Bad Buddy (2021)

Il più bel BL dell’ultimo anno, senza ombra di dubbio.

Non ci sono parole per descrivere l’alchimia che Ohm e Nanon sono riusciti a portare sullo schermo tramite i loro personaggi.
Pat e Parn rimarranno sempre nel mio cuore.
Trama avvincente, personaggi che ti fanno innamorare per quanto sono umani, attori superbi.
Carinissime anche le coppie secondarie, uno dei pochi BL che contiene una storia GL (a proposito, quanto è carina la sorella di pat?).
Non smetterò mai di consigliarlo a chiunque sia un appassionat* del genere.
Credete a me e correte a vederlo.







Piccolo “spoiler” che non posso evitare di riportare:
La frase finale di Pat
“Ma questo è Parn o Nanon?”
Detta mentre Parn salta addosso a Pat mi ha lasciato una bellissima sensazione, esprime il rapporto che i due sono riusciti a creare e grazie al quale hanno dato tanta umanità ai loro personaggi

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stupenda

Ho amato e continuo ad amare infinitamente questa serie, ha un posto particolare nel mio cuore.
Questa serie merita tanto, è assolutamente da vedere.
Ora che l’ho rivista ci sono delle cose che ho capito meglio e ciò mi ha dato la possibilità di capire al meglio la serie in sé e per sé.
Tra Ohm e Nanon c’è una chimica pazzesca, il ruolo principale in sta serie è dato dagli sguardi, i loro occhi parlano al posto delle loro bocche e devo dire che sta funzionalità non l’ho mai vista così forte e chiara così come in bad bunny.
Adoro la loro storia anche se complicata e adoro il loro modo di amare l’altro così sinceramente e carinamente, amo soprattutto il loro modo di “litigare” continuamente, sembrano cane e gatto.
Inutile dire che questa è una delle migliori serie che abbia mai visto, fantastica, i loro problemi sono così realistici e trattati in modo stupendo.
Infine devo dire che adoro come hanno deciso di fare all’ultimo ep., tutti avrebbero pensato che si fossero lasciati ma nulla, non l’hanno fatto e io adoro quando non ci sono rotture del genere.
Alla fine non ho scritto molto ma seriamente c’è tanto da dire al riguardo, in ogni caso consiglio fermamente questa serie.

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I MIEI ENEMIES TO LOVER PREFERITI

Mi é piaciuta molto la trama che si concentra sulla complicata amicizia e sul percorso di crescita personale di Pran e Pat.

Questa serie affronta temi come l'amicizia, l'amore e le sfide che incontrano lungo il cammino, temi che trovo molto interessanti.

Inoltre é una storia coinvolgente che ha conquistato il mio cuore da subito.

Se vi piacciono le storie che esplorano le dinamiche complesse tra i personaggi, vi consiglio di dargli un'occhiata!

Ve ne innamorerete come ho fatto io.

❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️

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Un pelo sopravvalutata, o forse sono sempre io (c’è anche un piccolo spoiler di The Eclipse)

Parto col dire che mi è piaciuta. La trama è carina, una moderna Romeo e Giulietta in chiave BL senza il funerale finale e devo dire che overall è piacevole da vedere, però da come me ne parlavano sembrava una di quelle serie che cambiano l’esistenza umana… e devo dire che non la ho trovata così. Ritengo che il miglior lavoro della GMMTV degli ultimi anni sia un altro (ma vi prego non guardate la mia lista, che se no si pensa sia ubriaca mentre scrivo questa recension). Ora serie carina, serie piacevole, si è anche approcciata a vari cliché che nei “vecchi” BL venivano sfruttati malamente cercando di risolverli. E devo darle atto, si è approcciata bene e le “critiche” fatte ci stavano. E qui finisce la parte positiva (poi, il cast è stato bravo, le musiche piacevoli, però ecco), perché cominciano le mie due grandi obiezioni alla serie che mi hanno fatto abbassare il voto: una è personale, una è più una riflessione sulla GMMTV. Quella personale è che, complice il fatto che alla fine non la ho vista “week by week”, ma tutta di fila non ho provato il “brivido” nel vederla puntata per puntata… quindi credo che mi sarebbe piaciuta di più se l’avessi vista seguendo l’uscita settimanale. Non so ho questa impressione. Seconda obiezione (che mi porterà a fare SPOILER anche di THE ECLIPSE, quindi se non lo avete visto, fermatevi alla prossima riga): la GMMTV è già la seconda volta che mi mette qualcuno che fa fare coming out a qualcun altro e che la passa liscia senza alcuna “ripercussione” per questo fatto. E seppur due situazioni differenti, comunque entrambi i personaggi (quindi Thua e Wai) sapevano quanto era difficile per i colleghi a cui hanno fatto outing dirlo e per di più uno dei due ha letteralmente tre secondi prima sentito Pran dire quanto per lui fosse difficile fare “outing” e l’altro ha passato lunga parte della sua permanenza in quella scuola bullizzato perché gay. E qui si conclude il paragone con The Eclipse, perché da Thua non te lo aspetti, alla fine era tipo un cucciolo di foca con gli occhioni, mentre da Wai sì, quindi il problema non si pone per l’outing forzato (che comunque è un problema), ma per il fatto che non solo Pran gli è dovuto correre dietro come si fa con un bambino, ma che nel giro di mezzo episodio abbia cambiato carattere dal giorno alla notte. Così, senza niente (anche se, un*, magari meno insensat* di me potrebbe dire che il fatto che a Pat gli abbiano sparato per colpa sua sia abbastanza per aprirgli gli occhi). E qui arriva la mia critica alla GMMTV, vi prego, migliorate questo vostro problema di scrittura, mi sarebbe bastato anche un “Sono stato io a farvi scoprire da tutti, mi spiace.”(non che sarebbe bastato, ma almeno), ma manco quello. E ha fatto pure sentire in colpa Pran, per una cosa che aveva tutto il diritto di tenere nascosta fino a quando voleva. Tutto ciò messo assieme, è comunque molto piacevole e merita una possibilità (tranne Wai, a lui ne hanno già date troppe).

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Just the best BL you will find out there. Why? Because it's healthy, it's well written, the actors actually has good chemistry and, the most important, it was made for us, the LGBTQ community. It has no stereotype, no "i don't like men, i only like you" bullshit, no internalized homophobia and no commercial soft porn. It's not for straight cis girls to feed their fetish, it's a lovely, romantic story for US, the LGBTQ. We can't say it about a lot of other BLs. People will probably say "oh, but BL it's made from women to women" like they are oh so right. But not this story, no. In here there's zero heteronormativity. There's no dude saying shit like "you will be my wife" or "let me touch your boobs". There's no r*ape being normalized and romanticized. There's no "strong" guy and "weak" guy. The director and his team took every bad trope that exist in the BL industry and threw it in the garbage. He did an amazing job. He said "fuck off" to all that bad stuff and created a good rom-com. He took the enemies to lovers trope and made it HEALTHY (and that was never made right in this industry before)! He took an actor who never played BL before and made him feel comfortable. There's not even one awkward scene between the actors. They being friends (the main couple) it could've go in the completely wrong direction, but it did't. It's comfortable to watch. Their performance is believable and lovely. This series is a breath of fresh air. It took bad BL tropes and made it good. I don't believe nothing will ever surpass it, but this director maybe can surprise us again.

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It has the making to be one of the better, if not the best BL series.

Let's be honest here, this show is not going to win any award anytime soon - the plot is not new, it's another one of those university-themed BL series that is already a little bit of a cliche in itself. An enemy-turned-to-lover slightly diluted Romeo & Juliet story so common in a lot of Thai dramas. However, they have proven that even the simplest story can be great with proper execution. It's like they took note of all the bad comments from all the other series and aspired to make it better - even promised not to fall in the trap of those tiring BL tropes.

There is no "I'm straight but I only like you"; they made fun and tackled the wife and hubby misconceptions; they made the parents (and friends) cool about their preferences; the main couple even fooled the parents (or so they thought) into thinking they did what they wanted them to do but instead they're really just following their hearts. What made me appreciate it, even more, is their positive depiction of a same-sex relationship, and how it is so relatable in real life.

What about the cast? Ohm and Nanon's chemistry is off the charts they set the bar so high it will be difficult to watch any other series without comparing it to their performance. These are actors who genuinely look like they're enjoying doing the show and not just doing it for fan service. GMMTV should be lining up projects for Ohm and Nanon, sooner rather than later, and as partners. This couple deserves to be in the pantheon at the same level as the original BL trinity.

The show isn't perfect - we hated how Pran and Pat were outed by a supposed friend, which thankfully was resolved in one episode and we still ended up forgiving Wai. I also felt like the tension between the parents doesn't justify the family feud. Do I need the mention the product placements? Thankfully the shows' strengths canceled out all the negatives.

I also need to mention that satisfying ending, where they tied everything perfectly, albeit leaving a little chance for a second season.

A special nod should also be given to Backaof Noppharnach's direction and his partnership with his screenwriting team. Although I'm not a big fan of My Dear Loser, he saved the Together series with the much better Still Together, then gave us A Tale of a Thousand Stars, and now this! I am now a bonafide fan, and I'm looking forward to his future works.

Also, I have to mention how great the OST is.

Rewatch value is 10, and yes I've watched each episode a few times. Overall, it's a 9.5.

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The best BL drama out there!

I have always avoided BL dramas. The only BL watched in my life was The Untamed because BL wasn't it's main theme. After seeing many good comments and the high rating, at last, I decided to start my first Thai and fully BL concentrated drama - Bad Buddy.

The main reason why I avoided BLs was that I feel that it is toxic. There will be many odious scenes and dialogues. But, after watching this, I reaslised there can be healthy BLs too. I have never seen any BL like this before. So cute, well written, has good lead chemistry, and overall, it's HEALTHY. It kept on getting better and better from beginning to end.

This drama is based on the Thai novel Behind The Scenes by Afterday and -West-. As you have read in the synopsis, this is a shory about two boys, who were forced to be rivals because of their family problems. They had to compete against each other for almost everything. As they grew tired, they became really good friends and then, without even realising, lovers.
Although primarily looking like a comedy drama, it becomes an emotional roller coaster and takes us through all kinds of emotions including happiness, anger, surprise and sadness.

As this is my first Thai drama, I was utterly unfamiliar with the cast. But, this problem didn't last for long. In the first episode itself, I concluded that I am watching a drama with amazing actors.
Nanon Korapat Kirdpan (I still don't know how to say the name) plays Parakul, nicknamed Pran, a neat and tidy perfectionist who always loses his earphones (lol) and Ohm Pawat Chittsawangdee plays the masculine Narpat, nicknamed Pat, who is an impulsive, cheeky guy. They nailed their characters very well that it was very convincing and lovely. Their relation was a kind of love/hate relation at first and they had good chemistry between them. Their kisses were awsome. I have never seen any kiss so pure and true in any BL.
And about the supporting characters. I must say Pa and Ink make an amazing pair. Also the actors who played Pat and Pran's friends also did an amazing job.

The music is nice. I especially liked the songs sung by Nanon himself, 'Just Friends?'. I really liked the lyrics of the songs that implied the relation between Pat and Pran from friends to lovers.
Top soundtracks :
Just Friend? แค่เพื่อนมั้ง by Nanon Korapat Kirdpan
Secret (Won't Tell Anyone That You Like Me First) จะไม่บอกใครละกันว่าเธอชอบฉันก่อน by Kacha Nontanun
Our Song เพลงที่เพิ่งเขียนจบ by Nanon Korapat Kirdpan

The rewatch value is very high, which is rare for any dramas. I will certainly rewatch this drama at any point of time in the future. This is an ideal watch at depressing times. Pran and Pat will help us to relieve our stress with their cuteness.

As I said, I don't ususally watch BLs, particularly the ones with intimate scenes and kisses. I am glad that I did not avoid this one. Bad Buddy is a unique BL production that would change the perspective of BL series. I really appreciate all the cast and crew members who contributed in producing such a fine work.

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Alright,
This is my first review of a series in months and boy, am I happy that it is with Bad Buddy, that was the perfect reintroduction into the world of BLs I took an unexpected break after Manner of Death. I felt a lot of things while I watched Bad Buddy, so I would break down my review into parts. To the best of my abilities, I would avoid giving you any spoilers in this review.
1. Introduction
2. General Review, Themes, Specific Issues
3. Story arc and Storylines
4. Characters and Casting
5. Acting
6. Misses
7. Production
8. Rewatch Value

INTRODUCTION
When I heard about Bad Buddy, I was excited because of Ohm and Nannon, I mean you could give them the most basic story possible, and I would still love the show because I like that much. But however Bad Buddy really came from west field to become one of GMM’s best BLs ever, competing with the best of them all (they for certain have one of the best GMM kisses hands down, I mean episode 5 kiss was top tier). In a lot of places, the storyline stayed safe and a little bit basic, but this did not take away from the overall enjoyability of the series in the least bit, heck I think it enhanced it further.
Coming into Bad Buddy, expect a lighthearted series, with a lot of fluffiness and cute flirting, a little bit of irritation from side characters (Wai walks in) and surprisingly, girls love side theme, which I very much loved about the show. But what stuck with me the most was how this series tackled stereotypes, I would handle this more under my general review, but I would just say this is what you get when a queer person directs a show, you get actual good content not based on exaggerated stereotypes. An example of this is the fact that Pran was the top in this relationship, I mean even I as a gay person lowkey started to fall into that stereotype of what a top should look like or be like.
So Bad Buddy really is that series that hit a lot of the right cords with me. Into the review we move now.

GENERAL REVIEW, THEMES, SPECIFIC ISSUES
1. Tackling Stereotype: I absolutely loved how bad buddy came for Thai BLs necks in this series, like they brought all their legs over fire, and I think that was one of the major themes of this series that it tackles so many stereotypes.
a. “I AM NOT GAY, I LIKE ONLY YOU”: You know in previous Thai BL series, it has always somehow seemed like they were scared to say the words “I am gay”, which Pat and Pa make fun of it in the episode where it became public that they were together. Not only did they acknowledge Bisexuality as a legit orientation, not that you just randomly fall in love with that one guy and no one else. They also introduced the possibility of Pran being gay, simple, and short. I love that because that is something GMM has lost me on for the past few years, like YOU CAN JUST SAY THEY ARE GAY OR BISEXUAL, IT WOULDN’T HURT YOU
b. “HUSBAND AND WIFE”: I love that they also addressed how weird it is that Thai BLs over the past few years have insisted on having this tag this is my “wife”, to refer to the person who is more likely to be the bottom (TharnType, I see you). When Pran called out Pat to realize how stupid it was to say “wife” and “husband” in a gay relationship, try to make a gay relationship heteronormative doesn’t make sense.
c. Another stereotype they handled, that ironically, I felt into this too, was the concept of a clear identified bottom and top in a gay relationship based on some physical traits and qualities. I wouldn’t lie it reminded me that we cannot just assume who the top in relationship and we fall into a dangerous pattern of profiling the LGBT+ community should be against as a community
2. The kisses and Fluffiness: if you have watched Bad Buddy then you would know that they now hold the crown for the best GMMTV kiss and now ranks in the upper echelon of BL kisses alongside MaxTul, TharnType, KinnPorsche, The History Franchise and My Day. I mean so many things about the series was right, but nothing gets me better than a kiss well executed, not disgusting, not looking like they were afraid to kiss or anything like that. So, they got me there
3. Shoving Ohm’s/Pat’s Package in our faces: why did I make this more than once????? and at that point it was becoming a pattern and thus a theme. Like I am a hundred percent certain that someone in production intentionally did this, probably thought to themselves to rile up the fans a little bit. And I mean we are ever grateful for it, in the most non-perverted way possible
4. Social Media: So, this was not so much a major theme, but I loved a part of the series where Pat kept posting secret pictures of him and Pran, when Pran asked him, he was like “social media is for bragging”, I liked this because it kind off addresses a lot of the flaws that our society has come to be especially in the era of social media. But like I said this wasn’t a major theme, just something I noted on the side.
5. FRIENDSHIP: You know I got two contrasts of friendship in this show. The first were Pat’s friendship in this show, I mean there were Pat’s friends, especially Korn who were the ideal idea of what a friend should be, he was cool when everything came out about Pat and Pran, supported them and everything. Wai on the other hand is a plain b*tch about it, I mean outing your friend, I don’t care how angry you are, you don’t just do somethings.
On a closure of general review, I liked all the components that came together to make this show, I don’t think it could have been any better this.

STORY ARC AND STORYLINES
I liked the trajectory of this show, they didn’t waste time on some areas in terms giving us unnecessary scenes. What we basically get is two boys who have been trained to hate each other right from birth, overcome tons of obstacles and find their way towards each other. They show us that love is something you can control, it could be towards even your worst of enemies. The story is one of love, fluffiness, overcoming obstacles to be together.
The story had a few lessons like
1. We don’t and we can never control who we love, either in terms of sexual orientation or the person themselves. It really is an uncontrollable phenomenon of nature
2. The way we interact with our friends really matters. Because it can really make or break a person. An example is the fact no one in their friend group picked up that they were dating
I loved the story overall

CHARACTERS, CASTING AND ACTING
I love the characters, while they were core characters that make up the entire story, I love how they tried their best to give each character a little bit of something, they did not always succeed but it was great though, I love that they had 3D characters, no caricatures of characters though I wish they did more with some characters.
Alright I would take this character by character and how well I believe the casting fit and I would start in order of how well I liked the character.
The character I love the most was Korn, that man gave me so much joy, like he was so stupid and supportive, I loved him every bit for it. If we are being honest, we all know that Korn was the Captain of PranPat ship and no one will take it from him. Like I love that Drake was casted for this because I have come to realize it seems Drake always kills it as a side character. In this show he particularly brought out the essence of Korn. He was simply my overall favorite character, the part he particularly sold me was after he was an ass to Pat for dating Pran and didn’t allow Pat stay with them, when he brought food for Pat, I thought to myself, what a loveable fool?❤️?❤️?❤️
Then Pat was next. I absolutely loved Ohm as Pat, I mean Pat is somehow dense and foolish, he moves with the flow (case in point how fast he accepted that he was in love with Pran) but he always had good intentions (him willing to pretend he broke with Pran so that Wai would talk to Wai again, I mean if that is not the epitome of love). Pat’s character was executed so well I absolutely loved it,
Then there was Pran, I don’t think I need to say much under Pran, except he gave us all the perfect vibes of Tsundere, a tsundere that was always in love with the other person. You know I loved that Nannon could capture all the emotions Pran was feeling in his eyes, which basically made his acting and character all the much better for me. He gave me the conflict of love but understanding the societal position they had and trying to create a balance between the two.
PaInk, it was nice to get a girls love theme in this. I mean I came to this for the BL, but who am I to say no to a good GL side story.
WAI…. NEVER IN MY HISTORY OF WATCHING BL HAS A CHARACTER MADE ME AS MAD ABOUT THEIR EXISTENCE LIKE WAI… LIKE DUDE WAS SO ANNOYING AND HE KEPT OVERDOING IT. I ABSOLUTELY LOST IT WHEN HE OUTED THEM, LIKE WHAT???????????????? I DON’T CARE WHAT PRAN DID TO YOU, EXCEPT HE KILLED YOUR ENTIRE FAMILY, YOU HAVE NO RIGHT TO OUT HIM, HOW CAN YOU EVEN CALL YOURSELF HIS BESTFRIEND???? You know what, I don’t want to say anything further on Wai.
The friends and Parents, honestly, I was lowkey indifferent about them. I just felt they were all childish.
I think overall, the core 5 or 6 characters showed a little bit of depth, that they were thought out to some extents and to make us understand that humans are complex 3 dimensional people, we dong just fit into a one for all box... Though I wish they did more with side characters sometimes but it's fine

MISSES
I want to say Bad Buddy had no misses but one thing I was confused about, was the concept that their seniors in Architecture and Engineering asked them to boycott their friends just because they were dating someone from a different faculty. I mean the math was not mathing for me.
But there was no miss to this show that was detrimental though.

PRODUCTION
The production and direction of this was awesome to me, the fact that it didn’t feel rushed or forced at any point in time. I loved that about the show . The Pacing was generally okay, so I do not seriously have any issues with them.


REWATCH VALUE
I WOULD ABSOULTELY REWATCH THIS… EVEN TODAY


OVERALL
This was a series that was made with a purpose and they executed perfectly I am so grateful to everyone who was a part of this movement because you truly took us on a beautiful journey, one I would never forget, you made me care for people, made me happy, made me laugh, cry with someone in their pain if that is not arts at its best I don’t know what is.

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Bad Buddy is the BL drama that WILL END ALL BL DRAMAS!!!

ALL ELSE BEING EQUAL, this is the BL drama that will end all BL dramas – PERIOD! No one or not everybody will agree with me but if you look again closely at all those previous (and watch future) “popular” BL dramas and compare them with Bad Buddy, you can tell the difference (truly no offense meant to the fans of other BL dramas). I thought Dark Blue Kiss was my all-time favorite UNTIL I watched Bad Buddy. Bad Buddy is unique by all accounts and I will not elaborate this because if you are truly a Bad Buddy fan, you know what I am referring to.

You can start combing through any discussion threads/comments/etc. (in all social media) about Bad Buddy and 99% of all the comments are in unison having the same voices and sentiments THAT... (1) You can’t or don’t need to watch another BL drama after watching Bad Buddy because it will be very difficult for you to move one AND (2) You will need another BL drama that is “better” than Bad Buddy before you can get over Bad Buddy drama, but it’s highly unlikely. Bad Buddy drama has set the bar so high that you will not watch any other BL drama if its not as good as (or better than) Bad Buddy!

It might be too early to consider Bad Buddy drama as PEERLESS, but it will be!!!

All our lives, we thought the best things that Fridays can give us are rest and enjoyment (after studying or working hard) BUT Bad Buddy has totally, immensely, and overwhelmingly changed that!!!! Fridays will never be the same again after watching Bad Buddy drama!!!!!!!

Watching Bad Buddy is a marvelous way to end 2021 and start 2022…

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This series is everything I ever wanted to see and so much more..

Bad buddy as the title goes it's about two individuals not exactly buddies but well they were kind of buddies in high school just that they didn't actually put a label on it. So anyway two buddies separated for three damn years, due to the rivalry between their parents, cross each others path yet again in university and that's where everything begins. It might seem like those dramas of typical high school setting at first but honestly it isn't. It is much more than that and better in every way.

"From two people who shouldn't be friends to two people who cannot be just friends anymore." trope done right. It's a basic plot done so right that it's too mesmerising.

And let me tell you this series is breaking stereotypes and I love it so much more for that. Especially the wife thing. They are clearly both husbands. Why use wife? This series voicing this out feels great. And them saying I don't mind the gender instead of I only like him. Now that's how it should be voiced out. Being gay, bi or pan isn't wrong. Some series overusing the sentence 'I only like him' low-key tells how they disgust the idea of loving men being men. But well bad buddy broke that stereotype too.

In the begining of the series many complained that the fights were not realistic but no, it's realistic. As someone who has been a witness to such petty gang fights, I know it happens. The whole college might not be aware of it but those who are aware pretty much know how those fights are and sometimes even how childish the reasons for the fights are especially in such an age group. So it's not exaggerating.

The series is everything I ever wanted to see and so much more. It just keeps getting better and better and the actors make it so much more better. Pat and Pran have the best chemistry out there.

This series makes my heart leap up with joy and then again it does not fail to inflict my heart with stinging pain. Definitely recommending this series.

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