Good introduction to the "BL world"
This is one of the VERYYY first BL series I've watched and I'm so glad that I happened to watch Manner Of Death in particular. I mean- it's just just something that has "interesting enough" storyline and isn't cheesy but at the same time isn't too heavy. Of course I'd say this series is more on the "serious" side but it's not going to break you into small pieces that can never be collected together. It has some serious heartbreaking scenes but it also contains a lot of funny moments and romantic ones and it's all just.. well-balanced. Great acting, unique storyline and will for sure make you want to explore the world of BLs more 😆Was this review helpful to you?
A queer twist on a classic crime thriller
I liked this one! It's different, intriguing, and on the whole pretty good fun.The acting, cinematography, and pacing are all solid and make for an enjoyable whodunnit thriller experience.
The murder mystery is, for the most part, very well executed and fun to guess along with and is balanced quite well with the romance elements.
The characters are largely well-written and feel fully fleshed-out and three dimensional. My personal favourites are Sorawit and That, my beloved itty bitty gay sleuths, but the rest of the cast is, if not likeable, then at least interesting and compelling to watch as well.
This show isn't perfect by any means; in keeping with classic crime drama tradition it is more concerned with aesthetics and style, as well as making the viewers *feel* something rather than with telling an entirely logical and coherent story.
This to say there are several plot holes (although how bothersome these are is entirely subjective) and the story side-lines character development and gets a little too wrapped up in its own twisting, turning mystery for my personal taste towards the end.
I also wish there had been more plot-relevant female characters who don't wind up dead or otherwise disposed of, but for what it's worth the women of this story all get plenty of screen-time and agency, which sadly isn't a given in many male-centric queer media, or even in crime dramas for that matter.
All in all though, Manner of Death, despite its shortcomings, represents a step in a new direction for the genre and likely helped pave the way for later shows to deviate even further from well-established tropes and plots and for that alone I appreciate it greatly.
So if you're interested in watching a little piece of queer film history, or are looking for a well-paced thriller that is neither afraid of exploring some very dark topics nor of casually incorporating queerness into its characters and plots, then you should definitely give this show a try.
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loved it!
one thing i love about this bl was that it didn't centre around being a bl. It just felt so fresh that the main theme was a murder mystery and they stayed consistent with the theme. The main leads falling in love was just something that happened along the way just like any other drama. I do love when representation is discussed and portrayed and talked about so if you're looking for that, this drama doesn't have that but what it does have is a murder mystery involving friends, family and teenagers. it's a good watch tbh! totally recommend!Was this review helpful to you?
This review may contain spoilers
This is predominantly a crime drama
I watched this show because it had good ratings and reviews, but as a BL fan I was dissatisfied. Yes, MaxTul become a couple, kiss, and have one sex scene. They even get married at the end, although without a kiss. But the focus of this show is on the crime drama, and very little time is devoted to the development of their relationship. I don’t mind BLs that have a focus other than the romance, but I also want romance! They didn’t even kiss at the end! Plus there’s supposed to be two teenage boys who are a couple, except the only reason it’s clear they are a couple is because MaxTul talk about them being a couple. Otherwise all they do is ruffle each other’s hair and smile at each other.The crime drama was pretty well-done but the heinousness of human trafficking combined with multiple murders of sympathetic characters made it too intense for me. I’ve watched lots of crime dramas before so it’s not that I don’t know what to expect but 14 episodes about the same criminals was a lot. Yes there are a few story twists at the end but overall I thought even the crime story could have been told in a few less episodes.
The acting was good and the story overall was clear cut. There were a few times I got confused but not enough to keep me from understanding what was going on.
I admit I didn’t notice the music. It just indicated scary things were coming.
I would not rewatch this as the BL parts were too minimal and so many of the characters were awful people I don’t want to revisit them. I would look for other dramas with MaxTul though.
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If you want to watch a detective series or a BL where romance take secondary place
It looks like it was not a high paid project, but it still looks good and has a unique atmosphere. These foggy landscapes, forests and houses made of wood, street markets, Viangpha Mork's small population where everyone knows each other. It's beautiful, and it's something I'd like to rewatch someday simply because of this little and alluring world. The story is not so pretty. Terrible things are happening here, many towners have skeletons in their closets. Dr. Bunn - who is a new medical examiner in town - is expected to play his silent role, which he denies and so he gets involved and very badly.Time flows slower here, and the plot will unfold bit by bit with each episode. Music builds up pressure very well, though I'd like to see more vocals in series, not just instrumentals. Love story doesn't take much time - the attraction between TanBunn is immediate and there is nothing to stop them aside from dangerous case they are involved in and death threats. New obstacles appear between them, but they try to protect what they have, not always making good choices, but still listening to each other. Their flirt is something too X)
Young cast have something to learn, but I was amazed bythe play of older actors, especially by Max, Tul, Mint, Foei and Great (the character doesn't show much emotions and mostly driven by his will to do his job right, but the actor portrays him with appropriate style, Inspector M is the most real for me in the series).
Overall, I can not say the series look fantastic and new, outcome wasn't unexpected and there were too many men jumping out of nowhere with guns, but - aside from the last one - everything else was smooth, adding up and with unique charm. It's a pleasure to slowly explore the story. Definitely recommend if you want to watch a detective series or a BL where romance take secondary place.
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Favorite Show At The Moment.
The BL content as well as romance happened to be there, with the exception of it wasn't the main plot. I started watching this because of the BL content but stayed for the amazing story. The story itself surprised me every episode as well as kept me coming back for more.. I never could figure out the outcome of the story which I usually do when I watch anything suspenseful. The characters happened to be complex as well as the actors played their roles so well, I forgot they happened to be acting. However, I believe the side characters could've been more complex as well.Was this review helpful to you?
Must Watch!!!
Wow, this was an outstanding series. This had so many impactful storylines. The best thing about this series is it’s a crime mystery first and a BL series second, which I love. The script has wonderful. It had so many twists and turns to keep you guessing without getting you confused. There are some big surprises towards the end that I did not see coming. All of the actors did an amazing job with portraying their characters. Tul and Max are outstanding actors and have great on-screen chemistry. This series helps show off their acting skills. The cinematography was stunning.Was this review helpful to you?
I'm sad that I got disappointed...
Maxtul is known as the Kings of BL, so I was expecting sth (not much though), when I started with this series, my first Maxtul show. Idk if it's bc this is not romance focused, but I didn't feel much of their chemistry unfortunately... Honestly in the first 2-3 ep I felt a lot of good tension between them, but later on not much, or rather nothing... I will make sure to watch Tomorrow with you to give myself a chance to like Maxtul...Aside from Maxtul chemistry, I also had some expectations for the story (again not very high), since I've read a lot of good comments. I got a little disappointed, there were some plot holes and much of the story was predictable (but it also had some very good plot twists), so I wasn't very impressed. Maybe bc I have already watched Not me, another BL series, that doesn't mainly focus on romance, so this wasn't really sth new for me.
The 2nd last scene was predictable for me as well & tbh I cringed a lot...
Nevertheless I liked ThatSorn, they were very cute!
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This review may contain spoilers
"Manner of Death" is a drama about a doctor named Bun who returns to his hometown and finds himself involved in a series of deaths. He meets Tan, a mysterious man who enters his life and is a very suspicious person.The two discover that there is a group of men in the town who use drugs to attract women, and they rape and abuse them non-stop. Bun's friend Jane didn't want to do that anymore, she was killed to keep the truth from coming out. At first, we thought Jane was killed by her boyfriend Pued, but in reality, it was her sister Rungtiva who killed her, all to keep her dirty and illegal things a secret.
This drama was a real disappointment, the story is confusing, directionless and the romance between Bun and Tan is just weird. They just met and already they are in love with each other. It was clear that the writers wanted to use the popularity of the actors as a couple in "Together with Me", to replicate that here... but it just didn't work.
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This one went way beyond my expectations
I was very hesitant about this series, because murder mysteries aren't my cup of tea - if I have to choose, I'd pick a sweet romcom over a thriller any time. After seeing "Manner of Death" popping up among BL recommendations, I finally gave in and decided to give this series a try, ready to drop it as soon as I got bored with it.Now that I finished binge-watching the entire series in the span of a couple days, I can confirm that it was absolutely worth it. The only reason I gave it a 9 instead of a 10 is that, as I said, it's not my preferred genre, but that's it, because everything else was great.
The plot was very well built. It's well-paced throughout all the episodes and there are no useless/filler moments anywhere (I especially appreciated the lack of the usual product placement skits that can be found in several Thai BL series). It's very suspenseful and I genuinely couldn't figure out who was the culprit and what was the entire story like until the end. The characters and the music are very well utilized as well.
I hadn't realized that the main actors were Tul and Max, the same main leads as in Together With Me, but when I noticed I felt so happy to see them again in a series together. More than anything, I was happy to see that they got a series without the annoying dynamics of Together With Me and its sequel - both actors are very good and have great chemistry, so they really deserved it.
Another thing of Manner of Death that I greatly appreciated was the very little drama regarding the main couple's romantic relationship. There was no insecurity about anyone's sexuality, no ex relationships, no miscommunication (and if there was any hint of it, it didn't last long). The dramatic part of the drama was entirely for the mystery murder part of it, which made me appreciate the main story a lot more.
I'd rather not say too much about this series because I think it's better to just watch it and enjoy. Be careful for several sensitive topics in case you have problems with those, but other than that? You're in for a great ride.
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A MUST WATCH FOR BL LOVERS: A LITERAL BREATH OF FRESH AIR
I wish I could give an in-depth review but time does not permit me. I would just like to say that this show is great. PERIOD POINT-BLANK. Yes, there are few misses here and there, but are they enough to make this a bad show? Not even close. Because come on, which show is perfect? I think this show stayed true to its genre: a crime/thriller BL. The crime did not overshadow the BL and vice versa. Everything flowed so well together. IT IS WORTH YOUR TIME, trust me. I came here for MaxTul and I most definitely was not disappointed in the least. I love this show. Like this is the only show I have ever written a review for!Was this review helpful to you?
This review may contain spoilers
A mystery/romance series done well (finally ?)
BE CAREFULL THERE ARE SPOILERS HERE!!
IVE FINALLY MADE IT. I've watched this series after basically delaying it for YEARS. (If u wonder why is just that I've heard only good thing and I didn't want to get disappointed, if it was bad, or set my expectation too high if it was good). But it was worth the wait, and I'm honestly glad I've watched when I was more mature and able to understand better this world, cause it was a very intresting and honestly good series. I've enjoyed every minute of it, it left me speechless in some part and made me feel like a genius in other.
So, imma start with a short synopsis: after a guy, called Bun come back to his hometown a series of death start happening in the town, and since he is a doctor he has to conduct the autopsies. While everybody firmly believes that it was a suicide, Bun is fully convinced that there is something behind and decide to start investigating, helped by this mysterious guy called Tan (a colleague and friend of one of the victim, and a very suspicious person indeed, at least at the beginning).
From here on they descover a sick world made by human trafficking, prostitution (of even m1nors) and a very dark and twisted system that involves some of the most powerful people of the city.
Now, I am an absolute sucker for investigations, Thriller and everything that involves some kind of mysteries, so u can understand how exited I was watching this series after just the first ep. And honestly call me nostradamus cause I was able to get a couple of person whom I found very suspicious actually being involved.
Even if I understood them it's still very true that the show is PACKED with plot Twist, discoveries, new suspicious people at literally every new episode. U just never get to rest in this huh? And it's good cause one of the main problems in Thai bl is their slow pacing while this show was able to keep me entertained for the entirety of the runtime. And this is honestly the show (among those with more mature theme) that was able to balance romance and action the best. As much as I have loved other shows, they either focus too much of the action or, way worst, on the romance. This series was able to find a good balance that I quite enjoyed tbf.
If I gotta say one thing that didn't make sense to me was... what happened to Natty? And to Nam?? It was kind of s plot hole... I mean, why would they have syringes punctures? It made sense with Jane and the way she died but the other??? Was just to show they assumed drugs I guess?? Idk, it was never confirmed and we will live with the doubt.
After finishing the series I was honestly so angry with like half of the character in the show. The absolute ability of this show to make me hate almost everybody was buffering. I especially hated Rung (Jane's sister) and Gun (the second police man) + the police officer I completely forgot the name of, glad he is in prison. At least I can say that the character were complex, not just one faced, and they were very human, in a lot of thing they did, even in their mistakes. There were not only "morally white/morally black character" like some series love to write. All of them made at least one mistake that made u think "he is human"... some were just pure assholes tho.
And the series was full of small details that just made it all 100% better. Like when the inspector before killing Gun says to him that he chose to follow the wrong people (the same words Gun told him before attempting to killing him).. or, my personal favoruite of the entire series, when Rung was talking about how Pued "killed" Jane she explained everything she did, everything she said and just pretended that this was a convo between Jane and Pued. And it makes so much sense cause a lot of time killer projects into other the murder they made and it was honest so impactful. Even Pued last word "you know Jane loved you so much" in the confession Rung pretended that she was the one who told them to Pued instead... so good.
The main couple was great. I felt the chemistry and I understood what made them fall in love with each other (which is not something u can tell about s lot of series). I think Bun was a little too forgiving at times tho. Your man basically handcuffed you to the staircase so that u could escape from the house for TWO FULL DAYS and not even a "fck you" or being s little angry? OK.. or even at the proposal like damn I would kill tan if he proposed to me this way. However they were cute, so I'll let it pass
Acting wise the series was OK. Some actor really had it in them. Some had some amazing microespression that just made everything more believable. Jane's actor deserve the mvp, cause filming your death scene three times is not joke. Max and Tul were OK. My main problem was that every single time the camera panned to Tul he resembled so much Bright (don't ask me why idk) that I just kept seeing Bright and kept getting distracted. But he was way better than Bright in terms of acting (even if they both overuse the smirk a little too much).
And honestly, when the writers are able to give u a good script for your character your job is way easier, and I gotta be honest, this series had some of the best script I've seen in a long time. Things felt natural for once.
The direction also killed it. It's true, there weren't that many imagoneries in the show but the couple that were present were absolutely gorgeous (I'm talking about the cliff above the lake where Bun pretended to die or the view of the mountains at the very end of the last episode. Great job of playing it all on the green (intelligent use of the place u were in)
As for the music i really liked it. And u know why? Cause it wasnt even there. Like fcking finally, honestly. Like I'm so tired of watching a series, getting very investe in a romantic scene and right when they are about to kiss a random Thai man start singing in my ears, volume +3000 comparred to the series (i seriously get scared every single time) and it completely take away the momentum. Also, call me horny if u want, but when a kiss scene roll around id rather ear them kiss than just hearing random song roll around. And I'm so glad that this series was made with some thought into it. Also, I love the opening: simple, straight to the point (plus the pictures of all the character were very hot)
SO... if u are someone who likes those typa series, with a mystery to solve, morally ambiguous characters and a good romance this show it's absolutely for you. It will make u doubt of everyone while still getting so attached to the main character
Ps. I thanked at every episode whoever chose to put great in such a tight police uniform. We thank u for your hard work.
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