There Is A Plot!
I've seen a lot of criticism of My Safe Zone's plot; mainly, viewers saying that there isn't one, which I disagree with. If you're paying attention, the series tells us precisely what it is. Jane is Alin's safe zone, and the series is constructed around that single fact.What I do agree with is that things moved too quickly. Jane and Alin were put into so many scenarios that we barely had time to recover from the last mishap in their relationship. This threw the series's pacing off. My Safe Zone could have benefited from either more episodes or fewer plot points to keep the story grounded and give the more significant points more time to be explored.
The true gem of My Safe Zone is the chemistry between Lena and Miu; no one can top what they gave us in My Safe Zone. And I'm not referring to the intimate scenes or their great acting performances. They have a give-and-take that I'm sure stems from their longtime friendship, which really gives life and sincerity to Jane and Alin's relationship. I really want to give props to the director for not stifling natural chemistry.
I'm looking forward to their next series, where hopefully they are given a great script with roles that suit them and their abilities.
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A good story with a rushed script.
The production of the series is very good and the story is interesting. The acting is also very good; I'm enjoying watching it so far, but the script, for some reason, seems rushed. Several moments, especially in episode 3 and 7, happened without much depth; it seems like they're in a hurry to tell the story and aren't giving us enough time to connect with the characters and root for them. If you get distracted for even a moment, you end up missing an important scene. I don't know what happened in episode 3 and 7, but several scenes lasted less than 3 minutes with important dialogues. The impression I got is that the series was finished and they had to cut about 4 episodes, so they chopped up several important scenes and put them all together one after the other.The story is dragging a bit; the romance just "happened," it didn't develop on screen. Did they suddenly decide to date out of nowhere? Maybe that's the point, but to me it felt a bit empty. There was no anticipation for their first kiss or their first night together; it just happened, period. Now it seems like every episode is the same: they're together, then something happens to make them sad and cause them to drift apart, but everything's okay at the end of the episode.
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This review may contain spoilers
What is going on ???
As is often the case with CH3 original productions, there are a lot of plotlines introduced, but very few are actually developed, and many of them end up serving no real purpose in terms of character progression. Honestly, the writing is poorly done.For me, the only development Alin and Jane get is endless crying and a relationship so unhealthy it feels like it could end in a psychiatric hospital. The series only starts to become interesting in episode 6, even though there are only 8 episodes in total, which I find completely crazy.
The whole plot involving Pie was useless and uninteresting. The characters of Alin and Jane are poorly written, but we still manage to like them thanks to the actresses’ strong performances. They are the main reason I managed to finish the series—their chemistry works really well.
The secondary characters deserved much more depth; as they are, they’re basically pointless. However, I loved seeing Kate—she was really funny.
The line between the characters and reality is way too thin at times, which makes it uncomfortable and strange.
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This review may contain spoilers
Saved Only by Lena and Miu!
I must say, while the series was a mess, the last episode was the only thing that truly delivered. Lena and Miu carried the entire show — their chemistry on and off screen is the only reason it didn’t completely fall apart. Honestly, I did enjoy the series, but could it have been better? Absolutely!Jane is crazy jealous about everything involving Lin, but she’s genuinely a good person. Lin, at first, seemed like a red flag, but she’s truly a sweetheart. She never forgot about Jane — even when they were miles apart or not talking, her thoughts were always with her.
The story focuses heavily on Lin and how Jane became her Safe Zone, revealing Lin’s past and the events that led her to where she is now. Meanwhile, Jane, who is supposed to be one of the leads, remains underdeveloped. Why weren’t we given her backstory? She lives with her aunt, but we never learn why. They really ought to have given her more depth. She’s a lead, for crying out loud.
It had potential, but after the first few episodes, everything went downhill fast. The pacing was chaotic — first Pie, then Tim, then Kate, all thrown at us with zero breathing room. One episode, Pie is causing chaos; the next, she disappears entirely. Then Tim steps in, accompanied by Kate, creating a mess all over again.
I really liked how Jane put Tim in his place: "You don’t have to give up because you were never Lin’s competition."
Also, I’ve always wondered how Jane can cook in a minidress, skirt, or high heels. I’ve worked in a kitchen, and that’s practically impossible.
What I truly took away from My Safe Zone were the performances of Lena and Miu, two incredibly talented actresses who brought the series to life despite its many flaws. I love the friendship they shared off screen, and I’m grateful to CH3 for pairing them together.
Also, the OSTs are great, but the constant repetition quickly became annoying. Most series with original soundtracks tend to reuse them throughout the entire run, and that can drive me crazy.
Would I rewatch it? Probably yes, sometime in the future!
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An extra point for production quality.
With all the buzz surrounding the GL series and the waves it's making, My Safe Zone might not be the most impressive or even a masterpiece that leaves fans and non-fans alike in awe. But as the debut series of LenaMiu, this series is pretty decent, with good visuals while also having some evident flaws in the scripts and story development.Let’s start with the problem. The big issue with this series lies in its weak script and poor plot development. While the chemistry and acting are commendable, they can't really compensate for the shortcomings. The story structure is rather loose, with some of the conflicts not even having a satisfying resolution. Other than Alin, the absence of a solid backstory for Jane and the other characters makes them feel one-dimensional and kind of dull right from the start, which definitely doesn't help in fully engaging with the story. Another noticeable issue is the wardrobe department. The styling choices for the characters are sometimes questionable, with unflattering outfits that do not fit the situation. When it comes to their GL series, Ch3 seems to prefer the ‘unrealistic ideals’ over creating a comfortable and realistic look.
Now, the good stuff. LenaMiu clearly share great chemistry off-screen, which translates beautifully on-screen. Their romance, the friends-turned-lovers trope, is portrayed quite smoothly and convincingly, making their interactions feel natural and authentic. In terms of acting, Lena simply gives her best, bringing the emotion to her characters. Although it’s probably not her best performance to date, it’s still impressive to see her stepping up her acting game with this genre. Miu did a pretty good job too.
I can deal weak storylines, but I can't tolerate bad or lousy production values. And gladly, MSZ doesn't lack in this area. Khun Ou Patchanee's visual direction is good, with beautiful shots that capture the emotions of the characters. I don't have any issues with her visual compositions. I personally like the color grading, as it manages to add to the overall atmosphere of the series. As someone who's been watching Ch3 for ages, the visual storytelling of this series is somewhat better compared to other lakorn, in my opinion. So extra point for production quality.
And one of my pet peeves when watching a series is the use of the same transition shots (the day-to-night/night-to-day timelapse or night/day establishing shot). Ch3, you’re a broadcast channel for crying out loud and there’s no freakin' way you don't have stock footage. So I just assumed MSZ's editing team was just too lazy to find different shots.
In conclusion, My Safe Zone is a pretty decent GL series with its fair share of ups and downs. It has potential, but the weak script holds it back from being a standout series. While this LenaMiu's debut series may not be perfect, it shows promise for their future projects together. With some improvements in the script, along with better plotlines and editing, LenaMiu could really shine in their upcoming project.
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Interesting?
Personally this was a good watch to kill time, but I would say the plot could have been executed better. In the middle of the series it was just a lot of mess and everything was all over the place. What I didn't exactly like is how they didn't go too in depth of what actually happened and their relationship had a lot of on and off.These two on and off screen are really cute so I would say they had solid acting. Chem was def present!
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Strong Performances, Questionable Choices
First of all, I’m proud of Ying for taking on an antagonist role in this series—she did really well and handled the character convincingly. It’s also connected to Only You through a shared universe. Even though I haven’t watched that series, the connection was noticeable through the dialogue.There were rumors that this would be confusing or messy, but I didn’t really feel that way. Yes, a lot is happening, but to me, those layers function as obstacles meant to challenge the relationship, which is essentially the core of the story.
I especially liked the concept of the dishes having stories behind them. It reminded me of the saying, “to be remembered is to be loved.” That idea came through much more clearly with the dishes than with the photos, which felt less meaningful in comparison.
Without getting into spoilers, I will say that one of the female leads is quite problematic. Her actions and decisions are likely why some viewers found the story confusing or messy. Because of that, I found myself feeling doubtful about the relationship as a whole.
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Cozy and visually stunning
THE GOOD:- Everything is gorgeous. The sets and cinematography are going all out to create beautiful, magical, cozy, warm experiences
- The plot is cozy. There are conflicts, but they don't drag on and they always feel warranted and realistic. Some angst but nothing terrible.
- The character motivations make sense. This shouldn't even be praise; but after a lot of shows lately, it stood out that this show actually provides plausible character motivations for each character action. Each thing leads to the next.
- Good chemistry, nothing feels awkward or forced. (Except when its supposed to)
- Hilarious side characters. I always love side characters, and the coworkers in this really delivered
THE MEDIUM:
- The theme song is not very good, and is also overused, but also the sound engineers did a good job of how it was used? And also adding diversity by using some variations of it. Some effort was put in, but the song itself has a gratingly circular melody.
THE BAD:
- For me, I would have liked to spend more time in the period before things are "out in the open". That is a very fun period of light misunderstandings and flirting, that was finished too soon. A few things about the pace move on a bit quickly, but we are trying to tell a full story in 8 eps so I guess we gotta keep moving.
- Too much focus on intimate scenes. It's fine if that's what you are looking for, but that isn't why I'm here. One would be sufficient.
- Tons of PPA. I have grown to accept a lot, but it was pretty jarring at times they are like a jump scare as we cut suddenly to a product.
- Some plotlines felt a bit undeveloped. But I mostly forgave that, because they didn't sacrifice their actual purpose to fit the space they were given, they just could have been fleshed out a bit more.
- The parents were pretty awkward while also being focused on too much. They also had a somewhat vague or handwaved setup -- everyone is living in what looks like a very wealthy neighborhood, but both single parents don't seem to be working. Meanwhile financial matters are also a central plot conflict as though we are a low income family. There was some dissonance in this part of the premise.
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CH3 we are tired.
I have to say this before I write my non-spoiler review.I’m a multistan and I don’t have bias when I watch GLs, anyone can surprise me (either positively or negatively) and my ranking is always adjusting every time we have new GLs.
Episode one was an okay start but the everything went downhill really fast.
The plot is completely absent, boring scenes over and over, poor writing, no budget for locations or details and the characters don’t really have any development. Not to mention that the side characters feel empty and coming out of nowhere. (Only interesting one is Pie but they decided to have her for only few scenes).
This is the same writing level of Only You, so it’s clearly a pattern that CH3 has, an extremely lazy and poor one.
The only good thing about this show is LenaMiu, they have very good chemistry and seems very comfortable with each other on screen, they are also good actresses but their potential is completely wasted for a show like this.
In conclusion, this show is a skip, and CH3 is a filthy money grab company who only cares about profit.
Like no effort whatsoever.
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CH3 Debes contratar mejores guionistas
Honestamente, llamarle a esto mi "safe zone" es casi irónico, porque de zona segura tiene lo mismo que yo de hetero: o sea, nada. La pobre Jane se la pasó llorando todos los episodios. Pero bueno, hay que partir de la base de que aquí la lógica se fue de vacaciones.La premisa se supone sencilla: dos amigas que se separan de la forma más dramática posible (cero contacto por ocho años, tranqui) y se reencuentran. Lin vuelve corriendo porque su prometida la engañó y, por arte de magia (o guionazo), pasa de estar comprometida hace dos días laborables a darse cuenta de que ama a Jane. Y Jane, bueno, ella lleva enamorada toda la vida, así que no se queja.
Y mira, la serie parece escrita con muy poquito amor. Supuestamente hay tres villanos, pero son de papel; terminé enojándome más con Lin por no saber poner límites que con la ex. De hecho, fuera de las protagonistas, el resto de los personajes son tan planos que terminé la serie hoy y te juro que no recuerdo el nombre de ninguno.
Pero aún con todo eso, no pude dejar de mirarla las ocho semanas que duró. ¿La razón? Miu y Lena.
La serie se sostiene únicamente porque la química entre ellas es innegable. Ellas se cargaron la producción al hombro y dijeron "nosotras resolvemos". Les crees todo, por más inverosímil que sea la situación. Ver a Lena en pantalla con esos ojos de "soy la persona más enamorada del mundo" fue suficiente para tapar todos los agujeros de guion y hacerme morir de amor.
Conclusión: Si estás dudando en verla, te la recomiendo, pero con una condición: hacelo con el cerebro apagado. No le busques lógica, solo déjate llevar por la química de las chicas, porque si te pones a pensar mucho, pierdes.
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