Dark Blue Kiss (2019)

If you're looking for fluff, you're in the wrong place...

I feel like I have watched a different show from everyone else because I actually really, really loved this? and binged it within a day…?
To start off, this show is more on the mature side, so if you’re looking for fluff or if you’re here for cutesy BL moments DBK is probably not the show for you. I feel like nowadays BL shows have veered into a different type of cinematography (sometimes aiming for spectacularity over substance) while this one stays focused on the characters and their growth, the plot heavily driven by their interactions (although there are some serious scenographic shots/lovely scenes scattered around), therefore there are little to no flat moments.

Overall the characters feel genuine and not like some caricature as it often happens in more comedic shows, most of the actors are able to deliver their intentions convincingly without overdoing it. This is my first time watching TayNew and I’m honestly impressed by their performance? Especially for Tay, I feel like Pete had less screen time than Kao but every time he’s on the scene he manages to steal the spotlight from the others with his fierceness and his charisma. Yes, we can argue that Pete is very intense, hothead and often unreasonable, but in my opinion a “””bad””” person does not necessarily make for a bad character. In his case it’s quite the opposite. (And props to sweet Kao as well, my boy can be dense but he’s just doing his best!)

Usually I’m not a fan of contents with established relationships but DBK was able to keep me hooked - I was actually obsessed - with the magnetic portrayal of PK love story, the show was able to sell them as an authentic (gay) couple. Like, the chemistry is chemistrying. They flirt, they argue, they make up, they have a healthy sex life, they support each other and are each other’s best friend above all, they respect each other’s families and push each other to grow and become better persons. It may seem like their relationship is a bit unbalanced but that feels authentic to me as well. To quote the show, in a relationship you can’t always split the bill evenly, as loving does not come with receipts and people are, by nature, flawed. You-give-me-this-I-give-you-that-and-we-are-even does not work in real life!

On the other hand, we get to witness a fiery second couple flourish. Although their acting is not as flavourful as the main leads, I was actually enthralled by their charming arc and, at times, loved it just as much. After all, hate-to-love relationships never fail to deliver!
[Side note, but as I happened to watch Be My Favourite, Not Me and Dark Blue Kiss is this exact order, it was entertaining seeing Gawin’s acting going backwards from his charming portrayal of Pisaeng to his rookie representation of Mork. At this point, sad-closeted-gay-boy is his trademark lol.]

Beside great characterisation (remarkably Rain, Pete’s father and Kao’s mother are awe-inspiring personalities), as I mentioned DBK managed to engage me because it deals compellingly with mature topics of family and relationship dynamics, personal growth and acceptance, fear of meeting expectations and peer pressure, social issues like power structures, middle class struggles, lgbtqia+ rights, the contrast between earned respect and curtesy imposed by authority, and many other. Personally, I believe the show does a spectacular job at portraying real life issues in such a poignant, uplifting and nuanced way.

Spoiler Alert in parentheses!
[Some of my favourite moments were:
- Pete’s dad being so open and accepting with Pete sexuality to the point of approaching him to verify whether he is practicing safe seggs with Kao (the condoms lmao).
- Kao caving in and telling his mother he won’t be tutoring Non any longer, only after she told him she would finally get a promotion. That was kind of heartbreaking… My poor hardworking, family boy. :(
- Rain and Mork being the best of friends and being so supportive and understanding of each other; Rain standing up to Sun by demanding that he owns up to his mistakes and apologises to Mork about his paternalistic and proud behaviour. Go bestie!
- Pete and Kao domesticity after they reconcile. <33333]

So, is the story worth a watch? In my opinion, definitely.
I may be biased because I kind of love a bit of spice and controversy, but DBK is able to deliver just the right amount to keep the story going without dragging pointless misunderstandings into dreary melodrama. Sh*t happens and these boys are just stubborn! But they come around in the end!! :))

As I feel there is a tendency to disregard older BL shows for the sole reason of being kind of old-fashioned, I’m glad I actually give this one a shot and found an hidden gem, as it was very easy to get into the story and catch up with the plot, despite not having watched the previous instalments. DBK aims for straightforward rather than grandiose, but its message remains timeless and manages to drive its point home touchingly and convincingly.

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Worth watching, but not the best BL

I binge-watched this series in two days and must say I enjoyed watching it. The ups and downs of two couples was really interesting to see, but other than that there was nothing new in the story line: the campus setting, hanging out with friends, family dinners, jealousy. I found the cafe setting more interesting showing how the cafe owner/barista's passion towards coffee making, coffee tasting scenes, and going to the country side to buy coffee beans. I also loved the part that shows how two different single parents just unconditionally loved and understood their gay sons, and supported their sons' relationships.

Pete's possesiveness was really annoying. Also Kao's fear and hesitating to simply talk and explain the truth (to Kao, to the school director, to his friends) made me feel like I wanted to slap him and say: come on , Kao, just say it. But obviously these characteristics are what made the story move. Bravo to Tay and New's acting.

I also love the songs at the end of each episode (lyrics included), but the background music on some scenes were a little bit distracting. Some of the music beat doesn't quite match the mood or emotion being portrayed in the scene.

However, overall I like this drama series.

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My anger issues are back!

Most of the main characters (except Rain and Manow) have these personalities that I really hate. Those personalities (hot-tempered, liar, accuser, troublemaker, lover stealer) gang up against me. No wonder I was irritated on the half of the screentime. I'm not saying this in a negative way since their family/background/relationship situations have made them like that. Their personalities played an important role in making this a solid storyline which I love. At least, we see their character development until the end. (I need a Sandee who will advice me in my life and I don't want to be a Mork for a not-deserving Sun)

As what I researched after watching, this is a sequel of Kiss and Kiss Me Again. I don't mind skipping those since all information that I needed is shown since the first episode. All characters who pop out are given a justifiable and well-thought scene.

What a great cast! They did a fantastic portrayal of each role. I love how every toxic character got me on my nerves. Their supposed acting to annoy/anger me really shows how amazing their acting is. I love the chemistry of all couples too.

A watchable series!

(PS: Why would they make a title like this???? How is it related to the entire series???)

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This show is crap. Now feel free to down vote my review. My patience is running out. This is impossible to watch. I'm finding myself rolling my eyes constantly. So what's the problem beside the soap operish production, the cheesy and misplaced music, the slow pace (you can watch this on YouTube with 1,5 speed and you will be able to read the subtitles just fine). The problems are (plural, yes!) the badly written characters, the boring and empty plot, the childish conflicts that are dragged out for eternity and the lack of real emotion (New disappoints with his performance, he has the same dull expression throughout the whole series). They changed Kao's character three times now. From a nerdy, insecure and unhealthy jealous guy in Kiss The Series he went to a bold, strong character who knew exactly what he wanted in KMA only to transform into an insecure (again!) coward who prefers lying over facing a difficult situation. So he is afraid of coming out? REALLY? He has a loving mother, supportive friends and a boyfriend that loves him very much. Believe me, when I tell you, he could have it much worse in life. MUCH WORSE. Tay as Pete is doing a better job acting-wise, his character is better written too. If you're looking for some good dialogues and some wisdom it's mostly Pete who delivers that, yes, despite his hot-headed personality and his jealousy. Enough of the main leads. The second leads aren't engaging at all. Sorry. They tried, I guess, but there is no passion (and I'm not talking about sexual scenes). The spark just isn't there. The whole show is just ... I guess you can tell at this point, that I'm angry. Sometimes I think "It's my fault" or "This show just isn't for me", but then again I discover a good show and I remember that good shows do exist, but DBK is not one of them, that's for sure. If it looks like a duck, swims like a duck and quacks like a duck – it is a duck. And this show looks like crap.

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Took me a while to get into this show, mainly because the main couple was pretty boring as I didn't see it form, I just saw this is a sequel to their story so I will watch that.

Sun and Mork on the other hand, I loved them, however, some situations bothered me, like when Sun gets hit on the hand and they just don't show how they got out of that sitution or when Mork was beaten and the last thing we see of him on that episode is him bloody on the floor just for it to cut to two weeks later the next episode, we don't even get to see Sun's reaction or what exactly went down for Mork to get so angry at him!

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Only pretty good but only cause it's my fault

I have nothing in particular against this series to be honest. I think my mistake was watching this without watching Kiss or Kiss me again before hand(even knowing that they're the parent stories), but I just wasn't interested in anyone else's story besides Pete and Kao's tbh. However, It kind of fucked up the series a little bit for me since this series starts out with them already being a couple(which I literally couldn't tell because all they act like is really flirty friends most of the time). I just felt like this was lacking somehow but I still think that it's my fault I couldn't build an attachment to their characters considering I missed out on most of their story. Because of this, some parts with Pete and Kao almost bored me. I still really liked their interactions and relationship but I found myself a lot more interested in Sun and Mork's relationship. It's pretty much the reason I was able to finish this all the way through. I didn't hate it, I didn't love love it either. I think it's probably a good idea to watch Pete and Kao's story from the very beginning like everyone said because I feel like I would've liked this a whole lot more. I still think the show was well done and it definitely had it's curves and twists. I think PeteKao is really cute and I've always liked their ship, even before I watched this. They're cool dudes. Maybe I'll watch the parent series and then come back to this again and change my mind. I think for what it was to me though, I still enjoyed it more than you would think I would. I think New and Tay are something special.
*EDIT* I changed my rating on this from a 7.5 to an 8.5 because I went back and actually watched Kiss and Kiss me again. Now that I have the WHOLE back story on Pete and Kao, I do really like Dark Blue Kiss more than I did before. I still wish that sometimes we had a little more intimate scenes because I genuinely think that Tay and New have the potential to produce real raw and intense chemistry(just from seeing them in interviews and hangout with each other) but I'm not going to blame or rate the series lower because of that. I know that sometimes the actors aren't exactly comfortable with that kind of stuff and I respect that.

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3rd attempt to make a good series with the same characters

Okay, people. This is already 3rd attempt to make a good series with the same characters. Perhaps in 'Dark Blue Kiss', it will finally work? But, if it's still the "dead fish" kind of a kiss, then I say it probably doesn't matter which color it is:)

The rating looks high, but you must understand that the viewers of this got pretty pre-selected. Because after 2 shows already, anybody else except the hardcore fans (mostly of Pete & Kao couple) got tired by now. I must say, I had to smirk seeing the opening credits with dramatic string music. They really tried to revamp this HARD:) I found it ridiculous more than anything else, to be honest, but... never mind.

By the way, first answer to question is: NO!!!
No, you don't need to watch the previous 2 series. You WON'T miss anything (no matter what you particularly watch series for). Those REALLY were THAT bad. Personally, I can affirm that watching the whole previous series (or two of them, even) made me so tired I was even not able to thoroughly enjoy this after all I had to go through to get to it;) Even the so-called 'Pete & Kao Cut': The very existence of that cut is like officially confirming that all the rest was unwatchable, LOL.

I admit that the two previous series REALLY tried my patience so I WAS set against this since the beginning. It might be unfair but I couldn't help myself. I was immensely close to dropping this series... Okay. We concentrate on Pete & Kao. Which is what saved this. Because openly speaking, no one else in these shows was even watchable (including the other couple, Sun & Mork, they don't look good together). After I forced myself to tune in, I can tell you that general story is: Mild & nice Kao and choleric & hotheaded Pete already decided that they care enough for each other they wish to be in a steady relationship, which they nevertheless wish to keep low profile, which is understandable in Thailand.

Story goes, Kao gets a bit into a pickle when he starts tutoring, and therefore spending lot of time with Non, who outwardly looks like a spoiled, flirty, and brash relationship-breaker (especially to jealous type Pete), while actually he's got a psycho dad and probably desperately needs a friend (which cannot go unanswered by the kind Kao). Therefore, Kao keeps meeting Non in secret and keeps lying to his explosively jealous secret/boyfriend Pete, whom he loves, both because he needs to take care of his financials by himself and because he feels that Non needs him. It's simple but engaging enough story. You can guess how the drama should evolve, nevertheless it's enjoyable.

At epi 7, Pete & Kao celebrate their anninversary. They share a pretty average onscreen kiss. It's funny because they mentioned it's been 3 years. Yeah, THAT long it took to at least look like this, LOL. Like I mentioned, NO need to watch the previous two series;)) Then they kiss right again and it's a bit better:) Only pitty was that Non didn't get to see, because then he perhaps might calm down a bit and cease to provoke Pete (and Kao) each chance he got. But no, instead, it's the father of one of the boys, who walks into such scene.

Either way, I do enjoy "couple scenes" of Pete & Kao:) What's so cute are their contrasting personalities. They're so opposite scale. They usually NEVER compromise. And yet you can watch them compromise all the time, for the sake of the other. You just love them together;-)

Crisis comes at 9/12. Non annoys the couple to the extreme, Pete won't stand for it and Kao gets pressed to the corner. People should mind their own bussiness. But if you love someone, sooner or later you have to be open about it. Unfortunatelly, that's inevitable, though honestly I more or less supported Kao in not wanting it, I understood perfectly if he didn't want to tell his mother, or the loud-screamer June, or anyone else. In this crisis, will it be the hot-headed, black-and-white world residing Pete, who'll try to smooth things over? His character's development, in this third attempt of a series, sure IS enjoyable;-) Non's on the other hand, reduces to plain bad guy, perhaps? Let's not spoiler... What I did appreciate was the issue of Pete & Kao being so different they practically each could come from different planet was NOT ignored and it was adressed that it CAN always bring trouble. If they want a future, the two of them would need to be prepared to keep dealing with it.

Since epi 11, Kao faces serious problem, which is probably the 1st time a main character does in this (these) series. But at least that makes him have a good talk with his mother. But, there's currently a wall in between him and Pete...

Overall, I'm rating this 2 classes higher than the previous series, because this had a proper drama (though not as big as the opening credits would suggest, LOL) and developed characters. Which might be something you'd think standard but it was NOT the case with the previous 2 series, trust me. Plus 1 point for the ("dark blue") kiss, with bubbles:)

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Discontinuous from the other 2 seasons but at least more BL

The intro song is giving me anxiety, ngl. It’s really beautiful and makes me wanna dance but at the same time feels like it’s written for a funeral. Tho it’s definitely the best intro ever, in the whole BL universe. Props for the director & editor.
Generally throughout the episodes, the editors did such an amazing job. Some scenes are really outstanding.

Now for the story, Pete reminded me a lot of TharnType. He’s possessive af and would kill anyone who comes too close to Kao. While this might be sweet to some point, it’s also really tiring to see the top not trusting the bottom enough. This toxic possessiveness is a common issue in BL couples, apparently bc they’re men, and it’s so damn exhausting. I could barely enjoy their romantic moments together bc I really feared that they’d breakup. I had such anxiety throughout most episodes.

Well, I really love how GmmTV is keeping things relatively realistic (tho the drama can be a bit exaggerating sometimes). Like Kao’s fear to come out to his mom, Pete getting jealous bc Kao liked a guy’s picture on Instagram, Kao unable to stop tutoring that kid bc of his mom, etc.
And I loved seeing Pete be nervous for his job, slowly but gradually getting better and less nervous.

Also awards for: Pete’s dad for being the best father, Pete’s mom for being the best mother and Rain for being the best brother.

Though, what confused me a lot: why they changed so many shooting places. Like, Pete’s and Kao’s house is different, the school also... literally everything?

Ps: Non is definitely my most-hated character in the BL universe so far.

-20.11.21

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