This review may contain spoilers
Blank: An exploration of everything wrong with early Thai GL. Watch with caution, if at all.
When I first started watching Thai girl love stories, one of the thoughts I had was, “Why are they speed-running everything the West got wrong with queer fiction?” The short answer is Chao Planoy. There is no shortage of criticism for her as a writer and as a person, so I won’t rehash those general complaints. Each season is only six episodes, so I will discuss the series as a whole.
Red Flags
Age gap – 16 years
Power imbalance
Secret Keeping
Kitchen sink - every possible horrible thing – the Planoy playbook
Green flags- None.
Blank, like GAP, holds an important place in Thai GL history. These were early stories that really showcased the financial viability of the genre, which is necessary for companies to continue investing in the genre. That said, it does not excuse the significant problems with this series, nor does it excuse the industry that saw the money but didn’t take the time to consider how they were portraying these characters and how that can affect viewers and the fandom.
Age gap romance has been a long-standing problem in sapphic fiction. I can overlook 5 years, maybe ten, as long as everything else in the relationship is healthy and the younger one is ethically and legally old enough to consent. Neung is 36, Aneung is 20, and that’s a 16-year age gap. At 50 and 66, this would be less of a problem, but at 20 and 36, there is no possibility of this being a healthy relationship. The difference in social experience creates a significant power imbalance in the relationship.
Making matters worse, if you missed the explicit declaration of Aneung’s age in Season 1, you could reasonably believe she is closer to 14 based on her behavior. I’ve seen people write this off as part of “cute culture,” which can make the characters and actresses of the GL world seem younger than they are, but I think that is a fragile argument in this case. The character appears to be infantilized to exaggerate the already disturbing age gap intentionally. These were choices made by the author, the screenwriter who adapted it, and the production staff. It’s just gross. I’ve had multiple conversations with friends about how icky the age gap is in this.
Continuing the power imbalance, we have Neung M.L. Sipakorn, who is literally royalty. Even though she is on the edges of the royal family, and Aneung, who is sufficiently well off that she attends a private school, but of a much lower social class than Neung. Taken as a whole, the power imbalance is fraught with problems.
Secret keeping in queer romances can be OK, but not this time. Keeping a relationship a secret because someone’s family is homophobic is reasonable and standard in genuine LGBTQ+ relationships. Keeping it a secret because the other family sees Neung as a step-mother figure and will assume she is taking advantage of Aneung is an admission that, while not technically pedophilia, the story is leaning really heavily into it.
Spoilers below.
Everything, and the kitchen sink.” This one is just tired and annoying, not actually disturbing. Part of the Planoy playbook is throwing every possible traumatic event at the leads. Blank is no exception. Looking at both seasons we have a disturbing age gap, an even larger maturity gap, a power imbalance, Neung nearly being responsible for the abortion of Aneung, Aneung’s mother being hung up on Neung, Neung once being engaged to Aneung’s father, who tries to get back with her, disaproving family on both sides, homophobic family, threats of forcing adult Aneung to go to college in the U.S. aganst her will, and then the car accident that puts Aneung in a coma for months so Neung can have a mini redemption arc. This is only 12 episodes when both seasons are included, and I probably missed at least one unnecessary hurdle thrown in their way.
All in all, this is one of the worst GLs I’ve watched. Sure, it has some cute scenes, but they just are not worth the mental damage of watching this mess of a show. For the folks who do like this show, I would ask, are you really comfortable with these things, or is it simply that it was early in Thai GLs, and there wasn’t much GL representation in Thai/Asian video series, combined with a bit of nostalgia and a rose-colored rearview mirror?
I'm annoyed the I was not allowed to rate any category at 0 stars. I could understand wanting to verify I didn't miss it, but I wouldn't rate this series at a 1.
Red Flags
Age gap – 16 years
Power imbalance
Secret Keeping
Kitchen sink - every possible horrible thing – the Planoy playbook
Green flags- None.
Blank, like GAP, holds an important place in Thai GL history. These were early stories that really showcased the financial viability of the genre, which is necessary for companies to continue investing in the genre. That said, it does not excuse the significant problems with this series, nor does it excuse the industry that saw the money but didn’t take the time to consider how they were portraying these characters and how that can affect viewers and the fandom.
Age gap romance has been a long-standing problem in sapphic fiction. I can overlook 5 years, maybe ten, as long as everything else in the relationship is healthy and the younger one is ethically and legally old enough to consent. Neung is 36, Aneung is 20, and that’s a 16-year age gap. At 50 and 66, this would be less of a problem, but at 20 and 36, there is no possibility of this being a healthy relationship. The difference in social experience creates a significant power imbalance in the relationship.
Making matters worse, if you missed the explicit declaration of Aneung’s age in Season 1, you could reasonably believe she is closer to 14 based on her behavior. I’ve seen people write this off as part of “cute culture,” which can make the characters and actresses of the GL world seem younger than they are, but I think that is a fragile argument in this case. The character appears to be infantilized to exaggerate the already disturbing age gap intentionally. These were choices made by the author, the screenwriter who adapted it, and the production staff. It’s just gross. I’ve had multiple conversations with friends about how icky the age gap is in this.
Continuing the power imbalance, we have Neung M.L. Sipakorn, who is literally royalty. Even though she is on the edges of the royal family, and Aneung, who is sufficiently well off that she attends a private school, but of a much lower social class than Neung. Taken as a whole, the power imbalance is fraught with problems.
Secret keeping in queer romances can be OK, but not this time. Keeping a relationship a secret because someone’s family is homophobic is reasonable and standard in genuine LGBTQ+ relationships. Keeping it a secret because the other family sees Neung as a step-mother figure and will assume she is taking advantage of Aneung is an admission that, while not technically pedophilia, the story is leaning really heavily into it.
Spoilers below.
Everything, and the kitchen sink.” This one is just tired and annoying, not actually disturbing. Part of the Planoy playbook is throwing every possible traumatic event at the leads. Blank is no exception. Looking at both seasons we have a disturbing age gap, an even larger maturity gap, a power imbalance, Neung nearly being responsible for the abortion of Aneung, Aneung’s mother being hung up on Neung, Neung once being engaged to Aneung’s father, who tries to get back with her, disaproving family on both sides, homophobic family, threats of forcing adult Aneung to go to college in the U.S. aganst her will, and then the car accident that puts Aneung in a coma for months so Neung can have a mini redemption arc. This is only 12 episodes when both seasons are included, and I probably missed at least one unnecessary hurdle thrown in their way.
All in all, this is one of the worst GLs I’ve watched. Sure, it has some cute scenes, but they just are not worth the mental damage of watching this mess of a show. For the folks who do like this show, I would ask, are you really comfortable with these things, or is it simply that it was early in Thai GLs, and there wasn’t much GL representation in Thai/Asian video series, combined with a bit of nostalgia and a rose-colored rearview mirror?
I'm annoyed the I was not allowed to rate any category at 0 stars. I could understand wanting to verify I didn't miss it, but I wouldn't rate this series at a 1.
Was this review helpful to you?
