underdeveloped plot, underdeveloped characters.
There's three things you should know before you watch this:1. The producers of this series are also the people who made "Second Chance", "Coffee Melody" and "Tin Jem Jai".
If you liked those, you might like "Ai long Nhai".
2. There are a lot of scenes, where it's clear that they intended to have a product placement. There are no product placements in the whole series. Either the production company is very bad at finding a sponsor or all potential sponsors did have no interest.
3. Ai long Nhai -- อัยย์หลงไน๋ -- Ai is infatuated with Nhai. That's it. That's the story.
[As an aside, the dictionary I use also gives two other meanings for หลง, which are a) [is] lost; confused; forgotten; neglected; mentally weak; b) to lose one's way, to go astray, to get lost, to be mistaken or forget; to be absorbed; to be absent-minded -- which is Nhai's personality in a nutshell]
The series -- I hesitate to call it a drama -- suffers from these points:
1. Interesting plot ideas, which never go anywhere and unconnected scenes, with plot holes and inconsistencies.
2. Side characters who can't even be called "one-dimensional".
3. Old BL clichés, and not the good ones.
4. Low funds, static scenes.
Let's elaborate:
-- 1. The series had a really strong start. I especially loved the banter between Ai and his father. When Ai first met Nhai, I expected this story: Ai falling in love at first sight, and subsequently pursuing a clueless Nhai, in more and more ridiculous situations; to the great amusemant of ai's father and friends -- I would have loved this comedy.
I liked that it was Nhai who made the first move, and his subsequent self-exploration. He was a classic case of a gay man deep in the closet (pining after a girl he will never get, getting physical with men when drunk, insisting that another man is just a friend and some internalized homophobia -- vocally claiming that touching another man is "eew"). That also would have made a really good story, maybe finally something more LGBTQ+ than BL. And they could have made this story light-hearted and funny, if they wanted. But that was quickly discarded.
Nhai's characterization as dirty and generally being a slob could also have been something new and interesting, people could have asked Ai "Why that guy?". It was kind of important but didn't translate into his appearance. He always looked styled perfectly, and I couldn't even see that his shirt was not ironed.
Scenes were often not connected, side stories discarded. I never could tell how much time had passed. Between a scene and the next, there were inconsistencies several times. Example 1: The friend group talk about Ai and Nhai several times, whether those two are together -- but there's no continuity, the discussions are always as if the friends haven't talked about it before. Example 2: In episode seven, a hickey appears and disappears, and reappears.
There's more, but this is getting long, so on to the second point:
-- 2. The side characters. I'd complain that the female characters are there just to advance the plot for the main characters -- but the friend group is more or less the same. They stay remarkably bland, considering they have quite a bit of screentime. At the end of episode two Nhai tells us about his friends in a voiceover, but this information is never important for any of the plot.
-- 3. Clichèd BL tropes that I hate.
Top/bottom dynamics, including the use of "hubby" and "wife" -- The top is manly, sucessful, knows how to get through life, perpetually horny, while the bottom is whiny, fragile, needs help constantly, reluctant when it comes to sex. There's a review here by RemmiKay, who says "This is a CLASSIC exchange of power relationship." There's actually some textual clues for that, so it works. While I don't think this interpretation is in any way intended by the writer or the producers, it made watching the series bearable. Still, even from an exchange of power relationship I'd expect that both are shown as into the sex -- Nhai continues to look like a nervous virgin whenever things turn sexual, and it gets worse the longer the series goes on. (Even if Nhai would only be playing at being reluctant, as part of their relationship dynamic, the audience should get to see that he wants it.)
There's the stereotypical gay (maybe transgender?) friend; there must be a gay friend in a romence, right? Of course, they are flamboyant, have pink hair, but they are definitely not beautiful or attractive. And it's disheartening that Nhai goes to this friend when he's unsure about his attraction to Ai and gets "Yes, of course you are the wife" as an answer. That's not helpful and also sexist.
Too many side couples. While other Thai BL productions in 2022 seem to have learned from past mistakes, this one tries to give a male love interest to everyone in the friend group. Not only do most of them not go anywhere (the one that does, just ... does, behind the scenes), the three friends also had explicitely stated that they are straight in previous episodes. (see above, inconsistent plot)
and, finally,
-- 4. low funds. The sets, few as they are, look empty. Ai's condo is supposedly "like a labyrinth" (Nhai, somewhere in the second of third episode), but it's not, and you can see that -- the living room and the kitchen are in the same room, for example. The props in the shelves etc. are obviously placeholder props; had they filmed in one of the example rooms in an IKEA, there would have been more personality to this living space. There are no knick-knacks or anything that makes a home a home. Ai's car seems to have cost most of the money they had.
That everything, the sets, the clothes and so on is mostly in white and black, really does not help.
Scenes often just were two or more people standing and talking, which made the already slow pace wven more static. Some actors need more acting classes.
Overall, I feel that the writer had some good ideas, but shied away from anything that would have made the series more interesting, either writing a good conflict (inner or external) or more comedy. Was it too daring for him?
But even if they intended to make a slice-of-life series, they would have needed something more plotty and consistent.
It's like a teenager's first fanfiction -- they love their characters, they don't want to hurt them, they write things they wish for in their relationship. But for a product that is supposed to bring in an audience, who'll remember the story, this is just not enough.
That being said, there have been two small things that need to get an honourable mention:
* I think this is the first Thai BL in which lubrication for anal sex is mentioned, and hopefully used.
* Ai explicitely states that he is bisexual. In most BLs they don't even use the word "gay".
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How long we are going watch same content?
To be honest, how long are we going to watch same content in the BL world? When are the BL writers going to stop writing about the same theme? When are we going to see a more realistic portrayal? Fantasy is great, but how come fantasy can always work? same content: popular, handsome, rich university guy, club, falling in love, Actually, 2gether was the last one I enjoyed, but after that, I started to dislike whichever BL series I tried to watch because they had some content, and I left them on the first episode. It took me one hour to complete this series.When will there be more series with lots of romance and sex scenes, like Manner of Death, Triage, and Doctor I Am Coming for Your Soul? Even after the success of Kinnporshce, we are getting more series with a similar theme. But Kinnporsche was the last and only BL series I watched with a gangster theme. I'm not sure if I'll watch any more with a gangster theme. While watching these kinds of BL series, I always question: where is the realistic portrayal? TBH, there were only two gays in my college, and how can everyone be gay in your friend circle in the BL series, especially at your university? This isn't even a gay club that each and every one is gay, and only few people are gay at your university. There are 100 genres and themes from which writer can choose a screenplay, but they are limited to one theme. The only theme I like about this series is that they are living together to get to know each other better before going into relationships.
A rich and handsome guy came back from Canada and fell in love at first sight. He tried every cheap method to make him fall in love with him. The story is totally predictable; nothing is new. I'm not going to say anything about the plot or the acting because it's a typical BL story with no spark. Ai already told he have sister but later Nhai doesn't even remember like seriously. dialogue is mess. Globally, the genre of movies and series has advanced, but why do BL series continue to feature the same content? They should try to make a BL series out of webtoons, manga, and manhwa. Actually, Webtoon and Manhwa have a far fucking better story than the current BL series. Too much sugar is bad for your health. So, with the same content since 2010, how can people keep watching the same story over and over? Despite this, these series are more popular than Triage or Manner of Death.
Watch at your own risk, I gave one star because they try to live together before getting into relationship. will not recommend this series at all.
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Normal university love
This drama is set with the whole uni love story and selected scenes in the uni camps.its a drama that you can watch in one go in stead of ongoing (like myself) and its really sweet. and to the point
there is no really backstory to this whole drama, they meet fall in love and basically that's it.
what was nice in this drama, is that Ai talks about his love at first sight, so really funny moment's, communication and they both knew what they wanted. No really side stories friends were there for them and no real love side kicks just a couple from the distance.
Parts I did not like ... we got the whole scene with the mom hurt Nhai and then boom she disappeared off the radar, Nhai sometimes was a little to babyish for me and Ai just going along with everything and anything he said. The last episode kind felt like all the show like they really just needed to end the series.
that being said it was a good drama in its own way.
Overall: Guess its up to you Ai was super Cute so that is always a + in my watchlng.
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Glad I didn’t read the reviews first
I just read a lot of bad reviews and I am sad this isn’t more popular. I know this series has a lot of issues but, call me crazy, it’s one of my favorites. I completely fell in love with this.Ai fell in love at first sight. He is super hot and tries his best to win Nhai over. He is so kind and patient and thinks everything Nhai does is cute. Doesn’t everyone want a partner like that?
Nhai is spoiled rotten and is selfish and forgetful. I loved the whole losing the ducky keychain thing. Super cute. He was annoying when he threw the cactus in the dryer but quickly apologized.
This just emphasizes how good they are matched. Nhai is spoiled and lazy. Ai is not and wants to take care of him. They are perfect together. There are plenty of love scenes and they didn’t disappoint.
I thought there was plenty of story especially when you add in AI’s mother and sister and the whole con job they pulled. That broke my heart. But so proud of Nhai for standing up to her.
The worst part for me were the subtitles. At times they were wrong or off timing. I didn’t know who was speaking. It got progressively worse throughout the series. if they could fix this I would rewatch over and over.
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the reviews can be misleading...
If you are confused if you should watch this after all those reviews both negative and positive...you should!!!
BUT!
Only if you are looking for something reaaaallly lighthearted no brainer show to calm down after all those heart breaking emotional rollercoasters in drama these days!!! I honestly loved it , it was like 12 eps of happiness and fluff
sometimes its actually nice to sit back and have some fun🤷🏻♀️ ppl don't have char development irl, there are no dramatic villains who is out to get u, sometimes its jus fun!
so yeah if u r not looking for nail biting show on a weekend this could be it! if that's not ur cup of tea skip there wont be much of a "plot twist" but it was not boring (personal opinion)
AND the only unrealistic thing abt the show i gotta agree with everyone else is how nhai is in aerospace dept with z̶e̶r̶o̶ single braincell...😅
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Pleasant few hours viewing but nothing special
This is a fairly run-of-the-mill Thai BL university series. It is pleasant to watch, the OST is not invasive, not a lot of drama or over the top comedy.Pros:
Attractive but not distracting actors and locations
Male partners as parents
No forced sex
No graphic sex
Duck
Cons:
Male beta turns into stereotype bottom ~ whiny, greedy, false shy instead of just modest
Almost exclusively male cast except for a few stereotyped female characters
Way too many unresolved storylines
Disjointed story
No compelling story to capture and hold interest
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This review may contain spoilers
Mindless fluff
Okay, let me start by saying that if you want to take a break from any kind of toxic series and watch something totally brainless, Ai Long Nhai is for you.I quite enjoy such series, especially since I watched this just after I watched The Glory, so this was a welcome break. I liked it overall, mainly because it was soft and sweet, but I must admit that there are some glaring problems that really bugged me.
Cons:
- Ai Long Nhai is in the same universe as Tonhon Chonlatee, so there should have been some kind of continuity. if it was meant as a prequel, then too, it didn't make sense. in TC, Ai is in Food Sciences with Chon and Nhai in Civil Engineering with Ton. But in this (parallel) universe, all of them are in Aeronautical Science. It is too glaring an error to go away.
- Nhai is consistently idiotic and a bit brainless. His personality is adorable, but this kind of weirdness can be a bit putting off. And, to be honest, I have never seen anyone with such a weak constitution as Nhai. The amount of times he falls sick, it;s unbelievable. Ai is forever taking care of him. It's a bit too much to take in and takes away from the overall enjoyment of the series.
- Nhai's jealousy was petty and unnecessary. It made me feel that it was such a silly thing to be angry about. I did not appreciate his destruction of Ai's house. That was petty and immature, and unwarranted. He is a university student, not a 5 year old fighting over who has got more candy.
- A lot of unresolved issues. Jida, the love interests of the friends, Ton and Chon randomly shown together and suddenly dating, Ai's mom, all felt like unsnipped threads that kind of left the story hanging.
Pros:
- I must say, a real life couple may not necessarily be able to translate their chemistry on screen and this is true vice-versa. But Arm and Porch make such a beautiful couple that I was really hoping to see more of them. I really wish they had been given more screen time. However, whatever little time they had together, I loved it.
- I loved the amazing support from both sets of dads. Especially Nhai's dad. With Ai's dads being what they are, acceptance was never going to be an issue. But Nhai's dad's reaction was definitely something I cherished a lot.
- Nhai standing up to Ai's mom is seriously the most mature thing he has done. He was smart, steadfast and not once did he think of breaking up with Ai, which really made me respect him a bit.
- The friends... Another group of friends that I absolutely loved. Crazy, nosy and accepting, just the type of friends you need to brighten up your life
Overall , this is not too bad a series. I will definitely recommend a 'one time' watch. But if you really want to enjoy it to the fullest, watch it as an independent series from Tonhon Chonlatee!!
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The tale of the Duck owner who always lost he's pet, with he lover
so where do you want me to start,last year, last year, gmmtv released a series of stories titled tonhon chonlatee,
a series full of laughter and sadness, the story is based on tonhon and chonlatee
so let's talk about this series,
so the time when this come out ,the series is doesn't interest me, there are times when I want to watch a Korean drama, usually the link I get is not the drama I want to watch, but this drama, so I wonder if this drama is calling me to watch it :)
and from what I have seen, this drama is ok and there is nothing that stands out, just like the "brother of this" series, the series is also filled with laughter, but the other thing is that this series is for those who choose to be easy to digest
, if you are looking for something heavy, then this series is not for you, as I said before, your expectations should be low,
because this series is not a series that full of evil that will make your head spin (although there are one crazy woman that really need a therapy cause she don't even have sympathy after done something bad to her own son and her ex husband, but she just appear only a moment then she disappear ,until the last scene of drama we don't see her again which is a relief ,cause I don't want to make other sin by curse and continue curse)
and this series is not like a tug-of-war(even tho there are one scene that seem like a country war between top and bottom :)
it's a series where the couple "just fine "from beginning to end
what I like about this series is how the couple communicates when there's a problem, each one chooses to be honest and not avoid it, something that a couple from another series is hard to make, it shows the naughty chen nai who tried to destroy ai's house because of a misunderstanding, but in the end chose to be honest about what make he"act like that" , and how ai who is jealous of nhai's over-friendly attitude, choose to let him know his dissatisfaction about this and that
, ok enough about the storyline, when talking about the actor, for me, the actor is ok, chen for me needs to improve his acting, among many actors, I like in the most, he plays his role really really well that made me forget for a moment about the first couple , the way he express he feeling and anything is just, wow is so good, but unfortunately, the produser decide to not focus so much at he so I'm a bit disappointed :(
humm that's all
oh yes why I give this series 7.5 because, like I said, I enjoy this very simple story, for me Sometimes I want to see a story that is not full of conflict, my life is already stressful, why do I want to add more right?
btw that's all from me, if you feel like watching it, just watch it ok? happy watching from me
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Full of flaws, but somehow still enjoyable...?
Like I said in the title, this series is full of flaws. I don't believe it would be fair to pretend there isn't any: stiff acting, slow pacing (and slow dialogues!), plenty of overused tropes, plotlines that were introduced but never developed, and even the English subtitles on the official episodes on YouTube being pretty awful.The reason I'm giving this series such a high score is that, despite all of this, I was still able to finish all the episodes without much trouble, and even enjoyed myself. So, for a change, I also want to list the things that I appreciated in the series, just in case you have nothing better to watch and you're looking for reasons to give this show a try.
- The couple dynamic isn't overly polarized. It might look like the typical combination of rich+caring and childish+innocent, but it's not exactly like that. Sure, Ai IS rich and takes care of Nhai in many ways, but Nhai is an actual adult with a few childish traits and not just a baby in an adult body. It's shown multiple times in the show that he can make his own mind about things, that he can be equally as romantic and loving to Ai, and that he can be determined enough not to let other people walk all over him.
- The group of friends of Nhai and Ai is one of the best I've ever seen in a Thai series. They get a good amount of screen time, and while their side couples were not explored much, they are fleshed out well enough and they don't just function as a convenient "frame" for Ai and Nhai's love story. Most importantly, they are NOT ditched after Ai and Nhai become a couple and the characters hang out together throughout the entire story.
- The parents of both Ai and Nhai are pretty cool and fun (with an important exception, iykyk). I also heard that the two actors interpreting Ai's father are an actual couple in real life, so it was fun to see queer people representing queer characters.
- The story is fluffy and romantic. It might have felt slow at times, but I was just so endeared with all the cute moments I could watch here.
- The lives of the characters are explored enough to show some clear likes and dislikes, and they weren't another instance of a show revolving entirely on two guys kissing or anything like that.
- While there were some typical tropes here and there, there was also a significant lack of annoying tropes that are way too popular, such as: miscommunication, unnecessary angst, break-ups for the sake of the other person, and stuff like that.
This being said, I understand that this show is not for everyone, and probably not even for most people, so watch at your own risk. All I know is that I had fun watching, and wouldn't mind watching again sometime either.
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Not Amazing but better than a lot of other Thai BLs
Let's start with getting all the bad stuff out of the way first:1. A lot of plot points are not well fleshed out. There are tons of conflicts that should be discussed and resolved better but most of them either gets resolved hastily or are just not talked about anymore. To be fair though, I'd rather have this compared to hugely prolonged conflicts.
2. Acting is subpar. But then honestly that's the case for a lot of Thai BLs except for the very exceptional few.
3. They are still clinging on to a lot of heteronormative gender roles and tropes. Especially with Nai taking on the "wife" role and having that typical reluctance to sex, naggy, and needing to be saved type of character. This is supposed to be an LGBT drama guys, we can do better than this. Although I have to say, Nai getting lost and being forgetful isn't that farfetched, he might just need an ADHD assessment.
4. No real character development. But again the characters started out more emotionally developed and less annoying than most main male characters at the end of shows so I didn't really mind.
5. Ai being attracted to Nai because he reminded him of his stepdad is kinda weird BUT it's literally just Freud's theory in action. And Freud is a psychologist (a weird one but a psychologist nonetheless) so who am i to question his theories.
Now onto the good stuff:
1. Both boys are so proud of their relationship. It's so refreshing to have a drama where both parties are not so deeply entrenched in internalized homophobia. Both Ai and Nan are actually so proud that they bagged each other and that is absolutely adorable. Love it when Ai's dad told Nan that he knew about him because Ai kept bragging about how amazing his boyfriend is to his dad. Seriously, we need more of this in BLs.
2. Friendship group is adorable. I know some people find the friends underutilized and had no real development, but I honestly just love seeing BL leads have actual friends man. I find a lot of Thai BL friendships very stilted in picture (this one is a lil stilted too but better than most).
3. Older gay couples!!!!!! Love seeing Ai having two dads who are still so in love. I also love seeing how supportive and adoring households lead to kids who are generally well adjusted (for the most part).
4. Generally an enthusiastic consent on a lot of aspects of the relationship. I am not only talking about sex in this. I am talking about how Nai, although has not ever considered liking men before, was so open to the idea of "trial dating". The moment he acknowledges his feelings for Ai, he was instantly all in. Yes, Nai gets that "more reluctant to sex" character but he does initiate a lot of intimacy. He also tells Ai that he IS flirting with him and wants Ai to get his hints. In an ideal world, we will have a BL couple who actually displays enthusiastic consent to things but honestly this is a step up compared to other Thai BLs.
5. The other love interest does not get villainized!!!! Sometimes a girl gets infatuated and let's go when she realises that it's not gonna happen. This drama gets the memo. We need to stop turning girls into villain just because of a man!
6. Skinship feels more natural than most other Thai BLs I see. I love how there's a lot of non-sexualized skinship happening in this relationship. The cuddling, hand holding, and the casual side hugs!!! Those things are better to me than sex.
7. Ai's actor is hot. I'm a sucker for that hairstyle man.
Anyways I like this, not enough to recommend to my family and friends, but enough to recommend it on this site.
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It just went downhill
It started out pretty good... with a decent first episode. Unfortunately, there are just too many problems with the overall storyline. Parts of the story become a jumbled mess with characters coming and going. The jealous girl storyline disappears, and other characters emerge. Side stories and side couples are introduced way too late in the series and basically go nowhere. Someone had a good idea but did not know how to turn it into a complete series, so they just kept throwing in a bunch of unnecessary scenes to keep the story going. And unfortunately, the writer did not even know how to keep any excitement about the two mains going either, their dialogue and actions were repetitive, boring and juvenile.I totally blame the failure of this series on the writer, because the actors were not given much to work with. If the script is dull, the series will be dull as well, no matter how good everything else is.
Once again, I am disappointed and sad by the bl's that have come out this year. Most of them have been nonsensical or boring or have not really been bl's at all. Let's hope the year 2023 brings about some new writers and fresh ideas.
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Fun, Cute, Fluff
Don’t go in with any high expectations and you will have fun. It’s a low budget show but I think it still does a great job. There isn’t very much plot at all besides a boy falling in love with another boy on first sight. The second lead Ping was only 17 when filming and this was his first role. I think he does a really good job and so does the other main lead Meen. They are just to adorable and this show always made my day happy. You don’t get answers to some of the questions that come up but I could care less. It’s a fun time if you just want something cute to watch.Was this review helpful to you?
