Love in the Air (2022)

MAME ugh

Thanks to MAME, I'm now defaulting to looking for red flags in all Thai BL. She's managed to make me so paranoid that I can only call what I am right now traumatized. Congrats MAME, for ruining me for life. Not in a good way.

Fair warning - if you liked this show, then stop reading this review right now and click away. If you haven't watched this show, and have issues with dub/non-con, then watch at your own risk.

(If you have watched it and feel the way I do, thank god because I'm feeling very lonely with what seems to be my very unpopular opinion.)

tl;dr: MAME = Trigger Warning.

It's probably established by now that MAME has a thing for romanticizing toxicity. Enough that people are willing to overlook the messed-up-ness of her main couples that almost always start off on the wrong foot, and yet somehow has (most?) people watching it calling it cute/sexy and eating it up like it's so romantic. But if you look at her track record, you probably wouldn't find a single non-toxic pairing. Not even AePete despite how wholesome it started off as. And don't get me started about the clusterfuvk that's KengklaTechno or TharnType or LeoFiat, ugh. (She just freaking loooooves manipulative/controlling/possessive semes, istg)

I thought LITA would be different because it's rated much higher, but obviously, I should start seeing MAME as a TW before picking a series up. Seriously, how TF is it romantic to use multiple phones to stalk someone when they block you? If someone did that to me irl I would want to get a restraining order. And the whole spanking thing - it made me so freaking uncomfortable when it happened - it's definitely non-consensual and not sexy in any way. They know each other for like a few days and Rain is clearly uncomfortable with it. And from beginning to end, Phayu is so creepily manipulative and controlling, and I don't understand why I'm in the minority in finding their relationship extremely uncomfortable. It's like they're in a D/S relationship, except Rain isn't even aware of it, so there's no question of consent at all.

But the worst thing is everything is shown in such a rose-tinted way that it seems either comedic or romantic. I don't mind watching a fucked up relationship, as long as it's written well enough that you know it's fucked up. (VegasPete obviously did that very well. You know while watching that it's wrong and at no point do you watch it with hearts in your eyes. Morbid fascination, definitely - Lima/Stockholm done well.)

Also, her obsession with giving her uke characters abusive (sexual/physical/mental) pasts. Please MAME, that's not the only way to create angst. I mean, it's not completely a wrong way, as long as you, again, do it well - and deal with it well, instead of just using it as a reason to develop the relationship as opposed to a way of giving a character depth by healing past trauma and moving forward in life. Which is never done. Not with Type, not with Fiat, and definitely not with Sky. Love doesn't magically heal trauma for god's sake. Somehow MAME just manages to send all the wrong messages with her stories, and for those people who would say that it's all okay because it's "only fiction", well, it means her message managed to get across for you, congratulations.

If I could go back in time and make sure I never watched a MAME series again, I would do it in a heartbeat. I just keep making the mistake of not checking who the writer is before starting, so I suppose it's all my fault. I wish all of her works came with trigger warnings in the blurb so that I could have avoided them - but it's far too late now, so at least from now on I'm going to make sure to check who the writer is so that I never have to watch something written by MAME ever again.

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2 stories strung together well with great acting

I have always found Thai BL to be a hit or miss so I usually keep my hopes under check when I decide to give any series a try. This was no exception. That being said, after finishing the series I can state that I am glad that I gave this one a try. It was certainly not perfect (hardly any series can be) but it was good and entertaining.
The series is divided into 2 parts, each part dedicated to each of the 2 couples. The 1st part is about Rain, an engineering student who is in love with a girl but due to some circumstances meets Payu, an engineer and a bike enthusiast. Payu shows interest in Rain and devices ways to meet and tease him so he would fall for him (huh! what?). Ultimately Rain bets that in 1 month he will make Payu fall head over heels for him and bring a stop to his teasing. Here starts Rain's attempt to win his bet while also ensuring his engineering studies arent affected.
The 2nd part revolves around Sky (Rain's friend), another engineering student who is good with his studies and takes the responsibilities of being a senior seriously. Although he seems happy you later find out that he is battling his own past demons. His life is disrupted with the entry of Prapai (Payu's friend), a rich businessman, a philanderer and a successful racer who cant be beat. Prapai tries all the usual tactics to get Sky to fall in love with him and help him to get over the past issues that haunt him.
I am glad that they decided to keep both the stories separate although it dealt with the same set of people. This gave them enough time to concentrate on 1 love couple and bring out of the best rather than moving back and forth between 2 couples. It sometimes becomes an editing nighmare and there are countless such series that fails due to atrocious editing.
To begin with the 1st storyline, there are some great moments while Rain is trying to get Payu fall for him and is failing miserably. They are funny and sometimes heart-warming. You see that Payu likes Rain but is strict with him when it comes to his studies thereby showing that he really cares. As the story progresses you find out Payu has been manipulating the situation right from the beginning for Rain to make the bet and instead make Rain fall in love with him. This is where I was pulled out of the storyline a bit. It seems absurd that Payu can plan this whole thing out and knew that Rain will fall for him. I understand this is fiction but there is a limit to my suspension of disbelief. They could have ignored the whole manipulation plot and nothing would have been lost. But I did certainly ignore that facet and continued watching it with equal interest. The chemistry between the 2 leads was exceptional and it was believable that they are in love. 8/10 to this story. Certain scenes could have been trimmed to make the story more crisp but still good nonetheless.
The 2nd plot about Sky and Prapai was near perfect. The story had gravitas. On one side we have Sky, a broken boy with a dark past that haunts his dreams. He is seriously traumatised and that part of his is uncovered slowly and I loved it. On the other side we had Prapai, a rich boy who seems spoilt but is smitten with Sky after their first encounter and is willing to do anything to win him over, in the process changing himself and bringing Sky to terms with his past. The story is not something I have seen explored in a lot of BLs and I was glad to see it here and both the actors were convincing enough. Just like the 1st plot a few scenes should have been trimmed to make way for better story building about Sky's trauma rather than religating it to a few minutes in the last episode. That storyline had potential and should have been more fleshed out but you cant get everything you ask for and as I said earlier I entered this series with little hope. 8.5/10 to this story.

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dubious consent with a healthy serving of boring and fumbling of serious topics.

first half of the show the couple was interesting enough with some consent issues in the first couple of episodes but it’s mame, remind me to check if shows are adapted from her stories next time.
but the second half and couple were boring, had little chemistry. The acting and handling of rape and abuse weren’t the best. sky really just needs therapy instead of a stalkery love interest. Not a fan of how his personality changed just because of some rich guy. He lost everything that made him interesting in the first half.
The drag racing was an interesting idea but a lot of the racing scenes are just really long for no reason and in general there were scenes where it felt like it should’ve been cut shorter, the voice audio cuts for the phone scenes were hilariously fake and basically just audio recordings of the other actor speaking.
I’d probably give the first half a solid 6 (with no rewatch value) but with the second half and how it unceremoniously turned Payu and Rain into side characters rather than tell both stories intertwined, it’s barely scrapping a very mediocre 5.
My advice, if you’re absolutely set on watching this one, just watch the first half and skip the second half completely.

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Love Storm a bit less Sky

The end of the Thursday rendez-vous , I won't miss them but it was an acceptable story if you consider the entertainment side alone, because it undeniably was.

I much preferred Love Storm to Love Sky, the main reason being the chemistry between the characters. Boss and Noeul managed to bring this uneven dynamic between Phayu and Rain to life in both the domestic and intimate scenes in such a fluid and simple way. On the other hand, in some of the scenes between Peat and Fort, I felt like I was on the set, hearing the director's instructions and seeing the actors comply with them (tap your shoulder, smile, kiss, bow your head, etc. ....).

Both stories have the same flaws:
? A power struggle rather than complementarity. I'm not criticizing Rain's ingenuity or Phayu's bossy, manipulative side, but rather the way it's brought to a head and wrapped up. As for Sky and Prapai, we have two stubborn personalities, both manipulative and who confront each other to know who will capitulate first and once again I didn't appreciate the deconstruction of these behaviours.
?Mutual understanding, getting to know each other if you like, is not yet the high point of establishing the foundations of relationships, it's preferred to the passionate side. I have nothing against the kissing and bedding scenes, but I would have liked Rain to talk a little more about himself. It always seems to be a one-side view. Sky and Prapai have been more generous in this area but it's still not enough. When the plot is non-existent because it's intended to be, we should be able to fall back on the characters' portraits. Here, apart from Rain, no one interested me.
? Skimming over serious issues or just brushing them aside as if they didn't exist. To be honest the treatment of Sky's character still sticks in my craw because even if it's fiction you can't let a trauma like hims be swept under the carpet and only be brought up to introduce the token villains and return to the famous clichés of Prince Charming to the rescue of the sleeping beauty.
?️ Consent and privacy are still not properly addressed. Some scenes, especially at the beginning of their interactions, will make you cringe. It didn't get any better in a snap of the fingers but overall it's still manageable.

Admittedly, I cited more negative points or to be improved than positive ones, but I can say that you will not getting bored by these two stories, the rhythm is good, the acting for rookies actors is acceptable, and above all, Boss' performance is stunning (you'll want to see him again).

My final rating 7.3 out of 10. Not meh nor good.

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I don't like it very much

First I wanna say that the reason people liked this so much was because of the sex scenes and hot actors. I like the actors too, but this was not good. I liked it a lot when it started but the dad-son relationship Rain and Payu had made me uncomfortable and I cringed. I decided to ignore that and I actually enjoyed the first half of the season, cause I kinda liked the couple and Rain and Sky's friendship too. Sky was so funny and confident at the beginning so when he turned into a weak bottom who functions because of men's validation I hated it. I know he had a very terrible trauma but I also think it was very random to put those rape scenes in a show that seemed to be very much more comfortable to watch. Not to mention the very dramatic plots that they forced like that random kidnapping of Rain. About the Sky and Prapai couple I was hoping to like them more, but then it was just drama and sadness and Sky's actor was not a very good actor so he couldn't do crying scenes, which made me feel nothing and I just wanted it to end. So basically: the screenplay exaggerates, the acting is very medium, the story is mediocre as well and the older men of the relationships are way too possessive and kind of toxic but it seems to be what people like these days.

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Cheaper off

So it seems like they didn’t use the best sound and cameras that they could of. Story got a bit boring towards the end. Won’t rewatch and am disappointed in the sound and the shakiness of the camera at times.
P’Phayu and Rain were my favorite couple. P’Pai and Sky were okay. Their story and acting did not seem as good as the other couple
It seems like this might have been better as 2 mini series or else when they could spend a little bit more to help the production of it. TharnType had better sound quality and camera movements along with Don’t Say No.

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yall im ngl this series is asssssssssssssss

IM ON EPISODE 8 MIND YOU - and this is the corniest series i have EVER seen in my entire life.

maybe its a me problem but this drama did NOT have me hooked or at the edge of my seat at all, some scenes even made me want to burst down into tears from how much disappointment i felt. i feel like im gonna need therapy after watching this drama not because of how emotional it made me feel, but from how down atrocious it was. ?

idk abt the second couple but the first couple's dynamic and entire storyline is SO cliche, its another enemies to lovers story. and that's not even the problem,, like i love me a good enemies to lovers trope, but somehow i hated it in this series. payu and rain made me cringe so hard my brain stopped functioning at some point from the embarrassment. especially in scenes where payu gets all mysterious and says some cheesy line like "you dont know what kinda man i am..."??? shit had me curled up on the ground CRYING from awkwardness.

not to mention, i had to FORCE myself into finishing every episode since yall mfs kept hyping it up. also bc something in me hoped to god that it would progressively get better, but it didn't get better. like. at all. ? so now idek if im gonna finish the series.

seriously yall this entire series felt like a whole fever dream to me and like really , if you enjoy it, dont bash me for not liking it. i just hated how illogical the entire thing felt to me. i'm into fantasy and all that but are you fr ??? rain wants to prove to payu that he's NOT DUMB by trying to make him fall in LOVE ??? be SO fr with me, like what the hell is going on ?? ??? yeah this aint doing it for me,, im sorry.

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too stereotypical

i really don't know how people can enjoy this show. like this is too stereotypical and doesn't have any plot for real? i felt like i was watching something at first, you know, motorcycles races and stuff but later this started having no sense.

let me tell you something about phayu x rain relationship

i like how they met - that's was really nice and good acted but later? phayu forcing rain to have sex with him? and rain doing nothing about it really? it was portrayed like it's okay to put pressure at other people in this matter.
later phayu started doing some cringe and weird shit: "i'll make u love me, just watch" like he didin't force him to have sex with him... and rain was like "oh, okay, i love u". their relationship was dry, nothing more and i didn't feel chemistry from them, yeah they're had some sweet moments but for me it's still no.

apart from phayu and rain we also had sky nad prapai..... I DON'T KNOW WHERE SHOULD I START
i hate prapai for forcing sky to like him. you really don't know what NO means? sky told him many times that he doesn't want to know him and even talk to him and that man couldn't stop for what? if someone tells you that they don't want to talk to you and have contact with you what'd you do? force them to be friends OR EVEN MORE with you? nah, you won't do that so why prapai couldn't stop i really don't understand.

sky was traumatized but oh, he can be fixed by handsome man and power with love, ah... what a beautiful thing... what a pity it doesn't work like this

at the end - everything was about sex and some weird stuff (MY GOD DO U REMEMBER THAT KIDNAPPING SCENE?) i wouldn't recommend this bl to anyone

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Forgettable too simple plot, pornographic sex scenes, non consent problems

The first 2 episodes are awful and present the usual problems so many BLs have with consent. If you are triggeretd by sexual harassment I would strongly recommend to NOT watch it. Pretty privilege is also very real, if the same things Payu did were done by an old, unattractive man, people would petition to ban the show, but because he is tall, young and handsome all of a sudden those things are forgiven. What things am I talking about? Rain said clearly and explicitly NO, many times and Payu did not stop. Payu presented several lame excuses such as ''you threw yourself at me'', ''you have to pay me for fixing your car'' (for the record Rain never asked him to fix it and even if he did, it was not his right to decide that he wants to be paid with sexual favors) and there are fetishistic elements as well, with Payu saying ''I bought you underwear and I can tell your size''. First of all, underwear size has to do with one's WAIST, not size of genitals and second, imagine an old, unattractive man saying ''I bought you underwear'' to someone who has told them no 100 times, how creepy would that be?

There is no smooth transition to the feelings of the protagonists. Rain goes from ''no, I don't want to do anything sexual with you'', to ''I am going to make you fall in love with me because you call me stupid'', to stalking and showing up at Payu's garage work place uninvited to being a pornstar saying ''I know that you like riding bikes but this is also riding '' (when he is on top of Payu in the pornographic scenes). Go figure.

Payu starts as a sexual predator who won't take no for an answer, to a paternal figure concerned about Rain's failing grades because he is too busy stalking Payu to make him fall in love, to a loving boyfriend? And all that within what? Weeks?

Has the author ever had an actual relationship or at least observe how feelings develop between humans, because last time I checked it DOES NOT happen this way.

The sex scenes exceed Cutie Pie when it comes to pornography and I never expected to write this and NOT in a good way, it is softcore porn at this point accompanied with porn dialogue and it doesn't match the shy, inexperienced personality that Rain is supposed to have.

I could write about the other couples but I won't because they are so bland and boring and it's amazing how I watched the latest episode a few days ago and already my memory is hazy and I have forgotten their interactions.

Overall the plot is too simple, the porn is too much, the character development makes no sense (or it doesn't exist) and the show again promotes several dangerous and wrong ideas and romanticizes sexual harassment, stalking, codependency, love addiction and a bunch of other cancerous behaviors.

The actors are good looking and their acting is decent and there has been monetary investment in the production and IT ALL GOES TO WASTE BECAUSE OF THE AWFUL STORYLINE!

HIRE A GODDAMN TALENTED WRITER AND FIND A DECENT SCRIPT! And less porn. A bl should be 80% plot-20 % kiss/sex scenes, if I wanted to watch porn dialogues/scenes with no plot, I know the right places to go.

One last note: I feel that BL (similar to porn) is escalating rapidly. Not long ago we watched Love by chance that had proper balance, then we moved on to CutiePie tongue kissing, now we have Rain bragging about his riding...what comes in a couple of years? Full frontal nudity and actual sex without any plot? Just wondering.

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Nice plot ruined by bad production

The show is enjoyble, but poor quality spoils everything.
Editing and sound are ridiculous, the direction is shameful.
They could have done better, since the plot is not bad and the actors are very nice.
Phayu/Rain’s story arc was handled better. I can't explain why the quality has dropped so much in the last few episodes. It’s shameful, because Prapai/Sky’s story is intense and deserved more. MeMindY and MAME still have a lot of work to do to meet the standards of other production companies. Although smaller companies have done better. The budget is important, but the ideas are more important.

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