Meus Apenas 12% (2022)

Disappointing Ending

First of all, Earth, Santa, and Prem were amazing and they deserve 500000/10 stars.

But I am left feeling so disappointed with the ending. The last two episodes were like torture. I never read the novel, but the series until ep 11 never indicated that the entire plot would cease being about Cake and Eiw's relationship (which is what I cared about, what I was expecting), and end up being entirely about Eiw's relationship with his parents.

There was no relationship development, there really was no character development (except Eiw became less shy??). They pretended there was a happy ending, but it touched on nothing. The last two episodes are entirely Eiw and his family sobbing uncontrollably and Cake hovering in the corner sometimes, awkwardly.

I guess the esteanged and dying parent storyline (besides coming from out of nowhere at the end of the season) hit too close to home for me and that’s why I'm grumpy. But like... Eiw spent an hour explaining why he hates his dad who abandoned them because he never stopped smoking. Really? Youre not at all mad that he abandoned you and your family for years, missed out on hugely important events? You're just mad... that he smoked?

The ending seemed to suddenly become an anti smoking commercial and an egregious melodrama, with almost no romance whatsoever. So... if you, like I did, thought you were about to watch a romance, you might as well stop watching after the one makeout scene.

Leia Mais

slice of life with pacing issue

Overall: I enjoyed the slice of life feel but the beginning dragged and then the ending felt rushed. Aired on iQIYI and on YouTube (varies by country)

Content Warnings: a slap/punch not between the 2 leads, manhandling, vomiting, and something else at the end that is a major spoiler

What I Liked
- opposite personalities, a slacker/carefree extrovert and a studious introvert
- shows the power of representation, how Eiw thought he couldn't be happy because of the movie he saw whereas Cake had seen guys happy and figured he could have that too
- cool that they released it on August 12th and that was the day circled on the calendar in the intro animation and the 12 is in the title
- cute and funny moments
- the friend relationships, sibling relationships
- avoiding a certain cliche trope in the 2nd the last episode
- displays of consent
- color grading

Room For Improvement
- it was too slow and felt repetitive but then at the end felt really rushed
- Cake's extreme possessiveness and jealousy wasn't cute, telling Eiw he had to change clothes and couldn't talk to Cake's friends was not fun to watch
- Cake not checking/discussing with Eiw about some really important things that involved them both
- Kung, time and place dude, time and place
- the PSA in the last two episodes was heavy handed (and also you can't say that with total certainty)
- everyone pressuring Eiw in the final episode, let him be

Leia Mais

This is more than what it seems like

Little did i expect to watch a bl series and on top of that ,it being high school themed ? But but but i am glad that i came across this and managed to watch it till the end.

Would'nt deny that i felt like giving this up at times when it got a little draggy and boring but my curiousity kicked in to just check how the relation between Eiw and Cake would turn out to be.
The second half of the series was surprisingly intriguing and undoubtedly the last 3 episodes were the highlight of the series (atleast for me). Well i personally like dramas which dont just focus on love track but life in general , this was just that!!

I absoutely loved the smooth transition between scenes from sweetest to heartbreaking scenes. It is not just about 2 childhood friends falling in love , there is a lot more to it. How Eiw and cake realized and accepted their feeling for each other , how being apart for years and distance could just emerge into longing for one another, And ofcourse the memorable and emotional ending Dint realise when tears started rolling out of my eyes and i ending up bawling
It has one of the cutest confession scenes i have ever witnessed .Get ready to make your hearts pound with all the fluffyness and dont forget to keep boxes of tissues handy cause this is gonna make your eyes dryout.

Special mention :- Of all the actors in this series Santa's (who plays cake) acting skills took me by surprise. Like how can someone his age portray this role with ease. This kid i must say stole all my attention whenever he was on screen.

If you just read the summary , see few posters and choose not to watch "My only 12 percent" , you might miss something worth experiencing.

Leia Mais

Only 12% Is Good

I came upon this drama by seeing a snippet of it posted on Instagram. That scene is arguably the sweetest and best part of the whole drama, the rest is a slow, repetitive slog that even the acting skills of Earth and Santa can't quite redeem. The story itself isn't bad despite the fact that it's entirely predictable. I wanted to like it and there were certainly aspects that I did like, but as a whole it just failed to engage. The lack of character development, the excessive crying, the slow pacing, and repetition, coupled with the final episodes being overly preachy and moving away from the romance of the rest of the drama resulted in a less than stellar product.

Like I said, the story itself isn't bad even though it is predictable. The problem comes from the slow pacing and repetition. The first couple episodes were more of a slow burn that I didn't mind so much because characters and the background were still being established. But once that was established, it became frustrating that it felt like very little was happening or progressing a lot of the time. The repetition was throughout. Eiw would feel hurt because of something Cake did or feel neglected and would sulk until they finally made up or, mostly after the time jump, vice versa. Despite the pair constantly talking about how they'd known each other since they were babies and how much they cared about each other, their communication absolutely sucked and I didn't feel that was ever really addressed or resolved.

Another detractor was the constant water works from Eiw. I don't think there was a single episode where he didn't cry at least once and he spent the vast majority of the final two episodes in tears. On the one hand, kudos to Earth because that had to be exhausting, I hope they kept him well hydrated with the amount of water he was losing, and for the most he was believable, but it was another aspect that was very repetitive. I was truly hoping after the time jump and the changes that he made to himself, there would be less crying, but unfortunately that wasn't the case.

The character development felt like it was lacking despite the number of years that go by. Yes, Eiw does make a change and come out of his shell and learn to socialize, but it feels superficial. Ultimately, he and Cake are still wrapped in their own little world where very little has changed. Even Cake coming out and saying that he would be gay with Eiw felt shallow. Maybe part of it is that while Eiw's feelings for Cake were developed and explored which was an aspect that I overall liked and felt was well done, we get none of that with Cake. He just comes back after 4 years and suddenly his love for Eiw has transformed from that of a brother to romantic. It felt far too abrupt and without reason. I wanted to see how Cake came to the realization that he loved Eiw romantically. The other characters felt equally stagnant. Again, despite the passing years, it didn't feel like there was much, if any, difference between them as high school and university students. Any changes were communicated verbally, not by actions.

The last two episodes were the final nail in the coffin, so to speak. We suddenly move from focusing on the romance between Eiw and Cake to Eiw's mom is dying and we're going on an anti-smoking campaign. It felt disjointed and like it didn't fit with the rest of the story. The vast majority of these final two episodes are spent with everyone crying, people constantly saying that his mom is going to be fine which was obviously a lie, Eiw blaming himself which while on the one hand was realistic to an extent, was again repetitive because we've gotten this from him several times previously. Not everything bad that happens is your fault, hon. But he's bound and determined to make it his fault. And then there's the anti-smoking PSA which just felt awkward and out of place. The doctor's explanation that the fact their father smoked was the cause of their mother's cancer was complete and total BS. Yes, third hand smoke is a real issue, but to so definitively say that was the cause of cancer was ridiculous. And then Eiw talks about how he asked his dad at every festival and holiday to stop smoking which I didn't find believable. I don't know many kids who would have enough of an understanding of the dangers of smoking to do something like that. Maybe once they were older, but I got the impression he'd been doing that since he was a little kid. Also, that's why he was mad at his dad? Not for abandoning their family which is also never explained why he did so, not for apparently failing to maintain contact, but because he smoked. That didn't seem realistic to me. And then there's the ending with Cake's friends suddenly deciding to throw out their packs of cigarettes and we're treated to a close up of them in the trash. None of it felt very cohesive with the rest of the story.

In terms of the characters themselves, I found them all to be a bit underwhelming. While I liked Cake for the most part, I found Eiw to be annoying and boring much of the time. Cake was much more nuanced with his emotions and reactions to things. He was interesting to watch. Eiw though spent 90% of the drama whining, crying and nagging. There was definitely an element of what on earth does Cake see in him. He got better after the time jump once he had more confidence, but the character was never my favorite. The other characters just kind of felt like they were there most of the time. The romance between Hom and Peak was lackluster and not believable to me. He stays hooked on this girl that he met a handful of times and doesn't really know for years? Also, timing, sir. His decision to pull her aside to talk about their relationship, or lack thereof, and ask her for another chance while her mother was dying was incredibly cringe inducing to watch.

The acting was a mixed bag. I liked Santa as Cake. For this being only his second drama in a main role, he did really well. He managed to convey a lot of emotion with just his eyes, but was equally good using facial expressions and body language. His acting made Cake the most interesting character to watch. Earth, Earth, Earth. He's a good actor, I know he is from other dramas I've seen him in, but I feel like he was so underutilized in this drama. His ability to realistically cry is impressive. Despite the amount of crying that he had to do in this drama, it rarely felt forced or fake. But he can do more than that, and I don't feel like he was really given a chance to shine. He was pigeonholed into this role of being weak, naggy, and overemotional and his character wasn't really allowed to develop beyond that. Prem was good as Eiw's older brother, Pao. Despite being a year younger than Earth, he was realistic as an older brother and I really liked him in a more mature role. I think this is actually my favorite role he's played.

The production was overall pretty good. I liked the way the changing technology was used to help show the passage of time. The cinematography was pretty good. There were a handful of shots that I really liked and the rest was decent. I can't say much for the music because I didn't notice it all that much, which can be seen as a positive since it wasn't distracting.

I didn't hate this drama, but I also didn't love it. Frankly, I found it to be pretty forgettable. It has some good moments, some sweet scenes, but I ultimately just found it to be lacking in almost every respect. Is it worth watching? Meh. You're not missing out if you choose not to watch it. Honestly, if you want to see the best part, just Google Cake's love confession from episode 12. It is truly the highlight of the drama, in my opinion, and one of the best confession scenes I've ever seen in a BL. Otherwise, the rest really isn't worth the time or effort to stay invested.

Leia Mais

Complicated, But Good

I was very hesitant to watch this cause I was told how sad and depressing it was, and while others weren't way off, it was really good. It falters a little due to its own length, but other than that, this series is pretty entertaining.

Let's Dive In.

As I already said, this series is just a little too long. The last two episodes are irrelevant to the overall plot, and if anything, I wish the circumstance would've happened in the earlier episodes, to show just how important Eiw and Cake were to one another during harsh times. Cause really, I skipped through these episodes wondering where they correlate with the rest of the series. While sad and well-acted, it's irrelevant as hell.

I'd have mixed feelings categorizing this as a sad series since it doesn't have a "sad" ending per se. But I say that because I did skip episodes 8-9 purposefully because I knew they were going to be too sad for me. Moving and learning to be by yourself, yeah not my cup of tea, but I know Earth bodied it.

Earth and Santa have some really incredible chemistry, like seriously. I was hooked on them by episode 2. The subtleness gets to me the best, it only gets better when Eiw realizes his feelings. I was balling my eyes out at him telling his sister how he felt while watching one of the most poignant LGBT+ movies in Thailand. perfect scene.

I wasn't the biggest fan of the time jump. I would've rather it been 2 years or less. I don't know, 4 years felt extremely too long for me. And Cake and his family never went back to Thailand once? at least to visit?

I don't mind that they don't get together until they're in college, but I wish something more would've happened between them before Cake moved. The series was missing something entirely, and that was a touch of something more than just cuddles in bed.

Rating:

Story; 7.5/10 - the beginning was really nice, and the best part of the story. The last two episodes were pointless and it over-exceeded the time it needed. otherwise, a really nice story and plot.

Acting: 9/10: Earth did it again! Santa also did a really excellent job. It was nice to see Peak and Benz! Everyone else did a decent job.

Music: 6/10: Good.

Rewatch value: 2/10 - ehh. probably not.

I definitely recommend this. While it got sad, it wasn't as sad as you might think. If that makes sense.

Leia Mais

Earth........no.

I love Earth. I really do. But casting him as a whiney, childish, immature high school kid when everyone knows he is in his mid twenties is just wrong.......a mistake. He cannot pull it off. I have seen 2 episodes so far and I was hoping that he would age up to where he should be and these 2 episodes would be kind of a prelude to where the series WOULD be going. Apparently not. I will stick with it but I am disappointed in New for not seeing this himself. Everyone else in this cast is great, especially Santa. He will definitely have a future in acting. It is really nice to see Peak again too. I apologize to Earth for writing this but he is SO much better than this. Thanks for reading.

Leia Mais

Such a sweet show about childhood friends

The story spans a respectable timeline of several years – from when the boys were still in high school until they are in college. Very few shows do this, precisely because of how challenging it can be to track the development of a single character across time, but I think My Only 12% was a decent attempt.

In an era saturated with mature BLs, the innocence of My Only 12% makes it stand out from the rest. There are no kisses up until episode 12 (out of 14 episodes), but that doesn’t make the show any less romantic.

Cake and Eiw’s feelings are painfully obvious to everyone else but each other – typical for most coming-of-age love stories (see ITSAY, Star In My Mind and Sotus). The show is pretty much this exploration of this friendship as it evolves to become something more. Were all the meanders and misunderstandings worth it? I think yes.

The final 2 episodes also turned out to be a huge anti-smoking campaign – that’s fine but it was a little over the top for me and came from nowhere. Other than that, I really liked this show, the MDL reviews (>8.0) are accurate!

My full review here: https://asianblreviews.wordpress.com/2022/11/13/my-only-12-review/

Leia Mais

Great emotional chemistry but a little long

Reviewed this at episode 8, but I have now lowered my score from 9.5 to 8.5. I stand by what I said but this show could have benefitted from some editing down. If like two or three episodes worth of content was removed, this would have been perfect. There just wasn’t enough plot to keep it running for 14 eps.

This resulted in some scenes dragging on unnecessarily.
I also feel like the flow was a little off . The last episode should have been an episode or two prior, and then the final episode could have been a goodbye to the characters, as it was a character focused show.

That being said:

This is what Theory of Love should have been, unrequited love at its finest. There, I said it.

I think the biggest difference here, and what makes this feel so genuine is the display of their relationship. Rather than telling us they’re best friends, joined at the hip since birth, and practically each other’s other-half, they SHOWED us. You see them grow up together, and see the special bond they have. Kudos to the actors because they did a phenomenal job establishing emotional chemistry that rivals a lot of my favorites.

The character depth adds layers to this. You can understand why Eiw loves Cake, because we see Cake from his perspective.
Not only that, but you can see that Cake truly loves and cares for Eiw, romantic feelings aside, from the very beginning. I think Cake was really well-written and his storyline so far has been crafted in just the right way that he doesn’t come off like an inconsiderate asshole. It would be very easy for his character to go south, if he was not written the way that he was. He isn’t oblivious to Eiw pushing away from him in earlier episodes. He understands that Eiw is upset about something and tries to communicate with him, even scratching the surface of the issue. Gasp, a ML with emotional intelligence? Shocking.

Eiw might be annoying for some. I don’t mind it but he is whiny and pouty. His actor is really incredible at crying though, I’ve thought this since LBC and UWMA lol. Honestly, the emotional scenes between the leads really pack a good punch. Like I said, their emotional chemistry is really solid.

I would recommend this. Even after completing this, I’ll argue this is nearly the most ideal unrequited to requited BL out there.

Leia Mais

A premise that has been done but a feeling not many can convey.

This is a friends-to-lovers story from the outside but feel reaches the heights of what some of the best BL stories can offer. Some People may not appreciate its slow-burn style of storytelling but I believe it enhances every part of the plot from its characters to its story. There is so much character-building right from the start all the way to the end. You truly feel like you are a part of the world of the characters, as each week goes by more and more layers are added to its story and characters, its a universal show that has so many moments of relatability. It goes through the highs and lows of growing up as a queer person, the fleeting friendships, and just experiencing life. While it may be a premise that has been done I don't think any have felt as fleshed out as this, it's a sad series but equally shows us the happy moments, the important moments of love that help bring levity & realism to its story. It's one of the best depictions of life on screen. This series takes the audience seriously and expects us to take it slow and we were so rewarded for our investment! The story centers around friendship to the eventual lover relationship between childhood friends Cake (Santa) and Eiw (Earth). Eiw is a character you see as a person who is so introverted, so scared to put himself out there, and Cake a boy the complete opposite of Eiw. He's outgoing, has a lot of friends, and has a girlfriend. but because of their strong bond at birth, as they get older their dependence on each other begins to become something confusing for Eiw as they begin to leave adolescence behind. Despite their differences Cake is someone who is so caring, and gentle with Eiw & his feelings. Over the course of the series, you see the struggles of young Eiw discovering himself and his sexuality. As these revelations come to light for Eiw so do the conflicts and struggles that test the bonds and dependency of these two friends, You see Eiw evolve as well as see the complex character of Cake begin to wrestle deeply with his feelings for Eiw. It is a timeless tale but brought up new heights by its superb acting by both veteran actor Earth and new actor Santa, who completely brings depth and nuance to Cake that is hard for any actor to pull off but Santa delivers what I see is a breakout performance that rival many of the top actors in the Industry. Its themes are explored with care and nuance that I feel really makes this series sing. The directing adds some deliberate choices to enhance the story, as well as great music to bring out the emotions of everyone. Many BL stories don't get the proper time to develop the relationships between the leads and this slow pace made for the perfect and satisfying build of this relationship throughout the characters' lives. So I was much more invested. I think there is so much to love about this series, and if you can be open to its slow pace I do find the reward at the end is something worth taking this journey to see.

Leia Mais

Almost perfect for a childhood-friends-to-lovers story

As soon as I realized that the main leads for this series were Santa and Earth (the same as in the first episode of 7 Project), I was very excited to watch. I had already seen Earth in other projects with secondary roles, so I was happy to see that he got to be the protagonist of a series for once. I was a little annoyed to see him in the role of a high-schooler (which is how I feel about any actor in his late 20s with a teenage character), but I decided to give it a go anyway.

This is a very sweet coming-of-age/slice-of-life story. The pacing of the story is a little slow, but I believe that this is also the reason why every scene felt very natural. The acting was very good and I loved how vivid every situation felt. It was a little sad at times, but not in an unbearable way - for the most part I found it very romantic and the bond between See-Eiw and Cake was portrayed very well. While the show only actually focuses on the relationship between the two main characters and not much else, I appreciated it as I was fully invested in the story and couldn't wait to see how it would go on.

What actually felt disappointing were the last couple of episodes because of how out of place they were compared to the rest. There was no sufficient build-up for the events, and I don't even believe it brought anything relevant to the story to be worth it. Overall, they felt like an attempt from the writers to bring in more dramatic events and more angst (and hurt/comfort) to the characters, which is a pity since everything else was so well-made.

I recommend watching this series despite its flaws in case you like the friends-to-lovers trope. I'd also recommend not watching episode 13th and skipping to the last part of episode 14th for the ending, but rather than butcher your experience from the get go, it might be better to see for yourself and make your own opinion.

Leia Mais

Santa delights in a slow to start but worth the wait BL drama

You have to be patient with this one as they take waaaay to long on their childhood and then very little time on the ending. But the middle is so worth the wait that I know I'll be re-watching their university time period.

Santa as Cake was amazing. Earth as Eiw was hard to love in the beginning and end but grew on you in the middle. Earth's crying splits the audience but overall he did well in the role. You're not meant to like him and they way he is babied all the way though and snivels can be a lot.

It dropped points because I didn't see the point of Peak storyline - this wasn't in the novel I don't think so this felt like a clunky second couple. Also the ending, although the same as in the novel needed more time than it was given.

Afterday is a brilliant writer and even starred in this as Eiw's sister Hom. This stuck pretty closely to the novel.

Leia Mais

In my 100% you're the %1 I'll only love ♡

Definitely recommend just maybe bring a whole roll of bounty, a teddy and chocolates with you if you wanna binge it.

9/10 For me. Santa and Cooheart did an amazing job their chemistry was top notch and the story heart warming and gut wrenchingly painful at times I.e. last two eps especially for me who has had to deal with the same thing as Eiw. Where it gets the point deducted is with Peak and Hom's storyline, I didn't think it was necessary and inappropriately placed within the second to last episode, their relationship was the last thing on my mind, I did not need to see Peak pull Hom aside to talk while she was in the hospital. The rest of it I enjoyed and loved actually, Santa and Cooheart as Cake and Eiw will be missed 🥲

Music- The scoring was beautiful per usual standard with a Wabi Sabi Production.

Acting- 10/10 Tho the dad was a bit questionable with his crying still everyone did great whether I liked their character or not.

Leia Mais