The Sign (2023)

Emotional and thrilling story

Deep down in my heart, it's a 10/10 but because of some details and some parts which are making me roll my eyes and it also got in my nerves, it's a 9,5 but still a great serie. Worth the watch and I personally love everything they managed to show us such as the cultural references and some investigations (people didn't really like actions scenes but I love it). It was not boring for me, it was entertaining from the beginning to the end. But also the romance between the two main leads.

As I'm a Buddhist (yeah I know I don't like to share about religion and on) but I would say, I can relate to it more and I'm enjoying so much with the belief, the past life and the legend of Naga and Garuda.

The production of this show sets the bar high, it has some really beautiful scenes but I didn't really like the pixels and I didn't mean to see everything, it just that if they have to pixelize then, they could use another angle and it still could turn well!
I was a bit annoyed, mainly because some scenes were interesting but they cut it quickly (then maybe it's an editing problem).

But overall, I really appreciate this show and it's the rare one I watched several times lol
Thanks to this, I really love the acting of Billy Patchanon and also Heng Asavarid (he's a great villain, I love to hate him so much as Doctor Chalothorn!! Really he was the high light of this show, he was annoying yet entertaining and got me goosebumps).
I also like the rest of the actors / characters but for me Dr Chalothorn is the high light lol

The final episode was great but at the same it has flaws and there's a part in which I felt it was recap or a fanmade video so I mean, It was not that necessary, they could use this time to add some extra interesting scenes to develop the story (but I would say I didn't mind it but it just, it took "more" time than I thought. )

Lastly, I love that intro song and the rest are cute and nice to listen.

I would rewatch it despite some flaws but I want to say it's still a pefect serie since I really enjoy it.

Leia Mais

The first BL that touched on an Epic plot theme and did so quite successfully.

Over all a solid show with a solid closing. How a show ends can make a lot of difference and The Sign managed to bring it home nicely and on a 'happy ending' note, albeit a little rushed, it was still satisfying. So,

THE GOOD:

- The action scenes in all episodes were enjoyable.
- The same can be said for their intimate scenes, especially the final one in ep 12. I enjoyed the soft intimacy of it the most, the talking, touching and closeness was 🤌 Many BL shows underestimate how much weight non-sexual intimacy and simple kissing carries but the The Sign really served in that department many times. We got plenty of non-sexual intimacy in this show, which was really awesome. That said, their sexual scenes (and the actors chemistry) was on point too. They rate third for me in BL actor male lead chemistry after watching this series.
- All of the cast really did a fantastic job acting.
- The portrayal of them being cops in physical fitness, fight scenes and weapons handling was very well done, I really enjoyed that aspect this show!
- I was also fine with the CGI, I'm not overly picky about that. I don't much care about how good/bad CGI is as long as it's passable, it's more about a story for me. CGI passed muster though, by a good margin.
- I like the mythical Thai culture story in The Sign, my first time learning more about the whole Naga origin thing (outside of fanfiction), and it was quite enjoyable.
- I loved how fluid Tharn (Babe) moved in the deep water scenes! I felt like he really gave water-being vibes! I'm not sure if it was edited that way, or if Babe is just a good swimmer, but it was really well done.

Nothing bad in this, so I'll say -
THE WEAK POINTS:

- Well we all know that the police work was often abysmal in this 😂
- I am a bit disappointed we didn't get a bigger final fight scene between Phaya and Chalothon in the final, just a bit of a struggle, but it was still a great scene, quite intense, emotional and meaningful.
- On the topic of this being Babe's first role, he really did a great job. However I will say, that while Babe really nailed his heavy emotional/crying scenes, I do think he could improve a bit in the verbally and visually expressed anger/affection/shock area. In some instances when he was angry or shocked or affectionate, I found it was a little lacking, but not in anyway that badly affected Tharn's character. Perhaps because Tharn's character was meant to come across as quite level headed and a bit reserved, so it wasn't overly noticeable.
- Billy's facial hair shadow is ep 12 just did not work ya'll, his face kinda looked dirty 😂
- Dujdao. I'm still not sure what the purpose or dead-like portrayal of this character was intended to represent.
- The final 2 eps did feel a little rushed.

There are no ugly points in this show, so next is,
THE HIGHLIGHTS:
- YAI/GAP!!! I was both attracted and experiencing body envy when looking at him.
- Billy's acting. My first time seeing him and I think he emotes very well honestly, across the board of emotions.
- The fight scenes! Super power/video game-esque and visually appealing!

There are unanswered questions and open ends, but HOPEFULLY that means we'll get a S02 and since all the main history and character intros are largely out of the way, we might get a more fleshed out story on the main characters, and even some insight into the history of Garuda Sakuna and Wansarat. I could easily go for more fight/action scenes tbh. That would be fun! I also wouldn't mind seeing more about Yai and Sand, I mean, we got Khem and Thongthai's backstory, now I'd like Yai and Sand's getting together story and more scenes with them. Their reunion scene in ep 12 was 🫶 I would love to see more.

All said, I have no regrets about watching this, I would absolutely rewatch it in future and would definitely recc it IF someone is into action themes and supernatural plots! The Sign has met the latest BL standard (for me), which was set by IFYLITA last year.

Leia Mais

Boring crime & fantasy mash up

Huh?!?!? What the hell was that ending? Did they suddenly run out of money and took a shortcut? It feels like about half an hour is missing there.....

The series was not as good as the first episodes promised it to be. The story of Tharn and Phaya, the latest reincarnation of legendary divine star crossed lovers, suggested a lot of drama and the added police subplot let us hope for some interesting action. But, after the first four episodes, the writers apparently did not know what to do with the excellent idea and everything went belly flop.
While the fantasy part of the drama, was gripping, the police part was ridiculous. As I was watching, I started writing down all the silly things they did as so-called special police force but after I filled out two pages, I decided to stop! I just wanted to ask the cast and the crew why they did not at least watch a few episodes of CSI in order to understand the police work. the level of stupidity is mind-boggling. And unfortunately, it even rubbed on the good i.e. fantasy part of the drama with main characters (Tharn) behaving more and more idiotic as the story progressed.

Good parts:
- training camp and lots of naked hot bodies (i am shallow, sue me!)
- action scenes choreography
- special effects were excellent
- Naga festival and the whole Naga & Garuda legend
- side gl story
- grandmothers (why are there so many cool grans in thai bls?)
- moping Phayu styling
- subs describing music were very creative: exciting sound, lovely sound, romantic sound, thrilling sound etc. etc.
- friends group
- skinship (the guys are obviously very much at ease with each other)

Awful parts:
- policework
- Tharn losing braincells as the plot progressed with his reactions getting dumb and dumber
- the ending (Tharn spent a couple of months talking to the bad guy who had been holding grudge for an eternity and everything is forgiven?!?!? You must be kidding me?) and the writing in general

What an utter disappointment! This should have stayed on my dropped list but I did not have anything else to watch so....
The actors were all excellent though the actor playing Phayu has a forgettable face, so much so it took me three episodes before I managed to recognize him in a scene with others. The writing was terrible. Cinematography and special effects were stunning. The episodes vary in length from 45 to 90min. Most of the later episodes I spent playing games and barely watching especially crime investigation scenes.

This drama had a promising premise but the execution is lacking and the mixture of fantasy and crime drama does not really work.

Leia Mais

One of the best BL series of 2023-2024! RECOMMENDED 10 OF 10

I have watched countless BLs and I drop what I want to drop because of lousy story or lousy chemistry and acting from the actors. This is also the first time I am writing my PERSONAL OPINION regarding a series because I want you, whoever you are reading this, to really invest time in watching THE SIGN🔥

Let's divide this review to parts, according to: STORY, CASTS' CHEMISTRY AND ACTING, SFX.

1. STORY
10 out of 10
Having been able to follow The Sign since the airing of Episode 1, I must say that the story started strong and ended strong.
It is not unusual for a series that has many storylines to easily mess up and get confusing but The Sign proved to be different. Watching this series, you get to experience excitement, angst, love, and everything that has made this series beautiful. It is notable that they have incorporated a Thai tale which the viewers get to learn a little about Thai culture. I must say that the directors and producer have achieved their goal for this series.

2. CASTS
10 out of 10
The casts chemistry is everything! From the main characters to the supporting roles, the acting which really pulls you into different kinds of emotions. You cry when they cry, you blush in their love scenes. It's very hard to tell that some characters have little to no experience in acting at all, especially Babe who plays Tharn. I just knew that he was a newbie in acting when I reached halfway the series. As for Billy, I have watched SCOY so I know he can really act and have great chemistry with his onscreen partners, but THIS ONE just HITS DIFFERENT💖 Kudos as well to Gap, who plays Yai (he played it so well), Tack and Poom, who i wished had more screentime, Heng that got me imagining of slapping his character senseless coz he played the villain so well and Surprise as well👏

3. SFX
10 out of 10
I remember when Saint (producer) said he has to spend millions for the SFX and it did not fail, it DELIVERED!

Leia Mais

Mix of variable genres with really good outcome

I'm writing this review really late, because there was no time when I finished watching the series, and then I completely forgot about it. At first I initially avoided The Sign because I wasn't in the mood for anything action-packed with a police setting, but the internet was full of edits with the main characters, so I thought I'd give it a chance. The high rating just confirmed that I should check it out.

I found out very quickly that it is not just a police story, but that it is full of fantasy elements that are very unusual for BLs (at least the ones I have seen up to that point). Overall, I haven't come across anything like this in Thai art so far, but that's probably only because I watch only a fraction of what they create.

We can meet fantasy elements in several series, but mostly it's about ghosts, time travel, and then there are a few exceptions like soul mates or a talking teddy bear, and in the new ones, the creators like to play with parallel worlds. The sign brought something completely new (for me). Not only with the story, but also with visual effects, which are not necessary for the mentioned types of fantasy.

A little research confirmed that the fantasy part was a part of Thai mythology, which really interested me. The combination of action, mystery plot, love and urban fantasy is very dangerous. It can burn really well, but also end up being very, very bad. Here, unfortunately, it was the first option.

The amazing story was made even better by the actors and their characters. Billy and Babe starred in the main roles, and sometimes Khem stole my attention. All the actors did a great job, they put exactly what was needed into their characters, enriched each scene exactly what it required and I'm not even talking about the chemistry. Billy and Babe went their separate ways, but so did the others. Friendship, devotion and on the one hand psychopathic obsession were shown as they should have been.

I liked how it all fit together. Everything was connected and together formed one big puzzle. When combining as many elements as were mixed here, it can turn out differently, but it can be seen that the creators paid attention to every detail.

However, I have some reservations about the ending. The following text may contain spoilers, so I warn you to read at your own risk. Despite what I will say now, I find the story really perfectly thought out. I didn't like Chalothon just letting Tharn go, though. Tharn appeared out of nowhere and said that someone who was downright obsessed with him and just wanted to be with him the whole time just said he was going to heal him and let him go? It does not make sense. Chalothorn would never behave like this. I have a theory (unconfirmed yet, but I hope the special won't disprove it) that Tharn killed him and told Phaya something completely different. It's the only explanation for the ending that comes to mind in my eyes.

As I said before, regardless of this small detail, for which there is an explanation, it is just doubtful whether the explanation will be part of the plot, it is really well done. The first trailers for the new projects have already been published, so I'm very excited because I saw something similar between them and I'm glad that BL production decided to work with such a type. I hope that they will not overdo it and that they will choose only good projects.

Leia Mais

Gorgeous Cast

The Sign gave us something different in the BL series realm, of course the romantic angle is there but with a mix of action, political intrigue and historical fantasy and let’s give credit to Idol Factory for stepping up to the challenge of presenting variety to the audience. The cast really stood out for me, well, primarily because they are all gorgeous. Leading the pack of delectable men is Billy and his slutty waist. A real eye candy but he also gave us some credible acting. It is my first time seeing Babe and he definitely has one of the most beautiful faces in BL right now, perfect in all angles. Also, special mention is actor Gap who exudes a throbbing sensuality at the same time a sweet boyish charm. The cinematography is also something to be applauded for together with the special effects which were executed cleanly. I do feel though that there were some scenes that dragged on like the crying scenes which would tempt you to hit that fast forward button a little bit but again, commendable effort in trying to offer something that is not expected for a BL series but still making sure not to deviate far from the boys love theme. I can say that I enjoyed watching this series and looking forward for what other series this production outfit can come up with in the near future.

Leia Mais

The Sign worked on this one and gave us a cute couple.

The Sign is an action BL drama that I was not very sure at the beginning if it is a BL or not because there is so much action in the show. Luckily, I stuck with the show and the results were actually good because I did not expect myself to like it as much as I did. The story follows Tharn and Phaya. This follows the usual trope that they have met already when they were younger and they are now not very close at the beginning but things changed when they learned that they are actually very much familiar with each other. You can already tell that they are in love and Phaya is not even hiding it but they are in this group of friends that are solving this big case as well and things will soon entangle. Did I mention that there is a supernatural element to it? There is and it is actually very much satisfying that it initially was. This show can easily be what you can consider as too much but I was surprised with the story as it actually started to get a bit more interesting as the show continued and I am now glad that I did because it was really fun. I was so invested with the storylines and I feel like that the action part of the series will be coming together with the more supernatural aspect of the story I must say that it is working out flawlessly for them and they are still giving the romantic aspect of the show some time to breath so we can still fall in love with Tharn and Phaya. I have to give it to Billy and Babe because they are effective with their roles. I love their chemistry and Billy is really pushing for the romance aspect here and it is working. I love the scenes where he is being chummy with Tharn because it is what the show needed. I feel like they already did such a heavy material that it may be hard for them to really highlight the other aspect of the story. I think this is what’s important for me. I think the fact that they were able to really mix the storylines really well is pretty good. I have to admit that the ending is not very good or it was a bit boring but the way that we got to see the relationship is pretty watchable. I feel like chemistry of the lead actors is actually pretty good and the supernatural element of the story helped in adding to the romantic side of the storyline which is a good thing and not a lot of BL stories actually did that so I was pretty excited to see them do well in this. This is one of the BLs from Thailand where they were able to make it work. I may not fully like the villain because he was mostly not there but I can forgive them. The secondary couple is Khem and Thongthai and Khem is the only one of this couple that had a good character run. He is very funny and I was hoping his partner was given a chance to do something as well. He is there but was not given much to do. At the same time, I want to highlight that despite this show being talked about a lot in BL forums, the reason why I watched this show is because of GAP JAKARIN and that marvelous body of his. He is such a gorgeous specimen of a man and he is also very funny in the supporting role that he has. He is very good and I have to admit that I really like him in this show and that I have a huge crush on him. He is so sexy. The scenes where he is shirtless or just seeing his biceps onscreen makes me thank the BL gods for this fine piece of man. He is also a very good actor so I have to give it to him. He is funny and hot. He is very funny. To be honest, I really enjoyed watching this BL and it worked on so many levels. We were given such a good BL and I feel like Billy and Babe is a good couple and they were able to make the chemistry work out well. We needed that and we got that in this couple and in this BL story.

Leia Mais

Connecting two different timelines into a well-blended fantasy-action-romance BL

A palatable combination of history and modern set-up merging a few distinct genres into one supernatural series. At first, it never crossed my mind that it would be a fantasy genre as I was so hooked up with the vigorous appearances of the characters during their training days. It always showered with manliness and well-packed action scenes that I remembered getting excited for Yai’s role. This man always emits hot boyfriend vibes with his muscles screaming throughout his body.

Phaya and Tharn are interesting MCs yet, I get tired of watching their intimate scenes that have little to no connection with the storyline and and are just there for the sake of feeding the fandom. On the other hand, Khem and Thongthai’s love-making scene was a real comedy with an essence part to their love story.

I would also like to congratulate the creative and production crew for a realistic outcome of the celestial being such as the Naga the Dragon and the Mighty Birds featured as the MCs' past appearances. I also love the idea that Phaya dreamed about the past while Tharn can oversee the future by implicating his so-called ‘signs.’ It was a clever approach to the depth of their roles and allowed it to be the eye-opener in their relationship from the past.

The casting was all good from the main and supporting roles to even the guests from the show. They also have several side stories that are entertaining and serve as the stepping stone in revealing the main antagonist from the story, which turned out to be the political leader himself and not the divine being as the couple’s love interest.

Nicely done and executed but have more room for growth. I missed the charm and excitement from the first half after watching the last few episodes. I am demanding more unique progress of the story but the show itself keeps giving me sex scenes and prolonging the unnecessary drama from the love triangle. Nevertheless, despite its flaws, The Sign is a good BL with the show being memorable all because of its rarity in having the concept of supernatural creatures living in the modern era.

Leia Mais

THE ENDING ...

this drama i loved.i loved how different it was from other dramas and the fact that they haven't done this concept with a bl before. all those aspects combined made it the perfect bl drama to watch. the acting and the casting of the actors was nice, so kudos to the casting director. the storyline was a nice though I feel like it feels off a bit but overall, it was really well written. i enjoyed this and really hope to see more dramas like this in the future because i'd definitely give those a watch.

the ending ... i didn't totally love it well ... the part i didn't like was the year gap and how tharn disappeared but overlooking that the ending was sweet. maybe even bittersweet.

I'D DEFENTELY RECCOMEND ESPECIALLY IF YOU'RE LOOKING FOR SOMETHING DIFFRENT WITH SOME SUPERNATURAL ASPECTS.

Leia Mais

wish it were better

I'm sorry but I just couldn't enjoy the last 60% of this drama. people want plot but this plot was convoluted and not convincing

I liked.the beginning but as soon as they kept piling on supernatural elements with spy stuff it all became very messy and bad.

i don't believe for a second that tharn wouldn't have the intuition to know the doc was bad. that was highly suspect to me but they hinged half the plot on that point

and I'm not a fantasy fan so i didn't particularly enjoy those elements but also they weren't worked into the narrative in a believable way? i spent the latter half of the show just waiting for it to end. even though i loved the leads

Leia Mais

I wouldn’t call it a masterpiece, but it was pretty close.

I placed spoilers at the end of this review.

Overall, this was a very interesting series. The general story concept was great, but the script quality was not consistent. However, it successfully connects multiple story lines and characters together. The ending of the whole series was ok, but it was a little lack luster. However, I liked how they tied up everything in the end.

The positive: The series had a very strong beginning and really knew how to draw you into their world. The areas that the script did very well in were the supernatural and suspense thriller elements. The actors were incredible and did a great job with their characters. The cinematography was stunning and had incredible special effects.

The negative: The big miss for me was the comedy element. It would have been fine if this was your usual series with a high school or college setting. Considering this was supposed to be a more mature series with the police setting, the comedy seemed very out of place. A lot of the humor came across as very juvenile.

The in-between: The romance element was a hit or miss for me. There was just something off with the romantic relationship with all of the characters. The relationship development between the main characters in the beginning was also a little off, but it did get better as the show moved forward. The only two characters I didn’t like were Yai and Dao. The character Yai was very annoying, immature, and unlikable during most of the series. As for the character Dao, she was very irritating.

Random Note:

Don’t stop watching after the ending credits in episode 12 because there is a bonus scene after it.

The location used for the coffee shop scene in episode 4 is the same location used for the restaurant scene in episode 8 of “Step by Step”.

I did not take point off for the obvious money grab maneuver they used for the last episode. I like how all of the series they made at this point address many social issues, but this has tarnished my viewpoint about Idol Factory a little.

*****Spoiler Alert******

Although the ending had one of my most hated story element (time jumps), this is one of those times it made sense and served an actual purpose.

The reunited scene with Tharn and Phaya was a little anticlimactic for me. I would have liked to see a grander way for them to meet again.

The bonus scene is open to interpretation. I don’t know if it was a hint of a second season or the only way for Saint to find a way to make his usual guest spot. Either way, it was cool.

Leia Mais