solipsism5

I like that they moved to the beach in this episode and the show has a little bit more of a natural feel to it. At least we've escaped the sweaters. Unfortunately, this show has gone back to being very tepid. There was a short spell where there was an intense storyline and then it totally petered out. I think the general BL audience would be very bored with this show and have left long ago. It's just me and about a dozen other people watching this series right now, and I'm only watching it for the handsome main couples. I do appreciate that they did something different here from other BL's but different is not better. I don't know why they waste their precious time in this show with meaningless events like the volleyball game, along with the multiple meaningless side couples. As the producer I would be very upset with this production team for wasting my money, but I guess someone has just left these people with a blank check and they just go on producing this drivel while no one is looking.

Thanks for your comment earlier. I think it's gone, but it's appreciated. It's good to see better support out there for young gay people today.

I think her letting Fern get away with such treachery shows how deeply homophobic she is. It's like being friends with the secret police. My mother, unfortunately, was just like this person in this drama so I can sympathize. It took me a long, long time for me to forgive my mom, but she wasn't a terrible person in other areas and I'm thinking Dew's mom isn't either [just judging from her interactions with Dew and his friends]. Some of these rich families are also so focussed on their legacy and continuing their "dynasty", so they have this extra level of pressure they put on their kids.

I loved it, but definitely would have preferred a happy ending. I believe it was an open ending so I'm not upset like I was at the end of History 3, Make Our Days Count. Chiang Mai is not too far away from Bangkok [I think it's about a 6 hour bus trip), and Best seems like he would be motivated enough to visit his crush. I think he was only afraid of his feelings not being reciprocated, but I think the ending clearly showed that Dew felt the same way that he did. I thought the acting was very good all around in this series. The script and cinematography were definitely above average though we seemed to hit every possible trope [including, unfortunately, the toxic female lead]. I do hope they do another season, for sure. I think if we had a happy ending in season 2 no one would be complaining about this series at all.

Don't worry, they aren't real brothers. I hope I didn't spoil that for you.

This show completely imploded this episode. Well, I did make the mistake of taking this show seriously. It really didn't reveal all its flaws up until now. I was watching the scene with the two lovers Din and Than sleeping together and the lighting was just fading and brightening till I got a headache. Later in the episode, when you see Din's face covered with bruises the blood seemed like it was spray painted on, or done by a five year old with a paintbrush.

Was this the gang that's been terrorizing a whole region? That's just so utterly ridiculous that they should never have attempted even portraying it. It feels more like a gang of 6 people terrorizing a village of 10 farmers. And how does the mob boss not know that the son of the politician he's just had assassinated has just joined his gang - this is just at the level of treating your audience like they're a bunch of vegetables.

The scenes with the village teacher and the director's son look like they were shot by a high school production team, and the acting is god-aweful bad. It also seems inappropriate for these children to be talking about the couple having sex.

I am going to have to embrace my superficial side [very deeply and without reservation] to get through this because the handsome men in this series can not be ignored :) I'm just hoping for a few more showering scenes with Din - I think we need to see a lot more of this Ex-White product placement (come on, you're skin is not white enough!).

I found the reconciliation among the family members of Lukmo and Simai to be very unnatural. Lukmo has been abandoned by his father, albeit for somewhat legitimate reasons [though Lukmo's father could still have done much better by him even given the fact that it was a loveless marriage]. It just seems like everything has totally been forgotten - the long years Lukmo has been abandoned has totally been smoothed over. This is a show with a lot of sloppy, abrupt transitions. Simai suddenly announces that he will be going abroad for possibly several years for no apparent reason [he doesn't even know what he'll do there]. It just doesn't make too much sense, and we'll probably find out there was no real reason for doing this and he'll just go back to Lukmo. I don't mind quick resolutions in a drama but you have to explain it with a few transitional scenes - it doesn't require much. You just can't ignore that and let the audience just imagine how it should have happened. It's just poor screenwriting. It's too bad, because the plot was interesting and compelling, and the acting definitely captured the drama very effectively. All that has been mostly wasted on a few bad script choices that could have been caught by any amateur.

I appreciate that Nampu has stopped being so smarmy and gotten far more serious this episode. The story of Copy and Nampu seems to be progressing beyond filler at this point. But I'm a little confused by the father of Copy seeming to be very interested in his son dating girls then very soon afterwards, saying it was ok for him to date boys if that would make him happy - probably just another abrupt transition that is so redolent in this series. This might be even more abrupt than when Lukmo's father accepted his son seeing Simai.

I think the writers of this show did display some promise early on, and did some things really well. I'll just have to take the best parts of the show and rewrite the rest in my head. I also watch the show for the main couples whose handsomeness makes up for most everything else.

Is it that interview that's got everyone so worked up? There was some other controversy about Title and other members of LBC cast making fun of Earth for being openly gay. I'm not sure how true that is but Title did apologize for it. How Mean bullied Earth, I have no idea. Most likely this is still much ado about nothing.

I thought this series has a nice sense of realism which was really refreshing to see. I think the artificial story-lines and tropes are really cloying.

X just saw his parents get brutally killed and now he's laughing it up and talking about a soap - one of the worst product placements ever. This is going downhill fast. X's story is full of a dozen plot-holes and the story has become almost totally implausible. The story with the teacher is just klunky and badly acted. Too bad, this series had a lot of potential. I guess they at least tried something different and injected some social justice themes in here, but they are just too amateurish to realize their vision.

Here's a few clips:

War playing guitar
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YtxYVHUMeP8
on drums:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kL7-QyKIsjo
You have to check this out, War playing traditional Thai drums like a total pro:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fZ7xJoRV6H4

He's really good in Love Mechanics [plays guitar there as well] - I'm not sure if you've seen it.

I do think Yin is super sexy. I guess it's just a matter of personal taste. I think that was a bad hair cut for him as Calihockeygirl has said above, but he's very tall and has a great body if you saw him in Love Mechanics. You should check out his instagram -he really could be a model.

I really love the main couples in this series. I must admit that they don't really have to do much of anything to make me happy, but they are really good actors. If they weren't attractive I would still appreciate their acting. As an example, I like how Phob suddenly goes quiet when Namu basically asks if he can hit on him. It just seemed so real to life. It felt literally like something that I've seen with some friends in the real world. Phob has to decide, in that moment, if he will entertain that possibility or continue to hold on to his "phantom" loyalty to Eak. Eak's reaction when he sees the two together is also so perfect and is like how one would see this happen in the real world. Eak is unconsciously in love with Phob and he is suddenly startled to see him going after someone else. I think that was just done so well here. Later on, Eak invites Praew to lunch on the weekend and shunts Phob off from joining them but just that small disturbed look he has on his face when Phob pretends to have a date on Sunday is just enough to tell us he is still possessive of Phob and will be upset if he loses him to someone else.

I think the interactions with Simai and Lukmo have advanced dramatically in this episode with the father's revelation. Given that this scenario is almost a plagiarism of the plot in Friends Forever, I think it was done well enough. How the father gets over his homophobia so quickly is another matter, but I've come to accept this as a normal occurrence in BL's [while still thinking it is sloppy screenwriting]. I think this complex relationship is so interesting. The two lovers have converted their love to fraternal love, and in this episode Lukmo is probably beginning the transition back into a romantic love [allowing his lover to follow him into the bathroom]. I think the story here is complex and very captivating - Lukmo, the intense, brooding lover coupled with the almost saintly happy-go-lucky Simai. I feel their acting is just perfect for both their roles. How Simai, though such an easy going person pursues Lukmo so intensely and with such selflessness is so beautiful. Also wonderful is how he so quickly sacrifices his love, so he can at least be the brother Lukmo never had. I understand the script is weak in many areas but it is so compelling with this relationship. The acting and directing captures the essence of the plot so well here that I think the narrative structure is very solid.

Somehow, I'm beginning to even like the simple story of Copy and Nampu. That drama has advanced a little bit with some nice comedy in the bedroom, and the commitment the two make to each other later on in the episode.

I still think BL's should cut down the number of side couples in general everywhere. This is a case of LESS is MORE. Artistically it would be better, but it would even be better for their ratings. It makes no sense to pursue all these side stories. Not even high school girls care about them. If you have a limited budget, why have so many extraneous characters that are sucking up your limited resources? Can someone point out one advantage of having so many extra couples when the whole audience just cares about the two mains [sometimes 4] almost exclusively?

Nonetheless, I like the overall direction of this series. My main complaint, so far, was the New Year party with its totally frivolous gift exchange, which was only redeemed by the beautiful song that Simai sang there. I think it's a pretty decent show which has avoided a lot of the tropes found in BL's and doesn't have a lot of the over the top comedic schtick redolent in Thai series. The main couples are really good and their storyline's are pretty well done.

I love War in this. He's such a capable actor and he can play a sprightly high-schooler even if it's not the best possible role for him. It's a shame that they don't give him a role in a major production because he can actually act unlike many of these terrible leads they put out there. I always have loved Yin because he's just super handsome [definitely model material] and he's also a competent actor. I like the different setting here from Love Mechanics where Yin plays a rapist / seducer. What would be even better, though, is if they had set these two in some adult setting after college. I would never have thought to put them in high school, personally. Can we have three more short episodes somewhere outside of school, Rookie Thailand? War can play the crime boss and Yin, one of his victims that has to pay his debts with the only asset he has left...

Sorry, I was out with some relatives for a few days. I think this story is still very compelling and better than most BL storylines. I have a slight problem with the parents and their stories and how they are related to Simai and Lukmo. Those things should have been revealed at this point, and I have no idea why we still have no idea what the relationship of Simai with Lukmo is. Obviously Simai thinks they are blood related, but knowing BL's like you and I do, we know this won't be the case [I'll be totally surprised if I'm wrong here]. Why Simai hasn't gone to his father and asked him this, or at least his mother is surprising to me. If they won't reveal this information, for whatever reason, that should have been portrayed somewhere. I think this is part of the missing developments you're talking about, and I agree that a professional screenplay writer would never have left such a loose end just dangling there for no clear purpose. I felt Lukmo and Simai had made a small rapproachment at the end of episode 8, and Lukmo's still displaying many signs of coldness towards Simai at the party, so I feel there has been some transition there without being too sudden. Ideally we should have a little more but this is not as egregious a scripting error as what I was talking about with Simai and his parents, for me personally. Part of the problem with this show is so much time is wasted on the side couples and unimportant scenes like the gift exchange [which was dragged on forever] that we can't possibly get the smooth developments that would be so much more artistically satisfying.

For Eak and Phob, I think the transition started with Eak begging for Phob to help him with his assignments, and Phob finally relenting. Eak seems to be in such an all encompassing relationship with Phob that he would naturally want to get back together with him, and Eak is so obsessed with Phob that he would be looking for some excuse to at least preserve the relationship he used to have with Eak. I feel Eak also secretly likes Phob and also wants to get back together with him in an unconscious way. I think all these motivations could lead them to get back together quickly. Since many young people are also fickle, they could turn around quite believably in a short space of time. So in this case, I don't have much of a problem with the screenplay, but perhaps some of these things could have been explained better to the viewing audience, perhaps with one of the two characters explaining this to another character like Phob did earlier when talking to New. I'm guessing Eak will soon discover his unconscious love for Phob in the next episode where we see that he's getting jealous of someone else going after him. I don't really mind that old trope being used here to advance the plot because it will be used much more naturally than it is used in all the other BL's where there is no compelling need to get the two mains together by such a contrived event. I think Eak is really so oblivious to so many things that him seeing that he might lose Phob to a competitor will finally make him realize his own mind.

I thought the best thing in this episode was the song that Simai sang. I really thought it was the most moving thing in this whole show and one of the most moving things anywhere in BL, for that matter. The words were so bleak because he was saying their love was impossible and he was going to happily accept his fate. Later on when he says he will transfer his love from that of a lover to a completely different kind of fraternal love, I felt totally struck by the sacrifice and also the complexity of that transition. Just imagining they will somehow transfer that love back into a romantic love in the future is even more mystifying [I'm sure it will happen]. I think it was also very touching how Lukmo accepted the offer of having a brother. He had been abandoned and this transition to fraternal love has some meaning given that Lukmo is given such a moving storyline because of it.

So overall a mixed bag this episode, but I think I love what's going on here for the most part. It really is better for me than most other BL's currently and there are parts here that I think I'll always remember and appreciate.

I completely agree with this. It needs to be more OTT and just a slapstick comedy. I think that would be the best direction for it, but it's not going there. It's just utterly predictable and bland. I'm watching this just for Boat's bod, and his beautiful stubble. I'm really not sure I can make it past episode 3, though, just on that.

I think the Simai, Lukmo storyline is so intense. The frantic pleading of Simai to get through to Lukmo is very moving. You understand why Lukmo has a hard time responding to Simai's pleas and yet it's hard to see him reject Simai so coldly, and it feels so touching when he relents a little bit at the end.

In this episode the storyline of Eak and Phob is also very compelling and you feel Phob finally getting over his iron resolve to ignore Eak with Eak's repeated attempts to plead for help at work. Eak's using those attempts to just get closer with Phob, but it is clear, later, when he talks to Simai that he still won't try to think of Phob in a romantic way. This whole situation is done with the realism I expect to find in real relationships. The complex negotiations between two people that can be possible lovers are never simple and linear. This drama is really doing justice to this complex interplay.

I'm going to leave aside the issue of how much time they have in this series to tie up this plot with all these side couples and the several social issues that have been brought up, for the time being. I think this BL has some gravitas that is hardly if ever seen in BL's. I saw some pinoy dramas tackling political corruption but I thought Thai BL's would never get there. Thailand is notoriously corrupt and has had 33 coup's since the end of WWII, and I believe that is part of the reason that these topics are never raised in lakorn or BL.

1000 stars was a melodrama and the villain there, Siasakda, was just your typical Hollywood caricature. I felt there was far more realism in this show, and kudos for the production team for going there. I really felt the drama in episode 3. The story of the one gangster and how his mother is shot and killed because he hadn't paid his debts was really intense. I can't think I've ever seen such a stark storyline anywhere in BL (especially Thai BL). I'm used to seeing stories of petulant whiny kids that won't go after each other because of various petty psychological hangups - this is a pretty concise summary of virtually every Thai BL :-). The murder of his parents provides an impetus for X to risk his life to change the political system and that was reinforced earlier by the sagacious advice of his father. I really like this plotline and I hope they can somehow figure out how to finish this story without totally rushing it. I believe the plot will probably involve the other couples who will work together to fight the gangsters. It seems to be a show about young people involved in social justice issues and taking responsibility for their hometown rather seeking lucrative careers in the city - I applaud all of this and wish they had 10 more hours of air time to do the story justice, but unfortunately this seems like a small-time production company that's doing the best it can with limited funds. We'll just have to be happy with what we get.

Nitiman 3500, a sci-fi drama set in the far future

Aboard Space Station Rama 152, a space brothel/ bioweapons lab,:

First Lieutenant Aim: “Captain Singh, reporting on the situation on Earth – the polymorphous organism Kheam from Tau Ceti has impregnated 1/3 of the population. We can’t stop it, and the universal translator can’t even communicate with it. It’s disgusting. It bathes people in some viscous fluid, sucks them into its orifices and rubs them against its sexual organs.”

Captain Singh: "Calm down Aim, we’ve at least heard that the SJW’s on planet Earth have this new potent device - it’s a sexual repulsion field generator and seems to be working miracles against this extremely sexual menace from the outer reaches of space. Who knew that after hundreds of years of doing nothing even remotely useful that they could have been of any help to mankind. But we can do little here ourselves. We must abandon Earth to these two opposing forces. It saddens me that we can’t save Earth, but we have more important priorities. We have to head back to the asteroid belt to retrieve our new crop of Nitiman viewers."

The fusion drives of space station Rama 152, were fired up to their maximum potential, and in just a matter of a few hours, they arrived at asteroid Ceres where a new bumper crop of Fujoshi’s and Fundashi’s were absorbed into the station’s “matrix”. These specimens had been grown in a warm bath of ambiotic fluids and had, since birth, been implanted with memories to maximize their love for BL dramas.

Captain Singh: "These new recruits are firing up our power reserves pretty well. Thank goodness, because our old recruits couldn’t keep up their enthusiasm since this show seems to be going nowhere. What the hell is director Jane up to? I’m beginning to think he’s incompetent."

Director Jane: "How dare you say that Singh? I’m working on getting BL trope perfection here. No one understands the lengths I have gone to! I’m telling you that I’m near the final .1% till I achieve complete perfection. I’ve already added 14 more toxic female leads, and 112 more screeching lady boys into the script. How dare you question my artistic integrity!"

Captain Singh: "Just calm down Jane, it’s just that I don’t understand this show. I’m really not a fan of this stuff. I’ll leave it to you."

Much of the audience of Nitiman is frozen in cryogenic sleep between episodes since it is over 5000 episodes long. After 112 years the final episode of the show airs.

Captain Singh: " Oh finally, I’ve been getting a little restless, and honestly, it doesn’t seem like much went on in this show after all these decades, but I guess I’m not an expert. I’m not even remotely interested in this boring show, but I guess I had to be put in cryogenic sleep like the rest of them, because I’m just a simple pawn of this corporation. "

Lieutenant Aim: "My goodness captain, you wouldn’t believe it, some of the fans just melted into a pool of plasmic fluids after watching the last episode. Many have had strokes and are now suffering from comas."

Captain Singh: "I just don’t understand it. They finally just did one of these clumsy kisses that looked totally off, almost hateful looking."

Lieutenant Aim: "It just seems like they had been tantalized for so many years, and their imaginations got the better of them. "

Director Jane: "Who are you to question the true love of these devotees of Nitiman! You truly don't understand my artistic vision!"

Captain Singh: "People are dying for Nitiman. I guess you know what you're doing Jane. I'm sorry I ever doubted you."

Director Jane: " Yes, yes, yes, but just wait for season 2. OMG, this is going to be far longer and far more perfect. I'm working with supercomputer Deep Purple to extract the last bit of trope perfection and then we will reach what many have called the Rhapsody. "

[Singh and Aim hear this in a state of stupefecation and horror]

This show reminds me of Seinfeld, the show about nothing. Bbomb and Jin are in an endless loop of drunkenness, broken limbs, sleepy hugs, and petty recriminations. I have no idea what the rest of the cast is doing and they seem to be weirdo busybody's who also have strange, mysterious attractions to various unknown love interests. I'm just in a cloud as to what's going on at all, and considering this is episode 9, this has to be the most nebulous series I have ever watched. I really have no idea what's going on at all and this is not a complex drama. What weirdo is behind this mess of a show? It's really kind of fun just watching this little disaster of a series, and it's keeping me entertained with just its unitentional weirdness.

Hey, if you enjoy it, go for it! I write tough reviews, but I'm sure I'll watch this one till the end [especially for Boat]. It's got very high production values, and I think someone spent a fortune on this. I'm enjoying it as well [maybe at a different level].