Venus in the Sky (2023)

Slow. Sky and NC Scenes Are Reasons To Watch.

The sceenplay is weak and slow. You could probably watch Ep 1 to get started then skip to Ep 5 or 6 without too much trouble because Ep 2-5 are repetitious and extremely slow burn. Ep 6 is when things start to get somewhat more interesting and emotional. I'm speed-watching about half of this and don't care that much about the two side couples.

The screenplay should have spent more time on the backstory because there's not enough weight and reason behind the brief flashback we get to believably be the crux of Venus's fallout with Sky.

The actor Tod playing Sky is surprisingly good, noticeably better than everyone else once the script actually gives him something with some layers to work with. He's got micro-facial expressions and nuances in face, body, and voice, especially when things are more emotional. He successfully tugged hard at my heartstrings even though the script is not well written. He has potential and I would be interested to see him act again, especially with a better script.

Once Sky and Venus get together there's even less plot but they actually act like boyfriends (unlike a lot of BLs where one partner acts disgusted by anything physical). Sky is in love and horny and they have a lot of sex. And a lot is shown. Someone commented somewhere that the show could have just been called "Sky in Venus", lol.

The two actors are pretty comfortable with each other but the chemistry feels one-sided; Tod successfully conveys attraction and desire (outside of intimate scenes as well as during) but Cheque struggles with this.

Cheque as Venus is pretty flat. It kind of works for the character (who's cautious and has his defensive walls high) but it's obvious that he's a newbie actor. He's not awful, but because he's lacking nuances he gets boring.

I may watch the intimate scenes here as a bandaid of sorts after watching an unsatisfying BL series with disguised homophobia (any where the "boyfriend" thinks physical, or even romantic, intimacy is gross).

Leia Mais

Fluffy but fun

Not a cinematic masterpiece, but I had fun watching it.

Pros:
The acting was good, if a bit over the top at times. The Janus character was the strongest, but I enjoyed watching both of the mls as well, keeping in mind that it was Cheques first drama. I found Sky particularly charming in many scenes and thought that they all did well managing what seemed like poor writing and clunky dialogue
The NFC scenes were the sort of explicit raunchy scenes I know and expect from a Thai BL, and were well done and fun to watch.
Despite the issues usually arising from an initial infuriating refusal to talk about things, issues were usually resolved rather quickly with fairly realistic relationship discussions (excepting the initial issue of Sky's refusal of Venus.
It was low drama, so rather than a major melodrama, it played out like a glimpse into the lives of the characters at this period of time. Nice low stress story.

Cons:
The writing was uneven and the inclusion of unnecessary side stories and repetition of story lines (Sky tries to reconcile with Venus, Venus rebuffs him, repeat ad nauseum) meant the pace lagged significantly in episodes 3-6
I always find product placement a con. In some respects, it was less noticable in this drama as the story was often set in the convenience store, lending more credibility to the products being there in the first place. However, the over promotion of 7-11 and the app almost made me determine NOT to ever visit a 7-11 again.

I had fun watching this and I will revisit it when I want something familiar and silly, with some NFC as a bonus.

Leia Mais

Would have been a lot better had they kept the leads innoncence intact

The reason why i started watching it was because of the pilot episode, that was really interested.
Thr beginning of the series was not what i expected of it but still enjoyed the slow burn story and was eagerly waiting for other episodes to air.

This could have been a lot better had they written the characters more in depth. I felt like lot of deep conversations were missing, between brothers ,
between lovers and betwen friends. There were scenes where Vee and Baitong , Sky and Ton were having conversation shared about each others life and each had their own problems but more than just listening or comforting each other they just whinned or bragged about their own relationships.
The real reason why Sky was not ready or Vee was upset is still unknown. They just touched everything on the surface and left lot of plot holes.

I was not really interested in the side couples stories right from the start but they wasted a lot of potential in Ton and Bai's story (lovers probelms due to busy schedules) again they missed deep conversations but just kept adjusting themselves to each other.
Coming to Vee and Sky, only reason why i continued watching it was due to their slow burn relation, completely my kindof pace but again the writers spoiled it for me by adding spicy and wild making out scenes . For me, would have been better had they kept it to the last episode or a little milder. Was defiently not expecting these NC scenes from VeeSky.

Acting wise , found Vee a little awkward during few scenes( NC scenes were an expection looked like he was trained actor their) and sky got better at acting with time episode. But, VeeSky together had amazing chemistry Ton and Janus were better actors of them all.

Overall i enjoyed it up untill the main couple got together and then the last episode had a better wrapping up of side couple's story.

Leia Mais

venus in my eye

This probably should have stayed as a 20-minute long "pilot" on youtube. They had a general idea and they then tried to stretch the concept into...ten episodes? 12? That, and the episodes are an hour long each, so this is a lot to slog through. The acting is pretty flat, it was jarring to see his brother and his boyfriend slappin' hams in the first episode, and a lot of the 'comedy' just isn't funny. I don't understand, really, what the crux of their whole relationship is, Venus said he liked Sky, Sky said he wanted to stay friends. Why, all of a sudden, is Sky super obsessed with Venus? Why did it take them almost halfway through the series to even come to a mutual understanding? Venus is REALLY hard on Sky, which is weird because one would assume that Sky was just being honest about wanting to remain friends. It doesn't even seem like he was bread-crumbing Venus, so I don't know if that's a plot point that will come up later, but that would require an actual plot. So far, much of the plot of this show is hanging out in the 7-11 and going out to eat (Sky has a weird obsession with taking Venus out to eat). I don't know, it's really flat, really boring, there isn't a lot of chemistry and it just seems like a vehicle to get these dudes half-naked and rolling around in bed. I guess that's fine, but at least TRY to make it interesting.

Leia Mais

Ended up loving this series

I don't really understand most of these reviews. I'm glad I didn't base whether or not to watch this series on them .

Yes it is a slow burn and probably could have ditched an episode BUT I feel that without watching all the episodes you will miss out on what is happening with all three couples. There are some very real problems they all face. That is truly the beauty in this series. The problems aren't the usual tropes. They are real problems and they learn how to deal with them properly.

Yes I will agree that there are some parts that are just not realistic or are annoying but definately not enough to ruin what I felt was the main theme of the show which was the problems that needed to be dealt with each couple.

It is definitely rated NC17 for good reason. These scenes were done well as with any hetro scene of this type. Kudos to the actors, director and production team for well done scenes.

I personally would recommend this show. Watch it thru its entirety paying attention to the details and hopefully you will see what I saw and not miss what I feel alot if other reviews did.

Leia Mais

endless tug of war

Let met starts off with their NC scenes - It was hawtt af! soft porn is all I can say! phewwwh. However............

SPOILER!!: It takes almost 8 episodes; which equals to roughly "8 hours" of my watch time for you guys to finally get together?!!

I get it. When someone broke your heart it sure takes a while to overcome it, let alone to accept them back in your life. But then, having the privilege of making an hour of drama, you ought to be put more emotions rather than expanding the mellow effort of trying to reconcile with one another - repeatedly!

I’m mad actually!! Annoyed. How can the side couples have more drama, angst rollercoasters with one another and yet overcome them with the episode; but the main couple stills in tug of war for 7-8 hours! Arghhhhh.

I do find it somewhat awkward having a senior who used to have a crush on you; is now with your brother and currently living together. But then I admire their openness and understanding towards each other; which lead to a loving family with barely any jealousy in sight. Janus & Bomb is beyond adorable. I love their relationship.

Cheque (Venus) sure has a nice voice though. His singing is too adorable & when he’s on his low voice - MAIGOODNESS! Tod (Sky) is sweet and so mischief. My favourite part was when he cheered for himself at the bed & furniture selections.

~ WELP

Leia Mais

Simple plot with some good moments but slightly lacking.

First, the story was pretty good. Basic romance plot with a guy named Sky trying to win the heart of an old friend, Venus, who he had rejected in the past. Not outstanding, but a decent idea. Secondary couple is Venus's older brother and his boyfriend, who have to deal with learning to be partners and not just doing things on your own when you are in a relationship. Third couple is Venus's best friend and his boyfriend (who happens to be a friend of Sky) learning to work things out in a long distance relationship when they are both busy adults. All good ideas that are common relationship issues and definitely add value to the overall story. Honestly, the main couple's journey was a little underwealming in comparison to the two other relationships but had way more screen time.
Second, the cast was great. I was pretty surprised that they were so good with such a simple plot. The dialogue made sense and was well done.
Third, the music was okay. I didn't particularly love any of the songs and other than the little ditty they used for the theme, there really weren't other songs to speak of. I was not impressed, but it wasn't distracting, so it neither added, nor detracted.
Fourth is rewatch value. Well, its a pretty simple and predictable plot, so I wouldn't say it's hightly rewatchable, but it's got some pretty funny moments and some overall good storyline, so I think it has some value for rewatching if you are bored. But you probably won't go back to it again and again.
Overall): I would say it's worth a watch, but you should be careful when you watch it because there are definitely some NSFW scenes that can be pretty risque for TV. Don't watch with kids. Aside from my surprise at how graphic some of the sex scenes were (not graphic as in porn, but just enough that it was uncomfortable for me), I thought the plot was a little bit lacking for one reason. I don't consider this much of a spoiler since it was explained in the first episode, but just in case, this is a tiny bit of a spoiler: Venus was really rude to Sky in the beginning and didn't want to give him a chance because when they were in college they were really good friends and Venus fell in love with Sky but Sky didn't return his feelings. When Venus confessed, Sky rejected him, so when Sky came back later to confess that he really loved Venus and was wrong, Venus was rude and dismissive. Venus is totally allowed to not want to give Sky another chance. He was rejected and maybe he's moved on, so Sky has no right to expect anything. That doesn't bother me, even though Venus's behavior is a little over the top at first. But Venus's best friend and Sky's friend discussed this on the phone and the boyfriend says that Sky had done something wrong but had really changed. Now, unless the English Subtitles are lying to me, Sky did nothing wrong. He rejected his friend in a nice way (not cruel or anything, just rejection is naturally painful). It's not like he was a jerk or they'd been sleeping together, just basically said, I only think of you as a friend. I don't know how that is wrong. Maybe he gave mixed signals to Venus, especially when he was drunk, but people are allowed to say no to confessions. There is nothing inherently bad about not wanting a romantic relationship with someone just because they want one with you. The whole plot of the show hangs on this one point, of Sky having to work hard to win back Venus's love. Since he didn't actually do anything wrong, I felt like that was really thin. All they had to do was say they had been a couple and Sky had broken his heart by ignoring him or taking him for granted. Or maybe they could have been in a more confusing situationship, where Venus was justified in feeling that Sky had treated him badly. But to say that Sky has to work hard and Venus is allowed to be a total jerk just because Sky initially rejected his confession, is fairly lacking. I know, no one wants to make the ML a bad guy, even a past bad guy who has to change and be redeemed, but acting like he was a bad guy when he wasn't just makes it feel like lazy storywriting.

Leia Mais

Slow, but not without merit

I went into this title completely blind and had a fairly good time! I liked both of the lead actors and found their chemistry compelling enough to get through the whole series. This year, I've really been enjoying bls with average adult leads struggling with more mundane relationship problems (rather than eccentric millionaires or mafia men). Despite a usually goofy and over-the-top tone, it managed to hit some really lovely beats of character growth.

That said, the getting through was a bit of a slog. None of the supporting character plots were particularly interesting to me, and I ended up skipping forward through them towards the end. The show could have used a major edit and probably half the episode length. I don't really care either way if a show has NC scenes, but this show struggled to tie the sex into the character plots. Disjointed, it felt more like fanservice than an actual function of the story.

Leia Mais

This drama is not for all BUT it's definitely for me ?.

Like I said it before, don't judge a review 😂. This show is not for all people who are expecting many thing. This drama will give you nothing BUT I liked IT.
Sometimes you just need a slow burning story. Sometimes you just wanna relax from all the drama, action & ploting stories and want to watch simple story.

It doesn't have the story but still have some. You're gonna get the mix feelings like sometimes its was too slow but sometimes it was too fast.

1. Yes, how V behaved with Sky was somewhat too much, but we can also understand him. He was heartbroken and it's hard to accept if the person who rejected you, shows the interest again. It would've been better if we see how V suffered to forget Sky (I think). For me it was important but somehow they choose to show us how Sky was regretting and struggling.
2. I couldn't understand the 7/11 thing though. They could show us any utility store but had to show us that. Sponsership seriously. 7/11 is not in my country but after seeing it everywhere on internet and novels, I don't think they need this kind of sponsership.
3. I like how they give proper time (yeah not too proper) but still to their side couples. We have two side couples. I was sad after realizing Day doesn't have one. But he has too 😂.
It would've been better if they show us the meeting between Bomb's parents and J. I wanted to meet them. And somewhat how Bomb was to chase Venus first and got caught by Janus 😂.

But still I'm happy. I hated it end but every beginning has an ending.

Leia Mais

Yawn

Does this company have some sort of obsession with having their leads going somewhere to escape their problems, meeting their love interest there and still having tons of problems? Do they have some sort of pact to always include this plot in their series?

Boy goes back home because he doesn't agree with the job ethics in his company, meets boy who broke his heart years ago, they fight and reconcile, then they start dating. There, I've summed it up the best I can, which is already way better than how they did it.

A majority of the story involved the leads reconciling and fighting and reconciling and fighting all over again. Even though I knew why they drifted apart, I couldn't really understand why they wanted to reconcile and be together. I didn't care enough about them to want them as a couple either, they had almost nothing going for them in my view. I thought alright, at least they don't have some weird love rival thing as well, but they introduced that as well, in a way that made no sense.

The side couples were a little better, more established and while one couple seemed like they could actually hold a conversation for the most part without it becoming an argument, the other, well they barely interacted, so I don't know what to think.

I was so bored, I watched all of it sped up and it was still way too slow. I wouldn't recommend.

Leia Mais

????

At this point I don't even know where to begin picking this apart and explaining all the ways they messed up every step of the production in this show. Starting with the fact that someone actually decided to give actual real money financial support to this project for it to be made. It definitely wasn't alot or I sure hope it would've turned out somewhat watchable. As a writer you need to be embarassed if your show makes so little sense and is so devastatingly incoherent that I as a viewer have no problem skipping through 70% of it and still grasping the idea that might have kickstarted this. As a director you should rethink your entire career if this is what you produce with a decent cast. It is giving 13-year old finds out what Wattpad is and writes their first story. Trying to save the show with very explicit sex scenes that could pass as actual porn is also not really doing anything for your reputation as a director/writer/producer.

I think the main reason I feel so strongly about this is because it could've easily been such an adorable show. A cute little watch with a storyline that's not even original enough for the crew to use as an excuse for whatever went wrong down the line. The "falls first falls harder" plot is such a banger trope it is very hard to be unskilled enough to mess it up but I guess there has to be someone managing even that.

POSITIVES: The cast! Very nice and the only ones that were apparently qualified to work on that set. Very sad for them that it ended up as nothing more but sth people watch when they literally cannot find anything else.

Leia Mais

Overall kinda cute, BUT ... (more a rant than a review)

Hear me out:

Venus deserved better. Sky is terribly toxic, I found myself flinching away from the screen for a lot of his scenes. the way he harasses Venus throughout, blatant manipulation and complete disregard/disrespect for Vee's boundaries had me feeling anxious. They should not have ended up together. Just me?? (rant over)

Loved the side couples of JBomb and TongBaitong - they were adorable and mature in their relationships. 100/10 for them.

EN: Sky redeemed himself in the special episode... The maturity is nice, lost the needy clinginess. Overall, a better version of himself. I like it. ANOTHER! 10/10. okay, that's all..

Leia Mais