Only Friends (2023)

mostly a good mess

Overall: the trailer promised a bunch of flawed guys in messy relationships and it mostly delivered but some things didn't work for me. Aired 12 episodes about 45 minutes each on GMMTVs YouTube Channel

Content Warnings: manhandling, vomiting, manipulation, non con touching, non con recording/sharing, voyeurism, past attempted suicide, alcoholism, punches, drug usage, queerphobia

What I Liked
- they introduced the characters well, I could tell who they were and their relationships to one another
- some good showing not telling, just the way a character looks at another character tells me a lot about their feelings
- the different characters/relationship dynamics
- realistically flawed characters
- NSFW was well done
- GL established pair (however they had very little screen time and it felt like token representation instead of fleshed out characters/interesting plot)
- sweet moments
- how the ending credits change
- a character has two moms
- bixsexual representation
- ep 9 Sand and Nick were adorable
- showing a character going to therapy
- Yo & Plug's relationship and talking about the importance of trust
- production value

Room For Improvement
- Chueam just saying it was no big deal when Atom could have ruined a person's life and put him in jail was terrible character/plot writing (and unrealistic, I think most people would be super pissed at their sibling for that), and then there was a weak apology in the final episode
- Atom lying about non con also fuels the idea of survivors lying when in reality lying about this is very rare
- the flawed characters didn't bother me, but there wasn't enough growth for them to be in relationships, they all need therapy and to be solo for awhile
- Top, his redemption arc was not good, he ignored Mew's boundaries, was pretty manipulative and selfish, and the non con touching was awful
- Mew, seeing an optimistic character become jaded is something I don't enjoy watching, and I don't enjoy people who play games
- Ray, the writers needed to have him have a bit more character growth sooner and also not just say the right things but do the right things, he'd take a step forward and then a step back again, it's realistic to have setbacks but trying to cram everything in at the very end wasn't good
- Boeing, his character was not needed (although he was super hot), they should have spent more time on the other characters learning/growing (or not and then realistically ruining their relationships)
- the endings were really predictable and wish GMMTV had been a bit more risky
- showed monogamy as good and polyamory as bad
- there were a few jumpy parts, for example characters were cuddling at night and the next scene was during the day in a bookstore
- not a fan of the outfit/styling choices for many characters
- sometimes music didn't fit the mood like a serious part would have this upbeat music

(info) in ep 1 I was a bit confused by the colored wristbands to denote relationship status, apparently this is a real thing (which I think is an awesome idea)

Leia Mais

Mew's Silver Chain Had Me VEXED

Listen,
Being a stupid arse is o-kay, but, being a stupid arse and acting like some sort of saint, is not okay!
GAWDDD Mew had me pulling my hair in this. Dafug you mean your 2-days old boyfriend cheated on you with your thirsty friend so you're going to... *check notes*

1) Become an alcoholic (How's that gonna effect Top's liver ho?)
2) Do drugs (Bish did your mama drop you on your head?)
3) Swing your friend who is in love with you along? (For shame!)
4) Buy an ugly arse shirt and... (Literally, he looked like a divorce dad from Santa Monica.)
5) THAT silver CHAIN... (Boy, if you don't take that shit off!)

It bust my mind. That's it? That's your revenge? Is that suppose to hurt Top? Was that his brilliant plan? And what in the world was that chain???? Was that supposed to be some sort of indication that he's now bad? DUDE!! ARRRGGG. EW. Every time he was on screen I skip forward like... not today satan! Y'all ain't gonna stress me out.

And some people out there making tiktok videos talking about how Boston is a red flag. He was the only tolerable character on that show. Matter of fact, he was my fav, cuz at least, he knew he sucks and should dig a hole and die. But noooo, Mew... GAWWWDDDDD I hated that character so much. I tried but I couldn't stand him and Top.

The other characters were okay. SandRay did not annoy me as much as TopMew. The storyline was nothing to write home about. And that stupid arse silver chain did it no favours. Also, how is Mark in everything? I'm not complaining, he managed to make me love him in 'My School's President', but damn dude, do you have time to sleep?

Anyway, Mew count your days, it's on sight!!

Leia Mais

The best hot mess - worth a try!

Spoilers in the form of general mood and topic spoilers: I try keep them general and vague! Check the spoiler tags - they can help you see what might be triggering!

No matter what you think of Only Friends, it has no doubt cemented its place in history - chaotic adults who also happen to be gay in what's certainly one of the better and more polished GMM productions that I've seen! It's messy and a fun take on the university dramas I've seen all too often from Thailand: here, them being final year uni students feels almost secondary to the story minus the fact their final project is what this revolves around. What I'm trying to say is that their primary personalities aren't uni students - they're adults who get up to a lot of stuff outside uni. Also, THERE'S A SAPPHIC SIDE COUPLE (with little screentime since it's not GL, but they're still there!!!)

STORY:
This is what makes or breaks a series honestly - no matter how good the actors are or the cinematography is, the story has to be there. I think it was there, although it felt vaguely rushed at the end due to the introduction of conflict in the penultimate and final episodes. However, I feel like that's the charm of Only Friends - the chaotic nature. Indeed, coming to the comments, people wanted everyone to kiss, and A LOT of people kissed outside of the rigid couples I expected.
This is a very messy series and if you're here for established couples, understand that the story has angst and chaos and your favourite couples will kiss other characters. I love that the series explores addictions (implied to be genetic), suicide and promotes rehab. It shows the consequences of characters' actions, and even if most of the couples are endgame, I love that not all the couples get together.

ACTING/CAST:
A star-studded cast, with many faces I was familiar with:
Neo and Mark particularly shined here because I'd only seen them as the comic supporting characters - they did incredibly well here with more serious roles!
First and Khaotung put me through so many emotions that I understand why people love them - some of my favourite and most memorable emotional scenes were theirs.
Unfortunately, Force and Book didn't get me as invested as I should have in Top and Mew's story. I think it might be that the other actors were so surprisingly good that they didn't shine as much. I didn't feel much about or for them, except I thought I'd like Mew more early on, but loved his later self. I only cared about them when something was wrong or there was conflict, but I was invested in the others even when there was no conflict.
Lookjun and Nonnie were nice but had little screentime, so if you want to watch for the sapphic couple, I'd recommend you get used to them being very secondary to the plot, more Nonnie because she's not part of the main friendship group.
Jennie is iconic as usual, and Tee was impressive - their story had me irrationally invested for such minor roles.

MUSIC:
The music was amazing: they took a range of genres and used them as background music or as references in the series! I put the OST "Let's Try" sung by Khaotung (Ray's actor) on repeat before watching this every time, and I have it on loop now while writing this! Rock, hip hop and pop(?) all made appearances in the series too!

REWATCH:
I loved it, but I tend to rewatch things for comfort and only my favourites then. However, this might be one to rewatch if you like to rewatch chaotic and angsty things - if I'm ever in the mood to see everyone kiss everyone I'll watch this!

FINAL THOUGHTS:
It felt vaguely starved of CheumApril content plot wise but there's still a while to go before we have more sapphic side couples who are notable in the story. The fact that they're listed as support roles despite Lookjun being part of the main friendship group explains it though. I also couldn't be completely satisfied with the speedy redemptions for the sake of a happy ending for some couples. However, I understand that there are people who are all too willing to take back their partners who've done wrong, and I want to believe that the characters in question are truly improving since that's what I feel I saw. In that, this was realistic.

If you're on the fence about watching this - I was too for a bit, until I saw the chaos and angst promised. The OST is called "Let's Try" so why not take up Khao's invitation? I feel like this is worth a try!

(sincerest apologies for any mess or confusion - I tried to structure my first review as much as possible!)

Leia Mais

It is bad, not the worst, but it is bad

If you're looking for a show that will change your life, this isn't it. If you're looking for a good story that will give you a message, this isn't it. But if you have free time, want to watch something with your meal, and are looking for something that won't strain your mind too much, this is it. In the story, all characters are in the gray zone except 3 of them.(two of them are black, one of them white, white is the only girl btw:) Some of them are very light gray, some are close to black. This may be the most admirable aspect of the story. You can empathize with almost all the characters or get angry and hate them at the end of the story. This choice is completely It is left to you.

The first episodes of the series are very fluent and different. But the cliché of bringing an ex-lover to open a new path has turned everything upside down. With such a clumsy move and the continuation of the lazy writing technique, the story jumped out of the window. Even though you understand the motivations of many characters until that hour, everything becomes a confusion after that hour. Characters exhibit self-contradictory behavior. Which is the failure of the scenario. The scenario also has inconsistencies within itself. While the kissing scene of one of the characters who has a boyfriend with someone else may cause major events, another character's not taken into consideration at all and is even applauded. In the series, everyone cheats on each other or everyone kisses everyone else, but these do not serve anything. The characters act as if nothing happened. They made everyone kiss to eache other for just get more interaction on social media and these scenes serve nothing. In short, it is another series where the weak and bad scenario is tried to be saved with popular actors and Nc scenes. It is bad but not the worst, but it is still bad.

Leia Mais

Unexpectedly Underwhelming :)

Great cast, veterans from other BL shows, a premise with a hint of lots of interaction and sex. What could go wrong?

PLOT: Let’s say the basic concept is pretty interesting, the different members having connections or history with each other, seeing different ships mixing together, this idea would make the show not boring. Well, the execution is quite different. The different plotlines are not detailed enough and also pretty boring, that even the actors can’t make it better. I thought it would get interesting at some point but I noticed that in later episodes I just started skipping some parts because I was so bored with some side plotlines. By the trailer it seemed like a 18+ show, however, let alone some strong and truly hot scenes in early episodes, it gets so soft and boring later that it feels like a Turkish soap opera.

DIRECTION/PRODUCTION: The casual GmmTv issues are present regarding the production: weird sounds/voices, poor sound quality in outdoor takes. The setting sometimes feels a bit contracted.

ACTING/CHARACTERS: This is the heaviest issue for me. The cast is pretty good, well-known faces, good actors. However, it generally feels like poor acting, but I think it’s because of the bad direction and writing. I think the only exception is Khaotung (Ray) who seems to be the most complex character and also the actor is putting all effort into showing us. His performance was outstandingly good compared to others, despite this actor really not being my favourite in the BL world.
Outstandingly bad performance was associated with Force (Top). His plain expressions make it feel like it’s a production from a highschool afternoon acting club. This kinda worked in A Boss and a Babe, but doesn’t work at all in Only Friends. Let alone some good emotional moments in later episodes when his character cries, which is some decent acting.
-After watching the last episode, and the post-credit funny scenes, I realized these actors have so much energy and personality inside them, half of it wasn’t shown throughout the show. These last funny BTS scenes really show a contrast between what could have been and what was.

CHEMISTRY: Chemistry between Top and Mew didn’t really work for me, the other couples and mix-ups had some really intense moments, even some believable drama between each other.
So... Steamy scenes: 9/10 ; Drama: 6/10

MUSIC: The opening is kinda cringy in my honest opinion, but the title song is SO COOL, I never get bored of it, I really recommend you find the whole song on YT and give it a try, it’s pretty catchy. The other musics during the episodes were alright, they didn’t really bother me but also nothing special, however sometimes I felt like I’m listening to a “Teamfight_3” music from Dota2 Music Pack 2018. :D Actually there are some free stock musics from YT, but they are not disturbing at all.

ENDING: Underwhelming. Rushed. Empty. Could have been some real drama. The only exception is Boston’s ending which I found sad but realistic and well-deserved.

VERDICT: I find this show such a wasted potential, with such a great cast and promising premise/concept. Underused cast, lame writing, average, boring plot. A slightly better than average show for me, but maybe I expected too much, therefore I'm giving it a 6.5/10.

Leia Mais

Only for the Fans

Did not understand the hype. It looked like the main goal was to get every main character to kiss each other before the end of the series. While some characters were interesting (e.g. Sand, Ray, Boston), others were rather one-dimensional, bland and just didn't work for me (e.g. Mew, Top, Nick) aka there was nothing likeable or interesting. I truly do not understand what Mew's appeal is and the character Nick was annoyingly frustrating throughout the entire series (yes even until the end!).

The only thing that kept it going for me was the development between Sand and Ray, with the exception of some parts towards the end where the story-line did not gel with the characters. If the idea was to make homosexual relationships seem toxic, promiscuous and hedonistic (selfish to a certain extent), then this drama has certainly achieved that.

The lack of good character design and a compelling story-line aside the choice of music was rather refreshing and the acting was actually pretty decent, which helped in getting through the series. I did feel that there was too much emphasis on the intimate/love scenes, and at some point it felt like a whole lot of fan service.

Leia Mais

Well… It was something…

now that this is over, I think I can say it was just average to me. I didn’t like any of the characters, and I found myself barely connecting to any of them. I’m not sure where the Mew storyline went because he was the least complex, least interesting, and overall most flat character.

I think everyone hyping it up, trying to analyze the characters, and general noise from the fans was making this seem more than it was. it was nice to see them push a bit against the norm for Thai bls, especially in the exclusive pairings factor, but I can’t say it made up for the lack of attention in fleshing out stories/backgrounds.

it was an interesting watch, but not something I found too enjoyable. the slut shaming of Boston was also a huge annoyance to me and I think he deserved to be seen as a person, not just a drama factor. he was the main reason the series could even keep going, so it was disappointing not seeing him get to say his piece.

this almost pushed the “open relationship” mentality, as I don’t see this as poly. it just fell short. I don’t really know what else I can praise this for… khaotung’s song? forcefirst being a thing? overall I just watched this to watch it. after the mew dramatics, knowing damn well it was just for show, it lost a lot of wind for me.

anyway, not a bad show, but it didn’t work for me personally.

Leia Mais

Great Until it Wasn't

Only Friends has a great beginning, but I can't lie that the incline to it being great crashed somewhere and just started getting rather tedious to watch. And don't get me wrong -- the plot, the acting, the romances -- everything worked like it was supposed to, except, still something just didn't work towards the end of this for me.

Let's Dive In.

Jojo knew what he was doing with this series, specifically with these pairings too. Putting a bunch of hot people in one frame and having them get into some heated mess -- okay yes, of course, I'm seated. I absolutely adore the concept of this BL, which I don't even know if I would label it a BL. This felt more like a genuine queer messy-gay series with no specific yes on a pairing and everybody was just kissing and sucking and fucking one another. It was about friendship and love and betrayal and hatred and loss and it worked perfectly with these actors. They put on a brilliant performance, and I can't wait to see what's lined up for them in the future from here on out.

Now, onto specific characters/pairings: I'll be honest, I would've loved a RayMew endgame. Of course, Ray and Sand worked well together too, but I'm a sucker for friends to lovers and we can't pretend like the moments that we did get between them weren't so fucking cute. Anyways, passed my wrecked ship, I'll start with Top and Mew. I absolutely hate that they ended up together. I really wish that Mew would've moved on, which might be my own bias because I can't imagine staying with someone that cheated on me, and even worse, cheated on me with my best friend. Also, yes, Boston is like a terrible human being, but if Mew can't find it in himself to forgive his friend but forgive his partner when they were both in the wrong, then Mew is being a bit of a hypocrite -- is he not? But skipping past before Top cheated with Boston, I was all aboard the Top Mew train. But initially Top only got with Mew to fill Boston's bet that he couldn't be the person Mew loses his virginity to, so now that I'm remembering that, I actually still didn't really like this pairing much. And I get it, he realized he actually did have feelings for Mew, but the intentions were still there. In reality, I give their relationship 5 months until they end for good.

Onto Sand and Ray, the only couple that I'm okay with. I liked Ray's character development a lot, which is why I can actually see this relationship lasting. They had a lot of ups and downs and honestly, the only real one I can recall is Ray still having feelings for Mew. I think they also complement each other so well that it just works. The rich with the poor, the spontaneous with the calculated, the party animal with the quiet musician, the boy who yearns for someone to love them with the boy who yearns to be loved. It was all so good. Again, I think Ray and Mew would've worked better for me, but I can see why this pairing does too, so I'm not mad about it at all.

Moving onto Nick and Boston -- thank god they didn't end up together. I hated seeing Nick just up and give Boston chance after chance, especially after they actually get together and Boston screws up again. He's just an all-around terrible person, who needed no redemption arc but was still given one (slightly). But again, Neo is so charming, so handsome, so perfect, so I can see why Nick would *shrugs in understanding*. But Nick deciding to work on himself to find the key to loving himself was a perfect ending for his character. Poor dude passed up Gumpa, so he really must've been hurting.

Mond being in this was so random and yet everything I needed and more. Dude is so pretty, so perfect, so everything. I couldn't even be mad that he was put in to add conflict at the last minute, because gosh, I mean just look at him. And the glasses too?? I'm no better than any of these characters tbh.

So what I think went wrong with this series: For me, there were a few times in which this just dragged on. Seeing Mark be hurt over and over again, Ray and Sand going back and forth, Top and Mew playing a game of cat and mouse -- and then it goes on for episodes and episodes. By the end, I was watching this at 2 times the speed. This is me being completely nit-picky and everyone else can disagree with me and that's fine, but how come we never see Ray/Sand and Top/Mew NC scenes as intensely as we saw Boston/any-boy-within-a-two-feet-radius-and-Mark? Maybe because they wanted to put an emphasis on Boston being sex crazy, but it felt weird to incorporate something for one character but not the others.

Ratings:

Story: 8/10 - Overall, it was good. Kind of repetitive and a little bit draggy, but it still worked well and was on theme throughout.

Acting: 9/10 - I got to see Mond and Force shirtless (which has nothing to do with their acting, but they sure did show me a good performance so..). Anyways though, and for real, everyone did a phenomenal job. Again, I'll have to give most of the kudos to Khaotung who just hits it out of the park each and every time. But Mark also stood out and so did Neo too.

Music: 8.5/10: Like usual, I didn't pay much attention, but I would like the sudden shock on my face when I heard an English song playing. I don't know, it just shocks me sometimes. Also, the theme song is so very good.

Recommendation Value: 7.5/10: Watch this because the actors are gorgeous and they are kissing at least 1/2 of each episode -- and the plot is wonderful. I give it a low score because I think this would've actually worked out better had I binge-watched it. I just saw all the hype and had to watch, but having seen what I've seen, I could've definitely waited to binge-watch it.

Also, Mix coming in at the end almost felt like they were building up to a potential 2nd season?? I mean, just imagine it. And you know if Mix is there I'm also there. We shall see once the final GMMTV 2024 line-up comes out!

Leia Mais

so bad its good until it becomes just bad

i was mostly watching this for the trainwreck and i didnt really expect any good resolutions but i was still floored by how bad it ended up being. the first half is at least some kind of messy fun, but the further it goes, the more wattpad-y the writing got... none of the characters are worth rooting for, none of the stories are worth seeing to the end, although i suppose it ends exactly like you would expect it to from such a middling show. it really feels like fanfiction that has weird things happen every chapter that gets updated weekly to keep the readers clicking and reading lmao. first's acting carries and bostonnick had some fun moments for a while, but eventually even that can't carry the show anymore. still i hope first gets some actual good script one day i will be tuning in

Leia Mais

Insufferably Decent

Only Friends follows an empty plot full of messes and unnecessary reconciliations between the most insufferable characters imaginable. An attempt to portray the different problems LGBTQ+ college students may face, its message remains unclear.
I enjoyed the first few episodes, but my enjoyment declined as it went on. I like to believe the shippers of these pairings ruined the show's initial direction.
These actors deserve more than to be recognized as part of a ship. Khaotung and Mark stole the show with their performances, and Neo proved his versatility as an actor.
A decent GMMTV series, I applaud it for its execution of mature content.

Leia Mais

WATCH IT IF YOU WANNA HAVE FUN ?

La historia empieza a desarrollarse muy bien para ser el primero capitulo, igualmente se puede ver hacía dónde se dirigirá y lo que se puede esperar.
Dentro de las actuaciones la de Neo y Mark es algo que definitivamente tenemos que destacar, es decir, se podía sentir la tensión sexual entre los personajes en sus escenas, me sentí comp si estuviera de mal tercio jajaja
En cuánto al soundtrack, la canción de Khao es increíblemente perfecta para la serie ! La necesito en Spotify YA!
No se cuántas veces voy a repetir el capítulo hasta que salga el siguiente, esta ganas de querer saber que va a pasar que te deja la serie es un buen indicio.

Leia Mais