Dangerous Romance (2023)

A dangerously badly written romance (review up until ep 7 - spoilers ahead)

This series initially had a lot of things going for it: good main and supporting actors, sleek cinematography and camera language, gritty vibe.

Unfortunately, I found its writing terrible (at least up until ep 7, when I dropped it). It's like 3 or 4 people were hired to write this story and never consulted with each other about its tone, the message they wanted to give, or just most basically, the plot and the characters.

The first 2 episodes were rather dark, with a cinematic camera language and realistic acting. The opening offered social commentary on (in)equality and the show tackled the serious issue of bullying, looking for all intent and purposes like it wanted, over its course, to make a statement, or at least was aware of what it was saying.

And then ep 3 happened and, out of nowhere, the show turned into a fluffy rom-com about a struggling student and his school tutor, instead of the bully and his victims it started as. I seriously have no idea where Sailom and Kanghan's romantic feelings for each other came from. It simply happened and I did not feel privy to the reason nor process.

The same went for Kanghan's behavior: from one day to the next, Kanghan stopped bullying anyone, stopped abusing his privileges as the rich school sponsor's son, and started spending most of his time with Sailom, joking and smiling like he was not making his life miserable just the day prior. Everyone acted like this was completely normal, even the bully friends he started spending less time with in favor of their nemesis, and it was almost like the bullying did not even happen. Everything was swept aside, everyone moved on and no one held Kanghan accountable for his actions. It sucked in terms of character development, and it sucked even more as a way to tackle bullying.

Romance-wise, it’s like the writer couldn’t decide on what they wanted and went for a new scenario every two episodes. Kanghan had feelings for Pimfah (and Pimfah for Sailom) out of nowhere in ep 5, despite Sailom and Kanghan making heart eyes at each other for most of ep 3 and 4. He rejected Sailom’s confession in ep 6, after taking his time to consider it, only to kiss him not 10 min later out of jealousy. There was zero explanation as to what changed his mind, or what prevented from saying yes to Sailom right away if seeing him play with his friend was all that was needed. Sailom accepted Kanghan’s confession and never questioned it, like he had not even been rejected in the first place. Most of the romantic developments from ep 3 to ep 7 sent me on a fit of perplexity and hair-tearing, which made it hard for me to believe in any of the characters’ feelings.

The acting was neither Perth nor Chimon’s best work in my opinion, which is not surprising given the script they had to work with, and I found their chemistry either really good or almost non existent, depending on the scene.

Overall, I felt like I was watching something very disjointed, in tone, in actions, in behavior.

Leia Mais

Had high expectation from the pilot, but was disappointed

I really think , dangerous romance didn't do justice to an amazing actor as Perth. And all goes down to his pairing with Chimon. At some point Chimon's acting really felt like forced. It was like Chimon really didn't want to act in a BL. Thus their chemistry did not feel real at all. If Gmmtv have more projects with Pert Chimon , they should better do some intensive workshops to improve the chemistry or just pair Perth with someone else. Perth deserves better?. This boy is incredible and has the potential to deliver legendary roles as in Love by chance. As for Chimon, if he doesn't want to do a BL, better not cast him in one for the sake of popularity because it is showing in the character he acts.

Name and Saifah could have saved the show given more screen time. I am soo in love with them. BL couple or not ,they are really incredible
Summary: I am really dissapointed with the show, I really like episode 1and 2 though and after that it just went down.

Also let's take a moment to point out that why a very sensitive issue such as bullying was addressed soo poorly in the series. How come the kid who was bullied became soo good friends with the person who bullied him. Okay but, is it really okay? Was there any redemption or apologies? I don't know how to feel about it, seriously.

Note: Please give papang more lead roles. He is such a good actor and has soo much potential.

Leia Mais

A disappointing and wasted potential

This had so much potential to be a captivating enemies-to-lovers series, which I was very excited about. The pilot trailer showed great promise, and although the official trailer didn't quite live up to that excitement, I remained hopeful. However, the final product turned out to be a disappointment.
Initially, Sailom was likable due to his clever and witty attitude, but as the show progressed, he became increasingly dull. Kanghan, who was supposed to be a little mean, turned out to be a full-on bully. He even resorted to spreading rumors about Sailom being a p*dophile with the intention of getting him fired from his job.
I had hoped to see a gradual transformation and reflection from him, but that was not the case: The show attempted to portray Kanghan as someone with a good heart all along, whose rebellious behavior stemmed from his father's neglect. However, the overnight 180-degree change in his character to become the nicest and friendliest guy was highly unrealistic. Moreover, the relationship problems with his father were needlessly prolonged, almost turning his father into one of the main characters.
The initial chemistry between the two main leads was promising, but once they officially became a couple, the romance quickly lost its spark. It became apparent that Sailom's actor struggled with intimate scenes, resulting in uncomfortable and awkward moments for the viewers. Their bond began to feel more like a friendship, leaving every romantic scene unbearable to watch.
Furthermore, the plot was lazily written and lacked depth, failing to meet even the most basic expectations. It felt superficial and failed to delve into meaningful storytelling.
In conclusion, this series was a tremendous waste of its initial potential. Sailom's actor is not inherently bad, but his lack of versatility in romantic roles became clear, suggesting that he should focus on non-romantic roles in the future. On the other hand, Kanghan's actor truly carried the show and gave a commendable performance.

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Chimon Is Excellent. Perth Is Excellent. Separately

Perth was gold with Saint even though its been a long time. I am not a huge fan of Perth since the video dropped of LBC cast bullying openly gay Earth. Though Mean was the worse of them. Back To this train wreck of a series.

The Cast was great and the potential was there but somehow the drop the ball down a hill and legend is it's still rolling. At least it's replacement seems better. Here's to Jimmy and Sea helping at least me put this series where it belongs. in the past.

I will say though I prefer Mark with Cooper but Pawin is a close second and had they given them an actual story this series would have been worth it. The crumbs they gave this side couple is actually criminal.

Then an ending that was so corny it deserved a cob.

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I don't even know what to say

I mean, the rich boy has daddy issues and is dumb and the poor boy doesn't have parents and is a really good student, four clichès in one. I love Perths acting, it really reminds me of Khaotung, but Chimon on the other hand starts to feel forced at some point, like he didn't want to be there. They're chemistry is fine, but again Chimon's acting feels forced. I feel like this could have more potential.

Leia Mais

In the end, this show was only okay for me. Writing-wise, it was pretty weak. The actors were good, but they weren't given much chance to shine with the script they were given. I know a lot of people had problems with Chimon and Perth's chemistry, but I thought they could have been much better if they were in a better show.  

The plot kept flip flopping where it was intense for a few episodes, and then we had five episodes of pure fluff, and then the intensity came back for two episodes. It wasn't consistent, and it left the show feeling like it was lacking.

Still, I was happy that Chimon finally got a chance to be a lead in a non-ensemble show. And I thought Papang was incredible, and really he could be a leading man all on his own. I would happily watch a show starring him and Pepper as leads!

I'm not mad I watched it, but honestly I wouldn't recommend it unless you really love the actors or feel the need to watch every BL. As much as I love the actors, this one was pretty skippable.

Leia Mais

Good enough; could have been so much better

Dangerous Romance had all the ingredients for a fantastic BL feast so it feels sad that it didn't quite get there. PerthChimon have a playful, adoring chemistry. I can see it in the BTS and their live events. They nailed the confession scene in the rain, the the sweet cheek kisses on the bench and basically anytime they look or touch each other. They could not, however, sell the intimate scenes. Sorry, but Chimon can't deliver a passionate kiss. He is a fantastic actor but we all have our handicaps so maybe more workshops or use a different camera angle altogether. The two of them staring into each others' soul or the warm hugs were far more effective than the awkward kiss. It would have worked better if they intentionally showed a fumbling teenage kiss for that matter. The way the relationship developed between KangSailom was quite disjointed. The bullying arc was excellent, they sadly rushed the friendhip arc and went overboard with the lovers arc. They could easily spend 5 episodes on the "are we friends or more?" stage and coincidentally, PerthChimon give off that vibe perfectly. I could not get enough of the soundtrack but they used too many flashbacks in this series. The danger portion of the plot was a complete let-down and there were one too many plot holes. I love the second couple and the rest of the friend group. I just wished they spent more time on polishing the adapted script and the editing but overall, I did enjoy watching this series.

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Une belle surprise

Une belle surprise. Bons acteurs, belle alchimie, une relation top/bottom assez rare, pas de dominant du tout, bien au contraire, ils se complètent admirablement. Les acteurs, principaux et secondaires, sont supers. La réalisation est tout à fait honnête et même sérieuse, j'ai été assez étonnée par certains choix de plans qui montrent une volonté de mise en scène à laquelle je ne m'attendais pas. Je me suis néanmoins demandé si j'allais continuer le drama après le premier épisode, puisque cela parle de harcèlement scolaire et que c'est assez violemment mis en scène (ce qui est parfait cela dit car il n'y a aucune volonté d'arrondir les angles), mais PerthChimon et MarcPawin m'ont convaincu de continuer.

Le drama aborde deux grosses problématiques : le harcèlement scolaire et la division de la société entre riches et pauvres, et ce que cela engendre dans les relations humaines et dans l'avancement d'une société (l'attitude des professeurs, les lycéens obéissants, la réaction du père de Kang face à Saifah...), Kang et Sailom étant finalement une représentation plus large d'une division sociétale. Il est néanmoins un peu facile d'avoir fait le choix manichéen de diviser riches et pauvres en méchants et gentils, surtout que, et c'est la critique la plus importante que je pourrais faire au drama, l'évolution de Kang, Nawa et Max est trop abrupte, incompréhensible et incohérente, ils passent quasiment du jour au lendemain de "super bullies" à on est tous amis (ou presque). Après certains personnages secondaires viennent remettre en question ce manichéisme (la grand-mère, Pimfah, les chasseurs de dettes...)

J'ai par ailleurs, et c'est vraiment un détail, bien aimé la manipulation scénaristique autour du père, qui peut décevoir sur le moment (tout ça pour ça), mais qui correspond finalement à la perception de Kang tout au long du drama.
Un petit regret sur le personnage de Name qui aurait pu être plus prégnant, que ce soit en terme de présence, d'antagonisme ou de relationnel avec Saifah. J'aime bien l'idée d'un ship PepperPapang.
Et un gros regret concernant le titre du drama, que je trouve au mieux mauvais au pire ridicule. Ça m'a fait penser à un titre de film Hallmark et la série vaut vraiment mieux que ça (sans vouloir critiquer les films Hallmark).

Leia Mais

Had me in the first half, ngl

Only slight spoilers ahead.

I've been watching this while it was airing and now that it's over, I have to say I'm a little disappointed. Let me start off by saying the cast nailed its job - everyone brought their characters alive, made them believable, and the chemistry (not only between the main leads) was great. That's not where my problem with the show lies.

The story starts very strongly. We have Sailom, a boy whose family is poor and who has to work alongside going to school, yet he never complains and we even see him be very grateful and happy with what he already has. Then we have Kang, who is a spoilt rich brat and who takes out his own personal issues on others by bullying them. Their paths cross and I love, LOVE how Sailom never gives in to Kang, how he stands strong, his chin up, even making Kang seem like a fool and giving him a taste of his own medicine. Then, after a certain incident, these two are forced to work together - aka Sailom tutoring Kang as a sort of punishment from his grandmother.

The first half of the show is really nice. We see the boys growing closer, one falling sooner than the other, and before they realize it they're fighting the world together. We learn how it really is with Kang and why he is the way he is, we see him work on his past mistakes and growing into a better person. Stuff happens, misunderstandings happen, love triangle happens - all of those things I was still thrilled to watch. (I saw people complaining about how fast Sailom fell for Kang considering all the nasty sht he's done to him, and to be honest, I kinda agree, but I think this was largely messed up by the pacing of the show and time jumps.)

Then, towards the end, things start to escalate and somehow I'm starting to question what happened to the original plot? We're fighting mafia now? Like I know it's called "Dangerous Romance" but I guess I misunderstood where the danger part lies on the equation. And on top of that, characters now start to act differently than where their development was leading up to - Kang switches emotions and opinions left and right, Saifah throws all his love for his brother out of the window, like where did this come from?

I like that pretty much every issue that occurred in the series was solved very quickly and it didn't drag. However, some things seemed a little rushed. Sometimes it felt like there must've been some scenes cut from the broadcast or the time jumped without notice, making me question "Okay but didn't you have a different opinion on this 10 minutes ago?". It became messy and inconsistent in some parts, which was a shame.

Another two issues I had were flashbacks and the use of music. About the first one... Did we really need any of them? Serious question. Like ok.. if you give me a flashback in ep 10 about something that happened in ep 2, I'm perfectly ok with that. But is it necessary to show me something I saw in the last episode or even a few minutes ago? Come on. Perth and Chimon are both skillful enough to convey needed emotions without the editors making 100% sure we remember that Kang had given Sailom his beloved blue umbrella three times in one hour. And about the latter, I actually want to clarify that I'm a huge fan of the OST for this show, it's just the way they used it that bothers me. The main song, "Wind" (sang by Chimon), stole my heart before I even started watching the show, but they definitely overused it. Sad scene, funny scene, romantic scene, you name it, they played it there. Idk, it just took away the magic and purpose of it for me. Sometimes there was a character sad and we got a rather cheerful music over it - now what is that, why don't you fuel my sorrow and make me bawl my eyes out more? Somebody in the production team messed this up and I need them fired.

I would say.. sometimes the scenes just didn't hit the way they were supposed to. I'm not sure what was the main reason, whether the pacing, the music, or whatever.

Now that the rant is over, let's get back to positives.
I wasn't part of the "will Perth and Chimon work well on camera as a couple?" train cs tbh, I had no idea they were gonna play together until DR was announced, but as soon as I saw them I had no doubt they would nail this. I love them both as individuals and as actors, and I had no doubt about their chemistry. (And if you didn't enjoy their kissing scenes cs they weren't hot enough according to your standards, I guess ask yourself what you watch each show for and if it's able to provide it to you.)
Guy and Nawa, oh dear, they were awesome. I enjoyed their story so much, from enemies to friends (in question) to love interests, I ate their scenes and felt hungry whenever they ended. I'm thrilled to see these two work together in the future.
Pimfah, although she's been done dirty later on, she was awesome. Actual good human being, luckily not just a love interest to stirr things up but a good friend to both Kang and Sailom. She was great, along with the real powerhouse of the series, the GRANDMA.
Saifah, although they butchered his character towards the end as well, I loved his moments at Kang's house where he showed how deeply he cared for his brother. It must've been hard for him as well, taking care of both himself and Sailom, from relatively early age.
All school friends of both main leads were great and I loved how we saw them - with kind of pressure, haha - hang out together even when KangSailom weren't present. Even through they started off as enemies, they were able to maturely leave past in the past and move on.

It started off as a 10 for me but ended up falling down to 6-7. I still enjoyed it but I wish it was written better. It shouldn't have been called Dangerous Romance... If they cut the "dangerous" part and focused more on Kang's character development from bully to Sailom's bf and their relationship overall, I think it would be much better. Although it has its flaws, It's still a show worth watching.

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Went downhill after the first episodes

I really enjoyed the first 3-4 episodes and I was expecting Dangerous Romance to become one of my favorites. I usually enjoy enemy-to-lovers-tropes a lot, even if they are a bit basic, however I'm really disappointed with how this storyline is progressing.
First of all, the plot feels really rushed. The guys became friends in almost no time, even after some (almost) unforgivable actions from Kanghan. What bothers me the most though, is the unnecessary drama between Ploy, Kanghan and Silom. Ploy confessed her feelings for Silom out of nowhere and Kanghan's feelings for Ploy felt really forced. The entire love triangle is just too messy.
Episode 6 was super boring and the kiss felt rushed.
I was really looking forward to a cute romance between Ploy and the teacher but making Ploy like Silom kind of ruined that for me as well and I don't want to keep watching at this point.

All in all: It's hard to enjoy Dangerous Romance because it doesn't give you enough time to explore the depths of each character and feels very superficial.

Leia Mais

Without wind, how can a windmill spin?

The trailer got me very excited, it seemed angsty and gloomy with a dash of action. And interesting combination that the series sadly didn’t deliver. The first two, three episodes were much more in line with the trailer, but it went downhill after that.

I feel like the first thing that needs to be addressed is a title. There was a lot of complaints on how the title makes no sense, and when it comes to the English title, I must agree. The direct translation of the Thai title would be “Heart in the Wind” and it’s a play on the fact that Sailom means wind. But they tried to make the title more interesting in English which sadly ended up doing them more harm than good. This is not just Dangerous Romance problem, but it’s something we see with a lot of series and movies. It’s not even limited only to Thai productions, even Hollywood titles translations are often very questionable.

I will be honest; I am usually not a fan of bully x victim romances. I don’t think that type of relationship is the kind that we should romanticize. The same goes for the idea that a little boy will pull a little girl’s hair because he likes her. It doesn’t work that way. However, I really liked how Sailom didn’t bow down to Kang from the start. He was well aware of the fact that he was in an inferior position, but he had his pride and was not going to let Kang walk all over him. I think that made it easier to swallow the premise of a bully and his victim getting together. Also, the fact that they went out of their way to make sure Kang was not as cruel to Sailom as he was to Auto, nor nearly as long for.

Kang & Sailom: Kang is a spoiled rich brat. At least that is what he shows himself as, but that seems to be (at least partially) a front that he puts up. He does struggle a lot with people not having any expectations from him and his father always paying for Kang to get what he wants. No expectations are just as detrimental to a person as too high expectations. Sailom doesn’t come from money, and he is working hard to finish school, get into a good university and to help his brother pay off their family’s debt. He is both book smart and street smart. But he also hides a part of himself. Sometimes his bravery is just an act to hide how vulnerable and scared he is. Their relationship progressed too fast for my liking; they went from enemies to lovers in a very short time. Sailom did appear very reluctant when it came to their relationship, was very guarded. And I hated how that translated through the screen. I also didn’t like how Kang reacted at certain times. He was unreliable, rash, and confusing both to himself and to others. But I also understand why he acted that way based on his upbringing. He is used to everything being easy for him. That does not excuse how quickly Sailom forgave him. There should have been some begging. Perth and Chimon have good chemistry, but I don’t think that really showed in the series. And a lot of that has to do with Sailom’s reluctancy when it comes to showing affection to his boyfriend. Some of the emotional scenes were done better than others, but I wasn’t too bothered by that.

I do think that Sailom was that push Kang needed to better himself, to really see how his actions affect those around him. There was one specific scene in which Kang was a witness to violence and not the instigator. It might not have been bullying per se, but it was close enough. He was put into a very different position, and I do think that made him question his own behavior to some point.

Guy & Nawa: I have mixed feelings about the two. On one hand, I think they make a great couple, but on the other hand, I hate that they too started as bully x victim. It wasn’t really something that just happened for the first time like it was with Kang and Sailom. The two are very similar and I think that’s what makes them work. They are competitive, loyal and thrive on egging the other one. Plus they are absolutely adorable together! Marc and Pawin have great chemistry and it’s always fun seeing the two together.

Napdao & Pimfah: they were a couple that has been often hinted at but weren’t fully established as a couple. Again, I am not a fan of the whole teacher x student pairings. That just gives me an ick. However, with Napdao being a student teacher there is much of an age gap between the two. I do feel like Napdao is more of a student than a teacher, so that makes it a bit better, especially as the whole power imbalance is taken out of the equation. I do find them kind of cute together. And even more adorable if I try to picture them in a few months when they are both at university.

I liked the other side characters as well, even with their many flaws. Auto and Max were the third members of our two friend groups. They were both quite fun and supportive of their friends and their (stupid) ideas. Saifah was interesting, I do regret that his story was not explored more. He appeared as a slightly grey character, and I quite enjoyed that. Name was another complex character that we didn’t get to know enough about. I think that giving us more background on Saifa’s and Name’s past would make it easier to understand their story. Kang’s grandma was amazing! She was very supportive of her grandson and really showed her lover for him, but she also didn’t turn a blind eye to his wrong doings. She held him responsible and had realistic expectations for him. Kang’s father might appear as a not-so-great father, but he is only trying to make life easy for his son. He doesn’t want him to worry or suffer. And while his way of doing things is questionable, he is doing it because he loves his son.

I do think a lot of aspects of the series were either rushed or thrown in just for the drama. I think we would have all benefited from a problem or two less, and some more time spent on character growth and relationship building. I also think there were a lot of flashbacks that were not necessarily needed, especially when they were about the things that have happened recently. However, that doesn’t mean that all of them were misplaced.

There were also a lot of typical and cliché rom-com scenes – from the falling and catching scenes, to near kisses, and rain confessions. It had it all.

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