FreshKicks

Yes! The one-letter names throw me off, at least for now.

The body on this dude!

All four parts are there now.

I don't think Yin and War are essential for those other two series. I started rewatching "This is a Love Story" (Nuea's twin storyline) and for the first episode or so I don't think Mark even had any dialog. It was like he was just there as a prop.

If those two series had indeed been put up on the shelf, after the success of this one they should rehire the team behind it and get to work on them.

I could have written your entire comment myself!

You are so correct about the acting. The bad subs gave this series a bad rep. I'm impressed by how it started out being a pretty standard "school setting" BL and got deeper as it went. Even by the second episode, with U confronting Chin in the rain, I knew this had a lot of potential.

Poor Pat, though. He went all out for that date with U.

Yeah, the one thing that didn't ring true was that Chin let U stand there in front of him, taking multiple hits from the nutcase dad, without pushing him aside for his own good. We saw earlier that he has the strength to do it.

Tisa's evil is a little over the top. And I have to rewatch the earlier episode where they first meet. I don't remember the meeting looking like it had been planned by their parents, instead it seemed like they were just coincidentally matched for that dance thing.

Kamphan and Yoo have a series of their own coming up, called "Call My Name"!

And in Episode 10 they tease it just a tiny bit at the celebration for the end of the school year.

And you're right about Ana and Fuse ... they have a series coming up called "Future". They also get a little tease in the last episode.

Yes, you're right. And it's great to see Tee again, isn't it?

I don't find Q to be on the same level as X looks-wise, but the character's self-confidence compensates for it. I look forward to seeing how Q is able to make the challenge to "get the girl" backfire on X.

True. I guess I should be used to it by now.

So, for those of us very sorry to see this end, the only thing I'll mention from the finale (I fast-tracked it) is that they give us a quick tease on the two upcoming series featuring Mark's friends Fuse and Kamphan.

And Kamphan will be paired with Vee's brother Yu!

In "Love Mechanics", Fuse and Kamphan talk a lot about going out to meet girls, so both series should be interesting!

I love this series to death and so far I've found that I can randomly fire up individual episodes and watch them again with complete enjoyment.

That said, Episode 9 is the exception. I like Mark's visit to Vee's house and the post-boxing bliss between the two boys, but even then they include dumb stuff like Vee holding an umbrella for Mark as they arrive at the pool together.

And what kind of national champion boxer has such an obvious weakness that college kids with no boxing experience can pick up on it and exploit it?

Can anyone who's complaining that this setup has nothing new please elaborate? Is it because you know who will end up together in the end?

Even an alt-universe series like "Vice Versa" gets dismissed the same way. Is it just fashionable cynicism? I need to get schooled so that I can re-calibrate my Bullshit Detector.

GMMTV was nice to consider the fans by releasing an official BL Cut, but a year or so ago there was another cut on YouTube that's 4+ hours -- an unabridged edition -- in beautiful HD with English subs. I don't know if it's still out there but it's worth looking for.

To my dying day this will be my all-time favorite "enemies to lovers" storyline. Stellar supporting cast from top talent from the GMMTV studio and just fantastic performances.

Sandee, June, and Thada forever!!

I could have written that last paragraph about myself verbatim!

Two signs of progress in Thai BL: more authentic kisses (although the one in this episode is *not* an example 😉) and the ditching of the "I'm not gay, I'm just gay for you" bullshit.

Episode 10 ... holy shit.

That kid Pie can really act. In this episode he's like the James Dean of Thai BL ... tormented by love, pushed to the limit of what he can stand. Just amazing.

I really love the Jed character too. What a standup guy, a man's man who happens to have a girly boyfriend haha.

Even as early as the second episode it was clear this series had lots of potential. The Chin-U love story brought out the best in everyone involved, including the screenwriter and director.

I hope we'll see more from this team and that it will be easier for interfans to enjoy it.

If you VPN into Asia (I used a Taiwan server) you can watch it on the WeTV website. No subs, but at least the video quality is tops.

What's funny to me is that Ohm and Nanon have about a minute of screen time together in this series and even then they barely interact, but they're the basis for so much of the criticism. I guess that's what it means to stan a couple of actors.

I can understand the criticism of Jimmy's acting, but I don't think it disqualifies him from taking a lead role.

Something that's been eyeopening for me lately is rewatching the first version of "Love Mechanics" after seeing several episodes of the new one. Yin's acting as Vee in the first series was good but it lacked a certain spark, while in the new series we can see that same actor turning in a great performance. It's all the more apparent because it's the same role both times.

I trust that Jimmy will show the same growth as he gets more work. Meanwhile, I'm finding this series to be an enjoyable watch on a Saturday afternoon -- easy on the eyes with a cute story with no villains.

I guess I'm one of the weirdos who is really enjoying this.

I didn't mean to be sarcastic, I was trying to be funny and clearly failed. I added a smiley.

I agree that nobody's minds will be changed at this point. It's become tribal. I think that's part of the reason the labeling of people has begun.

I can understand the fans who love a series wanting to continue sharing the joy, and I'd wonder why anybody who didn't like it would bother to stick around just to argue. What's the point? For people like me the TMS franchise is dead and it's time to move on.