Welcome to my weekly blog post where I give thoughts on dramas I’m watching but not recapping.
Still getting back into the swing of things so only one recapped episode of Oh No! Here Comes Trouble!, taking me up to episode 8.
This week I finished watching:
Be My Favorite – บทกวีของปีแสง – 2023 Pictured
A recently aired timey-wimey Thai BL with 12 episodes.
A young man who hasn’t had much success in life has a chance to go back in time and make things right, with mixed success.
Not a set-up I typically watch but it feels like all Thailand has been putting out for months is boss/employee stuff so I’ll take anything different. At the end of the day, the “second chance” genre still isn’t my thing, but this was a strong story about personal growth, with interesting time mechanics, strong characters, and a sweet romance.
The story revolves around our lead, Kawi, a 30-year-old failure. When a magic item sends him back to college and gives him a second chance he rises to the challenge. He’s got a few different goals on this do-over, one of which is to win the heart of his college crush, a woman named Pear. Instead, he spends more time with his nemesis, a guy named Pisaeng.
Kawi is an adorable, argumentative, fussy guy and he’s a fun lead. He’s kind of ridiculous really and the world could use more ridiculous leads who are still human beings worthy of love and capable of leading good lives. He throws himself into changing his life and makes some embarrassing mistakes, but never needs rescuing. He does get help from Pisaeng and Pear, which is fair, but never stops being tough even when he’s ridiculous.
While it’s Kawi’s story, Pisaeng also gets his own arc of self-discovery and acceptance. So does Pear, who never becomes one of the evil women of BL, despite being given good motivation. In fact, even the most despicable character on the show is given a believable amount of nuance without an unnecessary redemption arc. The characters on this show are really refreshing that way.
The romance part is, by comparison, simple and straightforward. It’s got its sweet moments and even a heartwrenching moment or two, but it’s not built up the way it would be in some BLs. If you’re looking for tons of skinship and long stares and yearning, it’s not that kind of show.
But if you like second-chance and strong characters and magical older men in suspenders, it’s an option.