AbsoluteBL
chronic traveller
Q: Is SOTUS worth watching despite the bullying?
So I was recently asked: Is SOTUS worth watching? I couldn't get past the first episode because the bullying was so disturbing.
A: I love it, but bullying isn’t a trigger for me.
It’s a really slow burn so you’ll have at least 6 episodes of the hazing before the tables turn, but then they really do turn. You’ll learn at least WHY Arthit is doing it, even if you maybe will never truly understand. But I would say that this is used to justify the bullying, so be aware of that.
You do get to see Arthit and his defenses crumble - in the context of being head hazer. He will also crumble for Kong... but that comes much later.
In Defense of SOTUS
The dynamic is really interesting because Kong is not only being hazed, he is younger than Arthit and thus supposed to be culturally submissive due to Thailand’s prescribed familial codified age dynamics. I happen to really love it when the seme character is younger because of this obstacle. As the one doing the courting, Kong has a lot to go up against, not just a gay relationship and the hazing, but also an age dynamic that restricts his agency.
So what justifies watching SOTUS despite the hazing?
1. The killer chemistry.
Krist and Singto don’t have much physical attraction (I like to think of KongArthit as an ace homoromantic pairing), but their emotional and chemical feedback is seriously glorious. But if you prefer high heat like TharnType or Why R U, this is not your series. Gen Y has many of the same dynamics in place but without the hazing and KimCop show better physical attraction. Try that instead.
2. Enemies to lovers.
If you really like this trope and you love it when the seme has to WORK to earn his uke, then this is the dominate drive behind SOTUS. There is even a kind of quest narrative, where Kong has to win all of the freshy games in order to win Arthit’s heart.
3. Fantastic coming out sequences.
Arthit publicly comes out to their friends/colleagues 2x in the 2 series, and each time is glorious. (Although family coming out doesn’t come into play.) Also Arthit has most of the sexual agency, he tends to incite what few kisses there are, which I like.
4. A consistent longer series.
The follow up series, SOTUS S is also really good, as is their Our Skyy installment. This makes SOTUS more consistent than many Thai BLs. SOTUS S has a “secret office romance” foundation. I really like that we get to follow them out of college and into the workplace.
5. Great friendship rep.
Both Kong and Arthit have wonderful surrounding friendships. SOTUS is also the first BL to at least have consistent, present, female friendships, and a lesbian character.
6. Heritage.
If you’re interested in the foundations of BL, SOTUS is important because it took Thai BL mainstream internationally in a way that its forerunners (like the truly special Love Sick) couldn’t. It’s also the pilot for GMMTV to get seriously involved, they have the production values and $$$ that previous (and current) Thai BL outside this parent umbrella doesn’t. SOTUS also established some BL specific tropes, like Engineering = gay, gear and gift exchange symbolism, and pink milk (although technically that’s originally sourced in 2 Moons).
7. Lack of OTHER damaging tropes.
Aside from the hazing and a certain amount of sex negativity that seems endemic to low heat BL SOTUS is pretty safe in other arenas, like statutory rape, non-consent situations, and queer femme vilification and mockery. It does highlight gay-for-you, but many don’t find this as objectionable as I do.
Frankly, there is a reason SOTUS is one of the pilot BL’s picked up by Netflix USA. It’s sanitized for a wider audience. I don’t object to popularization in my queer media (on the grounds of pro-normalization as part of the queer acceptance battle), but some queer folk have justifiable objections to this and to SOTUS.
In the end what I love about SOTUS is that what it does well, it does REALLY well and where it’s successful it’s REALLY successful. Thus it’s a stand out in several categories and only concerning in a few. Frankly, there’s not a lot of BL I can say that about.
Alternatives?
However, if bullying is a serious trigger for you but the OP trigger of suicide is NOT then you should 100% watch Until We Meet Again instead. It’s got killer chemistry in all couples, and is unquestionably one of the best written, paced, and plotted Thai BLs.
And if all you want is some intensely fluffy uplifting nonsense where all the offenses are bog standard to Thai BL and all the tropes are equally bog standard, then you want 2gether. It’s what I would call archetype BL, and ridiculously adorable on the strength of the charisma of the two leads.
A: I love it, but bullying isn’t a trigger for me.
It’s a really slow burn so you’ll have at least 6 episodes of the hazing before the tables turn, but then they really do turn. You’ll learn at least WHY Arthit is doing it, even if you maybe will never truly understand. But I would say that this is used to justify the bullying, so be aware of that.
You do get to see Arthit and his defenses crumble - in the context of being head hazer. He will also crumble for Kong... but that comes much later.
In Defense of SOTUS
The dynamic is really interesting because Kong is not only being hazed, he is younger than Arthit and thus supposed to be culturally submissive due to Thailand’s prescribed familial codified age dynamics. I happen to really love it when the seme character is younger because of this obstacle. As the one doing the courting, Kong has a lot to go up against, not just a gay relationship and the hazing, but also an age dynamic that restricts his agency.
So what justifies watching SOTUS despite the hazing?
1. The killer chemistry.
Krist and Singto don’t have much physical attraction (I like to think of KongArthit as an ace homoromantic pairing), but their emotional and chemical feedback is seriously glorious. But if you prefer high heat like TharnType or Why R U, this is not your series. Gen Y has many of the same dynamics in place but without the hazing and KimCop show better physical attraction. Try that instead.
2. Enemies to lovers.
If you really like this trope and you love it when the seme has to WORK to earn his uke, then this is the dominate drive behind SOTUS. There is even a kind of quest narrative, where Kong has to win all of the freshy games in order to win Arthit’s heart.
3. Fantastic coming out sequences.
Arthit publicly comes out to their friends/colleagues 2x in the 2 series, and each time is glorious. (Although family coming out doesn’t come into play.) Also Arthit has most of the sexual agency, he tends to incite what few kisses there are, which I like.
4. A consistent longer series.
The follow up series, SOTUS S is also really good, as is their Our Skyy installment. This makes SOTUS more consistent than many Thai BLs. SOTUS S has a “secret office romance” foundation. I really like that we get to follow them out of college and into the workplace.
5. Great friendship rep.
Both Kong and Arthit have wonderful surrounding friendships. SOTUS is also the first BL to at least have consistent, present, female friendships, and a lesbian character.
6. Heritage.
If you’re interested in the foundations of BL, SOTUS is important because it took Thai BL mainstream internationally in a way that its forerunners (like the truly special Love Sick) couldn’t. It’s also the pilot for GMMTV to get seriously involved, they have the production values and $$$ that previous (and current) Thai BL outside this parent umbrella doesn’t. SOTUS also established some BL specific tropes, like Engineering = gay, gear and gift exchange symbolism, and pink milk (although technically that’s originally sourced in 2 Moons).
7. Lack of OTHER damaging tropes.
Aside from the hazing and a certain amount of sex negativity that seems endemic to low heat BL SOTUS is pretty safe in other arenas, like statutory rape, non-consent situations, and queer femme vilification and mockery. It does highlight gay-for-you, but many don’t find this as objectionable as I do.
Frankly, there is a reason SOTUS is one of the pilot BL’s picked up by Netflix USA. It’s sanitized for a wider audience. I don’t object to popularization in my queer media (on the grounds of pro-normalization as part of the queer acceptance battle), but some queer folk have justifiable objections to this and to SOTUS.
In the end what I love about SOTUS is that what it does well, it does REALLY well and where it’s successful it’s REALLY successful. Thus it’s a stand out in several categories and only concerning in a few. Frankly, there’s not a lot of BL I can say that about.
Alternatives?
However, if bullying is a serious trigger for you but the OP trigger of suicide is NOT then you should 100% watch Until We Meet Again instead. It’s got killer chemistry in all couples, and is unquestionably one of the best written, paced, and plotted Thai BLs.
And if all you want is some intensely fluffy uplifting nonsense where all the offenses are bog standard to Thai BL and all the tropes are equally bog standard, then you want 2gether. It’s what I would call archetype BL, and ridiculously adorable on the strength of the charisma of the two leads.
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