A contender for the best BL of 2025
Khemjira from the first episode had me hooked.
Beyond having an intriguing premise, it handles the subject matter maturely and Khem's emotional state given his day-to-day life of constant peril. Almost every episode has edge-of-seat action and storyline sequences, albeit there are a few episodes that this slows down primarily to flesh out the boys' relationship, but it quickly picks up where it left off.
However, none of the plot would have the emotional impact it did without the work of the cast. All actors felt extremely well-suited in their roles and captured their unique personalities very well. Namping especially delivers a phenomenal performance given the amount of range he had to portray episode to episode. The acting is A-grade and only enhances the immersion of the drama overall.
I also want to compliment the series for its inclusion of Thai culture, religion, and history. Although I'm no scholar on the subject matter, it gives the feeling that a lot of care went into its world-building and writing. The character of Rampheung especially just really embodied how much thought went into the writing.
It's hard for me to think of ways Khemjira could improve. Perhaps it could have benefitted from more substance in its less action-packed episodes, or hit more emotional beats than it did, but overall, this show is exceptional. The writing, the cast, the production value are all highly polished. It's hard for me to imagine another BL beating it quality-wise this year.
Beyond having an intriguing premise, it handles the subject matter maturely and Khem's emotional state given his day-to-day life of constant peril. Almost every episode has edge-of-seat action and storyline sequences, albeit there are a few episodes that this slows down primarily to flesh out the boys' relationship, but it quickly picks up where it left off.
However, none of the plot would have the emotional impact it did without the work of the cast. All actors felt extremely well-suited in their roles and captured their unique personalities very well. Namping especially delivers a phenomenal performance given the amount of range he had to portray episode to episode. The acting is A-grade and only enhances the immersion of the drama overall.
I also want to compliment the series for its inclusion of Thai culture, religion, and history. Although I'm no scholar on the subject matter, it gives the feeling that a lot of care went into its world-building and writing. The character of Rampheung especially just really embodied how much thought went into the writing.
It's hard for me to think of ways Khemjira could improve. Perhaps it could have benefitted from more substance in its less action-packed episodes, or hit more emotional beats than it did, but overall, this show is exceptional. The writing, the cast, the production value are all highly polished. It's hard for me to imagine another BL beating it quality-wise this year.
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