Why You… Y Me?

A True Love is Love Series

I don't consider this series your typical BL series, rather a Love is Love series. Couple number one is a male-female couple, and for the first time in a very long time, they aren't watered down or given a stupid vibe. There are definitely several BL relationships, and contrary to many series with multiple couples, they all seem to have complete storyline with real relationship issues. This cast really impresses me off screen as much as they do on screen. They aren't fake with the fan service we see sooo often. The music for the series is fun and upbeat, and other than the fact that it's yet ANOTHER university setting, I'm very impressed by this series.

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mix of silliness and seriousness

Overall: I enjoyed the intentional/self aware humor and the series ended well. However I was disappointed with the way they handled something that is a crime in episode 9. Aired on YouTube. Note: the m/f couple had the most screen time but there are two m/m couples and for once I actually enjoy the m/f leads.

Content Warnings: non con picture/video taking, stalking

What I Liked
- the self aware/intentional humor including some subverted tropes (though there were actual tropes as well)
- the cute moments
- calling out sasang as bad BL fans who invade privacy/go too far*
- they used actual musicians for close ups instead of fake playing
- friendship and sibling dynamics
- production value

Room For Improvement
- *wth terrible excuse from that character for doing something dangerous and illegal, I took off a full point for this, the message should have been 'stalking people is wrong, illegal and hurtful and there are major consequences for those who stalk others - DON'T STALK PEOPLE!' I was okay with how that plot ended up but I think this whole plot thread could have been executed better.
- never a fan of love triangles
- the 1 romantic pair that wasn't a slow burn did not get enough screen time and too much of their relationship development happened off screen
- gay for you trope (they could have set this up differently but it came across as gay for you trope)

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A story of friendship

Even though there was a whole lot of shipping going on from one of the leads, the friendship had to have been my favourite. There were weirdly more kind of friendships than there were relationships for a series with three couples.

I will say, I quite liked Gap and Wah. They started off on the wrong foot, quite literally using each other (and being very open about it/not at opening up about it), but I loved the way they developed their relationship by actually having both of them take an interest in each other's passions. They were a good match for each other, their energy vibed, they were understanding of each other and had minimal misunderstandings, and even when they had arguments, each of their points of views were totally valid.

On the other hand, I very much disliked the Shogun - Maitoh - Green love triangle that was obviously never going to go Green's way. There wasn't anything particularly likeable about any of it, it was never going to break Green's way, and even then, the way they seemingly presented Shogun's crush on Maitoh as something that developed suddenly after watching Green and Toh interact closely didn't sit right with me. Didn't help that Green and Toh had more chemistry, and Shogun had better chemistry with Toh's younger brother in that one very short scene than he did with Toh the entire series.

I did want to see more of Paul and Nice though, they established their crush on each other and their relationship pretty early, but they barely got any screentime after that. They had their moments, both good and bad, but I liked the scenes of theirs that we got very much.

More than anything though, I really appreciated the friendship in this series. There was a massive friend group, besties, friends who are like your siblings, every kind of friendship vibe going on. I liked that they showed that it may not always be sunshine and rainbows, that you may not always have a great relationship, but you can have a great friendship in that moment, and in those moments they will stand by you. These scenes had a lot of comedic moments which were quite nice as well, and some genuinely moving scenes as well.

Another thing I really loved was how they called out toxic fans, throughout the episodes, all of them. There were a few instances where certain things the characters did felt very uncomfortable, but I love a show that is self aware enough to call that out. It was well done.

Even if there wasn't anything great to rave about, this series managed to make some good points while still maintaining it's light mood introduced in episode one. A casual watch with it serious moments, it has something for everyone.

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Underrated

I had never heard of this series before and just happened to have a clip of it recommended to me from youTube.. and I'm so glad it did. This was a fun show that, going from the premise, I didn't think I would like as much as I did. Seeing as it's about the craziness of fans and shipping culture, I thought I would hate it because shipping actors in real life is not my thing.. I thought it would be full of annoying girls and the antics they get up to in order to get close to their idols.

While there was some of that, the show had a lot more going on with it, including a struggling band, the relationships and friendships between the members as well as their families and the underlying idea that fans should be respectful and shipping is supposed to be a fun, harmless thing. I actually learned a few things... like that whole sasaeng thing was pretty cool how even within the fandom, they blacklist anyone who is not being respectful to the artists or are invading their privacy.

A lot of the series was still pretty juvenile and the acting was a little rough in spots but it was somehow still very entertaining and really funny. The humor was done well without being obnoxious and the chemistry between the characters was fairly decent. I enjoyed their playful banter the most, especially within the bandmates. The romance was nice but nothing to write home about. The emotionally charged moments were more enjoyable than the actual kissing or any physical moments.

Being only 10 episodes long, this was a pretty quick watch, especially with the engaging storyline and progressive pacing. I didn't feel like there was a lot of unnecessary filler and that everything happened for a reason. There weren't any aspects left unexplained or dropped which is also a big plus in my book. I would certainly recommend this as a light and fluffy watch.. maybe as a palate cleanser after a more dramatic series.

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Cute. That's it.

This is a typical formula series. Main CP is m/f and 2 others m/m. We have a group of friends (a band), there's a goofy character (who must be based off of Tong's character in KinnPorsche, he even looks like him) a capable responsible one, a closeted gay and an out gay, a doesntknowhelikesmen one and a villain. It's mostly a straight forward simple story, but quite well put together without obvious plot holes. Great scenery, some surprisingly funny scenes and a bit of emotional dialogue makes for a good watch. One big flaw, however, only 1 of the cp have good chemistry and all kisses are hugs. Or shot at an awkward angle. That's a big nope. So, overall cute, but nothing more.

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Good series

I don't know where to start.
People say this series is underrated. Yes, it is. Most likely because of two things. First, the crazy BL fangirl plot is too cringy and annoying. Second, despite this series being a BL series (no doubt about that, it has many gay characters and relationships), the main couple is hetero. We all know that a lot of BL fans have an irrational aversion towards hetero couples.
So yeah ... To make it short: I wasn't happy with every development or every character, but this series was really smart and emotional. It got me invested into the characters, their feelings, their ambitions, their motives. That's very rare, honestly. I was watching it and trying to understand what they were thinking. Normally you know the characters, the plot developments are cliché, as a viewer you don't have to dig deep into their behavior and what they are saying. Not in this series, though. There were some pretty interesting dialogues, and overall this series had a very well written script.
Also, the music, the cinematography, the coloring, it was all great. Very great for such a small series.
I want to mention, like I have seen others already saying, that the main hetero couple was adorable. My favorite couple. I wasn't the biggest fan of the gay couples and their chemistry. But their story was very well told, very interesting, and made me really think about the characters.
So yeah, go watch it.
I'm so damn tired at the moment, but I forced myself to write this review. That's the least I can do. The series deserves the praise. The rating is too low.
On a sidenote: Stick with it, and try to not get too annoyed watching the first episode. If you make it through the first episode, the rest is pure greatness.

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Intro to Twitter Idol Fan site Admins

The show literally dedicates a scene to breaking down fandom terminology at the beginning of the show for the normies that may be unfamiliar with the online/twitter fan culture before selectively delving into the strengths and issues of the culture through the characters that represent them. Namwah is the main admin of the fan account Fruitylove that is dedicated to ghost shipping an entertainer named Copter and a barista influencer called Maipai. She rudely crashes into Gap as she's running and filming content at the same time, spilling his pink milk drink, a notable drink reference from some OG bl wave moments from the mid 2010s and blaming him before huffing away. Of course the two attend the same university, the same class, and gets stuck as group project partners, so she tricks him to do their project at a Maipai event. Namwah makes Gap hold a Maipai sign, which is considerate compared to all the other shipper signs that litter the crowd. The show does not discuss the ethics of forcing or focusing a ship at an individual artist's event or to them directly. Doubly so for Maipai who doesn't even directly work with Copter. Because of drama coincidence law, Gap happens to be Copter's friend and access to tickets for his events and Namwah is able to bribe Gap to help out with her fan activity by being the sister of a famous music producer brother with a studio that his band can practice in for free 24/7.

Nawah's co-admin and best friend Noon is also revealed to be the sasaeng account who has been terrorizing Maipai to the point that he moved in with Gap. The sasaeng character gets off way too light and what she lost was all contingent on her own volition to self punish. This does show that there is the thinnest line between being a fan and a sasaeng and not enough legal nor social recourse to protect the people being harmed. Nawah wants to be stay friends with Noon despite everything and Noon is the one who breaks it off and even gets a heroic moment using her scooter to drive Gap to the contest in time. It's unclear if she even apologized and taken down all her creep posts on her account, merely saying that FruityLove is not involved. She stalked and stole things from Maipai and also stalked Copter. She used information from her best friend and Gap to dox where Maipai is living. She deserves a criminal record. It feels like the dramas that feature fans in the storylines are too fearful of truly criticizing the most toxic parts of fandom, because they do recognize that the intensity of their attention near or past the point of mania is what they rely on for money. This is one thing that doesn't need to be subtle, the shows should make it clear exactly where the line is and show consequences, even if sadly real life doesn't have them yet.

Being a online fan account often develops organizational skills to do PR which Nawah is able to translate to help Gap's band Evening Sunday. She immediately starts to post shipping moments to get attention online. Even though Namwah family is in the industry, her skills are honed entirely through fandom activities. This is the power and passion of fans that companies and artists try to pander to, fear, and in some cases even be hindered by. Whether it's negative or positive depends on case by case. Shipping moments is more socially accepting version of homoerotic fan service that boybands has long since utilized to galvanize attention that began with gay panic humor derived games way back in the day. The lines and limits of which depends on the comfort of the artist and their ability and wish to set boundaries or not between the pressures of their companies, contracts, and fan expectations. Another aspect is that a lot of the times the actors do not need to do anything and the fans will selectively curate and edit moments into a storyline that will rationalize a secret romance they want to believe between the two artists they want to ship regardless if it's real or regardless if it would be forcefully outing them if it is real. Often fans will claim this is for fun, but there is often a sizable and vocal portion of the population where the so called fun devolves into a mania where they believe the storyline that they themselves created and expects the artists to validate it . The artists often have to balance the parasocial connection that keeps the fans involved in supporting them while they promote whichever project and brands as a pair or group, while also somehow navigating through the entitlement of fan expectations. The drama does not explore this, but does mention another aspect where the band is accused of only growing their popularity through shipping bait rather than actual musical ability and also the smallest mention of fans of each artist attacking the other.

The drama asks for understanding for Namwah's love for the relationship of two entertainment people who aren't dating, but don't do too good a job of giving a clear thesis aside from it just makes her happy. There is too much understanding for the sasaeng character. I do like how they they showed the rival fan site admin also seems to be in the medical field, administering medical aid with her fellow admins becoming a impromptu medic team immediately whenever it's needed. The kindness and willingness to help each other in the community of fandom is one of the positive sides. There's also the valorizing of seemingly straight presenting fanboys who are given a lot of clout for merely being a fan of a different gender presentation than the majority of the fan population which is extremely true to life. Namwah has her own trauma suppressed skills and abilities that led her to interact with Copter as she performs with Evening Sunday. Her growing romantic connection with Gap was nicely done as was the romantic connection between her producer brother Shogun with Evening Sunday drummer and Engineer major Maitoh who happen to have all the same specific tastes from music, to movies, and especially food combinations which are more hyper specific.

The most horrific moment of the show other than it whitewashing the creepy sasaeng character is the Namwah's make over portion is the stylists snapping her prescription glasses in half. The frames and lenses may possibly be more affordable to replace in Thailand, but I need all stories to be more respectful to these medical devices, especially when the characters actually need them to see. They somehow already have Namwha's contact lens prescription available even though it doesn't seem like she's ever had them before and she's able to instantly wear and hopefully remove them with no issue. I like that Gap has already been long crushing on her way before she did the no glasses makeover. Her heartbreak over Gap having lied to get close to her and utilize her connection to her brother to elevate his band was easier to get over than her best friend betraying her was good too.

The standout romantic storyline is Maito and Shogun. I really like that Maito is seen also working on his engineering school projects alongside working on his band duties. He's always the way showing up to practice and taking all of his responsibilities seriously regardless of his developing crush on Shogun. In return, it's values that Shogun shares and appreciates in Maito. Shogun picking up the guitar to play a song and Maitoh instantly matching with the drums because they both enjoy progressive metal, which great taste, was a great intro to the pair. Maitoh is able to communicate with Shogun on behalf of the band and even help him understand his sister some more. Maitoh is the instrumental catalyst in helping Shogun to open his mind in terms of the band, his sister, and especially in romance. Shogun for his part stands up to the homophobic music equipment shop owner who looks down on Maitoh who had a crush on him when they were younger, claiming Maitoh learned the drums to get close to him. Shogun immediately announces he's going to change merchants and only asks if it was true if the reasons Maitoh learned drums was because of a guy, which of course not, Maitoh loves music which makes Shogun proud and declares Maitoh his "beloved student" in Mandarin. Shogun isn't aware at how his specific attentiveness towards Maito comes off to Maitoh nor to himself. Offering his headphones while performing a nausea alleviating wrist massage and gently holding Maitoh's wrists after Maitoh feeling some pain from practicing so much can be ambiguous, but standing shirtless and out of nowhere offering Maitoh to touch the scar on his chest is definitely some mixed messages.

It is understandable that Shogun initially tells Maitoh that he likes him as a brother because sexuality is a spectrum and he hasn't experienced that same sex attraction until he met Maitoh also sometimes the way you see people may remain platonic until suddenly they express interest in you and the way you feel changes. It's nice that Shogun has a conversation with his studio staff about how if there is someone who is everything you are looking for, but just one tiny thing, would you let that chance go and to not make it complicated because out of the billions of people on earth, is it that easy to find the one? The man has a silly haircut, but he also has sensible advice. I really liked that Maitoh sets a boundary with Shogun to put some distance between their interactions in order for Maitoh to get over him and when Shogun was watching Green take care of Maitoh that it isn't angry jealousy, but heartbreak and yearning that it isn't him. It was wild that Maitoh closed his eyes when Green was trying to kiss him, basically allowing it when Green was sabotaged by his own ship supporter Maitee, Maitoh's little bro. Maitoh was so heartbroken that he was almost willing to rebound with Green who has always tried his best to adjust to his preferences and take care of him if Shogun didn't come to his senses and showed up to win Maitoh heart back. Maitoh's parents instantly clock Shogun's food preferences match Maitoh. Maitoh being the best, directly confronts Shogun why he's there suddenly acting like he likes him after bro zoning him and doesn't say anything direct, just hugs him. Shogun does go for a kiss, but interrupted by Green who does force a kiss on Maitoh, which is not cool, but at least they make things clear between each other finally. It's so cute how Shogun snuck some bracelet making material from his sister and made a good luck keychain for Maitoh. It's a testament to real friendship that Green is able to witness the happy scene and be genuinely happy for Maitoh's happiness. Their romance gets the beach sunset conclusion with a funny moment where Shogun asks Maitoh in Manderin "Let's be together" and Maitoh's is confused asking if he's insulting him, before Shogun clarifies it means "please be my boyfriend", and they finally get to kiss. This being a private moment is better than Gap doing a whole friends and family proposal style to asking Namwah to be his girlfriend, but the girl enjoys dramatic romantic actions fanfiction style so Gap is doing right by his audience of Namwah. Maitoh already using his boyfriend powers to hold back Shogun from that paternalistic impulse to throtle pull Gap away from kissing his sister even though he was in on the confession party.

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A cute and enjoyable ride!

Before I start talking about the series, I have to specify that I didn't pay much attention to the scenes about Maito, Shogun, and Green's storyline. I watched the first half of the show in its entirety, but even after five episodes I wasn't able to get interested in them at all, so I started fast-forwarding or even skipping their scenes. Needless to say, this review is based on everything else.

I was a little hesitant to start this one, because whenever I saw fangirls in any series they're always portrayed as obnoxious, invasive, inappropriate, and ready to deliver a huge load of second-hand embarrassment to the viewers. As I saw that one of the main characters was a fangirl, I braced myself and got ready to stop watching as soon as it would get too much for me to handle. Now that I watched until the end, I can say that this might be the healthiest portrayal of a shipper that I've ever seen in a Thai series so far. Namhwa is passionate about her ship and her "main" Maipai, she participates in the events and gives her best to support in any way she can, but she never violates boundaries and overall it's just cute, funny, and even wholesome.

The plot is simple and predictable, but this doesn't take away from its charm. As I kept watching I quickly grew fond of Namhwa, Kanoon, and the members of Evening Sunday (which is a real band, and the band members in the series are the actual members of the band!). The biggest quality of the series is the care it put in the bonds between friends, other than between the couples. They all felt sincere and close to each other, both thanks to the dialogues overall and thanks to their dynamics during all the episodes.
Gap and Namhwa stole the show for me. Gap gets close to Namhwa because of his ulterior motives, but he observes her closely from the get-go and never treats her as just a tool or someone unimportant. He actually cares about her well-being and comfort, about what she likes and what she cares about. Namhwa is the same: she never acts like supporting the band is an annoying chore and actually gives her best to promote them with all she can, instead of just letting her brother do all the work, and she also pays close attention to Gap while not just distancing herself from the fandom for no actual reason. These are all things that end up being neglected most of the time, especially when it comes to straight couples in media.
As I said above, unfortunately I couldn't bring myself to watch all the scenes with Green, Maito, and Shogun. I really don't like love triangles so that might have been part of the reason, but they didn't get my attention even when I was trying hard to focus on them. While the other characters were fleshed out immediately, they always seemed annoyingly plain.
As for Paul and Nice, they were definitely hilarious and adorable in their own way, but they had very little screentime and their subplot lacked substance to have much of an impact on their characters.
Last but not least, I appreciated the lack of fanservice. Not many scenes with the characters randomly stripping or being without a shirt (I actually only saw a couple) and no steamy kiss scenes, even within the couples. The focus was on the communication and the emotional bonding and I loved it.

If you're considering watching this series because of the BL couples, I can't say I recommend it. I want to recommend it because it's cute, fun, refreshing, and has one of the best straight relationships I've ever seen in a Thai series.

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AWESOME!. 8.5/10.

Seriously this series is so good!

Honestly, I considered watching this because of MAXKY, I want to watch more of his acting and He didn't disappoint me, and exceeded my expectations of him.

As for the series, I thought it's gonna be boring because the plot is so common. However, after watching episode 2 It got me excited for the next episodes, especially for the main female lead (Namwa), she represents all BL fans specially me!. I was laughing the whole time watching, at the same time it seems there's butterflies in my stomach everytime she saw/imagining some BL moments, and I like that about this series. And also for the Ghost ship of this series Copter-Maipai (Mean-Plan ), their one time interaction is ok but I expected more of them since they are my favorite couple in Love by Chance the series but in this show they didn't really show scenes as a couple for the fans to see, maybe it giving us a hint that there's no more bl ship of them, thinking that make me sad but, if its really their decision to go on separate ways just like in the last episode of this series, then we should just support them. That's all for my review.

By the way before I forgot, MAXKY YOUR SO AWESOME!!!

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Clichê, mas nem tanto

Uma série mediana, com casal principal hétero que perdeu o protagonismo para o casal BL, nada de novo sob o sol.

Um plot normal, mas que se comparado a outros do mesmo segmento é até bem original. A fã girl de um casal imaginário de ídolos acaba cruzando seu mundo com um cantor de uma banda pequena e sem prestigio, chamado Gab, que sem que ela saiba divide o apartamento com o ídolo dela. O encontro desses dois mundos vai dar toda a liga da história. Ela e Gab vão trabalhar juntos para dar visibilidade à banda dele, ela vai fazer com que seu irmão, um produtor famoso (e belíssimo) se envolva nesse projeto e acabe se apaixonando por um dos membros, tendo que competir por esse amor com outro membro da banda, e o amor entre ela e Gab vai acontecer naturalmente.

A série traz alguns pontos aparentemente bobos, mas passíveis de atenção, como as brigas entre fandons e até onde elas podem ir, causando prejuízos financeiros, físicos e psicológicos tanto nas fãs como nos idols, fala a respeito das "sassaengs", e da necessidade de respeito à privacidade dos famosos. O trauma sofrido por Nam Wa que a impedia de cantar foi vencido graças ao amor que ela sentia por Gab, e infelizmente constatamos que algumas sassaengs na verdade tem problemas psicológicos a ponto de preferirem perder qualquer coisa a deixar esse estilo de vida.

No mais, apesar dos pequenos dramas que contém grandes lições, é uma série leve e fofa. Graças a Deus eu shipei certo o casal BL e o fato do garoto rejeitar o amor de seu colega de banda para ficar com o produtor não fez com que a amizade deles acabasse.

A atuação é ótima, apesar de alguns atores iniciantes, a ost é linda e a fotografia é incrível.

Indico a série, gostei bastante.

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