Love by Chance

This is my first review ever, sorry for the amount of mess that is coming haha
This drama became my second fave. However.. I don't quite understand those unnecessary relationships. Like Tum and Tar 's and Kengkla and Techno 's. I hated their story and usually skipped their scenes. Idk, this rape story line was really out of this drama.
Lets talk about the last episode. It was lame. I hated seeing Tin hurt. I was expecting more from their relationship. They gave Can such a childish personality. It ruined the end. I really hope there will be a second season, what focuses more on them. Lets talk about our main couples ending. It was okay and cute. But it could've been better. They rushed it, in my opinion.
The casting is amazing!! Ae's actor gave everything into this role. He played it so so well, I actually believed that he is so deeply in love. And He is 17??? I'm shook. Anyway, he is a great actor, I hope he will get more recognition.
Pete's character was a bit annoying and naive, but also I loved him so much. He is that tipic pure innocent guy that every drama "needs" or has. However, I think he overplayed his role. It was a bit too much for me. A bit Unrealistic.
Tin is my fave in this drama. He played the mean and rich guy really well. And his character developement is so great. I felt really bad for him sometimes.
Can is such a kid. Really. It was too much by the end. So so naive. I think the writers should gave him a more proper personality. I like him tho.
The other actors were great, but I wasnt paying attention to them so idk. I wanted to see more of Pond tho. He is such a mood.
The story is not that well written. The amount of jealousy and unnecessariness(is this word even exist?) was too much. Sometimes it gave really amazing messages. However, It was pure and enjoyable, and funny. I liked how mature it was. And the problem solving was something that not every drama has.
Definitely'd rewatch and recommend

Read More

Full of Sweet, Tender Moments...

I've heard that Love By Chance was the most popular BL series of 2018, so I had to watch it. I've also heard a lot of mixed reviews (with several people listing it as their least favourite BL), so I wanted to see for myself how I would like the series. This is my second Studio Wabi Sabi production after Until We Meet Again.

And OMG! This series really hit the ground running. In the first episode, there is an encounter with a possible future love, a blackmailing to out someone and a coming out. And that future love is Ae, who is sooo cute and kind! He is literally the perfect boyfriend! Pete is so lucky to have met him! I wish that an Ae will come into my life, someone to take care of me. Though I do feel like their love for one another is a bit quick and sudden though. I understand Pete falling for Ae as he is kind and protects him. But I don't really understand Ae's love for Pete. Yes, Ae wants to protect Pete because Pete is fragile, but why does he feel this need, this urge to protect Pete? Is it because he is a good human being? Does it stem from some childhood trauma?

Engaging and full of sweet, tender moments. Ae and Pete have the sweetest, cutest, most romantic scenes out of all the BL couples that I've seen thus far without a doubt! The portrayal of first love, the fears of intimacy, of jealousy and other qualms of love were quite nicely done.

Though Ae's friend, Pond, is a jerk (at first) but he redeems himself as a supportive friend. And wtf is with that Trump dude? His actions don't make any sense at all! Why is he so obsessed with getting money from Pete? If he's that obsessed with money, why not get it from an easier source, especially since he doesn't have anymore leverage on Pete? And why doesn't Pete want to report Trump? Because he doesn't want his mother to worry about him? What kind of BS excuse is that? Wouldn't she worry when she sees his bruises and sees that he is in pain anyway. Anyways, the Trump storyline kinda just disappeared into thin air and was never resolved unfortunately.

I love Pete and Ae's relationship, which is very sweet and cute, like watching first love blossoming. Seeing them experience so many firsts together. However, there isn't any friction or conflict between them (until Ae started getting easily irritated towards the end for some reason). Although I do love Pete & Ae, I found myself much more invested in Tin and Can's relationship due to their rich backstory and the dynamic tension/friction between them. which is the complete opposite of Pete & Ae's relationship. How it took so much courage for Tin to open his heart to Can to only have it shut down. My heart broke! When Tin kissed Can, my heart was FULL! I and many other are so f*cking furious at the end of Tin and Can. Luckily, probably through the huge demand for justice for Tin and Can, there will be a sequel where they will be the leads! YAY!!!!!!

On a side note, the subplots with Tar and Tum is completely unnecessary and served literally no purpose at all other than increasing the runtime of the series. The subplot of Techno's brother (Technic) helping to give his friend (Kengkla) a chance to rape No is disgusting, weird and creepy. Both subplots are completely out-of-place in this series. Yes, I know that including these subplots serve as a lead-in to Tharntype, so that people who watch Love By Chance will want to watch Tharntype, but still. These two nonsensical subplots completely cheapened the series and damaged an otherwise wholesome series.

It is interesting though. Love By Chance was the biggest BL in 2018 and Tharntype was the biggest BL in 2019. That's impressive for the author of the BL novels that both of these series are based on. And there will be sequels for each series too! I wonder if LBC 2 and Tharntype 2 will be the biggest BL's of their years...

Read More

An overall good show. I do want to add a warning, for most of the show its pretty light-hearted but there is a side story that talks about rape. I know some people can't watch things like that because of ptsd so I did want to add that warning before anyone watched it. If you are okay with those topics I do suggest watching this series. There's nothing to write home to mom about but I don't feel like my time was wasted. Some characters seemed annoying until you understood the motive behind their actions. There were some scenes I thought the show could do without but you can say that about almost all shows.

Read More

Ok first of all, it was so much better than I expected---not perfect but good.

PROS:

1. BEST IN DEVELOPMENT. For me, AePete's development from friends to couple was one of the most consistent and well developed progressions I had seen in a BL. None of their scenes seemed out of the blue or rushed. I forgave the over the top and cutesy dialogues of AePete thinking that this was Ae's first relationship.

2. In relation to the first one, I loved how they showed Ae's curiosity about gay sex. They really talked about sexuality! It wasn't one of those shows where their sexual orientation just suddenly shifted. The show was explicit enough yet it still seemed so innocent and wholesome. That particular scene where Ae searched about gay sex was really nice.

3. Perth's acting was so on point, also Earth's (Tar). They really stood out for me although the rest of the casts were fair enough.

5. The OST was nice. I was shocked the first time they used Love Sick's Shake (when Tum was playing at a bar). The use of love sick's ost made me feel nostalgic.

6. AePete's relationship was healthier than my body ISTG.

7. TINCAN. I had never been so invested in a BL couple since Sotus (which was, like, years ago already). I was literally screaming the every time Tin was professing his crush on Can. The build up of tincan for s2 was so effectively done.

Now for Can's character---absolutely lovely. The earlier episodes showed us a hyper and comedic Can, probably immature too. I thought he was one of the stock characters to provide comedic relief but as the series progressed, we got to see his depth. The later episodes where TinCan's relationship were staring to be established, it was really nice to see the different sides of TinCan’s characters. (I admit I kind of shipped TinPete at first).

The series did a good job at shifting my attention from the MC to TinCan to be honest. The latter episodes, I just almost didn't care about AePete anymore.

8. There were a lot of likable side characters like Techno and Pond. BEST FRIENDS AWARD, I say.


NOW FOR THE CONS:

1. Despite its college setting, a lot of the scenes felt like it was set in High School instead. I did say I forgave the cutesy of AePete's relationship but I admit I cringed sometimes. But I get the theatrics of it.

2. A lot of things were happening. Hadn't I watched TharnType first, I would have been so lost. But since I did know their backstories, I appreciated all side characters especially Type---he changed a lot.

3. CONSENT, KENGKLA, CONSENT. Techno deserves a better partner and brother! Technic literally helped Kengkla in getting his brother laid!! The series showed us nothing about techno seeing kengkla in a romantic light yet his brother still pushed it??? It would have been fine if they just kept it light but Kengkla raped techno and the people justifying it in the comment section are disgusting. To make matters worse, kla lied to No and manipulated him to be in a relationship with him. I dont think I will ever buy this ship no matter how the series will justify it. I was so uncomfortable watching that scene especially when they added in the OST they played whenever there were cute scenes.

Nonconsensual acts are so prevalent in BLs and it has been overlooked for so long, by so many, for the sake of shipping. I really am so keen about consent when it comes to BL and how most shows (and authors) romanticize it.

4. To continue, Tum's nonconsensual act bothered me so much especially knowing Tar's past. He did apologize and kind of redeem himself in the latter episode. And for this one, I was glad the series took it seriously.

5. And as much as I love TinCan, I didn't like how they started to realize their feelings when Tin kissed Can to "make him shut up". I just really tried to understand Tin's rash and straightforward character.

6. Chompoo's character. It was so shallow and obviously part of those unnecessarily clingy and childish female characters to drive the plot. Please stop this kind of female representation.

7. Lay was one of those exaggerated and illogical portrayals of characters to provide comedic relief in Thai BLs but it was annoying. I get it, she was a fujoshi but she went overboard on shipping real life guys. She went hard on fetishizing gay couples.

8. I mentioned the shifting of the viewers’ attention to TinCan but it took a toll on the MC. The ending was so unsatisfying for AePete and they basically lost momentum during the last episodes. They most probably had decided beforehand to have a 2nd season but really, a phone call? Even though they were shown to be imaginarily together, it felt so flat and unsatisfying. But I mean I didn’t mind it that much because my focus was on TinCan.

9. They went all out promoting Samsung lol.

10. I was not a hundred percent fan of Saint’s acting for this show. One of the main reasons why I dropped LBC after watching the 1st ep in 2018 was because of Saint's acting, sorry. He was good but some of the parts were awkward to look at especially when he was trying to cry.

11. Ae was sometimes annoying with his overprotectiveness. I get the BL tropes where the top really gets overprotective and jealous easily and that sometimes ticks me off.

12. What happened to the guy who was blackmailing Pete? I hope we get to see a resolution in s2 despite Saint not being in the series anymore.

To conclude, it's a nice BL. The main couple was wholesome and had a healthy relationship. Watching TharnType and LBC, I kind of get the feeling that the author chooses problematic and traumatic themes to intensify the story. A lot of authors do that and it seriously needs to stop. I have no problem with using rape or any traumatic events as long as they are not merely used as a plot device but are actually discussed and taken seriously. So done with romanticized nonconsensual acts.

I'm am looking forward to s2 because I love TinCan so much. Maybe the reason why I was surprised at how nice it was was because I wasn't really expecting much.

TharnType and LBC have too many issues that needs to be solved. I am only judging based on the series. I wish everything will have a resolution, good or bad. Nevertheless, I am invested.

Read More

I found overall I really enjoyed this series. Compared too a lot of Thai Bl's I've watched, I found myself not feeling bored or wanting to skip through too many scenes. I feel like with a lot of Thai BLs- I start to get bored around 5-8 episodes in. But I found myself still looking forward to the next episode up until the end of the season (mainly because they made it fresh by adding some development between the TinCan ship in the final eps). This is one of the rare BLs I may even re-watch at some point...

But this is where we get into the main Pro and Con of the entire story…The relationships are a very mixed bag for me.
Pete and Ae: I absolutely LOVED the sweet, natural development of Pete and Ae’s relationship. (Although I will say I 1000% prefer Saint’s character in Why R U over his extremely passive character in this story). I put off watching this series for ages despite its popularity as from the clips I’d seen as I wasn’t convinced there would be much chemistry between Saint and Perth. (IE. in Perth being a convincing pursuer in the relationship and Saint being so submissive- especially after watching Saint and Zee in Why R U). But surprisingly it actually worked and created an interesting dynamic. It also helps that Perth has so much adorability and genuine sensitivity in his acting. I was extremely impressed by Perth and am keen to see him in future acting projects. I really enjoyed their relationship progression. And although the “drama” in their story really mellowed out as the series progressed- I didn’t mind so much as that’s when the show finally started to give some more air time to the other couples of the series.
I kind of love that they had no real petty, extended childish drama in their storyline. It was really nice to just see for the most part, a very non-toxic, sweet relationship portrayed in a BL. Really refreshing to not see the characters wait several drawn out episodes to resolve a simple issue or miscommunication they’ve had.

Tin and Can: This one REALLY surprised me by how much I ended up shipping it by the end of the season. For the first half of the series, I was really unconvinced by their interactions and was not interested in seeing them get together. I found Tin too be too unlikeable and Can too annoying. But when they finally gave them more air time and character development- I started to love this ship. I think a lot of this can be attributed to the actor for Tin (Mean). Once he started pursuing Can openly, he stole every scene he was in IMO. The way he even looks at Can melts my soul tbh- very convincing. I also just loved how he opened his heart for Can wholeheartedly and believed in him. Love it!

Now for the bad ships that really jarred my viewing experience. Seriously I feel like the following two ships are such a tonal difference from the main two couples and I hate it so much. It just does NOT flow with the rest of the show. These two also had barely any screen time over the series, which really doesn’t help their case either...

Kla and Techno: WTF. Just WTF. No. Seriously NO. We all know by now that lack of consent is a serious issue that is rife in BL dramas. I hated this. Kla never even tries to romance Techno the normal way even once. And instead decides that the r*pey taking advantage of someone while they’re drunk route is the way too Techno’s heart. The fact that Techno’s brother is complicit in the entire plan to enable his brother’s r*pe by his best friend is one of the most disgusting things I’ve seen in a BL.
That and once Techno is made aware of what’s happened- Kla further manipulates him by convincing him that he was the bad person who took advantage of him instead. And Techno looks so scared and uncomfortable during that entire scene. Utterly disgusting. Absolutely hated this. Please do NOT romanticize this situation!

Tar and Tum: It actually took me a while to realize these were the same characters from TharnType. But once I realized, their storyline made a lot more sense at least. Because before that I had no idea what was happening with these characters as they had barely any screentime.
I hated their entire plotline in TharnType, so the same goes here. (The lack of justice, etc. and the fact that the older brother is still predatory IMO). I really wish they clarified that they aren’t blood related early in the show as I felt creeped out by every scene they were in (I’m still not in love with the idea of step-brothers, but at least it’s not as bad as full on in*est).
I feel like the older step brother is creepy and predatory to Tar- which was only solidified where he himself tried to force himself on him in one episode. What the F*CK. Also the fact that their climactic scene in the last ep where Tar tells Tum about his assault is played right after the scene where Kla assaults Techno….yeah that is the most awkward, inappropriate thing ever. I literally can’t.
I will say at least the actors for Tar and Tum in LBC are 1000% better than their counterparts in Tharntype. But that’s where the positives end for me. It’s a shame because Earth is such a lovely, talented & adorable actor. I wish he had been given a better role with more air time in this series.

So overall I really enjoyed this season and was a fan of the main two couples... but I hated the side couples with a passion LOL.

Read More

Important Topics & The Abuse in LBC

I stopped watching LBC because there are things that really bother me about this series.

Rape is a serious and important issue. It is not okay to have it be part of a sub plot (Tum & Tar) and then not bring awareness to how horrible and serious it is. I might be wrong but I heard that during the final episodes this issue is “ dropped” or forgotten or not brought up in the way that it should be (in a way that will bring awareness to its seriousness).

I also believe that consent is very important. I watched LBC quite a while ago but I remember an intimate scene in a locker room where a seemingly panicked Pete tells Ae to “ go slower” or stop but Ae keeps going anyways. So this was not consensual and could be seen as a form of harassment. Even though Ae and Pete like each other, consent remains very important and both people in a relationship should express their full consent before doing something intimate so that it doesn’t lead to harassement. This is another serious issue that LBC did not treat the way it should’ve been treated by making consent unimportant.

The last problem I have with this series is the fact that the actor who plays Ae was very young when it was filmed, around 17 years old I think. If the actor is still a teenager, is it really okay for him to act in sex scenes (even if they’re fake) ? He might’ve been fine with it, especially if he auditioned for this series or willingly wanted to be in it and knew about the scenes, but it is still a cause for worry. He was only 17, filming those scenes at such a young age might end up having negative effects on him later on or he might’ve been uncomfortable acting in those scenes from the start. Maybe I’m just being too paranoid. Either way, I don’t mean to offend the actor that played Ae or assume everything about his life, he is such a good actor and I hope that he is okay and that he will succeed in his career and be happy.


This isn’t really a review but me talking about some serious issues that didn’t get the awareness they deserved in LBC. It’s important to talk about these issues so that people know about important they are and act accordingly.
Rape is horrible and not to be taken lightly. Consent is always important, whether you’re in a relationship with the person(s) or not.
With that said, I hope these issues get the treatment they deserve in future series.

Read More

Wasn't worth the time

I didn't enjoy the series, it might be, bc I watched it in 2022 for the first time after watching some other bl series. AePete had their cute moments and I liked Perth's acting, but I didn't like Saint's acting and didn't feel much of a chemistry between them. Pete is your typical "damsel in distress"-kdrama-FL in the first few episodes, I really hate that. And I have already watched WRU, in which I love TutorFighter as a couple as well as their characters, that's not the case for Pete. Even though I didn't want to, I automatically compared both pairs together and for me ZeeSaint is better, they were much more natural together than SaintPerth, their interaction felt very scripted.
I liked Pond, even though he is very annoying, he is a very supportive friend.

As someone who already watched TharnType, I automatically imagined the actors from TharnType for some characters and I have to say, that I'm glad they casted new actors and it's a pity that the TharnType actors didn't appear in LBC (since this was filmed before TharnType).

Read More

There’s no other Bl series that has matched the chemistry and the acting in Love By Chance. I was shocked by how in just the 1st episode the series took off in such a powerful way. It tackles bullying, sexuality, coming out and many other issues. I am so happy to see that the series is getting the attention it deserves, i will definitely be watching this series over & over again, and follow up with the Work of the actors. I am just Hoping that they give us a season 2 cause us bl fans DESERVE! This series can go so far if the company promotes it right, its already being compared to the greats : Sotus and Addicted. Thank you GMMTV for this masterpiece, i definable recommend watching this masterpiece,you will get chills . - Fan from the USA ????????

Read More

Love By Chance is a series every drama lover needs in their life. The story is interesting and (for the most part) well written and cute-- it brings back major Lovesick feels. I already love the characters, especially the main couple and Ae's friend group. Everything about this drama is really refreshing, and even though some of the same tropes that are seen in most other bl dramas are used, it's done in a way that makes the plot different and entertaining. The plot itself is a teeny bit dark at times, but the main couple is really cute and innocent, and their relationship/chemistry doesn't seemed to be forced or progress too slow. The cinematography is great, the music is pretty good, the acting is not over the top or cringey. The show has a lot of promise and I'm looking forward to the next episodes, I just hope it keeps going in this direction!

Read More

I've never been hooked in BL series except this one. The chemistry is just amazing and the acting is just on point. The plot tells a sensible story, but unlike other BL series, this one is light. The main actors are really good in portraying their characters. Even the supporting actors are really good too.

Music is superb, I may not understand Thai language but the fact the that I get moved by the melody - it is good enough for me.

Overall, this is a kind of BL series / story that we need. Something that would put smile on your face after watching. Something that would inspire people to simply fall in love and enjoy life as is.

Read More