Italophilia

A sweet high school to college romance

TLDR: Mostly fluffy story about friends growing up together, supporting one another through adversity in high school and college. I loved that they stood up for themselves on that mountain.

The kind of story that can lift your mood. For the most part, each episode was fluffy and left me smiling. Of course, there were a few misunderstandings before the leads became a couple, when they were still trying to navigate their feelings and trying to figure out whether the other person felt as much as they did.

The FL was also such a positive, kind and generous person that another classmate was interested in her for a long time. I liked how this love triangle was handled in the show. It was not toxic, which is refreshing. The second couple was less mature than the leads and they bickered quite a bit, affecting the friends' dynamics several times. And the third couple and they were a couple in my eyes, even people will likely disagree. A bleep at midnight - was that a kiss between them? One goes to study abroad and soon after, the other follows. Then, we find out they're living together. Yes, it's a Chinese drama, and we won't see kisses between the third couple (M/M). But even the promo photos have them staring at each other, in the way the first two couples were positioned.

One of the other things that stood out for me was the group's foray to the hill behind the school. They saved a distraught classmate and were all encouraged to vent their frustrations, not realizing their parents were looking for them and were close enough to hear their shouts. Our parents always think they're doing what's best for us and that we don't know any better when we're 18. Those shouts may have been "unfilial" but they started much-needed conversations.

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A coming of age LGBTQ+ story, less of of a BL

I had already watched a lot of BLs before seeing ITSAY, and I was already late to the party because I saw ITSAY in January 2023 (soon after Viki released it). I immediately saw that it was unlike the BLs I had seen before, more of a coming of age LGBTQ+ story about two boys in Phuket. I immediately fell in love with the scenery, the MCs and the rest of the cast, esp. Bas and Hoon. These two were the perfect support for our two MCs whose lives were undergoing such momentous changes.

Having seen several lakorns, what struck me about ITSAY were the understated motions, subtle eye & facial movements, the softly spoken word. Then, we are treated with incredible cinematography and the corresponding music. My heart was all over the place with sadness, joy, laughter, angst, anger.

I get that Teh and Oh are imperfect characters. That's what makes them interesting and relatable to me. At that age, I was similarly selfish & selfless, wanting intimacy & dreading vulnerability and was loving & insufferable. Just Like Teh and Oh, I was a contradiction unto myself.

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Realistic portrayal of young love

I absolutely loved ITSAY which I thought was a near-perfect coming of age story set in one of the most beautiful parts of Thailand. I was thrilled to watch this sequel but I didn't expect such a realistic portrayal of young love, the mistakes one can make when admiration gets confused with adoration and an older classmate takes advantage of that.

What I remember of my college years were the lightning quick growth everyone seemed to be going through, whether it was in their educational, emotional or psychological growth. Some dorm mates were changing their majors every 6 months, some were dating a different person every few weeks.

And we see a little bit of this in Teh and Oh's relationship, as Oh realizes he's not cut out to be an actor. As Teh gets more involved with the drama club and immersed into acting, Oh gets more discouraged. My heart hurt when Teh accused Oh of not trying hard enough, not realizing what Oh had been going through. Teens are not exactly great at communicating; they try and protect their partners from the unpleasantness and often turn to their friends instead. Or their friends are readily available and their partners are not.

What was a simple admiration of Jai turned to a crush, as Jai gave more attention to Teh. Immaterial of whether Jai actually had feelings for Teh (I would argue he may have), I don't think of the kiss as the act of betrayal. As an actor, Teh may very well be asked to kiss other actors. It was Teh's feelings/actions before and after the kiss that were more telling. His acting journal revealed his growing distance to Oh, and Jai fully took advantage of this. Teh's eyes followed Jai instead of Oh when they were in the same room. He would seek Jai out whenever possible. IMO, the emotional betrayal is what broke Teh and Oh's relationship. You leave a relationship when you no longer feel you belong there, and I applaud Oh for leaving.

Their time apart was crucial in both their growths. Oh realized he still loved Teh and was happy to love him from afar. Teh, on the other hand, realized that he had reached all his goals and none of them meant a thing without Oh by his side. I cried buckets of tears of sadness and of joy. I would give IPYTM over 10 if I could.

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You're my sunflower

I'm in the middle on episode 25. Starting from episode 1, I haven't stopped smiling. This is one of the cutest shows, with some laugh out loud moments. I especially have enjoyed Xiao Man's martial arts daydreams, where she's forever saving the scholar.

I have also enjoyed the relationship between Xiao Man and her Dad, who is incredibly sweet and supportive of her. Their love of the martial arts has bonded them in a special way.

So, why a review before finishing the show?
The two leads finally get around to figuring when they started noticing each other (it's a lot earlier than I guessed). And he's says, "You're my sunflower. Your existence is the most beautiful thing that has happened in my life." I just had to share this moment with you.

UPDATE for the completed series
The series took on a more serious note towards the latter end as Xiao Man, Zuo An and their friends grow up and face the world. The FL and ML really communicated well, esp. given that this is their first relationship and they're so very young. The side characters were great, and Shen Chen Yang grew on me.

I thoroughly enjoyed binge-watching this show!

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Conflicted about this

I was surprised that I enjoyed season 1 as much as I did, so I was lookin g forward to season 2, only to find that I had a difficult time getting into the story. Part of it was how sad it was for about 12 episodes until Tokyo when she was finally able to start letting go. But crying for 12 episodes straight was not fun. I put the show on hold a couple of times before deciding to continue.

After Tokyo, the story picked up and it was more enjoyable. As much as I like Sean Chen as Fang Ting Hao, I was pretty unhappy when he manipulated his 3-month promise from Qi Bai Cao. His obsession with her and wanting to control her was out of hand, even though he did many things to help her.

I felt that the second ML and FL had more chemistry in season 1 than 2. I know Yi Feng was away a lot in season 2 but I no longer felt their connection and rapport this season. It was so evident and cute in the first season. On the other hand, Chang An went through tremendous growth and was really fun to watch. I especially enjoyed his interactions with Fang Ting Hao.

The ending felt abrupt, even with 35 episodes. We did get clues about where everyone was headed, but it still felt very abrupt.

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Cultural norms and marriage

I really enjoyed my time with the He family as Mrs. He showered her family with love by feeding them. The He parents also allowed their twins, Can Yang and Fan Xing, to having more personal freedom. Even though Mrs. He drops hints about marriage into the conversation, she doesn't actually set her kids up on blind dates.

Fan Xing and Yuan Song's chemistry was great and I was rooting for them from the start. Yuan Song (played Song Wei Long) was pure eye candy but I was also impressed by Wei Long's acting. He displayed a wider range of emotions than he did in Go Ahead, where his kept his emotions restrained. This was my first time seeing Victoria Song in anything, and she played Fan Xing well, going from the emotionally naive woman to the straight manager to the girly girl when she's with her best friends.

I also enjoyed the other couples. Although I'm not a big fan of Esther Yu's character, Cai Min Min, I could see her growth in the series and was rooting for her and Can Yang in the end. Can Yang, played by Zhang Yu Jian, is an immature, fun-loving, professor, This is such a departure from Yu Jian's role in Le Coup de Foudre, where his acting felt more wooden.

Watching this show really made me think about cultural norms, not only about the age differences in the two couple, but also the relationship choices Fan Xing's best friends felt they had to make given their circumstances. There were also questions about marriage: do we marry for love, compatibility, security, a large house, children? I found the romance fun, but I found these questions, which were woven throughout the series, even more compelling.

I watched 1-2 episodes at a time for the first 13 episodes. After that, I binged watched. I really didn't want to stop watching. It was so good! I was a little disappointed about the ending. I really wanted to watch the main couple be together for longer than what we got.

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My favorite adaptation

This is the 4th version I have seen [previously seen Playful Kiss (Korean adaptation), Itazura na Kiss: Love in Tokyo (Japanese adaptation), Miss in Kiss (Taiwanese adaptation)] and I have say this is definitely my favorite. While the other three have stayed truer to the manga series "Itazura na Kiss," I felt this version made both Naoki (TenTen in this Thai version) and Kotoko (Taliw) less extreme versions of themselves. TenTen remains a cold, genius-level student but he has a gentle side that's apparent even in the first episode. Taliw is not the sharpest tool in the shed, but she is surrounded by her small group of loyal friends who are protective of her. Her insights in this version were spot on.

How this adaptation differed in positive ways (IMHO):
- kept the house destruction event believable [not an insect-related lab mishap (Miss in Kiss), 2.0 earthquake that destroyed the house (Playful Kiss), a small meteor hitting the house (Love in Tokyo)].
- made Kinnosuke (King in the Thai version) a lovable character. He was devoted without being stalker-ish and supportive in the most loving ways.
- although Naoki's Mom in the other versions was so extreme that she played a caricature and was a riot, I could see why Naoki felt he had to leave the house to figure out what were his Mom's decisions and what were his decisions. TenTen, on the other hand, had Mom Kaew who often insisted on her way, but they also negotiated. She also knew how to apologize and show her love for him. She never showed up at school and plastered the bulletin boards with dating rumors nor arranged his wedding without this knowledge. I felt that TenTen left the house partly to allow Taliw to rely less on him and to figure out what she could do on her own.
- Taliw did follow TenTen around to a certain degree, and TenTen encouraged this with respect to choosing their college degrees. But Taliw had more of a backbone, esp. at the end of episode 19.
- TenTen's and Taliw's back story in this adaptation was precious. I absolutely loved it.

I know many people prefer a version truer to the manga series, and I truly enjoyed those too. Having seen 3 of them already, I was ready for this version. I'm thrilled to have found this. The main leads had GREAT chemistry. Mike Angelo didn't have to shed a lot of tears to convey his emotions but I could feel his uncertainty and sadness. He is even more gorgeous without the platinum blond. I loved that he and Aom sang the "Kiss me" OST single.

TLDR: Highly recommended!

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Mai ChengHuan's growth to independence

TLDR: If you've read the discussions on Viki and MDL, you will have seen the overbearing, annoying and toxic mom labels. I won't deny that the mother was portrayed very well by actress He Sai Fei. And many people who are unfamiliar with Asian culture may not understand her portrayal, so they dropped the series because of her, even though she eventually strives to understand her children better, and they reach an understanding. Also, if you're just expecting a RomCom, this series is not for you.

This drama is more about family life and the relationships between the family members. Not many of us will have the economic background as the Mai family, who are living in government housing, and where the parents' big dream is for the government to demolish their building so they can collect the relocation money and move to the suburbs. Mr. and Mrs. Mai have sacrificed enough to be able to send their two children to college, and ChengZao had scholarships while also tutoring while attending school. He's in his early 20s and still sleeps on a cot in their living room. Older sister ChengHuan is 29 and diligently works in the hotel industry. She wants to be independent and to be able to alleviate her parents' difficult life. As her mom increasingly interferes with her life, the fragile balance between filial piety and independence breaks, leading to a public row between her and her mom.

Things I liked:
- the very gradual and realistic change in the relationship between Yao ZhiMing and Mai ChengHuan. They started off on the wrong foot. From my perspective, he fell first but could only support her without her knowing about it.
- Yao ZhiMing and Mai ChengHuan being there for each other, physically present and emotionally available, was the most romantic thing. Viewers define romance differently. Some go for the big ring, flowers, chocolate. Me - someone to hold me when I'm down and someone to listen so I can hear myself think.
- ChengHuan's journey growing up with an overbearing mom to being able to speak up for herself, not second-guessing herself, but being able to stand up for herself was a joy to behold.
- the friendship between siblings ChengHuan and ChengZao. They're the only ones who know their parents and know what the other is going through.
- the friendship between ChengHuan and MaoMao. They have each other's backs.

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The risk of losing a friendship

Having been in a friends-to-lovers situation, I get why neither of them wanted to risk losing their friendship once their feelings started to change. Ji Hoon witnessed what their close girl friend went through when she confessed and lost her friendship with Ba Woo, and he didn't want that. He was happy to remain by his side as a friend, as long as they could be together. And Ba Woo kept his own feelings inside until he could no longer do so. His confession was not heard though, because "I like you" is something friends say to one another. It didn't let let a dense and clueless Ji Hoon know that it was a different kind of "like."

I was commiserating with the characters' feelings of being misunderstood, because that's how it felt when I was in my late teens and my early 20s. I was still learning how to communicate my very large feelings to a guy whose personality was very different from mine. We met the first week of university and were in the same friend group. Although I didn't spend all my time with them, I enjoyed being with them as time allowed. My guy and I started dating after knowing each 3-1/2 years; we've been together over 36 years now.

What I liked:
* The 3 main leads' acting.
* Ha Min was an interesting character and conflicted once his own feelings started to change.
* GL representation
* OST

What could've been changed: I wouldn't have minded if they had it one episode shorter and resolved the misunderstanding sooner.

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Deep friendship or something more?

Xue Yi Ran was overtly flirty towards Qi Tian from the start but that may just be his personality. Yi Ran was very observant, though, and knew that Qi Tian still loved running despite his protests. Despite his initial selfish reasons, Yi Ran turned out to be a good leader, someone his teammates looked up to.

24 episodes for a sports drama seems overkill, but it turned out just right to be able to flesh out the characters' individual stories. I loved that You Qian wasn't a spoiled team member despite his family background. He honored his grandfather and himself by doing what he loved. And when the team needed him in a different role, he stepped up. Each team member was like that, clearly caring and sensitive to what the team and the other members needed.

Kudos to Coach Wang who learned from his earlier coaching mistakes and strived to do better, even though he thought he was riding it easy until retirement. Instead, he took on the challenge when his team needed him. The most fascinating relationship was Yi Ran and Qi Tian. You'll have to decide for yourself if they had a deep friendship or something more. Regardless, I would recommend this series highly.

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