the drama revolves around lives of 3 couples in their 30s. It narrates how the difficulties that they face in their lives can be explained in the most plain yet deep words. Also the relationship b/w different couples and how they try to overcome it. The best part about this drama is the way how unexplained feelings are explained in simplest way. How a loveless marriage can make 2 people fall for each other more deeper and yet maintain their space without intruding each other's privacy. It explains how the society is still cursed by discrimination, nepotism and gender based inequality. At times it was able to give some honest views about how the female leads felt by expressing their true self and not covering up their tears behind makeup or a mask. Because nothing haunts you more than the things and feelings left unexpressed.
Although it was a good drama but there are still some drawbacks which I want to point out.
1. The episodes were too long because the writers were suppose to focus on all 3 leads.
2. The storyline was unpredictable in start but it became a bit predictable after some episodes.
3. It got bit monotonous after few episodes because it started following the story of clichéd kdramas. So I would watch it after piling it up then watching it fresh.
So lastly I would say that more then the story or acting, the way each dialogue of this drama was carefully knitted to the scenes or people associated with it was beautiful. Each line of the drama depicts the struggles and hidden meaNing that could be read from our surroundings to overcome it. Also how some plain lines can express a person's emotions and his personality in a raw and simple form.
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"Grooming" has never been more romantic.
Do not take the title of the review seriously - taking it at face value would be as misleading as the premise of the show, that sounds so wrong, but the drama itself feels so right. I truly hope people won’t get discouraged by the student/teacher relationship and give it a chance, because this is so much more than just romance. It’s a weirdly heartwarming story of two people healing, learning about each other, but also exploring their own thoughts, feelings and ideas they hold.What truly makes it work is how self-aware the writing is. For every flirting attempt and stalker behavior, we get a witted call out. All presented in the best dry humor I have seen in dramas for ages. Many scenes that would give you butterflies in your stomach end on a joke and it works so well. I’ve got a sense of: we know it’s wrong, we trust the audience knows it's wrong, but just watch and enjoy how cute they are. And I’m totally fine with it.
As I said though, this drama is more than just a romance. Every scene is drenched in hard hitting topic - suicide. Personally, I think the writing around this issue was done masterfully. Heavy issue presented in such a light manner. Quirky humor that made it more approachable, but never felt disrespectful. For someone who at some point in their life struggled with suicidal thoughts, many of the jokes felt just right. Not once have I thought they are not taking the subject seriously or just using it to make the romance more “angsty” (as many other rom-coms do). The story kept the heart and sincere tone, while also giving me some laughs . It felt refreshing.
The performances were what built the drama though. Hashimoto Ryo perfectly captured the idea of those who smile the brightest are the saddest - no matter how happy-go-lucky Haiba Jin might have felt, you could always sense the hesitation, unsureness and not yet completely healed pain. Takaishi Akari was able to somehow mix innocence with a strong personality and it created a cohesive persona that was Ochiai Mikoto. Both extremely loveable characters portrayed in a perfect manner.
Overall, surprising on so many levels. Completely flipped my expectations of what I’m about to watch and made me fall in love with the characters. Not only the drama is worth a watch, but also a rewatch once in a while.
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BL Drama no Shuen ni Narimashita: Crank Up Hen
59 people found this review helpful
This is how you do romcom bl
I haven't laughed this much for a series recently. It's not about comedy scenes but they delivered it brilliantly.we can see the helplessness of the main lead (akafuji) to stay calm from his crush.. not just a crush, aoyagi is his everything. They are the perfect one's for this role. Because, not everyone can do the secret romance, tension, jealousy with humour in it, but they done it beautifully. I really loved the hidden aoyagi printed t shirt, the hand kiss, and his faint. omg I was laughing out loud and my parents came to me by asking whether you need to see a therapist or not....
I loved the whole cast. Mainly the dialogues of akafuji, 'today our eyes met for 2.7 seconds, I'm certain.. at that time my heart stopped beating'. Seriously who will count those seconds, he's head over heels for aoyagi.
it's a must watch guys.. but it only has 3 episodes... and that's the only negative here.
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This review may contain spoilers
Before you start the review, it's going to be a long as review because I just like to spoil everything for everyone. lmao, jks. pls read on :) Story:
The synopsis isn't even right. I swear that is google translated or like when it's like do you want to translate from thai to english lmao. Anyway, I'm going to write two synopsis; one, where it's short and maybe won't make sense, lmao & the second one, obviously the whole story plot for those who enjoys major major massive spoilers.:) So pls choose...
1. Kiew's mother has cancer and under some circumstances they both end up living in Peat's house. Peat, not understanding and doesn't even want to hear an explanation from his father assumes she is the new mistress, (due to the fact that his late mother had just passed away not too long ago) & that Kiew is the love child who had come to take away his fortunes. He decides to make their life a living hell so that they would leave, but no matter what he does, they didn't leave. After some problems, Peat leaves Thailand to Korea to study & at this point no one knew where he had gone. Four years later, he returns to Thailand and starts working at his father's company competing against Kiew, as his revenge scheme.
2.
The story is about Peat & Kiew (obviously), they first meet each other in college and I guess you could say love at first sight. Kiew's mother has cancer and under some circumstances they both end up living in Peat's house. Peat, not understanding and doesn't even want to hear an explanation from his father assumes she is the new mistress, (due to the fact that his late mother had just passed away not too long ago) & that Kiew is the love child who had come to take away his fortunes. He decides to make their life a living hell so that they would leave, but no matter what he does, they didn't leave. After some more problems, Kiew's mum ends up at the hospital and ends up having an agreement with Peat's dad to let him adopt her. She becomes the adoptive daughter and more shit happens and Peat finally leaves Thailand to Korea & no one could find him until Kiew ends up in Korea for a university trip. There, they patch up and starts to understand each other until news broke out that Peat's dad adopted Kiew as his daughter and the heiress to the company. & so again, he lost the trust that they had just been bonding over. Four years later, he graduates and returns to Thailand on the same day that Kiew was introduced into the company. His dad not knowing he had came back was shock to see his son at the introductory but was glad and happy that he has returned. Peat openly announces that he has come back to take back what belongs to him & so the beginning of revenge begins. More problems happens and then he ends up in the hospital due to a motorbike incident where he finds out he is actually not the son of his dad. Feeling remorse for all the bad things he had done and said to his father and Kiew, he leaves the hospital and a search party ensues; Kiew finds him and they fight and ..... the moment of truth where he confess and tells her everything, the reasons why he started his revenge and basically everything. He takes her to his late mother's house where their love blossom into something more, but little did she knows and including everyone, was that he has started his revenge again (spoiler: because he read something from his mother's diary). They get caught in BED, yes BED, together and so Peat decides to marry Kiew to resolve it. //
Okay, stopping here because this is basically the entire drama, just that I haven't explain what happens after their marriage, but you can already guess it and I did write it, saying he takes revenge again, but this is another different revenge scheme as he gets marries to her. When I watched this live on the website, it was a real cliffhanger to me because obviously I couldn't understand Thai fully but maybe to some of you guys it might seems repetitive which I'd say it is because this drama is a revenge drama and so obviously it'll just be revenge right? But I actually really enjoyed this drama, even though it is really tiring to watch at some point but like it's not that bad and it has the highest ratings for it's time slot compares to others. There are some episodes where it takes soooooo long to just get to the point, and I felt that was really unnecessary, the first couple of episodes flew by really quick which made me draw into each individual characters and made me want to stay and see what's going to happen in the next episodes. & guys, pls let me know, was I the only who could not watch ep 23, like I just laughed throughout the whole episodes? Like there was something about it that was really off. but ep 24 did justice for me so oh well, haha, even though I did felt like it was a bit rushed especially from 23 transitioning to ep 24 it was like bam bam bam, like there wasn't that feeling of feeling bad for Peat but oh well. & oh, I lived for Khata's and Pa's scenes like, it just made me happy seeing them have banters at each other.
Cast/Acting:
Kiew: She is your typical nice, caring woman, knows right from wrong and doesn't give headaches to the parents. I really enjoyed seeing Bua play this type of character and so different from her character that she played earlier this year. There isn't really anything for me to critique because she is good at her role like I don't think I wasn't unhappy with anything she did in the drama.
Peat: omg, where should I start, lmao. yes he has the look and yeah that's preetty much it. lmao. jokes aside but I never really read the comment, I only do so to see if a drama is worth watching but there was so many saying that he only has the look and they couldn't really get through the drama. Honestly, it wasn't that bad like his acting, at first was kind of off and plus in episode 23 because I just couldn't take it seriously but other than that it was pretty good. Like his character is supposed to be an arrogant, jerk, self centered, only love myself kind of dude because of the lack of love he got from his dad and plus his mother bought him up like that, and feeding him with lies about his dad, I mean half of them was true and half of them was not. Some even said he was misogynist but I don't think his character is supposed to be portrayed like that. Like you can clearly see that he has Chaya as his girl friend and plus he loves Kiew so I don't know what definition yalls be using for misogynist, lol. His character was pretty tiring to see at times but trust me yalls, it actually is pretty good. The fact that he was just so driven with anger, and revenge just made him forgot who he really is, to his friend, he is a really warm-hearted young man, who speaks his mind and straight forward when he doesn't like something.
Kriss: I would say Kriss is the mysterious person in a group of friends. haha. He is someone that you wouldn't be able to tell if he is sincerely happy or being annoyed. Kriss' character is someone that would do anything for the person he loves aka Chaya, he does everything to make Chaya happy. I would say that Kriss has so much anger building inside from all the things that Peat does to Chaya that he starts to revenge Peat as well. But the truth is, I guess he just wanted to be notice by Chaya and to make her realise that Peat isn't the one for her. He actually is a really kind person, who helped Kiew in a lot of hardships & in the first half of the drama, he wasn't taking sides, he knew when to side with his friends or when not too. Especially when Chaya becomes Peat's supposedly "mistress".
Chaya: This girl was a really sad character. She just wanted to be noticed by Peat and she stood by him through thick and thin. I would totally blame it on Peat, he knew that Chaya loved him for so many years but he never once told her that he doesn't like her in that way. When she shows him affections he just brush it off sometimes and doesn't really say anything. At some point I was really annoyed with her character, like it was that good that I got so annoyed and just couldn't really comprehend with it. Basically as a nang rai, you guys would understand what her role is, but like I didn't even blame it on her because she was just a girl, in love and just wanted Peat to her self. Oh, spoiler, she get's leukemia and I thought she was going to stop her craze love for Peat but no, she sides with Kriss to take revenge. That's what got me real fucked at this point.
Khata & Pa: You don't really get to see these two character a lot cause they were the support character but I lived for their scene. Khata is that friend that is always stuck in the middle and doesn't choose sides. He lectures his friends to make them realise that they are doing wrong shits. but nobody gives a damn. haha. Pa is that best friend any one could ever ask for. She chooses her friend in a blink of an eye and is ready to fight. I can't say a lot because not a lot of scenes revolves around them but like most of the scenes you see is they being together and always having banter which was the best. haha.
Music:
I really enjoyed the music. Especially the opening and ending song, after I went to read the lyrics it made more sense.
Overall:
If you think this is some sort of infidelity or incest drama, you are WRONG gurl. go watch it. :)
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Every episode of Hotel del Luna is amusing, captivating, intriguing, stirring, and thrilling due to the perfect balancing of humour, fantasy, myth-making, drama, romance, and horror further enhanced by the gorgeous costumery of the female lead, visually-dazzling production, heartstrings-tugging soundtrack music, cameo roles, and socially-relevant sub-plots that tackled: molka epidemic; prevailing patriarchal assumptions; and toxic netizen culture.
Two of the most popular young actors today, Lee Ji-eun or better known as IU and Yeo Jin-goo exude palpable chemistry in their memorable lead performances as Jang Man-wol and Gu Chan-seong, respectively. The accursed millenium-old Man-wol is the alluring, chic, ethereal, luxurious, and petulant chatelaine of the mystical and marvellous Hotel of the Moon while the dashing, dutiful, empathetic, and courageous Harvard graduate Gu Chan-seung serves as the hotel's 99th or current human manager.
Veteran thespian Seo Yi-sook leads the trio of superb supporting cast as the mysterious deity with several identical manifestations. She is joined by Shin Jung-geun who plays the 500 y/o untimely-killed Joseon top scholar-turned-hotel bartender and by Bae Hae-sun, the 200 y/o grudgeful murdered daughter-in-law of a privileged clan who is the hotel's meticulously efficient room service supervisor. Also starring are promising actors Lee Do-hyun and Lee Tae-sun; idols P.O and Mina; and Cho Hyun-cheul and Park Yoo-na. Jung Dong-hwan as ex-Manager Noh and Kang Ho-seok as Grim Reaper are also endearing in the portrayal of their special characters.
Hotel del Luna, although a fantastical drama, is actually a foray into the reality of life. It teaches among other things: that like flowers from the moon tree, life is beautiful yet fleeting - and so, we must make the most out of it; that humans are endowed with the ability to make choices and are consequently tasked to bear responsibility for the choices they made; that life is not always easy or fair - as such, we must learn to play the hand we're dealt with much courage and grace; that if the past is a source of suffering or ill-feelings, we must learn to let go and make peace with it and with ourselves if there's nothing anymore that can be done about it; that our way of thinking and feeling can have a powerful outcome or influence; that revenge is sweet for it provides an outlet for pent-up aggression and wounded feelings, but, at the same time, it is also burdensome and masochistically painful for it recoils and does not diminish with time, thus inflicting endless pain on the person who exacted vengeance; that forgiveness has a rending and liberating power; that love has a transmogrifying power which can contour our character - either for the worse or for the better; and as Gu Chan-seung has perfectly shown us - that true love is self-abnegating or it makes you forget yourself and seek the welfare of your beloved.
Unfailingly riveting until the end, Hotel del Luna will for sure hold a place in the hearts of many of us. A big kudos to the writers, director, actors, and production crew for making this drama an enjoyable and worthwhile watch.
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Drama hangover
Like many reviews here, if you’re looking for something funny and light hearted. This is it. The plot is not too complicated. The romance between the leads is through the roof. And the actors were simply awesome.Personally, I really like YBY. I’ve watched Listening Snow Tower, Love and Redemption. I can say I’ve seen her improved with each drama. And in My Sassy Princess, she has exceeded my expectations and I’m so proud of her. Every glance, small smile, smirk, raised eyebrow, tear was on point. She captured Liu Ling’s emotions really well.
I’ve not watched many of ZYC’s shows but in this drama he is cute, so cute. The action scenes were really entertaining and smooth. I enjoyed every second of it. And his chemistry with YBY is very sweet. I’m all smiles whenever their scenes come up.
The downside was how some scenes were edited. It felt quite rushed and some parts didn’t make much sense. But this did not take the joy away of watching this drama.
And I just love how this drama can make me cry and laugh at the same time. All in all, a very entertaining piece. Looking forward to the actors future dramas!
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Guardian: The Lonely and Great God
59 people found this review helpful
by AigooMyLengthyParagraphs 
1 
1
1 1 THE HYPE FOR THIS DRAMA IS ALL TRUE!
AWESOME IN ALL CATEGORIES!The HYPE for this drama is all TRUE!
No doubt, Now, this is One of My All Time Favs!! :)
The Plot is Good and the Characters are Well Written. Every Character is Lovable.
Direction, Production, Cinematography, Visual effects, Acting, OST/BGM, Pacing, EVERYTHING IS DONE VERY WELL AND RIGHT TO THE POINT!
OST is the BEST.
Both the Couples are Lovely.
The Bromance of Kim Shin & Grim reaper is Cool .
These two along with Deok Hwa, the Trio is Funny 😂
But at times, it's just Repetitive or a Content filler, prolonging the number of episodes mindlessly.
(It's like an unnecessary REVISION to the Viewer, haha).
Without those repetitions, Could have wrapped up very well in 16 hours instead of 20+ hours.
***
Overall, THOROUGHLY ENJOYABLE! 👌🏻
My RATING is 9.5/10.
Without those so called revisions, it's 10/10 ! :)
P.S.1: That content filler repetitions KILLED ME but this OST HEALED ME! 😂
P.S.2: I can still hear the OST song , ringing in my head and hum, while writing this review, even after many years of watching this drama (BTW, it's my phone ringtone now :) )
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This review may contain spoilers
Started solid 10, superb chems with obviously visual couple, but the last 5eps wrap up was bad!
What I luv:- The leads… their visuals, their chems, their acting, their characters really suit them perfectly… not a fan of noona drama, but since YM doesn’t age like normal people do, they look good together… n Xukai is just so dreamy, even with his goodboy haircut…
- The plot… i always like the opposite attract kind, n this is a fresh way where the woman is the ambitious workaholic one n the man is the stay home caring one… the way they hate each other first, then tolerate, admire, like, support, get in a contract married n fall in luv afterwards… it’s a development in a relationship that i like to watch…
- The background story… FL is a lawyer, so the stories r mostly about her cases n how she tries to climb on top in this supposedly man’s world… i always like watching this genre, how they investigate things, how tricky n bad people get to achieve what they want, etc… it’s interesting…
- The casts… i like ML’s BFF & ML’s dad, they r so funny n loyal to ML… i have mixed feelings about FL’s BFF, they had moments in earlier eps n then her existence is almost none unless she had probs with her hubby which is FL’s bro… I even thought that LiDai was gonna be the villain, but turns out she turns out to be an interesting character which is on good terms till the end with both leads… the associate lawyers small talks where they gossip about what happens at the office is always an interesting scene…
- The writings r mature, not cheesy…
- The way they r not connected in anyway in the past… this annoys me lots of times when suddenly they were childhood friends or something like that…
What i hate:
- Everything starting eps36… suddenly they get divorce? Unnecessary drama IMO… N not that many screen time together for the leads untill the reconciliation in the last 5mins of the final eps40… n the reunion was just flat, they met again coz he moved in as her next door neighbour after 7months apart, somehow they just got back together n no explanation… why did they get divorce in the first place anyway? This wrap up just *sigh…
- They didn’t give ML a proper comeback story related to his career… people looked down to him since the beginning coz he’s jobless n always stays home (he still earns money from trading)… so IMO he should get a scene where he rises back on top n everybody found out about it, at least her family&her ex! instead we only get him to tell FL about his accomplishment… i know he doesn’t care about what other people think, but still i wanna see a glimpse of his success in the end…
- TJH, the FL’s ex, with his fiancée r both equally annoying… he’s a grown up, who couldn’t stand up for FL when they were together… n now he wanna play a hero for FL while his fiancee turned out as the big bad wolf to FL becoz of her jealousy… their presence annoy me most of the times…
I just freshly finished this n i wanna share a bit of my disappointment… it started with a solid 10, but with that last 5eps I could only give it 8.5… overall i’d still recommend it though, especially if u like the genre or at least one of the leads, coz they look so amazingly cute together… n as much as i hate the last 5mins reconciliation kinda drama, at least it’s still a HE? N keep in mind, it’s a solid 10 till the last 5eps… I just wish they give us a good wrap up! I’m hoping for a bit miracle where they have an extra eps of their cute deleted scenes, or even better, the actual epilogue of their happy ending life after their so called reconciliation scene in eps40… 🤞🤞
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1This review may contain spoilers
Confusing start but great conclusion
…. I actually liked it lol. Went into this thinking I was going to get dollar store Bad Buddy lol but honestly they are only minorly comparable.Destiny Seeker is technically about rival dorms, but frankly it seems like literally no one takes that seriously lol.
The first episode was confusing as hell. There’s this sudden time jump in the middle of the episode and three years have passed all of a sudden. I swear to god, it was so sudden, I thought it was an elaborate daydream.
It would have been better if they approached the first episode in a linear fashion. Personally, I also think they could have done a job establishing the rivalry between the dorms as well. They basically just show two seniors argue a little and that apparently makes a bitter rivalry.
Instead, I think they should have shown the viewers all the ways that the two dorms compete. Show a montage or something of the next three years, in which the leads are separated and forced to pit against each other even though they are actually kind of friends.
Songkhram said he had been pursuing Ai for three years and we didn’t see any of it. Instead of some of the filller padding they added to the show, it would have been better to at least briefly establish some of the missing gaps in the narrative.
Anyway, once you get passed that, it actually settles down into a pretty standard “rivals” to friends to lovers pipeline. And surprisingly high heat… which I was not expecting at all lol. Despite being high heat, there was actually proper, expressed consent and it wasn’t toxic at all. Shocking but it’s hard to come by.
This story really shines in its leads. They have great chemistry, a solid rapport and it is clear they must have run proper workshops to get them comfortable with one another.
The plot is basic but pretty sweet. I liked that they briefly went the “secret dating” route, but they were literally so obvious that their whole friend group knew already. Good twist on a common trope.
It’s a pretty easy watch, I would recommend toughing out the slightly confusing intro because overall it is a pretty cute story.
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This review may contain spoilers
At first I was not expecting to enjoy this from the couples perspective, but more from the university/ hazing angle. I mean another BL (when I did realise it was BL). Nothing wrong with a good BL story, but it's getting kinda long in the tooth.That being said, I did not read any spoilers before (hence not knowing it was BL). The upbeat music score (Soh Sut Soh Say performed by Keng Thachaya) was just so powerful it had to be attached to something, at lease, exciting. Boy was I in for a surprise!
The actual hazing was a bit far fetched for reality, but added to the premise and story quite well. The SOTUS acronym was really fully thought out. (Could someone Thai say if it is real?) Not starting as the typical love story was, again, another plus. Trying to cipher out where it was going was like being a detective. Would it be more about the hazing and the relationships formed because of a fear of the seniors? Would it force the juniors into relationships? The development of the characters was not predictable at all.
The magnificent performance of N' Krist (Sangpotirat Perawat) and the facial expressions of N' Sinto (Ruangroj Prachaya) really added to tension and emotion. Not in any way putting down the pool of amazing Thai actors, and having watched quite a few Thai Dramas, I don't think anyone else was more worthy to play those parts. These two played well of each other and even the rest of the cast, bringing a feeling of realness to the episodes.
The ending. Wow. It is just the perfect circles of circles. Karma, faith and such. Everything just falling together for a reason!
The only one critique I could find was the secondary characters could get a little more development. They do take a backseat to the main. By backseat I mean all the way in the back of an articulated bus! A little more time about them would have been just perfect! This, in no way, takes away from the realness or storytelling. It's just a very, very tiny gripe.
All in all a worthy story, impeccable acting and amazing music score. Well worth the watch! Has to be the best for it's year and possibly one of the best Thai Dramas of all times! Hormones set a bar, but SOTUS has raised it!
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First and for the love of god, why is Type's character written like the biggest asshole in town. If ever id meet someone like Type in real life id definitely run the other way. Yes there was a traumatic experience but its not an excuse to be an arse.
My advise to my fellow LGBTQ memebers here, dont ever date someone like Type in real life. He will make your life a living hell, this guy is so toxic and you deserve better. And also when your roommate tells you he hates gays like you, you go away as fast as you can, not secretly touch him when he is sleeping. That's called sexual harassment. And all the more reason for him to hate gay guys. And also, when somebody sexually harasses you, you dont open the cave to let them in, you go to police. The show is just not sending the right message.
One of the most annoying character ever is Tar. He was annoying in Love by Chance and he was as equally annoying here. (i dont hate the actors just the character). He was introduced so early in the show only to really matter in the last 2 or 3 episodes - and a bit creepy almost incestious onesided relationship with the stepbrother.
When i reviewed SOTUS, i said there was almost no intimate moments - this one is the exact opposite.
Hard to rewatch. I give it an overall rating of 6.
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standard university Thai BL
Overall: this is a classic Thai university BL, it's not going to win awards but I was entertained. 12 episodes about 40 minutes each (I watched on double speed) on YouTube, Viki and iQIYI (dependent upon country).Content Warnings: non con picture taking, manipulation, non con touching (asleep), see the comments with a spoiler about potentially something else, stalking, kick, dub/non con kiss (asleep), vomiting, domestic abuse/slap
What I Liked
- that Ai actually had a conversation about his love at first sight
- happy to see two queer actors Arm and Porsch (who are a real life couple) are in a BL
- several cute moments
- funny moments (but some were likely unintentionally funny)
- Nhai's dad
- I dislike the circumstances of that scene in episode 2 but this was the best handled out of all that I've seen with clear check ins, aftercare, etc.
- they communicate with one another/poor communication doesn't drag on (also they avoided the ep 11 curse)
Room For Improvement
- I liked the initial set up and thought we'd see Ai struggling with Nhai's flaws but instead Nhai became reluctant and petty with Ai head over heels in love for unknown reasons
- multiple side couples were tossed in but not developed
- cartoonish villain
- that finale was...a choice, open plot threads, kind of jumped from scene to scene (still had cute moments though)
- how the dads acted in that flashback was terrible (also not a clear flashback)
- nonsense things (Nhai is in aerospace engineering?, how they packed all that stuff camping, etc)
- subtitles on iQIYI had quite a few errors but I didn't take off points for it although I think it hurt the audience's understanding of the plot
- in ep 2 I wish they didn't have Nhai directly crying afterwards because it seemed like he didn't want to, however I actually don't think that's the case. It was a combo of reasons including Nhai worrying 1. he forced Ai, 2. he ruined their friendship and 3. he got in between Ai and Ai's crush (because Nhai hadn't figured it out yet lol)
Title Information - a wonderful person explained in the comments what Long in the title means: "Fall/drown in love in thai means "ttok long rak" , "long" is the short form of this so yea the title means the story of how Ai fall/drown in love with Nhai"
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Story: So if you've read the manga, watched the anime, or have seen either the Korean/ Japanese version you already know the story. For others the story may seem a bit weird but it has a lot of heart and it totally grabs your attention. Its a romantic comedy so its a story based around love.
Acting: Ahh soo much better than the Korean version, much much much better. Though the cast wasn't as pretty as the Korean version they were excellent actors. I already liked Matsumoto Jun from Kimi Wa Petto but this story made me fall in love with him. The main female Inou Mao is SOOO SOOO SOO much better than Goo Hye Sun and her horrible acting. I love the cast, and I thought the girl who played Shisuka was GORGEOUS! She was so pretty.
Music: I really liked the music it was cute and catchy. But I got annoyed after they played it over and over again.
Rewatch: Definitely will watch again when I'm in the mood for a good romance drama.
Forget the Korean version of the drama, why wasn't this my drama. Why did the Korean version have to be my first drama and ruin Kdramas for me for a while. If you want pretty sets and pretty actors go to the Korean version, but if you want awesome acting and true feelings this version is THE BEST!! LOVE LOVE LOVEEEEEE
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Most people will be skeptical that this drama deserves all the praise it will likely get, I know I would be. A common question has been, "Is it really that good?". Umm... YES. The answer is YES, in ALLCAPS.
Let's start at the beginning, which most people call slow, but I was completely fascinated from the very first scene. I had a friend who was a sound editor, and I always thought the job was so fascinating, but I love the way they weave that element in throughout the show. I think it's the attention to details like that that makes this drama stand out more than others. Add the psychic premonition/flash forward element to that, and I was hooked for sure. I just had to know what was going to happen next.
I think the writing was really extraordinary in how they married all the different genres together without ever totally losing it's charm. Watching it felt like being on a roller coaster. I liked the ebb and flow of the story... Some moments are cute, some intense, some are passionate, some are heartbreaking, then frustrating, then suddenly hilarious... In telling the story of a mature and truly complicated relationship, they never settle on sticking to one approach for too long. Some people who joined in for the romance may get annoyed during the depressing & frustrating parts, and those looking for suspense probably got bored during the extra romantic moments, but I was too invested in the story to ever be bored, and I knew the story would never stay on one type of moment for too long. I know that personally that "surfing" shirt kept haunting my dreams... One can criticize certain parts of the story for not being realistic, but being real is not my criteria for a great drama. In fact, the only other drama I could see myself giving perfect 10s to is Secret Garden, for most of the same reasons, and that is definitely not a drama that relies on being "real". All the authenticity this drama needs comes from the portrayal of the characters.
Seo Hyun Jin as Regular Oh Hae Yeong, and Eric Moon as Do Kyeong, are not the ideal dream couple on paper. They are emotionally damaged, dysfunctional, and certainly imperfect, but I fell in love with both characters as they fell in love with each other. Regular Oh Hae Yeong's vulnerability broke my heart, and yet inspired me. Do Kyeong's guarded personality was frustrating, and yet I was completely empathetic towards him. The banter in the beginning was fun, their chemistry is perfect, the intensity of their intimacy got me in the feels, and they have the best KDrama kisses EVER. Seriously... ever. No need to fear them touching lips together while standing awkwardly. Eric plays repressed so well, that you would never think that he had it in him. I definitely swooned several times. I am a romcom fan, and have a lot of favorite couples, but they definitely leaped their way to the top couples on my list.
Then there is the rest of the cast. If I could give higher than 10 to some of the supporting cast I would.
Regular Hae Young's parents are the best parents in dramaland... FACT. The family moments were equally touching and laugh out loud funny. Kim Mi Kyung is just so good, and Lee Han Wi balanced her out perfectly. Any scene with them in it was automatically a good one.
The rest of the supporting cast were all 10s, or close enough, and there are way too many too mention, but shout out to the bromancemobile!
Jeon Hye Bin, and Lee Jae Yoon didn't have to rest on being attractive. They each had complicated characters who had me rooting against them while totally feeling sorry for them. I admit that I HATED Pretty Oh Hae Young, but that's because she played her part so well. Tae Jin was much more sympathetic, but both of them made the complicated love dilemma work well.
Kim Ji Suk, Heo Jeong Min, and Heo Young Ji all had very fun and memorable characters, but the true MVP of this whole drama to me is Ye Ji Won. She is my power animal! I had no idea, in her first scenes, how much I would end up adoring her character. Even If the story sucked, and the rest of the cast sucked, I would still be glued to the screen waiting to see what kind of shenanigans she would do next. I don't want to even slightly spoil any of her moments, because the surprise randomness of it is what makes it comic genius. I need to stalk her in something else. If you know of any dramas where she is particularly awesome, please let me know!
I already mentioned rewatch value, but just to be clear, I am tempted to rewatch the whole thing right now. I'll try to wait longer before I watch it again, but I will, without a doubt, be watching it all again... and again.
The music is now one of my favorite OSTs. I listen to certain songs over and over and never get tired. What Is Love is too cute, and I love that Seo Hyun Jin is singing! Ben's Like a Dream started playing in a store and had me singing along like I know the words... no, I do not speak Korean, much less sing in Korean. Maybe I by Roy Kim is like musical crack. Needless to say, the OST is really good.
Overall, I don't know what I am going to do with my Mondays & Tuesdays now that it's over. I rarely watch on air dramas, but I am so glad I watched this one. I think it was worth it from beginning to end, and yes I did like the ending, but I won't say too much about it other than that I thought it was... in it's own way... perfect ; )
So yes I recommend it very highly. I think a romcom hater, or a melodrama hater, or a suspense hater could all agree that there is surprisingly a little something for everyone. I also loved the message at the end.
Now excuse me while I make some room for this drama, and it's cast on my favorites lists.
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CHARACTERS: Let me just say that Yang Yang as Ye Xiu is the best thing ever. He really gave the character a lot of depth and I thoroughly enjoyed all of his expressions! Also for the rest of the characters, they brought their own color and twist to the characters. Honestly there were some parts of the drama that made me hate so many of the characters where I was literally yelling at the screen. So to the actors and actresses who made that happen, that is very commendable in my opinion. The only problem I would say I had is how fast the character development was for some of the characters. But then again it is only a 40 episode drama, each episode being 36- 45 minutes.
STORYLINE: Everything flowed well together, very very similar to how it is in the anime and light novel, but then there are some plot and development that only is shown here.
MUSIC: 100 out of 100, honestly I absolutely love all of the songs, they fit perfectly with the theme of the drama.
Once you start this drama you won't be able to put it down. It has deep and inspiring themes and the graphics are so captivating that if you even blink for a second, you will miss something. I really hope they do a season 2 of this drama! But if not, I am completely content.
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