dramadramamama

Too tame

I want to start this review by saying that I don't mean that 'there weren't enough NC scenes'. That's not what I mean with too tame before y'all come for me!!!

Let me first start with the good things.
I loved the cast! I especially thought that Nut shined in this - I can't believe it's his first acting series! He really knew how to show all the nuance and roughness that was Jun.
In one episode you think he's just a heartless d*ck but then in the next you realise it was all a façade to hide how he really felt. And moreso than what was in the script, but the incredible editing (props to the editors!!!) and the acting choices made by Nut when he didn't have lines gave even more insight to Jun's character which I absolutely loved. I can't wait to see him act as Jimmy's little brother in 'my magic prophecy' EEEEEEEE!!!!
And the rest of LYNKN was there too I guess.
But imo they also underutilised sammy and drake LIKE CMONNN THOSE ARE SEASONED ACTORS!!!! I wish they'd gotten a bigger support role

I also adored the villains in this: well played miss Pemika, well played. I don't agree at all with the character but damn if she isn't that girlboss office siren? Hats off to you miss, she devoured that villain role.


The costume department was really good most of the times and really builds that idol image for all of MARS, although for Nano they leaned a bit too hard into the 'quirky main dancer maknae' aesthetic for me and less into who the character really was? For all the other characters it was great;
Thame - cool, popular boy clothes per his leader status but also his more down-to-earth nature
Dylan - streetstyle per his rap background
Jun - not that distinct but i remember him wearing a lot of beige pants and timeless clothes like soft sweaters and cardigans, which reflects his personality of prickly and thorny on the outside but soft within and also just fits with who he's trying to become (movie star and all).
Pepper - cleancut, well dressed - at times basic, but it fits his all rounder status; he's very palatable and easily fits in everywhere

Now let's get to the part where I thought it was too tame. The story.
It was alright, I mean Po is literally living that y/n life and I love that for him! That being said, there's a reason why wattpad self inserts are just that...they're not that good.
The story and pacing started out great for the first half:
We are told all the members have things they want to achieve (producing own songs, acting in a movie as the lead, pursuing a relationship, being more than just the dancer) but then as Thame and Po get together that all just doesn't get handled anymore and every conflict that made the characters and the world they live in interesting, just falls away.

Moreover, the conflict that is present just doesn't translate as well - the stakes the audience is given just do not feel relatable to me at all, and given the company that produces it, it just feels hypocritical and tonedeaf? @GMMTV you are aware that you are one of the main sources keeping this kind of culture alive in Thailand right? And I'm not saying that i don't participate in it or that it's immediately bad, but the point that they are then trying to make just doesn't land because we are still in this situation in real life without a real structural change!
And there's also no change in the thamepo world! Sure, MARS leaves their company and gets to perform together using their old name and everybody's back together living happily after...but for the other artists at the company nothing changes!

This story is trying to present itself as 'punk' exposing and dismantling the system, and portrays the protagonists as going against the system and changing it, but they don't! In the end, they get dumped, a new boygroup fills the void and will probably at some point have the same issues about creative control, romantic relationships, career paths etc. and nothing changes.

Now I get that this is just a romcom and not every series has to have a serious message and be life changing or pioneer lgbt activism, but with the tone they set in the first episodes and the seeds they sowed I expected them to really lean into it and have a fierce message to change things, but in the end they decided to play it safe which is so disappointing.

I am also aware about the double standard for queer media and that it is often held to a higher standard, but you know what's the worse thing about this whole thing?
It's the fact that the episodes after ep 7/8 completely bored me. I literally skipped through some of the domestic fluff and the crying scenes because it was boring. And normally I love domestic fluff, but for thamepo the fluffy scenes did not feel like a reward after the hardships of pining, it just felt like fanservice.
The crying did not feel like a release of emotions between the characters but it felt fake and I could feel very little sympathy for the characters.

I saw many people praising thamepo for having a mature storyline because of the lack of drama and so on but like...it is a drama series. And what's a drama series without the drama? I want to be entertained!
Besides, a storyline doesn't just become mature because of a lack of drama, it should also discuss mature topics and the series also fell flat on that - but I'm going to blame this part on the lack of time.
I would've liked it if they dedicated a few scenes to show how Earn's treatment of Po would affect Po's relationship with Thame. We know that Earn wasn't physically abusive but it is presented that he was emotionally neglecting Po for a while, manipulating him into doing free work, and in general being toxic. That had to have an effect on Po's worldview! I mean we begin the series with the fact that Po is clearly still not healed from his break up with Earn (he has all the couple stuff, pictures and even EARN'S CLOTHES IN HIS DAMN CLOSET).

Maybe he would feel like he had to be perfect because otherwise thame would leave him just like Earn or that his view on love has become warped and that he sees it as a transactional thing. That people do nice things because they want something from you (this could also be an arc for thame). Or maybe how Earn's abandonment would affect Po's self-esteem and how he gets that back because of Thame - but we don't see that kind of growth.
No, they kiss and are basically married now.

That being said I do hope they get married, i wish thamepo all the best <3 they are a very cute couple

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if it aint broken dont fix it

I love office romances and I like that this BL used the age-old tropes of boss/employee+enemies-to-lovers (although that was a bit shortlived) and forced proximity/cohabitation.
I think they could've exaggerated the headbutting a bit more when cohabitating and have it mix a bit with work life because for me, the characters acted to cleanly and too well-behaved. Overall I didnt have that many complaints about the story or the pacing considering the amounts of episodes!
I liked the music although sometimes it felt a little bit loud.
The ensemble cast was also fun to watch and the male leads were handsome and had pretty good chemistry!

One big minus point for me though was the big confession scene and backstory reveal in the final episode. The dialogue felt lame, stiff and not realistic. It didn't properly convey the emotions of the characters and the whole drama of SJY finding out the true identity of JHJ ended with a bellyflop instead of a magnificent dive into the inner turmoil of the characters :/

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Short n sweet ;)

This series is sooo short, it's among the shortest dramas I've watched!

This is also one of my main complaints: I wish this series was longer :(

But overall, I liked the format of the series, although the game aspect of looking back at their past felt a bit gimmicky to me and I wish that they'd showed more of their relationship in the past as it truly was because it also made me a bit confused.
Anywho, the production really made good use of the limited amount of time they had making the series have a good balanced ending but with a bit more time I know they could've gotten a bit more potential out of it.
I still liked the series because the acting was excellent and the colours of the series were super pretty.

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didnt take me by storm but still good-ish

LITA was i think only the 2nd BL drama i watched and i honestly did not know what i was starting. It is...a hot mess!
Also, I don't have a problem with NC scenes, but idk some hint, a warning that this is a highly spicy series would've been nice because I went into this blind. probably because back then i didnt know who mame was yet but whoo boy!!!

Onto the real review:
LITA consists of 2 stories part one is rainxphayu and part 2 is skyxprapai.
I prefer skyxprapai because i feel like the characters had a lot more depth and realness to them and i enjoyed skyxprapai acting a lot more too. i also think that sky as a standalone character has much more charm than rain as a standalone character!
however the whole stuff about sky's backstory ;-; how tf is prapai going to help him, this man needs therapy!!!

rainxphayu was ok the first time i watched it, but the second time around it just fell flat and became boring and repetitive to me with a weird kidnapping episode which was wasted time they could've used to flesh out phayu and rain as ACTUAL people. why tf did phayu fall in love after seeing rain one (1) time? and then he pursued him weirdly but then again, prapai also had a whole non-con/dub con relationship with sky sooooooo...they're not really prime examples of best boyfriends/best men on earth.

anyways, the NC scenes are choreographed with great detail and are very very steamy which does distract from the sometimes subpar acting.

i actually did enjoy the music! i thought the lyrics were quite clever and i just enjoyed that it changed for when skyxprapai story was happening.

one thing i would change is the editing. the motor race scene from the beginning was shown wayyyy too often in the series, like at least 4 times. it became boring and unnecessary but i guess they spend a lot of money on those scenes?
all in all, not a bad series, don't use it as a moral compas, and just enjoy the hot mess of a ride it is!

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Just between bad and good

Do you need to watch uwma to understand between us? No, you do not. Between us is a stand alone story that can be watched independently from uwma. HOWEVER, it's just not on the same level as uwma and it pains me to admit that because i loveddd boonxprem. They had great chemistry and were funny actors in uwma.
Between Us made it weird with how contradicting both the characters were compared to the performance in uwma. And like, yes they're independent stories, but the inconsistencies in characters were way off. like why is win not flirty and chaotic anymore? why is team's only personality trait food (and trauma)?
We deserved to see more of pharmxteam interacting and giving each other advice it wouldve been so cute to see these two dumbasses interact like they did in the first ep <3
I still enjoyed watching this series and the potential was there, it's just a little bit rough around the edges.

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Just a low stakes fantasy BL

Sometimes, it's not that deep!
This was a funky BL that tried to do a little bit more than they could, and that's ok. They can try again later!
So this drama is not that bad as some people say, but it is also definitely not as good as people say.
A lot of things were left unresolved (wtf are tess and tun doing in puen and talay's world???) and the world building was so-so, but it was fun enough and pretty low stakes for me. I watched this after Last Twilight, so this series already had a better ending than that...
Anyway, I liked the cinematography and the jimmyxsea had quite a few moments that made me smile at my screen.
If you're looking for a fun, kind of fantasy BL, this is for you!

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a nice dessert after BBS and ATOTS!

If you can't get enough of bad buddy and ATOTS, you should definitely watch this! It was so much fun revisiting these familiar characters and settings with all the fun callbacks and inside jokes !
At times that did make the story repetitive, but it also brought back a bunch of nostalgia.
Although these 2 stories are so different, the director and screenwriters did an excellent job of connecting them together.
The chemistry between patxpran and tianxphupha was off the charts as usual, although the unexpected pairing of pranxtian and patxphupha was also very lovely! All the dynamics were a very fun playground and I thoroughly enjoyed it.
I do wish we got to see more of pranxpat outside of graduation because they deserve to be open with their relationship instead of hiding it, but them as the campus messy exes was also great and amused me!

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Hilarious, witty and sweet!

Goodness the amount of times I've laughed because of this series, it's uncountable!!! I can't believe that this didn't get on my path earlier!
The maincharacter is hilariously and painfully aware of himself and I love this so much! I also love the beautiful and talented ensemble cast and I especially love that yk, the MC isn't even homophobic, he just doesn't want to become one of those cheesy main characters in a BL manga, which is fair.
I also love the opening credits: the dance and the song are so addictive!!!
If you're a BL fan you'll certainly recognise the many tropes that are present in this series that are being put upside down and be able to laugh at the absurdity of it all.
So, go watch it! (I found it on daily motion ;) )

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fun but a little different and confusing

I adored season 1 because of the silly and call outs of the truthfully ridiculous and unrealistic common tropes that we often encounter in BL - the jealous and possesive lovers, the picking up a random passed out drunk man like he's a stray puppy, the group blind dating only to leave with a guy etc etc
Season 2 was notably different in tone and story as it tried to focus more on the worldbuilding of the manga, which I liked and thought was interesting, but I also found it confusing and wished we had more elaboration on it by having more episodes.
Especially the mobu x kikuchi storyline that continued from s1 was a bit rushed (i mena it's a BL manga w story traps so i get the irony of me saying that it was rushed as all the scenarios that happen in the series are 'rushed'/instantaneous) and i wouldn't have minded to see more of them interacting and mobu going absolutely out of his way to avoid more story traps with kikuchi by friendzoning him very hard.
Anyways, i loved the acting again and i also loved the ost with their weird little 80s motor cycle gang fashion XD
If you liked s1 you'll like s2 too :)

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weird but still fluffy and fun

This was the first BL i watched from strongberry and it was a lot of fun!
Sure the premise of the story is strange at first, but it's also very funny and i liked the acting the most! the chemistry was great, and i think for such a short run time for each episode, the series did great in trying to convey the main message and develop its characters!
i loved uncle and milk's story but also jung woo and choco were adorable! i think if the company was able to produce longer videos, the series would have been even better but i'm still very satisfied with this watch.

it's heart fluttering and super cute so go watch it if you have some short time to spare!

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a breathtaking ride

What a treat this show was!
I had not expected this series to make me so nostalgic and emotional tbh and yet it did. The story of Futaba and Kou was so beautiful, I loved seeing both of the characters grow and take this journey. And not just the main characters, but all the side characters too! It was beautiful to see and I really recognised and related to their struggles. All the things they went through might seem like not that big of a deal from an adult perspective but remember what that time was like for yourself, and how it made you feel! I remember how sometimes it felt like the world was ending when I was in high school...Now i know better of course, but the younger me didn't know that! I'm glad i made it :)

I do have a big problem with the student x teacher relationship especially how it ended which freaked me out, but in general I was happy with how this storyline played out. It was so so so cute and I cant get over the beautiful scenery and camerawork! Bravo!
If you're wondering if you should watch this series: the answer is yes!

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