Causa da Morte (2020)

Novateur dans les BL Thais, mais loin d'être parfait

J'ai du mal à comprendre pourquoi ce drama a obtenu une note aussi élevée (du moins au moment où je rédige ce commentaire, car le dernier épisode a été diffusé il y a quelques heures, donc les critiques seront peut-être plus nuancées avec le temps). Quoi qu'il en soit objectivement, si on le compare à d'autres dramas thaïlandais classiques, il n'atteint pas leur niveau. A mon avis, ce qui justifie un enthousiasme aussi grand de la part du public à l'heure où j'écris ces lignes, c'est surtout la nouveauté que Manner Of Death apporte dans le paysage des BL Thaï. On a l'habitude de productions traditionnellement centrées sur des intrigues simplistes en milieu universitaire et remplies de clichés, hormis quelques exceptions : par exemple He's coming to me, ou encore A Tale of Thousand Stars, prouvent que les choses sont en train de changer et pour ça je le reconnais, Manner of Death mérite qu'on lui donne une chance.

Alors c'est vrai, c'est novateur par rapport aux productions passées. Je suis d'accord, c'est enfin un BL Thaï adulte, qui se déroule dans le monde professionnel, nous offre une intrigue pleine de mystères, avec des meurtres, de l'action, et bien sûr une belle romance en prime entre nos deux héros. Et certes, avec Manner Of Death ils ont pris un risque, mais n'oublions pas que leurs voisins à commencer par les Taïwanais, ont déjà innové dans le genre BL adulte / action / polar, notamment avec History3: Trapped. Les Coréens ont commencé également à produire des BL plus adultes, avec le récent "To My Star"... Bref, je ne vais pas faire une longue liste comparative mais en gros, tout ça pour dire que le risque n'était pas si grand que ça au final, et que le public est demandeur de toute façon. Ils avaient donc tout intérêt à ne pas se laisser distancer. Manner of Death était donc une bonne idée, mais ça n'empêche pas qu'il était loin d'être parfait.

Attention, j'ai bien aimé l'histoire. Tous les lundis soirs, j'étais au rendez-vous pour voir l'épisode de la semaine, et j'attendais avec impatience le prochain. Il est même tout à fait possible que d'ici quelques mois, je ressente l'envie de me faire un marathon et que je me retape les 14 épisodes d'affilée. Mais ce qui me pose principalement problème dans ce genre de dramas, et que je retrouve souvent dans les productions thaïlandaises, c'est d'une part le jeu d'acteur, et d'autre part le fouillis et les longueurs du scénario.

Commençons par le sujet qui fâche : tout le monde parle sans arrêt de l'alchimie entre deux acteurs dès lors qu'ils sont capables de produire des dialogues romantiques et des bisous à peu près corrects ("oooh, there's so much chemistry !"). "Chemistry" par-ci, "chemistry" par-là... Désolée, mais c'est un peu le minimum syndical, et si deux acteurs payés pour jouer dans une romance (qu'elle soit hétéro ou BL) sont incapables de faire passer un peu d'émotion et d'attirance l'un envers l'autre, c'est qu'ils jouent mal, point barre. Et le problème avec les dramas Thaï en général, et c'est encore plus flagrant dans les BL, c'est que les acteurs surjouent (il n'y a qu'à comparer avec la spontanéité et le naturel des voisins taïwanais, on n'est pas du tout sur le même registre). J'aime bien Max et Tul que j'ai eu le plaisir de découvrir dans Together with Me, mais ça ne veut pas dire qu'ils jouent bien. Ils sont corrects, pour ne pas dire passables. Et non, je ne vois pas de "chemistry" entre eux. Je ne cache pas que je guettais leurs moments d'intimité, comme toute fan de BL qui se respecte, mais concernant l'aspect romance j'ai eu beaucoup plus de papillons dans le ventre devant 10 minutes de la 1ère saison de We Best Love même quand ils se tournaient le dos, que devant les 14 épisodes de Manner Of Death (en parlant de WBL d'ailleurs, c'est bien la première fois que j'ai VRAIMENT constaté une alchimie entre les acteurs... pour toutes les autres productions, on repassera.... Et pour enfoncer le clou, c'est quand même un comble de penser que l'acteur secondaire qui joue le flic est le seul à crever l'écran ! ). Alors bien sûr, c'est un truc qu'on n'a pas le droit de dire, parce que les fans du couple MaxTul nous tombent sur le paletot dès lors qu'on n'aime pas leur façon de jouer, mais je m'en fous parce que mon but en rédigeant une critique n'est pas d'obtenir des likes, c'est d'être sincère avec mon ressenti. J'ai trouvé que Max en faisait trop dans le genre "je plisse les yeux parce que je suis un mec trop intense et mystérieux" mais à aucun moment il ne m'a fait sentir que son personnage pouvait être véritablement dangereux, quant à Tul, parfois ses réactions étaient disproportionnées, d'autres fois on avait l'impression qu'il était constipé et qu'il était forcé d'endosser un rôle d'adulte qu'il maîtrisait mal. Ça ne change rien à leur capital sympathie, je continue à les apprécier et c'est certain que je regarderai d'autres BL s'ils sont dedans, surtout que tous deux sont quand même jolis garçons, c'est indéniable. Simplement, je sais que ce n'est pas pour leur jeu d'acteurs que je visionnerai.

Le scénario en lui-même était intriguant, intéressant et comme je l'ai dit plus haut, même si ce n'était pas si novateur que ça comparé à de nombreux lakhorns, en tout cas dans le genre BL ça l'était. Et je suis consciente que ce type de production est obligé de compter sur un faible budget, donc on ne peut pas leur en tenir rigueur, et c'est pour cette raison que je donne une assez bonne note, parce qu'ils ont réussi à nous pondre un truc pas trop mal avec peu de moyens. N'empêche que l'histoire était un peu fouillis, il y avait des longueurs inutiles, et ce qui m'a fâchée : ils ont quelque peu arrangé l'identité du meurtrier présent dans le livre et c'est un parti pris qui n'est pas forcément dû au hasard, ce qui nous donne quelque chose d'un peu problématique si on réfléchit 2 minutes à ce que ça implique politiquement. Je n'irai pas plus loin sur ce sujet, on parle d'un polar donc ça serait spoiler que d'en dire trop, mais l'image que ça renvoie, à un moment où il est peut-être temps de changer les choses, me déplaît et pose question sur leurs intentions. Pour finir, certaines décisions des héros (et même des flics) qui sont censés mener leur enquête, ou bien des détails auxquels ils omettent de penser, manquent parfois sérieusement de logique et ce n'est pas pour rien que d'autres productions (c'est par exemple le cas sur des séries policières françaises, pour les autres je ne m'avancerai pas) font appel à un expert détaché de la vraie police pour les conseiller sur le scénario. Cela mis à part, je reste satisfaite que l'on nous ait offert un drama policier et adulte, dont la trame et les rebondissements maintiennent l'intérêt jusqu'à la fin, et de toute façon dès qu'il s'agit d'un BL je suis preneuse.

En conclusion j'ai passé un bon moment, l'intrigue était sympathique, elle avait le mérite de nous présenter un scénario qui change un peu du lot et n'est pas uniquement centré sur l'histoire d'amour, avec un contexte assez fouillé qui donne de l'épaisseur au tout, et les moments d'action et de suspense nous poussent à continuer. Et fait à noter, ils ont eu le courage d'aborder des sujets plus graves comme les abus sexuels (on s'en doute dès le début, ce n'est pas comme si je spoilais), ce qu'on ne voit pas souvent dans les lakhorns étiquetés "romance". Cette série vaut donc le coup qu'on s'y intéresse, ne serait-ce que pour les encourager à poursuivre dans cette voie, mais on reste loin du chef d’œuvre en matière de dramas.

Leia Mais

Most Action-Packed BL Ever

Manner of Death was such an adventure to get through. I felt like one minute I knew where the story was going, and then the next, I had no clue. This kept me on the edge of my seat throughout my binge-watch, I legit stayed up till 4 in the morning cause each episode would leave off on a cliffhanger, and I just felt like I had to keep going. Manner of Death is definitely one to remember for its crazy adventures and deep-rooted plot.

Let's Dive In.

I want to start off by talking about the plot. When we look back at other BL plots, they're usually not very deep or complicated, but in this series, I felt like each moment was mapped out perfectly. From the first episode to the last, everything fit like a glove. The only thing I had a hard time with was keeping up with the many characters they had, and how each of them impacted the plot. These big revelations would happen, and I would completely be lost because I wasn't sure who they were talking about. Towards the end though, I was able to remember names with faces. Another thing was that they kind of dragged on at times in the first few episodes, so I had to force myself to watch, but I was hooked by about episode 7 or 8. I think that the plot was my favorite part of the series. Very well done.

Let's move onto the actors/characters. While I do love Tul and Max together, I will say that I wasn't really pining for them to get together in this. I don't know if it was because they only got so much time with each other outside of the very hectic plot, but most of the time, their moments felt forced. Their intimate moments were good, don't get me wrong on that (epically the handcuffing on the stairwell, idk why but I loved that so much), but everything felt either rushed or without explanation; why did they like each other? The proposal during the last episode was good, except why did Tan ask Bun to marry him when they hadn't even been dating? It felt off and not usual, but the proposal itself was clever and sweet. Let's move on to the somewhat side couple That and Sorawit (It took me a moment to realize his name was That lol) I liked how sentimental and caring Sorawit was towards Nam and That. He served as kind of everyone's helper and kept getting himself into messes that he had no business getting into. The same goes for That. While I liked that he was kind of tough and was there to also help, they were just kids and kept getting themselves in mixed-up situations. While there was no confirmation of this couple ever, they were teased throughout the series and at certain points they were cute, but most of the time they just felt like close friends. Moving onto the third(?) pairing, Dr. Oat, and Inspector M. I really liked Inspector, at first I was so sure that he was going to end up being the bad guy, but I was way off. The actor Great is overly attractive which made me pine for him to be with literally anyone, guy or girl, and they teased that a bit at the very last episode with Dr. Oat, but it was obviously way too late. I'm pretty sure Dr. Oat had a crush on Bun, but it was never said so we'll never know. Both those characters were perfect for this story, and maybe we can get a spin-off with them (????).

Let's move onto the darker parts of this series. While there was an 18+ warning at the beginning of each episode, I still felt like there should've been something else to warn of how gruesome this series was going to be. I'm not a person that gets triggered by stuff, but some of these scenes were hard to sit through. Watching Jane get hung twice was not easy at all, I couldn't even watch the second one. I definitely think there needs to be multiple warnings.

I really liked how this show focused on human trafficking, something that happens all around the world but is not nearly talked about enough. Most of the time it is with people in high places, so seeing the captain, judge, commander, and whoever else all in high place running this human trafficking ring wasn't surprising (sadly). These revelations were incredible though, and I loved the way I was shook after each person was announced to be part of this ring.


Overall, Manner of Death was a fantastic watch, and I highly recommend this. All of the actors put on an amazing performance, but I want to really give Mint and Meiko an extra pat on the back. These women put on a beautiful performance and I really hope to see them in future series. The OST also went perfectly with this drama, and at times really did have me spooked out. This is for sure something people should watch (warning if you're sensitive to gruesome scenes and heavy topics though).

Leia Mais

Could've been executed A LOT better.

I was really excited for this series because of MaxTul and it having a different plot from most other Thai Bl dramas, but by the end I was dreading having to put in the energy to watch it.

PROS: Max(Tan), the cool IDEA for the general plot, scenery, and the story didn't make them being gay a central part of the plot.

SPOILERS BELOW???
CONS: Dr. Bun was extremely annoying. Poor execution of plot. Severe lack of communication. Main characters making glaringly dumb decisions just to further the plot. Dr. Bun and Tan being a doctor and a teacher, respectively, but not having the brains to realize an obvious clue that would have saved them a weeks worth of struggle and made the last episode or two unnecessary. Unnecessary flirting during high stress situations (i.e. trying to decide whether or not to reveal evidence, but also finding the time to make suggestive comments). The school not paying enough attention to what's going on with their students. And again, just a whole bunch of idiotic decisions or lack of decisions by multiple characters just to further the plot. And again, Dr. Bun and his attitude.

Leia Mais

Good direction for the BL genre but...

I was very much looking forward to this drama as it attempts to take the BL genre into the suspense/mystery genre. However, unfortunately, this series did not live up to (my) expectations. The series did have an interesting beginning, with the introduction of our main characters and the mystery behind the murder of Ms.Jane.
As a BL, the romance elements in this series are just okay. It's not too much where it would overtake the mystery/thriller side of the series, which is great. However, I wish the relationship between our main couple would have been fleshed out a bit more.; there were some awkward moments.

The Mystery/action part.... is underwhelming. The Police force and forensics team in this series are as useful as the stormtroopers in star wars; no help whatsoever...our main characters are made out to essentially solve the entire case on their own. The plot in the second half of this series is just FILLED with plotholes! Each episode had at least 3+ moments where I'd question, "why is this happening?", "why is this character here?", "how did they get there?", "how did they know about this?" etc, etc. The motives behind our antagonist are not well explained either.
Also, the medical aspect is very poorly adaptive in inaccurate.

Overall, this series missed the mark which is upsetting to say. However, I hope this will encourage the BL to continue to venture into the thriller genre!

Leia Mais

Un petit BL qui change du contexte habituel =)

« Manner of Death » est un drama qui a beaucoup fait parlé de lui dans le monde du BL. Pourquoi ? Sans doute car nous quittons les bancs de l’école et vivons une histoire plus mature mais également car la romance n’est pas le centre de ce drama puisque l’enquête ainsi que la corruption (bon j’avoue les deux sont liés x’D !) font partie intégrante de l’histoire.

Courte introduction à ce drama : « Manner of Death » prend place dans une petite ville où tout le monde se connait. Cependant, les secrets sont légions et compromettent l’équilibre instauré… (Oui, nous sommes d’accord, l’équilibre de cette ville est des plus malsain ^^’)
Nous commençons l’histoire sur l’arrivée de Bun dans cette ville qu’il a quittée plusieurs années avant. Le voilà devenu légiste et avec un cadavre sur les bras dés sont arrivées ! (Les réjouissances commencent =D) Lors d’une soirée, il rencontre Tan qui prendra beaucoup de place dans sa vie et dans l’enquête.

Alors dans le fond, que dire sur ce drama ?
• Une intrigue bien menée avec le suspense maintenu tout du long. (Je n’avais pas vu venir la tournure des évènements ^^)
• Nous nous retrouvons encore dans une ville corrompue où les puissants ont les pleins pouvoirs… (Situation récurrente dans les drama, donc rien de bien innovant…)
• La relation amoureuse entre Bun & Tan est à mon sens assez malsaine au début… Pourquoi ? Car ils commencent sur des bases de méfiance… Et ils continuent à s’enfoncer dans des semi-vérités. Cependant, au fur & à mesure que l’histoire avance, ils se découvrent réellement et peuvent donc avoir une relation plus saine… (D’ailleurs, je dois avouer ne pas comprendre comment on peut commencer une relation en se méfiant de la personne avec qui on vit…)
Cette relation est parfois tendue, douce mais également gag… (Je m’explique ! Bun a souvent des réactions des plus « timorées » qui ne collent pas vraiment au contexte ^^)

Je me dois tout de même de relever un point qui m’a dérangé tout le long de mon visionnage… Comment est-ce possible de faire des scènes d’autopsies aussi mauvaise ? =O Et depuis quand un légiste est également médecin généraliste et chirurgien ? Je pense qu’ils n’ont pas pris en compte le nombre d’années pour chaque spécialisation x’D !

Pour finir mon avis, je parlerai du fait que ce drama m’a parfois fait penser au drama coréen « The Village : Achiara’s Secret » de par l’ambiance du « village » où tout le monde se connait… Et la présence d’innombrables secrets qui pourraient remettre en cause le statut de chacun.

Leia Mais

A Good Change of Pace

It's really nice to see another crime series with a gay couple, or couples, as part of the story.
There is a great sense of flow throughout, that leaves you room for thought after each episode over who's the culprit, who's involved, who's innocent, etc. This is a type of series that focuses on the journey rather than the destination. The ending does make it all worth it for sure, but I found myself enjoying episode after episode, and that's a rarity.
Of course, acting gets a high rating - all of the actors and actresses do a tremendous job at portraying their character. The story has great twists and turns woven in that keep you on the edge of your seat.
It's a very deep and dark story that exposes a lot of underground secrets. Once again, the execution is well done. Only minor hiccups throughout.
There's a nice amount of suspense, sprinkled in with some spice, and a dash of sweetness. A real treat to watch.

Leia Mais

This series deserves to be on Netflix!

So. Firstly; I loved it. Secondly; I love it. Thirdly; I'll love it forever.

There's NoThInG bad to say about this series. Manner of Death was perfectly what I wanted to see. It didn't disappoint me even once, I didn't have any single boring moment. My heart kept running so fast in my chest.

Storyline was something that I haven't seen before. It wasn't basic engineering, bitch girlfriends etc... (even I love them too). It brought something new to the world of Thai BLs. The things were unexpected. It has a good script and things didn't leave without explanation. Only thing that disturbed me, was that nobody hadn't heard abot fingerprints. But anyways, absolutely one of my fav series.

Acting was awesome. Everyone did their job very well. Max's and Tul's chemistry was/is amazing as most of us know already. Characters were unique and it wasn't all about serious faces and matters, they made me laugh maaany times ♡ (also cry xD)

If you:
- don't completely freak out because of some scary scenes
- don't hate mystery/murder series
- love MaxTul
(Even one of them)
This is absolutely for you! Watch it and I promise if you don't LOVE it, you at least like it very much ♡

I just wanna thank all amazing actors, writers and director(s) for making such a wonderful series <3

Leia Mais

It is bad, very, very, bad

I wasn't going to watch this drama but silly me decided to listen to the reviews which somehow are mostly positive. I am 11 episodes in and each episode just gets worse and worse, it is so unrealistic, full of plot holes and very badly written.
Most of the reviews said they were happy that the story had moved away from the university setting and that the writers were trying something new and exciting, this would be true if the writers knew anything about crime, doctors, police, coroners and autopsies.
This drama seems to have been written by a child after watching a few episodes of Scooby Doo and thought that a BL murder mystery would be a good idea.

Leia Mais

Suspense, romance, love ... Amazing drama

I just don't know how to explain how much I enjoyed everything about this drama.

All 10/10. This is the best Max and Tul drama ever, maybe because of the fact that it's not high school based, maybe it's the mature Max and Tul, I don't know but I was glued till the end.

The suspense, the surprises, the great acting, the chemistry, the love, romance and great story line. Everything aligned, there was direction, every story line was covered and towards the end we saw the beginning of Inspector M and Dr. Oat's story. Awww....I'm smitten. Did I say how much I loved these two kids - That & Sorawit ...

Enough said, please watch it. I have, for the 3rd time, I need a break now. I'll be back ... <3

Leia Mais

WATCH IT NOWWWW !!!!!!

This is going to be so biased, because it is tailored to me so hard. It involves a murder mystery AND a gay romance plot line. One MaxTul the original kings of bl play our main leads, and finally they were given a decent storyline to perform. And that they did. They always go all the way in and have no qualms with pushing the limits when doing romance. But their skills have also improved so much and they were both able to put on an amazing performance. ALL of the casts were amazing, mature, and super talented.

What I enjoy about this series a lot is that I enjoy the non-romantic plot MORE than I enjoy the romance plot line. I love that TanBun's relationship while amazing, and I am completely in love with, was not my favorite part. The murder mystery was extremely well thought out and showed that this was not just another series trying to cash in views from lgbtq+ community and fetishizing straight girls.

Visually the series is also EXTREMELY stunning. All the shots are so so so so so beautiful. IDK I'M SO BIASED BUT PLEASE GIVE IT A SHOT

Leia Mais

Holy shit this was so fucking good

What can I say about it (actually I have a lot to say)? It was a masterpiece! From the incredible acting and electrifying chemistry to the intricate and intriguing plot. I started it with the intent to finish it in about 3 weeks. Instead, I completed it in 3 days. That should tell you all you need to know.

The narrative flowed well and the plot twists weren't just surprising, they also made sense in hindsight.

The first episode drops you right into the story and then proceeds to backtrack to the events leading up to the murder. And the chemistry between the ML's was already present as well. There were these wonderful intrigued stares they gave each other which created a solid connection and tension between them before they even really got to know one another.

I can't believe I waited this long to watch it! It was thrilling, shocking, horrifying, real, intense, sweet, and addictive. It reminded me a bit of Criminal Minds with it not shying away from dark topics and some gore but keeping some light-heartedness in it as well.

I especially loved how it wasn't solely a romance drama. The romance played a big role, yes, but it wasn't the main focus or the point of the plot itself. That's the kind of progress I want to see. See people, you can have a great drama with a great plot while ALSO having an LGBT+ romance in it. You can. So, make more of these please!

Us non-straight people like a cool plot that isn't just about falling in love too!

Side Note: Much as I like to see coming out scenes in dramas, provided they are done well and respectfully, I want to see more dramas where no coming out scene is even necessary. That was yet another thing I loved about this.

And also, the aspect of "I'm falling in love with another man, oh no!" wasn't a thing. And both Tan and Bun weren't mocked, ridiculed, bullied, or put down for being in love. Nor did they or their friends make "wife" jokes or anything of the sort. That was incredibly refreshing! It was treated as a legitimate and normal relationship like others.

This drama is a 10/10 in its blood. God, I hope we get more like this! Thanks to HIStory 3: Trapped for paving the way for this wonderful drama! Golden Blood couldn't do it, but (if we ever get it) KinnPorsche looks incredibly promising.

Leia Mais

Romantic suspense + cozy mystery + enemies to lovers + forced proximity

I thought Max & Tul did a great job at a difficult task which was to make gay romantic suspense palatable to a wider audience. Romantic suspense is already difficult to adapt to film, and then to add a queer? It was a fun if convoluted story and Max & Tul turned in a killer performances in all ways from smooches to bad ass-itude to badass smooches.

Was it ultimately successful?
That depends on your definition of success. I wanted it to open up Thai BL actor pairs to a broader market share in terms of story. I think it failed in this regard.

Was it a good show?
Sometimes, especially when Max & Tul were on the screen together.

Will it change the tide of Thai BL?
No, actually, I don’t think it will.

Still it is really enjoyable if you like gay romance more that suspense mafia thrillers. Like HIStory 3: Trapped it is more successful at the first than it is at the second.

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