The Rebound

In the first couple of minutes you already have a clear idea what the show is about and you get pulled in from the start.

I don't think the show ever has a point where it gets boring, but there are some writing decisions I don't agree with.
It felt like they had a secondary couple just for the sake of having a secondary couple. As soon as the secondary couple got together the writers just ditched them, which I think is a shame.

The way the portrayed being an outcasts with a brain that works a bit differently and how you should treat a person like that, I felt could use a bit more nuance. I wouldn't say it was portrayed in a bad way, but it wasn't in a good way either. It felt like they infantilized the character, which just didn't sit right with me.

Overall I think "The Rebound" is good and I would recommend other people watch it.

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gay boys play b-ball and fall in love

I am well aware that objectively this show was, erm, NOT good. But this was a sports romance Thai BL pulp with everything I could have asked for given this sub genre. More, actually, since MeenPing are both great basketball players and the team component really did form part of the connective tissue of the show (vital in a sports romance IMHO since these are band-of-brothers narratives).

Meen has his shirt off within the first two minutes which is all I needed but he's still pretty great as the sullen secret-keeper against Ping's cheerful survivor - childhood sweethearts torn asunder and now reunited. Then Frank sweeps in to give everyone a bad case of second lead syndrome.

I always try to judge BL for what it is AS BL, and what it’s trying to do within its own territory and purview. This did exactly what it claimed on the tin: gay boys play b-ball and fall in love. That was all I wanted from it. Sure there was random kidnapping and a light bought of mass murder, but what’s a BL in 2024 without a touch of the mafia? You do you little pulp, I’m disposed to be pleased.

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More to it than loads of topless guys

If seeing loads of flesh is you thing then this is certainly the BL to go for - whether it's Meen and others having their tops off at any oportunity (I'm not complaining!) or guys just wearing towels, boxers and even something I've never seen before in a Thai BL - naked asses in the shower. Plus It's got its raunchier moments as well with Meen and PIng in the shower together, having sex under the covers and Frank pleasuring himself.
However beyond the baiting the basic story is more interesting than your average BL although it's not without its faults for example Prince and Jedi are prominent in the first half but after suddenly in one scene where their 'situation changes' they take a total back seat. The final episode did a good job with much of it not being predictable.
Although Meen and PIng have great visuals they're not the most charismatic perfomers and Ping still needs to develop more as an actor as he tends to look ike he's acting rather than being natural.
On the other hand Earth as First does great for arelative newbie and the girl who plays Lin foes an excellent job.

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I liked this, but there were so many things that got to me.

First, Zen was annoying with blaming Ryu all the time, even when he didn’t do anything wrong, Yea your mad/upset at him from what he did in the past, but that doesn’t mean you blame him all the time, If I didn’t know better, I would think you hated him for how you are acting with him. Though he did start to get better, but still…. Oh, and let’s not forget how he never once talked to Zen about him leaving with Atom to go to school, till the last game… I say they lost because of Zen telling them that he was leaving for Phuket… Are you STUPID! You don’t tell your BF you are leaving him before you start playing a game! Argh!!

Also, what the heck is with Lin, you are so damn nosy asking things you should not be asking, bitch it’s none of your business so shut the hell up and go away! Just because you like him, yet it didn’t really feel like it too much to me, at first, I didn’t know it was Ryu I thought it was Zen she liked, but anyway just because of that reason it not reason enough to ask the things you did, and to keep pushing him to answer you about his mother, what the hell!

Oh, also her thinking her dad forgot about her mother… do you have eyes at all stupid! Leave it to Ryu to have to tell you. If you haven’t guessed I didn’t really like Lin much. She just irritated me throughout the whole series.

Let’s not forget Atom, yes, we got you liked Zen, but you should not have been all over him for a pic, knowing Zen was uncomfortable with it, and knowing full well he had someone that was NOT you. Also making sure you stay the night, ok fine, as long as you’re sorry ass sleeps on the floor and not the bed of someone who is dating someone and that someone being the person you confessed to, but oh no that’s not how it goes down, but it makes it all the more worst you go and kiss him, WTF man!

Another one that I did not like, Ryu’s mother. That bitch needed an ass kicking more the once!!! All you think about is money, you looked well enough off when Ryu’s dad was around, but oh no you had to get more so him doing what he loves wasn’t good enough for you… yet you get bad at Ryu when he comes to his dad, but you are the one who kicked his dad out not caring about his or Ryu’s feelings… Enough about this bitch… I’m getting irritated typing about her.

How about so good now? I liked the chemistry, Meen (Ryu) and Ping (Zen) always have good chemistry, but not just them… as a whole I am meaning to, how that the others characters connected to each other. I loved the grandma; she was just so loving and supportive. A lot of shirts being off, either in the showers or even on the court. Yum! The last scene them in bed… Oh man talk about pounding the fun way! If only er got to see more than just what we did….

I know it may not seem like I liked this from the way this review is, but overall, I did like it, it just had a lot of things that annoyed me and all, but it was worth watching.

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This started mediocre, and only got worse as it went on. The finale was genuinely terrible.

Zen sucked. He was just generally unlikable, like when he blamed the journalist girl for exposing the basketball team for doing drugs instead of blaming the players doing drugs. Or when he was opposed to the autistic kid joining the team because he assumed he’d be untalented and slow to pick things up. And maybe it was because the actor that played him sucks at basketball, but every time they showed him playing, he looked really bad at basketball. Except they kept saying he was supposed to be good. Plus, I don’t think he ever gave back to Ryu what Ryu was giving to him in their relationship.

First of all, he never once drew boundaries with Atom. Atom liked him and Zen knew it, but not once in the entire series did he actually tell Atom that he and Ryu were together, not even when Atom confessed his feelings. Atom only knew because he saw / overheard them, and he went on flirting even after that. Like there were times where Zen would seem uncomfortable, like when Atom was holding his hand and flirting, or when Atom agreed to take photos with him for a BL shipping website. But he never said no or stopped him. And he would let Atom towel dry his hair instead of doing it himself, let Atom stay over and sleep in the same bed, touch Atom’s shoulder, and say Atom was looking handsome now that his wounds healed. He should have drawn strict platonic boundaries from the get go.

And Ryu would always be the one initiating physical affection while Zen would always be protesting and dodging. Both physical and also verbally. Like Ryu would always be the one initiating statements like, “I miss you.” There’s a scene where Zen tries to save Ryu from the gang boss but gets caught and they’re both beaten. Ryu tells Zen not to risk his life again because he worries, and Zen kind of just nods and says okay. Like why is he not reciprocating that sentiment? Saying that he also worries and can’t stand by while Ryu gets beat? And when the two of them are on a team with Atom, I wanted Zen to give some level of preferential treatment to Ryu, but he always treated him completely equal to Atom. He didn’t look at, touch, or pay any more attention to Ryu than he did to Atom.

And the fact that Zen chose to transfer to another school at the end pissed me off. Because Ryu was literally trying to run away from his mom so he could stay with Zen and play with him like he promised. And Zen not only left voluntarily, but he left to go to a different school with Atom. I get it, it’s high school and your dreams and career need to come before a relationship that probably won’t realistically last. But this is a BL, and I’m not looking for realism; I’m looking for romance. And Ryu offered an alternative so that Zen could stay where his mom could pay, but Zen turned it down because of his pride. But he was sitting there talking about, “it’s life and some things are out of our control,” when this was quite literally a decision entirely in his control. Also, the fact that when he left, he didn’t even hug or kiss Ryu goodbye and walked out with Atom’s arm around his shoulder was the worst. And Zen didn’t even bother to tell Ryu that this was something he was thinking about doing, or tell him before he told everyone else.

The finale was a mess for a number of reasons. First of all, Ryu was only upset about Zen leaving for 0.2 seconds before suddenly he was able to get his head back in the game and also wasn’t at all angry anymore, just sad. Their separation takes place 11 minutes from the end of the show and then there’s a 3 month time skip and they’re reunited with 5 minutes left in the show. Nothing was explained about why Zen came back, and although they said the basketball club disbanding was postponed, they didn’t say whether it would be around the next year. And the whole reason Zen left was because the club was disbanding and he needed to play to be eligible for a college scholarship. And when they reunite, they don’t even kiss. Just hug and get on with it - no emotions, no surprise, no nothing. They didn’t even explain whether they broke up or were in contact for that period of separation.

Atom and Q were super annoying. Atom was a nice, kind dude. The story could have easily been written to have him as the main lead instead of Ryu. But why would you make the love triangle be with someone that’s so nice and never does anything wrong? I as a viewer don’t want to see him as a viable option. Especially since he’s ALWAYS around and Zen never draws boundaries. And I don’t get Q at all…he slept with the gang boss a number of times to protect Ryu and then ultimately killed him to protect Ryu and is now living life on the run. Even in the finale, he’s on the run. Is he going to do that forever? Are we supposed to believe he’ll never be caught? And how old is Q anyways, because I thought he was an adult but he has a crush on a 16/17 year old and that was never addressed. Are these two ever going to take a hint and move on or are they just going to be pining around forever?

Also, Ryu’s back story made zero sense. We’re told he disappeared in middle school, missing the final basketball game, and ended up on the streets. Why exactly did he disappear, what happened right before the basketball game final, and how did he end up on the streets when his mom was so rich and controlling? Like you’re telling me she just let him runaway? He never even explained any of that to Zen. And what happened between Zen and Ryu in middle school? It’s implied that they may have had some level of feelings for each other, and Ryu says he treated Zen badly in middle school. But how deep and how far did the romance back then go and what happened between them after? And after disappearing for so many years, why does he keep bumping into Zen every 5 minutes now?

Also, Ryu was hellbent on not speaking to or interacting with his mom. He refused to go to her for money even after the basketball club was about to disband due to having no budget. But when the coach was implicated for past drug use, he was suddenly willing to speak to her to get her to vouch for the coach. And not only that, but he agreed to move back home AND study abroad in the UK. Like what? Why was he suddenly willing to do all that? And why didn’t Ryu just leave after getting what he wanted from his mom and having the coach keep his job? Why didn’t he just leave to avoid having to study abroad and live at home with her controlling nonsense? And why did the mom, after literally physically restraining him to force him to go to the UK, suddenly do a complete 180 and decide that he could stay after all? I would have so much preferred it if this series took place in college and Ryu gave a massive “fuck you” to his mom and stayed living with Zen.

The physical intimacy / NC scenes in this were a complete shit show. For the first few episodes, there’s so much naked ass from random extras and side characters. It served zero purpose. It wasn’t like they were even part of NC scenes or anything. And then suddenly the show gets super chaste, because all the ass disappears, the kissing slowly dwindles from proper but closed mouth kisses to hugs and cheek kisses and the occasional peck. Even the finale just had hugs and cheek kisses and pecks. The finale has the worst NC scene of all time where they trash around completely under the covers while the grandma sits downstairs with headphones. It was like a comedic scene in a crack show - it wasn’t intimate or emotional or sensual and they don’t kiss. There’s also a scene where they talk about “taking their relationship to the next level,” but only a peck is shown, so I’m not sure if that was supposed to allude to sex. And there’s one other scene with them in a shower and a hand job is alluded to…but at least there’s a proper kiss in this one. Plus one scene (face only) where Atom masturbates. The contrast of the naked asses and explicit concepts, like alluding to a handjob and having Atom masturbate, just didn’t make sense given how chaste the actual physical interactions were as the series went on. Like them just fist bumping when Ryu moves out or just doing a friendly hug when they reunite after 3 months…what even is that?

In terms of consent issues, Zen plays the BL “reluctant, shy, blushing virgin” role, so there are a few scenes where Ryu initiates and Zen is protesting and dodging. I hate that trope because why are you making it dub con when it could so easily be consensual? Also the scene where Atom masturbates to either photos or texts from Zen was creepy. Because why are you masturbating to photos of your literal friend without their consent, especially knowing he’s interested in someone else and likely wouldn’t consent if you did ask? Atom also almost kisses Zen in his sleep, but instead pulls back at the last minute and kisses his forehead (still non-consensually) instead. There’s one shorter scene at the beginning, where the gang boss forces Q to interact with a naked dude at an ongoing orgy after Q refuses. Also, Lin (journalist girl turned team manager) has the idea to have a bunch of minors objectify themselves by putting them in dunk tanks and posting pictures of them shirtless, sweaty, and wet online. Everyone is hesitant about this, but after Zen agrees, everyone else gets on board, but it felt like no one really had the option to say no after Zen said yes. Also, Zen and Ryu are both hesitant to actually be the ones shirtless and in the tanks, but people offer to pay “anything”, and then Lin and the crowd peer pressure them to do it.

There were a couple overly possessive moments on Ryu’s part as well. Saying things like, “Don’t let anyone get close unless it’s necessarily. Don’t serve Atom food. Don’t smile at Atom. Don’t let Atom get within 3 feet of you.” But he does calm down and at one point says that he’s jealous of Atom but doesn’t want to overreact, and Zen assures him that he’s already chosen him. Ryu is never controlling though, and never demands that Zen stop being friends with Atom, even when Zen completely fails to establish appropriate boundaries.

The pacing and writing weren’t great either. By episode 3, pretty much nothing much had progressed from where things stood in episode 1. It was slow and boring. The whole concept of having adult actors play both high schooler and middle schoolers (in flashbacks) did not work because they looked like college students, at minimum. Like why does a middle schooler have tattoos? The basketball shop talk was kept to the bare minimum, most likely because I don’t think the writers knew anything about basketball. There was zero coaching aside from drills, and the coach only gave the most surface-level nonsense “strategies” once a while mid-game. Atom was initially written as a swimmer, but then suddenly they made him a basketball player and the switch was never acknowledged. The entire series is spent trashing street basketball because the money comes from shady places, but when Zen’s grandma gets sick, everyone including the adult coach is completely onboard with them playing for prize money. The coach was an alcoholic, drinking on the job around a bunch of minors, but somehow this was never acknowledged, even when his past narcotic use was brought up and they were contemplating removing him as a coach. And as much as they showed his drinking, they never showed him addressing it, so the show ends with him still an alcoholic.

It was also hard for me to see these characters as high schoolers. They all look like adults, and there’s no real adult supervision at any point in time. The only thing “high school” about any of it was that they had terrible communication and made high school level decisions…stupid and not thought out. I think this would have worked better in a college setting.

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a strong start that doesn't quite nail the landing

I've been following MeenPing since AiLongNhai and this is, without a doubt, their strongest show yet. I love seeing them more comfortable and natural in their acting with experience, and I think P'Golf's style really suited their strengths. The plot was goofy and outrageous, but mostly very, very fun. That said, it kind of fell apart at the end and crashed into a rushed and unsatisfying ending. I wish the last few episodes had managed to maintain the pace and charisma of the first.

-The Full Review-
STORY:
As an All For The Game lover, I have absolutely no room to speak on loving dumb gay-mafia-sports plots. I don't really have any issue with the pacing--as I think making "the big game" more important than the mafia reality is always a stellar choice, especially for less serious shows. I also didn't really mind the throuple-baiting because it was funny! And I will let shows get away with a lot if it's entertaining, even if it feels like a missed opportunity to do something more daring and interesting.
My only real issue with the plot of the show is how it lost focus on the team and then shoehorned back around to The Team Above All. I love Frank, and Atom is an interesting character, but I think a strong version of this show focuses on Ryu and Zen's relationship with their team and their coach. Most of the team was benched after a couple episodes, which made the family scenes at the end fall pretty flat.

ACTING:
I was very pleasantly surprised! It's really been a treat to watch Meen and Ping grow over their careers, and I think they are starting to making some really good choices in their acting. There's a playful banter that they hadn't really nailed yet in their previous works that helps carry the relationship now. Aging them down, surprisingly, also brought out a lot of depth in the characters--especially when we got to see their idyllic, sweet middle school bond. I still don't think we've seen the best of them, and I look forward to seeing what they bring next.

PRODUCTION:
Honestly? I think the production design was so good. My honest to god only complaint is the Tharntype-like room design (Do you think they like basketball?) and the pretty sloppy SFX wounds. The tone brought out by the lighting and soundtrack felt so nostalgic of early 2000s American sports movies and really made such a unique experience in BL. The colors and costume design where vivid and purposeful and really hit the mark. I love P'Golf's bright and neon worlds so much.

INTIMACY:
I didn't expect to like this one as much as I did. MeenPing aren't usually very high heat (or when they try to be, it... gets a little shaky). But I thought the casual intimacy, especially through athletics, really, really worked for this show. Every time they reconnected mid-game and fell back into sync was genuinely moving and natural. The way they orbited each other really stood out and built a very strong foundation for their relationship. I liked it a lot! I don't wish to talk about the finale. I am pretending that one didn't happen.

In all, MeenPing still have me in a completely inexplicable choke hold, but I am happy to be here! I love seeing their progress with each new series and hope they continue to improve. I will be watching whatever comes next. :)

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The definition of Cuteness Aggression

It was cute and whimsical and all around cringe to the point that it gave me cute aggression... Def my second fave of Meen and Ping. I wouldn't say I like sports dramas usually, but I liked this one. It reminded me of all the high school romcoms I watched in the late and early 2000s. So, if you want something fun and cute this is it. I will say the only thing I did not like was Atom's character he just never gave up and it was starting to annoy me. I will also say I wish we got more of a redemption for Ryu's mom but I mean it's a 12 eps drama so there is that. Are we also never addressing the M-that happened or are we turning the other way because I guess Ryu's mom could make it disappear right?

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Give it a chance guys?

I could be only person, but I LOVE this series. Mostly I don't like this kind of bl's but this one is one of the best so far.
To be clear, I did not expected the end :D it was pretty crazy but like, why not. (Don't mind it at all, could be more in the whole series). My rating is 10 bc why not ;)
I love those two actors, I did saw another series with them but this one is the best one yet. Even if it's not my cup of tea.
Those who like like action, passion to do what they want and they are willingto do everything for it, romance,.... watch it.
GIVE IT A CHANCE.

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I'm dropping this series — it just doesn't click with me. And honestly, the main leads had chemistry in their other series, but here? I just don’t feel it. I'm not sure what's missing. In fact, Atom and Zen have way more chemistry. If the story was about them ending up together, I’d probably watch the whole thing! But obviously, that’s not happening since MeenPing are the main characters.

That said, the writing feels kinda weak and also why are they dragging Zen into the basketball street game drama just because Ryu doesn’t want to join anymore? It’s not like they’re even close friends at this point — they haven’t been for a while. And let’s not forget, the gangs literally kidnapped and hurt Zen. Like, seriously? It doesn’t make any sense. It just feels like the writer ran out of conflict ideas.

Plus, there are just too many characters, it gets overwhelming trying to keep up with everyone's storylines.

I’m not saying you shouldn’t watch this, but maybe check the reviews and comments first — or try a few episodes and see if it’s your thing. Who knows, it might work for you even if it didn’t for me.

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Le début

"The Rebound", une série que j'ai attendue et que j'avais hâte de regarder depuis que la bande-annonce est sortie. Mais j'ai évité de placer de trop grandes attentes en elle, de peur d'être déçue....et ce ne fut pas le cas. Car pour l'instant, cette série est mon coup de coeur du moment: scénario fluide, générique, personnages attachants, l'univers sportif très présent et représenté sous deux facettes différentes, et surtout la backstory de Zen et Ryu qui m'intéresse énormément, avec la backstory de Ryu et Que. Malgré quelques petites incohérences (comme dans l'épisode 1: le fait que Zen ait réussi à tracer Ryu....???) Et les temporalités dans les épisodes pas souvent claires (genre, dans l'épisode 2, il y a une scène où Ryu se saoûle avec Que, et la scène suivante il est devant la maison de Zen. A ce moment-là, je me demandais: "euhhh....on est quand, là?"), "The Rebound" est un petit joyau qui brille peu à peu🥰💝

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