Confusing start but great conclusion

…. I actually liked it lol. Went into this thinking I was going to get dollar store Bad Buddy lol but honestly they are only minorly comparable.
Destiny Seeker is technically about rival dorms, but frankly it seems like literally no one takes that seriously lol.

The first episode was confusing as hell. There’s this sudden time jump in the middle of the episode and three years have passed all of a sudden. I swear to god, it was so sudden, I thought it was an elaborate daydream.

It would have been better if they approached the first episode in a linear fashion. Personally, I also think they could have done a job establishing the rivalry between the dorms as well. They basically just show two seniors argue a little and that apparently makes a bitter rivalry.

Instead, I think they should have shown the viewers all the ways that the two dorms compete. Show a montage or something of the next three years, in which the leads are separated and forced to pit against each other even though they are actually kind of friends.

Songkhram said he had been pursuing Ai for three years and we didn’t see any of it. Instead of some of the filller padding they added to the show, it would have been better to at least briefly establish some of the missing gaps in the narrative.

Anyway, once you get passed that, it actually settles down into a pretty standard “rivals” to friends to lovers pipeline. And surprisingly high heat… which I was not expecting at all lol. Despite being high heat, there was actually proper, expressed consent and it wasn’t toxic at all. Shocking but it’s hard to come by.

This story really shines in its leads. They have great chemistry, a solid rapport and it is clear they must have run proper workshops to get them comfortable with one another.

The plot is basic but pretty sweet. I liked that they briefly went the “secret dating” route, but they were literally so obvious that their whole friend group knew already. Good twist on a common trope.

It’s a pretty easy watch, I would recommend toughing out the slightly confusing intro because overall it is a pretty cute story.

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Wasted Potential

This committed the ultimate sin of boring me to tears.
The show runners literally must have asked themselves, “How can we drag a 4 episode special out into 12 episodes for maximum profit?”
I swear to god, it felt like this show was the same 5 scenes over and over and over again. I’m sick. I’m tired. Please end my suffering.

Literally, here’s how you fix this show:
4 episodes-unless they created a new plot, that is how far this plot can go
Aside from the original main cast, scrap all the side couples. They were unwanted, unnecessary, and only served to pad the runtime.
Stop dragging shit out, it’s fine that the trajectory of their relationship was a physical to emotional one. That’s a perfectly normal situation that many adults find themselves in. But stop with this will they/won’t they garbage. They were basically cohabitating in the first 4 episodes. Done, you can stop now. Condense the script, edit things down. There was so much repetition I swear to got I could skip every other episode and not miss a beat.
This has been my Ted Talk.

Seriously though, Boun and Prem have good chemistry. Hopefully they will find a series that makes good use of it, because this was unfortunately not it.

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Good BL with a Killer Soundtrack

While Dark Blue Kiss may not go down as a BL classic, it is absolutely a must-watch.
Dark Blue Kiss is a continuation of the “Kiss” and “Kiss Me Again” series, with a focus on the side couple PeteKao. While I don’t think you have to watch either of these to enjoy and understand Dark Blue Kiss, the background is nice for anyone that might be interested in how they got together in the first place.
There are some continuity issues between the earlier Kiss series and Dark Blue Kiss, but it’s nothing so off-putting that it’ll completely take you out of the show.
Overall, it is a bit of an angst fest, but I felt that the conclusion was so satisfying that it made up for much of the pain that I experienced throughout. The finale kiss was definitely a “Dark Blue Kiss” that was so epic that it made everything worth it.
Unfortunately, many of their problems throughout were caused by miscommunication (or a lack thereof entirely), which is always frustrating.
Both of the main couples had great chemistry and played off of each other well. MorkSun was an unexpected yet pleasant surprise. Always love a good enemies to lovers storyline and they certainly delivered.
I’ve gotta mention the stellar soundtrack. I have no idea if this was just me, but I absolutely loved the OST. I usually skip over openings, but I never once skipped this one. The music slowly builds a great sense of drama that I felt really suited the show.
I would absolutely recommend this to any BL fan out there that loves drama, a great soundtrack and a satisfying conclusion.

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Great chemistry and not much else

What can I say lol, it’s a MAME drama. You get what you expect for the most part.

The story is split in two and the quality of the production pretty much tanks with the second couple. I’m not saying it was ever a high-end production, but it was passable. The second half just clearly didn’t get the time or money to be very good.
The sound editing is atrocious the entire show lol. You will hear the actors bump the mic pretty much once a scene. The phone calls have better sound quality than the live scenes, so it seems like the phone call is happening in person lol it’s kind of jarring actually.

Neither story has any plot, really. It’s lowkey soft core porn.
Frankly, just accepting that for what it is, and cutting it off at the first couple, I would have rated it a 9 or something lol. The first couple had really great chemistry, which is really all you can ask for when the story itself doesn’t have anything going on. For the most part, they aren’t especially toxic and are just two dudes in a consensual relationship.

The second couple… well. It’s implied in their first interaction that Sky has a history with being sexually abused by his partners. And I could just tell that they were not going to treat that subject matter with the care that it needs… because it’s MAME.
And, of course, I was proven correct. It’s basically treated as a plot device for their romance.
I did like Sky, before they essentially sacrifice his personality for the sake of “vulnerability”. Sky can still be strong and Independent while also working on being more vulnerable with the people he loves. But that would be too complex for this show, so he is infantilized instead.

Let’s not even talk about the shoehorned in assault scene in the last episode. Just why?

Sigh, oh well.

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Great emotional chemistry but a little long

Reviewed this at episode 8, but I have now lowered my score from 9.5 to 8.5. I stand by what I said but this show could have benefitted from some editing down. If like two or three episodes worth of content was removed, this would have been perfect. There just wasn’t enough plot to keep it running for 14 eps.

This resulted in some scenes dragging on unnecessarily.
I also feel like the flow was a little off . The last episode should have been an episode or two prior, and then the final episode could have been a goodbye to the characters, as it was a character focused show.

That being said:

This is what Theory of Love should have been, unrequited love at its finest. There, I said it.

I think the biggest difference here, and what makes this feel so genuine is the display of their relationship. Rather than telling us they’re best friends, joined at the hip since birth, and practically each other’s other-half, they SHOWED us. You see them grow up together, and see the special bond they have. Kudos to the actors because they did a phenomenal job establishing emotional chemistry that rivals a lot of my favorites.

The character depth adds layers to this. You can understand why Eiw loves Cake, because we see Cake from his perspective.
Not only that, but you can see that Cake truly loves and cares for Eiw, romantic feelings aside, from the very beginning. I think Cake was really well-written and his storyline so far has been crafted in just the right way that he doesn’t come off like an inconsiderate asshole. It would be very easy for his character to go south, if he was not written the way that he was. He isn’t oblivious to Eiw pushing away from him in earlier episodes. He understands that Eiw is upset about something and tries to communicate with him, even scratching the surface of the issue. Gasp, a ML with emotional intelligence? Shocking.

Eiw might be annoying for some. I don’t mind it but he is whiny and pouty. His actor is really incredible at crying though, I’ve thought this since LBC and UWMA lol. Honestly, the emotional scenes between the leads really pack a good punch. Like I said, their emotional chemistry is really solid.

I would recommend this. Even after completing this, I’ll argue this is nearly the most ideal unrequited to requited BL out there.

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Prepare Your Tissues

While Until We Meet Again may have been slightly overshadowed by Tharntype during its airing, there is no doubt that it will be a BL classic for years to come.
The story is unlike any other BL out there, it is unique (no engineering students in sight) and the main concept is ingrained in every aspect of the show. While some of the family connections between Dean and Pharm may get messy at times, UWMA makes up for it with an earnestness that will wring you of every tear in your body. I got plenty of good cries out of this, but there are also enough heartwarming moments to balance it out. I also loved the focus on Pharm’s love of traditional Thai desserts. You will absolutely crave every single thing he makes after watching this.
Acting was good, especially from Fluke. He must have drank like a gallon of water every day to cry as often and as extensively as he did.
Both couples were great and had good chemistry. WinTeam was a breakout coupling and it’s great that they will be getting their own parallel story.
The OST was amazing, I felt like the music perfectly matched the setting and emotions for this drama.
Overall, a fantastic drama, with plenty of heartwarming and tear jerking moments for anyone who just needs a good cry (or just a good drama to watch).

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Raw and Realistic

The way that this is filmed just makes everything feel very raw and realistic. There’s also very limited use of music, so the scenes always have time to breathe. Each moment feels very precious. It’s all very intentional and well-done.

Acting is great, the leads have these micro expression that really evoke their thoughts and feelings. They also have pretty solid chemistry.

Why is it called Jack O’ Frost? I think the frost might represent Ritsu’s amnesia. When Jack Frost leaves, spring arrives. So, when Ritsu’s frost (amnesia) leaves, he regains his memories of Fumiya

I just really enjoyed it. I smiled, I cried, what more can you ask for lol. Highly recommend

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Expertly crafted BL

Okay, I watched this forever ago but I realized I hadn’t left a review and that simply WILL NOT DO. Because this is genuinely my favorite BL, and I have been watching Thai BL since its infancy stage in the industry.
When I say that my heart still throbs when I see gifs from this series, I am not over exaggerating. This is a great BL.
The concept for the show isn’t what makes it great, it’s the execution. Take all the standard tropes from Thai BL and use them to their fullest potential and you have Bad Buddy.
I absolutely love the the main couple, Ohm and Nanon have great chemistry. This is absolutely due in part to Nanon being very talented and Ohm being a BL juggernaut. You can FEEL their care for each other and it feels light and bubbly like first love.
They are the foundation of this shows success but I will also say it ended perfectly. I could not have asked for a better ending and it’s rare to see that.
I feel so much nostalgia for this and it hasn’t even been a year since it’s release lol. Highly recommend

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Classic Toxic Yaoi

It’s definitely very reminiscent of like early 2000s toxic yaoi lol.

Pros
-The leads have insanely good chemistry
-Solid acting
-Utilizes one of my favorite filming techniques of just letting more intimate or emotional scenes breathe. No music, no sound effects, just a quiet and raw moment. *chefs kiss*

Cons
-The ML is domineering, manipulative and controlling.
-Textbook example of an abusive relationship. The ML is extremely controlling over the MCs life. He doesn’t want him having friends and consistently tries to isolate him from the outside world. When he’s not being controlling, he’s being physically aggressive by constantly being rough with MC (grabbing his face, manhandling him, literally pushing him around). Like yikes
-Seriously, he is like every red flag
-And then they pull the “oh well MC secretly kinda likes it”. Bro, I will throw up right here and right now.
-My least favorite trope is also used constantly: Complete lack of communication. Just SPEAK to each other, it would literally solve like 50% of your problems (the other 50% is MLs terrible personality…)

Do I regret watching it? No lol it was fairly entertaining. If you have a partner like ML should you run for the hills? Yes. Luckily this is fiction

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Beautiful take on the complexity of relationships

This was so lovely and heartfelt, wow. P’Aof once again proving that he’s the best in the industry.
This was so well-paced and rich in its depth of characters. It’s not a light watch but it isn’t heavy either. It is well-balanced between the more dramatic main couple and the light first-love of the secondary. The atmosphere is great, I love that the diner scenes are always a bit dreamy.

This is a character focused drama. The plot revolves almost entirely around the feelings and motivations of the characters. I knew this was going to be well-written when, the first scene after Wen returned home, the camera pans over to two cell phone chargers instead of one. Implying that he’s living with someone but he just slept with someone else. Like they didn’t say anything but left just enough information for the viewer to put that together.
I thought for sure it was going to revolve around cheating but it actually turned into a more complicated topic around stringing people a long and the cruelty of it.

Relationships overall were thought out in a very realistic way. I’m glad they didn’t cop out and reveal that Jim’s dead lover wasn’t actually cheating. Instead, his lover was really cheating and had been their entire relationship, and it was that lack of closure that really held Jim back in the present. That’s just so human and so true.

I usually don’t like side-pairings very much but I really loved Heart and Li Ming. They kind of stole the show to be totally honest. I am once again amazed by these young actors’ acting chops. Gemini’s standout moment was his fight with his parents. It felt real and raw. Wow.

One negative, Earth’s casting as Jim. I love Earth but he’s definitely too young for this role lol. Like, everyone’s going around calling him Uncle and he’s talking about how he’s middle aged…..???? Earth you’re not even 30 looool. It didn’t bother me too much but it did kind of take me out of the scene whenever his age is mentioned.

Overall though, I would highly recommend this show.

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A little slow but a good conclusion for a great series

It’s very lovely, though I do agree with others that the film lost some of its “magic” from the original series.

It’s fine that they dropped the mind reading element, but it did feel that some of the more lighthearted, funny moments were missing. Admittedly, this also had more heartfelt moments, which held their own merit.

Overall, it helped act as a final conclusion for the series and made their story feel more complete. Which I think is the most important thing when creating a concluding movie for a beloved series.

I would recommend to anyone that enjoyed the original series. It does provide additional closure to their story.

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Hidden Gem of 2022

This is my first time watching a lakorn… and I loved every second of it. Literally the pipeline of me clicking on this out of curiousity to wait, is this a soap opera? to bawling my freaking eyes out was truly astounding.

I would say the charm of this series lies in the relationships between the main characters. The brothers were probably the most touching and heartfelt element of this series. I truly felt that they loved each other deeply and wanted each other’s happiness. I would say they had nearly all of the most emotionally impactful interactions on the series. One of my favorite sibling dynamics I’ve seen in a really long time.

The romances in the series are very lovely, though I would argue their more of a side dish to the actual story.
Acting was great for some, horrible for others but regardless it was entertaining. The villains are all caricatures.

The OST is INCREDIBLE. You know it’s a good OST because even I noticed it lol. They match the show to well and pair perfectly with the tone of the show.

I would say this show is maybe not for everyone. I‘be said it once and I’ll say it again: I’m a slut for drama. If you are not, you probably won’t enjoy this because this show is ALL drama.

I would absolutely rewatch this (provided I have had some time to emotionally recover). Highly recommend.

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Not Your Average Engineering BL

Let’s just start by saying that I originally had no intention on watching this BL. The college Engineering storyline has been way overused, the trailer didn’t really sell me, and more than two couples tend to get super messy.
That being said, I decided to give this a chance after hearing some positive reviews about this.
They pulled off some things that I really thought would totally flop, so kudos for that.
For example, there are four couples in this. Usually this would raise immediate red flags. Four couples usually means either the plot will be all over the place or a few of the couples get put on the back burner and never fully develop.
That didn’t happen here, every couple got a chance to shine and develop in a satisfying way. I’m especially excited to see how RamKing will progress in the next season.
Acting was a little awkward at times, but certainly not the worst. I think many of the actors are new to the industry, so it’ll be cool to see how they improve.
Weirdest thing was the fact that the actor who played Mek is Chinese and doesn’t know any Thai, so they dubbed him over. I think it would have been better to just come up with some excuse for why he needed to speak Chinese. It was super distracting and I never quite got over it.
That aside, this is a fun drama and a quick watch. They managed to keep the plot together, despite the fact that there are technically four individual couples with different storylines. There’s not too much focus on the Engineering department (despite the title) and more focus on their lives outside of school.
Is this the best BL in the entire world? No, but it was a fun watch and I’m excited for season two. Would recommend to anyone looking for a good time with a drama/comedy.

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Unique and Totally Underrated

What can I say? I’m left with such a good feeling after completing this drama. Definitely within my top BL dramas of all time.
It’s unfortunate that it was difficult to access English subs, because I truly believe this would be considered a Thai BL classic were it not for that.
Story was really interesting, I was instantly hooked within the first 30 seconds. Which is rare for me, and usually means I’m in for a stellar experience.
I love going in with only a very basic understanding of the plot because it makes for a much more fun viewing experience. The opening sequence alone had me ready to consume this entire drama in a single sitting (I didn’t, but I would have if I could have).
They had very good chemistry and the romance was very organic. It felt really realistic for a drama literally about a ghost and a human.
There was a good mix of comedy to drama, where I had some really good laughs and really good cries without feeling like I was experiencing whiplash.
All in all, would totally watch again.

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Heartfelt, Earnest and Well-Performed

This is one of those rare dramas where I really have no notes. It’s really hard to comment when the narrative is nailed so effectively.

It’s really this beautiful story about self-love, found family and the enrichment people add to our lives. There are some sci-fi elements but they are very well done, the effects are solid and overall it enhances the story.
The acting is really great, you know it’s solid when you just get completely soaked into the character’s emotions. The leads have good chemistry and complement each other very well.
I was really amazed by Cha YeoWoon’s performance. His first impression is so murky, just a character at his absolutely lowest and his eyes express so much sadness. When he finally breaks down it’s like release since he’s been keeping it all pent up. And when he finally starts to build social nets, he GLOWS. It’s like his whole aura changes literally and figuratively, it’s incredible.

Music is used well. The right music at the right time and quiet when scenes need to breathe.

The ending was perfect. It flipped the narrative just enough to fully drive home the message this story was trying to tell.

Do yourself a favor and watch this.

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