BradBluddy16

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.

And for anyone questioning Sea’s acting chops, check out how many conflicting internal emotions he puts across in those four words…

Favourite Kang flirt deflection technique: “you talk to much…”

Fourth squared