a game that elevated Paper and Sky's relationship into a new level after falling on each other's faces when one of them lost his footing. Sigh. This kind of scene again? I could swear these lakorn creators have run out of ideas. We get the usual 5 seconds of silence as the two boys stare at each other's eyes, and as they picked themselves up from the floor, they just knew from that moment that their friendship will never be the same.

Then enters the third guy in their circle: the overzealous yet directionless Chris. Apparently he's been a long friend of Paper and Sky yet he totally has no clue that either of his friends could be gay. Hmmm, where have I heard that concept before? Ah yes, in about 95% of the Thai BLs I've watched. If Paper and Sky borrows plenty of elements from Dark Blue Kiss, the story of Chris is a watered-down ripoff of another beloved yet questionable Thai BL, Love by Chance. You see, on the outset, there's no reason for us to suspect that Chris is also gay. He's ready to rumble, goes to a Muay Thai studio every week, being the joker in his circle of friends, etc. But for some reason, he is charmed head over heels by Jeno, a shy gay schoolmate who is being chased non-stop by bullies. Do you see now the resemblance with Love by Chance?

Chris is basically a carbon copy of Ae yet is light years behind him when it comes to being physically, emotionally and (possibly) sexually abusive to his partner. Disgusting little creep. Anyway with that being said, I could describe Chris as a much improved version of Ae as I have never seen him harm nobody. He truly loves Jeno, but for reasons that have never been made clear to the audience.

Similarly, Jeno is an improved version of Love by Chance's Pete in the sense that he actually does something to defend himself from his bullies. Funny enough, Jeno's bully is also a carbon copy of Pete's bully as they both literally disappear mid-season, leaving no proper conclusion to their plotline. One thing that confuses me about Jeno is that his personality makes a complete 180-degree turn literally the day after signing up for Muay Thai classes. From weak and bashful, he suddenly became brash and snobbish. I wonder what happened during his first session?

We also have this weird plotline involving a third pair. M and Near are working in a boardgame cafe being frequented by the Paper/Sky/Chris gang. I have to say that this subplot is the one truly original contribution of Second Chance to the BL universe as it introduces a concept we've never heard of (so far) --- about two guys catfish-ing each other. While keeping their identities hidden, M and Near falls for each other through an online game. Yet their story suffers from one of the lousiest writing I have seen. Similar to Paper/Sky and Chris/Jeno, there was zero development in these characters' arcs.

Outside of these three subplots, there's also this annoying supporting female character that is just so fucking corny.

I wonder why the comments and reviews are praising this little "gem" when there is little to be praised about it. Acting is subpar (though I'd admit that Mawin and Run, who played Chris and Jeno, were quite good), writing is lazy, and there literally is only one score in its entire soundtrack (that guitar strum is repetitive/annoying AF). But surely there is something to see here, right? Well yes, if you are a hardcore fujoshi who gets off at seeing guys making out, Fluke and Tong (playing Paper and Sky) had an intense makeout sesh at the middle of the series. Right off the bat I would say it was one of the hottest kisses I have seen in Thai BLs, where most leads would simply press their lips with each other and sell that off as a "kiss." But Fluke and Tong put their hearts into their big reveal apparently, showing boys (and girls) how it's done!

Overall: 2.5/10

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Watching this was a struggle.

GMMTV has done it again! Take a bunch of loveable characters from one series and turn them into despicable little sh*ts in another! First of all, I LOVED the Puppy Honey prequel. It's a very shallow story yes, but the characters are just too loveable. The power of this series obviously lies in its characters than in its plot, soundtrack, direction or acting. So if you make these characters despicable, then what's the point of writing a sequel? It actually took me two months to finish watching the entire thing because I am just too uninterested to continue watching.

First, what happened to Porsche? In the prequel, this guy is just impossible to keep down. He has so many silly antics up his sleeve, and there's just too much energy bubbling inside him. In Puppy Honey 2, Porsche took a 180 degree turn. He was mostly brooding and morose to the point that Korn looks like he's lost all interest in playing the part. From a lively entertainer to one of the most boring leads in a show. What a transformation.

Second, what happened to Emma? Emma's appeal lies in her unyielding motivation to get over her trauma and make peace with the canine species, so when she achieved just that at the end of Puppy Honey, the writers of the sequel apparently had no idea what else is there for her to do. So they turned her into a needy, grumpy b*tch. Such lousy writing if I ever see one. And what is up with her tripping all the time? It was too cliché and stupid!

Third, what happened to Din? In the prequel he never actually had any lines or only had two lines max, but to suddenly transform him from an innocent student devoted to animals into a complete psycho? My God, what are these writers smoking???

I think it is very apparent that this sequel was made just to keep the OffGun ship sailing at the time. There really is nothing to see here but a continuation of the PickRome story, which was ended all too abruptly in the prequel. But I am confused as to why Pick and Rome reversed their roles in this series. Pick, who seems disinterested in Rome in the prequel, is the one doing the chasing now. Meanwhile, Rome, who used to be very reserved and careful, became too forward and direct in the sequel. Pick actually had more chemistry with Porsche in the prequel, and with the large absence of Porsche+Pick interactions in PH2, Off's character seems to have lost his magic. Like Porsche, he just looked miserable all the time. The same for Rome --- he worked well with Emma, but in the sequel, these two never actually met until the last 2 episodes. He also lost his appeal when this connection was severed. I think I started with the wrong OffGun series, because as much as I love these two individually, I never saw their spark in the roles of PickRome. Probably watching Theory of Love would change my perspective.

There are also two new characters introduced in PH2 -- Night and Friend. Night was probably the most one-dimensional character in the series, a victim of bad writing. There was nothing interesting about him really, except for the fact that he was played by Krist? To attest to his one-dimensionality, he was simply disposed like garbage at the end of the series after he served his purpose (which is to drive a wedge between Porsche and Emma). And then there's Friend. I think she was the only character that I actually liked in PH2. In her we see a girl pulling a happy face despite all the wrongs that the world did to her. Despite being named "Friend," she was lonesome and scared, and I really loved how Namtarn pulled off such a part. There's no chemistry between her and Porsche, but still she was a delight to watch. Her sad backstory really pulls on the heartstrings, and nothing in this series has affected me much more than that scene where she realizes that her cat is gone.

And lastly, why is this titled Puppy Honey 2 when there are no dogs to speak of? Puppy Honey played around with the concept so liberally, and it was completely abandoned in the sequel. Should've gone with a different title then!

All in all, this show is for solid OffGun fans only. If you loved the four-person gang in PH1 and really wanted to see them get back together again, then I'd recommend you to skip the entire series and go straight to the last 10 minutes of Episode 8 to get your fill.

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