Love by Chance (2018)

Ae-Pete :) :)

My rating of 8/10 is mostly based on the Ae-Pete story. Even though cliche of damsel in distress and save me from that story, their chemistry is beautiful. Pete being gay and having gone through tough times with that, tries to avoid confronting his feeling for Ae. But Ae is so open minded and accepting. Him telling that it doesn't matter boy or girl, I love you because it is you, is so beautifully shows that love is not gender based for him and he fully accepts Pete. Ae was so open and very well communicated from the beginning about how he felt. When he wasn't sure of he like Pete romantically, he told him but when Ae knew his feelings towards Pete, he was clear about that as well. And on my god! CONSENT!! (even in the novel) the number of times Ae asks for consent from Pete was very very refreshing to watch. They COMMUNICATE!! If they are jealous or have doubts, they talk about it rather than just sulking over that many many months. When Pete had issue with Champoo teaching Ae, he was sad but same day he told Ae and Ae told the reason and they sorted the matter. When Ae had questions about Pete and Tin, he asked. He did not assume they were having affair and broke up or anything like that. Also, Ae telling Pete that he hasn't told his family about them but he is ready to tell them whenever Pete wants. Both of them give each other space to express. Pete understands and tells that, it's okay. I understand that these things are hard so take time. They both are respectful of each other so much and that is such an amazing adult and respectful relationship. They are good for each other. Pete got courage to come out to his mom and be firm in his decision as Ae was encouraging him and for Ae. Both their character is so honest open and sincere. It is sad not to be able to see them in Season 2. Also Pond is a great friend. Even though talk rubbish most times, he is so accepting and supporting of his friend and a big shipper of Ae-Pete haha! We all need friends like him in our life haha

Now for the second couple: yes It is great to have the story of enemies to lovers but the first kiss was assault! You cannot go around kissing people. It is assault! Tin has painful upbringing and he is sharp on the edges and he doesn't trust anyone because of this childhood trauma. His character development is great and if he had not gone through what he went through in childhood he might have been different but I have to call out assault when I see one so! Can is cute. he is a great friend and he doesn't talk shit from Tin and calls him out. So yeah looking forward to season 2 with these folks!

Now for the other two KleNo and Thar-Tum: I don't even want to talk about rape and assault here,
If these two couple story was different or showed that what they did was wrong then I could have rated this drama 9-9.5 but because they seem to NORMALIZE rape and assault, i can't rate his show more than 8. If there was issue with Ae-Pete storyline and character, then I would have rated this much lower.

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I like this series! But I have to be honest about this series and review based on my experience watching BL series and films, since 2006. Why are many BL series now similar !! This series is like copying scenes from another series. It doesn't matter if you are inspired by another series! But too much inspiration or imitation is not good! MIR? LOVE SICK? Water Boyy Series? TOGETHER WITH ME? BAD ROMANCE? 2MOONS? ADVANCE BRAVELY? GREY RAINBOW? PUPPY HONEY? SOTUS ?? AND ?? Oh my God !! They have to find original ideas and stop imitating! Don't hate me for this review :) I'm just honest with this review. I hope with this review, the BL series can develop better without having to copy other popular series.

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Cute and entertaining series to pass the time

This series is really cute and is great especially because of the cast. There you have PerthSaint and MeanPlan that made me love this series. Honestly I hate when Pete is being blackmailed by a homophobic asshole for money but if we ignore it at all, this series is seen as light and feel-good. Pond is really hilarious being just a horny roommate of Ae. I'm really here to those scenes where Ae beats Pond when he teases him being with Pete. Perth (Ae) is really charming, the way he cares for Saint (Pete) throughout the series. I love his character being charismatically endearing and caring and Mean's character also got me "blessed my soul" HAHAAHAH!!! Initially Mean is annoying because of the way he acts around Saint and Pete but later on I grew to love his character being charismatically generous to Plan. Plan's character pissed the hell out of me particularly. I'm really like "nope, don't do that" because of his overreacting and childish attitude especially when he's throwing tantrums. I'm starting to think he is mentally unstable (I'm sorry for that 😅). His character is ridiculous and I wished it could have been better if he's not behaving that way. The OSTs are really enjoyable. When it comes to the storyline, it's still good and I find it digestible for the most part and I really appreciate how that homophobic guy disappear suddenly unseen. If I were to considered a how good it is, it is great!

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Cute but often annoying

Okay so this drama was really cute and I did enjoy most part of it, however I most definitely did not like Pete (no offence, but I found highly annoying and often to dam baby, This is the second drama of his and I didn't like him in Why R U? either, he brought that baby side and childish behavior to this drama as well). Okay so the ML leads were not so bad, accept for Pete character which really annoyed me, often i skip parts when he appeared which was a bit difficult since Ae was finding out his feelings towards Pete, and how found each other by chance, Ae begins to help and take care of Pete, Ae and Pete throughout the series go through numerous and sometimes humorous trials and tribulations establishing their relationship.

For me the second Leads were much more interesting, Tin & Can that seemed to be story (gonna start that right after i finish write this). TinxCan story, which I admit I'm biased as I loved them since the whole "enemy to lovers" thing is my downfall , and I am looking to see how they story unfolds.

The other characters were okay, nothing much to talk about, there were some funny moments in this drama, and often cute, of course being high school setting, the guys finding there sexual desires, I did find Ae roommate a little to much on the whole porn thing, but then again being a young boy at university guess it was expected. (LOL)

The series tackles about mental illness, rape and Homophobia it wasn't written and executed 100% correctly but it does its job, which is spread awareness about the topics I written above.

The Music was okay, the main song is really nice.

Overall: It was an okay to watch, I just feel that Pete character was a little to babyish for me, and that was one thing put me off or spoils the drama... Tin & Can left me a little heartbroken, hopefully they story unfolds in Season 2. (which I heading to right know)!!!

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Just no.

I really do not understand why people enjoy this show.

It's too problematic, has too many toxic storylines, kinda confusing and with no sense at all. Acting was ok-ish but we need to keep in mind some actors where minors during the filming so... yeah.

The problem I have with this show is that they tried to romanticize toxic relationships, jelousy, incest?!!! and even raping??? like come on... just don't.

I even watched the second season hoping it would become better but it's honestly worse.

If you can, just don't watch this show.

It's a shame because most of the actors in this series are great, they really do deserve better roles in better shows...

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4 Couples with some sweet plots and some highly infuriating ones

I will be honest right from the start. The only reason I decided to give this one a watch was because of Earth Pirapat and Earth Katsamonnat. I have enjoyed their acting in all the series that I have seen them in so far and this was no exception. But it would be unfair to rate this series only on the performance of 2 characters. Love By Chance is a series that tells a story of 4 separate couples, so let’s judge it on the basis of these 8 characters and their stories starting with the 2 main characters.

Pete and Ae: Pete comes from a rich family where he has been protected by his mother and he is shown to be rather simple and easily over-powered. He is closeted gay and hence is blackmailed by another student for money. Ae has a humble background and one day they accidently meet each other. From that day onwards, whenever he encounters Pete, he needs saving and Ae helps him out. Ae even encourages Pete to come out to his mom which he does. It was good to see a coming out scene in a BL series and the mom accepting it for her child’s happiness. Post this encounter, a strong bond develops between Pete and Ae that takes the shape of love and they start a relationship. Their relationship is shown to be sweet and passionate. There are some ups and downs but any issues they encounter are swiftly resolved through dialogue. There is jealousy but also a strong sense of trust between the two throughout the series. It was only during the last few episodes that I feel Ae behaves rather differently where Ae and his friends plan a 3 day vacation at a beach and he refuses to take Pete along because he is afraid of some handsome friend who will make fun of him.

Tin and Can: Of all the 4 couples, these 2 had the best storyline. Tin also hails from a rich family but initially you feel something is wrong with him. He has a superiority complex and looks down upon people who are not as rich as he is. All this stemming from experiences he had as a child and multiple betrayals suffered from parents, elder brother and even his friends. He now does not trust anyone and feels money is the solution to all problems. Can is a fresher at the university and a football player. He is talkative and enjoys food especially when paid by someone else. He is a simpleton through and through and picks up a fight with Tin because he rubs him the wrong way. However, as the story progresses we find they both interact and have a positive impact on each other. Tin has a backstory that is worth expanding upon and I believe Part 2 of this series does that. There is a different dynamic at play in this relationship as Tin is straightforward and Can is naïve. Their story reaches a crescendo in the last episode and to me feels justified. Their story picks up steam by ep 10 and I was left wishing that it should have started way earlier to flesh out a lot of things.

Tum and Tar: This is a complicated one as Tum and Tar are introduced as siblings where Tum has serious feelings for Tar and this just made me uncomfortable. Its later revealed that they are step-brothers but not sure if it really helped at the end. Tar is a victim of rape and hence suffers from a trauma leading him to be afraid of love and intimacy. Tum is caring towards Tar but has no idea about Tar being a victim and misunderstands the whole situation. There is a deep emotional moment in the last episode between these 2 characters which pulls at your heart strings but with a lot of things left unanswered or being spoken in passing you fail to connect with these 2 characters and hence aren’t involved in their stories.

Techno and Kengkla: Finally talking about the most problematic couple. Kengkla loves Techno and would do anything to be with him. He straightaway bribes Techno’s brother to keep an eye on him and constantly call him to know his whereabouts. You don’t understand Kengkla’s infatuation with Techno because that is not explained. In fact they hardly share any scenes together and have no dialogues between them. Kengkla at the end devices the most ridiculous and in my opinion an illegal plan to get Techno. Techno once comes home drunk and Kengkla takes advantage of this situation and rapes Techno (Techno is too drunk to consent and this cant be described as anything other than rape). To make matters worse, the next day when Techno wakes up sober, he finds himself in the same bed as Kengkla, naked with no memory of the previous night. Kengkla guilts Techno in to believing that he took advantage of Kengkla last night and should now take responsibility by being his boyfriend. This storyline started ridiculous and ended up infuriating me especially when you already have another character who is a victim of rape. What were the writers and director thinking?

In conclusion, this series is a watch only for Pete and Ae, and Tin and Can. Their stories are sweet and has a lot of depth and there is certainly character development. Can’t say the same about the other 2 couples. Feel free to fast forward their parts for better entertainment value.

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A sweet and relatively simple series with a great supporting cast

NO-SPOILER REVIEW

This series has a lot of strengths as well as some weak spots but is still a fun experience. It starts out with some naive characters that we gradually see mature as time goes on in an overall simple and sweet story. The series also touches on some social topics like LGBT issues, class, money, appearance, divorce, etc. which not every series will acknowledge. Also keep in mind that this series takes place in the same universe as TharnType, but was made at a different time and by a different company, so the characters that are the same in each series aren't portrayed by the same actors, which can be very confusing.

Pros
- The main couple is very sincere and earnest, which is refreshing.
- The story does acknowledge the difficulties of being LGBT in society and how that impacts the relationship.
- The side characters provide a lot of the energy for this series and end up getting more and more attention as the series progresses. One side relationship ends up becoming even more exciting than the main relationship.

Cons
- The main plot and characters could be considered a bit simple to some.
- Class, money, and appearance are some themes in this series, which were good to comment on socially, but never felt resolved.

Overall
- A sweet and relatively simple series without too much unnecessary drama.

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This is a great mixture of reality and the fantasy world of BL. It deals with subjects that most gay people go through at this crucial point of life. I would highly recommend this series to any young gay man coming out or dealing with boyfriend/ friend issues. Is a great series but just feel Tin and Can relationship could have been better. This issue is resolved by Cathy Dolls short 4minute film. Ae and Pete relationship is what carries the series they are great chemistry and what true love relationship is all about, (happy ,sad and hopefully forever).
which now leaves me with the parts I did not like . The Tar and Tum is hard to watch because of the subject of Rape
and because they are step brothers.
In terms of acting , I personally feel that Mild Suttinat would have been a better person to play Techno because he is perfect in TharnType the prequel to this series.
The great thing about this series is that it got me started to learn Thai and watch other Bl movies and Dramas from Thailand.
Overall is a must see for the Music, Acting and great plot twists

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There's no reason for anyone to miss out on Love By Chance.

If you'd like to take a break from the drama in other BLs (especially if you've encountered TharnType before this series like I did), now is probably a good time to watch Love By Chance.|

Love By Chance is a show full of fluff. This is definitely a feel-good series for the most part, and won't break your heart too much. I experienced little to no frustration about the main couple's progression, but that was a good thing for me! The pacing was just right. Instead of frustration, every episode left me smiling over how the characters dealt with their emotions. I found it endearing how the series portrays the awkwardness and bumbling moments in finding your first love, falling in love, and coming to terms with one's sexuality.

The side stories didn't fall short, either. Admittedly, not all of them were very comprehensive, and some are even questionable, but since this is based on a novel I feel like I can't say much on it. However, whatever I have watched in the live action, I enjoyed enough! (Maybe not Kengkla and Techno's though...)

Ah, speaking of which. Watch out for Pond. That character is just brilliant, ahaha! Him being paired up with ChaAim, one of the girls in this series, makes for a very fun couple to watch. Absolutely enjoyed it every time these two were on-screen.

So really, in the end, I believe there's no reason for anyone who watches BL to miss out on Love By Chance. I'd recommend you save it for after a dramatic series though, so that you can smile and laugh after crying a lot, ahaha!

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Guys, I... I created this account just to give 10 stars for the casting for this tv show. But more on that later.

I have to start by saying that I first watched TharnType The Series, and that lead me to watching Love By Chance. The main couple of LBC is incredibly sweet, Pete and Ae have a really cute story and their chemistry is awesome. I LOVED the actor who played Ae, he does an INCREDIBLE job. I'm serious, I just can't get over how awesome he was. He delivered us an image of a down-to-earth, authentic, teenage college student. He was funny and refreshing, and acted incredibly natural, even when delivering his killer lines to Pete. And while my 10 stars for the casting are mainly for him, I have to say (almost) all the actors did great jobs and were very well chosen. A huge plus was that they were actually close in age to the characters they played, which doesn't usually happen, and that added a very youthful feeling to the series. The only casting choices I didn't like were Tum and Tar - Tum mainly because I loved the actor who played him in TharnType, and imo there can be no other actor, and Tar, well... They just can't seem to choose an actor that would suit him.

The story was overall really sweet and funny, except the ending, which, uh, sucks, yeah, but when I started watching LBC they had already announced a second season, so I'm not as mad as y'all who watched this in 2018.

I recommend watching this solely for the main couple, as well as for the awesome cast. I think it's worthwhile!

Well, then, what remains is to wait for LBC 2! What I'm most excited about is seeing Pete and Ae again, those two were definitely my faves.

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Pete & Ae are such a sweet, wholesome couple

Honestly, Pete & Ae are the sort of couple I wish we saw depicted more often in bl. Ae falling for Pete, and figuring out how feelings for him, was very natural and sincere. Perth did an excellent job portraying him! Pete was so vulnerable and endearing. Saint also did wonderful with him.

This could have been at least a 9 star rating if it wasn't for all the sexual assault and coercion in the other three pairings.

1. Most obvious: Kla intentionly flat out raped Techno, who was so drunk he couldn't find his own bedroom and barely recognized the kid. Then he was manipulated like hell the next morning when he woke up to the startling news that he had slept with an underage (assuming since he's still in HS) person of a gender he did not previously think he was attracted to. WHAT?!

2. Tum full on pinning Tar down and trying to force himself on him. Sure, he didn't know Tar was a rape survivor at the time. ut that doesn't matter. And Tar should not have gotten over that nearly so fast. That should have put Tum squarely in the Not Safe category with every other man. I figured they weren't biologically related, but did we have to wait until the last half of the last episode to make it clear they are STEPbrothers and this isn't incest?

3. Tin and Can. People may not see the coercion here, especially because viewers tend to forgive characters with sad backstories. Tin pressured Can every step of the way once he decided he liked the guy. And this after being a Grade A Dick to him! he would manipulate Can into getting to kiss him. If it wasn't for this "persistent to the point of it being coercive manipulation" I'd have no problem with this pair....other than Can being obnoxious and too extra. I did 100% cry when Tin got rejected by Can, even if he was sketchy and an asshole.

I'd like to think they did better in season 2 but since there is no Pete and the most obnoxious character I've seen in any drama from any country is one of the mains, I'll just leave that in my imagination.

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Please pay no mind to the star ratings for this review. Because I admit it, I am one of those people for whom this series has nostalgic value. When I first watched it in 2022, this was only my second live-action BL drama (and my first encounter with anything Thai), and I was *fascinated*. I had been reading Japanese BL manga in the early 2000s and I have been a voracious reader of slash fanfiction for more than 25 years now -- but I never knew live-action BLs even existed until 2022.
So, I was feeling slightly overwhelmed, and this makes me feel more favourable towards this series than it deserves.

Because, if we are being honest, apart from Pete and Ae's love story, this drama is not very good.

It starts with the technical side:
The colours are strangely subdued (for a Thai production), without there being a narrative reason for it. The background noise is at times overwhelming (especially in a scene where Pete, his mother and Ae sit near a fountain) -- although at other time I find it charming to hear university life going on in the background. We can hear clothes brushing over microphones in some scenes. Props are not quite what they should be (thereare props from IKEA at rich Pete's house, and school bags are often obviously empty. In some scenes the actors look as if they had to do their own hair and make-up.

The show obviously had a rather low budget; but not everything about it is bad. I love the messy dorm room -- a bit icky, probably hot -- and both the flat colours and the background noise give the university grounds a realistic vibe -- watching the young people in the canteens, on the walkways and on the football field, surrounded by the noise and heat of Thailand, I always feel that this is just one of many stories happening on the campus. It's nothing like most of the newer airbrushed and clean BL drama, which are painfully obviously set in drama-land.

If we're looking at the acting and the directing, the series is mediocre: Some scenes are full of awkward acting -- some are more watchable. Since most actores were complete newbies at the time, I can understand it -- but better directing could have helped here. There are some scenes that are outstanding though. One of them is the beautiful coming out-scene in episode 1 -- the hesitation in the beginning, the way Pete's mum suppresses her own feellings and turns away and towards Pete again and again, the tentative questions and the short but reassuring answers, until both are in tears, the hesitant acceptance in the end -- this is the kind of coming-out scene I miss in newer BLS, where acceptance often is immediate and coming out is no big deal. (And while we here, I love that Pete describes himself as "gay", and doesn't only use descriptive terms.)
And an upopular opinion, maybe: I wish they had cast someone else than Perth for Ae. Don't get me wrong, Perth does a good job (especially considering his age)! But Ae is time and again described as short, stocky and dark -- Perth is none of these. Ae's appearance is an important part of his character though, and one of his sources of insecurity, and I would have liked it bo be more obvious. Alos, I would have liked to see the visual difference between a dark, stocky and short Ae and a light-skinned, tall and lanky Pete.

And now to the most obvious flaws: the storylines. We have five couples here, which is aready too much for a fourteen episode series, and half of them are not what I'd call good romance.
The one with the least screentime is also the worst -- outright rape, and subsequent victim-blaming, which is only played for laughs? Yeah, this is where it becomes very clear that this is based on a MAME story. Since this was a Wabi Sabi production and aired by GMM25, there must have been people in charge who worked independently from MAME and should have been able to cut this from the drama? I really don't want to know what the producers and screenwriter were thinking.
The story of Tar and Tum is very flawed -- I don't really mind that they are step-brothers. Two consenting adults can do what they want, in my opinion, as long as there won't be any children (the risk of genetic diseases is just too high). The thing is, there's no consent here in the scene where Tum tries to assault Tar. What I don't like about this subplot are two things: a) the story neither begins nor ends within the series. We don't know the background if we don't know TharnType, and the story does not stop at a satisfying point. And b) Tar's trauma is not handled well. If he's still victim-blaming himself-- then why is he not still in therapy? Why does his brother not know anything about it? (He doesn't need to know details, but it's quite obviuos that Tum is completely in the dark here.)
Putting the Tar/Tum story and the No/Kengkla plot next to each other -- why? We have a guy thoroughly traumatized by rape and in the same drama, rape is supposed to be something funny? Doesn't compute at all. Why did nobody notice?

Can and Tin, well. This is a mixed bag for me. I strongly dislike the "top pressures the bottom into sexual situations" trope, so I was not enamoured with their story at first, or later. Can is clearly not in a mental place where he is ready to enter *anything* remotely romantic / sexual, and Tin is only trying to get someone so he won't be alone any more, so his pursuing Can is not about Can, only about himself. So, I was really happy with their ending -- Can got a good character development arc, where he ends up realizing what a romantic/sexual relationship could mean for him, understanding that he does not want it at the moment -- and consequently rejecting Tin. Go, Can!
I did love Cha-Aim and Pond. I love their constant bickering, love how she always pushes back at Pond whenever he gets too much. I love a woman who knows her worth, and can clearly communicate her boundaries and her wants. Pond comes across as this slightly icky, sex-crazed porn addict (and I don't love his slightly homophobic attitude at the beginning). But as we get to know him, we can see that behind his "Three S" behaviour, there's actually a guy who cares about his friends deeply, and who never judges people for who they are.

Well, and Pete and Ae? Their love story is the one reason I can't give a lower rating than I did. This is a wonderful teenage love story, with a lot of "firsts" for both of them. I usually don't like the top/bottom dynamics, which are extremely strong here (Ae is rough, strong, possessive, while Pete is meek, soft, and very shy). But with them, it fits -- here, it feels as if they are two halves ot the same whole. And while Ae is extremely possessive, he is also someone who doesn't feel as if he deserved Pete (and seeks reassurance from Pete!). Yes, Ae is clearly the dominant partner -- but as a good dominant partner should, he always chacks in with Pete and tries to be aware of any boundaries. Even the "gay for you" trope works here, since Ae hasn't had any sexual desire before.
Like with any good teenage romance, both Pete and Ae grow in the course of navigating their relationship, and are more adult in the end than in the beginning.

So, can I recommend it?
Not really. There's so many good BL series nowadays, that it's really not necessary to watch this one.
On the other hand, Love by Chance *is* one of the classics which laid the groundwork for following works. And Ae and Pete are just adorable. Should you decide to try it, you should be aware of the show's many flaws and prepare yourself for a rather explicit rape scene in episode 14. Or you can just fast-forward through all of the scenes with Kengkla (No alone is okay) and with Tum or Tar in them. You won't miss anything.

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