Academia de Ótimos Homens (2019)

Summary:
It is not simply a boy loves girl story or even a boy loves boy story. It is a story that is positive about homosexual attraction and transgender identity and sensitive about gender dysphoria if we go beyond the surface.

Full Review:
It's easy for BL fans to be irritated by shows that lure fujoshis and fudanshis with false promises of BL only to disappoint them with what is ultimately just a "boy loves girl who is dressed as boy" story.

The good news: this show is different.

To be sure, there isn't a conventional gay couple in this series, and there is hardly a male/male kissing scene, let alone male/male sex scenes. If these are deal breakers, then the show isn't for you.

However, this isn't a show that toys with the idea of homosexual romance only to disappoint by normalizing heterosexual relationships.

In the story, Love is a girl who is granted a wish but unexpectedly transforms into a guy. She then enrolls in the same school for boys as her crush. If your prediction of the story is the same as mine, it will be: Love's crush then falls in love with her and becomes anxious about why he is turning "gay" but is eventually relieved to realize that he's straight after all because she becomes female again; then happily ever after.

No, that's not what happens. (Thankfully.)

In fact, Love's crush does not fall in love with her. Another male student does. And she falls in love with him too.

Now, you might be thinking: that may be a bit of a twist, but it substitutes the original crush with a different love interest, right?

Well, no. Tangmo, the male student who falls in love with Love (who has transformed into a guy) neither identifies himself as a gay person at first nor exhibits the run-of-the-mill "OMG! Am I becoming gay?" hysterics. Later in the story, he does not shy from *very* publicly admitting that he is in love with a guy and doesn't deny it when he is described as a gay person.

Unlike shows in which the main female character disguises herself as a boy, a twist of fate causes Love's transformation to be permanent unless she manages to get another wish. (The "male" Love is played by a male actor, and it's not a cross-dressing female actor playing the role, so it is not at all like a disguise which can easily be shed.) Which brings us to another dimension of the story: Love still identifies as female but she now has a male body. She does fall in love with Tangmo, but is worried that he would not be able to accept it if she ever gets another wish to transform back into a girl, which is what she wants.

Despite the overall lightheartedness of the story, it sensitively conveys the angst of those with gender dysphoria and how much difference acceptance from others makes. The "male" Love spends a lot of time hiding her gender identity and her agony is clear when she realizes that her transformation has become permanent. But after her male buddies discover her true self, they quite quickly accept her for who she is. She is worried about revealing to her mother that she has become a boy, but her mother is accepting of her child regardless of what the child has become. These situations remind us that it is agonizing enough to be trapped in a body that differs from the gender you identify with, but if people are accepting, you can cope much better.

At the end of the series, Love does not transform back into a girl because she uses the wish she has overcome all odds to get to save Tangmo's life. She confesses to Tangmo that she loves him too, but is worried that he would not love her any more if she becomes female. He assures her that he would love her even if she becomes female again. This is where BL fans may be dissatisfied because, well, Love may have a male body but she still wants to turn into a woman right. Yet, if this is how we think, aren't we being somewhat prejudiced?

There may be a lot of series with better BL storylines (Love Sick, SOTUS, Love by Chance, etc). But, ironically, many of them also portray effeminate and transgender characters negatively. There are not many that convey positive messages about queerness in the way that GMA does.

Leia Mais

Most Underrated Hidden Gems of BL Dramas Ever!! | When Hana Kimi Ikemen & Hunger Games Reincarnated

Seriously guys, the chance to know this drama was only once in my YT's feed through its trailer. This was one of the best decision I've ever had on watching something! Even tho it's not a perfect drama but it's definitely worth your time. If you're also a fan of "Hana Kimi Ikemen Paradise" or "To The Beautiful You" and "Hunger Games", this drama will suit your taste!

Here's a piece of my thoughts..

What I love from this drama :

❤The story : Unique, with great LGBTQs message, not that fresh or new but still executed almost properly and decent story pacing except for me it needs more episodes! Rarely we saw BL dramas that incorporated with Fantasy, High School theme & Bisexual characters, this drama was different! It basically the BL version of "Hana Kimi Ikemen" whereas there's this one girl-Love, who fell in love with our (supposed to be) Male Lead-Vier, so she tried to get in to his all boys high school, but the twist is that she actually literally turned into a boy with the help of a magical unicorn. Fast forward, it turned out Vier was not that perfect as she imagined before. So, she actually ended up with Tangmo (supposed to be 2ndMale Lead) the way it somehow sailed my ghost ship on "Hana Kimi Ikemen", just on another universe. I ALWAYS LOVE to see 1stlead ended up with 2ndLead!

It also revolved around daily conflicts of coming of age teenagers esp in high school phase where we would see their struggle with their insecurities, identities, love, responsibility of being a soon to be adult, maturity & honesty.
Set aside the 'weird and doesn't make any sense' settings & plotlines that I often saw in any anime or Japanese live actions, I love the way they brought up important messages of self acceptance (either it's their sexual orientation, gender, their goods and their flaws) & the importance of family.

It's intriguing to imagine the struggle of Love in the way to accept her identity & the way Tangmo embraced her, either as a boy or as a girl because in the end, they're both her, or even how her friends handled this serious matter maturely. Can you imagine falling in love with a girl that turned out to be the same person who is your guy best friend? It's simple but if you think about it, it's deep. Not everyone could handle that kind of plot twist in rl.

❤The Casts : I love every single of them! Must give the standing ovation to our Main casts that played Love, Vier & Tangmo. Without their great performances, this drama wouldn't be this good. They brought out the characters beautifully and lively. I also just knew that 7 members from a Thai Boy Group (Nine By Nine) played in this drama, so I think as rookie actors that came from a non acting background they did excellent! It reminded me of how Korea made a drama that involved K-Pop group members to promote them.

❤Music : Not the best but it stucked on my mind for a while. Iconic to put it simple.

Move on to what I didn't like..

(-)Numerous plot holes! Like for example how the hell Love boy was able to get Great Men Academy's uniform & even joined in that school that fast?? Every school needs parent approval right?? How every single of their subjects & tasks were not academically related but it just focused on how to become a real mature & gentleman?? Honestly guys, to enjoy this drama to the fullest, you should just have an open mind. Again, don't mind the "doesn't make any sense" plotlines, as this drama has different charms.

(-)How come they 80% focused on Vier (even tho technically he's the 2ndlead)?? Yes he's one of the pillars of the story. But I just couldn't hide my disappointment to see limited screen time for Tangmo and even more the relationship development between him & Love. If it wasn't for his insane charms, great acting performance & the satisfying ending, I wouldn't like this drama like the way I do rn. How come we were able to get to know almost everyone's background story even Nuclear & Menn's (they had more screen time too than Tangmo) but Tangmo didn't get proper story time? I guess they wanted to highlight the "youth & slice of life" genre?

(-)Cinematography : I love the story's pacing, but if you want to dig deep, the way they transitioned from one scene to another scene was rough & it affected my understanding with their settings. I was like "whoah, how do we get here?". I don't have any problem other than that rough cutting & editing. For the camera shots I think they did it beautifully.

Conclusion : I'll give this drama an overall points of 8,5 because I think it's wortg the points & it deserved more exposure. I didn't think I'd found a rare gem with this kind of genre that I never found in any other Thai dramas. It even has this 2006-10's vibe of fantasy & high school drama. I'd definitely rewatch this drama again, as they had one of the best character development I've ever seen, the best plot twists that you never expected & the messages that were actually quite deep if you think about it.

So what are you waiting for, guys? Watch this drama, I really, really recommend this!!❤❤

Leia Mais

So I didn't think I would like this show. like at all. I thought it would be too corny. I thought it would be too ridiculous. I thought it would be overacted. I thought it would be too campy.

It was just the right amount of all of the above.

I don't think there was a single character I disliked on this show.... except maybe Vier. But I think we were meant to maybe dislike him a little bit so that we would cheer for Tangmo instead.

I loved Tangmo. He was so adorable. Even when he knew he was losing he never hurt Love. I love him so much. <3 <3 <3 He is the ideal partner. And Tangmo and Love's kiss was so cute. I totally thought they were going to cop out and have Tangmo kiss girl!Love, but they gave us a BL kiss *smiles so big*

Love - I loved this story. She was so cute. As a girl I liked her less, but James playing a girl who transformed into a boy did such a good job. He was so adorable, I couldn't help but love girl!Love as well as the episodes went on (even though we saw less of her). I loved her arc with her brother. It was so cute. And when Good finds out the way he hugged her--- I CRIED SO MUCH!!!! I loved her relationship with Tangmo - from being antagonized, to becoming his mentee and friend, to becoming his secret crush, to realizing Tangmo liked her, and to her caring so much about Tangmo and loving him. I CRIED SO MUCH!!

Vier - I get that we were probably mean to sympathize with him and maybe hate him a little so that we could love Tangmo more. But this guy. I dunno what his issue was. Like honestly. I watched the whole show and I still don't get it. Yeah dude. I'm fat too. Like a thousand people including my parents tell me this a thousand times a day. I am made to feel like shit all the time. I also have this need to be perfect. But I don't want to ruin my friends' lives to do it. I don't want to break their heart by stealing the guy they like just to get on top. Like what a loser. But I agree with Nuclear. He was right at the end of the show. And I feel bad for the guy he had first sibling syndrome towards his best friend. :(

Sean/Rose - I wish we had more screen time with Sean/Rose. I wish this series was longer so we could have explored this character longer. Like if Rose and Vier dated for so long how did Rose suddenly have a brother? How did Vier and Sean suddenly get so close? Why is Rose/Sean dying if I understood that correctly? What was her wish in the first place?

Good - SO CUTE!!! The way he blushes when Me is around. I loved how he's such an A Type and how he works with boy!Love so that they can complete Boot Camp but he's such a softie when he realizes his sister is in trouble, and that he is willing to do anything to help her. I LOVE Good. He's such a good brother, even when his sister is disappointing him.

Nuclear was probably one of my favorite character on this show. I love how he calls the teacher out for only teaching for 10 minutes of the class period. I love how he thinks he's such a ladies man. He was adorable. I love how he tells off his idol when he disappoints him. He's brave. I love that about Nuclear.

Menn - he was so adorable. In episode 1, I totally thought he was going to be the one Love was going to end up with. But he was too "weak" a character I guess. But I adored him.

You & Me - How adorable are these girls. They are just so cute! Such good friends. Such sweethearts. I want these girls to be my best friends too!!! <3

This show was great. I wouldn't classify this as a BL necessarily. Why? Because Love is a girl. She is stuck in a boy's body for most of the show but she is a girl who makes a wish and then because of circumstances ends up stuck in a boy's body, perhaps permanently. The guy who falls in love with her falls in love with her when she is a boy, yes, but he is willing to love her regardless of which body she inhabits. So perhaps it is an LGBT Story where Tangmo can claim to be Bi or Pan. There is a kiss between Tangmo and Boy!Love so I guess, you could take it as a BL. But Boy!Love is still is a girl on the inside.

I love that this show focuses on relationship building rather than audience gratification. I love the relationship between Menn-Nuclear-Love they are best friends and its great. Vier-Tangmo's bestfriend/rival relationship is also so wonderful because they are such good friends and its so sad to see how Tangmo becoming determined starts causing their friendship to deteriorate because of Vier's insecurities. Love-Good's friendship/sibling relationship is also beautiful to witness. You-Love-Me are so adorable - this girl power trio are a force to reckon with. And then ofcourse the Vier-Love-Tangmo friendships and triangle - because Love is so wise and she is like both of these stupid boys' yoda, but she's still so young and naive so they also teach her a lot in return.

This show is beautiful. It is a masterpiece.

Also I am so shocked at how NOT AS OBVIOUS the product placement was.... it was still obvious... but slightly more subtle than it usually is in thai shows. IT SHOCKED THE BAJEESUS OUTTA ME. I could watch the show without being forced out of the scene!! I want to watch more from this production company. I hope they continue to make their product placement more organic to the show.

So I know this show can be read as transphobic to some degree. And it can be considered problematic. https(:)//bl-archer.tumblr(.)com/post/186465653090/as-a-trans-person-how-did-you-feel-about-great-men/ But honestly this show has some of the best relationship building. And Tangmo is the best partner in the whole world. #unconditionalloveatitsfinest I can list all the reasons tangmo is perfect but it would take me forever.

Leia Mais

Everything I wanted from a gender-bender

This is hands down my favourite Thai drama.
Its gets a bit of an unfair rep online due to the BL community having BL expectations, but if you go into it with a clear mind then its worth it.
This show sets up the expectation that it's a generic rom-com and then completely destroys that in the second half of the show.
From the beginning, it really was just like any other gender-bender show, but even though it was using cliches and tropes, it was still fun and interesting. It's like the directer set us up to expect the same thing we get from every other drama like this and then breaks those rules to give us the ending we always wanted but never got.
The acting is just phenomenal. I went from not knowing any of the actor previous to being able to name all of them and also several dramas they're in, because i went down a rabbit-hole after finishing this drama. I just couldn't let go haha
This is one of the very few dramas that i have immediately rewatched after finishing, and i would recommend it to literally anyone.

Leia Mais

Honestly one of the best

So my headline might be overreacting, but everybody should watch GMA! The storyline was great and I loved how every episode focused on one of the main casts, so we got to know them a little more. I only wished that it was a little longer. Also, I don't count this as a BL, because Love herself is firm that she is a girl and wants to stay a girl, though I think there are LGBTQ+ characters like Tangmo.
James acting as Love was the best out of the whole cast and the way he acts as a girl is great; it isn't too cringey or over the top and overall he made my like Loves character even more. The rest of the cast was great too, just I wasn't interested in the Sean/Rose thing. Tangmo was definitely my favorite out of the male leads and his character was just so interesting.
For the music like most dramas it was limited, but the way that they used the song made it more fitting compared to other dramas. Like how they used it for Love and then for Tangmo it was the exact same part but made me feel two different emotions.
I already plan on rewatching it and think that everyone who is here should give it a try!

Leia Mais

I watched this drama on a random whim and I'm sort of regretting it because I'm obsessed. I loved everything about the drama even though certain parts require a suspension of believability.

What I liked:
Pretty much everything. Believable acting, lots of eye candy, cute and fluffy romance, and Jaylerr. Every time he came on screen I probably didn't look at anyone or anything else. His expressions of falling in love and heartbreak were perfect. James, of course, nailed it as a girl in a boy's body.

What I disliked:
I could have done with more Love and Taengmo scene. Those two are precious.

Beware, despite being known as a BL drama it is not, in my opinion, a BL. It is more similar to The Shipper than your average BL.

Leia Mais

The first one that makes me crave for more episodes.

This is the most Japanese I've seen a Thai drama get. Do you wanna know why I knew it wasn't Japanese, though? Because the actors know how to act!

Now let me begin asking the real question. This was an "elephant in the room" kinda situation for me, but here we go anyway: Is it really a BL if Love is a girl the whole time despite the body change?
To be honest with you, it isn't to me. Why? Because there's no moment in the story were Love (male) tries to act like a man. The girl always shone through his character completely overshadowing his masculine self. But this is just my opinion; it's fine if you see it as a BL.

This is the most expensive looking Thai "BL" drama I've seen so far; I mean, the production value really went up with this one. From episode one we were submerged in this beautiful fantasy world that felt like it came out of a Japanese shoujo manga. It was marvelous. I enjoy a show that focuses on details: the school, the uniforms, the dorms, the environment, and even the students had an attractive appeal to them.

The writers and the director really missed a big opportunity to milk the story, though. Because the story had a focus on the daily lives of the students, the writers could have added at least ten extra episodes of filler between episodes and it would have been just as great. There were parts of the story and characters that deserved to be fleshed out more, so extra episodes focusing on their perspective of the plot would've made viewers connect more with them. Despite that, the 8 episodes available were very well written. Not even once I felt like the pacing was rushed or that it was poorly edited.

Someone PLEASE give James (male Love) an award!!! I finally found my favorite actor from a Thai BL and I could talk about his acting for hours, but let me summarize it for you. For a straight guy, no actor has been able to portray "female" as good as he did and it shows. I had problems seeing the connection between Shane and Rose because even though both are great actors by themselves, they never matched in terms of personality. However, that was not the case for Love (male and female actors). James got this role down to the teeth and it was a very natural performance from him. The cute feminine mannerisms, his speech, and his facial expressions made me question his sexuality for a second because it was exactly the acting that I expected for this type of character.

Ice was also a good actor. I enjoy those characters that give you a little bit of both, the good guy and also the antagonist, and he did not disappoint. Many people have trouble liking this type of character, but I really liked his performance as Vier.

Jaylerr became one of my favorite actors and I look forward to seeing more of him in dramas. Specially BL. He's got it going on to play these roles.

Overall this was an excellent drama and worthy of a rewatch. The story is captivating and the actors bring fresh personalities to enjoy. Honestly, we need a season two!

Leia Mais

"I love you the way you are and that's it!"

"Whether you are a man or a woman, fat or slim, tall or short I just love you the way you are" is the central message of this drama. The male lead does not care about Love's gender he simply genuinely loves him/her for whoever he/she is.

Although the trailer presents the story as a light-hearted fantasy drama, I was deeply moved by this story. Finding someone able to love you for who you are is something really hard to achieve. We may search for our soulmate our entire life and always try to change for the person we love but if we lose ourselves we will never be able to be truly happy. Love changes her gender for Vier but she still is not able to be loved by him. To be loved, Love should first learn how to love herself and this can happen only when her male form and female form are in harmony with each other. Love is not only being accepted by the person who declares his/her love to us since to find our soulmate we must learn how to love ourselves.

In the end, love requires making some choices that we are willing and happy to make even though in the eyes of others they only appear as silly sacrifices. because as we love we learn that those "sacrifices" are worthy since what you get back is so much more than what you have lost, this is true love.

Leia Mais

I enjoyed it way too much

I'm a little late to the party, (I came here for Captain) left in love with the story.
It's weird how much I liked this series. I'm usually very picky and critical, and I had low expectations going in.
I get why people will love it and why people won't like it.
I guess one of the main reasons I really like it is because it was happy and light in a way it helped with what's going on in the world and my personal life.
I didn't expect some events that occurred and I actually am satisfied with the ending (there are many times where I've been let down in endings).
I'm a big fan od storylines where there are challenges and teamwork but at the same time competition, friendships and in the end everyone likes everyone ( a bit unrealistic) but that's kind of what I look for to escape how harsh life is and how we sometimes have to compete with our closest friends. (That's deep sorry about that.) I am a fan of this kind of storyline and the growth that characters get as the show progresses. This is mainly why my rating is so high I guess.
From my point of view (and I could be wrong) they did pretty well with the whole love being a girl/boy and how it went with Tangmo (unlike others).
Gender doesn't matter and this show portrayed that well enough.

Leia Mais

Love is Love

Love is Love. I just completed this series and I am still smiling. It's so heartwarming because there was so much acceptance all around. That's not to say that some hearts weren't broken, but so many of the characters experienced tremendous growth in a short series.

For pure visuals, I'll have to go with Sean. Captain is an absolute stunner and played his role perfectly. Before I knew Sean's secret, I could already feel something was off, but couldn't quite place my finger on it. So many clues but I wasn't able to guess.

For those intense longing looks, Tangmo has it hands down. OMG, to be object of those stares.

Ice Paris as Vier played both the hero and anti-hero really well. His body language and facial expressions were amazing to watch.

James as Love was a wonder. The way he moved his body was so different, even from Sean's movements. And let's not forget the dance. So so good!!

Highly recommended!

Leia Mais