Reviews

Ignore any review posted by someone who did not watch the whole drama.

Ignore every single review from anyone who did not watch all 12 episodes--especially those that only watched the first 4 before bailing out. Their reviews are disingenuous at best. (Two pet peeves of mine: Posting reviews before a drama has even ended, and reviews from people that dropped it after only a few episodes.)

It starts out very harsh, an alcoholic reporter wavering over the oversized glass of soju in front of him after just publishing an exposé on the drug-fueled affair of the husband of the woman that had broken his heart not once, but twice. The second time had sent him spiraling down into the bottle, and it had taken him years to put his life back together. The exposé, based on an anonymous tip, was threatening to dredge it all back up again.

The two star-crossed lovers at the center of this story are not well-matched. They come from different worlds--he from working class, she a chaebol heiress, who in her naïveté is oblivious to their class differences. Those differences become the source of much heartache, but it slowly becomes clear that all the two ever wanted was each other and the freedom to be together.

The cast is absolutely terrific, and the chemistry between the two leads is amazing. You feel the two lead character's love, longing, and pain. There are several other relationships peripheral to the romance that are very engaging too: The ML's relationship with his boss, the FL's relationship with her sister and the ML's parents, the Chaos family. All of these grow richer as they propel the story along. I also enjoyed the two guest roles: In something completely different, Go Bo Gyeol was almost unrecognizable as the fallen idol, and Uhm Jung Hwa was delightfully over the top as editor in chief. Finally, at 12 episodes, I thought the length was perfect. Very good drama, well done.

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A perfect match

SeaKeen dominate their latest show, with fantastic chemistry and very solid performances from both of them. The bar was set high by "MuTeLuv: 'Hi' by My Luck" and risen even higher with "Head 2 Head". While the show is not free from problems, I enjoyed it immensely and consider the best of SeaKeen project so far.

Plot and writing
I applaud the use of the "enemies to lovers" premise, which doesn’t get old and – properly developed and scripted – allows actors to show more of their range than it is the case with more traditional love stories. In H2H this premise is used in a smart way and effectively combined with elements of the supernatural.
The writing is a bit uneven. It’s generally good when it comes to the main couple, allowing for nice pacing and buildup of Jinn’s and Jerome’s romantic relationship; the show took just the right amount of time to make that believable and enjoyable at the same time. Jerome’s and Beam’s last scene in ep. 3 is a testament to the quality of writing – it’s short, but neatly concludes business between those two characters (which in itself was necessary for the Jerome-Jinn storyline to progress), showing Beam as more than a trophy boyfriend (he’s properly roasting Jerome for what he did). More importantly, it shows Jerome as both a relatable character and decent person: he’s embarrassed by how he treated Beam, clearly wanted to avoid a confrontation with him and defends Jinn – taking all the blame. A lesser script would omit a scene like that or turn it into pure cringe – here it was done very skillfully. That being said, the script seems to dwell too long on certain issues (like Jerome’s struggle with his visions), hence the series felt like it lost some steam mid-season, with the main plot almost stalled for 1-2 episodes. Shortening the series to 10 episodes was both possible and advisable; either that or the main plot should have been expanded to properly fill all 12 episodes with non-repetitive content.
Writing for the secondary/support couple isn’t as good: one almost wishes Van and Farm break up for good, with Van’s character arc feeling contrived, forced and unrealistic; the show sold me on this only due to Java’s convincing performance. The second couple is also clearly less developed, with Farm’s character almost nonexistent – fortunately Van has a little more depth.
I have heavily criticized previous work of Inthira Thanasarnsumrit, indicated as the sole screenwriter for H2H, for the shows she wrote or co-wrote suffered from what I called "multiple couples syndrome" and the resulting underdevelopment and lack of proper characterization; this affliction plagued "Between Us", "We Are" and "Perfect 10 Liners". This time I have to give her praise for generally good work. Also: Jerome’s "but I do love you!" from episode 11 reminded me of a similar line by Win (portrayed by Boun Noppanut Guntachai) from episode 11 of "Between Us".
On another note: no breakup and no time jump – in a GMMTV-made BL! More than that: writing for ep. 11 seemed to be making fun of BL breakups – which felt really good.

Performances
Sharp as always, Keen remains among my favorite BL actors and singers. H2H solidifies his status with a very good performance – funny, emotional and touching. Visibly comfortable with the material he had to work with, Keen made Jinn a complex and strong character.
Back in "Only Boo!" Sea was clearly several steps behind Keen – now the distance is far smaller. Already in "MuTeLuv: 'Hi' by My Luck" we could see how much Sea’s acting has improved – H2H is his best and strongest performance to date. Sea has a firm grip on the complicated role of Jerome, convincingly displaying all facets of the character – from being annoying and obnoxious through being confused and feeling the weight of the future on his shoulders to being caring and loving. With just 3 roles in 2 years Sea went from inspired amateur to gifted actor; he’s also able to competently deliver a song. Amazing progress.
Performances of Keen and Sea, their chemistry and interactions (bickering, banter and love) are what makes the story work, combining comedy and romance with more serious and even somber elements. In less skilled hands this volatile mix would result in a disaster – Sea and Keen handled it properly, giving us a very good show.
Java deserves praise for making Van – basically an unlikeable douchebag – someone to root for. Unlike Farm, Van got a proper background – and Java used it fully. Van talking about his house and why he doesn't want to be there in episode 11 was Java's best delivery so far in any show. It was believable and restrained – I call it actual acting.

Music
In a classic GMMTV fashion H2H has a soundtrack consisting exclusively of songs performed by the main cast. "คิดว่าไม่ แต่ดันใช่ (Turns Out It's You)", the opening credits song, was performed by Keen and Sea – it’s energetic and fun, very fitting for the show. Two songs were performed individually by Sea – "จริงๆ ชอบเธอ (Secret Crush)" – and Keen – "ไหนว่าไม่ชอบ (Not a Crush?)". Keen is a good singer and his share of the H2H OST is no surprise; Sea’s contribution, on the other hand, I was not expecting – and he proved more than capable in this regard (though I wouldn’t call him a singer). The fourth and last part of the OST is "เพื่อนข้างๆ (Friend Next Door)" by Java and Surf. While thematically it fits the show, I’m not convinced the song had to be performed by this duo.

Final thoughts
SeaKeen is one of only 4 BL ships in which I like and respect both members, as well as their work together (the others being YinWar, BounPrem and MarkOhm); this is mainly due to how well ship members are matched. In this particular case it is a nearly perfect match. "Head 2 Head" – which rests mostly on Sea and Keen – convinced me that my assessment of this ship was correct: it was and stays strong, sailing towards more BL adventures that will delight me.

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I enjoyed it but expected more

Ill start by saying The cast was perfect, they did so well in their respective roles, they had so much chemistry together which also made this serie special to me. And basically saved it for me
Now to storyline, we start off so well, first half of serie was good, we had intersting plotline kept me hooked than 2nd half come and editing become so bad, plotline lost and storyline dipped, focus went from jerome trying to save jinn to somehow making up with jinn's dad, i don't understand why they even tried to make jinn forgive him, he left him, this doesn't change, that forgiveness was some bs.
Now another big plot point we lost is how jinn actually die and how jerome save him, bcz it didn't matter if jinn survived accident with his mom h, he still died at age of 30 due sicknesses, so i dont get how we never got that explaned.

FarmVan needed better storyline too, van went from having no romantic feeling towards farm to loving him next ep, it didn't make sense.

Such potential of story got lost into details a'd i only blame people behind the scene from writers to editors and directors and i worry that one of series i look forward the most under same director which could end up with same team and ruin such great idea

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Fantasy trying to be reality

what can I say about another school fight action drama
this pushes the limits in being so full of tragedy but if they want show the reality of fighting to the death
to do this believably they must answer not skip certain basic questions:
where are the parents
police would have to be more active not just a cameo showing how useless they are
school authorities could not cover up as brief scenes showing how useless they are
as it is we can only see it as pure fantasy beneath which a pretty routine delinquent youth fight action is unrealistically spiced up with shock value
old men in uniform supposedly as school students doesn't help its credibility

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Hmm not as good as the webtoon but not bad i guess

I feel they messed up in the casting stage. Ping is fine but for the gangster it was supposed to be someone with a more mature and adult vibe cz if i remember the webtoon did have age gap. Also i didn't like how they changed the game friend's personalities and gave korean references while they're in thailand. Like why are they drinking soju in thai? And who eats spicy ramen for hangover? They kept very little from the webtoon is what i felt after 1st 2 eps... the gangster didn't give gangster vibes n ping's acting was kinda awkward at times....

I'm a webtoon fan and i am watching this cz it's an adaptation so yeah not that good adaptation but not bad either if u skip it ur not missing out. If you're expecting mafia romance vibes this is not it

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Head 2 pillow

This is what happened. Usually, watched at night. Yes, for me it was that uneventful and bordering on boring. There was nothing about the story or the acting that screamed must see. It dragged along three couples and a spare to the most obvious ending. Albeit, the second couple, Farm and Van did have a more realistic problem than the first. Why does someone keep sabotaging the most loving relationship he's ever had? Walls built by insecurity, lonliness and fear of wanting someone who may eventually leave due to his bad habits. Fears realized, faced and attitudes changed. Though the change had no impact whatsoever. Everyone's acting was just above surface but not stellar. Even the spare. I would love to see a more mature role for JJ to stretch his acting skills beyond being a filler.

The father makes a decision to protect his family the best way he knows. Acceptable. What is not acceptable is why did they keep it from Jinn. Jinn who has suffered the loss for so long accepts with a simple explanation and support from J. Hmmm, that's my response to that situation.

Jinn and J are arch enemies though with Jinn harboring a secret crush for J. J begins to have premonitions of Jinn's future. They ultimately clash, resolve and mature over 12 episodes. It just feels like there weren't any crisis moments that felt like an actual crisis.

Overall it did not have an impact as much as I Saw You In My Dream (similar premise), Boys In Love and Gelboys. If Head 2 Head is your first bl, it is a gentle entry and should be viewed as such. A serene piece that never gallops but ripples to the end.

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Beautiful stories

This was the perfect ending. I don't know what else to say. I had the time of my life watching this show. It was amazing to watch a show that made me laugh, cry and scream. I literally got to watch the characters go through so much growth, and what can I say, man, the main character was so well written. Honestly, all the characters were exceptionally well-written. I loved watching each story unfold, and it's just beautiful to watch people getting their well-deserved justice. There are new characters every episode, and yet the main characters will still always have your heart. Just perfect.

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Nothing special

The pilot made me very excited for it but even after watching one ep and seeing spoilers, I wasn't able to watch more. I hoped the "enemies to lovers" would last there longer but already in ep1 they had some k-drama lovely moments which annoyed me. I didn't understand what was the point of them fighting then when even their mothers were best friends and wanted them to get along. Then I saw how poorly written was the second couple which had more angst which usually gets me more interested but based on other people's reviews, it was over the top with the toxicity. SeaKeen will finally have a different director than Golf who was kicked out of the company for his disrespectful behavior towards the actresses he worked with and New Siwaj who keeps repeating the same plots and scenes in his series and usually the actors are mocked for bad acting with his direction so I hope that Weirdo-101 will finally be the series which will make me fall in love with them because just four eps in MuTeLuv with a great director changed my perspective of them as I loved their "Hi" by my luck very much. I know Only Boo wasn't bad and had really great moments but after knowing what the director did, I'm seriously unable to watch his work, sry.

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Maybe if i hadn't watched the original i might have finished the show

I only watched this show because i wanted to support Saint after what he went through leaving the company he built. I didn't even know about it until i saw his Instagram post and i went to check it out. I went into it trying to not compare it to the Original Kdrama. I'm glad it's not completely the same as the original. However the biggest reason i loved Happiness Kdrama was the reason i dropped this show mid episode 7. I loved the FL in the original, she's a strong character and smart. She took the lead the majority of the time and the ML usually provided support. Unless he needed to take the lead. However this FL takes the backseat most of the time. By episode 7 i felt 0 chemistry between them. Maybe it's a really slow burn romance.

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More Heart Than Humour

Just finished Pro Bono, and it really sticks with you; though not always in the ways you might expect. Let me start with this: the cases are the real stars of the show.

This is where the drama finds its conscience. Through its legal cases, Pro Bono shines a light on the cracks in the system—migrant workers fighting to keep their dignity, people with disabilities navigating a world that rarely accommodates them, and celebrities stripped of their humanity the moment scandal hits. These stories don’t feel like filler; they form the moral core of the drama and are often emotionally honest and quietly impactful.

Kang Dawit’s journey anchors it all. Watching him shift from a careerist to someone shaped by the people he represents is the most compelling throughline. His growth feels gradual and earned, carried by a restrained performance that gives the drama emotional weight even when other elements wobble.

But here’s my real talk moment: the comedy just… didn’t land for me. Which is a shame, because it’s listed as a comedy-legal drama. Some of the side characters (looking at you, Nan Hui and Jun U) felt more grating than funny. Their loud, exaggerated moments often clashed with the quieter, more emotional tone of the cases. I found myself fast-forwarding through some of their scenes just to get back to the courtroom or the client’s story.

And while I really respected what the show was trying to do with characters like Gippeum, a passionate fighter for justice, sometimes her intensity crossed into overbearing. On the flip side, Jang Yeongsil’s quiet transformation was a real highlight. From timid to quietly courageous, his arc felt real and earned.

All in all, Pro Bono is a mixed bag; but one worth digging into if you care about law dramas with social conscience. Don’t go in expecting big laughs. Go in for the cases, for Kang Dawit’s meaningful journey, and for a drama that isn’t afraid to show how the law touches real, vulnerable lives.

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Rivals to lovers with a twist!

Head 2 head was a show that really surprised me. After watching Sea and Keen in Only Boo, I wasn't quite sure how much to expect from them - it seemed like GMM was condemning another couple to a life of school uniforms and solidly mid romances. However, h2h was a lot more than that!

J (Sea) and Jinn (Keen) have been rivals from the start, despite their parents being best friends. The two have competed since childhood, and show no signs of stopping now that they're both fashion design majors at the same college. However, when J gets hurt in an accident while racing Jinn, their parents force them to live together so Jinn can care for J and the two can learn to get along. Their relationship begins to change as J starts seeing visions of horrible things happening to Jinn and starts trying to prevent them - but not every tragedy can be prevented, no matter how hard J tries.

I've seen a lot of people relate this show to Bad Buddy, and truly I see the resemblance, though I loved the addition of visions of the future, the internal struggle of "do I love him because I love him now, or because I know in the future I will love him," and the need to change what the visions show. I thought it added a really nice layer of complexity to the show! The only downside of this show was the repetition in the beginning, where it feels like these boys are in the hospital more than they're at school. I felt like they could have instead developed some of the plot points of the future visions a bit more, but I still REALLY enjoyed this show. Not only did Sea and Keen do an INCREDIBLE job portraying these characters, but the other characters in the show were equally fun to watch. The second couple, played by Surf and Java, stole the show in some of the episodes. The relationship built on Java's character's idea of "I can't lose him, but I don't quite love him," was SO interesting. Frankly, I'd watch a whole series about their characters too. I didn't think any conflict was overly drawn out, which I appreciated, and I could see this becoming a comfort show for sure. The sweet relationship that slowly develops between rivals paired with the ups and downs of the side couple's relationship made for a perfectly balanced show. Definitely give this one a shot!

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nothing is black or white

It's not that bad, nothing in life is "only" black or white, you definitely need more life experience to understand it, or to think about the questions raised.

After a while, I skipped the kindergarten parts (there were too many and they were distracting) and got a comprehensible story. I found humor too.

The main criticism was directed at the depiction of "sexual violence." There are some things that a film, book, or actor cannot convey because the audience is completely closed off to either consideration or a change of perspective. These things exist, and it is not the judgment of the outside observer that matters, but the experience, perception, and interpretation of the person involved.

Due to the scandal surrounding the production company, there is no chance of the story being continued, and I feel sorry for the young actors.

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Waste of good actors

This story is simply terrible. Almost dropped it and threw up about 10 times and I only finished because I wanted to complete this review.

The writers tried to create some character development but it was awful, characters switched personalities overnight with no explanation so there is no way to understand or relate to any of them in the slightest.

The trope of cousin love (yes, even when they’re not blood related) is disgusting and should never be normalised. Especially since Jeonghan used and manipulated Iljo in the first three episodes, just to switch personalities overnight in the 4th episode with no realistic character development.

Even through the awful writing, you can clearly see how good these actors are and it’s a true shame that they had to taint their reputations with this horrible series instead of using their potential well.

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Love the visuals and effects! The ending was super fulfiling and completed.

First of all. If you are a scaredy cat like me for horror movies , skip those scary parts but persist to continue watching. Some parts cant be help as the scary supernatural part is part of the story. Is crucial. But just half open ur eyes haha

2nd . Chemistry is amazing , eyes are very expressive especially the longing and the pain. I wish the main couple had more expressive moments cause i feel 1 is too shy and the other held back too much but can be understandable from their positions and experience.

The second couple chemistry and interactions is natural n pure so is very light hearted to watch

3rd thing i like about the show is how it is all explained in the end. The questions are answered and certain things are made clear and explained. When we watch the show , there is bound to be moments where we feel that certain people should have or not have done certain things . But it is all for a reason... be patient with the plot and the rationale behind it

4th is all the effects and costume and subtle things to show the powers or intensity like glowing tattoo or the eyes the blood the veins etc . Subtle details that added alot of levels and contrast

5th the culture , the respect , the authenty of the whole show... i dont know much before watching but after watching this , it really reminds ourselves to always be mindful and why our actions whether selfish or self defence or even out of love may hurt someone or affect someone unintentionally .

6th the music and the link to the actors actions and video edit is amazing. (Spoiler) example the lyrics is like will always be with you i promise - then they hook pinkies. Or like its a seperation or fighting for each other scene n the music just matches so well with the lyrics. Usually its just the ost that means something by default but the acting continue as normal. But this show makes me feel like the scenes are coming alive n following the lyrics.

7th the actors and actresses visuals are off the roof (i love tattoos too so yes im bias) hahahaha

1 thing i dont like is how some misunderstandings could have been avoided or not dragged for too long with just open and honest communication. Like overall speed wise for the 1st couple could be faster but yes understandable that there were alot of concerns . The uncertainty and master's position and duty also make us confuse on whether they can do what they wish to.

More things you may like or dislike ,watch the show ;)

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