Welcome to my Saturday blog post where I give thoughts on dramas I’m watching, whether at the beginning, middle, or end. Whatever I want, because I’m petty that way.
This week I recapped episodes 7-8 of The Boy Next World, which had a surprisingly interesting explanation for the parallel world stuff (he’s only kinda a stalker!) Two more episodes left to see how it all comes together.
I also recapped episodes 11-12 of Love Game in Eastern Fantasy, which went hard on the “demons are people too” theme.
What did I watch this week? A GL that has my full attention:
Us – รักของเรา – 2025
Currently airing Thai melodramatic-slice-of-life GL, I’ve watched 6 of 12 episodes.
A young woman draws pictures to help her brother win over the heart of the woman she’s in love with.
So far this is my favorite GL, because it’s also one of my favorite romantic genres.
The show is slow and the conflicts are simmering
Much as I like a lack of plot, I spent the first episode literally asking the TV screen “yes, but what is the plot?”
We start with a Cyrano De Bergerac-type setup. Dokrak fell in love with Pam, but so did her older brother. Certain she has no chance with Pam, she agrees to help her brother woo Pam by making drawings he can claim as his own. Since Pam has shown an interest in art, it works well.
Dokrak may be one of the most adorable characters ever. She’s living alone, drawing, working at a coffee shop with an interesting mix of coworkers, and has a sweet and sincere enthusiasm for Pam. She deliberately neglects her dental health to get scolded by dental student Pam (I said she’s adorable, not smart).
Pam is stoic, but not cold or emotionless. Her feelings aren’t on the surface but so deep it takes her time to feel and understand them. At first, she sees Dokrak as a confidant, going to her with questions about her brother and taking an interest in her life.
And at the end of episode one, we learn that Pam also has a secret
So the show isn’t that different from Pluto.
Or more like if Pluto and Moonlight Chicken had a baby because while there’s a big soap opera situation at the center of everything, the character’s actions (mostly) feel real. No comas or twins or emotional motorcycle rides. We’re only in hospitals because some characters are doctors.
Instead, we have emotional support groups, intimate conversations, quiet discoveries, and dinners with Grandma. Most of the problems stem from family conflicts and secrets.
There’s one character wandering around with an over-the-top, unreasonable quest for vengeance like a cartoonish villain. But I suspect by the end of the show she’ll be reduced to something more human, it’s already happening in the last few episodes I watched.
As usual, there’s a vile parental figure that I’m hoping the show doesn’t try to redeem last minute. The show gives me lots of reasons to trust it, so I’ll try to trust.
This show is also visually closer to Moonlight Chicken, with a soft realistic look that also puts me in mind of Japanese BL. It fits the story and I like the change-up from the brightness of many of these shows.
Most of all, I’m rooting for Pam and Dokrak
The romance, despite how it starts, isn’t a slow burn. Pam, once she figures out her feelings, isn’t shy about acting on them.
They have problems but they’re learning and growing together. Dokrak is trying to break free from her family and a little lost. Pam experienced tragedy and became cut off emotionally. Together, they’re finding their way again.
But it is a slow show in general, so if that’s not what you want, this is probably a skip for you.
I also wish the English title weren’t so SEO unfriendly and the same as a popular semi-recent horror film. Us the series it is I guess.
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