Before the last two episodes of Last Twilight, it was a perfect series for me. It lost something with the 11th hour breakup, long separation, Mhok taking 100 percent of the blame, and Day taking no responsibility. The ending was very disappointing and betrayed the characters and story to that point.
my issue with ep11 break ups is they break them up but cant be bothered to put in the work to make their relationship better and resolve it properly. how do they break up so easily without even trying to communicate, go years without talking and im somehow still expected to believe they love each other? “time heals everything” does not exist for relationships 😭
I would argue Moonlight Chicken also had a strong finish in 2023. The issue comes from poor scripts for the most part. If the scripts are strong, it shouldn’t matter how many shows are being filmed concurrently (GMMTV should be resourced enough if they choose to distribute their budgets wisely). But when you insist on the same formula, weaknesses start to show. MSP and MLC worked because they didn’t rely on the tired old formulas.
Bad Buddy is their gem. It was one of their plotwise simpliest BL's but it's also their most popular. The casting brought it to an other Level. OhmNanon gave their best to the simple plot and made it what it is today. Last Twilight could have been their best work but they destroyed it with their own hands, which is like a betrayel to the characters they have built up so wonderfully.
Color Rush have so much potential but wasted, it might be the budget, but still loved the concept. For me Be My Favorite is one of the hidden gems, character development slowly grows and it's so rewarding up to the end.
I have a bone to pick with color rush, cause the premise is so interesting but they barely explore it. I've only seen the first season and I've just read the plot summary for the second and it seems that it might explore some of the things I wanted it to in the first season. The two main things I wished were more developed: Yeonwoo's Mom???: The introduction of her mysterious disappearance was very interesting and I thought they'd explore it or it would be like Yeonwoo's driving force cause HIS MOM DISAPPEARED??? but it only comes up as a fact of his life. It seems like the second season might explore it but I don't know. I was so annoyed at the reoccurring yellow headband too. A Mono's obsession: I thought they'd explore the sort of obsession that can or seems to arise when a mono meets their probe and doesn't want to lose the ability to see color without them but they only kinda tease it a bit. I don't think it's even addressed at the end before they get together that the main reason they might like each other is because they both help each other kinda "circumvent" their visual impairments when together. Yoohan also holds the ability to give Yeonwoo a color rush above his head giving their relationship a power imbalance since Yeonwoo doesn't know about Yoohan's facial blindness, so I thought the series would have worked better as a thriller with maybe older leads. The show seems to present that there is a inevitability of a mono threatening the life of their probe, but Yeonwoo's parents got together so I don't see why he doesn't find solace in that. I also don't remember them addressing Yeonwoo's mental health after he tries to commit. He was in a mental institution instead of a hospital and although it would have been rough to watch they just skip the 10 days directly after and don't really show much concerning it's affects. I started re-writing it because I thought the premise was so good but I had Yeonwoo really invested in music both with him always listening to it and knowing how to play the piano. I thought we should see the aunt on her search for her sister. Yoohan has a brother that was missing like Yeonwoo's mother and that is why he knows immediately that Yeonwoo is a mono after he faints and why he's always disappearing. That also gave them another bonding point and more drive to persue the mystery of the missing monos. I feel like this show and a lot of othera would have been better if they had more episodes or like 10 additional minutes every episode.
Oh man, the way you and byulsarang hit the nail on the head of all of my thoughts for the writing of Last Twilight, and bl in general, is scarily precise. In general, there's nothing wrong with tropes and softening endings bc you know that's what'll sell best. But when that becomes ALL you write, it's a problem, and GMMTV passed that point years ago. My only ray of hope is that this is a pattern that a lot of other genres and mediums go through when they're new. At the begining everything is new and exciting, then as the industry and fanbase grows they start pumping out as much as they can as fast as they can to keep the momentum. BL especially is subject to this moreso than other genres of tv thanks to the boost it got from the pandemic. As usual, quality starts to suffer, and of course some fans who were just watching for mindless entertainment and seeing hot boys kiss (no shade to those people, we don't shame people for their reasons for consumption) will continue to watch and some will tune in for their ships, but an increasing majority will start to tune out and gravitate towards the smaller corners of the genre where there's still experimentation. BL is in that phase now, we're crying for things that are different and latching onto shows like The Sign and Love For Love's Sake like starving orphans. Now, the hope in this that I have is that the more mainstream productions will pay attention and shift gears. Demand decides profit, so if we demand good writing then eventually they're going to have to deliver once they realize that relying on ship stans isn't going to net them enough profit anymore. As for the disability rep in Last Twilight....well, my feelings are more complicated. I don't really think of myself this way much, but technically I'm visually impaired. Half blind, specifically. Had my left eye removed about 13 years ago after an accident that almost killed me. It means no depth perception and a smaller field of vision, but also being magnitudes more likely to become temporarily or permanently blind bc I don't have a spare. So, on the one hand, I actually liked that they included Day having a failed surgery and then trying again. It's a more realistic portrayal of how actual medical care journeys like that go. You're never guaranteed a success, and many people irl have to try multiple times to get a transplant that doesn't reject or different treatments to find one that works. Now, of course I absolutely agree w/ byulsarang that narratively having Day eventually regain his vision in a 2nd surgery very much defeats the purpose of all that character growth he did after having to resign himself to permanent blindness from the first failed surgery. However, I do worry that clinging onto this need for a good narrative can lead to a bit of inspiration porn. In real life no one should be relegated to disability if they have the option and resources to not be. I think especially in a place where disability awareness and accommodations are so much more limited, it's just as ableist to tell disabled people they should embrace their differences instead of accepting treatment that would make their life easier as it is to ignore them when they ask for accommodations. As someone who is kinda sorta disabled, I wanna give a big f*ck off to anyone who might try to tell me that I can't or shouldn't take any opportunity to improve my vision just for the sake of a good story. Losing an eye wasn't character building, it was traumatic and painful and I wouldn't wish it on most of my enemies. If I had the chance to get a new, fully functioning eye, I would 100% take it. My vision loss isn't your inspiration porn and I'm not obligated to lead a slightly more difficult life just bc it's "character building". Buuut, on the other hand, what was available to Mhok was largely possible bc he was wealthy and well-connected. And the story also frames that he was a "good boy", essentially making him go thru trials and then become a respectable member of society before he "earns" a fix for his vision. The vast majority of disabled people do not have that option. They can't grow limbs or spinal cords back. No one has successfully transplanted a fully functioning human eye yet (Mhok only got a cornea transplant) and likely won't for many decades. No one should have to suffer more, especially if they're already in a more disadvantaged position than Mhok was, just to earn an easier life. And stories have sooo much power. Think of films like Silence which literally changed laws and a lot of minds about disability in South Korea. To me, it feels very important that we not frame every story about disability as a journey towards a cure. It's just not realistic and it sets false expectations for how people should treat their disabled neighbors. If all you see is narratives where someone is only temporarily disabled, you are likely to be a lot less accommodating and understanding of the needs of real people with disabilities bc you just see them as temporarily inconvenienced. But, If this series had shown Day leading a fulfilling, wonderful life while remaining permanently blind, who knows how many people might have been inspired to be more compassionate towards the disabled people they encounter in their day-to-day lives. Ultimately, the ending kind of left me feeling like the show was about empty sentiments and pretty cinematography and choreographed cute ship moments. So, pretty much exactly what I expected from a GMMTV series these days. Which of course is your point. We've come to expect to be disappointed, and until we let our disappointment show in the viewing numbers we will continue to be let down.
Absolutely second everything you said. To add, what was jarring for me was the insinuation that Day was ‘normal’ now after receiving his sight back. This coupled with how they handled Mhok grovelling back to him just exasperated how badly they missed the mark for these particular characters and the story they had been telling along the way.
it's ok he got cured in the end it's not ok how they threw everything under the bus for the sake of shitty breakup and time skip. My problem with the series they abandoned the initial premise - disabled people deserve to be treated as normal people and those people shouldn't be ashamed they are like this. It was a good social message - Day found someone who loves him for him, Day accepted the fact he is blind, Day did amazing job recovering and rebuilding relationships. But they just threw eveything for shitty soap romance drama. As I've said - Mhok doesn't know how it is to live with someone like Day. But even then Day being selfish and acting like a victim is stupid too. And suddenly after time skip Day understands he needs love and somehow we're getting shitty airport rush ON SOMEONE'S WEDDING. THEN SUDDENLY when they're reunited THEY MAGICALLY get 2nd donor... it's just lazy writing. be my favorite did everything better. if we consider 11th episode.
I LOVE THE ECLIPSE! But I will be the first to criticize the third act and I’m convinced Our Skyy was written by different writers because the characters aren’t acting right. It’s also not a bl, but The Gifted Graduation had so much potential, introduced so many interesting plot ideas and parallels but the execution was just sh--
Ugh, how the Eclipse handled bullying! Thua outing people in an extremely homophobic environment. Akk’s lukewarm and half-assed apology to the kids whom he bullied and literally put in life threatening situations. They spent more time on his apology to his friends than they did on his “apology” to his victims. Ugh
the thing with gmmtv bls now a days is that they introduce a concept really interesting one and then drop them mid way sticking to the generic plots and relationship drama. what msp did was knowing what they actually were about they did not introduce complex plot and then drop them mid way instead it was a romantic comedy involving a band and school president and it delivered but the most important thing was the characters doing things that were expected off of them. they never broke up bc that would have been out of character for them, they had fights but they resolved it better than some of the adults in these bls and its funny. Even to this day i refuse to believe a person like mhok would leave day just like that with no explanations at all and how they just made him accept that he felt pity for day in the last ep when he never did he was traumatized but nowhere did they address that issue bc it made sense for him to be that worried about day we saw that in the beginning ep too but they dropped it picked it at ep 11 and named it pity??? i was so confused bc that was not pity at all, he was not worried about day bc he was blind but bc he was scared genuinely scared of losing him. They introduced his sister and how he suffers still and never explored it and the break up just felt so weird and out of character for both mhok and day.
You are so RIGHT... "My School President" might be the last BL series from GMMTV that was perfect from start to finish.... I am actually enjoying their version of "Cherry Magic"... but the screenplay is adapted from the original source material from the Japanese series and manga....
I never expected so much for the ending of a BL series as I was expecting for Last Twilight. I even convinced my friends to watch it with me as I everything about it was a masterpiece. Up to now, I was used to BL being this weird universe where anything is possible, but LT hit differebt. I cannot understand how something so anticipated and beautifully made ended up so rushed and weird like that. A whole team sat down and decided, yeah, it's perfect for this masterpiece: "this is it! The last episode everyone wants to see" Hooow??
Preach Moon. I agree with you regarding the bombshell episode 11 formulaic disaster. I would like to see a BL where there is no happy end, where there is no 11th episode disaster bombshell, where there is an early get-together of the couple.
I highly agree on this! I was so disappointed in the last episode of Last Twilight. It was a show I praised the entire time it was airing, but then the last episode left such a bad taste in my mouth. We seriously need to just start bullying gmmtv like people did with Be On Cloud. I'll be the last person to praise BOC for their artist management, and many of their company decisions, but I do appreciate that when people said that the writing was by far their weakest point KinnPorsche, that they went out and hired some of the top writers in the industry. So far it's really paying off too. People, including myself, are very engaged in DFF, and Mansaung was a massive hit in Thailand.
I'm usually more of a silent watcher, but truly this is the type of video we needed cause at this point it's impossible not to notice the stagnation in writing present in most bl series, the way they get stuck in known tropes just to easily pull in views and level surface cheap emotional strings. Last Twilight in particular felt like a deep betrayal cause despite some flaws, at least till episode 9 there was truly promise for something different, yet they managed to torpedo the whole thing down the worst way possible by the end i couldn't even believe how it went. Same with only friends, such promise of actual queer messy characters forcing viewers to battle with their morale code versus their sympathy for the characters perhaps based on their connection with the actors too. Istead we got this sort of playing safe heteronormartive soap opera to make sure the branded pairs were all endgame to appease fans with a good dose of s-slur shaming towards Boston that rang a lot like an endorsement of monogamous straight ideals, like even me a s€x repulsed asexual was deeply bothered by how he was treated despite by all means being unable to relate to him. it really just feels like most gmmtv series backed themselves in a corner of lazy writings cause as long as their branded pairs sell, then fans will consume everything without putting in the effort to demand more on an intellectual and emotional level. it just feels, with other great bl dramas we have been getting, this inconsistency in quality does harm the genre as a whole, not allowing new engaging stories to break barriers/introduce more topics cause sure, if it is not broken and u can sell anything without it being questioned, why bother to strive for more ? Anyway sorry for the rant but this video really hit home again about what has been dissatisfying for me personally in regards bls when we know, great stories can be told with just the will of putting a bit more effort and looking at ur audience as something more than a group to pander cheaply to.
No need to apologize for a rant that identified specific issues and avoided insult. I think your "ranting" hit on three points that vex me in particular. All three stifle the creativity of scriptwriters and contribute to lazy writing. ●branded pairs: this issue highlights the conundrum of a medium that is simultaneously commercial and creative. The presence of a previously successful shipped couple drives viewers to sample a show. Good! But if the audience recognizes particular characters as endgame because of the actors playing those parts, how can a script deliver surprises? GMMTV has ridden branded pairings to enrichment for all, but they have ridden their recent series into the ground. Cooking Crush is just going through the motions. It is a habit, not a series. ●heteronormative, monogamous straight ideals: there is a fantastic potential for storytelling in the gap between _prescriptive sexuality_ (how society expects people to behave; "ideals") and _descriptive sexuality_ (how people actually behave). Moreover, those rules can change within a society according to class, generational shift, religion, and other markers of subculture. Most crucially, *same-sex relationships never, ever fit into the heteronormative ideal* yet too often writers script characters who actually as if the same rules apply. ●sl* shaming: another example of writing overly dependent on prescriptive ideas of sexual behavior is the way characters who enjoy sex with multiple partners are vilified. While cheating may be understandably condemned, the single character who sleeps around is often regarded with the same critical eye. This no doubt reflects the "good girl" double standard in which female sexuality and male sexuality gets judged differently for the same behavior. In shows about same-sex attraction, this should play out differently.
@@Stealaire honestly, I was baffled as well on how people seemed to have not realised how deeply his actual mistreatment as a character ran untill I had a discussion with a friend and realised, if u look at top and mew relationship, they got a very classic heteronormartive cheating trope going on, seriously I have seen the same type of story pan out in straight media a lot, so i feel subconsciously especially female viewers do feel connected to that and since Boston is the s-slur homewrecker, the "other promiscuous woman" ofc he deserves to be punished and mistreated for his behaviour. this friend of mine literally explained her hate for him along this lines and it clicked to me how despite Boston openly stating to being gay and more into open/free relationships, he is not viewed as a gay man simply into open/free relationships but is really viewed as just this evil promiscuous s-slur that is not allowed to have nuances cause he breaks certain straight ideals, that also cannot be stitched upon every queer person just like that.
@@johnmaster3748 thank u for that premise cause mostly at times i feel I can go on too long on criticism, even if necessary/constructive, i never want to focus just on the negative but lately with the type of bl medias we have been getting it's hard not to. And truly, you nailed all the points i also feel vexced about lately. 1)branded pairs: like yes they can pull in the audience necessary to support a show, but yeah then u are backed into a corner when satisfying the parasocial relationship fans have with branded pairings comes before actual engaging storytelling so at the end, how can there be anything more when u gotta play it safe just for the brand ? the need of rose tinted fairytales endings for branded pairs is truly one of the biggest breeding grounds for stagnation. Last Twilight definitely fell into this badly cause nothing in those last three episodes storytelling wise could justify the reconciliation when even mhokday characterisation was assassinated just to reach the happy end. 2)this is worded so perfectly, like the more series we get the more it becomes noticeable this dissociation between how same-sex relationship can work/be nuanced irl vs the heteronormartive ideals the audience subscribes to and subtly demands from their bl shows. sure it is fiction one could say, but then it still takes from reality so why be stuck on the latter point, when truly u can open as u said a discourse on prescriptive sexuality vs descriptive sexuality ? 3)Boston to me truly felt as the biggest example of a failed potential on this topic cause honestly, there was never a moment for me where I was bothered by his particular characterisation on the topic of sex, it doesn't matter if i cannot personally relate, I can recognise other queer people have a complete different approach to their sexuality than me, things do play differently cause that is how it is. instead he gets villified for it with the cheating adding a sort of justified hate for it.i have yet to see someone not hate him for that without relating his more "promiscuous" behaviour to it and it says a lot on how judgment is passed on characters with a very skewed view based on "be a good girl" standards in straight media and the heteronormartive lens bls need to subscribe to pander to their audience.
@@Stealairepretty sure my first answer to u got deleted 😭 but anyway yeah, I was baffled as well but with time i realised, it is not so strange people didn't get it because they associate his way of being into more open relationships with him being not just a cheater but an homewrecker so like this, the s-slur shaming feels almost justified on a "morale ground". another way to show how much queer characters and their way to live relationships gets filtered through a specific monogamous heteronormartive perspective just to pander tbh.
absolutely loved this!! sometimes it’s so clear when bl relies on a fan base/exists purely to build a fan base. when there’s barely any buildup and effort in writing the story. gmmtv romance is usually about the act of being in love and not enough about the uniqueness of the characters and how they love each other. kind of focusing on making the viewers love the actors together.. for the sake of selling the brand outside the series. rather than making us believe the characters specifically are into each other. not to mention introducing topics way too serious without giving them the proper care and attention they deserve.
Couldn't agree more with your analysis! The last GMMTV show I enjoyed was Be My Favorite and before that was My School President..But even as I think about MSP now I remember being bored near the end. Only Friends was good but had some writing issues for me. In my opinion, GMMTV needs not only to improve their writing but also, in my view, how the shows are directed or shot as well. Everything feels so formulaic which is a symptom of the scale of production which the video referenced. If i see one more scene of four boys standing awkwardly in a straight line, in a corridor, while they recite their lines, I'm going to scream! One of the things I enjoyed about Pit Babe is how sharp the direction was! The camera moved with the actors and nothing looked the same; No one ever looked awkwardly placed. I loved it! If they don't improve they're going to be left behind. The Sign was a great entry into BL Landscape (though I have my issues with it :)) Dead Friend Forever has me screaming at my screen but in a good way! I've never wished death upon characters in a BL the way I do with DFF. These Thai BLs are cropping up more frequently and with the international audience the competition with Korean or Japanese BLs adds an entirely new dimension. I mean, Love for Love's Sake was ridiculously refreshing. I really hope GMMTV can hire some staff writers and maybe make some writing rooms. I also think that the main SHIPS should be done away with and the actors rotated to fit the different roles but that's another conversation entirely. Thanks for the video!
BE MY FAVORITE IS SO UNDERRATED It feels like all budget and writing from the past 2 years went into it. Characters and story were so good. I pretty much was surprised post 9th episode couple relationship and how they subverted the 11th episode disaster - it became my favorite moment in the series.
@@Aru_J_Sol I loved it so much as well! Each character was so well written. They all had flaws but were never caricatures. All their decisions made sense and didn't feel like it came out of no where to service the plot. This includes the male leads AND the female lead who was so beautifully written. Along with the villain of the piece who I despised but he was realistic. We've all had that antagonistic member of the friend group who we don't quite know why we hang out with them..lol..We like and dislike them at the same time. The parents were also wonderfully nuanced and of course I'll stan Max forever! Such a great friend. Can you tell I like this show? *stops gushing*
I honestly can't think of any gmmtv show that has come out in the past few months where people have enjoyed the ending like why do their shows always take a sudden hard left.
I was relieved I came across To sir with love and law of attraction. They are the ones for me that are not formulaic at all and keep setting the bar higher. Can't wait for their next drama together
The point about only tuning in to see your faves as this point as opposed to being interested in the actual story HIT. Because I realized how many of their shows I’ve said something like “I’ll probably check it out because X is in it”. It’s such a shame that Last Twilight was so close to being a rare exception to the recent pattern. There’s a couple things in the upcoming lineup I’m excited for but also scared to be optimistic at this point sigh.
You are bang on target about Last Twilight. I was so disappointed with the way the ended it. GMM definitely needs to look beyond beautiful faces to sell their series. IFYLIA was beaitifully done and was definitely my favourite (after msp. 😅) And the Sign. IDF did a great job without big shot sponsors.
girl, I am so excited about this topic, I just recently complained to a friend why a lot of the time there is a good start and towards the end the writers and or ... butcher it with lazy writing. like, why wouldn't you want to make a good project?
Thank you for talking about this in your video. Me and my friend were so confused and dissapointed with “Last Twilight” ending and strange twists. Like what a DISNEY FAIRYTALE was going on. Also we saw A LOT plot holes and strange decisions made by author. And now i can’ t say that this is ONE of my favorite series. But i kinda like it, at least first half😂 So sad that JimmySea were acting and delievering the scenes but the plot wasn’t that good😢.
Agree. The lazy writing is compounded by lazy direction and I can’t tell you how frustrated I get with the episode 11 break-ups. Another issue is continuing with pairings that are not working, for whatever reason. Mix it up a little, try different pairings until you find one that works. Plus it is not the actors’s responsibility to sell the drama through fan service. That just makes the whole fan base system a lot worse and allows for lazy writing.
You know these recent misses& just basic concepts make me miss Pinoy bls during lockdown. They made so many stories about the lockdown but each one was done well enough and different enough vibe.
Agree with most of it which I ll come back to later but disagree on everyone saying My school president being the most formulaic or "basic/simplest" plot just because it is an high school theme show. There is a reason why this serie surprised everyone, because it was unexpected aka not following the formula. Yes it is a "cute" serie, but that doesn't make it basic. No misunderstanding, no miscommunication, no breakup in the 11th episode, even the High school theme had a twist, when did we see a Musical BL, because 14 songs for 12 episodes with almost no repeat, with songs that are fully part of the script is closer than a musical than anything else. The only BL cliché was waiting for the kiss til last second after many teasing, but even that was a clear choice by the writer to play with the viewers and as nowadays this is not really the "norm" in bl anymore where NC scenes are way more common, it was more an "old school" touch which totally fitted with TinnGun (and Gemini) personalities and the overall cuteness of the show. Impeccable writing and cast. Now for the lazy writing, I don t understand it, it s not just Gmmtv also Wabi, how those companies can have top notch writing series like MSP, moonlight Chicken, Tots and My only 12% (so we know that they know how to write a great script) and be so inconsistent (even really bad) in others, even in series which are the most expected with great financial funds and the greatest bl couples.... won t name those series, you did mentioned some and I still hurt from the one I waited for 3 years with my favorite bl actor which end up being a great disappointment.
This explains exactly why I have not been able to finish a single Gmmtv bl series since be my favorite and only friends. Something always feels off then it gets boring and then they do a time skip and I'm like well I guess I'm done watching 🤣
Be My Favorite had amazing writing BE MY FAVORITE IS UNDERRATED I gladly enjoyed how every character was flashed out They abandoned the formula of 11 series break up - instead they did amazing subversion where i somehow cried my eyes out so it became my favorite point of the series I also think it was the strongest moment in the whole show And I love how they haven't forgot about other characters - everyone got development and faced consequences of their actions Also everyone loved I FEEL YOU LINGER IN THE AIR but LISTEN. This final episode is utter SHIT. The guy from the past suddenly appearing OUT OF NOWHERE for the "happy ending" WITHOUT EXPLANATION and NO ONE EXPLAINED how main character got "isekai'ed" into the past. NO ONE EXPLAINED SHIT Also PitBabe has got good writing too - i was so engaged every episode. And I'm pretty satisfyed with the series overall I rank PitBabe and Be My Favorite as me best thai bl I honestly drop almost every single one cuz they just fall bad after first 2 episodes Last Twilight was HUGE disappointment after 9th episode They just spit out nonsense to disability people and main issue was never addressed - MHOK STILL DOESN"T KNOW HOW IT IS TO LIVE WITH SOMEONE WITH DISABILITY Time skip here DOESN"T SOLVE THIS ISSUE - pretty much nothing changed for Mhok and Day
I've noticed this same epidemic in heterosexual romance series produced by GMMTV. I remember they used to produce decent hetero series back in 2016-2019 but it went downhill afterwards. GMMTV's BL is going in this same direction which is unfortunate. I really can't trust GMMTV when it comes to romance genre in general (whether if it's hetero, BL or GL). It's getting worse and worse in quality. They seem to be much better in mystery, thriller and criminal fiction. P.s i hate you was the best GMMTV series in my opinion but yet, it's ironically not romance series. Thai BL romance is getting more boring at this point, that's why i switched to mostly Japanese BL. The Sign was the most innovative Thai BL of this year and i couldn't find any better BL this year than The Sign. It's a shame, the creativity and immersiveness are missing.
1. Story. 2. Story. 3. Story. [Part One] I immersed myself in the BL genre (in 2020, of course) for the escapism of rom-com style romance stories that happened to feature same-sex couples. GMMTV got famous for that exact thing. I do not need lots of skinship in these stories, because _television_ is not a medium where skinship can ever go "too far." I don't need highest quality production values in a series because the vast majority of LGBT films (my previous source of regular same sex storytelling) so often lacked resources that I am conditioned to overlook that. I don't need polished acting because, again, I am conditioned to the idea that these roles tend to be played by those looking for a "big break," an entry into the profession. What I wanted was a compelling story. Give me a fresh twist on an old trope, and I happily will overlook many other deficiencies in a production. For a long time, GMMTV succeeded at this. By the time one watches four or five GMMTV series, one recognizes they follow a pattern. The company has a playbook, and I suspect some executive has shackled the writers into following it. [Title: Idiot's Guide to BL Scriptwriting.] In 2023, Moonlight Chicken excepted, the formula got very stale. While some series fared better than others, nothing quite sparkled. _Being formulaic_ is not necessarily a problem. _Feeling_ formulaic is. That is why My School President (is formulaic) enchants and why Cooking Crush (feels formulaic) just passes the time. Someone at the studio worries that breaking the mold will alienate loyal viewers. In a way, past success traps writers and directors into repetitive patterns. It is time for GMMTV to innovate.
Exactly. There is a breaking point and there is only so much "grace" that an audience can give towards these production companies. I will not speak for anyone else, but I expect more from GMMTV. They have the talent, in front of and behind the camera. Find more challenging works to adapt. Give these creatives more time to develop these productions, and allow your performers the chance to work with others. Let their talent, and show to their fans that it's perfectly normal for them to work with other performers. That it isn't some form of betrayal to their fandom.
Yes! Thank You! My number one recent lazy writing crime is Last Twilight (both the break up and the operation). But that one I was already expecting. Hoped they wouldn't but still expecting it. The next one is the love triangle in Dangerous Romance. Already all by itself it was a spectacularly lazy writing. But what is worse is that it directly contradicted all the characters' development. As soon as it started happening you knew it didn't belong in the story. And sure enough, they then proceeded to ignore it every happened... 😡
Middleman had potential but that quickly went down the drain and Naughty babe was half baked they tried but the execution was not fully there it felt rushed.
1. Story. 2. Story. 3. Story. (Part 2) In the prior comment, I focused on how GMMTV's strict adherence to formula has stifled creativity in its productions. Here, I wish to observe that simply mixing alternate genres into a BL storyline cannot guarantee a reprieve from lazy writing. Without a clear grasp on those alternate genres, writers telling hybrid tales risk lazy storytelling in a wholly new way. Kayla noted how other studios have redently captured attention by mixing BL with other genres. The Sign, recently concluded, was cited an example. She mentioned the fantasy elements as a refreshing change of pace. True enough, however the genre crossovers did not end there: The Sign also contains substantial cop drama DNA. I must confess to being rather conflicted about the writing of that series. Oh, not for the BL storylines. In that regard, The Sign truly felt like something new and different. But, if anything, the writers of that series were overly ambitious. I admire the effort, but the execution of the non-Bl plots was shoddy. ●Instead of a formulaic Bl plot, they delivered a cliché-riddled, formulaic police plot. The officer who investigates a case he has even told to drop. The officers fighting one another in training. Inducing someone to leave their post so confidential files can be obtained. The insider mole. The "here's my badge and gun, I quit" scene. The "we are will withnyou, dont tell the sarge" scene. You could have played Police Drama bingo with these formulaic elements. Right down to a character saying the word "bingo" when he finds a crucial piece of evidence. (In English, no less. It wasnt just the subtitle.) Worse, a lot of the dialog in the police segment was as hackneyed as the investigation. Most egregious abuse of the genre: police pull a body from a lake days after the person went missing. It is a remote location, but still when Our Hero turns around--voila!--the killer is standing right there. Why is he there at that exact moment? Because it is a convenient excuse for both a chase and a gun fight. Many, many bullets fly but no one is hit! Because somersaulting and hiding behind skinny trees ensures safety. TV escapism need not maintain perfect fidelity to realism. But surely we can do better than that lazy writing. ●the fantasy elements, by contrast, fared better. I really liked how local folklore (Naga and Garuda) got repackaged to form the backbone of this story. But this story was underwritten and, arguably, they waited too long to begin telling it. In a fantasy, richness of the worldbuilding is crucial to the successful creation of an alternate reality. The police story overshadowed the fantasy in the early episodes. The fantasy backstory was supposed to make the two BL leads "fated lovers," but their relationship for eight episodes always seemed more grounded in police connections than fantasy commections. That may not be "lazy" writing, but it certainly reflects flawed writing. Specifically, squandered handling of a promising premise. ●What didnt succeed so well was the integration of the fantasy element with the police story and the Bl story. These barely coexisted. Some episodes felt like three different series at once. It would start as a police detective procedural. (Sometimes. Sometimes, it was police thriller instead. And sometimes, police comedy.) Then, they'd get off of work, and youd have a buddy/story or a family story befitting any generic BL series. Then, suddenly, some mysterious event would occur and we'd be in the midst of the latest chapter of the fantasy saga, complete with CGI visions of fantastical creatures. None of this ever felt sufficiently cohesive. And that is on the writers as much as the director. (I exonerate the actors on this particular issue.) I will laud the ambitious intent behind The Sign. Truly, it is not guilty of the flaws Kayla intended this video to call out. But merely avoiding formula and trying something new is no panacea. Lazy writing can still intrude. When a screenwriter dabbles in a genre they themselves do not know well, they are prone to mixing and matching cliché tropes they believe viewers will expect. That is every bit as lazy as sticking to a formula of tropes from a preset playbook. And mixing genres requires some caution. While romance can be paired with virtually anything, the writers must still integrate co peting tonal realities. Here, police stories typically rely on adherence to realism. Fantasy? Well, isnt the whole point of fantasy to depart from reality? I am not sure crossing police drama with fantasy story was ever a comfortable fit, and crossing them both with BL left the romance stuck awkwardly in the middle. It _could_ be done. But it wasnt done well enough. If The Sign had gone all in on either the police story or the fantasy story, its writers could have concentrated more on snappy dialog, freshening cliches, or seamless transitions. Good ideas permeate the series. Bad execution undermines the whole. And for me, that was mostly down to bad writing.
Let me offer a second example of lazy writing because BL writers lack a solid grasp of the secondary genre. My Dear Gangster Oppa had a reasonably compelling BL set-up (love triangle trope) with the university student Main Character whose longstanding crush (and best friend) never noticed him romantically. Enter new guy to attract MC's interest. Also, enter genre mixing because the new guy is a gangster. So now, the writers have two potentially compelling stories to explore: ●BL love triangle: who will MC pick? The old crush/best friend or the new guy who is into him from the start? ●BL + mafia: can the Gangster prove himself worthy of MC's love by escaping his old life? Unfortunately, disastrously lazy writing wrecks both stories. The script more or less forgets about the best friend, so that a proper triangle never emerges. Yes, we have scenes where the two fight and compete, and their mutual jealousy makes the MC miserable. But all this was badly underwritten and trite. And it was clearly second fiddle to the mafia plot. As for the mafia elements of the story, it didn't appear the writers knew anything about organized crime aside from having watched a few TV shows about the mafia. That story was one cliché after another, most of it bungled with illogic and inconsistency. Again, for crossovers to work, strong writers must exhibit command of the tropes from _both_ genres, BL and the crossover alike. Tropes should be present because they serve the story. Tropes should never be the reason a story exists. If a writer doesn't understand a trope, they will toss it in from feeling a need to adhere to an audience expectation. The resulting script will come across as lifeless. Trite. Dull.
I've been meaning to ask, but I haven't had the chance... You know my BL taste pretty well by now, do I even bother with the Sign? I was immediately intrigued because of Billy, but tbh so far I've been postponing, because the genre (supernatural fantasy) isn't my thing at all. I tend to find it ridiculous. I see you've given it a "midway" score on MDL before finishing it (which I've never seen you do before by the way), and you don't seem impressed. And even though we don't always agree, I do trust you. So now I'm not sure what to do. Especially after reading this review too. Is it important enough as a new way to make BL's that should watch it regardless of its quality or lack thereof?
@@marieschmidt1262 the early MDL score is a placeholder. Access to the finale is delayed, and I wanted to score it thru 11 episodes lest I forget later. But you're absolutely correct that the early score contravenes my ethos for such things. Exception to the rule of waiting for a finale--a preexisting exception, however. Rare, but not unprecedented. (And oddly gratifying that you noticed it is out of character to jump ahead with a score before the finale.) As for a recommendation for your taste....that's a toughie. You do tend to like a series better than I do if you connect emotionally. Here, I suspect you might. But I have also seen you turn against a series if plot holes gape too wide and story logic gets lost in the woods. Multiple forests in this story. Plenty of gaping, too. On the bright side, the people who made this show clearly tried to do something different, and that may be reason enough to sample it. Plus, the acting mostly isn't an issue. Billy, certainly, is doing his share of good work. This show does a lot of skinship. A lot. That doesn't influence me much, but it might appeal to you. Most of it is fairly gratuitous. That is, it doesn't particularly advance the plot, and such scenes exist solely to put man meat on display. You will see a lot of Billy, for example. So, not sure I can be of much help, Marie. This one is a tweener. I clearly fault it much more harshly, but my biases regarding story (and story and story) are well-established. The generic response from the masses rates it much higher, making me the one out of step. That happened also with KinnPorsche. If you thought that one was overrated, but still admired it for trying to be different and liked all the skinship, then the deficiencies of The Sign become tolerable.
@@johnmaster3748 So the pro's are a lot of half naked Billy, and the con's are... Sorry I forgot, because my mind started to wander off imagining the pro's 😂 Rumours also have it, that Saint blesses us with his presence, which is another + in my book. 👍 Kidding aside! It seems like your reply left me just undecided as before. Becuase it pretty much confirmed what I already knew/had picked up. My plan was to spend the two weeks before the final epsiode got unlocked for international fans bingewatching it, but I still haven't started it, simply because I feel like I have to pull myself together to do it. Which is a frustrating angle to go into it with. I figured you would either talk me out of it or into it. But I guess I have to decide on my own then. 😶🌫 An alternative interpretation of me noticing your MO could be on the cringy fangirl stalkery side, so I'm relieved you take as a compliment and feel happy about it. As you should 😎
this is the real reason GMMTV is doing all those remakes 😂--don't get me wrong, i'm excited for cherry magic and my love mix up, but if you are resorting to multiple remakes of popular well-written BLs, you've gotta check yourself. Now that I think about it, I don't remember the last time I actually finished a GMMTV bl, maybe Not Me? (edit: ope i did actually finish Last Twilight) Somewhere towards the end of all these shows, the thread is lost and the characters and their motivations lose all meaning to me. Character development can be non-linear, but it should at least be continuous. I really agree with your analysis of both Last Twilight and Hidden Agenda (i didn't watch nor remember enough of A Boss and a Babe to comment)--the writers really used a cop-out with the timing of Day's second corneal transplant in that it allowed them to just wave away the problem of Mhok pitying Day for his disability. Truly though, that was just Day's understanding of that situation, the writing made it seem like Mhok was just scared of losing Day, even through a break-up, because he lost his sister. Mhok tried explaining this, and while there was certainly a flavor of "i'm even more worried because my boyfriend is blind," it was something they could have worked out. To me, it made sense that Mhok walked out after Day broke up with him because he is so used to doing exactly what Day wants, but relationships are a two way street. Day should be able to treat Mhok with the same consideration and respect that Mhok has for him. I am not upset that this didn't happen in the moment, but I am upset that Mhok evidently did not try to talk it out with Day before moving and that Day never reached out. Everyone in his family knew he was in the wrong, and I think that reasonably a conversation should have happened at some point. Even when Mhok got back, he had no issues with Day and fully took the blame for everything, but that's not fair to him or Day--and I think this is what shows pity for Day. Mhok doesn't accept that Day has fault in the situation because "he's blind and I can't understand that feeling". The timing of the transplant got rid of the source of the problem and let them not talk about anything. Even so, it makes me wonder about what will happen when Mhok is worried about Day in the future... will Day think it's lingering pity from when he was blind? Misunderstandings fester, and open communication is necessary. that was a lot of writing about last twilight, so for hidden agenda, i'll just tell you i dropped it around episode 7-9 (don't remember which) because something happened and their manner afterwards made me feel like i didn't understand any of the characters anymore
One I really really loved but the ending ruined it was a shoulder to cry on! The time skip and no explanation at the end ruined it and I was so pissed when that was how it ended
Thank you so much for making this video. This really needed to be said!! I don't watch 80% of the BLs coming out right now and started watching straight series again because BL writing lately has been sooo bad.
Yes, great point. Sometimes it feels like they just spit out BLs thick and fast to stay on track and keep momentum and keep a hold on the viewers, and it can affect the quality, if they put out so much, that a lot of it will lack, (cause they didn't propperly take their time with it, does what is easiest, or rely too much on what they know/think sells, at the expense of the writing for example, because enough people will still watch it seems, but I also know that great acting/writing can excuse cliché plots/tropes), and only a few shines. And with so many BLs you can't keep up with everything and therefor might become more selective and picky in what you choose to watch, and maybe more disappointed if a promising show really goes down halfway through or in the end, or you just really look out for what really stands out.
I agree with you because there are many dramas like The Sign, Pitbabe, to sir with love, law of attraction, Kinnporsche and many more. These dramas set high standard, if we talk about bls. I am not saying gmmtv is bad but still they have to work on their story loopholes..
Be My Favorite was exceptional though. They even care about the female character and give her depth. It feels everyone care about the story. But that project took 2 years to produce.
Thank you for the video, I’m always glad to watch your videos, you talk very interestingly and on important topics❤ My favorite Bl last year was Be My Favorite. This series has a lot of life lessons, one of the healthiest relationships in Bl, a lot of serious topics and after this series I really want to live. The actors are great, I love Gawin and Krist and I remember you said in one video that you also like Krist. They portrayed their characters well and showed good chemistry. It's a shame that some people don't want to watch this show because a lot of people didn't want to accept that Krist had a new partner, they only wanted to see him with Singto. Also, some people didn’t want to watch because Krits was misunderstood in the past, although he is a good and sweet person . I myself now live in Thailand and know the whole story and I’m sad that some people still think badly of him. Yes and I’m sad when people don’t want to watch the series when BL actors play with another partner, I think that GMMTV and other companies need to let BL actors play with different people more often. Why, for example, Earth and Mix and some others GMM actors should always play together as a couple? After all, because people get used to it and when the BL actor plays with another partner, many fans get angry and don’t even want to watch this series. It's very sad and toxic that people are so obsessed with their favorite ships that they don't want to support an actor and don't want to watch his new series if he's not playing with his old partner. Be my favorite is truly masterpiece and people unfortunately deprive themselves of such a wonderful, touching and life story because of their love for old ship.Can you please answer what you think about this?🙏 I'm so glad that you've released two videos recently , I've missed you so much.
What an on-point caption! I truly feel bad for the future Thai BL fans because from now on, all they are going to want are steamy NC scenes irrespective of important things like plot, acting and chemistry. Man, this is why I am happy Japan, Korea and Taiwan are continuing the good stuff. The only recent Thai BLs I could stomach were 'I Feel You Linger In The Air' and 'Last Twilight'. The rest were basically soft p*rn.
Love and applaud a Moon deep dive into just about any topic:) If the main audience for BLs is straight women 14-24 there is no pressure to make good shows- GMMTV throws up another cheaply made but profitable and shippable series. Look at views of Hidden Agenda vs Not Me Not Me was by no means perfect, but it was ambitious. Meanwhile, even P Aof series are getting dropped by me after 6 eps due to ludicrous plot and padding (Last Twilight) Great acting by leads though
I forgot the name of the series , the guy phone gets accidentally broken at a sporting event . They share some same damn friends , and it never gets explained to the guy he likes why he doesn’t contact him . They don’t even stay far from each other ! Don’t even ask friends to contact the the other guy . Just get upset no contact when he gets his phone fixed and doesn’t e en explain what happened ! There are so many BL that have things that can be easily explained and they don’t , they just use that unexplained thing that has easily explained to cause a breakup at the last minute the series for no reason
I feel like Cooking Crush is suffering from this currently. I know it is light hearted fluff that does not challenge Off and Gun's acting chops, but there is also too much lazy writing and worn out tropes - the 'funny' fat friend used for slapstick and getting way too much screen time, the queer bully gang, every plot point being driven by released videos on social media because there is always someone in the 'right place at the right time' recording pivotal moments. I am also annoyed by the lack of accountability for Prem's (Gun) sister. They are supposed to be a relatively poor family, yet she casually loses 50,000 baht and faces no consequences, then writes a stupid note that is going to cause problems with Ten's father. The whole thing is just a plot device to explain why Prem is teaching Ten to cook. They have also forgotten that Ten had some sort of eating disorder at the start of the series. I do like the show, but it probably won't be on my rewatch list.
I suspect Cooking Crush was a low-effort series that OffGun could do without having to do any workshops or prep. Like they’re busy with all their other stuff and just took a week off to film this series. I couldn’t finish it because it was so bad. And I like OffGun. But the quality contrast between Not Me and Cooking Crush was to too much for me to tolerate.
Enchantée 😡 was a pain to watch, infuriating they don't make any effort Plot not achieved Characters so annoying Bad acting After the 2nd episode, I felt like I can't lost my time over this. That's more infuriating,
Last twilight was so disappointing for me…and unfortunately it turn me off watching GMMTV BLs for now - despite hearing good commentary re: Cherry Magic and Cooking crush, I clocked out halfway cause I was so crushed by LT 😅…really, the last few BLs I enjoyed from GMMTV were MSP, MLC, The Eclipse and Only Friends (the latter despite it flaws because i was impressed by the actors playing grey characters, touching on alcoholism, depression etc), and you are completely right - I rather watch BL from non GMMTV like Love for Love sake (such a gem!) or The Signs (I have issue with the pacing but the fantasy element makes up for it!)
I was so, so angry at the way Last Twilight ended! I had been enjoying it a lot, and then in episode 11 it started listing, and then just crashed and burned. I was telling everyone to stop watching after episode 10. And yes, it was all due to lazy writing. Most romance follows a narrative template that requires what in literary terms is called a "conflict" at around the 75-80% mark. But "conflict" doesn't necessarily mean a _literal_ conflict (i.e. an argument) between the main characters. It just means there has to be an obstacle of some kind. But for some reason so many writers interpret it literally and just throw in a random, stupid argument out of the blue toward the end. That last-minute breakup-for-stupid-reasons is one of my pet peeves in any romance. Why? Because it makes me doubt the viability of the relationship. If you have a stupid argument or misunderstanding for no reason that couldn't have been solved by five minutes of actually _talking_ to each other, listening to each other, trusting each other and trying to understand where the other person is coming from... and you actually break up because of it... then I lose my belief that you are actually suitable for each other, or that you have the strength to weather any difficult times in your future. (The only case where this works for me is if the Stupid Breakup™ is in the past, when both of them were young and immature, and they met again years later and are finally mature enough to look past their egos and know what's important in life.) One of the reasons why I'm enjoying Ossan's Love Returns so much is because Maki and Haruta are an established couple who have trust and faith in each other, and while they do make mistakes (like everyone does) they are always ready to give each other the benefit of the doubt and to forgive and clear things up. There are plenty of obstacles (OMG the utter CHAOS🤣), but they are _outside_ obstacles, and they overcome them _together_ . It's super refreshing to see, and I'm eating it up.
10:36 omg this is it. it gets tricky because we KNOW how views are important for the actors so when we don't like the story, but we like the pairings we can just rant on X and hope they'll receive better stories next
For me every GMMTV BL starts out at a 3/5 in my ratings. They are mostly mediocre. It is writing, directing, editing a d sometimes the acting that is lazy. No one is really off the hook.
Step by Step. It felt so refreshing for the first 2/3 and then the last third felt so off with time, characters, and the plot. Part of it may have been my high expectations going in, but yeah. A bit disappointing but at least I found some new actors to follow.
Catch 22… GMMTV being by far the largest and more prominent production companies of BL out there puts them in a bind about producing content that appeals to the fanbases and therefore more profit, as well as coming out with stories that are innovative and engaging as expected of a production company of their stature. Thus the lazy writing ensues… saved only by their ensemble of actors. And it its to varying degrees with other production companies too… Deehup House’s last productions Step by Step and I Feel You Linger In The Air both fell short on its endings despite promising starts and middle sections. I loved watching The Sign, but imho they really faltered in that last episode… like they didn’t have enough episodes to cover and resolve all of the plotlines. Even KinnPorsche with all of its budget and production value got bogged down due to the writing. Not all can be Me Mind Y, who at this point revels in their crap writing and just goes full on commits to it. TL:DR Last Twilight could have fared alot worse if not for its cast (JimmySea really honed their craft on their second full series, while Mark and Namran were standouts) and if it were in the hands of a less competent director.
i feel like there are series that only gmm can make and other known companies that makes bl series and vice vasa, but if they want fans to stick to their series, they better fix the lazy scripts, bc otherwise even if the actors have a great fan base, if the content of the series is not interesting, they will start to lose their interests or not watching the series at all. I think about 2 years back gmm have really good series, but now many of them are like dragged out and many of them I lose interest at some point. as you said gmm tends to go safe on scripts, and that's my impression too. If really hope they can make more quality series with the actors they have, rather than making bl pairs and kind of throwing them roles to play with lazy scripts. I'm not saying that making bl pair is a bad thing, but I think creating well crafted series , rather than shallow series with bunch of bl pairs.
Your video is exactly what is wrong with lazy writing and what it is doing to the genre of BL. I am finding it harder and harder to actually feel good at the end of a series. Thank you for your video and expressing many of my own thoughts and concerns for this industry and where it is heading!
IMHO, the only good shows from 2023 from GMM were Moonlight Chicken and Only Friends. The offered more than the basic, had complex characters, a narrative that felt cohesive, all the good stuff that makes a series, if nothing else, at least competent. All of that and still with the shipping couples that so many seem to love. (OF has at least one plot hole that I can remember, but it's such a minor thing that I can let it slide) As for all the others you mentioned, I have this thought that the biggest problem for these series is that they come from novels written by "fanfic" writers. (No shade to fanfic, I've read a lot of it, but fanfic writers very wildly in ability, let's be real) They were chosen because of popularity and because fans want their ships in new stuff, basically, and underwent a very minimal process of adaptation, thus we get weak narratives full of plot holes and clichês.
I agree and disagree with the last part, yes, the novels they choose are pretty bad fanfics, but these have no so much to do with how the series end up being, I'll give you an example the bad buddy, my school president, not me, be my favorite etc etc novels are considerably bad, but the shows have good writing and are really good shows. some of them just took the plot and the characters and made it something better, my point is that if they have good writers they can make something bad look good.
@@mayatorres1652 Yes! I agree totally! I think the problem is they just take the novel and don't really improve on it or make it fit more into a series format, so it ends up being as crap as it was initially. It's just a lack of care, really, in the end. Or they expect, because the story is famous, that it will do well, regardless.
@@mabi2727 but that's the thing, if you give a bad novel to a good writer they will make a gem out of it, but if you give a bad novel to a bad writer it will still be bad, even if you give a good novel to a bad writer they won't know how to adapt it. and they will not be able to get the most out of it because they do not know how, because they are not good at it(for example the middlemans love, decent/good novel but awful show). For example, gmmtv is releasing its original novels from the series (dangerous romance, Last Twilight, only friends, never let me go) are novels written by the scriptwriters of some series or writers who are hired specifically to make the novel, and I will be honest I will not talk about the quality of these novels because I have not read them but I have not heard ppl say that they are very good or better than the series either so idk, in summary I would say that the gmmtv writers are not terribly bad, but they are mediocre, for example ninepinta How can he write good things or things with potential but then somehow he ends up ruining them, I think that only Bad Buddy and Moonlight Chicken were the ones that came out the best in terms of script from him. He has been the screenwriter of Last Twilight (series and novel), Only Friends, Moonlight Chicken, Never Let Me Go, The Player and Bad Buddy.
I also think a big contributor to the plague of lazy writing is that because bl is still a pretty new and niche genre (live action series at least, i know comics and anime and all that well established), we're all kind of afraid that if we don't watch enough that the production companies will just stop making them. Sometimes bl fans tend to treat bl as this fragile thing we must uphold even if it's garbage bc we're so used to queer content being snatched away even when it's objectively successful. Especially us international fans who've watched our fav queer characters get fridged or shows get cancelled halfway thru a season for seemingly no reason while transphobic hacks still rake in millions for their comedy specials. So as much as we rag on tropes and ep 11 curese, I think there's still a tendency to shy away from too much direct criticism of the writing and directing and editing of these shows, and instead we support the ships we like as a way to tell the studios that we want more bl. Unfortunately the message they're getting is that we'll watch anything as long as it has the faces we want. We gotta make them understand that we still want bl, but we need better bl if they want to keep getting our money and attention.
You are SO RIGHT!!! A lot of my moots have complained about this at some rate and it's so eye opening, and I couldn't really pinpoint what exactly causes this. As a person who usually watches shows for the plot, gmmtv is just a freeload of brainrot but HEY at least I can get attached to a fictional man who is ALSO pretty. In all seriousness, lazy writing is slowly starting to ruin shows for me, as person who started watching gmmtv because it was the most accessable (and because their shows are fun AND gay, lets be honest lol) I think it's about time I start diversifying what I watch (not like I watched that many shows of their too lol) because the only thing they manage to deliver without a fail is disappointment and emptiness. Last Twilight genuinely was one of my most anticipated shows of 2023 (aside from 23.5... Cannot wait for it to air and I pray to god it delivers) and it's almost gotten to the point of becoming my comfort series, in fact I kind of declared it as so because it was just SO GOOD WITHOUT A FAIL!!! but the ending makes it so easy to move on from and forget, almost like a bad aftertaste. For a lot of their shows, like NLMG which is a personal favorite of mine, a messy ending feels alright because the show was never that serious to me 💀 and the two examples you mentioned too, I'd say the eclipse also applies because it was all too intense and FirstKhao are too cute for me to even QUESTION anything (jk). Their writing team really needs to start writing again ❤️ I genuinely prayed that whoever wrote Day's closing monologue never writes again because that was just fucking insane. They always have what it takes to eat everyone up but they're obsessed with filler episodes, close ups, parallels and cute moments like... whatever happened to delivering? All in all, I still haven't watched enough gems of theirs, but if it's so clear that they can serve, it's so annoying that they always CHOOSE to feed us cold food.
As someone who enjoys Off and Gun a fair bit, I am so annoyed by the series GMMTV has given them the past two years. Cooking Crush and The Trainee are literal nothing-burgers. The plots are so juvenile and the writing is lazy at best - and, in terms of The Trainee, the OffGun pairing seemed to be a bit exploited in the marketing because they're not even on screen enough to warrant the "main role" title. It looks like management knows they're a popular team, so they can put them in the weakest shows and still have some success because people will watch it to support them (which I am guilty of doing, unfortunately). For Off and Gun, we desperately need another series like Not Me (which also had its issues, but much less than the two recent shows). Honestly, GMM needs to seriously revamp their writing team because they are not doing the actors justice, and it's annoying as all hell to watch these series with poorly written stories and badly designed plots. Also, I'm so tired of watching melodramatic or juvenile storylines. For example, why do the actors mostly have to be university students? Many interesting stories happen with age and maturity, and it would be nice to explore them - besides, queerness isn't specific to young adults. It's problematic when "mature" storylines (i.e., when characters have jobs or are older than 25) are a rare sight. Off and Gun are now both in their 30s. They deserve to not be stuck playing immature roles with the weakest writing.
@@kayzmavc4596 To add to your comments, I also think OffGun has come to the end of their sizzle. Both would benefit greatly if they were to find other partners to act with. It would benefit both of them to find unexpected chemistry and new depths with other actors.
Every single thing you said is completely true. I find myself DNF-ing so many series now because the plot just always seems to fall apart after episode 6ish.
It’s almost like the audience has a better handle on the stories than the writers do. Think about that for a second. Imagine you are a doctor and a random member of the public has more understanding of what your job is than you do. It doesn’t fill you with much confidence does it?
La pluie!! I went into it semi blind and thought the idea of the show was so good but halfway into it, it was really starting to get on my nerves so much to the point I couldn't finish it. I felt like the idea was really great and could've been more elaborated on but the writers just made it really complicated for me to follow. Wasted potential:/
'Interesting premise but poorly executed', my mind immediately goes to La Pluie. I LOVE soulmate stories and I was so excited to see one come to the BL world. I was really enjoying the first half and I still really love the concept, but things went downhill so fast. I'm fine with them trying to subvert the soulmates tropes, I've seen it done well in fanfiction, but the way they did it was just... not it.
I believe as you said BL from other countries or companies are getting more popular. All the shows GMMTV had for the last two years are what we are currently seeing. Hopefully once they are done they can put all their efforts into their new work. Streaming companies are now exclusively renting out shows to their customers. This has caused a big change in production for shows of all kinds.
This. I WAS SOOOOOO excited for Last Twilight. I waited a whole year just for it to get boring towards the end. I stopped around episode 7 or 8 I honestly forgot. I also agree with your statement on fans only watching just because their pair is in the series. If I'm being honest I want pairing demolished. Not only do I feel like its repetitive, but I feel like its harmful for the actors in them because its not showing how versatile their acting can be with other actors. Sadly, lazy writing has not only plagued dramas but BL mangas and manhwas as well. Its truly tragic lol.
I agree with you on every level. And you are right about all the GMMTV BL series you mentioned. I would even add few more to the table. In my opinion they have no excuse for the exact reason that they are the most powerful Production company in the genre. So they have the the tools to have la creme de la creme in their hands. They are becoming a company who doesn't care about the quality anymore, quantity is more important because it brings more profits. Last twilight gave me such a bitter taste in my mouth, I still can't get over it. And so many more BL that are bad that drove me mad that I'm stoping my BL watch of the GMMTV productions until I see great positive reviews of their future production. I just don't want to waist my time anymore. There's also one topic that I have an issue with but no one will like what I have to say: The acting. Sorry for those who think that the Thai actors are amazing but NO they are not. I can give you a small list of the very good actors with true raw talent at GMMTV but as for the rest I feel that they are there just because they are good looking and act ok so they will sell and be profitable to the company. I have so many example but I'm not here to be hated, just to say my personal opinion.
I am currently watching "Dangerous Romance" and I am kind of enjoying it? There is definitely a tonal issue but I gotta say that Sailom did address the bullying right before the start of his romance with Kang. The bar is so low that I thought Sailom was going to jump in that relationship with Kang, forgetting about what Kang and his friends did. But nope. Sailom made sure to have Kang try to become more friendly with his besties. As long as his 2 friends were uncomfortable with Kang, there was not supposed to be any relationship reveal. And Kang did try (even had his 2 bully friends involved in the 'let's be all friends' campaign). But honestly, I don't really watch GMMTV bls anymore because of everything said in the video : the lazy writing, the boring plots/twists. I am also not a fan of watching the same couples just appearing in different settings. I don't just want more creative, daring writing, I also want to see different ships. Mix them all up, I am not here for the intense shipping. I am here for the characters, their development, the cute and emotional stories. For real, while GMMTV has been sinking, other Thai bls and bls from other countries have been killing it. "Love for love's sake" was such a great bl. Korean bls hit hard emotionally. The series are short (around 8 episodes) but they are mostly successful and they just feel right. Japanese bls have more comedy but they also hit hard in their own ways. And some shows are not even bls but the bromance is still fantastic (looking at Chinese shows here. I am still not over "A League of Nobleman").
I really loved Not Me and would give it a rating of 4.5 but the ending was anti-climatic and I thought the way the second couple's story ended was unnecessary.
Twins, Low Frequency, Even Sun were all great premises that were horribly executed. What wasted potential. I share your opinions on Last Twilight, Dangerous Romance, and the other specific examples that you provided. But I think it’s a little harsh to call out GMMTV as having bad writing when their bad ones are still just middle of the road. Like, imo, PitBabe has horribly lazy writing, much worse than Dangerous Romance. They are producing too many for them all to be bangers, but that’s because they have varying levels of talent/skill in the company. They have some top-tier talent that produce absolute bangers (I loved Last Twilight until the last episode, which was…a choice). The contrast between the good and the bad is what makes the bad ones feel so disappointing. But the good ones are so, so good, just recently: Only Friends, Moonlight Chicken, Cherry Magic, Be My Favorite. And now Wandee Goodday and We Are. That being said, the most egregious and offensive transgression of bad writing that I’ve seen in a BL was the story behind Cher’s friend, Thien, in ABAAB. They introduced a storyline where she was raped by her stepfather resulting in an unwanted pregnancy and ultimately her suicide. That’s heavy heavy shit, but they basically resolved all of it off camera. The mom who did nothing to protect her daughter when she knew what was going on? Easily forgiven. The stepfather rapist? Wrapped up in a throw away line about him being arrested, then the conversation moved on to other things. It’s one of the most jaw-droppingly offensive things I’ve seen in a series, particularly as they made such effort to highlight Jack’s mental health struggles.
Totally agree about hidden agenda and last twilight the network needs to stop doing the same thing besides be my favorite they haven't done anything different to me shows like pit babe and the sign are proof that bl shows are changing the formula and people want something different
I’ve been so disappointed with the BL dramas lately. You’ve pinpointed exactly what I could not quite figure out…why each of these BLs that should have been wonderful with the premise and the actors, but were not….
I'm glad you adressed the racist scene in futs, like idk how it was when futs was in emmision but if its still up i guess there was not a colective complain then or even now. Anyways, even tho i had not seen anything worse happening in another gmmtv bl series (at least the ones i watched so far) it is one of my roman empires that joke in Theory of Love that i think was made by two about p'un skin color, its even worse if you consider that two is supposed to be p'un love interest so it seems they wanted for us to understand that joke as friendly banter but yeaaah, it is not and as someone with brown skin and that also happens to really love earth it really broke my heart to watch that. So disrespectful
Might be a nuanced take but I feel like a combination of pre-existing novels, emphasis on looks, and lack of experience/identity all tie into why lazy writing is an issue in Thai Bls (specifying Thai bls because I don't really watch other country bl shows). When a good chunk of Thai bls come from novels with fully written plot lines and story, it leaves very little room for creative differences, experimentation and any motivation to change the script. This, paired with the fact that Thai bl is still a fairly new subset of the industry, experience in this field in terms of writers could be far and few. And when I say emphasis on looks I mean pretty faces over actually good talent. Let's not sit here and lie to ourselves that the target demographic isn't young impressionable girls who won't choose an eye candy over an unattractive (by beauty standards) actor who has the acting chops. So when the writers know what the viewers want, well, who needs actually good dialogue and story beats am I right or am I right? Examples of lazy writing: Kinnporsche's plot with Porsche's mom was 200% unnecessary and I felt violated personally when I saw the twist. I feel like I need actual compensation for the trauma I went through with that show. Additionally, if I have to sit through another round of actors waiting for the other person to finish their lines before reciting their own instead of having a conversation with each other or having delayed lines and reactions like I'm watching with the internet connection coming from the north pole I'm gonna break some Geneva convention laws.
I agree so much on this! And the sad thing is that the actors often get tons of hate even though it is clearly not their fault how the series is written. Great example is Joongdunk, by giving them those type of shows they will never be able to show their full potential and people will not appreciate their work. And even if the scenes are well written and the acting is on point but it’s once again a scene that comes out of nowhere and does not suit what the show or the characters showed before, just to make the show more interesting, it won’t be good. And it’s so damn predictable! I feel like they often focus on the couple more than the fact that this is a series, with that I mean that they want all those couple moments (don’t get me wrong I absolutely love that too obv), but they leave the storyline behind. The pilots are usually nice and they get your hopes up for a show that is actually themed after a certain genre but then the genre completely fades away and they focus more on whatever. And to keep the genre in there they add those random scenes. And by completely rushing the filming of these shows it definitely won’t be better too, but sadly that’s what they are doing.
omg i agree, there are so many series, it feels like they want to make a quick buck. especially in gmmtv year end show thingy they show like so many series and not all of them get to air the following year. its like quality over quantity. they should step back and take a look. they could release a few series per year, add variety shows with the leads for promotion in the breaks between series.
I just dont get it why gmmtv do this to their bls literally every single series starts off so good it gets you hooked like crazy and then suddenly all hell breaks lose in ep 11 and then the ending is trash i cant-😭
Finally someone else is talking about it, for the past 2 years I've taken a break from Thai BL's entirely, even non-GMMTV productions because of how boring, cliche and repetitive they have become, it's mostly 2 straight guys who have only ever dated girls before, meet and somehow have a crush on each other, build a healthy relationship the entire season only to break up in ep 11 over the most ridiculous and very easily avoidable conflict, and then go back to dating girls because they aren't actually gay, only gay for one another, and in ep 12 there's some boring ass reason for them to get back together, they share one kiss and then the end, LIKE WHAT!!!! As you said, GMMTV is too comfortable now so they'd just write or adapt any material that comes to mind because they have the budget, cast weirdos and homophobes to play gay characters and then give us the same sorry ass sob story, like at this point y'all gotta go!!!
Even I like last twilight the most, I was thinking the 12th episode was so so. Like too much happens or maybe too many happens. This is the same problem I have for every last episode of a bl, they are trying to put everyone in the screen and every time, there's a lack of rhythm. I don't know if everyone understands what im saying
you are right! And it's really sad how the audience turns a blind eye to it, I'm talking about Cooking crush now and also many more... the humor is not even funny anymore as they are using the same old jokes, the plot is so poor that they have no better things to do there than creating unnecessary conflicts between the pair and ruining their supposed healthy relationship. They are also changing the characteristics of the characters throughout the series. Now I'm talking about Ten and Sand. Ten who was afraid to touch Prem and didn't feel comfortable despite trusting him became an aggressor who was punching characters because of jealousy or provocation. Sand, the one who was deeply in love with Ray and was hurting himself so much just to be close to him, ignored Ray in two parts of the ending episodes and thought about returning to his toxic ex. Also Mew going from good guy, then bad guy and then again to good guy... I believe people can change after being hurt but not so drastically and in such a short time. Dangerous romance... I'd say the dangerous thing was that Kang was switching his colors there way too often. Aggressive bully, caring classmate, puppy in love, kid with daddy issues and then a toxic lover and then again a great lover. I seriously didn't know if he was good or bad when he was threatening Sailom at first, then hitting on him, loving him and at the end he was toxic, abandoned him, assaulted him, emotionally broke him and then again he confessed his love. It felt like reading some amateurish fanfic
Do you ever get tired of always being so accurate in your opinions? I can spend all day long talking about lazy writing and of course I should begin with The Eclipse (wtf was those three last episodes???) and Last Twilight. I can't stop imagining that with better time on working the two of them would be a masterpiece 😢
I am watching this 7 months after you posted it. And it seems it got worse! I can't wait to have your toughts on Battle of the Writers, that embodies all of what you described. Althought I am quite new to all this BL thing, I feel like the Thai BL industry has taken a turn where Ships and Fan Service are what is important now, not telling a good story. Of the few BL gems I cherish, only one in my top 5 is Thai. The others are Korean, Japanese (x2) and Tawainese. And none features fixed paired or even "BL actors". Only good actors in a good story about two people in love. Sure, I love thoses kisses and all the falling over one another, but it's only the cherry on top of amazing storytelling. Thank your for your channel and you in depth, constructive criticism.
Ep11 of last twilight really piss me off..... how to f they break up so easily? Day thought Mhok is pity him regardless the first 9 episodes he is saying Mhok is the one treat him like normal??? And what did Mhok do to deserve Day block his contact?? They shouldn't write them break up, they were having a healthy relationship before Ep11, they should make them grow up together, communicate and solve the issue together..... but nope, they just love to ruin everything on every Ep11 no matter how unreasonable, they just make everyone break up at Ep11, no matter what cost Tbh, in real life, there is no way Mhok will still love Day after 3 years, especially after the ridiculous break up
Viceversa’s trama was good but honestly there was too much filling, either with adds or redundant things. It wasn’t easy to finish it for me… but the actors were so chef’s kiss that’s why I had faith on LT. Same on Dangerous Romance… good actors with a good plot but there wasn’t a proper use of the screen time, like Pimfah and Sailom’s plot and too much flashbacks. You could’ve done enjoyable romance with less, like with Guy and Nava. I would’ve liked to watch more drama. Well, I can’t guys, those were my year promises 💔
Last Twilight was sooo good until the breakup. Day took none of the responsibility, even though he contributed to the issues that caused the breakup. Both Mhok and Day should have admitted they share equal blame, but all we got was an apology from Mhok and a half hearted reunion 😑
Before the last two episodes of Last Twilight, it was a perfect series for me. It lost something with the 11th hour breakup, long separation, Mhok taking 100 percent of the blame, and Day taking no responsibility. The ending was very disappointing and betrayed the characters and story to that point.
my issue with ep11 break ups is they break them up but cant be bothered to put in the work to make their relationship better and resolve it properly. how do they break up so easily without even trying to communicate, go years without talking and im somehow still expected to believe they love each other? “time heals everything” does not exist for relationships 😭
GMMTV is the disney of bl
disney these days are something 😂
I would argue Moonlight Chicken also had a strong finish in 2023. The issue comes from poor scripts for the most part. If the scripts are strong, it shouldn’t matter how many shows are being filmed concurrently (GMMTV should be resourced enough if they choose to distribute their budgets wisely). But when you insist on the same formula, weaknesses start to show.
MSP and MLC worked because they didn’t rely on the tired old formulas.
Bad Buddy is their gem. It was one of their plotwise simpliest BL's but it's also their most popular. The casting brought it to an other Level. OhmNanon gave their best to the simple plot and made it what it is today. Last Twilight could have been their best work but they destroyed it with their own hands, which is like a betrayel to the characters they have built up so wonderfully.
Color Rush have so much potential but wasted, it might be the budget, but still loved the concept. For me Be My Favorite is one of the hidden gems, character development slowly grows and it's so rewarding up to the end.
Agree. Be My Favorite was a pleasant surprise for me as it got better and better as the series progressed.
Color Rush was my first ever BL and I loved it so much; but when they changed the lead in season 2, I never watched it because I was so upset.
color rush made no sense to me, same as you i thought it had potential but nah
I have a bone to pick with color rush, cause the premise is so interesting but they barely explore it. I've only seen the first season and I've just read the plot summary for the second and it seems that it might explore some of the things I wanted it to in the first season. The two main things I wished were more developed:
Yeonwoo's Mom???: The introduction of her mysterious disappearance was very interesting and I thought they'd explore it or it would be like Yeonwoo's driving force cause HIS MOM DISAPPEARED??? but it only comes up as a fact of his life. It seems like the second season might explore it but I don't know. I was so annoyed at the reoccurring yellow headband too.
A Mono's obsession: I thought they'd explore the sort of obsession that can or seems to arise when a mono meets their probe and doesn't want to lose the ability to see color without them but they only kinda tease it a bit. I don't think it's even addressed at the end before they get together that the main reason they might like each other is because they both help each other kinda "circumvent" their visual impairments when together. Yoohan also holds the ability to give Yeonwoo a color rush above his head giving their relationship a power imbalance since Yeonwoo doesn't know about Yoohan's facial blindness, so I thought the series would have worked better as a thriller with maybe older leads. The show seems to present that there is a inevitability of a mono threatening the life of their probe, but Yeonwoo's parents got together so I don't see why he doesn't find solace in that. I also don't remember them addressing Yeonwoo's mental health after he tries to commit. He was in a mental institution instead of a hospital and although it would have been rough to watch they just skip the 10 days directly after and don't really show much concerning it's affects.
I started re-writing it because I thought the premise was so good but I had Yeonwoo really invested in music both with him always listening to it and knowing how to play the piano. I thought we should see the aunt on her search for her sister. Yoohan has a brother that was missing like Yeonwoo's mother and that is why he knows immediately that Yeonwoo is a mono after he faints and why he's always disappearing. That also gave them another bonding point and more drive to persue the mystery of the missing monos.
I feel like this show and a lot of othera would have been better if they had more episodes or like 10 additional minutes every episode.
Oh man, the way you and byulsarang hit the nail on the head of all of my thoughts for the writing of Last Twilight, and bl in general, is scarily precise. In general, there's nothing wrong with tropes and softening endings bc you know that's what'll sell best. But when that becomes ALL you write, it's a problem, and GMMTV passed that point years ago. My only ray of hope is that this is a pattern that a lot of other genres and mediums go through when they're new. At the begining everything is new and exciting, then as the industry and fanbase grows they start pumping out as much as they can as fast as they can to keep the momentum. BL especially is subject to this moreso than other genres of tv thanks to the boost it got from the pandemic. As usual, quality starts to suffer, and of course some fans who were just watching for mindless entertainment and seeing hot boys kiss (no shade to those people, we don't shame people for their reasons for consumption) will continue to watch and some will tune in for their ships, but an increasing majority will start to tune out and gravitate towards the smaller corners of the genre where there's still experimentation. BL is in that phase now, we're crying for things that are different and latching onto shows like The Sign and Love For Love's Sake like starving orphans. Now, the hope in this that I have is that the more mainstream productions will pay attention and shift gears. Demand decides profit, so if we demand good writing then eventually they're going to have to deliver once they realize that relying on ship stans isn't going to net them enough profit anymore.
As for the disability rep in Last Twilight....well, my feelings are more complicated. I don't really think of myself this way much, but technically I'm visually impaired. Half blind, specifically. Had my left eye removed about 13 years ago after an accident that almost killed me. It means no depth perception and a smaller field of vision, but also being magnitudes more likely to become temporarily or permanently blind bc I don't have a spare.
So, on the one hand, I actually liked that they included Day having a failed surgery and then trying again. It's a more realistic portrayal of how actual medical care journeys like that go. You're never guaranteed a success, and many people irl have to try multiple times to get a transplant that doesn't reject or different treatments to find one that works. Now, of course I absolutely agree w/ byulsarang that narratively having Day eventually regain his vision in a 2nd surgery very much defeats the purpose of all that character growth he did after having to resign himself to permanent blindness from the first failed surgery. However, I do worry that clinging onto this need for a good narrative can lead to a bit of inspiration porn. In real life no one should be relegated to disability if they have the option and resources to not be. I think especially in a place where disability awareness and accommodations are so much more limited, it's just as ableist to tell disabled people they should embrace their differences instead of accepting treatment that would make their life easier as it is to ignore them when they ask for accommodations. As someone who is kinda sorta disabled, I wanna give a big f*ck off to anyone who might try to tell me that I can't or shouldn't take any opportunity to improve my vision just for the sake of a good story. Losing an eye wasn't character building, it was traumatic and painful and I wouldn't wish it on most of my enemies. If I had the chance to get a new, fully functioning eye, I would 100% take it. My vision loss isn't your inspiration porn and I'm not obligated to lead a slightly more difficult life just bc it's "character building".
Buuut, on the other hand, what was available to Mhok was largely possible bc he was wealthy and well-connected. And the story also frames that he was a "good boy", essentially making him go thru trials and then become a respectable member of society before he "earns" a fix for his vision. The vast majority of disabled people do not have that option. They can't grow limbs or spinal cords back. No one has successfully transplanted a fully functioning human eye yet (Mhok only got a cornea transplant) and likely won't for many decades. No one should have to suffer more, especially if they're already in a more disadvantaged position than Mhok was, just to earn an easier life. And stories have sooo much power. Think of films like Silence which literally changed laws and a lot of minds about disability in South Korea.
To me, it feels very important that we not frame every story about disability as a journey towards a cure. It's just not realistic and it sets false expectations for how people should treat their disabled neighbors. If all you see is narratives where someone is only temporarily disabled, you are likely to be a lot less accommodating and understanding of the needs of real people with disabilities bc you just see them as temporarily inconvenienced. But, If this series had shown Day leading a fulfilling, wonderful life while remaining permanently blind, who knows how many people might have been inspired to be more compassionate towards the disabled people they encounter in their day-to-day lives.
Ultimately, the ending kind of left me feeling like the show was about empty sentiments and pretty cinematography and choreographed cute ship moments. So, pretty much exactly what I expected from a GMMTV series these days. Which of course is your point. We've come to expect to be disappointed, and until we let our disappointment show in the viewing numbers we will continue to be let down.
Absolutely second everything you said. To add, what was jarring for me was the insinuation that Day was ‘normal’ now after receiving his sight back. This coupled with how they handled Mhok grovelling back to him just exasperated how badly they missed the mark for these particular characters and the story they had been telling along the way.
it's ok he got cured in the end
it's not ok how they threw everything under the bus for the sake of shitty breakup and time skip.
My problem with the series they abandoned the initial premise - disabled people deserve to be treated as normal people and those people shouldn't be ashamed they are like this. It was a good social message - Day found someone who loves him for him, Day accepted the fact he is blind, Day did amazing job recovering and rebuilding relationships. But they just threw eveything for shitty soap romance drama.
As I've said - Mhok doesn't know how it is to live with someone like Day. But even then Day being selfish and acting like a victim is stupid too. And suddenly after time skip Day understands he needs love and somehow we're getting shitty airport rush ON SOMEONE'S WEDDING. THEN SUDDENLY when they're reunited THEY MAGICALLY get 2nd donor...
it's just lazy writing.
be my favorite did everything better.
if we consider 11th episode.
I LOVE THE ECLIPSE! But I will be the first to criticize the third act and I’m convinced Our Skyy was written by different writers because the characters aren’t acting right. It’s also not a bl, but The Gifted Graduation had so much potential, introduced so many interesting plot ideas and parallels but the execution was just sh--
Ugh, how the Eclipse handled bullying! Thua outing people in an extremely homophobic environment. Akk’s lukewarm and half-assed apology to the kids whom he bullied and literally put in life threatening situations. They spent more time on his apology to his friends than they did on his “apology” to his victims. Ugh
Say 👏it👏louder👏BL👏goddess👏lmao
No, seriously, I'm sick and tired of lazy writing, you gave voice to my internal screaming fr!
the thing with gmmtv bls now a days is that they introduce a concept really interesting one and then drop them mid way sticking to the generic plots and relationship drama. what msp did was knowing what they actually were about they did not introduce complex plot and then drop them mid way instead it was a romantic comedy involving a band and school president and it delivered but the most important thing was the characters doing things that were expected off of them. they never broke up bc that would have been out of character for them, they had fights but they resolved it better than some of the adults in these bls and its funny. Even to this day i refuse to believe a person like mhok would leave day just like that with no explanations at all and how they just made him accept that he felt pity for day in the last ep when he never did he was traumatized but nowhere did they address that issue bc it made sense for him to be that worried about day we saw that in the beginning ep too but they dropped it picked it at ep 11 and named it pity??? i was so confused bc that was not pity at all, he was not worried about day bc he was blind but bc he was scared genuinely scared of losing him. They introduced his sister and how he suffers still and never explored it and the break up just felt so weird and out of character for both mhok and day.
You are so RIGHT... "My School President" might be the last BL series from GMMTV that was perfect from start to finish.... I am actually enjoying their version of "Cherry Magic"... but the screenplay is adapted from the original source material from the Japanese series and manga....
I never expected so much for the ending of a BL series as I was expecting for Last Twilight. I even convinced my friends to watch it with me as I everything about it was a masterpiece. Up to now, I was used to BL being this weird universe where anything is possible, but LT hit differebt. I cannot understand how something so anticipated and beautifully made ended up so rushed and weird like that. A whole team sat down and decided, yeah, it's perfect for this masterpiece: "this is it! The last episode everyone wants to see"
Hooow??
Preach Moon. I agree with you regarding the bombshell episode 11 formulaic disaster. I would like to see a BL where there is no happy end, where there is no 11th episode disaster bombshell, where there is an early get-together of the couple.
I highly agree on this! I was so disappointed in the last episode of Last Twilight. It was a show I praised the entire time it was airing, but then the last episode left such a bad taste in my mouth. We seriously need to just start bullying gmmtv like people did with Be On Cloud. I'll be the last person to praise BOC for their artist management, and many of their company decisions, but I do appreciate that when people said that the writing was by far their weakest point KinnPorsche, that they went out and hired some of the top writers in the industry. So far it's really paying off too. People, including myself, are very engaged in DFF, and Mansaung was a massive hit in Thailand.
I'm usually more of a silent watcher, but truly this is the type of video we needed cause at this point it's impossible not to notice the stagnation in writing present in most bl series, the way they get stuck in known tropes just to easily pull in views and level surface cheap emotional strings. Last Twilight in particular felt like a deep betrayal cause despite some flaws, at least till episode 9 there was truly promise for something different, yet they managed to torpedo the whole thing down the worst way possible by the end i couldn't even believe how it went.
Same with only friends, such promise of actual queer messy characters forcing viewers to battle with their morale code versus their sympathy for the characters perhaps based on their connection with the actors too. Istead we got this sort of playing safe heteronormartive soap opera to make sure the branded pairs were all endgame to appease fans with a good dose of s-slur shaming towards Boston that rang a lot like an endorsement of monogamous straight ideals, like even me a s€x repulsed asexual was deeply bothered by how he was treated despite by all means being unable to relate to him. it really just feels like most gmmtv series backed themselves in a corner of lazy writings cause as long as their branded pairs sell, then fans will consume everything without putting in the effort to demand more on an intellectual and emotional level. it just feels, with other great bl dramas we have been getting, this inconsistency in quality does harm the genre as a whole, not allowing new engaging stories to break barriers/introduce more topics cause sure, if it is not broken and u can sell anything without it being questioned, why bother to strive for more ? Anyway sorry for the rant but this video really hit home again about what has been dissatisfying for me personally in regards bls when we know, great stories can be told with just the will of putting a bit more effort and looking at ur audience as something more than a group to pander cheaply to.
saaaame thought with Boston, and it feels like everyone missed it in the comment section of the series, I was baffled !
No need to apologize for a rant that identified specific issues and avoided insult. I think your "ranting" hit on three points that vex me in particular. All three stifle the creativity of scriptwriters and contribute to lazy writing.
●branded pairs: this issue highlights the conundrum of a medium that is simultaneously commercial and creative. The presence of a previously successful shipped couple drives viewers to sample a show. Good! But if the audience recognizes particular characters as endgame because of the actors playing those parts, how can a script deliver surprises? GMMTV has ridden branded pairings to enrichment for all, but they have ridden their recent series into the ground. Cooking Crush is just going through the motions. It is a habit, not a series.
●heteronormative, monogamous straight ideals: there is a fantastic potential for storytelling in the gap between _prescriptive sexuality_ (how society expects people to behave; "ideals") and _descriptive sexuality_ (how people actually behave). Moreover, those rules can change within a society according to class, generational shift, religion, and other markers of subculture. Most crucially, *same-sex relationships never, ever fit into the heteronormative ideal* yet too often writers script characters who actually as if the same rules apply.
●sl* shaming: another example of writing overly dependent on prescriptive ideas of sexual behavior is the way characters who enjoy sex with multiple partners are vilified. While cheating may be understandably condemned, the single character who sleeps around is often regarded with the same critical eye. This no doubt reflects the "good girl" double standard in which female sexuality and male sexuality gets judged differently for the same behavior. In shows about same-sex attraction, this should play out differently.
@@Stealaire honestly, I was baffled as well on how people seemed to have not realised how deeply his actual mistreatment as a character ran untill I had a discussion with a friend and realised, if u look at top and mew relationship, they got a very classic heteronormartive cheating trope going on, seriously I have seen the same type of story pan out in straight media a lot, so i feel subconsciously especially female viewers do feel connected to that and since Boston is the s-slur homewrecker, the "other promiscuous woman" ofc he deserves to be punished and mistreated for his behaviour. this friend of mine literally explained her hate for him along this lines and it clicked to me how despite Boston openly stating to being gay and more into open/free relationships, he is not viewed as a gay man simply into open/free relationships but is really viewed as just this evil promiscuous s-slur that is not allowed to have nuances cause he breaks certain straight ideals, that also cannot be stitched upon every queer person just like that.
@@johnmaster3748 thank u for that premise cause mostly at times i feel I can go on too long on criticism, even if necessary/constructive, i never want to focus just on the negative but lately with the type of bl medias we have been getting it's hard not to.
And truly, you nailed all the points i also feel vexced about lately.
1)branded pairs: like yes they can pull in the audience necessary to support a show, but yeah then u are backed into a corner when satisfying the parasocial relationship fans have with branded pairings comes before actual engaging storytelling so at the end, how can there be anything more when u gotta play it safe just for the brand ? the need of rose tinted fairytales endings for branded pairs is truly one of the biggest breeding grounds for stagnation. Last Twilight definitely fell into this badly cause nothing in those last three episodes storytelling wise could justify the reconciliation when even mhokday characterisation was assassinated just to reach the happy end.
2)this is worded so perfectly, like the more series we get the more it becomes noticeable this dissociation between how same-sex relationship can work/be nuanced irl vs the heteronormartive ideals the audience subscribes to and subtly demands from their bl shows. sure it is fiction one could say, but then it still takes from reality so why be stuck on the latter point, when truly u can open as u said a discourse on prescriptive sexuality vs descriptive sexuality ?
3)Boston to me truly felt as the biggest example of a failed potential on this topic cause honestly, there was never a moment for me where I was bothered by his particular characterisation on the topic of sex, it doesn't matter if i cannot personally relate, I can recognise other queer people have a complete different approach to their sexuality than me, things do play differently cause that is how it is. instead he gets villified for it with the cheating adding a sort of justified hate for it.i have yet to see someone not hate him for that without relating his more "promiscuous" behaviour to it and it says a lot on how judgment is passed on characters with a very skewed view based on "be a good girl" standards in straight media and the heteronormartive lens bls need to subscribe to pander to their audience.
@@Stealairepretty sure my first answer to u got deleted 😭 but anyway yeah, I was baffled as well but with time i realised, it is not so strange people didn't get it because they associate his way of being into more open relationships with him being not just a cheater but an homewrecker so like this, the s-slur shaming feels almost justified on a "morale ground". another way to show how much queer characters and their way to live relationships gets filtered through a specific monogamous heteronormartive perspective just to pander tbh.
absolutely loved this!! sometimes it’s so clear when bl relies on a fan base/exists purely to build a fan base. when there’s barely any buildup and effort in writing the story. gmmtv romance is usually about the act of being in love and not enough about the uniqueness of the characters and how they love each other. kind of focusing on making the viewers love the actors together.. for the sake of selling the brand outside the series. rather than making us believe the characters specifically are into each other. not to mention introducing topics way too serious without giving them the proper care and attention they deserve.
Yes! It’s like these shows are promotional material for BL pairings instead of creative works.
Couldn't agree more with your analysis! The last GMMTV show I enjoyed was Be My Favorite and before that was My School President..But even as I think about MSP now I remember being bored near the end. Only Friends was good but had some writing issues for me.
In my opinion, GMMTV needs not only to improve their writing but also, in my view, how the shows are directed or shot as well. Everything feels so formulaic which is a symptom of the scale of production which the video referenced. If i see one more scene of four boys standing awkwardly in a straight line, in a corridor, while they recite their lines, I'm going to scream! One of the things I enjoyed about Pit Babe is how sharp the direction was! The camera moved with the actors and nothing looked the same; No one ever looked awkwardly placed. I loved it!
If they don't improve they're going to be left behind. The Sign was a great entry into BL Landscape (though I have my issues with it :))
Dead Friend Forever has me screaming at my screen but in a good way! I've never wished death upon characters in a BL the way I do with DFF. These Thai BLs are cropping up more frequently and with the international audience the competition with Korean or Japanese BLs adds an entirely new dimension. I mean, Love for Love's Sake was ridiculously refreshing.
I really hope GMMTV can hire some staff writers and maybe make some writing rooms. I also think that the main SHIPS should be done away with and the actors rotated to fit the different roles but that's another conversation entirely.
Thanks for the video!
BE MY FAVORITE IS SO UNDERRATED
It feels like all budget and writing from the past 2 years went into it.
Characters and story were so good.
I pretty much was surprised post 9th episode couple relationship and how they subverted the 11th episode disaster - it became my favorite moment in the series.
@@Aru_J_Sol
I loved it so much as well! Each character was so well written. They all had flaws but were never caricatures. All their decisions made sense and didn't feel like it came out of no where to service the plot. This includes the male leads AND the female lead who was so beautifully written. Along with the villain of the piece who I despised but he was realistic. We've all had that antagonistic member of the friend group who we don't quite know why we hang out with them..lol..We like and dislike them at the same time. The parents were also wonderfully nuanced and of course I'll stan Max forever! Such a great friend. Can you tell I like this show? *stops gushing*
I honestly can't think of any gmmtv show that has come out in the past few months where people have enjoyed the ending like why do their shows always take a sudden hard left.
I was relieved I came across To sir with love and law of attraction. They are the ones for me that are not formulaic at all and keep setting the bar higher. Can't wait for their next drama together
The point about only tuning in to see your faves as this point as opposed to being interested in the actual story HIT. Because I realized how many of their shows I’ve said something like “I’ll probably check it out because X is in it”. It’s such a shame that Last Twilight was so close to being a rare exception to the recent pattern.
There’s a couple things in the upcoming lineup I’m excited for but also scared to be optimistic at this point sigh.
You are bang on target about Last Twilight. I was so disappointed with the way the ended it. GMM definitely needs to look beyond beautiful faces to sell their series. IFYLIA was beaitifully done and was definitely my favourite (after msp. 😅) And the Sign. IDF did a great job without big shot sponsors.
girl, I am so excited about this topic, I just recently complained to a friend why a lot of the time there is a good start and towards the end the writers and or ... butcher it with lazy writing. like, why wouldn't you want to make a good project?
Thank you for talking about this in your video. Me and my friend were so confused and dissapointed with “Last Twilight” ending and strange twists. Like what a DISNEY FAIRYTALE was going on. Also we saw A LOT plot holes and strange decisions made by author. And now i can’ t say that this is ONE of my favorite series. But i kinda like it, at least first half😂 So sad that JimmySea were acting and delievering the scenes but the plot wasn’t that good😢.
Agree. The lazy writing is compounded by lazy direction and I can’t tell you how frustrated I get with the episode 11 break-ups. Another issue is continuing with pairings that are not working, for whatever reason. Mix it up a little, try different pairings until you find one that works. Plus it is not the actors’s responsibility to sell the drama through fan service. That just makes the whole fan base system a lot worse and allows for lazy writing.
You know these recent misses& just basic concepts make me miss Pinoy bls during lockdown. They made so many stories about the lockdown but each one was done well enough and different enough vibe.
You and Byul are a blessing fr
Moon and Star WAIT THAT'S SO CUTE
@@jadaline Omg, I never realized! 😭
Agree with most of it which I ll come back to later but disagree on everyone saying My school president being the most formulaic or "basic/simplest" plot just because it is an high school theme show. There is a reason why this serie surprised everyone, because it was unexpected aka not following the formula. Yes it is a "cute" serie, but that doesn't make it basic. No misunderstanding, no miscommunication, no breakup in the 11th episode, even the High school theme had a twist, when did we see a Musical BL, because 14 songs for 12 episodes with almost no repeat, with songs that are fully part of the script is closer than a musical than anything else. The only BL cliché was waiting for the kiss til last second after many teasing, but even that was a clear choice by the writer to play with the viewers and as nowadays this is not really the "norm" in bl anymore where NC scenes are way more common, it was more an "old school" touch which totally fitted with TinnGun (and Gemini) personalities and the overall cuteness of the show. Impeccable writing and cast.
Now for the lazy writing, I don t understand it, it s not just Gmmtv also Wabi, how those companies can have top notch writing series like MSP, moonlight Chicken, Tots and My only 12% (so we know that they know how to write a great script) and be so inconsistent (even really bad) in others, even in series which are the most expected with great financial funds and the greatest bl couples.... won t name those series, you did mentioned some and I still hurt from the one I waited for 3 years with my favorite bl actor which end up being a great disappointment.
And once again you said exactly what needed to be said ✨ love you and your videos ❤
The Promise is one that had such massive potential but was handled by people who very obviously didn't care about it. I'm still reeling from it.
This explains exactly why I have not been able to finish a single Gmmtv bl series since be my favorite and only friends. Something always feels off then it gets boring and then they do a time skip and I'm like well I guess I'm done watching 🤣
Be My Favorite had amazing writing
BE MY FAVORITE IS UNDERRATED
I gladly enjoyed how every character was flashed out
They abandoned the formula of 11 series break up - instead they did amazing subversion where i somehow cried my eyes out so it became my favorite point of the series
I also think it was the strongest moment in the whole show
And I love how they haven't forgot about other characters - everyone got development and faced consequences of their actions
Also everyone loved I FEEL YOU LINGER IN THE AIR but LISTEN. This final episode is utter SHIT. The guy from the past suddenly appearing OUT OF NOWHERE for the "happy ending" WITHOUT EXPLANATION and NO ONE EXPLAINED how main character got "isekai'ed" into the past. NO ONE EXPLAINED SHIT
Also PitBabe has got good writing too - i was so engaged every episode. And I'm pretty satisfyed with the series overall
I rank PitBabe and Be My Favorite as me best thai bl
I honestly drop almost every single one cuz they just fall bad after first 2 episodes
Last Twilight was HUGE disappointment after 9th episode
They just spit out nonsense to disability people and main issue was never addressed - MHOK STILL DOESN"T KNOW HOW IT IS TO LIVE WITH SOMEONE WITH DISABILITY
Time skip here DOESN"T SOLVE THIS ISSUE - pretty much nothing changed for Mhok and Day
I've noticed this same epidemic in heterosexual romance series produced by GMMTV. I remember they used to produce decent hetero series back in 2016-2019 but it went downhill afterwards. GMMTV's BL is going in this same direction which is unfortunate. I really can't trust GMMTV when it comes to romance genre in general (whether if it's hetero, BL or GL). It's getting worse and worse in quality. They seem to be much better in mystery, thriller and criminal fiction. P.s i hate you was the best GMMTV series in my opinion but yet, it's ironically not romance series. Thai BL romance is getting more boring at this point, that's why i switched to mostly Japanese BL. The Sign was the most innovative Thai BL of this year and i couldn't find any better BL this year than The Sign. It's a shame, the creativity and immersiveness are missing.
1. Story. 2. Story. 3. Story. [Part One]
I immersed myself in the BL genre (in 2020, of course) for the escapism of rom-com style romance stories that happened to feature same-sex couples. GMMTV got famous for that exact thing. I do not need lots of skinship in these stories, because _television_ is not a medium where skinship can ever go "too far." I don't need highest quality production values in a series because the vast majority of LGBT films (my previous source of regular same sex storytelling) so often lacked resources that I am conditioned to overlook that. I don't need polished acting because, again, I am conditioned to the idea that these roles tend to be played by those looking for a "big break," an entry into the profession. What I wanted was a compelling story. Give me a fresh twist on an old trope, and I happily will overlook many other deficiencies in a production. For a long time, GMMTV succeeded at this.
By the time one watches four or five GMMTV series, one recognizes they follow a pattern. The company has a playbook, and I suspect some executive has shackled the writers into following it. [Title: Idiot's Guide to BL Scriptwriting.] In 2023, Moonlight Chicken excepted, the formula got very stale. While some series fared better than others, nothing quite sparkled. _Being formulaic_ is not necessarily a problem. _Feeling_ formulaic is. That is why My School President (is formulaic) enchants and why Cooking Crush (feels formulaic) just passes the time.
Someone at the studio worries that breaking the mold will alienate loyal viewers. In a way, past success traps writers and directors into repetitive patterns. It is time for GMMTV to innovate.
Say this LOUDER so that the writers and producers hear this!
Exactly. There is a breaking point and there is only so much "grace" that an audience can give towards these production companies. I will not speak for anyone else, but I expect more from GMMTV. They have the talent, in front of and behind the camera. Find more challenging works to adapt. Give these creatives more time to develop these productions, and allow your performers the chance to work with others. Let their talent, and show to their fans that it's perfectly normal for them to work with other performers. That it isn't some form of betrayal to their fandom.
Exactlyyy I agree with everything you said
Once again you have managed to put into words what i've been thinking about gmmtv series lately. I still love watching these characters fall in love.
Yes! Thank You!
My number one recent lazy writing crime is Last Twilight (both the break up and the operation). But that one I was already expecting. Hoped they wouldn't but still expecting it.
The next one is the love triangle in Dangerous Romance. Already all by itself it was a spectacularly lazy writing. But what is worse is that it directly contradicted all the characters' development. As soon as it started happening you knew it didn't belong in the story. And sure enough, they then proceeded to ignore it every happened... 😡
Middleman had potential but that quickly went down the drain and Naughty babe was half baked they tried but the execution was not fully there it felt rushed.
1. Story. 2. Story. 3. Story. (Part 2)
In the prior comment, I focused on how GMMTV's strict adherence to formula has stifled creativity in its productions. Here, I wish to observe that simply mixing alternate genres into a BL storyline cannot guarantee a reprieve from lazy writing. Without a clear grasp on those alternate genres, writers telling hybrid tales risk lazy storytelling in a wholly new way. Kayla noted how other studios have redently captured attention by mixing BL with other genres. The Sign, recently concluded, was cited an example. She mentioned the fantasy elements as a refreshing change of pace. True enough, however the genre crossovers did not end there: The Sign also contains substantial cop drama DNA. I must confess to being rather conflicted about the writing of that series. Oh, not for the BL storylines. In that regard, The Sign truly felt like something new and different. But, if anything, the writers of that series were overly ambitious. I admire the effort, but the execution of the non-Bl plots was shoddy.
●Instead of a formulaic Bl plot, they delivered a cliché-riddled, formulaic police plot. The officer who investigates a case he has even told to drop. The officers fighting one another in training. Inducing someone to leave their post so confidential files can be obtained. The insider mole. The "here's my badge and gun, I quit" scene. The "we are will withnyou, dont tell the sarge" scene. You could have played Police Drama bingo with these formulaic elements. Right down to a character saying the word "bingo" when he finds a crucial piece of evidence. (In English, no less. It wasnt just the subtitle.) Worse, a lot of the dialog in the police segment was as hackneyed as the investigation. Most egregious abuse of the genre: police pull a body from a lake days after the person went missing. It is a remote location, but still when Our Hero turns around--voila!--the killer is standing right there. Why is he there at that exact moment? Because it is a convenient excuse for both a chase and a gun fight. Many, many bullets fly but no one is hit! Because somersaulting and hiding behind skinny trees ensures safety. TV escapism need not maintain perfect fidelity to realism. But surely we can do better than that lazy writing.
●the fantasy elements, by contrast, fared better. I really liked how local folklore (Naga and Garuda) got repackaged to form the backbone of this story. But this story was underwritten and, arguably, they waited too long to begin telling it. In a fantasy, richness of the worldbuilding is crucial to the successful creation of an alternate reality. The police story overshadowed the fantasy in the early episodes. The fantasy backstory was supposed to make the two BL leads "fated lovers," but their relationship for eight episodes always seemed more grounded in police connections than fantasy commections. That may not be "lazy" writing, but it certainly reflects flawed writing. Specifically, squandered handling of a promising premise.
●What didnt succeed so well was the integration of the fantasy element with the police story and the Bl story. These barely coexisted. Some episodes felt like three different series at once. It would start as a police detective procedural. (Sometimes. Sometimes, it was police thriller instead. And sometimes, police comedy.) Then, they'd get off of work, and youd have a buddy/story or a family story befitting any generic BL series. Then, suddenly, some mysterious event would occur and we'd be in the midst of the latest chapter of the fantasy saga, complete with CGI visions of fantastical creatures. None of this ever felt sufficiently cohesive. And that is on the writers as much as the director. (I exonerate the actors on this particular issue.)
I will laud the ambitious intent behind The Sign. Truly, it is not guilty of the flaws Kayla intended this video to call out. But merely avoiding formula and trying something new is no panacea. Lazy writing can still intrude. When a screenwriter dabbles in a genre they themselves do not know well, they are prone to mixing and matching cliché tropes they believe viewers will expect. That is every bit as lazy as sticking to a formula of tropes from a preset playbook. And mixing genres requires some caution. While romance can be paired with virtually anything, the writers must still integrate co peting tonal realities. Here, police stories typically rely on adherence to realism. Fantasy? Well, isnt the whole point of fantasy to depart from reality? I am not sure crossing police drama with fantasy story was ever a comfortable fit, and crossing them both with BL left the romance stuck awkwardly in the middle. It _could_ be done. But it wasnt done well enough. If The Sign had gone all in on either the police story or the fantasy story, its writers could have concentrated more on snappy dialog, freshening cliches, or seamless transitions. Good ideas permeate the series. Bad execution undermines the whole. And for me, that was mostly down to bad writing.
Let me offer a second example of lazy writing because BL writers lack a solid grasp of the secondary genre. My Dear Gangster Oppa had a reasonably compelling BL set-up (love triangle trope) with the university student Main Character whose longstanding crush (and best friend) never noticed him romantically. Enter new guy to attract MC's interest. Also, enter genre mixing because the new guy is a gangster. So now, the writers have two potentially compelling stories to explore:
●BL love triangle: who will MC pick? The old crush/best friend or the new guy who is into him from the start?
●BL + mafia: can the Gangster prove himself worthy of MC's love by escaping his old life?
Unfortunately, disastrously lazy writing wrecks both stories. The script more or less forgets about the best friend, so that a proper triangle never emerges. Yes, we have scenes where the two fight and compete, and their mutual jealousy makes the MC miserable. But all this was badly underwritten and trite. And it was clearly second fiddle to the mafia plot. As for the mafia elements of the story, it didn't appear the writers knew anything about organized crime aside from having watched a few TV shows about the mafia. That story was one cliché after another, most of it bungled with illogic and inconsistency.
Again, for crossovers to work, strong writers must exhibit command of the tropes from _both_ genres, BL and the crossover alike. Tropes should be present because they serve the story. Tropes should never be the reason a story exists. If a writer doesn't understand a trope, they will toss it in from feeling a need to adhere to an audience expectation. The resulting script will come across as lifeless. Trite. Dull.
💯!!! I just wish you… John Master … wrote dramas!
I've been meaning to ask, but I haven't had the chance... You know my BL taste pretty well by now, do I even bother with the Sign? I was immediately intrigued because of Billy, but tbh so far I've been postponing, because the genre (supernatural fantasy) isn't my thing at all. I tend to find it ridiculous.
I see you've given it a "midway" score on MDL before finishing it (which I've never seen you do before by the way), and you don't seem impressed. And even though we don't always agree, I do trust you. So now I'm not sure what to do. Especially after reading this review too. Is it important enough as a new way to make BL's that should watch it regardless of its quality or lack thereof?
@@marieschmidt1262 the early MDL score is a placeholder. Access to the finale is delayed, and I wanted to score it thru 11 episodes lest I forget later. But you're absolutely correct that the early score contravenes my ethos for such things. Exception to the rule of waiting for a finale--a preexisting exception, however. Rare, but not unprecedented. (And oddly gratifying that you noticed it is out of character to jump ahead with a score before the finale.)
As for a recommendation for your taste....that's a toughie. You do tend to like a series better than I do if you connect emotionally. Here, I suspect you might. But I have also seen you turn against a series if plot holes gape too wide and story logic gets lost in the woods. Multiple forests in this story. Plenty of gaping, too. On the bright side, the people who made this show clearly tried to do something different, and that may be reason enough to sample it. Plus, the acting mostly isn't an issue. Billy, certainly, is doing his share of good work. This show does a lot of skinship. A lot. That doesn't influence me much, but it might appeal to you. Most of it is fairly gratuitous. That is, it doesn't particularly advance the plot, and such scenes exist solely to put man meat on display. You will see a lot of Billy, for example.
So, not sure I can be of much help, Marie. This one is a tweener. I clearly fault it much more harshly, but my biases regarding story (and story and story) are well-established. The generic response from the masses rates it much higher, making me the one out of step. That happened also with KinnPorsche. If you thought that one was overrated, but still admired it for trying to be different and liked all the skinship, then the deficiencies of The Sign become tolerable.
@@johnmaster3748 So the pro's are a lot of half naked Billy, and the con's are... Sorry I forgot, because my mind started to wander off imagining the pro's 😂 Rumours also have it, that Saint blesses us with his presence, which is another + in my book. 👍
Kidding aside! It seems like your reply left me just undecided as before. Becuase it pretty much confirmed what I already knew/had picked up. My plan was to spend the two weeks before the final epsiode got unlocked for international fans bingewatching it, but I still haven't started it, simply because I feel like I have to pull myself together to do it. Which is a frustrating angle to go into it with. I figured you would either talk me out of it or into it. But I guess I have to decide on my own then. 😶🌫
An alternative interpretation of me noticing your MO could be on the cringy fangirl stalkery side, so I'm relieved you take as a compliment and feel happy about it. As you should 😎
this is the real reason GMMTV is doing all those remakes 😂--don't get me wrong, i'm excited for cherry magic and my love mix up, but if you are resorting to multiple remakes of popular well-written BLs, you've gotta check yourself. Now that I think about it, I don't remember the last time I actually finished a GMMTV bl, maybe Not Me? (edit: ope i did actually finish Last Twilight) Somewhere towards the end of all these shows, the thread is lost and the characters and their motivations lose all meaning to me. Character development can be non-linear, but it should at least be continuous.
I really agree with your analysis of both Last Twilight and Hidden Agenda (i didn't watch nor remember enough of A Boss and a Babe to comment)--the writers really used a cop-out with the timing of Day's second corneal transplant in that it allowed them to just wave away the problem of Mhok pitying Day for his disability. Truly though, that was just Day's understanding of that situation, the writing made it seem like Mhok was just scared of losing Day, even through a break-up, because he lost his sister. Mhok tried explaining this, and while there was certainly a flavor of "i'm even more worried because my boyfriend is blind," it was something they could have worked out. To me, it made sense that Mhok walked out after Day broke up with him because he is so used to doing exactly what Day wants, but relationships are a two way street. Day should be able to treat Mhok with the same consideration and respect that Mhok has for him. I am not upset that this didn't happen in the moment, but I am upset that Mhok evidently did not try to talk it out with Day before moving and that Day never reached out. Everyone in his family knew he was in the wrong, and I think that reasonably a conversation should have happened at some point. Even when Mhok got back, he had no issues with Day and fully took the blame for everything, but that's not fair to him or Day--and I think this is what shows pity for Day. Mhok doesn't accept that Day has fault in the situation because "he's blind and I can't understand that feeling". The timing of the transplant got rid of the source of the problem and let them not talk about anything. Even so, it makes me wonder about what will happen when Mhok is worried about Day in the future... will Day think it's lingering pity from when he was blind? Misunderstandings fester, and open communication is necessary.
that was a lot of writing about last twilight, so for hidden agenda, i'll just tell you i dropped it around episode 7-9 (don't remember which) because something happened and their manner afterwards made me feel like i didn't understand any of the characters anymore
One I really really loved but the ending ruined it was a shoulder to cry on! The time skip and no explanation at the end ruined it and I was so pissed when that was how it ended
Thank you so much for making this video. This really needed to be said!! I don't watch 80% of the BLs coming out right now and started watching straight series again because BL writing lately has been sooo bad.
Yes, great point. Sometimes it feels like they just spit out BLs thick and fast to stay on track and keep momentum and keep a hold on the viewers, and it can affect the quality, if they put out so much, that a lot of it will lack, (cause they didn't propperly take their time with it, does what is easiest, or rely too much on what they know/think sells, at the expense of the writing for example, because enough people will still watch it seems, but I also know that great acting/writing can excuse cliché plots/tropes), and only a few shines. And with so many BLs you can't keep up with everything and therefor might become more selective and picky in what you choose to watch, and maybe more disappointed if a promising show really goes down halfway through or in the end, or you just really look out for what really stands out.
😊😊😊gone through your vids
Sincerely speaking,you really did a great job bringing out points in bl's 🤭🤭🤭
I agree with you because there are many dramas like The Sign, Pitbabe, to sir with love, law of attraction, Kinnporsche and many more. These dramas set high standard, if we talk about bls. I am not saying gmmtv is bad but still they have to work on their story loopholes..
i feel like the ep 11 and 12 thing is like in every bl from gmtv i watched its getting a little old
My school president and Moonlight chicken are the last bls that i actually finished
Be My Favorite was exceptional though. They even care about the female character and give her depth. It feels everyone care about the story. But that project took 2 years to produce.
Thank you for the video, I’m always glad to watch your videos, you talk very interestingly and on important topics❤ My favorite Bl last year was Be My Favorite. This series has a lot of life lessons, one of the healthiest relationships in Bl, a lot of serious topics and after this series I really want to live. The actors are great, I love Gawin and Krist and I remember you said in one video that you also like Krist. They portrayed their characters well and showed good chemistry. It's a shame that some people don't want to watch this show because a lot of people didn't want to accept that Krist had a new partner, they only wanted to see him with Singto. Also, some people didn’t want to watch because Krits was misunderstood in the past, although he is a good and sweet person . I myself now live in Thailand and know the whole story and I’m sad that some people still think badly of him. Yes and I’m sad when people don’t want to watch the series when BL actors play with another partner, I think that GMMTV and other companies need to let BL actors play with different people more often. Why, for example, Earth and Mix and some others GMM actors should always play together as a couple? After all, because people get used to it and when the BL actor plays with another partner, many fans get angry and don’t even want to watch this series. It's very sad and toxic that people are so obsessed with their favorite ships that they don't want to support an actor and don't want to watch his new series if he's not playing with his old partner. Be my favorite is truly masterpiece and people unfortunately deprive themselves of such a wonderful, touching and life story because of their love for old ship.Can you please answer what you think about this?🙏 I'm so glad that you've released two videos recently , I've missed you so much.
What an on-point caption! I truly feel bad for the future Thai BL fans because from now on, all they are going to want are steamy NC scenes irrespective of important things like plot, acting and chemistry. Man, this is why I am happy Japan, Korea and Taiwan are continuing the good stuff. The only recent Thai BLs I could stomach were 'I Feel You Linger In The Air' and 'Last Twilight'. The rest were basically soft p*rn.
the biggest example of the issue with lazy writing in gmm? only friends. it hurts me deeply to say this but it's true
Love and applaud a Moon deep dive into just about any topic:)
If the main audience for BLs is straight women 14-24 there is no pressure to make good shows- GMMTV throws up another cheaply made but profitable and shippable series.
Look at views of Hidden Agenda vs Not Me
Not Me was by no means perfect, but it was ambitious.
Meanwhile, even P Aof series are getting dropped by me after 6 eps due to ludicrous plot and padding (Last Twilight) Great acting by leads though
I forgot the name of the series , the guy phone gets accidentally broken at a sporting event . They share some same damn friends , and it never gets explained to the guy he likes why he doesn’t contact him . They don’t even stay far from each other ! Don’t even ask friends to contact the the other guy .
Just get upset no contact when he gets his phone fixed and doesn’t e en explain what happened !
There are so many BL that have things that can be easily explained and they don’t , they just use that unexplained thing that has easily explained to cause a breakup at the last minute the series for no reason
I feel like Cooking Crush is suffering from this currently. I know it is light hearted fluff that does not challenge Off and Gun's acting chops, but there is also too much lazy writing and worn out tropes - the 'funny' fat friend used for slapstick and getting way too much screen time, the queer bully gang, every plot point being driven by released videos on social media because there is always someone in the 'right place at the right time' recording pivotal moments. I am also annoyed by the lack of accountability for Prem's (Gun) sister. They are supposed to be a relatively poor family, yet she casually loses 50,000 baht and faces no consequences, then writes a stupid note that is going to cause problems with Ten's father. The whole thing is just a plot device to explain why Prem is teaching Ten to cook. They have also forgotten that Ten had some sort of eating disorder at the start of the series. I do like the show, but it probably won't be on my rewatch list.
I actually felt guilty for not enjoying cooking crush. But I just couldn't continue watching it. What a waste it was. I loved Dynamite though 😅
I suspect Cooking Crush was a low-effort series that OffGun could do without having to do any workshops or prep. Like they’re busy with all their other stuff and just took a week off to film this series. I couldn’t finish it because it was so bad. And I like OffGun. But the quality contrast between Not Me and Cooking Crush was to too much for me to tolerate.
Twilight end was… something. Kinda undermined the whole serie; time jump, blocked for 3 years and everything patched up in 3 hours?
Budget ≠ Quality. Some of my fav low-budget dramas have been My Dating Sim, To My Star (s1&2), The New Employee, Twins, and PitBabe
Enchantée 😡 was a pain to watch, infuriating they don't make any effort
Plot not achieved
Characters so annoying
Bad acting
After the 2nd episode, I felt like I can't lost my time over this.
That's more infuriating,
Last twilight was so disappointing for me…and unfortunately it turn me off watching GMMTV BLs for now - despite hearing good commentary re: Cherry Magic and Cooking crush, I clocked out halfway cause I was so crushed by LT 😅…really, the last few BLs I enjoyed from GMMTV were MSP, MLC, The Eclipse and Only Friends (the latter despite it flaws because i was impressed by the actors playing grey characters, touching on alcoholism, depression etc), and you are completely right - I rather watch BL from non GMMTV like Love for Love sake (such a gem!) or The Signs (I have issue with the pacing but the fantasy element makes up for it!)
I was so, so angry at the way Last Twilight ended! I had been enjoying it a lot, and then in episode 11 it started listing, and then just crashed and burned. I was telling everyone to stop watching after episode 10. And yes, it was all due to lazy writing.
Most romance follows a narrative template that requires what in literary terms is called a "conflict" at around the 75-80% mark. But "conflict" doesn't necessarily mean a _literal_ conflict (i.e. an argument) between the main characters. It just means there has to be an obstacle of some kind. But for some reason so many writers interpret it literally and just throw in a random, stupid argument out of the blue toward the end.
That last-minute breakup-for-stupid-reasons is one of my pet peeves in any romance. Why? Because it makes me doubt the viability of the relationship. If you have a stupid argument or misunderstanding for no reason that couldn't have been solved by five minutes of actually _talking_ to each other, listening to each other, trusting each other and trying to understand where the other person is coming from... and you actually break up because of it... then I lose my belief that you are actually suitable for each other, or that you have the strength to weather any difficult times in your future. (The only case where this works for me is if the Stupid Breakup™ is in the past, when both of them were young and immature, and they met again years later and are finally mature enough to look past their egos and know what's important in life.)
One of the reasons why I'm enjoying Ossan's Love Returns so much is because Maki and Haruta are an established couple who have trust and faith in each other, and while they do make mistakes (like everyone does) they are always ready to give each other the benefit of the doubt and to forgive and clear things up. There are plenty of obstacles (OMG the utter CHAOS🤣), but they are _outside_ obstacles, and they overcome them _together_ . It's super refreshing to see, and I'm eating it up.
10:36 omg this is it. it gets tricky because we KNOW how views are important for the actors so when we don't like the story, but we like the pairings we can just rant on X and hope they'll receive better stories next
Thank you so much for this analysis. Your review is also good advice for aspiring writers.
For me every GMMTV BL starts out at a 3/5 in my ratings. They are mostly mediocre. It is writing, directing, editing a d sometimes the acting that is lazy. No one is really off the hook.
Step by Step. It felt so refreshing for the first 2/3 and then the last third felt so off with time, characters, and the plot. Part of it may have been my high expectations going in, but yeah. A bit disappointing but at least I found some new actors to follow.
Catch 22… GMMTV being by far the largest and more prominent production companies of BL out there puts them in a bind about producing content that appeals to the fanbases and therefore more profit, as well as coming out with stories that are innovative and engaging as expected of a production company of their stature. Thus the lazy writing ensues… saved only by their ensemble of actors. And it its to varying degrees with other production companies too… Deehup House’s last productions Step by Step and I Feel You Linger In The Air both fell short on its endings despite promising starts and middle sections. I loved watching The Sign, but imho they really faltered in that last episode… like they didn’t have enough episodes to cover and resolve all of the plotlines. Even KinnPorsche with all of its budget and production value got bogged down due to the writing.
Not all can be Me Mind Y, who at this point revels in their crap writing and just goes full on commits to it.
TL:DR Last Twilight could have fared alot worse if not for its cast (JimmySea really honed their craft on their second full series, while Mark and Namran were standouts) and if it were in the hands of a less competent director.
i feel like there are series that only gmm can make and other known companies that makes bl series and vice vasa, but if they want fans to stick to their series, they better fix the lazy scripts, bc otherwise even if the actors have a great fan base, if the content of the series is not interesting, they will start to lose their interests or not watching the series at all.
I think about 2 years back gmm have really good series, but now many of them are like dragged out and many of them I lose interest at some point.
as you said gmm tends to go safe on scripts, and that's my impression too. If really hope they can make more quality series with the actors they have, rather than making bl pairs and kind of throwing them roles to play with lazy scripts. I'm not saying that making bl pair is a bad thing, but I think creating well crafted series , rather than shallow series with bunch of bl pairs.
Your video is exactly what is wrong with lazy writing and what it is doing to the genre of BL.
I am finding it harder and harder to actually feel good at the end of a series.
Thank you for your video and expressing many of my own thoughts and concerns for this industry and where it is heading!
IMHO, the only good shows from 2023 from GMM were Moonlight Chicken and Only Friends. The offered more than the basic, had complex characters, a narrative that felt cohesive, all the good stuff that makes a series, if nothing else, at least competent. All of that and still with the shipping couples that so many seem to love. (OF has at least one plot hole that I can remember, but it's such a minor thing that I can let it slide)
As for all the others you mentioned, I have this thought that the biggest problem for these series is that they come from novels written by "fanfic" writers. (No shade to fanfic, I've read a lot of it, but fanfic writers very wildly in ability, let's be real) They were chosen because of popularity and because fans want their ships in new stuff, basically, and underwent a very minimal process of adaptation, thus we get weak narratives full of plot holes and clichês.
I agree and disagree with the last part, yes, the novels they choose are pretty bad fanfics, but these have no so much to do with how the series end up being, I'll give you an example the bad buddy, my school president, not me, be my favorite etc etc novels are considerably bad, but the shows have good writing and are really good shows. some of them just took the plot and the characters and made it something better, my point is that if they have good writers they can make something bad look good.
@@mayatorres1652 Yes! I agree totally! I think the problem is they just take the novel and don't really improve on it or make it fit more into a series format, so it ends up being as crap as it was initially. It's just a lack of care, really, in the end. Or they expect, because the story is famous, that it will do well, regardless.
@@mabi2727 but that's the thing, if you give a bad novel to a good writer they will make a gem out of it, but if you give a bad novel to a bad writer it will still be bad, even if you give a good novel to a bad writer they won't know how to adapt it. and they will not be able to get the most out of it because they do not know how, because they are not good at it(for example the middlemans love, decent/good novel but awful show).
For example, gmmtv is releasing its original novels from the series (dangerous romance, Last Twilight, only friends, never let me go) are novels written by the scriptwriters of some series or writers who are hired specifically to make the novel, and I will be honest I will not talk about the quality of these novels because I have not read them but I have not heard ppl say that they are very good or better than the series either so idk, in summary I would say that the gmmtv writers are not terribly bad, but they are mediocre, for example ninepinta How can he write good things or things with potential but then somehow he ends up ruining them, I think that only Bad Buddy and Moonlight Chicken were the ones that came out the best in terms of script from him. He has been the screenwriter of Last Twilight (series and novel), Only Friends, Moonlight Chicken, Never Let Me Go, The Player and Bad Buddy.
I also think a big contributor to the plague of lazy writing is that because bl is still a pretty new and niche genre (live action series at least, i know comics and anime and all that well established), we're all kind of afraid that if we don't watch enough that the production companies will just stop making them. Sometimes bl fans tend to treat bl as this fragile thing we must uphold even if it's garbage bc we're so used to queer content being snatched away even when it's objectively successful. Especially us international fans who've watched our fav queer characters get fridged or shows get cancelled halfway thru a season for seemingly no reason while transphobic hacks still rake in millions for their comedy specials. So as much as we rag on tropes and ep 11 curese, I think there's still a tendency to shy away from too much direct criticism of the writing and directing and editing of these shows, and instead we support the ships we like as a way to tell the studios that we want more bl. Unfortunately the message they're getting is that we'll watch anything as long as it has the faces we want. We gotta make them understand that we still want bl, but we need better bl if they want to keep getting our money and attention.
You are SO RIGHT!!! A lot of my moots have complained about this at some rate and it's so eye opening, and I couldn't really pinpoint what exactly causes this. As a person who usually watches shows for the plot, gmmtv is just a freeload of brainrot but HEY at least I can get attached to a fictional man who is ALSO pretty. In all seriousness, lazy writing is slowly starting to ruin shows for me, as person who started watching gmmtv because it was the most accessable (and because their shows are fun AND gay, lets be honest lol) I think it's about time I start diversifying what I watch (not like I watched that many shows of their too lol) because the only thing they manage to deliver without a fail is disappointment and emptiness. Last Twilight genuinely was one of my most anticipated shows of 2023 (aside from 23.5... Cannot wait for it to air and I pray to god it delivers) and it's almost gotten to the point of becoming my comfort series, in fact I kind of declared it as so because it was just SO GOOD WITHOUT A FAIL!!! but the ending makes it so easy to move on from and forget, almost like a bad aftertaste. For a lot of their shows, like NLMG which is a personal favorite of mine, a messy ending feels alright because the show was never that serious to me 💀 and the two examples you mentioned too, I'd say the eclipse also applies because it was all too intense and FirstKhao are too cute for me to even QUESTION anything (jk). Their writing team really needs to start writing again ❤️ I genuinely prayed that whoever wrote Day's closing monologue never writes again because that was just fucking insane. They always have what it takes to eat everyone up but they're obsessed with filler episodes, close ups, parallels and cute moments like... whatever happened to delivering? All in all, I still haven't watched enough gems of theirs, but if it's so clear that they can serve, it's so annoying that they always CHOOSE to feed us cold food.
As someone who enjoys Off and Gun a fair bit, I am so annoyed by the series GMMTV has given them the past two years. Cooking Crush and The Trainee are literal nothing-burgers. The plots are so juvenile and the writing is lazy at best - and, in terms of The Trainee, the OffGun pairing seemed to be a bit exploited in the marketing because they're not even on screen enough to warrant the "main role" title. It looks like management knows they're a popular team, so they can put them in the weakest shows and still have some success because people will watch it to support them (which I am guilty of doing, unfortunately). For Off and Gun, we desperately need another series like Not Me (which also had its issues, but much less than the two recent shows). Honestly, GMM needs to seriously revamp their writing team because they are not doing the actors justice, and it's annoying as all hell to watch these series with poorly written stories and badly designed plots.
Also, I'm so tired of watching melodramatic or juvenile storylines. For example, why do the actors mostly have to be university students? Many interesting stories happen with age and maturity, and it would be nice to explore them - besides, queerness isn't specific to young adults. It's problematic when "mature" storylines (i.e., when characters have jobs or are older than 25) are a rare sight. Off and Gun are now both in their 30s. They deserve to not be stuck playing immature roles with the weakest writing.
@@kayzmavc4596 To add to your comments, I also think OffGun has come to the end of their sizzle. Both would benefit greatly if they were to find other partners to act with. It would benefit both of them to find unexpected chemistry and new depths with other actors.
Every single thing you said is completely true. I find myself DNF-ing so many series now because the plot just always seems to fall apart after episode 6ish.
It’s almost like the audience has a better handle on the stories than the writers do. Think about that for a second. Imagine you are a doctor and a random member of the public has more understanding of what your job is than you do. It doesn’t fill you with much confidence does it?
I just lower my expectations way way down
La pluie!! I went into it semi blind and thought the idea of the show was so good but halfway into it, it was really starting to get on my nerves so much to the point I couldn't finish it. I felt like the idea was really great and could've been more elaborated on but the writers just made it really complicated for me to follow. Wasted potential:/
'Interesting premise but poorly executed', my mind immediately goes to La Pluie. I LOVE soulmate stories and I was so excited to see one come to the BL world. I was really enjoying the first half and I still really love the concept, but things went downhill so fast. I'm fine with them trying to subvert the soulmates tropes, I've seen it done well in fanfiction, but the way they did it was just... not it.
I believe as you said BL from other countries or companies are getting more popular. All the shows GMMTV had for the last two years are what we are currently seeing. Hopefully once they are done they can put all their efforts into their new work.
Streaming companies are now exclusively renting out shows to their customers. This has caused a big change in production for shows of all kinds.
This. I WAS SOOOOOO excited for Last Twilight. I waited a whole year just for it to get boring towards the end. I stopped around episode 7 or 8 I honestly forgot. I also agree with your statement on fans only watching just because their pair is in the series. If I'm being honest I want pairing demolished. Not only do I feel like its repetitive, but I feel like its harmful for the actors in them because its not showing how versatile their acting can be with other actors.
Sadly, lazy writing has not only plagued dramas but BL mangas and manhwas as well. Its truly tragic lol.
I agree with you on every level. And you are right about all the GMMTV BL series you mentioned. I would even add few more to the table. In my opinion they have no excuse for the exact reason that they are the most powerful Production company in the genre. So they have the the tools to have la creme de la creme in their hands. They are becoming a company who doesn't care about the quality anymore, quantity is more important because it brings more profits. Last twilight gave me such a bitter taste in my mouth, I still can't get over it. And so many more BL that are bad that drove me mad that I'm stoping my BL watch of the GMMTV productions until I see great positive reviews of their future production. I just don't want to waist my time anymore.
There's also one topic that I have an issue with but no one will like what I have to say: The acting. Sorry for those who think that the Thai actors are amazing but NO they are not. I can give you a small list of the very good actors with true raw talent at GMMTV but as for the rest I feel that they are there just because they are good looking and act ok so they will sell and be profitable to the company. I have so many example but I'm not here to be hated, just to say my personal opinion.
Girl! Someone's finally saying it
I am currently watching "Dangerous Romance" and I am kind of enjoying it?
There is definitely a tonal issue but I gotta say that Sailom did address the bullying right before the start of his romance with Kang. The bar is so low that I thought Sailom was going to jump in that relationship with Kang, forgetting about what Kang and his friends did. But nope. Sailom made sure to have Kang try to become more friendly with his besties. As long as his 2 friends were uncomfortable with Kang, there was not supposed to be any relationship reveal.
And Kang did try (even had his 2 bully friends involved in the 'let's be all friends' campaign).
But honestly, I don't really watch GMMTV bls anymore because of everything said in the video : the lazy writing, the boring plots/twists. I am also not a fan of watching the same couples just appearing in different settings.
I don't just want more creative, daring writing, I also want to see different ships. Mix them all up, I am not here for the intense shipping.
I am here for the characters, their development, the cute and emotional stories.
For real, while GMMTV has been sinking, other Thai bls and bls from other countries have been killing it. "Love for love's sake" was such a great bl.
Korean bls hit hard emotionally. The series are short (around 8 episodes) but they are mostly successful and they just feel right.
Japanese bls have more comedy but they also hit hard in their own ways.
And some shows are not even bls but the bromance is still fantastic (looking at Chinese shows here. I am still not over "A League of Nobleman").
I really loved Not Me and would give it a rating of 4.5 but the ending was anti-climatic and I thought the way the second couple's story ended was unnecessary.
Twins, Low Frequency, Even Sun were all great premises that were horribly executed. What wasted potential.
I share your opinions on Last Twilight, Dangerous Romance, and the other specific examples that you provided. But I think it’s a little harsh to call out GMMTV as having bad writing when their bad ones are still just middle of the road. Like, imo, PitBabe has horribly lazy writing, much worse than Dangerous Romance. They are producing too many for them all to be bangers, but that’s because they have varying levels of talent/skill in the company. They have some top-tier talent that produce absolute bangers (I loved Last Twilight until the last episode, which was…a choice). The contrast between the good and the bad is what makes the bad ones feel so disappointing. But the good ones are so, so good, just recently: Only Friends, Moonlight Chicken, Cherry Magic, Be My Favorite. And now Wandee Goodday and We Are.
That being said, the most egregious and offensive transgression of bad writing that I’ve seen in a BL was the story behind Cher’s friend, Thien, in ABAAB. They introduced a storyline where she was raped by her stepfather resulting in an unwanted pregnancy and ultimately her suicide. That’s heavy heavy shit, but they basically resolved all of it off camera. The mom who did nothing to protect her daughter when she knew what was going on? Easily forgiven. The stepfather rapist? Wrapped up in a throw away line about him being arrested, then the conversation moved on to other things. It’s one of the most jaw-droppingly offensive things I’ve seen in a series, particularly as they made such effort to highlight Jack’s mental health struggles.
Totally agree about hidden agenda and last twilight the network needs to stop doing the same thing besides be my favorite they haven't done anything different to me shows like pit babe and the sign are proof that bl shows are changing the formula and people want something different
The 11th episode syndrome is killing me really 😂😂😂
I’ve been so disappointed with the BL dramas lately. You’ve pinpointed exactly what I could not quite figure out…why each of these BLs that should have been wonderful with the premise and the actors, but were not….
I'm glad you adressed the racist scene in futs, like idk how it was when futs was in emmision but if its still up i guess there was not a colective complain then or even now. Anyways, even tho i had not seen anything worse happening in another gmmtv bl series (at least the ones i watched so far) it is one of my roman empires that joke in Theory of Love that i think was made by two about p'un skin color, its even worse if you consider that two is supposed to be p'un love interest so it seems they wanted for us to understand that joke as friendly banter but yeaaah, it is not and as someone with brown skin and that also happens to really love earth it really broke my heart to watch that. So disrespectful
Might be a nuanced take but I feel like a combination of pre-existing novels, emphasis on looks, and lack of experience/identity all tie into why lazy writing is an issue in Thai Bls (specifying Thai bls because I don't really watch other country bl shows). When a good chunk of Thai bls come from novels with fully written plot lines and story, it leaves very little room for creative differences, experimentation and any motivation to change the script. This, paired with the fact that Thai bl is still a fairly new subset of the industry, experience in this field in terms of writers could be far and few. And when I say emphasis on looks I mean pretty faces over actually good talent. Let's not sit here and lie to ourselves that the target demographic isn't young impressionable girls who won't choose an eye candy over an unattractive (by beauty standards) actor who has the acting chops. So when the writers know what the viewers want, well, who needs actually good dialogue and story beats am I right or am I right?
Examples of lazy writing: Kinnporsche's plot with Porsche's mom was 200% unnecessary and I felt violated personally when I saw the twist. I feel like I need actual compensation for the trauma I went through with that show. Additionally, if I have to sit through another round of actors waiting for the other person to finish their lines before reciting their own instead of having a conversation with each other or having delayed lines and reactions like I'm watching with the internet connection coming from the north pole I'm gonna break some Geneva convention laws.
I agree so much on this! And the sad thing is that the actors often get tons of hate even though it is clearly not their fault how the series is written. Great example is Joongdunk, by giving them those type of shows they will never be able to show their full potential and people will not appreciate their work. And even if the scenes are well written and the acting is on point but it’s once again a scene that comes out of nowhere and does not suit what the show or the characters showed before, just to make the show more interesting, it won’t be good. And it’s so damn predictable! I feel like they often focus on the couple more than the fact that this is a series, with that I mean that they want all those couple moments (don’t get me wrong I absolutely love that too obv), but they leave the storyline behind. The pilots are usually nice and they get your hopes up for a show that is actually themed after a certain genre but then the genre completely fades away and they focus more on whatever. And to keep the genre in there they add those random scenes. And by completely rushing the filming of these shows it definitely won’t be better too, but sadly that’s what they are doing.
omg i agree, there are so many series, it feels like they want to make a quick buck.
especially in gmmtv year end show thingy they show like so many series and not all of them get to air the following year. its like quality over quantity. they should step back and take a look.
they could release a few series per year, add variety shows with the leads for promotion in the breaks between series.
I just dont get it why gmmtv do this to their bls literally every single series starts off so good it gets you hooked like crazy and then suddenly all hell breaks lose in ep 11 and then the ending is trash i cant-😭
Last Twilight touched so many nerves.
Finally someone else is talking about it, for the past 2 years I've taken a break from Thai BL's entirely, even non-GMMTV productions because of how boring, cliche and repetitive they have become, it's mostly 2 straight guys who have only ever dated girls before, meet and somehow have a crush on each other, build a healthy relationship the entire season only to break up in ep 11 over the most ridiculous and very easily avoidable conflict, and then go back to dating girls because they aren't actually gay, only gay for one another, and in ep 12 there's some boring ass reason for them to get back together, they share one kiss and then the end, LIKE WHAT!!!!
As you said, GMMTV is too comfortable now so they'd just write or adapt any material that comes to mind because they have the budget, cast weirdos and homophobes to play gay characters and then give us the same sorry ass sob story, like at this point y'all gotta go!!!
Even I like last twilight the most, I was thinking the 12th episode was so so. Like too much happens or maybe too many happens.
This is the same problem I have for every last episode of a bl, they are trying to put everyone in the screen and every time, there's a lack of rhythm. I don't know if everyone understands what im saying
Lazy writing is the reason why I’ve only watched like 2 GMMTV series. So many other companies are producing better stuff
you are right! And it's really sad how the audience turns a blind eye to it, I'm talking about Cooking crush now and also many more... the humor is not even funny anymore as they are using the same old jokes, the plot is so poor that they have no better things to do there than creating unnecessary conflicts between the pair and ruining their supposed healthy relationship. They are also changing the characteristics of the characters throughout the series. Now I'm talking about Ten and Sand. Ten who was afraid to touch Prem and didn't feel comfortable despite trusting him became an aggressor who was punching characters because of jealousy or provocation. Sand, the one who was deeply in love with Ray and was hurting himself so much just to be close to him, ignored Ray in two parts of the ending episodes and thought about returning to his toxic ex. Also Mew going from good guy, then bad guy and then again to good guy... I believe people can change after being hurt but not so drastically and in such a short time.
Dangerous romance... I'd say the dangerous thing was that Kang was switching his colors there way too often. Aggressive bully, caring classmate, puppy in love, kid with daddy issues and then a toxic lover and then again a great lover. I seriously didn't know if he was good or bad when he was threatening Sailom at first, then hitting on him, loving him and at the end he was toxic, abandoned him, assaulted him, emotionally broke him and then again he confessed his love.
It felt like reading some amateurish fanfic
i wanna tag GMTV SO BAD 😂
Do you ever get tired of always being so accurate in your opinions? I can spend all day long talking about lazy writing and of course I should begin with The Eclipse (wtf was those three last episodes???) and Last Twilight. I can't stop imagining that with better time on working the two of them would be a masterpiece 😢
I am watching this 7 months after you posted it. And it seems it got worse! I can't wait to have your toughts on Battle of the Writers, that embodies all of what you described. Althought I am quite new to all this BL thing, I feel like the Thai BL industry has taken a turn where Ships and Fan Service are what is important now, not telling a good story. Of the few BL gems I cherish, only one in my top 5 is Thai. The others are Korean, Japanese (x2) and Tawainese. And none features fixed paired or even "BL actors". Only good actors in a good story about two people in love. Sure, I love thoses kisses and all the falling over one another, but it's only the cherry on top of amazing storytelling. Thank your for your channel and you in depth, constructive criticism.
Ep11 of last twilight really piss me off..... how to f they break up so easily? Day thought Mhok is pity him regardless the first 9 episodes he is saying Mhok is the one treat him like normal??? And what did Mhok do to deserve Day block his contact?? They shouldn't write them break up, they were having a healthy relationship before Ep11, they should make them grow up together, communicate and solve the issue together..... but nope, they just love to ruin everything on every Ep11 no matter how unreasonable, they just make everyone break up at Ep11, no matter what cost
Tbh, in real life, there is no way Mhok will still love Day after 3 years, especially after the ridiculous break up
Viceversa’s trama was good but honestly there was too much filling, either with adds or redundant things. It wasn’t easy to finish it for me… but the actors were so chef’s kiss that’s why I had faith on LT. Same on Dangerous Romance… good actors with a good plot but there wasn’t a proper use of the screen time, like Pimfah and Sailom’s plot and too much flashbacks. You could’ve done enjoyable romance with less, like with Guy and Nava. I would’ve liked to watch more drama.
Well, I can’t guys, those were my year promises 💔
Last Twilight was sooo good until the breakup. Day took none of the responsibility, even though he contributed to the issues that caused the breakup. Both Mhok and Day should have admitted they share equal blame, but all we got was an apology from Mhok and a half hearted reunion 😑
for me, we need more povs, more drama, more eps, enough of the curse ep, and enough of the Iazy writing bc wtf is up with that