GrungtephGuy

Well, I don't see how the dialog in BB is new or sharp. It is better than other BLs, but we have seen it before several times in western series. For me, the good things about BB are: good lead actors, charismatic protagonists, good development of the story, very good pace (which is easier in a RomCom). But the dialogs and the production are just slightly better than average. I think Not Me is the first Thai BL series I watch (after ITSAY) that cares about cinematography. BB follows the very basic production from GMM series: the images look grey and lifeless. And we still have the noise pollution during comedic moments which is an awkward thing GMM should eliminate. I am so happy we don't have this in Not Me.
I know I am biased because I prefer dramas over comedies, so Not Me will probably looks better to me no matter what. Asian comedies look a bit childish to me. I like BB when we have more dramatic moments, but I don't appreciate it that much when we have those "funny" moments.

What is BLM?

They have opposite political views tou.

I didn't know who was the author of the statement. Thx for making me research it.

Thx for your detailed and kind response.

Bad Buddy is an easy show to write. Romantic comedies are easier to produce, you don't need to care much about realism. The way they portray a University environment, for example, is quite fanciful. The students are more childish than normal and the fighting scenes are quite fake, which add some light-hearted feelings to the series. So, when we see something that sounds inaccurate in Bad Buddy we just let it go because it is a comedy.

I think a dramatic thriller is much more difficult to make, specially because GMM doesn't have much 'know how' about it. So, although I like Bad Buddy a lot, I praise more Not me because it is more innovative. Besides that, Not me has a much better production.

But I am glad I can watch both.

For me, this "fire" thing is such a small thing.
What bothered me more was the fact that Dan fainted (why?) and when he woke up he felt strong enough to run away so easily. Lol.

But I already expect these things from action movies/series. American series with similar plots are the same.

I live in Thailand and I have been to some of the protests that have been happening for more than one year. For me, the situation is pretty accurate. Actually, I am shocked with what I have seen so far. The main leaders of the protests are young University students. They are generally well educated and middle class based. The age and appearance of the actors fit the real situation of political protests in Thailand.

And the political references are so accurate. The right-wing politicians who destroy the environment, the discussion about rule of law, the social inequality, the reference to the military (we saw it on the painting in episode 2). Everything is so accurate that makes me think how the military allowed it to be aired.

Some links that might help you to understand Thai political landscape:

https://www.newstatesman.com/world/asia/2021/10/how-bad-student-is-challenging-authoritarian-rule-in-thailand

https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.khaosodenglish.com/politics/2020/12/30/our-person-of-the-year-2020-rung-panusaya-the-woman-who-shattered-the-ceiling/amp/

In case you're curious about the political groups endorsed in the EP. 2 of "Not me", know that UNAR seems to have been inspired by Thai artists who make politics through images. Some groups you can search on Facebook: "Baphoboy", "ไข่แมวX" and "Uninspired by Current Events".
If you follow them you can have a clue about what is happening in Thailand political turmoil.

[Not me] Review of the first episode.

I was impressed by the first episode of Not Me. The surprise, however, has nothing to do with the story itself, but with the political and left-wing tone of the series. I already knew the director and knew her political tendencies, but it was still surprising to see that dialogues full of hints to the political situation in Thailand today. Criticism of politicians and businessmen, debates on Law and the Rule of Law, political activism. In just one episode we were bombarded with real Thailand, a far cry from the happy and colorful Thailand of traditional romantic comedy BLs. For those who don't know, since 2019 and, above all, from 2020, Thailand has been experiencing political effervescence, with weekly protests against the military and the monarchy and in favor of freedoms and democracy. The protests, in general, are peaceful, but they have become violent this year. Bloody clashes between police and protesters broke out in the streets of Bangkok, leaving dozens injured. The protagonists of these demonstrations are, in general, young students.
In the series Not Me, the university gang is actually a political group that carries out acts of depredation against the Thai elite (which supports the government). They are practically Black Blocs.
I was surprised that Thai censorship allowed a series with such sensitive content to air at such a tense political moment. Guys, this is no small thing. The director was very brave. Applause to GMM also for accepting the risk. If the censors let it go, maybe they have cut more controversial things. Let's wait and see.

About the series itself, I liked the photography, especially in the dark scenes moments, like the garage scenes. The characters are interesting and well introduced. Gun needs no comment. Excellent actor as always. Mond was second best on the scene and Off, even though he was an irregular actor in his previous work, did not look bad.

The first episode was extremely fast-paced. Maybe a little too much for my taste, but nothing to compromise the overall content. White quickly agreed to replace his brother and jumped into a strange environment without a second thought. We don't even know what the father thought of the situation, but I believe these points will be worked out in the next episodes.

It was one of the best first episodes of a BL I've ever seen. There is no stalling, everything happens very fast. At the same time, we can see aesthetic concern to make the photography charming. The performances are above average and the story has a real plot (and not just a succession of cheap fanservice moments) and safe direction. I'm really glad that Thai BLs are more concerned with production and are producing more diversified and refined works. It's a great sign that they have so many directors from the LGBTQIA+ community running BL series. We have Aof in Bad Buddy, Boss in I told Sunset about you and now trans director Anucha in Not me. It is noticeable in the work of these directors the concern to portray the LGBTQIA+ in a more realistic and respectful way. The BL market can only gain from them.

I already know about that.

If a fanfic uses a real person, not a character, I do think they need to pay for it or. If the celebrety is not ok with that, they can even ban the commercialization of the book. The author is making money using a real person, not a character. I wouldn't like to see someone making money with a story where I am the main character being paired with someone who is not my real life partner. Specially if the story is full of degrading situations, such as rape (which is common in these stories). The point is: the story wouldn't sell so much if the celebrities weren't mentioned. It is more difficult to seek a book when the characters are unknown by the public. So, if they want to make money using someone's name, they need to make an agreement.

Apparently the book was based on a fanfic. Later, when the book was published, they changed the name of the characters.
I agree that the author should make a deal with the artists, but I don't agree that GMM should be accountable.

I think the problem is not the plot, but the fact that it was based on a fanfic of real life artists. They think GMM and the author should pay GOT7 because they "used" them.

GOT7 fans wanna ban Not me because the book was based on a fanfic related to GOT7 artists. #banNotMe is trending on Thai Twitter.

Well, for me Gun is enough. I don't dislike Off, but Gun acting is so good and the plot is so interesting that I forgot for some minutes that Off was part of the show. Lol

A 1000 Star is very different. It is a conservative show since the first episode. It is a story about a rich guy and his family who committed crimes and get away with that only doing community service.

The actors and the director are close to the democratic side, so I don't think your theory will become true. Let's see.

I will try to summarize.

Thailand is basically a kind of hybrid military monarchical dictatorship.

We have a lot of protests happening now. People are criticizing the military, the Monarchy and the elite who supports them. The entrepreneur who is portrayed in the show represents the Thai elite who is always involved in crimes but can get away with that because they have an alliance with the military and the Monarchy.

We have some cases of poor villagers who have been expelled from their lands by rich people. We have mambers of Thai Elite who are destroying the nature only to get more profit. We also find a series of scandals involving the Monarchy, the military and the elite, generally corruption scandals.

It is pretty rare to see them going to jail. But the democracy activists are being treated as terrorists. Many of them were jailed.

The university students are the main leaders of these protests and the series is showing that.

Are you kidding? BL GMM productions are generally horrible. They don't care about the screenplay, they never care about likelihood, they never care about cinematography. Most BL series are quite amateur. This one looks like professional.

I am shocked: how could the Thai authorities allow this series to be released? It is quite political. The plot looks like Thailand nowadays.