kairi_key

For EP2, I was less bothered by the sfx. I think it was tamed down enough for me to laugh at them for how pronounced and tried-hard they were. I think I started to realize one factor that make the sfx a bit annoying, which is the acting style/direction wasn't really going along with the sfx that much. The rhythmic pace, exaggeration, and cartoonish(or lack thereof) is not enough to justify such excessive use of those sfx.

Kao need to up his acting game a bit. He's paling in comparison to Up. He has his charm alright, but I'd love to see him acting in a more relaxed manner. When he was telling Gene the food is almost expired, that was the most natural line I got from him this episode. It was so natural that I almost thought he was just being himself in that line, lol. Still, he's more relaxed in this ep than the first.
But you know, the script practicing scene really makes me wonder what kind of kinky roleplaying they'd do when they finally get together.

Not really, but it does feel like you're living through someone's fantasy, through Gene's head, of having their own character manipulate them into love, lol. That's why I'm gonna call that kinky.

"Those warm lips pressed on to mine slowly. They're making me feel warm and hot, and not to mention how soft they were. The moment those lips touched, my body froze in a jolt of tension, as if it was purposefully waiting for my feeling of shock to die down. There's a strange tingling feeling dancing in my head, and my mind went blank into white, while my face was burning. There's subtle moaning sound deep down in my throat as the other one wiggled his tongue around my teeth, shamelessly. He not only moved his lips in a squeezing motion, but also sucked and gently nibbled my lips. I felt like I could not breath, but even so, I didn't dare resist, for I was afraid that I would break the character I was playing"

YES WHAT IS THIS KINKY WRITER-ACTOR FANTASY IM LIVING THROUGH

Okkk... Because Wetv's sub is not giving enough justice to the kinky fantasy scene at the end... I'm translating the full descriptive paragraph that Gene wrote down that was somehow skipped in the sub..... in the spoiler down below for all its gloriness.

I am with TiagoFerreira here. I'm not sure if the argument that "the sound effects are inserted to throw shade/ poke fun of the bl industry" made much sense. I would love it if you can give example of how the sound effect in this show was used to throw shade/poke fun of the bl industry, because I'm not getting that vibe. I understand a lot of points they're trying to make touching on the issue of the industry, but the sound effect? I'm not seeing that connection, yet.

I mean... yeah sure, no one care about the sexuality, but even then, it's still more interesting to think about that angle on how Aey and that gay guy before him was both commented on for being feminine but was treated differently than to write it off as them being random just to serve the joke.

I can't watched it with subs, so I'm not sure if this is properly explained....

The phrase "to play kite" or in its more obvious form "to pull a kite" in thai is a euphemism/slang for male masturbation. As the term is thrown around in the society, even the mentioning of the word "kite" in some context can already be innuendo, so much that if you really want to play the real kite, you'd have to specify it that you want to play the actual kite, not the figurative meaning of it.

...so yeah... imagine being invited to do that from your crush...
tbh, chief is kinda fishing for the innuendo a bit, lol

Here are some interesting things I found...

Apparently, the version on wetv is an uncut version. The cut version was aired on Channel3 and was reportedly to be more concise and have somewhat better flow, while sacrificing some scenes.

Another fun thing is the after-audition scene. The gay guy who did not passed the audition for being "too gay" as the production team said, was auditioning for the Seme role of Bad Engineer, while Aey/Oy who is also gay but deemed as "feminine on the right level" passed the audition and he was auditioning for the Uke role of the series.... Hmmm maybe that's it? Because when I watched it, the comment on Aey was executed in a less sincere way than the first gay guy. It could still be the heteronormative that came with seme/uke role at play here or there could be something more to why Aey got it, but not ther other guy.

And fun fact: the series that they're making, Bad Engineer. Its thai name is actually literally translated to "Engineer, rough/harsh/hardcore husband." It really imply toxic seme. Could be another parody of rape fantasy in bl/yaoi trope.

Yeah, I agree that it's still worth considering that Kao's acting in the first ep might be deliberate as there're hints that he might not normally behave this way.

The really harsh and cold character that Kao, I mean Nubsib, did in the audition is possibly the character of the main lead he was auditioning for. The name of that series is "Bad Engineer" and the name in thai is literally translated as "Engineer, rough/harsh husband" which is basically toxic Seme trope. I do agree that they kinda lose some charm in the actual episode.

I feel more like they tried too hard to be anime-like comedy, but I don't hate it even tho I criticised it. If they can find better balance with this it would be amazing. Both sound and editing could use a bit more time polishing, but I still think it's one of the higher quality shows out there

The northern dialect isn't that much different from central dialect and the version that they're using is mostly close to the central one anyway. I don't think it's hard for Tian to pick up on vocabs and differing accent. I can't say how much people from bangkok can understand the dialect used since I grew up in the northern region myself, but I'm sure they can understand more than 60-70% of what being said. My guess is that the sub are mostly for clarity sake and for those who are not familiar with the dialect.

She's Oy's manager.

They really tried haaaaarrrrrddd to be funny fluffy comedy.... like I don't think they need to go this far, but ok, I'll still watch.
The acting was too over the top. Hin's character's acting is so awkward and kinda campy. I can overlook most of it tho since luckily it was still on a fine line between cute and annoying with some nudge toward the former. I'd still love to see him onscreen.
Kao's acting was a bit weird and too well-placed.... like he's trying hard for something. It's probably to impress Gene, but it still feels like something's off. I'll give this one tea some more time to steep, since there's already a hint that his current manner is just an act. Let's see how that'll play out with his acting.

Sound Effects......... yeah..... NEXT!!

I like the issue that they brought up, but there's this weird suspicion in my mind that they might just doing that to cater to us viewers than to actually make a statement. Maybe because it's currently present these topics more as a comedy than something to seriously think about. I'm sure this suspicion will go away once we get to see how the drama about the bl industry play out.
I do love the shade on the writer of some bl novel tho. I don't know who it is, or if it was just a generalisation or not, but it sure is some good tea //sip.

Do love to keep watching for more. Up was really great. Love Zorzo. I'm falling HARD for the one who play Mhork.

And because I feel like it, I made a thread out of all the names: https://kisskh.at/discussions/a-tale-of-a-thousand-stars/59617-name-s-translation-just-to-be-romantic

Random fact:
The name Pha Pun Dao has 2 meanings. One possible meaning is "Star-sharing cliff" in standard thai, but in the northern dialect that the local speak in this show (and also Manner of Death) it means "1000-stars cliff" which I think is the intended meaning since it's a local dialect plus the show is called A Tale of Thousand Stars.... so... yeah.
The name, Phupha of our hunky snack of a chief means "cliff." Talk about being on-brand.

I SMELL CORRUPTION AND CONSPIRACY FROM THE PREVIEWWWWWWW. I BET THAT OLD GUY KNOW WHO TIAN IS... OR RATHER, WHOSE SON HE IS.

AND THIS IS SO GONNA TIE UP WITH THE STORY ABOUT HORNBILLS AND PHUPHA'S DAD. LET'S HOPE IT'S JUST A STORY NOT A FORESHADOWING.

Yeah, Torfun really got sister-zoned. Nothing is lost-in-translation in that line. So, my interpretation for Tian giving that reaction was probably for Torfun's sake. He was doing all this mostly for her so I felt like he was feeling a bit sorry for the girl whose heart is beating in his chest.

I don't like how it's used in tharntype too. I dropped that series just at the first episode. But I think it made some sense (a tiny bit) in this drama. The chief was a bit rude to Tian first when he woke up, and he kinda overreacted and started to put up his guard. But I believe that it's gonna get better from the ep3 preview as the chief might have a better appreciation for the teacher. But even with that I can see that the aggression will definitely come back again because I think it is possible that Tian might be involved in the accident of the heart-owner girl, judging from his parents and his friends' reaction.

The trope is probably because most of these thai bl are based on bl novels written by straight women who likes to fantasize about gay relationship and taboo love and have no idea how to write a story about 2 seemingly straight guys falling in love with each other. They probably tried to project their idea of masculinity to these characters too much that the toxic part got mixed in too because they didn't know better. The reason that I Told Sunset About You's script is different is also because it's an original script not based on any novel. A lot of popular thai bl shows are, sadly, aimed toward young girls and are not about representation of real lgbt relstionship. Fortunately, the director Backaof is one of the better director in gmmtv to deal with bl shows.

Well, tbh, I don't think there's that many thai bl shows that was actually an original script, ie. not adapted from novels. ITSAY was an original script. I think all of gmmtv's bl is an adaptation. And tbh, these novels often are on the fanfic-y, wattpad side than legit novels, especially the popular ones. (I think the beginning of "lovely writer" trailer kinda sum up this situation well.) So it's no surprise that there will be issues with plot and stuff.

And I agree with @tiagoferreira that GMMTV has its style. Their shows are more of an "easily-approachable" side of thing, being able to watch mainly for entertainment on TV without thinking too much or command a lot of your attention and pushed out consistently each years. While Nadao, the company that did ITSAY was a more hip and stylistic company from its root as a company that branched out of a movie production company. I think so far, all of their shows are original scripts with quality and dedication one would give to movie production. It's almost unfair to say this, but I think "comparing apple and orange" could be appropriate here.
But I agree with you that Aof is still one of the better director in gmm for bl shows.

Well, waking up in hospital looking nice is more of a thai drama standard, really.