My Bromance: The Series (2016)

I think the biggest problem with this series is that it'll forever be compared to the movie. Don't do what I did and watch the movie then jump right into this series. If you've seen the movie, wait at least a couple of months before starting the series to give yourself a chance to forget most of it. Or better yet, watch the series first.

There's simply no comparison. The movie is just a better overall production, even counting the fact that movies tend to have a higher budget. It's best to think of them as being in two different universes-having similar characters, a similar setup, but completely different characterizations, different plot, different tone, different extrapolation. I suspect that a lot of people rate the series higher because it ends happily, where the movie is tragic. As a gay man, I totally understand the bias against LGBT movies with tragic endings; there's simply too many of them. But still, the movie's better.

But I'm not dismissing this series. The series comes into it's own about halfway when it spends time with new characters and explores themes of it's own.

Overall, you won't regret watching it. I wish I had time for a rewatch as my own comparisons to the movie spoiled the beginning for me. Looking forward to Season 2 instead!

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Oh goodness im trying to find good things to say about this series. It is just bad. If you havent read this review dont go further, just stay away. This is a toxic show.

To be honest, the only thing that kept me watching is Cooper (Golf) - what can I say, Im a sucker for cute boys (that didnt sound right) - his acting was a still raw at this point, probably because he was still too young here, and Im judging from a very low bar.

What I dont like about the series:
1. Im sorry to say but I dont know why Guide is the other main lead here , his character Bank has not enough charisma and personality and not believable enough to convert a straight boy into loving another boy, let alone be the object of affection of 2 guys.
2. How they presented the timeline just didnt work for me, and it was too obvious that they want to explain everything.
3. This is telenovela at its worst, it has the most number of sick people in a show that Ive ever seen - MDD, Alzheimers, Cancer and Heart failure. It is a futile and lazy attempt to create drama. Golf has the unluckiest family in the entire drama world -all the old members are/were sick or was beaten by an ex partner.
4. The ending - i desperately tried to search the web for the next episode, I thought they pranked me but did the show really end like that? I get that at least the 2 leads were together, as expected, but all the other characters and events just became unimportant.

When i was about halfway through all the episodes all i can think about is when will this show end. Rewatcheability - im giving it a 4 just because of Cooper, if youre a fan of this guy, then watch but if not run for your life. Overall im giving it a 5

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Based on the first 7 episodes so far:

I find that with the new storyline, it's good to see a change, and not Golf dies. However the script were written off course, which were given a 7.0

A new actor Golf (Patpasit) and an experienced actor Bank (Chaiya from LS and PT), a new chemistry is brewing for the 2, but there are too many actors in this season, too many females in particular, and from the movie, it was a Thailand traditional dance, and it ended up with a Korean song (Gee from Girls Generation), a little disappointing with 6.5

Music wise is fantastic, they used new music and mixed with the original soundtrack to give it a brand new look, score will be 9.5

Overall i give the series 7.5, but my own personal score for this will be 8.5 (due to the creativity)

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What is with BL and their Love for Incest?

Look, I know they aren't blood-related, but it doesn't make the story any less werid. I need the BL industry to drop the toxic tropes that paint gay people in a bad way. Incest? Rape? Sexual assult? It all needs to GO AWAY. Romanticizing this crap is way beyond me. Someone is going to need to point out where people find these tropes to be "cute" cause it's not here. This story could've been ten times better had it not involved incest.

Let's Dive In.

So besides the fact of them being step-brothers, this series was very entertaining and had a well-driven plot. It's so highly rated because it did such a good job at speaking on some tough subjects. An abusive father, suicide, illness, mourning, divorce, and remarriage; all packed into one and done amazingly by these fantastic actors. By far I loved the scene with Bank and his dad, and Golf saving him. I can't help it, heroic tropes are the best; they're my guilty pleasure.

I somewhat liked the back and forth between the past and present, but I’d rather have seen a well put together beginning, and then another season with them being older. Sometimes it felt like too much, and some of the pacing was inconsistent.

I shipped Tom and Bank A LOT more than I did Bank and Golf. Tom was sweet and compassionate towards Bank, while in the beginning, Golf treated Bank very poorly. (for example, stripping Bank in the classroom or having him sleep outside). Yes, Golf was also going through his crap, but he never apologized for it in the end.

All of the other storylines felt like a waste of time. I pretty much rushed through anything that wasn't about Bank or Golf.
I was pretty bored with those girls that were obsessed with K-pop. Overall, it was a good binge-watch.

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The BL film this TV series is ostensibly based on was an enjoyable watch with some lovely characters. But there was definitely some gaps for a TV adaptation to fill, especially around the development of the main relationship and the characterisation. Unfortunately this series didn't really do that, spending far too much time on other plotlines and relying too much on a season 2 that has not yet eventuated.

Having said that, there's a lot to like in this show. It's one of the few Thai BLs with strong and well-developed female characters and with a solid grounding of family. Bank and Golf's lives are messy and this mess gives it a sense of realism that a lot of similar shows lack.

Spread over two different timelines 8 years apart, we soon learn that Bank and Golf are stepbrothers who were in love while in high school but separated by their parents when their relationship was discovered. Bank has made a successful and stable life for himself in the US but Golf is a mess; cut off from his family and bouncing through south-east Asia and the Pacific working as a diver. In this, the characterisation is superior especially as it portrays Bank. Portrayed in the film as being fragile to the point of being infantilised, this Bank is a definite improvement being strong, smart and utterly comfortable in who he is and with his homosexuality.

As the couple fall in love in the past, they attempt to navigate their relationship with each other and with their family in the present. Bank is engaged to another man but is instantly torn when faced with his past love. Golf is so unhappy he's determined to recreate the past rather than try to live in the present. It's a new and interesting path for a BL to tread and gives us some lovely and intelligent moments between two adults rather than the confused children BLs are usually concerned with.

Unfortunately, given 12 episodes to really explore why these two men fell in love and why they're drawn to each other again, the show instead gets distracted by other plotlines and other characters. Perhaps one day we'll get the season 2 that wraps up the plotlines and resolves the somewhat unsatisfactory ending. But until that day, this is it.

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This was a disappointment.

Initially, I was rooting for this drama because I liked the movie. I hoped they'd change the movie's ending for that was a total bummer. Then, they did; and that got me all hyped up. Unfortunately, the pace of the story dragged on which made me lose interest. I could not follow which was the present and the past at times because Golf's age was only disguised through the way he combed his hair and the amount of gel he placed on it, and there were moments when that little difference was totally neglected. I had to wait for the cousin, or the best friend, or Bank just to recognize the time the scene was in.

(I was thinking, "Perhaps, Golf couldn't just get over Bank so he wears the same haircut and just hides it with some gel" But, if that's the case, then the actor playing Golf shows bad acting. Hey, Polaris, he's a newbie, give him time!)

It was when I learned that the final episode was released when I watched the rest of the series from where I left off. It wasn't totally bad. But, I cannot say that I regret not watching as per episode released. So, am I looking forward for the next season? Ughmmm...

YES! Despite the disappointment I felt in general for this season, the end took an interesting turn and had so much potential for a better season coming up.

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I did not see the movie hence this review is pure observation - without bias.

Overall, the series is okay. The story is okay, acting is okay, chemistry is there and the execution is mediocre. There are several stories compiled in one series hence there had been lack of proper execution. Nonetheless, you can totally digest the entire series.

There's just too much conflict in the story - compressing it in one series is just not enough. Take note, all conflicts have been resolved this leaves too little time for the couple to build their chemistry. The switch between the past and present, I think, is okay. However, there are gaps in the stories which were not addressed properly.

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Like most, I watched this after I saw the movie, so there will be some comparisons...

Total run-time for Season 1: approx. 8.5 hours over 12 episodes.

STORY: The drama in this series is very heavy. It is not as "cute" as the movie was. I would have scored it higher except that I felt the drama was too heavy. There are very, very few scenes of levity. It's one tragedy, or misunderstanding, or harrowing experience after another. While these make great drama, there are way too many scenes about extremely difficult situations; it's a wonder these kids don't need therapy. On the positive side, unlike the movie, this season ended with a SUPER sappy and sweet ending; OMG it was so worth it! I hope there is a second season.

ACTING/CAST: It took me a minute to figure out where I knew Bank from (actor: Chaiya Jirapirom) but I realized he played in Part Time The Series. I was so glad to see him again cause he really stole the scenes in Part Time. In fact, others also played in Part Time and Love Sick, so you will see some familiar faces.

MUSIC: It was good, a mix of a bunch of stuff, but they sure overplayed that piano melody every time something sad was going on, and that was almost constantly. I can almost hear the tune in my head now.

REWATCH VALUE: I'll probably watch it again with a friend. If I could recommend, don't watch it alone.

OVERALL: It's a long story full of hardship, and a lot more happened than in the movie (considering it's 8.5 hours of content versus the movie's 2 hours). I think the movie's Bank and Golf were much more cute but the series' Bank and Golf were more mature; especially Bank.

TL;DR: A worthy adaptation of the movie with a HAPPY ending this time!

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this is really good!

STORY- okay I actually love this drama? I like the story and character development. The only thing is the description makes it seem like there is a love triangle when there really isn't.

ACTING- the actors are really talented. they were around 19 and 17 when they filmed, so theyre actually really talented. there were some scenes that could have been better, but most dramas have these scenes.

MUSIC- okay I didn't notice any music.

REWATCH VALUE - I am definitely going to rewatch this, I think that this is going to be in my top 5 bls.

OVERALL- Yes it has some scenes that weren't needed, but we have to remember that it is a 2016 bls, and yes that. year there was sotus, but I think that make it right was a bigger mess than this drama. it is really a good drama that you should watch if you love bls.

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The picture for this show depicts a big group of friends, which is confusing given the summary's focus on the main BL couple of Golf and Bank. It's true the show couldn't exist without their drama, but it also isn't the main focus of the show either. Because of the unique character of their relationship (they are step-brothers), the show dedicates itself to legitimizing their choice to be together by demonstrating the diversity of family structures and who people choose to love. Essentially, if we can accept families with a kid living with a grandparent, another kid who is adopted by a wealthy couple, a kid who has to moms, or two boys brought together by the marriage of parents, why can't we accept that two guys who love each other want to be a family too? I can't leave out the kid who becomes family with a teacher through the care of a sick mother. What impresses me is that the show took the story from the film, but focused more on advocating for inclusiveness instead of gawking at the taboo couple at the center of the story.

That doesn't mean the show is perfect. The way it was filmed was a disaster, and the actor who played Bank could have been a little better. But Cooper, the actor who played Golf, put in a good effort and he is instantly likable because of the character's tragic past. The whole friend group is treated as real people, with backstories and dramas of their own, something you don't see too often. It's a shame we don't get as much resolution as we would like, and it's a shame there was no second season to see what happens with Tom, the closeted kid, and Jackson, the boyfriend who is going to be left at the altar. A real shame.

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Tried too hard

I cannot say there is bad acting but without a coherent story line or sense of direction and some sight to a logical conclusion, this series became a hot mess. I wanted to care for them, and they did their best to try to keep the story’s cohesiveness. Unfortunately, this story while helping us understand a different reality of Bank and Golf from the movie, missed. They overlapped way too often and too much the past lives of Bank and Golf with the present which got incredibly confusing and distracting. Rather than being a focused story about their love and relationship it became a treatise on a whole lot of issues with nothing ever being resolved. There are way too many characters and relationships that were not connected or moved the story along.

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questions unanswered ..

The series starts off okay, however it became kinda confusing imo ..
The flashbacks cuts is not 'smooth' .. and there are questionable part of the plot ..
At times, I got confused which is the 'present' and the 'past' ..
The ending leaves me unsatisfied .. like, it's not a proper closure ..

What happened 8 years ago ? What cause Gulf to leave ? (I know they say family disapprove, but specifically HOW)
What does the dad do ? How did the parents knew back then ? What did they do ? Why is the dad sorry about it ?
and the ending.. they agree to reconcile and start a relationship .. but then how would they break it to their family ? to the opposing aunt ? to Jackson who is supposed to marry Bank soon ? (tbh not a fan of 'cheating')

When I reached the end of the 12th episode, I thought that I missed another episode or something .. they end it too abruptly that I'm confused .. leaves me feeling, 'wait, that's it? did I miss something ?'
Or did I really missed something ?

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