Love by Chance

This series was fun and refreshing to watch for a couple reasons: The "I'm rich etc etc" trope didn't get abused by Pete, in fact, the Pete's richness didn't make him unique in pretty much anyway except for the fact that he had nice things and that he wasn't used to physical labor. He's such a cute, timid character and usually that can backfire (almost did, with the whole "Date Chompoo instead of me thing, but I forgive him because I understand the reason, plus, he ended that quickly) because the character gets too pigeonholed into that role and ends up becoming self-deprecating and whiny, but Pete played it really well. Ae is such a good character, I loved pretty much every part of his role in the show. I also love that he wasn't "conventionally" handsome (he's super cute, just not by idol/actor standards). And I love his humbleness, his drive to "do good" and take care of people, his relationship with his niece, just everything. The other couples in the show may as well have not even existed, aside from maybe the TinCan couple, because AePete was a really solid story/foundation for the show. Also... the show did really nothing for the other couples, like honestly they were so forgettable aside from the teasing we got from the TinCan ship only to have the rug pulled from under us.

Anyway.

I loved the series and it was great to watch, however I wanted to point out two scenes that sort of rubbed me the wrong way (spoilers ahead):

1) The scene with Tum and Tar. Where Tar is upset that Tum is not telling him what's "going on" and why he's being so distant. Then basically attacks him? At first I was like oh he's frustrated and is wrestling him sort of, but then it got super rapey and weird quick. With the whole neck/kissing, pinning him down, lust-filled, etc vibe, and it gave little Tum flashbacks basically of getting raped. That was messed up.

2) The scene where Kla plants himself in No's bed and HAPPILY TAKES ADVANTAGE OF HIM WHILE HE'S DRUNK. There's a word for that, here's a hint, it's called rape. No is so drunk he can't walk, and goes to bed, then wakes up naked and says his "butt hurts." Ummm... what the fuck, Kla? That's a) creepy and b) super super illegal/wrong. And then when he wakes up he plays the victim like "you took advantage of ME!" card, and makes No feel guilty for literally nothing. Idk... really rubbed me the wrong way. I know it's a drama and is over the top/not realistic, but c'mon that scene is too black and white to be misconstrued. I don't know why every one say Kla and No's relationship to be so cutesy and funny, I just found it really annoying and sort of predatory from Kla's side. At first I was like "oh it's cute he's going through all this trouble to get to know No" but then he literally never talks to No or makes any legitimate advances to get to know him in /that/ sort of a way, and jumps straight to having sex with him while he's too drunk to even do anything. Not cool. Coming from a gay man who has had someone try to take advantage of me while I was drinking, this really turned me off the whole show and left a bad taste in my mouth - what was worse was how people were commenting and actually saying how cute it was and how "funny" their scene was, etc. No... not funny. And, if it happened to you, you wouldn't be laughing either. (And no it's not okay just because Kla is handsome.)

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This has an undeniable charm

This is one off the BL I prefer, mostly because of the great actors and cute story of the main couple and I must say, even if TinCan love story isn't really original, it remains cute anyway.
I usually don't like to re-watch series because I am not surprised anymore but, again, the story main story is so sweet it makes it easy to be tempted. AePete are a wonderful couple and I totally disagree with those saying they can be boring. They take their time to make their relation grow and it really works, they are natural in their interactions and really mature by talking about their problems, they clearly trust each other and it's heart warming.
TumTar storyline is also really important, it shows repercussions off rape and the desir to help the other without being able to do something except to bring support and understanding. Loved it

Now... The main problem: consent. I know I' m not a part of a minority on this point. KengklaTechno story is... Horrible and it entertain rape culture kengkla raped Techno for God's sake! And after that, I had seen in season 2 trailer he makes him feel bad and wants him to "take responsibilities", it makes me puke. This guy is nuts, he is a psycho who is obsessed with his best friend's brother (who is horrible too BTW, seriously who sell his brother's ass for services) to the point that he sabotage his motorbike! And then he abuse him while he is drunk! I will never support this kind of love story.
TinCan relationship, despite the fact it's cute to the end has some problems too, because there is no consent at the beginning and some blackmail from Tin but it is not as bad as a rape of course :3

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Okay so the movie was overall good. I was inlove with AeXPete at first they we're really cute and both lovable. My only problem with this, is because of too much clingyness between AeXPete I was somewhat annoyed already. I mean it's not that I don't like love scenes. Its just that they just literally make out every episode which makes me annoyed already. Good thing there was TinXCan who diverted my AeXPete heart to TinXCan. I just love the concept of (Enemies to lovers) it is just my weakness I'm telling you guys. I just love how thier story flow from start. My only problem on the plot on both of them is that they don't deserve the sad ending that was given to them. They deserve much exposure!!! They deserve longer time on air.

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TinCan should have been the Main Couple

Apart from the fact that this seems to show rape as being okay, it is a pretty good series.

Good chemistry between characters, nice cute and funny moments, and nicely done emotional scenes.

However, the side couple, TinCan was much more interesting than the main, AePete, which I thought had a few overdramatic conflict scenes but was not that bad overall - a pleasant story. KlaTechno was alright but I’m not really a fan of rape-to-love type storylines and TumTar was cute and done well - their emotional scenes were good and it matched the characters better not to have any physical type scenes, the caring light skin-ship was perfect.

There is also a bit of an error wherein it focuses for a while on Pond courting and successfully getting a girlfriend but then her whole existence vanishes from the story without an explanation.

Overall, this is a good series but it the side couples really do suffer from a lack of screen time. TinCan should have been the main couple as AePete is really not that interesting and seems better suited to being a side couple.

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I really loved Love by Chance. It was my first Thai BL drama (and first Thai drama in general), and I think it was such an adorable introduction into the genre. My favorite couples were AePete and TinCan. Truthfully, I skipped through scenes with the other two couples and I don't even know their names, so I'm going to be exclusively discussing AePete and TinCan in this review.

(NOTE: One of the couples that I didn't watch apparently has a scene that's sexual assault, so if that is something that triggers you then I'd recommend steering clear of episodes 12-14 unless you can just skip those parts easily. I know I skipped them, but I did see pieces of scenes and it was uncomfortable for me since I understood the characters' backstories up until this point. I wasn't a fan of LBC's choice to include these storylines, but I'm rating this show based on AePete and TinCan ONLY.)

Love by Chance begins with Ae and Pete meeting by chance (ha ha), which launches their initial relationship. Pete is a rich boy at the international college while Ae is a poor engineering student. They start a friendship that quickly becomes more as they realize their feelings for one another. I really loved how Ae was more of the confident gay (though he doesn't explicitly state his sexuality, which I love), and I loved the scene where he tells Pete that there's nothing wrong and "abnormal" about Pete's attraction to men. Similarly, I loved the scene between Pete and his mom where he comes out to her and she just hugs him and tells him it's okay. So many LGBTQ+ stories both in fiction and real life are about awful parents hating their children for their sexuality, so it was great to see a supportive mom. I don't think Ae ever explicitly shares his relationship with his family, but he doesn't seem to hide it either. Like I said: Ae is kind of a confident gay.

AePete is just a really adorable, loving story. I couldn't get enough of them. Truthfully, I would've loved a season 1 where it's just AePete and a season 2 with just TinCan. I felt that both relationships needed enough space to develop and while AePete had a lot, TinCan didn't get as much space for development. Also I wanted double dates asdlfkj.

Speaking of TinCan: their ending was tragic and upsetting, and I'm still not happy about it. I love their relationship in general so I don't want to dock the entire show for its ending, but I can't deny that I was severely disappointed. LGBTQ+ couples already deal with unhappy endings, and if there was no guarantee for season 2 then I think they should've given TinCan a good ending at the very least. Something uplifting and promising, not this. Tin didn't deserve it, and it felt so out of the blue since Can was clearly beginning to develop feelings for Tin. I just think there was so much potential there and it was lost... but for what?

Also, the other two couples in the series are boring and not really worth watching, so I don't recommend them. I think most reviews say more or less the same thing. AePete and TinCan are the most popular pairings and it's understandable why that is. One is just a wholesome, beautiful story about young love and discovering your sexuality while the other is an enemies to friends story that's also about discovering your sexuality. I think both stories were handled really well, and it's sad that so much screen time was given to the other two couples that really didn't make a difference anyway. LBC would've been so much better without them, and I think there would've been more space for AePete and TinCan to develop.

Anyway AePete is a beautiful ship and TinCan deserved more. Thank you for coming to my Ted Talk.

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I really don’t like the characters Tum and Tar, it’s confusing the whole storyline. It has no value to the story, and i do not see the connection AT ALL. What? Did they have an incestuous relationship? Aren’t they brothers?? And Type and Tat? What are they? These are unnecessary people in the story. And lastly I don’t like Tar or Earth in real life, even in the Until We Meet Again, he should completely play a female role because of his physical appearance. Sometime he looks like a female and sometime he looks like a gradeschooler and playjng an adult role doesnt suit him. Please no more Earth.

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I think this should have a much higher eating than people have given it.

First Ae and Pete are the most unproblematic couple of seen so far and it is wonderful, they communicate with each other and they don't let issues fester. I don't understand people's bent for drama, but alot of BL Drama go for the "let's just be mad and not communicate for 12 episodes and then resolve it at the end". This doesn't happen here. Yes at times their relationship is saccharine to the point of diabetes, and sometimes too easy, but they work their issues out and move forward. Neither one felt fake I their characterization

The character of Pete had the most annoying voice that was forced but I get it, he's literally supposed to be this untouched innocence.

Pond was a fun, unproblematic friend and crazy supportive, like most in the series, but I actually liked when he appeared, not only was he his own character, which I wanted to see more of, he added to the show overall, not just a device to further the main characters story.

Ok now the two issues... rape, it's wrong period and the show didn't handle it well, they tried with tharn/type, but they kinda left tum/that's story drop too. So tum forcing himself in o tar wasnyot as severe as people make it sound, and it was over before it began. No on the other hand was raped and the issue was treated like "haha, the guy tricked him into being his boyfriend even though he slept with home when he was drunk". That is problematic but alot of BL don't handle drama well, so much trauma happens yet therapy doesn't exist it's like oh I'll never talk about it and it'll heal.

Tim/can was another cute couple though it's not as tragic as people make it out to be. You have two guys who are having the preconceived notions challenged by each other and it is causing them to look inward. Like can confessing he doesn't like the new emotions hes feeling when he's with tin, but he wants to be with tin, and tin learning to open up.

I honestly think this show is the best BL out there in terms of character,and story. The actors feel rooted in there characters and it shows. There are arcs and clear objects the move the story along at a place that is never fully or aggravating...i.e. My Engineer, but I digress.

I highly recommend people give this one a shot, it's vastly different from others out there and worth a chance

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spoilers? i guess?

anyway i absolutely loved this series. i started it two days ago and i couldn't stop watching, i'm so addicted to watching bl's i swear it's probably not healthy lmao. ae and pete were so adorable in the beginning, though I kinda wish ae wasn't so possessive and clingy. it was cringy especially when one of his friends would so much as put a hand on pete's shoulder and he'd be fuming and get all fired up. also the sex scenes weren't my favorite, especially since it was just weird to imagine someone as timid, soft, and quiet as pete having sex with ae. while i'm glad the writers didn't waste time on letting pete and ae get into a relationship pretty soon compared to other bl's where the couple waits until the last or second to last episode to date/resolve their feelings, which was pretty refreshing to see actually.

like most of the reviews here i'm just going to be blunt and say TINCAN. DESERVED. BETTER. POINT BLANK PERIOD.

honestly tincan was the main reason i kept watching. yes ae and pete were cute for a while but their excessive cuteness got boring and overbearing after a while, and tincan was a nice addition to the plot. i how liked how the enemies to lovers trope was portrayed and was interesting to watch. it's kinda like in 2 moons, i mainly kept watching for the mingkit ship haha what is it with me and side pairings.

unfortunately tincan is the only side pairing i was truly invested in and cared about. the two other main pairings (kengkla x techno, and tum x tar) were unnecessary i feel and the aepete/tincan plotlines could've been better developed without these unnecessary couples. it's kind of like when your watching a tv show on tv and it transitions to commercial break for a while and shows the same five commercials it does every commercial break-that's basically how i felt watching the two other minor ships. first of all WHAT'S WITH ALL THE RAPE?! i get trying to bring awareness to this horrible crime that occurs in the world every day, but if you can't do it right then don't do it at all. idk if this is spoiling but there was one scene in a later episode where one of the characters takes advantage of another and it was so uncomfortable? and the aftermath of this encounter felt like rape was being romanticized but idk if that's just me. i feel like this pairing could've gotten together in better, less illegal and immoral ways.

in conclusion: tincan is the main thing that kept me going lmao but the drama was actually really good. it was actually pretty realistic especially the platonic relationships, and less use of cliches such as supportive parents instead of entirely homophobic parents because not all parents are homophobic and pete's mom beat that stereotype. and i felt myself becoming comfortable with most of the characters quick because they acted like relatable teenagers such as myself. they weren't awkward and they seemed like they weren't even acting and that they were all best pals in real life. speaking of the acting, it was amazing, and holy shite the actor who played ae was only 17?! he was so young but managed to pull of his character so well and i admire that so much. minus a few parts i didn't enjoy, i couldn't stop watching. this is one of those shows that really do need a season 2 because there were a lot of things left unclear or had conflicts to be explored in more depth that couldn't be done in the first season.

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i have to say that i was expecting something totally different and i was a little bit disappointed. i decided to watch it because i've been seeing some clips all over the internet and i was reeeally excited when i started it..but that's actually not that exciting. i mean okaay it's a drama, it's kinda normal but -i swear- there were scenes i couldn't even watch bc they were way too cringe. not all of them, i mean there were some that i really apprecciated like the one where pete tells his mom he is gay, that got me like ''ohww protect!!'', but the rest was a bit awkward for me. SOOOO many cliches and uuugh not my type i'm sorry. if i watched it in middle school i would've definately loved it ahah. but i got to say the actors were preeetty pretty good!! HUGE shout out to Mean, the actor who plays tin, not only bc he's so ̶h̶o̶t̶ but he's truly good! anyway it was okay after all but i can't really recommend it :(
btw tin and can were so cute ????????

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