I've liked all of Great, Inn, Aou and Boom's previous series and I'm excited that GMMTV is finally making a historical BL. The first episode was decent, but I'm sad that the view count on youtube was so low. I hope the marketing team puts some effort into marketing this properly. I also know it's geoblocked in multiple countries, but I hope everyone who has access to the series on youtube watches it there and not a pirated site.
If anyone wants to see the scenes with Max & Kao, these are the episodes they're both in: the first few episodes, briefly in 10, 12, 18, 19, 20, 21, 24, 25, 26, 29, 30. They are definitely side characters and don't get much screen time overall.
Oh wow!!! I forced myself to binge the whole thing out of curiosity for how bad it could be. And it consistently surpassed my lowest expectations. So much has been said about all this show's shortcomings and I can honestly say everyone was right!!! I've watched a ton of BLs and most of GMMTV's BLs. I know strong scripts are rare at GMMTV, but I haven't seen anything this bad from the company since Tonhon Chonlatee.
There were sooooo many times I was tempted to drop it, when I was sick of their refusal to admit they liked each other for the 1st half of the series, when Jimmy showed up for no reason other than to delay them becoming a couple, then when Gugg wasted Yada's time with his with the "I'll turn you straight" crap when we all know View is an established ship with Mim. But the absolute worst parts of the series were the endless emotional manipulation of the audience and characters in the second half. A mom literally abandons her small child in a dentist's office and everyone demands he get over it in minutes because she randomly shows up decades later! Jay doesn't like sweets, so they give him a tragic backstory to make everyone feel bad for him. Then follow it up with him getting in the most telegraphed accident I've seen in years just to give everyone another reason to cry. All of the music playing to tell the audience exactly how to feel in each moment was manipulative and irritating. I know this is just the latest example of a GMMTV series where the characters have serious emotional trauma that is resolved in 2 sentences during a quick conversation, but here it felt exhausting and ridiculous every time it happened.
These characters had the depth of NPCs in video games. I could not figure out why anyone liked anyone. Sant was cute and he wore enough pastels in every episode to show that he is in fact qualified to be a uke (I guess), but it all felt soooooo forced. Mark is an amazing actor. Ohm is fine. I can imagine that they have good chemistry irl. But no one could deliver those terrible lines convincingly, not even ships who have been together for years. I won't bother complaining about yet another Thai BL with a rich sex hungry seme and an innocent uke who plays hard to get well after they've been together for a long time.
I get that this was billed as a light hearted romcom, but the only laughs were unintentional. It had more drama, sadness and tragedy than your average lakorn. It wasted many very talented actors and showed again that GMMTV's biggest problem is their scripts. Hiring almost every BL actor in Thailand will not solve their real problems. But it will negatively impact multiple careers of young actors who need strong scripts, directors and editors to succeed in an industry that has raised the bar. I feel bad for Mark and Ohm, but I hope GMMTV reads the comments on here and all over social media and realizes that they need to do better. One or two good scripts per year isn't enough, especially when they are churning out new series non-stop.
P.S. I know JittRain created some of the most popular BLs of all time, but her stories are usually very superficial and I'd be fine if GMMTV stopped adapting her novels to series. And as much as I appreciate experienced people working on these shows, they need new people to write, screenwrite and direct, but that doesn't seem like it will ever happen.
You're right but because of that ban, China is kind of late with that progress than other countries. Now that…
I'm not telling anyone not to watch it, but I don't "need" to watch it even if it has "potential". You can watch it if you want, what you watch has nothing to do with me or with what I do or don't watch.
I liked the first episode, but the second one wasn't as entertaining. This show feels like it's from 2017. Like if the ban had never happened, this would have fit in perfectly with the Chinese BLs of that era. The problem is BL has evolved a lot over the last 8 years and what worked then, is outdated and boring now. There were also only a few BLs airing at a time back then. But now there are around 20 series airing each week. With that amount of content, I am much more selective about what I spend my time on.
I can guess that they were inspired by Unknown, but what made Unknown one of the greatest BLs of all time was the strong writing and character development. This show is 6 15 minute episodes. This would probably be fine if you had nothing else to watch, but I do, so I'm gonna pass on this one.
I can absolutely see where you're coming from, but for me I think it had to do with who wrote the series and who…
Thank you for sharing your thoughts. Everything you wrote makes sense to me. As I was watching, it felt obvious that there were different writers for the series and the special.
I didn't read the novel, but it seems like it would make me as frustrated as the special did. It makes me wonder when the novel was written. Often older BL novels get adapted into series and they forget to update the story to make it fit how things are these days.
I'm still looking forward to the second season though. I can't wait for the ArthitDaotok story. But now I'm also hoping that the writers tone down the hetero gender roles and realize that everyone doesn't want to see wifeys in the kitchen and husbands in a board room 😒. Fingers crossed that they try harder than they did with the special.
North literally described his life as "born to play games, love P'Jo and just die".
"I am not trying to harsh anyone else's squee", I get it and usually neither am I. I think many of us have been conditioned to keep our opinions of these series to ourselves, since this site has been taken over by people who decided MDL isn't a discussion board, but a fan page. And anytime someone says something that doesn't align with the pre-approved group think of "cute" or "hot" they're told "if you don't like it, don't watch" or "watch it, but keep your opinions to yourself". This is probably why the BL pages get less and less comments and why most comments for series make it seem like the series is flawless no matter what.
If I hadn't watched Fourever You over and over because Johan and North were so unique and wonderful, I wouldn't even have bothered watching the special or coming here to comment. But seeing these characters be basically lobotomized to the point where they are unrecognizable was so shocking that I had to say something.
But it's been a few days and I've moved past it. The Wabi Sabi people finally got a new popular ship and rushed these special episodes out to make some money. I hope the actors were paid well.
North literally described his life as "born to play games, love P'Jo and just die".
I think the CP comparison fits. And that's probably why I was so put off by the episode. We know CP was a huge success and brought on a wave of new BLs that focused on damsel ukes and controlling powerful semes. I watched Cutie Pie, but these days I can't sit through a series that happily ignores the realities of LGBTQ+ relationships to cater to the fantasies of a specific segment of the BL fandom. I have no energy or desire to debate the types of people who think BLs (and GLs) must be "cute", "sweet" or always include a HEA. HEA can only exist if life stops the second the book/show ends. Real relationships take work and real partners grow together over time. Dreaming that in college a rich man will come in, be super romantic and take care of you forever, is something most people grow out of when they realize relationships like that are traps that make the person being taken care of powerless and stuck when the rich guy eventually moves on to the next person.
I'm completely over debating BL with people who just started watching it because they saw an NC scene on tiktok or thought an actor was attractive. These people rarely have any interest in the lives of LGBTQ+ people and some believe that all stories about gay men should fit into the Thai BL mold. No surprise that these are the same people who think BL actors are their future boyfriends, who disrespect "femme" BL actors regularly and who try to silence anyone who has a different opinion on a random tv show.
I know special episodes aren't created to be important touchstones for the movement. But I do wish the writers didn't completely undermine the character arches of North and Yohan to appease certain people. The story could have been enjoyable without them turning North into a Stepford Wife (husband). If this was the story of Wayo from Bas' first series, 2Moons, I wouldn't be complaining. But North is not Wayo and 2 Moons is an old series that excelled in framing its narrative in a way that would be familiar/palatable to the young mostly female audience that BL was targeting in 2017.
North literally described his life as "born to play games, love P'Jo and just die".
I'm not sure if that's supposed to viewed as a good thing. But I think it's unfortunate for a character who once had a full life to be completely reduced to that in these episodes. I'm sure there are plenty of people whose only goal in life is to meet a man and have him take care of them until death. But that wasn't North in the original series and that wasn't the character that made me love the series.
But I already know, every BL isn't made for every BL fan. And these episodes were clearly made for the part of the fandom that think gay guys in 2025 should fit into heteronormative standards that were created decades ago. I will never think that way, so I can accept that this wasn't for me.
*sigh* after watching Fourever You, Johan and North were one of my favorite on screen couples of the last few years. I absolutely adored how perfectly matched they were. And how a story of cold, quiet, rich seme and a simple and plain uke that we've seen 100s of times before became something so much more. These two deeply loved and cared for each other and wanted to be better versions of themselves for the other person.
But the ultimate curse of BL has always been second seasons or special episodes. So I shouldn't be surprised that this one was a total let down. It felt like I was literally watching something from a different century. Where the rich/powerful husband goes to work every day to "provide for the family", while the docile wife (husband) stays at home, cooking, cleaning and waiting for her (his) husband to come home. Then it got worse when Johan turned this into a bad retelling of Pretty Woman, where he attempts to make up with North by GOING ON A SHOPPING SPREE!!!! As if money solves every problem in a relationship. Then we had to listen to North say a million times, "it's too expensive", but still happily bought a computer that cost 200k baht (over 6100 USD).
Idk where the guy who worked multiple jobs to support himself went, where their awesome friend group went, where all of North's agency went or why Johan doesn't listen to anything North says anymore. But this was exactly what I didn't want to see. I might watch the second part in the future, but the first part was so unpleasant to watch, that I'll probably put this on hold for a long time.
I know that audience who loves fairytale wish fulfillment loves this stuff and based on the rating, I'm obviously in the minority who didn't enjoy it. But I really hope the writers of season 2 actually spend time to tell good stories, instead of just filling an "Outdated BL tropes" bingo card and focusing on gender roles that even straight rom-coms acknowledged were no longer realistic decades ago.
Another BL where the MDL rating is all screwed, SMH. If you hover over or click on the 6.4 rating it shows "currently watching" as 7.3 and "verified/stars rating" 7.15, so there's no way the actual rating is below a 7. I'm sure MDL will fix it soon. Please don't let the rating prevent you from giving it a chance.
Anyway, since the writers/directors are also actors in the series, it feels like they knew EXACTLY what they were doing by focusing NanKrai's body throughout the first episode. And I'm not complaining at all. He looked great and the 18+ dream was unexpected in a good way. Overall, I thought the first episode was really good. The acting is stronger than what you see in a lot of BLs these days, I always appreciate series that are set in the north instead of Bangkok and I liked most of the characters. I'm not a fan of love triangles in BL or straight series, but I'm hopeful that they focus on TK and NanKrai (they have great chemistry) and not so much on the twins. Looking forward to next week.
I know most people on here hate "brother" (they aren't blood related) stories, but I enjoyed the first episode. It was only 12 minutes, but the chemistry was good and the story made me nostalgic for the early days of BLs in China and Taiwan.
The comments here make me feel like I was watching a different show talking about how it was sweet and fluffy…
I often feel that way too. I think with so many series these days, each type of show is finding their audience. And that audience tends to make up the majority of MDL comments on each series.
In a way that's good I guess, but it does get confusing when reading comments since everyone's definition of a "good" or entertaining or interesting or fluffy series isn't the same.
Hey, yeah. I didn't connect to it. I know it was only the first episode, but it reminded me of those series that focus on the uninteresting side characters too much. The leads didn't seem to have a spark. But again it's only the first episode, so that could happen in the upcoming episodes. I also thought the episode was way too long, but I know Idol Factory series usually have longer episodes.
The acting was mid and the director has never directed a BL, which is always a bad sign for me. There will probably be a lot of story threads and it doesn't seem like it will focus as much as I'd like on the leads. I'm saying this after watching WAY TOO many BLs and recently finishing Lost In the Woods, which has a slightly similar premise. But pretty much everyone on here loved it even though the view count on youtube for the episode is pretty low.
Honestly, I'd say take everything with a grain of salt. It does seem like it will be "cute," so if you like those kinds of stories, you might enjoy this too.
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https://vipa.me/en/search?q=%E0%B8%AB%E0%B8%A1%E0%B9%88%E0%B8%AD%E0%B8%A1%E0%B9%80%E0%B8%9B%E0%B9%87%E0%B8%94%E0%B8%AA%E0%B8%A7%E0%B8%A3%E0%B8%A3%E0%B8%84%E0%B9%8C&slug=mhompedsawan
If anyone wants to see the scenes with Max & Kao, these are the episodes they're both in: the first few episodes, briefly in 10, 12, 18, 19, 20, 21, 24, 25, 26, 29, 30. They are definitely side characters and don't get much screen time overall.
There were sooooo many times I was tempted to drop it, when I was sick of their refusal to admit they liked each other for the 1st half of the series, when Jimmy showed up for no reason other than to delay them becoming a couple, then when Gugg wasted Yada's time with his with the "I'll turn you straight" crap when we all know View is an established ship with Mim. But the absolute worst parts of the series were the endless emotional manipulation of the audience and characters in the second half. A mom literally abandons her small child in a dentist's office and everyone demands he get over it in minutes because she randomly shows up decades later! Jay doesn't like sweets, so they give him a tragic backstory to make everyone feel bad for him. Then follow it up with him getting in the most telegraphed accident I've seen in years just to give everyone another reason to cry. All of the music playing to tell the audience exactly how to feel in each moment was manipulative and irritating. I know this is just the latest example of a GMMTV series where the characters have serious emotional trauma that is resolved in 2 sentences during a quick conversation, but here it felt exhausting and ridiculous every time it happened.
These characters had the depth of NPCs in video games. I could not figure out why anyone liked anyone. Sant was cute and he wore enough pastels in every episode to show that he is in fact qualified to be a uke (I guess), but it all felt soooooo forced. Mark is an amazing actor. Ohm is fine. I can imagine that they have good chemistry irl. But no one could deliver those terrible lines convincingly, not even ships who have been together for years. I won't bother complaining about yet another Thai BL with a rich sex hungry seme and an innocent uke who plays hard to get well after they've been together for a long time.
I get that this was billed as a light hearted romcom, but the only laughs were unintentional. It had more drama, sadness and tragedy than your average lakorn. It wasted many very talented actors and showed again that GMMTV's biggest problem is their scripts. Hiring almost every BL actor in Thailand will not solve their real problems. But it will negatively impact multiple careers of young actors who need strong scripts, directors and editors to succeed in an industry that has raised the bar. I feel bad for Mark and Ohm, but I hope GMMTV reads the comments on here and all over social media and realizes that they need to do better. One or two good scripts per year isn't enough, especially when they are churning out new series non-stop.
P.S. I know JittRain created some of the most popular BLs of all time, but her stories are usually very superficial and I'd be fine if GMMTV stopped adapting her novels to series. And as much as I appreciate experienced people working on these shows, they need new people to write, screenwrite and direct, but that doesn't seem like it will ever happen.
I can guess that they were inspired by Unknown, but what made Unknown one of the greatest BLs of all time was the strong writing and character development. This show is 6 15 minute episodes. This would probably be fine if you had nothing else to watch, but I do, so I'm gonna pass on this one.
I didn't read the novel, but it seems like it would make me as frustrated as the special did. It makes me wonder when the novel was written. Often older BL novels get adapted into series and they forget to update the story to make it fit how things are these days.
I'm still looking forward to the second season though. I can't wait for the ArthitDaotok story. But now I'm also hoping that the writers tone down the hetero gender roles and realize that everyone doesn't want to see wifeys in the kitchen and husbands in a board room 😒. Fingers crossed that they try harder than they did with the special.
If I hadn't watched Fourever You over and over because Johan and North were so unique and wonderful, I wouldn't even have bothered watching the special or coming here to comment. But seeing these characters be basically lobotomized to the point where they are unrecognizable was so shocking that I had to say something.
But it's been a few days and I've moved past it. The Wabi Sabi people finally got a new popular ship and rushed these special episodes out to make some money. I hope the actors were paid well.
I'm completely over debating BL with people who just started watching it because they saw an NC scene on tiktok or thought an actor was attractive. These people rarely have any interest in the lives of LGBTQ+ people and some believe that all stories about gay men should fit into the Thai BL mold. No surprise that these are the same people who think BL actors are their future boyfriends, who disrespect "femme" BL actors regularly and who try to silence anyone who has a different opinion on a random tv show.
I know special episodes aren't created to be important touchstones for the movement. But I do wish the writers didn't completely undermine the character arches of North and Yohan to appease certain people. The story could have been enjoyable without them turning North into a Stepford Wife (husband). If this was the story of Wayo from Bas' first series, 2Moons, I wouldn't be complaining. But North is not Wayo and 2 Moons is an old series that excelled in framing its narrative in a way that would be familiar/palatable to the young mostly female audience that BL was targeting in 2017.
But I already know, every BL isn't made for every BL fan. And these episodes were clearly made for the part of the fandom that think gay guys in 2025 should fit into heteronormative standards that were created decades ago. I will never think that way, so I can accept that this wasn't for me.
But the ultimate curse of BL has always been second seasons or special episodes. So I shouldn't be surprised that this one was a total let down. It felt like I was literally watching something from a different century. Where the rich/powerful husband goes to work every day to "provide for the family", while the docile wife (husband) stays at home, cooking, cleaning and waiting for her (his) husband to come home. Then it got worse when Johan turned this into a bad retelling of Pretty Woman, where he attempts to make up with North by GOING ON A SHOPPING SPREE!!!! As if money solves every problem in a relationship. Then we had to listen to North say a million times, "it's too expensive", but still happily bought a computer that cost 200k baht (over 6100 USD).
Idk where the guy who worked multiple jobs to support himself went, where their awesome friend group went, where all of North's agency went or why Johan doesn't listen to anything North says anymore. But this was exactly what I didn't want to see. I might watch the second part in the future, but the first part was so unpleasant to watch, that I'll probably put this on hold for a long time.
I know that audience who loves fairytale wish fulfillment loves this stuff and based on the rating, I'm obviously in the minority who didn't enjoy it. But I really hope the writers of season 2 actually spend time to tell good stories, instead of just filling an "Outdated BL tropes" bingo card and focusing on gender roles that even straight rom-coms acknowledged were no longer realistic decades ago.
Anyway, since the writers/directors are also actors in the series, it feels like they knew EXACTLY what they were doing by focusing NanKrai's body throughout the first episode. And I'm not complaining at all. He looked great and the 18+ dream was unexpected in a good way. Overall, I thought the first episode was really good. The acting is stronger than what you see in a lot of BLs these days, I always appreciate series that are set in the north instead of Bangkok and I liked most of the characters. I'm not a fan of love triangles in BL or straight series, but I'm hopeful that they focus on TK and NanKrai (they have great chemistry) and not so much on the twins. Looking forward to next week.
In a way that's good I guess, but it does get confusing when reading comments since everyone's definition of a "good" or entertaining or interesting or fluffy series isn't the same.
The acting was mid and the director has never directed a BL, which is always a bad sign for me. There will probably be a lot of story threads and it doesn't seem like it will focus as much as I'd like on the leads. I'm saying this after watching WAY TOO many BLs and recently finishing Lost In the Woods, which has a slightly similar premise. But pretty much everyone on here loved it even though the view count on youtube for the episode is pretty low.
Honestly, I'd say take everything with a grain of salt. It does seem like it will be "cute," so if you like those kinds of stories, you might enjoy this too.