Khemjira

DOMUNDI HAS FINALLY DONE IT!

The best Thai BL this year!

Good things comes to those who wait, or to those who try and try until they succeed - thats how i feel about Domundi/Mandee. Yes, they produced quite a lot of BL shows over the years, some are just plain crap and some even almost veering to goodness but nothing they did before really reached the greatness level - until Khemjira came.

A perfect mix of good production value, good visual effects, the richness of Thai culture and a slew of cutie pie cast.

Its a slow-burn series - maybe not even slow-burn but just plain slow, but it does work on a show like this. Quick recap. Set in a rural Thailand setting, Master shaman Pheem was asked to help save a cursed Khem against an avenging ghost. While Pheem seemed initially reluctant to help, its evident that he cant just say no considering Khem is his wife from their former lives. Keng is just the perfect mysterious yet charming Pheem while Namping is the lovely damsel in distress. Tie and FirstOne( i love his uncanny resemblance to Mixx) are scene stealers as Chan and Jet. You also cant help but emphatize with the villain through the very effecting performance of Green as Ramphueng.

It should also be noted that its from the same team that worked in the also recently concluded The Next Prince. Both shows clearly got huge budget backing that enabled them to create great set pieces and exquiste costumes. While i dont understand why the fictional kingdom in The Next Prince was European inspired even though the country is clearly in Asia, this show, Khemjira, fully embraced the richness of Thai culture, beliefs and traditions. I even loved the songs and the occassional traditional Thai music.

What surprised most fans during the airing of this show is its varying runtime as some of the episodes are like full-length movies at almost 2 hours. The good thing is even the longer episodes doesnt feel like its dragging the story - it is evident thay they have carefully and successfully mapped out a storyline for the entire duration of the series that didnt loose track of what the focus should be so you will not feel like some episodes are there just for fillers. They have achieved a balance between the supernatural fantasy aspect and the things (and tropes) that BL fans love - plus i loved that Domundi has greatly lessened the clickbait sex scenes (hold your horses, there are still some to those looking for it).

I hope Korean BL production companies have watched this series and realize why 15minute 8-episode series just isnt enough .

And while the show is beautifully executed, it is not without faults. However, i loved loved loved that Domundi is clearly investing a lot in improving their contents. I just hope they can keep their next shows in this level (but truth be told im already underwhelmed with the curently airing Me and Who). Other companies (ahemmm GMMTV) should watch out because if they keep spewing the same old sh*ts all the time, clearly Domundi is ready to take their crown.

Will i recommend? Hell yes, the cast alone is enough to watch it. Will i rewatch? After watching almost all episodes twice i think i will give it a rest for now. Overall its a 9.5!

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Sometimes even Domundi BLs can surprise us in a good way...

Disclaimer: This review is only valid for the UNCUT version of this show. Avoid the cut version like the plague, because as always, the cut off a lot of story. This is especially true for episode 8 which has a runtime of 1:56:51. I would not have minded to cut a lot off the finale because the end was draggy. So consider the uncut version as a 13 episodes series with some bonus content.

P'Aof said in the making of TNP he could not do any better, but he clearly lied, because we saw, he could do better. When you do not make a show just to cater to the fangirls and the actors, to no surprise to anyone, you are successful. This was filmed before TNP and it seems, this is the series where all the energy got into the script.

While the story is elaborate it's still straightforward and easy to understand. There is a lot of darkness in it, a lot of pain, but also a lot of growing and commitment for each other. For me it was perfect for episodes 1 to 10, ep 11 and 12 did not keep up the high standards established before. Especially the "bonus" bits felt a bit draggy and also the production quality was subpar because the cuts where a bit eratic, they could not keep a rocket in focus (who wants to watch just the smoke?) and the happy family time felt unnecessary for me because it did not fit the vibe of the show. Most of the finale would have been better served as an special episode detatched from the main story.

I guess the star of this show is the soundtrack which was really exceptionell and of course the "intro" which did not spoil any story elements at all. Kudos for that! Acting was very good especially considering the filming must be especially hard without any climatized rooms for most of the time. Of course this plays out in a rural area, so we got also a lot of nature and traditional housing. Cinematography with the 2:1 aspect ratio was most of the time stunning, the special effects were better than in any other thai BL and of course they had lot's of work with makeup and costumes.

Overall, this is the first series, where a big budget meets or exceeds it's expectations and after the fiasco (in my view) of TNP Domundi/Mandee redeemed itself as being able to tell a story first and have romances second. They even went the extra mile to put their ads as subtle as possible.

This was most defenitively not a waste of my time and it will not be a waste of your time either.

Update: Thanks for all the upvotes but thanks also for nearly the same amount of downvotes. If I sometimes agree with the masses they downvote and when I write harsh reviews disagreeing with them, I get the same. It's really amusing how much hate people have in them.

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