Welcome to my weekly blog post where I give thoughts on dramas I’m watching but not recapping.

This week I finished recapping episodes of On A Starry Night/Hoshi Furu Yoru ni, I’ll add my final thoughts next week. I’m through episode 5 of the Thai slice-of-life BL Moonlight Chicken.

This week I started:

Joseon Attorney: A Morality – 조선변호사 – 2023 (Pictured)

A currently airing historical-ish legal-ish Korean revenge drama, I’m at 6 out of 16 episodes.

A flamboyant lawyer sets up business in a new town and takes on some interesting cases, attracting the attention of a princess-in-disguise.

I started this show because of Woo Do Hwan, who was my favorite part of The King Eternal Monarch. He’s my favorite part of this show too, playing an extroverted-but-jaded lawyer who puts on a good show. I love a good strong-and-silent type, but I also feel like those are more easily found in drama land than the types who cover their pain with bombast and smiles. It makes it all the more poignant when he drops the show and reveals his deeper feelings.

The FL is playing less of an outgoing character so will naturally get less attention, but I think she’s a good counterpart to him. He needs someone more grounded but also idealistic. They each have loyal sidekicks who are fun but so far not explored too deeply.

The show opens with on-screen text saying the story isn’t based on any real history and maybe they all say that, but I feel it here. The princess is barely hiding that she’s a princess, it’s almost a joke that no one knows. It also doesn’t have the production value of say, The Queens Umbrella or The Crowned Clown. Anyone looking for an intense period drama with a serious tone and intricate political scheming will likely be disappointed. It has more the feel of a webtoon, which is what it’s based on, with the characters and improbably-but-fun dramatic moments taking center stage.

Another point in its favor – the cynical view sometimes wins. Our jaded lawyer will likely become a better person by the time this show is over, but so far he hasn’t necessarily been proven wrong about people’s worst nature. The show isn’t bleak, but it’s nice to see a more complicated morality.

This week I finished:

My School President – แฟนผมเป็นประธานนักเรียน – 2022 

A recently aired Thai BL of 12 episodes.

The president of the school has a secret crush on the singer of the problematic band club at risk of being dropped. In order to help the singer keep the club the president pretends to be his enemy.

I loved this show. New favorite. Definite rewatch. Maybe a recap in the future?

The plot isn’t particularly special. We’re in High School, there’s a crush, there’s a band, there’s a school council, the characters have to act for an MV instead of a play, they go to the beach. If you’ve watched any Thai BL this is pretty familiar.

But I was laughing every episode. The show didn’t rely on annoying “comedy” music and though it used a lot of cartoon-ish sound effects they actually worked for me this time. The jokes weren’t sophisticated, usually they were about characters being ridiculous or their personalities clashing, but the comedy and the characters stayed consistent throughout the whole show. 

While there were deeper, serious moments, the show didn’t do that annoying thing where it turned the comedy off so that it would Seem Important. It was funny and tried to say things at the same time.

Our leads are just as adorable as they are in Moonlight Chicken (it came out second but I watched it first), but they are different characters. One of them is the lead singer, passionate and serious about his singing and very little else. The other is a more serious, good student on a certain track, and not sure why. They were supported by a group of friends and family that all had their own distinct personalities and goals. I liked pretty much all of them.

For me, it’s the best version of the tropey-Thai-school-BL and one I plan to watch when I need to inhabit a world that is positive and fun.