andoR

(No spoilers, but didn't want to blow up the comment with my answer)
I absolutely agree with you, I just think it especially makes every male Thai "in love" with a woman look like that if it gets overused as a plot device in every GL drama. It's a bit like the "damsel in distress" in JDrama, it makes it look like the majority of female Japanese in their teens and 20s are just naive and dumb, which, at the end of the day, is just a bad representation by bad screenwriters/authors without original ideas.

In 23.5 Ton gets roped into Luna and Alpha's plan to make Sun jealous. To "force" her to clarify the relationship with Ongsa. But your other point's absolutely valid, kind of forgot about her. He even said at some point that he doesn't accept a "no", which makes it even worse because he's aware what an idiot he is. And the fact that it's meant comedic doesn't really make it that much better if you ask me.

The homophobic comment wasn't really related to Affair. It's just the other overused plot device besides the men, so if a drama can actually get rid of both of those I think the chances are high we'll get something original with a good script. Besides, I don't even know how realistic it is anymore. Thailand's about to legalize same-sex marriage and from what I read and heard the overwhelming majority of the population has a positive mindset about it. Sure, it's always different if it's the own family, but they don't need to use it every damn time as if everyone over the age of 40 hates the LGBTQ community.

Probably the best GL I've seen so far until Ep6 (if you fast forward the scenes with Ek... I mean this guy... yeah, no, really). Really good acting, especially by Lookmhee, and production overall. Their chemistry was off the charts aswell, even more so if you watch the behind the scenes at the end of all episodes and see how much fun they had (together).

Maybe minor spoiler upcoming (I really don't know if it counts as one):
Unfortunately I had to check three times if I was really watching episode 8 because the last two eps were a jumbled and rushed mess that kept piling problems onto the main couple while completely losing focus of their feelings/issues and glorifying a crazy stalker's forgiveness, because, well, he broke into an apartment and threatened to kill two people and then almost unlived himself, but he's not suing them! I don't know what it is with Thai GLs, but they make it seem like men in Thailand can't accept "no" and think they can just own a woman because they "love them" one-sidedly. I think 23.5 is the only GL (finished by Oct 2024) without that plot device and that's probably because it's a high school romcom. If that's the only way to portray men, then just simply don't include any in those dramas. The first adult Thai GL without such a character and without a homophobic witch (grand)mom will get a 9 rating from me, regardless of if the story or the acting sucked.

I agree with your statement about content. But to be fair, Thailand is the only Asian country that consistenly produces GL dramas, so of course people eat it up. Especially because they release it on Youtube with English subs. The only other Asian country so far with GL content for TV is Japan and they have 4 25 min per ep dramas ever (if you don't count multiple seasons) for which you need to pay for 5 different streaming services, if it's even released anywhere. And if you compare them when it comes to romantic content, then Thailand is about 729 steps ahead in storytelling and visuals. If you think Ling&Orm only press their lips together you should watch a Japanese GL (or romance in general) and you'll laugh your butt off with how fish-y their attempts at romance look, and that's coming from someone who almost exclusively watches JDrama 😂. But I agree that GMMTV will probably deliver better content over time if they get their storytelling and pacing together and learn from the hiccups they had in 23.5.

Maybe "denounce" isn't the right word (not a native speaker). But Chet asked Nueng if she would tell Anueng that "lesbians are bad" or something similar to that. For me that's either (1) the writer(s) overlooked the point that Nueng had a sister in a same-sex relationship, (2) Chet didn't know Sam is in a same-sex relationship, (3) he thought that Nueng isn't comfortable with Sam in such a relationship or (4) he thought that Nueng would just say it, which, for me, would be kind of if he'd wanted her to say she's against Sam being with Mon. I ruled out points 2 and 3 because it seemed Chet knew the family and that the sisters are rather close.
When I googled a translation of the word I was looking for "denounce: publicly declare something/someone is wrong" came up, so I used it. Sorry if it gave you a wrong idea.

Thanks for the comment. But I think you misunderstood with your first part. I knew the reasons why they were against it, but I was just wondering if it was an oversight by the writer(s) or if Chet deliberately asked Nueng to "denounce" her sister on several occasions, which would make him even worse in my eyes. From what I could tell basically everyone knew about Sam, even people who didn't know the family personally, but with his extremely dense character I really wasn't sure.

Thanks for your second part, that whole scenario makes a lot more sense to me now. It doesn't really change my opinion if she was already 20 and in university, but it definitely makes it more understandable.

I liked this one quite a lot more than GAP or Season 1, even though I really didn't get the logic why an adult would let themself be forced to completely change their life and themselves to a point they fall into depression or at least have a nervous breakdown just because the parents say so.
Also, I got the feeling that the screenwriter(s) or even the original writer (sorry, haven't read the novel) forgot Sam existed everytime the "parents" spoke to Nueng about Anueng in both seasons. I thought they were quite close or at least knew Nueng's family quite well, so why would they ask Nueng to say that "being a lesbian is wrong"? Did they think Nueng is against Sam's choice of life or that she would just denounce Sam to Anueng because they asked her to say it? Regardless, an enjoyable watch and I loved Anuengs character in this season, especially her mischievous side.

Well, it's Japan, and only the Japanese market counts for them, which is why a lot of them look seriously cheap (no budget) and are really badly directed and written. They'd probably make a laughing stock out of themselves if they'd show some of their dramas to the world like this (I say that while JDrama is basically the only thing I watch these days). It was the same with music, which they just started promoting in the west (thanks to COVID in large parts) because there's a lot more quality now. So I think it'll take another ~5 years before dramas are on a level to be seriously considered promoting more outside of Japan.

Well, that's what I'm saying for years now (as you can see in the comments under a lot of such dramas). It's not just in Shoujo, it's in basically every genre. I also don't see how this is generalizing. Even if only 4 out of 10 dramas have these FLs it would be a problem if you ask me. Especially the "I'm a career woman and work three times as hard as men to get half the recognition, but as soon as I see a dude I think is charming I want to quit, get married and be a housewive even though I earn twice the money" characters are the biggest pain in the ass.

Chaser Game W 2nd season is, to my knowledge, the only one and airing rn (one ep in). Ayaka-chan to Hiroko-senpai is only the 4th Japanese GL drama ever if I didn't miscount, so there's not much to watch in that regard.

Secret of Us is so far my favorite Thai GL (even though I've only seen 4, I think). The mother is a bit toxic, but the main plot and problem is about them. Only problem I had with it was the fact that they all seem to be US-Dollar millionairs and always look like they're going to an expensive dinner party even when the're at home or at work. They're also shooting a new drama together rn called Only You. 23.5 is great and it would be my favorite if they had made Love's character a real main character instead of the main support so we could understand her reasoning a bit better, which is why I think the last episodes turned out the way they did. But Milk & Love are my favorite Thai pairing so far, hope they get a more adult setting in their next drama, like in Bad Buddy (which I only watched because of them and was pretty disappointed that they basically had no screen time). I don't have a problem with toxic plot devices, as long as the main problem is not about their sexuality. I'm pretty tired of that sh*t. Dropped GAP because of it and it's totally misplaced in Chaser Game W aswell, even though it's not really prominent in the plot at all.

Overall very enjoyable and funny. It was extremely adorable but also delivered when it came to real problems like workplace discrimation and archaic mindsets. They also had pretty good chemistry, especially in the more comedic episodes and moments. I really loved the Ayaka character, super sweet and really stood up for what she believed in. Hiroko was way too perfect as a boss and person, but I really liked her when she was in gay panic mode and when she talked about her worries towards the end. Only real criticism on my end is, I don't know if it was the script or the fact that she's an Idol turned actress but Kato Shiho turned into the literal manifestation of "a dog that barks doesn't bite" and was super stiff when it came to the "romantic" scenes, which made them not really believable. Mori Kanna tried her best, but Kato looked like she wasn't allowed to/didn't want to react, so she just froze up in those scenes.

If you're asking about Japanese GLs, then there's only Transit Girls, more like a coming of age drama that's good but way too short or Tsukuritai Onna to Tabetai Onna, which is about coming to terms with your sexuality. There's also Chaser Game W, which gets a second season at the moment, but the plot's rather weak and only the chemistry of the two leads makes it worth watching if you ask me. If your question's not only about Japanese GLs, you should give Thai GLs a try. The Secret of Us has very little toxicity and more inter personal problems (including a huge misunderstanding) they need to overcome. Or if you don't despise High School Rom-Coms, you should give 23.5 a watch. Both are for free on Youtube. If you have Netflix there's Reverse 4 You, I haven't seen it yet but the plot seems pretty interesting with all the time travel and supernatural elements.

It really isn't a joke. Japan's still an extremely male-dominated society (probably second or third to Islamic countries), so of course society itself has those views (especially in work culture, family and entertainment). I feel like that's one of the reasons why the rise of VTubers and Utaite/anonymous musicians came about. These people/artists just don't want to conform to or simply don't fit into those standards, so they choose not to show themselves at all so they'll be evaluated for their talent, not for their looks or adaptability to fit into a template society is expecting.

Of course you are entitled to your own opinion and tastes, but I think the problem is that your comments seem like they're from an old-fashioned salary man that had a lot of success in the Showa era but went broke when the bubble burst. I don't want to attack you or your tastes, I just think that's why people take offense by your comment.
I don't know how much you know about Japan, but the "she doesn't look properly Japanese" comes across like "a Japanese woman only has value if she's Yamato Nadeshiko (petite, pure, demure and with a traditional Japanese look) or else she cannot be considered pretty/kawaii". Which is something Japanese women fight against for ages, at least the ones with a brain cell who don't think the only way to happiness in life is to catch a rich guy and live in a cage for the rest of their lives by only serving their husband.

It's on Avistaz with subs, but in SD quality (384p or whatever it is). All the other sources I knew closed, so I can't really help more, sorry.

There's no queerbaiting. It's just a healthy best friends scenario between a hetero and an ace woman who both don't (want to) fit in the box of stereotypical views of women in Japan. It's very apparent that there's nothing more all throughout the drama.

WOWOW also has some dramas with nudity, like Mosaic Japan, but that's a pay-tv channel, so it doesn't count either ;).
There's no rule or law against showing nudity in Japanese TV, it's just that the hypocritical sponsors driven by the very conservative society don't want any in their broadcasting. There may be some on that list with "nudity", but I still don't think that any of those show actual frontal nudity of women, which is basically the starter package that really counts as nudity in the US for example. I don't see what the fuss is about anyways. I think showing someone nude from the front under a shower just washing up is way less erotic/provocative/"offensive" then showing sex scenes where nothing at all is seen except their shoulders, faces and voices. But that's maybe my upbringing speaking.

Thanks for the suggestions! I actually have those on my PTW or watched them already, NanUma and Brush Up Life are two of my favorite dramas of the last 10 or so years. I'd also strongly recommend "Kazoku Dakara Aishitan Janakute, Aishita no ga Kazoku Datta" and "Futekisetsu ni mo Hodo ga Aru!", another two of my favs in the last years (Kawai Yuumi needs more main roles!).
Unfortunately the number of those great dramas are almost the same as the ones I described above only, without counting all the Shoujo Manga naive-female-and-scum-male-trope and infidelity dramas that all follow the same template. That's why I was/am a little frustrated, because maybe 1 in 10 - 15 dramas is actually something that's not been made a 100 times. But, as I was told, this drama here is not really what's in the synopsis, so all good ;)

There's no nudity in Japanese free TV in this century and longer. The major "family oriented" sponsors who are eager to throw money at every infidelity drama as long as it doesn't show any skin that's usually under some clothes make sure of that. Regardless of time, day or station. Well, except if showing underwear is nudity, which it isn't, but even that's super rare. Which drama did you watch with nudity in it? (genuine question and I meant no offense with my comment, only wanted to offend those hypocritical companies).

Let's make a deal. I leave my "judgmental pitch fork" at home if you promise to take your reading glasses with you! ;)
It was a question and based off of the synopsis, made before even an episode aired. I even commented as such in my 2nd comment and said that it sounded interesting after someone made me aware of what's going on in it. No need to come out swinging.