I will be honest right from the start. The only reason I decided to give this one a watch was because of Earth Pirapat and Earth Katsamonnat. I have enjoyed their acting in all the series that I have seen them in so far and this was no exception. But it would be unfair to rate this series only on the performance of 2 characters. Love By Chance is a series that tells a story of 4 separate couples, so let’s judge it on the basis of these 8 characters and their stories starting with the 2 main characters.

Pete and Ae: Pete comes from a rich family where he has been protected by his mother and he is shown to be rather simple and easily over-powered. He is closeted gay and hence is blackmailed by another student for money. Ae has a humble background and one day they accidently meet each other. From that day onwards, whenever he encounters Pete, he needs saving and Ae helps him out. Ae even encourages Pete to come out to his mom which he does. It was good to see a coming out scene in a BL series and the mom accepting it for her child’s happiness. Post this encounter, a strong bond develops between Pete and Ae that takes the shape of love and they start a relationship. Their relationship is shown to be sweet and passionate. There are some ups and downs but any issues they encounter are swiftly resolved through dialogue. There is jealousy but also a strong sense of trust between the two throughout the series. It was only during the last few episodes that I feel Ae behaves rather differently where Ae and his friends plan a 3 day vacation at a beach and he refuses to take Pete along because he is afraid of some handsome friend who will make fun of him.

Tin and Can: Of all the 4 couples, these 2 had the best storyline. Tin also hails from a rich family but initially you feel something is wrong with him. He has a superiority complex and looks down upon people who are not as rich as he is. All this stemming from experiences he had as a child and multiple betrayals suffered from parents, elder brother and even his friends. He now does not trust anyone and feels money is the solution to all problems. Can is a fresher at the university and a football player. He is talkative and enjoys food especially when paid by someone else. He is a simpleton through and through and picks up a fight with Tin because he rubs him the wrong way. However, as the story progresses we find they both interact and have a positive impact on each other. Tin has a backstory that is worth expanding upon and I believe Part 2 of this series does that. There is a different dynamic at play in this relationship as Tin is straightforward and Can is naïve. Their story reaches a crescendo in the last episode and to me feels justified. Their story picks up steam by ep 10 and I was left wishing that it should have started way earlier to flesh out a lot of things.

Tum and Tar: This is a complicated one as Tum and Tar are introduced as siblings where Tum has serious feelings for Tar and this just made me uncomfortable. Its later revealed that they are step-brothers but not sure if it really helped at the end. Tar is a victim of rape and hence suffers from a trauma leading him to be afraid of love and intimacy. Tum is caring towards Tar but has no idea about Tar being a victim and misunderstands the whole situation. There is a deep emotional moment in the last episode between these 2 characters which pulls at your heart strings but with a lot of things left unanswered or being spoken in passing you fail to connect with these 2 characters and hence aren’t involved in their stories.

Techno and Kengkla: Finally talking about the most problematic couple. Kengkla loves Techno and would do anything to be with him. He straightaway bribes Techno’s brother to keep an eye on him and constantly call him to know his whereabouts. You don’t understand Kengkla’s infatuation with Techno because that is not explained. In fact they hardly share any scenes together and have no dialogues between them. Kengkla at the end devices the most ridiculous and in my opinion an illegal plan to get Techno. Techno once comes home drunk and Kengkla takes advantage of this situation and rapes Techno (Techno is too drunk to consent and this cant be described as anything other than rape). To make matters worse, the next day when Techno wakes up sober, he finds himself in the same bed as Kengkla, naked with no memory of the previous night. Kengkla guilts Techno in to believing that he took advantage of Kengkla last night and should now take responsibility by being his boyfriend. This storyline started ridiculous and ended up infuriating me especially when you already have another character who is a victim of rape. What were the writers and director thinking?

In conclusion, this series is a watch only for Pete and Ae, and Tin and Can. Their stories are sweet and has a lot of depth and there is certainly character development. Can’t say the same about the other 2 couples. Feel free to fast forward their parts for better entertainment value.