Be Mine SuperStar (2023)

Childlike Antics and Stone Cold Superstar

Superstar may be a stretch.

Ja and First have so much potential, and Remember Me (which I'm still trying to forget) and this do literally nothing to showcase the chemistry they share.

Their apparent connection is then overshadowed by childish behaviour, talent managers performing criminal acts, and a second couple with only NC scenes. Really, their scenes together are mostly NC.

Most of the scenes are of them filming the drama within the drama, or Punn and his brother fighting like children, or Achi involved in a weird love triangle that doesn't include Punn, or the two managers throwing insults at each other that are frankly hard to watch. Or, it's filled by the cherry on top, the NC scenes. The scenes that Achi and Punn share are in turn filled with a weird sense that maybe these two shouldn't be a romantic couple. Their chemistry is great obviously, but the way their characters are written, it feels like both of them are in very different stages of life and the ability to be in a relationship.

Achi is definitely a grown up, he's seen life, he knows what he wants and that he definitely doesn't want a relationship. Punn on the other hand is a grown up child, and he's irrevocably in love with Achi or rather the idea of Achi he's got from idolising him. They go through a series of events in which Punn shows that he admires Achi, is capable of taking care of him, and even takes a couple of strides in showing that he's maturing as a person. And yet it feels like they go back to square one in every single episode, superstar and doting fan. It's kind of frustrating to see the same thing over and over, just on a loop.

Until the last episode, the character go around in this exact same circle, doing exactly what they did the last 11 episodes. This definitely had it's potential, but there's only so much chemistry can do.

I do need to watch the drama they're filming though, the acting is so over the top, the story seems like a mess, and yet it's the most popular thing out there, I just need to know what it's all about

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The plot was a bad kind of messy

I had really high hopes for this drama, but it ended up being one big letdown. I think the plot where a celebrity falls for their fan is something that has a lot of potential. Why? Because it plays into the fan culture. Let’s be real, a lot of fans fantasize about meeting their celebrity crushes who will fall in love with them, and they will get to live their happily ever after. So, a plot with that premise can be a big success if it’s done right. Which this one wasn’t.

I really wish there would have been some major changes when it comes to the script. There was so much unnecessary and silly drama, situations that made no sense, characters who had no real purpose… It’s like they threw together a bunch of ideas and scenes and just went with it.

The two managers and whatever they were fighting about was unnecessary. I think it would have been better if more focus was given to the second couple or even to the main couple. Instead, we got scenes where the two were acting like little children. How they expected us to believe that they could manage actors when neither of the two could act like an adult, is beyond me. I am also not happy that trans character was once again made into both the villain and wanna-be comedic relief. It's more than time to leave that kind of portrayal of trans people in the past.

I was mildly invested into the lakorn Achi was filming, but I feel like I have seen the same scene every time they showed a snippet of it. It could have been incorporated better, and the scenes could have been either more diverse or shorter. There are also a lot of scenes in general that don’t make the most sense, like the way Punn confessed to Ashi or the way Mingmueang acted when he visited the doctor at the hospital. I mean, who does that?

Punn & Ashi: Punn was extremely childish and immature. It could have been adorable, but it was overdone, and it became annoying quickly. His obsession with Ashi was slightly creepy at times, especially once the two of them got together. And it made me wonder if he is actually in love with Ashi as a person, or if he loves the idea of Ashi. And I feel like that is something that later episodes made a bit more apparent, even if I don’t think that was what they were going for. Ashi seems to be a bit cold at times, someone who doesn’t let people close easily, and after seeing those around it, it makes sense why. I think Ashi was a lot more mature, but he was also hiding what he truly felt. Neither of the two was good at communicating, go figure. I felt like there was very little to no chemistry between the two actors, and I don’t know if this is due to the way the characters were or something else. Because I know Ja and First had great chemistry in their other works. I think they did fairly okay in their roles, they were different from their other roles (which is great), but I feel like they didn’t really show everything they are capable of.

Mingmueang & Namning: did they even have a plot? I feel like they had one actual conversation, the rest was them hooking up. I have very mixed feelings about Mingmueang. I know he tried to help Punn and whatnot, but the whole daddy thing was strange. How he went around getting the doctor to sleep with him for the second time was wrong on many different levels. What happened to consent? Namning is a character we don’t really know much about, except that he is a doctor and likes having one-night stands. And the extra possible love interest thrown into the mix was unnecessary, I think it only made things weird. The two actors did okay, but I think the roles they were given were not really well thought through.

I liked Punn’s family. They were supportive of Punn. His mom had some great advice for him on multiple occasions. And as much as Pai enjoyed annoying Punn, he always had his back. That’s how siblings tend to be, especially if they are close in age.

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If Only

My first review so I'll make this short and to the point.
I actually liked the story itself I just didn't like the way the leads carried out the roles.
The Punn character acted like he had some developmental issues. The character also came across as creepy and acted juvenile in his behavior a well. Those three issues I had with the Punn character really made this show hard to watch.
I really like First and wanted this to be good but the Ashi character was over the top passive. Things went down and he seemed to have no reaction. What I did like was Manager Somwan. That character was very was entertaining. I loved the second couple, they just needed more scenes. I think if the second couple had more screen time it might've somewhat made up for the mess of the mains.

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Pour JaFirst, uniquement

Les critiques étaient si mauvaises que j'ai été favorablement surprise par ce drama que je n'attendais pas du tout.
Ou en tout cas par le couple JaFirst qui, fidèle à lui-même, associe charme et alchimie. Ils sont sincèrement adorables, ensemble et séparément. Et l'inversion des rôles habituels, à savoir un Ja mignon, extraverti et enfantin, et un First beau, introverti et sérieux, n'a pas été pour me déplaire. Contrairement à ce que j'aurais pu penser, ça a bien fonctionné, et je les ai suivis avec un plaisir qui m'a étonnée.

Alors tout n'est pas parfait, très loin de là. Les personnages secondaires sont extrêmement faibles, leur écriture tient pour certains de l'anecdote. Le couple secondaire, incarné par BosstonKavin, qui est séduisant sur le papier et visuellement, est le scandale de ce drama. C'est simple, ils n'apparaissent que pour coucher ensemble, il n'y a aucune histoire, ou elle est si mince qu'on y voit à travers, ces deux acteurs ont réellement été payés pour ça ? C'est comme si les producteurs ou le réalisateur s'étaient dit "il nous faut des scènes de sexe, on ne peut pas en demander trop à JaFirst, allez hop BosstonKavin pour compenser"... D'abord, il n'y a rien à compenser car les scènes NC de JaFirst sont très belles, pleines de tendresse et hot. Alors ? Pour faire parler du drama ? Sincèrement je ne sais pas, mais je suis très déçue et j'espère qu'on pourra les revoir avec des personnages autrement plus travaillés.
J'ai juste aimé le personnage de Worra qui m'a sincèrement fait hurler de rire plus d'une fois.

Le scénario est malheureusement bourré de trous et par moment inconsistant et la mise en scène typique d'un drama BL de seconde zone (slow motion, scènes coupées, mauvais raccords...)

Alors pourquoi le voir, pourquoi cette note somme toute plutôt bonne ? Pour JaFirst, et uniquement pour JaFirst.

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Some nice scenes but poor writing

The story is very weak and the actors managed to keep me watching till the end however there was some poor acting, a lot of cheesy/cringe scenes. This drama doesn't really take itself seriously and makes you wonder why they chose this story. I watched this because of the 'don't say no' actors but this show really didn't suit them. It seems rushed, poorly written and badly acted in places. It gets worse as the series goes on which is a real shame as the actors have potential.

The story is so weak you can miss a few episodes and it doesn't matter, there's too much filler and unnecessary scenes this could have been a much shorter drama.

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my 12 years old cousin could write a better script than this one

the first half of this bl has already been released and i felt obligated to write a review about it. i won't prolong myself here: it's a bl with rotten writing, mediocre acting from Ja and a lot of forced situations.

the main problem of this bl, besides everything i mentioned, is the amount of screentime they give to the unnecessary drama of the boring managers. really, they manage to have more scenes than the secondary couple. and speaking of the secondary couple, what could have been an interesting story, turned into a horror with episode 6 and that non-consensual sex scene, besides Mingmueang's very forced declaration of love. come on, they could have built a better story if they had screentime! declaring love to a person you slept with once seems like a writing problem where the writers don't know how to make them fall in love.

that said, i really recommend this bl if you're in the mood to see something lame. the chemistry of the JaFirst is really good and, as long as you don't expect this to be a good bl, the story entertains you.

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Watch Once For Ja, First, & Bosston.

Once again, the enjoyment of watching Ja & First act, especially with each other, is the main reason to watch their show. A 9/10 for their acting. The script for their two characters (but not the rest!!!) is more naturalistic than Don't Say No, but there are weaknesses in the plot/writing that they, again, do an admirable job of compensating for through their acting.

It was fun, impressive, and satisfying to see Ja (Punn) & First (Ashi) play such different characters than they have before. And their nc-17 scenes have gotten even steamier while still retaining an incredible amount of sweetness. A special blend! And those two do both sweetness/happiness and angst/sadness so well. Even when the writers forcibly contrive/prolong angst for the characters, Ja's and First's acting tugs hard at my heartstrings. Really hard. But because it gets resolved, it hurts just right ;)

Bosston as the secondary character Mueang was awesome too! Totally fell in love with the way he portrayed his character. Otherwise, the writers really did his character a disservice. His "love story" got almost no dialogue; it was mostly an excuse for nc-17 scenes. It felt so weird. Everytime the scene jumped to a "love" scene between Mueang & his Doctor, it felt like a separate movie had been randomly spliced in for a minute before jumping back to the main story. The actor who plays the doctor is greatly lacking in his ability to express emotions, let alone nuances, so he couldn't pull off making his character likeable, especially with the small amount of screen time and dialogue given to his character.

All the other secondary and tertiary characters (except Pun's mother), were written really poorly; over-the-top and/or shallow and/or annoying. I found myself rolling my eyes and fast-forwarding A LOT.

So if you like the actors Ja, First, and Bosston it may be worth one watch and just fast-forward through other scenes that you find dragging :)

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Well, at least Ja didn't plank on First

I'm so disappointed about this drama and how it turned out, it felt like a really rushed unstable mess,
at first i was so happy seeing Ja and First new project and thought to myself, maybe this one won't be that terrible as 'Don't Say No' but now, 'Don't Say No' is like a masterpiece near this one.
from the first scene i was like "please tell me that they're shooting a film in this scene cause this can't be true" and gladly i was right, but the series later didn't do any better.

First of all i couldn't believe in the slightest in their falling in love story, Pun is acting like an obsessed puppy and Ashi couldn't even be bothered about love (they mentioned something about his parents like once and then it was never mentioned again later) it was really painful to watch, also did they have to give Ja this haircut that made him look like that? the entire streaming i was like "please get rid of these bangs".

Also why do they keep doing these slow motion scenes with the eye contact or accidentally falling into each other's face, it's getting really boring and repetitive. from episode 6 i kept ff this show only for PunAshi moments since i stopped caring about the plot (that was hardly there) but i really love Ja and First.
i couldn't really understand why were they fighting on episode 11 like why was he so insulted by that? also Ashi kept coming like 3 times later to tell him that he is sorry and he truly loves him why was it so hard to get through him??
the only thing i know, is that in Thai BL in every episode prior to the Finale, the MC has some problem that they need to fix so they can end up together again in the finale.

Second couple are NPC's and nothing else you say can make me feel otherwise they were there to take some screentime and somehow stretch the show to 12 episodes, it is never explained how they turned out together nor was i interested in their story to begin with.

I'm so sad to hear this might be the last project of JaFirst as Ja left his agency.
cause i love their chemistry and they look really nice together onscreen, i hope we get to see them again sometime, maybe in a better BL with a better script.

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they'll really just make anything huh

this one was just weird. from the acting, to the editing, to the completely random sex scenes, to that weird fight they had in the last two episodes. I still don't understand what punn was so mad about. seriously who let this show make it to air? I mean it was kinda cute and if you just watch bl for the sex then I guess I'd recommend it. and why were their lips so chapped? could the show not afford lip balm?? just bizarre low quality nonsense. also it seemed like ja was hunched over the whole series. like I love a height difference, why did they go out of their way to minimize it? that poor boys back.

all that being said, if they made a sequel starring the brother and that guy he kissed, I'd still watch it

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A BL fans dream come true

Ok for real though imagine getting to fall in love with your favorite BL actor? Ahh, one can wish... BUT I GUESS WE CAN'T ALL BE AS LUCKY AS PUNN.
Ok so I won't lie I remember watching this a couple years back when I wasn't really into BL as much and dropping it IMMEDIATLEY. But now that I've seen more than my fair share of BLs and still crave for more, I decided to give this one another chance and it honestly didn't disappoint. The story of an obsessive fan falling in love with his idol is a pretty interesting premise and honestly really cute. I like how realistic it was, with Punn not really being noticed in the beginning with his efforts, but eventually with hard work and determination, and a handful of luck. Punn was able to win Ashi's heart. Which boy, does he win his heart alright. The chemistry between Punn an Ashi is probably my favorite part of the series with such adorable demeanors with each other and super romantic love scenes. That and Sompriao being the best BL villain, honesty I loved their campy performance as the opposing media star agent, and how she was always trying to get at the main characters one way or another.

Sadly the same can't be said for the side couple. Mingmueang and the doctor were kind of boring to me, and I didn't really care for their spicy scenes the same way I did for Punn and Ashi's. They genuinely felt like an afterthought when compared to the other couple. My one MAJOR gripe with this BL however, is the cliche, we have to breakup and get back together last minute trope. It's what ruined The Last Twilight for me and it definitely didn't do Be Mine Superstar any favors. Especially with how slow the last two episodes felt because of it. Felt so tired and redundant. At least here the reasoning behind it is a bit more understandable but it did feel like the writers were just filling in the BL Bingo card. I also wanted to mention that throughout the show there is a certain sense of, something just being off.

Overall this BL is a 6/10. I would suggest it for someone looking for a BL with a unique plot and charismatic main couple, even if the quality/writing isn't the best. And if they don't mind a subpar side couple.

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Forgettable BL with a HE

- Genre –
Entertainment Industry/Romance/TV Star/BL

- Brief Synopsis –
Protagonist A is a die-hard fan of B and dreams of meeting him. One day, he secures an internship on B’s set and ends up given the duty of taking care of B. As they start spending more time with each other, B start falling for A and they end up in a secret relationship. The rest of the episodes focuses on the development of their relationship. Towards the end, their relationship is temporarily broken when A finds out B has done an intimate scene with another actor without telling him. The shows ends with them getting together and A leaving his fan persona behind to properly become B’s lover.

- Plot and Storyline –
This plot does not contain any plot twists that would make the story memorable in any way. The pacing is notably swift, particularly in the development of the romance, which can feel abrupt and lacks a gradual buildup. While the story introduces elements of angst, the emotional impact is diminished, primarily because the source of conflict revolves around one of the main characters doing an intimate scene with another actor without the knowledge of their partner. As a viewer, the lack of investment in this particular couple undermines the potency of the angst, failing to evoke a meaningful response. All in all, it's a good story but badly executed.

- Character Development –
The only development is that both characters learn to become more mature over time.

- Acting -
The overall sweetness of the relationship between the main characters is apparent, but the absence of a gradual buildup makes their coming together feel somewhat plain. The kisses and small touches, while present, lack a significant impact due to this rushed development. Despite all that, the actors do a good job in building chemistry. Another thing to note is that in this show, the actors offer a more mature portrayal of intimate scenes, pushing the boundaries by depicting sexual content to the extent permissible without revealing everything.

However, the acting from supporting characters occasionally falls into the realm of exaggeration, making it challenging for the audience to fully engage. Furthermore, the portrayal of acting within the fictional show in the series is deemed subpar, to the extent that skipping those scenes becomes a necessity.

- Production Quality -
Decent production quality with somewhat realistic sets and props.

- Writing and Dialogue -
Writing can sometimes be a little cringey.

- Pacing -
Pacing is good.

- Themes and Message –
In order to have a long-lasting relationship with your idol, you need to stop looking at him as your idol but as a person.

- Audience Appeal -
Anyone who likes the concept of idol dating a fan will probably like it. But it should be noted that A’s personality can be a little too childish which is a turnoff for some.

- Standout Moments -
The onsen scene really stood out to me because I have never seen an intimate scene so sexual. This scene was leaning closer to porn rather than what we typically see in BL.

- Criticisms -
x A's character is way too childish, to the point it's almost a little cringey at times.
x Acting from other characters can sometimes get way too exagerrated. The writing also suffers the same problem, which takes away realism.
x Both A and B's characters aren't very likable for me so rooting for them and getting invested in their relationship is a little difficult.

- Conclusion -
I won’t be rewatching this show but I will be revisiting the onsen scene…probably.

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