This series is a bumpy and sometimes muddled ride. The production team apparently didn't trust the original novel enough to give it a direct dramatization, instead opting for a "life lesson" approach that is completely absent from the book, and this in itself is done too poorly to have much impact.

The book that this series is based on is a romantic comedy, pure and simple. It follows an outline that the series does keep intact to some degree: despite the bitter rivalry between a high school prince and the school's nerdy top student, the top student develops a one-sided love for the prince that ends up breaking his heart, only to have the situation reversed once both boys get to university. The top student has decided never to fall in love again while the prince (who has now become one of the most popular boys on campus) tries everything he can to win him over.

The book is very sweet and funny, with some touching moments along the way. (While the series was airing I posted a summary of the book's highlights in the discussion section on the MDL page.)

Rather than stick to the novel, though, the series forces two themes into the story that require some unfortunate disruption of the plot and the relationship dynamics:

- Always keep your promises
- Stand up for yourself

(You're forgiven if you happened to roll your eyes as you read that.)

For the "promise" theme, the promise in question is one that Pai makes to Itt under duress in high school, when Itt refuses to return a lost earring of Pai's that Itt has found. In exchange for the earring, Pai tells Itt that he'll do anything that Itt wants. Itt doesn't collect on this promise right away but waits until they're both at university, and what he requests is that Pai represent his faculty in the University Star and Moon contest, and win. (The series doesn't refer to it as the Star and Moon Contest, but that's what it is. The concept should be familiar to anyone who watches Thai BL.)

From there, whenever Pai seems about to fail in his attempt to win the competition, Itt shows up to berate him for not fulfilling his promise (i.e., the promise he was coerced into making to a thief for the return of a stolen item.) The fact that the series attempts to glorify this situation into something profound just shows how dim-witted the writers are. Pai would have been perfectly justified to punch Itt in the nose to get that earring back.

In addition to bullying Pai over the contest, Itt is also the agent for delivering on the "stand up for yourself" theme. Over the course of their freshman year in college he does this by showing up to publicly torture Pai in a number of circumstances. It's all for Pai's own good, you see. Itt's logic is that if Pai gets abused and embarrassed enough he'll finally learn to stand up for himself. (Ironically, when Pai finally *does* stand up for himself by confronting Itt over Itt's constant abuse, Itt gets furious!) (But then Pai immediately breaks down crying, so maybe Itt has a point there...)

Another problem I have with the "stand up for yourself" theme is that I never get the sense that Pai has a problem doing this. In high school, in fact, Pai is the leader of a club that is in direct competition with a club led by Itt, and this requires him to stand up to Itt a number of times.

Eventually Pai's own parents become complicit in this "stand up for yourself" scheme of Itt's, which only serves to make them look like bad parents. We never see how and why they come to do that, so it just becomes more of the series' lack of logic.

An element of the series that does follow the book more closely is the pairing of two other characters, Pure and Folk. Because their side story is not weighed down by any forced profundity, it contrasts refreshingly with the constipated interactions that are foisted upon Itt and Pai.

Pure is an equal-opportunity playboy, seducing women and men alike. After Folk becomes the latest in his string of one-night stands, Pure suddenly finds himself charmed and attracted by Folk's earnest sincerity. Their story becomes a well-done example of the "accidentally in love" trope and in some ways saves the series.

When it comes to the actors and their performances, Fiat is so assured and charismatic in the role of Pure that the other performances pale next to his, with the possible exception of JJ as Pai's best friend, Waan. As a viewer you are left with no doubt as to why Pure can attract others so easily. There's also a lot of good-natured, relaxed humor in Fiat's performance, including some cheerful asides about his own lack of height.

JJ's performance is equally relaxed. His prior experience in other series allows him to make Waan into a naturally chill kind of guy.

(The bromance between Waan and Pure is also a lot of fun. This is another original creation by the series and is something that the screenwriters actually get right, starting with the way in which the two first become friends. The only other thing I'll say about it is to be sure to watch for a scene where Waan takes Pure to see a doctor. These two guys definitely have chemistry, and as a result many viewers end up dearly shipping them as a couple.)

The other performances vary from very good (Marc as Itt, and Aun as Folk) to struggling (Win as Pai). In Win's case I like to think that he was hobbled by the script and direction. There are moments when his talent breaks through, but unfortunately this doesn't happen often, and as a result the chemistry between him and Marc isn't quite what it should be. (For me they don't reach the threshold of establishing themselves as a pairing to be shipped as 'MarcWin'. In fact I won't be surprised if they don't do another series together. 'FiatAun', or 'FAun', on the other hand....)

I hope we'll get to see Win in other roles where he can show his acting chops a little more. In the publicity videos I've watched he is upbeat and energetic in a way that Pai is never allowed to be.

For those interested in knowing how things go in the kissing department, have no fear. The kiss between Pure and Folk is suitably sexy and seductive, while the two that happen between Itt and Pai are plush and soft. For me the amount of lip action between those two was actually a little surprising. Given the tone of the series I expected something along the lines of what happened (or didn't happen) between Sarawat and Tine in '2gether'.

As a final comment, I need to say that it got to where I could no longer stand the endlessly meandering piano music on the soundtrack. I first realized how truly bad it is in a scene where one of the characters is sitting outside a hospital operating room, mourning the death of his mother. The major-key noodling just keeps going and going, as though he's merely waiting on a friend who's gone to use the rest room.