Oxygen

Tender, Romantic, Beautiful

It is a ‘feel good’ series filled perhaps with the usual basic twists and turns but the overall story is just so well told. Sure, it has a lot of problems with the production, but I honestly bought into the story because I thought the series went into new directions. There is a very good reason for this series to be called Oxygen and you have to experience it to understand how meaningful it really is. Sure, there are flaws in this series. The main characters perhaps play their roles way more passively than they should have but for me it just worked. Some parts were miscast such as Solo’s dad. The story could have been tightened up more and less emphasis on characters that were superfluous. But the backstory of Gui and Solo were so engaging that it made it worthwhile to watch and enjoy. My full review of this very good and entertaining series is at ppbongi.medium.com. You can leave reply there if you want - either positive or negative.

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1st episodes are important people!

This drama is definitely worse than what the rating is given is my honest opinion. Overall, this drama was just another drama in the rush of BL dramas. I read the first half of the novel and although the original novel wasn't anything special, it was just a sweet story, the drama destroyed it. So. Bad.

First episode, 2 minutes in and I was already grossed out at how bad the editing and script-writing was. They started off with a phone-call between the main character and his friend and for some reason added some weird and useless scenes. Added no detail or emotion at all. What were they even trying to do? People don't realize but 1st episodes are so important to let the audience know what the drama is about and why they should stay. I wanted to close the video as soon as the opening started. After the opening, they started somewhere later into the story, only to flashback 5 minutes later. Like??? Such horrible directing and script-writing. I only continued this drama because I had literally nothing to do when I was neglecting my schooling.

The actors were decent. Their character didn't have much depth so I don't know what they could've worked with there. I'd say out of the main couple, the male lead was the worse actor of the two. His scenes when he acted angry were so... off and he's just eye candy to be honest. But he can get better, maybe he's just not that experienced. The couple were cute at times though, when the shots were pretty decent.

The only thing I liked was the music which is one (1) song. Were there even other songs? I feel like I heard the same song a thousands times in the drama.

Overall, skip this drama. Go watch some other BL dramas. Or just watch this when you don't have anything to do.

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Simple, yet adorable

I didn't read the reviews before watching the series and I'm glad I didn't. Some of them are quite discouraging and I'm not sure whether I'd watch it with the same enthusiastic feeling I had.
Story starts off at the perfect pace. Some shows take a little too long (to my liking) before something finally starts happening and before we can see some scenes with a little physical contact or even some tension between the characters.
I found interesting the choice of personalities the main couple has - for the first time I saw a series where the characters have kind of similar personality and it was interesting to observe.
The most important aspect for me about the series is the feeling it gives me. If it made my heart flutter, the show succeeded. Is this a case of Oxygen? Yes! :)
For sure - it's nothing innovative, you can witness some typical stereotypes commonly used in BL series BUT it doesn't ruin the whole experience and it's still very adorable. Would recommend :)

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Could have been great :(

Okay, I persevered until episode 10 so I think I can safely say this is a miss for me. It's such a pity because the lead couple are really sweet and have good chemistry. Even the second couple were moderately interesting so I invested some time waiting for the show to save itself. We have lots of tropes that we love here, with some twists that could have really made it stand out. We have a tall, handsome, rich and talented seme paired with a super nice boy-next-door kind of uke with a heart of gold. A nice change in the trope dynamic is that despite being gentle, the uke is older and does take the lead in many situations - he knows how to train his seme! :P In contrast, Seme Solo is younger but the more dominant of the pair (or is he?) - he comes across as broody and aloof to everyone else but in reality there are two introverts here who discover a lovely, gentle relationship (think 1000 stars and UWMA vibes). So there was a lot to like to begin with.

Unfortunately that's pretty much all there is going for Oxygen. The story line was super mediocre and let the actors down. The third pair were either annoying or boring - you can basically skip through all their bits and not miss anything in the show, really. Do we really need another female character in a BL show who is a super annoying shipper?! I think we can count on one hand the nice and interesting female characters in Thai BL, so many of them are trashy and mainly there for makeup product placement. What a poor representation of women in general.

But really, hands down the worst part about this show is the music. Considering Solo and Kao are both music students and the actors themselves seem to have genuine musical skills, this was such a waste. Apart from a handful of times they sing the OST(which is not a bad song and they do a pretty good job of it), there are no real musical moments in this show. But worse than that, the underscore is downright bizarre, all over the show and inappropriate. We got strangely comical music happening in serious moments, and tense music happening in scenes where nothing actually happens. Honestly, if you don't have a budget for a good composer, the least you can do is make the score as unnoticeable as possible. What they ended up doing was the total opposite, and the music ruined the vibe in so many places and coloured the scenes in truly incongruous ways.

Okay, rant over. I hope Nut and Petch get the chance to be casted in something better - they deserve so much more than this.

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Did I really finish that?

Why did I watch this until the end? I don't know...
I just finished to re-watch another Thai series: Project S SOS Skate (my favorite Thai series) and I choose to begin Oxygen and what a disappointment.

- The series doesn't have any original point of view. I just had the impression to watch a soap-opera. I'm kind of mean , I watched some episode of soap-opera which conveyed more emotions.
- The casting was really strange , many actors didn't really fit their roles. And the acting didn't really help.
- Cringe, Cringe, Cringe ...

Maybe I'm too strict with my notation but I'm tired of the emptiness of this kind of BL series.

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For A Series Called "Oxygen" It Didn't Take Away My Breath Once

Don't get me wrong this is a cute series starting off, but even right of the bat it's kind of slow. Then it got even slower and holy crap it was dragginggggg at parts. It put me in this dream-like state whenever I watched it, which sometimes was nice because it's a pretty chill show but other times I almost fell asleep. Solo and Gui were really all I cared about in this, their relationship and their storylines respectively. The actors didn't give me many major chemistry vibes, but they were okay. Solo (played by Nut) was actually the most interesting character throughout. If he wasn't in this I would've dropped the series pretty quickly, he also was the best actor when it came to emotional scenes. Though he was stiff during most of the rest. Kao and Phu were...huh? I honestly don't understand what the point was with them. Just to fill up space I guess? But literally nothing ever happens and it was super cringe. I'm sure some fans will love the cutesy (kinda aegyo) stuff for them, but it's not my style. I need more than fluff to like characters and couples.

Khim and the doctor I absolutely hated. That storyline was so stupid with her kinda trying to force a sexuality on him and then him falling for her? Wtf was that about? Then everyone was falling for him and he kept lying to get her. Dumb, really dumb. I literally ended up skipping all of their scenes I couldn't stand it. So like I said before, it didn't feel like much was ever happening in the show so I didn't understand it. Then all of a sudden why is Solo's dad literally the godfather? What the hell is going on with locking your child away with no food. Literally go to jail. By the end the dad didn't even get in trouble for doing any of that. He literally was gifted a new adopted child? Who the hell would give this man another kid to terrorize and psychologically damage!? What even did this show want to be?

So basically for me the only saving graces of this show were; Solo's storyline, a few scenes between him and Gui that were cute, the big Mama stuff was pretty interesting with the kids and the theme song of the show. That's about it. I would skip this one, or skip around it HEAVILY to certain scenes worth watching.

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Phu and Kao saved the show

For me this drama was just alright... The story of the two main leads started quite great, but I lost interest midway through. For some reason, their story was getting too predictable and more the drama was progressing, their complicity was still unnoticeable. Some of the actors were a little "stiff" and awkward at times but nothing dramatic. The biggest disappointment here was the side story of the doctors, the fujoshi girl and her brother. This weird square love (because I seriously don't know what else you can call this thing that was going on here) was more a headache than anything else. Completely useless and I think they should have give more screen time to Phu and Kao story instead of feeding us this weird and confused love square. Phu and Kao literally saved the show for me. They completely had my attention. Their characters was interesting and their romance was so adorable that I was always craving for more. I wish they would make a spin off for Phu and Kao story. If they make a season 2, I will only watch it for the both of them. I wont deny that there was a few cute moment between Solo and Gui, but sadly not enough for me to watch a second season of these two as main leads.
So in general, the plot was predictable and annoying (except Phu and Kao story) and I would strongly recommend to skip all the parts of the side characters (the doctors, fujoshi girl and her brother) if you ever want to watch this drama.
(The theme song is fairly good and quite catchy)

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You are my milk Man

On the finale episode of “You are my Milk Man”, Milk Man delivers milk to his master and finally yells at him in gas station. Gui who has given up his dreams for his “ Solo” dream - to make Solo the best human n best business man ever is rightfully upset when Solo wants to leave it all and run away.
Solo then realizes that Gui has given up his dream because his Ice father “gently threatened” Gui and put then him in Admin department so that he can train to be a secretary for his son!
Solo wants to learn music, so atleast secretary should have some business sense. So best to make Gui (who is dreamless n in pain after his adoptive moms death) study MBA n learn business n then support his super rich boyfriend.
I mean, so logical ... Gui, an orphan can never reach Solo’s level of success, so best to just manage Solo n stand behind him while being a supportive mom , boyfriend, business adviser and Milk Man! Behind every successful man, there’s a ______? It’s Gui! Gui has to be behind Solo!
Father Billionaire Ice who is squint eyed lacks any warmth but Jay assured us all that it’s there. When we think Mr Ice is looking at ghosts on walls while Solo is talking about his life plan, Jay actually knows that he’s looking into Solos heart n not ghosts ! So when he plans to adopt Moon, how can one not be over joyed that he will have another chance to see if he can produce another model child like Solo n give him the same love Solo always grew up with. I’m sure Jay will interpret this love for us soon.
Also, stellar acting by the leads ... I hope Covid doesn’t cancel Oscars this year! If does get cancelled ... we know that Hollywood is being threatened by Solo and Gui’s acting.

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I enjoyed it

I can understand why some people didn’t like this as much. The relationship of the main cp didn’t follow a typical BL format. There’s no guessing, tug of war etc. But that’s exactly what the title is, Oxygen. You don’t have to play games with oxygen, you just naturally depend on it and can’t live without it. What I don’t like is actually the last part when they tried to make a drama out of it, going back to the old lakorn format; taking out the freshness and replaced it with cliche. Also wish they could talk about the relationship between the father and his assistant. Overall, if you fast forward the siblings/doctors part, it’s watchable BL.

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So much going on without anything actually happening.

While I wouldn't say this was bad, it really lacked in a lot of ways for me.

This was all over the place as far as storyline, as if the writer or director or someone just couldn't decide on what story did they want to tell. Was it a university drama? Was it a countryside drama? Was it a rich boy/poor boy drama? Was it a workplace drama? Was it a winning-over-an-opposing-parent drama? No one knows because this series had ALL of that at some point.

And that's all just withing the main couple. Then there are secondary couples that tackle secret crushes, questioning sexual identity, using someone to get closer to someone else, violence rumors, school bullying and the list goes on and on and on..

Yet, with all of this going on, there seemed to be a serious lack of development between the couples / characters. It played almost more like a sit com where every episode was a standalone thing and there MAY be a hint or undertone of slight progression of relationships. But the constant change of story direction made it hard to get invested in which is unfortunate because they could have had a solid series if they just focused on one thing and did it well.

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BL with Green Flags And A Cup of Warm Milk

I had no idea Oxygen even existed until I watched Something in My Room (Nut’s other series). Since I love Nut, I figured I’d give this one a try. I didn’t watch the trailer, didn’t read the plot, just dove right in. I wasn’t familiar with the other lead, but their chemistry really surprised me. After just two episodes, I realized Oxygen is definitely one of those hidden gems. Their sweet, casual interactions totally pulled me in. 🥰

Solo (Nut) is the introverted, reserved type, a music student with a voice that’s so damn good. I didn’t even know Nut could sing! And of course, he’s as adorable as ever. His character struggles with insomnia and can only sleep after drinking this special warm milk from Gui’s café.

Meanwhile, Gui is this soft, gentle guy who’s always looking out for Solo. He has this green flag energy. He’s like the emotional support boyfriend. 🥹

Now, story-wise, Solo and Gui’s arc is a bit thin. Their connection feels a little rushed, there’s not much build-up but weirdly, I actually prefer that over super slow burn stories. Their chemistry and the cute moments made it totally worth it.

Their backstories were both heartbreaking. Gui grew up in an orphanage, and everyone else got adopted except him. And Solo, he may be rich, but he lost his mom when he was young, and it left him deeply lonely.

Phuri & Kao

Their story is way interesting than the main couple as I’m a sucker for enemies-to-lovers, and they delivered. They bicker, they clash but when things go down, they’ve got each other’s backs. It’s a slow burn, but watching Phu slowly soften for Kao was so satisfying. They actually got me emotional by the end.

Dr. Petch & Khim

Their storyline is quirky and also interesting. Khim is a total fujoshi (into BL), and Dr. Petch pretends to be into guys but he’s really just into Khim.

There’s even a mini love triangle, but I’m glad Guitar didn’t get tangled up with the other guy. The love triangle added just enough spice without being annoying.

What I really appreciated was how the side couples were given enough screen time, but it never felt like filler. And while the show is mostly lighthearted and sweet, there’s still some drama especially with Solo and his dad.

The cinematography and soundtrack? Beautiful. The leads did well with their acting, though I felt some of the side couples were a bit stiff at times. Still, nothing too distracting. There’s definitely room for improvement.

If you're in the mood for something warm, sweet, and feel-good with a little sprinkle of drama, Oxygen is worth a shot. Just watch the first couple episodes and see if it clicks. 💖

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It could have been 10/10....

Even then.... ITS WORTH WATCHING FOR SOLO AND GUI!

I love their dynamics. It isn't a very typical "top vs bottom" scenario you see in school BL. They both take initiatives to take care of each other, not just one being the "female who needs help or being spoiled"

It's quite evenly spread out between them two, hence I find it really healthy relationship for them, with no toxicity.

Yet, it isn't shallow. They face real life issues that go beyond the typical "homophoic parents story". I wouldn't say much to avoid spoiler, but there are scenes that really are healing and touching, especially one where they are in farm with kids.

A well balanced storyline that has good mixture of school vs work, fantasy vs reality, yet really sweet and cute couple at same time!

Do I even need to mention how cute Solo is?! lol

I'd rated the show 10/10 if this show is only about them! But since, I pretty much skipped the rest of the story (as I find the rest of couples less interesting to follow), I am rating this 8/8.

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