I’ve been so wildly busy the last few weeks that I’ve barely had time to keep up with what’s airing, let alone finish the several shows I’ve had on the go. A true trial for the dedicated fujoshi.

Currently Watching (on air)

Perfect 10 Liners: The last couple of episodes have just been so sweet—I like how quickly the potential misunderstanding was resolved between Faifa and Wine, because it tracked with their personalities. Not enough Tay for me, but we can’t have everything, I suppose.

The issue with Faifa’s mom was, as per, resolved pretty quickly, but that’s because a show can’t really devote 10 episodes to the therapy that would actually be required to unpack everything that’s gone on in that relationship. I think the mom is actually an interesting character—to me, it seems clear that she loves her kids and is fully aware that she has failed them on many levels, but doesn’t even know where to begin fixing it.

I like that there wasn’t a like, “I forgive you,” moment—I’m sure people hate how it was resolved, but for me, Director New has, between this and We Are, done a really interesting job showing the complexity of having a parent who you want to have some kind of relationship with but can’t exactly forgive. We’re very quick to say CUT THEM OFF!!! online while ignoring how difficult that often is, especially in cultures that emphasize the importance of filial piety.

My Golden Blood: After we finished episode 3, I said, “Wow, this show sucks. I’m enthralled.” And that about sums it up! The pacing is unhinged, the production quality is at times truly abysmal (especially the audio, wtf is going on there), and the actual plot events are borderline deranged. Why is it a university show now? And the answer is this is gay Thai Twilight, and I truly wouldn’t have it any other way.

Sweet Tooth Good Dentist: I didn’t really know what to expect from this but it was so much more charming than I expected—Jay is a complete madman, and Sant is so cute that I get why Jay is obsessed with him. Mark is absolutely giving his all as a leading man, and good for him. The one thing I noticed in the first episode is that there’s something a little off about the feel of the editing—the pacing of it doesn’t quite feel like a romcom, which it definitely is. That being said, it looks great and did some very charming things, like the old-timey footage effect over the flashbacks to their first meeting.

Top Form: Whoever thought to cast Boom and Smart together is an absolute genius. Look, Boom is my chingu, my favorite fraudster, with the best eyebrows in Thailand, and he is giving his all as the tsundere overly intense diva, and Smart was made to play puppy tops. It’s what he did in Don’t Say No, and it’s what he’s doing here, to great effect. I’ve only seen the first episode, but I love how it lampshades aspects of Thai tv production and then does it themselves in a clear tongue-in-cheek way. I would also actually love to watch the in-universe show they’re filming. Produce that too!

Heesu in Class 2: When I first saw this on IG, I wasn’t sure if it was actually a BL (there’s nothing more people like than to edit a kdrama to make it look like a BL), so imagine my delight when I discovered it is a BL and is nearly full-length to boot! Each episode is like 40 minutes and there are going to be 10 of them. And the cast isn’t mostly unknowns like a lot of KBLs—many of them have acted pretty extensively before. The male lead was in Squid Game 2! This seems like a great sign for the future of KBLs being able to attract more talent and money, and on top of that the show is cute as hell. A little annoyed that I didn’t just wait until it was finished to binge because now I’m stuck waiting for episodes.

Currently Watching (completed)

Love Sick: Still on that grind. Still begging Almond to tone it down with how horny he makes Phun look. Still having trouble keeping track of the like 30 characters in this show. My understanding is that they adapted at least some of season 2 (which was 30 episodes!!!) into this 15 episode series, which unfortunately for me just means there’s more boys in identical outfits to keep track of.

Finished

Secret Relationships: This finished at the exact level of unhinged that I expected, and thus I was satisfied. As I said, the main thing you needed for this show was for Daon’s actor to be beautiful enough to drive three men insane, and they cast Junseo from WEi, so they did a good job. I think the main thing is I wanted a little more resolution for Soohyun, and in general I think we could have used more flashbacks to their college years because I think more information about the Daon-Soohyun relationship in particular would have been helpful. There’s a lot you can infer, but still. (I also don’t like the flashback at the end that has Sunghun meeting Daon first because it reinforces Jaemin’s whole “I met him first so I have dibs” line of reasoning.)

Ossan’s Love Thailand: The last couple episodes of this show were objectively wild, and I suspect a large part of that is that they were adapting 2 seasons of the Japanese show. So the time jump in episode 11 originally took place between the seasons, which audiences generally accept a little better, and the amnesia thing is also a longer plot point. I actually kind of wish they had taken the amnesia out though because I think it made Boss look worse—but I know they wanted to get to the wedding and Heng leaving boss at the altar.

Anyway, I did really like this show, so much more than I was expecting! And no matter what the show tries to tell me, they can’t kill my TenBoss ghost ship.

Heart Stain: Literally just watched this while working on my crochet project! It’s sweet and cute, but ultimately nothing particularly notable. I think it’s hard to make a high school romance with gap to college stand out because it’s such a common storyline and you really have to make it pop in some way.

BL News:

• Grab Food is currently airing a series of mini episode ads that feature Sky, Nani, Fourth, and Gemini—Nani is a CEO, Sky is a chef, Fourth is Nani’s secretary, and Gemini is a delivery driver. It has the most insane vibes of anything I’ve ever seen and I have no idea what they plan to do next.

• I’m currently watching Break Up Service, which is decidedly not a BL but does possibly feature Tay and Off as exes (they are in the book apparently) which is the funniest concept of all time.

urs,

hk