lilili

I'm surprised that Krailert wasn't killed when the General found out he was gay. Is it because his family is too powerful? Also, does anyone know the significance of the rings that Krailert and Tanwa are wearing?

🎵 Cliched screenplay : "Amadeus of Rock" **eye roll**
🎵 Amazing music: the OST is on repeat in my car
🎵 Stunning cinematography: you can tell Netflix invested a lot in this because the money is on the screen
🎵 Fantastic acting: even with the cheesy script the actors are killing it. Special mention to Miyazaki Yu who is so much fun to watch in her drumming scenes and Suda Masaki who ate in the episode focused on his character.
🎵 Eye candy: the entire cast is gorgeous, I can't take my eyes off of them, both men and women. Special mention to Machida Keita who looks freakin' amazing with long hair.

I think Wateru held back because he knew that he was fated to die and had no idea how much time he had left with Misa so he was struggling with his feelings for her. He didn't want to make her life more difficult than it already was. That's why the signals are confusing, it's on purpose to communicate his conflict.

If it makes you feel better, I knew the plot because I watched the Korean version first and it didn't lessen my enjoyment of the Japanese version at all.

Thank you so much for sharing this, it gives badly needed context for international viewers. I was fairly lost during the first episode

Plot is very similar (not identical) but the big change is in the tone. This is much more grounded, the focus is less on the revenge and more on the FL's emotional journey and learning to value herself. Also the ML is much sexier and has fantastic chemistry with the FL.

I think he's supposed to look like Jim Morrison of The Doors: https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-news/the-rolling-stone-interview-jim-morrison-73308/

Thank you for this!

Thailand is a military dictatorship today! And the monarchy is the wealthiest in the world, worth $30 billion, in a country where the average annual income is $3700. Also, it's a crime to criticize the king, even after he dies. So the issues the drama is showing are still very relevant today.

First impressions: The production values are stunning. The drama looks incredible and they got most of the little period details right. The costuming in particular is fantastic.

The music is also great and it's mostly original compositions for the production. I really like the song playing over the end credits but it's called Dark Side of the Moon and it's confusing because of the Pink Floyd song having the same name but oh well.

The performances are solid, especially the supporting actors. Apo is getting to play a meaty role as a privileged man who is struggling with his sexuality and the political upheaval going on around him.
Mile is doing his rock star thing but he's very good at it.

The drama is a little slow and I felt like the editing could've been tightened up, especially at the beginning of the episode. Also, I think you need to be familiar with the history of Thailand to fully grasp what's going on. There was a sequence at the end of the drama with people reading a newspaper columnist and after googling I think the column is supposed to be written by King Bhumibol Adulyadej who was a gifted musician and composer. He reined for 70 years and his personal net worth was $30 billion and I think the drama was low key shading the monarchy for having that much money when people were starving (directly criticizing the king will land you in jail even today so they have to be careful).

ETA: I was wrong about the newspaper scene, this is what someone explained to me: The newspaper reading scene is two columnists arguing with each other. Klai Rung and Sarasawadee, pen names for Krailert and Naran. ใกล้รุ่ง Klai Rung translates to "near dawn," or "sunrise." It is also the name of a well known song composed by King Bhumibhol aka Rama 9. สรัสวดี Sarasawadee is the Thai name for the goddess of arts and sciences.

At the end of the episode Mile kisses Apo so the BL fans got fed. But this isn't a BL. It's about the political and social upheaval of that period of time. A student protest takes up a big chunk of the episode. And there's a lot of time spent on shady political deals being made at the expense of poor farmers. So if you're watching this for sexy fun times, yes there's some of that but that's not the main focus of the drama.

Mile's hair is extensions, you can see where they are clipped in. I wish they'd done a better job with his hair because the rest of the costuming and styling is very period accurate.

MDL is insane, this drama has been written up in the NY Times, The Guardian and Slate as the best of 2025 but MDL reviewers are all nope it's a Jdrama, gotta rate it 7.7.

It's worth watching but it's dramatically different in tone from the Japanese version. It's a makjang crack watch that puts exquisite revenge over everything else

I agree, I'm at ep 24, I also loved the first 8 episodes or so but then the story got so dreary and the romance went nowhere, all the men were crazy in love with the FL for no reason. It gets exciting in episode 19 but nothing really makes sense. I'll finish it but it should've been 16 episodes and less symbolism, more real characters.

Article describing Studio Dragon's investment in Japan to produce both Jdramas and Kdramas with multinational talent: https://www.mk.co.kr/en/hot-issues/11311033#none

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Studio Dragon will start producing K-dramas and American dramas, followed by Yield (Japanese dramas).

Studio Dragon announced on the 8th, "In June, we will release the Japanese drama 'Marry My Husband' (original: 私の夫と結婚して) through Amazon's video streaming service Prime Video, and in July, we will release the Korea-Japan joint production 'Hatsukoi Dogs' in partnership with Japanese terrestrial TBS."

"In August, the Japanese Netflix series 'Soulmate' (original: ソウルメイト) will be released around the world," he said. "We will continue to introduce a global IP that incorporates the strengths of K-drama into dramas based on the U.S. and Japan."

First, the Japanese version of "Marry My Husband," which will be released worldwide on June 27 through Prime Video, is not a remake of a Korean drama, but a new adaptation of the original web novel to suit Japanese sentiment.

Studio Dragon and CJ ENM JAPAN were in charge of the project, Freedro Pictures, which produced the movie "The Girl We Loved at That Time," and Shochiku, a large Japanese production company with a long history, was in charge of the production.

Producer Son Sa-young of Studio Dragon, who was in charge of the Korean version of "Marry My Husband," and producer Lee Sang-hwa of CJ ENM's global content production team will work together as the executive producer of the Japanese version of "Marry My Husband" to demonstrate the production capabilities of K-drama.

Studio Dragon planned this work early from spring 2023, before introducing the Korean version of Marry My Husband. After the Korean version ended early last year, the production team started making the Japanese version in earnest, traveling between Korea and Japan. Since January of this year, producers have been dispatched to Japan and are focusing on the final work before the release of the Japanese version.

"Hatsukoi Dogs," which is set to be released for the first time on TBS in July, is a Japanese drama jointly created by Studio Dragon in partnership with TBS, one of the five major Japanese terrestrial broadcasters.

It is a healing romance drama about a third generation of Korean conglomerate, a Japanese veterinarian, and a lawyer who meets a dog with a huge secret, building friendships and healing wounds in conflict.

Working as a divorce lawyer, he claims that love is an illusion, but deep down, the role of Aiko Hanamura, who wants to believe in love, is Kiyohara Kaya, the role of Kai Shirosaki, a veterinarian who is kind to everyone but is not close to people, is Narita Ryo, and Woo Seo-ha, a third-generation conglomerate who looks innocent but hides enormous abilities, is played by Nine-woo, who moved to Japan from Korea.

Producer Kim Gye-re of Studio Dragon participated as a collaborative producer and writer, directed tvN's "Lies for No Use" and co-directed by Roh Young-seop of Studio Dragon, who won the Silver Remy Award at the Houston International Film Festival in the U.S. for tvN's one-act play "Walk."

In August, the Japanese drama "Soulmate," produced by Studio Dragon's subsidiary G-Tist, will be released worldwide through Netflix. The Netflix series "Soulmate" depicts Ryu, who abandoned everything and left Japan, accidentally saves his life with John's help at a foreign church, and the two, who were shaken by an uncertain future, are set in Berlin, Seoul, and Tokyo and have been healing and comforting each other's pain for 10 years.

Acting actor Hayato Isomura will play the role of Narutaki Ryu, and Ok Taek-yeon, who was also very popular in Japan with the drama "Vincenzo," will play Hwang Yo-han. Hashizume Shunki, a novelist, screenwriter, director, and creator who has various activities in Japan, will write and direct.

With this, Studio Dragon has become a studio that produces drama IP simultaneously in three countries: Korea, the United States, and Japan.

Studio Dragon introduced season 1 of the 2023 mid "The Big Door Prize" through Apple TV+ through co-production with US production company Skydance, and also unveiled season 2 of 2024 thanks to favorable reviews from critics.

An official from Studio Dragon said, "Mid 'The Machine of Reading Destiny', 'Marry My Husband', 'Hatsukoi Dogs', and 'Soulmate' are all examples of Korean production companies expanding the global territory of K-drama by making their own dramas in the local language, unlike the way they invest production costs in overseas dramas or sell remake copyrights," adding, "Japan is an attractive market with a large drama market and a long lifespan of hit IP for decades." "We plan to melt Studio Dragon's global box office experience into Japanese local production dramas," he explained.

Wataru's origami is a crane. Misa's is a tortoise. There's a Japanese folk tale about the tortoise and crane becoming friends, saving each other and living a long life together. https://kevinpage.co.uk/news-and-blog/the-crane-and-the-turtle-our-re-telling-of-this-popular-japanese-legend-as-we-mark-international-turtle-day/

Tomoya's regrets and apology at the end were about him realizing that Misa was the best thing he'd ever had and that he'd pissed it away with his terrible behavior. It was just last minute regrets before the end of his life. Not trying to make us feel sorry for him, more like a lot of immature losers don't understand what they have until they lose it.

Reina didn't get a redemption arc either. The point of the Ferris wheel scene was that Misa played a role in their shitty dynamic and until she realized that she wouldn't be able to break free. The premise of the entire drama was that Misa needed to learn to value herself and the only way to do that was to accept responsibility for her own mistakes. Remember when Wataru told her she wasn't a nice person but a person who victimized herself? By admitting her role in the dynamic with Reina, Misa was finally closing the door on the relationship so she could move on and value herself enough that she'll never let anyone treat her that way again.

I don't think the drama tried to give Reina and Tomoya a redemption arc.

That was a strong first episode and I liked the little reveals dropped throughout the episode until the big reveal at the end. You can tell it's the same director as The Gifted and F4 Thailand, he knows how to build suspense and his dramas always look really good. Toey is really good but I miss Prim, she and Win had fantastic chemistry and she's such a solid actor. Looking forward to seeing how the drama plays out.

Yes, I think so because the emotional tone is so drastically different between the two dramas that it doesn't get boring to watch the same story.

As to which one you'll like better, I'll quote an article: "If the Korean version offers instant satisfaction, a refreshing sense of justice and straightforward fun, the 10-episode Japanese version was designed to explore deeper relationships and the psychological nuances between characters.”