Peixe no Céu (2021)

Such a cheesy disaster that it's endearing

In totality, it was okay. Definitely loved Duean and Meen more than anything else. It was cheesy full of stupid plot devices that you learn to deal with it

1. Mork was a stalker. A glamorized one, but a stalker nonetheless
2. The whole Bam plot twist is such a classic GMMTV thing to do. A FEMALE has to come out from NOWHERE to produce conflict. Of freaking course
3. Instead of the ep 11 curse, GMMTV decided to be edgy and made the conflict in ep 12. It made everything feel rushed when literally they had 11 episodes of nothingness
4. I hate how manipulative Mork was to Pi in terms of forcing Pi to come out with their relationship.

All of these things are so cliche and are so bad, but I guess I'm so used to dramaland that at this point, the predictability is what sold it for me.

Also, Pond is so freaking gorgeous.

Leia Mais

It simply doesn't make a lot of sense

My rating might be a bit harsh but this was honestly difficult for me to sit through. I watched A Tale of a Thousand Stars when it aired and got used to curling up on a Friday evening and just enjoying the episodes as they aired each week. To be honest my entire reason for watching this series, along with the fact that I liked the trailer, was that its airtime was the same and, although I doubted I would enjoy it as much as AToaTS, I kind of wanted to keep the routine.

But, well, it was a struggle.

Let's start with the story. It's not good. At first I liked the story of an insecure, unpopular kid who doesn't trust easily being liked by a popular guy who also happens to be his crush's best friend. I liked that there wasn't a love triangle but Pi believed there was. I really did like the set-up of Mork liking Pi when Pi didn't like himself and assumed this was a universal reality, no one would ever like him. But why does Mork like Pi? Like why? I enjoyed their online friendship for a while until I realised that Pi is just depending on Mork, it is not two-sided. Ultimately throughout the whole series Pi is never there for Mork really and Mork is constantly there for Pi. It is an unequal relationship, not because of appearance or popularity, but because Mork is in love with an insecure and (more to the point) extremely selfish character. It doesn't make sense. Everything in their development happens suddenly and coincidentally. There is no evolution, neither character comes to realisations about themselves or each other that would make their relationship reasonable. Mork never shows any vulnerability to Pi, Pi shows too much and relies too heavily on Mork without good reason. It is not a believable relationship progression and their attraction is not developed in the script. Why? Do? They? Like? Each? Other? It does not make sense.

As for the second-lead couple the progression was better. They grew on each other and it made sense that they were getting to know each other and were feeling attraction or crushes or whatever. But god it was juevenile. It was trying so hard to be funny with them, especially Duean. I don't know if this is just a cultural difference but I have seen a lot of Thai content and while some of the humour goes over my head sometimes this is just a lot to take. Although the majority of the age demographic of BL fans may be young, the character himself was in his twenties and he was behaving like a pre-teen which was so annoying. The characters themselves matched okay I guess, I have some complaints but whatever. But it was so juevenile which did get seriously irritating.

The acting was variable. Because I didn't like most of the script I will say the acting may have been better with a better script but here we go. Pond (Mork) and Louis (Meen) had believable acting. Their acting was fine. They did a good enough job with characters that were written to be pretty one dimensional. Phuwin (Pi) is not made for acting insecure in my opinion tbh. He kept overacting the insecurities and shyness. Now, I am a naturally shy person and was incredibly insecure as a teen so there was some relatability for me honestly. But when you are shy and insecure, you hide. You try to take up as little space as possible. He sort of had the shy persona down sometimes but other times it was just overdone. I could tell he was acting. And in some intimate scenes between Mork and Pi both actors were awkward which added to the already mediocre script in terms of being unbelievable. As for Neo (Duean) it was overacting 101. I don't know if this was due to his acting, the script, the directing or whatever but it was too much. Just way too much. It was a character you would never meet in real life. So yeah.

I don't love that a makeover happened, but I do like the fact that Mork liked Pi before. Wasn't like he had some dumb realisation later or anything.

I wish I enjoyed this. It really could have been good. But it was too nonsensical to be funny and too soulless to be romantic. The characters were largely too one dimensional to be believable and everything fell apart after that really. The plot wasn't character driven it just sort of happened because someone said it should, which is not good writing.

One other (relatively small) pet peeve is the fact that three brothers from one family are all gay. Like, why? C'mon now people. Not saying it's impossible but it's just a little hard to believe. Especially when added to the fact that the two younger brothers both have love interests who are themselves brothers with each other. Okay, whatever.

The fans were annoying and overacted. They were not funny. They were toxic but there was no analysis of why they are being toxic and there was no arc where that behaviour changes (which it should and would have been satisfying to watch).

At the end of the day I would not recommend this series to be very frank. There are far better series out there. This one is an acceptable idea with poor execution.

Leia Mais

Foundational Romance Tropes? Rivals(eh) to Lovers with a sunshine/tsundere pairing

Pi is the ultimate obtuse tsundere uke who never gets redeemed so you have to be okay with an unlikeable protag to enjoy Fish. For me, Pi was unappealing and I couldn’t understand why Mork wanted him so badly. The temptation is to compare this to We Best Love, because it’s such a similar tsundere + pining sunshine pairing. But Shu Yi was given so much more grace by the Taiwanese writers. Pi is a jerk, he’s never depict being kind or genuine with his friends or strangers. He’s a loser sure, but worse, he’s a user. Unfortunately it turns out, so is Mork. Because a seme with an uke like this will keep pushing and pushing until he gets what he wants - a complete override of the uke’s feelings. So Mork comes off as a bully and Pi as utterly unlikeable and in the end what could have been great with these actors and GMMTV’s money was just a big ol’ bummer.

GMMTV do we need to have a talk? First you flopped My Gear and Your Gown, then you failed the landing on Tonhon Chonlatee, now this? What’s going on with your writing team? Do you HAVE a writing team?

Leia Mais

Could have been so much more

What this series does well is balance two love stories and the central focus. Unlike many other Thai BLs that opt for a multitude of couples this series has only two and explores them well. Visually, this series was amazing to watch and look at. It’s beautiful and well produced.

However, this isn’t the best writing in the slightest. This series takes a LONG time to develop the relationship with the main couple and the entire time, the pining is more stalker-like than romantic. Additionally, this series takes too long to do what it sets out to do, and by the time it actually does it, we’ve already reached the end and so everything feels rushed and unearned. As a comedy, it should have ended at episode 11 with a nice wrap-up. But for some reason they decided to make the last episode into a drama filled with tension and the tone shifts into completely new territory with only less than an hour before everything comes to an end. Talk about whiplash!

Furthermore, there is a great support cast, but the writers use these cast members insufficiently to the point that their presence becomes more of a nuisance than part of the actual plot movement. The only character who is developed is Pi and he’s the only well written character, other than Duean. Otherwise, we know virtually nothing about anyone else. Shame.

Also, what’s up with that really weird English song that came up at the weirdest times?

Leia Mais

ONE OF THE BEST ROM-COM BL!

I really love this series, it's one of the best! I like how light-hearted, innocent and funny this show like every episode I laughed so hard and feel the romantic excitement with the two. For me, it's the perfect stress reliever when you're burned out and love to watch bl. We need this in this trying times. The actors were so great and their visual are so freaking out of this world. The scene of every episode has a lot of originality, and especially the OST! So magical, Mix and Louis who act as Muang Nan and Meen are really a good singer. The editing and directing is on point. No heavy plot, just a typical drama, but they carried it in a wonderful way! The plot is so good and relateable. The kiss was so natural and also there were so many lessons to learn which is appliable in this modern world like having a confidence with yourself and respecting others privacy. Also, I love how they portrayed the magic of love that no matter how you feel bad about yourself, there is always someone who will gonna love you and accept for who you are and there's someone who will look at you like Fish Upon The Sky. It's cheesy and chaotic, but not gonna lie, this series gives me a 90s Rom-Com vibe. It's refreshing and gives the feeling of being young and in love like I want to fall in love again. If you haven't watch it yet, well I recommend this to you. IT'S WORTH IT! I don't care what people say, but this series was so great and I can't get over from it. Not gonna spoil anymore! Love youu!

~ THESE ARE SOME GREAT LINES THAT I LOVE FROM FISH UPON THE SKY ~

"Don't afraid I'd feel bad if they criticize me. Be selfish all you want because I'm so damn happy when I'm with you. Those people don't make me happy like the one I love does." - Mork

"When you love someone, you like who they truly are. When you love someone, you love what lies inside." - Pi

"If you really like me, your heart should beat faster. I believe you used to like me, but I think you're scared. You're scared of falling for someone else." - Muang Nan

"Apart from risk of having hypertension, you have one more risk, a heart disease. Not a common, it only happen when you're close to someone you love" - Mork

"If you are not ready to open your heart, we can start by being friends." - Mork

"You see that flowers? If you want to own them, that means you're obsessed with them. But if you want to take care and let them grow, that means you love them." - Mork

"You want to be yourself, I want to be myself too." - Meen

"I can be you vaccine, Pi" - Mork (thiss mann!😭 can you also be my vaccine mork? HUHU)

"I'm okay whether you want to tell people or not. But I just want to love you. I want to love you without caring what people think. The kind of love that I can hug you when I miss you. Kiss you when I'm tired. Hold your hand without caring about the world." - Mork

Leia Mais

This Fish Did Not Take Flight

My first thoughts going into this was that this series seemed cute, but probably won't take itself too seriously. Especially not with the brother character (Duean). I was definitely correct with this, however when the series tried to have serious parts in it that's where it fell flat. I couldn't take it seriously AT ALL, which is a problem because the show could've really done with that balance.

When concerning the comedy.The overhead voice of god or whatever tf it was is hilarious to me. So were the interactions between this disembodied voice and Duean. That was gold. However, much of Duean's solo comedic stuff wasn't really for me. I don't do gross out humor, some of his stuff was decent though.

When talking about our characters. First off, how would people think Pi is a nerd? He's too cute looking to be ostracized lol. So when he has his "glow up" I didn't see much difference tbh. I understood his insecurities though because we all deal with that. Eventually though his character got real old real quick. Like I couldn't handle him anymore. Mork is so nice to him and handsome! I hate that Pi is so mean to him at the beginning and pretty much all throughout the damn show. Boy take your wins, this dude is actually kind to you/likes you for who you are and you're lashing out. There's been no evidence he likes who you like from the start. Cut the crap! By the end I didn't really care about him or saw much development. So that was a bummer. Duean and Meen were alright. Cute moments but didn't do much for me personally.

I'm glad dude who plays Mueang is back from 1000 stars! He could've been utilized way more though, like apparently he is in the book. I would've liked to see him get a love interest or something. I like that Pi is talking to Mork and not even realizing it. I liked the equal development of each brother, screen ratio difference is nice for distinction. We love the calling out on toxic shipping irl they are so annoying but they're supposed to be. Though I would've liked to see them get more consequences for their actions. Missed opportunity. One thing that I took 100% issue with was the cultural appropriation moment. Like why? Why was that necessary? A lot of people in the comments on YouTube felt the same who are actually from that minority so the show totally messed up on that one.

Other things that were off was the pacing. It was slowwwwww and with very little payoff. Like there was so much unnecessary sh** that wasn't at least entertaining enough to keep me focused. I feel like this show had something at the beginning, but took too long to take off and once it finally did it was over. So watch this if you're really in need of a BL, but there's much better out there. I actually really wanna see Mork's actor again soon. I quite like him so here's to hoping!

Leia Mais

Fun and Dumb

Fish Upon the Sky is a comedic drama that is definitely not meant to be taken seriously.

For all its strengths (comedy, great actors, an OST that slaps) futs falls short on one crucial aspect of storytelling which is, well, the story itself. The main couples' relationship is sloppily told and emotionally concerning at times. The pacing of their storyline is horrendous and leaves many issues unresolved until the very end. It also feels at times as if the writers weren't quite sure what the cause of their conflicts were as explanations tended to change throughout different episodes. In terms of storytelling, futs is a hot hot mess.

So, why is it still getting a 6.5 from me? Well, it's genuinely so funny and endearing. The side pairing of Duean and Meen was handled incredibly well, especially in comparison to the many things Mork and Pi were put through. I laughed until I cried so often while watching this show. I went into it wanting something light and funny and, for the most part, that's exactly what I got. Many things didn't make sense and this show had such potential to have a phenomenal story but I cannot deny that I enjoyed myself every single episode.

If you are looking to have a lot of fun, see one of the best sibling relationships I've seen on a drama in a while, and aren't looking for a cinematic masterpiece, this show might be for you. For all its faults I don't regret any time I've spent watching it. Thank you for the laughs futs, I'm wholeheartedly looking forward to a season 2.

Leia Mais

Flawed, but with some fun moments

A Tale of a Thousand Stars would be a tough act to follow for any series. Fish Upon the Sky was given the challenge. Did it rise to the occasion? Here are my pros and cons:

PROS

ATTENTION TO BULLYING. Always important to bring attention to bullying. While some of the attempts fell a bit flat (see below), kudos to FUTS for addressing this issue.

DUEAN/MEEN. Probably not a popular opinion but, for me, they were more fun and had a better chemistry than the main couple.

COMEDY. I really enjoyed some of the comedic moments: Pi hiding Mork in his bed all night (the nipple tickle and Pi's erotic response was hilarious!), much of Duean's loud, aggressive attitude bordered on unappealingly obnoxious, but the character had a sweet side that, for me, made up for it. I LOVED sexy Meen (in Duean's dream)! And Bam's over the top fawning over Mork was funny.

MIX. It was nice to see Mix in a supporting role, even if the scope of his talent was wasted in it.

EYE CANDY. It was a cute cast, which rarely hurts anything.

CONS

"UGLY" PI. If they really wanted to make an impact, the producers should have uglied Pi up more. They could have made his eyebrows hairier and messier, given him an orthodontic headgear with a big metal piece going around the outside of his mouth, dressed him in uglier clothes, dorkier glasses. As it was, he looked like a cute guy with a fit body who had nice glasses and wore braces. Totally unconvincing.

THE BULLIES. In the finale, are we really supposed to believe that an ENTIRE ROOM of MorkPi shippers are going to see old pics of Pi in glasses and braces and suddenly turn against Pi and bully him? Not one person is going to say "Excuse me? He's adorable even with glasses and braces!" Sorry, not buying that the majority of people at a university would behave that way. Second graders, maybe.

MORK'S PERSISTENCE. Sure, he's handsome. But his unrelentless stalking of Pi was too much and not cool. But hey, he's cute so it's all okay, right? Most people would have gone to the police to issue a restaining order!

KITTY GANG IN SIKH CLOTHING. A controversial move. Some people had no problem with it, others found it offensive. Whatever... the bottom line is that it just wasn't funny.

BAM TURNING INTO A VILLAINESS. Unnecessary and ruined a perfectly good character. Then, we're supposed to believe she got over her "deep love" for Mork minutes later, as soon as another guy hits on her. Yeah... sure.

It's a 6.5 from me.

Leia Mais

Interesting but filled with flaws

Fish upon the sky - somehow a comedy with romantic twist.
"Comedy" - depends on your personal taste;
"Romantic twist" - the plot is something we've seen before, but it was done with engineers, nothing special and kind of predictable, but still interesting to watch.
Honestly I wanted more from the story, there was potential, but it ended up in the same canal with the other series from before( love triangle, coming out, walking in circles)
The production was alright, the music not so much.
The actors did their job nicely, being their first time.

Not a bad series but depends on your personal taste. I think you are going to like it, if you are looking for a easy to follow story, good looking actors and somewhat alright plot.

Leia Mais

Loved the comedy, wasn't feeling the characters or the romance.

My feelings on this show are very mixed. I think if it hadn't followed 1000 Stars, and if it hadn't been from the same Author and Director as 2gether, I might have come in with lower expectations and enjoyed it more. If you're here for comedy, you're in the right place. This show surprised me with how funny it was. One of the funniest shows I've seen from GMMTV. If you're here to fall in love with the characters and the romance arc.... I might skip this one.

My biggest complaint is that I didn't like Pi at all. Phuwin is a great actor but this performance didn't do it for me. He was whiny and mean-spirited. I know we're supposed to sympathize with him because he's had a rough life, but it's hard because he's just not a pleasant person. I think this was done to add humor to the show, but Pi's whole character was just about the only part of the show I didn't find funny. Mork was ok in comparison, but a very standard, boring BL love interest. The actors have chemistry but there wasn't anything in the writing to make that shine.

Back to the comedy, though: I'm serious when I say that this show is worth watching for the comedy alone. The best part of this show, hands down, was The Story of the Fifth Year Student -- the portion of the show dedicated to Pi's older brother, Duean. Neo is hilarious (as always) and Louis plays really well off of him. Yeah sure they have chemistry -- more importantly, they're the perfect comedy duo.

My only other comment about this show is that someone at GMMTV needs to stop giving Janhae these awful roles. First Tonhon Chonlatee, now FUTS, they're casting her in roles that bring out some of the worst in poorly written female BL characters. At least Miriam was sometimes funny and likeable. Bam is awful. Thoroughly annoying character with a dumb plot twist. Janhae is a talented actress who deserves better roles!

Leia Mais

The trailer had me so hopeful

This turned out to be a four-episode series stretched to twelve, with a second couple that was excruciating to watch and utterly unbelievable as a romantic pairing.

The director should be scolded for making Neo come off like a terrible, scene-chewing actor who shouts his lines. If I was Neo's manager I'd be immediately searching hard for another role that will allow him to truly showcase his talent. His performance here was a disaster.

Right around the midpoint my level of interest in the series dropped significantly and I started to forget that new episodes would be airing. It got to where YouTube would serve them up and I'd be like "Oh yeah ... that's still going." Then I'd put off watching until I'd consumed everything else that had come out that week.

The last few episodes took me multiple days to watch because they could only keep me engaged for 15 minutes at a time. FUTS had become a borderline hate-watch.

For me the high point was the episode where Pond was hiding out in Pi's house, trying to avoid detection by Duean. That was comedy gold. So many other shows try to pull off a sequence like that and fail, but this one nailed it.

I also appreciated the episode where the insecurity that Pi had built up over many years had realistic consequences, making it hard for him to accept that anyone could really care for him. While we all love Mix, Pi's relentless pursuit of Mueang Nan in the early episodes rang false. Somebody who felt as bad about himself as Pi did would never have had the courage to keep going after a guy like Mueang Nan time after time -- and even continue after being gently rebuffed.

Speaking of Mix, another high point was his OST song.

Pond is a discovery. His role made him into a borderline stalker, but wow, his visuals are way up there and he clearly has the acting chops. He's going to go on to to great things.

Phuwin also did well, but it was another case of the wardrobe department thinking that if you make a character wear glasses along with messy hair and braces, you can pass them off as homely. I realize that this is a constant tactic in Asian series but really, asking the audience to accept that kind of thing only drives home how much of a fictional universe you're creating. You can't disguise cuteness of that caliber.

For me FUTS goes into the same pile as "2gether" and "The Shipper" -- a series with a big budget that I couldn't wait to debut, that ended up being even more of a disappointment because of how bad it was.

6/10. And I think that's being generous. ^_^

Leia Mais

Fish Upon the Sky, There is a Predator Nearby

Never in my whole life have I witnessed this crazy level of manipulation and gaslighting made out to be romantic. The character of Mork is actually insane, and I feel like I'm stuck in the upsidedown place and no one else is seeing what I'm seeing. This is a character that is relentless in manipulating and harassing his love interest. He shows up in front of Pi's house (after stalking him to find out the address), watches him from afar, doesn't take no for an answer, pressures and manipulates him face to face and anonymously, and takes no responsibility for his actions to the point of being a bystander. He sounds like a horror movie antagonist and he would be one if the tone of the show allowed for it. He could be in the next season of YOU.

I've seen comments and reviews characterize Pi as selfish and annoying for rejecting Mork's advances. The more reasonable comments call Mork's actions "not cool" or "a bit weird". I have to be 2 years late to the party and be the person who says straight up that Mork is a predator. Fish Upon the Sky is a romcom where the comedy aspect holds strong but the romance aspect is batshit insane. Pi was rejecting Mork for legitimately the entirely show. Even after an established relationship and a two year timeskip, Mork doesn't have any grasp on the concept of consent. Is that romance? I think y'all are on drugs.

I thought Mork's character was so blatantly a manipulator and it was just an aspect of the show to add craziness and absurdity, but after reading the MDL comments and reviews I've realized I live in the multiverse of madness where in the MDL universe harassment is hot. I shouldn't be surprised considering the history of the BL genre and its fans, but can it really get more blatant than Mork????? You can find the dynamic between MorkPi fun in a slapstick, cat and mouse, exaggerated way, but seeing people be genuinely mad at Pi's character makes me realize y'all would be gagged over abuse.

I still decided to give 3 stars overall which generally reflect the first few episodes of the show. Honestly they were fantastic and the comedy in this show is crazy. I would watch any show that's as funny as this one was, as long as it doesn't put me on suicide watch like FUTS did. I went from having the time of my life to being stressed the fuck out. If Mork got hit by a bus in episode 12 I would have been so happy again. I only got through the ending of the show because I watched it with a friend who loves crazy toxic shit. Love you babe. Thanks for keeping me off the ledge.

Leia Mais