Reviews

This is both a love story between artists - poet and painter - and a love story to Thailand's rich cultural and artistic history. It's a very gentle lakorn. There's some family drama, a friendship between kindred spirits which grows into more, and a colourful, well-realised world of supportive friends. Poetry, temple paintings, Laotian traditional music and dance, Thai classical dance, music and theatre are all given ample time, both in explanation and in performance. They are integral to the story and characters, far more than mere window dressing or historical 'colour'.

The screenplay is excellent in how it handles this, giving enough explanation for a beginner to follow while also incorporating greater depth and resonance for those who know the poems referred to. At least this is how it seems to me, new to much of this but willing to look up what I can.

It is set primarily in 1836 - halfway through the 22 years Sunthorn Phu wrote, and wrote, and continued to write his epic web-novel, I mean his renowned 600,000+ word, 48,686 couplet literary poem "Phra Apai Mani." Both the poem and Phu are recurring characters. A story from King Rama II's own dramatic verse "Inao" is also integral to the lakorn.

It's not all arts and performance of course. Discrimination - both of women and of Chinese labourers - is central to the story. Lamjuan, the feisty, smart and independent-minded FL who will do nearly anything to learn how to read and write, stands up for Hoon, the Chinese ML, and he in turn respects and supports her fight against the limitations society and the other men in her life put on her because of her gender. They become steadfast friends.

It's Thai, and Thai PBS, so neither are alone in their struggles. Both have strong, supportive networks of friends and mentors, family and found family. It really is a gentle, lovely lakorn and a very welcome respite from everything going on in the world these days.

There aren't really villains here, more like petty, less capable men who think nothing of using women for their own gain because that's what society has taught them. The primary antagonist has morals and principles, but he is also a wealthy, privileged man in a position of power who always prioritises his own desires over women's and doesn't realise what he is doing.

The combination of these three elements - the pursuit of creativity, the struggles against prejudices, and their supportive friendship - makes for a fantastic story. The writing and story-craft is excellent, as is the acting, production and everything else. I have one small quibble which I'll put in a comment so it can hide under a spoiler. It's the *only* reason why I marked Story down from a 10.

Casting of the two leads, and another minor character, is very much What is age anyway. Cherprang Areekul was 27 when this aired and somewhere around 10 years older than her character. Toni Rakkaen was 41. Which made for a bit of a shock when they gave his age as 22 in 1836 - and after a time skip of 6 years. Hoon was SIXTEEN at the beginning! The impact of what Hoon was going through at such a young age was lessened for me in a few scenes, but Toni was so good at inhabiting the character it wasn't long before he seemed just right for it. More importantly, despite a significant age gap between the leads their characters are only around 6 years apart in age. It's also chastely Thai PBS.

Commendations also for screenwriter Pranpramoon; Pijika Jittaputta as Lamjuan's mother Jampa; Pattarasuda Anumanrajadhon as her rather magnificent mentor Poom, Bussaba of the Ferry; and Molywon Phantarak (so loved the relationship between her character and Lamjuan). Plus we get Rudklao Amradit in a minor role as well? Go on, spoil us some more with the quality of their acting.

Everyone involved - every actor, everyone behind the scenes including set, costumes, writing and everything else - created a fascinating and richly realised world. If I may make this recommendation - don't rush through it. It's a lovely respite to come back to again and again.

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Good story could've been approached better tho

I think the description doesn't accurately show what the show is mostly about which is a nerdy girl wants to be popular and happens to mistaken as a popular girl who wants to be invisible as they both transferred to the same school around the same time and have the same name, so they make a deal. (the show also has a trigger warning explained later)

This was cute seeing scenes of them making a deal and helping each other. They are learning acceptance of themselves and what friendship actually means but I think it could've been done better seeing more of the dynamic of friendship issues.



-----SPOILER AND TRIGGER WARNING------
Although not specifically said out loud this show does have a trigger warning there was implied sa for teenagers, they used words such as forced and violence when referring to this. I think the most detailed conversation about it was the ex saying that he basically deserved it because he was her boyfriend for so long.

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Strong opening, weak turn

The first episodes started surprisingly strong and were very interesting especially episode 3. Up to episode 4 the series feels exciting and very mysterious. At episode 5 the whole excitement about the story collapses. From episode 5 onward the story completely shifts it’s focus to romance. The plot feels less engaging and makes the story of the fate swap fall into the background. I hope the next episodes will focus more on the fate swap because of this shift (my opinion) the drama loses much of what made it stand out at the beginning. If the focus does not return to the fate swap the series risks wasting its most interesting concept.

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IT'S TOO BITTER THAN SWEET

While the plot remains the same as the Japanese film, a girlwith anterograde amnesia and the boy who chooses to love her anyway, the Korean adaptation changes the flavor of the story. Unlike the Japanese film, which uses a lot of future-looking flashbacks, the Korean version is more linear. It feels more 'present', making you feel the weight of each day as the couple lives it. Director Kim Hye-young leans heavily into the idea of sensory memory. The film explores how the body and heart might remember things (like the feeling of a hand-hold or the rhythm of a walk) even when the brain resets. Additionally, the visuals are less 'golden-hour vintage' and more 'crip, modern K-romance'. It feels a bit more grounded in reality, even while dealing with a tragic premise.

Furthermore, Choo Young-woo brings a more protective, slightly more mature energy than Shunsuke Michieda's version. You can really see the 'quiet exhaustion' in his eyes as he works to fill her diary with happy memories. While Shin Shi-ah captures the 'first-time' wonder perfectly. Every morning she wakes up is a performance of rediscovering her own life, and she portrays that vulnerability without making the character feel like a victim.

In conclusion, keep the tissues close for the scenes involving the father's photography studio. The Korean version adds some extra layers to the family dynamics that will absolutely wreck you. （＞人＜；）

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Camp

“Can this love be translated” is a campy piece that you’re going to enjoy for reasons beyond its story. It has brilliant cinematography indicating a ridiculously expensive budget. They have managed to capture the most visually pleasing shots in Korea, Japan, Italy and Canada, showing us some overly edited, almost perfect imagery from these countries natural scenery, historical architecture, food and touristy charms and sites. Everyone has a very unique (read expensive) taste in fashion and female lead is basically a walking talking billboard.

“There are as many languages as there is human in the world”
The story has a good start by introducing two rather peculiar characters in an uncomfortable situation. Ju Ho jin is a translator fluent in Japanese, English and Italian. Despite knowing all these languages he is incapable of expressing his own feelings. He is avoidant person with a broken family background wishing for a drama free life (oh only if he knew). He makes a one day trip to Japan every year in a specific day hoping for something he knows wont happen because he will never try to do it. while our Fl, Cha Mu hui, is the anxious air headed D-list actor who acts first, blabbers second and talks third. She has a tendency to dance around what she is trying to say, just to suddenly close up right at the moment the conversation gets real. Her Japanese boyfriend ghosted her and she is determined to find him and demand explanations. Problem is she doesn’t speak Japanese and you can’t learn a language by stalking someone on instagram. Luckily she meets a translator kind enough to help her. These two speak completely different languages even if they both speak Korean.

The main concept here is miscommunications, forcing them to go back; reconsider their thoughts, see a different perspective and try again. Its an interesting concept and goes well for a while but unfortunately the story soon turns to a convoluted mess introducing many different concepts and ideas in a very sudden and confusing manner. What ruined the story for me was Do Ra mi. At first she was a TV character that shot Mu hui into stardom but later turned to Mu huis manifestation of her insecurities and anxiety. It was clear that Mu hui has some sort of mental illness causing her hallucinations and until now I had no problem with it. It was one the elements that gave this series its campy feeling. Then she seeks doctors help just to be told that nothing can be done medically which for me was the first red flag. Later on they turn this hallucination to an obvious case of DID where Do Ra mi turns to an alter ego of Mu hui, capable of taking control of her body without Mu huis knowledge. Now we are out of camp territory. This type of problem calls for some serious interventions which she never gets because everyone surrounding her is complete idiot. There are some responsibilities you would wish the writers take or some lines they wont cross. They cross many which I don’t have the energy to go back and recall all but just to mention some: They never use the name of the illness. The only reason I know this is DID is because I've seen it in another drama.
She finally seeks some professional help after Do Ra mi is gone. How did she get cured you ask?
Jo Ho jin takes on various jobs through out this drama that he has no business taking but the job of a psychiatrist was a step too far. And Mu huis mental disorder vanishes just by the power of a translators love and his relentless quest of translating all of Mu hui/ Ra mi incoherent blabbers? Without any professional help? How lucky. Some crazy stuff has been written here.

The main problem in this story is the fact that writers want us to believe it’s a deep psychological romance story with thought provoking ideas but cant even decide what Mu hui alter ego , Do ra mi, is supposed to be. Is Do ra mi a self-sabotaging alter ego trying to stop her from happiness and puts Mu hui in a safe path where there is no risk of losing? Or it’s the alter ego that says and does what Mu hui is too scared to do but makes her happy?
By this series logic, both are true. Do Ra mi explicitly tells Jo Ho jin to reject Mu hui when she come back and goes out of her way to flirt with Hiro. Later on she uses Hiro to make a situation where Mu hui and Ho jin can talk to clear some misunderstandings. One minute she pushes them apart, the next pulls them together.
So this woman is crazy enough to give herself a split personality but the split personality also has a split personality.

Beside its insensitive approach to mental illness, the romantic aspect of the story is quite problematic too. We are out to believe these two have finally found the way to translate each others languages but I find that hard to believe. The more the story progresses the worse their communication becomes. In earlier episodes they were trying ( to some extent ) to communicate. They were clear in their talks. Their different personalities was the cause of misunderstandings. “the unstoppable force meeting the immovable object” sort of problem. Somewhere along the middle they started to talk in riddles. You can’t tell me some dialogues couldn’t have been better written.
The main couple were the reason I kept watching in the beginning as I found every other character boring but found myself detesting their scenes in the middle. There is no actual positive progress ( I know many viewer will disagree ) and then BOOM they’re together. They are cute as a couple but the relationship is all based on nilly willy.
Hiro was a pleasant surprise. I like the character growth quite a lot.
Everyone else were annoying. Did not care about the second couple whatsoever.
Do not get me wrong. I enjoyed watching it while simultaneously questioning myself on why am I even enjoying it hence the big gap between the story score and overall score. If you are considering it, shut your brain off and take everything at face value. Know that its gonna be a feast for your eye.

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I saw a clip of this, on IG I believe and I was intrigued by the ML.
I didn't know who he was back then, then I happened to watch another drama of his and I loved him there, didn't like the drama so much, it was ok-ish, so I thought I'd give him another chance and try this one, maybe I'll be a fan.

This wasn't the best choice, to like this you have to be already a fan of the ML before starting, not the opposite. But aside from the story the performance was ok.

The story is not coherent, made worse by the wrong subtitles, now my Chinese is terrible I know but in some parts I hear something and the subtitles says something else, that's how bad it was...
Even a non-Chinese person can spot the differences.

Now the end was weird and in some parts I didn't even know who is bad and who is good and the funny scenes at the end were odd too.

The acting was nice, I didn't know what was going on and there were too many characters unnecessarily, romance was non existent, I know the ML did a lot for the FL but they didn't have any type of intimacy or romance happening between them, i didn't realise that till the last minute when it suddenly hit me that the two leads didn't even kiss lol they hugged once maybe xD and the genre is just romance!! Nothing else in the tags and that's the main thing the drama lacked of.

I don't know if I like it or not, but I'm sure this isn't the best VD to watch if you want to enjoy the ML performance ~~

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full of symbolism that leaves a lasting impression

The entire concept of this series was a hit imo, I'm genuinely surprised some people rated it so low.

To start, Dew was everything. I loved his acting I loved his character and I loved how symbolism followed the story from start to finish. I was rooting for both pairings at different points, while knowing full well that OffGun was the end game.
Pheem totally deserved better and there is no argument that could convince me otherwise, but he *was* obsessed with the idea of Jira. I think a lot of people can relate to that, idealizing someone without fully understanding them.
Each character had their flaws without them being brushed over or excused, and I *loved* Emi's character for keeping it 100% real with Jira when he was being indecisive, self loathing or ready to stay stagnant in his sadness.

The episode where Dew's character destroyed things in the rage room was so raw that it felt borderline red flag-like, but it was such a contrast from the Pheem we saw leading up to that point and that in and of itself felt so poetic.
In my opinion, as a former art student, the entire series was a work of art. There were so many comparisons to be made, and the controversy that comes along with AI art was well executed. Jira had every right to be furious and heart broken over Koh doing something so carelessly, but it gave a very real insight to what our current and future will be. AI isn't going away any time soon, and while that's no excuse for anyone to utilize AI to take over the real-life blood, sweat and tears that artists put into their work--it is unfortunately something we have to work a compromise with. At the end of the day AI is us, and what we put into it it will spit back out, as much as I hate to admit.

The constant contrast between machine and flowers had me over the moon, but I might be biased as I love contrast and seeing things that are opposites mesh together.
The art Jira (did gun really paint these? bc ohmygod) made was absolutely beautiful, and very much up my alley, I would spend hours at a showing looking at this form of art. My favorite piece was 100% the piece of Pheem from the rage room, it was almost heart breaking to look at and the edges of the painting reminded me of wings coming off of him, which tied back into one of the first pieces Jira painted of Koh where the angel is coming down to kiss him.

Also the music for the series was chef's kiss, I don't think any series has made me save as many songs as I did with this one.
All in all I think it was a fantastic series and I can't wait to see Dew in more complex character roles.

I forgot to mention the whole concept of "burnout syndrome" was so extremely well done as an active theme from start to finish--I cannot praise that detail enough.

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Almost Great, But Overloaded

The series started strong and genuinely pulled me in, but there was always this underlying feeling that it could’ve been tighter and better. It tried to do a lot at once — touching on mental health, leaning into romance, flirting with rom-com energy, and then suddenly shifting into something more serious. Because of that, it ended up feeling like a mixed bag. After about eight episodes, the emotional weight started to feel exhausting rather than engaging, mostly because the story kept stretching itself instead of refining what it already had.
Honestly, this would’ve worked beautifully as a shorter mini-series. Six well-paced episodes could have delivered a more focused and impactful story, instead of dragging things out. Since it’s on Netflix, the binge factor (and fast-forward option) helps, but I wouldn’t necessarily recommend it as a first K-drama. That said, it’s still a decent watch — not bad by any means — and it feels like there were more stories and depth here that just needed better structure to truly shine.

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The Best GMMTV Show So Far

this has to be anucha's magnum opus and one of the best shows that came out of gmmtv's slop factory. burnout syndrome is a complex and unfiltered character study of three individuals who are all desperate for human connection, inspiration, and salvation from the tolls of capitalism and artificial intelligence.

what truly stuck with me was the show's refusal to whitewash its characters and view them as monolithic. despite its political themes, its creators did not feel the need to make jira an untainted representation of an artist who will not "sell out" to capitalism and AI despite the looming threat of poverty. once faced with the scarcity of employment opportunities, he eventually caved to the chance of financial stability despite its questionable sources.

similarly, koh was not given a stereotypical character arc; instead, he turned out to be a capitalist through and through. love, if you can even call it that, did not redeem him in the end. despite jira's complaints, koh will continue to inflict harm on the world, uncaring of the artists and workers he stole ideas and job opportunities from. even jira, the only person he truly trusted, was not spared from this.

on the other hand, pheem's character subverted the "second lead syndrome" by casting dew, an undeniably attractive actor who knows how to weaponize his looks to garner empathy from the audience, while masterfully portraying the concealed sleaziness of pheem, who, 1) frequented the burnout bar to have sex with people at their most vulnerable; 2) studied all of jira's interests and claimed them as his own to impress him; and 3) expected sex in return for all of his unsolicited efforts and had a (honestly terrifying) reaction when he did not get what he wanted.

despite their questionable characteristics, the show did not deprive us of their humanity and gave us plenty of reasons to care for these characters. for example, jira is the most relatable out of everyone. like most of us, he is just trying to stay afloat as the job market becomes less and less stable. at the same time, he is trying to keep his spirit alive by doggedly pursuing whatever can ignite the passion and creativity that capitalism tries to stamp out, regardless of its consequences.

meanwhile, koh perfectly portrayed the soft underbelly of an otherwise deplorable character. a capitalist and an ai investor was also the very same person who had to steel himself when going to public places; who cried when he saw jira's paintings; who let pheem win a race to make him feel more comfortable and honest; who grew a garden of flame lilies in memory of his lover; who, despite his attempts to protect himself, cannot help but to let jira in his life. these things did not make him a better person, but they helped me see the human behind the machine.

lastly, pheem had the best character arc of all of them. starting as an individual who refused to face his lack of identity by wearing the skin of a perfect employee, friend, or lover, he eventually underwent the painful process of transforming into a human being capable of vulnerability, selfless love, and freedom from validation-seeking behaviors. at the very end, his embrace with jira finally felt real— devoid of any expectation, performance, or pretense.

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An underrated drama!!

Tbh I didn't even know this drama existed, thank you to Instagram algorithm which decide to show me clips of this drama. Why are people not talking about it! It is such a well written drama- kept me confused till this the end about sung hoon.
This was an emotional and moral rollercoaster, I stand with in any circumstances murder is wrong, but the people involved were so frustrating!!!! But yes killing their family who were not at all involved in the incident was very wrong.
And if anyone is wondering there was a real incident involving children being abused and exploited in the same way. I remember seeing a documentary about the same.

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Beige contract Cinderella

this feels a bit like a role reversal contract marriage done beige, very, very beige.

While the male lead is an adorable little puppy , the female lead is a bit of an over acting bulldog scaredy cat combo.

The male leads styling is completely off , it takes talent to put a cute guy guy in a suit and make him look less attractive. The female lead has more moodswings than a swing on a school playground adoring break time. They seem to try to make her look independent but fail at every turn...

An okay watch, that is a bit different than many others like it but sometimes different does not mean actually good.

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