Player (2025)

A slow burn series you never knew would kill you!

The character development is incredible, and the plot keeps up just as well. Ice Amena (Ploy) and Memibae (Pun) brought their characters to life and we know that for a fact cause why else would people be hating on Pun & Ploy so passionately throughout the series. Grace and Ningning (second couple) too delivered beautifully and honestly, they deserve their own series cause HELLO acting!

P’Poy’s directing is delicious (she's the director of Petrichor). Every element on screen feels intentional and purposeful. And if you’ve read the novel, the whys and hows hit even harder but even if you haven’t, the show still serves exactly what it needs to.

Highly recommended. At this point, I’m just sad we only have two episodes left. Ploy and Pun, please… stay. 💔✨

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A masterclass in angst pacing.

Player was a series I went into with low expectations. Having watched the pilot, knowing it was from P’Ize and the work that went into it, I still didn’t believe I would enjoy both the plot and the style of the show itself. I expected a pretty generic storyline with a heavy dose of gl tropes and some cute moments with not a lot of substance or gravity. Instead what I got was an emphatically emotional experience that I would classify as a masterpiece in true angst pacing.

Player being given 12 episodes instead of 8 was a hugely successful decision by Ize. I’m almost certain those 4 extra episodes make for an expensive mistake if the show ends up bombing, but she took the risk and it paid off extraordinarily. Episodes 1 - 4 of Player are such a delightful representation of that excessively flirty meet-cute in Thai gl, peppered with all our favourite tropes that make you fall head over heels for the leads. Amena brings a breath of fresh air with her extensive experience - her expressions, her intentions and her unbridled ability for emotionally challenging scenes. In the earlier episodes, I think Memi partially struggled to match these moments - whether that is because Ame is so impressive, or she is quite inexperienced herself, it’s something that I saw dissipate as we got further in.

I think if one thing escapes my criticism in Player it is the chemistry between Ploy and Pun. Pun is not usually a character that I would enjoy, she is far too chirpy and unserious in the beginning for my tastes. But the more time she spends around Ploy and begins the descent into the murky waters of their split, the more we start to see a more matured side of her that wants - or even demands at times - to be taken seriously. I don’t think I need to speak much about the love scenes, they speak for themselves and I will have more to say about it once I get to the director. But what I will say is that every single soft moment of Ploy and Pun is just intoxicating. Ploy’s insatiable hunger for the chase and the mischievous twinkle in Pun’s eye when she knows she’s being chased. It really gives meaning to the “Player” name and we get to see it first hand every time they interact.

From the second half of episode 7 all the way through to 11 we get, in my humble opinion, one of the best examples of angst pacing I have ever seen in a gl series. It is so common for series to push a difficult or challenging storyline in a way that it begins at the end of an episode, continues through the next but ends up resolved by the end of that next episode. It’s a very efficient way of artificially making the time spent feel longer without frustrating the viewer by having to wait weeks on end for a reconciliation. So rarely are we made to sit and stew with our feelings alongside the characters but Player has managed to pull it off masterfully. I’m sure there are people out there who will feel as though it took too long. But for me, taking time to give each character a moment to shine in their pain was phenomenal.

The ending could have been stronger. I’d like to see more domestic storyline’d gl series put a bit more effort into their action scenes if they choose to keep them. I realise budget is always a problem, however I wouldn’t really have minded if the entire New York mafia plotline was dropped in favour of something less all over the place and more focused around the very important conversation that Ploy and Pun needed to have about the status of their relationship and how they so desperately need to learn to trust one another. That being said, it didn’t take that much away from the series as a whole. I sort of knew that I wouldn’t enjoy the ending if they stayed loyal to the book since I did not enjoy it there either.

Just before I finish, I want to take a moment to praise Pannares and her decisions in directing this series. First and foremost, the comedy in Player is something I also did not expect to enjoy the way I did. I was certain that the Angel Pun/Sherlock bit was going to be majorly overused and exhausted, however I think they managed to keep a great balance between when it was used over Pun’s normal inner monologue (which was such a highlight of the series for me) as well as the timing in which it was used. Pannares has such a talent for timing things in places where they won’t feel out of place or shoehorned and I really appreciate that about her directing style. On top of that, her real world knowledge of the queer experience helps shape Ploy and Pun’s love story into something that feels so real and tangible. These are messy characters with real struggles and flaws. The romance and sex scenes feel so incredibly real and intense without feeling gratuitous or male-gaze-y and in this day and age that feels like a long lost art.

All in all it was an incredible series, I think it deserves such high praise, especially for the first series from a smaller studio.

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No, it didn’t have a ‘slow’ start

The pacing of this series was good, it had a solid start with the conflict that would lead the character, pun, to go back to Thailand and meet the other main character ploy. The relationship between the two developed well, they got to know each other and actually talk before anything happened between them…and I know the bar is in hell, but there was no non-consensual kisses or anything like that. However you shouldn’t go into this series expecting healthy communication, or green flag characters, if anything, expect the opposite…the characters are very messy and complicated and almost toxic, in my opinions, it was toxicity done well – with no power imbalance where one character is the weak poor heroine and the other character is the alpha that she will fix lol.
All the side characters were good too, pun’s friends were hilarious and I loved every second of them on my screen, pun’s sister and her partner as well; they were great and their story was nice without it feeling like a whole other side series within the main series.
The directing was excellent, this is my second series from this director and her work is admirable. The cinematography was gorgeous, the coloring is so pretty and the places where this was shot were well picked….overall I give the cinematography 10/10.
The ost wasn’t all that but the music choices were good and they never felt out of the place.
The acting is also amazing, it’s hard to believe this is memi’s first acting job, she did so well, her facial expressions, the way she conveys emotions, and gives every scene her all.. give her all the awards right now.
Lastly, I think this is worth watching, I had so much fun watching it…the comedy is top notch and the romance is great…the chemistry between ice and memi is through the roof, I love how they just fit together. It is also worth mentioning that there is no homophobic relatives or homophobic ex-boyfriend.
It is also worth rewatching, and that’s what I’ll do now that it is over :).
overall if you like toxic yuri and red flag characters, you should definitely watch player !!!

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One of best GL released on 2025

This series is too underrated, seriously.

Top tier writing and directing.
Great pacing, layers, and build up. Cinematography and editing are on point too.
The actresses are doing great job! Especially during emotional moments. They nailed the comedic ones too. God, I'm obsessed!

A few first episode is light and fun with some comedic scene, gradually becomes a little bit more sweet and heartwarming, then angsty heart wrenching in the later episodes.
Each episode is like giving me a or some pieces of puzzle that makes me understand the characters action more, what they have been through and shaped them, while never justify what they've done.

If you want toxic grey character yuri, this is for you.
Please watch it until the end and pay attention to their dialogues.
Some people might dropped it in the early episode because they thought it's just a plain romcom, no it's not.

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A weak plot, cringe-worthy moments, and betrayal... It didn't work for me.

Player managed to be extremely boring even though it was made by a large platform that has the resources to make good series. The couple doesn't have very good chemistry; honestly, for me, it clashes a lot. It seems like the actresses weren't very connected to their roles. I simply couldn't believe in their love, and for that reason, I didn't root for them either. The actress who plays Pun uses a higher-pitched voice to give a childlike tone. In some characters, this works very well, and I even like it, but in her, it felt very strange for some reason. The series has several very cringe-worthy moments, such as every time Pun was in doubt between right and wrong, and then Pun would appear dressed as a little devil and a little angel, advising her... I wanted to abandon the series at those times.

Furthermore, the idea that Ploy betrayed Pun, and then Pun decided to make out with a girl in front of Ploy, was simply the last straw for me... And don't tell me that Ploy didn't betray Pun because she made out with the girl and kissed her, she just didn't have sex. If for you it's only cheating when the person has sex with the other, that's not my problem.

I honestly was rooting for them to break up and for Pun to end up with Bee. The secondary characters are cool, but I think they could have given more depth to their roles, after all, there were 12 episodes of Jay trying to propose to Prang, wasn't there ANYTHING else for them to do in the series?

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Tried to do somethig but fell off

First of all, the concept of the series is completely crazy: dating your ex’s sister in order to get back the money they scammed from you—there’s no way that can end well.

The series really takes its time to get started, but by watching it week after week, you eventually grow attached quite easily.

In my opinion, Ploy and Pun should not be endgame. Yes, there is tension and chemistry between them, but their relationship is extremely toxic, even though it is very well acted. Honestly, the argument scenes are especially well done.

The second couple, on the other hand, is so much fun to watch. They give you a chance to breathe compared to the main couple—a more mature and respectful relationship.

One thing I really appreciated is that Pun and Ploy actually have a support system. I swear, when you watch a lot of GL series, most of them don’t, and I would really love to see this more often.

Overall, I like the series, even though I had a hard time getting hooked or becoming as obsessed with it as with others—and that’s okay.

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top tier GL!

I was honestly really underwhelmed by the first episode, so I was expecting this to be a fun and silly time but I didn't think I was going to get very invested in it. I am so very happy to have been wrong! It's pretty simple on plot — you can easily ignore the whole "the mafia is after Phethai" aspect as it's pretty peripheral for most of the run time, and the rest of the show feels very slice of life with its focus on Pun, Ploy, Prang, and Jay. While the mafia subplot adds a splash of danger to the story, it's for the benefit of building Ploy and Pun's relationship that that thread has minimal presence overall.

Pun and Ploy's dynamic follows an established formula that we've seen countless times in romance stories. They have been emotionally wounded over and over when it comes to love and they initially treat this as a game — Pun's ulterior motive is to try to get her money back from Ploy's brother via seducing Ploy, while Ploy is testing to see if Pun's feelings are genuine as she doesn't believe anyone can truly love her as a result of her fractured relationship with her mother. The first 4 episodes are a lot of fun as Ploy and Pun flirt a bunch, but Pun keeps chickening out from going further and only initiates a kiss when she gets nervous that Ploy is losing interest in her. Pun is basically all in by the first kiss (even though she still wants to get her money back and withholds this situation from Ploy), and Ploy, known for never getting into serious relationships, clearly quickly develops feelings for Pun as well. It doesn't take long for the two of them to enter a relationship after that first kiss, but unfortunately the honeymoon phase doesn't last long because this secret and we enter the angsty phase as Ploy turns cold due to knowing that Pun is lying to her. This show works as well as it does because of the great performances by Ice Amena and Memi Muanfun. The two actresses clearly put so much thought into these characters and they have sizzling chemistry and nail each phase of the PloyPun dynamic.

The start of the angst is actually when I went from "oh this is a cute and comforting show" to "wow this is REALLY GOOD." The character work that is done in this section of the show is exceptional — we fully understand why they were both so closed off before becoming involved with each other and how devastated they are to be apart; but we also innately understand why Ploy can't bring herself to believe Pun was genuine and why she repeatedly pushes her away. And while this angsty period lasts for a relatively long time given there's only 12 episodes, it is absolutely necessary for the audience and the characters to sit with this as it has to fully sink in for Ploy what she has given up, and Pun has to rediscover what she wants outside of their relationship as she had dropped basically everything to be with Ploy. (Plus I'm an angst lover, so I love when a show likes to twist the knife on me lol.) A lot of my favorite scenes from the entire show happen in episode 10 when we get to see Ploy's perspective after their break up — that scene with the butterfly collage completely and utterly destroyed me.

If you're looking for a GL to watch, I can't rec this one enough. It's truly near perfection.

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Not The Light Watch I Thought It Would Be

At the beginning of the series, I was lulled into a false sense of security. I believed Player to be a comedy. After a few episodes of Pun's antics to win over Ploy, the series gets very dark. The inevitable break-up of GL stories happens, and Player really achieved one of the most heartbreaking break-up periods. I don't know if it is because the series started so lighthearted. This may be why this one hurts so much.

Besides my false sense of security, Player as a whole had good pacing, and the series does not feel like it had any wasted airtime. Player felt like every episode had intention and propelled the series forward in a meaningful way. I want to give kudos to the writers and director for a fantastic job done.

Lastly, Ice and Memi have great chemistry, and their performances made me believe in their characters and the story. Not once did the connection between me and their characters break. It's always a good day when we have good leads performing in a great series. I'm wishing them the best in their future projects!

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