labcat

@AndrewSky123

Like you, I don't agree with Tofu's thinking when he decided to take the drink. There's no reason for him to sacrifice himself if he recognizes that he's the result of a miracle created by Tarn's love, but I also won't deny that it was noble of him to sacrifice himself. Ironically, Tofu's willingness to sacrifice himself may show him to be the greatest human amongst all the characters. In this sense, I also find that the ending doesn't undo everything that comes before it. Tofu may think that he's lesser than a human, but his love makes him greater than anyone else, maybe even Tarn.

That's one of the good things about the series. There is a lot of nuance and room for interpretation.

@jojoce There is something interesting about the ending and how it can be interpreted, but yeah, if I were the writer and I wanted a sad ending, I would just have:
1. Ja murdering Tofu without him deliberately deciding to drink the poisoned drink, and
2. Tofu dying without any remaining consciousness.

Alternatively, if I could have any ending I want:

Because most of the story focuses on Tofu and Nut, I would have Tarn succumb to his injuries (plausible since they are life-threatening injuries) and his spirit appearing in Nut's dream to tell Nut to move on. After all, it is Tarn's subconscious desire for Nut to find happiness (even if it is with another man) that causes Tofu to turn into a human being to begin with. It will still be somewhat sad, but at least it won't be that depressing.

@AndrewSky123

Maybe I didn't make myself clear. It's my opinion that Tofu's predicament was more depressing than the predicament of the characters in MODC, but the writing of the ending was technically better in The Miracle of Teddy Bear. A shocking, tragic ending does not necessarily equate to a badly written ending. Opinions can still differ, of course.

But do chill a little. I won't accuse the show of pushing "heterosexual propaganda" or glorifying suicide though. First of all, I see the point about Tofu seeing himself as being lesser because he is originally a teddy bear, but I don't think we can make the leap from this observation to inferring a message about gay men being lesser. None of the gay men in the show is portrayed as a lesser person, and while Tofu thinks his love cannot be compared to Tarn's, he doesn't see himself as lesser for loving a man (it wouldn't make sense since Tarn is a man loving another man).

Additionally, even if there is such a message, I would hesitate to call it heterosexual propaganda. The message would be homophobic, but calling it heterosexual propaganda can make it sound as though heterosexuals are necessarily homophobic. (I think this is not what you mean to say, but you can be misunderstood because of the wording.)

I also won't go as far as to say that the show glorifies suicide. I do think it romanticizes Tofu's sacrifice a little too much. Like you, I think Tofu has very human emotions and he can be (understandably) jealous just thinking that Nut still has feelings for Tarn. Thus it is a bit of a stretch that he would just sacrifice himself instead of letting nature take its course (i.e. to accept it if Tarn wakes up and he disappears rather than to make himself disappear to awaken Tarn). A very similar ending can actually take place if he just unknowing falls for Ja's trick and is killed by her. However, I won't say that the show is glorifying suicide. (It's like saying that if a movie plot has a soldier nobly deciding to sacrifice their life to save their comrades or country, it is glorifying suicide.) Tofu's decision and his apparent death is still something saddening.

I still recommend it because I'm impressed with the plot and so many aspects of the production, and I don't think the ending was badly written in the way the ending Make Our Days Count was (despite the comparisons people are making).

But no matter how well written it is, it is highly depressing to see Tofu ending up the way he does. I mean, ok, he sacrifices himself, so just let him die in peace. That's already saddening enough. But to have him return trapped in the body of a bear is a whole new level of tragic no matter how Tofu tries to look optimistic.

I'm not sure how deliberate it was, but the whole idea of Prib mass producing Tofus adds on to the disturbing potential.

I recall the scene too. I think Nut saw the clues but still found the idea that Tofu the human was Tofu the bear unbelievable.

In the end, I think he just started to use the bear as a surrogate for the human Tofu and talked to the bear whenever he had something to say to the human Tofu, maybe because he thought that the ghost of the human Tofu had brought the bear back to him to console him.

If Nut were entirely convinced that the teddy bear was the human Tofu or knew thatthe human Tofu's consciousness was inside the bear, he would probably be more careful with the bear than to drop it on the floor when he woke up after hugging the bear to sleep.

It is actually a good story. The ending can be rather depressing, but it's not exactly badly written. For me, it's just that even a badly written sad ending might be less depressing.

A conventional sad ending with Tofu dying and Nut being unable to go back to Tatarn because he loves Tofu too much might just work better for me. And I think the writers toyed with this possibility by not making it clear whether Nut and Tatarn get back together at first.

I can't help but think that the pressure to have a "happier" ending caused the series to have a more depressing ending than a conventionally sad one. We have Tofu transform back into a teddy bear and return to Nut's side without being able to communicate with Nut again. He may have gone back to being a teddy bear, but his mentality isn't the mentality of a teddy bear anymore. It's quite painful to just think about how Tofu will miss being able to have a conversation with Nut and hug him while Nut doesn't recognize Tofu the teddy bear is really Tofu the human.

I can't imagine anyone else playing the role of Pete although the character may not be like him.

The first 15 minutes was really good, especially with how Win seems to be longing for comfort from Korn (like how Korn comforts Lin) without daring to expect it. But the transitions in Win's feelings and behavior appear a little weak, at least for now. Win seems so close to Korn that he genuinely treats Korn as family, so the outburst about his father's will seems like an overreaction. (Can't he respect his father's will? What causes him to assume that Korn is out for a share of his family fortune?) And the way he treats his sister is practically abusive. Hopefully the coming episodes salvage things.

Certainly, this is a way to do it. I think Yeon Seok at some point does think that he loves Ha Yeon because it is the same soul in a different body once he gets over the shock of realizing that Ha Yeon has reincarnated as a man.

I do, however, also appreciate why Ha Yeon (third lifetime) asks Yeon Seok whether Yeon Seok is in love with him. Unlike Yeon Seok who has clear memories of three lifetimes and feels like the same person with very different lives for the three lifetimes, Ha Yeon in the third lifetime doesn't feel like his previous incarnations--even if he knows for a fact that he is the reincarnation of the previous lifetimes. He may have some flashbacks in Ep 5, but his memory is incomplete and he is unable to see himself as being the same person as the previous incarnations.

Ha Yeon is essentially asking, "Do you love whom I have become or whom I used to be?" If I were him, this would be important too since I would want to be in a relationship with someone who loves the person that I am currently (not just in terms of gender but also in terms of character) and not whom I was 300 years ago. This is because my sense of self is totally different now, and I don't feel a connection with my previous incarnations. There could be something profound too, for this raises the question: what exactly is loving the soul of a person? Of course, the series doesn't delve very deeply into this question, simply touching on it but simply circumventing it by having Yeon Seok love Ha Yeon of the third lifetime as an individual (i.e. even if a twist were to reveal that contemporary Ha Yeon is not really the reincarnation of the Ha Yeon 300 years ago, Yeon Seok would still love him).

Certainly, this is a way to do it. I think Yeon Seok at some point does think that he loves Ha Yeon because it is the same soul in a different body once he gets over the shock of realizing that Ha Yeon has reincarnated as a man.

I do, however, also appreciate why Ha Yeon (third lifetime) asks Yeon Seok whether Yeon Seok is in love with him. Unlike Yeon Seok who has clear memories of three lifetimes and feels like the same person with very different lives for the three lifetimes, Ha Yeon in the third lifetime doesn't feel like his previous incarnations--even if he knows for a fact that he is the reincarnation of the previous lifetimes. He may have some flashbacks in Ep 5, but his memory is incomplete and he is unable to see himself as being the same person as the previous incarnations.

Ha Yeon is essentially asking, "Do you love whom I have become or whom I used to be?" If I were him, this would be important too since I would want to be in a relationship with someone who loves the person that I am currently (not just in terms of gender but also in terms of character) and not whom I was 300 years ago. This is because my sense of self is totally different now, and I don't feel a connection with my previous incarnations. There could be something profound too, for this raises the question: what exactly is loving the soul of a person? Of course, the series doesn't delve very deeply into this question, simply touching on it but simply circumventing it by having Yeon Seok love Ha Yeon of the third lifetime as an individual (i.e. even if a twist were to reveal that contemporary Ha Yeon is not really the reincarnation of the Ha Yeon 300 years ago, Yeon Seok would still love him).

Of course, to be fair, maybe the team behind Bad Buddy did take one slight risk in adding in a GL couple while resisting the temptation to turn Wai and Korn into a BL side couple. (They kept teasing us with the possibility, of course.) But it seems that so much care was taken to minimize the risk that we are kept guessing whether the two girls really love each other until quite late in the series.

Yeah, it got to a point where we can see Bad Buddy deliberately avoiding the problems of some other BLs that have riled viewers, like when they made fun of tendency to portray the leads as straight guys who eager to clarify that they are "not gay" and only love one man. The team behind it certainly did their homework and were proud enough to show it to us. I hope GMMTV turns the team's notes into some

Bad Buddy was very good all round, with Ohm and Nanon being excellent actors. But I somehow feel as if the production team simply found a great recipe and followed it very faithfully, creating something very nice without giving it a really special character or taking any significant risks. The team knew exactly what viewers love and hate, and tailored everything accordingly.

I love Bad Buddy, but I like the couple dynamics of Theo and Akk in Enchante more. The slow progression in Enchante is different from some series in which the couples get nowhere for many episodes. The way the two leads become increasingly unable to hide their love for each other is beautifully done. It's not always calculated to be a crowd-pleaser, and this is where its charm lies.

I'm still waiting for the series to be released, but if a body swap is involved, isn't he making out with a woman's body and a man's soul at the same time, and not one or the other?

If he likes the guy whose soul is now in a woman's body, I wonder how the series addresses the ethics of him making out with the person he likes while the soul is still in the wrong body, especially if the actual owner of the body hasn't agreed to it. It's still somebody else's body after all--unless both body swap parties have agreed to swap permanently or something.

Did you just read my mind? It's my favorite Thai BL this year so far, and Mork's dimpled smile... Dimples are not something I usually notice, but on him, I just keep noticing. Dimples have never made someone look so good.

As for the supporting cast, I love the uncles.

I have never noticed dimples more on a person than on Fluke in My Ride. His MDL picture should really be replaced with one of him smiling.

I'm pretty impressed with Bank as Sandee. He managed the bizarre turns in the characters well. But I'm kind of glad the writers didn't expand Sandee's role. The trend seems to be that the less the writers touch a character, the more interesting the character is.