Minha Ferramenta e o seu Jaleco (2020)

Minha engrenagem e seu jaleco

Meus sentimentos sobre esse dorama oscilaram muito enquanto eu assistia. A história consegue ser leve e pesada ao mesmo tempo, traz discussões importantes, mas também tem muitos furos.

Além da série propriamente dita, gostaria de falar sobre 3 personagens.

História: A história é bem bonita (apesar dos furos), um roteiro realmente forte e fofo, a direção da série conseguiu fazer um bom trabalho e o elenco também atuou muito bem. A série tem locações bacanas, uma bela fotografia e uma ost encantadora.

Pai: Nosso protagonista é alguém que não tem vontade própria, ele faz tudo para deixar todos felizes, mesmo que ele mesmo não esteja confortável. Pai desenvolveu uma personalidade frágil, pois precisou usar uma máscara durante toda a sua vida. Pai sofreu uma grande pressão por perfeição. Seus pais são médicos e não eram presentes em sua vida, não por serem pais ruins, mas pq buscavam condições de dar a ele um futuro confortável, e como ele foi condicionado a não reclamar de nada, seus pais assumiam que estava tudo bem. Preciso dizer que tive vontade de dar uns tapas neles quando eles reagiram mal ao fato de Pai ser gay, mas consegui entender o ponto deles, e no final eles realmente foram muito fofos com o relacionamento do filho. Um ponto negativo, foi que os dois esperaram literalmente a série inteira para se resolverem, a cena da declaração, da troca de brincos foi linda. E quando finalmente acontece o primeiro beijo, seus pais estragam tudo! Ah que raiva!

Itt: Impossível não se emocionar com a história inicial. O menino rebelde da escola, destoava completamente do filho dedicado à sua mãe enferma. Foi de cortar o coração as cenas após a morte dela, ver ele passar pelo processo de luto sozinho, bem como o relacionamento dele com o pai, relacionamento esse, que por sinal é um dos furos da série, pois não é explicado como esse relacionamento ficou, se houve reconciliação entre eles, a série não explica como Itt, sendo um jovem pobre e desempregado e rompido com seu pai, - não ficou claro se a casa foi vendida ou não, mas eu assumi que sim- , conseguiu se manter na universidade. Confesso que não entendi bem os motivos que o levaram a romper com Pai no ensino médio! De início, ele ouviu a conversa entre Pai e a diretora e ficou chateado, mas no fim da série Waan fala para Pai que Itt nunca o odiou, isso foi confuso para mim, pq que ele não odiava eu já sabia, mas por qual motivo ele fazia com que Pai pensasse assim de forma deliberada? A explicação de que era para Pai criar confiança em si mesmo e blá blá blá não me convenceu.

Pure: Antes de tudo, confesso que shipei errado ele e Waan, mas quase todo mundo shipou não é?
O comportamento "galinha" dele, a falta de compromisso com seus relacionamentos, a promiscuidade, todos esses fatores a série tentou explicar colocando a culpa no comportamento também promíscuo de sua mãe, que aparentemente não dava a mínima para ele e mantinha relacionamento com muitos homens na frente dele, inclusive, abastecia ele de preservativos. Isso para nós brasileiros podem ser motivos bobos, mas a educação conservadora e preconceituosa da Tailândia considera absurdo o comportamento dessa mãe, e tendo ele nascido envolto à essa sociedade, natural seu sentimento de revolta e seu comportamento impróprio.
Foi através de Pure que um dos assuntos mais importantes veio à tona: o HIV e os cuidados para preveni-lo, inclusive com uma bela lição, quando ele não questionou nem por um minuto passar 3 meses sem sexo com Folk para protegê-lo.

Enfim, uma bela série que não me canso de assistir. Recomendo bastante, e adianto que assista com o lencinho na mão, pois muitas vezes ele será necessário.

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If My Gear and Your Gown had come out a couple of years ago, I would have given it a higher rating. But BLs have come a long way since then. Overall, this was a pleasant enough diversion from everyday activity, that's all. Here are my pros and cons:

PROS:

LIKEABLE ACTORS. I found some of the actors adorable: Win (Pai) played a loveable, shy nerd, Fiat (Pure) is sassy and cute; Neen (Beau) is so sweet, while AJ (Waan) is so cute you just want to pinch his cheeks. Back to Win: I liked the way he played introverted Pai, and his bitter weeping in the final episode was heartbreaking.

GOOD MESSAGES. The Pure/AIDS storyline seemed a bit sudden and severe, but it's never a bad idea to promote safe sex. The final episode dealt (a little bit) with homophobia and acceptance from parents. I liked Folk's line (paraphrasing): "Parents are usually fine with it unless it affects them personally." Sadly, that's often very true.

CONS:

DULL STORY. For me, it started out well enough, but then just lagged. I felt the story could have been told in half the amount of episodes. And the Pure/playboy thing was maxed out. At the end, when Pure apologized to Folk for cheating on him, he said "but I was thinking of you the whole time." Barf.

WEAK CHEMISTRY. While Itt is a handsome guy, has chemistry with Pai was practically non-existent, and Itt's character was just weak. I wasn't really sold and Pure/Folk, either, but I did like Waan/Beau (would have liked to see them with more screen time as a couple).

FRESHY CONTEST: As much as I liked Pai, there is no freaking way he could have won that contest! Everything he did was a complete failure. I get that Pai wins in the story but, at the very least, the scriptwriters could have given him some sort of believable talent. As it was, Pai's win was incomprehensible, unless every other competitor was in a coma.

Overall, I enjoyed it well enough. Nothing groundbreaking here, I give it a 6.5.

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Expectations vs Reality

I know that I might be harsh with my rating for this series but please hear me out!

The plot is a typical thai bl plot, a rich smart person and a not that smart and poor person. Leaving behind the main concept of this series, I would like to point out the slow paced story development. I do realise that we need some time to understand who the characters are and what their environments are; but seriously I don't think that we needed 7 episodes with them in high school. They could tell us their high school days in just 3 episodes. I felt that they were trying to expand their year as seniors for no reason. I mean you only have 12 episodes to tell me your story, do not spent 7 of them being in high school. But to be fair, when the university chapter began, the series became more interested.

Regarding the acting. Well, I don't know how to describe it and not sound like an asshole... The acting is bad! I believe that both Win and Marc have potential, but in this series they seem so stiff and awkward. I know that the script does not help them, but from the episodes that I have watched I feel that they have no chemistry. There are a lot of moments of silence between those two. Tbh, I do not see them as people who have feelings for each other; actually, I do not even get the vibes that they are friends.

On the other hand, Fiat is amazing here, I mean there are some scenes that are awkward for me, but still I feel that he is the best in this series. His bi role is implemented in the best possible way. Moreover, JJ is really good here. I like the friendship between Waan and Pure and how Waan values their friendship! Also, Aun has a great potential with acting. He is still young and he has a lot to learn but if he invests in acting classes then in the future he would be one of the best actors.

I have said it before about the product placements, and I know that it would be in vain pointing it out again; but please stop with those placements. I start to think that companies are producing bl series just to have product placements.

I feel that this series had really high expectations, as GMMtv was involved, and it was the first bl series that was aired after 2gether. Everyone, was, maybe, expecting something similar to 2gether and in the end we got something monotonous. Do not get me wrong, I think that 2gether had a lot of flaws and I did not really like it, but at least it was funny and had colourful scenes!

I feel that we would get another season as the script is so slow paced! Again this is my assumption, do not take it for granted!

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This series is a bumpy and sometimes muddled ride. The production team apparently didn't trust the original novel enough to give it a direct dramatization, instead opting for a "life lesson" approach that is completely absent from the book, and this in itself is done too poorly to have much impact.

The book that this series is based on is a romantic comedy, pure and simple. It follows an outline that the series does keep intact to some degree: despite the bitter rivalry between a high school prince and the school's nerdy top student, the top student develops a one-sided love for the prince that ends up breaking his heart, only to have the situation reversed once both boys get to university. The top student has decided never to fall in love again while the prince (who has now become one of the most popular boys on campus) tries everything he can to win him over.

The book is very sweet and funny, with some touching moments along the way. (While the series was airing I posted a summary of the book's highlights in the discussion section on the MDL page.)

Rather than stick to the novel, though, the series forces two themes into the story that require some unfortunate disruption of the plot and the relationship dynamics:

- Always keep your promises
- Stand up for yourself

(You're forgiven if you happened to roll your eyes as you read that.)

For the "promise" theme, the promise in question is one that Pai makes to Itt under duress in high school, when Itt refuses to return a lost earring of Pai's that Itt has found. In exchange for the earring, Pai tells Itt that he'll do anything that Itt wants. Itt doesn't collect on this promise right away but waits until they're both at university, and what he requests is that Pai represent his faculty in the University Star and Moon contest, and win. (The series doesn't refer to it as the Star and Moon Contest, but that's what it is. The concept should be familiar to anyone who watches Thai BL.)

From there, whenever Pai seems about to fail in his attempt to win the competition, Itt shows up to berate him for not fulfilling his promise (i.e., the promise he was coerced into making to a thief for the return of a stolen item.) The fact that the series attempts to glorify this situation into something profound just shows how dim-witted the writers are. Pai would have been perfectly justified to punch Itt in the nose to get that earring back.

In addition to bullying Pai over the contest, Itt is also the agent for delivering on the "stand up for yourself" theme. Over the course of their freshman year in college he does this by showing up to publicly torture Pai in a number of circumstances. It's all for Pai's own good, you see. Itt's logic is that if Pai gets abused and embarrassed enough he'll finally learn to stand up for himself. (Ironically, when Pai finally *does* stand up for himself by confronting Itt over Itt's constant abuse, Itt gets furious!) (But then Pai immediately breaks down crying, so maybe Itt has a point there...)

Another problem I have with the "stand up for yourself" theme is that I never get the sense that Pai has a problem doing this. In high school, in fact, Pai is the leader of a club that is in direct competition with a club led by Itt, and this requires him to stand up to Itt a number of times.

Eventually Pai's own parents become complicit in this "stand up for yourself" scheme of Itt's, which only serves to make them look like bad parents. We never see how and why they come to do that, so it just becomes more of the series' lack of logic.

An element of the series that does follow the book more closely is the pairing of two other characters, Pure and Folk. Because their side story is not weighed down by any forced profundity, it contrasts refreshingly with the constipated interactions that are foisted upon Itt and Pai.

Pure is an equal-opportunity playboy, seducing women and men alike. After Folk becomes the latest in his string of one-night stands, Pure suddenly finds himself charmed and attracted by Folk's earnest sincerity. Their story becomes a well-done example of the "accidentally in love" trope and in some ways saves the series.

When it comes to the actors and their performances, Fiat is so assured and charismatic in the role of Pure that the other performances pale next to his, with the possible exception of JJ as Pai's best friend, Waan. As a viewer you are left with no doubt as to why Pure can attract others so easily. There's also a lot of good-natured, relaxed humor in Fiat's performance, including some cheerful asides about his own lack of height.

JJ's performance is equally relaxed. His prior experience in other series allows him to make Waan into a naturally chill kind of guy.

(The bromance between Waan and Pure is also a lot of fun. This is another original creation by the series and is something that the screenwriters actually get right, starting with the way in which the two first become friends. The only other thing I'll say about it is to be sure to watch for a scene where Waan takes Pure to see a doctor. These two guys definitely have chemistry, and as a result many viewers end up dearly shipping them as a couple.)

The other performances vary from very good (Marc as Itt, and Aun as Folk) to struggling (Win as Pai). In Win's case I like to think that he was hobbled by the script and direction. There are moments when his talent breaks through, but unfortunately this doesn't happen often, and as a result the chemistry between him and Marc isn't quite what it should be. (For me they don't reach the threshold of establishing themselves as a pairing to be shipped as 'MarcWin'. In fact I won't be surprised if they don't do another series together. 'FiatAun', or 'FAun', on the other hand....)

I hope we'll get to see Win in other roles where he can show his acting chops a little more. In the publicity videos I've watched he is upbeat and energetic in a way that Pai is never allowed to be.

For those interested in knowing how things go in the kissing department, have no fear. The kiss between Pure and Folk is suitably sexy and seductive, while the two that happen between Itt and Pai are plush and soft. For me the amount of lip action between those two was actually a little surprising. Given the tone of the series I expected something along the lines of what happened (or didn't happen) between Sarawat and Tine in '2gether'.

As a final comment, I need to say that it got to where I could no longer stand the endlessly meandering piano music on the soundtrack. I first realized how truly bad it is in a scene where one of the characters is sitting outside a hospital operating room, mourning the death of his mother. The major-key noodling just keeps going and going, as though he's merely waiting on a friend who's gone to use the rest room.

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Fiat stole the show

It wasnt even a slow pace-pace on the maincouple it was non-existant pace between them.
Perhaps the script made it unnacessary hard?
I dont know but neither main couple nor the hetero-couple felt believable nor real.
Fiat however (yes I am biased) totally stole the show.
Un (Aun Napat Patcharachavalit) too, totally delivered despite his really young age.
FiatUn is a ship that felt more on point than anything else in the series. They had raw, cute, fluff, real and everything in between. I kept watching solely hoping for watch more of them and thankfully, they did have a lot of them, especially the last episodes.


Ah, as for kissing scenes; ok, it actually get a just barely 9-stars on that. All kisses were passionate enough to connect even the distance and slowness the maincouple had, but also any other couple.
The last kiss of the main couple was short but sweet, although I'd like to see a little bit more of skinship between them, considering all they struggles they went through.

The series is well worth watching but it's not a masterpiece.

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wasted potential

this drama is not bad. it just has some flaws that affected my view on how the story was executed.

to start it off, pai was an introvert and tried his best to not disappoint his parents so he agreed to everything that asked to have this "good kid" image. my problem with it was that throughout the drama his character didn't change a bit. we only got to see a development in his character halfway in the last episode. it would've been more impactful if we got to see the change somewhere when the uni setting was introduced. the parents literally just popped out of nowhere to add last minute tension to the story and drag the first bit of the finale. why didn't we get to see pai finally take his own stand? what's the point of breaking up again? honestly, it's so tiring to have a recycled bit from bls where the last episode consists of break up scene with a bit more angst thrown.
wouldn't it be cool to see pai refusing to break it off with itt AT THE BEGINNING of the finale? in that way, the parents realise sooner that their son is happy with that person and they have no right to deprive him of making a decision ON HIS OWN?

to be fair, they did show the parents having a therapy session thing i think? (kate don't kill me i love you)
it was good to see they were making an effort to understand where they went wrong and also to treat their son better. i appreciate that scene.

how was the chemistry?
-the friendship!! i liked that everyone had someone to lean on when shit hit the fan.
-i honestly preferred the main leads when they were in high school rather than in uni. i think i understood itt's character and why he was so emO. itt and pai were quite cute too in HIGH SCHOOL. the communication was lacking tho. there were so many misunderstandings that could've been fixed with one single convo but i guess they were young and going thru shit
fast forward to uni.... where art thou, chemistry? what happened? did we even get to see any scenes with the main leads' relationship developing? why is itt always rude af and acting like a secret santa at the same time? why does it feel like the main leads don't exist anymore?
okay the kiss was good... but i don't feel anything?
-purefolk. the absolute cuties. pure was a bit shady with his friend almost raping folk and that convo they had... big red flags ngl. i side eyed a lot but gosh dang it these two are adorable. i think they could've passed as the main couple.

overall, i think this would've been less boring if they shortened the high school scenes, less of itt running away from pai and not being direct with his feelings and no last minte breakup scene. one thing i can praise is that the drama didn't fail to send the message of consent and safe sex.

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Good Beginning, Meh ending

The fist few minutes of the show set them in University, before flashing back to 7 episodes of high school, which can be a little confusing to start. I feel like the high school episodes were much better to watch and get a feel for the characters. The evolution of Itt and Pai felt much more natural with slow burn feelings and stolen looks, as well as trying to figure out how they felt about each other. When they get to university, everything felt kind of forced. I felt like Pai didn't look at Itt the same way he did in high school. The tenderness wasn't there that had developed over the high school episodes and it lacked some of the emotional impact then. However, I very much enjoyed everything with Pai's parents and how they handled that. The show is clearly trying to push a few good messages/themes within it, which is nice. (Pure's "Safe sex" sub-plots, etc). I Just really wish the Uni episodes had had the same vibe as the high school episodes, or I would have given this a 10 rating.

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Basic

If you're looking for something different in the BL community TURN BACK cause this is incredibly basic! PureFolk is the reason I stuck it out and they were by far my favorite couple. The story was eh and it's only because this plot has been repeated countless other times it's gotten old and faded. I gave it the rating I did because there were cute moments and the serious moments could be used for educational purposes (ex: disease testing). The ending was cute but yet again, basic. No hate at all but there's no chance of me re-watching this strictly cause I can watch another BL and get the same gear and gown theme. On a side note... No Glove No Love is my slogan now LMAO

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A little formulaic, but a nice BL with a dash of bromance

I've seen some people commenting that the flashback takes too many episodes and the story is too draggy, but I have on issues with the pacing or the flashback.

There is indeed a flashback that starts in the very first episode: we briefly first see the main characters in the university and then we have a flashback to their high school days. The story could very well have been told chronologically, but I find that starting with the characters' university days creates some suspense by letting us know that the main couple (Itt and Pai) are not (yet) a couple at the start of their university days. For me, the tension-with-a-hint-of-affection between Itt and Pai at the start of the series piques my curiosity enough. Furthermore, seeing Wan's friendship with Pai also gets something out of the way during the flashback episodes.

In some ways, the relationship between Itt and Pai is cliched. Pai, a reserved guy falls in love with the seemingly straight Itt (who has a girlfriend). They become friends, but the love seems like it could be one-sided until the point when both of them are locked up in a room in school overnight. Unfortunately, the moment when Itt seems to have fallen for Pai does not last as he discovers a secret and stops being friends with Pai.

Or so it seems--later it is revealed in a twist that Itt does not really mean to stop being friends with Pai but merely wants to turn him into a more confident person who is able to express himself. The twist is somewhat surprising, but it is also one of the series' weak points. Apart from seeming a little labored, the twist makes Itt seem rather presumptuous--who is Itt is try to make Pai the sort of person Itt thinks he should become? Also, it would be hard anyone who cares about Pai to ignore his desperation to mend the friendship? I get it that Pai has helped Itt a lot in putting Itt on the path of fulfilling his ambition and Itt wants to return the favor in some ways, but Pai hasn't asked for the favor to return in this manner.

Nevertheless, if one ignores the problematic nature of Itt's actions, one can appreciate the love they have for each other. Each of them really wants the best for the other. Pai tries to help Itt even when he knows that his love may not be requited while Itt tries to turn Pai into a more confident person even if Pai ends up loathing him. The moment when the misunderstanding is cleared is touching.

Besides the story of the main couple, I find that the series has brought in a side couple in an interesting way. Spoiler: The other couple is Pure and Folk. Pure is, to me, the most interesting character in the series, sensitively played by Fiat (who actually has quite an impressive acting range). I like the fact that we have an unabashedly bisexual character without much fanfare and effort to harp on the issue of bisexuality. Pure's most prominent trait is his promiscuity, but he is a character whom one can sympathize with. His mother does not really care about him and his first love, and the traumatic experience of seeing the guy he is in a relationship with stand by and do nothing while he is being beaten up by a gang of literal gay bashers makes him lose faith in love. From then on, it's just sex and no love--unprotected sex at first and then only protected sex after an HIV scare. However, after knowing Folk (who turns out to be a much more pure person than Pure), he falls in love again.

The Pure subplot is interesting as Pure's bromance with Wan (Pai's best friend) makes us wonder at first if they would end up being a couple. Interestingly, it is Folk, who is initially in love with Pai, that Pure ends up with. (Wan, on the other hand, ends up with a girl. Yeah, BLs can feature straight couples too.)

This is one of the surprisingly well madeThai BLs of 2020. I wasn't expecting much more 2gether and My Engineer, but both were surprisingly good. The 2gether, this may not be everyone's cup of tea. Unfortunately, unlike 2gether, there may not be enough cuteness and star popularity to make this a classic BL in the hearts of many. However, I think it is engaging and interesting enough, particularly in comparison with weaker productions like the En of Love trilogy. Win and Fiat turn in rather impressive performances as Pai and Pure, and I hope to see them in more series.

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This is worth watching

Ok this show was somehow sort but included some really nice themes most bl's don't.
-No unessecary love triangles.
-Promotion of safe sex and dangers of getting std's
-Being honest with your feelings is the best
-Didn't do the bully/victim or confident gay/homophobic straight tropes which are extremely toxic
-Made the characters built connection naturally
-Parents actually having counceling about raising their son properly
-How parent's behaviour can affect their kids negatively
-Pursuing someone openly isn't a bad thing
-True friendship between the boy
-No toxic masculinty
-Acknowledged sexual harassment/assault and the assaulter apologized . I know its not enough to just apologize but most BL's romantisize sexual harassment/assault or brush it over with no apology/concequeses for the predetor
-Its lenght is perfect as there no unessecary dramas that drag on about 5 episodes unlike most Thai BLs

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Pretty Forgettable

I read one review that sums this series up really nicely; "Had this series come out a few years ago, it would've been really good. But we've on from this. We're better than this." I love that quote, and from now on that's what I'll say when I feel like I've been pulled back into 2017. The series would've been that bitch had it come out in the latter half of the 2010s, and probably would've been an all-time favorite had it come out earlier than that. But for me, this series fell short in the memorable department. I felt like I was watching a mix of Sotus and Make It Right. But, I liked those series, and to be quite honest, I liked this one too, but still, give it another year and I'll definitely change my opinion on it.

Let's Dive In.

Usually, I like the secondary couple way more than the main, but for this one, Pai and Itt were the ones with my heart. I loved Pai the most. While their acting was far from the best, I still loved the way Pai looked. He added something to his character that I really enjoyed. The shyness in the beginning to trying his best at being confident in college was well. Itt mostly annoyed me for the majority of the series. I don't know why he didn't just explain to Pai that he likes him, and instead, we had to go through all these trials and tribulations that could've been solved way before all of their drama. I did like the touch of Pai's family coming to visit ad seeing their son in the middle of a make-out session. That storyline was probably my favorite.

I don't like the way Marc (Itt) acts. We see his mom pass away and he has no type of emotions whatsoever. He's basically over it by the next episode. I felt like he had a harder time with showing his emotions, which is something he needs to grow on if he wants to go further in his acting career.

I loved Pure. I liked how he was open about not believing in love and only wanting to hook up. I also liked that he was open with liking guys and girls. Fiat once again does an incredible acting job. I wanted him and Waan together so bad, way more than I did him and Folk. Although, I did like that Folk helped Pure to believe in love again. Waan was at least given a love interest, even if we don't get to see her much, she's still there, which is exciting, to say the least. I'm still hoping that we get to see either JJ or AJ with the main lead role,

Overall, this series wasn't terrible, but as I said, give it another year and it will be forgettable. This is another series in which I wouldn't really recommend, but it was a fun watch.

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I'm so glad I gave this BL a chance.

At first, I had my doubts about this BL. I've seen that it only has a 7.7 rating here in mydramalist, but I'm running out of BL series to watch so I decided to give it a chance. The story was a slow burn. It's not your typical drama wherein the lead cast gets together and confesses their love in the middle of the series. Although there are some parts where I skip because there's an unnecessary dialogue, the acting was impeccable. The last episode made me cry buckets.

Win Pawin (Pai) is a really great actor. He can convey his emotions well, not to mention his cuteness.

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