Odd, Odd, And Odder Still - And Yet I Like It

What a strange little oddity this show is.
First off let me say that I haven't seen the original series so I don't know how it compares, but this version has given me plenty to talk about just by itself.
This show mashes the zany, off-the-cuff charm of Thai shows with the more grounded, realistic approach of Korean dramas and what you end up with is an absolute beast of a hybrid the likes of which I've never seen.

The entire thing feels like a very long joke, but one I didn't even remotely mind being the butt of.
The actors are great, they clearly have genuine skill, but the audience only ever gets to see teasing glimpses of this before the characters retreat back behind the quirky, over-the-top plot.
Furthermore, the editing is incredibly choppy and through all 8 episodes I never actually learned to understand any of the characters. Strangely enough, that's exactly what made it so fascinating and fun to watch. I could never predict how any of the characters were going to act next, whether they were going to hit me with some hilariously insane "twist" or whether I was going to get gut-punched by a genuinely emotional scene. Because yes, to my great surprise the show does have some of those and you can never tell when one is around the corner.
The series also never once takes itself seriously and there are enough tongue-in-cheek nudges and genuinely hilarious one-liners to let the audience know that, whatever joke is being played, they're in on it.
What's more - this show feels safe. While watching you know that no matter what nonsense lies around the next corner, nothing bad is going to happen. There are no great twists, no angsty drama, and most importantly no problematic writing decisions to be wary of. It's a roller coaster ride of a show and the audience can rest securely in the knowledge that they are firmly buckled into their seats and the train won't leave its tracks.

If you can get past the at times sub-par audio and if you are willing to let yourself be swept away, down the rabbit hole into mad, wildly entertaining unreality then you will almost certainly have a great time with this drama.
Go into it with no expectations or even just a certain enthusiasm for silliness, and you'll be in for a delightful 4ish hours.

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'Twas Alright

This was one of the most inoffensive, easy-to-watch shows I have ever seen. Whether that's a good thing or a bad thing very much comes down to personal preference.

Was the story somewhat shallow? Yes. Were there certain plot points that made absolutely no sense whatsoever? Oh, most definitely. But the characters were charming, the chemistry was good, and it got a couple of good chuckles out of me.
Personally I even really liked the way the main plot and the subplot with the creditors wove together, however little sense it made. The creditors showing up with encouraging signs for the final race came so out of left field and made me actually laugh out loud, so for that alone I think the addition of this subplot was worth it.

All I can say is if you're looking for an easy and largely enjoyable way to spend an hour and a half then you can't really go wrong with this show. You could also be watching something better though, in my humble opinion.

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Nothing lawful about my attraction to this show

This show was the hottest mess I've seen in a while - and I mean that in the best way possible.
Nothing and I do mean absolutely nothing about this show should have worked yet somehow it really, really did.
This is essentially a classic cheesy crime drama crossed with all the unhinged charm of Ace Attorney and just a dash of that special sauce that makes Thai dramas so unique, and it took me for the ride of my life.

The two main leads deliver incredibly solid acting performances which elevate the entire experience way above the silly, over-the-top nonsense story it could easily have been. Their chemistry is so believable and their dynamic is so engaging from the very first moment they appear on screen together, that I was hooked almost immediately.
Tin and Chan are both extremely compelling characters in their own right, but brought together they truly are a perfect storm of comedy, emotional sincerity, angst, and pure fun.
Most of the supporting cast do a great job in fleshing out the rest of the story and I even found myself becoming genuinely emotionally invested about twenty minutes into the first episode.

What impressed me the most was that, despite how dark the show occasionally gets (trigger warnings for: graphic violence, abuse, murder, death of an animal, and mentions of rape and sexual assault and I probably missed a few there) there is an indomitable thread of genuine queerness that permeates the entire thing.
This is not just a silly BL show for straight people, this is something for queer viewers to genuinely enjoy as well.
Not only do most of the queer characters feel authentically written and portrayed (standouts to me are Chan and Maya, for instance), the show also addresses topics such as consent and marriage equality with an all-too-rare directness and refusal to sugar-coat issues.
I won't go into details because I don't want to spoil one of my favourite bits of the show, but the way the ending was portrayed was truly one of the best, if not simply the best, depictions of this trope I have ever seen in a queer Asian drama and I am very happy that more and more Thai shows have been taking this direction in recent years.

So no, this show isn't perfect by a long shot. The writing and music are often cheesy, the editing is sometimes disjointed, some of the performances are occasionally stiff, and you pretty much can't go a single episode without tripping over heaps of plot holes. But the unique, zany charm of this story and its characters, combined with the fact that the show knows never to take itself all too seriously just somehow make it all work.
If you are looking for something different from all the standard university romances, something strange and fascinating and wholly fun that will pull you in and captivate you almost immediately, then I wholeheartedly recommend this show.
Go watch it, you'll probably have the time of your life, just like I did.

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The sapphic vampire polycule of my dreams

This show is absolutely insane and I am in love with every second of it.
From the roller-coaster ride of a story, to the incredible costumes, to the fast-paced editing and the frenetic camera-work, to the soundtrack, inexplicably littered with snippets of Beach Boys, Redbone, and Lord Huron songs - I love it all.
Yes, this show does pack a lot (and I really do mean a LOT) of story into a roughly thirty minute runtime, but personally I found the plot surprisingly coherent and easy to follow. The characters are all incredibly distinct and deeply endearing, which is no mean feat considering how little time there is to get to know them.
The calculated editing choices and the, as previously mentioned, eclectic soundtrack add together to produce a very distinctive style and lend the show a zany sort of charm which is reminiscent of other beloved Chinese dramas.
Throw in as much queer subtext as the censors (presumably) will let you get away with and you've got a clear recipe for success.
I could try to get you to watch this show by spending at least an hour dissecting the plot and ranting about how many little details are both significant and fascinating and hint at a much broader, more thought-out world that we only got a brief glimpse of during the show, but I don't think that'd work so let me put it this way instead:
If you like lesbians, vampires, vampire lesbians, Chinese dramas, or simply stories that take you on the emotional ride of your life, then this one is for you.

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We are kindred spirits, you and I

A sweet and genuine high-school romance with a refreshing twist.
This show picks up where most other romances end - at the beginning of our main characters' relationship. Instead of exploring the typical highs and lows of falling in love for the first time, this story shows us two kids trying their hands at being in a relationship for the first time and their earnest and consistent efforts to navigate this bewildering maze together, ideally while holding hands.

You will find no villains in this story, no big evil to overcome, no dramatic separations, no tragic incidents to tear our leads apart. What you will find, however, are a cast of charming and lovable characters, a well-written well-paced and often genuinely hilarious script, and standout performances from both leads and several supporting characters (here's to you Katori, here's to you). The characters all feel solid and real and the dialogues are both fun and true to life, so much so that I found myself reminded of conversations I used to have with my high school friends, which was genuinely delightful.

All in all this show serves as a welcome change of pace for the high-school romance genre. If you are looking for a quick and easy show to watch on a cozy weekend on the couch or if you are someone who likes romantic comedies that are grounded in realism without getting to dramatic, then this one is for you.

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The softest teen angst you've ever seen

My god this was so sweet and light I think I strained some face muscles from grinning so much.
This show's premise may be nothing new, but it manages to depict the struggles of falling for your best friend and the sheer, horrifying exhilaration of first love so well, it borders on perfection.
At first I was a bit put off by the almost aggressive wholesomeness of the series and the constant sparkles every time something vaguely romantic happens, but dammit they won me over alright.
The writing is genuinely great and the entire cast delivers such engaging and believable performances that it's a real challenge not to fall in love with the characters.
They're all just such good kids, trying their best to be there for one another and I really can't think of any way to describe the whole thing other than "genuinely heartwarming"
There is essentially no external conflict in the series, no antagonists, no dramatic plot twists, nothing of the sort. Instead, the story focuses on our two leads figuring out their feelings and learning how to communicate with one another, giving each other space to process their changing relationship and carefully consider their choices all the while.
One slight trigger warning I have to mention, however, is a scene in which one of the characters doesn't stop his physical advances on the other until he's been asked to stop three times.
Personally, in light of how well the fallout of this event is handled and how deeply loving and respectful the characters' relationship is overall, I found I could just about stomach that scene. If you are sensitive to these issues, you may want to proceed with caution though.

All in all, if you want to see an incredibly soft, yet grounded high-school romance reminiscent of beloved classics such as Kieta Hatsukoi and Kamisama no Ekohiiki, or are simply looking for a light, wholesome rom-com to while away a rainy day, then this show is perfect for you.

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A genuine treasure

God but this one sucker-punched me right in the gut. Trans representation in film is still difficult to find, much less good trans representation. So imagine my surprise when I stumbled upon this absolute masterpiece of a show.
It's a riot from start to finish and is as wildly entertaining as it is sensitive and touching. It tackles the realities of living as a trans woman with great incisiveness and care and, most importantly, with deep respect.
Rather than having Miki be a flawless, picture-perfect lady that even the most conservative of viewers would have difficulties finding fault with, she is allowed to be imperfect, messy, and deeply human.
She is head-strong, bitchy, confident, insecure, caring, and cynical all at once. She's sometimes wrong about things, sometimes right, and sometimes lands somewhere in-between. The show's approach to her character reminds me of Imogen Binnie's landmark novel "Nevada" in a way. Both main characters have an incomparable fierce, joyous, and messy approach to life that I love.

Another aspect of the show that I love is Goto's storyline. Not only is his character development lovely to see, but he also serves as the perfect counterpart to Miki. She is often cynical and scared of the future, and with good reason. But Goto slowly brings her out of her shell just a little bit and allows her to become a bit softer, a bit more vulnerable, and a bit more trusting.
I won't lie, it did make me tear up a couple of times, especially during the last episode.

I do have some gripes with the show, specifically Mini-sans character whose inclusion I found unnecessary at best and extremely bothersome at worst. And the most obvious flaw, of course - Miki not being portrayed by a trans woman, but by a cis man. It is truly the eternal curse of queer stories being told by straight people.
Nevertheless the writing, acting, and story are brilliant and left me feeling very positive about my own transness, which (as someone quite wise once told me) is honestly always a good metric to judge queer media by - how does it make you feel about your own queerness?
Good - is the answer here. Understood. Appreciated.

In short, I highly recommend this show to anyone looking for great queer rep in general or great trans rep in particular. I would also recommend it to anyone looking for an entertaining yet down-to-earth slice of life drama with a big focus on friendship.
Oh, go watch it already, it is absolutely worth it, trust me.

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The Kids Are Alright

Aw hell, I just really liked this one.
It wasn't the best show I've ever seen by any means, but it was such a sweet and earnest story about a bunch of kids trying their best and figuring themselves out I just couldn't help but be drawn in by it.

The characters are all very easy to love and I appreciate just how much they feel like real teenagers. They're all at different stages in their lives and that's okay. Some of them know exactly what they want from their future and some of them have no idea what they want to do with their life at all. Some of them are romantically and sexually experienced and some of them haven't so much as kissed anyone yet. You know, like real kids.
In general the show does a great job of portraying the beautifully varied lives of young queer people and makes it very clear that they're all perfectly alright just as they are and that there's nothing wrong with living life at your own pace, which is an important message for anyone to hear, kids as well as adults.

While the story is largely lighthearted, it also tackles more serious topics like parental neglect and abuse, and does so with great care and sensitivity. It emphasises the importance of communicating your wants and needs to the people in your life as well as the importance of standing up for yourself even if that means going against the expectations and demands of others.
The only thing that, to me, felt out of place is Qi Zhang's uncle. His sudden appearance was as jarring as it was entirely unnecessary. You're telling me that Mama Xu would really have let that man come anywhere near her kid? There's just no way.
But that's pretty much my only complaint.

So if you're looking for a very sweet slice-of-life story with solid writing and good music, which treats its characters with care and respect while broaching some mature topics, then I'd definitely recommend giving this one a shot.

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These Lawyers Do Not Get Divorced!

What a bizzarely underrated gem this one is. It's a heartfelt, mature story about love in its many iterations, an exploration of what being in a relationship can mean to different people, and the courage it takes to hold onto the people you love.

The two main characters are not only lawyers, which would already have been a unique premise, they are divorce lawyers.
This is an incredibly clever plot device that allows the show to explore, in depth, the concept of romantic relationships, why they succeed and how they fail. It addresses serious topics such a domestic violence and abuse, but also focuses on more universal questions such as - What happens if love alone isn't enough to make a relationship work? Can letting a beloved partner go be the right decision, or is it better to hold onto love with both hands and fight to keep it?
All these ideas are explored thoroughly and all tie into helping the characters grow and evolve.
As an added bonus, Yu Zhen and Shi Lei from Be Loved in House make an appearance here as well, which is very fun to watch for fans of that show, but even for those who are unfamiliar with the two, their story is a very sweet addition to show overall.

While the main couple's story focuses on the terrifying, exhilerating roller coaster ride of falling in love with your best friend, the side couple's story revolves mainly around learning to let go of the past to make space for a new partner and the difficulties of integrating a new love into an already existing family unit, especially when there's kids involved.
Serious as that may sound, both romantic plots are actually very sweet and uplifting and carry with them an incredibly heartening sense of hopefulness and joy.
I will also say that, even though I detest nothing more than a dramatic separation, especially if one character martyrs themselves for the other, here that plot point actually makes a lot of sense and is handled with a care and compassion that I really appreciated.

In short, Plus & Minus is a welcome departure from the more common university and high school centered dramas and delivers a story that is truly unique and heartfelt.
If you're looking for a mature queer show with solid writing, believable relationships, and a cast of sympathetic and lovable characters, then give this one a watch.

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Confused Bisexual Everywhere - And I Love It!

Watching this show made my cold dead heart grow several sizes.
As I've gotten older I've found it more and more difficult to truly connect with the characters in many high-school stories. I very much did not have that problem here.
Rarely have I seen such a profoundly meaningful story with such deeply lovable and realistic characters which weaves together humour and charm with genuine emotion so seamlessly.
I have truly and irreversibly fallen for each and every one of these characters. They are real kids with real flaws who try their absolute hardest to learn and grow and make things better no matter how hard it gets and after watching this show I would not hesitate to defend each of them with my life.

The story also tackles big questions such as - What does it mean to love someone? What makes us who we are? When we fall for someone, do we fall for their body or their soul or both at the same time?
It does this with great care and sensitivity and specifically uses the body-swap trope to emphasise that we are more than just our bodies, but that we are intrinsically linked to them at the same time. That loving someone no matter what shape they may take and loving someone for exactly who they are in the exact body they're in, are both important and valid and are not mutually exclusive. Having these topics addressed in such an open and compassionate way is important and meaningful not only for kids trying to find their place in the world, but also for trans people such as myself.

In short: This is a story about friendship, about learning what it means to be true to yourself, to be who you are unapologetically, and about being unafraid to change either yourself or the world or both at the same time.
A true triumph of a show that will appeal to anyone who has ever known what it feels like to grow and change and experience feelings that seem to big and vast for their body to contain. Go watch it.

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Wizard Husbands - The Movie

This was another one of those rare cases where I liked the sequel better than the original. Cherry Magic! The Movie is still lighthearted and fun, just like its predecessor, but it is much more grounded in reality and has an important core message.
Rather than focusing on the conflicts and misunderstandings that arise from long distance relationships, as the summary made me believe, this movie instead showcases the struggles a queer couple face in everyday life and in their relationship and, what's more, does it with such heartfelt and tender care that I genuinely teared up a few times.

What I loved the most was Kurosawa and Adachi coming out to their parents and deliberately choosing not to keep their relationship separate from the rest of their lives. I found both scenes very deftly handled and quite touching, and their inclusion was incredibly meaningful, both for the characters and for queer viewers such as myself.
And last but not least: the marriage. In the immortal words of The Impressive Clergyman: "Mawwiage is what bwings us togetha" and bring them together it does. Rarely have I seen a more perfect happy ending for a perfect happy story.

If you liked the show or are looking for an easy-to-watch queer romance with a lot of depth and love, I highly recommend you this movie.

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Love and joy in all their forms, told through the medium of Good Food

This show may have permanently rewired my brain and I don't regret a thing. This show Gets Me. It gets what it means to be human, what it means to love and let yourself be loved, what it means to reach for the joy and wonder that can be found in every day life, what it means to yearn for something. It explores what it means to desire; desire a feeling, desire food, desire change, desire a person. I could (and have, shoutout to my friends and my sincere apologies) spend hours ranting about the beautiful and complex use this show makes of food as symbolism, but I won't subject you to that.
Instead I will tell you this:
If you have ever known or wanted to know what it's like to outgrow and shed the shell you've been confined to all your life, to let go of "would have"s and "should be"s and grab for happiness with both hands, then this show is for you.
It is beautiful, it is intense, it is unafraid, it is pure joy.

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The First And Best

I'm pretty sure there is nothing I could say about this show that hasn't already been said. It is a masterpiece (or, as I have lovingly taken to calling it, a monsterpiece). It was the first Thai drama I ever watched and it irreversibly pulled me into the weird and wonderful world of queer Asian dramas and for that alone I will always love it.
But it's much more than just personal fondness that makes this drama so incredible to me.
This show takes what could easily have been a contrived, Romeo-and-Juliet-esque plot and turns it into a fiercely loving and genuine story about first love, self-determination, and the struggles of learning how to be yourself in the face of constrictive, sometimes even crushing, social and societal expectations. It touches on topics of sexuality, identity, compulsive heterosexuality, performative violence, and intergenerational trauma (in a "the sins of the father are the sins of the son" type of way) with a sensitivity and care that is still all too rare in cinema these days.
Now onto some (mild) spoilers.

Some personal highlights (aka Things I Loved):
- The deep respect and love Pat and Pran have for each other. Their relationship is tender, realistic, and frankly just plain fun as well, and seeing them both work so hard on building a healthy and lasting connection is beautiful and incredibly satisfying to witness.
- The pacing, specifically during episodes 6-10 in which the two of them just get to exist and grow together while tackling different problems facing them together and advancing their relationship step by step each episode. I know this sort of relationship progression isn't for everyone and hey, I get it, I love a good slow burn as much as the next guy, but personally I find that nothing compares to watching such an achingly real relationship unfold and grow, and seeing two people who love each other fiercely progress through their lives together rather than each of them struggling alone and pining from afar.
- The realistic depictions of sexuality. Specifically Pat letting go of his former infatuation with Ink and allowing himself to explore a romantic relationship he wasn't expecting until finally coming to the conclusion that he is attracted to all genders, which he then expresses out loud, with his words, as a direct response to a "oh but aren't you only gay for him" comment. Revolutionary, I know.
- Ink and Pa. I love my girls so much, they are both incredibly charming and compelling characters, yes I have huge crushes on both of them, what's your point
- The way the typical langkorn staples of sound effects, over the top silliness, and even the product placements (shoutout to Nivea, inexplicable make-up removal scenes my beloved) are utilised to underscore and enhance the story's genuine emotional moments. Beware, beware the danger of the artists who figured out how to use The Silly And Goofy to tell clever and touching stories.

Some personal lowlights (aka Things I Didn't Like):
- The ending. Don't get me wrong, I was very pleased with it being a happy ending and the end of episode 12 was just so goddamn charming it had me grinning from ear to ear, but I really disliked the whole "hiding their relationship" aspect. I would have loved to see them further develop the plotline of Pat and Pran actively defying their parents and refusing to live with and suffer for mistakes and heartbreaks they themselves had nothing to do with, and seeing the parents actually learn to let their kids live their lives for themselves. And if not that, then I could have at least done without them faking a break-up at school, that was just unnecessary in my opinion. Sure, there's a chance their parents would have found out about their continued relationship had they not hidden it that way, but that was seemingly a non-issue previously when they were openly dating so I don't see why they wouldn't have risked that. And lying to their friend groups (with the exception of Wai and Korn) just felt weird to me.
- Korn and his ilk in the early episodes. God but they were pricks, the lot of them. Korn especially irked me. He had a few moments that made me think he was actually becoming a redeemable character, but nothing came of them (see: that one moment in one of the early episodes where Korn reprimanded his friends not to make sex object jokes about women only to then just sort of continue making those jokes himself).
I will say though, that he did win me over by the end. His character arc wasn't as fleshed out as it could have been, but he did manage to pull his head out of his arse and learn to support his friend and put his needless feud with Wai to rest, so I am somewhat willing to overlook how much I wanted to punch him for roughly the first 70% of the show's runtime
- Wai forcibly outing his friend and how little it was discussed. I love Wai as a character (he is my little gremlin, my little weirdo, my scrungly boy) but forced outing is one of the most traumatic experiences a queer person can go through and for Wai to experience essentially zero consequences for his actions and even had Pran apologise to him really rubbed me the wrong way.

In conclusion: This is a wonderful, wonderful show by queer people for queer people and it remains a stand-out success and an absolute highlight among not just Thai shows, or queer Asian dramas, but among queer films and shows in general. Go watch it.

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Nothing can erase my love for this show

The show starts off by informing the viewer they're about to watch a "slightly silly love story about good natured, hard-working high school kids" and I think that's probably when I fell head-over-heels into crazy, stupid love, because boy oh boy does the series ever live up to its promise!
Everything about it is excellent, from the writing, to the acting, to music... it's all spot-on.
The humour is genuinely clever, often a lot subtler than you'd expect, and had me gleefully cackling more times than I'd care to admit. The plot may be nothing new but it depicts young love in general and young queer love specifically with such care and respect I was genuinely blown away by it.
And that's the magic of this drama, I think, the sheer amount of love so obviously put into it.
Not only are the characters deeply lovable, but their relationships to one another - romantic, platonic, or otherwise - are also incredibly healthy and there is huge focus placed on the importance of open communication and being honest about your feelings both with yourself and with others.
This portrayal of deeply earnest kids learning who they are, what they want in life, and how to speak to the people they love is hugely impactful in its simplicity and, quite frankly, offers some valuable life lessons which are important and relevant to audiences of all ages.
Furthermore, the show skillfully addresses more serious topics and issues facing young queer people every day such as prejudices, outward pressures to conform, and even internalised homophobia. None of these things are used for shock value, nor do they skew the lighthearted tone of the show towards the me angsty, but they aren't trivialised either, far from it.
This story may be very tame and PG but you can tell the show-runners wanted to create something truly worth while - a genuinely good piece of queer media for young people to watch and feel seen by - and they absolutely outdid themselves in every single aspect of that endeavour.
This show is an absolute triumph and a beloved classic for a reason. It will always be very near and dear to my heart and, I suspect, once you've seen it it will quickly claim a spot in your heart as well - just go watch it already.

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A masterpiece that has stood the test of time!

When I stumbled across this movie for the first time I thought "Huh..." and somewhere in the dark recesses of my mind I started to vaguely recall having read the manga years ago.
So I thought "Why not" and decided to give the movie a shot. And absolutely nothing could have prepared me for how much I've grown to love it.

From the very beginning the movie has a distinct quiet feel to it, a sort of understated grace that is incredibly hard to pull off without becoming boring. But bore me this did not!
The, let's be honest, fairly shallow and fluffy story is given depth by absolutely stellar performances and gains an undercurrent of authenticity and, for me personally, an aching sense of nostalgia. It effortlessly conjures up the absolute, razor sharp, stepping-around-landmines tension of being a queer kid, who maybe isn't even aware they're a queer kid yet, making a queer connection for the first time with such incisiveness that I found myself absolutely speechless.

And that feeling didn't let up. The entire movie is an absolute masterclass in tension. From the recurring theme of archery, the creaking drawing of bowstrings, to the ceaseless push and pull of the main characters' dynamic - that hesitant reaching out and pulling back of two people who are terrified, terrified of wanting but much more terrified of not being wanted in return - to the long static shots, the lingering close-ups, and the drawn-out continuous takes. It all adds up to steadily build a breathless sort of tension until you feel as if you're being forced to walk a tight-rope of emotions.
It's absolutely incredible.

If you like slow-building romances, stories with lots of tension but very little angst, or movies that speak volumes by deliberately saying very little out loud, then I couldn't recommend this movie more.
It's also a very faithful adaptation of the manga so if you're a fan of the source material you'll very likely love this as well.
Go watch it and then go watch the sequel, I promise you'll be in for an absolute treat.

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