CapitalW

The subbed episodes are all on YouTube if you search for them.

I heard that an official subbed version of the series will eventually be released but I haven’t seen anything about that from a reliable source.

It's not a proper Mainland school drama unless Zhang Lei is there in the role of an administrator.

I love these unsung supporting players! It's like showing up at a party thinking you won't know anyone but then finding a friend there.

Thanks to the slow subbers on Viki, after watching the latest episodes today I have only four days to wait for the final two. I'd be grateful, except they'll probably take three days to sub those as well.

Such short episodes too. Really annoying.

That said, I liked these latest two episodes a lot more. Things happened! In Soo has warmed up and showed some personality while Sang Yi is less skittish and shy. I'm starting to see their chemistry as a couple.

Hard to believe it will all be wrapped up next week!

Thank you, I think I understand where you're coming from.

I agree that Shun was very passive, underlined by his admission that he had never 'liked' anyone before, so he didn't even know what liking someone felt like. Nagisa, on the other hand, had already experienced that stuff and moved well beyond it. There was no way that Shun could have confessed to Nagisa first. If he had made any move toward Nagisa at all, I think I would have found it less believable.

In some ways it's possible that Shun's character was meant to be a study in passiveness. Of all the characters, he most embodies the title 'I didn't think I'd fall in love.' So any evolution of his nature would be subtle.

To begin with Nagisa's love was definitely one-sided. Shun's reply to Nagisa's confession confirms it. And even when Nagisa took him to his 'secret place' and asked him all those questions, Shun still didn't catch on.

(Ah, I can see what you mean now. That did bug me the first time I watched the series. I wondered how any teenager wouldn't understand what Nagisa was trying to say. I guess in subsequent viewings I've allowed that moment to pass without being as peeved.)

However, given the apparent decision by the director and screenwriter to make Shun a blank slate to start with, within the story it would require a push from others to get him to realize what he was feeling. (And, even after Hirahara explained to him what he was feeling about Nagisa, he wouldn't act on it and in fact deleted Nagisa's photos. I can see where that could frustrate a viewer. I myself was also taken aback by the photo deletions the first time I watched.)

What I liked about the attention paid to the girls was that it showed how they 'came of age' as well. The scene involving the drama class that Shun attended with Hirahara blew me away. As the two were required to speak the lines to each other, both of them came to their own turning points. Hirahara knew that she would never have Shun as a boyfriend, and Shun felt enough to ask the drama teacher the question about people who keep their true selves hidden. Deep inside he is beginning to change.

I could go on and on as well but I'll stop here. Thanks again for clarifying your thoughts!

Wow! Thank you. They clearly could use your help on Wattpad. ^_^

I finally got to watch the official version on GagaOOLala, and with the higher resolution video I was able to see a tear that runs down Shun's cheek as he responds to Nagisa's confession.

In some ways it makes me consider the scene in a new light. I'd thought that Shun's response to Nagisa was sweet and emotional but I'd always felt that he was holding back somehow, compared to the courage that Nagisa showed by finally confessing.

The tear is not incredibly visible even on GagaOOLala cut, so it's not surprising that I missed it when watching (ahem) "other" cuts of the series.

It's always interesting to me to see someone respond negatively to a drama that I love. This one I felt was an instant classic, with not a moment wasted. Every scene revealed something new and pertinent about one of the three main characters.

Can you please tell which scenes you felt were unnecessary? One of the things I liked is that the drama has such a keen observational eye -- it captures so many 'in love' behaviors that I kept thinking: yes, that's how it goes.

Also, I wonder why you think the ending was forced and unnatural. As you can probably predict, I thought it was wonderful.

I think the only thing I didn't like about the series was that the m/f characters get to kiss but not the m/m. However, I guess when one has just confessed it would be too soon for that, especially in an Asian culture.

Jang Yoo Sang proves once more that he is a superb actor. This is a bleak film, and that's probably why the rating is low. Purely as a cinematic work it can hardly be faulted in any way.

Chapter 104. This part:

"Itt leans towards him and Pai is ready. Using one hand behind his boyfriend’s neck he crushes their lips together. Pai touches, penetrates, and knows the person with him very intimately, and Itt responds to the touch with great joy."

That's Pai doing the penetrating. :)

Episode 3 is where this starts to turn into something worth staying with.

Really nice OSTs too!

You are the first person I've seen bring up politics as a reason to protest this series. I must have missed those comments.

What I see, and what I'm responding to, are people who think the series is promoting homophobia because it's treating it humorously and unrealistically. And I'm saying that the humor that they're so angry about is satire.

Maybe not every single minute of the series is satirical, but the main characters and supporting characters are each bigger than life in their own way. Not every Thai series is like that. 'In Family We Trust' comes to mind as a truly dramatic Thai series with no satirical content.

So, Ton is a satirical character. His behavior is overblown because one of things that satire does is exaggerate aspects of human nature in order to draw attention to them and, by doing that, comment on them.

Mel Brooks satirized Hitler. Monty Python satirized the Spanish Inquisition. Were either of those acts of humor politically dangerous, promoting fascism or religious zealotry in modern times? I don't think so.

For a similar reason I also don't think this series promotes homophobia. If there are indeed elements of Thai society or the global audience who think Ton is a role model then I'd say those people were probably hopeless to start with.

I don't need David Foster Wallace to tell me what satire is. Some satire is sophisticated and some is pretty dumb, like a Saturday Night Live skit. There's an audience to enjoy both, and if someone doesn't like one genre or another then they're free to stop subjecting themselves to it.

I like how they've introduced the core crisis in the middle of the series instead of right at the end. And I like that Ton is showing that he is open to changing himself. Both Toptap and Mike are such welcome additions. Mike can make me laugh just from his reaction shots. You can tell both of those guys are having a lot of fun with their roles.

I don't hate Ton. He's been raised poorly by a bigoted father, and it's starting to look like he's open to changing. It takes courage to face your faults and try to come to terms with them. That is what the core story of this series is about.

Well, at least they didn't wait until the next-to-last episode to introduce the main crisis. That's what many people always complain about.

It sounds like satirical humor just isn't your thing. You probably should drop it.

It's a satire. Everything is exaggerated to make its point. I know my words are just bullshitting to you but I stand by this.

As you say, of course nobody would be cured of homophobia in a matter of weeks, and the list of absurdities could go on and on. But it's a satire, not a docudrama. The fact that you think people like me believe it depicts real life says more about you than anyone else.

I love it too.

Since the fate of Sea and Tin's relationship at the end of the series seems up for debate, I thought I'd make this separate post about why I think their status at the end is romantic.

During Sea's phone call with Tan, he tells Tan that he has 'just fallen in love.' Meaning, it is a recent occurrence. He resists explaining anything to Tan but the only logical person he could be referring to is Tin.

Early in the episode, Tin tells Sea that he broke up with his girlfriend. He's now available for hitting on lol. Sea, of course, was dumped by his childhood crush so his status is already single.

When Sea and the others ask Tin if he's okay post-breakup, Tin says he will be fine as long as 'you' stay with him. In the subtitled version that I watched on YouTube, the subber says that 'you' refers to the group, however in answer to this it is only Sea who takes Tin's hand and leads him away from the others. Sea is the only one who 'stays' with him.

Sea takes Tin to the place where they first met and they reenact their introductory handshake. Sea says he wants to ask Tin a question. Like everyone else, I'm hoping the question will be 'Will you be my boyfriend?', but it's not -- Sea asks Tin if Tin thinks he is finally a true GFC student. Tin warily asks Sea why he is asking (possibly because it reminds him of Sea's childhood crush, who Sea tried to impress by attending GFC.) Sea says because he wants to be at someone's level, and that someone is Tin. To emphasize the importance of this statement, the soundtrack music comes to a halt. Also, throughout the conversation Sea is gazing into Tin's eyes intensely. (I don't know about you, but that kind of stare isn't something I do with my friends lol.)

In reply, Tin emotionally tells Sea that he is like music to him, where every note is Sea. (The background music starts again.) Sea steps closer to Tin and says that Tin is one of his songs. In reply Tin ventures (a little sadly) to say the song would be one about friendship. Sea laughs -- and through my biased eyes I view that as Sea telling Tin that such a thought would be silly, because what he feels is more than friendship.

Then comes the song about best friends. They both start to cry as Sea sings about remembering everything his best friend did for him. 'Did' -- as in past tense. I think this is referring to everything that Tin did to get Sea out of his depression after his girl rejected him. Again, through my bias I feel that in the song Sea is using the past tense because his feelings for Tin have moved beyond friendship.

At this point the other boys come running in and everyone sings about friendship.

Then we're taken to the final scene with all of the main cast gathered together.

Sea and Tin are holding hands. Sea thanks all of the boys _except_ Tin for being such wonderful friends. Then he turns to Tin and calls him his 'special someone'. Tin gives Sea a ring. They don't even let go of holding hands when Tin puts it on Sea's finger.

So, the only indication that Sea and Tin are _not_ a couple at the end is Tin saying that he is a friendship song for Sea, and then the song that Sea sings to him about friendship. And I've rationalized how those aren't necessarily negating factors.

Since Sea tells Tan that he's newly in love and later refers to Tin as his special someone, it seems clear to me that he's in love with Tin, and that Tin signals that he feels the same by giving Sea the ring.

If Bank (who plays Sea) wasn't age 17 then maybe there would have been a kiss.

To touch briefly on the other pairs:

Tan and Oil are obviously boyfriends.

It and Voice's relationship is the most ambiguous of all. It does tell Voice that he's 'not afraid anymore', but that could be referring to a fear of loving another boy or a fear of simply being hit on by another boy. I guess we'll never know.

Sea and Tin are a couple at the end. Unless you are unhappy with the fact that we don't see the transition happen on-screen and get only the boyfriend-ish behavior in the finale -- and I am with you on that.

When Sea tells Tan that he has 'just' fallen in love, there's no way he is referring to that girl from his childhood. That was old news. He's talking about Tin, of course. And he is saying he's in love, not that he's made a new best friend. (If he was talking just about friendship then they're be no need to confide in Tan and struggle with it.)

While holding his hand Sea brings Tin to the place where they first met and tells Tin that he wants to be a true GFC student so that he can be at Tin's level. (And the soundtrack music suddenly stops after he says this.) Then Tin tells Sea that to him, Sea is music -- 'because every note is you.' Tin says that bit about them being friends because I think he is checking to make sure he has understood correctly.

Later on, Sea addresses all of the _other_ boys as 'friends' and then turns to declar that Tin is his 'special someone.' Eventually Tin gives Sea a ring and the two are holding hands as the boys are all standing together.

The only indicator of 'friendship' is that song everybody sings, and that is more about the entire cast than Sea and Tin specifically. I think all of the other evidence weighs much more in favor of there being a relationship between Sea and Tin.

If Bank (who plays Sea) wasn't just 17 then maybe Sea and Tin would have kissed, but instead we get a big hug where they're both crying. I'm happy with the way they piled on as many hints as possible that the two of them are a couple, even without a kiss.