Dangerous Romance (2023)

ROMANCE WITH A LACK OF DANGER

I had awaited this series for so long! Although there isn't much PerthChimon series, I enjoyed their chemistry. That being said, I was SUPERRR excited when I found out that this series was being made.

It was a strong start, and then became..mid

Was the writing amazing? No. Which sadly leads to why my overall rating decreases.

I truly wanted to enjoy this, I really did. But.. What more can I do when the writing goes down hill?

Sailom seemed like a badass character who can stand up for himself and friends, but then forgives the bully almost right away? Is that really reasonable? No..

Personally, after the stuff Kanghan had did to them, I wouldn't forgive him that easily. I understand that Sailom had liked him before, but I'd still be pretty upset, especially when involving friends.

Putting that aside, the overall story was okay. Just two boys getting closer, and then falling in love. Classic.

The parts near the ending episodes get me upset. The way Kang just let Sailom go when he was going through a tough time as well infuriates me. I understand Kangs father was in a coma and Sailoms brother was the one who was accused, but that doesn't make Sailom the bad guy. If you put your trust in him, that doesn't mean you have to put your trust in his brother. So why act like it's his fault when it's his brothers?

Overall, the chemistry lacked. Off screen, they are adorable. On screen? More of a bromance than a romance. The story was extremely messy as it went on.

The only reason I finished is because I needed something to watch on my Fridays, and I love both of the actors.

If you need something to pass the time, this is right. If you need something to get you invested, this may not be the right choice

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A dangerously badly written romance (review up until ep 7 - spoilers ahead)

This series initially had a lot of things going for it: good main and supporting actors, sleek cinematography and camera language, gritty vibe.

Unfortunately, I found its writing terrible (at least up until ep 7, when I dropped it). It's like 3 or 4 people were hired to write this story and never consulted with each other about its tone, the message they wanted to give, or just most basically, the plot and the characters.

The first 2 episodes were rather dark, with a cinematic camera language and realistic acting. The opening offered social commentary on (in)equality and the show tackled the serious issue of bullying, looking for all intent and purposes like it wanted, over its course, to make a statement, or at least was aware of what it was saying.

And then ep 3 happened and, out of nowhere, the show turned into a fluffy rom-com about a struggling student and his school tutor, instead of the bully and his victims it started as. I seriously have no idea where Sailom and Kanghan's romantic feelings for each other came from. It simply happened and I did not feel privy to the reason nor process.

The same went for Kanghan's behavior: from one day to the next, Kanghan stopped bullying anyone, stopped abusing his privileges as the rich school sponsor's son, and started spending most of his time with Sailom, joking and smiling like he was not making his life miserable just the day prior. Everyone acted like this was completely normal, even the bully friends he started spending less time with in favor of their nemesis, and it was almost like the bullying did not even happen. Everything was swept aside, everyone moved on and no one held Kanghan accountable for his actions. It sucked in terms of character development, and it sucked even more as a way to tackle bullying.

Romance-wise, it’s like the writer couldn’t decide on what they wanted and went for a new scenario every two episodes. Kanghan had feelings for Pimfah (and Pimfah for Sailom) out of nowhere in ep 5, despite Sailom and Kanghan making heart eyes at each other for most of ep 3 and 4. He rejected Sailom’s confession in ep 6, after taking his time to consider it, only to kiss him not 10 min later out of jealousy. There was zero explanation as to what changed his mind, or what prevented from saying yes to Sailom right away if seeing him play with his friend was all that was needed. Sailom accepted Kanghan’s confession and never questioned it, like he had not even been rejected in the first place. Most of the romantic developments from ep 3 to ep 7 sent me on a fit of perplexity and hair-tearing, which made it hard for me to believe in any of the characters’ feelings.

The acting was neither Perth nor Chimon’s best work in my opinion, which is not surprising given the script they had to work with, and I found their chemistry either really good or almost non existent, depending on the scene.

Overall, I felt like I was watching something very disjointed, in tone, in actions, in behavior.

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Had high expectation from the pilot, but was disappointed

I really think , dangerous romance didn't do justice to an amazing actor as Perth. And all goes down to his pairing with Chimon. At some point Chimon's acting really felt like forced. It was like Chimon really didn't want to act in a BL. Thus their chemistry did not feel real at all. If Gmmtv have more projects with Pert Chimon , they should better do some intensive workshops to improve the chemistry or just pair Perth with someone else. Perth deserves better?. This boy is incredible and has the potential to deliver legendary roles as in Love by chance. As for Chimon, if he doesn't want to do a BL, better not cast him in one for the sake of popularity because it is showing in the character he acts.

Name and Saifah could have saved the show given more screen time. I am soo in love with them. BL couple or not ,they are really incredible
Summary: I am really dissapointed with the show, I really like episode 1and 2 though and after that it just went down.

Also let's take a moment to point out that why a very sensitive issue such as bullying was addressed soo poorly in the series. How come the kid who was bullied became soo good friends with the person who bullied him. Okay but, is it really okay? Was there any redemption or apologies? I don't know how to feel about it, seriously.

Note: Please give papang more lead roles. He is such a good actor and has soo much potential.

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A disappointing and wasted potential

This had so much potential to be a captivating enemies-to-lovers series, which I was very excited about. The pilot trailer showed great promise, and although the official trailer didn't quite live up to that excitement, I remained hopeful. However, the final product turned out to be a disappointment.
Initially, Sailom was likable due to his clever and witty attitude, but as the show progressed, he became increasingly dull. Kanghan, who was supposed to be a little mean, turned out to be a full-on bully. He even resorted to spreading rumors about Sailom being a p*dophile with the intention of getting him fired from his job.
I had hoped to see a gradual transformation and reflection from him, but that was not the case: The show attempted to portray Kanghan as someone with a good heart all along, whose rebellious behavior stemmed from his father's neglect. However, the overnight 180-degree change in his character to become the nicest and friendliest guy was highly unrealistic. Moreover, the relationship problems with his father were needlessly prolonged, almost turning his father into one of the main characters.
The initial chemistry between the two main leads was promising, but once they officially became a couple, the romance quickly lost its spark. It became apparent that Sailom's actor struggled with intimate scenes, resulting in uncomfortable and awkward moments for the viewers. Their bond began to feel more like a friendship, leaving every romantic scene unbearable to watch.
Furthermore, the plot was lazily written and lacked depth, failing to meet even the most basic expectations. It felt superficial and failed to delve into meaningful storytelling.
In conclusion, this series was a tremendous waste of its initial potential. Sailom's actor is not inherently bad, but his lack of versatility in romantic roles became clear, suggesting that he should focus on non-romantic roles in the future. On the other hand, Kanghan's actor truly carried the show and gave a commendable performance.

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Chimon Is Excellent. Perth Is Excellent. Separately

Perth was gold with Saint even though its been a long time. I am not a huge fan of Perth since the video dropped of LBC cast bullying openly gay Earth. Though Mean was the worse of them. Back To this train wreck of a series.

The Cast was great and the potential was there but somehow the drop the ball down a hill and legend is it's still rolling. At least it's replacement seems better. Here's to Jimmy and Sea helping at least me put this series where it belongs. in the past.

I will say though I prefer Mark with Cooper but Pawin is a close second and had they given them an actual story this series would have been worth it. The crumbs they gave this side couple is actually criminal.

Then an ending that was so corny it deserved a cob.

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I don't even know what to say

I mean, the rich boy has daddy issues and is dumb and the poor boy doesn't have parents and is a really good student, four clichès in one. I love Perths acting, it really reminds me of Khaotung, but Chimon on the other hand starts to feel forced at some point, like he didn't want to be there. They're chemistry is fine, but again Chimon's acting feels forced. I feel like this could have more potential.

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In the end, this show was only okay for me. Writing-wise, it was pretty weak. The actors were good, but they weren't given much chance to shine with the script they were given. I know a lot of people had problems with Chimon and Perth's chemistry, but I thought they could have been much better if they were in a better show.  

The plot kept flip flopping where it was intense for a few episodes, and then we had five episodes of pure fluff, and then the intensity came back for two episodes. It wasn't consistent, and it left the show feeling like it was lacking.

Still, I was happy that Chimon finally got a chance to be a lead in a non-ensemble show. And I thought Papang was incredible, and really he could be a leading man all on his own. I would happily watch a show starring him and Pepper as leads!

I'm not mad I watched it, but honestly I wouldn't recommend it unless you really love the actors or feel the need to watch every BL. As much as I love the actors, this one was pretty skippable.

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Good enough; could have been so much better

Dangerous Romance had all the ingredients for a fantastic BL feast so it feels sad that it didn't quite get there. PerthChimon have a playful, adoring chemistry. I can see it in the BTS and their live events. They nailed the confession scene in the rain, the the sweet cheek kisses on the bench and basically anytime they look or touch each other. They could not, however, sell the intimate scenes. Sorry, but Chimon can't deliver a passionate kiss. He is a fantastic actor but we all have our handicaps so maybe more workshops or use a different camera angle altogether. The two of them staring into each others' soul or the warm hugs were far more effective than the awkward kiss. It would have worked better if they intentionally showed a fumbling teenage kiss for that matter. The way the relationship developed between KangSailom was quite disjointed. The bullying arc was excellent, they sadly rushed the friendhip arc and went overboard with the lovers arc. They could easily spend 5 episodes on the "are we friends or more?" stage and coincidentally, PerthChimon give off that vibe perfectly. I could not get enough of the soundtrack but they used too many flashbacks in this series. The danger portion of the plot was a complete let-down and there were one too many plot holes. I love the second couple and the rest of the friend group. I just wished they spent more time on polishing the adapted script and the editing but overall, I did enjoy watching this series.

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Une belle surprise

Une belle surprise. Bons acteurs, belle alchimie, une relation top/bottom assez rare, pas de dominant du tout, bien au contraire, ils se complètent admirablement. Les acteurs, principaux et secondaires, sont supers. La réalisation est tout à fait honnête et même sérieuse, j'ai été assez étonnée par certains choix de plans qui montrent une volonté de mise en scène à laquelle je ne m'attendais pas. Je me suis néanmoins demandé si j'allais continuer le drama après le premier épisode, puisque cela parle de harcèlement scolaire et que c'est assez violemment mis en scène (ce qui est parfait cela dit car il n'y a aucune volonté d'arrondir les angles), mais PerthChimon et MarcPawin m'ont convaincu de continuer.

Le drama aborde deux grosses problématiques : le harcèlement scolaire et la division de la société entre riches et pauvres, et ce que cela engendre dans les relations humaines et dans l'avancement d'une société (l'attitude des professeurs, les lycéens obéissants, la réaction du père de Kang face à Saifah...), Kang et Sailom étant finalement une représentation plus large d'une division sociétale. Il est néanmoins un peu facile d'avoir fait le choix manichéen de diviser riches et pauvres en méchants et gentils, surtout que, et c'est la critique la plus importante que je pourrais faire au drama, l'évolution de Kang, Nawa et Max est trop abrupte, incompréhensible et incohérente, ils passent quasiment du jour au lendemain de "super bullies" à on est tous amis (ou presque). Après certains personnages secondaires viennent remettre en question ce manichéisme (la grand-mère, Pimfah, les chasseurs de dettes...)

J'ai par ailleurs, et c'est vraiment un détail, bien aimé la manipulation scénaristique autour du père, qui peut décevoir sur le moment (tout ça pour ça), mais qui correspond finalement à la perception de Kang tout au long du drama.
Un petit regret sur le personnage de Name qui aurait pu être plus prégnant, que ce soit en terme de présence, d'antagonisme ou de relationnel avec Saifah. J'aime bien l'idée d'un ship PepperPapang.
Et un gros regret concernant le titre du drama, que je trouve au mieux mauvais au pire ridicule. Ça m'a fait penser à un titre de film Hallmark et la série vaut vraiment mieux que ça (sans vouloir critiquer les films Hallmark).

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Had me in the first half, ngl

Only slight spoilers ahead.

I've been watching this while it was airing and now that it's over, I have to say I'm a little disappointed. Let me start off by saying the cast nailed its job - everyone brought their characters alive, made them believable, and the chemistry (not only between the main leads) was great. That's not where my problem with the show lies.

The story starts very strongly. We have Sailom, a boy whose family is poor and who has to work alongside going to school, yet he never complains and we even see him be very grateful and happy with what he already has. Then we have Kang, who is a spoilt rich brat and who takes out his own personal issues on others by bullying them. Their paths cross and I love, LOVE how Sailom never gives in to Kang, how he stands strong, his chin up, even making Kang seem like a fool and giving him a taste of his own medicine. Then, after a certain incident, these two are forced to work together - aka Sailom tutoring Kang as a sort of punishment from his grandmother.

The first half of the show is really nice. We see the boys growing closer, one falling sooner than the other, and before they realize it they're fighting the world together. We learn how it really is with Kang and why he is the way he is, we see him work on his past mistakes and growing into a better person. Stuff happens, misunderstandings happen, love triangle happens - all of those things I was still thrilled to watch. (I saw people complaining about how fast Sailom fell for Kang considering all the nasty sht he's done to him, and to be honest, I kinda agree, but I think this was largely messed up by the pacing of the show and time jumps.)

Then, towards the end, things start to escalate and somehow I'm starting to question what happened to the original plot? We're fighting mafia now? Like I know it's called "Dangerous Romance" but I guess I misunderstood where the danger part lies on the equation. And on top of that, characters now start to act differently than where their development was leading up to - Kang switches emotions and opinions left and right, Saifah throws all his love for his brother out of the window, like where did this come from?

I like that pretty much every issue that occurred in the series was solved very quickly and it didn't drag. However, some things seemed a little rushed. Sometimes it felt like there must've been some scenes cut from the broadcast or the time jumped without notice, making me question "Okay but didn't you have a different opinion on this 10 minutes ago?". It became messy and inconsistent in some parts, which was a shame.

Another two issues I had were flashbacks and the use of music. About the first one... Did we really need any of them? Serious question. Like ok.. if you give me a flashback in ep 10 about something that happened in ep 2, I'm perfectly ok with that. But is it necessary to show me something I saw in the last episode or even a few minutes ago? Come on. Perth and Chimon are both skillful enough to convey needed emotions without the editors making 100% sure we remember that Kang had given Sailom his beloved blue umbrella three times in one hour. And about the latter, I actually want to clarify that I'm a huge fan of the OST for this show, it's just the way they used it that bothers me. The main song, "Wind" (sang by Chimon), stole my heart before I even started watching the show, but they definitely overused it. Sad scene, funny scene, romantic scene, you name it, they played it there. Idk, it just took away the magic and purpose of it for me. Sometimes there was a character sad and we got a rather cheerful music over it - now what is that, why don't you fuel my sorrow and make me bawl my eyes out more? Somebody in the production team messed this up and I need them fired.

I would say.. sometimes the scenes just didn't hit the way they were supposed to. I'm not sure what was the main reason, whether the pacing, the music, or whatever.

Now that the rant is over, let's get back to positives.
I wasn't part of the "will Perth and Chimon work well on camera as a couple?" train cs tbh, I had no idea they were gonna play together until DR was announced, but as soon as I saw them I had no doubt they would nail this. I love them both as individuals and as actors, and I had no doubt about their chemistry. (And if you didn't enjoy their kissing scenes cs they weren't hot enough according to your standards, I guess ask yourself what you watch each show for and if it's able to provide it to you.)
Guy and Nawa, oh dear, they were awesome. I enjoyed their story so much, from enemies to friends (in question) to love interests, I ate their scenes and felt hungry whenever they ended. I'm thrilled to see these two work together in the future.
Pimfah, although she's been done dirty later on, she was awesome. Actual good human being, luckily not just a love interest to stirr things up but a good friend to both Kang and Sailom. She was great, along with the real powerhouse of the series, the GRANDMA.
Saifah, although they butchered his character towards the end as well, I loved his moments at Kang's house where he showed how deeply he cared for his brother. It must've been hard for him as well, taking care of both himself and Sailom, from relatively early age.
All school friends of both main leads were great and I loved how we saw them - with kind of pressure, haha - hang out together even when KangSailom weren't present. Even through they started off as enemies, they were able to maturely leave past in the past and move on.

It started off as a 10 for me but ended up falling down to 6-7. I still enjoyed it but I wish it was written better. It shouldn't have been called Dangerous Romance... If they cut the "dangerous" part and focused more on Kang's character development from bully to Sailom's bf and their relationship overall, I think it would be much better. Although it has its flaws, It's still a show worth watching.

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Went downhill after the first episodes

I really enjoyed the first 3-4 episodes and I was expecting Dangerous Romance to become one of my favorites. I usually enjoy enemy-to-lovers-tropes a lot, even if they are a bit basic, however I'm really disappointed with how this storyline is progressing.
First of all, the plot feels really rushed. The guys became friends in almost no time, even after some (almost) unforgivable actions from Kanghan. What bothers me the most though, is the unnecessary drama between Ploy, Kanghan and Silom. Ploy confessed her feelings for Silom out of nowhere and Kanghan's feelings for Ploy felt really forced. The entire love triangle is just too messy.
Episode 6 was super boring and the kiss felt rushed.
I was really looking forward to a cute romance between Ploy and the teacher but making Ploy like Silom kind of ruined that for me as well and I don't want to keep watching at this point.

All in all: It's hard to enjoy Dangerous Romance because it doesn't give you enough time to explore the depths of each character and feels very superficial.

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