TL;DR - A really good slap kiss lakorn with an amazing OTP, 2nd OTP, and interesting storyline. Beware of constant misunderstandings and a certain batshit crazy female character.

Wow, it's been awhile since I binged watched a lakorn and overall I had a great experience watching this. The leads are unique and very likeable, and their love story was well developed and engaging. It was very easy for me to click the next episode immediately after to see what would happen next. 

I really really liked our leads, Witsanee (Nee) and Arrum, two people with opposing personalities that complemented each other very well. Nee is such a queen; she is bold and playful, and wasted no chance at teasing Arrum whenever she could. Arrum is stoic and kind of quiet in the beginning, but his defenses pretty much melt against Nee's charms and he falls hard for her (as a side note - the way he says her name and looks at her gets me in the feels lol). Their relationship was quite the rollercoaster ride, from flirty co-workers to enemies-ish to lovers. It made for a fun watch and I really appreciated the time taken to develop their relationship after the accident (btw it really was an accident - the breaks weren't found to be broken and there wasn't a plan to kill Non). Both take their anger out on each other equally and in a believable manner. The path to forgiveness wasn't easy but well fought for on both fronts. I was also pleasantly surprised by the amount of real kisses we were given! I do wonder how their relationship would've panned out if Non was still alive; we clearly see that Arrum is very attracted, and even starts to love Nee although he's with Non (I would consider that cheating, even tho him and Nee were never physical at that point). He was more or less with Non because they'd been together for 7 years, which is a common reason why couples who've fallen out of love stick together. As bad as it sounds, I'm glad Non ended the way she did (it's a toss up of whether I think she deserved it or not) otherwise our leads wouldn't have gotten together.

I really liked the supporting cast, especially Chart. He's the kind of guy who always has your back and one you want to go to for advice. His fake charade with Nee at her meeting the in-laws date was hilarious. Him and Noot make a great duo together and their interactions were very cute (I really loved their tin can telephone scenes!). I also liked Nee's dad, and it was great watching him and Nee resolve their relationship through the show. Nee's stepmom was a surprise like; I thought she would be an evil stepmom but actually she was super classy and cared more for Nee than Nee's own mom.

A couple things holding me back from rating this higher is first the misunderstandings, and jeez there were too many of them. Some were warranted, some were not. But what annoyed me the most were the misunderstandings perpetrated by Su (a complete psycho) and Jan. The way Su did it was believable although I felt like she did it so often that Arrum should've noticed. Jan obviously had bad intentions to Nee, yet Arrum would still believe her again and again, and hurt Nee unnecessarily. It got a little repetitive and I had to FF to pass. I also had to FF through the Yothin bs a lot, especially through his evil mother, whose greed knew no bounds. I also disliked how everyone kept tolerating Su after all the bs and psycho shit she did, and while karma did catch up to her, I felt she was let loose for way too long.  

I did feel the first 7 episodes were a little draggy (I was literally waiting for Non to die lol) but it set the dynamics nicely and established the relationship between our leads well. I also really liked the music, and wish there was an OST list I could look up so I can find the songs. Overall, this was a great story of love, loss and redemption and the love story is something that will stay close to my heart. I'd totally recommend you watch and I'll certainly re-watch for the OTP moments. 

Leggi di Più

TL;DR - waste of your time. If you're looking for romance, it's not here. ML is such trash. Only character I liked was Kadechai.

I stayed up all night finishing this lakorn not because I enjoyed it, but because I fell into the trap of "well maybe next episode, ML will find out the truth or the villain (I'll refer to her as bcb - bob-cut b*tch) will be exposed" which lead me to unintentionally finish up to the end.

I have to say, I see why some lakorns use this tactic. They get to air multiple episodes filled with bullshit but also dangle that carrot of hope in front of you so that you bear with the bullshit up until the end. While it makes loyal viewers, it is also lazy and so uncreative to have this many episodes with the same recycled crap over and over and then everything gets resolved/exposed in the last episode. I'm telling you now that you could watch up until 2-3 episodes after the time skip and then skip right over to the last episode - you really won't miss much in between and will thank me later. Even if things got exposed early on, I imagine that we would not get a good/engaging story line to fill the rest of the episodes, so either way it's a lose-lose situation. 

I know slap-kiss lakorns of this era are a breed of their own, so I try to adjust my standards to the time period it aired. But this can only work if the romance is worth it, which it's absolutely not (I'd even argue it's non-existent).

I do feel deceived that the lakorn was so bad because the beginning was really great. Kudos to the child actress who played child Bee, cause she won my heart on how loyal she was to her grandma, her honesty and child-like optimism of seeing the good in everyone. The ML was a really good person too, and had really sweet interactions with Bee. That's why I was able to like Bee and ML for as long as I did because their character set up in the beginning was done so well. You could justify and understand their motivations and why they did what they did. But again, this understanding could only go so far because the lakorn was inundated with the same 2 cycles of abuse (which I will outline) that literally carried it to the end.

Cycle 1: Bee does something "scandalous"/gains favor from the ML mom/bcb complains to ML --> ML gets mad and goes to harass and accuse Bee --> Bee cries and tries to defend herself --> ML talks about how he'll never believe her + tries to assault her -->Aunt Jian or Mom comes in time to save Bee and tell ML off for trying to assault Bee --> repeat
Cycle 2: Bee gets something nice --> bcb gets upset and goes to harass Bee -->Bee cries and puts herself down to please bcb --> bcb hatches a plan to make herself look good and potentially kill off Bee --> repeat

I could get mad that bcb is such a horrible person. I could also get mad that Bee is such a doormat and ML (I don't even want to put his name down bc I hate him) is so stupid. But all of these things are what the characters brought onto themselves; bcb's actions are enabled by Bee always self-sacrificing herself and ML's blindness. ML for whatever reason wants to keep believing Bee is a terrible person. Bee herself believes it's ok to receive this abuse because she had been brought up to be grateful and help her "benefactors", and she lives to pay off this gratefulness debt. 

Forget about the romance, IMO there's no proper romance. It's just the ML being aggressive and accusing the FL of being promiscuous but then always going back to bother her and feeling some sort of affection. Bee's affection for ML as her savior somehow turns into love, although this isn't really love bc she doesn't know any better. The ML also never apologizes or at least feels regret for what he did to Bee.

The saving grace of this lakorn was surprisingly ML's mom Khun Ying and Khun Kadechai. Khun Ying was the only character with development and turned from a nasty witch to someone who sincerely regretted her actions and had Bee's best interests at heart. I was very sad to see her die the way she did. Kadechai was amazing in that he was self-aware and despite being a gangster, he still had morals he abided by. I really wish he had exposed bcb earlier, but ofc that was not meant to happen.

I also really liked the side couple of Nuan and Pa, and how we saw them fight for their love. I wished they had more involvement in the main story. I also like the main theme song and the music was played appropriately here.

Overall if you can't tell already, I really did not like this lakorn and 100% would not rewatch. I also wouldn't recommend unless you want to waste your time. There are much better slap-kiss lakorns that won't take advantage of your sympathy and have much better payoff than this. 

Leggi di Più

TL;DR - If this had been cut down, I would've enjoyed it more. The plot stops (imo) around when Lisa and Don get together and it depends if you're into the OTP enough to enjoy the rest of the lakorn (I wasn't). If you like rom-coms or the lead actors, then you might like this.

Honestly if this only consisted of the first 11 episodes I would’ve given this a solid 9. Unfortunately the remaining episodes left little to be desired and were a major struggle to get through, due to the tacky editing and lack of interesting plot. 

I really do like our leads, Don and Lisa, and their cute antics together. I liked how sassy Lisa is and how she’s not afraid to stand up for herself or for others. Don took a bit of warming up to which was understandable given his backstory, and I really liked that he was smart enough to suspect Ratree (evil b) and the villain in this story. Both made a great duo together and I enjoyed watching them fall in love. However, I was not as invested into them as I would’ve liked - a major thing that bothered me was the lack of closure on my end regarding Don’s ex-fiancée. I mean sure, Don can certainly resolve issues on his own, but then why make it such a big deal for him for him to fall in love; why build it up that Don absolutely can't get over his ex, feels guilt about her death and go through this major reluctance to get married only for it to end with a resolve that happens off camera? I honestly felt robbed of that closure myself and it would’ve been more touching to see how he got over it and how Lisa helps him move on with her love and support. This lack of closure was a signal of things to come later.

As much as I was happy that Lisa and Don were able to get together about 11 episodes in, I was also worried because it meant losing that "will they, won't they" tension that usually carries these kinds of lakorns, thus they would have to fill the rest of the lakorn with other plot points. And they did...but it was not only predictable, but also filled with tacky drama.

This is where I have huge gripes with the editing, something I would never think to comment on, but time and time again it would just pull me out and make me feel insulted. What I mean by this is that we would be at this slow pace with seemingly nothing going on, then all of a sudden cut into a very dramatic and intense scene. But the way it was edited not only doesn't build up/prepare the viewer of what to expect (which makes me have to adjust my emotions to match the scene) but any veteran drama viewer paying attention to the lakorn will know that the supposed dramatic scene is actually not to be taken seriously. I'll give you an example. Lisa and Don are having issues with Ratree and both know that she's a snake. Then it cuts to Ratree telling a secret to Lisa that would make her want to leave Don. Then it cuts to a drama filled scene of Lisa leaving Don and everyone is upset. Then later it turns out that they were faking it to deceive Ratree and everyone is surprised. I mean, I would've been too if Lisa or Don had trust issues with each other but based on their characters/previous actions, I know that Lisa wouldn't just go and do that for no reason, and everyone in the drama knows how untrustworthy Ratree is. So why does the drama itself think that we would believe Lisa would leave after hearing what Ratree has to say?? It's cheap drama for cheap thrills. There are so many times that this happens in the drama that just continually kept me less invested in the story, and by the end I was pretty much checked out. 

Another complaint I have with the editing is the pacing. I think a lot of the plot could have been condensed to max 12 episodes. I think part of it was because the storyline also became predictable, so there was a lack of patience on my end to sit and watch the drama in normal pacing when I knew what was going to happen (I ended up fast forwarding from ep 12 onwards). I think if you really liked the leads, you would've enjoyed the filler. Nothing new was introduced after our leads got together other than the existing villain plot line, which they milked for way too long. Some may mention the development of Rin and Mor's relationship, but I think that was also done poorly - you literally have Rin confess to Mor, he rejects her and only thinks of her as a sister, then next episode he realizes he loves her and gets possessive?? Rin honestly deserved better.

I will say, I really appreciate that the show didn't compromise the characters and kept them consistent throughout the show. I enjoyed the employee antics, and the character development of Pit and his mother. Lisa's parents were also pretty great, esp her dad. None of the characters were a waste and served their purpose. 

I liked the theme song a lot, and the music and sound effects were placed appropriately here. I think if you are just starting with watching lakorns, if you like the lead actors or if you want a superficial rom-com and don't take things seriously like I do, you might enjoy this. Otherwise it's a forgettable drama for me and not something I would re-watch.

Leggi di Più

I have to say, I have never watched a lakorn with so many twists and turns. A lot of plot goes on in this that makes the show engaging, and it's fast pace makes it an easy watch. In fact there's a lot that goes on that makes you wonder how they'll be able to wrap up everything in the finale, but it's actually done well and I really have to applaud the director + editor. The characters are all smart and they always know that something's up, which moves the plot along nicely. There was never a dull moment while I was watching this.

What made this show special to me was the antagonists and the 2ndry characters. All are flawed but you get why. The villains, especially the queen B that is Khun Dee, are pretty badass here and cross a lot of moral boundaries that makes you believe the rich can get away with anything. Dr. Goson was honestly my favorite of the entire series; we see him constantly struggle between doing what's right vs doing what Dee wants (often morally wrong). We also see him suffer the consequences of his decisions, and you wonder why he would go through such lengths for Dee. It was frustrating to see him protect Dee so much but you understand why at the end and he does get what he deserves.

An honorable mention goes to Ratt's dad. I thought it was cute how he'd involve himself in whatever Ratt was doing, and wholeheartedly support him in solving the mystery regarding Lookaew/Dada. At times he was a bit too easy-going but he did win my heart for how loving and supportive he was.

Now here comes the issue I had with this lakorn; the OTP. Objectively, there wasn't anything wrong with them; Ratt and Dada individually are good people and both say and do the right things. It was especially sweet of Ratt to love Dada for who she was, and was waiting for her to come back to her true self before marrying her. My interest in them was high when I began the drama but it slowly went down as the show progressed. It's weird to say, but I felt like their chemistry was better when he didn't know who she was. I think the lack of emotional stakes on their end, after they got together, made me lose interest (he knew who she was and she loved him so it made their relationship predictable). I was definitely more interested in the 2nd lead couple and spent more time fangirling over them then the main one. I think this just comes down to personal preference, so please don't take it to heart if you think otherwise.

Music was okay here, and I thought the theme song was pretty good. If you have time, then I would recommend you watch it for the plot and cast of characters. Not something I'd re-watch since I know all the plot twists.

Leggi di Più

I watched this after having withdrawal symptoms from Mookda's latest drama, and while it wasn't as epic, it was certainly addicting and entertaining. The story revolves around Massaya, a young girl whose father was chased away by his mom after she disapproved of his marriage. The kicker is that the woman is not his real mom; she adopted him after he lost his parents and raised him as her own. This should chase away the worries that the main leads are related; they are certainly not biologically related, although the faux relations added to how addicting their relationship was. After the father was kicked out, years pass by and the woman (a grandma at this point) regrets what she did. She enlists her eldest grandson, Lak, to bring back Massaya and raise her under their house name (the father passed away at this point, so now she's doubly guilty) although not without troubles from the other members of the family.

I admit I was worried about how the show was going to bring Lak and Massaya together; in the beginning we see Lak and his gf, Chom, as a strong couple but grandma doesn't like Chom bc she thinks Chom is not good enough for her (and at this point Chom is not a bad person). I felt like they'd be the leads of the lakorn with what they were going through and didn't see how Lak would fall for Mass (I almost didn't want him to). Likewise, while I could def see why Mass liked Lak, I shipped her with Nop who is the sweetest guy ever and who I had serious 2nd ML syndrome for. Each couple were well suited for each other, and I wouldn't have minded if they ended up together. But ohhhhh boy did the show prove me wrong, and had them come together in the best guilty pleasure way possible.

Like Tan Chai said (a fav character of mine btw), love does not equal suitability. We see how Lak progressively falls deeper and deeper for Mass and gets increasingly possessive of her. You get the sense where you know the stuff he's doing is crossing boundaries but it's honestly too good not to watch. I felt bad for Chom bc she's just watching Lak fall out of love for her, but it unfortunately turns her into a villain set out to get Lak back (tho honestly I didn't think he treated her well when they were together anyway).

Now onto some weak points. Definitely what bothered me was how unreliable Lak was; one moment he tells Mass that nothing will break them apart but when things get too real then he backs off and tells her everything he did was a lie. He does this about two or three times which is too many and even Mass gets tired of his flip-flopping and runs from him (made great tv ngl but def not a good relationship lol). He does make up for what he's done in a satisfactory manner, so it doesn't feel completely messed up. I also didn't like how the grandma was repeating her mistakes in forcing Lak to be with someone he didn't love (this was when he was with Chom + Mass; tho with Mass I could understand cuz relations. But still.). Another thing that bothered me was the family drama; it's obvious that the grandma is biased towards Mass' dad and Lak, which causes Lak's aunt to be super jealous and hateful. It doesn't excuse the crappy stuff her and her daughter do to Mass but grandma is def at the heart of it. I wish this part of the drama was more fleshed out as not all the members of the aunt's family are bad and I felt like they had more to tell then what we were given.

I want to shout out two gems in this lakorn: Nop and Pong. Nop is just the sweetest; you could argue that he's being pushy but he never forces Mass to do anything and just wants her to give him a chance. He even helps her get together with Lak even though he's in love with her and I honestly felt cheated that I didn't get to see how he ended up in the finale. Pong was surprising; initially he was super annoying and was trying to steal Chom from Lak, but we see later he's actually a good person and brother. Also he persists in courting Chom despite her history with Lak, by waiting for her after work, being good to her parents and overall just following his heart (Lak should takes notes lol). 

Overall this was a great watch and I'd definitely recommend. I really like the music in this lakorn, there were great songs and it was played appropriately. Am definitely re-watching for the OTP and Nop + Mass scenes.

Leggi di Più

I had a lot of trouble writing this review, mainly because my biggest issue with this lakorn was the story. I read the synopsis so I knew what to expect, but what it came down to was that I immensely disliked how it was conveyed. I know Thai lakorns tend to get remade every 10 years or so, but I honestly can't imagine how this storyline could fit within this era where technology has gotten far and people are more vocal about being harassed. Generally I actually enjoy slap/kiss dramas but only if the ML is someone I can sympathize or root for. In this case, he was just someone I couldn't root for.

So my issues with the story are this:
1. ML mistakes FL for her cousin. Sure it was done in rage so I guess that was enough to mistaken her, but I wonder why the FL's picture was in his bro's book in the first place. He was so in love with the FL's cousin and even painted a picture of her. They also paint the ML as this smart and compassionate guy but I'd think he'd do more research on her before he went as far as kidnapping.
2. Their love story - while I can see why the ML would like the FL, I felt like this came out of left field for me. I mean, he shows inklings of feelings for her then suddenly it's full blown I love you blah blah blah which made me backtrack a couple episodes to figure how it developed. I also don't see how the FL could possibly love the ML since he kidnapped, enslaved, trapped her on an island with no escape, r*** her and much more. Call it Stockholm syndrome if you will, but she should've just called the police as soon as she was let go.

There are other little things that bothered me (like the pearl bracelet) but those were the two main ones. Honestly, I think the FL was better off with her childhood friend who was the real hero of this story. He knew something was wrong when she went missing, was properly concerned and was the actual person who saved her when young. Her sleazy cousin, who had one of the worst haircuts, was terrible as per usual of any lakorn but I'm glad she got her comeuppance and the guy had enough sense to leave her. I actually remember the music in this lakorn, and there's one song that I really like so at least I got something out of this. Bottom line, I wouldn't recommend (unless you're bored) and wouldn't rewatch.

Leggi di Più

TL;DR - An interesting, but messed up story with immoral characters, save the FL. If slap-kiss had a spectrum, this would be on the hardcore side.

Hmmm where to start...if you already haven't read the reviews of other people, you should know that this is one complicated, twisted lakorn. Due to the subject material in this (particularly the repeated rape) you either really like this drama or you hate it. I'm actually in the middle where I didn't feel like I wasted my time watching the whole thing, but wasn't left with good feelings in the end.

The heart of this lakorn is the characters and their interactions with everyone. You have the ML who is spoiled rotten and has a sad, but unexplained upbringing. No one has really stood up to him or got to him until he meets the stubborn and righteous FL. She doesn't have a good impression of him because he was basically an asshole to her sister, who's also another interesting character. I actually liked the sister more than I thought, I guess because I felt sorry for her. She had an unrequited love for the ML, was harshly rejected, had moved on, only to have her fiance die. I felt like she only had her revenge on the ML to keep on living, which is not a way to go at all but I still sympathized with her. My biggest gripe with her was that she should've been a better sister to the FL and move on from her failed love.

FL's dad is not a good guy either. The dude tried to get with the FL's sister when his wife's body was not even buried yet. I can see why the ML is such a mess-up cuz the father is just abusive to him and only cares about his own feelings. I'm very surprised that the family of his deceased wife didn't cause a ruckus, and actually supported his new marriage which is quite frankly unrealistic. The mom of the FL is crazy too, always sympathizing with the male lead even though he's clearly abusing her daughter...

I liked the second half of this drama more than the first. That's where I felt things picked up quickly and the meat of everyone' issues was laid out to bare. I enjoyed how the FL made the ML work extremely hard to prove himself (like he should) and loved that she was set on moving on with her life without his (or anyone's) help. I didn't really feel like this was a love story; more like a redemption journey for the ML. When the FL took him back, I didn't feel like it was because she loved him, but because she wanted to give him another chance. I did feel like their coupling was well thought out and worth fighting for, so I never felt cheated that they got together "just because".

Don't remember the music and isn't something I'd re-watch. Would recommend if you want to watch a good melodrama.

Leggi di Più

TL;DR - I personally didn't enjoy watching this and FF-ed through 90% of the lakorn. OTP, story and supporting cast were lackluster. I'd recommend the 2017 ver over this.

I just want to preface this by saying that I'm going to be blunt in this review and just write out what I honestly felt while watching this. While this lakorn may fit the taste of others (and that's completely okay), it didn't fit mine and I will explain why below. 

The biggest indicator of how much I didn't enjoy watching this lakorn was how I pretty much FF-ed through the entire series except the last episode; that was the only one I watched in normal speed. The beginning was okay, but I quickly grew bored of how the lakorn played out. There wasn't much story for me to follow or be engaged in, as I felt that I was just watching the lives of 2 people and what they dealt with on a daily basis. You had Massaya who was being trained to be "civilized" and being crapped on by her aunt's family, and Lak, who was in the military, living the military lifestyle and dealing with an aggressive commander and overbearing grandmother. I did feel Lak's character/story was more interesting, as he was the only sensible one who was calling out grandma's bs and trying his best to resist her demands. When he could not do so, he could only escape through means of alcohol and staying at the battalion. I admired him for trying to control his fate. But this was not enough to keep me invested in watching, and this good part of him was cancelled by his treatment of Chom, which I will discuss later on. 

Another reason why I FF-ed was the lack of interaction between our leads, which is a common remark made on this lakorn and something I was aware of before watching. It's not like they didn't interact at all, but it wasn't enough for me to believe in their love for each other. At most, I did feel that Lak was a good big brother to Mass and supported her when she was in trouble with his family and to be herself. While I can see why Mass would like Lak, I can't say the same for him to her. The progression of their relationship did not feel well developed. As someone who primarily watches because of romance, this was a big no-no for me and contributed to my disinterest to watch. Usually if this happens, I can fall back on the story to keep me going but as I've mentioned, there was not much of a story to follow.

I also want to remark on Lak's treatment of Chom; he was such an ass to her. He was pretty much playing around with her and used her as a bet against his cousin. When she demanded an answer of whether he'd commit to her or not (perfectly reasonable thing to do), he'd just avoid her and push her away in the name of duty. He would then get mad at her when he found out she was hanging with his cousin and expect her to stay loyal to him. Like wtf dude, then why won't you give her an answer? She affirmed her loyalty, gave plenty of chances to him, but he still wouldn't commit and in the end she married his cousin. That whole relationship was such bs on his end and I actually felt bad for Chom. I could not help comparing this to Massaya 2017 where this was dealt with much better.  

Now with a lackluster story and OTP, what's left to hang on to are the supporting cast. Unfortunately I was just not very attached to this cast and the only characters I liked were Nid, Lak's mom and Mass' grandpa. Prince Sadayu also gets a pass. The rest just felt very 1-D or were unlikeable for the majority of the lakorn. Most of them had their character development in the last episode. I was especially disappointed in Nop's character; at first I thought it was very cool to see him as a musician and singer, as he wasn't in the 2017 version. But his infatuation with Mass seemed to come out of nowhere, and he continued this one-sided love for her even to the point of arranging marriage without ever asking or considering how she felt. Like ugh, then he goes back to liking the sister after that all falls apart? Again a big no from me.

I tried to assess this lakorn and the 2017 version as separate entities, but it's inevitable that comparisons will be made. All of the problems I had with this version was more or less resolved and done way better in the 2017 version imo. The only thing I thought was done better in this lakorn was Lak's overall character; he's not wishy-washy like in the 2017 ver, although that made for a better reason for why Mass (2017) would run away then she did in this ver. 

The music was average and not something I remember. Overall this lakorn was very traditional and boring, and as a whole, I just personally did not enjoy watching. I wouldn't re-watch. I think if you wanted to watch both ver, you're better off watching this first then the other, but if you wanted to watch one then I'd 100% recommend the 2017 version.

Leggi di Più

This was a very interesting lakorn to watch. I pretty much binged-watch the first 10 eps over a span of three days and continued to watch the rest in real time. This was highly anticipated, as it starred Yaya and Mario who've never been the OTP up till now (both were in the Rising Sun series, but paired with different people). Now that I've finished, I'll give you my thoughts below: 

1. Story
For the most part, this was a coherent, engaging story with decent pacing. The middle episodes felt filler-ish and there was a noticeable decrease in quality of the last few episodes. But for the most part it was good. I felt like this was a slap/kiss lakorn dressed in modern clothing; while there was a good production and was no nightmare 2nd FL or r*pe, the core still felt like a typical slap/kiss with an angry male lead, soft female lead and all the misunderstandings. I pretty much felt like its "true colors" (if a drama could be a person) manifested in those last episodes with the fast pacing and plot twists. This inconsistency in pacing did annoy me, and I wish it stayed on the more contemplative tone that they set in the beginning. 

2. Leads
It's no surprise that Mario and Yaya killed it as Kla and Khim, and I felt like they're the reasons why I enjoyed watching so much. Both such complex, broken souls that have been through so much tragedy and heartbreak. I loved both characters. I really liked Kla as the rough but kind-hearted mechanic, and it was sad to see him change into a bitter, angry person due to everything he went through. Both him, Khim and I miss the old him, but completely understand that if he didn't change, then he wouldn't survive. Excellent character development. I just wish I could say the same for Khim; she still supports her father despite him ruining her life and how he continuously disregards her worth. I wish she realized that he'd never change and cut him off from her life; that she didn't need his love to know she was valuable and that her own strength was enough. Unfortunately she's too influenced by her dad and I think they could've done a lot more with her character. I think if anyone else but Yaya played her, I wouldn't have liked her as much. Yaya was able to make Khim be lovable and a victim of her dad rather than a doormat.

b) I have a complaint I want to make about Khim and her dad's relationship; a of of people talk about the incestuous relations Asia has towards Kla. But I also felt Khim's dad was borderline incestuous with Khim, in how he was obsessed to have the most important person to Khim be him. It was gross. I'm also sick of seeing these shitty fathers do shitty things to the main leads and gettin away with it in the end. This has been a long time issue I've had with Thai lakorns and to some degree I get it, but the straight up manipulation, abuse and cruelty Khim's dad put on her nearly ruined her life. It sucks even more that Khim realizes this, but still chooses her father in the end. Why can't we have our leads leave these shitty parental figures? Khim's father doesn't even apologize for what he did. I'm at least glad they did no redemption arc for him.

3. Secondary Cast
This is the first time where I've felt the secondary cast was useful to the plot but were very, very unlikable. Pretty much everyone (except Kla's dad and Claire) failed the leads and played a heavy role in the trauma they went through. While I expected the rich father to be extremely shitty, I didn't expect the "best friend" characters to be shit as well. Lita and Khem are two of the worst friends anyone can have, and are so selfish; they were the reasons Khim and Kla separated. Especially Lita, she was shady from the first ep but when she decided to lie about the letter switch-up for years and watch Khim be tortured about Kla, she was dead as a character to me and I couldn't care less. I was disgusted that they gave her a love-line with Thanchai, who I thought deserved way better. She got off way too lightly with her lies and the fact that she wasn't sorry about it, and Khim still kept her around makes my blood boil to an unhealthy degree.

I also want to mention that the way characters reacted to the lies and deceit was weird and the only one who reacted normally was Claire. She was my surprise co-MVP along with Kla's dad. If anyone wants to know how to properly deal with being betrayed, you should take a leaf out of Claire's book.

4. Romance
What really made this romance work for me was the strong foundation they built before the time-skip that made everything after so enjoyable to watch. In many ways, this reminded me of Game Rai Game Ruk (Yaya is the lead there too lol) where the leads were deeply in love before jealous forces tore them apart, and lead to a psychological game where both were very mad at each other. This was a more complex, better produced version of that. Yaya and Mario have amazing chemistry together, and their love and angst towards eo was palpable and poignant. They really made me see how two people can love eo, but not trust eo, and their relationship was tested over and over through various obstacles. I almost thought they couldn't make it but the fact that they did made it satisfying to watch.

5. Overall
This was addictive and I had a good time watching. Tbh, Yaya and Mario pretty much carried the show with their character portrayals and chemistry. The music was on point and suited the lakorn well. I just wish there were more refinements in the storytelling and character development. I'd probably re-watch the pre-time skip episodes and some select scenes but not the whole thing. Would recommend watching.

Leggi di Più

TL;DR - A great C-drama to get back into the world of C-dramas. Unique storyline with cute romance and a strong supporting cast.

This is the first C-drama in years that I watched and not only did I complete it, but I also enjoyed it and squealed like a teenager from start to finish!

There are so many good things about this drama that I don't even know where to start. From the fast-pace story telling and well developed plot (except near the end) to the amazing main and supporting leads, and a genuinely sincere romance between the main leads, this drama has it all. The only thing that knocks it down is how they rushed some plots near the end that lost impact and didn't give time for some of the supporting characters to develop properly (eg. Su Mo getting over himself to be with the princess, Chuchu's character arc). Plus the ending with Qianqian (QQ) and Han Shuo (HS) felt a bit anti-climatic and overall I felt that this could've benefited from a few more episodes. However compared to other dramas I was watching, I was ok with this sort of rushed, but meaningful plot.

What makes this drama so fun is that it's very self aware and pokes fun at the C-drama cliches we see nowadays; if you're someone who watches or reads C-material regularly, you'll definitely recognize them here. The tropes are still here, but the drama satirizes it in a way that makes the watcher engaged and doesn't insult their intelligence. There are many times that I actually laughed out loud and the fast pacing allowed me to be completely absorbed in the world and the characters.
Speaking of the characters, hat's off to whoever casted them, because they were easily my favorite part of the show. I never thought any of them were pointless, and this would've likely not been such an enjoyable watch without them. I even liked the 'bad' characters, because I understood their motivations and their actions made sense. Shout out to QQ's servant who almost stole the show for me with his hilarity and facial expressions, and the group of three storytellers who followed along with QQ's story. QQ's mom is also awesome and I actually liked Chuchu as well, though I wished she was given more time to complete her arc instead of leaving her as a wicked person (also she should've been punished for what she did, she got off too easily).

Of course, the two that stole the show for me were our amazing leads HS and QQ. Both are great characters on their own and together they were just freaking adorable. What won me over was how genuine their relationship was, and how much they'd sacrifice for the other's sake. I squealed so much over their cute interactions and how harmonious they were as a team. I love how HS is not a typical, stone-faced ML but has a funny side and actively protects the FL even when she does him wrong. QQ is also a great FL and I love how she takes things into her own hands instead of passively accepting her fate, and is very self-aware of the shortcomings of her own story. My only problem with them is that...they had their first time in a dank-a** prison. Like wtf? This was one of the few times that I wondered why this had to happen this way and they were honestly robbed of having that special moment.

The opening song is adorable and I liked all the music that was played in this drama. There wasn't a time where it was inappropriately played or out of place. I'd certainly give this a re-watch, mainly for our leads and some supporting characters and would definitely recommend you watch.

Leggi di Più

I never really liked the Taiwanese version of this drama (and I only briefly watched the Korean version) but Thailand has proven to me that they can do remakes well and most times better than their original counterparts. With that in mind, I gave this a go and here are my thoughts:

Likes
-A cohesive and engaging story with no filler and a nice balance between the serious and the silly aspects; it's a more mature re-telling of the original, which I really liked 
 -ML (Phawut) is one of the best MLs with how kind, compassionate and silly he was. Loved how he cleanly cut off his ex he realized he was in love with the FL (Wanida). One of the rare ones where who takes responsibility for what he does and truly has the FL's best interests at heart
-Esther gets flak for playing the same type of innocent, kind girl that gets taken advantage of, but you gotta admit she plays it well. She was a doormat but I never felt annoyed and rooted for her to break out of her shell
-Secondary cast was great; the grandma was more serious than I expected, but I actually liked that a lot. She knew when to get involved and when she should leave things be, and respected the ML's wishes even if it broke her heart. She also looked out for the FL and had her corner when ML was being mean. Loved the secretary and Wanida's mom as well
-I really liked Tre as Taya here (side note; anyone else get thrown off by his character name? If you've watched Prissana 2000 then you know it's the real name of the main actress. I found that so weird) and I found him more charming here than in Wayla Kammathep. What charmed me was how he liked the FL but never pushed her boundaries and respected that she was with the ML instead of trying to steal her away. Plus his search for his sister was really nice (also I'm hoping him and Esther get to do a lakorn together because their chemistry is pretty good)
-The use of Phawut's illness to push Wanida away didn't turn me off; usually I dislike these plots because of noble idiocy and it's been done before. But here it made sense; if she knew early on and stayed, she would've never got the chance to study abroad and develop as an individual. It was better that she saw the world first before staying to take care of him. I actually cried quite a bit at the angsty scenes regarding his illness, and felt invested in this storyline; so overall, this was a "male lead has a 'terminal' illness" done right

Dislikes
-the story lost some steam for me near the end, since it was easy to predict how things would turn out
-I wish there was more romance between the leads; there was a lot of romantic scenes in the beginning, but the true romance where it was just the two of them (no ex, no obstacles or misunderstandings) was short-lived before he found out he was sick. Then it went all angsty and self-sacrificing which I enjoyed, but made the leads separate up until the very end. It felt a little unsatisfying  
-Although I really like the ML, I think him not telling 2nd FL (his gf at the time) that he was married and got someone pregnant was shady af

Overall
It wasn't an addicting watch, but it was certainly enjoyable and well produced. It stayed faithful to the original story while adding its own Thai flair and twists that fit in the plot. Thailand strikes it again as being able to do great remakes of classic dramas. If you were a fan of the original story, I would recommend giving this a go.

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I was scrolling through Twitter when I saw the promotional posters for this lakorn and saw Fern (the main actress). I hadn't seen any projects of hers since Hua Jai Sila and the premise of this one interested me greatly. I wanted to see how it was executed and wanted to feel some angsty love. I gave it a go and here's what I think:

1. Story
I wasn't impressed with the story in the beginning, because I found the execution to be lacking. However once I got past episode 6, I didn't look back and essentially binged watched because the story was so damn good. The layers of lies and secrets they built in the early episodes slowly unraveled one by one like an onion and it was very entertaining. There was always something exciting going on. The pacing that the secrets get revealed maximized dramatic effect, so it was interesting to see how the characters reacted, and what their next move was. The story was always being pushed to its limits and it was unpredictable. Overall, I was impressed by the story and production, and it's the first time in a while that I kept watching just to see how it all ended.

2. Leads
The leads were interesting in that they were your typical poor girl/rich guy but with a twist. Nuch was the more no-nonsense, realistic lead while Tham was more emotional and wore his heart on his sleeve. It made for a different dynamic and it was interesting to see how these traits played out. I thought Fern and Tre did a good job with their characters, and it helped that they're both good-looking and complement each other (I especially enjoyed how the screenwriter/director seemed to use any excuse to keep Tre shirtless haha).

3. Secondary Cast
When you have a storyline as crazy as this and with the lengths that it was pushed, it can only be good if all the actors/actresses are committed to putting on a good show. Frankly, all of them delivered. I have to give big kudos to the cast in general (primary and secondary) because they all acted their pants off and were a big part in why this was such an exciting show to watch. They all made the crazy things seem believable and it was easy to immerse myself in the story because of them. My fav character is Tham's lakorn writer friend and my MVP is That. That was so heartbreaking for me because of how self-sacrificing he was and how he just wants to make everyone happy. What happened to him was a big injustice and I hope Toy's next role won't be as sad.  

4. Romance
Surprisingly the romance was my least favourite part of the lakorn and was the main reason why I wanted to drop this early on. The foundation for their love story was not believable and (I hate to say it) felt forced. I think it was unfair for Tham to get ragged on for not being with Nuch faster, when he got badly burned by moving too fast in his previous relationship. I also don't know where he got the conviction to say she was the one even though they went on like 3 dates. As for Nuch, I didn't see why she would fall for Tham with how immature he was. I felt like a no-nonsense woman like her wouldn't really pine for a guy who she had a few dates with. I guess love doesn't always make sense and when you know, you know? Sure you could have that kind of romance set-up but I was not a fan of how they executed it here, and unfortunately didn't feel invested in their relationship.

5. Overall
This was one of the rare lakorns where I didn't like the beginning, but grew to enjoy more as it progressed. The story and acting was just too good. The romance was serviceable. The music was bopping and there was a lot of variation; I actually looked up some of the songs and added them to my playlist. I don't think I'd re-watch this because I know the plot twists. I'd totally recommend this if you want an entertaining, well-acted drama with eye-candy leads. 

Leggi di Più

TL;DR - This is chock full of Thai lakorn clichés and it got too much for me. The part when they were in Chiang Mai was the best, but things went downhill when they were in Bangkok. I would still encourage people to watch this as it is light-hearted and fun, and the episodes are pretty short. It was just unfortunately not my cup of tea.  

If this series only consisted of the episodes where the leads were in Chiang Mai, then I would've rated this higher. Unfortunately, I can't base my rating on a select few episodes just because logically it wouldn't make sense (even though sentimentally, I wanted to like this more). I can't deny the bad parts that soured my experience of the lakorn. A lot of people seemed to enjoy this and if you are one of them, then that's all that really matters. All of this is my opinion only.

Basically the first part of the series where they were in Chiang Mai was the best in terms of story pacing, character and romantic development. While it wasn't something I hadn't seen before and predictable, it still had unexpected emotional punches that made me feel connected. I loved the setting in the village and seeing the way of life there; the traditions, the way people spoke Thai and the clothing. Northern Thai clothing is so beautiful. The villagers, especially Khun's dad, were all adorable, well-meaning and innocent. I also thought Bua's acting shined here, as she was able to make her spoiled princess character bearable to watch and showcased her development well. The romance was also progressing well here, and it seemed to be going well until the leads went to Bangkok.

Oh boy. It seems like when they got back to the city, everything from story to romance went down the drain real fast. The story pacing became slow and hard to immerse in, and it didn't help that they used every Thai lakorn cliché in the book to drive plot. You have a shitty parent figure who wrecks havoc but gets a redemption in the end? You got it. A female lead who means well but gets herself in multiple sticky situations and ends up getting saved by the ML every time? You got it. A male lead that is so tight-lipped about his love for the female lead that you need to create a whole scenario with the 2nd ML to push him to admit it? Yep. An irrelevant female character comes to destroy the relationship between the leads even though it's been 6 years and she and the ML never dated? Oh man. The list goes on and on. The clichés were tolerable in the beginning but it really got too much and in my face. There was no subtlety. When you rely on clichés to tell your story, it just tells me that you're a lazy writer and it makes story progression feel unnatural and superficial. I felt like especially with the last scenario I mentioned (with the side FL) it added nothing except unnecessary drama and making Khun look like a fool. 

The romance at this point also relied on clichés too much where it was detrimental. Sure on the surface, Khun and Fah seemed perfect for each other and their wedding at the end was really nice. But if I really thought about it, their relationship felt oddly superficial because they put clichés where they should've put meaningful dialogue/action. The only significant conversation I can remember is in the very beginning when Fah and Khun are talking about their siblings during Fah's initial visit to the village. After that, the leads get swept up in love rival drama, family drama and drug trafficking drama, and that takes up more of their time than actually sitting down and having a conversation. The same two situations play out where Fah needs help and Khun saves her or Khun feels insecure and cuts Fah off, and Fah has to track him down and figure out what's going on. In all this, I don't see where Khun gets the confidence to say that he will only love Fah for the rest of his life; also I don't know how Fah can rely on Khun when he tends to shut her out of his problems. Presumably they get their issues sorted out by the time they get married, but we don't really see that progress. Overall I wasn't satisfied with the romance.

MVP of this show is the 2nd ML, Kawin. I admired him for trying to fight his 2nd ML fate and attempting to break out of the friendzone with Fah. Although it was futile, I will remember his attempt for a long time to come (for real I was impressed haha. Haven't seen a 2nd ML like this).

The music was okay and appropriately played. This did not play out as I'd hoped, as I like both leads. I will just look for more of their lakorns to watch. Would not re-watch. 

Leggi di Più

TL;DR - I thought this was decent, although I personally wasn't a fan of the romance until the last episode. I think if you like fantasy rom-coms, you won't be too disappointed with this one. If all else, it is worth watching for Mario's performance.

I had heard about this lakorn from a blogpost a few years ago and didn't think to watch it until I heard the OST. I really liked it, so I gave this a go. I will first talk about what I enjoyed.

The absolute star of the show was Mario and his dual portrayal of the thorny Thun and sweet Mek. He played both characters very well and was able to seamlessly transition from one to the other. He made it really easy to believe that there were two spirits in one body. It surprised me how much he made me want to punch him when he was Thun, but then make me simp for him when he was Mek (plus how he captured the Boran mannerisms) which is very hard to do. I enjoyed watching his performance. I can definitely see where the hype for Mario comes from and I'll certainly be looking for other lakorns of his that I can watch.

I also liked the story. It kept me on my toes and there were some things that happened that I didn't expect. I liked how I couldn't really predict how the lead's ancestors were intertwined, and how they showed snippets of the past but not the whole shebang until it was relevant (a weird thing to like, but when you've watched other shows that aren't as smart, you learn to appreciate things like this lol). I also like how the slow revelation of the past was paralleled with what was happening in the present; history was quite literally repeating itself in a similar, but also different manner that was creative and not what I expected.

Beyond these two things, I thought the rest of the show was pretty average. I found the secondary cast to be okay; Pu was certainly the stand out with his character growth and feeling sorry that he was destined to never get the girl (and he knew it). I did like the second leads, and in particular I was surprised at the decent performance Punjan gave for his character (Kew's brother). I say this because I watched him in My Forever Sunshine and I thought he was so blah there, but here he felt alive. His character development and love lines were interesting and enjoyable to watch.

Now to get on with what I didn't particularly like, which was the romance. In the beginning, I felt like I was watching a typical "tyrant CEO that forces his love on the poor female lead and she has no choice but to accept cuz he's rich" trope that has been seen a thousand times before. To Thun's credit, he did try to give Kew space and respected her choices when he could've just ignored them, and Kew did call him out for being overbearing. But he was pretty much doing things his own way and just expected Kew to go along with it, which I didn't like. I also felt the romance between Kew and Thun to be somewhat forced and didn't accept their pairing until the last episode. Again, to both Mario and Mint's credit, they were cute together and made their pairing as believable as it could be. It was just hard for me to see when Kew fell for Thun when it was clear that she liked Mek more and tbh I shipped her with Mek more than with Thun. They also had a terrible fake kiss scene. I don't deny the genuine love they both seemed to have for each other, but the foundation for it was weak for me and not really believable till the last episode.

I also didn't like how they milked the villain until the last episode. The rinse and repeat of him hurting the leads then somehow conveniently escaping got old fast. I wished they just had Champagne take over his role and move forward from there.

As for the rest, music was what got me into this lakorn and I still enjoyed listening to it here, especially the main theme song. It was appropriately played. I would not re-watch this. If you like fantasy rom-coms and don't have weird hang ups like me, I think you would enjoy this. If all else, just watch this for Mario's excellent performance as dual spirits in one body.

Leggi di Più

TL;DR - A romcom that I actually enjoyed and was well casted. However, there are a lot of filler episodes that are skippable but can get annoying. If you don't mind that the leads only really get together in the end, I'd say to give it a watch.

I pretty much started watching this after seeing Ohm in Ubathteehet and the plot line in this one interested me the most, so I gave it a watch. This is totally a romcom and they’re usually not my cup of tea as the execution is generally lacking, but I actually thought it was done well here. I laughed, I cringed, and I swooned. I will start off with what I enjoyed first.

Off the top, my favourite part about this lakorn was the cast, from the main leads, to secondary, to even the villains. It was surprising to see character development for everyone (except the villains) and my fav was Nin’s development from a spoiled brat to someone with a bigger heart (loved how she accepted her half bro). I honestly did not expect to see any development and the fact that even some of the secondary had some was great. There were also some lovable secondary cast members like Ping (MVP) and the servants that really made the lakorn funny and the filler episodes less annoying. Pracha has to be one of my fav villains with how much of a shitstirrer he was and was the kind of character you love to hate (also a very good looking guy haha). Bravo to the cast director and whoever wrote these characters, because I had a fun time watching them and they all did well in their roles. 

We can’t really talk about good characters without mentioning the FL, Khem, who pretty much was the star of the show. She was one of the only reasons why I continued to watch up to ep 8 with how unapologetically herself she was, how she stood up for herself, cutting through everyone’s bs, and how she was the type where actions spoke louder than words. I admired her very much. She never lost her spunk near the end. The only complaint I have was how heavy her makeup was at times and how she had fake nails where I felt it wasn’t appropriate. 

The 2nd ML Yo also has a special place in my heart, as he was another reason why I was able to get through the first 8 eps. I thought he was a typical dumb 2nd ML who was blindly in love with the FL, but over time the things he would do for her really melted my heart and made me think he deserved better. He always had her back. I though there would be a 2ndary love line  with the 2nd FL but this surprisingly didn’t manifest (hinted near the end) and I actually liked this route much better. 

Now getting into aspects of the drama I was on the fence about; first, the story. The beginning 7 eps were not good as there was repetitive scheming and plotting, and the ML was getting to be quite unlikable. However mid ep 8 the ML finally got some common sense and became more gentlemanly; the plot also picked up with Khem’s identity exposed. However, the story would follow a pattern where one ep would have an explosion of events happening but then subsequent eps would have filler and side drama that didn’t contribute to the main story. Some were watchable, some weren’t. Of course, this content was easily skippable but it would get too much with how much I was skipping and I eventually lost interest (it took me 5 months to come back and finish this). I wished they’d focus on the main plot line more. However, I do admit that they did a good job in having a coherent and somewhat believable story that carried throughout the show. I also actually laughed at some of the dramatic plot lines and funny scenes, which I can’t say for other romcoms I’ve watched. 

Now you can’t have a romcom without the rom and I was on the fence about this too. I didn’t like how initially both leads were falling for eo when it made absolutely no sense for them to do so. Then Khem’s identity was exposed and their relationship progression was so much better; full of chemistry and cute bickering. Both were stubborn to a fault which both entertained but also frustrated me. They had a Tom and Jerry type of relationship and didn’t really get together until the last episode, both of which is not my fav. Their kiss scenes were hot garbage lol. However I did swoon when they were being romantic, and enjoyed their petty arguments, so overall I give the romance a pass. 

All in all, this was a romcom that I actually enjoyed. I liked the music in this, and thought it was super cute that the main leads sang the opening theme song. Not something I would rewatch due to the filler. I think that if you can get through the beginning eps and are okay with skipping over filler, I’d recommend you give it a watch. 

Leggi di Più