I Told Sunset About You Part 2 (2021)

Was IPYTM as memorable as ITSAY? Definitely not.

I’m usually not a fan of sequels but decided to give IPYTM a go because 1) I loved ITSAY so much and 2) I was looking forward to some visually aesthetic and emotionally intense sequences.

If I Told Sunset About You (ITSAY) is about desire, I Promised You The Moon is the heartbreaking sequel about decay.

The series title hints at how people will fall short of expectations and fail to live up to promises, because, well, such is life. The series starts off with an innocent sappiness reminiscent of ITSAY and Last Twilight In Phuket, but it’s all downhill from there in a gradual but inevitable death of their relationship.

I had a different expectation of Teh in the IPYTM timeline, which takes place some years later. I was hoping to see character development within the context of a maturing relationship, but instead, Teh remained disappointingly unlikeable in his older years.

Read my full review here: https://asianblreviews.wordpress.com/2021/12/18/i-promised-you-the-moon-2021/

Leggi di Più

A pesar de no enamorarme como la primera parte, I Promised You the Moon mantuvo un buen trabajo desarrollando los dilemas emocionales que enfrentan Teh y Oh en sus nuevos entornos.

Ambos se dan cuenta que no todos los sueños pueden cumplirse, que las personas no son las mismas que en el pasado y el amor puede ir desapareciendo. En pocas palabras, chocan ante la cruel realidad.

La manera en que se cuenta la historia de Teh y Oh-aew, con cuidado y cariño, se ha convertido en el más alto estándar que tengo hacia las series BL. Espero encontrar más proyectos así en el futuro.

Leggi di Più

Relationships doesn't come from love only, it takes effort and time

I love how realistic ipytm is. I was getting tired of watching so many fairytales in a lot of dramas to the point of it being unhealthy. I love Teh and all his perfections and imperfections. Humans have feelings like love and attraction. Attraction doesn't mean love, and less attracted doesn't mean less in love. Just because we don't feel the butterflies anymore, doesn't mean we love them lesser. And I love that Teh goes through a new relationship or two after breaking up with oh-aew. That lets him know that the love he feels for oh-aew is still there as strong as ever and never changed like how he thought. I also love Jai when he talked about how he got to date his idol but after thinking about being with that one person for a long time, he got unsure, nervous(?) even and ended up breaking up. That is the most realistic thing ever to play out in a show for me. For me, I don't have the privilege of witnessing a healthy relationship growing up. So I really can't relate to when people feel so sure to spend their lives with someone after just a few years of being together. Watching other series, I'll be like "is this for real? is this normal? does that mean what I'm witnessing all these years is not normal?" to the point that I doubt it. Ipytm is so good and so realistic like relationships are not all fun and rainbows. Good feelings and long-term relationships don't prevail from just being in the moment, it's about effort and giving your all like what oh-aew did. And so did Teh (he tried to reconnect and all) at the beginning of this series but he got swayed for a moment, slipped up. What makes this series stand out from the normal A-cheat-but-B-forgives-anyways is that Teh genuinely felt sorry for hurting oh-aew and oh-aew didn't give in just because teh was pleading and begging, he gave in because he knows he still loves and cares for teh. That is enough for me. Oh-aew is doing this for himself, and not because of their memories and nostalgic feelings. Teh also, in a way, proved that the place in his heart where oh-aew resided before is still empty.

Extra note (because I don't know where to fit this in): I love love love how the reason for their break-up is not from a dumb misunderstanding which some communication and simple comprehension couldn't fix. Oh-aew let out what he felt first with his friends and not letting it cloud his judgment, come to confirm it himself whether it's true or not, confronted with (what he thought) was the problem (but turns out the problem is teh himself), talk it out with teh how he didn't like teh with Jai, give teh a few more chances before he couldn't take it anymore. Oh-aew did try to save this relationship, he did. And I love him.

Leggi di Più

My best Thai BL

one of the few series that successfully portrayed the reality or fate of longed lived romantic relationship, especially between partners that are soulmates(meant to end up together or reach the peak of the societal hierarchy of romantic relationships (marriage). The reality of romantic relationships has been distorted by overwhelming fantasies, finding your soulmate early on in life is a lot, it comes with the ups and downs especially when you're not emotionally, or mentally ready, and neither do you have the experience and stability to handle a serious relationship. I love their love story, which accurately portrays the effects of intentional and unintentional distance, the absence of communication, and many other keys that build a healthy romantic relationship.

Leggi di Più

ITSAY tapi season 2

Ini merupakan series musim ke-dua dari series "I Told Sunset About You", season ke-dua ini membuat judulnya berganti menjadi "I Promised You the Moon". Tidak ada sinopsis yang perlu saya jelaskan, intinya series ini menceritakan si-main role Oh-Aew dan Teh di kehidupan kuliahnya. Secara detail series ini berfokus tentang rintangan mereka dalam berkuliah terutama dalam menjalankan study, mempertahankan hubungan antara keduanya (Oh-Aew dan Teh) juga dengan teman-temannya, serta mencari minat dan bakat diri. Pallete warna di series ini sangat bagus, video dikemas dengan warna-warna yang enak dilihat, cenderung matte colour dengan vibrant feelings membuat series ini sangat nyaman di mata. Ada beberapa scene yang membuatku kesal dan greget, namun pengemasan series ini menurutku sangat bagus ; detail dan mudah di fahami. Karakter-karakter di series ini sangat kuat sehingga membuat para tokoh semuanya terlihat penting, Ppkrit yang membintangin Oh-Aew semakin bisa menjiwai karakternya ; sangat luar biasa!, saya sangat merekomendasikan series ini terutama bagi orang yang sudah menonton season pertamanya.

Leggi di Più

A story that feels so real that it hits you in the feelings at each dialogue and dynamic

I'll start by saying that i never write reviews, but this series has left me such a sense of void that i wanted to share my feelings and opinions for everyone else in here.

The strenght of both I told sunset about you and I promised you the moon is, among everything else, the story itself, so simple yet so powerful. I feel like this is the first BL that i've watched that truly coveys what it means to be gay and in a relationship with someone in the most realist way; it feels so real that it hurts. As a gay guy myself I've always felt like the majority of BL's are just one trope after the other, one cringey and emotionless scene between 2 random good looking guys that are not even trying to convey what it means to be in a gay relationship because they are basically aimed to entertain young girls that have no idea of what are the deepest and scariest parts of these relationships. I've watched both season 1 and 2 in just 24 hours basically, and I've found myself bawling my eyes out countless times because of the connection I've felt with both of the characters in many occasions. I'll touch briefly my top 3 highlights of both season:

1. The fear of coming out with your family.
So of course this is not he first series to touch this theme, but none has touched it in such an intimate way as in here; the dialogue between Teh and his brother as pure perfection, the fear in his eyes when he was trying to admit his nature is something so familiar that my stomach was hurting. Same goes with the scene where his mother tells him she knows about Oh, it was so simple, without great words, just the simple love and understanding of a mother towards her son.

2. The realisation that the feelings of your boyfriend have changed and the decision to pretend to not see what's going on.
My god I can' stress enough how painfully good was this portrayal, I've seen myself in Oh during the karaoke scene, trying to pretend not to see Teh looking and Jay, trying to pretend that his reassurances and kind words were the true because the reality would have been to cruel to handle. Also all the moments prior to that one, those moments when you know that there's something wrong, you can feel that something is off, that something has changed but you try to convince yourself that it's all in your head, that you're just being paranoid; and that's the beginning of a loophole of internal suffering where you would like to scream and destroy everything every minute of every day.

3. The idea that a new company of friends will change who you are.
It was only touched briefly by Teh in one episode and still was definitely on point as it is something that happend way too often.
When you move into a big city and you surround yourself with new friends it's easy to be sucked in and to lose yourself because you want desperately to fit in, you want to fit in so much that you embrace the personality, the hobbys and the lifestyle of the people you see around you. I thinks it's one of the most painful things to experience when you are in a relationship, as you see your partner gradually change in someone else, up to the point where you don't even recognize the person you are in love with.

There are many many other moments that made this series feel like a slice of life, the perfect example of a relationship any of us could have, and that's what makes his series so simple yet amazing.

The acting was, for the most part, fantastic, i can definitely see that both of them were into the characters they were playing so much that certain moments were a reflexion of reality and not a fiction anymore. There were also a couple of scenes were Teh was over dramatic, i can't remember the exact episode of season one but there was this scene were he was screaming and crying in sch a way that i was laughing, but hey, that's just to be picky and find negative points.

In conclusion I've felt seen, I've felt naked, I've felt a void inside of me because this series made me remember and realize how much I've suffered in my past relationship and how difficult it was to handle all those emotions because it's too hard to talk about your boyfriend with your family that is watching you suffer. An absolute masterpiece, a must see but be aware that you might be a wreck after, i've felt blue all day.

Leggi di Più

Painfully real, interesting and innovative take on a BL story

The drama follows the evolution of the relationship of Teh and Oh-aew as they are settling in Bangkok in two different universities. The story is painfully realistic: I'm quite impressed from an intellectual perspective of the narrative road taken by the show. The focus is more on the sad and difficult parts of the relationship rather than on the happiness and light moments...This is such an unconventional and fresh take on young love evolution but what makes it so interesting makes it also a bit dry to follow. There are some defaults in the pacing, as there is an unbalance between the waves of emotional distresses the viewer experiences watching the show vs. the time spent on rewarding and happy moments.

The main male leads keep being great together: it is not anymore a young love blossoming they portray but rather a mature relationship with his conflicts and interference, when habits and routine prevail on desire and butterflies in your stomach. I found them quite convincing in their role, and my heart felt a lot of pain as the characters went through a lot. It was almost awkward to watch some of the scenes as it felt almost too real in the interactions, as if the viewer is an intruder witnessing very private and painful situations.

The production maintains a high quality level in the second part of the story of Teh and Oh-aew. The Bangkok setting has less charm than the Phuket scenery but the context of the arts students working on various play together is superbly directed. The OST is still really nice: one specific scene with the two main actors singing shook me and set a new turn to the story.

I would recommend this to people that have seen the first part ITSAY of course. You need to be in a certain mindset to watch this Part 2 as the show is pretty deep and focus on the painfully real sides of a relationship. If you want some meaningless fluff, chose another series and wait to be ready and in the right mood for this. It is so worth it in a way as it is such an innovative take in terms of storytelling for a BL story despite some minor flaws in its pacing and writing.

Leggi di Più