This review may contain spoilers
MAME strikes back – with more of the same crap
Leave it to MAME and Me Mind Y to come up with an unnecessarily convoluted, yet completely predictable plot for a BL, add more story elements than your planned number of episodes can hold and then cut all excess content. Leave it to Me Mind Y to give that mess of a show to a cast which has problems with delivering their lines properly – and watch it all fall apart. That’s “The Boy Next World” in short. The “uncut” version, I presume, differs from the “cut” one in one aspect: it includes NC scenes of the main leads having sex – which does not improve the show in any way.
Premise, story, writing
The show’s basic premise is interesting – even if it’s not brand new; something similar (multiverse-related or multiverse-based) was already attempted by other companies (see GMMTV’s “Vice Versa” from 2022). The twist – that the “boy next world” is not from a parallel world/universe – was also quite interesting, at least until we were told why he lied. This is where MAME’s trademark “character writing” kicks in: Cir, our main character is a liar, coward and stalker – and we’re meant to sympathize with him. He’s not obsessed, he’s in love – says the show and Phu, the other main character, the one being stalked and pursued. This is “Love in the Air” all over again, but this time the stalker is a pitiful, weak creature. Maybe I’m too old for this and out of touch with reality, but is Cir supposed to be relatable? I keep hearing that more and more people have problems forming relationships or even starting a conversation with someone they find attractive or interesting – maybe “The Boy Next World” is MAME’s commentary on this? Whatever it was supposed to be, I found the “I like you but I’m too scared to ask you out, so I’ll keep stalking you for 5 years and then come up with a stupid lie as a pick-up line” plotline (which managed to have a kind of a break-up and a very rushed conclusion, both in ep. 10) tiring pretty early on and was waiting for the happy end.
But wait – there’s more! The show has a secondary couple (Jin and Wim) plotline as well as Cir’s family plotline. As far as I can tell, Jin and Wim didn’t have to become a couple, those characters could have stayed in the show just as the closest friends of Cir and Phu – replacing most or all of the other characters populating the show as students and friends of the main couple (most of them don’t do anything important storywise). Due to time constraints and poor writing Jin’s and Wim’s storyline is underdeveloped and shallow. Cir’s family plotline is an even bigger mess – shows up out of nowhere, makes no sense and ends abruptly with little to no explanation. This whole subplot should have been scrapped (this is a BL and it doesn’t need a villain, it already created its own problems and obstacles for the main couple to be together) or given much more screen time and development.
Performances
Boss is far less charismatic than in “Love in the Air”, which does not help Cir – despite the show’s premise there’s little actual mystery surrounding him and he comes across as a crybaby and a weakling sneaking in the shadows. Not sure that’s what Cir was supposed to be nor whether this is solely due to poor script or Boss being unable to elevate the character.
Noeul (again) portrays a naïve youngster who falls for an attractive senior. What changed from LITA, is that his character is almost entirely deprived of agency, passive in almost every situation – hence Noeul’s performance is unimpressive at best.
The only scene with both main leads I really enjoyed was their post-coital talk in bed in ep. 10, with Cir coming clean about his 5 years of stalking – a talk Cir and Phu should have had in ep. 5 or even before that. There’s some badly needed honesty in that scene and Boss and Noeul portray Cir and Phu as actual human beings: one is a little ashamed of himself while the other gets surprised by each answer he gets; both seem to be in disbelief regarding the weird situation they found themselves in, but – at the same time – both are pretty sure that everything will be okay from now on. Make more scenes like that, Me Mind Y, make an entire episode with BossNoeul just talking with each other candidly, but still in a friendly manner – I’d watch that show and I guarantee I’d rate it much higher than “The Boy Next World”.
There isn’t much good I can say about the other cast members, but one thing is worth mentioning: I liked Donut’s quiet “I like you” in ep. 10, spoken the opposite direction to the person he was talking about. That was his best delivery so far in any show: the hesitation and nervousness, barely contained emotion, quiet happiness – everything was there. I’ll go further and say that in both scenes with Forth in ep. 10 Donut’s performance was solid – something that contrasted with him in other scenes throughout the series.
All in all I do not recommend “The Boy Next World”. Unless you’re a Me Mind Y completionist, use those 10 hours to watch something else.
Premise, story, writing
The show’s basic premise is interesting – even if it’s not brand new; something similar (multiverse-related or multiverse-based) was already attempted by other companies (see GMMTV’s “Vice Versa” from 2022). The twist – that the “boy next world” is not from a parallel world/universe – was also quite interesting, at least until we were told why he lied. This is where MAME’s trademark “character writing” kicks in: Cir, our main character is a liar, coward and stalker – and we’re meant to sympathize with him. He’s not obsessed, he’s in love – says the show and Phu, the other main character, the one being stalked and pursued. This is “Love in the Air” all over again, but this time the stalker is a pitiful, weak creature. Maybe I’m too old for this and out of touch with reality, but is Cir supposed to be relatable? I keep hearing that more and more people have problems forming relationships or even starting a conversation with someone they find attractive or interesting – maybe “The Boy Next World” is MAME’s commentary on this? Whatever it was supposed to be, I found the “I like you but I’m too scared to ask you out, so I’ll keep stalking you for 5 years and then come up with a stupid lie as a pick-up line” plotline (which managed to have a kind of a break-up and a very rushed conclusion, both in ep. 10) tiring pretty early on and was waiting for the happy end.
But wait – there’s more! The show has a secondary couple (Jin and Wim) plotline as well as Cir’s family plotline. As far as I can tell, Jin and Wim didn’t have to become a couple, those characters could have stayed in the show just as the closest friends of Cir and Phu – replacing most or all of the other characters populating the show as students and friends of the main couple (most of them don’t do anything important storywise). Due to time constraints and poor writing Jin’s and Wim’s storyline is underdeveloped and shallow. Cir’s family plotline is an even bigger mess – shows up out of nowhere, makes no sense and ends abruptly with little to no explanation. This whole subplot should have been scrapped (this is a BL and it doesn’t need a villain, it already created its own problems and obstacles for the main couple to be together) or given much more screen time and development.
Performances
Boss is far less charismatic than in “Love in the Air”, which does not help Cir – despite the show’s premise there’s little actual mystery surrounding him and he comes across as a crybaby and a weakling sneaking in the shadows. Not sure that’s what Cir was supposed to be nor whether this is solely due to poor script or Boss being unable to elevate the character.
Noeul (again) portrays a naïve youngster who falls for an attractive senior. What changed from LITA, is that his character is almost entirely deprived of agency, passive in almost every situation – hence Noeul’s performance is unimpressive at best.
The only scene with both main leads I really enjoyed was their post-coital talk in bed in ep. 10, with Cir coming clean about his 5 years of stalking – a talk Cir and Phu should have had in ep. 5 or even before that. There’s some badly needed honesty in that scene and Boss and Noeul portray Cir and Phu as actual human beings: one is a little ashamed of himself while the other gets surprised by each answer he gets; both seem to be in disbelief regarding the weird situation they found themselves in, but – at the same time – both are pretty sure that everything will be okay from now on. Make more scenes like that, Me Mind Y, make an entire episode with BossNoeul just talking with each other candidly, but still in a friendly manner – I’d watch that show and I guarantee I’d rate it much higher than “The Boy Next World”.
There isn’t much good I can say about the other cast members, but one thing is worth mentioning: I liked Donut’s quiet “I like you” in ep. 10, spoken the opposite direction to the person he was talking about. That was his best delivery so far in any show: the hesitation and nervousness, barely contained emotion, quiet happiness – everything was there. I’ll go further and say that in both scenes with Forth in ep. 10 Donut’s performance was solid – something that contrasted with him in other scenes throughout the series.
All in all I do not recommend “The Boy Next World”. Unless you’re a Me Mind Y completionist, use those 10 hours to watch something else.
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