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Great Characters, Messy Plot

Obviously, when GMM announced a Taming of the Shrew adaptation about hitmen with Firstkhao, it felt like they designed a show just for me. I had super high expectations going into this, and the actors delivered. I found myself super invested in all four of the main characters and both couples felt well developed and explored. Unfortunately, the plot (especially towards the end) felt like it was missing something to tie it all together.

Kant (First) is blackmailed by a cop to investigate two brothers running a burger joint, since there's reason to believe these brothers are actually hitmen. When Kant learns that the younger brother Bison (Khaotung) is his one night stand from the other night, he sees an easy way in. However, Fadel (Joong), Bison's older brother, cotinues to get in his way of pursuing Bison. Bison, who clearly has feelings for Kant already, convinces him to set Fadel up with someone to get him out of their hair. Kant bribes his best friend Style (Dunk) to help, but it winning over Fadel seems nearly impossible. As the two friends get closer to the pair of brothers, they start falling in love for real. When the pressure of the cops and the fear of the hitmen collide, Kant and Style have to figure out a way to save their love and themselves.

The Heart Killers starts out mostly as a romcom, but with hitmen. It's fun, it's oddly light, and the random bowling alley dance scene didn't even feel all that out of place. As the story ramps up, it's clear they wanted a bit of a darker vibe, but totally missed the mark on it. I feel like if they set the tone in the beginning, it could've worked a lot better. It also felt like the last few episodes were rushing to get in all the plot, and left aspects of the story feeling unfinished and unsatisfying. I think it's been super fun to watch GMM try out more genres, but it seemed like their ratios of sexy scenes to plot-relevant scenes was a bit too high. That being said, it was still a super fun watch and a great performance from all the actors involved.

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SO different from the description

This show being described as some high schoolers getting into illegal business does not describe what's actually going on here. It's not about some little petty crimes these high schoolers commit - in fact, I'd argue it's not about the crime at all. This show is about the downfall of Oh Jisoo, our main character.

Oh Jisoo is a high school student that fully supports himself. He's got no family or friends to lean on, and no drive to seek help. He takes care of himself; however, he needs money to do that. Jisoo runs a protection service for sex workers, but remains anonymous to his clients. He sends in help when it's needed, takes a cut of the pay, and never has to meet his clients face to face. However, when Gyuri, a girl from school, starts learning of Jisoo's activities, she wants in. You watch Jisoo, who was doing just fine on his own, slowly crumble as everything he has built falls apart with no way for him to right his wrongs.

I was super excited about this show, especially because of the high ratings, but was fairly disappointed. The first 8 episodes felt like minor conflicts were being drawn out for no reason, and honestly I wasn't really rooting for a single character in this. However, I will say that the ending was perfect and the last episode kept me very entertained. For a shorter series, it was a fairly enjoyable watch, but I found myself not paying attention to large portions of it because it felt like a lot of conflicts didn't matter. I do think if you go into it knowing that the true story here is not about the sex work or the crimes, but about watching our main character fall apart over the course of the show, it would be a much more engaging watch. Every issue he faces builds on top of the last, and with no ability to resolve his problems, Oh Jisoo slowly loses his mind.

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More romance than fantasy

I expected this to be a fantasy romance similar to Tale of the Nine Tailed (also starring Jo Boah), but was a bit disappointed in the lack of fantasy elements! The plot revolves around Hongjo (Boah) who is given a spellbook from Shinyu (Rowoon) and decides to use the love spell to make her work crush fall in love with her. Naturally, things go wrong. Meanwhile, Shinyu desperately needs her to cast a spell to cure his disease that is seemingly incurable, and worsening. After the first few episodes though, these fantasy elements seem to be totally lost! While past lives and family history get brought up, I thought there would be a lot more going on with the spells/generational curse/etc. than there was.

Watch for the romance and it's a fantastic show. Rowoon and Boah have great chemistry as the main couple and are super fun to watch. But if you wanted to watch this for the fantasy elements, they're not there in much capacity when compared with other fantasy romances.

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AMAZING

This review might be a bit lengthy because I have a lot to say about this show so here we go.

I was super excited for Moonlight Chicken, mostly because of First but also because everything I've seen by Aof has been amazing. The hype around this one was just crazy, especially for an 8 episode series, so I was a little worried that it wouldn't live up to my expectations. It surpassed them.

It tells the story of Jim (Earth), who runs a chicken rice shop with his nephew Li Ming (Fourth). One night after close, Jim sees Wen (Mix) still at the diner, passed out from a night of drinking. The two hook up and as much as Jim wants for it to not be complicated and to stay as a simple one night stand, of course it gets complicated. While Jim and Wen work things out, there's still Gaipa (Khaotung) who has been in love with Jim for some time now, and Alan (First) who Wen broke up with after a five-year long relationship. In short, things are messy, complicated, and wonderful to watch.

In terms of the unmessy events, we've got Jim's nephew Li Ming (Fourth) and Heart (Gemini) who end up becoming friends when Li Ming has to work for Heart's parents to pay off a debt. Heart became deaf three years ago, and while his parents still refuse to learn sign, Li Ming is quick to learn it to communicate with him better. The clearly intentional lack of subtitles on the signing was a brilliant move; the viewer is put in the shoes of the parents (and other characters) who do not know sign and must rely on Li Ming's translations (when he gives them) or use context to figure it out. Coming to the realization that I didn't know what Heart was saying, and watching the same realization cross his mother's face when they get into an argument, was a wonderful touch on this already amazing series.

The storyline between Jim and Wen begins as plenty of BLs do: with a hookup. While I'm not typically a fan of this trope, I've never seen it done as well as it was here. Jim telling Wen he only wants a one night stand that is uncomplicated leads him into an entire mess that he seems to just want out of.

I might be biased because he's played by First, but I thought that the introduction of Alan added an entire layer to the story that was missing from the first few episodes. Seeing a five-year long relationship that crumbled and ended with a simple "I don't love you anymore" was devastating, especially because only Wen felt that way. Alan, trying desperately to hold onto the relationship, couldn't stop Wen from seeing other people. Wen, who still hadn't moved out of their shared apartment months after the break up, got mad at Alan for still treating him like his boyfriend--even though it seemed that Wen was still hesitant to let go too.

This show was an extremely emotional one, and it was done extremely well. There are four separate but important dynamics between characters. There's young love (HeartLiMing), stale love (AlanWen), unrequited love (JimGaipa), and new love (JimWen), all of which allow the viewer to sympathize with different characters at different points in the show. The way this show is shot was beautiful, and the intertwining of the characters' lives wasn't rushed at all even though it was a shorter series. In fact, this being a shorter series cut out any unnecessary scenes or conflicts, which meant every scene was important.

The parallels between characters help to enhance their interactions and showcase the different sides of them. Wen yells at Alan for not taking his break up words seriously--then Jim says the same thing to Wen. Alan yells at Jim for taking his pen because it doesn't belong to him--and then laughs and tells Gaipa it's fine that he took it. These little hints at past actions help to round out the story and keep the viewer looking for easter eggs in every scene. Beautifully done, wonderfully written, and worth a watch (and rewatch).

My only complaint: I want more AlanGaipa screen time. And honestly more content from this show in general.

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Little Substance

When I saw the trailer for Break-Up Service, I was hoping for something similar to Peaceful Property, where the show starts off silly and episodic and slowly turns into a more cohesive story. However, I felt that Break-Up Service never fulfilled what I wanted for an overarching storyline, and instead felt predictable and lacking substance. The romance took so long to develop, even though I feel like it could've been an interesting office romance plot if they had started it earlier. The romantic conflicts were pretty pointless, and while I enjoyed the main couple, their storyline didn't even feel all that important until the end. I just wish the storyline was less predictable and that the show was a little less episodic, especially since some episodes I found myself totally not invested in the couple they were trying to break up.

While this was a light and fun watch, it didn't feel like anything special. I really like Off, which is why I watched it in the first place, but just felt that this show missed the mark.

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Already Iconic

I can't believe how quickly this show became a hit - and it is incredibly deserved. I'm typically not the biggest fan of comedies, but this one had me laughing out loud every episode. My usual problem is that the jokes don't translate well or cultural differences in comedy are too large, but in this case, they managed to make this a show that everyone will find funny. Pond and Phuwin do an INCREDIBLE job portraying these characters, and I think they'll go down as their most recognizable and famous characters for years to come.

Mr. Thee (Pond), the CEO of perfume company Arseni and first son of a major mafia boss, wants to sleep with Arseni's top model, Aran (Santa). Luckily, before the bodyguard kidnap the poor model, the freelance photographer currently working on Arseni's new project Peach (Phuwin) steps in. Peach convinces Thee that threatening someone is not the way to their heart, and Thee convinces Peach to help him learn how to date by going on dates with him. Quickly, Thee forgets all about Aran and falls head over heels for Peach. Peach, oblivious to this, is baffled by every single move Thee makes.

The combo of "mafia boss obsessed with old timey soap operas" and the play on mafia CEO x y/n made this show HILARIOUS. Truly, even if you don't like comedies, it is worth watching because it is that good. There were a few major downsides to this show though: (1) There were two side couples, neither of which got much of a storyline. It felt like two half-baked plotlines instead of giving just one side couple a decent plot; and (2) the climax/main issues seemed to go away WAY too easily - a rival mafia boss and Thee's dad's rule about not falling in love barely seemed to actually matter. Still, this show was super fun and the most interesting characters Pond and Phuwin have played yet. Definitely give it a watch - just don't watch it for PerthSanta or WilliamEst, because this show is pretty much only about PondPhuwin.

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More royal politics than romance

As someone that had been waiting for The Next Prince for nearly 3 years, I was super excited to watch it when it started airing. I thought that the sets and costuming were fantastic, and I loved the overall plot. I do think many people went into this thinking it would be a lot more romance-focused than it was, but I thought it was a great balance. While the romantic conflict was fairly predictable and repetitive, I thought that the way the romance was incorporated into the larger plot was lovely. Plus, the side characters were super fun to watch too!

Khanin (Nunew) is a fencer living in London with his father, when suddenly everything he knows is turned upside down with the arrival of Charan (Zee). Khanin learns of his royal heritage, and is told he must return to the kingdom of Emmaly to compete for the crown. With Charan as his bodyguard, Khanin makes the journey to Emmaly (with assassins pursuing him) in order to train for the royal competition. As Charan helps him train, feelings begin to develop between them, and even though a relationship between a royal and his bodyguard is seemingly impossible, Khanin is determined to make it work.

This show is definitely more focused on the royal competition, family/political issues, and Khanin's journey into royalty than it is about the relationship between Charan and Khanin. Personally, I was totally fine with this. I understand the expectations people had going in to a ZeeNunew show, but I thought that the balance was great. I especially loved that this meant there were fewer relationship issues between them, allowing us to have more happy moments with them as a couple and explore the relationships of the other characters a bit more. I was left waiting for the lesbians to get any screen time (they didn't really), but I loved Ramil and Paytai's (JimmyOhm) storyline. The third couple did feel a bit thrown in unnecessarily, but they were still entertaining. I think a lot of the hate for this show is due to slow pacing and lack of romantic conflict, but I thought it was still quite enjoyable, especially if you're aware of what this show is truly about. Watch this one for the political tension between royal families and the competition for the crown.

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Love or Obsession?

The Trunk was a lot more than I expected it to be, and I mean that in a good way. Contract marriage plotlines aren't typically something I go for, but this one seemed interesting enough to get me to watch it, and the shorter length of it made it especially easy to watch. I didn't expect to get so hooked on it!

Han Jeongwon (Gong Yoo) is currently going through a divorce that he doesn't want, and he's so desperate to keep his wife that he will do whatever she wishes to convince her; however, she insists on signing him up for a one year-long contract marriage with a woman of her choosing, and tells him that if he makes in through, she'll take him back. Jeongwon agrees, believing it the only way to win back his now ex-wife. The contract marriage should be straightforward, but it's anything but. Between the anxious drug addict main character, a contract wife with too many secrets, a controlling and manipulative ex-wife, and the ex-wife's new boytoy, there's bound to be conflicts. Things escalate further when the characters are towing the line between falling in love and convincing themselves obsession is the same thing as love.

This show did a great job at portraying the relationships. What I thought was super interesting was the dual timelines: one starting at the beginning of the contract marriage, and one about 5 months into the contract where the police are investigating the found trunk in the lake. The back and forth allowed for some excellent foreshadowing and parallels, though it did feel like they could have tied it all together a bit better. I thought that the contract wife's storyline was super interesting, but I just wish it had been a little more worked into the show. I actually quite liked the ending of the show, though it wasn't what I had expected for this one. I would say that it's best if you watch not just for the romance, but more for the rich people drama. Overall I'd say it's worth the watch considering how much they manage to do with only 8 episodes.

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Enemies to Lovers DONE RIGHT

This show was incredible. A true enemies to lovers, complete with a beautiful slowburn and tension all the way through. Yin and War did an INCREDIBLE job as the leads, and knowing that this was made by the company they started themselves only makes it better. I almost started rewatching this show before it even finished it was so good. Even with the longer episodes, it was able to hold my attention for every single minute, and had me excited to watch every week.

After a brief encounter, it seems that Jack (Yin) and Joke (War) hit it off. When Jack goes to the bank for a much needed loan to pay off some debt collectors, he's surprised to see that Joke is the branch manager. What he doesn't know is that Joke is lying - and actively trying to expose the bank for its corruption. Joke gives him money he stole out of the safe, but the cops are quick to catch on. Joke, feeling bad, confesses to being Joker, an infamous thief that exposes corrupt businesses, and goes to prison. However, this leaves Jack with no way to pay off the debt collectors. Flash forward 5 years and Jack has been forced to become a debt collector himself, and has sworn to get revenge on Joke if he ever sees him again. Joke spent his last 5 years in prison coming up with every way he could make Jack forgive him. Upon his release, Joke immediately searches for Jack to apologize, only to be confronted not with the sweet young Jack he once knew, but a Jack dubbed the "Grim Reaper" by the locals. Regardless, Joke attempts to get close with Jack and help him out of the debt collector hell he's been forced into, while Jack swears that if he tries to get close to him again, he'll kill him.

Jack and Joke were absolutely wonderful to watch. I love a good slowburn and this one delivered in every aspect. Starting off with a full episode on the backstory of them was brilliant, and watching them go from beating each other up to slowly realizing they shouldn't be enemies, to a clear romantic tension between them was FANTASTIC. The action scenes were some of the best I've seen in a Thai show, and you could tell how hard they worked to make the fights good. That, combined with the tension of the heists Joker pulls off makes for one of the most entertaining watches ever. It'll have you on the edge of your seat the whole time and hit you with unexpected twists at the best times. The relationship development is perfect too, with issues that aren't too drawn out and a beautiful ending for the characters. ABSOLUTELY worth watching!!!

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Stunning, Emotional, and Nearly Perfect

As is typical with shows directed by Aof, this is a masterpiece. The visuals are beautiful, the acting wonderful, and the storyline nearly perfect. I watched this as it aired and I looked forward to it every single week.

Day (Sea) has recently gone blind and is suffering mentally because of this. He has fallen into a depressive episode, refusing to leave his room or even open his blinds. His mom has had to hire caretaker after caretaker because no one can seem to put up with Day and his attitude - until Mhok (Jimmy). Mhok is trying to get any job he can to earn money, which isn't too easy when you have a criminal record. Day knows his mom will hate Mhok, which is precisely why he chose him, hoping that this will stop his mom from hiring someone else. Unexpectedly, Mhok seems more committed to this job than anyone ever has, and it seems that the key to winning Day over was simply to treat him like a normal person. Slowly, feelings start to develop between the two as Mhok shows Day that life can be just as wonderful even though he's gone blind.


*Spoilers Start Here*

Up until the finale, this show was actually perfect. Not a plot point was out of place, the pacing was wonderful, and the development of the characters and their relationship was absolutely beautiful. Watching Mhok and Day learn about themselves through each other and fight to be together was absolutely wonderful. However, the only reason I couldn't give this a 10/10 was the finale. I was concerned the first time Day received the cornea transplant, and was surprisingly relieved when it didn't work. I kept thinking - this entire show is about overcoming the challenges of being blind and Day learning to accept himself and his new reality, so why would they make it so he could see again? So in the finale when Day gets a SECOND cornea transplant that works, I was a little disappointed. It felt a bit like saying "your life will get better because your disability can be healed!" which is not typically how that works. I understand the narrative they made of "giving things a second chance" and how the second cornea transplant worked into that, but it still felt a bit off to suddenly throw in Day regaining his sight in a show that otherwise focused on how he could make the most of his life and be happy and in love despite his disability. So, I can only say this show was nearly perfect. It is still a beautiful show that is 100% worth watching, though it is an emotional one. Luckily, these emotional aspects aren't the typical relationship troubles, but rather Mhok and Day as a couple working through the hardships that come their way.

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Messy!!! (in the best way)

Imagine the messiest person you know - someone that always has drama, makes too big of a deal about things, etc. Now imagine six people like that who are all (loosely) in the same friend group. That's the plot of Only Friends.

The show was NEVER boring. I was screaming at the TV and pausing to take deep breaths every single episode. You've got Mew (Book), Ray (Khaotung), and Boston (Neo) who are all pretty close friends (plus their lesbian friend Cheum (Lookjun)). In an attempt to help Mew get laid, Boston sets him up with his friend Top (Force). Mew and Top hit it off, but instead of a one night stand, start going on dates. Things start getting messy when Boston and Ray seem to be jealous of this relationship for different reasons; things get messier when bar singer Sand (First) meets Ray, and Boston starts seeing Nick (Mark). These six "friends" seem to be anything but - and they are much too willing to hurt each other in order to get what they want.

This show was super fun. It was the boldest show I've seen from GMM, and it was done well. With this many characters, it's hard to keep them all interesting and dynamic, but they did an excellent job with it. It was juicy all the way through without a moment to rest. And while I sometimes do wish there were more happy moments throughout, or more instances of positive character growth, it was extremely entertaining to watch and had me yelling at each character for different reasons. Definitely worth a watch.

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Only good if you're a big fan of EarthMix

Out of all of EarthMix's projects, this one is by far the worst. While the two have great chemistry, who thought that this plot was a good idea?

Win (Mix) is in a car accident with his sister, Lin, and when he wakes up he's in his sister's body. He then embarks on a journey with his former friend Korn (Earth) in order to retrieve holy water to return to his body. Along this journey, past issues between Win and Korn resurface and as the two learn to get along again, feelings between them emerge - but does Korn have feelings for Win, or does he only care about the body his soul is transported in?

The entire conflict of this show being "is he into me or is he into me because I'm in my sister's body" is crazy. What even. Regardless, watching the relationship between Win and Korn change was very enjoyable, and the fairly slow burn friends-to-lovers was fun to watch. But thank god it was only 10 episodes because I don't think I could have watched much more.

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I thought this was supposed to be good???

I watched this because I kept getting tiktoks about it since the second season dropped and I was thoroughly disappointed. The main characters are so annoying and unlikable that whatever plot they were going for just didn't work. Hira constantly gets bullied by his classmates but when it's Kiyoi he likes it? Then throw in a weird time skip, a much better potential boyfriend for Hira, and a whole lot of unnecessary conflict/miscommunication and that's about all that happens! Did they like each other the whole time? I guess so! Too bad they never actually told each other this or else the show would have been over in the first episode.

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