I Told Sunset about You

Full stars

This show i believe deserves everything good. The way the team behind did their research properly and built such amazing and complex characters that anyone watching would buy completely. What i love most of all is how you want to hate and love certain characters but end up understanding the most, as they are simply just human. There was not a single character or moment of this show that i didn’t like and some scenes were artistically very beautiful. I’ve been recommending this show to anyone left and right, even people that usually stick to their usual american soapies.

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Desire, jealousy/envy, unspoken words, touchstarving, confusion, acceptance.

Back in 2021, I was really confused about everything in this show (ngl). Still, I was able to like and feel a lot of things while watching it. I watched it like anything else and moved on, until this year (2023/2024) when I decided to rewatch the show. Now, I can relate a lot to the characters; the restrained desire is something that happens in almost all teenage love, especially when you don't really know yourself anymore.

"What if he likes me? I really like them?
" What would happen if we stayed together?"

The physical touch needing. At the same time, Teh wants; he's so confused about his feelings and thinking a lot of things. He's scared and worried because he's never felt this way before. He doesn't say anything because, in the end, he doesn't even know. The journey is kinda about them trying to figure out themselves (totally normal for young people). But these feelings end up hurting people around him too. "Confusing people ends up hurting amazing people," that phrase perfectly matches. Oh Aew is secure about himself and loved him with all his heart; both did the only thing is that Teh didn't want to accept. I got so happy at the end, it's perfect for all they went through. Teh's character grew so much, all he wanted was to not disappoint his mother. A lot of pressure was put on him due to his brother and in the end he handled it very well. I think what really helped him was opening up. This way, he could understand himself better.
"We are so strong." - Oh Aew

The actors portrayed the characters so well. Even though they were young, they did a really great job. We can feel everything they want to express. And the BGM helps a lot too. I LOVED the OST; it's hard for me to pay attention to BGM, but this one perfectly matches the series. It's beautiful; everything in here is beautiful. This is my 2nd time rewatching, but I feel I could go for more 2. We can see how hard everyone worked on this show, the whole team. They managed to pull everything together in a magnificent way. I can't say more.
The way the scenes were put together, the silent moments, the melancholic cinematography, omg.

Such a simple story came out in such an interesting and profound way.

ALSO, TARN, BAS, AND HOON, YOU ARE THE BEST CHARACTERS. Especially Bas and Tarn; everything they went through because of Teh, and they are still the sweetest people on this show.

The underwater scene. The conversation they had when they were floating symbolizes a lot of things (at least this was my interpretation).

"I love when the seawater touches my back; I feel like something is holding me up." - Teh
"But you need to hold your breath all the way with this posture; sometimes it gets uncomfortable." - Oh Aew
For me, this means the feelings that Teh suppresses when they are "above the earth," when everyone is seeing and expecting something from him. And then the next dialogue happens.
"And when I don't want to control anything, I release my breath and let myself sink." - Oh Aew
At that time, they both go underwater and simply let themselves feel each other. The place where they don't control anything, where they don't care about anything. The place where Teh lets himself go completely, and everything he feels comes out.

There are a lot of other scenes like this too; I feel like everything has meanings, and we can't catch up with all of them in just one viewing. I identify with Teh lol, both with touch starvation and the way he suppresses his feelings.

Now it's time to watch I Promise You The Moon!!!!

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The Perfect Coming Out Love Story Does Not Exis- Well It Does

I have so many things to write about this series. So many that I know I can't complete if I start ranting.

So I will just keep it short.

First of all, exceptional script, perfect acting, phenomenal music, top notch cinematography. I loved the symbolism of hibiscus flower.

I loved how there is jealousy but there is no ill feeling. The is heartbreak but there is very mature ways of dealing with it. There is good communication. There is very well written female character arc. There is genuine care between friends. There is the best supportive big brother everyone deserves.

Let's talk about the actors. PP Krit and Billkin. Hats off boys. The chemistry, the soft glances, the smirks, the hint of jealousy, the rivalry, so so perfect. I have watched a few rivals/friends to lovers dramas, but the sublime calmness in each of their actions were brilliantly portrayed.

There is visceral reaction of pain, there is confusion, fear of judgement, there is everything that we can completely relate to. The characters are not something out of showbiz but they are like us, normal people. The characters are humane.

There are missing opportunities, some angry miscommunication but at the end of all requited love.
Even the title of the series is so poetic. The story flows like river along with the plot and the characters.

This series will be among my top 10. I am forever indebted to the whole for making this series, a true creative gift.

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What Do I Say That Others Haven't Already?

It's taken me quite awhile to gather my thoughts about this show to be able to write a coherent review. I had to have time to let go of some of the remembrance of my own coming out and what my feelings were like. The pain was too real watching this unfold on the screen. So now that I've had several weeks put behind me here we go.

The story is fairly straight forward and rather mundane (barring Teh's audition in the beginning) in the beginning that it really set the stage for what builds up to the relationship between Teh and Oh-aew later on in the series. This isn't so much an enemies to lovers story as it's a story of best friends falling out and coming back together and then falling in love on a rollercoaster ride of emotions faced by so many gay youth but especially gay youth growing up in a conservative society such as Thailand.

The strength of this series lies not so much in the story itself but in how it's told through the two actors and their relationship to the roles and to each other. Billkin in particular in his portrayal of Teh shows the depth of anguish coming to terms with who you are and who you love when it's outside of who you thought you were.

PP as On-aew on the other hand broke me. He knew who he was and knew who he loved. He was willing to be out for that love but wasn't given the same in return. The rejection he kept having to endure over and over again when he reached a hand out was so heartbreaking it was almost too painful to watch. But I felt like stopping would have been a disservice to the actor and the character he was portraying. So I continued on and I'm glad I did.

The end result of this series was a healing of sort for both characters. On-aew was able to heal the rejection he was feeling and was able to feel loved. And Teh was able to heal the fear he was feeling and was able to accept On-aew's love and to give his freely in return.

This was not an easy story to watch. A lot of painful memories were brought up for me afterwards and I spent a lot of time talking to my best friend as we both went through similar things when we went to school together (he as a gay man and me as a queer woman). That talk and this series were both healing for me as well. I recommend that if you are a gay individual that you have a support system in place when facing these things because they can be really difficult. And if you choose to watch this beautiful series please make sure to treat yourself and your experiences kindly.

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Beautiful production of an angsty teenage drama

Production was top notch, as well as soundtracks. Their chemistry was great, as well as acting, But I had to deduct 2 points for Teh's ugly crying. Ugly crying could be powerful if used once or twice only when it's appropriate. But for the last half of the series Teh broke into weeping too many times - I stopped empathizing with him, it was just downright cringy. Another thing that irritated me the most was his mother's lack of tact and acting in general, but it's a good thing she got so little screen time. I loved the show but I'd probably never rewatch it, because last 2 episodes were quite frustrating to be honest.

On a side note, I was quite surprised by how well Tam's character was written - bls rarely build up a thought through female support character, her acting seemed so authentic. But the most impressive part was production - every scene was just so beautiful, I couldn't take my eyes off the screen.

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"CAN I ASK YOU FOR ONE THING: DO NOT DISAPPEAR"

Such a beautiful story.

I only watched this series in January 2023 (together with its sequel I Promised You the Moon). I have seen the title mentioned on Youtube as a must-watch BL series in 2020, and just found it on Netflix earlier this week. I binge-watched all 10 episodes and could only say: wow, what a beautiful story line. You get to see all the struggles and anxiety that young people experience as they grow up, the awkwardness, confusion and strong yearning you feel when you fall in love with someone, and the struggles, and often times denial, you have growing up gay. But what is more beautiful is the way friendship (including animosity and mixed feelings) between the two boys was portrayed, besides romance and a little bit of eroticism.

The cinematography was superb. I loved the Phuket scenery (and still wish to go there), the shophouses, the Chinese temple/shrine and a glimpse of the Chinese-Thai culture in Phuket, scenes at both Teh's and Oh's houses, the Chinese language classroom, the cafes where the boys hang out, and of course the beach and ocean. One of the best scenes I liked was when young Oh was performing martial arts in the play, while young Teh did complementary movements backstage. This was so beautifully done. Love it so much.

There were also some symbolism and beliefs that were well-portrayed. Using your left foot on your first step (never knew about this belief), the scent of coconut and the red hibiscus all has deeper meaning which I can't describe, but loved it anyway.

I also just found out that Billkin and PP were the ones who sang most of the songs in the soundtrack. So cool.

Although sometimes the silence between the two boys can be a bit too long, I still loved the way the two boys interact with each other, even as they fight, they're still cute and you know that deep down inside they love each other. Surprisingly, Oh is the one who is more daring to expose his feelings compared to Teh (also in the sequel, Oh is somewhat more mature than Teh, in terms on how he sees his life moving on).

Other characters were also well-portrayed. The typical, proud Asian mother (hope I am not stereotyping), the loving, caring and understanding brother (also he may seem aloof at times), and Bas, the rival boyfriend who turned out to be such a sweet boy (could not help wondering what would happen to him after this).

Overall, I can only say I loved this series and just rewatched it last night (and am going to rewatch I Promised You the Moon later, after I write a review for that one). I also noticed that most reviews here gave ITSAY a straight 10 overall :-)

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Fabulous and hidden gem of bl series 2020

Seriously what’s wrong with the YouTubers where bl fans upload tons of bl series mix because this video never reached to me since 2020? How did I even missed this hidden gem and was watching bullshit bl drama and ending up in middle of the series … guys let me tell you please do watch this series so emotional and realistic how they both sacrificed to each other I love it and there is season 2 gonna start with that on next weekend finished this series within a day may be because of 5 episodes we couldn’t see story goes slowly but still it was good at maximum not some stupid college dramas this was wholesome straight boy and gay boy , career , sacrifices , friendship ,family really a good series and acting was so good please don’t go after only handsome boys and say good acting these male leads also good looking and great acting but never saw this couple anywhere in social media I hope they get more exposure and success in their series career all the best team and please other bl directors learn from this director how story and acting shud be not only based on bad scenes but also good emotional moments well done to whole team thumps up

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ENEMIES TO LOVERS EXCELLENCE

This bl drama has everything a bl drama should have! Story and acting were top notch! I usually don’t write reviews and infact this is the first time I’m writing a review because I just couldn’t stop myself from writing a review for this.

Starting of this drama has a really very different vibe from other Thai drama that I have seen it is so aesthetically pleasant. Angst at its best!

Talking about acting it was great!

The story I’ll say it was nothing out of box or extremely unique but it’s simplicity makes it so beautiful!

All I’ll have to say is if you don’t watch this drama then you’re missing out on a really good drama and when I say really good it is REALLY GOOD

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Rollercoaster of emotions

I have never come across such a perfect BL series before. Be it the cinematography, the story line, the main cast - everything touched my heart. The near kiss moments had me eating right out of the director's hand. I was on the edge of my seat the entire time, feeling same emotion as the boys did. I felt hurt when Oh felt hurt. I felt anxious when Teh felt anxious. There was not a moment in the drama that I would go back and replace with something else. Every moment was precious. The pauses throughout the series helped build the tension. While I am not a fan of slow burn, this one definitely had me thinking other wise. The character development was immense. To be able to feel so many emotions at once, I think this series was a gift in disguise of carefully crafted imagery.

After watching so many BL series, I thought nothing could surprise me anymore. But subtle scenes and without much kinship, this series went on to show that excellent acting and music can make anything magical. Coming to the acting, I think both guys were on point. The emotions were so intense, every time they stared at each other, the way they understood each other without the need of words - in my mind I was yelling, "Crescendo crescendo crescendo." And as if I wasn't already enamored by those two, I think the rest of the cast did an excellent job too. The way Tarn was portrayed and the symbolical meaning behind the hibiscus, I could feel in her shoes what it might have felt like to see the person you liked so much not suddenly not return the same feelings anymore. I loved the addition of background music at each place. Every time the beats became faster, even without anyone telling I knew something was about to happen. Then at some point the music would just leaving nothing but silence in its wake. I think that helped intensify our feelings as a viewer >.<

Frankly, I actually didn't know such a series existed. It was a chance encounter through one of the review forums where I saw the name and just by hearing the title alone, I was eager to watch it. And I am so glad it did. The story is a roller coaster of emotions. I cried so hard when Oh asked his parents if they were proud of him. I think as a child, acceptance from your parents is the biggest support one can ask for. There is nothing more valuable than being accepted by the people around you for who you are. Asking for acceptance can be scary. But realization is scarier. The fact that Oh openly posted his pic in lingerie and then deleting it within seconds tapped on a touchy subject. Or the fact that Teh jerked off to the same. Damn! They subtly touched over quite deep concepts and it didn't feel awkward at all. The flow of things was uncharacteristically natural.

I feel this series deserves much more than 8.4 on MDL. And I heard there is a second season to it. So goodbye! Thank you for reading my line of thoughts (I know I am bore people out of their minds sometimes but who cares!) I am off to my next station!

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A beautifully told story

This just gives realism. Even though the character Teh is hella dramatic, it still feels realistic. The miscommunications were not a mere trope and plot tool. The writing expressed relatable ways in which people can be. They may say one thing and do another. And two people with the closeness of these two main characters are often left reading into the actions of the other, so that the truth of their relationship is much deeper than what ithers hear or see. There is a connection underneath it all that requires understanding, and the conflict comes when that understanding falters.

I thought the actors pulled it off quite beautifully. Even the music had a lit of great moments. The cinematography was also beautiful, romantic and melancholy.

Nice series.

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