Boyband (2023)

Had a potential however poorly presented

I would describe my feelings about the series
The series starts very hard with numerous of hilarious encounters and very relatable moments. The episode made me feel like I really was part of the series. It got my interest from the begining and really seemed as it would be a no skip drama due it's unique concept which is based onto the nowadays most talked topic Idols.
Actors did well while portraying the characters yet short series and lack of screen time made it unable to develop anything, as for the production there were minor problems with some editing the biggest problem was it's shortness.
As the drama could have an amazing impact similar to KinnPorshe , I mean due it's interesting plot and story as well could have gained a lot from international audience in this part it flopped on many segments.
1st Story is packed in too short screen time. A lot of time skip. So developing a story not talking about love or characters is limited to the presented screen time.
2nd Actors due the reason above to properly get to know the character they are portraying. If developed properly they would be able to perform better get deeper into a characters.
3rd No feeling of the romance , unreasonable development of the love between characters.
4th Too much a mess there is a lot of everything but what drama stated it is it' basically not there. Struggles poorly presented, Shades done by other trainees well could have been done better. The most imoprtant love between characters there mostly is nothing.
5th Company not prepared for the interest from international fans as well Company taking the most popular topic and flopping it.
6th Companies treatment toward international fans as after one episode released they let international fans to wait for a week just to tell them that they aren't able to watch it and they weren't prepared for such an interest from Us. For me sorry but it's seems like bullsh** but really it looks like this excuse was well worthy cause this one had gem story but it didn't get justice.

As from me I would do it differently , this should be atleast 12ep drama where even the actors can get to know characters better. I would write a novel under that topic we will see.

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Waste of time

Well. Had potential but it was a total waste of time. The story doesn't move. Full of gimmicks, if they had used all the fast pace to present the story this could have been much better. Add to it the sudden decision to block it for payment instead of initial YouTube release and suddenly ending it on cliffhanger just doesn't generate enough curiosity to want a second season. Rather felt like, "Finally, its over! ". The acting was one of the plus points, also location cinematography. But otherwise it was zilch. No character development,no story progression, nothing. The characters & story was linear at best. Music should have been better as it is a boyband show but the only thing I remember is Fluke's cameo and the last duet. Gave one point for Fluke. There are better shows available out there.

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Это было красиво, но дайте еще серию

Потрясающий ромком с примесью тоски и временами боли. Помню как была огорчена, что его остановили и показывали только в Японии и Таиланде. Думала уже не увижу продолжения. Да и концовка 6-ой серии (заключительной как бы) оставляет желание еще на пару серий. Весь актерский состав был потрясающий, что в последнее время редкость стало. Сюжет и вроде знаком нам по Корее, но все-таки новый. С первого эпизода меня затянуло и я ждала выхода. Этот сериал не только о том, что творится там - за кулисами, здесь много пропитано мудростью, чувством, психологией. Ведь даже концовка дает нам очень хороший показатель разных людей. Для кого жизнь это только деньги и власть и манипуляции, а для кого-то важнее человек. Я очарована этой работой. Актеры. Зубом, Джеймин. Два потрясающих талантливых парня. Показали отличную актерскую игру. Прекрасная музыка, отличные танцы и много красивых моментов и смешных. Я, действительно довольна этой работой.

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Estava tudo bem, até o final estragar tudo

Essa não foi uma das séries mais esperadas por mim, pra ser sincera, eu nem sabia da existência do trailler. Quando começou, fiquei interessada por causa do plot diferente, não tem muitos clichês, sem falar no excesso de homem bonito.
O roteiro realmente é bem escrito. Os "mistérios" são realmente chocantes quando vem à tona, o que faz o espectador suspeitar de tudo e todos. Eu jamais desconfiaria de Top, como jamais desconfiaria do final, até imaginava que o 4, que já demonstravam sinais de mal caratismo fossem aprontar algo, mas não da forma como fizeram.

Gostaria de falar dos assuntos abordados. Primeiro, óbvio, a forma como a indústria trata os idols, fazendo com que abandonem suas vidas pela esperança de um debut que pode jamais vir a acontecer. Outra coisa é que sempre a imposição que parece vir primeiro é a restrição de relacionamentos, o que alimenta fandons tóxicos que não separam o profissional do pessoal.

Outro ponto é o machismo retratado no casamento de Serena. Obviamente ela só queria se livrar de um casamento falido, mas seu ex marido tenta a punir de todas as formas por ela tê-lo deixado, como se o fato dela ser mulher a obrigasse a suportar tudo o que ele quisesse.

Também não posso deixar de observar a exploração financeira de pessoas milionárias contra quem não tem dinheiro, como o que o marido de Serena fez com Top, deixando claro que pra ele o dinheiro não fazia diferença, contando que ele a prejudicasse.

Sobre os meninos, é possível observar que existem aspirantes a idols que passam por cima de quem quer que seja para poderem alcançar seus objetivos, e que infelizmente nem sempre a honestidade vence.

Mais um ponto: a homofobia é escancarada! O fato se usarem o relacionamento de Top e Juju para descredibilizarem Serena, como se o que eles tinham fosse algo errado, é um reflexo da homofobia que reina na Tailândia.
Falando no nosso casal, amei cada minuto deles. A química é latente, aliás, todo o elenco tem química e combina perfeitamente cm seus personagens, as brigas são muito reais, e bato palmas para as cenas de vilania e autoritarismo, assim como os de dança e música, pois são muito bem feitas.

Os aspectos técnicos não deixam a desejar. Desde a excelente atuação, ost, fotografia, filmografia, tudo está muito bom.
Minha única crítica é sobre o final aberto. Na verdade quando vi que seriam apenas 6 eps eu já deveria ter desconfiado, mas vou esperar que tudo isso seja por causa de uma segunda temporada, já que é injusto para o público não saber o que houve com os grupos, sobre o relacionamento, como os fãs receberam a notícia, sobre a disputa de Serena e o ex, Enfim, recomendo a série, mas não tenha expectativas sobre o final, pois apesar de ser bombástico e inesperado, deixa muito em aberto.

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É... não deu galera

Nossa, são tantas nuances a serem pontuadas nesse BL que eu mal sei por onde começar, mas acredito que falar que ele foi completamente corrido e sem sentido é um bom start.

Fazer um bl com um tema tão interessante mas com pouco tempo de desenvolvimento faz com que no fim do dia tudo saia meio méh, e foi exatamente isso o que aconteceu nessa série. A proposta é realmente mostrar a dificuldade dos trainees enquanto estão em rumo ao seu estrelato mas você não pode deixar a trama somente nisso, torna a obra cansativa e sempre na mesmice, tinha momentos que eu me perguntava: "ué, to vendo bl mesmo?". Em diversos momentos senti que nunca chegaria a parte romântica ou no mínimo a parte da junção do casal principal.

Depois de passar 4 episódios (a série tem 6) a gente tem uma junção do casal de forma tão banal, tão sem sentido, tão... sei lá, sem graça! O potencial era bem evidente mas se perdeu completamente, não sei se é um enemies to lovers, friends to lovers ou o que mais poderia ser, ficou confuso demais, do nada temos alí uma confissão... Sério, pra que? Se você não tem planejamento de desenvolvimento então não faça um bl onde os principais começam brigando, porque o desenvolvimento é a chave principal para esse trama, ter a falta disso só faz uma perda de tempo.

Mas apesar dos apesares, a série também traz pontos positivos, como por exemplo as músicas, eu gostei demais da trilha sonora desse bl, são boas pra ouvir,

Outro ponto positivo são as atuações do cast secundário, poxa eu arrisco dizer que gostei bem mais dos personagens secundários do que do elenco principal.

Em sumo:
Plot: Foi bacana, deu uma surpresa mas não foi lá essas coisas;
Personagens: pouco cativante;
Roteiro: qual roteiro?

Eu recomendo esse BL para quem quer ver algo mais rápido mas saiba que o desenvolvimento é escancaradamente lento, quase inexistente.

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No cumple lo que promete en la sinopsis

La trama de la serie es muy buena y promete un romance de lo más interesante, pero en realidad APENAS si hay romance. Está serie está centrada sobre todo en visibilizar el esfuerzo de los idols por debutar, las exigencias de la industria (lo cual me gustó) y hasta lo forros que pueden llegar a ser entre compañeros por pura competencia, pero no el romance. La pareja es solo un condimento más en la enorme cantidad de personajes y problemáticas que plantea está serie, ya que ni tiene tiempo de pantalla, tampoco desarrollo, solo de pronto parecen enamorarse y fin, no hay más.
El que mucho abarca poco aprieta, y este es un ejemplo, siquiera termine de entender cual era el punto central de la serie por tanta cantidad de cosas.
Y como si fuera poco, el final parece más un trailer que otra cosa, esta como cortado y te hace sentir como si fuera una pérdida de tiempo.

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on hold - lack of official international release

Note: I have taken off a full point from my initial review for the unprofessionalism regarding the change of platform/airing plans. All of this should have been worked out before the series aired, not changed partway through. Currently only those in Japan and Thailand have a way to watch this series.

Overall: this appears to be a solid romcom with a dash of angst. First episode aired on YouTube, company posted they will not post future episodes on YouTube. 10 episodes about 40 minutes each.

Content Warnings: none so far

What I Liked
- clear set up and then that it was a flashback
- funny parts
- Bas's cameo
- a bit of mystery at the end of the beginning part in the present, and then we'll see later what exactly is happening between them
- sword scene was fun
- don't think we've had a romcom BL about a boyband group forming yet

Room For Improvement
- the hardcoded subtitles would be better as YouTube softsubs so they are larger, easier to see and people could auto translate into their own language
- felt a bit slow in parts and I watched on a faster speed

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Excellent but too short!

And even though the beginning of the first episode can serve as the epilogue and a happy ending, we need another episode to make it evident. I really don't know why the producers dropped this drama: they ran out of money? Still they should have made it available to international audiences because the story is interesting, gripping and the series is too bloody short! And I want to know why they seem to want to forget about it! I just hope that it did not ruin the actors' careers.

Recently I read a book called If This Gets Out about a boy band members who fell in love and that's why I wanted to watch this. This drama can serve as a prequel telling the story of an idol gruelling training camp. The story follows a number of trainees and the way they deal with the pressure and ambition and how far they are willing to go in order to succeed. They are all shepherded by Serena who is on the surface cruel, strict and unforgiving but has a right moral core and knows what is actually needed to be an idol and survive in this cut-throat world! So over a year she train 20 young men. By the end only 10 remain.

I have no idea how this world works but I think they managed to explain it to me how hard it is to become an idol and what an extraordinary amount of work is needed in order to make it. But it is not only difficult for idols, the executives are also a bad lot and they may stab each other in the back like Serena's ex did to her.

Beside training and practising, there are a couple of love stories in the background and they were both sweet. One is Ken who spends a year pining after their singing coach, just making up reasons to talk to her. The other one is of course the bl one, we are all watching this for! Top and Juju are young men from different walks of life brought together by the same love of singing and dancing. Top is a bit older and is more mature and Juju grows in his presence. Their relationship is slow, sweet and normal. They clicked together from the first time they met and Top's cool head helped Juju calm down and see a bigger picture.

The drama takes place over a period of one year and therefore there have been some time jumps completely out of the blue. The first 5 episodes are during the first 3 months of training and then the final episode skips to the last week of it. Nevertheless they managed to say a lot in these six short episodes, there was never a dull moment, not a second was wasted.

The actors are all excellent and I hope to see them in other works. Soon please! I would like to single out the actor who played Juju: pretending not to know how to do something when you do, is extremely difficult! The rest of the cast deserve just as much praise but of course Zubom and Jaymin have stolen my heart!

The boys' final audition was amazing and made me think of Glee by the skilful way it was choreographed and presented (black & white costumes ...wink, wink!). The production was quite good: filming and acting top notch. So why did they have to go and have a screeching trans character (or are they really present all over thai entertainment industry?) and the pesky sound effects. What I liked on the other hand, were silly visual effects: elephants running over the screen and dashes encircling certain items on the screen.

I want more!

Finally, I would like to thank the fansubbers below for subbing this series in italian.
https://pinkmilkmonster.blogfree.net/?t=6440036

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A dream and a forbidden love

Every year, the music industry launches numerous boy bands around the world to make their international debut. Other industries, also dedicated to entertainment, such as television, always at the forefront, have not been left behind, in the effort to tell us about the creation and evolution of these groups.
And if, along with this, they address stories of overcoming and forbidden love between members of said bands, the public awaits them with greater interest.
That is why today we remember 'Boyband The Series', a Thai audiovisual characterized by its excellent performances, a dream soundtrack and enviable scenery.
Its premiere took place in February 2023, and with 6 episodes lasting approximately 45 minutes each, we are introduced to Top, played by Phiphat Wichasu (Zubom), in his first acting role, a young man who has had to make an effort in life to be able to pay the debt contracted by his father, in addition to paying for the medical treatment of his mother, a disabled woman after suffering a traffic accident, and also paying for the education of his minor sister. To get ahead, he has had to work as a waiter, elephant keeper and sword fighter.
Top will have the opportunity to travel from Khon Kaen, Isaan province, to Bangkok, to become an artist under World Star, the company of Khun Serena (Metinee Kingpayome - Lukkade), the queen of the entertainment industry, through a singing, dancing and acting contest, which in addition to artistic skills, will evaluate the behavior and attitudes of the contestants.
This trip into the competition represents a new stage in his life for Top, full of surprises that he is willing to accept without hesitation, because in addition to competing against a hundred young people to obtain one of the six positions in dispute, he will meet Juju (Theerachet Yanwantana - Jaymin), the impulsive son of a wealthy family, with whom our protagonist will live a forbidden romance, because the contest imposes a rule on the participants: "Artists are prevented from establishing romantic relationships with each other."
With a chemistry that transcends the screen, Top will help Juju deal with her main problem: her father's refusal to accept her fulfilling her dream of becoming an idol.
One of the aspects that attract attention in this dramatic, romantic, musical and youth comedy with LGBTIQ+ themes is Top's constant race in pursuit of Juju. The unforgettable sequence of Zubom on the motorcycle arriving, with delays, to the place of the band's debut, among the first scenes, while the music directed and composed by Terdsak Janpan for the series plays in the background, is one of the vertices about the that a plot is articulated, which will lead us to other chases, such as that of Top behind Juju's car in an unfortunate first encounter in which the two come out as enemies.
There will also be other chases, such as the chase that is not after Juju, but with Juju, to rescue Juju's bag that the motorcyclists intend to steal, or the race to prevent Juju from fighting with other contestants, due to the risk of being disqualified.
Another race is when Top follows Juju to the latter's mother's house in Krabi, the boy requiring his authorization to continue in the competition.
Each step in those runs brings them closer to each other, and not only from the point of view of shortening the distance.
Top and Juju are joined by Jeff (Arm Boonyavanit - AP), the typical prankster that everyone will want to have by their side to have fun; Ryu (Pakpoom Juanchainat - Art), the famous dancer with many followers on social networks, Ken (Intouch Kooramasuwan - Intouch), the brilliant singer who will fall in love with the singing teacher, and Atom (Wasin Suungkavathin - Aom), the boy seriously focused on his art.
These young people, along with Sun (Natthanun Kurusatienpron - Man), Kampun (Phutawan Yamsai - Tawan); Tiger (Phicaphop Khamnanak - Auto), Pokpong (Patchapol Bhamornbuth - Tong) and Yok (Athiphat Arkrawarachotihiran - Nice), will fight to join the world-class boy band, and will undergo intense training in singing, dancing and acting, as part of the fierce competition that would allow them to achieve their dreams.
As in all competitions, there will be envy and professional jealousy that will play dirty and, through cheating and disloyalty, will try to get others to abandon. Likewise, there are those who will rejoice in the stumble and fall of their rival so that they do not continue in the fight, but there are also those with wise advice and timely encouragement, those who will not mind helping those who do not master the technique or those who He has suffered a blow to his foot that prevents him from dancing well.
We are not looking at the classic BL (hence surely the low rating of the drama), because 'Boyband The Series' aims much higher by exposing problems inherent to the entertainment industry, such as the corrupting power of money to buy artists trained in other agencies , the pressure from managers towards future idols with promises that are not always fulfilled, topics that are rarely addressed in series of the genre, with the exception of 'Call It What You Want I' and some others.
The series, directed by Dome Jade Bunyoprakarn ('My Dear Gangster Oppa', 'Together with Me', 'Bad Romance'), also reflects another theme equally little or poorly portrayed in Thai BL. I mean homophobia. Top and Juju's budding love relationship is used for the purposes of not only causing harm to them, but also to Khun Serena.
And here the series contributes to the struggle of the Thai LGBTIQ+ community, because although discrimination against the members of that human group persists in that country, the initial scenes of the series, which take us to the moment of the meeting of both young people before their debut , shows us that the revelation of their romance will not stop them from moving forward.
Two other main characters are Madame Pauly (Anon Saisangcharn - Pu), in charge of convincing Khun Serena to return to talent training after a period away from the agency she created, after the breakup of her marriage to Phanu (Maethanee Buranasiri - Nino), a manager in the entertainment industry to whom anything goes if he can punish his ex-wife.
Madame Pauly also has the mission of searching for contest candidates and serving as a judge for the competitions.
The writing of the scripts is carried out by Piangpaitoon Satrawaha – May), known for being the screenwriter of 'Naughty Babe' and 'Hormones Season 2', among other series, who in 'Boyband The Seires' plays the judge and teacher My .
Throughout the series, Serena, Pauly and My act as judges and guides in the training of the contestants, imitating the style of programs like "American Idols": while the former acts as an infallible judge, with a reputation for being a "strong hand" , there are always some performances that allow us to see their most sensitive and fair side, because although difficult to convince, they have sound recommendations that are usually accepted and applied by all those who aspire to join the band.
Everything seems fine to My, while Madame Pauly is the one who tries to be objective and lets herself be carried away by her criteria, to which she is always faithful. The actor who plays Madame does not believe in gender stereotypes that pigeonhole men who play very effeminate characters, like his. Lukkade and Pu's performances spice up the series.
'Boyband The Series' darkens in the final episode, with a discussion on stage after the winning team is announced, which contributes little to the closure of the story. It is very unlikely that what happened took place in real life, much less in the grotesque way it was portrayed. These disputes are ultimately aired in court.
Another reason that worked against 'Boyband The Series' was that it aired alongside other popular ThaiBL, such as 'Never Let Me Go', 'My School President' and 'Moonlight Chicken'. It is also not helped by the difficulties that the public has in accessing audiovisuals with English subtitles.
The series brings us as a bonus the possibility of meeting several BL stars who show their faces as guest artists. These include Copter Phanuwat, Bas Suradej Pinnirat, Max Kornthas Rujeerattanavorapan, Fluke Natouch Siripongthon and Peter Knight.
Love triangles, forbidden romances, infatuations between contestants and teachers, seductions of judges to try to be favored by them, villains who steal talents just to cause harm, young people who fight to achieve their dreams, self-realization, personal and spiritual growth, diversity Sexuality, acceptance, homophobia, among other themes, appear in a very well written script, despite the aforementioned slips and others.
Top and Juju have a dream. The realization of it comes to the first almost by chance, when he no longer had hope after his uncertain initial steps in Korea. Juju won't stop until he reaches it. And both manage, by putting one brick on top of another, to build together that dream life that grows together with romantic love.

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an interesting plot reminded me a lot of DREAM HIGH.
It's good to see that BL have dramas other than the classics.
to start very well let's see how it develops.
So far it has captured my interest.
and adding guest characters makes it very peculiar.
which reminds me even more of DREAM HIGH.
I still can't give a score to the actors. I'll wait for the other episodes and I'll write my review again.
but it is already a series that captures my interest since it has another dynamic and explores new options in performances.
waiting to see the development.

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