Decent

I think this series started with very little expectations for most of us and I can say I was pleasantly surprised when it ended. Sure, there are many things that could have been improved:
1) Poy (playing Duen) was sure cute but he is making his debut as an actor (and only 21) and it showed... he needs a bit more acting workshops to deliver some lines more efficiently and also to cry without looking like he is laughing.
2) Cooper (playing Bohn) was fine but the plot of him getting jealous every episode was a bit annoying. Yes, it showed that even the main couple was not picture perfect but how much lack of communication do you need?!
3) I read in some blog that Ryan (playing Mek) dubbed his own lines (he is Chinese studying in Thailand) because he was not confident enough to say them during shooting. If that's the case, then kudos to him for trying but it sounded a bit odd. And if he wasn't dubbing his own lines, then it was not a very good choice of dubbing actor.
4) We saw Duen's family but then the little sister disappears after she almost drowns while visiting a market and the mother and father barely appeared in the beginning and then just don't appear anymore. Sure, we got to see a lot of development between all couples, but aside from Ram and the drama of his father cheating on his mother and his funny interactions with his younger brother, a bit more family interaction could have improved the flow of the show and the background of the characters.

The series had so many good things as well:
1) Talay (playing King) and Perth (playing Ram) were a revelation, especially Talay. Both were able to portray their characters very convincingly and showed their chemistry. Talay showed us how much future of an actor he has as this is his third show (all BL characters) but playing very different roles in all 3.
2) This show actually gave all 4 couples almost equal amount of time on-screen instead of having the main couple and the others just sprinkled every now and then (like "2gether the Series" and really most GMMTV BLs).
3) I'm glad this show didn't have the typical bitchy/screaming female trying to sabotage the couple (see Pam in "2gether the Series" or the girl from "I am Your King SS2" for some examples).
4) The story had some ups and downs but it had more believable situations (compared to becoming my fake boyfriend because you made me break up with my girlfriend like Frank and Drake in the terrible "My Tee").
5) The cast had so many changes (except for MD playing Thara) but despite that, they had great chemistry and the story was not that rushed so we could actually see good progress instead of solving everything in the last few episodes.
6) This might be unpopular among some of you but I was happy with the kiss scenes we got and glad the director didn't try to force more intimate scenes. The development of the couples was just right for what we got and more just for the sake of showing some handsome actors shirtless and kissing (like most episodes of "WhyRU" for example) would have been unnecessary. And at least we got actual kiss and not pecks or high-fives, right?

Hopefully season 2 doesn't disappoint as right now our expectations are high and we get to see some more development in all the relationships, including the "bros" Thara and Frong and maybe some drama introduced by the families. Oh and where is Cupcake (Thara's pet lizard)?!

Leia Mais

Nothing special

Once again GMMTV gives us a fairly standard BL that matches most of their previous BL stories so far.
The main couple with Pi and Mork had good moments, especially when Pi tried to get out his shell because of Mork but for the most part I found this couple a bit annoying. Pi surely lacks some confidence, actually he might be one of the least confident characters I've seen recently and with a single bad comment on social media, he crumbles. Yes, I agree cyber bullying is one of the worst things these days and many countries have no regulations or harsh punishments to those who do it. But Pi's case is a bit extreme because he really goes down the drain. Mork had sweet moments but for many parts of the series I found him way too pushy and trying to force Pi to love him... Pi surely lacked confidence but Mork had plenty of it.

The other couple of Duen and Meen had also nice moments with Meen being so innocent and Duen being the total opposite but then being capable of changing to improve as a person. However, the acting was not exactly the best for this couple as Louis is making his acting debut and Neo has been at GMMTV for a while but never has had a major role as the lead actor. He appeared in the Frank-Drake disaster of "My Tee" and then in some other series as a supporting actor. This time I found his acting a bit exaggerated (which I'm sure was the cue from the director) and to show some contrast with Meen being so mild-mannered and calm. But, aside from a few parts that were nice, like when Duen confesses to Mork that he likes Meen because he has helped him become a better person or when he apologizes after forcing Meen to drink alcohol at a bar, the rest were fairly standard GMMTV BL situations for the secondary couple that barely has screentime because the main couple is more important.

Then the extra characters were mostly unnecessary, starting with Nan. I know he was Pi's original love interest but it felt as if the character was there just to set up the second part of the series with Pi discovering his feelings for Mork. And also, I'm not sure about filming schedules, but it felt that Mix was included in this series after his successful debut in Tale of 1,000 Stars. Bam was the usual BL girl character but with a bit of a twist because she starts by helping Mork get Pi, then she changes and becomes another cyber-bully in the final episode when she realizes she really likes Mork and then, she changes again from part 1 to part 2 of ep. 12 into helping Mork get Pi, again... I don't understand why can't we get a single female character in GMMTV BL stories that is not super crazy or super angry because she was dumped by main actor or tries to do bad things to split them up or is just a moral support character like Ciize was to Khaotung in another mediocre GMMTV show, Tonhon Chonlatee.

Duen's friends were totally unnecessary as they provided a few funny moments but nothing else really. And again, why is it that we have a standard type of parents in these BL stories? Just like the girl, the parents are either totally against their son being gay/liking another boy so they become super angry and try to split them up OR the parents act like cheerleaders supporting their son 100% and want him to be in a gay relationship because they love the other guy OR, like we had in this series, just random actors filling a few minutes of screentime... I remember seeing them in the first episodes but then I don't think I saw them again... no advice, no cheerleading, no nothing... Duen being the older brother (as the actual older brother was away at university) acted like a father for some scenes, so it was another poorly written aspect of this story. And finally, the two annoying fujoshis trying to ship Pi-Mork and Bam-Mork were completely unnecessary and even on the edge of harassing/stalking. GMMTV seems to like to include these characters to "ship" the main couple (see yet another mediocre series, "The Shipper" for another example) but it becomes annoying when they are the ones promoting the cyber bullying, stalking, etc.

In the end, the series had some nice moments but for the most part it is another mediocre GMMTV series... better than some other GMMTV BLs, that's for sure... but nothing that special.

Leia Mais

Some good and some bad

Again, another low to mid-budget series with some familiar faces and some new ones that is slightly above the mediocre GMMTV BL series we've seen lately ("Tonhon Chonlatee" and "Fish Upon the Sky") and is waaay above the disasters that other series have been ("Y-Destiny", "Close Friend" or "Love by Chance Season 2") but because of the low budget and somewhat inexperienced actors, it falls well below the quality standards we've seen from other shows ("Tale of 1,000 Stars", "I Told Sunset About You", "Gameboys", and "Gaya Sa Pelikula").

Some thoughts that have some good and some bad:
1. Jom and Noh are the lead roles playing the characters of Jin and Bbomb and their chemistry is nice but Noh is making his debut and comes from Lao so it feels like he needs a bit more time to fully adapt to Thai TV and deliver some of his lines with a bit more emotion and less stiffness. Jom apparently was a guest in "Tonhon Chonlatee" but the series was so mediocre I really don't remember him being there, he also needs a bit more acting lessons to improve, but overall the lead couple was a bit dull sometimes but charming, so there is room for improvement.

2. The support roles had ups and downs with Kaownah and Turbo exciting everybody with their roles thinking they were going to be a secondary couple, and while they implicitly are, nothing really develops between them with Kaownah (playing Song) is basically having the role of a comedian during the show and Turbo (playing Jay) is the nerdy and quiet type. Both have been officially selected as the leads for the upcoming Thai version of the Japanese manga "Love Stage" who was then brought as anime and then as a Japanese movie as well. We'll see how well they can portray the characters in that one.

3. Some of the familiar faces continue with Bhu playing Jack in the totally opposite role of his character in "Manner of Death". Now we see a playful Bhu trying to conquer cute girls instead of dodging bullets and being a gangster, so that's a nice change for us to see his acting skills. And then we get the two Bosses, Boss Thawatchanin (who can be seen in the recently finished "Hidden Love") playing Tong and Boss Thanabat (who we saw in "Oxygen") as Mark, both are seniors and don't have many lines but Boss Thanabat becomes a potential obstacle in the Jin-Bbomb relationship. The rest of the cast has some funny moments, sadly, most are wasted with very boring subplots and lack of interesting things to do other than play matchmaker with Jin-Bbomb, play soccer/basketball, play some music, and study.

4. This leads me to the writing/directing. It feels like the story needed twists/plots or something but they could not really find one. The series was announced as having 12 episodes but it ended after 10 so it was misinformed or they had some issues with the story or sponsors and had to shorten the series. However, I think it reached its limit, so 10 episodes were ok as Jin and Bbomb really did the same thing most episodes... plenty of misunderstandings, some tears, and lots of arguing then they will make up with corny phrases or acting cute only to repeat the same cycle in the next episode. Their relationship had one step forward, two steps back, then 3 forward, 2 back, etc., it was never a steady progression of them developing their feelings because Bbomb liked Jin from the very beginning and Jin had issues all the time and couldn't decide.

5. This takes me back to the writing and support actors. From watching episode 10, I get that Aim knew Bbomb liked Jin but as she says at some point, Bbomb didn't stop her from liking Jin, didn't pursue Jin and didn't stop Jin from developing feelings for Aim so it was only after they broke up when he said something to Jin. However, it seemed like everyone was just there to plot how to bring Jin and Bbomb together orchestrated by Aim, Jin's friends, Bbomb's friends and even Mark who just pretended to like Jin to make Bbomb jealous. I felt a bit confused trying to understand who was involved in this matchmaking process and what roles each character played in it. And because when someone tried something, it ended up with Jin and Bbomb fighting again... so while I appreciate the change of some of the typical Thai BL clichés and storylines, it wasn't executed in the best possible way.

6. Bbomb's mother had a nice moment on episode 10, when she acts all cold towards Jin only for her to prank him when he confesses he is dating her son because she already knew that. She then has a nice moment with Jin, accepting their relationship and letting both know that Bbomb is old and mature enough to make his own decisions and as long as he is happy, she is happy as well. That was a nice moment of parental support some BLs lack but it didn't fit with the overall feel of the story because no parents were shown until this episode.

In the end, the series had some good and some bad moments and if there is a season 2, plenty needs to be improved... but there is hope for Nitiman in case the series comes back.

Leia Mais

Quite underrated

One of the most vanilla BL series we’ve had in a while but I must say, I enjoyed it as it had some interesting moments and had 3 couples that were distinct and entertaining.
Sure, it is certainly not perfect, but World Y Entertainment put a very decent product that did not need to rely on having unrealistic plots, excessive surprises/plot twists, or the usual clichés we always expect to see in Thai BLs (and, by now, I think we kinda expect it in almost every BL).

The plot is quite simple, university students from the Faculty of Sport Science trying to navigate through their university life and finding love in the process. Three couples (one being more of a triangle) that focus on a different sport: basketball, soccer, and running. The usual side characters that bring some problems to the main actors are there as well but unlike previous BLs where the side characters are the usual crazy and jealous female, the rival love interest, or the excessively loud shipper squad, “You’re My Sky” focused on having a bit more mature side characters which made this story more likeable albeit more vanilla, as I think we were all expecting one of the chaotic characters to appear and disrupt the flow of the story and one (or more) of the couples but in the end, I’m glad the writer and the director followed the original source more or less faithfully, to bring this story… for once, I’m happy for vanilla with sprinkles because we’ve had too many BL disasters lately that failed just because they couldn’t stop adding to the plot mess, so this series saved itself from that.

What worked:

1) The couples: While the 3 couples were not completely flawless and in interviews with Youtubers a few of the actors have shown a slightly different personality and chemistry with their on-screen partner (more on that later), I think these 3 couples did a good job portraying their character but most importantly, clearly marking the differences inside their own couple and also with the other 2 couples.
The lead couple is Fah and Torn who are childhood friends who meet by chance as Torn is normally left alone at home and Fah begins talking to him and starts sharing his basketball knowledge which leads Torn to also love the sport. Basketball is their common interest and after Torn is finally let out to play with Fah, they practice all the time and set their goal on joining the Thai National team. They are both rejected from the junior national team by Coach Tuen but as both go to the same university (Fah is older) that fuels their passion for basketball even more. The rest of their story deals with Torn and Fah joining their university team (composed of non-basketball players, except Fah’s little brother who returned from abroad) and learning how to play together as a team to win the school’s title. Then Fah getting an offer from a club in the Thai league that brings problems for the couple as he is never home and Torn suffering a serious injury that requires surgery and a long layoff but he decides to contact Coach Tuen only for him to turn into a jerk, realize his mistake, apologize and move on. Fah graduates and Torn gets an offer to try out for Fah’s club. In the process they realize they love each other, move in together and become boyfriends.

The second couple is Saen and Ai with Saen being a freshman and Torn’s friend and deciding from the very beginning that he likes Ai, a senior and Fah’s friend. Saen is a star soccer player and Ai is the only one in this series that doesn’t play any sport but he is always there supporting the events of the faculty. At first, Ai is quite flustered as he doesn’t believe Saen’s flirting is for real until he begins to lower his guard and realizes that not only Saen is being sincere but also that he is feeling the same towards him. Saen is quite pushy but gets rejected all the time until Ai relents a little and accepts his feelings for him. The rest of the story involves all the usual lovey-dovey stuff that Saen does to show Ai he really and truly likes him, Ai acting tough at first but then becoming soft and mushy himself. The only big issue this couple has is that Ai applied to go to Japan to continue his studies and gets accepted, doesn’t tell Saen, they argue a bit, then he has doubts if he really wants to go and leave Saen alone and have a long-distance relationship… but unlike many BL series, this couple DOES talk to each other and after sharing their feelings and decide that Ai will go to Japan and they will have a long-distance relationship.

The third couple, and in my opinion, the most interesting one, is Vee and Dome. Dome is a senior in a relationship with Vee’s older sister, Pan. Dome and Vee never really interact until Pan mentions that she will like it if her boyfriend and her brother would get along and, at the same time, an injury in the running squad, forces Vee to join the relay team with Dome. In there, they begin to form a bond as both realize that their feelings for each other are too strong to ignore. However, the whole series has them discovering they like each other, Vee experiencing the guilt of falling in love with his sister’s boyfriend, keeping their interactions to the minimum (which causes Vee to miss the baton in the relay race and hyperventilate because of the anxiety and the stress), getting drunk at the beach and kissing each other only to be discovered by Pan, Vee ignoring his feelings for Dome and avoid him for months until graduation when they talk (pushed by Pan who is no longer mad or resentful at Dome or Vee) and establish that Vee still has feelings for Dome and that Dome will continue to wait for him, so they both leave the door open for a future relationship.

2) The acting (not all, but most of it): As I said, the series is not perfect, but I feel the acting of some of the actors really helps “You’re My Sky” a lot, especially Kris (playing Dome) and Porsche (playing Vee) are the best, in my opinion. Not only their acting is the most difficult of all 3 couples but also they have to navigate through a lot of different emotions and situations like being awkward at first since they didn’t use to talk despite Dome being Pan’s boyfriend, moving to being friendly as they begin to train together and start discovering things in common, moving to being careful/confused as they realize they are experiencing some feelings they might not be supposed to have, moving to both feeling guilty, Vee because he thinks he is betraying his sister and Dome because he never tells Pan the truth until she discovers them kissing, moving to melancholy of Vee avoiding Dome and Dome not being able to talk to Vee as he tries to respect his feelings. Both Kris and Porsche were properly coached and directed and were able to convince me of their emotions during their scenes up to the point that I was clamoring for them to have more screen time over the other 2 couples.
The other actors have some good moments as well, Suar (playing Torn) has to also navigate through different emotions of joining the university to play with his idol and childhood hero, discovering he might be in a relationship with a girl, clearing that out when Fah realizes he likes Torn and confesses to him, to being jealous of Fah when he joins the Thai club and he can’t because of his injury, to being a jerk to his teammates after Coach Tuen helps him recover from his injury, to realizing he is ok if he is not the best as long as he can rely on his teammates and play with Fah. While Jump (playing Ai) deals with constant flirting of Saen, putting up a wall, breaking a little when he realizes he does like Saen after all, accepting his advances, becoming boyfriends, having to deal with leaving to study abroad, having the uncertainty of a long-distance relationship, feeling happy because he really does love Saen and can make this relationship work after all. Both actors were good, but not as consistent as Kris and Porsche were in their acting.
Apple (playing Pan) was also great in her role of loving girlfriend of Dome and supporting sister of Vee to slowly realizing Dome might not love her as much as she loves him, discovering her brother and boyfriend kissing, dealing with the anger and confusion towards Dome and Vee, and becoming understanding of their situation and even trying to push them to be together in the final episode. A good example of what a good female support character can bring to a BL story when used correctly and without her having to throw tantrums, do crazy things, run around screaming and whining all the time, or trying to sabotage the guys’ relationship by doing stupid things. She was just mature, calm and always reasoned with logic.

What didn’t work:

1) Some of the plot: I appreciate the fact that we had some sports mixed in the series as the usual university setting had at least some change. However, basketball dominated the series almost entirely with at least 2 full episodes (one with the university tournament and one with Fah vs. Torn in the Thai club league) and portions of other episodes being dedicated to basketball. I understand Fah and Torn are the main couple but I believe Saen had about half of an episode where he actually had a soccer game and Vee/Dome had some portions of a few episodes dedicated to their training for the relay race and the actual race probably took 3 minutes of one episode. So, I love basketball, but it was a bit disappointing to have the series giving so much relevance to the sport over the other two. And, they tend to rely a bit too much on flashbacks, especially for Fah and Torn’s past and time jumps. Torn’s injury was supposed to take at least 9 months to heal and by bringing Coach Tuen that went down to 7… but we saw all that recovery in about 5 minutes of episode 11. Then, in episode 12, they are graduating and it’s implied that weeks have gone by since Vee talked to Dome and in the same episode, Ai comes back from Japan to surprise Saen and join the commencement ceremony but it never felt like a lot of time went by.

2) Some of the side characters: Coach Tuen is a jerk and a bully and I understand that due to the lack of the crazy female character or the male love rival, the story needed a sort of villain… but his actions were almost too cartoonish and predictable. Coach Big is too soft and friendly with the players so if I was a part of his team, I wouldn’t feel too motivated. As a side note, it was odd to see Khoo (playing Coach Big) as during the first few episodes of this series, he was still being featured as Jean, a French pâtissier who is the ex-boyfriend of Singto’s character in “Baker Boys”, so having him as a chef and basketball coach for a little bit, was a bit disconcerting. The other side characters were there but didn’t provide too much substance. The university basketball team had nice moments with Fah and Torn as all know they are together but don’t push them to confess and some give good advice to Torn when he is dealing with some issues but other than that, they don’t factor as major plot changers in the story.

3) A bit of the acting: Tae’s (playing Fah) acting remains a bit of the weakest link in this story. His acting in “Y-Destiny” was quite bad along with Chap (now acting in “The Tuxedo”) and here Tae has not improved much. His tone remains the same in almost every situation, he seems tense while doing some scenes and even a bit awkward when doing mushy scenes like quick pecks on Torn’s cheeks or hugging him. At the same time, he was not always present during interviews with the rest of the cast and his chemistry with Suar was not totally there. Boom (playing Saen) also felt a bit off as well as his flirty nature was ok but his facial expressions weren’t strong enough to convince me during the more serious moments he had in the series. And in interviews, he seems quite introverted as he barely talks and his interactions with Jump look awkward as well.

In the end “You’re My Sky” turned out to be a fairly standard BL series with solid acting and an almost ordinary plot that was nothing super exciting or overly dramatic… but in times when we’ve had several plot disasters, writing/directing chaos, and/or bad acting that have ruined many BL series (see some of my other reviews to find out which series I’m talking about), this series brought a bit of a vanilla storytelling that was needed and even appreciated to reset a bit and forget all previous disasters and hopefully get better stories in the future and they added some interesting parts like the Vee/Dome relationship that was probably the best of all 3 couples but had the least amount of screentime.

Leia Mais

Just ok

One again, don't expect too much of this low-budget Thai BL set in Northern Thailand.
The show is full of the usual Thai BL clichés and the storyline is not that original. Many of the actors appeared in other low-budget BLs, so are somewhat familiar faces but the acting has not improved much since then.

Here are some highlights and some low-lights:

The good:
1. The setting. I always appreciate BL stories that are not set in the usual big city like Bangkok and go out to explore one of the many regional settings that are available in Thailand like in this case when the main characters are from the Isan region.
2. The characters. There are 3 BL couples in this series but IG-Ruk takes the center spot, we know it, they know it. This is not like a GMMTV BL series with 2 or more couples with the secondary couples taking some time on-screen that prevents us from seeing the main couple and that is ok. True, I wished we could have seen a bit more backstory between Nakrob and Grateen, especially when we know Grateen is adopted because his parents were killed in a car accident. But, the interactions between IG and Ruk are ok. The side characters have their funny moments, especially Garto (playing Kaengsom) who gets a smack on the back of his head in nearly every episode. Garto is scheduled to appear in another BL show, "The Tuxedo", as a support character, so hopefully we get to see him in other situations aside from being hit by the other characters.

The not so-good:
1. The acting. Virgo (playing IG), Ohm (playing Nakrob), Pitchy (playing Thunwa), Fam (playing Mes) and a few others actors, have appeared in other BLs such as "Love Poison", "Love Poison 2" and "Love at 7-11" but given the budget constraints, I'm sure they don't get the luxury of having many acting workshops like GMMTV or Nadao productions have, and they might not even have an acting coach with them 100% of the time on set. So, some of the acting is not done very well with some dramatic scenes not conveying the right emotions.
2. The storyline. It seems the director/writer just ran out of ideas by episode 8 because from that episode until the end they fill a lot of time with songs. The show almost turns into a musical because on every episode there are at least 2 songs being sung by one of the characters. In some cases, the song does match with what the characters are going through, but they take forever and don't provide much since we can clearly see all are just doing a very bad lip-sync.
3. The never-ending clichés. If there is something Thai BLs have taught us is that they always bring some sort of cliché to their storyline. "Siew Sum Noi" is no exception to this. We have the jealous girl that likes Ruk and ends up showing pictures to Ruk's father. We have Ruk and Nakrob's father who first acts like the usual father who rejects his son being gay (he discovers Nakrob and Grateen in bed and sees the picture of IG and Ruk kissing on social media), he becomes violent and beats Nakrob and Grateen, he then chats with Grateen's grandmother and suddenly he changes his mind and begins to accept their relationship as if nothing really happens (and this all happens between the middle of episode 8 until episode 10). We also have the love rival as Thunwa declares his love for Ruk. And, we also have the typical arguments between lovers when Ruk and IG break up and get back together after a series of misunderstandings and miscommunication.

In the end, a mild BL series that was somewhat entertaining but did not provide much in terms of originality. Watch once and then come back to it after some time and when you don't have nothing more interesting to watch.

Leia Mais

What a waste of a second season!

Given how popular season 1 was and how much expectation there was for season 2, I'm sure this will be yet another review in the probably hundredths of reviews but here goes.

What a way to waste a second season... and I explain it in several points:
1) What was the point of re-telling the Tin-Can story? One thing that made season 1 so popular was the ending this couple got and how season 2 was going to fix it. Well, it didn't happen until episode 7. Instead, the absence of Pete made the director and writer reset Tin and Can from zero. Their personalities didn't change much from season 1 to season 2 so there was no valid point to waste 6 episodes telling me things I already saw in S1.

2) What was the point of having Ae crying around like a zombie for 3 episodes and then just post daily reports in his social media accounts for Pete to see? There was virtually no interaction with Tin and some advice to Can and the rest it was him starting into the horizon and doing nothing relevant for the plot. If you kept Perth around for S2, then give him something more interesting to do or don't have him at all.

3) What was the point of Ae's friends? Bow and Pond barely appeared in S2 and then we get glimpses of Mai (played by Krit) who I thought was an interesting character but after dragging Ae to the soccer field and yelling at him his appearances started to decrease. Sammy (who plays Bow) has been very well used in other series as a secondary character who is best friend of the lead actor (see "Until We Meet Again" for an example) and I was surprised to see Yacht (who plays Pond) having a role as Fiat's friend and trying to rape Un's character in "My Gear and Your Gown", so I know they are both able to do much more than just product placement or pat Ae's back when he cries.

4) What is going on with Plan's gestures when he is in a kissing scene? The chemistry between him and Mean has always been great and they seem more or less comfortable during all the scenes in their underwear or hugging shirtless, but when it comes to kissing, Plan is simply not comfortable at all and it shows... he never kissed Mean like he wanted it and his face was always one of worry and him wanting to hear the word "cut!" to end the scene. If he is that uncomfortable or unwilling to commit to those scenes (the way Mew and Gulf do in "Tharn-Type" or even Ali and Alec in the very cute "Boys Lockdown", for example) then change the scenes. While we all wanted them to kiss, it was a bit awkward to see those very bad kisses.

5) What was the point of the Tul-Hin saga? I think the chemistry between Meen and Est was very good (especially in the last 2 episodes when they actually had scenes together) so, there was potential to develop the story way more than what we got. We wasted time with Tul acting like a jerk towards Tin but never actually doing anything too bad to him like a true drama villain might do. Then Tul will soften up around Phupha and turn to mush when he thought about or someone mentioned Hin. I get Tul and Hin have a dominant-submissive type relationship that turns into some BDSM in the book, so that would not have been very appropriate for the TV series, but for many episodes Tul was just hating Tin, secretly hoping for Hin to come back and being a good father to Phupha. I wished they developed more of their characters instead.

6) What was the point of the Kengkla-Techno story? We know Kengkla took advantage of Techno in S1 and now tries to be forgiven by doing nice things. But the storyline gets boring and annoying quickly with Kengkla stalking Techno, giving him gifts or trying to talk to him and Techno falling into a mental battle of "oh he is so cute and I like him" vs. "he took advantage of me and he lied to me" every single time. This couple could have been avoided in my opinion to focus on the potential Tum-Keen relationship that seemed to be developing but only saw glimpses of it by the final episode.

Overall the long awaited second season ended up being quite a disappointment. I saw myself just skipping through many scenes that were so predictable and/or boring. I even preferred to watch other BL series that were far less promoted (see for example "Gaya sa Pelikula", translated as "Like in the Movies" in English or "I Told Sunset About You") but that were complete surprises by how well acted, well scripted and well planned those series were compared to the mess that "LBC 2: A Chance to Love" ended up being. I love the actors and the writer but I think this was a failure.

Leia Mais

What a shame!

This series has been, for the most part, a waste of time. You can watch it once and that's it... it really has very few nice moments and it is filled with the typical Thai clichés for a BL with almost all characters being annoying or trying to act too cute or childish or both. The storylines are stories we have seen in other BLs so they don't bring much in terms of originality and some are acted or directed terribly. Too many couples with only 2 episodes per couple that really doesn't leave much time to explore their interactions and their chemistry as the writers have to rush some of the scenes so they can move slightly forward. And actors who are nearly 30 in some cases (Yoon is 27, Gung is 26, Korn is 25), acting like immature brats. Some comments I read tried to defend the fact that they are portraying 18-19 year olds in university. I never acted like an annoying brat and never did some of the activities these "students" do

Here are some comments on each pairing:
1. Chap and Tae take the roles of Tue and Ake and right from the start we have the classic enemy turned into lovers which we have seen plenty of times in other BLs. Chap and Tae's acting can be defined as "stiff" at best as they really don't deliver much of their dialogues with any kind of emotion or at least nothing convincing enough. Maybe that is the reason Chap was barely seen in "Lovely Writer" he was supposed to be part the side couple but at some point he was completely ignored and wasn't even present for most of the middle episodes of the series. At some point they even mention that the character he portrays in "Lovely Writer" got a new role in another show and they show his Y-Destiny picture. Chap is now scheduled to appear in "The Tuxedo" and Tae will be the lead actor in "You're my Sky"... I hope they both get better acting coaches that can really help them improve their facial expressions and their delivery.

2. Max and Nat take the roles of Sun and Nuea and again, we've seen this storyline before with the teacher or tutor/student relationship who end up falling in love. Nuea is childish, annoying, and a rich-spoiled brat that gets away with almost anything and Teacher Sun cannot do much to resist his "charms". I found these episodes quite boring as I wanted to slap Max for being so soft and Nuea for being so immature. These actors have been a BL couple for a while now, appear constantly in Domundi videos together and are scheduled to be a couple yet again in another project in the near future. Nat is nearly 10 years younger than Max (18 vs. 27 years old) which is why he normally gets this childish, innocent or annoying characters and Max gets the bully, fighter, jock type of characters. They do have good chemistry but sadly, I feel they are both now cast with very similar type of characters (in BLs) which prevents them from experiencing other roles and maturing as actors.

3. Korn and Gung play Mon and Team and here the dynamics of the couple made it interesting as both are best friends in real life. Both graduated from the same university and while Gung is a year older than Korn (26 vs. 25 years old), Korn is Gung's "senior" in terms of cheerleading activities, which is where both met (they share a Youtube channel with some videos about their friendship). However, despite being 25 years old, Korn plays an extremely innocent and childish character that speaks like a 4-year old, pouts at everything and is shocked when Team starts making a move on him. Again, we've seen this story in other BLs so there is no originality in that aspect and the acting a bit better than Chap and Tae but still, incredibly predictable.

4. Pee and Au play Thurs and Pao/Pae and this is a crazy story with Thurs who is a student but also does seance sessions to contact spirits and swindle some money from his fellow classmates. One night, they go to a pool where a student drowned and Thurs then gets a visit from Pao, who is a ghost. They end up falling in love only to be separated when is the turn of Pao's soul to go. Up to this point, we've had Ohm and Singto doing a MUCH, MUCH better job with the ghost/human love story in "He's Coming to Me" so you can watch 8 episodes of a much better story with much better actors. Then, magically, Pae appears in real life, saves Thurs from being killed by a car, doesn't remember being Pao or being a ghost as much as Pee insists on it but somehow feels "a familiar connection" to Thurs and end up being boyfriends. We've seen Pee before in the crazy "YYY" and again he takes on a character that is a bit weird while Au has his first important role... apparently he had a guest role in one episode of "Theory of Love" but I can't remember him at all... but his inexperience shows with some stiff acting.

5. Toru and First play Puth and Kaeng and I've seen comments and other reviews when their episodes came out, that these were the best episodes of the series. I completely disagree and here is why. Puth and Kaeng are sex friends and Puth has established that being sex friends is the only thing for them. Kaeng agreed with that but started to develop feelings for Puth at some point. However, instead of telling him and talking like two civilized adults, he sneaks in Puth's dorm at night to convince him to have more sex with him. Then acts all jealous when Puth starts liking his colleague but then Puth completely forgets about him when he suddenly realizes he does have feelings for Kaeng. Many people loved these episodes because of the amount of steamy scenes they had, but if you take that out, there is no substance to the story with Puth saying that he doesn't like Kaeng only to change his mind, again, we've seen this like a million times in Thai BL. In reality, we had a very similar situation with Tharn-Type season 2 when the characters really did nothing much aside from fighting, crying and having sex. They do have a bit more substance in their story than the other couples, dealing with situations that are more believable but if you like these 2 episodes because of the sex scenes, kisses, and shirtless moments, then you watched for the wrong reasons.
And, the cringy part, was watching the behind the scenes for these episodes (available on Youtube) with the acting coach telling them how to kiss by forcefully grabbing their heads and mashing them together for them to kiss the way she wanted. It looked awkward to say the least.

6. Jaab and Ton play Sat and Choke and here fantasy comes back like in the Thurs-Pao/Pae story with Sat wishing he was popular to a gundam figure and ending his childhood friendship with Choke, only to all come back to bite him in the ass when nothing goes the way he wanted and feeling lonely and depressed despite apparently being so popular at university. Both actors are debuting with this series with Jaab being 20 and Ton being 22 years old and just like it was the case with other newcomers in this series, there is terrible acting guidance with both looking relatively expressionless and super stiff in some of the scenes. For example, the moment when Sat asks Choke why did they stop being friends (he can't remember all the things he did to his best friend when they were kids just to become more popular) should have been quite an emotional one because Choke debates on whether to tell him the truth or not and when he does tell him, Sat should have reacted a bit more dramatically... instead, the emotion was non-existent. Also, while both speak decent English, the excessive use of English for this couple was a bit off-putting. It could be because I'm used to hearing Thai and reading the subtitles in English but they had 4 lines in English, 5 in Thai, 7 in English, 3 in Thai and so on... so, I found that a bit annoying.

7. Finally, Talay, Yoon, and Perth play Masuk, Jia, and Tir and episodes 13 and 14 were the two EVERYBODY was waiting for because we saw Talay and Perth in "My Engineer" and Talay and Yoon in "YYY" as BL couples so we knew they had good chemistry and now all three were acting in the same series and connected somehow. That connection turns out to be Tir being Masuk's boyfriend who dies in a tragic fire in a movie theater. This causes Masuk to fall into a depression fueled by his guilt of not being there to help Tir and Jia just looking at Masuk with puppy eyes but not being able to express his love for him because of all the surrounding circumstances. Masuk cannot let go of Tir memories and then he can see him and interact with him with Poppy's guest role as a homeless man who gives him an amulet to see "his loved one". The story is a bit confusing because Masuk can see Tir and at some points it seems like Jia can see Tir as well. Then, Tir tells Masuk to move on and live his life but never really leaves so that makes Masuk and Jia's interactions WAY awkward doing everything alongside Tir.
What I didn't like is Jia taking such a low position and telling Masuk that he understands he loves Tir and he will accept that... sorry, but Tir is dead and won't be coming back, so either Masuk moves on and gives Jia his spot as boyfriend or just continues to mourn Tir forever.

Episode 15 is the final episode with a short part with each couple which was even worse than the rest of the episodes combined. Kaeng and Puth are calling each other "Papi" and "Daddy" (which brought some memories of how Gun calls Off "Papi" as well) but this couple never called themselves that in their 2 episodes, so why now?
Mon and Team are calling each other "Smile" and "Prince" and Nuea switches from calling Sun "teacher" to "uncle" within 2 minutes in this episode with no apparent reason. Team uses the "kha" like Thai females do at the end of their sentences when he talks to Mon which makes no sense as he was clearly the masculine one in the relationship in their two episodes (another Thai BL cliché). Then, Kaeng and Team are basically being controlled by their boyfriends having to convince them to get permission to go out only to keep checking on them or ask them to come back home very soon. It really made me cringe because those are very odd relationships to be in.
Ake and Sat pretend to be injured (while boxing) or drowning just to get some sympathy from Tue and to kiss Choke (which was terribly acted by the way) only for them to act cute while they apologize for pranking their boyfriends. And, of course, Masuk and Jia are having dinner with Tir sitting there as well and watching them hug and almost kiss, which I'm sure was a bit weird for Perth who barely had any dialogue in the 3 episodes he appears and only watched Yoon and Talay interact. He then sits behind the rest of the cast in the last part of the episode when all are in the pool.
And speaking of pool, it was odd to have some of them shirtless in the pool and others sitting behind them in clothes that do not look very adequate for the pool. They bring back the BL cliché of having a "wife" (I still don't understand the obsession with defining a "wife" and a "husband" role in many BLs I've seen) but mostly do nothing relevant except giving thanks to their respective couples and their friends for helping them... but I just give thanks that this series is OVER.

Leia Mais

Simple but then tried too much near the end

Once again another mostly ordinary Thai BL series has come and gone. This one also comes from a mid-budget company with lead actors who are making their debut on TV and that was barely promoted compared to other stories (like "Tharn-Type", "Until We Meet Again" or "KinnPorsche" just to name a few examples). Many things were good, others not so much and here are some examples.

The Good (or at least decent)

1. Lukchup: The lead character has a lot of good qualities that make him endearing to the viewers. He is sweet, friendly, super shy, cute, kind, and makes delicious Thai desserts thanks to her awesome grandma. He is the type of character you feel a bit frustrated with because he is so shy and also wants to forgive everyone who harms him almost immediately but at the same time you understand that he is also a good person.

2. The story (up to episode 11): This series has to be an example of a show that, up to episode 11, decided to stay on a safe, nearly risk-free storyline. University students, one in the cooking program, the other in the architecture program, meet thanks to food and bit of luck and end up being together. Lukchup and Ram's relationship starts to develop very early in the series and it becomes a slow-burner but eventually, every situation they experience, they experience it together. Unlike other shows, the lead couple really talks as Ram has this confident aura around him that makes Lukchup feel safe and trust him. At the same time, Lukchup has this charming and cute aura around him that makes Ram (and almost everyone else) fall for him and want to help him and have him around. Both sets of families accept Lukchup and Ram's relationship quite easily and welcome them immediately, so at least we avoided the typical cliché of having a parent being opposed to his son being gay and being in a relationship. We also avoided the other Thai BL cliché of having a lead character go abroad to study or because his parents are sending him away as in this case, Ram decides to wait for Lukchup to graduate so both can go to France and have Lukchup attend a fancy culinary school.

3. Side characters (with some exceptions): Lukchup's friends (Kitty, Super, Phai and Pangji) and Ram's friends (Sky and Titan) are a good combination of friends to have. All provide good support to the two leads by giving advice when its needed, by being there when a problem arises or when they need being comforted, by listening to what their friends want, by being vocal and maybe point out when something is not fair or someone needs to be punished. Sky is always the voice of logic/reason, Titan is a bit childish sometimes but always loyal and willing to defend his friends, Kitty is always fighting for what's right, Pangji is there to make sure the others don't go too crazy, Phai is there to protect his friends, especially Lukchup, and Super provides some funny moments along with Kitty.

The Bad

1. The stoyline (episodes 11-13): Here is the typical case of a series that went longer than it should have. Normally, we complain when a story runs for too many episodes (like "Bite Me", "Love Area 2" or "Hidden Love", just to name a few) or when we don't have enough episodes and we end up wanting more story (like "To My Star", Semantic Error", "Light On Me", among others). "La Cuisine" was the former, as up to episode 10 the story could have ended with a few adjustments to that episode and we probably wouldn't have protested too much. However, the writers/director/sponsors/production company, whoever it was, decided we needed 3 more episodes and here is where the story goes up in flames. The Thai BL cliché of the crazy/bitchy female character went in overdrive as it was exploited to the extreme. NamNing decided that bullying Lukchup and paying 2 girls and a guy to harass him and later 4 goons to beat him up was not enough and in the final episode she goes off the rails by pointing a gun at all of them and crying like crazy. We get a small glimpse of why she is acting the way she is acting on episode 12. In a similar scenario to "Don't Say No" (a BL disaster) where a parent emotionally and psychologically manipulates a child, NamNing's father leaves with another woman and her mother keeps trying to convince her to never let go of who she wants by doing whatever is necessary to get/keep it. So, in her mind, Ram is hers (despite never having dated) and Lukchup needs to go away for her to have Ram. But, the last 3 episodes don't really match the tone of the previous 10 episodes. And, in another Thai BL cliché, we got time jumps of 1 month and 5 years to justify Lukchup having his own restaurant and Panji and Titan getting married in episode 13. Finally, it is a shame we barely saw the families as Lukchup's grandma and Jirachin (Lukchup's brother) had the most airtime of all while both sets of parents and Ram's older brother and little sister barely appeared after episode 2 and could have been used a bit more.

2. Acting: Mick (playing Lukchup) and Pop (playing Ram) are making their acting debut as leads in a series. Both gave a nice interview (in very decent English as Mick lived in Alabama for one year and Pop lived in the UK for 2 years) to the "Let's Talk BL" podcast (you can find it on Youtube, and no, this not a promotion) where they told us their motivation to become actors and how it is something they will pursue if there are opportunities in the future as Mick is focused on being an engineer and Pop just graduated from university (in hotel management). So, both are clearly not 100% committed to being an actor, yet, and that was a bit evident as some of their interactions were a bit awkward, they barely kissed in the series and Mick looked painfully shy in a lot of scenes when he had to hug or play cute with Pop... it was probably because the character was written that way, but it was a bit odd. The rest of the cast had some awkward moments as well, as their inexperience showed and led them to some poorly executed moments, particularly in the more intense episodes near the end.

3. Side couples: This was one of the few BL series that I remember, not having even a glimpse of a secondary couple (until the end at least). Since episode 1 we saw hints of Sky being interested in Phai but nothing really develops AT ALL from episode 1 to episode 12. And then, in the final half of episode 13 we get to see all the stories of the couples which some of them came out of nowhere. Kitty being courted by Pream's secretary (who appeared on episode 9-10 when they were gathering evidence gainst NamNing), Super being super rich but hiding it and also dating Khaosuay, Pangji and Titan being the only established side couple but with Pangji complaining that Titan was a bit conservative as he never really kissed her until she did and then in the second time jump, getting married (that was a bit of a jump there) and finally, the couple we all expected to see, did happen, albeit in the final 25 minutes of the show... Sky and Phai talk about going to watch a movie, then Phai unexpectedly invites Sky to his apartment as he has a new cocktail he wants him to try, which then leads to both using innuendos to flirt with each other until Sky kisses Phai in a rather steamy kiss. That was after the first time jump (one month has passed) so it was quite weird how this couple went from 0 to 100 in about 15 seconds of screentime... they do show a flashback narrated by Boom (who plays Phai) telling us how it was almost love at first sight and how they always gravitated towards each other. But this was rather poorly executed as at first I thought Phai had a crush on Lukchup and that's why he was so overly-protective of him, so while I appreciated the kiss, it was odd. The rest of the side couples were boring and honestly, not very interesting.

The Ugly

1. NamNing and all the situations around her: Yes, I understand she seems to be traumatized because her family doesn't really love her. As seen in episode 13 when her father coldly hands her over to the police officer and goes inside the house screaming he won't go to the station to see her and then in the first time jump, she seems to be alone in a mental facility with the nurse trying to get her to eat something and she only requesting Lukchup (the dessert). However, the character is an ugly one as she resorts to all sorts of tricks to try to make Ram be with her. She bullies Lukchup non-stop after she finds out they are together and even hires goons to assault him. This series took the whiny, bitchy, screaming, crazy female character to the utmost extreme. And, above all, it was very poorly acted by Brownie (the actress who plays NamNing). I feel bad criticizing someone who is debuting in the industry, but her acting was terrible... from laughing like a maniac, crying hysterically, begging Ram and Lukchup to forgive her, begging her father to help her, screaming at her maid and at the police officers, it all sounded fake and was very poorly done. It is a shame she had no proper acting advice by the series acting coach because such intense scenes could have been executed a lot better.

In the end, "La Cuisine" began as a sweet, easy-to-watch show that provided decent entertainment and served as an entrée before some of us watched the more intense "KinnPorsche" as our main dish afterwards. However, the show ended a bit more dramatically than it should have by having too many episodes. It gave us nice moments and Mick and Pop seem to have potential if they decide to focus on acting, so, watch it once and maybe forget it later.

Leia Mais

You will remember very few things a month from now

There are stories that are great in storytelling or have memorable characters or the plot goes away from the typical high school-university students, doctors or engineers, that make you gush about it for months or the series is too short and we end up craving so much more. Many BL fans forgive almost everything just because an actor is cute or the show has steamy scenes and overlook more important things like the plot or the acting because as some have commented on my posts before, "we are just looking for entertainment". That's ok, but if we can get well-made entertainment, wouldn't that be much better?

"Ghost Host Ghost House" is a show that began with an interesting premise of a boy who returns to Thailand after living abroad only to discover his aunt, uncle and cousins are all dead and he can see dead people. Unfortunately, 8 episodes were not enough to cover all the holes this story had that ended up making me go, wait, what happened with that? Or, how did we even get to this point? Of course, there are some good things and bad things, the show is made by Vibie and that means the resources of a GMMTV or a similar company are not the same. However, comparisons are inevitable and while this is NOT a disaster of a show, it falls below "He's Coming To Me" and "Something in My Room" who handled the ghost theme and the plot much better while it is on a similar level to "Peach of Time". Granted, those 3 shows had a ghost fall in love with a living character and in "Ghost Host Ghost House" both main leads are alive and well, but still... let's dive into some details.

The good:

1) Side characters shine: Indeed, as some already pointed out, Guide (playing See-foon) and Natty (playing See-nam) provide much deeper moments for us than Boy (playing Pluem) and Tod (playing Kevin) do. Guide is making his acting debut (he appeared briefly in "Why You... Y Me?" and Natty is also brand new to the industry and, despite that, both gives us some memorable acting moments in episodes 6 and 7 when they both use their remaining merit points to live their "Last Day". See-foon uses it to spend time with Pluem and Kevin as he was bullied in school and had no friends, so he wanted to spend his last moments doing whatever he wanted and just eating and talking with people who cared about him. The scene when he disappears is well done as his face really portrays the emotions of feeling sad and maybe angry after suffering the bullying and now being happy and relieved that his last moments were with a friend and with his cousin. See-nam also has interesting moments as he reconciles with her father in a tearjerker scene, plays the guitar during the BBQ scene in which Pluem and Kevin comment they've never seen her smile like that and also visits Prim at school (using her merit points) to long for the love that never happened due to her death. Incz (playing Prim) also has interesting moments when she is not speaking and then when she finds out the reason See-nam never visited in the hospital after the accident (the car crash that killed Kevin's family also kills Pluem's dad which causes trauma in Prim). All side actors, including the the two adults provided good moments.

2) The lack of tropes/clichés: And trust me, I put this a heavy positive... this is a Thai BL WITHOUT, I repeat, WITHOUT, the usual tropes of: a) a crazy woman who is in love with one of the main male leads and cannot or will not accept that he is not in love with her so she screams like a maniac or does whatever silly thing her heart desires to break up the main couple. b) Parents who are vehemently against their son being gay or their son dating another boy and try to break them up by shipping their son abroad for several years or bribing the other guy to disappear or trying to convince them they are not good together. c) Parents who are completely in favor of their son being gay and acting like obsessed cheerleaders when their son brings his boyfriend home. d) Ridiculous or silly plots in order to make the main couple meet and fall in love. e) Friends who are more like shippers, or even worse, actual shippers who imagine all the steamy scenes between the main couple just to give the viewers some eye candy but that doesn't match with the rest of the story. f) Another male character who acts as the third in a love triangle when its obvious he has 0% chance of getting one of the main leads.

3) Chemistry: And I know some are not fully convinced, but watching Tod and Boy interact outside the show and in the show feels good compared to Peat and Fort in "Love in the Air" when Peat sometimes looks so awkward when Fort tries to hug him or touch him outside of the show. Tod is 6 years younger than Boy (which is why all call him "uncle" in the behind-the-scenes and in other Vibie Gen content) but despite the age gap, both adjusted quite well and the love scenes (which were quite well made) don't look forced, don't look awkward, and don't look like one of the actors is just waiting for the "cut" from the director to run away as far as he can). Plus, the rest of the cast seem to get along quite well despite some barely being on-screen together.

Now the bad:

1) Plot: I'm sorry, but I can't overlook this. This show had so much potential but it was ruined in 2 parts in my opinion. First, when Kevin finds out his family is dead, which I felt it was too soon... but ok, I felt the writer and the director could go in a different direction, but no... first the ghost hunters trying to break-in and then the thieves who get scared by the family which is what causes Kevin to find out, were straight out of a comedic scary movie. The second time was during the beach scenes when Kevin suddenly starts having doubts about committing to Pluem because apparently he can't forget about Jake (his boyfriend who was never a boyfriend officially, just a good friend as Kevin specifically points out near the end of episode 8), he also feels this is too good to be true and is scared to lose it all. All those might be valid concerns, but they came out of nowhere and after talking to Pluem in all the other episodes, this time he just packs his things and leaves... I mean... ok... writers needed a bit more things to fill out episodes 6-8, but still, it didn't make much sense. Kevin is suddenly so insecure and scared and he decides just to run away instead of talking.
Then we have Jake and his story, Prim and her story with See-nam, and the deaths of the family and Pluem's father... not much is revealed about why Jake only chats with See-foon (other than See-foon entering Kevin's dream to find out about Jake), in fact, Jake only starts appearing on episode 5 but according to him, he has been there all the time (even following Kevin from the US to Thailand, go figure... a traveling ghost!). Prim and See-nam are attracted to each other but we only got glimpses of their background story and we know how the family dies but it is weird that apparently there is no investigation, nobody notifies Kevin's mother in America, nobody in the neighborhood finds it odd that the family was there one day and gone the next, etc... So, too many stories that could have been further developed and ended up disappearing like a ghost.

2) The acting: And this not a critic to the actors... I've criticized bad acting before but this time I feel is not their fault. Most are new, Tod appeared in "Love Area Part 1" and the disaster that was "Love Area Part 2" but the rest have no experience, so the acting coach, the writer and the director should have made it clear in what direction they wanted to go with the story and what type of emotions they needed the actors to convey... as some felt awkward. The slow-paced dialogues seem to be the new trend in Thai BLs and while that is a bit annoying, this time it didn't bother that much like it did in "Bite Me", for example.

In the end, this show is not the worst by any stretch of the imagination but you will watch it and aside from some specific moments you will forget about it very quickly.

Leia Mais

Mixed feelings

I'll say that just like the headline of this review, Gameboys The Movie left me with mixed feelings... here's why.

First the positives:

1. Watching Gavreel and Cairo along with Pearl and the rest of the gang after season 1 of the series ended is great. The chemistry the whole cast has been able to achieve is something remarkable and Kokoy de Santos and Elijah Canlas really complement each other as one portrays this super confident and sexy character while the other is the nerdy charming guy.

2. Once again acting and directing are on point, especially Canlas and de Santos as they both traverse through the joy and excitement of being together after season 1 ended with Cairo's mother allowing him to spend some time with Gavreel before joining her and his brothers in another province in the Philippines. They way they playfully navigate through a day of just mundane things like laundry or cooking is great, followed by Gavreel's silliness when they go to bed. As other characters arrive we see the joy and also a bit of shock to see the gang all together only to all be spoiled by the arrival of Aunt Susan who resembles so many nosy, annoying family members who have an opinion for everything and are normally wrong.

3. Pearl this time doesn't shine as much as she did in the series because there are more characters and situations arising around here but Adrianna So once again brings a much needed break from the lovebirds with some funny moments and also some dose of reality like the conversation she has with Cairo about the real reason Gavreel never went to NY to live with his Aunt Myra.

Now the not so positives:

1. The storyline was a bit shaky at some points. The movie is 1 hour 47 minutes long but some sequences are a bit unnecessary. Yes, I admit I enjoyed Cairo and Gavreel doing laundry and being a happy couple, but some of those moments tend to be a bit long and super cheesy. Then, there is no real reason for Terrence to suddenly arrive drunk at Gav's house, sure he knows where he lives and he is feeling super lonely, but he literally just crashes the party. Then Wesley arrives just following Terrence as their situation from the special episode (ep 13) in the series gets explained a bit more.
Achilles is another of those characters whose background is not very clear but he had a fling with Terrence back when he couldn't commit or didn't want to commit, so their tense moments, while well acted, really needed a bit more context than what they explained during their fight.

2. Gavreel's background was clear since the series when he mentioned his grandmother Cora raised him after his parents died. Besides that we knew bits and pieces from him, so I think something was a bit of a surprise was the appearance of Aunt Susan. The typical homophobic person who doesn't feel she is homophobic or rude because she uses the excuse of wanting "what's best for Gavreel" or in "the name of God". The religious zealot who confuses everyone and everything with her ideas and concepts of what a relationship should be. She brings a lot of conflicts to Gavreel and Cairo's relationship and also plays the "your aunt Myra is dying" card to cause Gavreel to leave to NY to be with her.
AND, one of the things that bothered me the most was how Gavreel was portrayed as a character here. In the series and in parts of the movie he is a super confident young man who knows he loves Cairo and is happy around him and his friends. But Aunt Susan just reminds him of his past and he just suddenly crumbles under all the stress and pressure. It was a bit surprising to see how this confident, nearly cocky guy, just goes to a puddle of tears and sobs because he can't handle coming out to her aunt, he can't handle his other aunt dying. I know people cope with stress differently, but in Gavreel it was a bit unexpected.

3. The ending was when the mixed feelings fully kicked in for me. On one hand, I knew Cairo had to go back to his family and after talking to Aunt Myra, Gavreel decides to go to NY to live with her. So that was expected... but at the same time it was sad to see them actually leaving and all the tears in-between. I know season 2 is supposed to come at some point and this movie was just a bridge provided by IdeaFirst Company because season 1 ended with the promise of season 2 but the pandemic has delayed filming, so the movie was done to quench our thirst for Gavreel and Cairo but with this ending, I wonder how is the director approaching season 2. Will the show jump several years into the future? Will we get Cairo in the Philippines and Gavreel in NY?

In the end, the movie was a bit long but it did was it was supposed to do, provide us with some Cai-Reel moments alongside the rest of the gang for us to recharge our batteries in order to patiently wait for season 2.

Leia Mais

Popular faces but mostly disappointing

I don't have a clue what is it with Thai BL and their obsession to throw at us somewhat popular BL couples on TV at every single opportunity without really thinking about the product they are placing.

The six short stories had really very little worth talking about. Out of the six, I think the story with Jimmy and Tommy (ep. 5) was by far the most successful in my opinion. We all know the great chemistry both guys have with each other since doing all the Domundi videos and then WhyRU. This time we get to see them as pen pals one living in Bangkok (Jimmy) and the other living in Chiang Mai (Tommy). What starts as a school assignment clearly becomes much more as we can really see their fondness for each other and wanting to read the letters or talk on the phone. Since it was set up as a story in the mid-90's it brought back some memories of having a pen pal, using a walkman, or the slow and tedious process of recording a mix tape the way Jimmy does it. Jimmy's interactions with his mother are also very nice as she plays the playful and nosy mother and Jimmy responds well to that. I was sad that these episodes are quite short as I would like to see more interaction between the 2 characters but it ends on a nice note.

Then, second place goes to the episode with Talay and Yoon. Thanks to YYY and Y-Destiny these two also have developed a good chemistry as well (not as good as Jimmy-Tommy, but good enough). So, despite the silly setup of the episode (Yoon's character has just broken up with his girlfriend and thinks he is unlucky in love and Talay's character likes him so makes him go with him on a road trip to make the spirits happy and bring his good luck back as an excuse to spend time together), I think the story works as we see Talay showing his shy side and also expressing some interest in Yoon's character without saying it out loud. Talay conveys his expressions quite well and Yoon takes on his usual calm demeanor throughout the episode.

Copter and Kimmon, Ohm and Fluke, Max and Nat and Ja and First are the remaining couples in the other 4 episodes. Kimmon and Copter also have such a great chemistry from working together for so long but the storyline of the episode, Copter winning a virtual version of Kimmon is a bit odd and while it was acted properly, it didn't connect with me the way these two have delivered in previous series. Ohm and Fluke is the typical "where is our relationship going?" episode with Fluke doing what he does best, crying or being sad, and Ohm also doing a good but not great job. This episode could have been way more intense but with the episode being so short, that went out of the window. Max and Nat are cute together but their plots are nearly the same all the time, Nat being the smaller, weaker, more frail of the two is always bullied or harassed by the stronger, bigger Max so barely any moments worth mentioning. And the final couple, Ja and First, are both cute but I really can't seem to like them (especially First), there is something about them or the characters they've portrayed so far that rubs me the wrong way and I can't seem to warm up to them. Plus the story of First being a cat is crazy and a bit weird that Ja "flirts" with a cat.

In the end, another Thai BL show created just for the sake of adding another one to the list and taking out the Jimmy-Tommy episode and some moments of the Talay-Yoon and Ohm-Fluke episodes, nothing worth watching again.

Leia Mais

One step forward, two, sometimes three steps backward

Oh the potential this series had!
And no, I'm not writing a delusional review like a few I've seen in here that were written on April 18 (the day the 1st episode aired!) and on May 3, telling me how wonderful the show is and giving all perfect scores.
This show is far from perfect and here's why:

1. Plot/Storyline: Office love is nothing new... we've seen a few office BLs recently like the Korean "Roommates of Poongduck 304", the Japanese "Cherry Magic", or the Thai "Bed Friends", so no, not an original setting. The way it was executed was also part of the problem with Pat entering a gossiping nest of a company as Ying and other employees cannot stop criticizing their boss in the episodes 1-3 (more or less) and suddenly, they magically stop. Jeng is the son of the company's president but is a micromanaging boss who doesn't trust anyone to do the job so he is always verifying it behind their backs or trying to influence the way his employees do certain things. The company's president is Jeng's father and he is also secretly involved in many things as he controls his son's life the way he wants and Jeng rarely says anything.
All that changes when Pat comes to work, as he is brutally honest since the beginning and Jeng begins to understand his mistakes even if he doesn't do much to change during the show. Pat finds two good friends in Chot and Nan who shield him from the gossip around him and give some good advice inside the company and Ae helps Pat outside of the company. Both him and Jeng slowly fall in love... and I REALLY mean SLOWLY!... as the don't do much until the latter episodes as Pat is living with very low self-esteem and insecurities and Jeng is uncertain if Pat will like him. Plus, Put is always lurking in the initial episodes as he wants to get back with Pat despite having broken up some time ago. So far, nothing that exciting... and it shows, as the series moved at a glacial pace sometimes with never ending scenes that included useless meetings, commercial shooting, Pat crying 3,467 times, Jeng looking confused... which takes me to...

2. Characters: Pat is smart when talking about marketing and ad design but he is a whiny crybaby for everything else. His relationship with Put goes nowhere and yet, he takes him back. His relationship with Jeng should have been developed since episode 4-5 but we had to go through his insecurities and doubts and then his overly dramatic moments of being disappointed in what Jeng did. Mr. Jeng is a nightmare boss that wants to control every single detail but he transfers that to his relationship with Pat when he doesn't trust him at all on episodes 10-11 and goes behind his back paying influencers so Pat's project becomes a success... something Pat finds out thanks to Jeng's father (another manipulative person). Jaab acts like a spoiled brat sometimes and he likes Jan or Jane (his name was written in 3 different ways in the English translation) but he gets rejected and he tends to sulk and sigh all the time. Jane simply disappeared around episode 7-8 when he quits and leaves, then he re-appeared briefly in Ae's wedding and then he supposedly went to Japan for two years. Way to mess up the secondary couple! The other characters are mostly forgettable... Ying is a gossiping machine at first, then transforms into a model worker and then quits in episode 12 to become a BL novelist... and her book?! "Step by Step"... how original! Put is the third wheel in most of the scenes as it fell like he never really matched the mood of the other characters... he wanted pat back but didn't try too hard... he wanted to antagonize Jeng but he wasn't that mean or cunning, so it ends up being just another character. Chot is the only saving grace of the show as he is the boisterous and colorful character that brings some sense to the rest of the cast while providing some funny moments as well. This reflects badly on...

3. Directing/Writing: Not sure what the final purpose of the show really was. The main relationship develops at a slow pace, the secondary couple had no development after Jane leaves and the ending for them leaves A LOT to be desired, and the straight (Ae/Khanun) couple goes from dating, to being pregnant, to marrying, to having the baby... so they developed quite quickly compared to the main couple. The uncut episodes were quite long (episode 12 is 1 hour and 42 minutes long!) but in this case, longer episodes didn't necessarily meant better episodes. Instead of having the chance to develop the characters and the situations a bit more and a bit better, directing and writing fell in the same traps throughout the series. If there is a problem, let's have Pat cry on his father's shoulder or have him argue with Jeng (while crying) and finish it with Chot or Ae or both providing some advice to Pat and Tae giving advice to Jeng, rinse and repeat this cycle. We saw this trend several times on the show and it became dull and annoying as we knew it will happen eventually. Questionable directing and writing also caused problems in another area...

4. Acting: Man (playing Jeng) is the most experienced actor from the bunch and his acting skills were ok, particularly when he cries with Jaab and acts vulnerable for the first time in the series. But he looked a bit stiff in some other scenes when it was Ben (playing Pat) who had to express more feelings than him. Look for the scenes of Ben crying and Man is just standing there watching awkwardly and then saying his lines. Bruce (playing Chot) was finally in his element as a diva after we saw him as the bad guy in "Lovely Writer" and had a quick appearance on "Paint with Love". Here he shines as he looked comfortable in this character and sometimes even stole the scene over the two leads and Up (playing Put) who felt flat for most of the show as he did not have many things to do as a secondary character. Saint (playing Jaab) was a nice surprise as he not only is very attractive but his acting was decent at times... he still needs some time to develop them but he seems to be on track. Wind (playing Jane) was a mystery... his character had some moments with Jaab but then he basically leaves on episode 7 and rarely appears afterwards. And finally, we go to...

5. The finale: Oh boy... you would think that 1 hour and 42 minutes will be enough to tell us the end of this story. Sadly, this episode became a long and almost boring one with the usual 7 meetings per episode with filler characters taking fake notes and pretending to be relevant for the scene. The episode is set 2 years after the previous one and Pat has blocked Jeng and moved on to create a company with Chot and Ae but about 90 of the 102 minutes of the episode, he is distracted, thinking about Jeng but doing nothing to talk to him and solve the issue... something that could have been done in about 5 minutes, maybe 10. They finally reconcile in a cheesy scene in the restaurant's kitchen with Pat telling Jeng he never hated him and that he was not hurt, only angry about what he did to him before but he wasn't angry anymore... so, you blocked him for 2 years but you weren't thaaat mad? Then, instead of having some scenes with Jaab-Jane... we get NOTHING... we get more Pat-Jeng dull scenes with two birthdays in the span of 3 minutes, Pat acting like a child while eating curry and Jeng finally resigning from his father's company... oh and we met Jeng's mother for about 5 seconds before she leaves.

A few more things... the production cannot even get things right as the trophy "Broccoli House" wins for the Best Ad is misspelled saying "Best Ad Awrad 2024" and what was the point of having all the meetings with Ms. Nadia from Fjord group in English? Sabina (the actress playing Nadia) is Thai-Austrian and we saw her recently in the mediocre "War of Y", so we know she is fluent in Thai. In this series, she only speaks in English and when she does, she clearly has an accent and she makes several mistakes... so what was the point of that?

In the end, another Thai BL series that leaves me with the sense of what might have been if some things were done differently or at least, done better.

Leia Mais

Nothing fancy in this ride... but it was still good

When I watch and review a Thai BL series, I would normally tell you one of 6 possible scenarios... a) the series was a total disaster because of terrible writing/directing that also affected the acting and the story itself (see "Love by Chance 2", "Don't Say No", "Tharn-Type 2", "Y-Destiny", "Cause You're My Boy", "Secret Crush on You" or "Love Area 2"); b) the series was a boring experience because of long and dull scenes that moved the story at a glacial pace or the plot was uninspired, unoriginal or it got even more boring along the way (see "Tonhon-Chonlatee", "Bite Me", "Gen Y", "Gen Y 2", "Physical Therapy", "Call It Like You Want", "Call It Like You Want 2" or "Close Friend"); c) the series had lead actors who lacked some chemistry or their acting was a bit (or a lot) underwhelming (see "My Oxygen", "Golden Blood", or "My Boy"); d) the series started with some promise, only to fade into oblivion thanks to a confusing plot/storyline and the series had more episodes than it should have had (see "Top Secret Together", "Hidden Love" or "Love Stage"); e) the series was just plain, had nice moments either in the plot or with the actors, it served as decent entertainment, but was nothing memorable in the end (see "Bad Buddy" - seriously, if you take Ohm and Nanon out, you're left with nothing, "2gether", "Still 2gether", "Lovely Writer", "Fish Upon the Sky", "Siew Sum Noi", "Hometown's Embrace", "Enchanté", "You're My Sky", "My Engineer", "YYY" or "Nitiman"); or finally, f) the series was successful, had some flaws but it was redeemed by either great acting, good directing/writing, an interesting/original plot, good chemistry between the couples and/or did not rely in the excessive use of the usual Thai BL clichés (see "Until We Meet Again", "The Yearbook", "Not Me", "Manner of Death", "He's Coming to Me", "Something in My Room", or the combo "I Told Sunset About You"/"I Promised You the Moon"). Of course, you could argue that some of these examples might fall in the middle of 2 scenarios and, in other cases, because they are coming from a small budget company, the series suffer from something that can be either poor acting due to rookie actors, bad directing and low quality due to the money constraints.

This time, "My Ride" is no exception as, in my opinion, it falls in-between 2 categories this time... it is a plain story that had some nice moments but I believe it was a bit more memorable than others in the end. Here's why (and I assume you at least read the summary of the plot)...

a. The couples: Here you have nice and not so nice... Mork and Tawan are the lead couple and I really like them in the series. Both characters are likeable and coming from such different backgrounds (one is a motorcycle taxi driver and the other is a doctor) but both have failed relationships as Mork breaks up with his girlfriend of many years, Fern, and Tawan is in a relationship with another doctor, Por, only for him to slowly find out that Por already has a boyfriend and he is cheating on him with Tawan. Both characters have to navigate through plenty of emotions dealing with their own relationships and mixed in the process, they find each other as Tawan begins using the taxi service near the hospital and Mork is his usual driver and both begin to realize they have feelings for each other. Both Fluke and Fame are the same age in real life and while I'm not sure if that actually helped their chemistry (we've seen BL couples with larger age differentials that simply don't work well together), this time it did make it look and feel less awkward when they had on-screen interactions. All their conflicts were always solved through talking (yes, maybe one or two episodes later than it should) but their feelings were sincere and they communicated unlike other couples we've seen in the past.
The other couples were the not-so-nice part as Boss and Toy and Dr. Nadia and Mayom had storylines that were not very original, had very little screen time compared to the lead couple, and their situation was nothing that inspired or excited me to see how the writer and the director would deal with it. Acting was a bit shady as well as I've never been a fan of Yoon (who plays Toy) as he has acted in quite a few BLs I've seen and I find him almost robotic... his expressions, his voice level and his demeanor barely change from one series to the next and from one character to the next. Best (who plays Boss) looked a bit stiff and awkward as he is only 20 years old and had to play a senior character to Yoon, who is 28 years old. The confession in the final episode felt a bit too dramatic and staged and Toy's reactions felt a bit fake. The other couple had few memorable moments... I would say that it was quite a contrast to see Ging (who plays Nadia) act in this series as she has a completely different role in here compared to the bitchy and whiny girl she plays in "Secret Crush on You". Pat (who plays Dr. Por) is already playing a nurse in the intriguing "Doctor, I'm Coming for Soul", so I guess doing double duty is the acting trend for some actors now.
On a side note, Mork's uncles were a delight and provided a nice comedic relief and some serious advice during the series so the characters were quite welcomed.

b. The storyline: Again, you have good and not so good... The idea of a motorcycle taxi driver and a doctor and a barista and a doctor ending up together is not as bizarre or as impossible as the rest of the motorbike gang or even Dr. Nadia kept trying to influence the lead actors during the series. The gang kept telling Mork that a doctor was more likely to get back together with the other doctor rather than choosing a poor and uneducated motorcycle taxi driver. Dr. Nadia kept telling Tawan that things between him and Mork might never work as they were different... I will never understand how social class, education or the salary you earn can play such an important role on the person I love, which made me dislike the storyline a bit. I felt that the story between Tawan and Dr. Por dragged along for a few more episodes than it was needed. We all knew that Por was seeing someone behind Tawan's back but we had to wait a while for him to finally find out and then we had to wait yet even more for Tawan to nearly beg for a second chance, be humiliated by Por's boyfriend, cry and cry and cry again, before he finally realized that Mork liked him and that he might like Mork back. Aside from the things surrounding their relationship, the main storyline of the lead couple was great as we slowly see them progress from being driver-customer to friends to possible lovers to being together for 4 years in the time jump we had at the end. The storylines of the other couples were meh, not so good, as Nadia plays hard to get and rejects Mayom only for her to be jealous of all the attention he is getting later and Toy tries to get Boss out of his comfort zone by pushing him to do things he's never done but by being annoying in the process. And in the miracle of miracles, when I thought the bitchy and whiny female character that wants the lead actor back would appear when Fern showed up to talk Mork into getting back together, I was pleasantly surprised when she reacted in a logical and cool way when he said no because he already was in love with Tawan... Fern reacted like all the other female characters (except Fon in "My Engineer" and Pan in "You're My Sky") should have reacted, accepting the fact that her relationship with the male lead actor was over and move on in a logical and mature way instead of going down kicking and screaming or plotting "evil" things that never work.

So, once again, "My Ride" ended up being a story that was certainly not perfect and it wasn't particularly original or innovative but that provided us with a nice lead couple with quite decent and entertaining interactions without having to include constant shirtless scenes, 139 kisses, one sex scene every other episode or naughty flirting to catch my attention. Nothing fancy in this ride, but it was still good.

Leia Mais

A total trainwreck

I will keep this review short because there is really no point on even doing one given the super mediocre and low quality of this series...

This was a trainwreck and a total disaster put together in a Thai BL series. I don't even understand why Line TV picked up this mess from yet another small company called Jumdee Film Productions who felt the need to produce a BL just because it has been the popular trend around small Thailand companies.
Well, save yourself from the pain of this series that lasted 12 excruciating episodes of useless scenes, terrible acting, no credible storyline or plot, bad directing, bad writing, bad everything.

The main couple of two newcomers in Pakoo (playing Nut) and Tawan (playing Satha) has to be the most mismatched BL couple ever. I normally do not judge a series based on the looks of the actors because that is a very superficial thing to do but in this case it really seem to affect many of the comments and reviews I've read in here as most people don't understand why these two actors were chosen. The age difference was so obvious between the main leads that it was a bit awkward to watch their romantic moments as it felt odd to see Tawan and Pakoo kiss or cuddle together. I am not against an older-younger couple but the lack of chemistry and the lack of good acting made their situation a bit weird. Plus, their relationship is always unclear because Nut is falling for Satha but Satha keeps rejecting Nut when he is confronted by others about it only to then desperately try to convince Nut that he really really loves him.

The side couple of Ing (playing Jedi) and Get (playing Nanon) was more of the traditional BL cliché of having the actors doing all cute things together. However, their relationship went from zero to 100 in about 2 minutes after they get drunk at a party and end up having sex. Then they realize they like each other and become a couple... that's it, no drama, no complications, no nothing... they just became a couple faster than I could type these lines.

The episodes were relatively short for a full 12-episode series and that made the plot and the storyline full of failures. Some of the episodes had nothing relevant happening only to fill the last 2 or 3 minutes with drama between Satha and Nut and their relationship or the side couple moments. Bad directing and bad writing had so many boring and dull moments and if you have a lot of those in a 25 to 28-minute episode then it basically fails. The actors clearly had not a lot of workshops to prepare and with most of them making their acting debut, it was obvious they lacked the proper direction to portray their emotions better and go from a happy to a sad moment more convincingly.

The only one with acting experience is Net (playing Nut's ex-boyfriend Ball) who was one of the main actors in "Hidden Love" (a mediocre show that had some nice moments) and also in "I'm Your King Season 2" (another BL disaster). However, in this series, he plays the role of the bad guy who was Nut's boyfriend, cheated, got dumped and now wants to get Nut back. But in another bad directing and bad writing moment, he suddenly appears in front of Satha in episode 12 and changes his attitude, saying he understands how much Nut did for him and how bad he treated him so he was leaving and letting him find happiness. So after several episodes of tormenting and stalking Nut and even dating one of Nut's friend (a girl) just to get closer to Nut, he just decides to quit?! Makes no sense.

As I said, this whole series had many dull moments and combined with the lack of chemistry between the main couple and nearly all of the cast, the bad directing, the bad writing, the bad acting, made "My Boy" probably one of the worst BL series I've seen in several years. So, you get a 10 just for watching all 12 episodes and not quitting at some point.

Leia Mais