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Contrast (Japanese Series)

By Golu
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 Turns out he had an injury that ended his football days, and that's what pushed him into being more withdrawn, and it only got worse once his younger brother got picked...
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Your Sky (Thai Series)

By Golu
I had read good reviews about this show, so I was naturally looking forward to it. It's pretty much a love story as you would expect, but this time it's almost devoid of any drama barring in the first few episodes. The show focuses more on the positives of people and how the couple gets together and how it is important for them to be accepted by their families too. Sadly this straight forward love story doesn't have too much meat for 12 episodes. Each episode is almost an hour long and it feels like the makers had a contract or something that you have to do 12 episodes and therefore all we see for almost middle 8 episodes is the lead couple going through the antics of dating and relationship growing. As charming as the couple is, the cutesy romantic stuff can hold your interest only so for so long.

Teerak is a cheerful university student and a people pleaser, filled with kindness and cannot say no to people. feels bothered when he receives a love confession from Oh, a wealthy senior; but Teerak doesn't know how to turn him down without causing trouble. His close friend Lee saves him in this situation. Later that night Oh invites Teerak for friends and spikes his drinks. When Teerak is barely conscious, Oh tries to take advantage of him. Enter Fah, a so called baddy, who happens to be Lee's elder brother, and he saves Teerak. To diffuse situation he says that he is Teerak's boyfriend. The next day, Teerak regains his senses. He thanks Fah for bringing him home and apologizes for the trouble. The next day when Oh confront Teerak again, Fah shows up again and later they decide that they will need to be pretend boyfriends to keep Oh at bay. First they decide to keep it a secret Teerak's close friend Lee and his sister Babe, to whom he is very close, eventually make him admit that he is faking it. The next few episodes are how the 'fake' boyfriend go about dating and get to know each other so that their relationship can look believable to people. As you would expect, slowly they trust fall for one another and once they express their feelings for one another, Fah's parents are happy to meet Teerak; but it takes Teerak's father the last 2-3 episodes to accept his son as being gay. This is an important point since Teerak is shown extremely close to his family. Like most shows , there are also parallel love stories of Lee and a guy he is seeing and one more couple who is a friend of Fah, who are supremely annoying.

It started off very well but spiraled downwards pretty quick. It actually would have been nice if no time was spent in other couples and story focused on main couple with very crisp editing. The show would have been a very romantic one with 6-8 shorter episodes. Because, as I mentioned this show revolves around Fah/Teerak, them falling for each other, recognizing their feelings, confession and them seeking parental approval. Episode after episode, the couple dances around their feelings and stalls the inevitable romance. A love story is exciting when you observe a meaningful transformation, yet Teerak and Fah already behave like a couple early on. As their feelings deepen, the impact is weaker since there's no difference between then and now. Sure, one thing different here was the extremely close bond that Teerak shares with his sister and parents, how they show physical affection and hence why it is so important for Teerak to get approval from his parents for his relationship with Fah. Teerak has a lot more character and back story, while Fah is shown just as the guy who apparently was totally smitten by Teerak even from before and who is there just take care of Teerak. Thankfully, actors playing the lead roles are actually quite charming with beautiful smiles. They exude innocence, like well-mannered boyfriends you'd bring home to meet your parents. The show has definitely spent money and styling. We even get to see a zoo scene and a new party location on a rooftop bar. Sadly, the show is mostly style and no substance. An uninspiring straight forward plot can be watched only for so long, yet, here the makers managed to stretch it for full 12 episodes. Directors and makers really need to learn when it is time to stop. Despite some positives, overall this show doesn't leave much of a mark in the sea of Thai BLs. (5/10)
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