BradBluddy16

I think PerthSanta can magically resolve many issues. Restart on Ep.9 and follow their arc.

You’re not psycho. There’s definitely something supernatural happening here. Somehow New has reincarnated DeanPharm into YothaGun, and they have followed the red thread back to create a new New classic.

It’s Ashi’s eye acting for me

Junior and Mark are also killing it in Perfect 10s-across-the-board Liners, so I was more concerned about our Only Boo babies. But maybe the Wabi Sabi downsizing has freed up New to be New, as he is delivering a Perfect 10 BL masterclass. SeaKeen should be in good hands.

With director New regaining some of his old magic with Perth-ect 10 Santas, are we starting to believe he can do right by SeaKeen in Head 2 Head? We all witnessed Keen eating up a screen, the way Santa’s doing currently, in Only Boo.
One lingering concern from the H2H pilot: the hinted at role reversals. We may have collectively buried the memories of the failed FotGem experiment with Our Skyy 2, but that trauma could be reawakened if Head 2 Head flatlines. Everyone please make merit for SeaKeen😉

I’m guessing that due to Only Boo’s budget constraints, the shooting of the series ended up being an extended workshop for the young actors, especially greenest-of-rookies Sea. Keen and Ashi, with their Project Alpha training behind them, were better set up for out of the gate success. With Sea, we got to witness the progression in real time, and by the time the series wrapped up he felt like a genuine breakout star. The kisses seemed to follow the same arc; I’m sure the Poongduck-y episode 9 kiss was shot late in the game and we were treated to two fully-formed actors deftly blurring the lines between reality and fantasy.
It can’t be stated enough that the forces working against Only Boo only make the triumph of the final product that much more impressive. Many a fully-financed, star-studded series couldn’t catch the lightning in a bottle that Only Boo did.

Totally Un-Boo-ased End of Year Awards 2024

Best BL Series: Only Boo.
In a year when the better dramas went deeper and darker, absorbing various genres in search of relevance, “Only Boo” managed to reinvigorate the classic BL formula, and explore a few heavier themes itself without sacrificing its lightness of touch. Ever since the runaway success of the brooding Trojan horse, “KinnPorsche”, there has been a collective forgetting that “2gether The Series” managed to reach the far corners of the earth as well, by acting like …well… a BL.

Best Actor - Keen
Despite ending up a lovely sixth alternate on Project Alpha, in retrospect, Keen’s gifts were already on full display there. But in “Only Boo” he is a revelation. Not only is he a triple threat with his singing, dancing, and camera-mugging-comic-timing, but his Moo character manages to fuse Singto-Kongpob’s forthrightness with Fourth-Gun’s generosity of spirit, and take them both further by finding the depths in Moo’s sadness and hurt.

Best Supporting Actor - Milk
“Only Boo” marks the return of “husband material” Milk, doing what she does best; supporting her besties through their gay awakenings. If Ongsa makes a brief appearance in Neth’s scenes with Louie, “Only Boo” reminds us that MilkLove is much superior to LoveMilk. GMMTV please don’t swap their roles again in another fit of MSP-Our Skyy madness.

Best Song - “Louder”
If the “Only Boo” title OST is the perfect effervescent pop shot, splicing together “Hook” and “You Got Ma Back” for maximum fizz, “Louder” cuts deeper. Although Keen’s emergence as the BL Adele fully flowers with the melodramatic “Station 0”, with “Louder” he echoes Shania Twain’s “From This Moment On” with its unbridled declaration of romantic love at it’s zenith. No wonder the creators of “Only Boo” choose to employ the instrumental track from “Louder” at the drama’s most transcendent moments. It is truly “Fin” in four chords.

I can’t disagree with you…even some of the OSTs are next level. But then again, the ship that launched the ship that launched a bazillion GemFot fans can’t be wrong…

A great question that many of us, who consider Only Boo top-tier BL, have often pondered.
I think there are two issues.
1. There were not many sponsors/foreign investors, so GMMTV likely had a small marketing budget, and was forced to put Only Boo in a less desirable time slot. Once some momentum started by word of mouth, the company was too heavily invested in My Love Mix Up to make a pivot. No offence to GemFot, who can do (almost) no wrong, but Only Boo is the true spiritual successor to MSP.
2. The name. In a BL world largely graduated from high school-ish stories, naming a fresh-faced romcom Only Boo was a big miss.
The translations naturally do not carry the word-play and even for Thai watchers, the inside reference had to be explained. Golf may not have had real a hit since FUTS, but I think the real reason investors, and BL fans continue to stay away, is the name. They should have called it “My School Mixed Up Idol Love” and laughed all the way to the bank.

Start with some rookie actors; add an underachieving director; mix in a presumably small budget and little promotion; season with some innovative graphics, some over the top sound effects (Meow!), and a cup of buoyant OSTs and bake at 100 Thai degrees. The results will achieve a P’Aof level of grandeur mixed with an MSP youthful joie de vivre. For those who have yet to indulge, what are you waiting for? 🌞

Shout out Oishi tea! The only company with the willingness and foresight to sponsor this show. Please support them and look forward to their new tea infused with Kang’s breath 😊

To Shone’s credit, he did adjust, and ship KangMoo once he realized what was going on. And Moo did tell Potae that he didn’t talk about Kang because it made him sad, so Shone was likely in the dark too.

If the other commenter, being referred to, is me, please know that I did walk back the misogyny comment after being schooled by my lesbian sister.
On a side note, since you are commenting in this space, I’m curious if you enjoyed “Only Boo” or did you find it to be crumbs? 😊

The acting was perfection! Roomates of Poongduck 304 could never…

Apologies for misreading. I believe that your “fangirls” comment was born out of frustration at an industry that doesn’t value you highly in its demographics. I think I get your perspective. It is like me finding “23.5” moving slower than molasses; neither experiencing “fin” from the sexual tension of the relationships, or being drawn in by the sexual appeal of the actors. Even the male side couple setup was underplayed by (slightly) overweight actors, designed presumably to not distract the “fangirls” and gays from the centrality of the main couples.
But 6.5/10 for Only Boo? We are getting into “What the Duck” territory. I would give 23.5 an 8/10 for effort (and importance).
Especially as queer people, I think we should be lifting this genre up.
It is slightly miraculous that it exists at all.

Also, as a gay man, I would caution you on your use of the word “fangirls”. Criticism of rom-com conventions often, but not always, come from a misogynistic place. Your negative use of the word “fangirls” also raises a yellow flag for me. I can meet you halfway and say Only Boo isn’t for you, but I do not condone misogyny in any shape or form. Please be mindful.

For us, admittedly biased, Boo-defenders who linger here, the occasional negative comment always comes as a surprise. This scrappy little series started with little Gmmtv support, a lousy time slot, and only one, faithful sponsor (shout out Oishi tea), and knocked the rest of the companies’ more promoted shows out of the park.
But, on closer look, it feels like your criticisms are directed at classic, rom-com BL itself, certainly a genre not to everyone’s tastes. Rather than defend the many virtues of Only Boo, I might suggest you look to the more progressive end of the BL universe to find something more to your liking.

I can definitely see where you are coming from: another well-worn BL trope we can all see coming from “mars”, designed purely to get you in your feels. The only variation here is to start the breakup/time-jump an episode early, and no one will see it
coming 😁. But there is something so special about this lovable, underdog of a show …. to your point, don’t come here if you are looking for innovation (although, I don’t know if we have ever seen a character as unabashedly flirty as Moo) Come here to get up into all your feels, and to know what My Love Mix Up could have been.

I feel your pain…nine episodes of pure joy followed by two plus episodes of pain and heartache, do create emotional whiplash, but I would argue that neither the plot nor the writing died out. Despite the two weeks of suffering most of us experienced watching Only Boo live, in retrospect the added tension only deepened the drama, and knocked the series into the next tier. Keen enters his Adele era with “Station 0”, and finds the same emotional depths in his acting. Nobody “enjoyed” Moo breaking down, nor that single tear at the piano…but it only made the ending sweeter, the drama deeper, and the story more resonant. We were all overjoyed to get sunshine-Moo back, but the experience wouldn’t have been nearly as cathartic if he had never gone away.

I get the sense that, in the earlier episodes GMMTV didn’t quite know what they had (only Oishe Honey Lemon knew for sure) and didn’t trust their young actors to carry the story, and were a little too liberal with the tropes and sound effects. But it also feels like at some point everyone involved realized they had something special, and let the drama and actors breathe more. My suggestion: trudge through the fluff and you’ll find the beating heart of something truly remarkable. Keen does most of the heavy lifting, but everyone else does their best to keep pace. 10 out of 10 for me.