We Are

Story? What story? Just cute boys falling in love!

PhumPeem:
They were the slow burners of the show, and were they slow bruningggg. I loved watching them grow as people, especially Phum. Loved watching him go from a cocky bastard to someone who started to care about and understand Peem. I loved how they became each other's safe place, and when one was in trouble or in need, they'd just go to each other for comfort. The scene where Phum finally spoke to his dad nearly made me tear up. The love they hold for each other was honestly so beautiful. It was disgustingly sweet. Bleh.

QToey:
The reason why I started this show 6 weeks in. Worst and best idea of my life I must say. And they fucking delivered. WhinnySatang are so underrated it hurts. I didn't even realise how many shows I've seen them in, and mainly remember them from MSP, but they can fucking act! THEY NEED THEIR OWN SERIES ASAP!! That crying scene? Bruh, the reason wasn't even that serious, but bloody hell they gave their whole backs for that performance. I still have chills thinking about it. Toey is just so baby girl coded I love it with my entire being. And Q being the sassy, sarcastic, tsundere bestie is everything. This kind of dynamic is my religion. Fucking fight me. I like vanilla too, okay, Helen? Watching the entire gang go with the random shenanigans just to get Q to admit his feelings was hilarious. Watching him warm up to Toey and Toey slowly not being scared of Q was just endearing.

TanFang:
I ended up enjoying this couple more than I thought I would. They are legit each others soulmates in every drama series. SO WHY DON'T THEY HAVE THEIR OWN SERIES YET?! HUH, GMMTV?! These two kill it every time, no matter in what role or dynamic they are put in. They can act, they got chemistry, SO CAN WE STOP PUTTING THEM AS BG COUPLE??? I know they got together pretty quickly, but the lack of screen time was annoying. I wanna see more lovely dovey Fang behind close doors. I know boy is a sassy motherfucker who be dropping bombs every where he goes, but I need to see him with Tan at home. I wanna see the soft side he only shows him. I will forever be a Fang defender, and any who thinks he don't like Tan, get glasses. Rewatch the show. Do. Better.

ChainPun:
If PhumPeem where the slow burners of the show, then these two were oven turned off. Ship not even sailed cuz captain forgot to give the order to go. PhumPeem walked so they could crawl. Pun being so fucking oblivious when the whole world and their dead grandma knew about Chain's feelings was fucking hilarious. And that kiss? I have never screamed and cried and been so shook in my life. I deadass did not expect any of that. And then Pun went in for a second one?? They knew the fans were hungry, so they devoured and delivered.

Other stuff:
Overall, the friendship of this whole group was what carried the show. If one is looking for plot, there is none, look the other way. All conflicts are mostly internal. Its basically them figuring out their feelings and emotions for their partners, and growing as individuals. But after they get together? There is no conflict what so ever. And I'm a slow burn lover. I love it to my core when it's done correctly. But this was just slow burn with no substance. If there is no plot to carry so many eps, then it just feels like it's dragging. And that's what PhumPeem felt like to me. "I only know that I love you" — 13 episodes. 13?! Yeah, that's too much. But it had me squealing so whatever.

There were a few eps in here that added nothing to the story overall, and honestly could have been taken out of the show and be substituted for something else. Add conflict, add some drama that feels relevant. And no, no misunderstanding or miscommunication. But like the whole shtick with Phum's dad that we could have done. TanFang having some issues that they had to resolve instead of them being the diabetes of the show. Phum and Fang's family are RIGHT there. We could have had that. We could have had Peem's background problems, or added more to ChainPun. I don't see why the directors changed them to be a couple, only to have them in the last ep.

Matt needs more appreciation in this show. Man was single-handedly carrying most of the comical scenes. "You always order me to do this and that ... I'll convince Toey to date someone else." The shit this man does and says is amazing. And the little somethin' somethin' they were doing with him and Mick was... well, bombastic side eye.

In conclusion, I'm a Fang defender to my dying breath, Tan best boi, Q is my spirit animal, Satang needs more baby girl roles, and glad Phum and Peen finally decided to grow brain cells and talk about their feelings.

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An Ensemble Casting with a Good Storyline

“We Are” is a medley of romantic tropes and sappiness that is very welcome in the BL scene. It is the quintessential romcom, an easygoing series about a group of friends who find love and support each other throughout the process. “We Are” is refreshing and fun and even though it doesn’t give you any drama, the romance and friendship are enough to drive this 16-episode series, and the different couples give us a wide range of romantic tropes, there is no screen time wasted because all the stories develop at different paces, keeping us engaged from start to finish. As a big fan of slice of life shows with minimum conflict, “We are” was such a treat, and I hope there is more demand for such low stakes BLs in the midst of all the high drama, high production and educational ones.

Read the complete article here-

https://the-bl-xpress.com/2024/08/06/we-are-series-review-ep-5-to-16/

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A Dose of Serotonin

There are various reasons why 'We Are' is a standout drama, which I will highlight below, but I must start with the most important.

'We Are' is unpretentious. From the start, the show promised us a feel good romcom, delivered by an endearing cast of friends, and not once did it fail us. From beginning to end we are presented with a healthy loving group of friends in healthy loving relationships. Yes, drama can make for good TV, but there’s always room for a show that offers comfort and good-natured humor.

'We Are' is a slow burn. Surprisingly, I believe that in this case, it’s a plus. In the BL era of everyone must be dating by episode 5, it can even be considered refreshing. Despite our main couple not being official until the latter half of the show, there was little room for the viewers to doubt that they would eventually get there. By showing that a lack of a relationship status did not impede the romance of it all, they managed to cleverly keep viewers engaged. It was also entertaining to observe the multiple couples in various stages of a relationship. With such a large group of friends, there was always something going on.

'We Are' boasts of a lovable cast. The true star of this show and what kept the story connected, was how genuinely the friend group was written. There was love there that is just as important as the romance. It’s not difficult to root for a group of characters, when they are ALL genuinely good people. (I have to say that watching that last episode made me a tiny bit emotional. It’s like I’m sending off my children into the adult world. I don’t have any children.)

All in all, 'We Are' never failed to deliver that midweek kick of serotonin, and for that it will be missed.

Was it perfect? No. But it accomplished what it set out to do in a striking way.

Rating : 9.5/10. Comforting & Feel-Good.

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A page of youth

I love coming-of-age BL stories, and this drama was a sparkling encapsulation of that youthful brilliance.

The entire cast was fantastic, and out of all the roles played by Pond and Phuwin, I liked their characters, Phum and Peem, in this drama the most. The other cast members were also wonderful, and there were no unpleasant characters or events. In other words, nothing really happens. For 16 episodes, the same kind of content continues. There is nothing dramatic. Just daily university tasks, friendships, and life.

Some people might find this uneventful and monotonous story unsatisfying, but I found it very realistic and loved it for that. Life isn't always filled with dramatic events. The transition from friendship to love, from friends to lovers, is portrayed very carefully. Unlike typical Thai BL dramas, there is no hellish event before the final episode. It’s consistently safe.

I recommend it to anyone who wants to feel the romance and friendship of university students in a realistic way.

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Cutest slice-of-life I’ve ever watched

I had a really great time watching this series. I will probably watch it again just for the happy feelings it gave me during my first viewing.

The premise isn't anything new; we follow four couples over 16 long episodes as they navigate the challenges of university and first loves. While the pace is slow, cheesy, and somewhat plotless, it is incredibly easy to watch and truly adorable.

The best aspect of this drama, by far, was the depiction of friendship. The couples have their cute moments, but it was the group's antics that brought me the most joy.

Overall, this was a fun experience. It drags and it might seem boring at times, but if you’re happy to stay here for the vibes (and not for the romance) then you will likely enjoy it!

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So this is the first time I’m leaving a review here but I noticed a lot of hate reviews so I wanted to leave another perspective.
It’s a nice feel good series. Does it have a complex storyline? No. Does it have over top “cute” behaviour (I’m looking at you Tan), yes. But it does have adorableness and moments that made me squeal from cuteness overload.
I loved the chemistry and interactions between Phum and Peem. They’re a slower burn compared to the other 2 couples, but I think their pace works for them.

I also love the supportive relationship between the brothers. It’s nice to see their friendly and sibling teasing.

If you want a light, cheery and cute series to binge I totally recommend it.

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Good characters with a disappointing plot

Let me start by saying what I loved about this show: the friendship, especially Peem's group of friends, was great and I loved every single scene when they were together. They genuinely felt like a very close group of friends who care and take care of each other and who wholeheartedly love spending time together. Watching their scenes together truly made me ache and yearn for such a group of friends.
From episode 1 the show managed to establish their friendship, bond and dynamic perfectly and their drunk scene in episode 1 remains one of, if not my number one, favourite scene of the show: it feels real, like watching a real group of friends getting drunk and being stupid.

On a very surface level I also enjoyed all of the couples, in the sense that the foundations for fun and interesting dynamics were all there, sadly the actual execution of their stories and the development was not good at all.

We had a total of 16 episodes but instead of delving deeper into the characters, we wasted so much time just going nowhere. The development of the relationships was stagnant and extremely repetitive, to the point that it became almost annoying. I personally binged the show once it had already aired, but, if I had watched it while it was airing, I feel like I would've felt even more frustrated by the constant going nowhere.

An extremely disappointing aspect was, in my opinion, Phum's character: the potential is there, but instead of actually showing us who he is and why he is the way that he is, we get info dumps towards the end of the show and never really end up exploring his relationship with his father (that was hinted on episode 1) until the very end.
The pieces for a very compelling character are all there, sadly the writers weren't able to actually explore and flash out his character.
They should've showed us instead of telling us and they should've done so bit by but throughout the whole show.

Chain and Pun's story was also very disappointing: it started out very well, from episode 1 we could see that they felt extremely close and intimate with other (eg: Pun hugging Chain to sleep and biting his ear; Chain being very caring and soft with him and not with others etc), we ever got some very nice moments towards the beginning of the show, but then absolutely nothing happened at all until the very last part of the show.

Peem and Phum (and Q and Toey to an extent) felt like they kept walking in circles and going nowhere, and while it was annoying how they kept backtracking and being oblivious and dumb, at least there was a development, things were happing, but with Pun and Chain it just felt like they completamente forgot about them at some point.

A very disappointing show with a simple concept that could've still worked for me had it been executed better.

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excellent, heartfelt ensemble storytelling within a quiet piece

This was the first show I've watched with any of these actors in a main role, and I couldn't be more pleased with my experience. I've long since admired P'New's skill at handling large episode counts, intimate friend groups, and and a quieter, more mature romance and We Are brought all these things in spades. We Are follows a large ensemble of friends and the way their knitting together of friendships and relationships changes the lives of the individuals. It's quiet and generally low-stakes, but the actors bring a weight to these college friendships and romances that makes you feel how important they are to the characters at hand. It ends up being the story of choosing to be gentle, supportive, and brave with those closest to you to foster uplifting communities. I really enjoyed it a lot.

-The Full Review-
STORY:
I absolutely love this story. Each character felt true and dimensional in their own story. It's easy to grasp Peem's aspirations, as well as the life that shaped his personality. Phum's issues with his parents are not expanded on extensively but they are felt throughout his character. The treatment of Toey, the baby of the group, is consistent and serves as an anchor to unite the group when things aren't going well. Even Beer, Matt, and Mick (who have comparatively smaller roles) feel like real installations in their lives and a great representation of friends on the periphery of a core group.
My only real issue with this storytelling is that there was a sometimes awkward pacing with a focus on flashbacks. I felt that the story could be improved if, for example, Q and Toey's history was more naturally integrated into the events of the story. We tended to move from one couple to another in rotation, with large flashbacks to convey prior history, when stronger development between inter-couple relationships proved a more interesting way to discover backstory and emotional mindsets.

ACTING:
I'm noticing this is a rather unpopular opinion, but this show absolutely rocketed Phuwin to my top 10 Thai actors. Between finishing this show and writing this review (less than one week) I've started (and finished) Never Let Me Go and started in on Summer Night. There's a delicacy to his character work that was particularly effective with Peem's gentleness, but that didn't prevent him from truly shining in the boyish, loud, and playful moments. I truly enjoy watching his performances.
For Pond, I thought Phum sat very naturally in his skill set. It was quite satisfying to watch him melt and become a livelier and more active friend. I think that P'New's direction really suited his style and allowed him to make that transition much more realistically and comfortably than in NLMG. The growth was quite stark and I am very proud of him,
Next most stand out performance, to me, was Winny as Q. His character was quite quirky, quiet and reserved--but not necessarily out of a sense of shyness or self-consciousness. I loved the give-and-take of his attentions, as well as his blunt manner of navigating the world. The equally un-self-conscious way he became a sweet and affectionate boyfriend was so cute.
I picked up this series for AouBoom (if you can really say that--I'd only seen them in Midnight Museum, which was hardly a major role lol), and I was surprised, but pleased with their chemistry. I'm not sure what I was expecting from them as a pair, but Aou, especially, walked a line of a character who could be quite annoying very well. You could really feel their character's fondness for each other quite well.
As for the rest, there was no one I was dissatisfied with. Everyone in this ensemble managed to match each other's energy in an infectious and driving way. The connection between the characters was the only thing holding this story together, which is always a difficult task. But the chemistry never collapsed and the ensemble functioned well together. I particularly enjoyed how many "dramatic reveals" had at least three or four other cast members in the background reacting in unison. It was really well done!

PRODUCTION:
I don't have much commentary to make in the production of this show. P'New favors a naturalistic style and that is very apparent here. The costuming and set pieces are suited to the piece and competently assembled, but not particularly attention grabbing. It's clear they production team preferred to highlight the performances of the actors over artistic staging--which I think works just fine for this piece.
For the positives, the most intimate scenes (Q and Peem on the steps, Loy Krathong, conversations in the dark at camp, the gallery show, etc) came off very intimate and warm with just subtle shifts in lighting and framing. I love being allowed to just watch actors act their asses off without a lot of distracting tricks and magic. And this show certainly delivered.
For the negatives, I thought the paintings were really uninspired. With so little time and energy spent on other aspects of the production, and with the importance of painting and art to so many of the characters, I really expected Peem, Q, and Toey's artwork to be.... better, lol. Q, even, barely had a recognizable style/interest despite being the Maestro. I would look to Not Me as a better example of a show that pulled of art students work successfully within a narrative.

INTIMACY:
As I said, I was new to (almost) all of these couples and had no baseline for their chemistry or work together. All of them sold their relationships. I enjoyed that each couple got a unique style of intimacy that reflected their personalities--which is not always the case in ensembles this large. I particularly enjoyed the way that Phum and Peem's sense of intimacy developed ahead of actually confirming their relationship, and their struggles in navigating what that means for them. The use of casual affectionate touch was also quite beautiful in this series.
I found that the NC scenes were rather typical to GMMTV. I think they suited the tone of the story fine, but were a little bit generic? Many other moments of intimacy were more valuable to the characters than any of the sex scenes, which made them feel quite tacked on or simply to fulfill a quota. They didn't detract from the story, but they didn't add to it either. I would really like to see a GMMTV that manages to include sex in a more meaningful, character-motivated way. But these sweet first times were fine.

In all, I really enjoyed this story and it's been sticking with me a lot more strongly than I expected when I first started it. The characters (and their actors) are very charming and it's a feelgood, warm story. It actually made me quite excited for Perfect10Liners because I'd forgotten how good P'New was with juggling broad stories about friendships. I would recommend We Are to anyone looking for something acting-heavy and sweet.

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