This show deserves more love, like Jade
I believe this show deserves more love and credit, in the same vein that a person like Jade deserve love and appreciation.Look, it definitely came out at a time where BL shows with very textbook/likeable lead characters, plots beefed up with twists and steamy scenes were appearing left and right— and therefore there is the risk for the audience to undermine the simplicity and humour of The Middle Man’s Love.
What this show attempts to tell is that even a slightly off-beat guy, who masks his insecurities with his positivity and denseness, is deserving of a person who will love him and will see his “flaws” as a part of what makes his character charming and loveable.
I’m sure there’s a person out there who can resonate with Jade or knows someone like him, and we’ve often misjudged this person as not capable of finding love or attracting someone “out of this league”. I think the writers did well in making Jade’s character close to reality as an awkward human being, with some slight exaggeration to match the comedic approach of the show. One might say he’s an anti hero, but I saw myself rooting for Jade after ep1.
I also appreciate Mai’s character immensely, he complements Jade’s personality and continuously communicates well with him. He’s genuine, honest and patient, without toxic traits, which is exactly the kind of person Jade needs to surround himself with.
The show also lightheartedly tackles the theme of how insecurities and past relationship trauma can impact the way we deal with emotions. These moments appear in the most common situations, which we can all relate too.
The office dynamic is also cute and comical. It doesn’t try too hard. No toxic boses, no abusive or predatory behaviors. Intern/mentor ships are not uncommon in the BL world (even in the real world), so let’s not pretend to be holy beings here by calling that out.
Don’t get me wrong, the show is not perfect, but it’s not bad at all and does not deserve so much hate. The first time I tried to watch it, I was indeed overwhelmed by the hyperactivity of episode 1. But after giving it another chance, I started understanding its intentions and appreciating its approach and what it brings to the BL world. Eventually, I got used to Jade’s volume level and understood why that’s part of his character, as someone who tends to overcompensate.
The plot is not the thickest but it also doesn’t try to be that show. It doesn’t force crazy subplots nor introduce unnecessary characters nor overcomplicate situations which we often see in some Thai BLs. It rather focuses on the height of people’s emotions, how one would overthink and make conclusions, and situations that I honestly was able to relate to on a personal level. I’m an avid BL watcher but I’ve not written ANY reviews except for this one as I feel the need to defend it.
I’ve dropped a number of shows in the past and this one made me stay and I wish people will also give it another chance.
Overall, I genuinely enjoyed The Middleman’s Love and the TutorYim ship. They did a fantastic job as a love team.
Was this review helpful to you?
I cried when I watched the series
As a fan of both actors, I was excited to see the series. However, once the trailer was released, I questioned this excitement. The truth is, I wasn't a big fan of Bedfriends (its predecessor) for two main reasons: the acting and the editing. Today, it is these very aspects that bother me.I believe the director of this series has significant issues in directing the performances of his main actors. I realized this after analyzing that the character Jade in Bedfriends—despite being peculiar—had a much more focused, stable, and profound personality, which is not present in this continuation.
In Middleman’s Love, we see how the Jade we knew disappeared (not to mention the one from the novel). I know that Yim can act because the Jade he portrayed in Bedfriends was a good character (and the same with Syn in CutiePie). Jade (Bedfriends), Jade (Middleman’s Love), and Syn (Cutie Pie) share the commonality of being strange, awkward, and even a bit weird characters. However, Jade in Middleman’s Love is the only one who doesn't achieve those characteristics because he ends up being absurd, foolish, and almost like a five-year-old child.
On the other hand, Tutor had the easiest job since his character hardly speaks in the series (he does, but every time he does, they overlay him with unbearable music). This is a point I want to make clear. Whoever edits at Domundi (excluding Cutie Pie) doesn't know how to do it. Anyone who knows a bit about shots understands that for a fast-forward or flashback, you shouldn't use the same shots in a row, or the effect won't work (and if you're going to do it, you must know how to do it, or it ends up being a failure). They abuse this in the first episode.
In addition to that, there is a problem with the editing. The music is excessive on many occasions (not to say all), they cling to this resource and don't let go because there is not a single second where you can hear the characters simply talking. The music is always there. This is compounded by the maximalist style of editing, leaving the audience exhausted after a few seconds.
I could go on because they clearly lowered the quality from Bedfriends (the only good point in that series), but honestly, it gives me enormous sorrow to see what Domundi turned the series, its plot, and characters into. The favoritism towards certain actors is evident, and it's clear that their directors have no idea how to make a series work. Outside of shows where their favorites appear, they don't make even the slightest effort.
Was this review helpful to you?
Please get a life!
Honestly, some of these BLs shouldn’t even be on screen, maybe they show on Thai TV out of desperation? I mean, what content has this story? What’s wrong with the characters? Jade’s reactions, face expressions and the shouting made me drop the whole thing on the third episode, just not the right role for him!The rest of the cast was ok….
Also I am not sure what’s in the mind of al the script writers in Thailand as they keep on making the same old boring mistake of BLs where kids are playing adults roles and all the that boring story of confused, weird gays who don’t know what they want! Seriously! Awful
Was this review helpful to you?
Farce
If you are here because of the Bed Friend then,Uea, the kitten -----> Uea, the lion
King, the Wolf -----> King, the puppy
Lmao, King lost his groovy, and now he looks like a lost puppy.
They tried to create vice versa of the Bed Friend and make the feeling the same people but a different story. And that they added too many satirical scenes and lines. Some scenes don't make any sense, sometimes you may feel like whether you should laugh or not, and some scenes give you an inner dilemma like 'what just happened?'. Still 7 eps to leftefe. Hope for the best.
Was this review helpful to you?
Hope it will get better
I've only seen two episodes, but I have to say that im a little (really A LITTLE) disappointed. Jade is funny (even though some people could think it's cringe ;>) but the other actors are so um um.I'm not entirely sure about how to define it, but something feels off, idk what, but somethings missing hah.
But I'll keep watching! I love all their Dramas and I believe this will be no exception.
It takes a sense of humor and patience, so lets pray for other episodes to be more eyecatching :)
Was this review helpful to you?
Was this review helpful to you?
Waste of time
I was initially really looking forward to this series because of the storyline and the main actors (from Why R U). Then I was dissapointed to hear the main actors were changed but decided to give it a chance anyway...despite the horrible looking trailer with the new cast. Today I tried to watch episode 1 and had to stop. It was too painful! The character of Jade is horrible! Embarrassing, gross and just plain cringe worthy. Its not even funny to see someone acting like that and I can't understand why anyone would like him in a romantic way. I like comedy but only when its well done. This was not...I will be saving me time and passing on this dissapointing series...Was this review helpful to you?
This was hot pack Ass!!!
As the headline says ,this drama was hot pack ass!! I am not exaggerating guys!!!I am disappointed to say the least about this drama 🤦🤦
This drama was purely comedic and for ppl who want to see comedic bls this is the one for you !!!
Otherwise dont bother!!
Plot: Ass!!
Chemistry: so so
Acting: Ass!!
Let me be straight with yall!!
I would not advise you to waste ur time on this !!!
It is impossible to comprehend how Ppl can possibly still watch this !!
Its a mystery for me !!
Let me say this for the netjames fans who says " i am watching this for netjames " 😐😐😐😒😒 netjames is not going to save the plot or the acting
I bearly watched this bl for couple minutes , it didnt even reach halfway for me to drop this
It nearly made me sleep , and omg that was it for me me bro !!!
It was not giving off the vibes u would be feeling in a bl
I wish i could have exaggerated more on this but all i can possibly say about this is that i hope that the two mcs for the drama act in a better series
And once again Never to trust trailers in bls it can be misleading !!!
My advice to u all!!
Was this review helpful to you?
Sometimes don't mind the comments before starting a series!
I started knowing about the series through the BL fan pages posting clips of the series. But after reading some of the top comments left on MDL I was unsure but I still start watching it because of TutorYim that I knew and adore from Cutie Pie.And dare I say it was quite a journey through the first episode! The pacing of the episode was quite good although not quite packed with backstory for me to get to know the characters (also understandable as it is only 8 episodes). The cinematography was great (thank god for 4K Youtube) and the editing were not that horrible.
As I am not that deep into DMD's BL environment for me to compare and slam the series for it's storyline, actor/acting etc. like some of the commenters here, I think it was just a cute, bubbly, cringey BL for me to take it too seriously. Jade IS quite a handful as a character and at times over-hyper but I don't mind it. His chemistry with Mai is quite good and I'm quite surprised that I'm not into NetJames which is apparently DMD's other big BL couple that I'm not familiar yet.
The series' characters and vibe almost remind me of "A Boss and A Babe", in which both of them were not the top-notch series of the year type of series as much as an introduction series for the actors to really get experiences for acting. All and all I can say it is a good BL for you to fill up the time but you can't expect an Oscar for the series. And I do understand that for some people, this kind of series is not their cup of tea.
I can expect myself watching it through the end with hope that the story will progressing great in the future episode.
Was this review helpful to you?
A bit strange, to say the least
I started the show and I'm really really considering dropping it because of the way Yim is talking 😭😭😭 I swear he doesn't sound like this in any other drama, and I really really hope that it'll get better and less...strange. A lot of second hand embarrassment, but I appreciate NetJames and Tutor's acting.I'll have faith and keep watching !! But maybe I'll watch Bed Friends first 💔
Was this review helpful to you?
a lovely comedy series
Middleman's love is a Romance series which has a stronge comedy center plot, Jade is a whimsical and adorable character that is able to captive us from the first episode, honestly couldn't stop smiling while he was on the screen, Yim (the actor playing the role) did an incredible job expanding the depths of this lovely character we met in Bed Friend Series, can't wait to get to know Jade story better. For Mai I must say that Tutor' (the actor playing this role) charm is irresistible, he also did an incredible job in this role, Mai' foxy-like personality is intriging and engadging to watch. For the series plot I must say that is something cute to watch, can't wait to see all the funny chaos in the next episodes. One thing I must warn the Bed Friend series (show that is the prequel of this one) watchers is that now we are seeing the world through Jade' perspective, so we see the other characters through his perspective as well, for that reason Uea and King appear to be more child-like/ chaotic-like due the fact Jade percive them this way. Honestly, this show is adorable, we are only in the first episode but is something to hold on until the end.Was this review helpful to you?
This review may contain spoilers
eu não sei qual era o caminho que eles iam tomar, mas não foi bom
Essa série é simplesmente intragável de se assistir porque os personagens são extremamente insuportáveis eu só terminei de assistir para poder falar mal com propriedade quando eu li a sinopse eu pensei que o Jade ia ser um personagem que tinha Barreiras que ele tinha construído uma grande parede entre si para se proteger das pessoas que tentavam usar ele e aí com a chegada do Mai sendo estagiário ele ele ia quebrar isso e se aproximar e o Jade ia confiar no Mai mas infelizmente eu fui ludibriada porque o Jay age como se ele fosse a Poliana ele é muito besta ele é muito burro ele se faz é um personagem que pesa muito na mão da comédia não dá para levar a sério eu assisti essa série pulando partes porque eu não aguentava mais ver eu adoro o Yim e o Tutor mas a série é muito sem conteúdo não tenho que ver não tem lição não tem construção de personagem Eu sinto que é uma coisa jogada e eu fico triste porque eu queria eu achei que ia ter desenvolvimento ia ter um aprofundamento mas não teveaté tiveram um momento te tocaram quando o Jade era deixado de lado e as pessoas usavam ele mas nunca aprofundaram isso ele sempre levou tudo na brincadeira e talvez a intenção era mostrar que ele escondia isso com humor e tentativa de poder ser feliz mas só parecia que ele era muito no mundo da lua muito fora da casinha mas aí ficou sem seriedade demais é uma pena eu acho que é um plot que se tivesse construção Se eu tivesse sido mais bem escrito tenha um grande potencial podia ser algo legal ele tem também o plot onde o Jade fica bravo porque ele acha que o Mai gosta de outra pessoa mas não faz sentido nenhum porque não parece que ele gosta dele não parece que ele entendeu Até mostra que ele teve problemas de relacionamento no passado mesmo não se aprofunda Nisso porque novamente ele tenta esconder comédia Mas é ruim não é bem feito e parece que ele só é um bobo. E aí a cenas NC do nada sabe sem construção nenhuma só um negócio meio jogado no último capítulo só para as pessoas não ficarem bravas porque não teve nada sendo que não teve nada desde o começo enfim é uma pena eu não culpo os atores não significa que eles são ruins Mas significa que esse papel é ruim.
eu espero que batalha dos escritores seja melhor
Was this review helpful to you?
