Bad Buddy (2021)

Best recommended this drama

For my opinion I really enjoy this drama. One of the main reason is with the casting, both P'Ohm and P'Nanon really have so much chemistry, and with the character in the story that really is similar to their real life. Seeing them together really makes me so much happier. And with the plot of it, its the plot where I really expected to see in many dramas before but I just finally get to see them in this drama, with the part that they don't have the part in the series where they argue about their relationship and decided to be far away or even break up. I like that the story is mainly about a two character that started from the feeling of hate towards them and started to built a closer relationship and ended happily. This series is the first series that I never really felt annoyed with the things happening throughout the story. Everybody will fall in love with this couple after watching this series, if you're not you would be considered a weird person.

Leia Mais

Bad buddy is officially gmm's best bl show

Wow where i even began. Like woah this show was everything i wanted in a bl show, good acting, nice pacing plot, great chemistry and more. Pat and Pran are now one of my favourite healthy bl couples.

Nanom and ohm were spectacular in this show like woah i was so amazed at the chemistry they kept throughout the show till the end.

Ink and Pa my first ever GL couple I've seen in a bl and it was done right.
The main thing I'd say they resolved was the parents beef with each other especially pat's father. I truly felt like that outcome of them not being together in public really made it difficult on them but it seemed to work out for them.

P'aof proved once again he is gmm's best director, he took such a simple premise and made it into gold and i respect him for that. Truly couldnt be happier with the way this show played out. Gmm really out did themselves in 2021 kicking the year off with ATOTS and ending it with Bad buddy and surprisingly p'oaf directed both shows. So if you still reading this and need a reason to go watch it PLEASE GO YOU WILL NOT REGRET IT.

Leia Mais

Best of the Best BL you can currently find

Excellent actors, a great director, awesome music and all neatly wrapped into what should have been a cliche story. Truly, if you enjoy BL series with some realistic decision-making then this is super recommended. It's easily into the top 3 of my series and I am GLAD that I was there as part of it being firstly aired.
This story has a surprisingly wholesome tone and it wrapped up the story nicely with a pretty little bow. If you can't change the world, your circumstances, that doesn't mean you should let it change you, change your relationship. What a great lesson to be learned from this series!!!

Leia Mais

Finally a BL that doesn't follow the norms

Note: This review is a personal opinion it's still your choice to agree with this or not :) Also, English isn't my native language so I'm really sorry for the grammar errors!

I've been watching bls since 2019 that's why I can confidently say Bad Buddy is the best among the rest that I've watched. Bad Buddy isn't like the typical enemies to lovers series (like SOTUS). They've tackled some important issues like how toxic the asian household is and how we shouldn't bring the hetero norms in a same sex relationship. Even though there's some plot holes like ... does Pat's parents know that Pran saved Pa when they were younger? And does Pat know that Pran kept the old watch he gave to him? but the show is still a 10/10 :))

PatPran/OhmNanon
Please stop the top-bottom conversation :sob: This couple showed us that in a same-sex relationship, no one is wife or husband. They also have the healthiest relationship in BL. What's the secret? Communication :) Loved how they speak up what's on their mind instead of keeping it themselves. Thank you so much Ohm and Nanon for bringing Pat and Pran into life. This is what we get if we bring great actors in a series instead of just looking at visuals.

InkPa/MilkLove
THANK YOU SO MUCH P'AOF BUT GIVE US A SPIN-OFF. Usually in BLs, women are used to discover the male lead's feelings but that's not the case in Bad Buddy! Yes, Pat realized his feelings towards Pran after confessing to Ink but spoiler alert !!! She rejected Pat because she likes Pa since high school! At first, I doubted that they'll end up together because it seems like they just have a Junior-Senior relationship because of how the way Ink behaves with Pa during the first half of the series but something shifted after episode 8! I love this couple so much that I was looking forward to see them together again next episode (still mad with at that 7 sec screentime at ep 11 >:( ).

Ink is so matured, he didn't questioned Pat at all to keep the fact that Pat and Pran were classmates in high school and she just go along with it. For Pa, I thought she will be like those annoying sibling in other BLs but they proved me wrong! She helped Pat to discover his feelings using the 4 signs though it failed horribly to Ink but it worked to Pran! The confession scene is perfect, the way Pa's voice cracked the moment she spoke what's on her mind made me sad, Ink and Pa deserve everything what they have right now :( As far as I know Ink was supposed to be played by Love and Milk as Pa, thank god they switched their characters. I couldn't imagine Milk as Pa, though she's a good actress (same with Love!) Words couldn't explain how happy am I for them but I wish they'll have a spin-off or another MilkLove GL, they shed a light on how wlw couples should be instead of giving them tragic endings (7 Project Episode 3 I'm looking at you :/).

Pat and Pa
I love their sibling dynamics! Pat is a good brother, he let Pa to speak up first before him and let her decide whatever she does in life. Pa is a good younger sister as well, she guided Pat throughout his love journey.

WaiKorn/Jimmy and Drake
Fuck Wai and Korn, there I said it. Thank fucking god they didn't end up together. I don't care whether they had a redemption arc or not BECAUSE WHAT THEY DID WAS WRONG. Wai outed Pran and Pran doesn't know he was the one who did it. If I were Pran, I will cut off ties with him forever. Wai should respect Pran's choice to kept Pat and Pran's relationship a secret instead of dropping the damn curtains. Korn's behavior isn't excused as well even though he accepted his friend's relationship with Pran that quick. He bullied Wai just because he's from Architecture faculty. Is it because he likes Wai? What kind of love language was that? But I commend Jimmy and Drake's acting, they did well, their acting was convincing to the point I was annoyed of their characters everytime I see them on screen.

The other characters
Pat and Pran's other friends isn't that memorable to the point that I already forgot their names, I am sorry. Fuck Pat's dad for stealing Pran's mom's scholarship, but that doesn't excuse the fact she controlled Pran's life.

Music
The OSTs are perfect as well! They've matched what Pat and Pran felt throughout the series.

Rewatch Value
I'll probably rewatch this for InkPa! Sorry PatPran haha,,,,

Leia Mais

My favorite BL of all time so far

I started watching Asian dramas last year, thanks to my mom, who’s been a devoted fan of this kind of dramas for years. I’ve watched probably almost every BL that had been released already.

Bad Buddy will forever be stuck with me, the acting, story, actors, music, direction. ABSOLUTELY everything. Simply perfect.

Thank you P’Aof, Nanon, Ohm and the whole cast for this amazing experience.

I really hope they do another BL as a couple, especially for being such close friends, their chemistry is unmatched and you can feel throughout the whole series.

Leia Mais

NOT YOUR TYPICAL BL SERIES - FULL OF CULTURAL BACKGROUND AND WISDOM

I have been in BL series for more than 7 years and finally got a series that could make me excited again. The story sure looks cliche and shallow but the team successfully twist and fills it with wisdom. They aren't only talking about LGBTQ+ but also relationship parents-children, Asian Culture (which I found interesting because it might confuse Westerners viewers lol) .

I won't talk about the acting and chemistry because both Ohm and Nanon have proven themselves as great actors in their other series. What I like the most about this series is how fluid all characters are. They are not living in a rigid tradition like other BL Series. Their life is not black and white. They did awful things, chose bad decisions, manipulative but also someone best friend and guardian, so I can’t really see them as a villain. It really adds a new dimension to the characters which makes them more human, like us and I enjoy their company so much for the past 3 months.

I also write about Pat & Pran's parent background story on my blog https://fanindisguise.blogspot.com/2022/01/bad-buddy-series-review-what-happened.html, feel free to read it. However, it contains a major spoiler, read it at your own risk.

To summarize, this series is like West Side Story without dancing and a dying character at the end.
Worth spending your time binge-watching this series.

Leia Mais

bad buddy is THE bl show

now where do i start... i'll try to keep it short

STORY AND ACTING/CAST

at first i thought that it was going to be a very basic and average bl, but oh boy i was wrong.
yeah the plot might not be that outstanding at first, but this series really shows that even basic plots CAN be done well
because now to my point: the fact that ohm and nanon were chosen to act as pat and pran makes this series what it is.

i had not seen any prior works from nanon before bad buddy, i had seen ohm somewhere but hadn't finished any of the series that he acted in. first of all, i'd be lying if i said that i didn't end up having a crush on nanon after this mess.
i admire his ability to act out AS that character, he never fails to portray the character perfectly and i've seen this from some of his other series that i watched while waiting for new bbs eps.

i liked nanon's acting from the start, but oh that one friday, when ep 4 was aired, it was the turning point for me in this series. his acting in the ending scene really got the feelings delivered to me, my heart hurt and i will never forget it.
from that point onward i really saw how great this series was going to be.

ofc ohm is an amazing actor as well, but i feel like nanon gave his all for this series, it doesn't feel like his first bl series

the acting can really change someone's opinion about a show, even if it has a good unique plot, if the acting is terrible you don't want to watch it,,,
for bad buddy, i can say that nanon and ohm did justice to the plot and their characters.

their chemistry is also undeniably one of the best, since they've been friends for a very long time and are comfortable with each other.
the fact that a very good amount of the kiss scenes were unscripted,, oh don't get me started.


i love how they also destroyed the "i'm straight and the only man i love is you" things and the husband and wife dynamic, breaking standards and curses, we stan.

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MUSIC

every single one song in the ost is very enjoyable, 100% in my playlist and stuck in my head
the lyrics portray the series well and they fit the theme, also i love nanon's voice
did i mention i love nanon, yes anyways

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REWATCH VALUE

10/10 would , AND WILL watch again, no questions asked.

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OVERALL

i don't really have anything remarkably negative to say, it's a masterpiece and i hope that ohm and nanon will act as a pair again because they CAN make it work,, but it's also fine if they don't since then this series will be the special one.

Leia Mais

This was a delight

Would I recommend this drama? Yes. In fact I think there is almost no one to whom I would not recommend this drama to. So prepare for a glowing review followed by one or two (possibly unpopular) pet peeves.

The story sets us up for a lot of entertainment and comedy. The chemistry between the two leads is undeniable. It's extremely good when they have emotional and/or intimate moments. The kiss in episode 5 was just one of the few on-screen kisses I have ever seen and loved. It's generally not what I go in for but it felt so f*cking real. So, you know, round of applause and all that jazz. They were also entertaining together and with the supporting cast. The humour was well-balanced with some of the more serious moments. I also loved that the comedy from different characters revealed their unique traits and personalities just as much as the hard-hitting moments.

The acting. Ah, the acting. Literally just sat at my keyboard wondering how to describe how excellent the acting is. Magnificent. Just amazing. Loved it. All synonyms to the word 'love' should be applied when talking about the acting in this series. I don't have complaints or issues with any of the acting but the two leads were particularly amazing.

The GL pairing was a-f*cking-dorable. Loved it. Relished it. Both of them did a great job and their acting throughout was also excellent.

The pacing was excellent. I wasn't skipping scenes. I didn't get bored. All of the relationships evolved at a believable pace. Loved it.

The cinematography was great (you can never go wrong with P'Aof and his usual team when it comes to production and cinematography). It was great. Visually just genuinely good.

Now for my two pet peeves...(sorry)

Number one. The set-up. The parents were so petty and immature. I just found it too melodramatic. I know it provides some comedy and plenty of conflict but it just got a bit too much for me sometimes. Their personality differences (of the leads I mean) could have been enough for a lot of the conflict and the humour. The parents bothered me the whole time. So yeah, just personally wish that had been dialed back a bit.

Number two. (A bit of a contradiction of an earlier comment...) The ending. So, as I said, I generally loved the pacing of the entire series. It was so well done, which is super rare. However, the final episode ruined that streak for me a little bit. I do not like time jumps and the misdirect that they had broken up was so obvious it just annoyed me that we were having all this fake tension the whole time. 4 years is a long time. There doesn't seem to be much point to it in my opinion either. I also don't like that 4 years is meant to be how long it took for the parents to reluctantly accept their relationship (like, grow up, move on 'kay!). It was a happy ending which is great but it just felt a little more fragmented after the smooth pacing of the previous 11 episodes so, you, know, I would have prefered more consistency with the time line of the series as a whole.

If you haven't seen it, do yourself a favour and go watch it. You deserve it. ;)

Leia Mais

Healthy healthy healthy all the way!

Food analogy: Pure guilty sweet chocolate..best cheat diet as well as not cheat food.
I probably can't say anything new that already hasn't been said in other reviews. I can just agree on all the 10 on 10s this series is getting and argue with everyone who is not giving this a 10 on 10.
By far, the best. Just the potrayal of the characters in this modernized romeo juliet is out of the bounds. And let it just get out of the way that they couldn't have casted better. I am so glad to have given this series my time of the day and you would too.
Story: Quite generic tbh but you won't be bored for a second.
Music: Keeping the title track in my workout playlist forever. And the Ost's are mind blowing.
Acting: Least amount of overacting and oh that chemistry.. oh that kiss.
Rewatch value: you will be crazy not to rewatch and revisit this sweetness.

Leia Mais

I started watching Bad buddy once 5 episodes had aired, I binged them all and have been keeping up with it weekly ever since.

And what I will say is…..I loved it!

STORY:
What I strongly appreciate is that the writer and producer of this show made the logistics of Pat and Pran’s relationship from rivals to lovers make actual sense (did they hate each other or did their parents tell them to hate each other?). Pat and Pran both have strong logic in their actions and words.
Not just them but everyone, their behaviour makes sense and most of the times is understandable, whether it’s justified or not.

It feels like if the plot ever happened in real life it would play out like this.

What I loved the most about the main couple is their dynamic, there is none of that Top/bottom, husband/wife, heteronormativity, ‘I’m not gay I just like you’ stuff. In fact it’s actually called out on various occasions.

ACTING/CAST:
Actors that can act is unfortunately a rarity within the bl industry, but I can confidently say that the main couple in bad buddy can act. In fact they can’t just act but they can act believably, they can make you understand what they are feeling, why they are feeling it and make you feel it too.
I’ve seen some of Ohm (Pat) and Nanon’s (Pran) previous works and I will say they are truly talented actors and it’s an all time talent, not just with each other. They could make chemistry with goats.

You put two 10s together and you get 20.

In terms of the rest of the cast. I will say that some are weaker but the shockingly good main couple, have all your attention.

Something I’m glad they didn’t include is the enemies to lovers ‘ship’ that is popular on social media. Without spoiling too much their dynamic even after reconciliation did not suite that of a romantic relationship at all!!!

MUSIC:
If I have to pick out the best aspect of this drama it will be the music. All of it. The songs ‘just friends’ and ‘our song’ just elevated the whole watching experience for me.

FRIENDLY WARNING:
- this drama isn’t drenched in endless spice **side eyes THAT drama knowingly** but there is some….enough to take your breath away. Literally! I don’t think I breathed once in THAT scene.

-Now that the drama is fully aired this is easy, but I advise binging the drama in one go to feel all the emotions the fullest extent. After 6-7 weeks of chasing the drama, I found that the excitement and heart constricting passion for this show dwindled…..don’t get me wrong I still loved it but having whole weeks in-between each episode doesn’t work for me.

- This show isn’t perfect as a whole, that is almost impossible, at least for me, but this show was dam near close.

- this show is emotionally charged: anger, love, passion, every damn thing.
It doesn’t help that so much happens every episode that at the end, my chest wants to implode once it realises I’ve been sentenced to another week of waiting as if I didn’t already know I’d have to wait.

- The focus is the main couple so although there is a second (GL) couple they don’t get much attention, am I mad that I got more PatPran scenes, I can’t say I am.

To conclude, a note to further encourage you to watch this show:

“Please make me beg for my life”

*Whispers* Watch it!!!

Leia Mais

BL 2.0

There was a lot to like about this series. There was a lot that was unique within the BL genre. Even the female charters were likeable. What's also good about this series is what it's not. Not stereotypical or homophobe or ... The story had it's ups and downs and something didn't really go smoothly I guess I should say transition wise. But all in all it was one of the most enjoyable and the cast all were believable and likeable. There was a large amount of great chemistry amongst the ensemble. I am an OHM fan but still i believe he is going to make it mainstream. He had some very strong scenes and he really made it specials. Especially the roof top scenes. I think he should be nominated for an award for the last roof top scenes. Jimmy and Drake are next in line for me. Very strong presence and great job standing out. Nanon to me was not real good in the first 4 to 5 episodes. He then got better or the scripts and or directing got better. Much better in Eps 8 through 12 for sure.

Like all series not perfect but for sure one of the better ones.

Congrats to all involved in creating this one. Bravo!

Leia Mais

Bad Buddy, The Hate of My Life

I watched Bad Buddy trend on Twitter every single day while it was airing and heard people praise it like it was crafted by the hands of God.

Watching BB was actually one of the worst experiences of my life. The first few eps were corny but okay, and I thought I might genuinely enjoy the show until the randomly rushed angst that served no purpose other than a vehicle for the first kiss and avoidance phase between the 2 leads. I don't know how you manage to simultaneously delay a kiss while also making it feel unnaturally rushed and set up. The writing only fell apart from there, and the plot between the first kiss up until the reconciliation with the stupid xylophone scene actually changed my life for the worst. Every plot line and tonal shift in this show was written by an AI generator. The editing makes it even worse. I thought I was going crazy.

Pat is supposed to be a typical himbo character but he's so pushy that you can't believe he, or any of these characters, are college-aged students. His pushiness after the initial kiss is borderline uncomfortable. Pran is characterized as reasonable, orderly, and not an idiot, so he should be the most likeable character on screen at any given moment, but for some reason Nanon is always a hair's width from fully integrated into the character. Every new role I see him in is less convincing than the last, and he seems to have fleeting moments where he embodies a character perfectly before the performance turns towards entirely unconvincing. I wonder how many other people came to BB after watching My Dear Loser because they were impressed with his performance, just to be left scratching their heads by the end.

For a romcom, there was plenty of romance and comedy, yet somehow ticking all the boxes doesn't stop this show from being a disaster. I can't tell if the abrupt whiplash-inducing tonal shifts and ridiculous plots were crazier than the product placement scenes, but you could argue that the product placement scenes were so crazy that they were camp enough to temporarily distract from the rest of the show. Over-the-top product placements aside, BB could almost pass for fetish content with the amount of times Pat's stench was mentioned, how often he was shirtless or sleeveless, and the entire framing of the "first person to confess loses" arc. What the fuck is ever going on in this show.

The conflict-resolution in every part of the show serves no real purpose other than as a direct shift into the next conflict. The whole show can be broken up into three distinct parts, and the problem isn't that every part is so entirely different from the rest -- real people in real life experience distinct chapters in their lives -- but there is absolutely no fluidity between parts A B and C. The scene where Pat shows up like fucking Superman and saves the day with the power of xylophone while heartwarming music plays in the bg and we're given a montage of scenes that somehow transport us to Pat and Pran as an established couple is a scene that will infuriate me for years to come. I hate you Bad Buddy. You make no fucking sense.

I watched this show with two other people and I think I was the last person still standing by the time the final episode ended. I grinded the ending of the show by staring blankly at the screen or scrolling through Twitter when it was too painful to keep watching. When the episode was over I think I felt the heavens open up and an angel come down to touch me on my shoulders. I almost cried. I almost cheered. I laughed and smiled. It was over.

There aren't enough words to describe the psychological effects that bad writing, useless side characters, and terrible pacing can have on the human brain. Not to mention the lingering reminder of who the actors are playing in the back of my head whispering "he's homophobic" every once in a while. Sometimes these elements aren't detrimental on their own, but altogether Bad Buddy is shit-in-a-blender, a cocktail of disappointment and confusion. I hope God can transport me back to the universe everyone lives in where Bad Buddy is allegedly a good show.

Leia Mais