High School Frenemy (2024)

Intense, Emotional and Impactful

Human minds are biologically wired to be drawn towards the "unknown" and I must say that this has unintentionally worked excellently in favor of this series. Since this has never happened before with any other series, the audience had a "novel" experience.

"Novelty" is also something that human minds are biologically wired to be drawn towards. It is clear that the creators did not anticipate or expect such a high rate of success and such an overwhelming response from the audience.

I have always liked watching stories with the enemies to friends/lovers trope, but this one does it exceptionally well without being explicit about what exactly the relationship between the leads is. It dangerously but effectively treads the fine line between friendship and romance which drives the audience crazy.

It is this "unknown" factor of their relationship that keeps the intrigue and engagement of the audience ongoing, as this "unknown" factor gives room for interpretation and imagination of the human mind to run wild.

Thus objectively speaking, the interpretation depends on the perception of the person who is watching it. My subjective interpretation based on my perception is that, this is a strong platonic bond of love between 2 boys.

Now that the elephant in the room is addressed, I would like to talk about specific points that I feel important to say.

I somehow feel that this series would not have been able to achieve this amount of success on the basis of its plot alone. The plot is definitely good and addresses some serious social issues, but it does have its shortcomings.

Not all issues are effectively or convincingly resolved. Also, one has to suspend disbelief in certain situations to be able to enjoy it to the fullest. I felt that some of the side characters did not have enough screen time to resolve certain conflicts convincingly (Peeta, Peeta's Mother, Ken, Ken's Father, Knot, Nate). Some of them lacked depth in their personalities (Thiu, First, Tangmay, Ging)

It is actually the actors and their performances that have stood out and have made this series a success. All the actors are great in their roles, even if some of them do not get enough screen time or lack depth in their personalities.

The chemistry between the leads is extraordinary and magical. Their acting talent is amazing and the portrayal of complex emotions just through the expressions in their eyes, facial features and body language even without voicing them, are outstanding and mesmerizing. Their screen presence alone oozes charisma and magnetism.

There is no way that the audience would not be affected by such awesomeness. So I'm not surprised that this series is a massive hit.

Leia Mais

VERY GOOD series... but something is misssing... :)))

I really think this is the great series, good acting, I like, no I LOVE, the main "couple", they are awsome together, I'd like to see them in the real BL series, it could be a continuation of this one I think. :)) Sky and Nani are so natural together, the way they look at each other gives me a goosbumps... and Nani's eyes... OMG!!! He could tell everything with his eyes, this was really incredible. And though it wasn't a BL series, the tension and chemistry between them was like in classic BL, only some romantic scenes were missing. So maybe someone made a mistake calling this series a Bromance?.... Sometimes in real BL we can't see such a fantastic bond and chemistry between actors in the main couple... I hope we'll see them soon in a fantastic series as a REAL couple, if not it would be a waste of talent and unique chemistry. So GMMTV PLEASE consider it. :)))
I also must admit that Mark Pakin as a Chatjen did a fantastic job!!! I know him from other series where he was aslo great, but here his acting was really something. He played a quiet boy who at first glance seems a bit withdrawn and strange, as if autistic or slightly mentally limited. At the same time, incredibly sensitive and almost physically feeling the pain of other people, especially his friends. His observations and ideas are very accurate and mature. Mark was really great, he played brilliantly. The other supporting actors also were very good, so the series is really WORTH WATCHING!

Leia Mais

Testing a new BL couple?

In the midst of rave reviews, I want to put out my own review here just for those who may be feeling how I'm feeling right now should they watch this show. If you fall into what feels like an isolated alien corner with this show, hello, I am here too.

I really, really wanted to like this and perhaps I'm most angry with myself for not understanding the hype. This show felt like I had put my brain through a vice. It was a class in all the tropes, I now know that I really hate.

The most obvious case being the school bullying, which can be very triggering for those who were physically bullied at school. But hopefully you are self aware enough of your triggers to know that before clicking play. I am, and still hated the bullies. I don't want to see them redeemed. I don't care about them.

But with that said, I was bored silly. This is basically a gang war with delinquent kids, which makes the immersion a little difficult, if real minors acted like this, they would be in a detention centres.
These are the 'hopeless case' kids that make everyone abandon them because they are so insufferable in the name of being tough and cool. They are headed for a gang and jail later in life. So the idea is for us as the viewer to find some sort of compassion in our dried up hearts for these kids and their circumstances. One group has taken in the autistic kid. Yes, and? Why are they still assholes to everyone else? They walked into the classroom ready to hate because of the whole campuses are at war for 16 years. *sigh* That kind of logic does exist in reality and perhaps it's why seeing it here just wore down my attention. Everyone living in a bubble counting the scores.

The male teacher was a student there so he knows how to handle the class (and probably the guy who started the war in the first place) but his teaching logic is basically, you just need to pass the exam, don't worry about the subject, which defeats the point of being a teacher. That's not a successful student to me. He's a product of his schooling. You don't need to learn, just win, which is what the principal is doing to her own son. Put him into the troubled youth class so he'll naturally be the top. No effort needed. Forget about how violent and abusive these students are. And they wonder why the school is a school for thugs?

I also had a math teacher like this. If it wasn't on the exam, dont worry about it. No wonder I failed my math 3 times because i didn't learn anything. I was taught how to answer questions. That's not teaching and is another personal irk for me as a viewer.

You'll probably hate every character except Mark's because he's the sweet one, he's just loyal to Shin. I loved Only Friends, so toxic characters aren't really the trigger here. I just couldn't find it in me to care about these ones. Again, maybe because they're school kids, and I just see my own bullies, I dont know.

When the real Tsunami is finally revealed, he conveniently destroys all the minions single handedly until the top dog with crazy eyes starts fighting. So of course, he's more of a challenge. Not to mention mom slapping Tsunami across the face after he saved her, her daughter and her son's life from this gang. If he had chosen to stay away as you insisted lady, you would have dead children right now. So there's another irk. The non sensical parent trope.

The three bullies who are starting everything, are scared to have their parents find out about their bullying but they want to join a drug gang? They kidnapped and beat the crap out of their class mate and are in school the next day like nothing happened. The adults are very conveniently placed in this show. They are there when the plot needs them to be. They care when only when it drives the plot.

And finally, the bromance. I like a bromance. This isn't a BL and personally, don't even see the gay happening and I dont care enough to keep watching to wait for it.
I see an angry young lout who opened up to his friend once and was physically beaten by him at some point and now won't forgive him. That seems pretty fair to me. What broke my interest was the chase. It was the old follow and force myself into his space until he eventually forgives me. This annoys me in a romantic sense, so it's good to know that it works platonically too lol
I don't see loving stares either. I see anger, hate and desperation.

I only made it episode 5 before I decided I just cant do it. This is really not for me. I can suspend belief for those heroic uplifting moments but I feel like this show was asking me to do that quite a lot and I don't enjoy that.

Leia Mais