Knavery

Doubt it will pay off. The first episode was a drag. I don't need a full hour and 16 minutes to set up that the leads are unhappy with their lives. Filler in the first episode is a bad first impression.

Second thing is the characters make no sense and aren't consistent after the first episode. Given how consistent the episode was at setting an atmosphere... you would have hoped the characters wouldn't perform 180s by episode 1.

A considerable amount of the soundtrack sounds like it's straight out of the Soviet Union and I can imagine this drama being just as compelling (that is to say - not at all).

The preview for next episode seals the deal that this is a dropped show for me. It's going to be the same slap kiss makjang stuff but with camera effects, soundtracks and underacting by the leads so that there's this mopey-depressed feel. There is nothing groundbreaking in terms of substance here. It's like slapping lipstick on a pig.

Yeah it was more for myself because I tend to be critical of most Japanese live action dramas as being surreal. Even the more serious stuff something usually feels 'off' and it can be hard to complete.

You named one of the few I really enjoyed - Nobunaga Concerto. I think it did a good job of managing moments and telling a complete story despite lack of romance. But by in large I think Japanese dramas are nowhere near as compelling as Korean dramas and the numbers show it.

I don't think shows need a romance but a romance helps mask poor storytelling, over-acting and many other problems. There's a reason most shows from any region of the world contains romance.

Hell the domestic Japanese numbers show it as well. Netflix Japan it's anime and Korean dramas that are the most popular. If it's not compelling to a Japanese audience... I'm not sure making Japanese dramas more widely available would make them much more popular if they're struggling to maintain domestic audiences.

This isn't a criticism or competition. I really like The IT Crowd. It has that same surreal feel as a lot of Japanese TV. And people have strong feelings about that show. It has a small but vocal fanbase. But if I polled people where I lived I bet you almost no one would have heard of it, and of the people who gave it a chance.... most would have dropped it.

I don't really get the appeal of the male lead. Seems like he's better suited as a model. Strong case of RBF.

I just couldn't get into it, oh well. Give it a chance and see if it's for you.

The production values are high except for the awful beards and mustaches but for whatever reason I can't get into it. I'll put it on hold and come back later to see if my opinion has changed.

I haven't watched that one yet but the one I'm referring to aired in 2021. It might have been Maid Escort but I can't be sure about that.

Still, we're now up to at least 3.

It's just weird because the situations are so similar. "Drink this poison for me and I'll save your love interest". What happened to doctors just trying to help?

Is this the new trope? The genius doctor with a cure for everything will only help the female lead (or a high profile female character) cure her love interest if she drinks a deadly poison?

I feel like I just watched this subplot on another recent period drama out of China.

I don't even understand what is going on? How does it work?

The story/plot is far from great but the chemistry between Ginny and Tet is so strong that the story didn't have to be a masterpiece. It just had to set up moments/fun between Ginny and Tet. And it managed that.

I think the actress playing Ginny (Namtarn?) always does a great job but she pairs particularly well with the the guy named Alek. It's really something watching them interact in the episodes following the body switch.

The actress playing the female lead did a good job. This was her first major starring role I think and she's definitely shown enough to me that I hope she is signed again for more leading roles.

This one is particularly bad.

The actor playing the male lead just seems a little stiff and lifeless. I guess that's the character.

I like the female lead. I like the second female lead too.

Given the premise not really being my thing, I surprisingly enjoyed it. The leads are pretty good together, the show kind of moves along without many boring moments that I wanted to skip.

Personally Mingming was my favorite character.

The entire plot and premise is razor thin and defies belief.

I sort of like the leads, they're okay. The bandit and the princess couple are boring. Overall it's a fluff show.

The male lead is a bad character and the guy playing him isn't a convincing actor either. It just sucked.

I don't know. While it might be one sided I definitely think he has more than a passing interest in the female lead. Remember the female lead is a white cat. I'm pretty sure in one of the episodes (8-12) there was a flashback memory from Lin Mo where he saves a white cat at a personal cost to himself. Coincidence? Maybe. Or maybe he saved the female lead?

This is hard for me though. I'm not a cat person. I just recall the female lead was a white cat. Lin Mo's flashback was also a white cat.

I think in some ways Tet and Ginny aren't opposites though. Like in how they view love. It's the #1 priority for both of them. Ginny won't try to 'steal' Tet away because she does not want to destroy the love she believes is between Tet and Kul. This is a girl who has no problem doing almost anything but stealing someone else's love is something she won't do.

Compare that to Kul in the first episode when asked "is love not enough?" by Tet, Kul replied with "no, it's not".

There's nothing wrong with Kul's answer but it's pretty clear that Tet would have answered "yes it is" if he was asked. I think Ginny would have had the same answer as Tet.

Wat is clearly the most dislikeable character so he's a more extreme version of Kul. He walked away from Ginny, the most loyal person ever in his life. He does nothing to help her or come back for her. For him, love, loyalty... none of that is enough. Now he is selfish and ugly in a way that Kul is not so I don't respect the views of that character like I do with Kul. But I think the show will set it up as "Wat changes for Kul because she's the right type of woman for him". We'll see. They didn't set up the sob-story background for Wat and showcase it for nothing. Thai dramas are all about forgiveness (for better and for worse).

I think it's getting a little over the top and muddied. Episode 10 felt like a filler episode.

The plane stunt was over the top like Fonzie jumping the shark which is where that great expression comes from. It wasn't quite that bad but it felt like writers trying to ham things up when they had a good character drama without the need for flying planes or other stuff.

The second issue I had is I thought Wat (in Tet's body) had figured out they were linked. He seemed very calm for someone who is tied up and just learned his body has been taking by gunmen who have been trying to kill him since the beginning of the show. For someone as selfish as Wat I would have thought instinct #1 would be convince them not to kill his body because of the probability killing his body kills him.

There were other moments as well. Definitely still enjoying it but episode 10 felt over the top.

I think he's already realizing it from what I've seen. I agree with you. We've already seen indications over the show that he's basically trying to do the honorable thing but he definitely has more than friend feelings for Ginny.

For him the relationship with Kul hasn't progressed since he was rejected in the original episode. I think the next few episodes will be like you said - he spends time with Kul and then misses Ginny and realizes maybe he's not compatible with Kul. He'll start losing some of that love he might have had at the very beginning of episode 1 when he was proposing(?)

I also think finding out his dad is a major drug kingpin might cause him to spiral out of control for the first time in his life. And Ginny will be the one to bring him out of it.

Nice. This isn't directed at you in particular but I see people referencing WeTV - any idea what country? I used a link below on a Thai server and it seemed to work. I tried an American server, that failed.