Love in the Air (2022)

rain, rain, go away. come again another day.

if you're giving this a go with a thought that this drama will tell you well-written stories about love and all that fancy stuff, you might want to think again. 'love in the air' attempts to depict two couples with interesting themes but fails to feel like a solid drama.

now, let's jump right into the couples
phayu x rain:
one thing i'll have to say is that there is no logical progression whatsoever in their relationship. besides the questionable actions of phayu wherein consent gets glossed over, as the episodes went on, their relationship felt like a compilation of sweet and intimate scenes but there was no proper story. the timeline itself was iffy.

what made their story a mess was the editing. it was nonsensical to the point that there is no telling what scene the viewer will see next. while that might work for something else, the way it's done here makes it seem as though the drama was jumping from one scene to another with little to no explanation what happened in the previous scene. one example is a cute scene when phayu asks rain to wait for him so they can have dinner together. it then abruptly cuts to a whole different scene and sets a completely different tone leaving the viewer with no time to adjust.

despite the negatives, this couple actually deserves better. the relationship dynamic was pretty good and phayu grew on me as the episodes went on. the actors did super well to make their chemistry work on screen. the intimate scenes had me pausing every second because whew it was a lot to process. make sure to have your earphones on.

prapai x sky:
another one bites the dust. in the beginning, the consistency of prapai not understanding how important the word 'no' is really frustrated me. just because they had a one night stand (which btw sky was pressured into it) doesn't mean prapai has the right to get into sky's life. clearly, there's a fine line between 'love' and 'harassment' and i think pai sort of falls under the latter.

what sky really needed was a proper support system and lots of therapy. on the topic of support system, he has his parents and his friends who could lend him an ear or two when he needs it. however, the bl formula is to skip the therapy and rely on a handsome hunk is the best way to go. in other words, he can 'fix' him. in the end, sky still has to live with his traumas and having no control over them.

despite prapai frustrating me with his actions, i can't deny that those sweet moments the two had in the last episode made me almost erase everything else. i feel like prapai in the last episode was the best prapai out of all the episodes. however, the message that love can somehow eliminate your traumas is absolutely bullshit.

even though i didn't enjoy this couple as much, the pacing and progression of their relationship was much more developed and smooth. there were still some problems with transition of scenes but it was not as bad. at least prapai x sky story was easy to follow through and there were less jumping of scenes.

so... what bothered me the most?

both couples have different feel to them. their stories have interesting themes that can branch out into a very engaging drama. however, what i was served is half of 'what could've been'.

one thing that everyone must've noticed was the constant raining that made some scenes 100x hilarious. the use of the main couples' names were evident throughout the drama and in some way, i feel like it was overdone. there were at times that the sound of wind added to the scene minimised how impactful that scene was. thankfully, peat did well to portray his character's traumas. though i wasn't a fan of fort's acting, he nailed the emotional scenes.

honestly, i have no clue what goes on with the production quality in this one. the background music was at times distracting and not fitting to the scenes. for some scenes, the music would go on longer than it should and it almost overpowered the dialogue of the characters. the voiceovers were poorly done. for real, i hate to say it but the editing team did a lackluster job. while the pacing was odd for payu x rain, the production quality got worse for prapai x sky.

this is one of those dramas where i can't help but complain over the quality of the drama because there were so many factors that bothered me that usually doesn't bother me in other dramas.

overall, there was so much potential with this drama. if more time was given to the production team and tweaked the parts that lacked coherence, 'love in the air' would've made me like it a tad bit more.

Leia Mais

felt like torture towards the end

honestly, if mame had to write anything without SA, she'd pop a blood vessel.

I genuinely enjoyed the first half of this show. Noeul and Boss have great chemistry and it showed on screen. their stroy was alright. I don't mind a simple plot of people falling in love, but that being said, it didn't wow me either. their 18+ scenes were crazy though, never expected the things to happen the way they did. but these scenes sadly carried the show. if you were to take them out, I don't think the show would be as highly rated as it is right now (over 8).
except for cringy scenes and ambiguous consent, I don't really have too much of a quarrel with the first half. if it was just that, i would've given a solid 6 stars.

the show completely fell flat in the second half though. it felt as if they pumped 90% of the budget in the rain X phayu story and were left with 10$ and a dream for sky X prapai. the already bad sound design suddenly became worse as well as the acting.
the actors seem sweet irl, and I'm sure they gave it their all.. but even with bonus points for it being their first big role, it was simply painful to watch. emotional scenes were carried by fort, since he was able to get a tear or two out.
what bugged me the most was the sudden infantilisation of sky. Sky was sarcastic and snarky, but all of a sudden he acts like a baby in every scene. pouting, hands in front of his chest, super submissive and needy...
even if prapai "cracked" his "stone heart" that doesn't mean he has to change personalities.

that brings me to the second but also most important criticism. the ending perpetuates that love can suddenly heal your trauma. what a person with sexual trauma of this caliber needs isn't a rich, good looking hunk who borderline harasses them. it's therapy and a good social support system. there are 100 better ways to approach the topic of r*pe. idk why they keep letting mame write stories that use it as a plot device to have two good looking men make out on screen.

and with this, I'm out. I wish I had stopped after rain X phayus story wrapped up. I wouldn't be so upset now.

Leia Mais

MAME does it again.

I guess I should expect this from the creator of TharnType, but to be honest I didn’t know it was this author until I was 4 episodes in.

The actors are okay. I don’t want to say they have no ability simply because they have no reasonable script. I haven’t seen them in anything else, so maybe if they had something better to work with, they could have done well. The music is mediocre. I haven’t found anything great or terrible about the OST. As you may have gathered from the above: the plot is pretty much non existent. Outside of the relationships, there isn’t anything to be said so far. Not really a compelling plot and sometimes the storyline is nonsensical.

I can explain the whole story with some very simple dialogue:
Payu: “Let’s have sex.”
Rain: “No. I’m not gay.”
Payu: “You’re stupid.”
Rain: “I’ll make you love me so you can’t call me stupid.”
Payu: “Let’s have sex.”
Rain: “Okay.”

Pai: *Forces Sky to have sex with him.*
Sky: “What a jerk.”
Pai: “His sex was so good, I think I should make Sky my sex friend or boyfriend, as needed.”
Sky: “Go away..”
Pai: “You’re sick? Let me take care of you.”
Sky: “Okay, maybe we can have sex, but I won’t be happy about it.”

This is the gist of the show to this point (episode 10). It makes little to no sense and has very little plot. As usual for this author, imbalance of power in relationships and forced or non consensual sex that ends in loving relationships. I agree with another reviewer who asked if MAME has ever been in a relationship, cause this is not how people behave. This is soft core porn with very little story. And unfortunately the story you get isn’t worthwhile. We should expect more from our BL series.

Leia Mais

It felt like a wattpad story xD

I didn't hate it, but it was very questionable

I had a hard time caring for Phayu and Rain...
They lacked emotional intimacy and everything happened way too fast.

I didn't like the way either of the couples got together.

I was skeptical about the second couple and how Prapai didn't take "no" for an answer, but it's MAME so what's new...
I did however like that Prapai really tried to gain Sky's trust towards the end.

Gun is a piece of sh*t and I was just waiting for Prapai to beat him up.
The whole thing with Sky's trauma was way too rushed... this boy needs therapy!!
Things like this can't be cured with "the power of love" as much as we wish it would.

However in the end I liked that couple more than the first one.

I don't have much to say about the acting.
They did a good job for their first role.

Leia Mais

No, forcing is not sexy.

Yes, my rating is quite low. And i'm verry sorry for those who appreciated this.
But as a person who was in a kinda abuse relationship, it was really really hard to watch. I ended watching all by skipping.

It was very promising. I just loved how Phayu and Rain met, I found this so romantic. Maybe the first scene of first episode was the best. However, it didn't last very long before Phayu tries to force Rain into sex, then treatening him and blowing hot and cold. Some find this sexy, to me that's just how a narcisist works. But at least, Rain felt he had the choice, if we forget the first rape atempt, despite preassure ("I"ll mAke uU fAll In lOve").

We can't say the same for Sky, who was preassured to have sex with his cOol and rIch Prapai, then stalked everywhere despite not wanting to have a relationship yet. Just how can you force a younger guy to have sexe with you ? Is that how an elder should behave ? Characters may have changed later, I just can't accept even the healthier relationship when bases are so wrong. T

hat's a waste because that started not so bad, the idea of illegal racing was good... But basically, the message of this series is "Have money and you can force everything you can, you can rape and treatening for sex". I know that happens in reality, but at least Thai dramas last years tried to work on people understanding that being gay doesn't equal being easy and always saying yes. But this drama just destroys all this work that was made.

Leia Mais

Part 1 and Part 2 (updated)

Part 1: Payu and Rain
I have been waiting for this series to come out, and I'm thrilled to say my time was not wasted. MAME has delivered another hit as we've come to expect at this point. The scenery is as gorgeous as our young actors. This production company has a true talent for finding actors who have never been in a series but still deliver work as though they were seasoned actors. Boss and Noeul have amazing chemistry (both on and off screen I might add) and delivered in both the sweet and spicy areas. When you get to EP 4 you might hold your breath, but EP 6 might have you calling emergency services. Though I am saddened that part one of the series is complete, I am looking forward to seeing Fort and Pete light it up in part 2.

Part 2: Pai and Sky
Only the final series episode left before the special episode airs, so I feel comfortable writing my update. The storyline is still good. The music is still good, but the chemistry is a little off. I know given off-screen circumstances, it's unfair to expect FortPete to measure up to BossNouell, but even still it falls slightly flat for me. I will say, Fort is a beautiful crier and pulled heavily at my heart strings. On the other hand, Pete is a fantastic sulker, but not a great crier. They did seem to work well together in their NC-17 scenes, but the "red scenes" were a bit off-putting. That being said, I still love the series and recommend it for all BL fans.

Leia Mais

I was hesitant with good reason.

I initially skipped this, then with some free time I decided to try it. Couldn't make it all the way through, skipped a lot in each episode. I'll break it down why starting with;

THE GOOD;
1. Visually appealing. Budget was obviously not bad for this.
2. Sky was (for the most part) a likeable and fairly grounded character.
3. The kissing scenes (only, and not including the very, very, veeeery long lean in shots leading up to most kisses) didn't feel forced, especially between and Sky and Prapai.
4. ...I can't think of anything else.

THE BAD;
1. Rain (as an overall character) was not likeable and his stupid, flakey, flip flopping and nonsensical hot cold 'wtf is going on' behavior was very tedious. I thought it was impossible to get worse, but then the writers drowned the character in cringeworthy tropes during the couple arc with Payu and wow, it was so awful. NB: only really bad writers make their characters declare out aloud to random people (and TOTALLY uncalled for) that only their boyfriend can screw them. That is terrible. And it's not sexy. Self respect is attractive! At least to me.

2. 'Badass' characters should be written in a 'less is more' vain please. I did not at all find any of the bikers, and certainly not Payu and Prapai to be badasses or badboys or whatever. I mean, they looked cool most of the time, but that was about it.

3. The editing. Abrupt cuts scenes and background music abound. There is no flow here. Just 'something happe- cut to a different scene, lose the atmosphere, carry on'. Feels like a rush job. There's an art in cutting a scene at the right moment or fading it out, the editing here didn't flow well in many scenes. Also using boom mics will fix that noisy mic jostling sound that is heard when the actors are making close physical contact.

4. TROPE TROPE TROPE and none executed particularly well, if at all. I am not against tropes, some can be fun and enjoyable if they're done nicely, but no. Just no.

5. So many people are just gay all the way, and in such tight circles. Not realistic. I'm a supporter of sexual fluidity, but if we're basing a show in a factual setting, let's try not to write out fangirl daydreams maybe.

THE UGLY;
1. I don't get why in many BL shows these days things have to be rapey or have unequal power dynamics being abused or enforced. It's not attractive, it's not appealing, it's cringe and it's ugly. I won't comment again on the disaster writing of Rain, but when it came to Sky, I think portraying him as being a little easy would have been better than portraying it as him sleeping with Prapai under some kind of duress. As for his history, well I guess they kind of tried to explain something with that but missed the mark. And making Prapai essentially a stalker was very weird too. Generally, that behaviour would lead to a retraining order guys.

FINAL THOUGHTS;
Over all, both main character pairings had underlying 'manipulated and coerced' vibes. Icky. I would not recc this. Go watch Semantic Error instead!

I don't blame the actors, they follow the script and the director!! I believe they tried their best!

Leia Mais

they sure tried

This drama confused me so much. The opening was pretty good and quite promising, I went into watching it with a healthy dose of optimism. It appeared that it would be more mature than most Thai BL out there so I was excited.

It didn't last.

I'll list the positives first because there are some things I genuinely liked about it:
There is something quite nice about having bisexual characters who are openly bi and owning their label. I'm sick of the 'But I'm Not Gay' trope and there is very little of it here. The actors' chemistry is good and I believe that given a good production they can really shine. Sex, when consensual, is not something the top does to the bottom, but an enthusiastic and reciprocated act. And lastly I enjoyed the attempt at making the plot more than just university students catch feelings. The bike racing and the shady ties to powerful people could have been so good if the story had chosen to focus on it. (it didn't)

And now the negatives...

A lot of other reviewers have talked about the non-con aspects of the show and how creepy yet unaddressed it all is, so I will leave those out of my review. I agree with those statements and don't have much to add, but they apply to my opinion as well.

What I do want to add is just how much Rain, and to some degree Sky's personalities really took me out of it.

Rain is supposed to be 19. He acts like a child. His character goes beyond naive at times, not just someone silly or adorably dumb, but outright seems to have the comprehension abilities of an 11 year old. The only times he appears mature is during the sex scenes but is right back to wide-eyed pouty idiot the moment that's done. I couldn't bring myself to like him.

Sky on the other hand I really enjoyed in the first half of the series. He appeared driven and a little bitchy with a strong personality. I couldn't wait to see more of him. Then his half of the series rolled around and it took him two episodes to turn into a different person. I'm aware that feelings make people act different but it quickly turned into Sky Needs Help With Everything And Frets Constantly. His entire personality shifted into Prapai's Boyfriend and suddenly his self worth depended solely on that. Not to mention that in the Rain/Phayu portion of the story Sky is shown to be around their friends often while that is basically gone once the focus is on him.

Lastly, the way the story presents it Phayu and Prapai are supposed to be best friends but they barely seem to even like each other.

Leia Mais

Red Flags and Clichés ft. Sexiness

Love in the Air had me at attractive street racers, but it took me only two episodes to figure out everything that I needed to know about this series: it is a plotless, sometimes nonsensical string of overused clichés with some spicy non-consensual stuff on the side. What makes it more watchable than its counterparts is that its shallow essence is concealed by a shiny wrapper of high-quality cinematography, smoking hot guys, and sexy bed scenes.

PayuRain's story proves that, unlike Hollywood and the K-drama industry, the Thai BL industry has a long way to go before it gets out of its Twilight phase. A rich, cold, handsome, dangerous, smart, and well-spoken older guy falls for an awkward, naive, clumsy, unremarkable younger guy, who is – for reasons unknown – "different" from all the other people who would like to be with the hot, rich guy. Sounds familiar? I am sure that it does to everyone who has read romance bestsellers.
My thirteen-year-old self would have probably gone crazy over this story just as it went crazy over Edward Cullen and Bella Swan's, but I am not thirteen anymore, and romances like this one have become a dime a dozen since Twilight achieved its success in the 2010s. This dynamic has got old. It is high time scriptwriters realized that.

If you, like me, have noted that Edward's behavior is kind of creepy and stalkish, let me tell you: the vampire has nothing on Payu, whose actions and logic in episode one bordered on that of a rapist. Yes, I understand that the relationship between Rain and him involves dom/sub undertones, but forcing yourself on someone and excusing your actions with classical rapist phrases, such as "you approached me first" and "what you did is throw yourself on me," is a different matter. Imagine how this would have looked if Rain was a girl. I was so disturbed that from that scene on I could not see Payu as a positive character despite the fact that he got nice and romantic afterwards. If someone oversteps your boundaries once, he might do it again. Payu is a walking red flag.
I dropped his and Rain's story at episode four because, the rapeish scene aside, I also found their interactions really cringy. I felt like the only objective was to show what a hot alpha Payu is. Instead of being attracted to him, I was uncomfortable. Furthermore, I knew precisely where the story is going. It is too predictable.

I decided to give the second couple a chance because Sky is not as much of a Gary Stu as Rain. His character is actually the only likeable one. He is a kind person, a supportive friend, and he stands up for himself. This is why I believe that his story will be more interesting. However, his love interest, Prapai, is even worse than his friend Payu – at least Payu did not extort sexual favors from Rain. Episode eight, the first one dedicated to PrapaiSky, introduced a sex scene of dubious consent. You might disagree, but I do not think that there can be anything romantic about a relationship that starts with something that borders on sexual assault.
I will give the next episodes a chance, but romanticized rape is an idea that should not be made popular. If you have heard of the Overton Window, you will know why.

Edit: To call PrapaiSky's story a fanfic is to insult the well-written fanfics that I have read, so I will have to call it an unsuccessful attempt to use fanfic tropes in a "romance" full of red flags. There is no scenario in which obtaining a spare key to your crush's room without telling him and entering when you want is acceptable and romantic. Mame, if you thought that I would buy controlling stalker Prapai as a sweet, caring guy, you thought wrong.

Overall, I would say that this series is something like the college version of KinnPorsche. The actors are attractive and deliver either good or mediocre performances. The OSTs are great, but they do not always fit the mood. The bed scenes are hot. The plot is nonexistent. You might like this series a lot. You might dislike it like I did.


On a side note, I have to say that Boss deserves all the praise that he is getting and some more. It is his charisma that saves his character’s clichéd lines on many occasions. I hope that he will get to work with better scripts in the future.

Leia Mais

Far away from being likable and decent show

I was warned, have read many negative comments and frustrating feedback but still pushed myself to watch this show. And yes, they’re all correct. This BL is hard to be consumed when you’ve seen a lot of toxicity being romanticized in the industry. I am not surprised with the poor storyline because the writer herself was fan of turning untowards behavior as a form of profitable ideas. The characters have a good base but never given a chance for a good character development.

Totally skipped all of Phayu & Rain episodes as it has nothing new to offer, the same hate and love plot with too much cringeness. I thought that Sky & Pai screen time would save the show but it ended up with the same uninteresting plot. The traumatic events don't even give a satisfying conclusion. The acting was below average too, I hate all of the self-talking dialogues and overly-acted gestures. The only one that manages to amaze me with his acting skill is Prapai, the rest are amateurs.

The title should be Love in the RAIN instead of Air, since it's always bursting with water each episode. The sole element in this show that I approved to captivate me was the OST that has an addictive tune and vibes.

Leia Mais

CONSENT?!?!?!? where..?

Whilst writing this its been about a month since I actually watched the show so bare with me if some timings are wrong but you should over all get the gist anyway. I use a lot of swearing for this so buckle up and triggers for SA and r*pe

Okay so this show is such a shambles honestly, like if you minus the consent issues and its weird obsession with sexual assault then this shows premise could have been at least a little promising. Like the whole illegal racing, like racer x innocent civilian or whatever is a great trope and I've read many fanfictions that have depicted this trope really nicely but this show... its like they use this trope only occasionally and its mainly forgotten after the first episode. The only time its brought back really is either; the FLASHBACK to that first episode or its for that one racing episode later on.

Phayu x Rain
Okay so I would say this relationship was probably a little more sane than the other relationship (Prapai x Sky, which I'll mention later) but these two still have major issues. Starting off, when they first meet in the rain and all that I was really excited to see where this show would go as that whole scene was so cute and so promising. BUT OH BOY DOES IT GO DOWNHILL REAL FAST. To be honest that restaurant scene or whatever it was felt like a fever dream so I don't remember it that well but I definitely remember the next bit, when Phayu allows Rain to stay the night. First off, Phayu trying to kiss and do weird shit with Rain was a big nono and the fact the Rain LITERALLY SAID NO and Phayu continued made me real uncomfy. Like you've invited this man to your house and you are now sexually assaulting him. Peak romance huh. Like first of all you can DEFINITELY tell Rain is very uncomfortable and even tries to leave, secondly YOU HAVE JUST MET THIS MAN. Like doing that stuff in an already established relationship is most of the time bad anyway (unless you've asked consent from your partner) but then doing it to a literal stranger is a CRIMEEEEEEEE. If I was Rain I would have 100% called the police and put this man on a list. Later on, throughout the show they obviously get along blah blah blah romance shit but then Rain gets kidnapped and Phayu is about the risk his life for a man HE JUST MET!!! like not just just met, like the just met I referenced earlier, but being real you guys have been in a relationship for about one or two months and Phayu really gonna risk his life and status just like that. Also him getting kidnapped was low-key funny cause it was so out of nowhere. This couple overall had a lot of potential and if you were to look over the SA then it was alright at best. I like that Phayu helps with homework and whatever and blah blah blah there dynamic was kinda boring though. The only redeeming factor was the portrayal of intimacy, specifically the first instance. I thought that first moment felt quite special and it wasn't really cringe or made me turn away. Overall, this was definitely the better couple of the two.

Prapai x Sky
HERE WE FUCKING GO. I hate these two so much, first off PRAPAI IS HIGHKEY A STALKER FOR THE FIRST HALF OF THEIR RELATIONSHIP. THIS MAN WILL GO TO CRAZY FUCKING LENGTHS TO MESSAGE, INTERACT WITH SKY, TO LIKE A DISGUSTING POINT. Multiple times Sky blocks Prapai's number to stop him from constantly spam calling and messaging him but this man is bloody persistent, because every time he's block he whips out a new sim card and continues to HARASS poor old sky. Like Sky is a student he can't be dealing with this stalker behaviour. IF I WAS SKY I WOULD HAVE CALLED THE POLICE FOR A POTENTIAL STALKER!!!!!! AS WELL LATER ON HE SAID HE JUST WANTED TO GET WITH HIM INITIALLY JUST BECAUSE 'the sex was good' LIKE!?!>?!?!
Eventually Sky lets the stalker in (BAD MOVE BRO) and they romance for a little bit. Then PARTY SCENE!!!!!!!!!!!! god rubbish puke gross ugh. Unsurprisingly, Prapai has to cheat on Sky real quick cause he's a plAyeR. This random hookup you had before is 'hugging' you and you let him like how can he later on just tell Sky that was a hug and then Sky believing him. LIKE HE WAS FULL ON FEELING UP HIS titty ON THE SOFA AND YOU LET HIM DO THAT YOU DISGUSTING MAN. Then Sky crying in the car was heartbreaking, him getting them traumatic flashbacks was real sad. I hate how Sky rightfully so hated him and then after a couple words of 'oh i didnt cheat' and 'it was just a hug' magically you forgive him. YOU SAW THE TITTY TOUCH MAN!! (they weren't direct quotes btw). god I hate Prapai.
Last episode of the show was 100% the worst. This is the episode where SKY LITERALLY GETS R*PPED?!?!?!? like why is that a plot line?!??! I was full on expecting him to ALMOST get to that point but then the gang saves the day beats up Gun and it would all be over, see how I said expected? BECAUSE THIS SHOW LITERALLY SHOWS HIM ACTUALLY GETTING R*PPED?!? Thank god it was penetrative but still Gun has, at this point, tied Sky up and done some horrible shit. I still can't believe this show just fully showed that, so uncomfortable and DISGUSTING!!! As well WHERE ARE THE POLICE?!?!?!? you have this offenders name, surely you can get him locked up no? You have multiple witnesses!!!
Anyway later Prapai tries to comfort him and when he does Sky seems to be magically cured from years of trauma after one single conversation with a man you've known for about two to three months. God. Overall there is no redeeming qualities of these two being real like even there intimacy was rushed and boring.

Throughout the entirety of the second half (Prapai x Sky half), its like Phayu and Sky were completely forgotten and vanished as they only really show up together once or twice. The second half of this drama feels like a completely separate drama on its own. The end was also anti-climatic, as I was at least expecting some sort of double date or some feature of Phayu and Rain to show closure to their relationship, but NOOO it was some boring office scene. I know there is a movie sequel to this but I hated this drama so much I just know it would be excruciating to watch the movie.

I feel as though many people rate this show highly only due to the fact that; the actors are attractive and that there is heavy sexual intimacy and kinky shit. Like the plot of this show is so boring because of how fast they get all lovey-dovey and the fact they missed out on a really good plot line (illegal racing) to be fully incorporated. Like I mentioned earlier, I've read fanfiction that have pulled this off really well and honestly all of them were written better than this trainwreck.

Sorry for that rant there but I just hate this show so much! Near the end there I'm not sure if much of that made sense LMAO. I might of gotten some areas a bit muddled through that, as I mentioned I did watch this about a month ago but I hope this was still readable. but yeah enjoy this fun little word vomit anyway lol

Leia Mais