Hemp Rope (2022)

Consent and communication are sexy: sweet BL romance handling well what could have been problematic

It could have been just a standard BL in a university setting but I found myself really impressed and entertained by the show. The main romance is beautifully simple, it checks all the usual boxes of a BL college drama but it is innovative in the way the main protagonists interact with each other with a lot of important conversations about consent, trauma, love and so on.

The storytelling handles impressively well what could have come off as quite problematic if poorly done: the sex scenes includes consent checks in a natural way. The script is all about consensual relationship where the senior does not overtly subdue his junior in having sex with him: it is much more balanced than in most BL.

Still, the drama is not exempt of flaws: there are a bit too much of flashbacks, as well as too many secondary couples (4 in addition of the main one !) to manage to properly develop in a convincing way all the secondary relationships. Some are more interesting than others and it might have been better to focus only on the main couple and 1 or 2 additional romances.

I liked the ensemble cast, there was a lot of characters linked together in some way and the atmosphere felt really natural between them. The two main leads had a solid chemistry: whether it be in their crying scenes, or in the more sexy times, or in their funny banters...I was totally sold on their acting. My heart ached and rejoiced with them. I found so charming all the whining antics of Team and the adoring way Win was looking at him. The most rebellious is not the necessarily the one with the most piercings and tattoos... Some of the secondary role less central were a bit more average with quite a bit of over-acting but without undermining my entertainment.

I liked the OST, it was not standing out but nice. What I found really enjoyable was all the animal sound effects punctuating the conversations between the two main leads (kitty meow, lion roar,...): it was super cute and fun. Overall production was great, with some really lovely beach scenes. The super hot tattoos of one of the characters were entrancing and superbly highlighted by the filmmaking.

I would recommend this to people looking for a sweet BL romance which is constantly full of green flags with characters communicating with each other and having a nice evolution in their relationships. There are some dramatic elements to the plot but overall there are no major conflicts or non-sensical narrative choices: it is an healing love story wholesome and uplifting. I have not seen the parent story "Until We Meet Again" but I will likely give it a go after watching this drama already satisfying to me as a standalone.

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muito chato uma ode do nada

nossa esse provavelmente é o Bl mais chato que tive o desprazer de acompanhar não acontece absolutamente nada e como muitos dizem o casal principal parece pai e filho o tal Team é muito infantilizado será que o único dialogo dele é HIA....HIA....HIA... nossa estava me irritando de uma forma a pessoa com mais paciência nesse mundo é o Hia, toda hora que ia ter um beijo o Team ficava sabotando com alguma brincadeira chata, irritante e infantil. Esse negócio de por sexo no 1 episódio é um completo engana troxa, depois não acontece mais nada nem beijo da para entender que alguém falou pro ator vai lá dar uma enganada pra pagar umas boletas. Eu até ia comentar que seria bom pra quem está iniciando o mundo Bl mas acho que tem outros de tema escolares melhores.
Nesse parece que eles só comem, dormem e nada literalmente. E aquela repetição do flashback do Team zzzz

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Win and Team Performed Well

The drama story was catchy, the same old university setting. There were lots of supporting characters. All the characters were beautiful and handsome (if you want to watch handsome men and their handsome bodies, this series is for you) it was sometimes annoying because I watched the drama as Art (I watch everything from production, acting, editing, song, story and everything as Art). Handsome characters were distracting and kept me not focusing on the story. maybe which was what the director was looking for.
The Drama has everything a typical Thai university has but more scenes were based on the swimming club, dorm rooms, and Bar. All the friends get to gather and friends fun. With all of this fun, you will be totally about the story. The story wasn't much though. "Just spending life in university and finding love".
There were forced edit scenes of Dean and Pharm which were not needed at all and also distracting, making me think about the 'Until We Meet Again' series.
The drama Edits gives each supporting role so much screen time that it made every effort to make this drama general university life and not focus on the story. Even though the Win and Team story had lots of potential.
This drama pool side and water scene were shots early and all other scenes were shot in winter. Win had different hair colors. This showed that this drama didn't receive careful consideration from technical staff as compared to Dean and Pharm's series "Until We Meet Again".
With lots of Loopholes, This is a fun drama to watch with friends together on vacation or on weekends.

This drama has a good life lesson, that the writer might wanted teens and youth to know. Childhood trauma stays with us for a long time until we face it but we, alone are not strong enough to face it. we need our loved ones to stand with us to face it and heal our heart with their love and care. The second lesson was spreading awareness even though this culture has accepted different forms of relationships, the criticism still exists. They don't leave any chance to let you know how much they hate this with their harsh comments. This is our duty to not respond to it and to focus on our loved ones.

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love the show but i think we needed more.

I love the chemistry between Team and Win but it taking them 11 episodes to make their feelings known to each other was annoying. I understand where both of them are coming from with win being the middle child having trouble relaying his feelings because being the middle child often feel ignorant having to take care of his family and brothers but I feel like he could rely on Team more on that aspect. It was mostly Team relying on Win. Team helping win with his family problems, maybe the family business, etc. I feel like for team we could have gotten more into the backstory and how he started having trouble sleeping. The Last few episodes we see a bit of what he's dreaming about but we don't see what happens to him after that. Does he go to therapy? Does his parents know he cant sleep? Did he go to the doctors for help ? We know that after the accident, he started training more and ended up getting a scholarship for swimming because he was trying to amend his cousin death as it was always their plan to get the gold and silver medals at the competition together.

On another note, I would have loved to see more of Prince and Bumble Bee (Bee). I love their relationship and the chemistry between the two actors is phenomenal. However, near the end of the series I feel like it was rushed. I think they could have took ore time developing their bond with one another or do a series focusing on their relationship. Bee was my favorite supporting actor in the beginning for how award he was but in the middle he seemed to change. I'm happy he stuck up for his relationship but his attitude change drastically ( at least to me ) I know this series was more focused on the relationship of WinTeam but if they wanted to add more relationship I fee like they could have given us more updates on what was happening. In the pilot episode we see more of Team's friendship with the ABC crew but then we hardly see them after a few episodes.

Now, on to the relationship of Tul and Wan. I love how they first met on the game and confine in one another. Wan really needed someone to talk too other than his family. Someone that understood him and was willing to listen to what he had to say. With win being away at University he couldn't really confine with his closest brother. I don't like how the made Wen automatically push Tul away when he found out who T-Rex was in person. After talking to him for so long and pushing him away after finding out he's your brothers friend. Just verity that Tul's fear of being rejected was right. Tul only lied because he was scared that Wan would only see him as his little brothers friend. Not even bothering to hear the explanation on why he didn't tell him about knowing who he was and why he kept his identity a secret. I could understand not trusting Tul for a while after that and making him work for your trust. I understand Wen having the trust issues that he has already then finding out the one person you trusted with everything going on in your life , was lying is a horrible realization. But you trusted him for a reason. Ill admit Tul not telling Wen was wrong but falling inlove with someone that is a relative to a friend is a scary situation to be in especially if you don't know how they feel about you.
The last episode when they go to the hotel is another story, when I love how Win's trying to help Wen and Tuls relationship . Secretly getting Wen to admit his feeling , not knowing Tul's listening. If that's not little sibling behavior I don't know what is. But when Tul and Wen talk in the hotel room and Tul kisses him. Wen pushes away and says Tul's moving too fast and doing too much after just forgiving him but a few seconds later its Wen's who escalates things farther than just a kiss.

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an attempt to a non bias review (as a bp and winteam fan)

i, very much, believe that anyone giving between us anything less than a 4 a very harsh review and are viewing this as the fantastical series like uwma (which it isn’t) this is an emotion based plot, emotions are what drives our two main characters. i also believe that people are still viewing winteam as the comedic side pairing from uwma with the sponsored scenes. trust me when i say that i am trying my hardest to give an unbiased review, between us has been in the works since uwma stopped filming, bounprem were told by new that a hemp rope series adaption was in the works (at the time the novel wasn’t finished) but obviously covid happened along with medical emergencies and a hiatus from lazy sheep (author of red thread and hemp rope) causing the project to be delayed.

besides that, between us was never going to be the same story or be any where near the same story as uwma. between us is a love story that can happen to anyone unlike uwma (the concept of reincarnation) i’ve read many reviews stating that win and team were out of character in between us compared to uwma and that where i’m stumped because … how are they out of character?? we have very limited screen time of any solo win/team scenes in uwma, all we knew at the time was win and team are in the swim club alongside dean and have something going on (and team has a very deep love for chips.)

i believe that anyone who is calling winteam “out of character” are just looking for reasons to be upset or give between us a bad review.

now im not calling between us a perfect story/series not a single show is perfect and between us definitely isn’t. i did have a problem with screentime dealing with winteam and the side pairings. i love every single one of these characters but would i have loved some more screentime for winteam? yes i would’ve! the thing is that the hemp rope novel at the start of filming had enough content for seven episodes AT MOST, so of course they are going to need to fill in that space with side pairings (not complaining i love all side pairings).

back to winteam: i love them. they are such raw and emotional people. boun and prem did such an incredible job portraying them after so many years. they are such realistic portrayals of two people being scared of pursuing a relationship. “why didn’t they get together sooner?!/?-$:?” 1.because it’s studio wabi sabi and they love to play with our emotions. 2. because not all relationships start conventionally. some back story on team (in the novel) he has only been in one relationship that ended after two months so it wasn’t serious. that night in the first episode was his First Time, he is 18 years old, he is basically still a kid, a kid who has had to dealt with some pretty nasty ptsd, so yeah an 18 year old with ptsd is going to have trouble with communicating his feelings. win, my dear 20 year old bisexual middle child who has had to shove his feelings down to take care of everyone else around him, will also very clearly have some difficulty with sharing his feelings as well.

this is both their first attempt at a very serious relationship (not taking into consideration team almost dying in front of win) so OF COURSE THEY ARE GOING TO HAVE TROUBLE COMMUNICATING RELATIONSHIPS ARE DIFFICULT WHEN YOU TAKE IN ACCOUNT CHILDHOOD TRAUMA.

i’m going to end it off here because i can actually sit here and defend every single last point to this show because i’m crazy and over analyze every single last detail to this show.

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Expected more from R-rated series

I fell in love with Win and Team in UWMA and hated how very few moments they had. In my opinion, it would be better not to let Dean and Pharm have all the screen time and add there Win and Team because in these series it sometimes felt like the screenwriters didn't know anymore what to add to their story.
I guess it was naive to think they'll have more hot scenes like in the shower or more bed scenes. I have to look somewhere else. Dean and Pharm also didn't have any hotter scenes, it was more about the repeating of the suicide which isn't for little kids. Like in UWMA, the tragic moment here was also repeated too often. Ut was important to know the cause of Team's nightmares but it doesn't have to be shown in every episode. It's not pleasing to see the drowning so often. But the end amazed me how Team's Aunt comforted him to know it's not his fault. Very touching movement.
Tbh, I was curious about Team being introduced to Win's family. Their father seemed really strict and controlling so I was curious about how he'd take it when Win was so quickly welcomed in Team's family but it was left opened. What they did better is they had side couples have their moments unlike in UWMA. Well, Manow could have more moments with Phruak but it was aimed for bl fans so we got two more bl couple plus Dean and Pharm.

What I really liked is that it wasn't just about sex. There aren't any explicit scenes (idk about uncut version) but it started like this. There are many signs of love like taking care of the other when he's sick, trembled. Cooking for the other one. Missing each other... support, hug but their dating phase took too long. They started dating at the end but were in love since ep 1 just couldn't admit it.
Really, the story was great but it was just missing something and it didn't look so thought through. More like fanfiction but still great and entertaining.

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okayy i haven't watched UWMA just to be clear

okayy i haven't watched UWMA just to be clear

okay so during the very first ep., I thot this drama is def gonna be slow paced but then omggggg the winteam end up doing it in the very first episode.. and i was stunned at that fact. This actually made me change my mind and i thot if it was slow paced.. will they really have sex in the very first ep?? and bruhhh omggg the sex scene of the fist el was too damn hott especially the consent part omgggg "call my hia win" that line was too hot ahhh.. okay but also I don't get the fact why win asked team to call him hia(brother) but let's jst ignore that

now in the second ep.. it was the same slow development but at the end the have sex.. and omg that was hot too.. like the sexual tension between winteam is simply mesmerising.. the way win looks at team.. and the way team breathes heavily omgggggg

then.. oh Lord the way they made us suffer... they showed all those scenes in the first 2 eps.. and the directly in ep 11..kmg omgggg
like I was def expecting there to be more sex scenes but no those scenes were not there and yet this series managed to lure me in (yeah I do like a lotta steamy scenes in dramas)

then the next tfew eps were kjnda boring to watch but at the same time they were quite enjoyable.. like j felt j just sat thru the next few eps.. but then omgg the whole "I realised I have feelinfs for him" part was amazing..
like both were in love w eo but win had this idea of not being able to call anything mine and fear of losing.. and team was simpley unsure of his feelings and finally they spoke out everything in ep 11 and oh boyyy... the acting in that eps was mindblowing... their crying faces seemed soo real. aand the way the told things thru singing was amazingg
tbh at around ep 5 or 6 I was quite determined to give this show a rating of 6.5 le 7 but that quickly changed once I saw ep 11 like that was just ahhhh
and that last ep where everyonnnww gathers together smiling happilg made me cry tears of joy (maily coz of wjnteam) like the way win was looking at teamm and hot they needed up ahhhhhhhh

okayy now the rating I've given was solely based on winteam and not the other couples (ik it doesn't makes sense since I'm rating the drama and the drama includes all the couples sk how can i rate based on winteam ky? well coz they are the main focus of the series.. like the series is mainly about THEM)

TAlkin abt the other characters(no hate to actors)
DEAN.. I'll straight up say I didn't like the acting.. like I just didn't like the way this character carries himself and the way he projects himself in front of people.. alsk the acting of this character also seems a bit off j just plainly didnt like it

PHARM is that shy little bottom acting cute all the time like not exactly "acting cute" but if I'm being honest.. I don't like it when people do this ohh I'm shy ohh I'm gonna look away, up, down coz I'm shy.. oh j gonna act cute in front of my bf/gf(this happens a lot in korean dramas.. that's y I didn't like cherry blossoms after winter) so like if all these things happen I just feel irrotated like brook wthhh and pharm is really that timid, soft, no self respect? kinda character which j hatee(again ni hate to actor coz idk him at all)

Manow.. okay so this character is quite nice outgoing.. making people laugh.. good sense of jimkur and all but the problem is that she is quite annoying and a bit cringey at times.. but id say whenever she comes up altho I get annoyed too much a smile wd still appear on my face coz she's always smiling and also coz of the dialouges(script)

okay now I wanna say smthing about manow pharm and teams friendship.. like tbh I really hated the fact that they kinda hide things from eo.. like how do u call them friends if they have secrets.. like tbh idk if they three were that close of frie ds to share everything but i still didn't like how each of them were trying to keep the fact secret that they have met their lover and always changed the topic when it came up.. (or maybe I'm just kberthinking a d you don't have to share EVERYTHING with your friends ds?)


preuk.. I do t have anything to say abt him.. this character is just there coz of manow.. oh but he's good at hibin advice to win.. and also j noticed this characters way of speaking resembles p'win's way of speaking from f4thailand which I watched recently

ABC were also quite cringe to watch.. overreactimg al the time

TALKING abt Bee and prince their story was okay but Bee omg he acts like a guy mad in love and like I just don't know how tk describe him but anyways I didn't like him either

so yeah I have a lotta negative comments abt the side characters but that's just my opinion nk hate to anyone
.. but yeah if I wd have rated this show based on all the couples it wd have been low.. but I never do that like i personally just focus on the main couple of the show the side ones like if they are not there.. it wouldn't bother me (that's too harshhh)

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Undeniable chemistry/slow burn but definitely worth it

Normally I don't write reviews but I honestly enjoyed this drama so much, I couldn't help it. I originally saw a random scene of Between Us on my Youtube short videos and thought it looked interesting but didn't think much of it. then I saw Boun and Prem's cameo in Cutie Pie and saw the comment section freaking out about their cameo. So of course I had to check out what sort of drama's they were in since most of the comments were about their amazing chemistry.
Between Us was the 2nd Thai drama I've ever watched and BounPrem's chemistry on and off screen really lived up to what the comments were saying.

It truly became my comfort drama and it'll always have a special place in my heart.

At first, I wasn't sure about the story line since they had little to no interaction in the first half of the episode and then they were hooking up all of a sudden. But by the 2nd episode, I was hooked. Especially since Win admitted to Team that them sleeping together was nice and from there, they started to build on their undefined "more than friends, less than lovers" relationship.

Cons: I would have enjoyed the drama even more (if that's even possible), if there weren't so many side couples. I would've liked to see more of Dean/Pharm since they were the OG couple and honestly even more scenes of the main couple Win/Team .
I also would've loved to see more of a deep dive into why Win is so afraid of losing something. I know he kinda stated/explained it, (but as someone who hasn't read the book so I'm not sure if its explained more in there) it would've been nice to be shown a scene or some sort of past scene that he experienced for him to get to the point of being that afraid to lose/ love someone.

An important one was Team's trauma. If his guilt has followed him to adulthood, realistically I thought why didn't his parents put him in therapy as a kid? Watching someone, especially whom you were close with, die and having that guilt that you were the cause of it, it's not something that you can easily forget. Or as much as he's close with his parents, they didn't realize how much he struggled. Of course I'm coming from this as an asian american and I also don't know how mental health is in Thailand as well. I also know that if it was realistically dealt with, we wouldn't have the story of Win becoming a safe place for Team. But those were the thoughts that dawned me while I was watching it. (Done with the cons)

The last thing I wanted to talk about was their confession. I had seen some comments on how they thought Win and Team singing to each other was cringe so they skipped the scene. I honestly disagree. I loved that their singing wasn't perfect and it was the lyrics of the songs they were singing that mattered. They were trying to convey how they feel towards each other. Boun and Prem have also said that it was hard to sing while they were crying and having stuffy noses, so I appreciated the scene even more. I might sound biased, but overall I loved their confession. It was raw, emotional, and honestly, it is hard to not feel afraid telling someone how you truly feel and not knowing 100% if they feel the same way.

Needless to say, I enjoyed Between Us. Thanks to this drama, I became a fan of Ohm/Fluke since I watched UWMA right after I finished Between Us. I've also became an even bigger fan of Boun and Prem. Both together as much as individually. And I'm honestly so excited to watch their upcoming projects !

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A wonderful continuation of Win and Team.

A beautiful continuation story of Team and Win and the growth and development of the relationship. The series helps with the gaps from Until We Meet Again and shows the other side of the story. It's a great way to see other characters develop and have starring role. It was nice to get to know a lot of the side people and see the extra stories and new friends. The only down part for me was it took to long to get Win and Team to finally admit their feelings and become a couple, it was way to long for it to happen, but I did love the chemistry and acting. The only new relationship I was not a fan of was the Bee and Prince storyline it did not fit and was not needed, the chemistry was off between them. Everyone else's relationship was cute and worked well. P.S. I did love the A, B, C gang.

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