This is the second vertical AI BL drama I've sat through, and honestly I went in knowing better. I had it on while I was doing cardio at the gym, and what struck me was just how much the plot echoed the last one I watched. Same step brother romance angle, same mystery girlfriend showing up near the end, same extra guy pining after one of the leads. Genuinely the only thing going for it was the runtime, the whole thing wrapped up in forty five minutes flat. The setup kicks off with Finn moving schools because his mom just married into money. He finds out his new step brother Aiden goes to the same place, and he's warned to keep his distance from him. Their first run in at school is rocky, just like you'd expect, but there's this odd pull between them neither can shake off. Finn keeps telling himself not to read into it because Aiden's straight and openly homophobic. Things shift when some kids start bullying Finn and the student council president, Ryan, steps in to ...
The story is about the lives of six diverse gay men living in Bangkok. The story focuses on their drama. Pom is a successful man but struggling to find love because of his own insecurities about his look & appearance. He lives with best friend Arm, a player, who enjoys being single and sleeping around. Oaf is in a happy long-term relationship with the much younger Big, although Oaf is starting to suspect Big of infidelity. Then we have Satang, who is MTF, bitchy but very loyal friend. When Pom tells Arm about his crush on an old friend Nat, Arm somehow manages to charm him first which causes rift between the two friends. Pom and Nat get into a relationship which doesn't last long and also Oaf throws out his boyfriend Big for cheating. Season 2 shows the story forward, specifically with respect to Nat's HIV status. He is cooking teacher and has a new boyfriend now. Big is back to Oaf and they are trying to work on their relationship. Arm meets an attractive man who is in a relationship and for first time Arm is not rushing to sleep with the man. Pom also finally meets a man but the success, money and insecurities of this guy (who happens to be Arm's ex) come in between them.
As mentioned above, the series tackles so many subjects but at no point it feels unnecessary. I felt as if every possible scenario and conflict in a gay man's life has been tackled in this series. Love, infidelity, throuple, insecurity, party goer, husband snatcher, HIV, safe sex, friendship, older-younger couple, Transsexual, family, loneliness. The show takes a very realistic approach and feels real. All credit goes to the actors, story writers and the direction. It seems the big reason behind the show was to educate audience about gay men's sexual health issues but it is beautifully blended within the screenplay. There's more than enough emotional drama and interest in the story lines. It's all exciting to fall in love, but it's what you do trying to make the relationship last that counts the most. Personally my favorite was Nat. He has the most interesting storyline and is the cutest guy of all. His smile is so charming. Arm, even though is a selfish guy and cares about himself only even over friends is overall a character, that exists amongst us very much. There are people who think they are the best and can have any guy they ever want. The scene when Big decides to leave Oaf is heart wrenching. Pom's character is another relatable one, insecure and always wondering why are the bad things happening to me. One thing the series could have done better was maybe delve deeper into trans issues but its still commendable that every other aspect has been handled well.
This might actually be the best asian web series that you will ever see in recent times. Very strongly recommended. (8/10)
Comments
I agree that some of the happy long term scenarios were not captured, but thats ok, I guess.
Happy to hear that finally you caught up on these though.