Pure entertainment at first, followed by exhaustion and frustration (not in a good way)

Let me first say: this is merely my opinion, judging by other reviews there are surely many people who enjoyed watching this one, I didn’t.

Also: I have not seen the original nor any other version of this Drama, I may later so I can judge whether or not my problems with this Drama are only with this version or the story in itself.

Let’s talk about the actors/acting first.
I am a huge fan of the main couple/ their actors. I loved their chemistry in the eternal love, and for the first half I also loved it here, later on due to the drastic change in one of the characters character I kind of didn’t feel it as much anymore.
Their acting may have been a little over the top in some scenes, but for me that fit the Drama (that was a little over the top in itself) quite nicely. All in all the actors chosen fit their characters nicely. My only problem would be how the Mom of the female lead was acted. To me her expressions sometimes didn’t really fit how her character was described.
I’ll use this spot to give a big shout out to the actors/character of the best friends of the main leads. They were my ray of light throughout this series, and never failed to make me enjoy the scenes they were in. And sadly towards the end were my only source of some fun in between all the drama.

Now let’s talk about the plot. This started out as one of the most amusing Dramas I have ever watched. Everything was so extremely weird, unusual and unrealistic, filmed in such a fun way, I was literally on the floor with laughter for the first few episodes. I thought this would be a Drama were you could have a lot of fun if you didn’t use your brain, or it’s function to reason all that much. However, somewhere around the middle those weird scenes that made me laugh more and more turned into weird scenes that were just weird, stupid and frustrating. One misunderstanding started piling on to the next, until it got to a point were I didn’t even care anymore if those misunderstandings got solved. I really just wanted it to end.

To me there is good Drama and there is bad Drama. Good Drama is the kind that has got you on your tiptoes anticipating what will happen next, good Drama is understandable Drama, misunderstandings that can’t really be avoided, good drama may also be frustrating at times, but it also throws you some treats of happiness or hope every once in a while. Some misunderstandings need to be cleared up before piling on more problems. Other wise I for one start to lose interest.
Bad Drama is Drama/misunderstandings that you see coming from miles away, that is not based on any real reason and more the inability to communicate about the simplest things.
In this Drama misunderstandings just kept coming, really for the stupidest things, drifting the main characters further and further apart, basically for no reason at all, except for their inability to communicate. If a misunderstanding could be easily solved by having one simple conversation, then that is not a good source of Drama.

This might have been bearable if it was just a few episodes of this kind of Drama, sadly it just kept on going for the entire Drama, only solved in the last 10 minutes.

Another point is the weird character transformation of the female lead. To me it would have been nice to see some kind of slow transformation in her character but she basically just made a jump and became a completely different person, and sure the story kind of explains why, however to me the jump was just too big, no matter how much a person changes you would still be able to detect some traces of their original character, to me she just seemed like a completely different person... this may also be the reason I didn’t feel the main couples chemistry that much anymore.
Also for the male lead, his character was kind of inconsistent? He was described as a cold character with a good heart, but honestly he just seemed like a good hearted, bubbly character most of the time, and “cold scenes” really felt out of character to me.

There’s so much more I could complain about, but I’ll end it here for now. It’s just extremely disappointing to see a Drama that started out so well, losing everything that made me like it in the first place and turning into something completely different.

This might have been alright if it was a little shorter, since the story itself to me had some really interesting aspects... however how everything was executed, the sources of problems, the way the characters handled those problems, just felt too random and honestly exhausting to watch.

I did however really really like the OST.

Read More

Watch it, it only takes up 45 minutes of your time.

Watch it it’s only 45 minutes of ur time
So I watched this because I saw it somewhere on YouTube and thought why not? Funny part: I did not know at all what genre this was... I basically went in there expecting some innocent BL (although the title kind of should have tipped me off).

First about the acting: I can’t really complain... three 15 minute episodes are really short to make a statement about acting skills.. however I did like how all the actors portrayed their roles and it all seemed convincing. I absolutely loved how all the feelings where conveyed in episode three.

Now the story line: I like confusing things... so this was basically heaven for me. I watched episode one and was so confused that I started episode two right away, which explained a lot and ended quite interestingly... I loved episode three, though it did feel a little all over the place... however it suited the series nicely.

So I absolutely loved what they did with such a short amount of time.. there where some confusing parts till the end however not always understanding everything is sometimes a good thing. Gives you more to think about.

I’m pretty sure I’ll rewatch this again another time.

If you’re bored and don’t know what to do/watch definitely give this one a go, it’ll make the 45 minutes spent on it worth the while.

Read More

Did not disappoint at all.

After having finished 2gether and absolutely loving it (I was one of the people who was actually not that disappointed by the lack of action) the expectations for this special were extremely high, and I was really unsure of whether or not it could live up to those expectations, since I usually don’t like second seasons or similar things for good Dramas, since most of the time the first season already delivered everything in itself and everything additional is not really necessary and doesn’t really add anything new. However, since the first season still left some points unsatisfied this Special definitely delivered.

The acting, same as in 2gether, was absolutely wonderful, especially on Bright’s part. I still find that Win’s acting seems a little over the top sometimes, but somehow it fits his character.
All the side characters were beautiful, as always. I may have even liked their performances a little more than I did in the first season.

Now story wise: since this is a special that is only a few episodes long, we can’t expect too much story to happen, so the plot of the show wasn’t really all that meaningful, however, it did a great job at giving us more insight into the main couples relationship, and it also did not fail to deliver those heart melting, at the verge of cringe, sweet moments that made me fall in love with the series in the first place (even without much action), in comparison to 2gether, the main couple did actually act like a couple, as compared to the bromance thing that was going on towards the end of 2gether. Funnily enough, since the first season was so sparse in skin-ship it actually felt kind of weird to see them engaging a little more at first.
I also loved how the side couples were further explored and built, since I really liked each one of them in the Series.
All in all this Special, for me, absolutely satisfied every open end or feeling of something missing the Series had left.
Another point I am happy about is that they let Tine be more proactive and actually partake in the relationship. To me 2gether seemed really one- sided , since Sarawat was always the one initiating, apologising, etc. Here the relationship seemed a lot more balanced.

If I had to PinPoint the points that made me not give it a full 10 it might be that there were some scenes that seemed a bit overly dramatic to me, giving the circumstances. Also that some of the plot just really didn’t speak all that much to me, but since it was all so short it didn’t really bother me too much.

So if you watched 2gether and loved it as much as I did, but were still unsatisfied with some points or just wanted to see more of all of the couples, definitely watch this special. The story isn’t all that compelling, but it does deliver those sweet moments, a little more action and ties up loose ends.

Read More

I am in love.

I put off watching this Drama for some time, because I‘m usually not a big fan of „impossible“ love stories, so ghost and human didn‘t really speak to me that much. However, since I absolutely loved Singto in Sotus I decided to give it a go, and I have to say I am more than glad I did. I put off watching the last episode for three days because I didn‘t want it to end.

Actors first: Singto (Mes) as always had me 100% convinced, every expression, every emotion, every movement just felt right. The other main actor (Ohm), was also a perfect pick for the role Thun, and did a lovely job at conveying his role. The only thing about the cast that kind of threw me off was the choice for the „child actor“ because judging by looks I would have made him out to be about 10. Two years later they used the grown up actor who looks like he’s at least 16 or 17. So that was kind of a big jump in growth and looks for only two years. The child actor himself was actually pretty good though!

Now plot: what shall I say I am 100% in love, who would have thought such a constellation could ever make my realist heart fall in love. They developed the relationship beautifully over the course of the 8 episodes. And the chemistry between the two leads was just amazing. But not only that, the entire plot itself (Mes’ search for who he is etc.), even apart from the love story, really had me and my full attention.
All in all there’s really not much I can say that was bad about it. I didn’t like the ending as much, but as I thought about it, it was probably the best ending that we could have gotten.
One more thing I really need to mention is that this Drama managed to touch my feelings in a way they have never been touched by any series before. Yes, there have been series where way worse or more emotional things happened, that have made my chest feel tight, made me cry or feel, but this Drama brought tears to my eyes and made my heart hurt for the smallest things, things I probably would have just nodded off in other Dramas. I don’t know what it was about this Series, the story, the chemistry or just Singto’s acting, but it really really touched me.

So if you are still thinking about watching this, but are unsure, maybe because of the unusual constellation, give it a try, it’s (sadly) only 8 episodes anyways. For now this one has saved place number one in my heart and solely for that it deserves 10 stars.

Read More

(Sadly) I agree, this is overhyped

I really really really wanted to love this. It started off incredibly great, I was on the edge of my seat hugging my pillow for the first couple of episodes and then at some point it just turned so incredibly random.

It felt like someone had a pitch for the series and maybe the first couple of episodes thought out and then at some point they just winged it without any plan at all whatsoever. There were a bunch of fillers with a bit too much comic relief and a bit too little plot. They could have cut this show short by 5 episodes and it would have probably been a decently good show.

Although, even so the main plot had a bunch of holes (which is to be expected for this kind of story but still this one overdid it a little on the lack of logic front…).

The female lead is a bit… particular, her choices seem awfully random and not very thought out at all.. considering the whole thing kind of just revolves around her that was a bit annoying.

Now some positives which still made me sort of like this overall:

- it did have some exciting parts (although a lot of it was predictable too)
- I sincerely laughed quite a bit
- I absolutely adored the male lead (although his character does have some issues but I don’t mind particularly)
- male lead actor… just… <3
- soundtrack was pretty great and catchy

That’s it, overall I don’t think this was bad but it definitely does not live up to the hype, and it definitely did not live up to its own potential ..

Read More

Interesting, took a weird turn though

This is somewhere in between acceptable Drama and very good college production. I have absolutely no idea what the budget on this was, or how the shooting/producing conditions in general were. I imagine it must have been quite a low budget production though, judging from the dubs being off a lot of the time, sound quality etc. So I won’t weigh those aspects to heavy into my review.

I am deducting most of my points for how this was directed I guess? I am not bothered by quality, the main problem is how some of the scenes played out and were shot. (Hence the higher rating on all of the separate categories but lower general rating)

The main actors where quite alright portraying their roles, I can’t really complain about their acting, their chemistry wasn’t really all that strong, it was fine for the Drama though. All in all especially the side character’s acting (or maybe it was some of their lines/scenes) gave off quite the Theater-acting-vibe instead of a TV production. That kind of gave the series a little more charm too though.

It started out quite entertaining, a light hearted, fun, office romance with two sympathetic characters. The storyline isn’t anything new, that’s absolutely fine with me though. The plot/series itself didn’t seem to take itself too seriously which made it entertaining to watch. However, at some point in the middle as the relationship progressed they seemed to try and take the whole thing a little more serious, which lead to some (to me) uncomfortably “dramatic/ trying too hard to be serious” scenes.

I think if they’d kept the lightheartedness they started out with for the rest of the Drama, even keeping all the scenes they had/ the story line as it was, just without trying to make it too serious, it could have been a lot better than it turned out to be. I did however, surprisingly, very much like the ending.

All in all this is certainly not a masterpiece, nor a must watch, if you however, see yourself with too much time at your hands, and are looking for something that may make you laugh for a bit, do give it a go.

Read More

It won't waste your time, but it won't be the best time of your life either.

This one was a cute and short Series with some problems.

The actors did a good job at portraying their characters and their feelings. However, I have to say I was not all that convinced by the choice for one of the main leads: Gun. I am not sure if it’s just my personal taste but while he was not unattractive he did not give me the feel of the “most attractive” guy in school, that he was supposed to be. Yes not all characters always have to be portrayed by the most beautiful actors, however if the character is known to be the most popular and beautiful guy in school then he should (in my opinion) also look the part, and for me the actor they chose just didn’t make the cut.

Now story wise: the main conflict in this Series was the development of feelings of one character towards the other (one sided love). I think this is a solid enough plot for a Series of this length. There does not not need to be any additional source of conflict or anything, since the time would be too little to actually get into it and solve it in a satisfying way.

However it did progress a little too fast for my taste, or let’s say there were quite the jumps in the feelings of the one lead, that kind off felt weird since the viewer did not really get the feel that a lot of time had passed in between (even if it had, the feeling of time passing was kind of missing for me, if they didn’t explicitly say stuff like “two weeks ago...” I would have thought the whole plot took place over the course of 4 days).

Another problem is the portrayal of the one characters feelings, a one sided crush can be very cute and nicely portrayed, however here some parts just seemed a little over the top/ obsessed.
However, since the other character was a very grounded one who spoke his mind and in my opinion had the most healthy views on relationships I have ever seen in a Series, it played out well in the end.

For a Series of this length, were the storyline can not really be developed too deeply, I think this one did quite well. It was cute to watch and it doesn’t take up too much time either. So even if you don’t like it at all you won’t have wasted too much of your time.

Read More

Something different, I liked it, others may not.

I have watched most of the popular BL Thai Dramas and I must say this one is absolutely one of my favourites. Not only compared to other BL Dramas but Dramas in general.

The story/ plot was something new and every time I started to get a bit „bored“ the Drama delivered another twist right on time. This one hit me in the feelings at times so hard that I had to pause to get myself together before I could continue watching.

Also huge respect to all the actors who did a remarkable job conveying the feelings of the characters. The fact that the story doesn’t put all that much effort into ‘establishing’ the relationship between Dean and Farm, for me did not matter at all, since the backstory to me is enough reason to believe that they should be together.

You will definitely not regret watching this! However if you are bad at dealing with sadness in Dramas then maybe this one is not for you. I suggest trying the beginning of the first episode, which is already quite heavy. If that is too much for you maybe consider sitting this one out.

I edited this from 10 to 9 stars since I am currently rewatching it and there are some parts that on the second watch are not that convincing anymore. There are some scenes that are a little draggy, and Pharms personality or let’s say the way he acts around Dean becomes a bit annoying around the middle. However, I still stick with this being a Series worth the watch, especially since the first impression really got me hooked.

Read More

Did not expect to like it as much as I did

I don’t usually read plot descriptions before watching something, because I feel like it takes away too much a lot of the time. So I was kind of confused when this one started since I was not anticipating this kind of plot. I honestly loved this though.
We get to see a love story from a different perspective, we don’t watch the two leads fall in love in front of our eyes, and rather explore their already existing love. This whole thing could have gone two ways, it could have been terrible since we don’t really get to know the characters that well. But for me I loved every second of it. And the end actually had me anticipating what would happen for a moment.

All in all this was cute, touching an funny. And I would definitely watch it again.

Read More

Such a nice start kind of disappointed by how it turned out

This Drama started off extremely well in my opinion, I absolutely loved every second of the first episode. I was actually surprised by how much I liked it since I’m usually not that big a fan of Japanese productions. The fact that I liked the first episode that much may be the reason I was kind of disappointed by how the rest of the Drama went.
The higher the expectations the deeper the disappointment right?

The actors were all well chosen, fit their characters nicely and did a good job at portraying their roles.

In General there was nothing really wrong with the story line itself, however the execution was kind of off to me. The whole things seemed extremely one sided. We only get to see into one of the characters minds, which doesn’t necessarily have to be a bad thing, but for this Series it took away a lot of potential I think. The whole story basically goes according to the one characters plans/wishes and thoughts. It kind of felt like the other character was more of a side character, that apart from being the main characters love interest didn’t really play any role at all, like his life just paused whenever he was not on screen.

To me this Series, by the feeling of it, the storyline, the characters/actors had a lot of potential to be one of my favourites. However it’s one sidedness in the portrayal of the characters sadly took away that potential.

I still liked it and don’t regret watching it at all, the music was great and fit the mood quite nicely most of the time.

Since it’s quite short definitely give it a go if you’re thinking about watching it. I would not say it’s a must watch though.

Read More

Truly beautiful, no unnecessary Drama

I truly loved watching this, it made me feel really cozy and warm.

Actors: I can’t really complain about anyone, they were all good choices for their roles and did a solid good job at playing them. The only thing I’ll maybe say is that sometimes the male Leads dub sounded a little dull in comparison to what his expressions looked like (this might have been enhanced by the fact that the dubs weren’t always in sync - which was a little distracting at times). I absolutely bought the main couples chemistry.

I’ll also use this spot to give a shout out to the OST which was really well chosen (except for the weird English lyrics maybe, but we’re used to that aren’t we).

Plot: this was pure love. No unnecessary Drama, frustration or anything (just what I needed after the last Drama I watched was only that). We follow two people through their (a little unusual) first love. Some parts might have been a little unrealistic but that’s okay, isn’t that what Dramas are for.

Here’s my bit of critique: I felt that sometimes some scenes didn’t quite make sense (somebody finding something out that they had already been told before etc.), but I’ve seen this happen with quite a few smaller productions, it’s not really a big deal.

Then especially at the beginning there where some jumps from past to present etc. Which didn’t really make clear where we’re at right now, so it took me a while to be able to really follow (this didn’t happen in later episodes though, all in all the quality really seemed to increase the further the Drama progressed).

Now this point is merely based on personal preference: since the pre-relationship episodes were quite many, without really that much happening, I personally would have wished for them to be a little shorter, and instead give the side couples a little more screen time, or time to develop their relationship, I would have loved to see more of especially one couple... And also show a little more of the honeymoon phase of the main couple. Also the little Drama that does happen accumulates in one spot, they could have maybe spread that a little, it felt a little much as it was, since the whole story had progressed quite slowly before.

Now it seems like I only have bad things to say, since that part got so long, but honestly if you need something nice, lighthearted, not too long but incredibly sweet watch this one. It won’t kill you with anticipation, frustration or heartbreak, but it’s surely worth the while.
For some reason I even cried a little when it was over...

Read More

Best they could have made out of the story in such a short time

This one started out a solid eight. Compared to Tossara it was a lot better, had a lot less holes and for me did a better job at keeping my attention. Then there was this one moment were it shot up to an 8.5 and by the end I would have given it a 9.

Let’s start off with the actors. I honestly have to say the actors portrayal of their roles honestly made this Drama for me. They were alright for the first half of the Drama, but by the second half they both had me 100% convinced of their every move and expression. Big kudos to those two, honestly.

Now story wise: I am not and will never be a big fan of love stories where the conflict ist based off of one person having a Partner. While it is not really the cheating part that bothers me, it is more the „acting sad because said partner does something, while you are doing the same or something much worse at the same time“. Once you betray your partner you have lost the right to be sad. You break up with them or you apologise, stop what you were doing to hurt them and hope they forgive you.
I think because this is one of these story lines I was a bit resistant at first. However in my opinion this Series dealt with this conflict one of the best ways possible. I don’t know how else you could have dealt with such a story line to make me still really ship the main couple until the end, especially in such a short period of time.

The one thing that I have mentioned in my review of Tossara that I will mention here again is the problem of conveying the feeling of time passing to the viewer. While I think this one fits together a lot better, doesn’t have that many radical developments over (for us) a short period of time and gives us at least some clues, it was still extremely hard to make out how much time was actually passing.

I would definitely recommend to give this one a go. It was short, interesting and beautiful.

Read More

May have loved it more if I didn’t speak Chinese

To me this one was definitely worth the watch, it was vastly different from most other BL series I’ve seen.
The only thing that really bothered me I guess was the “we want to become Chinese actors in Thailand” storyline. I don’t know if this is actually or thing or not. However both the character that was supposedly good at Chinese as well as the one who supposedly wasn’t, had pretty much the same level of Chinese. Definitely not HSK4.
This is a personal preference thing though, if they had been talking Russian and their Russian would have been terrible I would not have cared, cause I don’t speak Russian. But if languages play a big part in a series I can’t really take it seriously if the language is not spoken as well as it’s supposed to be, and I know about it.
I mean imagine watching a Series about people who want to play professional basketball, but none of them know the rules, or they kind of know the rules but have terrible technique.
If you can easily look over that fact, or are not capable of the Chinese language, then definitely watch this one.
It’s definitely not on the light hearted side though. More the constant weight on your chest type. In a good way though.
I loved the main couples chemistry and how their relationship formed. It truly felt like two people naturally falling in love, and struggling/coping with it in their own way. I liked it.
If I had to critique one more thing apart from the Chinese thing, it would just be the overall feeling that just didn’t sit like a 10 for me, can’t really pin point what it is though.
For one watch this was a nice series that definitely cut deeply into my feelings. And I loved watching it, I am just not sure if I’d watch it again, I can imagine this one might become a little draggy or annoying with a second watch.

Read More

Singto. Need I say more.

Alright, so this was the first time I had any encounter with the Practice of Hazing and the so called Sotus system, and I have to say I was thankful that they explicitly point out at the beginning that the hazing depicted in the series is embellished for entertainment purposes. The hazing part honestly was the only thing I didn’t like all that much about this Drama, but it’s also what basically made the whole plot and made the character Arthit (lead) so much more interesting, as well as it gave us a chance to really get to know and understand Kongpop (lead).

I honestly (as almost always) loved the actors but I really really loved the two main actors and how they portrayed their characters. Everything seemed just extremely natural. And let’s not forget they are both not bad on the eye at all.

While I was a little appalled by the one main lead in the beginning I quickly changed my mind once I got to know and understand him more and better. The other one was a refreshing character that I honestly loved from the get go.

Overall this story was something new and sweet and definitely worth the watch.
I loved the pace and feeling of the development of the relationship between the two leads. However I may have wished for a tiny bit more action or let’s say deepening of their relationship once they got together (I have not seen season two yet, maybe it has everything that I was missing from the first), I would have also loved a little more development for side characters and their possible love interests. Also it was kind of irritating at times that from the 100 engineering freshmen there were only 6 actively doing anything? But well that’s just picking at details now.

Overall this definitely is one of my top 5 BL Series and I recommend giving it a try!

Read More

Somehow cheated it's way into my heart

This one is honestly interesting to rate since I don’t actually know what I think of this one. If I were to rate the main couple and their story only I would give a 9 for Bohns character (and Coopers acting) a 6.5 or 7 for Duen and a 6.5 for their story. However since I’m rating this based on the entire Series I will give it an 8.5 although in my heart it might even be a 9 just because I enjoyed it so much.

Let’s start off with acting: For the main characters I was absolutely convinced by Cooper’s acting as Bohn, sadly however, for my taste Poy’s acting as Duen was a little over the top from time to time... but the fact that I didn’t really connect to his character all that much may have played part in that.
The side characters all did a solid good if not great job at portraying their characters. The only thing I’ll complain about is that they chose to Dub the Chinese actor that played one of the side characters, which made it extremely hard for me to connect to him and his love interest and their story. And for me took away from the actors actual acting...

Now for the story. As for the main couple there isn’t really much to it, they are super cute up to a point, but at that point it just kind of stays flat, except for maybe the last two episodes. Duen’s character was cute at first but his original cuteness got kind of annoying in later episodes.
However, even if the main couple does not appeal to you all that much there’s still a bunch of side couples that absolutely make all of the episodes worth watching. I think this is the first time that I actually really really looked forward to especially seeing one of the side couples: Ram (Perth) and King (Talay). They absolutely got my heart in this one.
And they alone (and maybe the hope for Bohn and Duen getting a little more intimate with each other) are enough to make me happily anticipate season two.

To sum it up, altogether neither the acting nor the plot where breathtaking or far out of the ordinary (except for maybe RamKing who were actually quite extraordinary) however, the entire series was made in such a fun and entertaining way, with many cute parts and somehow still had the ability to touch me emotionally and really leave an impression.

Definitely give it a go! Maybe you’ll find to love it as much as I do!

Read More