I think GMM needs to support its series more (more budget and better quality) instead of being a company churning out products after products, series after series just for the merchandise and profit (at least that's what I think about).
After Enchante, the currently airing Star in My Mind seems to be both having very low viewership, as compared to the other more recent GMM's BL series. Partly, this is of course due to those series being helmed by relatively less renowned newcomers. However, having too many series concurrently running and their lack of coordinated support and promotion do have a (very) major impact too.
For example, if Bad Buddy had the same if not greater level of support, promotion, budget and all that Cutie Pie and KinnPorsche had from their respective production companies (Mandee and BeOnCloud), I am quite sure that its view count on YouTube alone would have increased faster than Cutie Pie currently is doing.
(If we can have the budget of those top S-rank Chinese drama series? Don't say. Bad Buddy could probably have a longer run, even better cinematography and maybe we could have matched or surpass 2gether in popularity. Just a conjecture here.)
Was keeping track of Cutie Pie's viewership after 8 episodes. This series as I predicted earlier has a lot of views surpassing even our beloved Bad Buddy.
Reasons? 1. The main site of viewing is YouTube, so the views are concentrated, not divided between YouTube, WeTV and live TV.
2. Thumbnails. We know how Bad Buddy EP 9 Part 3/4 exploded in views earlier. Most of the Cutie Pie thumbnails are rather inviting, as they imply cute/hot scenes. (Plus bed scene in EP 8. We all know that GMMTV is usually rather conservative on this one)
3. Actors appearance. Just like 2gether with Bright and Win (note that personal preference wise, I don't find them that attractive/handsome, but many, many people thought they are), Zee and NuNew seems to have a lot of people liking them in the same way as BrightWin.
Currently with just 8 episodes, Cutie Pie has amassed over 92 million views. At this rate, it will pass our Bad Buddy's 105 million views for 12 episodes by their ninth episode. (But if we include WeTV, as per GMM, Bad Buddy's 12 episodes count is over 150 million. Then by extrapolation, our current total count is around 240 million - from YouTube's 162 million).
(Additional Note: Quantity of viewers does not equate quality)
Hi all, is it just me or anyone else thinks that Nhong and the other old guy (the kind neighbours) are also gay?
At least that’s what I think, after watching up to EP 7. They behaved almost like they are like old couple, even providing relationship advice to Tofu.
I'm a little taken aback by the comments section, which means twitter is 10 times worse.Nut is a complicated and…
Agreed with you, I wrote a comment in reply to another comment just above yours, and I read yours just after I wrote mine. I am surprised that we have the same thoughts.
This is not a usual BL. It is a lakorn style show dealing with real issues, real life struggles of LGBT people, and not the usual BL trope of straight-to-gay among many others. I won’t even call this a BL in a way.
Plus, there are fluffy moments and happy things too. It’s only EP 7 and there are still 9 episodes to go (of 1.5 hours each - equivalent of 18 most typical BL drama episodes out there!). Fluff can’t possibly start right from the first few episodes. It does not happen in real life either. Relationships take time to develop, and grow and be maintained.
(By the way, that’s what made me like Bad Buddy so much too. This series is my all-time #2 after Bad Buddy.)
Another show I love dropping in the ratings, it's unfortunate but not surprising. Tofu is probably the most beautiful…
This show is lakorn first and BL second. In fact, I don’t really categorise it as BL. It is lakorn with clear-cut LGBT characters. Nut and Gen are openly gay, while it is heavily implied that Song is also gay. In fact, it may also even possible that Neung might have liked Nut too but he didn’t reveal it.
Plus, if you include Tarn, he is obviously gay too. This is not the typical BL with straight-to-gay trope, or I don’t like guys, I only like you storyline. It is a story of the often real struggles that gay people often faced in life, how they either had support from their families (as shown by Gen), or fierce opposition (as shown by Sibmeun, plus the school deputy director)
Just want to say that we still have 9 more episodes to go. We see just how many details have been shown to us…
Part of Nut's complex emotions include him wishing that his dad would have been Saen instead of Sib (oh, it will be even more complex if he's actually Saen and Na's son - don't forget that Nut heard that part when Jan accused Saen that Nut was actually his son).
He had probably wished that earlier on since his high school years or earlier. He might have found out that Saen was actually Na's true love, and as was obvious, Na kept on imagining that her husband was Saen (after Sib passed away), all those years she was hallucinating due to schizophrenia.
Nut was torn, because at the same time it was what he himself wanted, but then, Saen was already married to Jan. And that, added to the 'rumour' that Nut was actually Saen and Na's son would mean that Na was cheating on Nut's dad, Sib. It's an impossible dilemma for him to settle, really wanting something and yet, impossible due to what had happened in the past.
(That's why in EP 3, Nut was so angry and punched Tofu when he asked 'Who was the real Mr Saen?' innocently, as in Nut's perception, that would have made Na two-timing on her husband with Saen, the twin, and based on Na's reaction, it might have either been true, or she had constantly been accused as such by Jan and Sib over the years)
Plus, as I mentioned somewhere below, I am quite sure that Jan and Sib colluded together to make Na misunderstood and found Saen 'cheating' on her with Jan (the restaurant scene).
Just want to say that we still have 9 more episodes to go. We see just how many details have been shown to us in these 7 episodes. There are still a lot of story to reveal, and especially for lakorns like this, there is always a lot of expected twists and turns, suspense and more.
If only we know the extent of what Nut had to go through in his younger years, in his childhood and high school years... (we haven't even seen probably a quarter of it yet - and I have glimpses of it from the teasers, which have been accurate so far)
Then many of us will probably finally understand why Nut had that side of him. He was hurt, really bad, an emotion and anger repressed within, which unfortunately took a lot to overcome. Tofu coming into his life with the look of his first love, and the echoes of his ex-boyfriend brought all those emotions back to the surface again. As how some people in real life also experiences it, often it isn't a choice for them (and Nut) to have those outbursts.
Violence is never an answer to something, but as what we saw in the past few episodes, Nut was clearly reflecting on what he had done, and slowly began picking up the pieces together, and he made quite an effort if you observe carefully.
As I said in Bad Buddy MDL page before (which also earned the ire of some viewers at the earliest episodes for the fighting and constant tensions between the Architecture and Engineering) 'Never judge a book by its cover'
He's scary sometimes. It does make me worry what he's capable of. I'm hoping that based on the ending of Episode…
I agree with you. And I have the same hope too.
Plus don't forget that whatever Nut did, it was all because of his past experiences, which we are now judging too early because we haven't even seen half of it yet.
If only we knew what he had gone through, I think everyone who accused him now would have regretted doing so.
Yes, she loves Saen. She went through a traumatic experience when Sib (Military twin/Nut's dad) died and is diagnosed…
There is also a high possibility that Jan and Sib might have plotted with each other and planned everything, so that accidental discovery by Na (and Sib) of Saen's 'affair' with Jan was not accidental at all. It was all planned by both of them.
Not this going from a 8.1 to 7.9 after people turned on Nut for his toxic behavior lol...
I think this series has shown him as who he is, instead of sugar-coating his experiences and all. I've seen some mentioning earlier that this behaviour can indeed be very real (and I have seen it myself too). Of course being lakorn, it will be somewhat exaggerated as expected.
But to make him the scapegoat of our frustrations of not getting the all-fluffy scenes and typical BL sweetness (it will come, but not this early in this series), is not fair for Nut at all.
He deserves a smack from me on the head too, just as what Gen had done to him verbally, but what he needs is love and support from everyone, including us all viewers watching from outside his universe.
Am I the only one getting vibes that Nuts dad was abusive? Also, I really feel bad for Nut. He is clearly struggling…
You are not the only one. I have been saying about that quite a few times earlier on.
Nut isn't a bad guy. He was shaped by his experiences, including, especially his dad's treatment of him and his upbringing.
It must have been particularly painful memories for Nut. I can understand him well from where he's coming from. What is important now is the journey towards healing that both he and his mom (Na) are now slowly beginning to get on.
Nut, just like his mom, did not get to be with his first love. (At least as far as what has been revealed up to EP 7 showed us)
Na loved Saen, and still loved Saen after probably 30 years. But she ended up with Sib instead. Nut loved Neung, and still loved Neung after 10 years. He ended up with Tarn.
Both Sib and Tarn loved the other person (Na and Nut) in their own way, but in the end, perhaps, these were not what each truly wanted/not as happy as they expected.
In the end, will a miracle happen and allow Na and Nut to be happy again, to be with their first love in some form or another?
(Saen's motivation isn't clear yet, he can very well still be a villain - EP 8 preview spoiler. But he may be a good person all these while as shown, and end up happily with Na.)
(I am team 'Neung will eventually merge with Tofu somehow', and Nut finally got to be together with his first love as he has always wanted).
EP 7 showed that whatever happened between Tarn and Nut was in the past, and Nut had made the commitment to move on from it. Now with Tofu by his side, he made his choice to have him in his life.
As I mentioned earlier, Nut had a very rough childhood, as a child who likely repeatedly defied what his dad, Sibmeun, wanted him to be. Sib was a soldier who was very strong-headed and very overbearing, especially in his perception of what it means to be a man (I would even consider this as toxic masculinity).
In the flashback of the conversation between Sib and Sitha (Gen's dad), with Nut around, it was obvious that Sib had been very hard on Nut because he did not grow up to like girls (conjecture at the moment), liking guys, and also the fact that Na did not really love Sib (she still loved Saen more after all), so Nut was really like an 'unwanted' child who at the same time also failed to match up to what his dad (Sib) expected him to be.
(If you were Nut, it would be very terrifying, traumatic and painful experience), with all the verbal and physical abuses he had experienced from Sib (more seen in trailers and teasers) over all those years. All those things scarred Nut, and as we can see, the effect remained even eight, nine years after his dad passed away.)
Interestingly, just like his mother, who loved Saen more, but ended up with Sib instead, Nut, who liked Neung more, ended up with Tarn. But no matter how happy it might have been (as referenced by Nut), by some yet unknown reason, their relationship (Tarn and Nut) ended, and although Nut still remembered those moments, it was already all in the past for him.
Tofu coming into his life is truly a miracle, not only because his miraculous transformation from a teddy bear into human, but more importantly, his presence in Nut's life is a miracle as through Tofu, both Nut and his mother, Mrs. Na, can finally begin the process of healing from their past wounds, which really ran very, very deep for each one of them.
(EP 7 did excellent in showing this. Tofu also helped Nut's mom to begin confronting her past openly, and as Tofu himself said, to wake up from the dreams she had, be it the happy or bad ones, and to embrace the reality of things as how it is there and then, the present. That is what Nut was struggling with too, and the same applies to Nut as well, that he also begins to appreciate the reality and the present more. Tofu, which while having the appearance of Neung, Nut's first love, and the imprints and memories of Tarn, his (possible) boyfriend, is his own person.)
And I really like how Nut (as he actually had been doing all these while) was trying hard to move on (just as his mom also struggled), and he told Tofu to be patient with him, and he wants Tofu to be part of his life. He has been slowly opening up to Tofu, but earlier on was hesitant and kept on retreating. Why is that so? That's because he was afraid of opening his old wounds and pain.
Just as his mum, Mrs. Na likely had to confront her past to achieve full healing, the same has to happen to Nut too. Thankfully, Tofu is there for both of them.
(Note: I also still believe that Neung somehow may surface in Tofu - like his memories and all. As some of the scenes from the trailer obviously showed a more mature appearance of Tofu, it may be just cosmetics, but I have an inkling that Neung and Tofu will merge somehow, and materialise, separating himself from the teddy bear - the other 'miracle' that may happen in the future.)
1 
After Enchante, the currently airing Star in My Mind seems to be both having very low viewership, as compared to the other more recent GMM's BL series. Partly, this is of course due to those series being helmed by relatively less renowned newcomers. However, having too many series concurrently running and their lack of coordinated support and promotion do have a (very) major impact too.
For example, if Bad Buddy had the same if not greater level of support, promotion, budget and all that Cutie Pie and KinnPorsche had from their respective production companies (Mandee and BeOnCloud), I am quite sure that its view count on YouTube alone would have increased faster than Cutie Pie currently is doing.
(If we can have the budget of those top S-rank Chinese drama series? Don't say. Bad Buddy could probably have a longer run, even better cinematography and maybe we could have matched or surpass 2gether in popularity. Just a conjecture here.)
Reasons?
1. The main site of viewing is YouTube, so the views are concentrated, not divided between YouTube, WeTV and live TV.
2. Thumbnails. We know how Bad Buddy EP 9 Part 3/4 exploded in views earlier. Most of the Cutie Pie thumbnails are rather inviting, as they imply cute/hot scenes.
(Plus bed scene in EP 8. We all know that GMMTV is usually rather conservative on this one)
3. Actors appearance. Just like 2gether with Bright and Win (note that personal preference wise, I don't find them that attractive/handsome, but many, many people thought they are), Zee and NuNew seems to have a lot of people liking them in the same way as BrightWin.
Currently with just 8 episodes, Cutie Pie has amassed over 92 million views. At this rate, it will pass our Bad Buddy's 105 million views for 12 episodes by their ninth episode.
(But if we include WeTV, as per GMM, Bad Buddy's 12 episodes count is over 150 million. Then by extrapolation, our current total count is around 240 million - from YouTube's 162 million).
(Additional Note: Quantity of viewers does not equate quality)
This is of course just a conjecture.
#OhmNanonUpVelEP2
At least that’s what I think, after watching up to EP 7. They behaved almost like they are like old couple, even providing relationship advice to Tofu.
This is not a usual BL. It is a lakorn style show dealing with real issues, real life struggles of LGBT people, and not the usual BL trope of straight-to-gay among many others. I won’t even call this a BL in a way.
Plus, there are fluffy moments and happy things too. It’s only EP 7 and there are still 9 episodes to go (of 1.5 hours each - equivalent of 18 most typical BL drama episodes out there!). Fluff can’t possibly start right from the first few episodes. It does not happen in real life either. Relationships take time to develop, and grow and be maintained.
(By the way, that’s what made me like Bad Buddy so much too. This series is my all-time #2 after Bad Buddy.)
Plus, if you include Tarn, he is obviously gay too. This is not the typical BL with straight-to-gay trope, or I don’t like guys, I only like you storyline. It is a story of the often real struggles that gay people often faced in life, how they either had support from their families (as shown by Gen), or fierce opposition (as shown by Sibmeun, plus the school deputy director)
He had probably wished that earlier on since his high school years or earlier. He might have found out that Saen was actually Na's true love, and as was obvious, Na kept on imagining that her husband was Saen (after Sib passed away), all those years she was hallucinating due to schizophrenia.
Nut was torn, because at the same time it was what he himself wanted, but then, Saen was already married to Jan. And that, added to the 'rumour' that Nut was actually Saen and Na's son would mean that Na was cheating on Nut's dad, Sib. It's an impossible dilemma for him to settle, really wanting something and yet, impossible due to what had happened in the past.
(That's why in EP 3, Nut was so angry and punched Tofu when he asked 'Who was the real Mr Saen?' innocently, as in Nut's perception, that would have made Na two-timing on her husband with Saen, the twin, and based on Na's reaction, it might have either been true, or she had constantly been accused as such by Jan and Sib over the years)
Plus, as I mentioned somewhere below, I am quite sure that Jan and Sib colluded together to make Na misunderstood and found Saen 'cheating' on her with Jan (the restaurant scene).
If only we know the extent of what Nut had to go through in his younger years, in his childhood and high school years... (we haven't even seen probably a quarter of it yet - and I have glimpses of it from the teasers, which have been accurate so far)
Then many of us will probably finally understand why Nut had that side of him. He was hurt, really bad, an emotion and anger repressed within, which unfortunately took a lot to overcome. Tofu coming into his life with the look of his first love, and the echoes of his ex-boyfriend brought all those emotions back to the surface again. As how some people in real life also experiences it, often it isn't a choice for them (and Nut) to have those outbursts.
Violence is never an answer to something, but as what we saw in the past few episodes, Nut was clearly reflecting on what he had done, and slowly began picking up the pieces together, and he made quite an effort if you observe carefully.
As I said in Bad Buddy MDL page before (which also earned the ire of some viewers at the earliest episodes for the fighting and constant tensions between the Architecture and Engineering)
'Never judge a book by its cover'
Plus don't forget that whatever Nut did, it was all because of his past experiences, which we are now judging too early because we haven't even seen half of it yet.
If only we knew what he had gone through, I think everyone who accused him now would have regretted doing so.
I am quite sure of this.
But to make him the scapegoat of our frustrations of not getting the all-fluffy scenes and typical BL sweetness (it will come, but not this early in this series), is not fair for Nut at all.
He deserves a smack from me on the head too, just as what Gen had done to him verbally, but what he needs is love and support from everyone, including us all viewers watching from outside his universe.
Nut isn't a bad guy. He was shaped by his experiences, including, especially his dad's treatment of him and his upbringing.
It must have been particularly painful memories for Nut. I can understand him well from where he's coming from. What is important now is the journey towards healing that both he and his mom (Na) are now slowly beginning to get on.
Na loved Saen, and still loved Saen after probably 30 years. But she ended up with Sib instead.
Nut loved Neung, and still loved Neung after 10 years. He ended up with Tarn.
Both Sib and Tarn loved the other person (Na and Nut) in their own way, but in the end, perhaps, these were not what each truly wanted/not as happy as they expected.
In the end, will a miracle happen and allow Na and Nut to be happy again, to be with their first love in some form or another?
(Saen's motivation isn't clear yet, he can very well still be a villain - EP 8 preview spoiler. But he may be a good person all these while as shown, and end up happily with Na.)
(I am team 'Neung will eventually merge with Tofu somehow', and Nut finally got to be together with his first love as he has always wanted).
As I mentioned earlier, Nut had a very rough childhood, as a child who likely repeatedly defied what his dad, Sibmeun, wanted him to be. Sib was a soldier who was very strong-headed and very overbearing, especially in his perception of what it means to be a man (I would even consider this as toxic masculinity).
In the flashback of the conversation between Sib and Sitha (Gen's dad), with Nut around, it was obvious that Sib had been very hard on Nut because he did not grow up to like girls (conjecture at the moment), liking guys, and also the fact that Na did not really love Sib (she still loved Saen more after all), so Nut was really like an 'unwanted' child who at the same time also failed to match up to what his dad (Sib) expected him to be.
(If you were Nut, it would be very terrifying, traumatic and painful experience), with all the verbal and physical abuses he had experienced from Sib (more seen in trailers and teasers) over all those years. All those things scarred Nut, and as we can see, the effect remained even eight, nine years after his dad passed away.)
Interestingly, just like his mother, who loved Saen more, but ended up with Sib instead, Nut, who liked Neung more, ended up with Tarn. But no matter how happy it might have been (as referenced by Nut), by some yet unknown reason, their relationship (Tarn and Nut) ended, and although Nut still remembered those moments, it was already all in the past for him.
Tofu coming into his life is truly a miracle, not only because his miraculous transformation from a teddy bear into human, but more importantly, his presence in Nut's life is a miracle as through Tofu, both Nut and his mother, Mrs. Na, can finally begin the process of healing from their past wounds, which really ran very, very deep for each one of them.
(EP 7 did excellent in showing this. Tofu also helped Nut's mom to begin confronting her past openly, and as Tofu himself said, to wake up from the dreams she had, be it the happy or bad ones, and to embrace the reality of things as how it is there and then, the present. That is what Nut was struggling with too, and the same applies to Nut as well, that he also begins to appreciate the reality and the present more. Tofu, which while having the appearance of Neung, Nut's first love, and the imprints and memories of Tarn, his (possible) boyfriend, is his own person.)
And I really like how Nut (as he actually had been doing all these while) was trying hard to move on (just as his mom also struggled), and he told Tofu to be patient with him, and he wants Tofu to be part of his life. He has been slowly opening up to Tofu, but earlier on was hesitant and kept on retreating. Why is that so? That's because he was afraid of opening his old wounds and pain.
Just as his mum, Mrs. Na likely had to confront her past to achieve full healing, the same has to happen to Nut too. Thankfully, Tofu is there for both of them.
(Note: I also still believe that Neung somehow may surface in Tofu - like his memories and all. As some of the scenes from the trailer obviously showed a more mature appearance of Tofu, it may be just cosmetics, but I have an inkling that Neung and Tofu will merge somehow, and materialise, separating himself from the teddy bear - the other 'miracle' that may happen in the future.)