Bad Buddy related thoughts and sort of a review

When I first heard that Bad Buddy would be created, I was both excited and sceptical. Excited to see 'enemies to lovers' trope finally being played out and finally seeing Nanon in a BL series. Sceptical because I didn't know how much skinship with Nanon there would be and how it would be produced. Would we be only queerbaited into a bromance-style of a show? Should we lower our expectations?

And the first two episodes were like that. They were nicely done (GMM can produce quality shows like they're off the conveyor belt), but nothing too groundbreaking on how this would all play out.

All the way to the episode 4 when Pran's feelings were almost laid bare and Nanon's acting just peaked. And then we're getting the most ground breaking, emotionally investing, absolutely incredibly acted episode 5, which I've watched on repeat for 2 weeks straight. Which of background music I played when I was falling asleep. Which of I didn't need any translation of the dialogue because I knew that by heart. It just speaks volumes of the way "The Legendary Rooftop Scene" was played, how amazing actors Ohm and Nanon are. Later on we'd read that there were only 2 takes (crying and no crying) and that it was incredibly investing for the actors as well. Their hard work shows, because finishing this show, I still think of that rooftop scene and feel like we're all riding high from that and everything that was posted after it, was just a bonus.

This is a really simple story, as old as time, of lovers from two families that hate each other. You get this type of story IN EVERY SINGLE CULTURE. So does it stand out? Does it bring something extra to for example, world of BL?

It does. Even if you get this simple story with a bit predictable plot, the director P'Aof is not afraid of breaking the stereotypes and having important conversations about sexuality and prejudice that we really shouldn't be having anymore, that yet still perpetuate in other LGBT dramas. And I'm thankful for that.

And what he really does is to let his two stars, Ohm and Nanon shine and show off their acting skills. As we'd wait for the new episode, we'd read comments saying 'this scene was improvised by the actors', 'I just let them vibe in this scene and work it out by themselves' etc etc. At certain point it felt like 90% of PatPran scenes were improvised. And the chemistry between the two leads is incredible.

It feels that BB should be put in a manual on how to make a good BL series.

Story 8/10 (you've seen this before and you're gonna watch more of this again)
Acting 20/10 (opening OhmNanon temple)
Production 9/10 (few hiccups with editing and translation)
Music 10/10 (headphones are not enough, I want to inhale and exhale the music, I want to BE the rooftop music)
Rewatch value 10/10 (I've already rewatched it around 30 altogether, gonna rewatch some more just to feel something)
Overall 10/10 (because legally I can't give a higher score on this website)

And a shoutout to the BB comments section on MDL, especially D Rey, CyreneB, kru, hanabii, Mermaid, TheGORJUSMARSH and BenedictTan - thank you for your thoughts, support, replies etc. You made the experience of watching BB even better!!

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What is normal?

Cast: the actors are known from other BLs, they have a couple of shows under their belts so they are rather experienced and doing their jobs well.

Music: nothing remarkable. No outstanding main tune, but nothing annoying either. There are few nice piano instrumentals though.

Production: this is very well produced, especially in the times of the pandemic. Camera work is fine, so is the editing. Props are fun, especially the whole colour theme of the main characters. Cooking bits are done extremely well. They filmed in a couple of interesting locations, I especially liked the library, the temple and the "classroom".

The only thing I will complain about (and not only me, judging from YT comments) is the quality of subtitles on the official Copy A Bangkok channel. The English subtitles are mostly delayed on every first part of the episode. Sometimes a large chunk of a dialogue is missing. The other time the entire subtitles sequence for the part is gone in 2min. They don't translate texts, messages, writings on the sheets of paper - everything that is not the dialogue. And episode 11 subtitling is an absolute mess. They also titled 2 parts wrongly. This is a shame for the international fans that enjoy and support Thai shows.


Plot: okay, this is bad.

Every episode I was screaming at the telly: Therapy! Psychiatrist! Meds! Diew is clearly on the autism spectrum and definitely not on the highly functioning one. The show says that he's got "autophobia", but it feels like it's just a tip of the iceberg. His issues, blown up by unprocessed grief after the loss of his grandmother and a big change which is going to university, make him unable to be alone for a longer period of time. This means he needs caretaker. Clearly his parents are to blame for not taking the matter earlier more seriously.

The plot is basically Diew trying to deal with his issues, struggling to understand the world and hoping to become normal. I've seen people complaining about the pacing of the scenes, but I suppose the creators wanted to show that people process the events in a different manner and I appreciate that. While the whole show was supposed to be uplifting, positive and "pat on the back" thing, I feel like this is a complete miss.

Although Diew's friends seem to be supportive and understanding of the problem, each one of them has their own life and has no time to care full time of him. Diew is forced to deal with the issues as best as he can. Some of his friends' ideas how to help Diew are only ad hoc remedies, that don't cure the real issues. It is clearly a work in progress for Diew, who needs a full medical support and a proper support network.

This is a complete misunderstanding of the situation. I understand the positive message this show wanted to show: you are not alone, in difficult times we're all together etc. etc. But I was more annoyed than uplifted. And disappointed as hell.

The show starts to develop properly from episode 10 onwards (although the messy subtitles do not help the situation). Diew starts to get professional help he clearly needs, his friends also team up to develop more tactics to try and help him. His relationship with Mix also blossoms.

And to all interested, this is not a full BL. There are BL couples, like Boon/Prem, but Diew and Mix don't get together. They do a lot of heart eyes at each other, and it is clear of their mutual crush on each other, but it seems that this relationship might be fully developed in season 2, if there is any.

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Underdeveloped and boring

Again and again, we're getting underdeveloped snippet-shorts from Korea, that should be producing quality LGBT shows over and over again. We keep being disappointed and go back to Thai/Taiwanese dramas that offer much much more. My Sweet Dear is not an exception to this rule.

STORY:

Talented head chef Do Gun is being challenged by a newcomer chef Jung Woo, and the shitty restaurant owner Laura. Laura decides make both chefs compete for the title of the head chef at her restaurant. Working together brings the men closer and they develop feelings for each other. But the Jung Woo holds secrets, so will the main leads end up together or not?

SPOILERS AHEAD

People, none this makes sense.

Do Gun helped Laura get her first Michelin star. What is the goal of a 1-star restaurant owner? Getting the 2nd star obviously. And not by firing the old chef!! Okay, adding a new one might be a way to go. But Jung Woo's lack of experience is baffling. What is wrong with Laura? She wants to fire Do Gun, so what's the point of this competition? Also, a Korean wanting to open an Italian restaurant chain around the world? THIS is the plot? Are you even serious???

Dear Do Gun, if my boss disrespected me this way, not telling me the head chef that there will be a new employee coming in who might replace me, basically telling me I should start seeking for a new employment, just in case, I'd be completely pissed and hand my notice immediately. Laura has put Do Gun in some sort of restaurant style Hunger Games, and she knew who's winning anyway. She had a nametag ready with Jung Woo's name already, for goodness sake.

And for this whole "romance" thing. Do Gun might enjoy the presence of Jung Woo. But getting so emotional after 2-3 weeks of "romancing" that was constricted to bashful handholding and few smooches? Do Gun being heartbroken because some arsehole turned out to be a liar makes me realise that he's taking this whole thing too seriously. Yes ok, Jung Woo's feelings might be real and there is a real spark between them. But this whole "relationship" built on lies just screams of red flags.

Dear Do Gun, pack up, leave Laura and Jung Woo and stay away from them. Get drunk with your friends, cry a bit about that arsehole ex-boyfriend who stole your job, and that shitty boss who disrespected you, your dedication and your talent, and move on!


CAST:

The only reason ANY of this holds and makes sense is the acting, especially Jang Eui Soo who plays Jung Woo. He'd have a chemistry with a chair, let's be honest about it. Also, he looks great with long hair. I've seen other BL shows with Jang Eui Soo so I know he's excellent. It's a shame that his talent is being wasted on dramas like this one.

On-screen Do Gun, played by Lee Chan Hyung is doing very well too. You can see the quite good engagement with the character. But he can't do much, if the screenwriters are treating his character like a naive stupid child that is used by his boss and coworkers.

Other actors are just a bland mix that cannot shine enough because of a poor writing and a short screen time.


PRODUCTION:

It was an alright produced show, clearly shot during the pandemic. The streets and areas are empty. For a luxurious restaurant, it doesn't have many customers, but I guess there were restrictions in place during the shoots.

Again, too short for any proper character or relationship development. Those Korean short BLs for Viki start seeming like a weekend project. I don't see any dedication or attempts to make it something ambitious. Strongberry also produces shorts, but these are better developed stories that are well thought.

Episodes of this drama are predictable. You know in which episode the main characters are gonna develop "feelings" for each other, when there will be a fall-out, you know the ending. Nothing new. At times I found myself thinking about other things than following the subs and still didn't loose much of a story.

As for the English subs, these were excellent, thanks to team on Viki. First two episodes are free to watch, the rest is behind a paywall.


MUSIC:
I finished binging the show and hour ago and I absolutely cannot recall or hum any of the tunes that were played. I remember them being some basic k-pop songs that did not interfere much and were not annoying. Just boring and bland.

The only thing that stuck in my head was the music box melody which was 'O Tannenbaum', and it made me laugh a bit. Classic German Christmas song as a music box melody. Okay, I haven't seen that one before.


OVERALL:

Predictable. Boring. Underdeveloped plot with holes.

You want a 2021 restaurant-oriented Korean BL drama that is a bit better developed than My Sweet Dear? Try Tasty Florida instead. It's got slightly more reasonable plot. And no music boxes playing German Christmas songs.

P.S. Poor octopus.

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Lower your expectations

Great cast? checked
Good tunes? checked
Based on a good story? checked
Covering all the cute tropes? checked

Yet the way it was executed was disappointing, to say the very least. If you don't have a decent screenplay, even the greatest cast can't elevate the story the way the fans'd enjoy it in peace.

Here we have a trope as old as the world, having a crush on your next door neighbour. Chon pretends he doesn't know anything, treats Ton like a younger brother, while Ton falls deeper and deeper.

It could have been great. It had all the potential. The hype among the BL fans was high.

In the end what we got was a homophobic story of "I'm not gay, I just love you". It worked well 5 years ago in SOTUS, but now I think LGBT community moved on past this narrative and deserves something better.

Actors do all they can to salvage whatever they have from a terrible script, but after 3 episodes even the jokes stop being funny. The pacing of the show is absolutely terrible and I feel sorry for Pod and how the writers underdeveloped his character. It seems as if the good story was replaced with repeatable jokes and the character development was something nobody ever thought about.

The only character worth attention is Nam, Chon's mum, played by Jennifer Kim. She's open-minded and protective of her son, full of good advice, deeply caring for her son and his friends.

I finished the show mostly because I like the actors and I don't like leaving the shows unfinished. I feel angry with myself for having such huge expectations.

If you haven't seen I Told Sunset About You, watch this instead of Tonhon Chonlatee. Or if you want a nice comedy, try I'm Tee, Me Too. And if you REALLY want to watch Tonhon Chonlatee, just lower your expectations.

/edited for typos

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From an elaborated vitamin jelly commercial to an elaborated seaweed snack commercial

Cast: Same as in s1, so you get the good and the bad. Definitely ton of eye-candy. And I counted the entire 4 women who had more than 1 line to say out loud. Some actors do their job decently, with others you just wanna skip the scenes. This is especially visible with the main couple, played by Dun and Bas. They're supposed to be the most interesting couple and I was yawning at their kisses dialogues. If you add lousy writing to acting that is average at best, this is a clear recipe for a disaster. Bas as Wayu feels like has 3 face expressions: bashful, crying and staring into the distance. Dun as Thana is extremely dull. Supposedly the most mysterious guy on the campus has a personality of a dead fish. Not to mention the enormous lack of chemistry between Dun and Bas.


Music: nothing remarkable. Few annoying saxophone bits and acapella songs in the dramatic moments. Could be better, could be much worse.


Production: The production felt unbalanced. On one hand you have decent university/dorm/seaside resort locations. On the other hand you have a styrofoam grave that people start making memes about. Available on an official YT with bad quality auto-translate English subs. Few times I was so upset about the subs, I wanted to go to dailymotion or other streaming platform for the fan-subs which I'm sure would be much much better.


Plot: Season 1 was interesting, excluding the whole Pa mystery. I especially liked the serendipity and fate connecting Thanu and Phai. In season 2, the writers decided to clear out the throuple (or quadrouple, if you add Pa to this hot mess) rather quickly and Phai became some sort of holy figure trying to sort out his friends' messy lives. This drama including Wayu, Thana and Pa, where Wayu should try to choose between his current lover and critically ill ex-boyfriend could be interesting, but it lacked emotions and proper handling. Add bad acting from Bas and Dun, and you wanna skip most of this plot.

I hoped that Kimmon and Copter would hold the show for me, but no. The lousiest writing by making some ridiculous fake "long distance relationship" happened. Kimmon works well as an annoying but adorable puppy and Copter's always great as tsundere. But them barely sharing screentime for half of the show made me consider actually dropping this season before finishing. In the end I was extremely disappointed by this ordeal.

The only couples that somehow held it together were Pok and Tong, and Jack and Koh. Jack and Koh were more of a comic relief here and there, yet they brought more fun than the main couples. Pok and Tong's rather toxic relationship got some straighetening out before they found a happy ending together. I'm looking forward to seeing more of Bank and Bonus on screen in other shows. They have nice chemistry and it was exciting seeing them on screen, together or in separate scenes.

The show had plenty of pointless scenes, they'd be able to wrap it up in 6-8 eps, that would maybe hold more value and be better paced. And I'm not talking about the product placement scenes, that were not too annoying.


Summary: My friends warned me not to watch it because it was so bad, and they were probably right. It was a mindless cringiest binge over the weekend that I'll probably forget within two weeks and never get back to it again.

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Coffee Shop done right

Coffee Shop AUs are such a popular genre when it comes to fanfics. Take two guys, put them in a coffee shop, et voila, magic happens. I've myself consumed hundreds (not an exaggeration) of such stories on AO3.

So why does the Coffee Shop AU doesn't translate well when it comes to BLs?

My excitement for the Oxygen series (Thai, 2020) was out of the roof, but the final result was extremely poor. So it took me a while to actually focus on another barista-centred show.

In the past I saw two decently done coffee shop shows: short film One Last Order (S. Korea, 2019) and the coffee shop side of Dark Blue Kiss (Thai, 2019) with Plapodd and Gawin. One Last Order was too short to fully appreciate it, and with Dark Blue Kiss I didn't enjoy the incosistencies with the previous parts.

But here, with Coffee Melody, I'm finally satisfied how the coffee shop story was being played out.

STORY:
Rather basic and not very surprising, very very predictable. Two guys put in a coffee shop. You get the tropes very typical for Thai BLs, jealous exes, miserable parents, annoying friends, shippers. What is missing is a gay crisis, annoying woman chasing the male lead and homophobic parents, and the fact these tropes are not there naturally help the story.

I really enjoyed the fact that the creators focused on fewer pairings and had time to actually develop characters in a proper way. With many BLs taking the attitude "The more couples the better", Coffee Melody takes a different approach and it benefits greatly from this.

What I especially liked is that the story actually does take place in the coffee shop for the majority of each episode. This is what a coffee shop story should be about, after all!!

ACTING:
Ok. Could be better, could be worse. Pavel's decent in the cute sweet barista role, but his crying requires more work. Does he hold as a male lead? Not fully, but Benz's character is more expressive and it helps this couple. Chemistry between Pavel and Benz is passable, but there are no sparks on the screen when they are together. The rest of the cast is doing their role ok, but there are two actors who are stand out:
Palm Veerapat (Jean) and Minty Chuthikan (Chanchao). Palm is not only cute and subtle as Jean, he's possibly the best actor in this show. With Minty I especially liked how she showed her character's development and engagement with other actors.


MUSIC:
For a show with the word "melody" in the title, I was actually very disappointed with the music. Stock background tunes take the majority of the screentime. Even the actors singing "happy birthday" are muted and background music is exposed. The main tune is nice, but nothing that stays in the memory for longer. And it is clear that Benz, despite playing a famous composer, has no idea how to play the piano. It shows, but it's a minor detail.

PRODUCTION:
Also decent. Subtitles available in English for those interested. Last 2 episodes not available on YouTube, which is sad. You get the same props every 2 scenes but again, a detail. Perhaps the budget was low, on the other hand you don't see any product placements/commercials within a show, and this was definitely refreshing for a Thai show, so I'd rather take this over luxurious clothes/cars etc. The coffee shop itself looks lovely fresh and airy.



OVERALL:

I'm not saying that Coffee Melody is the greatest BL to ever BL, but it's a nicely done show, which surprised me in many ways. Solid 7/10.

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Take the film very very unseriously

My goodness, where to start? Hermaphrodite plot? Vampire guest star? Really poor production of this film?

Plot: This is a fairytale, and the plot is about the seahorse royalty being attacked by an evil uncle who wants to take over the crown. The queen saves her child and sacrifices herself, freezing the entire palace. Her son ends up on earth, in a magical academy along with an Egyptian mummy and an European vampire, learning spells to save his kingdom and his mother.

Now here's where the things get interesting: the prince is actually a hermaphrodite, so we can say F*ck you to the Chinese censorship of the same sex relationships and the prince can marry his beloved class mate from the academy in the end, as a female version of himself.

Of course, good conquers evil, love conquers everything, so the bad uncle gets cast away and all ends well.

Production value: very very poor production, you can see the wig line on the cast members, CGI is done horribly, the plot has some holes, and it all could have done better. The set looks like made out of carton boxes too.

Cast: they're trying to take themselves a bit too seriously to be fair, unless that's what the director told them to do. The script is nasty, so they don't have much space to show their talents. Few eye candies, so that helps.

Music: typical for this type of films, your regular mix of guzheng, string arrangements, and ballads here or there.

Overall: if you have nothing better to do with your time, or you are a fan of camp, as long as you're willing to overlook the stupidity of this, you might actually not hate it.

5/10

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That's how you finish a beloved series

I laughed, I cried, arguably better than previous parts!!

Yoshida Kotaro (Kurosawa) is hands down the power horse of this thing and his scenes with Hayashi Kento (Maki) are absolute peak comedy. There is a bunch of side characters, all beloved from the previous installments, and all make the entire drama a delicious meal, so funny and special all the time.

1. Story: It was so much fun a change of dynamic with Kurosawa being employed by Haruta and Maki, still having special feelings for Haruta, still fighting with Maki, but on a different level. The story surprised me in places and I couldn't fully predict where writers would take it, which is great. The Izumi-Kiku plot was weird in places which is why I couldn't give full 10 for a story.

2. Acting: Absolutely brilliant. Please watch another BL themed work To Each His Own where Yashida played a horrible awful boss, it shows his range. What a wonderful actor.

3. Music: main theme is nice, but the rest is forgettable.

4. Rewatch value: I don't rewatch dramas, but this one I will at some point.

Thank you creators of Ossan's Love, the entire franchise is incredible!!

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