Love by Chance (2018)

Lives up to the hype

I was nervous going into this one because I know it's well loved by many BL fans. I wasn't even 5 minutes into the first episode before I was completely hooked into it. The story was great (although there were a few moments I found to be quite problematic). I loved each of the couples (except for the problematic one in that last episode), and I felt like it was all really believable. The actors did a great job portraying their characters.

I wish I would have gone into this knowing the behind the scenes drama though, because I'm heartbroken knowing what's to come in season 2 as a result. I wouldn't have let myself get so attached to the storylines here if I would have known a little bit more before jumping right in. But as it is, this was a great season that I know for a fact I'll rewatch again in the future

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Not Much to Love

This drama was a bit of a mixed bag for me. There were aspects of it that I really liked and a lot that I didn't.

Pros:
-The story of the main couple of Ae and Pete was overall sweet and endearing. Watching their relationship blossom was a treat and I enjoyed it very much. The actors had fantastic chemistry and made their relationship truly believable. I liked the fact that not everything was smooth sailing with them and appreciated the way they tackled the issues of jealousy, disagreements, and other obstacles in a relationship. I honestly wish there had been even more of them and less of all the side stories.
-Pete coming out to his mom and her acceptance was well done. I can only imagine how hard that must have been for him and for her as well, but her love for and acceptance of her son was just so beautiful. It was a very refreshing take since some dramas like to make the parents into uncompromising monsters.
-This drama dealt with a few tough issues, but the hardest one has to be the topic of rape. Those were some hard scenes to watch with Tar as he dealt with the aftermath and I think overall the show handled it tactfully and with compassion. Of course, they then negated a lot of that positive, but more on that later.
-Loved the OSTs, I have several of them added to my Spotify playlist now and enjoy listening to them still.

Cons:
-The sheer number of characters and side stories was overwhelming and hard to keep track of. Most dramas I've watched have the main story with the lead couple and maybe one or two side stories. This drama has more like three or four side stories and couples. The hardest part is that some of these stories/couples only pop up every few episodes if that and it was hard to remember who was who and what was going on exactly. Fewer characters and side stories would have been a huge improvement, in my opinion.
-There was a lot of misogyny in this drama. The way the guys talked about women, even their friends, was oftentimes flat out offensive. The relationship between Pond and Chaim honestly pissed me off because he was so incredibly misogynistic, not to mention his porn addiction. The idea of her falling for him was just too absurd especially since she seemed like an intelligent young woman. Along that same thread, the attempts to make Pond seem like a decent guy really didn't fly with me. Yes, he had a few moments where he was a decent human being, but there were far too many instances of him being an offensive jerk for me to ever warm up to him.
-I both liked and disliked the Can and Tin storyline. Once it got going, I overall enjoyed it, however, I keep getting stuck on the development of it. I still don't fully understand how they got together; the way it was done was a bit jarring. You have the two of them absolutely hating each other and then suddenly Tin has feelings for Can? There wasn't enough focus on them or on Tin's thoughts for me to find it totally believable.
-I mentioned as a positive how the show dealt with Tar's rape. That positive pretty much went out the window with Kengkla raping Techno when he was drunk and then essentially gaslighting him to be in a relationship with him. That whole sequence was just so disturbing to watch and the fact that Techno's own brother seems to have been complicit makes it even more so. This plotline should have never made it into the final show.
-Close on the heels of that last issue is the matter of incest between Tar and Tum. I've read other reviews that stated that they were stepbrothers, not blood brothers, but in the English translation of the show, there's no such distinction. Regardless, even if they are stepbrothers, its still toeing the line to an uncomfortable degree. This was another plotline that should have been scrapped.

Despite having far more cons than pros for this show, I didn't hate it. Ae and Pete's story was good enough to mostly redeem it and make it worth watching. That being said, there were some truly questionable and controversial issues with this show and a few storylines that never should have seen the light of day that really brought it down for me. I would say its worth watching at least once, just be prepared that its not all sunshine and daisies.

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Good bl series.

Totally I like it. I like how the series tried to tell the story, it’s clear and not disordered. And also all songs are really perfect and get along well with the drama. But I think the actors act too unnatural especially the first one to four episodes. But they were better after that. Finally, this is good. If you like drama with romance and warm heart, I really recommend this one.

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I enjoyed this series a great deal. I especially liked that, for a change, neither of the lead couple (Pete/Ae), used the "I'm not gay, I don't like men, I just like you" line, which is so overused in many BLs.
The characters were pretty varied and included a straight couple, which was nice, as this makes it a more inclusive story, although being a BL series, of course the emphasis should be on the gay couples.
This is a fictional drama, not real life, but some of the characters were really unlikeable and their behaviour was not shown with either the consequences or reprisals, they should have faced...
Lemon, Can's sister; what a nosy, bitchy, controlling, unpleasant character. The crap this character made up about those around her, with no thought for the havoc it might cause in their lives, was really irritating. Considering Can is meant to be older, I found it really annoying that she seemed to have so much control over him.
Kengkla was another horrid character; a real sleaze. He basically low-key stalked Techno via the latter's equally shitty brother, who seemed to have no conscience or problem selling out his brother's body (basically) for personal gain. Awful. Kengkla only got the opportunity to bed Techno whilst he was drunk. Admittedly, Techno did kiss him back. However, the next morning, Kengkla made out it was Techno who took advantage of him! So uncomfortable and totally wrong to have left that part of the storyline without any reprisals on Kengkla - a season 2 much needed, if only to rectify that!
Let's not kid ourselves, even with an 18 cert, there will be underage, or older but immature/inexperienced/easily led viewers...as this is not a 'serious' drama, but a lighter hearted series, those kinds of issues need to be clarified as not being acceptable under any circumstances.
The ending in terms of Tin and Can's (very unfortunate names for English speakers ;) ) characters, was really frustrating. I felt so sorry for Tin, whose character developed well through the unfolding of his story. Last we see of him is bawling his eyes out in the shower. Nice.
Can had started to develop so well as a character too and again, we were left with him being so wonderfully open and honest with Tin, yet not seeing that taken any further. He was equally upset, as he knew he'd hurt Tin, even though it was not intentional.
A Season 2 is definitely needed, focussing on the characters that were secondary in Season 1. I don't think Pete and Ae's characters need any further development, as they were solid and very much together at the end of S1.
I would recommend watching this series and did enjoy it, as said at the beginning. These gripes are just my personal and humble opinions! I really hope there will be a follow-up series.

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Watch With Caution

First off, this series has a scene that down played rape which I had to skip. Just a FYI.

I acknowledge this review will have unpopular opinions. I guess this series was considered good when it was first released. There are 4 main storylines which did not help this series. See the breakdown section for more. The script borderlines between satisfactory to pure garbage. There are times where it goes wrong real fast. There are also to many supporting cast members to keep track of. I stopped trying to remember because I stopped caring. Not only are there 4 main storylines, there were also various subplots introduced that they expect you to remember. The acting is ok considered many of them were new at the time. However, it’s hard to tell if it’s the acting or the directing that is bad during some points.

Main Storyline Breakdown (Don’t worry, no spoilers):

1st Storyline: This one involves Pete and Ae which is the healthies out of the 4 storylines. It often borders on the line from cute to annoying.

2nd Storyline: This one involves Tin and Can. This is where the storylines start going downhill. There are some cute moments, but it does not out way the cringey, annoying, and mean ones.

3rd Storyline: This one involves Tum and Tar. This storyline tried to tackle a serious topic, but it failed on many levels. It was also cringey at times.

4th Storyline: This one involves Techno and Kengkla. This is where we hit rock-bottom. This is not even a storyline because most of it involved Kengkla and Technic (Techno’s younger brother). This also has the scene that romanticized/down played rape.

Random Note: If you do decide to watch this, I recommend skipping all the scenes involving Tum/Tar and Kengkla/Technic/Techno’s storylines. I think the actors are good but both storylines are unnecessary. However, skipping the scenes only improved the watchability of this series slightly.



******Potential Spoiler Alert******
Skipping the mentioned scenes above does highlight the Strait Love storyline with Pond and Cha-am which was actually good. However, I’m not a fan of the character Pond.

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Note 1: This was ambivalent & difficult to rate so you need to read the review to assess what would YOUR rating be or if you don't want to be spoilered, first watch it yourself.

Well... There is no question as of who the "girl" is in shis one:)) As one of the boys acts so super timid (even a girl would put on more fight) that it's awkward to watch. Also right from the start (usually when two boys first meet, they need to adjust their dynamics for a time) the other boy treats him like a bird (excuse my british:) And then they have scenes that could remain IDENTICAL even had they put a real girl in timid boy's place. And I don't mean some thai "mangirl", I mean regular girl, no mannerism. I had seen boy couples that exchanged a couple of blows before falling into each others arms, and I could still understand that better than THIS.

The other boy is a shortie, but else way manlier, especially in behavior. There is a girl immediatelly impressed (and I could understand if there were more than just one). He isn't typical "pretty boy", but there's something very attractive about him and he has super cute smile. The actor does good with facial expressions, it can be said his acting definitely dominates between the main two.

!!Guys, important information! That is, for viewers like me, LOL. There is real kiss and and it's a good kiss, especially because one of the boys is hot. Nothing fake and nothing stiff. And you don't need to wait whole series for it... It comes early... Really hot:)!! LOL.

NOW I understand the popularity of this series. Though the timid boy's behavior is painful to watch. But the other boy... Wow! Aww:) Timid boy's got literally ZERO chance not to fall over the heels for him. Just like any girl, or gay guy, who would be in his place:)

Apart from him there's also Mean Phiravich, as a boy with enigmatic (or plain bitchy) behavior and dreamy eyes. Very striking combination:) As he is more handsome than both the main boys, he does get your attention no matter what, and there is one plain-yet-cute boy who's caught in the fireworks. I can see another couple in the making:)

Timid boy is getting on my nerves. The actor has this kinda lifeless way he talks. And the character... It would be okay if a GIRL acted like this. BEING GAY DOES NOT MAKE HIM A GIRL, DOES IT? But with a character like this it looks like it does. What a disservice to all gay guys. Alright. I'm trying to enjoy this series for the sake of the other boy, so... Looks like I'll have to swallow this. Even if it DOES get stuck in my throat.

The other boy makes up for the embarassment. Both in looks and in character. It's him who really makes me root for the couple. Or more like, root for his choice. Even if I don't understand how come he INSTANTLY treated timid boy as his girlfriend (and I mean it literally). But he's so likeable I just wish for the character to be with the one he's happy with. And well, his choice seems to be the boy who talks to himself the way you can see only female heroines do in hispanic telenovelas.

Oh, gosh! As soon as I thought this there was a scene of that boy who'd been fighting with Mean Phiravich's character (whom I suspect to become his love interest) walking the street AND talking loudly to himself. What's up with this series? LOL. It's not just timid boy, here.

Whoops! The mean boy (I mean, Mean Phiravich's character. But if THAT is his nickname, then let's really call him the mean boy... just for the word-play sake of this review) makes a move on timid boy. The most likeable boy (we know who I mean) swings by and immediatelly reacts like a pra'ek in a lakorn! Up to the last word. Let's call him the pra'ek boy because I really had to laugh. It's like what I've seen in every romance (the intense-kind) I ever watched, just always it was with a boy & girl. Not boy & boy. I watched boy & boy romances before but they were DIFFERENT. This looks kinda ridiculous to watch. I think it needs to be a BIT different when he's handling someone who's not wearing skirt. A TINY bit different. A tiny hair??

Ok pra'ek boy kisses timid boy in the locker room. It's been only 3 episodes since we've been treated by a kiss scene and we go even further now. Somehow, it was uncomfortable to watch, and normally I love hot scenes. I don't know. Perhaps I'm not enjoying as I'm not liking the timid boy.

Anyway, there is definitely going to be something between the mean boy and the... I have no nickname for him, yet:) But so far he keeps bothering the mean boy (grabbing his arm, too) for absolutely no reason. Someone didn't wanna think of some script?

Aanyway, pra'ek boy & timid boy decided to be boyfriends exactly at half of the series. And they go more or less public:) Mean boy also sees the couple and mocks pra'ek boy right to his face, flaunting that he would make more suitable boyfriend if he wanted to. I had to smile. Even if I like pra'ek boy, I admit I find it maybe tiny bit ridiculous watching how he keeps acting towards timid boy like a knight towards his lady:) Not that I'd wish the mean boy should really split the couple. If he would start dating the timid boy, not the pra'ek boy, it wouldn't help me.

Meanwhile, the biggest loser among them all who only watches porn all the time gets a girlfriend, AND Cherreen Nachjaree at that. Er... are the characters in this series just supposed to have unexplicable behavior? Meanwhile, pra'ek boy is all over timid boy, even introduces him to his family... I still don't get HOW they got so close. It's feels like they just had to do the script. Then the mean boy (who obviously has horrid mother) pulls the loud boy (who keeps following him around) towards himself by grabbing his collar in grand gesture and perhaps because of it, misses his target and plants long kiss right next to his mouth. Yeah, I understand the straight cast might not want to do it. But this drama just feels so random and artificially orchestrated I would get the same impression even without this.

The loud boy gets home and cries loud for the whole house to hear that he was kissed. His sister presents him with Chupa Chups lollipop and he gets hysterical... as the 'Chups' souds like "kiss" in thai, LOL. (You guessed right, I had way more fun with the second couple.) Anyways, he keeps yelling about it for days. I'll keep calling him the loud boy.

Aanyways, later on there is an episode where mean boy & loud boy are bonding over a cute doggie. LOLz. Of course it's more like mean boy is bonding with loud boy's cute doggie against loud boy's will and loud boy's expressions are priceless. And I'm finally having fun:) Mean boy steps over the boundaries with loud boy's family even after he stated they are too different a level to even talk. Anyways these two are almost too adorable together. Luckilly only for their fake kiss, else they would have swept the leading couple TO DUST. (And THEY are as far as bed scenes by now...:)

Watching pra'ek boy & timid boy together, I'm having such mixed feelings:) I'm all repulsed by timid boy, while all hot for pra'ek boy... who's getting on with timid boy, lolz. Next thing I know I nearly got an heart attack because there was REAL kiss of mean boy & loud boy. The end of the series is nearing, after all... so, mean boy already told loud boy he wants to date him. I find it speedy but I am all for it!;)

Not that poor loud boy ever said he's gay. Our mean boy takes no for an answer so he like, has to be, now:) Also Mean boy's got loud boy's number and keeps calling him and kissing him on a cheek incessantly. It's so much it's funny. But switching to the main couple doesn't help, timid boy is annoying as ever. It's funny that in one dialogue he says "lately it seems like I am annoying". LOL. Lately?:)

Final epi: some wow & cute moments for mean boy & loud boy, some group camaraderie, and some general feeling that this all ends after it barely scratched the surface. Looks like this whole series was just fullfilled with cute faces and childish behaving characters plus some added skinship to indulge the BL audience. But then the last scene with mean boy & loud boy kinda proved me wrong:) And it was Can of all the characters who spoken so genuinely about his feelings that for the first time it was not just childish, it was actually deeper:) Pitty Mean Boy didn't show any understanding. Instead of just being posessive, he could've listen more closely to what Can had to say.

Note 2: Perth Tanapon definitely has a future considering THAT he was 17 and WHAT he was able to portray.

Note 3: I guess there was one more side-line with some other boys I didn't comment on, 'cause I completely skipped it.

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Am I a grasshopper while watching this series?

This series has no substance. The only good story that I find watchable here is Can-Tin relationship. How could you make a series with multiple main characters who seem like they are just part of the minor side story? I checked that there's a part 2 of this series. I just wished they just focused Can-Tin and Pete-Ae in this series and let the stories of Kla-Techno and Tum-Tar in part 2.

Poor camera angles of the kissing scenes literally make the fake scenes so obvious.

The actors portray their roles as if they were just like practicing their scripts. Everything is average.

I will be watching the part 2 though. Hoping to see a change.

(PS: I skipped way too many that I feel like I'm a grasshopper)

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Must watch

Hi all...been watching bl series this past month during covid quarantine... I was a bit hesitant giving it a try coz the actors I felt looked just cute and very young to do a good job...
Boy did I get it wrong...finally gave it a go and now it's in my top 5
Ae s really good. His expressions and actions says it all.the one thing I found funny was the way he runs 😁
Pete is such a cutie pie. His smile just lights up the room. The way he talks is endearing...slow but clear👍
Pond was good,hilarious at times.
Not a big fan of tin even though he seemed to change towards the end and all. I found Can really irritating... When I read that A CHANCE TO LOVE has second season,that too with tincan lead...I felt god!no thanks...sorry guys
NOW FOR THE SERIES. intro of peteAe and the slow buildup was good. A very sweet story.Ae as a jealous and passionate boyfriend did a great job.
I would have gone for the big fat 10 for this series if there were minus tincan scenes...have a good thime watching it... Adios

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evil good

well um it was really cheap, the acting was hilarious, the storyline was fucked up, the execution of the ships was mostly awful, i was about to throw up everytime incest and sexual assault was romanticised, but i still liked it. im here for that absolute disgusting quality, this is why i watch dramas and this is exactly what i wanted to watch rn. so yeah, i wouldnt recommend it to absolutely anyone unless u like bad shows, but the amount of emotions i experienced when watching this shit is enormous. although it was all so cleary fake and not thought-through well, i really liked the characters and the dynamic between them. so yeah, it was cool. please dont judge me.

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Ditabrak sepeda kok jadi cinta?

Series ini menurutku seperti kisah sederhana seperti FTV SCTV tahun 2000-an, mengisahkan seorang pria bernama Pete yang tidak sengaja ditabrak oleh Ae menggunakan sepeda, pertemuan pertama membuat mereka saling tatap menatap dan tersadar bahwa mereka masing-masing punya chemistry khusus. Drama ini sebenarnya menarik karena ada unsur denial atau kebingungan yang dialami oleh Ae mengenai perasaannya pada Pete, dia seperti bertanya-tanya apakah dia benar menyukainya atau tidak, di sisi lain Ae memang menyukai Pete. Beberapa scene juga menampilkan beberapa hal dan dialog yang agak sensitif dan mungkin menjadi suatu hal yang memang benar perlu dibicarakan bersama pasangan, namun saya tidak mengatakannya di sini. Chemistry mereka beserta alur ceritanya yang family friendly, menurutku menjadi nilai plus series ini. Ekspresi Pete dan Ae juga sangat lucu dan menggemaskan. Cerita memang tidak hanya satu couple Ae dan Pete saja, ada couple lain yaitu Tin dan Can yang menurutku menekankan pada kisah cinta seorang pria dengan pria homophobia, ceritanya lumayan menarik walaupun menurutku ada beberapa hal yang tidak related atau kurang realistis. Selain itu, ada beberapa couple lain namun mereka tidak menjadi highlight utama dalam series ini dan ceritanya cenderung menjadi filler, sehingga menurutku tidak terlalu penting untuk mengikutinya. Main role di series ini menurutku hanya Ae dan Pete, kemudian Tin dan Can ; selain itu sisanya hanyalah scene filler yang tidak terlalu berpengaruh pada cerita.

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