I absolutely loved this series! It is a ridiculous show, with plots that come and go in the blink of an eye without any explanation, but nonetheless I was glued to the screen. This is pure entertainment fun without much angst or trouble. And my good god, the chemistry and erotica during Aun and Shan’s wuxia scenes??? If these actors ever made a full length wuxia drama I would just about die. (⁄ ⁄>⁄ ▽ ⁄<⁄ ⁄)ﾉ*·ﾟ❤
We don’t know much yet about this series other than that it is set in the 60’s in Thailand. Some brief background about that era for those curious: the decades after WWII saw Thailand have some tension with its neighbors like Laos and Cambodia for taking territories during the war. Although Thailand had allied with Japan in WWII, Thailand quickly allied with western nations post-war due to shared-ish ideas of democracy, especially the USA. The Americans were fighting the Vietnam War and Thailand fought beside them as allies. There were thousands of Americans stationed in Thailand: the American influence went hand in hand with Thai ideas of freedom but butted against Thai buddhist ideas of family and duty. The 60’s in Thailand saw a boom in industry, especially tourism, and quite a bit of wealth rolled into the country. This was good and bad as many towns were able to grow and create schools and better housing. Cities like Bangkok swelled to have populations in the millions, leading to the building of sprawling suburbs, and universities were built and the literacy rate in Thailand was on the rise. The bad is that with all this growth came a rise in crime and “seedy” behavior. Night clubs, gambling dens, smuggling rings all were around. We begin to see the rise of the Thai super-wealthy, who began building skyscrapers and glitzy areas. This era overall was quite the cultural shift as Thailand —which had long proudly avoided being colonized by a European nation— really opened its doors to the western world. The 60s saw immense growth in wealth, urban planning, and social government, but also a major rise in crime and conflict between traditional values and modern.
Very cute! I feel like they did rehash some of the emotional growth from the first film (like, color me surprised that both boys didn't seem to realize they liked each other as I thought that those realizations were clearly shown in the first film) but overall I am so pleased to have gotten a second installment in this story. I couldn't stop smiling through the whole thing.
I think I actually prefer this to I Feel You Linger In The Air. Both of the author's stories are very similar in themes, tones, moods, outcomes, etc, but imo this show looked and sounded phenomenal. I was a little bummed that IFYLITA wasn't more supernatural, so that itch was scratched for me with this series. I was genuinely creeped out in several scenes and I loved the conflicting feelings of being attracted to Mas but also terrified of him. Was this show confusing af? Yep! But it was so pretty and the ost so lovely and the umbrella premise so intriguing that I kept watching even when I had no clue what was going on. I hope that more of Violet Rain's stories get made into dramas, I love the style!
Prior to airing there had been rumors that this series was contracted for three seasons. In my opinion this story is fairly well wrapped up in these 20 episodes --see @KingC 's great explanation comment below-- but there are obviously also some open ends that could be continued. Does anyone know if those rumors were true or not?
How to describe the source novel? Pat and Kong are university rivals, with Kong being angry/jealous that Pat is wealthy, handsome, has everything easy whereas Kong is poor and has lead a difficult life. They are both in the university moon competition (title comes from this: Moon Dating Moon) and Kong really needs the prize money for his impoverished family and is angry when Pat wins. So Kong tries to one up Pat in every way, even going so far as to date a girl he thinks Pat likes. Kong then breaks up with the girl and blames the breakup on Pat so that Kong can have leverage over Pat. There is a fine line between love and hate though and for Pat —who has harbored a secret crush on Kong— the argument gets too heated and he can’t help but pull Kong into a kiss. The two continue on to have a rivals-who-fuck relationship, add in a tinge of sexual trauma, add in some social class tension, some parental disapproval, some soap opera-esque long lost family, some baby trapping, etc and you get this wild story.
Extern (source novel) is about a med student (Kan) whose girlfriend cheats on him, so he decides to say fuck it and he begins sleeping around too. His one night stand of choice is an engineering student (Per), and one night turns into two turns into many. Kan is jaded and doesn't believe in love anymore, but Per sets out to change them from just fwb into couple. Kan’s mother strongly dislikes their relationship and tries to villainously separate the guys.
Second source novel is Gown and Gear and I think will be the side couple. Mai [Mind] (med student) goes to visit his brother in engineering campus and after getting heckled there lies and says “leave me alone! I am already dating someone! I am dating p’Night!” Night is a popular engineering student who responds “well, if you say you are my lover, then let’s sleep together.” Thus begins a flirtation with some family drama too.
I haven't seen the series yet but was planning to soon. But I just saw a short where it looks like New's character dies and becomes one of the ghosts the team has to deal with? Is that true? If so, does he ... come back to life? Or does his character really die? How far into the series does this happen? --> I know there are a lot of heavy topics in this series but I expected the main characters to survive and kind of be a comfort through the whole show. I don't know if I can watch it if a main dies too. Ya know?
This was such a hidden gem! The first episode was a bit rough (Zee is a jerk) but once Sprite take's Zee's place and begins his crusade to befriend the volleyball team I thought this show was a hoot. The chemistry between all the couples was great (ummmm why did no one warn me about Mike/Jack???) and I enjoyed the friendship dynamics between all the teammates too. There was plenty of gratuitous eye candy in the form of shirtless sportsmen, but it always was played with such a fun and lively atmosphere that it never felt sleazy or cheap (just felt fun!).
Were there some plot issues towards the end? Yeah. But overall this was a really enjoyable series: the identity shenanigans was good, the chemistry was hot, the comedy up my alley, the editing on point. Would recommend!
Can anyone summarize the production timeline for this? I am new to the waiting and can't quite figure out what's going on. Was this announced but then never made? Or was this made and not released? What's up?
Very Cute. Glad they brought back the fantasy element. Although it made me realize that they never discussed the…
I almost wonder if the floating was a subtle nod to their sponsor, Lotus Mattress? All the Lotus Mattress ads feature a person sleeping so comfortably it is like they are floating on air. It is kind of a way to incorporate product placement without actually showcasing the products (I think the only time they directly showed Lotus stuff was the body pillow scene in ep 12).
This show is a pretty little nothing. The “star crossed haters” and "sworn enemies" line in the mdl summary made me expect a more upbeat and fun show: in my head I was expecting Bad Buddy+supernatural dreams, but this is definitely not that. This series is more like a brothers-to-lovers series, slow and quiet and tender, with lovely lighting and pleasant music. Ai and Yu are lovely together, and I especially enjoyed Yu’s chill but responsible older brother vibe. Likewise Ing and Yo are cute. But this show lacks a central driving conflict that would tie everything together and keep the story moving forward. The dreams in and of themselves are not that core conflict, they just happen: it isn’t like there is some mystery we are trying to solve or some big prophecy we are trying to avert that would provide a backbone to build suspense through the whole show. So while this was a pleasant enough show to put on the background while I crocheted, it didn’t hook me (*ha… ) and I probably won’t rewatch.
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Second source novel is Gown and Gear and I think will be the side couple. Mai [Mind] (med student) goes to visit his brother in engineering campus and after getting heckled there lies and says “leave me alone! I am already dating someone! I am dating p’Night!” Night is a popular engineering student who responds “well, if you say you are my lover, then let’s sleep together.” Thus begins a flirtation with some family drama too.
Were there some plot issues towards the end? Yeah. But overall this was a really enjoyable series: the identity shenanigans was good, the chemistry was hot, the comedy up my alley, the editing on point. Would recommend!