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Interesting Drama that Requires a Major Overhaul.
This is the debut drama by the DOT Production House, so I’m willing to turn a blind eye to many of its issues and will complete watching it. However, I will address them here. Because by now, I’ve completed over half of the story while I’m writing this.
The Warm Fuzzies:
☆ It has a very interesting premise - the main framework of this drama is the murder of a university student cum actor, Andaman at the peak of his career. The fact that his family is against his career choice while the public opinion is divided due to the society's bias against queer people all add into his public and personal life.
Behind the scenes, Anda has three close friends, one of whom is Jinna, one of the leading characters of the show. The story follows two very different aspects. Jinna has a crush on Podduang, a long time fan of Anda and it leads to several situations that continue for about two years.
We see Jinna seeing Anda beyond the eyes of a fan. To me, it never seemed that Pod ever wanted to meet Anda in person and become his friend. Even Bumm, Pod’s friend, is the very same. While Jinna pursues Pod, Anda struggles with his career and personal life. Until it all ends with his mysterious death.
☆ The chemistry between the leads is on point. Nobody seemed awkward or stumbling with what they were given, considering that it is the leading role of many.
☆ The reality of actors under the BL label. This was very beautifully put in Mr. Fanboy, which deals with a bunch of Y series actors and the unpleasant behind the scenes of showbiz. Fans have become delusional to the point that they fail to understand that these are actors who are promoting their series together and not their “relationship” together. Everyone are live humans who has a life of their own. Anda’s fall from grace and the havoc that ensues following a relationship reveal all shed light into how unhealthy the industry is. And of course, it is going to fall on deaf ears.
The Cold Pricklies:
☆ The very discordant mix of genres:
Considering that it has a budding romance and a mystery going hand in hand, the story has to be conveyed in a manner such that the viewer is aware of what genre they had signed up for or the expectations they must keep in mind. Here, the genres seemed plain immiscible.
I’ve seen dramas that require an amalgamation of strange genres that still pulled off without much gaps, but this difference is stark and blatantly obvious in this one.
The drama begins with the reveal of Anda’s demise and we are then quickly thrown back to three months ago, where we see Jinna and Pod’s love story start to bloom (albeit being a fake one.) And within the three months, we have another flashback to their freshman year, where we explore Pod’s friendship with Bumm (a fellow Anda fan) and Dunk.
Then we have a handful of very serious situations with Anda involving his real-life partner, his onscreen partner, as well as his difficult relationship with his family.
To be frank, the mix of genres or rather the transition from one situation to another was terrible. One second we are at Anda’s funeral and the next second, everyone is laughing around the dinner table with their friends.
The mystery is what is supposed to bring Jinna and Podduang closer, yet it seems that the mystery is simply the background noise at some point. I haven’t read the original story which this is based upon, but its execution onscreen is illegible.
There are scenes that seemed to be cut and pasted with no sense of continuity for the sake of suspense, particularly a funeral scene. (Or I was too stupid to differentiate whether these two scenes were from two different ceremonies altogether.)
☆ The Performance of the actors… and the Script:
Considering that it is the debut work of most of them, I am willing to let it slide. Somebody wrote that they killed off the best actor in the series (Anda) and I am starting to agree with them. Anda, played by Paul, is a very emotional character. He managed to convey them across the screen with almost little fault. By the time he is dead, we as viewers know what he had been going through.
Nammna and PK are not poor actors by any means, but the script never had any moments that showcased their talent. It was very akin to a puzzle that was put together rather than a freely flowing story.
The friendships and Pod and Jinna’s relationship are the only stable things in the script. Considering that there is a major murder-mystery looming around. Some of the very evident clues are swept aside to focus on the light hearted romance and by the end, I did not even know why I was pushing through.
I was supposed to care about Anda’s mystery, right?
Not to mention, there is an abysmal funeral scene in EP3 that is beyond rescue. Jinna and his two buddies are supposed to be Anda’s friends. Yet, they joke around as if they too, were throwaway fans. Jinna did not have enough space for his character to express his repressed despair at having lost a friend as it is mentioned a multitude of times that he was Anda’s closest.
The only two people who cared about Anda’s death were his mother and his boyfriend.
Podduang and Bumm only cared about Anda when the plot deemed it necessary for them to do so. Jinna’s character has the most potential to be explored thoroughly as he has a ‘special’ power, but poof!
☆ The Music:
The opening song is a really good one. But, I seriously wished that the music director or whoever was behind the audio choice of the drama had at least attempted to watch other dramas such as this to get an idea about how to construct a scene without it being annoying to the viewer.
I dislike the song “Sudden Love” because they overused it on every single scene between the leads. Unnecessarily so.
The BGMs seem to be produced from scratch, but they were not as annoying as the song though.
☆ From my desk:
I won’t say that this is the kind of drama that you should not miss. It’s not exemplary, neither is it too good. It’s passable enough for a quick watch, if you can manage to handle the disastrous tonal shifts. I just wish the crew involved the best for the future and that they learnt from the errors in this. As it still has three more episodes remaining, I'll see how it plays out before determining my final score.
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This review may contain spoilers
Interesting story with supernatural elements, fake-dating to real-love, and delish new faces
First things first- Jinna (Namna) is hawt!!...I love that he is dark skinned...and then really pretty eyes and smile...I will continue to watch this just for him for now, the storyline is also interesting and differentBL-Needle Score: 8 High BL-ness
Jinna has his eyes set on Pod, Pod has his eyes set on Dunk, and Dunk has his eyes set on Bumm ...so obviously messy.....the story set-up doesn't look too bad so far, though the first episode does have the usual Thai Uni-BL's mostly unnecessary mung-weh-ai sat sprinkled scenes.. The 'mysterious sounds' have not manifested themselves as yet, I guess we need Anda to die for that to happen..
For now the intrigue of the story and Jinna are enough for me to turn up for the next episodes...lets see where this goes.
Verdict: Maybe watch
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Fake Dating, Ghostly Earphones & A Murder Mystery... This Is Not Your Typical University BL!
My review is based on the trailer and the uncut version of Episode 1. You can watch Uncut version of Oops! Mysterious Sounds on all the major platforms, including iQIYI, GagaOOLala, Viki and the official The Dot House YouTube channel. However, I personally would not recommend the YouTube version because it is the cut version and is around five minutes shorter. As always, if there is an uncut version available, that is the one I am watching because I want the full experience!Yes, we have another university BL, but this one immediately feels different. Pod is a third year Sports Science student who seems to have absolutely terrible luck when it comes to love. He has a crush on celebrity Anda, who attends the same university, while also secretly having feelings for his straight best friend and roommate, Dunk. Unfortunately for Pod, Dunk is dating their friend Bumm. Poor Pod! Imagine secretly loving your best friend, sharing the same dorm room with him and then having to watch him date someone else right in front of you. Worried that his feelings for Dunk might become too obvious and that Bumm could eventually find out, Pod comes up with a solution that probably creates even more problems. He asks his rival Jinna to pretend to date him, and somehow Jinna agrees!
This gives us one of my favourite BL setups, a fake relationship between two guys who constantly bicker and supposedly cannot stand each other. I would not really describe Pod and Jinna as enemies, at least not from what we have seen so far. They feel more like rivals who enjoy getting on each other's nerves, which makes their interactions much more entertaining. Of course, we already know where this is heading. The fake relationship will eventually become real, the bickering will turn into flirting, and Pod will probably realise that while he has been chasing people he cannot have, the person who is actually right for him has been standing directly in front of him.
However, this is where the series becomes much more interesting than your typical university BL. Anda has been receiving disturbing threats, including threatening letters and creepy blood covered toys. We then learn through a flashback set one month earlier that Anda died inside his own car. His death initially appears to be suicide, but there is clearly much more going on beneath the surface. Then come the mysterious earphones. Pod and Jinna discover that these earphones allow them to hear and communicate with the dead, connecting them to Anda and dragging them into the mystery surrounding his death. So now we have a university BL, fake dating, bickering rivals slowly falling in love, a ghost, supernatural earphones and a murder investigation all thrown together. I am definitely in!
Pod really has been hit with heartbreak from every direction. His celebrity crush is dead, his straight best friend and other crush is dating Bumm, and he cannot openly tell anyone how much all of this is hurting him. What a double hit of pain and heartbreak! On top of that, he is now hearing the voice of the dead through a pair of earphones and has somehow ended up investigating what may actually be a murder. For someone who started the series simply struggling with unrequited love, his life became complicated very quickly.
I enjoyed Episode 1 much more than I expected. This is my first time watching PK as Pod and Namna as Jinna, and I was immediately impressed by their chemistry. And can I just say, Namna is HOT! His darker tanned appearance contrasts beautifully with PK, and visually they look fantastic together. Opposites definitely attract here. Their personalities also bounce off each other really well, so I cannot wait to watch all that bickering slowly transform into genuine feelings. The trailer has already given us a taste of what is coming between them, and THAT KISS looked explosive! If their chemistry is already this strong while they are still rivals and pretending to date, I cannot imagine what they are going to be like once the fake relationship stops being fake.
Episode 1 also gives us a glimpse of Jinna's softer side. When Pod gets drunk, Jinna takes care of him, gives him a ride home on his bike and makes sure he gets back safely. They might constantly annoy and bicker with each other, but Jinna clearly cares more than he wants to admit. That is why I think their romance has the potential to be a really satisfying slow burn. Pod first needs to accept that his feelings for Dunk are not going anywhere and eventually allow himself to let go of that unrequited love. Meanwhile, the person who starts as his rival and fake boyfriend may slowly become the person his heart actually chooses. I am looking forward to seeing exactly when their fake dating crosses that invisible line and both of them realise they are no longer pretending.
Another thing I appreciated was that the production does not rely heavily on those exaggerated cringe sound effects that some university BLs use every few seconds. The acting is good, the music works well, the comedy does not feel overly forced, and the supernatural element gives the story something fresh. Episode 1 manages to introduce quite a lot without completely overwhelming us. We have Pod's complicated feelings for Dunk, his rivalry with Jinna, the fake dating setup, Anda's death, the mysterious earphones and the beginning of a possible murder investigation. There is already plenty happening, but I still found it easy and entertaining to follow.
My main concern is the murder mystery itself. With ten episodes, I really hope the entire series does not revolve around solving Anda's death alone. The supernatural concept opens the door to so many possibilities, so I would love the writers to introduce additional mysteries, complications and perhaps even other voices from the dead. I do not want them to drag out one mystery simply to fill ten episodes when the concept has the potential to explore much more. Give us more supernatural cases, more clues, more danger, more Pod and Jinna bickering while investigating, and of course plenty of development in their fake relationship.
Overall, Oops! Mysterious Sounds has made a very promising first impression. It takes several familiar BL tropes and throws them into a supernatural murder mystery, which immediately makes the university setting feel more interesting. I originally came for the rivals to lovers romance, but now I am equally curious about Anda, the mysterious earphones and what really happened to him. Most importantly, PK and Namna already have the chemistry needed to carry the romance, and judging by that explosive kiss in the trailer, we have plenty to look forward to.
If you enjoy bickering main leads, rivals to lovers, fake relationships that inevitably become real, supernatural mysteries, ghosts, university romance and two leads with plenty of chemistry, then Oops! Mysterious Sounds should definitely be on your watch list. Episode 1 has successfully hooked me, and now I need Episode 2 because I want to know two things: who killed Anda, and how long can Pod and Jinna keep pretending that this relationship is fake?
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