The loves and lives of a group of young men surrounding a chicken restaurant, including the world-weary owner, his one-night stand, his nephew, and a young deaf man who hasn’t gone outside in years.

You can watch the trailer here.

Country: Thailand 
Local Title: Midnight Series : Moonlight Chicken พระจันทร์มันไก่
Year Released: 2023
Number of Episodes: 8
Genre: BL, Slice-of-Life

Main Actors:

Earth Pirapat Watthanasetsiri as “Jim” Jaruek Nueangna-uam
Mix Sahaphap Wongratch as “Wen” Wongsakorn Thunapakarn
Khaotung Thanawat Ratanakitpaisan as Gaipa
First Kanaphan Puitrakul as “Alan” Anantachai Lertwongsa
Gemini Norawit Titicharoenrak as Heart
Fourth Nattawat Jirochtikul as “Li Ming” Loetphong Nueangna-uam

Pre-Recap Thoughts:

Online it seemed like a lot of people who were eagerly anticipating this show were disappointed, and maybe that’s why I wasn’t disappointed, I wasn’t anticipating it at all. I wasn’t even interested. The premise didn’t appeal to me, I don’t like chicken that much. Neither did the promised realistic tone, because I like the over-the-top nature of many Thai BLs. Also, I kept misremembering the title as Midnight Chicken.

I only started watching this once I learned the secondary couple involved a Deaf character. And like many people, they were my favorite couple and outshined the main couple. But I found that to be a feature, not a flaw, because I think this show shines as a gentle, slice-of-life show more than a BL. The two leads provide a solid-but-not-overly-dramatic center to which the rest of the characters are connected. Like most slice-of-life shows there’s not a lot of plot, just the day-to-day struggles of a group of flawed, ‘average’ people.

Also, there is cat treat PPL. So I must be the right audience for the show.

The first time I watched it I felt braced the entire time for something terrible to happen, and ever since I finished it I’ve been eager to watch it again. Let’s go to Thailand, at night, to a chicken restaurant just trying to survive the times.

Recap and Thoughts:

Final Mostly Non-Spoilery Thoughts:

On this second watch, I appreciated the main couple even more. Because the character of Jim is so reluctant to reveal anything about what he’s thinking except his worries, it’s easy to miss all the cues about what’s really going on with him. Wen seems to be foolish at times for pursuing him so hard.

Watching it again without needing to worry as much about what was going on, I caught a lot of the details that were there to show his real feelings. In one episode, cans of beer reveal everything he’s thinking. Seeing this, made Wen’s persistence make more sense.

I also caught more about the secondary characters. Jim’s nephew, Li Ming, is much more open about his feelings but there were also places where what was going on with him was shown and not told. I realized he knew his feelings much earlier than I’d thought.

It’s always a pleasure when you can rewatch a show and catch more and more nuance. This show is not for when you want big feelings, big action, big romantic gestures, and big drama (and no judgment At All if that is what you want). It’s more a show for when you want to be reminded that as hard as things can get, sometimes it’s the simple, understated pleasures (like chicken rice) that can get us through the days.