lovecoutureflyy

“Stars Fall in My Arms & Fall in Love with You Again”
Starring: Huang Wen Bo and Zhang Yu Yan
My Rating: 4

After getting drugged one night, she slept with her adopted brother.

Another vertical drama not posted on MDL yet. A sweet melodrama with the typical ‘I was drugged, slept with you, and now I’m pregnant’ storyline. But in this case, when she was younger, she was adopted into a rich family and fell in love with her brother, whom she had secretly had a crush on since she was a teenager. I thought this was simply okay, though, and found it to be slightly boring. It has its sweet moments, though.

Update: This is now listed on MDL as Fan Xing Zhui Wo Huai, and I also added it on my list.

I was a little disappointed with this one, but Chen Si as always does great with this kind of role. His pained expression when begging Yang Shu Yu's character for affection and love was perfect.

Thanks for your help! I did end up finding her! Her name is Wang Nan Nan. This is the only vertical drama I've seen her in so far, but maybe she can be added to this list in the future.

Thank you! I'm going to try and see if I can find it on there. :)

Do you recognize the female lead in this one? I went through all of Ma Xiao Yu's dramas on here, but I don't think this one is listed yet.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IzrFLELlbbs

"Affair with My Cousin-in-Law"
Possible Native Title: 霍总别虐了 付小姐她又去相亲了
Starring: Zhu Xin Zhong (Daniel Zhu)
My Rating: 7.5

She loves him, but he is her cousin-in-law.

This was a very sexy forbidden romance. There were some hot kiss scenes, and I liked how cool and suave Zhu Xin Zhong was as the male lead, while also showing jealousy and possessiveness. I had fun with this one despite how annoying the grandfather was. I also loved how the female lead's mother supported her in the end. If you like forbidden romance, this was a fun one!

I want to note that this drama isn't listed on MDL. Under the YouTube videos, they claim the female lead's name is Zhang Shi Jie, but whenever I look up her native name, I can't find anything. Also, if you look for this drama on YouTube, it's sometimes listed as 'affair with my half-brother' or 'affair with my brother-in-law'. None of those are accurate because the female lead is related to the male lead through marriage, and they are cousins-in-laws.

[Hot Kisses + Steamy Forbidden Romance = Loved it!]

I really liked this one! Such a cute romance!

I think that's the Yao Guan Yu version that I've been searching for high and low. If you can remember where you watched it or you come across it, please let me know!

Winning Her Over a Second Time
Starring: Yao Guan Yu and Li Shengnan
My Rating: 7.5

She wants to break up because he won't marry her, but he won't let her go.

This vertical drama hasn't been posted on MDL yet, but I really liked Yao Guan Yu in this. I thought he had great chemistry with Li Shengnan, and I really enjoyed his performance here. There are some hot, dramatic scenes here, but the ending does fall a bit flat, and they definitely could have fleshed out the problems in the leads' relationship better. But I think the leads' chemistry and Yao Guan Yu's performance really outshines those issues. I also liked the fact that they didn't go the villain route with the second male lead.

Update: This is now listed on MDL as Lian Xia De Gu Shi, and I also added it on my list.

The kisses between the leads were hot and steamy, but I could not get past how mentally unstable they both were especially the female lead.

This was fun, but the ending definitely left a bit of a sour taste in my mouth. I honestly felt bad for Lin. It felt like she was always getting the shitty end of the stick when it came to men, and then Khata came around, and he made it seem like he was so mature, pure, and committed to her, only for him to turn out to be not that different from the men Lin had been with before. The only difference between him and his father was that at least his father didn’t sell Lin fantasies.

I know Khata was going through things, but he definitely shouldn’t have kissed Aim. And then to go abroad and date her was even crazier. And while Lin definitely had been older, I hated that everyone always put everything on her as if she were forcing Khata to do something that he didn’t want to do. Khata was constantly pretending to be mature, only to reveal himself to be a child a few moments later. He had countless opportunities to tell Lin that he didn’t want to go abroad with her, but he never said anything to her. Instead, she had to get cursed out by his mother and treated as if she were the one holding him back.

So, while I guess it was nice for them to get back together in the end, I felt that Lin deserved better than Khata, like a real man who wouldn’t gaslight her and date the girl she had been worried about all along. Again, everything Khata did was so childish that I really had a hard time understanding why she even liked him. He wanted to be treated like a man but constantly acted like a boy. Instead of getting a real job, he did stupid things with his friend. He got mad whenever Lin tried to help him, and he refused to say anything to Lin whenever he didn’t like something. Overall, if this lakorn had ended with them not getting back together, I would have been satisfied with that.

It was nice to see Rangsan get a taste of his own medicine, though. He really met his match with Gina, and it was so satisfying to see her doing the same things he had done to Kate. But I didn’t like that Kate spent all that time bullying the hell out of Lin, only for her to cry and become weak once she found out that Gina was sleeping with her husband. If anything, Gina deserved what Lin got because she was actually her friend and assistant.

I wanted to like Fai Nam Kang because I was excited to finally see Mookda and Euro paired together, but it was a bit of a letdown. It started off good in the first half, but in the second half, the romance took a back seat to the annoying drama and equally annoying characters. Unlike other people, Plubpha did not annoy me, and I actually understood where she was coming from most of the time. I think a lot of people were quick to forget that Peem was a complete asshole to her in the beginning. He harshly judged her and criticized her, practically calling her a prostitute. He refused to listen to her when she tried to explain herself, made it seem like she was easy, and spent majority of the time trying to trick her into a relationship to prove a point to his father. It almost felt like karma that Peem was now on the other end of the stick, where he was being harshly criticized for something he didn’t do, where he couldn’t explain himself because Plubpha refused to listen, and where he was tricked by her too. If anything, Peem got a dose of his own medicine. I couldn’t fault Plubpha for not believing him when every other time he had been lying and tricking her. I must admit that there were many times where I cringed hearing Putter call Vikit dad, but it didn’t change the fact that half of the misunderstandings between them could have been resolved if Peem had simply admitted his feelings when it mattered.

Now, I can’t blame everything on Peem because there were many annoying characters who also helped cause the misunderstandings between them. But, I will say that the most satisfying thing about this lakorn was that most of those annoying characters got their karma in the end. I cheered when Peem’s dad died because he was an awfully selfish man who had destroyed his family because he couldn’t be faithful to his wife. It was actually kind of poetic that he died because of the mistress he brought into his home. I was also happy that Peem’s mother didn’t want to reconcile their romantic relationship because he didn’t deserve that from her. I cheered when Tri learned that her husband had been cheating on her and wound up in the hospital because she had been an awful sibling. I cheered when Pete’s mother and Usa’s dad both got their karma in the end.

I will say that I didn’t feel bad for Vikit at all. He acted as if he were Plubpha’s hero, but half of the time, he had been the one causing problems for Plubpha by helping Usa get in between her relationship with Peem. If anything, I felt like he got off a bit unscathed because Plubpha never really learned the hand that he had in some of the things that took place in the beginning.

While it was sad what happened to Mootha, and Phop and Napha definitely deserved everything that happened to them, I couldn’t help but think that Mootha was a bit of a dummy, and she had some things coming for her because of her own actions. Phop does lie to her, but it really annoyed me that she refused to listen to the countless people who told her all the things Phop had done and how much of a player he was. I get that you can’t judge people solely based off rumors, but once it became clear that Phop was still in a relationship with his wife that should have been the end of it. But she still chooses to be with Phop regardless, and at that point, she wasn’t being tricked anymore, she was just being plain ol’ stupid. But when you realize how she had been treated by her mother growing up, it makes sense that she would still seek out love from a man like Phop, seeing that she had pretty much been robbed of love by her mother. How can you know what it means to be loved properly if your own family can't even do it? Their father was annoying too because of his passiveness and never calling his wife out on her favoritism.

This was surprisingly good and what I liked the most about it was Aom’s performance. Usually, I get really annoyed with the topic of forgiveness in Thai lakorns, mostly because characters do heinous things, and it’s all resolved with a simple apology, but I thought Song Rao Nirundon actually did a great job with the topic. Fon is so deeply impacted by the injustice her brother faced that even though she did like Itt and he helped her business, she still refused to associate with him once she found out who he truly was. She just genuinely could not forgive him, and when she had that conversation with her brother, and he told her that she should forgive them for herself, it was one of the first times I really believed the whole “forgiving someone can help you move on” thing. Not to say that I never believed in it, but more so that it's usually always poorly handled in lakorns. But here, it was done very well, and it really was thanks to Aom’s performance. She does a really good job of portraying a naïve girl who has to become stronger when she no longer can depend on her brother.

The chemistry between Aom and Ken was good, and surprisingly, the ending didn’t bother me. It was definitely bittersweet, and I hated that it felt like they hadn’t got enough time together, but I was also happy that they at least got to be together in their last moments.

Also, I loved that scene where Aom and Ken were in the hospital talking together. Aom is just really good at crying without it being over the top or seeming forced. And while I’ve done nothing but pretty much praise Aom, Ken did a really good job here too.

This was an exhausting watch, from beginning to end. I wished the relationship between Kae and Pope would have been enough to curbside the annoying characters, and this lakorn was filled with many annoying characters, but, unfortunately, their relationship wasn’t enough. I found most of the characters to be annoying here, including our leads. Kae seemed like a nice girl, but she was also just plain stupid, too willing to let people take advantage of her and let even strangers walk all over her. I was in disbelief watching as she let Athit, a random man she met at the bank, have practically complete control over her money. And while I hated her mom, when she told her she was stupid for letting Athit handle her money, I couldn’t help but agree with her. Then there was Pope, who was a nice guy and clearly loved Kae, but his love for her brought her nothing but trouble. I couldn’t even find it cute that Pope was fighting for his love, when in doing so, only brought Kae trouble. His parents were annoying, and while they spent all of their time harassing Kae, Pope could barely do anything about it. I also hated Kae’s parents. Scratch that. I practically hated her entire family with the exception of Prang, who at least would stick up for her when their mother was clearly abusing Kae.

Speaking of the mother, I knew from the moment when it was hinted that she wasn’t Kae’s mom, that it would either be the last episode or second to last episode where the mom would give a two-minute apology for the mental, verbal, and physical abuse she had done to Kae her entire life, and all would be forgiven. And while I knew that, I still was infuriated watching it. The mother was awful, and there was not one redeeming quality to her. She had treated Kae lower than dirt, and all was forgiven in practically a blink of an eye. I hated Kae’s father too because though he pointed out that that everyone was leeching off of Kae, he was doing the same thing too. Kae’s younger brother was awful, and her younger sister was stupid too.

If you can get past the infuriating characters here, you'll enjoy the romance between Kae and Pope, but unfortunately, there were too many annoying characters for my taste.

At times, this was fun and sweet, and at other times, it dragged. I liked the relationship between Khem and Non, especially in the beginning. And I had been super excited when it was finally revealed that Khem wasn’t Kwan. But in the second half, their relationship got bogged down by the writers stretching the story out and making Khem indecisive, even though it was clear that she liked Non more. I also thought that was the problem with the second leads. Yothin and Preeya had a fun setup, but the engagement between Khem and Yothin was dragged out to the very last minute, and we really didn’t get the chance to see them together romantically.

I felt bad for Kwan when I realized what had happened to her. She really was just a victim of poor parenting and selfishness, and that doesn’t just apply to Kwan and Khem’s mother, but to their grandfather, who really was a big part of the reason their family fell apart. Of course, that's not me absolving Kwan’s mother or even Kwan’s questionable choices, but it annoyed me that the grandfather just expected everyone to listen to him whether he was right or wrong.

The Junya reveal was crazy. I thought it was strange that she knew the perfect gift to give Non, and there were other little weird things she would do too, but it had easily slipped my mind with everything else going on. I still didn’t think it was necessary to bring her back for the last two episodes, though. And honestly, this lakorn could have been four to five episodes shorter overall.

And, while I could not stand Nin and thought she was an awful person, I felt bad for her, especially when it was revealed that Pracha had sexually assaulted her. I was glad they didn’t have Nin fall in love with Pracha or forgive him, which happens way too often in lakorns.

Also, a lot of satisfying things happen. I was so happy and amused by how much Prai wanted to divorce his wife. He was prepared to leave with only the clothes on his back, and Tah couldn’t believe it. By the way, Tah was a great nang rai. She didn’t even annoy me, and I had fun watching her down spiral as she made poor choices to hold onto her husband. I also appreciated that she was the one to make Prae finally acknowledge something she had suspected. She definitely had been rude about it, but it was a rude awakening that Prae needed to finally take charge of her life, and it was so satisfying to see her get even with everyone, including Tah. Also, I liked the relationship between Prae and Prai, and the only critique I have is that I wished there was a little bit more focus on the development of their romantic relationship. The potential was there, but it fell a little flat in the end.

I’m truly surprised by how much fun I had with Phleng Bin Bai Ngiu. From beginning to end, I was invested in the tumultuous marriages between Prai and Ta, and Jom and Prae. So many juicy scenes and explosive dialogue; so much drama, but not the annoying kind, mostly because it was easy to understand everyone’s motives and why they are the way they are. Tah wants attention and to be loved because her dad refuses to show it. She thinks she will get that from Prai, but while Prai does love Tah, he also works extra hard to prove to her father that he’s useful and didn’t just marry Tah for money. It’s funny because it’s almost like Tah is mad that Prai is showing that he’s a good man who can take care of her because, for her, she just wanted a man who was going to fill up the hole of loneliness in her heart, hence why she was unreasonable on their honeymoon when Prai said they needed to return home so he could work. It’s almost like she wants a man like Jaegun, but one who actually loves her, which she acknowledged that Prai did truly love her, but she still was unsatisfied because she didn’t have his attention all the time.

Prae is too sheltered by her mom, and all of her decisions are either made by her mother or influenced by her cousin. She rarely makes any decisions for herself and because of this, even though she notices some red flags with Jom, she still chooses to marry him because of her mother’s words. Even when she is clearly dissatisfied with her marriage, she chooses to bite her tongue because of her mother, who annoyed me, by the way, because she always expected Prae to be the understanding one. Then there is Jom, who is poor and money-hungry, the complete opposite of Prai, who although entered his marriage with Tah without money, didn’t have ambitions of taking it from her, like Jom has with Prae. Jom tries to pretend that he was forced into the marriage by his mother, but even when she tells him that he can divorce Prae, he doesn’t because he’s just as greedy as his mother and desires the same prestigious life that Tah and Prae had.

Even Nuan is not just simply some crazy nang rai. She wants Jom because she believes he’s a good man that she can’t lose, which is interesting because Jom is far from a good man. He even calls her ‘E’Nuan’ which is a very disrespectful and degrading way to refer to a Thai woman. But for someone like Nuan, Jom is the best man she can get, and she fights tooth and nail for him. It’s also clear that Nuan has a lot of insecurities about her status in society, and she takes that out on Prae. Lee is jealous of her cousin and bitter about how her marriage turned out, so she wants to show her aunt that the same could happen to her cousin.

All of these characters have motives that lead to great fun. I realized while watching this that this is what some other lakorns like this are missing. They just have characters doing crazy things for the sake of it and instead of it being entertaining, it’s just mind-boggling and nonsensical. Meanwhile, here, no matter how crazy their choices were, it still made sense why they were doing them, even if I didn’t agree with them.

Finally got around to watching this, and while I did like this for the first few episodes, I quickly got bored by Khem’s childish revenge against Su. Yah Leum Chan requires too much heavy lifting from the viewers, expecting us to believe in this grand college love between Su and Khem, which we only see a few scenes of I might add, to justify Khem spending seventy percent of the lakorn being an ass because Su left him with only a note and no explanation for why. This isn’t the first lakorn to have the pra’ek be upset with the nang’ek because of a past breakup, but usually, the better written ones at least give good reasons for why they are upset. But with Yah Leum Chan, it’s hard to take Khem’s pain seriously. He’s a grown man, close to his forties, who comes off at least fifteen years younger than everyone else around him because he’s constantly being childish with wild mood swings, unreasonable demands, and loud tantrums. On top of that, while it would have been nice for Su to break up with him in person instead of leaving a note, he acted as if she had shot him and left him for dead. I’m not saying that he was wrong for being sad and angry about how she left him, but it was just so hard to empathize with him when he was so cruel to Su, and it never amounted to what she had done.

Because of how childish Khem’s revenge was, I think the lead characters would have been better suited for younger actors. Also, as much as I love Tik, I think he and Ann were miscast for these roles. By no means is Tik a bad actor; some of my favorite lakorns have him in them, and he’s great in them, but here, he was lacking something. I couldn’t put a finger on it, but it felt like he didn’t have a good understanding of this role to bring Khem to life, and it wasn’t only him, but Ann too. Su was too tame for Ann. Ann’s at her best in more fiery, sassy roles, and she doesn’t get to be that way until toward the end. Both Su and Khem came off as bland because of Ann and Tik’s performances. Also, sadly, Tik and Ann’s chemistry was not the best. All of these things made Yah Leum Chan dull. It’s not poorly written or even poorly acted. It just feels like issues of miscasting. Honestly, if you give these roles to younger actors in their late twenties or early thirties and pick two actors who actually have chemistry, then Yah Leum Chan would be twenty times better.

I also wanted to mention that Su’s parents really annoyed me. I felt like Su was facing so many troubles because of their actions, and all they could do was stand there, look stupid, and be of no help. They literally sold their daughter off to pay their debts and robbed her of her youth. That should have been Su’s time to pick her career, find love, and have kids of her own. This is also why I didn’t like Eua’s father. Su was still a college student, and he was supposed to be a good man, but he had a young woman to marry him just so she could take care of his twins and be harassed by his eldest daughters. He could have hired a nanny or got literally anyone else to protect their inheritance instead. It just felt like he had asked way too much of Su, and then had the nerve not to give her any money after his death, even though she was taking care of his children. By the way, I immediately knew the twins weren’t hers because they called her ‘Mae Nou Lek’ instead of just ‘Mae’ or ‘Khun Mae’ which is the way Thai children call their parents.

When we meet Great’s character, Tor, he says that he’s just a boring man, and he isn’t lying. Not only is he boring, but just about every character is. Lub Luang Jai is kind of like one of those lakorns that focuses mostly on the nang rai, but this time, it does the opposite and mostly focuses on Joe. But although Joe technically isn’t a boring man like Tor, he’s just as uninteresting. I have nothing against Masu, who I do think usually does well playing nice male leads, but here, he’s supposed to play a charming, playboy who seduces several women, and he doesn’t do a good job of it. It just wasn’t a convincing performance, and he doesn’t have the same seductive charm as actors like Pong and Weir. They really needed actors like that to play this role, considering that Joe is the driving force of Lub Luang Jai. Seriously, he’s like in 80 percent of the scenes and drives most of the plot, which is why the main leads are pushed to the background. It also doesn’t help that the relationship between Dee and Tor is pretty boring. While I was happy that Dee was able to move on with a good guy like Tor, I really wished there was more to their relationship. Dee quickly decided not to be hung up on a guy like Joe, and it had been refreshing to watch, but at the same time, her not taking revenge or doing anything for that matter is really a part of the reason why her character is boring. There isn’t really anything for her to do. She has no goal. Tor has a goal to protect his younger sister and cousin, but even he mostly regulates that to other people.

By the way, Toom was very dumb. I found her character to be the most frustrating here. I wasn’t even that annoyed by Gift, although she wasn’t that bright herself either, but Toom had been warned more by Tor than Gift had. She knew that Joe had cheated on Dee with Gift, and she still decided to have an affair with him, and not only that, but she chose to hide behind the scenes causing all of these problems for Dee and Gift as if Gift weren’t her own cousin. I didn’t like her at all and wasn’t even mad about her ending.

Overall, I think Lub Luang Jai would have been much better if they had re-casted Joe and truly made this a Joe-centered lakorn or if they actually centered the story on Dee and Tor and gave Dee a goal. I’m glad she wasn’t a dummy like the other girls, but she truly doesn’t have much to do other than get harassed by a jealous Joe.