Theory of Love

Frustrating... But Realistic

I try to be careful to not put in spoilers, but I do want to say this... The first five or six episodes made me almost stop watching. I REALLY was so angry at both main characters. If you give up watching during these episodes, as I almost did, you will miss out on a great series. Hang in there, it is worth it! The show has a great cast, awesome acting skills to the point where it does not feel like you are watching a show but can really be immersed in it. I will also say if you like comedy, this show has none, if you like a lot of kiss scenes (or s*x scenes) you won't find them in this series - for me personally, without a little physical emotion or even gazing into each other's eyes, etc. although the series is really good it never really makes me convinced that the characters are more than just good friends.

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You’ll need tissues and ice cream, trust me

I got a lot more than I expected. I knew there was going to be some unrequited love, secret crush on your best friend kind of thing. But I did not expect there to be so much heartache. I spend most of the series wanting to either slap some sense into Khai or Third or both! They were both flawed, but I feel like their flaws made the plot and the series seem so realistic. They truly takes us through an emotional rollercoaster.

I think the actors (not just the main ones) have great chemistry between each other. I felt like the dynamics between them were amazing. There was a lot shown through just looks and the fact they can portray so much emotion through their eyes is absolutely amazing. They are especially good at showing longing for the character they like.

Khai & Third: I wasn’t sure what kind of ending I wanted for them – do I want them together or should they both just get with someone else? Third’s love for Khai is something I truly couldn’t understand at first. Khai seemed to be treating him very poorly while claiming he is his best friend. But then there were moments where we got to see some interactions that made me think that must be Khai that Third loves. The Khai that wasn’t really shown because it would make him too likeable too fast. Third is someone who gives his all to those around him, if they deserve it or not. Khai, on the other hand, is selfish and arrogant, used to girls falling down at his feet. I know how hard moving on from someone can be, especially if it's someone that is close to you. Which means I can understand why Third found it so hard to move on from Khai, not matter how bad he treated him. But then we get to the second half of the series where we get to see things from Khai’s perspective. And I did start to feel some sympathy for him. The scenes when he realizes that he was a terrible friend and terrible human being and just how much hurt he caused Third were the ones that left a lot of impact. I think we got to see a different side of him. Not only that, but he really showed a lot of character growth, and he tried his best to change to be someone worthy of Third’s love. Sadly, he was too stupid to realize how important Third is to him until he lost him.

I am not a fan of the fact that someone of the scenes where Third was crying (namely the shower ones) were done as a comic relief. The rest of the series was quite heavy, so these scenes seemed kind of out of place. But talking about comic scenes, I really enjoyed the opening scene of the first episode – Third was doing review of every possible “I’m in love with my best friend” movie while Khai was clueless in the back of the videos. I feel like that really showed us how stupid and clueless Khai can be. And the fact that each episode was named after one of the RomCom classics was fun. I have seen all of the movies mentioned and I can see why they were used as the episode titles.

I don’t think my problem with Khai and Third possibly being the end game is in who Khai was before. He was a player, a womanizer, someone who didn’t really appreciate those around him. To me, those are all forgivable things. What I find very hard to forgive is the way he treated Third, especially when he thought that Third might have a crush on him. That is something that made me hate him from the bottom of my heart. Not only was he a terrible friend (from what we could see) up until then, but he went out of his way to hurt him. Again and again.

Two and Bone are great friends to both Khai and Third. They both made some very questionable decisions, I am not going to deny that, but they were there for their friends when they needed them most. When Third was suffering, they were there for him. When Khai decided to try and win Third over, they were there for him as well. They were both fully supportive of their friends throughout the series.

I am a bit sad that their stories were not developed more though. I think pairing Two with Un was an interesting choice, but definitely not one I am against. I think the two match each other quite well. Pairing Bone with Paan on the other hand made me feel all sorts of things. I did like the idea of him dating someone a bit older, a bit more mature, but I had a weird feeling about it from the moment the two talked for the first time. The first plot twist was not really something that surprised me. But the second one? Damn, that one hurt. I do feel like Bone’s love for Paan was a bit too quick – he knew nothing about her, it felt more like physical attraction to me, a crush, than real love. To be honest, love is a word that seemed to be thrown around quite a lot in this series (even with Khai and his parade of girlfriends).

I think that Two’s and Khai’s confusion about their sexuality is something that was done incredibly well. Both characters were only interested in girls up to this point in their life. Developing feelings for a man caused both of them a lot of confusion, it made them question themselves. Although I feel like Khai was more troubled by the fact he developed feelings for his best friend.

I enjoyed the fact that they actually included a lot of their university work in the storyline. I feel like we often don’t see any schoolwork that the characters need to do, they are just put into the university because that’s what sells.

I'll finish the review with a quote from How to be a Wallflower that was used in the series and that I believe can really summarize a lot of what we got to see: "We accept the love we think we deserve."

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THEORY OF LOVE! EXPLORING CLASSIC MOVIES IN ONE SERIES!

Theory of Love is an incredible BL series centering its theme about a one-sided love turned to mutual understanding and intimacy. Personally, I kind of loved the theme of the series, of them trying to base each episode from a Classic American or English movie exploring and designing a basic but effective formula and theory of love.

The Plot.
The whole plot of the series is obviously based on the classic movie "Flipped". Which is very interesting for me as they portray the sequence in to a BL show, with two bestfriends, one who loved the other, and the other one being a jerk, jumping from one girl to another. The whole flow of the drama, is tear-jerking, funny, and sometimes just makes your blood boils, and make your head aches until it makes your brain explodes. The mixed emotions you will feel while watching this drama is so confusing that there will be a point in time, that you won't know what will you feel. You'll be confused if you should be sad, angry, happy, or even disgusted. I will give a solid 8 for the plot. This might not be the perfect plot for a BL show, but the plot itself is so satisfying and creative. So ill give the show credit for that.

The Characters
Gun and Off! I can honestly say that I only watched this series because of them. Gun's acting is phenomenal! He really executed the character well. Especially, for the first few episodes. Where we all witness the pure sadness and grief of his character, being in love with a jerk, and seem like he can't do anything with his feelings because he's the bestfriend, let alone knowing that he loved a straight male which is a huge jerk. His acting really captured the hearts of the viewers, he infected us with his sadness too. I am sure theres a lot of viewers in there who also cries in every episode because of Gun's character. I mean he is superb!

Off's acting is great too. I mean he becomes more awesome as time goes by. I can really say his acting has improved in this one since his other's drama. I will give him thumbs up for that. Of course, we can change the fact that Off did a great job in portraying his character. I mean he made me wanna punch him in every time I see him in the first few episodes. I think everyone, felt the way I felt too. The anger and rage that I felt just watching him testing Third if he really likes Khai. I mean I almost broke my phone because of disgust and just pure anger. My blood just boils every time I saw him in the first few episodes in the series.

The bestfriends are really the best of friends. Two and Bone is the best friends someone needs. I mean, Bone has his wrongs but we already forgave him with that since he confronted Third with it, and even helped him. Two is just what all of us needs. A supporting friend who doesn't want you to be hurt no matter what. Plus, his relationship with Un made the show more exciting for me, not gonna lie. However, Bone and Paan's relationship made me uneasy and uncomfortable. i don't know why, maybe because he's in love with his teacher or something who turns out to be married? oooooh the age gap.

Conflicts and Resolutions
Theres a scene that i didn't really liked and I didn't understood well. The bathroom scene where Khai, CONSCIOUSLY, kissed Third, hoping that Third will get over him. I mean what? How dumb is that? I mean, it worked. I saw it worked but I am not really comfortable with that concept and idea plus the awkward kiss, where Third didn't kiss back. Eh! I was disgusted during that scene. I hated that scene! But I tried to get over that scene.

The time it flipped. Where Khai seemed to realized he has feelings with this too. That satisfied me that much. ooooof the satisfaction crawled all throughout my body. Yeah, I dont know why, but that easily calmed me down. I instantly became Team Khai. That's how weak I am hahahahahahha.

One thing, as I was so commited in watching the characters and understainding their story, I didn't really get to notice the music at all and it didn't really captured my attention that much so i'll rate it lower. The rewatch value too. I don't really have the urge to rewatch the series just because of all the crying, and the grief. I am so sorry. but overall, I enjoyed the whole series, I loved it!

Disclaimer: I'm reviewing this series a month after I watched it, so I may have forgot something, or had errors in my reviews. Please don't mind the grammar too. hehe

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To much crying

I won't say much but damn the ML cryed this entire drama mire than once per episode and it was tiresome to watch.

The thing that bothered me though it mught not be the crying but the fact that they took a straight guy and turned him gay. Don't get ne wrong tjis is definitely not my first BL drama and i enjoy BL dramas but goid ines not this. Just luke yoy can't turn a straight woman into a lesbian you can't turn a straight man into gay. It doesn't work like that.

Third is gay but Khai is definitely not gay he isn't even bisexual to say it. I can't belive he turned fay just for his friend. Plus it wasn't believable for ne.

Sorry. I would have rated this a 4 🌟 but i like Gun and he is a good actor can't say the same about the others. They did their best but this drama was not their cup of tea. Also i didn't feel chemistry between the leads.

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A really good angsty fanfic

I'm glad I ignored all the hate this series got in the comments, because I really enjoyed it. I love a good angsty fanfic that makes me cry, and I felt like this ticked all the boxes for the same type of experience. Is it great art? No. Is it full of toxic relationship stuff? Yes. Is it unrealistic? Yes. Did I love every minute of it? Also yes.

I don't watch tv shows for guidance on what to look for in a romantic partner, and if you do you're looking in the wrong place. I watch shows to be entertained and, sometimes, that means having my emotions jerked around. Sometimes that means having characters who behave in unhealthy ways, especially if it gives them room to grow.

I've watched a fair number of BL series, and I enjoyed this more than most. If you come into this one looking for A Tale of Thousand Stars, you'll be disappointed. If you come into it looking for nc scenes, you'll also be disappointed. But if you come into it looking for a whole lot of chemistry, and a whole lot of tears (both yours and the characters'), you'll probably find what you're looking for.

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I yelled "WHY CAN’T YOU BOTH JUST BE HAPPY???!” at my screen many times

There are some warm and fuzzy BLs that make you laugh and giggle at your laptop for hours on end. This is not one of them. Theory of Love is a heart-wrenching excursion into unrequited same-sex love and what happens when you fall for your straight(??) best friend.

Gun really shines in Theory Of Love, showing how far he has come as an actor by capturing the nuances in a range of expressions. Gun is able to communicate an emotional intensity that can get quite overwhelming, so it’s totally understandable why a series like this might be tough to rewatch.

Disclaimer right here that I absolutely love Off and Gun. In Theory of Love, they show tremendous improvement from their performance in the Puppy Honey series, which I found to be slightly awkward.

Their onscreen chemistry has only improved with their real-life friendship: OffGun is back and they got better.

Read my full review here: https://asianblreviews.wordpress.com/2021/12/05/theory-of-love-2019/

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Wow drama ,excellent and brilliant story

Guys,I'm saying this never miss the drama its really good and wow drama i fell in love with this series, you never gonna regret.....it has friendship value and true friends stories and then one sided love story, main lead dominance over other main lead and finally be a puppy to him lol, and sad ,love confusion and hard love to over come everything its totally a pacakage with 0happy ending...great actors with great chemistry and story is awesome i can see in every scene how the feelings developed between leads.....that is what i need to see more than the bed scenes jumped by 2nd episode wow wow wow drama .........

How can they be a perfect drama like this ever again? This is my 3rd time watching this drama not bze of offgun fan or fond of series but there is no such dramas coming in 2022 why? What happened to thai themes dramas now a days I'm missing the chemistry plot between leads can't the directors see this series like how the leads developed their story and every move we could understand their feeling sorry to say this to thai directors and screen writers please do drama like these series or old bl dramas you are losing the thai theme 😥 this drama really made my day wow claps to the team i literally like offgun and this story a lot made me fall into bl again after so many shitty stories in 2022 🤮 theory of love yayyyy well done to author director and actors brilliant series love from india and pls pls pls pls do like these kind of seriss more than showing too much over intimacy or lacking story and chemistry pls pls pls i miss thai seriss now

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Another Thai series is also above average and stars Off and Gun, who are actually now a couple in real life. Another refresher is Earth. The project seems like a dime a dozen from a Thai factory, but come to think of it, it's not. It's not so fairy-tale, it's more believable, even if the director didn't let the main couple into a bigger physical or whatever you want to call it, they only play what the creators allow. I suspect Thais more and more that they are trying to impose a new kind of sexual orientation on the world, namely that a friend likes it too, but by that I don't mean that guys piss and then share it in bed at night, I hope that those who already " they screwed up" tons of these series know what I mean. In the more straightforward presentation, many comparable "products" from, for example, Taiwan or South Korea, Japan seem better, more civil, more humane...


Další z thajských seriálů je rovněž nadprůměrný a hrají v něm Off a Gun, kteří ve skutečnosti nyní tvoří pár i ve skutečném životě. Dalším osvěžením je Earth. Projekt se zdá být tuctový z thajské velkovýrobny, ale když se nad tím zamyslím, tak není. Není totiž tak pohádkový, je uvěřitelnější, i když řežisér nepustil hlavní dvojici do většího fyzična či jak to nazvat, hrají jen to, co tvůrci dovolí. Stále více podezírám Thajce, že se světu snaží naroubovat nový druh sexuální orientace, totiž že kamarád to má taky rád, ale tím nemyslím to, že se kluci picnou a pak si to v noci rozdají v posteli, doufám, že ti, kteří už "zbaštili" tuny těchto seriálů chápou, co tím míním. V tom přímočařejším podání se mi zdají mnohé srovantelné "produkty" např. z Taiwanu či Jižní Koreji, Japonska lepší, civilnější, lidštější...

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Review from the rewatching version after a couple of years

I rewatched this show again after a couple of years and I think you'll get it more whenever you get more mature. I truly can't believe that the first time I watched this show I didn't love it, here I am in 2022 while waiting for not me episodes decided to rewatch it just for fun, and I immediately regret how I felt about this show in the past, the way the story is telling each character story is just unbelievable, as I truly cried for each character in different scenes, let's talk about Khai (Off) and how amazing he portered the character, I truly hated him at first I was like he is an asshole that doesn't deserve anything but after seeing that he never truly knew what love is because of how his parents never truly took care of him or made him knew what true love , he just couldn't understand that it was real until he fell in love he become just another person or we can say he is true self that was not shown to anyone except Third (Gun), I cried for Khai on ep 11, and ep 12. Next character is Third, first I would like to thanks Gun for making so god damn emotional for multiple episodes, his acting skills are no joke like dude could just look at me and ill cry immediately for him, his story is very realistic about how people become blind by love till they get really hurt by it and stop believing in it I was shocked about how his character changed but also was happy for him to grow and learn more. The main couple are just depressed realistic story that does happened to people in real life not this dramatic but with same era. Two (White) is just the best best friend anyone could ask for, but also the way he struggled with his sexuality being Bi is amazing cause that what happened to a lot of people and that's how they find, I truly liked how he took care of Third and how he was an amazing protector for him even till the end, and how he put his friends feeling above his, I liked the way him and Un (Earth) fell in love , Un character was complicated like I really though that he liked Third but all of this he liked Two from the begging like dude please I got confused by you . Bone (Mike) story is truly all over the place, it was not my favorite story but ill say I think it happens in real life, and the way he handle it shows how of a good man he is also putting your friend above yourself is amazing he was good even thought what he did to Third in the begging was fucked up, but I am happy that he ended with agood one and had a happy ending he truly deserves it. My favorite scenes were the Café scene ep 5 where Third and Khai fought and how Bone hit him I was truly happy. Another one is the Train scene ep 11 I cried like a baby in this Scene dude. Another one is the Accident scene ep 8 and how it was the reconnect of Khai and Third friendship in a way and how in ep 9 after this scene they showed how is Khai's parents treat him ( they are not bad parents but they lack love towards him). Lastly, the last favorite scene is the whole ep 12, I liked the train and beach scenes of the friend group, and UN and Two confess scene like ahhh333 I thought I am going to die before Two finally confess by using Un favorite film like how romantic this is I was just shy laughing because of this and then Un just says I am not going anymore because I love you like I am all over heels for you mister, also the 7 things Third hate about Khai that Two gave it to Khai is just amazing, the Khai scene about what is love for him to Third this scene made me so emotional Khai's confess to Third by" for me, you're not a a movie, you are real" is just perfection, my last favorite scene in ep 12 is the iconic ending scene where Khai and Third turns to OffGun and become all lovey dovey. I am truly happy that I rewatched this series after this many ears for me not have grown a little more to understand and connect to it more, I truly wish to have a group of friends like this in the future if I ever can. I hoped you like my review and I hope you learned What Love Is For U from "Theory Of Love".

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An easy watch, but drags and becomes uninteresting at points

I can say that for the most part, this is an enjoyable watch. It’s generally easy, and I binged it in a day when I had time to kill.

The acting was really good, especially from Gun, he really stood out in his scenes. I felt really connected to his character and his emotions throughout.

The story is simple and solid enough, and the development of it and the characters is great.

However, I feel like at points the story dragged and I started to become disinterested and bored. I found myself wanting to take breaks because I didn’t really care, but also just wanting to get the series over with. I found it particularly uninteresting when it came to the Bone/Pan story, and I ended up skipping through because I genuinely didn’t care and felt like it dragged it on longer than necessary. The same goes for Two/Lynn, I just didn’t care; although, I did enjoy the Un/Two scenes, and wish there was more.

I liked the characters, though, and find their development to be really well done.

Overall, I think it’s a very good series and mostly deserves the hype, although I don’t think it lives up to expectations.

I would recommend it if you want something nice to watch to kill time. I enjoyed it, but don’t see myself ever rewatching it again, at least in the near future

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the beginning literally had me, the ending....I don't feel satisfied.

First 2 episodes of this drama reminded me of “Until we meet again”, because they made me cry like a banshee as well as these ones. I got overwhelmed emotionally, I couldn’t watch Third crying and being humiliated by Khai’s unconscious acts. Maybe, he thought that Third was a friend and he would be okay with him bringing girls home, asking him to leave because Fahsai would feel uncomfortable and etc, inasmuch as he didn’t know about Thirds feelings, but I couldn’t handle it. It doesn’t strike me as a result of a poor storyline, but I think my CNS was somehow damaged. At the end of the third episode I prayed the Lord to make Third leave Khai’s condo, because I was livid already…I had to put myself together, otherwise I would ditch the drama. Consequently, you have to be emotionally prepared to watch this.
The 4th episode cost me a mental breakdown. Seeing Third happy and, as he mentioned, “getting what a secret admirer would ask for”, and then him crying silently again just shattered my heart to pieces.The thing is, I cant put a blame on Khai, as he is young and extremely handsome, pretty charismatic, so he does whatever floats his boat, enjoys his life as best as he can…But toying with someone’s feelings, even assuming that there are none, is not a right thing to do. Furthermore, I can understand him changing girls like socks, but he is a terrible friend. If he thought that his friend was kind enough to leave him alone with his bitch, why didn’t he tell him the truth about catching a movie with a girl? He could at least do that, it wouldn’t hurt the same. In addition to this, I hate Khai for exploiting Third.
At times I have to stop an episode, because either its tedious or I need to cope with my anguish/irritation. I have this insane craving to beat Khai up. Doesn’t he feel that not only Third, but all his friends aren’t happy to see his new girlfriends every day, and they shouldn’t tag along when he has to work/have lunch with his friends. And the kiss…Shit, I barely held myself back from crashing down my laptop screen…And I can’t believe I want to go on watching this, because it’s not bad, it just depicts reality so precisely, that it hurts.
I used to think that watching Khai go through the same torments as Third went through, would satisfy me, but man, it didn’t…I can’t figure out what kind of feelings I have for this drama, but certainly they aren’t bad..I’m deluded. Is it really hard to watch because of the emotional tension, or is it just me who finds it complicated?
I felt so sorry for Khai, when he was dumped by his friends and had to wait for them at the station all day long…Khai and Third’s meeting there was so emotional, I broke down crying.

After so much spoilers, I would like to shout out to Gun…In my point of view, he is the best when it comes to crying and expressing emotions. He puts his soul in his acting and that’s why I love Gun so much. I also like that the plot is not concentrated only on the main couple, and we can see side couples developing as well. I’m watching this after “Not me” and there Gun and Off seem to be more comfortable together. Two’s feelings for Un were rushed…As far as I’m concerned they needed more screentime, and they could get it if some meaningless and irrelevant scenes were cut out.
I am not disappointed, plot execution is not questionable, but I have to admit, that I pampered higher expectations.

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One of the biggest appeals for me while watching Theory of Love was the nuanced portrayal its two leads. I've noticed a common criticism in many reviews is that they hated Khai in the first half of the show but, personally, I thought he was incredibly likable. He was a little inconsiderate at times, but I still felt that he genuinely cared about his friends. He just had some selfish character traits that he needed to work on, and it was fun seeing a flawed character become a better version of himself as we shift into his perspective.

I love the shift in perspective from Third to Khai as the series progressed. I think that was a very smart storytelling decision to make the friends-to-lovers execution believable. Third's unrequited love arc was heart-wrenching and relatable. Usually, when characters make dumb decisions in dramas, like trusting untrustworthy characters, it's executed in such a cookie-cutter and naive way. But in TOL, Third really internalizes how often he expects more from Khai, only to be disappointed every single time. But Khai is very charming and always seems genuine, so I never really got annoyed with Third's decisions.

Even though the show never dragged for me, I think that objectively, it should have trimmed some fat. It could have easily been 8 to 10 episodes instead of 12. Or, at the very least, we should have gotten a different story arc for the last 3-4 episodes. All 12 episodes should not have been dedicated to the romantic pursuit. The subplots probably could have used more substance too. Two's subplot was fine, I just didn't think that he had that much chemistry with Un. And honestly, I never really knew where or when his feelings for Un started to develop. I actually had no idea that there was even a romance between them until halfway through the show. Whether it was intentional or not, it was poorly executed. Bone's storyline had a great resolution, imo, but the overall plot was meatless. His entire storyline could have easily been told in three episodes. I also didn't care for the cliched last-minute girlfriend. *Because there's no such thing as a happy ending without an unnecessary and shoehorned romance*

My gripes with the side plots aren't dealbreakers. I never actively disliked much at all about the show while watching it. I think Theory of Love is a strong contender for noteworthy BLs and criminally overlooked in the discourse of Thai BLs.

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