Sotus: The Series (2016)

This is my second Thai BL series. It super-exceeded 2 moons(except the cuteness of the actors)

"Do not Judge the Book by Its Cover"
Most movie-goers or watch series, they would always look to the lists of the casts and do some research what the artists have achieved. Well, that's true, because without acting experience or the actor / actor's appearance at the same time in the show, you're not going to play it. So you have time to entertain.
This is the second after 2 Moons. I say, follow-up of 2 Moons, season 2 but far, maybe next year. Then I saw your trailer, 'I'm not impressed. Is not it, usually, in a trailer, you should get your attention, but not.
No choice, no other motive when break. The setting was usual, school ground, school auditorium, field. I was shocked! First episode it just triggers your angry button. You'll be able to get rid of the execution of anger in scenes. You will be brought. Your rocky lines of actors, realistic. You'll be disappointed that even if you're affected by their emotions. Then you can also say YES when he trashtalk your badass against him. extraordinaire
As usual, the story flow is slow but it's okay. Because of this, every character, role-leader or supporting role, has the opportunity to recognize the viewers. Well, the lead is of course the center of the series. Its casting is good, because as I said, you can take on their acting skills.
You can not predict what will happen next.
Unexpected. Realistic. Season 2.
-
Sotus, the series (2016)

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I don't get the hype

My introduction to the world of BL drama started with 2gether. Soon, I started to realize that 2gether and SOTUS were two of the most popular and talked about BLs. Maybe my expectations were way too high, but I was severely underwhelmed as I dredged through this series.

There's not much that happens for most of the first 8 episodes. Arthit and Kongpop's relationship is the big appeal to the drama but there was hardly any interaction until episode 9. I'm not saying that I expect to see them making out by episode 2 but there wasn't a lick of genuine development for 8 of the 15 episode run. Every bit of interaction between them went like this: Kongpop says something flirty and Arthit yells at him. Once per episode. FOR 8 WHOLE EPISODES! Girl, bye.

Most of the plotlines before episode 9 were very forgettable. As I watched the show, I would sometimes forget things that happened in the previous episode even after just watching it. Simply put, there just wasn't much going on. The freshmen spend a lot of time talking about classes or how they dread being punished by the seniors and the seniors spend a lot of time trying to convince themselves that they haze the freshmen for the greater good. Much of SOTUS felt like a "day in the life of engineering students" documentary than an actual drama with stakes.

Thankfully, the show began focusing more on the lead relationship by episode 9. But tbh, even then, it wasn't giving what the hype said it was supposed to gave. They didn't give me enough cute moments. I wasn't getting the longing gazes and stolen glances that I've grown accustomed to from BLs. By episode 10, Kongpop admitted his feelings to Arthit and then the angst began. Sadly, it didn't feel deserved at all. Yes, it was technically episode 10 but the good stuff just started happening in episode 9 and now we were back to square one because Arthit avoided him for 2 whole episodes. I'm reiterating once again that I just don't get the hype.

Episodes 13 and 14 were great and is the show that I wish SOTUS had been all along. Most Thai BLs exist in a world that's free of homophobia and what I enjoyed about episode 14 is that Arthit speaks openly about his fear of dealing with homophobia from society. And then... nothing. Everyone accepts their relationship with absolutely no judgement and as sweet as that is, I was given a false sense of impending conflict that wasn't delivered. It would have been nice to see Arthit overcome such adversity in episode 15, especially considering that ep 15 was equally forgettable and uneventful. It was just fluff that held no weight and further emphasized the paper thin arc of the overall series.

I will say that the freshmen girls were given a lot of screentime in the beginning and I really had hope that they were important supporting characters and not just plot devices to cause conflict between the boys. But, of course, I was hoping for too much. Once Kongpop rejected May in episode 12, she disappeared completely. After so much time spent with her, it felt cheap that her only relevance onscreen was with Kongpop and M.

There was also a subplot involving Prem and Wad in the earlier episodes that led absolutely nowhere.

It's evident that any sideplot written in was just to run down the time a little more while providing little to no relevant development for Kongpop and Arthit.

And since I'm on a roll here, I should take the time to mention that the color grading and lighting for the show was never consistent. Some scenes would look washed out and then be much higher in brightness in the next shot, same scene. It was very distracting and drew me away from the show that I was already having trouble connecting with.

That said, I do love the chemistry between Krist and Singto and that chemistry alone is why I'm willing to checking out SOTUS S.

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Sotus paved the way. Saint Singto gave us our rights. Kings of GMMTV. Wigs? Snatched. UWUS? Busted. Pink milk? Drunk. Engineering degrees? Completed. Raikan? Topeni.

This was the first drama we watched as a cult, and we were not disappointed. The dramatic river scenes were a cultural reset. When we, still at this point, hear the sacred words of raikan topeni, part of us still feel the Sotus nostalgia. Get that bread! Get that romance! Get that gear! We are engineer!

On a more serious note, this drama did actually pave the way for the success of many other bl dramas, thus beginning to bring gay romcoms into the mainstream. Someday we will hopefully see lgbt creators in charge of their own stories, but until then Sotus remains a refreshing take on this genre with a gay couple in its centre. It is also notable that Sotus popularised the engineering concept, which I know many people are tired of, but in my opinion it remains a wholesome classic. As a bonus, it even has a lesbian couple if you squint. Not many other bl dramas can say that. Let's go, lesbians. We think this review now contains a perfect balance of humour, heart, and seriousness....just like Sotus.

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I had been lowkey avoiding this for a while now only because of it not sounding all that interesting, but let me tell you how wrong I was. This drama is ranking high up on my list of watched dramas.

Krist (Arthit) and Singto (Kongpob) had such great chemistry and anytime they did something together it just made my heart flutter. They are both wonderful actors who you can tell are very passionate about bringing their character to life. The music was fantastic, and I really liked the use of the song "Happy Endings". It stepped up the mood that was being presented between the two. The theme song also gets you so pumped for the episode, its fantastic.

The only thing I didn't much care for was how long the hazing went on for. I understand that its a bases for the show, but after going through six episodes with the Seniors yelling at the Juniors over and over, it kind of got old. I also wish we could have seen more of the relationship forming between certain side characters, specifically Wad and Prem.

Overall, I should have watched this sooner than I did. I highly recommend it and you'll be glad you watched it. It will fill your heart with joy and make you unable to stop smiling!

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Singto. Need I say more.

Alright, so this was the first time I had any encounter with the Practice of Hazing and the so called Sotus system, and I have to say I was thankful that they explicitly point out at the beginning that the hazing depicted in the series is embellished for entertainment purposes. The hazing part honestly was the only thing I didn’t like all that much about this Drama, but it’s also what basically made the whole plot and made the character Arthit (lead) so much more interesting, as well as it gave us a chance to really get to know and understand Kongpop (lead).

I honestly (as almost always) loved the actors but I really really loved the two main actors and how they portrayed their characters. Everything seemed just extremely natural. And let’s not forget they are both not bad on the eye at all.

While I was a little appalled by the one main lead in the beginning I quickly changed my mind once I got to know and understand him more and better. The other one was a refreshing character that I honestly loved from the get go.

Overall this story was something new and sweet and definitely worth the watch.
I loved the pace and feeling of the development of the relationship between the two leads. However I may have wished for a tiny bit more action or let’s say deepening of their relationship once they got together (I have not seen season two yet, maybe it has everything that I was missing from the first), I would have also loved a little more development for side characters and their possible love interests. Also it was kind of irritating at times that from the 100 engineering freshmen there were only 6 actively doing anything? But well that’s just picking at details now.

Overall this definitely is one of my top 5 BL Series and I recommend giving it a try!

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almost in this series i was internally&externally screaming like bitch !!! after addicted(heroine) i enjoyed this series most ....i m big fangirl of bl dramas mangas but this got my heart till the bottom with feelings of emotional roller coaster .
it was perfect balance of cast and their role ....it was not cliche at all .....giving u heartwarming feelings of loving someone ...ya in beginning eps it shows ragging and bullying of every college of any country .....pkong who come up as an hero against rules and methods of seniors i love him his smile is freaking postive and cute .....his expressions are bloody damit natural , the way he move his facial expressions, his adam apples jaws eye everything i love about him ..another hand pink milk monster (Arthit ) has debak smile which made this drama more cute and refreshing for me ....i love scolding jeoulosy making love scenes most .
That kisses gives me life. Like, seriously. Such a perfect kiss. Not awkward at all - and I know they're good friends and get along irl - but gosh it gets me every time.
i died screaming in this mny time ...i have pause and again watch their cute moments in this ......must watch guys ..it doesnt matter whom u love irrespective of any gender just love ..we all need love ...

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Personally, it is the best BL series that I have watched so far. That's why I gave it a overall rating of 10.
First of all, I'll like to say that the overall concept of the culture of hazing in SOTUS  is very well developed and portrayed. Some people say that they didn't find it to be a BL series until after the first few chapters, but I think that is what makes it so good. The transition from junior-senior relation hardships to the love affair seems very natural and the story treasures the portrayal of senior-junior relationship until the end. The fact that it centers on the SOTUS system was a great success and left many emotions on the viewer. I guess these are the main reasons why many international fans actually watched all the episodes on one night (including me), just because the storyline is very well developed and so sweet.
Of course, the success of the series can be well explained by the writing, which is  very well done by Bittersweet. It might have been very hard for her to transform a novel into a drama script, but everything was just on the point and I feel that she has full control of all the characters. All the side-characters are also very fun and interesting, because each of them have distinct characteristics, which is often hard to achieve because BL works often just focus on the main couple.  
There were some criticisms and quarrels regarding the casting, but they all did a great job at the end. A novel adaption always have those criticisms on how the actors don't really represent the character well (like Krist not looking like Arthit). Although, in the end, there are so many fans attracted to their chemistry and if it was not these two, SOTUS wouldn't have been highly rated as it is now (and vice versa, SingtoKrist wouldn't have been this popular if it wasn't for SOTUS). That's why I gave it a 9.5 for both ratings (the leftover 0.5 is left for my high expectations for SOTUS S).
About the music, it was GREAT. I usually don't really mind about the music used for dramas (unless it sucks as much as it disturbs the story), but is was the best-fit for this series. The song, "Soh Sut Soh Say" performed by Keng Thachaya, was recurring through the episodes, which is actually really risky because if the music is too catchy, it might disturb the actual scenes. Although, for this case, it enhanced the story so much. Its catchiness was a success, and it also made a good fit into the a bit scary hazing SOTUS atmosphere as well.
Moreover, I love Gun Achi's voice, and the song, "A Secret in Our Hearts", is very dramatic and fits into SOTUS so well.
At some scenes, the song is very LOUD, but its SO GOOD. For the climax scenes, the acapella version was played, and it portrays Arthit's feelings really really well (although I didn't understand the lyrics at first sight). I've downloaded the song right after I finished the series, and am listening to it everyday, literally everyday.
(I just imagined if it wasn't Gun, it might have been disturbing haha)
The instrumental versions were nicely incorporated too; the editing was nicely done with successful cuts and fade aways which did not hinder any of the scenes at all. I think this recurring use of the same song lead to the success as it is ingrained in the viewer's minds (in mine too), and could recall the series as soon as that upbeat music starts playing.
Well, all this leads to a rewatch value of 10, because...you know. I rewatched it for a hundred times like crazy.
If I would suggest an improvement for this series, maybe there could have been an additional episode (or one episode could have been used) for Arthit trying to find out his feelings more, because it was kind of sudden for him to speak to P'Tum and make up his mind.  

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Why is SOTUS The Series the best Thai BL series ever made?

After one year, I still can’t pinpoint the reason.

Maybe because the theme has taken on a specific culture experienced by Thai college students that is really happening in real life. I’m not Thai but I’m familiar with that kind of university tradition because there are some schools and groups in my country that also practice hazing. As I learned from news, it’s supposed to be controversial. It’s supposed to be humiliating and violent. It’s supposed to have strong social impact. During the first few episodes, I felt the tension and fear of being hazed but it was used in the series lightly as it moved along. Even though the series opened a discussion whether SOTUS is generally good or bad for the youth and society, the approach was more comical than actual, more informative than enlightening and more systematic than brutal. The writer has mainly used SOTUS for the purpose of having a concrete structure in the story rather than taking it as an opportunity to take a stand and come up with moral implications. Nonetheless, there was social relevance. It was an eye-opener for an outsider like me.

Maybe because the idea of infusing a boy-to-boy romance in a concept like SOTUS seemed farfetched. It is a love story between a freshman and a senior situated in hazing culture. The newcomer Kongpob was headstrong. The head hazer Arthit was vicious. Despite the knowledge of a happy ending, at the beginning I was clueless. There’s no way they will end up together based on mere impression. There were no hints on how the succession of hazing activities will ever lead to romantic scenes. A relationship blossoming in a constrictive environment was impossible. But my cluelessness led to curiosity and that made me jumped on the train.

Maybe because the building up of their relationship was slow-paced. As I’ve observed from previous BL series, it would only take approximately five episodes for the main characters to start realizing their feelings for each other and then develop from there. It happened in Love Sick, 2 Moons and even Addicted. In SOTUS, it wasn’t the case. It was a long and winding road. Most of the time, it was all about the SOTUS system, which is a good thing because that is the main theme and the romance only comes secondary. But I was counting on the love story. I was on the edge of my seat every episode looking forward to if there will ever be a small progress. Twelve episodes gone by, there was almost nothing. It was a waiting game. But the pacing of the development of their relationship was realistic, slowly but surely. And I didn’t feel it was dragging. I knew something was worth waiting for. After witnessing everything, the feeling was just pure happiness and contentment. When everything has fallen into place, it was euphoric.

Maybe because of Kongpob, the first year student who fell in love and persevered to pursue the love of his life. If I remember correctly, the novel was written in third-person point of view. But in the course of the story, it was all about Kongpob’s perspective. He was the primary point of reference. We felt the hardships he has gone through during the initiation period. We felt his victories when he won the sports events and the Star & Moon Competition. We felt his simple joys whenever he was given a chance to interact with Arthit. He had a mission and we, as audience, were standing before him like we got his back. In the process of achieving his goal, we were with him on his emotional roller coaster - his sadness, excitement, pain, triumph, hopelessness, rapture and heartbreak. Resulting to a one-sided love was foreseeable. He was on the verge of giving up but he didn’t. He truly gave his heart, not just the gear, and it was an inspiration.

Maybe because of the metaphors that gave much more meaning to the story. Kongpob personifying the moon and Arthit the sun - a simple symbolism that showed the protagonists' personalities as well as their obvious contrast. The iced coffee and pink milk were not supposed to mean anything but they have embodied the peculiar traits of the two characters. It just goes to show that they have their own quirks and they were used very well to reference each other in the series. The gear symbolizing the heart had the strongest impact. Giving your gear to someone meant letting that someone to take care of your heart. For the giver, it’s a moment of vulnerability. For the receiver, it’s a moment to prove you’re worthy. The use of the gear has romanticized the plot with engineering students as main characters undergoing hazing. Originally, it’s a symbol of an engineering student’s pride. In the end, it has become a symbol of Kongpob and Arthit’s love.

Maybe because of Arthit, the quick-tempered, condescending senior, who brought the unpredictable element to the story. His actions were very uncalculated throughout. He was like a ticking bomb always about to explode without time limit. He was perceived as the villain to our hero Kongpob but for a reason. If the point of view of the story centered around Kongpob, the character development focused solely on Arthit. His profile was set up in the most unapproachable way but in the end he’s the sweetest thing. He was responsible for all of the most memorable romantic moments in the series. When it was his turn to reciprocate, everything went magical - when he was having heartfelt conversations with his close friends to discuss his confused feelings towards Kongpob, when he chased after Kongpob at the wedding, when the dreamy Rama VIII Bridge scene happened, when he surrendered to his feelings and gave his gear, when he replaced Kongpob’s old dirty string with couple bracelets, when he finally asked Kongpob for a date at the rooftop and, above all, when he declared his love at the party in front of everyone. It was Kongpob who planted the seeds but it was Arthit who made them grow. It was truly remarkable. He is indeed the sunshine of the show.

Maybe because of Singto and Krist who brought Kongpob and Arthit to life. They were new in the business and their chemistry wasn’t obvious in the beginning. Their acting was better compared to most actors of their age but I feel like they could still dig deeper. But the  interesting part is they have known each other before everything started. They studied in the same university taking up the same course where Singto was the head hazer and Krist was his junior. They have first-hand experience of how it was like to undergo the SOTUS system. Their appeal comes from the fact that there was a connection even before they've become popular. It worked to their advantage as if they were destined to portray the roles. They may not be the most comfortable with their acting skills yet but they were very comfortable with each other. The effect of the overall chemistry was sensational. The fans went insane and the real-life friendship has made everyone delusional. Of course, they will never end up together. I’m bursting my own bubble here. But the fact remains that Singto and Krist started their journey as actors together. Side by side from being nobody, they went through the highs and lows in the process of earning fame and success. SOTUS put them on the map and unexpectedly became the Thai BL superstars that they are right now. I’m a huge sucker to cute backstories and this is my most favorite. I will treasure it forever.

So, why is SOTUS The Series the best Thai BL series ever made?

Of course, other people will argue that it’s not. The development was prolonged, the acting was not the best, the last episode was unnecessary, the SOTUS storyline was a missed opportunity, the editing lacked consistency, the portrayal of supposedly gay characters was inaccurate, the romantic scenes needed more intimacy and the list goes on. Other people could prove to me that it’s just another Thai BL series but here I am still thinking and wanting to defend why it is the best of all time. All I know is that I got emotionally invested. It was my first time to sign up on an online Asian forum to keep myself updated. It was my first time to create a separate blog solely for a tv series. It was my first time to purchase online to collect photobooks. I dragged my friends to fly to Bangkok to see the Rama VIII bridge. I attended a fan meeting in Bangkok to see Singto and Krist in person despite the language barrier. I went to Bangkok twice this year just to drink pink milk.

After a year and all the SOTUS memories, I still can’t pinpoint the reason.

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I came across SOTUS trying to satisfy my craving for some sappy BL that like some of the Thai BL dramas i've watched, yet once I started watching SOTUS i realized that this drama was going to be more than just cute cheesy moments.

SOTUS in my perspective isn't necessarily focused on homosexual relationships, rather, on love in general. You can see how the characters developed their relationship and the confusion of what they feel towards each other. Although, don't expect their relationship to grow so quickly. I like how this drama actually paced their relationship slowly, making it build up until it would all suddenly hit you in the face with so much different feels you'll start to cry, trust me.

And it's not just BL, we also have a story about a one sided love!

But this drama isn't just about lovey dovey love, it's especially centered on friendship as well. They show how bonds are made, how trust is made, and the like.

I absolutely love this drama to bits, it has become one of my favorites so far and probably always will be.

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best thai drama i have eva watched. blease watch this if u haven't seen dis coz it is amazing and i cried and i laughed and love very hard, also BLEASE love Arthit and Kongpob they are the best actors EVA and me love em XD

when me was watching this i felt fantasic things and i believe i belive in steve that everyone should watch this, coz it rll is juts amazing. the story line is great, acting in spot on and overall IT ROCKS !!!

The actors krist and Singto are amazing at acting and should feel very proud coz its fab. my frand emmy told me about this and made me watch it and i fell in love! i am so keeeeen to watch the second series and hope it will be good and i now it will.

i am also going to buy merch, I WILL BUY EVERYTHING coz this rocks.



#THEBESTTHAIDRAMAEVA

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SOTUS pushes its BL plot to the side a bit, but it pays off by adding more depth to the main couple

Before getting into SOTUS, you should know that it puts its BL plot in the backseat for most of its run. For maybe 80% of the show, the main couple: Arthit and Kongpob, are mostly lite-enemies with only a couple of tender moments sprinkled throughout up until the final few episodes. If you want more than that, you're better off skipping the show. I argue that the slow build up definitely pays off, though. Arthit and Kongpob have believable tension that grows throughout the show and you eventually start rooting for their characters to get together instead of simply wanting two cute guys to get together just because they're cute.

With the BL plot in the background, much of SOTUS revolves around the SOTUS hazing system. From episode one, the hazing system seems ridiculous and begs for suspension of disbelief. It's hard to watch, but bear with it. It's a plo point that the system is as ridiculous as it is, and it gets critiqued and discussed in-series, with the show even edging even me to see the benefit of hazing. This was something that I was honestly impressed with since I expected the SOTUS hazing system to be nothing but a vehicle to explain the tension between the main couple.

Around the hazing plot and main couple, we have a fairly large group of supporting characters. Kongpob has his own group of freshman friends, and Arthit has his own group of senior friends. With such a large cast, outside of most of them being familiar, not much is really done with the couple's friends but they at least feel like a realistic, supportive group of college friends. Arthit's friends were treated more fairly than Kongpob's, with the former's friends having a lot more depth to them and even serving as counsel at times. Kongpob's friends on the other hand, don't really have much going on outside of being involved in a love triangle and serving as comic relief. One thing that stood out to me with Kongpob's friends is that one of them (Waad) flatout disappears from the show even though it seemed like he would be getting a subplot involving one of the seniors. I recognized him from other Thai media, so perhaps there was some scheduling issue with his character? After he's gone, focus shifts to the friends (May and M) involved in the love triangle, but because the characters again don't have much depth to them, I wasn't invested in this at all. M in particular is nothing but Kongpob's friend that likes May and my partner and I started to joke about him being a simp with just how shallow his character was. There's friendly M and then there's M that gives solemn expressions when someone else is talking to May. It's all very flat and it's too bad that that's all they gave the character. The one saving grace in the love triangle plot is that the resolution was surprisingly well handled.

The series' direction is mostly okay. Some scenes either feel like padding or feel padded for time. The most egregious are flashbacks that feel almost belittling to the viewer and scenes that serve their purpose and then overstay their welcome. There's also the occasional odd cut here and there. On the flipside, there's a lot of personality injected into scenes at times with the occasional funny background event or a character in the background paying notice to the foreground's characters.

SOTUS' music is unfortunately barely there. The series is a fan of having its opening and the ending themes play during its scenes for what feels like every other episode. The one variation is that you may get the instrumental version over the vocal version. It gets old, and annoying at worst, fast. Those tracks aside, the show relies on only one or two background tracks to break up silence. I's not something that really affected my enjoyment of the series outside of an eyeroll here and there, but it is something that I noticed.

The acting varies among the cast, but for the characters that matter the most: Krist (Arthit) is definitely one of (if not the) strongest actor of the bunch and his flustered moments are some of the most believable I've seen in any drama. Singto (Kongpob) on the other hand, I'm confused about. His character delivers deadpan lines 90% of the time and has an air of straightforward earnestness to him, so I'm not sure if what I took as flat acting should be interpreted as him being in-character or him just not being the best actor. In the more emotional scenes though, it certainly feels like there's a lack of sincerity behind his lines, especially when he's paired with Krist (Arthit) who really excels in those scenes.

As for the BL part of the show, when SOTUS finally gets around to it, it's still a bit restrained. Considering that both of the characters are """not gay""" though, SOTUS' restraint makes sense and the conflict in the latter episodes are believable. I do have to point out though, that there are two episodes that come after the BL plot starts getting focused on that are noticeably the weakest episodes of the series. These episodes are where the show's padding problems are at its worst and I was disappointed that when the show finally started to pay attention to Arthit and Kongpob that they started to waste time like they did on these two episodes. Of these episodes, only a couple scenes have any sort of meaningful plot progression, and I'm really trying to be lenient in my definition of "meaningful plot progression" here. Even IN one of the scenes that matter, where part of a character's backstory is explored, the focus is almost entirely on two characters that we've never met before and it's difficult to really care or be interested when you just want to see more of Kongpob and Arthit now that the show is finally delivering the goods (for a lack of better words).

All in all though, SOTUS is definitely a must watch if you're into slow burns and I definitely recommend it if you don't mind that fact. The first episode's hazing scenes will definitely be off-putting and taken a bit too seriously, but if you stick with SOTUS, the hazing system is eventually dissected.

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