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1
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3
Not the fluffy marathon romance I was expecting, but Realistic with many curveballs
Subjective Gut Rating: 8.25
A well-done Friends-to-Lovers drama is hard to come by. They either omit the awkwardness of the transition, or piss you off because you can see both characters having feelings for each other but no one dares to say something first, worried that it might ruin the friendship. I was hoping “9 Years of You” could be one of the better ones. The good thing is that, “9 Years of You” didn’t really fall into the above-mentioned categories. It also ended up not being the romantic and fluffy drama that I expected. There’s no ‘romance’ or ‘comedy’ tag here. It’s only a ‘drama’ one.
It took a very long time for the leads to end up together, not because the feelings weren’t revealed but because timing and life keep on getting in the way. This drama requires a lot of patience for viewers to follow their romantic journey. The early episodes have a lot of supporting/saving each other as friends, but I needed more fluff to last me through the ups and downs of their relationship. Even when they eventually get together, the drama fails to give me enough bread crumbs to sustain before another curveball is thrown in their way. It’s not like there’s a lot of angst in the drama, but it becomes a little tiring when, from a romance standpoint, the couple never got a break. In a way, this is a very realistic look of a marathon romance from friends to lovers, and then from lovers to living happily together. Even though their timing isn’t right, the drama gave us a realistic/practical view of their journey. No one is going to wait around for years and remain celibate. They are going to meet other people along the way.
Having said that, the leads have excellent chemistry. I enjoy their bantering in the first couple episodes, and throughout the drama. They are mostly very honest and communicative of their feelings. Even if they are arguing, they would eventually either apologize or laugh about it. The kisses are good and natural, thank goodness. No eating someone’s face, or looking like they’re being forced. The leads are a good-looking pair as well. It also doesn’t hurt when all the characters dress pretty nicely. They got money to have nice houses, office spaces and clothes for everyone.
I’m also relieved that the acting is good and not cringey. There’s no over-the-top lakorn acting or the camera staying on a character’s face for way too long.Cherprang (who played FL) is great. You can see how her character changes and matures throughout the drama, and Cherprang’s acting follows suit. Aimm (ML), is a newcomer and it shows when acting with Cherprang. This is his first drama but he did a respectable job. Even if he doesn’t, his visuals and nice abs will keep me going. The rest of the supporting cast did pretty well, too. There isn’t anyone who annoys me and it’s rare in a Thai drama.
The passage of time through the 9 years could be hard to follow if you are not paying attention to what’s written on screen or the casual remarks by the characters. Aside from that, there's no change in coloring or cinematography. Even the middle school scenes, color-wise, look the same as the present-day timeline and you only knew because of the teen actors. I guess the only way to tell time is the hairstyle change of FL. Roughly speaking, each episode showcased what happened within a year. There are times when I wished the drama was shorter, even though it’s only 9 episodes long.
I would recommend this if you enjoy a more realistic approach to the friends-to-lovers trope. Be aware that this is not a romantic-comedy, and tamper your expectations of cute and fluffy scenes. But I do enjoy this drama, especially the first half of it. I was going to give this a 8.5, until the last few episodes when I got a little tired of the constant obstacles being thrown in their way. So, a solid 8.25 for me, and I don’t regret watching it.
Random Observations about Product Placements:
1. There are many product placements, but they don’t feel too intrusive or out-of-place.
2. Without the product placement of shower gel, we won’t see Aimm’s shower scenes. LOL. Those scenes are unnecessary.
3. I don’t remember seeing a character puking and actually dirty their shirt with puke! No worries, we got a detergent sponsor, so we see our green-flag ML washing clothes.
4. Not sure if the puzzles are product placements or not, but I LOVE them because I loved how they were used and they showed how romantic ML could be.
Completed: 8/16/2025 Review #614
A well-done Friends-to-Lovers drama is hard to come by. They either omit the awkwardness of the transition, or piss you off because you can see both characters having feelings for each other but no one dares to say something first, worried that it might ruin the friendship. I was hoping “9 Years of You” could be one of the better ones. The good thing is that, “9 Years of You” didn’t really fall into the above-mentioned categories. It also ended up not being the romantic and fluffy drama that I expected. There’s no ‘romance’ or ‘comedy’ tag here. It’s only a ‘drama’ one.
It took a very long time for the leads to end up together, not because the feelings weren’t revealed but because timing and life keep on getting in the way. This drama requires a lot of patience for viewers to follow their romantic journey. The early episodes have a lot of supporting/saving each other as friends, but I needed more fluff to last me through the ups and downs of their relationship. Even when they eventually get together, the drama fails to give me enough bread crumbs to sustain before another curveball is thrown in their way. It’s not like there’s a lot of angst in the drama, but it becomes a little tiring when, from a romance standpoint, the couple never got a break. In a way, this is a very realistic look of a marathon romance from friends to lovers, and then from lovers to living happily together. Even though their timing isn’t right, the drama gave us a realistic/practical view of their journey. No one is going to wait around for years and remain celibate. They are going to meet other people along the way.
Having said that, the leads have excellent chemistry. I enjoy their bantering in the first couple episodes, and throughout the drama. They are mostly very honest and communicative of their feelings. Even if they are arguing, they would eventually either apologize or laugh about it. The kisses are good and natural, thank goodness. No eating someone’s face, or looking like they’re being forced. The leads are a good-looking pair as well. It also doesn’t hurt when all the characters dress pretty nicely. They got money to have nice houses, office spaces and clothes for everyone.
I’m also relieved that the acting is good and not cringey. There’s no over-the-top lakorn acting or the camera staying on a character’s face for way too long.Cherprang (who played FL) is great. You can see how her character changes and matures throughout the drama, and Cherprang’s acting follows suit. Aimm (ML), is a newcomer and it shows when acting with Cherprang. This is his first drama but he did a respectable job. Even if he doesn’t, his visuals and nice abs will keep me going. The rest of the supporting cast did pretty well, too. There isn’t anyone who annoys me and it’s rare in a Thai drama.
The passage of time through the 9 years could be hard to follow if you are not paying attention to what’s written on screen or the casual remarks by the characters. Aside from that, there's no change in coloring or cinematography. Even the middle school scenes, color-wise, look the same as the present-day timeline and you only knew because of the teen actors. I guess the only way to tell time is the hairstyle change of FL. Roughly speaking, each episode showcased what happened within a year. There are times when I wished the drama was shorter, even though it’s only 9 episodes long.
I would recommend this if you enjoy a more realistic approach to the friends-to-lovers trope. Be aware that this is not a romantic-comedy, and tamper your expectations of cute and fluffy scenes. But I do enjoy this drama, especially the first half of it. I was going to give this a 8.5, until the last few episodes when I got a little tired of the constant obstacles being thrown in their way. So, a solid 8.25 for me, and I don’t regret watching it.
Random Observations about Product Placements:
1. There are many product placements, but they don’t feel too intrusive or out-of-place.
2. Without the product placement of shower gel, we won’t see Aimm’s shower scenes. LOL. Those scenes are unnecessary.
3. I don’t remember seeing a character puking and actually dirty their shirt with puke! No worries, we got a detergent sponsor, so we see our green-flag ML washing clothes.
4. Not sure if the puzzles are product placements or not, but I LOVE them because I loved how they were used and they showed how romantic ML could be.
Completed: 8/16/2025 Review #614
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