Love in the Air (2022)

Can Payu and Prapai really be considered green flags?

I actually quite liked the series. I think the locations and production value are great, the OSTs are beautiful and catchy. The actors did an amazing job portraying their characters and the chemistry between all of them was amazing.

We actually follow two almost separate stories that feel like spin offs of one another. I think we would all benefit from two separate series with an extra episode or two each, because things felt quite rushed at times. There often wasn’t a clear logic in the way scenes followed one another either. And quite a few plot holes or plot choices that make absolutely no sense. What do you mean Rain was afraid of telling Sky that he likes a guy? Sky literally helped him plan how to win over the guy!

Payu & Rain: where to even start? Payu seems to be a bit cold, but very confident and independent. He knows what he wants and goes for it. Rain is… annoying. I don’t know how else to describe him, but he is supposed to be this innocent and overly dumb character. There were a lot of scenes in which I just felt annoyed by him. But at the same, he felt very relatable. When his car breaks down in front of the bar and he is unsure how to react. Every new driver has probably felt that way at one point. Boss and Noeul have great chemistry, there is no denying that. Their NC scenes were done incredibly well and I think that them being comfortable with each other off screen really translated well into the series.

Prapai & Sky: Prapai is sweet, rich and caring. He seems to be less cold than Payu and tends to make his intentions clear early on. Sky is my spirit animal. I absolutely love his character. The sass, the constant snacking, the sarcasm and just generally being done with everyone. He has a horrible past which means he doesn’t really open easily though. Fort and Peat also have an amazing chemistry, they really did great in their NC scenes as well. With their first night together being a mess, I really appreciated how important consent was between the two going forward. Sky always either initiated things or gave consent clearly.

This is based on a MAME novel, so I should have known better than to hope everything will be great and that we will finally get some real green flag characters. Here’s the thing, I don’t mind red flag characters if that is shown clearly. Go be toxic, just be honest about it. We were gaslighted into thinking that both Payu and Prapai are walking green flags when the reality is far from that. From manipulation, stalking, sex coercion and non-consent, forced coming outs… and I could keep going. But most of these were very well hidden in the plot, so they can be easily missed or shown as something romantic. Which is also problematic.

I really want to take a moment to talk about Gun, Sky’s ex. I’m not going to go into what has happened with him as I don’t want to spoil anything, but I was so impressed with Dunk’s acting. It is very hard to make us hate a character as much as he made us hate Gun. And sure, Gun is the villain in the story, but if the villains are not well thought through or portrayed right, I don’t really care much about them. But Gun? I loathed him.

All of the side characters were a lot of fun actually. I really liked Sky’s and Rain’s university friend group. They were a lot of fun, and I was living for Sig doing his best to annoy poor Som. Payu’s boss in the office was interesting too and I really liked their relationship. Don’t even get me started on Chai, Pakin’s right hand man. There was just something about him that demanded attention when he appeared on screen.

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Before I say anything, i just wanna tell you Guys if you want to watch this series but is having double mind because of other peoples opinions...JUST DON'T THINK ANYTHING ELSE....I also watched this series after reading reviews (no hate to anyone) thinking its not good and the story is bland but believe me JUST WATCH IT WITHOUT ANY DOUBLE THOUGHTS. You'll gonna love this. Especially the acting of the all four cast. I can't believe it's their first time doing the series and they actually nailed it.

I dont know why most of the people didn't like this series. I really loved how they showcased students struggles in some Scenes, also (🚨 TRIGGER WARNING🚨) i really liked the way they portrayed the SA issue. Despite Phayu and Rain story being so simple, i enjoyed every minute watching them. I liked it how they didn't make them do cringey stuffs like other bls and instead it looked all natural, fluffy and cute. As for Prapai and Sky, gurl i was so blown away by their story. I really liked Fort (Prapai) acting, the way he portrayed emotions in last two/three episodes made me want to go and kiss him for doing so good. And as for Sky i dont think anyone would have done such a brilliant job in portraying that character apart from Peat. I really want to hug him for doing so great.

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Better than Expected But Not Perfect

STORY:
I went into this knowing it's source material and pretty much got everything I expected out of a Mame work. Surprised? No. Disappointed? Eh. I've accepted my fate with her works at this point.

The story has your classic Mame checklist of elements she seems to include in most of her works. Sexual harassment and assault disguised as tsundere kickstarting an OTP romance? Check. Sexual harassment and assault also (and perhaps confusedly, to the newcomers) being used to characterize an evil antagonist? Check. Unresolved trauma that can be healed by a handsome savior's kiss and warm smile? Check. Did I leave anything out?

The story is broken into two separate but interrelated arcs, with the first half of the show focusing on one couple (Payu and Rain) and the second half focusing on the other (Prapai and Sky). I enjoyed the latter more, though they weren't without their faults as well (mostly Sky acting far more cringey than he did in the beginning, when he only popped up every now and then). Payu and Rain just seemed purely like a fantasy played out in real life. There was no depth to the characters or plot, and the romantic set-up was laughably unrealistic. Further, the Rain and Payu at the end of the series would have never acted the way Rain and Payu at the beginning of the series acted, and vice versa. These two characters were inconsistent and had no individuality and persona outside of the two-dimensional tropes they were playing. As it was, this couple was bland and forgettable, not offering anything more than what we see all the time in your basic BL.

With Sky and Prapai, teenage me (who went through an ~eDgeLoRd~ phase) would have eaten their tragic, angsty love story up. Thirty-one year old me appreciated the darker tone, but also cringed from time to time at the melodrama of it all. I felt like the story was succinct enough and I liked that there wasn't a lot of filler, but this is also one where the antagonist just turned into a wimp when confronted by Prapai, and I feel like in real life, that wouldn't be the case. But again, I know that BLs don't often go for realism.

I think it also doesn't help that the "tops" (for lack of a better word) are supposed to be older and suave and charming. Self-assured and advanced in their careers and financially independent. The problem is that they cast baby-faced men in their early 20s (who quite frankly are rarely if ever at that stage in their lives), which causes me to suspend even more disbelief than I already do.

Other minor things that annoyed me was everyone referring to Rain as "Payu's boy" and the like (gag), the unnecessary dialogue where characters are literally just thinking out loud or telling us viewers what they are doing (which we can clearly see from watching the show), and the overall subpar writing quality.

ACTING/CAST:
Aside from what I noted above about casting actors who are probably too young for the types of characters they play, I thought overall the leads did well. Fort, who played Prapai, did the best in my opinion, followed by Peat (Sky) and/or Boss (Payu) (I can't decide who did better), with Noeul (Rain) coming in last. Fort was the most natural and consistent in his character (which could honestly be due in large part to writing or directing), and Noeul was a little bit too chaotic (but again, maybe it's the writing or directing).

The couples did all have good chemistry with one another. This was a series where the bed scenes were spicier, which is a plus, and there didn't seem to be any awkwardness between the pairings.

OVERALL:
Surprisingly, not a terribly offensive offering from Mame, but definitely includes her unrealistic yaoi fantasies coming to life. Breaking the series into two halves (essentially) kept it fresh and interesting and probably cut down on a lot of filler. It was an okay watch, and I'd recommend if you're looking for something with good smut. Definitely do not watch this for the plot or writing. At the end of the day, it's just another Thai BL that takes themes which could otherwise be interesting and different and cheapens them by turning them into fantasies rather than exploring them fully.

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Love Really Is In The Air

One of the best BL's I've seen periodt. Imma have to add this to my list of favorites! Both couples are amazing and unique in their own ways. Payu and Rain are a lot more lighthearted and freaky in their storyline, which was a great start. Prapai and Sky were a lot more intense and I will give a trigger warning because there is talks/showing of assault and trauma from Sky's character. Their storyline made me want to cry and I also loved it. Both couples chemistry was spot on and the intimate scenes were...definitely a lot more than what we usually get in BL's. I will say some of the writing was not great towards the end of Payu and Rain's story, like the kidnapping was random as hell lol. It didn't ruin the story though at all! Pai and Sky's actually felt pretty seamless all throughout.

I want a season 2 but I'm not sure if that will happen. We can only hope! Watch this series its very worth it.

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prapaisky.

1/10 for rainpayu's episodes. 100/10 for prapaisky. not a perfect drama in any way and didn't want to support it because it's by mame, who is a very problematic writer and director, but prapaisky's storyline hit me so deep inside and prapai and sky are characters that i grew to love so much, too much actually. they will always be one one of my favorite couples and i really wish this series wasn't directed by mame and that prapaisky had their own show without other characters so that i could give them a rating. all of that aside though, i love prapaisky a lot and give them a 100/10 in my head.

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sweet!

The series as a whole, was very well filmed, well produced!
They really thought about every detail, I really enjoyed the night scenes.
You can divide the series in to two parts: Rain and Payu and Sky and Prapai.
The first part: Rain and Payu
The chemistry between the actors was amazing, the acting of the actor who played Payu was very seducing.
I really like how their love story developed, Rain is such a silly and naive character. Payu on the other hand is very smart and calculating. This two really are polar opposites The story it self was very interesting. Sometimes it bothered me how dominating Payu could be but he always ment well. I wish they elaborated more on the past of Payu and why he is so "carefull or dangerous". Their story is probably my fave.
At the end I just fell in love with Payu.

The second part: Sky and Prapai
I was at first bothered by the acting it looked very awkward. I would say their chemistry increased the more you watched. By the last episode I was sold! The story of this part is more dramatic and serious than the first part so I expected more. Sadly it didn't give me more. But that's alright. The last episode was amazing! grate chemistry, finally all the questions where answered. And the ending was very wholesome.

I do recommend this series, you get a little bit attached to the characters. And charmed as well.

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if you like quick relationships, go for it

at first i was really hyped to look it, and i must admit i enjoyed the serie. but...
first, the relationships go way too fast. Rain et Payu get together at like episode 5 ? and when they do we switch to Sky and Pai. for me they became the main couple of the story because we nearly never see the others after. their story is quite interesting but it can trigger a lot of people cuz it mentions r*pe, domestic ab*se...
second, it's a bit redundant. it's almost always the same tropes in each episode. Payu rides his motorbike, repairs cars, works and Rain goes to class. they never go out on a date, and when something happens they solve it quickly.
third, i'm sorry but the fighting scenes are ridiculous. when Payu goes to save Rain from the guys he beat during a race or when they go to save Sky from his ex... it honestly made me cringe and laugh at the same time.
but overall it's not the worst thing you could watch, just don't have high expectations.

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Very nice chemistry and acting but Mame as usual being "ugh"

Let's just agree with one thing first. They need to stop giving this woman anymore chances to spread and normalize her bs views on consent.

The cast save the whole thing. We don't get to see BL actors being casually involved with each other when they are in a relationship. Usually it's one one stiff one who doesn't know what's happening and the other one carrying out the intimate scenes. But the actors in this series definitely knew what they were doing. When you are in a relationship you also adore the person. The affection, the love, the adoration they portrayed them really well. They even delivered the cringest dialogues smoothly. Which only says their quality and capability as actors. Really appreciation worthy. Hope they'll get to play series with better storylines.

Now coming to the storyline. WHY? JUST WHY? Mame needs to stop writing stories about things she doesn't understand. Not caring about consent is not sexy. Exploring sexuality is not a crime. You don't call someone stupid just because they are not gay. In Mame's universe everyone is gay. Even if they haven't figured out yet, they are supposed to return the feelings of the main lead. What a bs concept. She somehow wrote Sky's story less offensively. Or maybe the production changed it because knowing her she would have glorified it too.

In conclusion give the series chance for the actors. I have skipped multiple scenes because of the dialogues. Like I finished 13 episodes in 5 hours I guess.

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Love Sky!!!

1. PayuxRain

Honestly, the first couple wasn't it for me. Aside from Boss looking godly in his ponytail, I loathed the character Rain as I couldn't bare how a 19-year-old acted like he was a day passing 6 or something. Their story was chopped, cringe, and most questionable with how Payu acted unrealistically domineering and Rain was an utterly helpless damsel-in-distress. What's with the waterworks????

I had originally given up on LITA right after finishing EP4 because it just didn't have any appeal nor those aspects that would rope whoever watches it in. My god, for me personally, I can handle no secondhand embarrassment without possibly popping a vein. I just recently gave it a shot because of the second story; SkyXPrapai.

2. SkyXPrapai

Alright, in my opinion, FortPeat did a job well done with what little they were given in terms of production and story. They were definitely worth the watch. I love Sky and his sassy yet capable personality, but how he immediately was reduced to just Prapai's boyfriend was kind of meh. I love Prapai too as their more consistent story developed his morally grey characteristics of not taking 'no' as an answer and pushing himself onto Sky subdued. He actually tried to change. (the bar is so low fuck it) Their 'soft' moments made me MELT X (i love their chemistry)

Given its MAME, sexual assault has been reduced to a mere plot device here too and it was overall hella red-flagish for both stories. But I like how Peat's portrayal did somewhat of a good job so it wasn't totally pulled in on the last episode but throughout their journey.

To summarize this up,
SkyXPrapai>>>>>>>>>> PayuXRain

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Two predators and their victims

This series deserves all the flack it gets. Yes it's fiction, but there is so much romantization of stalking, SA, and very loose definition of consent. IF they had even addressed that yes! stalking is bad! forcing someone to pay you back with their body is bad! Then I might have liked it slightly more. Not only did they not discuss this, they actually romanticized it.

You'd think that the first couple was problemating with some grooming themes with the sudden (non-sexual) spanking scene that came out of nowhere, the older dude saying shit like "I don't like boys who use bad language", and just literal weird parental dynamics. But I'd argue that the second coupling is even worse, and the bar was already in hell.

At least with Phayu and Rain, they actually started out with a very strong meet cute and very strong attraction even from Rain's end. Like that boy was lusting after Phayu before he even knew that he likes men. Like yes, Phayu did initiate sexual contact without clear consent when he brought Rain back to his room but I can believe that it was a misread signal. I would also thought Rain was hitting on me if his car breaks down the second time in my vicinity after him spending his dinner literally ogling at me. Yes, he should have stopped the moment Rain says no the first time, I am not justifying that. But him giving Rain a proper out by clarifying that he's not going to try anything anymore and that he's not in the mood anymore is better than what Pai did for Sky. For me things really only started getting problematic after Phayu implicating that he wants Rain to pay back the car servicing with his body. That couple went straight to hell after that but became kinda cute again after Rain starts feeling more comfortable in that relationship.

The same thing can't be said for the second couple. With Sky and Pai, the way they started out was already dodgy as it was literally presented to Sky as a "fuck or die" type of situation. Noone would see his reaction after and think "oh, this person just had a consensual sexual encounter." Then this Pai dude went on to just straight up stalk him - and you can literally see that Sky was so distressed in the beginning about this, and then Stockholm syndrome kicked in and he started giving this psycho stalker a chance. And what did this psycho do? Create a copy to Sky's room key and intentionally spread the rumor that they're dating when they were not. He did a couple of decent things like took care of him when he was sick, be a little bit romantic, and then Sky, who already had such a low bar in relationships due to his previous history of dating an abuser, ended up falling in love with him.

I'm sorry but I'd rather watch eat dog shit than watch this hot mess ever again. Yes, the sexual chemistry is there, but if I wanted that I'd just watch porn. At least I can filter out non-consensual contents. I honestly regret this as much as I regretted watching tharntype and dark blue kiss.

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This cast deserved better - and so did the audience

After hearing a lot about LITA I binge-watched the whole series + the special. Intrigued by how different the reactions and reviews are (most people either love or hate LITA), I decided to write a few words about the show myself. I didn’t read MAME’s novels the show’s based on nor do I think comparing the novels and the show would be useful – after all these are separate works and the show needs to stand on its own.

Plot, characters & message
The plot is basic and simple: hot faculty legend Payu seduces cute and naïve student Rain, while Payu’s rich and hot friend Prapai pursues cute and sassy student Sky. While this seems perfectly okay, the devil is in the details: Payu manipulates Rain from day one and Prapai is a stalker; neither Payu nor Prapai take no for an answer nor acknowledge any boundary or limit – they alone decide where those are and how far they will go pursuing their goals. Even when they offer support, protection, affection and love, it’s from a dominating position, exploiting Rain’s and Sky’s vulnerability and desires (in the special episode attempts are made to mask this imbalance: Rain and Sky go on a trip and “punish” their partners). There’s more disturbing behavior resulting from the above, like nonconsensual touches, kisses, spanking (although this isn’t sexual) or coercion. Many have criticized this aspect of the show, while others found it appealing and okay. In my opinion we need to separate two things: the show including characters like Payu and Prapai and their actions and the message the show sends along with it. The show has every right to include manipulative, calculating, even creepy characters, instead of clean cut, perfect human beings. I hate, however, the message sent by the show – that Payu’s and Prapai’s actions are okay and justified by their desires, feelings, (supposedly) good intentions or by how hot they are or, what’s even worse, by Rain’s and Sky’s actual feelings for the two pursuers. Take how Rain was portrayed: he starts as a closeted 19 y.o., meets Payu and is immediately smitten with him, gets aroused by Payu’s every touch and does everything to spend more time with him, doing his best to tease him and win him over. The show even disavows Rain’s objections to Payu’s forced sex attempt in episode 1 – Rain willingly climbs into Payu’s bed, falls soundly asleep and even hugs Payu lovingly. In my opinion stuff like that confused many watching the show, twisting their perception and making them color-blind to all the red flags risen by Payu’s and Prapai’s actions. Instead of punishment or at least failure the show rewards Payu and Prapai, making them the good guys; there isn’t a single line of actual, serious condemnation or disappointment uttered by Rain nor Sky towards Payu nor Prapai (even something light like “you hunted and cornered me, treated me like a trophy; you should be ashamed of yourself”), no need for forgiveness for their part misdoings – as if they did nothing wrong. That’s where the show fails completely. There’s one more issue with the Sky-Prapai storyline: Sky’s trauma. I was surprised to see a serious and heavy issue like that thrown into such a show. It wasn’t dealt with properly, sending another harmful message: that love can heal you from trauma. It can’t; therapy can.
My biggest complain regarding the plot is that the script could have avoided all of the above and still be hot and sexy. You can be seductive without being manipulative, you can pursue someone without turning into a stalker and you can definitely be strong and independent respecting boundaries set by others. The showrunners didn’t know that or didn’t care about what message they were sending.

Cast
I was impressed by how natural and laidback the performances of Boss, Noeul, Fort and Peat were – given that only the latter two had some, albeit very modest, acting experience. There’s so much banter and good chemistry between them (to no small degree thanks to both couples being very well matched) and their portrayals are very convincing. This was only helped by them not shying away from performing all the scenes filled with sexual tension or sex itself. Seems that Boss and Fort channeled a lot of their personal charm into their roles, making Payu and Prapai likeable and desirable (that’s another reason, I believe, why so many were okay with those characters and what they did). Noeul was very effective in creating a young, naïve, confused and relatable character – which was no small feat, as Noeul seems very different from Rain. Peat deserves highest praise from the principal cast, as Sky is the only somewhat developed and complicated character (compared to rather one-dimensional Payu, Rain and Prapai); also his scenes, including solo ones, were the best.
Shame that Boss, Noeul, Fort and Peat didn’t have a better script to work with. Seeing how they managed to elevate the mediocre material they got I can only say that they deserved better.

Editing, sound
The editing was at times confusing, with weird cuts and scenes disjointed, unconnected with the rest of the show and/or previous and/or next scene; order and succession of scenes seemed off a few times, as if the editing team had too little time to make an actual show out of the material shot by the crew (e.g. in episode 7 Rain is with his friends somewhere outdoors and Payu calls him to tell him he’ll pick him up; in the next scene Rain is surprised to see Payu show up there and hides from him – these two scenes contradict each other, maybe just one of them was meant to be used in the show).
Sound editing seems non-existent. No idea whether they recorded dialogues on set and didn’t redub them or what happened there but through most of the show music is to loud and distracting while dialogues are too quiet.

Impressions
I liked the show for all the right reasons: hot actors, cuteness and banter, unabashed intimacy. All of that was like sweet-sweet candy poured over everything wrong with the show; blinded by that I enjoyed myself.

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An Incredibe Series!

I am going to be honest...

I wached this series twice, a few weeks apart. I am glad that I watched it a second time, and I will tell you why:

The first time I watched this, my review would have said that I liked the first story, but not the second story. It would have said the second story was too brutal for me. I would have also recommended that they merge the two stories instead of having one after the other.

But after I watched the entire series again, I changed my mind. The two stories being so different, I don't think merging them together would have been better. I still enjoyed the first story better, but I also picked up on a lot more in the second story, which made me appreciate it more than I had previously. Someone who is lost and needing the strength and trust to love again and a guy who is patient and caring who comes into his life. This is such an important message for anyone who has been truly disillusioned by love. And the message near the end really hit home with me. With a tragedy in my life, (not a love interest, but a loss that devastated me) I really took to heart the message that if you are hurting and do not pick up the pieces of your life, your loved ones will suffer.

The first story is fun and loving, all four main characters are persons I would like if I met them in real life. The stories are so well done and production, lighting, music, everything was spot on.

So... I not only recommend you watch this, I recommend you watch it twice, just a few weeks apart. See if your viewpoint stays the same. I believe this is one of the better bl series to come out this year.

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