This review may contain spoilers
Very Cute and Easy Story To Get Into
I can't believe I initially skipped this story when I saw that most (if not all) of the Enchante main cast were in this series. I honestly hated Enchante and was afraid they'd put in yet another story similar to it. But my friends encouraged me to watch it, and boy am I happy I did!
Overall, it's a very cute and silly story that has drama that doesn't stay too long. Most Thai BLs are 6-12 episodes, but please don't let the 24 episodes of this one intimidate you! Each main couple gets 8 episodes each, and because the story is easy to get into, they go by pretty quickly.
--ACTING--
I think most of the actor did pretty well. Some of them, like Force, were handed characters that ended up being fairly flat. So I can't really fault them for their acting when that's the case.
I think Faifa's and Gun's actors did the best with the silly characters. They felt VERY naturally comedic. Like, I'd genuinely be surprised if in real life they weren't similar to their characters at all. This leads to what is possibly my biggest acting gripe: Book's acting. Don't get me wrong, he did well enough. But there were times when it was grating and felt, well, forced (no pun intended). I think it has something to do with his acting juxtaposed to Force's acting. I say this because I did find myself enjoying moments when Book's character was with Sand and Po. They made me laugh quite a bit in the second to last episode! I also think it was the writing for their ship- which I will talk about more in the next section.
Sand and Pond were arguably the weakest actors and they stood out because everyone else was above average. I'd say that Sand's actor did a better job when he wasn't with Pond's character. I'm not familiar with either actor at all, but if you told me it was Poon's (Sand) first time in a romantic role let alone a BL one, I wouldn't be surprised. He was strongest when he was being silly with Arm and Po.
I started watching this for Perth (Yotha). I was a little disappointed when I saw he was playing yet ANOTHER "bad boy"/cool/suave type character. Don't get me wrong, he pulls this type of character off VERY well, but I was hoping for something different. With that being said, I really liked him as Yotha. I think the chemistry between him and Santa was very strong. I'm not sure if I'll watch their next project (Love You Teacher), but if they end up in something else, I'll watch that instead.
Faifa and Wine were my fave. I think their actors pulled the characters off VERY well. They felt natural and their chemistry was great. I loved how they looked together! If they're in another show as a pair, I'll definitely watch it.
--WRITING--
As mentioned before, this show is an easy watch. There's drama in it, where they pile it on more in the second and third arcs, but it flows very well.
I found myself enjoying a pair more than the previous pair, so the story got better and better as it went on.
I'd say the weakest story comparatively was Arc and Arm. I think that if theirs was a stand alone story, it would've been great. But the other parts are just so much more interesting that not only does they story feel a bit boring, but so does their ship after a while. I hate skipping scenes with other ships, but I did find myself skipping some of their scenes in the other parts.
I think the biggest issue is that their story is pretty typical of a Thai BL/yaoi/BL in general. It's pretty hard to connect to their characters emotionally. I feel like this is a situation where the casting of the actors helped make the characters a lot more interesting than what the writing failed to do. Like, if they were cast by random actors, I'd be even less interested to be very honest. I liked their story initially but grew bored by episode 5.
Possibly a big part of why I enjoyed YoGun's and FaiWine's stories so much more is because I found myself pleasantly surprised when I related to Yotha's and Faifa's situation with their mom. I felt their complications were quite realistic, especially in how divided they were about what happened to them growing up. I myself was The Peacemaker in the way Faifa was, so his character ended up being my favorite.
The ways in which their partners helped them felt good too. I much prefer stories when the Troubled Character's problems aren't magically whisked away by their Love Interest's arrival. The idea that love heals all wounds is one that I never cared for too much because of how it's portrayed a lot of the time. And I was quite pleased with how supportive Gun and Wine were, especially Wine.
I think out of all of the pairs, FaiWine was the most realistic one and also the most well written one. I really loved how they both grew around each other. There weren't any weird forced external drama that happens a lot in Thai BLs. The focus on internal issues worked the best here. Like, they could've done so much more with Tor's arrival but they didn't. What ended up happening was just enough for their story.
All-in-all, good pacing and good writing.
--MUSIC--
I don't pay too much to the music in these dramas. I definitely should though. So I won't linger here too long.
I believe each pair had their own unique song that was sung by the pairs' actors. I'm not sure how common this is, but I thought it was very sweet.
One trope in Thai BLs that I have come to lowkey hate is when the one character (usually the top) gets on stage with his guitar and starts singing to his love interest. It's so overdone, I just cringe at this point. But here it seems like Faifa's actor not only knows how to play guitar, but perhaps he sung the song too? It's a low bar, but this is probably the first time in a long while where I enjoyed this trope. I have seen instances where the actor very clearly has no idea how to lay guitar or even sing and because of it, it's badly edited. But it was nice here.
--PRODUCTION/CINEMATOGRAPHY--
I'd say it's pretty average coming from this company. The sets were nice but nothing outstanding. I did enjoy the use of colors a lot though, like in the freshman's rooms or with Yotha's pajamas. I'd say my favorite sets are said dorm rooms and Newton's bar.
--SUMMARY--
Overall great show, especially if you want something cute and fairly lighthearted. I rarely rewatch stuff, but I can see myself rewatching some scenes. I'm planning on watching the behind-the-scenes videos.
Give it a shot if you want!
Overall, it's a very cute and silly story that has drama that doesn't stay too long. Most Thai BLs are 6-12 episodes, but please don't let the 24 episodes of this one intimidate you! Each main couple gets 8 episodes each, and because the story is easy to get into, they go by pretty quickly.
--ACTING--
I think most of the actor did pretty well. Some of them, like Force, were handed characters that ended up being fairly flat. So I can't really fault them for their acting when that's the case.
I think Faifa's and Gun's actors did the best with the silly characters. They felt VERY naturally comedic. Like, I'd genuinely be surprised if in real life they weren't similar to their characters at all. This leads to what is possibly my biggest acting gripe: Book's acting. Don't get me wrong, he did well enough. But there were times when it was grating and felt, well, forced (no pun intended). I think it has something to do with his acting juxtaposed to Force's acting. I say this because I did find myself enjoying moments when Book's character was with Sand and Po. They made me laugh quite a bit in the second to last episode! I also think it was the writing for their ship- which I will talk about more in the next section.
Sand and Pond were arguably the weakest actors and they stood out because everyone else was above average. I'd say that Sand's actor did a better job when he wasn't with Pond's character. I'm not familiar with either actor at all, but if you told me it was Poon's (Sand) first time in a romantic role let alone a BL one, I wouldn't be surprised. He was strongest when he was being silly with Arm and Po.
I started watching this for Perth (Yotha). I was a little disappointed when I saw he was playing yet ANOTHER "bad boy"/cool/suave type character. Don't get me wrong, he pulls this type of character off VERY well, but I was hoping for something different. With that being said, I really liked him as Yotha. I think the chemistry between him and Santa was very strong. I'm not sure if I'll watch their next project (Love You Teacher), but if they end up in something else, I'll watch that instead.
Faifa and Wine were my fave. I think their actors pulled the characters off VERY well. They felt natural and their chemistry was great. I loved how they looked together! If they're in another show as a pair, I'll definitely watch it.
--WRITING--
As mentioned before, this show is an easy watch. There's drama in it, where they pile it on more in the second and third arcs, but it flows very well.
I found myself enjoying a pair more than the previous pair, so the story got better and better as it went on.
I'd say the weakest story comparatively was Arc and Arm. I think that if theirs was a stand alone story, it would've been great. But the other parts are just so much more interesting that not only does they story feel a bit boring, but so does their ship after a while. I hate skipping scenes with other ships, but I did find myself skipping some of their scenes in the other parts.
I think the biggest issue is that their story is pretty typical of a Thai BL/yaoi/BL in general. It's pretty hard to connect to their characters emotionally. I feel like this is a situation where the casting of the actors helped make the characters a lot more interesting than what the writing failed to do. Like, if they were cast by random actors, I'd be even less interested to be very honest. I liked their story initially but grew bored by episode 5.
Possibly a big part of why I enjoyed YoGun's and FaiWine's stories so much more is because I found myself pleasantly surprised when I related to Yotha's and Faifa's situation with their mom. I felt their complications were quite realistic, especially in how divided they were about what happened to them growing up. I myself was The Peacemaker in the way Faifa was, so his character ended up being my favorite.
The ways in which their partners helped them felt good too. I much prefer stories when the Troubled Character's problems aren't magically whisked away by their Love Interest's arrival. The idea that love heals all wounds is one that I never cared for too much because of how it's portrayed a lot of the time. And I was quite pleased with how supportive Gun and Wine were, especially Wine.
I think out of all of the pairs, FaiWine was the most realistic one and also the most well written one. I really loved how they both grew around each other. There weren't any weird forced external drama that happens a lot in Thai BLs. The focus on internal issues worked the best here. Like, they could've done so much more with Tor's arrival but they didn't. What ended up happening was just enough for their story.
All-in-all, good pacing and good writing.
--MUSIC--
I don't pay too much to the music in these dramas. I definitely should though. So I won't linger here too long.
I believe each pair had their own unique song that was sung by the pairs' actors. I'm not sure how common this is, but I thought it was very sweet.
One trope in Thai BLs that I have come to lowkey hate is when the one character (usually the top) gets on stage with his guitar and starts singing to his love interest. It's so overdone, I just cringe at this point. But here it seems like Faifa's actor not only knows how to play guitar, but perhaps he sung the song too? It's a low bar, but this is probably the first time in a long while where I enjoyed this trope. I have seen instances where the actor very clearly has no idea how to lay guitar or even sing and because of it, it's badly edited. But it was nice here.
--PRODUCTION/CINEMATOGRAPHY--
I'd say it's pretty average coming from this company. The sets were nice but nothing outstanding. I did enjoy the use of colors a lot though, like in the freshman's rooms or with Yotha's pajamas. I'd say my favorite sets are said dorm rooms and Newton's bar.
--SUMMARY--
Overall great show, especially if you want something cute and fairly lighthearted. I rarely rewatch stuff, but I can see myself rewatching some scenes. I'm planning on watching the behind-the-scenes videos.
Give it a shot if you want!
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