Bad Buddy (2021)

This show and the feelings.

This show is an absolute watch. The rating imo is too low for this show. I really think it should be at AT LEAST a 9.0 avg rating. All episodes have been amazing and great to watch. Love ohm, I mean who doesn’t. Am I right? And Nanon has been killing it. His acting in this show is on point. I was a little worried at first given it’s his 1st bl but he has been flawless.

Conclusion: Fuck this show and how it messes with your feelings. Fuck…….. this……….. show. 10/10 would watch again.

Update: The show is now unfortunately finished and i already miss them. Watch this series and i can promise you, you will not regret it. This series is refreshing that it breaks the BL norms. This is most likely my fav bl ever.

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What a ride!

Overall: Bad Buddy is one of the best bls of 2021 and just in general. Breaking the stereotypes of bls, the monotonous story, the homophobic parents, the lack of chemistry and the lack of healthy relationships. 'Bad Buddy' did what a lot series wished they have done, from being the most talked about bl with over 1 million mentions on Twitter every Friday, to make me cry on ep. 11. that's legendary (lol). 'Bad Buddy' will go down in history as one of the standards, when you watch a new bl, you would think about 'Bad Buddy' before, and now you'll measure the writing to that of BB. I know that for sure, I say this because after 'Lovely Writer' I couldn't stop comparing every bl I watched so. Anyways, enough talking. 'Bad Buddy' is excellent, unforgettable and overall one of the best bls writing in history. PERIODT!

Grade: 10. This is a great story!
Visit my blog a detailed review!!
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Completed - 3/6/2022

When “Bad Buddy” was airing, the MDL feeds were spammed with comments, screenshots, reviews, and everyone was praising this drama. I thought I would pick this to be my first Thai drama (I ended up watching “I Told Sunset About You” first). Maybe the expectations were too high, and I fail to see how the drama could justify a high 8.6 rating. As reviews are very subjective, please do not hate me for not loving it (I like it OK). I am a new Thai drama watcher, so maybe I am not getting some of the cultural or BL references/biases. I am judging this based on my enjoyment level.

What I Enjoy:

General Plot - I do enjoy this modern and BL take of “Romeo and Juliet”. Even though for the most part, I was confused about why the two families hate each other so much. The reasons given in the beginning of the show didn’t seem to justify the animosity. But I like the premise and how our main leads break that tradition. I enjoy the development of how Pat and Pran compete with each other since childhood. This sense of competition never goes away, even when they become lovers. I have always been a fan of the enemies-to-lovers trope and I think the transition of the different stages of their relationship is done relatively well.

Chemistry - Pat and Pran really do have great chemistry together. I love their bickering and the continued competition throughout their relationship. This I-am-not-losing-to-you spirit adds spice to their chemistry.. I like the embarrassed and twist-my-arm looks that Pran always has on his face. I also like the smitten looks that Pat has when he’s looking at Pran. They complement each other very well. Their few emotional scenes were done really well. The couple gives off a very rom-com vibe - cute, fluffy, sweet and fun. However, at some point, the flirting became a little too much (more in the negative section below).

Love who you want - I am not sure if other Thai BL dramas are like this, but this drama doesn’t make a big deal when someone is in a homosexual relationship. We have heterosexual, gay, lesbian couples in this drama. No one was alarmed, no one was criticizing or judging. It’s giving a message of “I don’t care who you love as long as you are happy”. It’s different from “I Told Sunset About You’. There’s no coming out of the closet angst, stigma or prejudice. We really need more drama like this to present a healthy, supportive message to the world.

Songs - I like all the songs in this drama. I always look forward to scenes when Pran picks up the guitar and sings.


What I Don’t Enjoy:

Excessive Flirting+Shirtless Pat = Fan service - I love flirting as much as the next romance watcher. However, the flirting in this drama is excessive and cringey to me. A whole episode was dedicated just to the leads’ flirting before they are officially an item. At times, I also find Pat annoying when he keeps on pestering Pran and just repeating these cringey love lines. I wish the drama had toned down on the flirting, and focused a little more on the family drama/history and not just waited till the last couple episodes. Additionally, are we having too many shirtless scenes of Pat? Don’t get me wrong, he’s hot and has a great body and I do enjoy seeing this handsome guy. But I feel like the excessive flirting and shirtless scenes are just for fan service to create buzz when the show is airing. It “cheapens’ the quality of the drama.

Faculty Rivalry - I also feel that the drama spends too much time on the Architecture/Engineering rivalry. These college students are acting like high school kids, with no self-control whatsoever. When you get busted so many times, it’s time to think before you act. With the excessive flirting and rivalry scenes, the drama could be cut down to 10 episodes only.

Product Placement - There are so many products being advertised in this drama. We have the usual suspects of drinks and snacks. I’ve never seen a printer advertisement by a male lead before (I guess we still need to change ink cartridges these days), and the multiple scenes of our leads cleaning each other’s face with makeup remover.


Other Observations:
1. Pat’s father looks Chinese and his character’s name is Ming. It’s also interesting to see him reading a Chinese newspaper.
2. Do Thai beers really have such light color and no foam at all?
3. The ending is good enough for me and we don’t need a Season 2. Love the subtle acknowledgment of the parents.
4. To show that the kids are adults, you just need to get their hair styled back - no more hanging fringes.
5. My first time seeing and listening to a Thai Xylophone. It sounds great!

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Great fluff, but forgetable.

This is not a bad series. But I also don't feel it's as good as most other people do. I would recommend it, but here's my honest review:

The first half of this is spectacular - it roughly follows Romeo & Juliet, so it's hard to go wrong. The director does a fantastic job of ratcheting up the dramatic tension until the end of Ep 5. But then nothing happens. The major conflict with Pran's best friend Wai just evaporates without real resolution due to an external circumstance - there's no conversation about what happened - one moment he's homicidal, the next he's totally OK with everything.

The central conflict between the families also never goes anywhere - there's a brief reveal of the origin of the conflict, and then it's never addressed again - it just goes away... after a time jump.

Speaking of which, time jumps are lazy. The director opted, instead of confrontation and resolution of the central conflict, to just leaping over it. That makes it incomprehensible why they would endure the enormous sacrifice of keeping their relationship secret for five years.

I love that we got to see the main couple interacting as a couple throughout most of the series rather than a hug in the last 10 seconds of the series, but the entire second half of the series is basically just cute moments between them, with no further development of their relationship from the climax on the rooftop in Ep 5, and so it gets repetitive and dull - I've never before in my life ff'd though romantic scenes in BLs, but I was just bored and in the later episodes, relied on 2x to get through them. They seem more like friends with benefits than a real couple. In the last ep, they interact exactly like they did at the beginning - not like people who have been building a life together for 5 years.

Ep 5 was the peak because it contained a very skillful buildup of tension with an extremely satisfying resolution. Because all the conflict after that just disappeared, we were cheated of a satisfying resolution. The couple never had to fight for anything to be together - they just were. For 7 more episodes with very little happening plot-wise. If there are no stakes, there's no tension, and nothing to invest in, so all you have left is cute boys being cute to each other, which is great, but disappointing if it's all there is.

The acting in this is very good. Ohm and Nanon obviously really like each other, so their relationship is comfortable, and Jimmy is a standout as Wai - he was downright scary in Ep 5 and he has a strong presence.

So if you want a fluffy feel-good series to watch, you can't beat this. But instead of being what it could have been, one of the best BL series of all time, the director just didn't know how to resolve the dramatic tensions he'd build up, so he just punted, and as a result, other than Ep 5, this series is eminently forgetable. I doubt anyone feels that way just after watching the finale, but I suspect many will, in fact, forget it fairly soon.

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DO NOT COME EXPECTING FOR A PERFECT PLOT

this series is really good. i really enjoy it and i was obsessed with it for weeks (tbh idk if it is bc i like nanon but again i am not obsessed with all nanon show so i think it is definitely the charm of the series). anyway dont come for this series expecting great plot, no, bc this is character driven instead of plot driven. idk if ppl will enjoy it if you bingewatch (bc there are a lot of fluff scenes so some might find it repetitive and cringe i guess (too much sweetness) but since i watch it ongoing i love it lol). the rating is obviously biased bc this story is not perfect but i rated it high for all the feels this show managed to deliver to me and that is on patpran strongest and healthiest relationship.

i personally really love the first 4 ep, it made me feel things and genuinely made me feel happy and i love how the conversation flows between them it is just very natural and i dont feel cringe at all. patpran is officially my top 1 bl couple they are just very enjoyable to watch and i love how they stay with their character till the end. the show start with them always bickering and also end with them bickering but with love. some ppl said after ep5 they look like two bros flirting with each other, well idk sometimes i perceive it that way but they are cute together so i love that part of them that are equally competitive and just doing dumb things with each other. they are both dumb yes pran included.

acting? now this is what made this show different from most thai bl i watched bc both main leads are really good actor. im gonna be honest, the story is cliche and the directing is sometimes questionable making me not fully be able to enjoy it so if this are not played by ohmnanon then the series will not be as enjoyable imo.

now let's move to the bad parts of the series?

again, the series is not perfect. i have 2/3 ep that i genuinely dont like and sometimes i had a problem with the editing and some plot. people might not like how simple the issue is resolved after the series building it or making a big deal out of it for almost 8/10 ep but i personally love it. would i prefer if it is more intense? yes but i also love how simple everything is. it is like a depiction of real life where we are very afraid of smth but when the real thing actually came, it is actually not that bad and that is how i intepret it with the friends and parents situation.

//////S P O I L E R//////
i know some people wish the parents conflict to be solved more clearly but i love it. i love how they show the parents are just flawed people, they are not a total villain they are just simply human who made mistakes and their slow acceptance towards the end of the show just made sense bc humans are like that. people might not be satisfied bc all those buildup are for what if in the end the parents never try to separate them? but how would patpran know in the first place? yall might question why must they fake a breakup? well their parents will definitely not ready to accept the relationship at first but throughout the years maybe they realised their sons never fully breakup and slowly try to accept the relationship.

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Amazing!

I watched my first BL Series in 2004 (yes i am an old lady) and many others after, but never have i seen such a realistic BL Series like this. The Chemistry of the Characters are amazing, also the Storyline is beautiful managed. And what impressed me the most was the realism. If you are in a relationship, especially at this age you want to kiss your partner, hug your partner and experiment all kind of things. You don't want to listen to your parents and make your own decisions even if they might be wrong. The Series made me think of my youth and the decisions they made and the way they expresst there feelings and longings are on point. If you are interested in a more realistic BL Series than is that one the right choice!

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Bad Buddy has raised my standards for bls

So I went into this drama having 0 expectations, I hadn't seen the trailer, had no ideas what it was about or that it even existed until 5eps had already aired. I saw reaction videos about it popping up and decided to give it a try. It wasn't exactly "love at first episode" but I kept going and here we are now- this drama has completely taken over my life and I don't think I'll ever get over it.

What I love about the series:
- The acting!!! Every scene feels so natural + the way Ohm and Nanon can show emotions through their eyes is amazing. Of course it's not just the leads, everyone working in this series is very good at what they do.
- The chemistry between Pat & Pran. Ohm & Nanon are very close friends irl who are completely comfortable around each other and it shows with their characters.
- The music. Always switching just as the emotions of the scene changes & helps to enhance whatever the characters are feeling.
- The product placements have created some of the cutest & most memorable scenes.
- There's so much fluff!
- Pat & Pran does this thing called "talking to each other" so we avoid a lot of annoying issues most dramas have with the miscommunication trope (I personally hate it with passion)
- Girl characters aren't used just to create conflict between the main couple & they actually feel like characters not cardboard cutouts... (*looking at most bl series*)
- One of the best bl kiss scenes.
-It's nice to see environmental issues casually brought up throughout the series (like the eco bus stop & green camp they went to)
- There's no homophobia which I personally like. Everyone has issues with Pat & Pran being together but not because they're both men.
- The story itself isn't really anything new and unseen but the way it's told is what makes it special and enjoyable.
- They keep subverting our expectations, sometimes you're sure everything is going one way but then something else happens.
- It's acknowledging and breaking annoying tropes commonly seen in BLs
- Highly rewatchable episodes

Best Thai BL of 2021 for sure.

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Some things just go together, like Pat and Pran

I'm not one to usually write reviews, but after being on this ride for 3 months I felt it necessary. This BL is far above the rest. It is a huge breath of fresh air with how positive and healthy the relationship is. This is one you will not regret watching. This will set the new benchmark for any BL to come after this.

I have never had a show have me waiting every single week with high anticipation for the episode to be released. I have never had a show keep me up the night before the final episode like this one. I was terrified that Pat and Pran would be torn apart. I was terrified that they would suddenly turn toxic.

Instead of turning toxic, they communicate with each other, they come up with plans with each other. They don't completely devote all of their time to each other they focus on their own goals, which is healthy!!!

I am usually one to hate time jumps, this is the only time jump that I've ever thoroughly enjoyed. Hats off to P'Aof for delivering an absolutely perfect series, not just for the BL world, but for the drama world.

To fake a break up for 4 years takes dedication, it was refreshing to see that even at the end the parents knew they couldn't keep them apart. So while the boys thought they were still a secret their parents knew the whole time!

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Bad Buddy - You Came, You Triumphed and You Conquered all our hearts

I have to give it P'Aof. He Literally is the best director in the whole world. Never was I so happy to have been fooled by a preview. From the beginning till the end You literally had us on the edges of our seats, making us eagerly wait for every Friday to make us see this Masterpiece. The series breaks stereotypes and proves that true love conquers all. The Story, the acting, the cast, the visuals, everything was perfect. I'd literally re-watch this series for another hundred times and never get tired of it. Pat and Pran from enemies to friends to lovers navigate and deepen their relationship with each other's support and with communication - something which many series lack and one which Bad Buddy Championed. This series is the New Benchmark for BLs. It deserves the fame and recognition and I hope to see Ohm and Nanon in another Bl directed by P'Aof himself. Dont forget to keep it high in your watchlist and Don't Forget the series iconic quote: You may not be able to change the world, But the world can't change you either. So live your life the way you want.

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BL THAT IS WORTH THE HYPE

I want to start this review off by saying this BL is one that is so worth the hype! It progressively kept getting better and better. When I first watched the unofficial trailer during GMMTV 2021 I was hooked, but when the official trailer came out I was a bit disappointed (I just wasn't as into it as the unofficial trailer). However, when the actual series came out boy was I FARRRRR from being disappointed. This series is a MASTERPIECE. The acting is phenomenal and Ohm and Nanon did an amazing job at bringing Pat and Pran to life (they seriously deserve many awards for this series). Their chemistry was so good and there was nothing awkward about them at all, everything looked so natural. They conveyed emotions effortlessly and I swear their acting is top notch! Another thing about this BL is it defeats the stereotypes typically found in other BLs like the husband and wife/top and bottom stereotype, I'm not gay I only like him stereotype, homophobic parents, etc. ALSO WE GET SOME GL CRUMBS IN THIS DRAMA FROM INK AND PA. Another thing that I loved about this drama was that Pat and Pran had such a healthy relationship and communicated! They did not let silly misunderstandings drag on and get between them when they were finally together and they worked through things together and fixed things right away. They leaned on each other and were each others strength during tough times. ALSO WANNA MAKE A SPECIAL MENTION TO PAT BECAUSE THAT BOY WAS SERIOUSLY THE BEST. HE REALLY DID EVERYTHING HE COULD TO MAKE PRAN HAPPY AND I SERIOUSLY NEED A PAT IN MY LIFE. This series was never boring and I looked forward to watching a new episode every Friday (and for me that is amazing because I usually get bored watching ongoing dramas because I lose my excitement). This series had everything one could ever ask for: romance, comedy, a little bit of angst and drama. Overall, this BL was so entertaining and incorporated various lessons into the plot. Props to P'Aof, Ohm, Nanon, and the rest of the cast and production team for giving us Bad Buddy.

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What more can be said about this masterpiece that hasn't already been said?

I'll try though XD.

Bad Buddy excelled my expectations in every way, this being a GMMTV series I didn't know what to expect. I kept my expectations low because while yes more of their series have been good, others start strong then fall apart as they head towards the finish line. So, I was cautions...
But:
Bad Buddy? Surprised me. It was special from the beginning it always took the unexpected turn which pleasantly surprised me and made me happy. The plot was nicely tied with the themes told making one of the best BL series I have ever seen. This was my first time seeing Nanon I had heard how talented this kid is but knowing this was his first BL I was skeptical. WELL He surprised me! Yes, he's as talented as everyone has said he is, but I was expecting that uncomfortableness that we often get from the actors in this series. I'm happy that we never, ever got that from him. His scenes with Ohm were so natural that it was hard to believe that it was his first time playing a lgbtq character. He settled naturally into Pran's skin. I'm thankful for that. He's definitely become one of my favorite actors thru this series. I felt all of his emotions as I watched him, give him all the awards because he deserves them. I hope we get to see him in another BL in the future & if it's with Ohm even better!
I've been Ohm's fan since he did, He's Coming to Me. It was nice to see him in another BL. I knew he was gonna be amazing here and he didn't disappoint. Actually, he's gotten even better. His chemistry with Nanon was explosive. They are one of the most natural couples, the little touches they added to Pat and Pran were top notch too.
The rest of the cast was good too, just wish we would have seen more of Wai, Korn, Pa & Ink. All amazing characters in their own right. But this series was centered on Pat & Pran, I understand that the whole attention was on them.
The OST wow.... I'm in love. Perfect touch of adding the songs into the story. Nanon's voice was perfect for them too.
Rewatch Value???? 10 of course I will be watching this as many times as I can.
Overall? If I could give it more than 10 I would. Since on MDL I can't go over 10 though it has to be a 10 XD.
Thank you, Bad Buddy, for being the masterpiece you are, for always exceeding expectations, breaking dumb cliche's + molds. Likable characters. Having a strong couple who never let anything, or anyone get in the way of their love. & For having cohesive storytelling & most importantly for not being afraid to tell the story you wanted. If anyone still hasn't seen this show, what are you waiting for? Do it now. No regrets I guarantee. One of the best BL's I have seen in a long time.

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Love is Love and in the end, it will always win!

Bad Buddy Series is standing out in the BL genre like a diamond in the rough and for very good reasons.

For one, the onscreen couple Ohm Nanon is an awesome force! I can’t resist falling in love with them since the series started. I have been a huge fan of Ohm since He’s Coming To Me and wow this boy is flawlessly talented. His acting skills have won him awards so I was a little worried Nanon wouldn’t measure up because I haven’t seen any of his shows. Turns out I had nothing to worry about. Nanon is a powerhouse just like Ohm and what a searing chemistry these two have. There were several memorable scenes that were so well done and played with my emotions. My heart didn’t stand a chance. This is a match made in BL heaven! Words are not enough to describe how amazing Ohm Nanon are.

Hats off to P’Aof! He didn’t let those talents go to waste. His direction and romantic story telling is cohesive and effective in its delivery and execution. He kept it simple and easy to follow. It was light, feel good and wonderful in so many ways as it consciously avoided head scratching stereotypes that are so far out from reality. I think this is what a BL should be.

They also found wonderful familiar supporting casts from the friends to the parents. I love Ink Pa so much! WaiKorn (played by Jimmy and Drake) who initially pissed off became lovable in the end.

From the instrumentals used to the 3 main songs (Just Friend, Secret, Our Song), Bad Buddy became a truly enjoyable journey because of the wonderful soundtrack.

Never mind that this love story is nothing new and used the tired old trope of enemies turned lovers in yet another university setting, or if they peppered it with so much PP you’d be absolutely bladdered if you turn it into a drinking game lol!

Bad Buddy was created with so much heart and made me believe in love all over again ! I can’t believe it’s over.
Now time for some rewatch.

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