Ready, Set, Love (2024)

I love dystopias!

I absolutely loved this! It was pretty short, 6 episodes, but I think if it was longer it would’ve dragged. I was smiling almost the whole time, it was really funny but also knew how to be emotional. Dystopian is one of my favourite genres, so this was right up my alley. The couples were super cute and I really liked Son and Day’s childhood friends who reunited as lovers. The way they look at each other! With the cliffhanger the drama really could have a second season. I know Thailand is known for its BL dramas, but I like how this also didn’t seem scared to have openly queer main characters.

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squid games meet the hunger games

this short series is really a mix between Squid Games for the gaming stage and the cruel steps to reach the top. it also reminded me of the Hinger games as it is set into a distopian world where men are literally farmed following a pandemic that altered the way children are born.
the reality show set by the governement to mask underground activities were also a good plot point.
But the staging is far below the quality I expected. The actors are ok but not tremendous, to my point of view. I still watched the 6 episodes and liked the hopelfull end but would have expected a bit more depth especially with the second leads.

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Good premise, execution was okay, and the ending was unsatisfying

I think the show had a really premise, the fact that we're watching partially as the reality show viewer and partially as a normal drama viewer. I also think the fact that this was held in an alternate universe where the male only makes up 0.01 of the population is very new.

I binged the show, which I rarely do, so I can say that it was a very enjoyable watch, I was sucked into it, although there are some cringy parts that I skipped past through. The flow in the beginning made a lot of sense, the character introduction, the reality show flow, but in the middle episodes, it felt kind of wonky, it was as if they were trying to fit in so much content but they weren't allowed the time? I'm not so sure. And the ending? I think it was too hurried, overthrowing the government is hard for sure, so it feels weird that they tried to cram it in the last 20 minutes of the last episode. And the last scene where we see Madam Kwan finding out Son, Day, their son, and Son's father? It's a bit ominous but tells us nothing.

The show was really fun overall, I wish they executed it better and I wish we had a more coherent ending.

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Art style copied from Hunger Games + Squid Game. Weak storyline. Weak Performance.

Plot [-]

The concept of the story is alright, but the plot and storyline are weak. There's not much substance at all. There's absolutely no need for 6 episodes. They could just make it into a 2-hr movie and that would be enough.

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Acting [-]

The worst acting goes to the FL. Her performance is exaggerated and unnatural. While the genre may require some level of exaggeration, her portrayal goes beyond what is necessary. It seems like she hasn't found the right balance between delivering a performance while maintaining the level of believability.

Apart from FL, FL's friend also delivers an unnatural performance in some scenes. As for the FL's younger sister, she is cute and natural in appearance (I think her performance is the best in the series. She has a long way to go in this career), but the words she uses in her dialogue seem to come from almost 20 years ago. I strongly feel that the writer of this series might belong to Gen Y as their slangs are from the heyday of that era. (For example, who still says เพื่ออออ? (The FL uses this word a couple of times.) And you make the younger sister who is an early teen says ตายแล้วววว (-_-) Guys... no kid says that word. I don't even say it myself though I'm older than her.)

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Music [-]

This series is quite silent when it comes to music. They hardly use any soundtracks or backing tracks apart from the main opening song. I usually admire a series/movie that can captivate viewers without relying on music which often plays a significant role in evoking emotions. However, the way this series avoids using music seems somewhat out of theme. Firstly, with their shallow story and character design, they can hardly engage viewers emotionally, so incorporating backing music would be beneficial for them. Secondly, considering that the series has a futuristic and dystopian theme within the fantasy genre, using the right music would help immerse people who haven't experienced such environments before. While it would be impressive and ingenious if they could achieve this without music, since they cannot do so effectively, they should take advantage of what music can offer here.

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Art Direction [-]

I quite like the art direction for most parts of the series. The light, the colors, the props and camera angles are align with my taste, but they totally lack originality. They are heavily inspired by Hunger Games + Squid Game. The color palettes and the uniform used in this series appear to be direct copies from Squid Game. Though copy, they still did it quite alright, but there's one aspect that stands out negatively, which is the costume of the actors in the last scene, including the ML's costume and hairstyle. The world of the commune in that scene lacks imagination and creativity. It's simply a copy of the hippie style but ends up feeling fake. Just look at the ML's hairstyle, it feels overdone. They seem to have run out of ideas on how to differentiate that community.

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Above all [~/-]

It's super cringey. I got goosebumps and second-hand embarrassment watching the FL doing her foolish things. She's the character that could have been cool, really, but they portray her as dumb.

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Looks friendly but has secrets

I LOVED THIS SERIES!! I thought it would definitely be just a cheesy cute comedic reality type show, but I was wrong. The colors popped out, and the OSTs were very soothing to listen to. Not to mention that catchy intro?? Once I saw Son's story, I was sooo confused!
This series had me laughing and nervous for the characters sneaking around to find out the truth. I'm really hoping for a 2nd season, though I'm not sure how it would go since Son and Day have a kid, but I think it would be nice to continue their story. Thai shows tend to be overdramatic, so their acting was definitely on point knowing they were told to do that. I loved the cast, and everyone was likeable ♡

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a quick watch with a bearable storyline

so, i didn’t finish it obviously because i really couldn’t watch it anymore 😭

tbh no hate to it at all, if you’re into short dramas that have a cute little expected story going on then this might be just for you. me on the other hand, im not exactly into basic storylines with basic characters so.. BUT that’s just my own opinion.

also, it kind of reminded me of meteor garden (a chinese drama) that i had ALSO dropped halfway through and the way it reminded me of meteor garden just pushed me even more to the decision of dropping it.

the typical weird funny girl x coldhearted boy trope is just KINDAA not for me, so that’s the only reason. other than that, it was pretty okay

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Fun, funny, intense, and interesting dystopian story

This was a really interesting story and a lot of fun without being too superficial or too dark. I enjoyed the plot and I enjoyed how it moved along and didn't waste a lot of time on unimportant things. Definitely worth a season 2.

Everybody's acting was pretty good. I'd like to imagery in a lot of ways because they made it very clear and bright while discussing a subject that was somewhat dark. The game show itself was really interesting but you know predictable in some ways because of the story of the show being rigged. But the way they described the subject around it was interesting.

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Dystopian is Back

I watched this drama when it released and I forgot to write a review. Here is me finally writing my review several months later as the plot was unforgettable.

This is by far my favourite Thai drama. It is not a typical Thai drama, at least to me it is unlike any other Thai drama I've seen, and I haven't watched many because I am not a huge fan of Thai dramas. However, this drama felt like the Netflix drama it is, it seemed much more like a Western dystopian drama, that is what made me like it so much. If you are a fan of American/English (maybe even European) dystopian dramas/movies, then I'd highly recommend this drama to you.

I say dystopian is back because, first I think the genre is honestly back, and second because this drama gave me the same vibe as the dystopian movies that came out around 2010s.

It is set in a world where women are the majority of the population, and where men are seemingly rare making them a 'prize' in society. The drama focuses on on the 'prize' aspect of the men, in a competition where several women are doing everything to win the romantic interest of any one of the men so that they can have what we view a typical family (a husband, wife and children born the natural way). Men and women are segregated in society, however only the wealthy women have easy access to these men. Majority of the population is poor, living in poor conditions with access to minimal healthcare, including the FL. These are women that have never even seen a man in their lives and these women can only adopt or have children through artificial insemination. It is very rare for any of the women competing for a man to be from the poor part of society, in fact the FL was the only poor person who was actually able to compete in the actual competition.

The concept of this drama to me came off as like a very patriarchal society (which didn't seem very dystopian to me) because of the way the men are first seen. Though many of the women live in such poor condition, all the men were are first introduced to live very extravagant lives with lots of money and no concept of what it is like to go without food or medical care. However, when you delved deeper you realise these men are treated like caged animals. Though the women are competing for the men, the men don't really have a choice on who they can be with romantically, they have no choice on their lives. They are separated from their parents and grow up confined in this one place and their lives are fully controlled by the rich women, especially the MLs life.

Though this drama has only 6 episodes, the story was very well paced and the plot had a lot to unpack with a lot of really well written side characters (and side plots) alongside the main characters (and the main plot).

The season finale was also very good and leaves it open for a season 2. I really hope this drama gets a season 2. I don't understand why the overall raring for this drama isn't much higher and why this drama doesn't get much hype (or at least didn't get much hype when it released).

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If you can look past the slapstick comedy elements it is a hidden gem rom com

9.5/10 is my rating. This is a 2024 Thai Dystopian Romantic Comedy Series with 6, 63-7 minute episodes.

First I provide a unique synopsis then review

Synopsis

The show is set in a dystopian parallel universe where a virus has resulted in males representing only 1% of the population. The rarity of males has lead to the government raising them from birth in a controlled, secure, and luxurious environment (a gilded cage) called The Farm. Every Four Years a contest is held in the form of an elimination dating game where ladies are able to choose to marry an individual from a group of the young bachelors. In previous games, the contestants were chosen from elite families only but, for the first time, they hold a lottery to choose an average femalecitizen to compete. Darika Chokwithee or “Day” (Belle Kemisara Paladesh) is a hardworking young lady whose life centers around making sure her sister, May (Neen Neennara Boonnithipaisit) who has cancer, gets the best care. Her sister May though has always fan girled over the boys on the farm particularly Son (Blue Pongtiwat Tangwancharoen) who she particularly admires. While Day is busy working a variety of jobs, May focuses on getting as many entries as possible to the lottery. When a miracle happens and May’s entry is chosen, she talks Day into going in her place. Day could care less aboit some frivilous show until she discovers if she wins, and marries one of the men from “The Farm”, she can secure the future for herself and her sister including top quality medical care. But, things are not as they are portrayed and the game has been rigged for the top elite to have their choice of the men. Day’s friend, Valentine (Jane Jaytiya Naiwattanakul) is working with a counter group, and goes to work for the show as the spy inside. Can true love overcome odds so heavily weighed against it?

Review

If ypu can see past some of the siily slapstick aspects around the game show, it is a hidden gem. It can be hard to find a truely feel good romantic comedy like this one. This is cute, not super complex, and ends happily with all major plot elememts neatly resolved. It is short but the number of episodes were enough to tell the story well. I would rewatch it in the future and recommend it as a heartwarming romantic comedy. I could habe done without the boy love and girl love elements but it was not hyper sexualized content in general so it was not a big deal.

Spoilers

The only very slight detractor for me was some of the three stooges level comedy. But it did make me giggle a couple of times as it was so incredibly silly.

Despite the relative light fluff of the main story, there are some deeper messages. What is health and safety without freedom? The men on the Farm are living in the highest level of safety with every luxury but they are not free.

If there was ever a situation like that we can all envision where the elite would likely control it. Natural selection and genetic diversity is what keeps a population strong and healthy. So their “selection” system would be horrible from that perspective. But if you think of inbreeding among royal lines in the past, and the genetic issues that caused, it is not surprising.

Almond’s (Man Trisanu Soranun) fear and decision to stay behind makes sense considering the psychology of a situation like that. It is like opening a cage and the bird or whatever either does not leave or uses it as a home base.

#ReadySetLove #BelleKemisaraPaladesh #NeenNeennaraBoonnithipaisit #BluePongtiwatTangwancharoen #JaneJaytiyaNaiwattanakul #ManTrisanuSoranun

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Unique romcom that captured my heart

This drama was not one I had been anticipating, I just happened to come across it. And immediately after the first episode, i was OBSESSED. I absolutely loved how interesting the plot was - it was lighthearted but also serious when it needed to be. I loved how each 'main' character had a purpose in the show - except for Jin... his job was literally just making anyone put on his team, lose. Regardless, I liked how the plot was developed. The acting was great - of course it was silly at times but I think that suited the vibes of the show. I am now a huge fan of Blue since he did such a good job playing Son! I also loved the gay sideplots - both Paper and Chun as well as the producer and her girlfriend. The OST made for the show was very fitting. I'd definitely rewatch this again - it provided me with so much comfort. I feel like the ending was conclusive while also being open which is great. PLEASE GIVE US A SEASON 2.

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Interesting premise but too many plotholes in the world-building

This show was interesting at times and it dragged at others. It's only 6 episodes but somehow they managed to drag it at times and at others it felt rushed.
As other people have mentioned in their reviews there is a flaw in the world-building of the show. There are too many questions left unanswered in terms of how society works and what things are different, especially when it comes to reproduction and what kind of things they were doing to solve the problem of the decline in male population. It gave me the impression that nothing was being done science wise to try and understand why it was happening or how to solve it. I think at one point it's mentioned how they created artificial sperm or something of the sorts? It's just mentioned in passing but it's never explained. In a society like that you would think the few males would be exploited to no end as sperm donors, and would create issues of everyone eventually being related if the pool of men is that small. The artificial sperm would obviously solve this to a certain extent but then if they're capable of making artificial one, shouldn't they also be able to overcome the decline in born males? It brings the question if the problem then it's the mother carrying the child, in which case, and considering they can make artificial sperm, maybe make an artificial uterus? Anyway, I'm getting too much into this, the show just simply didn't care in explaining anything. Even if it had been complete fantasy and surreal, some kind of explanation would have been welcomed.
The premise in terms of the world and the plot itself is interesting but it lacks enough exploration. The lack of it would have been passable if all that had been a background element and the plot had revolved exclusively about the show and the FL's character participation in it, but it does involve the bigger issues into the plot and as such it's not satisfactory as it is.
The show part of it it's also quite a big plothole in itself. It's never really explained why it exists in the first place. It's not like it's giving anyone hopes or anything if also the women usually chosen to marry those men are from rich families. Why are they pushing the marriage thing onto those men? They should be forever donors lol it wouldn't really matter much who they marry as long as they contribute to the whole population lol It's said it's the 7th time the show happens, by this time the whole population already knows it's fixed if all women chosen are from rich families and it would have lost all spectators. Sure, the men themselves would be equally popular like celebrities, but no one would care to follow a show to see who they marry, it wouldn't be them so who cares?

Someone in the reviews said this was a trying to be somewhat of a mix between Squid Game and Hunger Games, and I totally agree. I haven't even watched Squid Game although I know more or less what is about and certainly this shares the looks. The music in the last episode when the female contestants are presented was very close to the Hunger Games one, it was blatantly similar.

Acting is generally ok, some of them are better than others. Characters wise, I feel a lot of them were quite superficial and we don't learn anything from many of them, or we learn one thing and that's just their whole vibe. Almond was an interesting character in his more grey area, but it was unsatisfactory how his motivations and decision at the end is not explored more. FL's character was ok in the very beginning, then it's too silly and cliché (girl that doesn't care much about her looks, it's a black hole eating and is clumsy and can't read the room) to then being a more mature towards the end. It was inconsistent and they could have avoided that cliché phase altogether. I'm generally not a fan of the troupe of childhood acquaintances to adult lovers, here it was worse that in other shows because it was pretty much instant as soon as they recognise each other, and their childhood experience together was very brief, or at least it's only shown in a very summarised way, what doesn't help their case either way. As it happens often I was more invested in the side love story and progression of Chanel and Max than the main characters, they were more unique and they had obstacles to overcome. Sure, it's not really explored enough, but for what it is, it was better in my opinion.

Things are kind of left there and then there is an "epilogue" 4 years later. It brings many questions, especially of those that were left behind. Then we have the classic evil laugh, almost, because the evil queen has found their location HOHOHO I mean, it's not like they were super secretive in their location, they're not even covered by woods or anything. I don't know... haha Either way, I don't know if they're doing a 2nd season of this or not, and if not, what a silly way to end it.

Despite all of this and other flaws it was surprisingly passable and entertaining in a general way????!!! How is this possible really??? Maybe it's because my expectations were quite low but I thought it would be worse. I think it being 6 episodes also helped it a lot in that respect. It didn't overstay its welcome much.
My rating goes for interesting idea and for the general entertainment it provided, surprisingly.
It's generally watchable but keep expectations quite low and don't question much of anything, otherwise your brain cells will combust, mine are certainly fried at the edges and I'll move on to something else immediately before I dwell too much into the details of this and I see the back of my head and steam out from my ears lol

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