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This review may contain spoilers
Stellar Story, Mediocre Acting
I cannot lie, this was probably one of the best storylines we've gotten out of 2025. The setup, the twists, the outcomes, literally everything. A horror BL done right cause it doesn't center the BL and it works so perfectly for this. Khemjira is stellar, I was kept engaged despite my dismay of the runtime, and I was thoroughly impressed. Unfortunately, the acting is where this takes a large stumble for me.
Let's Dive In.
I liked that Khem and Paran are a slow burn. Not because it's my cup of tea, but because it works so well into the scheme of things with Paran being a shaman and not allowed to really fall in love, and then we steadily see him fall for Khem more and more. I'll be honestly, I was not impressed with that last NC scene. I think there's a certain point when things are dragged too long, and that was just tooooo long. I also kind of don't really see why Paran fell for Khem. I understand for Khem because, Paran is a fucking greek god, but outside of their past soul's love lives, I just don't see what about Khem is to fall for. The fact that he's making your life harder...?
I enjoyed Jet and Charn a lot more than the leads. I liked that Jet realizes how beautiful Charn is after he gets wet and looses his glasses, and I just love Charn altogether. The topics that are brought up amongst them as they progress into a relationship are spectacular, give me more of that.
The plot was just splendid. The village, the people, the workings of the shines and the magic, the two little kids, Ramphueng. Like, wow, just so good. Obviously the CGI is a bit shit, but it's not so bad that I can't stay intrigued in the plot. We learn a lot of Thai culture which I appreciate, and I love that the longer I watch Thai BL, the more I pick up on the lingo, the honorifics, and I realized a lot of how that stuff worked in this. Bravo.
I won't lie though, this was entirely too long. There was no way I could watch this in regular speed, so each episode was watched in 1.5-2x speed, and it honestly felt like it was going a normal pace. There are moments, like always, that just aren't needed.
The acting...sigh. It's not so bad in certain part, but our main guy cannot cry for shit. You know those moment you can tell when someone is crying (real tears, red rimmed eyes, puffy cheeks, etc.) and then when someone put water drops in their eyes? Yeah... But it wasn't just Namping, I wasn't really impressed with anyone's acting outside of Firstone's acting. These guys are pretty new to this (Not Keng though, he worked with Jeff??? Jaw on the floor), so I'll give them slightly the benefit of the doubt.
Ratings:
Story: 9/10 - good and strong! Flowed nicely, some parts dragged a bit, but otherwise it was good. NAMMON.
Acting: 7.5/10 - Namping could be so good with just a little more practice, I wasn't impressed really at all with anyone's acting.
Music: 5/10 - didn't pay attention to it.
Recommendation Value: 7.5/10 - This might not be everyone's bread and butter. It's a little on the scary side, kind of traumatic, and lots of jump scares. But everyone needs to see Keng in a wet white long sleeve with a back tattoo, so go for it!
Let's Dive In.
I liked that Khem and Paran are a slow burn. Not because it's my cup of tea, but because it works so well into the scheme of things with Paran being a shaman and not allowed to really fall in love, and then we steadily see him fall for Khem more and more. I'll be honestly, I was not impressed with that last NC scene. I think there's a certain point when things are dragged too long, and that was just tooooo long. I also kind of don't really see why Paran fell for Khem. I understand for Khem because, Paran is a fucking greek god, but outside of their past soul's love lives, I just don't see what about Khem is to fall for. The fact that he's making your life harder...?
I enjoyed Jet and Charn a lot more than the leads. I liked that Jet realizes how beautiful Charn is after he gets wet and looses his glasses, and I just love Charn altogether. The topics that are brought up amongst them as they progress into a relationship are spectacular, give me more of that.
The plot was just splendid. The village, the people, the workings of the shines and the magic, the two little kids, Ramphueng. Like, wow, just so good. Obviously the CGI is a bit shit, but it's not so bad that I can't stay intrigued in the plot. We learn a lot of Thai culture which I appreciate, and I love that the longer I watch Thai BL, the more I pick up on the lingo, the honorifics, and I realized a lot of how that stuff worked in this. Bravo.
I won't lie though, this was entirely too long. There was no way I could watch this in regular speed, so each episode was watched in 1.5-2x speed, and it honestly felt like it was going a normal pace. There are moments, like always, that just aren't needed.
The acting...sigh. It's not so bad in certain part, but our main guy cannot cry for shit. You know those moment you can tell when someone is crying (real tears, red rimmed eyes, puffy cheeks, etc.) and then when someone put water drops in their eyes? Yeah... But it wasn't just Namping, I wasn't really impressed with anyone's acting outside of Firstone's acting. These guys are pretty new to this (Not Keng though, he worked with Jeff??? Jaw on the floor), so I'll give them slightly the benefit of the doubt.
Ratings:
Story: 9/10 - good and strong! Flowed nicely, some parts dragged a bit, but otherwise it was good. NAMMON.
Acting: 7.5/10 - Namping could be so good with just a little more practice, I wasn't impressed really at all with anyone's acting.
Music: 5/10 - didn't pay attention to it.
Recommendation Value: 7.5/10 - This might not be everyone's bread and butter. It's a little on the scary side, kind of traumatic, and lots of jump scares. But everyone needs to see Keng in a wet white long sleeve with a back tattoo, so go for it!
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