After watching My Extraordinary fall flat on its face trying to advocate against homophobia, I can certainly appreciate this shows similar attempts to raise awareness about homophobia. Let's give them some credit for talking about "it", something most Thai BLs avoid.
The problem, of course, is that it was rushed. Pai's parents are sort of homophobic then they are not 1 hour later.
A lot of things that happened in this show seemed illogical and out of the blue. I never brought into the friends to enemies back to friends again. Seeing Itt taking covertly taking pictures of Pai was not sweet, it was creepy. If I was Pai, I would have run away and never looked back. But I digress....
On a positive note, the IttPai kiss was pretty good. :)
When Pai cries at the dinning room table, I thought that was well acted, though TBH I did find the whaling a bit distracting. Overall, it was a touching scene. Pai was severely depressed because his parents had not accepted his relationship with Itt and wanted him to leave his school. Again, after seeing My Extraordinary fail rather miserably trying to bring attention to this same issue, it was nice seeing Director New succeed at bringing it to the light in a much subtler way.
Folk and Pure were my favorite, of course. I hope we get a season 2 focused on them. I found the love between Folk and Pure more believable than the love between Itt and Pai. The last scene showing how Folk pretty much had Pure on a tight leash was cute. Also the friendship between Waan and Pure was very believable.
One negative: I didn't like the attempted rape scene. And how the heck does the guy show up the next day and Folk just lets him stand in front of him? I would slam that door on his face or better yet slam it so hard it hits his face. Anyway, rape issues (so typical of Thai BL) aside, I thought my favorite character was actually Folk. I join the chorus in loving his comment about how what Pure said about having sex with someone else while thinking of him is bad. It was a great line!
Overall, this was an OK BL. I didn't hate it and I didn't love it. I only loved the FolkPure story. I think the IttPai story had a lot of potential but it just seemed too illogical and rushed. I hate being critical about it but I think that while the actor who plays Pai has acting potential, Marc Pahun is not that good. He is OK but he is not GMMTV quality good. Maybe it was Director New who just wasn't able to get the best of him or maybe it was the script but I didn't really feel Marc. He is handsome and he seemed to try hard so I respect that but I didn't love his portrayal. Playing a Tsundere is not easy... It was a big job and he didn't fully deliver. Of course, I haven't seen his other work so maybe this is an exception and I am totally wrong.
Love seeing Sammy here BTW. This is what I call 1 degree of Love Sick... LOL You can't get too far in the Thai BL world without stumbling upon a Love Sick alumni.
Congratulations to The IdeaFirst company! First Filipino BL, if not the first BL, to stream globally on Netflix!…
Love Sick is available in the US. I am not sure if its worldwide but it probably is. Same with SOTUS.
It will be the THIRD full on BL to be available on Netflix. It is also the FIRST BL I know of that has received an international award. You can now proudly say that "The award-winning Gameboys is coming to Neflix" :)
Ok so .... The filming was good ... The acting was good ..... The story was there BUT I just found myself emotionally…
I am with you. I wrote a review but I think I should add this feeling to it too... Like, I didn't felt attached to any character other than the baby brother and that's mostly because his scenes were on point.
The lead characters needed less cheesy lines (that whole thing about creating a new world.... what the ef is that about? LOL so corny). Compare that to the simple line spoken by Z Mejias character after they went to the hospital. He tells his friend (Sandees brother I think), that he just wants him to "talk about anything". It was such a tender and genuine moment.... I loved it. But that was the best line of the show.
The only actors that SHINED to me were Karissa and Z Mejias. Enzo and Darwin were mostly good. I agree that the mom overacted a bit. I don't get why people think she did great. I thought she was OK. Not great. OK is the word I would use...
Karissa was a standout IMO. So was Z Mejias.
You know, I though the writing in the first 2-3 episodes was good. The script just fell flat on its face right after they drive back from the house.
I also think that the director tried to be too clever for his own good and ended up not being clever at all. The story was predictable. There is 0 originality here. The message is good but the way it was delivered was bad...
A lot of new BL fans only look for shows with lots of sex and/or fluffy romance. And that's fine. But that doesn't…
I don't think this is the reason people have an issue with this show.... The issue we have is how they "bury the gays" for the sake of the heterosexual character's redemption and exculpatory plot arch. Another user said it best: there are far more real and destructive effects of homophobia and someone doesn't need to die in a car accident to suffer the effects of homophobia. It is the little things that kill you slowly.
Now that this is done, lets talk about what the writers and producers got wrong or right.
I think the description above needs to be changed. It is deceiving. This is a tale of love, tragedy and forgiveness. It is not a " tender story about innocence, friendship, the beauty of awakening desire, acceptance".
Which brings me back to why this is not BL. The story didnt end with their deaths, and once they died the focus was not them accepting they died. It was all about the parents and the family... in fact, the show ends with an admonition about ending homophobia. This show focus was not on the romance. This was an LGBTQ show.
The reason BL is unique is that it is focus is on the romantic relationship and how it develops. The Philippines thus far has given us all kinds of blended BL/queer shows from the BL-centered but queer aware Gameboys to the queer-centered but BL stylized BenXJim. I think My Extraordinary is too far Queer in terms of its narrative to be BL. It is focus is more on the heterosexual characters, making it more of a queer aware show. The BL elements are there, most notable is the seemingly gay romance between the brother of Ken and Sandees brother.
Overall, this show should not be considered BL in my humble opinion. This is not because it has a tragic ending but because the focus is not on the BL characters nor is the plot climax centered around the BL characters relationship.
My problem with this show is how one sided everything felt. Gav seemed to put way more into the relationship and…
I think Cairo is a tsundere and this is how they decided to portray him. He also displayed some of the typical Uke characteristics that we see in Thai BL. I think this show did a great job of blending Thai BL with Pinoy Queer media tradition while still keeping some important Yaoi elements.
I understand why you felt that way, but I think that this was done on purpose to keep the dramatic tension elevated and to make sure that Cairo stayed a tsundere all the way to the end.
Cairo was conflicted towards the end. He wanted to stay. He always did. He was conflicted between the love he felt for Gavreel and the love he felt for his mom and how much he felt he owe her now that his dad was dead.
I don't know if you got this from watching but both Cairo and Gav were lonely and found each other. When Cairo went through loosing his dad, Gav helped him and when Cairo came out, Gav was there for him. That kind of boding has a deep and lasting impact. I think the show was pretty realistic in how it portrayed the development of Cairo. I actually felt like it was Gavreel who had little development.
you mean the netflix drama? I have seen it, but there is better dramas that tackled the older woman (or teacher)/…
Yes, I meant the drama!
I really enjoyed the experience of watching the characters develop.... In the beginning I was so mad at her.... I don't recall ever being this mad at a character! I was super upset that she was being unfaithful to her husband. He seemed so cute. In my head I was like, if you don't want him, hello? LOL
Then he turned out to also be an asshat. You then think, they just both deserve each other. Then the kid also turns out to be a jerk, though I totally excused him because of what she did to him. Eventually in the end, I got the feeling that they both grew and learned from the experiences.
But yes, she was a sort of repulsive character that you wanted to shake her to see if you could get some sense into her. I don't think she was evil, but she was really messed up in the head.
I miss J-dramas.... I need to start watching again!
Great list. This makes me want to get back to watching J-dramas and movies.
Did you ever watch Love and Fortune (2018)? It is not as weird of a premise but it is a weird movie that draws you in, repulses you, makes you hate the characters, makes you love them, then leaves you with an empty feeling. Very Japanese LOL.
Question about Ken: I thought they were half brothers. If they are really step brothers then which parent is Sky…
I fixed it... Thanks for catching that... You know, I struggled with whether I should write it so many weeks after watching the last episode. I had jotted down some notes (and that info was not on those notes). I decided to write it anyway because I don't have time to rewatch the show. There are just too many BLs out there now....
When I write my Love Sick reviews, I write down notes, I research things on the net, etc. It takes me about 3-4 hours of work per episode.
This, I wrote down pretty quickly, having done only a bit of research earlier on when I put the notes together. It probably took me about 1-2 hours of note taking and about 1 hour to edit the notes and write the blog.
I mean, I find it interesting how the writer seems to think he's being rebellious and non-conforming by NOT doing…
I agree 100% with you but we still should wait to judge this until the very end. Some have said they may not die at all in the end. Time travel? Fore-visions? Who knows!
Episode 4: One Meter Apart was a really enjoyable episode. Yes, I know Chen was so coño [upper class Filipino…
Interesting that the word coño sounds clearly derived from Spanish but in Spanish it is a swear word. It makes me wonder if it comes from a certain disdain for this kind of speak.
If upper class Pinoys are going to immersive language programs and watching a lot of American TV, it makes sense that they will speak very heavy Taglish.
Not being from the Philippines, I appreciated the opportunity of watching him deliver his lines without having to read the subtitles so consider this a benefit to international viewers.
1 
The problem, of course, is that it was rushed. Pai's parents are sort of homophobic then they are not 1 hour later.
A lot of things that happened in this show seemed illogical and out of the blue. I never brought into the friends to enemies back to friends again. Seeing Itt taking covertly taking pictures of Pai was not sweet, it was creepy. If I was Pai, I would have run away and never looked back. But I digress....
On a positive note, the IttPai kiss was pretty good. :)
When Pai cries at the dinning room table, I thought that was well acted, though TBH I did find the whaling a bit distracting. Overall, it was a touching scene. Pai was severely depressed because his parents had not accepted his relationship with Itt and wanted him to leave his school. Again, after seeing My Extraordinary fail rather miserably trying to bring attention to this same issue, it was nice seeing Director New succeed at bringing it to the light in a much subtler way.
Folk and Pure were my favorite, of course. I hope we get a season 2 focused on them. I found the love between Folk and Pure more believable than the love between Itt and Pai. The last scene showing how Folk pretty much had Pure on a tight leash was cute. Also the friendship between Waan and Pure was very believable.
One negative: I didn't like the attempted rape scene. And how the heck does the guy show up the next day and Folk just lets him stand in front of him? I would slam that door on his face or better yet slam it so hard it hits his face. Anyway, rape issues (so typical of Thai BL) aside, I thought my favorite character was actually Folk. I join the chorus in loving his comment about how what Pure said about having sex with someone else while thinking of him is bad. It was a great line!
Overall, this was an OK BL. I didn't hate it and I didn't love it. I only loved the FolkPure story. I think the IttPai story had a lot of potential but it just seemed too illogical and rushed. I hate being critical about it but I think that while the actor who plays Pai has acting potential, Marc Pahun is not that good. He is OK but he is not GMMTV quality good. Maybe it was Director New who just wasn't able to get the best of him or maybe it was the script but I didn't really feel Marc. He is handsome and he seemed to try hard so I respect that but I didn't love his portrayal. Playing a Tsundere is not easy... It was a big job and he didn't fully deliver. Of course, I haven't seen his other work so maybe this is an exception and I am totally wrong.
Love seeing Sammy here BTW. This is what I call 1 degree of Love Sick... LOL You can't get too far in the Thai BL world without stumbling upon a Love Sick alumni.
It will be the THIRD full on BL to be available on Netflix. It is also the FIRST BL I know of that has received an international award. You can now proudly say that "The award-winning Gameboys is coming to Neflix" :)
The lead characters needed less cheesy lines (that whole thing about creating a new world.... what the ef is that about? LOL so corny). Compare that to the simple line spoken by Z Mejias character after they went to the hospital. He tells his friend (Sandees brother I think), that he just wants him to "talk about anything". It was such a tender and genuine moment.... I loved it. But that was the best line of the show.
Karissa was a standout IMO. So was Z Mejias.
You know, I though the writing in the first 2-3 episodes was good. The script just fell flat on its face right after they drive back from the house.
I also think that the director tried to be too clever for his own good and ended up not being clever at all. The story was predictable. There is 0 originality here. The message is good but the way it was delivered was bad...
I think the description above needs to be changed. It is deceiving. This is a tale of love, tragedy and forgiveness. It is not a " tender story about innocence, friendship, the beauty of awakening desire, acceptance".
Which brings me back to why this is not BL. The story didnt end with their deaths, and once they died the focus was not them accepting they died. It was all about the parents and the family... in fact, the show ends with an admonition about ending homophobia. This show focus was not on the romance. This was an LGBTQ show.
The reason BL is unique is that it is focus is on the romantic relationship and how it develops. The Philippines thus far has given us all kinds of blended BL/queer shows from the BL-centered but queer aware Gameboys to the queer-centered but BL stylized BenXJim. I think My Extraordinary is too far Queer in terms of its narrative to be BL. It is focus is more on the heterosexual characters, making it more of a queer aware show. The BL elements are there, most notable is the seemingly gay romance between the brother of Ken and Sandees brother.
Overall, this show should not be considered BL in my humble opinion. This is not because it has a tragic ending but because the focus is not on the BL characters nor is the plot climax centered around the BL characters relationship.
Is this a BL? Strictly speaking, I had say no.
I understand why you felt that way, but I think that this was done on purpose to keep the dramatic tension elevated and to make sure that Cairo stayed a tsundere all the way to the end.
Cairo was conflicted towards the end. He wanted to stay. He always did. He was conflicted between the love he felt for Gavreel and the love he felt for his mom and how much he felt he owe her now that his dad was dead.
I don't know if you got this from watching but both Cairo and Gav were lonely and found each other. When Cairo went through loosing his dad, Gav helped him and when Cairo came out, Gav was there for him. That kind of boding has a deep and lasting impact. I think the show was pretty realistic in how it portrayed the development of Cairo. I actually felt like it was Gavreel who had little development.
I really enjoyed the experience of watching the characters develop.... In the beginning I was so mad at her.... I don't recall ever being this mad at a character! I was super upset that she was being unfaithful to her husband. He seemed so cute. In my head I was like, if you don't want him, hello? LOL
Then he turned out to also be an asshat. You then think, they just both deserve each other. Then the kid also turns out to be a jerk, though I totally excused him because of what she did to him. Eventually in the end, I got the feeling that they both grew and learned from the experiences.
But yes, she was a sort of repulsive character that you wanted to shake her to see if you could get some sense into her. I don't think she was evil, but she was really messed up in the head.
I miss J-dramas.... I need to start watching again!
Did you ever watch Love and Fortune (2018)? It is not as weird of a premise but it is a weird movie that draws you in, repulses you, makes you hate the characters, makes you love them, then leaves you with an empty feeling. Very Japanese LOL.
When I write my Love Sick reviews, I write down notes, I research things on the net, etc. It takes me about 3-4 hours of work per episode.
This, I wrote down pretty quickly, having done only a bit of research earlier on when I put the notes together. It probably took me about 1-2 hours of note taking and about 1 hour to edit the notes and write the blog.
https://boyloveperusal.wordpress.com/2020/11/16/why-my-day-the-series-is-a-disney-fairy-tale/
This is a blog post about all the Disney fairy tales references I could find in My Day! If I remember more, I will add them!
The cast is attractive.
If upper class Pinoys are going to immersive language programs and watching a lot of American TV, it makes sense that they will speak very heavy Taglish.
Not being from the Philippines, I appreciated the opportunity of watching him deliver his lines without having to read the subtitles so consider this a benefit to international viewers.