Bagan Beginning (Burmese Series)

Myanmar is not really known for BL content, but following the footsteps of its neighboring countries, here is a 8 part series that is a decent first step in the BL story direction. The episodes lasting 27 minutes each are sometimes slow but are not only trying to tell a story but are also a travelogue of sorts to showcase the rich cultural history of Bagan. As a first attempt it is decent, but there is so much obvious product placement and tourism focus that sometimes the core of the story gets lost somewhere in between. More on that later. The show started in Dec 2023 and ended in Feb this year.

Mani and Lyan are two friends who have grown up together and forged a close bond and they spend a lot of time together. Mani is a tour guide and there is a new client Sam who has specifically asked to use his tour services to explore Bagan. He is originally from Bagan but moved very early to US and is now here to search for his biological parents. His real name is Walar and has a boyish charm about him and a very alluring face as well as smile. The first many episodes focus on these guys exploring Bagan area and the pagodas, during which we are told that Walan is gay and broke up with his boyfriend but also flirts with Mani, who actually starts to enjoy that, even though he has never considered himself to be attracted to men. Meanwhile Mani and his friend Lyan, spend every evening together and turns out that Lyan is secretly in love with Mani since forever. But he is being forced to marry by his mother. When one of their trans friend is back in town, she makes them both realize how much they are possibly in love with each other. Towards the end there is this drama os Walar, uncle kidnapping Mani since his father was responsible for Walar's parents death (which is not really explored properly) and with a very strange twist in the last couple of episodes, the show just goes downhill. Although because of that both Lyan and Mani realize how much they actually love each other and can't imagine being without each other.

When the show starts, a good time is dedicated to giving us history of Bagan and its temples and surroundings and history in great detail. You feel as if you are watching a travelogue, but slowly the story starts to unfold. The story suddenly shifts on Lyan, his  unrequited love for Mani, which his mother finds out and forces him to marry a girl. Meanwhile the trans friend makes Mani realize that this sudden realization that Mani could be attracted to boys (thanks to advances by Walan) could be his feelings for someone else i.e., Lyan. Lyan's longing for his friend is shown in a good light, but the sudden twist, the kidnapping in the last episode and how it ends is questionable in my mind. Also the sudden change of heart of Lyan's mother comes out of nowhere. If you are expecting any physical intimacy, you will not see it; but actually the way love is depicted here is unique and different. The love does not have to be noticeable either. It may just be the image of two young men with love in their eyes and a contentment in the knowledge that for the rest of their lives they can look at the setting sunset together, holding each other. 

Having said these things, there are many problems with the show. To begin with it cannot decide what it wants to be and feels as if it keeps changing genres. Starts of as a travelogue, moves to a love story and ends with a thriller. It was all very hard to digest. Also the ads and product placement gets jarring after a while. Whatever candy that sponsored the series, it I annoying to see Mani, unwrapping the candy in almost every scene and eating. Other medicine and products are also blatantly being promoted, which I understand are needed to fund such shows, but I wish they were used subtly. A lot of time is also spent on people just eating. I wonder if the idea was to showcase the food just like Bagan's surroundings to promote tourism. It was although, quite interesting to see all those temples that I had visited few years back just before covid. So a lot of memories came back for me. The actors do a. Decent job, although this will take time for them to grow. The big problem with the show is screenplay itself. It should have been a good love story of two young adults coming to terms with their sexuality, friendship turned love and how their families react; but the makers decide to add so much stuff to it unnecessarily, they end up confusing. Hopefully things will start to get only better from here. (5/10)