#tee bundit

[thisautistic]

Don't Be Too Emotional ep 2 for @oishitea but also myself too

[clairedaring]

2 (+1?) NEW SERIES FROM DEE HUP HOUSE IN 2026

1. I Flower You ด้วยรักและดอกไม้

I Flower You : With Love and Flowers From the novel I Flower You, a message from Phak by littlebbear96

A funeral event organizer falls head over heels for a florist’s son. But every time he tries to express his love through flowers, they end up being mistaken for funeral wreath arrangements instead. Phak, a young man who decides to move back to his hometown to start a funeral organizing business, meets Nich, a gentle and detail-oriented florist who teaches him the meaning of “love at first sight.”

By chance, the two end up working together despite their differences. But will those differences turn into the perfect fit? Phak, who has never been in love before, finds that courting Nich is anything but easy.

To make matters more complicated, Wit, a charming young veterinarian, steps in as a rival for Nich’s heart. Surrounded by the natural beauty of Kanchanaburi, will Phak be able to win Nich’s heart.

Job Thuchapon Koowongbundit (The Miracle Of Teddy Bear) is “Phak”

Nice Boripat Jamsat (Knock Out) is “Nich”

MDL

2. Don't Be Too Emotional อย่าขอพี่เจน

“อย่าขอพี่เจน Don’t be too emotional” From the novel Rule No.1: Don’t Be Too Emotional by ฮวังซอล

Jane Patrick” can grant all your wishes, but are you ready to pay the heavy price?

Jane Patrick is a mysterious young man with a dangerously captivating charm. At university, he’s a living legend, someone who can make any wish come true, as long as you agree to a non-negotiable exchange. Because of that, no one dares get close to him.

But Jennalee, a handsome young football player, boldly approaches Jane Patrick to ask for his ball back without the slightest fear. That moment becomes the starting point of their connection.

Friends constantly warn Jennalee that Jane Patrick is dangerous, and most importantly, he must never ask him for anything. However, Jennalee feels that this man is actually gentle and kind. As their relationship deepens, Jennalee begins to see another side of him, leaving him unable to stop wondering who Jane Patrick truly is.

Tee Boonyakait Wongsajaem is “Jane Patrick” (Jane-Yai)

Heng Thatpong Rojsangruang (House of Stars) is “Jenn Alee” (Jane-Lek)

Donut Phattharapon Dejpongwaranon is “Dan”

Korn Palat Chayutnithiroj (Playboyy) is “Putt”

MDL

Some personal observations:

For this year's projects from Dee Hup House, we finally get to almost all of the actors under Dee Hup's management (Nice, Tee, Heng) in full-scale productions that they helmed (No, I don't count the three short vertical series they just put out). While Guide is continuing his partnership with Dech and they have Bling Bling, produced by Copy A Bangkok (Dech's management).

As Nice is yet again partnering up with someone new, Dee Hup House/Tee Bundit has once again maintain their record of constantly pairing up new actors in a series together.

TeeHeng will be the first two actors/fixed couple?/branded pairing? under Dee Hup House to get a series from them. Whether we get a second series from them, perhaps entirely relies on the success of Don't Be Too Emotional.

Donut Phattharapon is more known as one of the younger generation CH7 pra ek actors like Euro Yotsawat. He will also be partnering up with Korn Palat in Lust, a Me Mind Y x iQIYI Thailand Original Series.

Don't Be Too Emotional marks the second time Tee Bundit has worked on an original BL series for iQIYI Thailand after The Love Never Sets (other series he's directed on that are available for streaming on iQIYI includes TharnType and Jack & Joker: U Steal My Heart!). I'd say that this move indicates close connections being formed between iQIYI Thailand and Dee Hup House, which had always been historically closer associated to another rival platform WeTV (Lovely Writer, Step by Step, I Feel You Linger in the Air, I Saw You in My Dream, Knock Out)

If I had to make a guess, I'm predicting that I Flower You will be distributed for streaming on WeTV and airing on CH3 (late evening 10:30 PM time slot), similar arrangement to GL series Love Design.

Don't Be Too Emotional is a novel that Dee Hup House has bought the adaptation right to since 2021. Tee Bundit admitted that DHH is notorious for holding/keeping the rights to these novels but the novel author expressed their appreciation to DHH for keeping them involved in the creative process all along.

3. Before You Left กาลครั้งใหม่

This one flew a bit under the radar because it was actually announced at the press conference for the launch of MJ Artist Management - the joint adventure of Up Poompat's JustUp and Moo Polpat Asavaprapha's ASA Studio (the production house behind Mandate). I discussed briefly about Moo Asava and how ASA Studio was formed in this ask and I had linked a video for with 3 Nitade Chula (Chulalongkorn University's Faculty of Communication Arts) Moo, Up and PJ Mahidol (Gelboys). Fun fact: Up Poompat was also partly the reason Ben Bunyapol got cast in Mandate because Up was introducing Ben his Nitade Chula senior P'Moo at his fashion show.

To briefly summarise the press conference, the first thing that they brought up was that these four people were all Nitade Chula alumni (P'Justin, Up's manager, is from batch 45, Up is from 49, producers Jong and Moo are both from batch 25 (and to give you some perspective, PJ Mahidol is batch 58). So after establishing ASA Studio (which is created solely for Moo and Jong to satisfy their creative pursuits of making series/films), P'Moo thought they should complete the cycle/loop by also manage artists' activities post-series as well but they don't have the know-hows for that so they thought of contacting their beloved Nitade Chula juniors who might have more experience in this than them -> leading to the collaboration of P'Justin, Up, P'Jong and P'Moo.

According to the press release, there will definitely be two series from Asa Studio and all the (lead?) actors in the series will be under MJ Artist Management. Both series will be for MONOMAX. ASA Studio aim to produce more than two series in 2026 (since they also have plans for a GL series and other undisclosed projects), but these two specific projects are just the ones being announced because they start filming soon and have confirmed release dates already for 2026 from MONOMAX.

Before You Left กาลครั้งใหม่ dir. Tee Bundit Sintanaparadee

3 TO LOVE dir. Pun Nontapat Phanlert

So that's just a long winded way to say there's probably another Tee Bundit-directed series coming in 2026 other than the two projects announced by Dee Hup House themselves (unless some earth shattering events happen and Tee Bundit is not attached anymore to this). Also unrelated but somewhat related is I find it fascinating P'Justin explaining how they aim to achieve all the post-series activities like make music videos, fanmeetings, merch, concert for artists under their produced series 'to complete the loop' of a series. I thought it's fascinating to describe QL series to have a lifecycle of their own in terms of promotions so that it's not just pre/post production but also the promotional run during airing and after the promotional run of a QL series where as your average lakorn series kind of ends for everyone the minute the last episode airs.

--------------------------------

So yeah, that's all the info dumping for this post. I was actually waiting for someone to update the two Dee Hup House series but since no one is doing the reporting on here, I thought might as well be the one to break the news about all the upcoming DHH series as your resident one-time pairing enthusiast.

[maybe-boys-do-love]

Continuing my anti-auteur stance on the QL industry, I would like to take a moment to recognize one of the writers of Love Like a Bike.

This is Chim Sedthawut.

Golf Tanwarin and Jojo and Tee Bundit get lots of deserved credit for exploring consent and sex work and boundaries, but Chim’s been a writer right there beside them throughout those explorations.

Here are a few of his most relevant credits

Love Like A Bike

The Love Never Sets

The Warp Effect

Mama Gogo

Sensing a theme? All these shows explicitly depict sex work or adjacent industries, and they’re quite interested in how to engage in positive sexual experiences while respecting people’s sensitivities and consent. They also just have some wonderfully written characters. And if you don’t believe me, just ask Kob Songsit and his near perfect taste in QL scripts—he starred the Chim work, 55:15 Never Too Late.

He has other series—which I haven’t seen—that certainly seem like they likely tiptoe carefully along similar controversial spaces of consent: the summary of “My Teacher, My Love” describes a student-teacher relationship, and “Addicted Heroin” adapted a Chinese BL whose step-brother leads begin with a non-consensual sexual encounter.

Chim is collecting the toxic demons of BL: the age-gaps, the gigilos, the non-con, the power-deferentials, the sexual trauma survivors. He’s trying to wrest them into new ethical shapes that don’t completely sap them of the compelling erotic tensions and emotional catharsis they bring to the narrative. Your appreciation of each entry may vary, but I think the project is something we can all respect.

[respectthepetty]

I'm going to extend some love to Director Tee and Cinematographer Jim for their work on Jack & Joker because this show is out of their norm.

They have consistently delivered a soft haze in their shows:

And it's missing so far from Jack & Joker.

The lighting isn't soft. The focus isn't hazy. The colors aren't neutralized. It's still pretty, but realistic. Less dreamy.

And I could be wrong, but I don't think Tee has ever filmed an action sequence in his previous work.

I don't have time to properly form a thought, but I appreciate that everyone is stepping out of their comfort zone for this show, and it's working. We only see the actors, but even the people behind the screen are doing something different, so congratulations Dee Hup House for trying something new and succeeding.

And congrats to YWPB for picking the right people to film it.

[negrowhat]

Scrolling through Tee Bundit's catalogue and realizing I've seen and obsessed over 80% of his directorial work and now I understand why Knock Out has me in a chokehold.

[waitmyturtles]

I am here to complain a bit about Jack & Joker (and apologies, because I'm going to make an inevitable comparison to Kidnap at the end of this post), so this post might be triggering for you (consider yourself warned, some of y'all don't read TWs!) But if you wanna hear some constructive criticism about director Tee Bundit's intriguing storytelling choices for this show, then come with me....

... because there's a lot about this show thematically that would usually sit right with me, namely its heavy focus on family.

Thanks to @veemark, we got a deep-dive into the wedding symbolism of last week's Lunar New Year celebration. I can feel that! Joke is clearly deeply touched to finally be a part of a family -- which is ever more meaningful, considering his brutal rejection by his own blood father in this week's episode.

And there are so, so many more family (and wedding) themes (in non-chronological order):

1) Tattoo's mom taking in both Tattoo and Hoy 2) Boss rejecting his own son, Arun, and adopting Jack (to then use Jack for his own financial gain) 3) The community that Ah Mah has built around her, from taking Joke in, to the little girls she hosts 4) Jack losing his parents and being raised by Ah Mah 5) Arun finding new family with Tattoo 6) Understanding how family ties runs the criminal underground of Bangkok 7) All of the ring symbolism, from Jack getting his parents' ring back, to rings being used as power symbols for the aforementioned criminal underground -- a theme I LOVE, actually, because strength in numbers in society always means more power for those individuals, including for couples that get married (INCLUDING FOR COUPLES THAT WILL BE ABLE TO LEGALLY WED IN JANUARY IN THAILAND AND WILL BE ELIGIBLE FOR SPOUSAL PRIVILEGES, EEEE!)

So many family themes going on in this show. I love it! I love the indication that when Jack and Joke first met years ago, that there could have been a frisson of potential family between them, two guys meeting at a bar and connecting.

AND, I ALSO love the themes of family fucking each other over. Because families aren't perfect! Not by a long shot. Families can truly suck towards each other. Boss to Arun. Save (FUCKING SAVE, YOU DICK) to Jack. Joke's dad to Joke, all of his life. If we're talking potential family from back in the past, then of course -- Joke fucking over Jack, the issue that started this series.

What's not working for me in this series, though, is that somewhere along this trajectory, director Tee Bundit got too caught up in liberally sprinkling these otherwise excellent themes throughout the show (really, much to my joy, because I otherwise love these themes) without offering emotional build or context to our two main characters. There are other connectivity issues to this show, but this is my main gripe.

Now, I've had an up-and-down relaysh with Tee Bundit's work. I hated TharnType, I HATED Step By Step, I ADORED Lovely Writer, I LOVED I Feel You Linger In The Air. We're teetering on Step By Step-territory here in Jack & Joker by the way that Tee seems to be gunshy about giving romance -- which needs to be the cornerstone of an ostensible romance BL -- time to breathe and develop.

We have jumped from an inferred wedding banquet last week, to tired spousey-spousey dinners this week, with hubs ripping off his tie and apologizing to his househubs about not finishing his plate.

Not to say I need to see the boing! I don't need boing to contextualize romance. What I need to contextualize romance is to see these two falling in love, before their marriage got tired and problematic!

Like. I was watching these dinner scenes, and I'm... trying to parse what's happening at the table. Jack is getting screwed time and time again by poverty. It's brutal. Is Tee saying here that love is an impossibility in the context of poverty?

(I don't know that Jack says that about love, per se, in his monologue to Rose while they're with the village children, but he does talk about the inability of impoverished people to truly dream, so maybe that's the correlation?)

And then, because Jack must make his choice to serve Boss and earn money for his grandmother's treatment -- he has to let go of Joke. But.... they were never together anyway! Right?! (See @lurkingshan here for the wise comment on noble idiocy.)

I'm not bought into the closeness that I'm supposed to assume from Jack and Joke -- because we haven't been taken there yet. I haven't seen that closeness develop. I've seen Joke make it up to Jack for Joke's previous transgressions. But I haven't seen Jack respond to that emotionally, bodily, with heart, as a narrative would otherwise convey romance successfully in a script.

Unless this is an allegory meant to convey that poverty prevents people from falling in love. Is that the message? Because... dang, wtf. That's a hell of a message.

It's a brutal message, if that's the message, commenting on the assumed strength of the criminally powerful of Bangkok to squeeze out every last dream of those who are in lifelong debt to crime lords.

It's a very Tee Bundit message, honestly, as well. I can see him driving this show right towards this message that hopelessness is absolutely a reality for the thousands of impoverished Thais who will die in debt.

But this is a YinWar show -- and, unless we are going to be MASSIVELY SURPRISED, which I don't think we are, the car's gotta drive towards romance at some point. These guys aren't even together, and we're headed towards divorce court. We've missed some significant emotional beats along the way, and my eyebrows are furrowed as to how Tee Bundit will three-point-turn his way out of this traffic jam.

(What's my inevitable comparison to Kidnap? Kidnap is the other crime-y show of this autumn season, and its narrative has jumped all over the place. It's SO MESSY. AND, arguably, Min's and Q's romance has been driving at 90 mph since the start of the show. We've had MORE romance than plot, the opposite issue of J&J. But Min showed his true colors by 4/4 of episode 1. We knew the road we were driving on with our two mains! And there arguably hasn't been jumping of the romance narrative, although we got a pretty fast break-up in last week's episode. Kidnap is messy AF, but its intentions are clear. I'm not getting that clarity -- as cheesy as it's been in Kidnap -- in J&J.)

[scarefox]

The way some people straight up deny soft criticism of the BL industry (stuff that isn't even a secret if you don't close your eyes and ears!!!) Criticism by literally LGBTq people working in said BL industry in Thailand..... basically one of the only ones who's voice are most valid here in this discourse. That's not hypocrism of people working in the industry to open their mouth! That's called self-awareness and using this genre to convey a message and trying to fix issues. This is about Step by Step and Lovely Writer atm. But those are not the only dramas who brought up some critic but somehow people get salty now about that little poke from SbS? Did you sleep the past 3 years?? And it's not a coincident that it's always the same topics certain BL dramas brought up!

I feel like some people here don't get that you can criticize your own work place, your own industry, your own country WITHOUT hating, shaming or demonizing it completely! Yall need stop this black & white thinking and the constant urge to feel personally attacked by something like this...

Especially the message of LW (the same people who make SbS now) was that there is nothing wrong about loving BL stories and they do like producing them. BUT that there are some things in the industry that are bad and harmful NOT ALL OF IT, SOME THINGS! Like the treatment of actors and certain topics by companies and producers. And the main theme of LW: the toxic overstepping and overcontrolling shipping culture that can (and did) destroy real life relationships / friendships under the weight of the pretend relationship (pretend as in they are not dating for real (everyone knows that! or should know that! this is also not even a secret if you watch interviews outside of the fun and couple game shows) at least in most of the cases.... in some rare ones yes, in some very rare cases some actors actually date but they are too afraid to come out due to homophobia and the way the industry & fandom treats those cases (source Dr. Thomas Baudinette who studies the industry as a form of queer asian media and interviewed companies and actors since years... somewhere in this he talks about actor relationships, I can't find the time stamp atm))

ALSO the point about exploiting the LGBTq community is NOT about the fans or LGBTq audience who love these dramas. But about businesses and literal Thailand itself. For using those stories and actors / couples for advertising, for marketing, for tourism even. BUT at the same time some don't care for real life LGBTq issues and rights or the fact that Thailand is still not agreeing on equal marriage (which is not just about them not being able to marry but they get denied a lot of things married couples get. alone the fact that they can't see their partner in the case of an emergency in the hospital because 'they are not family'). In the said SbS scene they were literally discussing which pretend couple has the most fans and how they could use their fandom and fan clubs to gain profit. Don't you guys get how fucking frustrating this is for the LGBTq people and allies who work in the BL industry, to get paraded in front of the camera for money and image but still don't get treated equally??? THAT is what they mean with exploiting.... And it's a lot of producers, writers and some actors who voice those points, not just these few self-aware BL dramas. But doing it through the medium they adress is the best way to reach the right people, to make the right people aware and ask for their support. Since they can't say such things directly (even though they should) unless they want to lose their job, they still like to a degree.

And I am sorry but the opinion of actual thai people who are inside that industry is more valid than some random fan who just doesn't want to understand those things in order to enjoy their shows without feeling bad.... What if I tell you that you can do both and that this is not about shaming you or making you feel guilty (unless you participate in toxic overstepping behavior or are actually LGBTq-phobic, then yes feel guilty)! Acknowledging issues, supporting to fix those issues and still have fun with these dramas and actors.... Those things can and do coexist and nobody said otherwise!!

[absolutebl]

I Feel You Linger In the Air

You ready for this?

The quickest of quick thoughts: I loved this show and hated the ending, but not for the reason you think.

This is gonna be one of my big meta beast-sized posts, skip to the end for the final review.

Some Historical Context for I Feel You Linger In The Air - Thailand 1925-1932

I love history and so here's some info that any Thai watcher would likely know, but the rest of us might not... ready?

The Historical Stage:

Burma (now Myanmar) to the west is occupied by the British.

The French hold Vietnam to the east.

Everyone is bickering over what would become Cambodia & Laos.

China occasionally gets involved from the North (also, lots of immigrants from China at this time accounting for a large percentage of the merchant/middle class)

Eventually, Japan would invade during WWII.

In part, The Kingdom of Siam was kept a "neutral" party because none of the surrounding colonial powers wanted to risk offending any of the other players in the area.

Siam re-negotiated sovereignty in 1920 (from USA) and in 1925 (from France & Britain). But during the time of this show (late 1929) it was back to it's customary type-rope balancing act of extreme diplomacy with the allied western colonial powers that surrounded it.

Recognizing that Thailand was never colonized (although it was invaded), it's boarders were constantly nibbled at and it was "ambassador-occupied" off and on by westerners whose military backing and exploitive business concerns simply outmatched the monarchy, especially in the technology department (as well as by reputation on the global stage at the time).

In other words, the farang in this show (James & Robert) were always gonna be both the baddies and the power players of the narrative. (Farang is the Thai word for non-Thai's of European descent, the word means guava.)

The king of Siam at the time (Vajiravudh AKA Rama VI) was initially somewhat popular but also regarded as overly extravagant since Siam had been hit by a major postwar recession in 1919. It should also be noted that King Vajiravudh had no son because he was most likely gay (which at the time did not much concern the Siamese popular opinion, except that it undermined the stability of the monarchy leaving it without an heir).

He "died suddenly" in 1925 (age 44) with the monarchy weakened and succession handed off to his younger brother.

In 1932 a small circle of the rising bourgeoisie (all of whom had studied in Europe, mostly Paris), supported by some military, seized power from the monarchy in a practically nonviolent Siamese Revolution installing a constitutional monarchy. This is mentioned in IFYLITA in the last few episodes but did not (apparently) appear in the original novel.

Siam would then go through:

dictatorship,

WWII,

Japanese invasion,

Allied occupation,

democratic elections,

military junta,

the Indochina wars,

communist insurgency,

more democracy and popularization movements,

multiple coups,

more junta,

more monarchy,

eventually leading us to the somewhat chaotic insanity of Thai politics we have today. (Which is, frankly, a mix of monarchy, junta, democracy, egocentric popularism, and bribery.)

The Filming of I Fell You Linger in the Air

The director if this show, Tee Bundit (Hidden Agenda, Step by Step, Lovely Writer, TharnType), has never particularly impressed or offended me as a director. I would have called him simply "workmanlike" in execution: not offensive, serviceable.

So much so that I spent some time hunting for info on IFYLITA's cinematographer (who remains uncredited on MDL) because this one, of all Tee's pantheon, is ultra stylish. It, frankly, felt too good for him.

Specifically, there is a repeated visual motif in intimacy scenes of either Yai or Jom being filmed from behind a screen/drape/curtain making them seem more translucent, like a ghost or spirit. While the other half of the pair is filmed with sharp clarity. In the first half of the series this is more likely to be Yai (an unknown and mysterious element), as the show progresses, it's more likely to be Jom (the person outside of place and time, destined to vanish all together). This cleverly conveys story, tension, and foreshadow (future shadow?)

Occasionally we shift over so they both become obscured and then clear again.

This stylized version of dirty framing and filters is used to foreshadow and then constantly remind us about that Jom slipped (and is slipping) through time and the disconnect that causes to his sense of reality and purpose, and to his burgeoning relationship.

For example, the scene where Yai is drunk and asleep in his bed. The first time Jom is sitting in a chair drawing him. Yai is blurry behind the screen while Jom is solid and sharp.

This filming technique combined with dirty and peekaboo framing is being used to give the watchers the impression of looking at something we maybe shouldn't, like we are being creepy and intruding on their private time. After all, they can see EACH OTHER clearly, it's only us who have the visual impairment.

This gives us a sense of doom and discomfort and slight sensation that we shouldn't be there. We shouldn't be watching. But ALSO that we too are outside of time, filtered by the future.

In other words his sense of displacement is being used to trigger ours visually.

It's all quite clever.

It's both beautiful and atmospheric and discomforting and touch stressful. Meaning that it is ALSO a visual vehicle to drive narrative tension. As effective as scary music, perhaps more so in this show (since I personally found the musical motifs and refrains somewhat overused.)

Linguistic corner

The word for reflection and shadow is the same in Thai.

Note on the por/phor/phô honorific in Thai

I have not encountered it before in BL. I am indebted to @embraceyourfandom for the following information;

Phô is a paternal honorific, luang phô is used for respected monks. It basically means father. And is oft seen as male honorific for village elders. It's also used as a male prefix in the names of several occupations like:

พ่อครัว phô khrua (khrúa= kitchen -> chef)

พ่อค้า phô khá (khá= trade -> merchant)

พ่อมด phô mót (mót= person of occult knowledge -> wizard)

พ่อบ้าน phô bân (bân =house -> butler) - most relevant

So, Yai's use is probubly foreshadowing that Jom will be a butler for his house, and is primitively referring to him with this title.

All that said, phô can also be used by a "man who is older/higher on hierarchy to refer to a younger/lower on hierarchy man with intimacy and/or affection."

I think all this has to do with Jom's demonstration of education. Yai figured out early on that one of the reasons Jom doesn't belong and cannot fit in with the servants is that he is more educated than a peasant (of this time period), which for Yai adds up to him being originally from a higher status and possibly wealthy family, especially since Jom speaks English and has travelled (he has a non-northern accent).

There is very little Thai middle class at the beginning of the 1920s since trade is being dominated/dictated by the West, or Chinese merchant operations, and Siam is a monarchy. So for a nationalize Thai citizen educated means military, landed gentry with trade operations (like Yai), royal/political/diplomatic connections, or... none of the above. This changes, especially in the south, throughout this decade (as it did in other parts of the world). So there is a rising bourgeoisie going on in the background but it's not that obvious in Chang Mai at this time.

What Jom's educated lack of status means to Yai is that Jom's family either got wiped out or politically disenfranchised possibly as part of the 1912 attempted coups (or even WWI)? This would be mystifying for Yai because Jom doesn't act like he comes from a military family at all. So his background and status is very confusing for Yai, but Yai does know one thing...

Jom is NOT lower class by the standards of Yai's temporal worldview and existence.

For a young man to be educated and yet entirely alone is very dangerous and suspicious. Also, let's be clear, Jom doesn't look or act like a laborer. He red flags "cultured" all over the place.

Yai is paternalistic and caring towards Jom out the gate because Yai has a big ol'crush but also because he recognizes "his own" is trying to survive while isolated and scared.

Yai wants to rescue Jom. Yai is an ineffectual 20 year old gay intellectual. But poor thing sure tries.

Let's Talk About How I Felt About I Feel You Linger in the Air

The historical aspect was great.

I adore historical romances and we almost never get them in BL. I was always gonna be biased towards this show. (As indeed I am towards Nobleman Ryu's Wedding, Tinted with You, and To Sir With Love.) Aside from some classic Thai BL production issues (less than normal, this is very high production value for Thailand) and my issues around the sound track and repetitive repriens (which frankly were more noticeable because I binged the last half) I have no complaints on that score (heh heh).

The surrounding support cast were all quite good and we even got us some lesbians!

The emotional and narrative tensions were excellent.

Any issues I had with pacing came from focus on characters that didn't interest me, but probubly did interest others. I wasn’t wild or particularly interested in the family drama or the side characters/couples, but they were necessary to make this a fully fleshed story with historical context and to give Yai much needed characterization. Also this use of a ensemble cast is very close to Thailand's lakorn heart, even thought this one had way less scenery chewing ludicrous soapy drama (thank heavens).

I was delighted that external threat, stressors, and conflict drove this plot. That's refreshing in BL.

I have no arguments with the chemistry and kisses and sex scenes were tasteful and lovely, occasionally even heart-wrenching, and it's nice to see Thailand especially use physical intimacy to drive plot, and not the other way around.

I love historicals partly because every tiny touch can have such lingering significance, they're very elegant in their chaste physicality. This show didn't need to move into higher heat, but I'm grateful it did because even that was very well done. Thai BLs can often feel clumsy around intimacy, but not this one.

The final sex scene before Jom and Yai separate forever utilizes the ubiquitous director's-favorite-romantic-moments-flashbacks (required of all Asian romance dramas) but with acceleration and tension driven by the noises of sex, which I've never seen/heard done before. In other words: climax of sex = climax of the romance story, I see what you did there, Tee. Clever. Very clever. Bit on the nose… erm… on the… well you know what I mean.

Like all Thai BLs this wasn’t perfect, but for me this is as close as Thai BL gets to high quality romance and that’s what I want the most from my drama watching experience (if not necessarily my Thai BL experience).

But... and you knew the but was coming didn't you?

I absolutely hated the ending.

It wasn't sad, don't worry, but it also wasn't good.

There is a long drawn out separations sequence and then Jom returns to the present, drowning from a car accident. Jom is "rescued" by an moustachioed iteration of Yai from the distant past (who we met once before) and then wakes in hospital. Some time later, Jom returns to the house in Chang Mai where Yai turns up and they reunite.

The end.

There is a stinger featuring Jom once more hurled back in time, only further, meeting the warrior mustache Yai once more.

Okay, that's all I knew and all I saw.

Confused? So was I.

If this had been a regular time travel romance: Yai would have been the EMT or doctor attending Jom when he woke up and their "this time period" romance would commence. With either shared memories, or not.

Had this been set up for audience comprehension in line with the original novel, we should have had flashbacks from both Present Yai (he's not the same one, as it turns out) and deep-past Moustache Yai interwoven throughout the series. Preferably with some focus on Present Yai's quest for reunion with Present Jom AND Present Yai's own experience with visions and memory of his past lives.

A full explanation of the ending is here. This explanation of the 3 different Yais makes me like our ending more. But I shouldn't need to read Cliff's notes from some random y-novel reading fan on Tumblr to understand what's going on in a series!

There is supposedly a special happening with Jom + Present Yai.

There was unquestionably a failure in adaptation in the finale of this show.

As a fan and watcher, what I actually felt was deeply confused and hurt.

I also felt that this was a disingenuous un-earned throw away happy ending, since I had no idea who this new Present Yai was and no investment in his character. I simply didn't believe he was the same Yai (Bright is too good an actor, he was clearly a different older personality).

So the fact remains that past Yai, our Yai, the 20 year old boy we grew to understand and love, is abandoned in the past to suffer alone for the rest of his life. And THAT is an unhappy ending for one half of my beloved pair. Yes Jom gets a new Yai in the present day, but it's not the same Yai. They have no developed relationship, and Jom is doomed to leave even this new Yai and slide into the past once more. That's barely even happy for now for Jom's character.

As a result of my deep sadness for 20-year-old Yai in particular, I'm not going to be able to rewatch this show. The whole thing was rendered not just confusing but the opposite of comforting by the final 15 minutes. I'm tempted to dock it two whole points - one for the ending and the other for the lack of rewatch potential.

But the first 11.5 eps were SO GOOD.

This is one of the only times where I am actually hoping for a second season, while simultaneously being wary of the screen writing and production team's capacity to give us a satisfying one.

Industry wise? I honestly don't think we can hope too hard for a full season 2. This was an expensive show with flawed/limited distribution and little sponsorship. I don't see how they'll get funding for a second season. Unless we see this show up on like Netflix or Viki, I urge you not to hope too hard and be disappointed.

In all honestly?

I started typing up this blog post thinking Thailand was finally, after 5 years, going to earn another 10/10 from me but I just can't in good conscious give it that. It's been days and I'm still upset about that last episode.

And Now My Quick Pitch Review

I truly loved this time travel romance. IFYLITA is an exquisite BL, from filming techniques to narrative framework (much like Until We Meet Again). Steeped in history and family drama it edges into lakorn (but no as much as To Sir With Love and with way less scenery chewing). This is an elegant and classy BL... from Thailand which normally doesn't even try for classy. The main couple (both as a pair and individuals) were excellent, particularly Bright (Yai) whose eye-work acting style is a personal favorite of mine. Pity about the ending. Oh it wasn’t that sad but it wasn’t good either. This show should easily have earned a 10 from me except that it fumbled the… erm… balls. Argh. Whatever. 9/10

(source)

This post is also in My Drama List as a review.