The best thing to happen in a BL industry

If I could, I would give this show 10000 stars, but MDL only allows me to give it 10. It's worth much more. Beyond more, and nothing would be enough.

I have to say, I started watching this show from the first episode just for fun, not expecting much. I expected a cute, enemies to lovers storyline, something to kill time. Instead, I got more - so, so much more. Maybe I'm still a little bit too overwhelmed to put all my feelings into words, and that is because this show is it for me. It does everything right, from head to toe. And just when you think it's going to fall under your typical BL tropes; it doesn't. Instead, it fights them, even subtly makes fun of them at some point, and it's just so, so wonderful to watch, from start to finish.

First off, the plot.

It might seem very basic at first. It might seem like you know exactly where it's going to go and where it's going to take you. But the thing with Bad Buddy is, it took a basic plot, and turned it upside down. The basic enemies to lovers trope suddenly became so much more, and oh, look! They aren't really enemies, they aren't really friends either. But they are something . Then we have their parents who absolutely despise each other. And again, we think we know the story here, thinking it's something cliché. We hate on Pran's mother, thinking she's just a crazy hysterical woman, when, in fact, there's so, so much more depth to that whole plot and her hatred towards Pat's father, it leaves you astonished. Now? I want to give that woman the world.

Second off, the characters. Because I can't write anything else without mentioning the superiority of the characters.

Pat and Pran. What a perfect, absolutely stunning match. You can say whatever you want, but those two are just a perfect couple, played by superb actors with the chemistry that's out of this world. These two... they have drama happening around them. So, so much drama, never having a moment of calmness. But them? No, they are complete opposite. They are a steady, sure thing, not letting the drama around them affect their relationship at all. If everything around them is chaos and drama, they are a calm breeze keeping everything at bay. Sure, there are times where they get shaken up a bit and their relationship goes through small trials, but they resolve it quickly, with COMMUNICATION, and understanding and care for one another.

But you know what they refuse to let it affect their relationship? It's the biggest trial - their parents, and everyone around them who don't want them to be together. Breaking up looks like a typical, logical thing to do, to make things easier for everyone. But do they do that though? No, they don't. Instead, they find a way to still be together, to ease up their parents to the idea, even when things didn't look so bright. This is exactly why I never doubted them and didn't for a second thing that they broke up. That preview was a bust and it was obvious. It wouldn't be Pat and Pran if that happened.

Another wonderful fact about them is, they've been officially together from episode 7 till the end of the series, which is RARE. It's so rare to see a BL do that, and I am SO over the moon they did because it's the least they deserve. OhmNanon delivered their characters perfectly and I honestly cannot see anyone else doing it better than them. It's so refreshing to see how genuine they are and how it looks as if they seriously enjoy acting together and have a blast. It shows, it truly shows throughout the whole series.

Ink and Pa. What can I even say? I just want to thank the director for bringing such a nice, healthy, adorable GL relationship to a BL drama. It was such a nice surprise, I was doubting they were truly going to go with it till the very end, but I'm so glad they did. They also serve as a nice contrast to Pran and Pat, in a way where it's obvious that homophobia really isn't the main conflict as to why their parents don't want them together. It shows how their relationship could've been, if they weren't from the rivaled families. Even the dinner scene in the last episode, it's something Pran has imagined happening. Pat and Pran can't have that yet, while Ink and Pa can.

Hopefully, in the future, Pat's parents will call Pran their second son as well.

Korn and Wai. Listen. I am so glad, SO GLAD, we didn't get a typical "Oh, they are together as well!" Instead, they made them become good friends and colleagues, burying their old rivalry and deciding to do something together. It's nice. Even though I still didn't and don't forgive Wai for the way he outed Pat and Pran. That was a shitty and pathetic move and I'm glad he's become a better person since then, and I hope somewhere, behind the scenes, Pat and Pran got their much needed apology. However, he still didn't apologise in front of us, viewers, so I cannot really condone his actions. That being said, the complexity of his character plays a really important role in a better part of the series and I guess it's a good message. Each one of us makes some bad decisions, each on of us has prejudices that sometimes take over us. Not everyone is a good person. But everyone can change to a better, and do better. And I guess Wai kind of did that. Korn, though, Korn is a legend. Enough said.

Such tridimensional, well-written characters is what makes this BL what it is. If it weren't for that, it wouldn't be half as good. Characters make this story not basic, it makes it for what it is. God bless all of the characters, honestly.

Third off, music.

Goddammit, if I could sell my soul for Nanon's voice, I would. Bad Buddy incorporated music so, so well within the story, there is not one moment where it's awkward. I have three of my favourite scenes which are related to music. First is the one where Pat plays the xylophone, the second one is Pran singing Our Song in ep 11. Third one is in the last episode, where Pat and Pran are playing around, playing their songs, and their parents hearing them, and finally showing some kind of acceptance. Everything around them is related to music. Music plays such a huge part in their relationship. Music is what broke them, but it is also what mended them together. Even though Pran's mum took him away when he was playing music with Pat, years later she smiles and lets them have their music. Together.

There is so much more I could write about this wonderful series. I could talk about it for days and why I think it's as impactful and downright amazing as it is. I would strongly recommend everyone to watch it, although it did ruin other BLs for me and raised my standards even higher, but we're going to ignore that.

Thank you, Bad Buddy. Thank you, PatPran for making my fridays better. It was a wonderful journey.

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This show isn't popular - and for a good reason

This show turned out so bad that my brain feels rotten after finishing it.

First off, what was even the point? Like, you get great cast, veteran actors who KNOW how to act, but instead of giving it a good script, a good writing and good directing with GREAT music and sound design, you give it horrible script, terrible writing, what is even directing? And an atrociously, extremely horrible OST with sound engineering that feels extremely amateur and unprofessional.

I'm not going to lie, in the first few episodes, I was willing to ignore the faulty sound execution, because, of course, Singto - god bless that man. If it weren't for him, this show would get a zero rating. Like, literally, these 2.5 stars are just for Singto alone. You can't even blame him. If you think about, he played Maze extremely well, because I hated him so much throughout the whole second half of the series. I didn't think anybody could be that annoying, but Maze takes the cake. Good job, Singto, seriously, good job.

But, even him couldn't save the unbearable script and the path this show took.

1. "Misunderstanding"

Okay, I just want to ask... why? What was the point of making the whole show's plot point the misunderstanding where EVERYONE thinks Maze is in love with his STEP BROTHER?? And why the hell was that only resolved in the last episode? There were so many moments were it could've been said and pointed out that that's not the case. Maze could've said it a million times, Neung as well. Instead, we were left with an empty dialogue, sentences uncompleted, stupid, dramatic plot points just to not get this thing over with. Communication in this show just doesn't exist and, I must say, after finishing Bad Buddy which has such strong emphasis on communication, it was just unbearable to watch. I can understand like a moment or two, but a whole show based around the same miscommunication point? Yeah, no, you cannot sell me on that. Plus, I cannot understand how Maze and Neung had no problem with everyone believing they are together, or were together, especially their romantic interests, when they are BROTHERS?? What is wrong with them like seriously?? Neung could've also just easily been his ex then, if they wanted to go with the jealous trope. Why add the brother thing? The whole thing is just waste of time and space, that's it.

2. Dragged-out plot

This show did not need 12 episodes and it shows. They dragged out the whole plot so much that, by the end of it, I wasn't even sure where we started, what was the original plot point, and where we are now. Like I already said, they dragged it out with miscommunication so much that it just felt so forced. I feel like they didn't have material to make 12 episodes, so they took what they had for like 8 and just decided to drag it out as much as they could. It didn't keep my attention, it made me extremely annoyed, it made me want to pull my hair out.

3. (Unlikeable) characters and questionable morals

It's not even about having characters that you are not supposed to like, so you hate them on purpose and you applaud actors for playing such a good job. No, it's about having characters that you are supposed to ROOT for but you cannot make yourself do that because all of them are so dislikeable, especially Maze. I want to rip the head off of Maze's head because that dude has so many miscommunication issues, the personality so bad and it doesn't change throughout the series at all. He doesn't grow, doesn't learn from his mistakes, doesn't follow the advice from people around him. And I would maybe be fine with it if it was done with the purpose to show how not all people change. But no, it's done in a way where we're supposed to like him. We're supposed to relate to him and root for him and Phap.

Which brings me to the next issue, which is: questionable morals. Specifically, the scene where that dude I forgot the name of beats up Than's manager and all of that is spun in a narrative where the manager is a bad person so they deserved it. Social media is used to show the narrative of how the manager is bad, and everyone else was right in beating them up and standing and just watching that scenario. What's worse is that all the characters HELPED in orchestrating it and presenting it in that way, even recording a fake video to prove a point. All of that was, of course, run by Maze himself. You might think it's a good thing because it shows how easily people on the internet can be manipulated with. BUT NO. That wasn't the point at all!! The whole purpose of that scene was to show how that guy who beat the manager up didn't deserve to be "falsely framed" and that he did nothing wrong and how Maze is the hero for saving him. Eww.

4. Chemistry

The chemistry was just bad - plain and simple. There was no chemistry at all, especially between Maze and Phap. I felt nothing for those two, nothing. Even their "sweet" moments felt extremely boring and plain. That last scene, when they are kissing will forever stay engraved in my brain because there's literally a foot of space between their bodies, WHILE they are holding each other and it's so hilarious and sad at the same time, it made me laugh while holding back tears from the cringe. I'm not even making this up, it's that bad. Not to mention that the whole jealous and miscommunication trope ruined things even more for me. Because if you're that bad at communicating with each other, there's no way that the relationship will ever work out.

Neung and Than ain't any better for me. Neung is also so dislikeable and just comes off as a bad person throughout the whole series, and Than is like the most boring character to ever exist. He has no personality whatsoever besides liking Neung and getting jealous of Maze and Neung (even though they are STEP BROTHERS) and that's it. That's literally it. Plus, that kiss of theirs wasn't even a kiss. I'm not even sure their lips touched at all.

5. Music and sound engineering

And now we've come to the most important and irritating thing for me - and that's the sound and music. First off, I didn't think anything can annoy me as much as the music they used could annoy me. I swear to god, they use the same 3 tracks every time and it's at the most random and unfitting times that it just hits you like the most unpleasant brick and you're just supposed to go with it. I started to hate every single sound and song used in the series because they just don't fit and are so incredibly annoying.

And when it comes to sound engineering... You know, I thought I'll be able to handle it. The first two-three episodes I was able to sort of ignore it, but then everything just became unbearable. I'm sorry but whoever was doing the sound is clearly bad at their job. You can literally hear when the audio track of the characters speaking is added, and when it cuts off because at the same time the background noise disappears and then comes back again. Like, what the hell?? Who thought that was good? Plus, some audio files are obviously such bad quality that you can barely hear some of them. I don't know if I've ever heard the sound being done so bad in something that was supposed to be professional setting.


In conclusion, the only thing good about this show is the cast (thank you, Bruce for showing up and being the only good thing about the last two episodes), everything else is just a whole lot of crap that should be avoided at all costs.

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