O Smoking (2022)

A little cute and a lot cringe.

Ummm I just finished the series and I still didn't understand the point of the whole series. I don't think they've executed the series/story the way they wanted. The leads who dislike eachother suddenly fall in love and cuddle and then suddenly go cold. I wish there was a flow from one scene to another. Screenplay could have been better. And with all these sudden emotion display in the series I found it very cringe to even watch it at times. There are a few nice points too, especially Nawee ending things with Aioon cause of the latter's girlfriend, Nawee saying his father died (meaning he prioritised himself over his father who disowned him), and a few more too. The trauma part too... I agree it plays a major role on how one looks at life but in the series I didn't find it to be a strong point for him to stay indoors forever. Maybe they haven't showcased his reasoning effectively.

Besides cringe, I found a few things cute.. like behind the scenes, or the actors' bromance on instagram (might be fan service, but STILL cute).

So yeah, overall the series was/is real cringe but the leads were/are cute. I might listen to the title song regularly but would NEVER rewatch this series ever again. But I'm all in for their future projects whether they be solo or together. Men need a better push to shine brighter. I hope they get nicer works in future.

Leia Mais

It was sweet, short, light story

Watched this because I loved Chap in Lovely Writer. I don't understand why people don't like the drama? I really liked it! :D I wished the episodes were longer and there was more depth and character development. But considering the running time, more depth would've led to hurried pace.
I found it sweet, light drama, that you can binge-watch.

Pros:
The two leads' chemistry is off the roof(I'm in love with Chap)! Overall production looks really good (men in formals...should I complain? :D ).
Also the main OST is super-catchy (I've been listening to it on loop).
Simple plot where MLs are in Tuxedo industry. Bast**d son, childhood trauma leading to PTSD that the other lead helps in overcoming.

Cons:
Usual overdone tropes in plenty here: accidental kisses, finger-cut-kissing-the-wound, side characters' story that felt used as just fillers.
One thing that annoyed me was Nawee being brutal as the beginning and turning out to be super-vulnerable later?? Weird.
Acting: Not outstanding but not bad either.

I still gave it pretty high rating solely based on good vibes of the drama (Also because I'm in love with Chap).

Leia Mais

Sweet & Fluffy

This drama is really sweet and fluffy. Its the kind of drama you can watch curled up with a cup of coffee and just enjoy the sweetness whole.

There is literally not much to this drama, the cast were good, The actors were good and had terrific chemistry--there were just a few problems with the storyline that should have been changed, that's all. For a short bl, it was very good and wrapped up well.

The story was short and to the point and not wasting the audience's time with details that distract the attention from the real story. This is an excellent example of a TV series that gets to point, makes the point, and does it in an elegantly and tastefully. In just 8 short episodes, viewers get to see a love story free of side shows and other distractions. The suits and the whole aesthetic is very well done and different from other BL. I'm stating the obvious here but the couple's chemistry is one of the best.

Overall: Its a really Sweet drama and gets to the point really quickly.

Leia Mais

sweet and romantic and aesthetic series

sweet series! I was expecting a much worse series due to the comments I read about the poor development of the plot and characters and the truth is that to do it in 8 chapters is very good. the protagonists are a beautiful couple with a very good chemistry that makes the romance believable. what to say about the kisses! one of the best of the BL with that touch of sweetness that we miss so much in so many series. the special chapter makes us see that the team is small and with their limited resources of scenarios and characters they have been able to take great care of the aesthetics that can be seen in lighting, camera shots, decoration, colors of the food dishes with their sensory compositions... and for that matter course the suits worn by the protagonists of impeccable and beautiful cut. I think it's like watching a tale and with a happy ending, so between so much excess and sometimes forced tension in some stories with this one we are left with a sweet taste in the mouth that ends up nourishing the music and the songs... a luxury that is Jeff Satur who performs Warm Heart as excellently as ever, reinforcing the production management team's commitment to quality and authenticity. a sweet beautiful this series.

Leia Mais

If you can turn off your brain completely, the kiss scenes and hot guys are delightful! :D

This is one of those series with a pretty aesthetic including suits and hot guys with decent chemistry that falls apart in literally every other aspect. I've come to love the ChapxGreen pairing and really hope to see them in something with a decent script in future. If you watch up to ep 6 on double speed and just enjoy the NC scenes after- I'd say that is the best way to watch this series and you'll have a much more enjoyable experience. ChapxGreen are clearly comfortable kissing each other- so those scenes are really the best thing to come out of this series.

Story: There basically is no story- many plot choices are just genuinely bad writing and worse, are just plain stupid. E.g. the plot contrivance to get Chap to Green's house being that originally Chap hit his staff member over the head with a heavy object (the ethics I can't)- so his staff member did the same back to him to have him pass out so he could be moved there. There could have been so many ways to get Chap to Green's place without committing violent, unacceptable acts? Literally laughable script writing that only makes Chap's character looks even more unsympathetic and unlikeable for half the episodes.

Green's character also makes little to no sense (why not just tell the girl you've been leading on for years that you don't like her? She didn't even end up being a b*tch about it- she literally was just like hey wish you told me earlier so we both didn't waste our time.) You could tell that was just a lazy plot device so they could have an easily solvable conflict to finish with.

Acting/Cast: Green was incredible in Something in my Room. Chap was decent in Lovely Writer. But both give less impressive performances in this. Green is still decent, but Chap especially has a lack of expression and dead eyes in a lot of scenes. I think this is more due to the horrible script and possibly the direction since they really didn't have much to work with here. Honestly watching some candid clips of these two outside of their acting gigs- they genuinely have chemistry and are so cute and comfortable with each other. I wish we got to see more of that vibe in this.

Music was good, decent enough.
Rewatch value is zero + 2stars only for the kissing scenes.

Leia Mais

Short and kinda sweet?

This BL can be summed up as two extremely good-looking actors being comfortable with each other and kissing. The kissing is amazing, and there is a lot of tension between the two. It is by no means a great BL but it's short and to the point. I like that the two don't just like each other but they make each other grow. The story is interesting but takes itself a little too seriously. Overall, I wish for the actors to get better at acting and to see them more.

The story is about a tailor who is tasked with making the best suit for a rich young man, but there is tension between the two families. So it doesn't go so smoothly. Slowly but surely they catch feelings for each other. I expected Nawee to catch them faster than Aioun, but it seems that Aioun is more firm in his feelings and wants to make it a thing. Watch this if you are looking for something filler, with decent characters and good kissing and shirtless scenes.

Leia Mais

Beautiful experience!

I enjoyed the last episode of this series and I can say that the positive impressions outweighed me in the evaluation - beautiful main song by Jeff Satur and countless variations of the melodic line of the song during some scenes and very well played both main characters performed by young likeable actors Chapa and Green (who literally charmed me with his nature and the way he falls in love with the character of Nawee), also in the kissing scenes, finally the Thais proved that they can only want it from the creators. These impressions completely lagged the minor shortcomings, the accelerated story, and the need to realize that Nawee's character is mentally ill and not scolding and condemning her, like many on other world servers, to go with the "crowd." Very nice experience and I hope that Chapa and Green will ever see each other again (they shot a series of 12 nano-episodes Chapter of Green 2021 together in the total length of the series 11 min (!), But that can not be considered a series.

Leia Mais

Mignon

Pour une fois, nous avons droit à un BL thaïlandais qui ne nous gave pas avec des longueurs inutiles. Et pour cause, il n'y a que 8 épisodes qui ne dépassent jamais 30 minutes, et d'ailleurs, si on coupe les génériques de début et de fin ainsi que les récap des épisodes précédents et du suivant, ça réduit encore la durée. On n'a donc pas le temps de s'ennuyer, ce qui est un premier point positif.

L'originalité du scénario est aussi un aspect que j'ai apprécié. Attention, quand je dis "originalité", ça n'indique pas une absence de clichés - parce que des situations convenues, à commencer par les bisous accidentels et très improbables qui durent plus de 10 secondes, il y en a à la pelle. Je fais allusion au fait que l'histoire se passe dans le milieu professionnel, avec des adultes dont l'un est tailleur et l'autre est l'héritier d'un homme qui a trahi le père du premier, et qui souffre en prime d'une phobie l'empêchant de sortir de chez lui. Des éléments intéressants qui, s'ils ne nous surprennent pas des masses, ont le mérite d'apporter un vent de fraîcheur dans le paysage des BL thaïs, prouvant que la Thaïlande est désormais bien décidée à nous offrir des scénarios diversifiés. Cela a droit à quelques encouragements, du moins à mon sens, quitte à redevenir sévère plus tard, quand le marché sera suffisamment inondé de scénarios hors-universitaires et qu'on aura vraiment de quoi comparer.

Je ne dirai pas que les deux acteurs sont particulièrement doués, par contre ils sont très à l'aise dans les scènes intimes, pas de bobine gênée, d'air débile ou d'hésitations ridicules. Là encore, une nette progression appréciable et comme l'ont déjà mentionné les précédentes critiques, les voir torse nu est un plaisir pour les yeux. Leur romance est mignonne, elle ne vole pas très haut mais ce n'est pas non plus ce qu'on lui demande.

Là où le drama a réussi à me surprendre, c'est sur l'angle de la rupture familiale. L'approbation des parents et la réconciliation sont souvent un thème important, d'ailleurs la famille est une des valeurs fondamentale de la Thaïlande. Ici, le père de Nawee est un parfait connard, et sa belle-mère et son frère légitime ne sont pas en reste. Alors je ne suis pas très sûre que la décision de Nawee de rompre avec sa famille toxique soit bien perçue en Thaïlande (d'habitude on trouve un procédé scénaristique pour que tout rentre dans l'ordre), mais pour un oeil occidental comme le mien, cette décision m'a semblée tout à fait appropriée et plutôt inhabituelle, dans le bon sens.

Sinon, je dirais que cette petite série reste plutôt convenue et assez vite oubliable, mais suffisamment agréable pour passer un moment sympa. Le court format ne m'a aucunement dérangée dans la mesure où cela permet de se concentrer sur l'essentiel. Il y a clairement un effort pour nous proposer un scénario différent et un peu plus adulte, en bref, ne crachons pas dessus.

Leia Mais

I believe this is definitely a 9!

Let's talk about why I believe it's a 9! The acting/cast was totally perfect! As for me, all 5 main characters got the acting skills, and are very charming, this includes Chap Suppacheep, Green Phongsathorn, Ping Guntapat, Tape Worrachai, and Pond Khunnapat. There was also one support character that had amazed me a lot, that actor is Garto Pannawit, who played as Art. He had perfect facial expressions and had a perfect acting throughout the entire series. And because all of those, I'm giving the acting/cast a 10/10. The music was also on point, and which is why I'm also giving it a 10/10.

Now there's also some minor problems in the series as well. As for me, the story didn't have much of a good plot. There wasn't many interesting scenes in the series compared to other series. But I'd also like to shout out to Chap Suppacheep, and Green Phongsathorn for all those amazing kissing scenes and those romantic scenes which were amazing! So for the story, I've decided to give this an 8/10. And for the overall rewatch value, it's an 8/10 as well. So overall, it's a 9/10!

Leia Mais

An interesting premise but a disjointed plot.

“The Tuxedo” has an interesting premise, one of the best OST’s to come out of the Thai BL genre, and the appealing Green Phongsathorn Padungktiwong who plays the lead character. The director is Mike Phontharis Chotkijsadarsopon, whose previous stint at the helm of a BL was the mafia crim series “Golden Blood”. All up, “The Tuxedo” looks like a stylish movie but feels like a romantic soap.

For all its good aspects, it has a long list of bad ones, most notable of which is its co-lead Chap Suppacheep Chanapai, who, despite his extensive list of acting credits, turns in quite a mediocre performance as the illegitimate scion of a wealthy industrialist and who suffers from a chronic syndrome stemming from childhood trauma (I”m guessing agoraphobia, although no doctor or therapist appears in the show to confirm this). Chap plays Nawee, an arrogant young man who somehow manages for three years to be the CEO of production in his father’s business while maintaining a reclusive existence in a sumptuous modern architect designed house & enclave in an obscure part of the country. Chap plays his scenes of panic attacks as if he were drugged; perhaps Director Mike & Chap preferred that Narwee appear to act more like he had a chemically-induced condition than a psychologically disturbed one. In any event, he is ultimately saved from his predicament by the love of Aioun, a fastidious high-end tailor, who runs an exclusive bespoke business from idiosyncratically designed premises in another obscure location.

The developing love story of these two men from different backgrounds who meet by strange circumstance is told with engaging sincerity; and the chemistry between the two leads is warm and convincing. The problem with the series is that instead of the plot concentrating on this, it meanders to include characters who are of little interest and omits other characters and situations that could have added to the drama. In this respect, unfortunately, the series shows the inexperience of newbie screenwriter Pacharawan Chaipuwarat.

Elsewhere, the writer has written of her script writing that she creates “the story based on public or client interests and conduct(s) research to obtain accurate factual background information authentic details.” This admirable work formula reveals itself in the detailed scenes of Aioun’s design work and pattern-cutting and suit-making (similar scenes to “Behind cut”). But attention to client (aka producer and/or director) interests can mean an inexperienced writer who is either not confident in how to put together a cohesive plot or who is reluctant to stand up for it in the often combative pre-production meetings. Whichever is the case, “The Tuxedo” includes Aioun’s two younger “brothers”, two elderly staff, Aioun’s fiancee, Narwee’s father & step-mother and step-brother, who all play minor roles in a very haphazard flow of sequences. The only additional character who is melded well into the story is Sichol, played by Tape Worrachai Sirikongsuwan. Tape has been acting for almost ten years and, though his character is largely comic in nature, he has enough scenes to show his capabilities and to draw Sichol as equally bumbling and caring.

Sichol is the character who connects the two leads together when he goes to the rescue of Aioun’s young brother, Oab, mugged at night by three ruffians. By way of thanks for helping Oab, Aioun offers Sichol a new suit to replace the one damaged in the brawl so that Sichol can still look presentable at his job interview the next day with Narwee. At that interview, the curt & dismissive Narwee likes nothing about Sichol but is attracted to the quality of the suit and offers Sichol the job if he can fulfil the task of getting the tailor who made that suit to make one for Narwee also.

Unbeknownst to both Sichol and Narwee, Aioun’s father had had his business ruined by the sharp business practices of Narwee’s father; not surprisingly therefore, Aioun turns down the suit request. We learn the reason Narwee is insistent on the best suit to be found hereabouts is because he is relying on it to impress his father at an upcoming birthday lunch Narwee is planning. We find out later that Narwee is his father’s bastard son who has been raised and elevated to a senior position in the father’s business but is now to be replaced by Narwee’s younger half-brother.

Given how important Dad is to both of the leads, it is a question worth asking why he appears in only episodes 5 & 6 (there are only 8 episodes). Unlike their Korean counterparts, a repeating habit of Thai BL creators is to put minor characters into set scenes in block fashion. I suspect this is for scheduling & budgeting reasons. What this means is that, unlike in real life where the people around us feature in many incidental ways, characters in Thai BL series appear to play a major scene and then disappear.

And this does not only apply to the Dad in “The Tuxedo”. (Aioun turns out to have a GF - we don’t learn of her existence till episode 6.) The show itself begins with neither Aioun or Narwee but with two minor characters, an elderly lady, one of Aioun’s employees, and Oab, Aioun’s young brother. Oab is an annoying fellow, whose main dramatic purpose is to so annoy his brother Art that Art revenges himself by concealing from Oab the client measurement book on which Aioun’s business depends. This irresponsible act is forgiven by Aioun (showing us his sympathetic considerate nature), even though it compels Aioun to make the trek to Narwee’s house to remeasure for the suit, hence another interaction in the developing love story.

The measurement book appears more often than some of the minor characters; it is a substantial soft leather cover journal; it is believable as a work item. But when Art conceals it in a pile of discarded fabric cut-offs, we are asked to believe that the elderly lady who cleans out the cut-offs, can’t feel the odd shape and weight of the journal concealed within the fabrics. Anyone who’s worked in the rag trade would know what a pile of fabric cut-offs weighs; cutting fabric is a skill - the less fabric cut from the roll, the lower the cost; and as another poster has pointed out, the wool fabrics suited to the Thai climate would be lightweight.

This “now you see them/now you don’t” approach to character appearances is at its worst in relation to Aioun’s GF, Chanjoa. She appears in only episodes 6, 7 & 8. She turns up at Aioun’s Birthday dinner celebration where she is aggressively spoken to by Narwee, angry at the discovery his love interest has a woman in his life. Aioun pacifies Narwee later by declaring his love, although Narwee will - after several more panic attacks - break off the relationship in childish jilted-lover fashion. Before this, however, Chanjoa is dispensed as a character in a remarkable scene where Aioun, tongue-tied, can’t find the words to explain why he is breaking off their relationship. Chanjoa departs the series (just in time for the final reconciliation of our lovers), walking out the door more of an adult than either of the two male leads.

As if Director Mike realises this disjointed story line has not created sufficient romantic atmosphere & tension, the scene at the end of the two lovers firmly committed into each others’ arms is played out against a five minute recap of their main scenes together from earlier in the series. Most avid BL fans know by now from the increasing flow of quality BL series out of Korea that the final scene is critical to the credibility of the love story and how well, for the most part, Korean creatives handle this aspect. “The Tuxedo” scores low in this regard.

Rewatch value is low. But on the plus side, Jeff Satur’s compositions on the music track are very good; the theme from his song “Because of you” is of sufficient quality that it works as a stand-alone orchestral piece.

A final word about Green’s performance. He succeeded in making Aioun the emotional centre of this show with his sympathetic performance. Aioun is both a creative artisan and a firm and successful businessman, but he is also the central axis of love and leadership around which his brothers and employees revolve and to whom Narwee gravitates. Green achieves this combination balancing act in a nicely sustained performance; hopefully we will see more of his talents in future series.

Leia Mais

sometimes chemistry can save bad drama

I am giving 5 star because of chemistry of the main actor. otherwise the way they execute the story I would have given 0 stars.

Good Side : Chemistry, chemistry, chemistry, I have never seen chemistry like this in gay series, perfect chemistry, romance, kisses and good enough acting

Bad side : Badly execute story, that's how we overcome trauma and depression??, they tried to say so many things but left on half, according to story this drama could be next manner of death or Triage but the way they ended story is like fucking irritating. this could be perfect desert with great revenge, overcoming trauma, romance, chemistry. we they have all elements like : story, chemistry, romance, they make series like this and when they don't have story they try to make series like big dragon. plus according to story this drama is fucking short. This drama so badly badly execute.

Leia Mais