Love in the Air: Koi no Yokan (2024)

zero boundaries and a lot of trauma

Overall: at times I liked the faster pacing, but there was too much pain/trauma/ignoring boundaries. This was an adaptation of MAME's book which I haven't read (but believe she writes bodice ripper type books with the fictional mouth says no but body says yes). There was already a Thai adaptation. I tried to review the Japanese version based on its own merits. 8 episodes about 15 minutes each. Aired on GagaOOLala https://www.gagaoolala.com/en/videos/4928/love-in-the-air-2024-e01

Content Warnings: rape, past gang rape, sexual assault, intimate partner abuse, trauma, non/dub con kissing/touching, manipulation, harassment, manhandling, kidnapping, violence, blackmail

What I Liked
- fast pacing (though the first couple could have perhaps used more development/screen time, and less with the past stuff for the second couple)
- hair drying was cute
- the dream kiss
- NSFW scene in episode 4 was fairly well done (though more enthusiastic kissing from 1 person would have been nice)
- Kai was a supportive friend
- non cliche female character

Room For Improvement
- not really sold on the chemistry with either pair, Kai and Fuma actors should have been switched and Fuma's hideous suits made him look younger
- starting in the present and then going to an extended flashback
- the "plan"/nonsense approach
- the spanking was cringey
- odd progression with the flashback in episode 5 and then the devotion in the present, felt very "because the writer said so"
- (neutral) the hyper/over acting type character

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This adaptation depressed me

Japan is always unique and exception in making Boys Love stories but what the hell is this ? Sorry but I think this drama is made just to make money instead of giving viewers excitement , happiness . Thai adaptation was good and there were so many good actors , plots , funny scenes but here is everything missing . As this is adopted from a good story so they should give justice like the Thai one did .

Every episode is too short to describe the story .
Acting is bad ( I did not like )
In every episodes , there are lots of NC which are not enjoyable .
The characters are too childish to play Sky and Rain .
There are lots of cringy moments .

At the end of the day this is the worst adaptation . It could not match Japanese high standard in BL dramas .
Thank you .

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What was the point of this remake?

I don't know if I have the words to describe my thoughts during this experience. As someone who adores the original I was looking forward to seeing how this adaption would play out. I regret watching this so much.

They condensed 10, hour long episodes into 8, 26 minute episodes and you can tell it was rushed and poorly done. They skipped over so many plot points, chemistry scenes, and just important scenes to the story in general. This adaption was all over the place and not in a good way. I did not care for the acting at all, the actor for Phayu had a tendency to overact and I think that was because the actor for Rain had the tendency to underact. I didn't care for what these writers did so such beloved characters and the changes they made in terms of storyline, and characters.

If you want a good, thought-out, romantic, drama show with good acting and a good storyline stick with the Thai version of Love in the Air.

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condensed story meets bland and chemistry free MLs

This is one of the disappointing JBLs in 2024.

What was the most lacking is the chemistry between the couples and that for me "Kai" does not work as a freshman. "Kai" looks much too old for his role. Besides that, they only had the "bad stuff" culminating at the same time compared to original and they do bike races instead of cars. Other than that, they cut out a lot of fluff and some persons like the silblings of "Fuma".

The chemistry is so lacking they can't convince anybody about their feelings. "Fuma" beating up the "bad guys" alone was also unbelievable, they cut the friendship part between Arashi and Fuma in such an important scene. Also in the original series the organizers had a much bigger role which made the setting much more believable. So they cut too much and they did not invest in any fluff between the couples. Cutting out the scene where "Fuma" calls his mom to ask about how to take care of a sick person is also crucial to the story.

Overall the worst JBLs in 2024, with no creativity or spin on the original story, lacking chemistry , no fluff at all and feeling very sterile. So if you haven't seen it, forgo it and watch the "original" which has more punch to the story, is believable and doesn't miss the fluff of a BL which you would expect in such story.

Update: Ep 9 and 10 are "special" episodes. If you think it will get better, you are wrong, it went worse. Don't waste your time with it.

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the worst Japanese BL series of 2024 (for me)

I'm sorry but for me this BL isn't even sufficient. He could have made a masterpiece but he failed miserably. Why?
- 𝙡𝙞𝙩𝙩𝙡𝙚 𝙘𝙝𝙚𝙢𝙞𝙨𝙩𝙧𝙮 𝙗𝙚𝙩𝙬𝙚𝙚𝙣 𝙘𝙤𝙪𝙥𝙡𝙚𝙨
-𝒕𝒐𝒐 𝒎𝒂𝒏𝒚 𝒊𝒎𝒑𝒐𝒓𝒕𝒂𝒏𝒕 𝒔𝒄𝒆𝒏𝒆𝒔 𝒄𝒖𝒕 (for example they cut a lot of scenes showing the friendship between Fuma and Arashi and also a lot of iconic scenes from the original Thai series)
-𝙡𝙞𝙩𝙩𝙡𝙚 𝙘𝙧𝙚𝙙𝙞𝙗𝙞𝙡𝙞𝙩𝙮 / 𝙡𝙞𝙩𝙩𝙡𝙚 𝙖𝙩𝙩𝙚𝙣𝙩𝙞𝙤𝙣 𝙩𝙤 𝙙𝙚𝙩𝙖𝙞𝙡 (e.g. Rei's car should be a wreck but instead from the first episode it is shown as a new car, polished as if she had just bought it. For me they could have put more effort into making the more ruined car, even just with mud)(e.g.: the motorbike suits couldn't be seen and they weren't even the right ones. the material of all those is very different)(I could stay here for days complaining about a lot of other things so I'll move on)
- 𝗱𝗶𝘀𝗮𝗽𝗽𝗼𝗶𝗻𝘁𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁 𝘄𝗶𝘁𝗵 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗮𝗰𝘁𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗶𝗻 𝗴𝗲𝗻𝗲𝗿𝗮𝗹 (I love a lot of Japanese series in which they make many scenes more treatral but in an ironic way but here I was just very disappointed)

in my opinion for a story like this they should use much more budget. Why? the top two of the couples are rich but here they seemed like normal people.

The only positive thing is:
- they tried to reinterpret the story with Japanese protagonists and a Japanese setting

I'm very disappointed because I know they could have done better but they clearly didn't put their all into it.

Usually I don't comment if I have to give a very negative comment but I can't see this series rated with a 7. I'm sorry but it really doesn't deserve it considering that the original only has an 8.1. I'm sorry but I think so.

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Love crashed ! View was great , feels were zero!

I was genuinely excited for this adaptation, but unfortunately it fell short on so many levels. If I hadn't watched the Thai version, I would have found the story to be fragmented and sort of incomplete.

One of the main issues I had was with the casting. While the actors may be talented, they didn’t convince me as university students. There was a noticeable disconnect throughout making it hard for me to fully vibe with characters and care about them.

Starting with Ray and Arashi's story, I did like the focus that was given to their part, especially in the first two episodes. The pacing was fine early on, but as the series progressed, it just felt ordinary. The weak acting played a huge role in this. The chemistry and delivery just didn't land for me. Shoma was a sight to behold but he felt more like a pretty canvas visually stunning yet devoid of any real emotion, even in the most heartfelt and emotional moments.
Also the story itself was problematic for me but the acting didn't help it either. Felt lackluster without that right emotional depth.

As for Fuma and Kai’s story, it was clearly rushed compared to the original version. The pacing felt off especially considering how much attention was given to the first half of the show. Kai, in particular looked much older than his character, which took me out. While their acting wasn’t bad, it simply didn’t convince me enough to fully buy into their relationship.

Overall, this adaptation was a disappointment. As a fan of JBl, it’s tough for me to write this review and give it a low rating, but unfortunately It is what it is.

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Japan Does it Best

Japan puts their spin to a Thai BL classic, Love in The Air, and with no surprise, do it much, much better.

Let's Dive in.

When I first heard of this, I was worried. How were they going to be able to intricately make such an already-odd series and put their own taste to it? Well, they did it, and they did it pretty decently.

This series basically took everything I hated about the original and completely squashed it. They were about to tell the same story with the same characters and conflicts, without the need to add in unnecessary characters, or random scenes, or a bunch of tropey stuff. They told the exact same story, concisely and beautifully in just 10 episodes, and I loved it.

Now, with that, I did somewhat-sort of trash watched this with a friend, so I wasn't as observant as I usually am with series, but that's okay. I still think it was great, the character's had more depth, Rei and Kai felt more like friends than Payu and Sky, and the NC scene were hitting in all the right spots.

Overall, I think this was better than the original, but still not the best J-BL. It's okay for what it is, and I appreciate that it was given us.

Ratings:

Story: 7.5/10 - Still the same old plot, still not my favorite, but Japan told the story way better. I loved the chemistry between the leads, and they did a job well done.

Acting: 8.5/10 - LOVE Reo (Kai) he did SUCH a good job. Everyone else did good too, and fortunately, Shoma is just so hot that he get an extra point out of me.

Music: 6/10 - Didn't pay that much attention to it.

Recommendation Value: 7/10 - Ehh. Shoma looks good with his shirt off though.

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We started with an ★8.1

This is the second adaptation from the novels “Love Storm" (พายุรักโถมใจ) and "Love Sky" (พระพายหมายฟ้า) by MAME.

The first adaptation into a screenplay “Love In The Air” 2022 was a complete masterpiece that obtained a rating of ★8.1 through the time, having also a special episode and a total of thirteen episodes about 45min-50min long per episode.

Now we have the second adaptation, a Japanese version ”Love In The Air: Koi no Yokan” 2024 has aired the first episode and it obtained a rating of ★8.1 . It is planned to have 10 episodes that will be about 24 minutes long, which leaves us with the question “what are they gonna leave aside?”.

With just one episode aired, the Japanese version and the original Thai adaptation from the novels, obtained the same rating.

About the first episode (SPOILER) :
It was good, as it was exactly as the original Thai version, so I could see the things I liked, yet without some details about Arashi (Payu in the Thai version) and also wanted to some different things, cause it was The Same. I will always love and remember the original one, as it was my first BL, but I really wish this to be nice. So good luck for further episodes.

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a lackluster story can only go so far

though the thai original is very popular, i don't think that this one necessarily falls flat in comparison. the reality is that this adaptation cut out a lot of the filler the original had, and thus feels like it's "missing" something. the reality is that the story is bad, there was nothing interesting going on, and relied on a lot of trauma to further one of the storylines.

i did expect japan to change up a lot of the intensity that was missing in the original, but i also realize that it's hard to do this without changing the story itself. though i expected more, i also think the casting didn't help much. the differences in what japan finds attractive in comparison to thailand are evident in these casting choices and left me questioning some choices. or there's just not enough of a diversity in actors up to taking on any of these roles, perhaps? either way, kai's story was slightly more palatable just for the seriousness given to his trauma. i didn't find the thai original to really approach that with good taste.

i don't know, but shoma was the only one i found interesting and to really fit the role. takuto might've benefited more from a better stylist, because his boyish looks only made him awkward to look at for me. i would've liked more of a personalized touch to his interpretation, it felt regurgitated to me. i also sincerely failed to see chemistry between any of these actors.

overall, i'm not a huge fan of the story itself, but i watched in hopes that maybe japan would do it better. it was better in the flow of things, but the short episodes were a chore to get through still. i struggled with enjoying most of this, but i do appreciate shoma a lot in this. he did the best out of the cast. though the casting wasn't the greatest apart from him, but at least it proves that the original adaptation was only successful due to chemistry and not for being a groundbreaking story.

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how did they make it even cringier lol

even cringier than the other version lol the thing is because it has even shorter running time, it's even worse. this is a very wattpad story with the corniest plot and dialogues, i knew that we all knew that. but give me something fun at least. the writing in here is really bad, like how did they make it worse lol some scenes i had to look away and no one was even singing or pulling out the guitar, it's that bad lol there's no real development of the romance and the acting or chemistry don't save this one either. it's just corny but not in a fun way other bls have done, ya know. i just want to be entertained at leasttt

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Mixed feelings but good outcome

I both liked it and hated it at the same time. Every episode I was watching nervously, expecting it to disapoint me. Sometimes it did, sometimes they did better than I could have wished for. I've watched the Thai version and have a strong opinion about it, so I was excited to see what the Japanese director had taken out of it and how she had decided to adapt it. I have a lot to criticize in both shows, so for my own satisfaction, I'm going to compare them point by point before I express my general feelings about Koi no Yokan.

STORY
Win: Thailand
The Japanese version follows pretty much the original story but of course, as it has less episodes, they had to cut and compromise some stuff. I liked the way they did it overall but there are two things that bothered me; First, merging Arashi's and Rei's two NC scenes into one. In the original, I didn't really care about their first time, but the scene after Payu won the race was amazing because it showed really how they had grown to care more about each other than anything else, and how well they worked together. It was so important for their chemistry developpement. Merging it and making that scene their first time in KNY takes away that developpement and makes the moment way less powerful. Also, they decided to have Rei tell Arashi about his assignment after the race, which made it look like he didn't care that much about Arashi's achievement. I was really fond of the way Rain was super supportive and proud of him in the original, and by merging these two moments they completly lost that aspect of their couple. Second thing, having both Kai and Rei's assault in the same episode made it more difficult to empathize with them individually.

RYTHM
Win: Japan
As much as the cuts mentionned above upsetted me, it was soooooo much easier to watch than the original. Like in many Thai dramas, LITA tends to include many elements/scenes that are just slow and do not bring much to the story. KNY was efficient, straight to the point but didn't feel rushed, at least to me.

PHOTOGRAPHY
Win: Thailand
Not that LITA was specifically well filmed, but still, once again, it's about the chemistry and proximity. KNY had way fewer, longer and more distant shots. Some scenes were almost filmed entirely in one shot. It's a style I usually enjoy very much, but in this case it kind of made it look like a theatre play. It kept me distant from what was happening on the sceen, like I was watching from afar all the time. So of course it was harder to feel that proximity between the characters, but it also reduced the impact of the action scenes. I liked the colorimetry though, it was very lively.

SOUND
Win: Japan
I didn't notice much about the music in both shows. But the sound in LITA was just horrible, and in KNY it was... well... done by professionnals who have been paid correctly, probably. One moment where the music did hit me was the scene in the car where Arashi is all over Rei. In LITA, in the bathroom stall, it's an angsty music which really adds to the assault Payu is doing and made me highly uncomfortable. In KNY, it's more of a sensual, slow music that eases it up and contribute to making it look less aggressive, so good point.

CHARACTERS
I'm not going to talk about the acting, because I believe everything the actors did was a choice made on purpose by the director, and therefore is a part of the characters and not the actors' capacities. For example, everyone criticized Rei's actor for not being able to do a proper kiss in their NC scene, but he showed us in the last episode that he was well capable of kissing, which means that it was the director who had decided he would act like that in the first scene. SO, here goes what I think of the characters:
REI: Thailand wins
I didn't really like Rain in the first place but Rei was.... insufferable. His infinite baby talk, the way he moved, his actions.... He was more stupid, more selfish and had pretty much nothing interesting to offer.
ARASHI: Thailand wins
In LITA, I hated Payu at first and grew to like him after they got together. I despised him for harassing Rain sexually, but then I liked how he became much more soft, cool but still sensitive to what happened to him and his boyfriend, and overall very expressive. One good thing about Arashi is that he wasn't as agressive with the whole sexual assault, just a bit pushy, but otherwise he was just plain boring. Just that cool guy who is too cool to show any emotion. Even when Rei got kidnapped he gave us nothing, just a semi angry swing and slightly anxious eyes when he got to Rei being tied up on the chair.
KAI: Tie
I really liked both. Maybe I was a bit disapointed when Kai wasn't as sassy as Sky, but still I think his character made sense and I was very fond of the more taciturn aspect.
FUMA: Japan wins
Yeah, Prapai was amazing after they got together. But christ how painful it was to watch him harrass the sh*t out of Sky in the beginning, so much that Sky actually had somewhat of a panic attack at some point. Fuma was just as sweet, just as much of a green flag, but without the aggressive harrassment. Like Arashi, he is a bit pushy and doesn't give up but it is very light. Even the first time they met at the race, unlike Prapai, Fuma doesn't actually pressures Kai into sleeping with him, as he says he's kidding after asking him for "something in return" (though it doesn't make much sense why Kai actually sleeps with him then but still, it makes Fuma way more likable).

CHEMISTRY
Win: Thailand, of course
BUT ! Like I already mentionned, people criticized the intimate scenes in KNY a lot because it was awkward and everything, condemning it as if the director had no clue what she was doing or whatever. I did at first too. But after watching Kai and Fuma's second NC scene and Arashi and Rei's bath scene, I realized it was probably more deeply thought by the Director. I don't know since I'm not in her head, but I feel like she purposely made it awkward for Arashi and Rei since it was their first time, and as much as I hated that scene, I think it contributed to the satisfaction of the bath scene. Same for Fuma and Kai, she probably made their first time awkward since Kai was forcing himself and Fuma didn't think much of him at that time, and it deepened the gap between that and their second time which was very sweet and much more smooth. So, I actually didn't hate their chemistry in KNY. Because of their individual characters, I'm kinda still wondering why are Rei and Arashi together, but Kai and Fuma had, in their own way, just as much chemistry as the Thai couple.

In Conclusion, as I didn't particularly love the original story, I didn't expect to be much fond of this one either. But overall Koi No Yokan was a nice, easy watch and is even more enjoyable if you're used to the Japanese style. Though Fuma and Kai's story only is 80% of the reason why I liked it, I'll keep a good memory of the whole show and wouldn't mind watching it again.

Despite everything above, I do not think an adaptation has look like the original or even do it justice. I just compared them because I watched them both, but Koi no Yokan stands well by itself and I'm sure the people who haven't seen LITA don't think as bad of this show as the people who did. Would recommend to the people who are used to Japanese shows and those who can look over Rei's despicable character lol.

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