This is basically a high school BL where two guys who have nothing going on in common somehow end up getting really close to each other, and that's kind of the whole point of the title too. There's barely any drama or fluff packed in here, it stays pretty straightforward the whole way through. A little bit of friction pops up here and there, but it's nothing compared to what you'd normally get in this kind of show. Runtime wise you're looking at 8 episodes, each one sitting around 25-30 minutes. The two guys carrying the story are Akira and Kanata, and funny enough they knew each other's faces way before they ever knew each other's names. Kanata's the type everyone likes, always got people around him, popular guy, but there's this distance to him that people can't quite place. Turns out he had an injury that ended his football days, and that's what pushed him into being more withdrawn, and it only got worse once his younger brother got picked...
Nuer and Porsch are roommates and best friends in university. Nuer's family runs an elephant tourist farm. The two boys are always together but since Nuer has a girlfriend Jane, Porsch has never been able to confess his true feelings to Nuer. When a traumatic event happens with Porsch, Neur can no longer deny his feelings as well and he breaks up with Jane. After graduation, Porsch wants to spend sometime with Nuer, so he decides to join his family in countryside managing the farm with him. Of course, his family is aghast and they want him to focus on his law career. Soon Nuer's family becomes aware of the true nature of relationship between the two boys and are surprisingly very supportive of it. But when Porsch's parents show up and find out truth, his father is unable to handle and has a heart attack. Eventually they come around but make it clear that they will take time to accept the whole situation. As time passes, Parsch and Nuer decide to get engaged and married, but Jane shows up with a baby after getting dumped by her boyfriend. Nuer feels responsible to take care of Jane and the baby. Initially Porsch is not sure about this but he gives in. Jane falls ill and dies eventually, which means the couple now is taking care of the baby together. They both do get married eventually as they had always wanted but a tragedy strikes and Nuer dies of a heart attack. Th ending was a bit weird where now Porsch is continuing his humanitarian work for LGBT groups in Thailand.
Barring the really awful, confusing and totally unnecessary ending, the series was quite well done, acted, directed with some beautiful scenery. The two leads shared great chemistry, which is very important for a show like this that shows their journey through at least 6-8 years of time period. They act well together and showcase the range of emotions. Nuer is so bloody handsome and what a boxer body. Amazing!! The series is long with just four episodes because there is a lot it is trying to cover in a short span of time. At no point does the series drag, instead it tries to cover issues like how society perceives gay relationships, how families react differently (which has nothing to do with being in the city or countryside). It was very interesting to see the whole religious angle where Buddhist monks try to make the parents understand how love is love irrespective of gender. I thought that was beautiful. And did I say there were no random effeminate characters or the couple calling each other as wife and what not! I was disappointed by the whole Jane angle at the end. The villain part of a guy wanting to make a restaurant in the river was also unnecessary completely. That whole thing should be completely removed because all that does it add distraction to an otherwise beautiful love story. And please, let's just change the ending and end it when they get married. It just felt the last episode had some totally different writers who just wanted to add all kinds of drama that they could.
Irrespective of its flaws, this mini series deserves to be seen. It came almost 6 years back before all the Asian BL series were bombarded on us. I am sure back in 2016, this must have been a huge deal with a lovely subject like this and talking about issues of the LGBT community. (7/10)
Comments
All the rest was very good though. Like you I loved how they dealt with different parents reactions and the buddhist approach was very interresting. The setting is beautiful, and so are the actors (who will be playing in an upcoming BL this year yay!).
you should watch the Japanese show 'What did you eat yesterday" asap, if you haven't already