Whale Store xoxo

Chicken soup for who's soul?

The old adage of 'imperfections make something perfect' can very well be applied to this - but even discounting the imperfections, this is not perfect. And that sounds like criticism even to the person writing it, but my criticism is not as harsh as it seems.

Whale Store xoxo is meant to be a show that's supposed to heal a jaded soul, if you find yourself in a situation, any one of the situations, Wan, the lead, finds herself in - the forty minutes every Wednesday should be the moments you find solace, even if it's through a screen.

Striving to be realistic, it misses a step, because here comes our whale in shining armour - Maewnam, our other lead. She is a jack of all trades, and is always there for Wan, even at the cost of Wan's own personality or growth. When the growth is completely facilitated by someone who is not the one actually supposed to be healing.. it doesn't feel quite as healing anymore..

The romance however, is the show's saving grace. What it lacked in depth, was made up for with one of the most green flag relationships I've seen on screen. It's a mature and grounded relationship - Wan and Maewnam communicate throughout, there are no long drawn out misunderstandings, they're there for each other.. well Maewnam is there for Wan..

.. and we're back to the imbalance in their relationship. Not a red flag, not even a beige flag, but that imbalance is very obvious. In every scene, every episode. Which the writers have made into the leads' personalities.. meaning episode after episode, it's basically the same storyline.

The second couple had the same kind of storyline, a cycle that is going nowhere. Episode after episode Ton and Chompoo deliberate on their relationship, where again, it's what one person says that goes. And it's even worse here because they don't have a relationship you want to root for!

With the leads, I can say that I wanted them to end up together - their issue was something they could (and did) resolve through an open conversation. But Ton and Chompoo were in a situation where Ton was getting battered every single time, even when Chompoo stood by her instead of against her. That power imbalance was evident in their chemistry, their story and screentime - which towards the end really became more about Chompoo and her mother. I wish they'd stuck with the 'exes' storyline from the pilot, I certainly would have enjoyed that more.

That's mostly my problem with this series - all the storylines stemmed from a single conflict or character trait, and none of the characters had any real depth. I still enjoyed the series - it had many moments where it was genuine and expressed emotions and stories that needed to be told. But unfortunately, these moments came only when the characters were growing on their own, and thus, they came rarely.

Even the supporting characters were one dimensional, throughout. It's all very disillusioning is all I'm saying! When a show about healing and growth has healing.. but no growth..

Acting wise - solid as always from Milk. I am getting a bit tired of Love playing the perfect human though, she does it well but I think she can pull of other roles (come on.. Girl Rules!). June and Mewnich.. it's definitely because of the characters writing but I did not enjoy their portrayal of their characters. Give them better characters please. Jingjing and Piploy did do their best as well with what they were given (not a lot).

Once again, it all boils down to the plot for me - it's exactly my type of drama, but it didn't reach it's full potential. But with healing romances, there's always room for interpretation, it's the beauty of writing such a story, and if it resonated with you more than it did me, that's wonderful! I usually say if I do or do not recommend, but here I'm going to say, give it a watch. If halfway through you're still in love, chances are you'll love all of it. If you don't.. that's cool too! Pick another drama that you think will make you feel all warm and happy - and if you love it, drop me a comment here with your recommendation!

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a first ep that pulled on my heartstrings

i wrote this review on letterboxd and now im pasting it here

Yes it’s weird to review a show when only the first ep has aired but I did it anyway.

MILKLOVE are defo my number one gl actresses, they were the first prominent gl couple in thailand (as inkpa in bad buddy) and they are stunning asf and incredible actresses. The fact that they genuinely fought to become a gl couple with eachother always warms my heart and it reminds me how truly special their bond is. I’m really happy to see them in this show because I have always wanted to see them in more mature roles, AND NOW THEY ARE GRADUATED, we cheered frfr.
I would also like to remind people, one of the reasons this cast is special to me is because both love and view are irl sapphics, who have fallen for girls before, which is so precious because it means representation
Regarding junemewnich, as someone who adored Viewjune (and was really sad after their split) I love them so much, mewnich is pretty and she feeds back the same energy June gives, which is what June has always wanted. They are cute and have overflowing chemistry, I do not stand for hate against them by anyone. June is lit glowing and she looks stunning and mewnich is talented asf.

The directing so far is beautiful, the scene where wan drops her umbrella and it creates a spotlight on maewnam is SO SO CUTE. The overall show is well made, I love how it’s coloured, comedic moments are well timed, outfits are stunning. I’m enjoying it all. I especially love how this show is handling flashbacks. Sometimes flashbacks feel sudden and random but this show is literally working them in and they are making the plot feel full and ensuring no scenes are feeling like filler. I will also take this moment to thank the director for allowing milk to look stunning, I feel like every show she has she isn’t styled how she should be but she looks incredible here and is serving. Love is so pretty too and I adore the scene where we are told she is a professor, it makes their characters feel more adult for sure.

Ok moving to the actual plot, I adore it, it’s so fresh wholesome and cute with the right amount of angst. I enjoy how both of them are fully fleshed out characters, although I don’t expect it from ep 1 it is a nice thing to see. Wan (milks) dad dying was smth we all expected, it’s the whole premise of the show but I’m still so sad, and when she expresses her regret to maewnam (love) it makes me so sad. Her telling maewnam that she always felt her dad would be her so she never worried or picked up all his calls, and how she now regrets that broke me. When wan says “pa, I’m here now” my heart shattered, she carried so much pain and seeing her break down when she was finally able to, away from her life’s business, was so sad. Maewnam obviously feels neglected by her family in her own way, and I’m excited to see that explored, so far I think she feels like her parents are to focused on their business, and she feels very pressured by that life. Its interesting to see her service and how her mum sees it as smth taking away from her life, and I’m interested to see why she does that whilst teaching and getting ready for a phd, especially since I do think her family is funding her still so it’s prob not for money. The two meeting made me so happy, they are both sooooo cute. And also, MAEWNAM HAS ALWAYS LIKED WAN EEEEEE. That made me so happy because they are so cute already. And seems like next week wan will fall quick.

Moving on, acting is amazing, MILKLOVE have always had an undeniable amount of chemistry, just them looking at eachother brings sparks. Cast is amazing, stunning fr. Have to take a moment to appreciate them all. I love milk and I’ve loved her since f4, I’m excited to see her in a role like this. Love is stunning and she’s doing so well, no1 girl kisser fr. June is SOOOOOO PRETTY hehehe and I love her so much as I do with mewnich. PIPLOYJINGJING ahhhh I’m so happy I have loved piploy forever and ik it’s been her dream to act in a gl with jingjing, I’m so excited for them to get together. And also NO MEN LETS GOOOOO, we used to pray for these days and now finally we have them, a fully female cast is bliss for gls.

Ok I think that’s enough lolol it’s only 1 ep. When the next ep comes out maybe I will review again or I’ll js wait for the show to finish.

p.s. piploy is so fine one chance please piploy (this is open for the entire cast I adore them all)

OH ALSO GMMTV FUCK YOU FOR MAKING THIS SHOW TEN EPS, IT DESERVES TWELVE HOW DO THE MEN GET 12-24 AND THE GIRLS GET 10, dont u dare give my girls earthmix treatment. Girl rules better have 24, 8 per main couple

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