Big Dragon

A relationship with as much depth as you'd get in a music video

After dropping this during the 1st episode out of disgust, I just binged episodes 2-8 and can barely remember what I watched. I only watched it because I've been seeing Mos and Bank all over social media and wondered if this ship was really worth all attention it's getting. It's not.

I'd love to list the strong points but there are only two. Mangkorn's mom is delightful and Bank does a commendable job carrying the entire series on his back once he started having more than 2 facial expressions.

The weak points are endless. There is no story, none of the characters are interesting and scenes often feel completely disconnected from each other. At first, I thought the casting director was the problem for picking amateur actors who weren't able to convincingly do the job. But as the series went on, it became clear that they were doing their best with a truly weak script. The direction is by far the biggest failure. The director seems to have not bothered to prepare the actors for their scenes and didn't explain to them the motivations of the characters. But worse than that, he shot scenes that should only exist in a flashy music video, not a tv series. The shot of Yai and Mangkorn as yin and yang with the red sheet may look cool in a trailer, but it had no place in the episode. But the editing isn't much better. The editor just threw scenes together to fit into 8 boring aimless episodes. So many scenes just exist before or after other scenes and there is little continuity in each episode. I wouldn't be surprised if the editor just forget to include all of the scenes that should have happened in the middle where Yai and Mangkorn slowly stop hating each other and actually start falling in love. Or maybe the writer didn't write those parts. Either way, the crew (director, writer and editor) should take some classes or find other jobs.

Since there have been so many below-average BLs in 2022, I won't call this the worst. But it went out of its way to check every tired, overused and outdated trope that BL fans have seen countless times before and are completely over.
- enemies to lovers
-an extremely rich character whose wealth, sense of victimhood and bratiness are his only character traits
-parents who think arranged marriages are a good idea in the 21st century
-mind numbing background music that is in nearly every second of the series
-useless friends that only exist so the MCs have someone to talk to
-random "BDSM" scenes that show the characters (actually the writers) know nothing about BDSM
-two people who have no reason to even like each other, "fall in love" because ________
-dead fish kisses (Bank looked like he was miserable each time they kissed)
-women who only exist to drive a wedge between the MC
-a man calling another man his wife
-blink and you missed it GL
-people "being in love" after one month of knowing each other
-someone going aboard after I say I'll never leave you

Also, there's a good reason why so many BLs have side couples. It's really hard to keep things interesting for an entire series with only one relationship to focus on. A second couple shakes things up, gives side characters something to do and allows the audience to have a reason to watch even when the relationship or chemistry between the leads stops being interesting. This show REALLY would have benefited from a side couple that got screen time. There were two potential second couples but neither went anywhere which is unfortunate.

Overall, it felt like the earlier episodes and the later episodes were made by different people. Yai's character changed so drastically that I spent most of the series truly confused about what was going on and why. It gave me some really great laugh-out-loud moments though and those usually happened during the NC scenes. But Mos and Bank tried and it's watchable if you skip parts and use 2x speed, so I couldn't hate it.

Lastly, BL sequels are almost always awful. There's no reason to make a sequel to this one, they were barely able to stretch 30 minutes worth of plot into 8 episodes in season 1. But it's StarHunter Entertainment and they've never made a good series, so I expect more of the same in season 2.

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Plot Enemies vs. Lovers (my fav), but a so poorly written Script

PLOT: Two playboys, Yai and Mangkorn, compete for the same girl and end up drugged, spending a passionate night together. Mangkorn now possesses the explicit video Yai wanted, and he gradually grows closer to Yai (a tiger turned kitten). However, their family relationships are complicated: Yai is still grieving the death of his mother and rejects his stepmother-to-be; Mangkorn wants to escape an arranged marriage with a childhood friend.

+++ The two actors, Moss and Bank (newcomers), are quite convincing, especially Moss, whose acting is more natural.
+++ Budget OK; sets, costumes, etc.
+++ Jeff Satur's OST
Story very focused on the romantic aspect.

### Poorly written story, with a very immature Yai character who behaves stupidly (lets himself be kissed against his will without reacting, refuses to listen to any explanation, etc.). He remains childish to the very end. Why do directors love to infantilize (and/or feminize) gay characters so much? Is'nt it homophobic ?

=> Overall quite frustrating series, despite Moss and Bank, whom I'd like to see in more substantial roles.
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Plot enemies to lovers, but a poorly written script

PLOT: 2 palyboys, Yai and Mangkorn, qui s'affrontent pr une fille, finissent drogués, par passer 1 nuit toride. Mangkorn détient désormais la video hot que Yai voulait, et il se rapproche peu à peu de Yai (tigre devenu chaton). Cpdt les relat° familiales des 2 sont compliquées : Yai ne s'est pas remis du DC de sa mère et refuse la step-mom-to-be ; Mangkorn (gay) veut échapper au mariage arrangé avec 1 amie d'enfance.

+++ Les 2 acteurs Moss & Bank, (novices) sont assez convaincants, surtt Moss qui a 1 jeu plus naturel.
+++ Budget OK ; décors, costumes, etc.
+++Jeff Satur's OST
Story très focus sur l'aspect romantique.

### Story mal écrite, avec un Yai très immature, au comportement stupide (se laisse embrasser contre son gré sans réagir, refuse d'écouter tte explication, etc.). Jusqu'au bout, il reste puéril щ(ಠ益ಠщ) Pourquoi les réalisateurs aiment tant infantiliser (et/ou féminiser) les personnages gay ?

=> Globalement assez frustrant, malgré Moss et Bank, que j'aimerai voir dans des rôles plus consistants.

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Watchable But Nothing Deep

They started off as rivals, but honestly, the whole rivalry felt kind of shallow. The setup didn’t land well, especially since the woman they were supposedly fighting over barely got any screen time. It’s your typical enemies-to-lovers storyline—which I’ll admit I’m a sucker for—but the romance didn’t go very deep.

The first few episodes had promise and caught my interest, but things kind of went downhill from there. By the end, everything felt rushed and wrapped up way too quickly. That said, I didn’t drop it. It wasn’t amazing, but it was still watchable and I managed to stick it out until the end.

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Dark but Sweet Storyline

I have to say that I did very much enjoy the actors and their amazing chemistry. The actors known as Yai and Mangkorn are great together, everyone can see the chemistry they have. I also loved the bodyguards and how they really care for one another but wish they showed them getting together. It was a nice touch to add the girl's love story as well with their friends. I wish they stayed a bit more in the dark S & M story, wanted to know what got Yai into that in the beginning and was lost later on. Wish they had more of those hot hardcore sex scenes than just the two, they are so beautiful and well done together. The down parts for me were that there were too many story plots going on at one time. I feel like none of the stories had a full chance to shine and be told in enough time as there are only 8 episodes. I liked that they showed strong character emotion and growth in their playing their characters. You have so much going on with many different characters does not help. Was not a fan at all of the endings, I am a sucker for happy endings but this ending had little to be desired. I am happy they move in together, but not a fan of leaving it on a cliffhanger, which was not needed as there are still storylines that need finishing. I do hope they come back fast to do season 2. I do have to say I LOVE the theme song and that the actor who plays Yai sings, an amazing song and video.

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What's the Motive?

OK. That's the main thing about this drama. It's just "okay".
Mos had good acting skills in my opinion, he was trying HARD to create some chemistry that lacked from Isbanky's end. I don't know how to explain it, but it felt hollow to me. I mean, if you're going to act, ACT. There were some great moments though. I feel like the first two episodes had Isbanky's best acting chops. Then, the 7th episode did. But, that's about it. He looked like a sullen baby throughout the rest of the time. I honestly hope they pick up a new storyline other than the same thing over and over and over again of them getting jealous, splitting up, and then getting back together again.

I think some dramas of recent past have shown us that there can be SO much more depth. KP and MOD come to mind with regard to this. But the most disappointing part was, it took less than two episodes for the so called rivalry to end.

If you want to watch it, please go ahead. But, don't expect anything different from the other college+friends dramas that you've seen after episode two. That's truly where the best parts of the show are. It's so sad to see a show with so much potential devolve so quickly.

Another highlight is Isbanky's song. But, that's it for me. I'm still going to watch season 2, praying that they do something truly special. If they don't, I'll be back to praying that a certain show I love does actually end up with a season 2. :)

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Weak execution yet fire chemistry

It started out really strong, the story was interesting and the actors were captivating.
But then...there was too many events all happening at once and none of them fully developped.
What annoyed me the most in the first half is the fact :
- There are more conversation between the side/leads characters rather than the leads.
- They didn't give much context or depth to their relationship minus "the two big events"

On the second half they worked on these points but forgot the plot...

In conclusion and it's my own personal opinion : I really enjoyed watching this series in a one shot that way i had more context and didn't give up on it, the actors did an amazing job and would truly want to see them in another series, it was worth watching.

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Land the plane babe

To start off, I love the acting and the music for this show, but my god was I falling asleep. I watched this with one of my best friends and she absolutely loved it. For me, the scenes were drawn out way too much and conflicts were reconciled way too fast. They would have a conflict in one scene, leave, and in the next scene, the other person follows them and have a 30-minute boring conversation. One of my biggest pet peeves is misunderstandings that could be solved with one conversation, but this is somehow worse. You don't get to see them process the conflict or react to it. It just jumps straight into the crying heartfelt scenes that I could not stay awake for. I know there was a plot amongst it somewhere but I cannot tell it to you. They did have some cute scenes and really good side characters so there is hope for a good season two on my end.

Listen to Dancing With The Devil by Isbanky

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The Best Harry/Draco Thai AU Fanfic You Will Ever Watch**

Enemies to Friends to Lovers:
Hollywood romcom meets lighthearted blackmail with a side of drama, in a secret relationship between two college playboys. #nsfw (though the fluff outnumbers the nsfw)

Yai=Draco Malfoy
Mangkorn=Harry Potter

I’m not kidding. If you read Drarry fanfic, this series is for you!
The dynamic is there and ripe. The lead, Yai is so much Malfoy it’s not even funny: spoiled, entitled and scheming idiot who’s obsessed with “hating” a guy. Mangkorn is a devious Harry, teasing Yai every chance he gets, but also genuinely intrigued by him.

Yai even has two idiot lackeys exactly like Malfoy. Once I made the parallel I couldn’t unsee it, and it made the series all the more enjoyable. Drarry was one of my first BL ships ever. It seriously feels like a fanon Harry/Draco story.

(Did tumblr write this? Because sometimes it flows so perfectly, almost too good to be true.)

This series does the best style of situational comedy. The timing is spot on and there’s no over the top Thai comedy for comedy’s sake. Every comedic moment either adds to characterization or advances the plot. This is truly a comedy of errors and miscommunication that unfolds in the best way possible to create suspense.

The occasional slightly absurd element doesn’t feel out of place because they’re not trying to pass it off completely seriously. But just because it’s comedic doesn’t mean it’s without serious moments. The characters react realistically in emotional situations, and you actually feel the tension between characters. The emotional scenes are quite honest and truly hit you in the feels.

The love scenes are done artistically with cinematography, editing and music. I actually suspect the actors might not have the best physical chemistry, but it’s impossible to know for sure because the production elements completely carried the scene.

If this series was an HP fanfic on AO3, I’m sure it would have thousands of kudos. Yet here a diamond in the rough is sitting in the average 7 rating zone on MDL.

Anyone who likes Enemies—>Friends—>Lovers will enjoy this series.

**Though upon finishing it, the end is kind of light slice of life, overdramatic. The series starts making you think it's hardcore like Kinnporsche, but it's not at all after the first conflict.

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