Ploy's Yearbook, funnily enough, vaguely reminded me of The Jungle when I started watching it. Not the actual plot, but the structure of it with multiple couples and the use of flashbacks. But where The Jungle was dark and broody, Ploy's yearbook is much lighter though there's plenty of teenage angst and adult drama to go around. And while I certainly wouldn't call it cohesive, it comes together enough to tell a wholesome story of friendship, forgiveness and growing up.

Ploy's Yearbook centers around five young women all named Ploy, flashing between their final year of high school and the present, as well as the men who were part of their lives back then and who proceed to reappear one by one. The key that brings them all together is their senior yearbook in which they discover that the phone numbers of the five Ploys got mixed up resulting in various misunderstandings. Here, however, is where we run into our first and probably biggest issue. This whole phone number mix-up is central to the plot, it literally continues until the final episode, but truthfully it only had a major impact on Prez Ploy and Pretty Ploy. While it did affect the others, it was much less severe. Also, it was 2008, how did they not have each other's numbers saved or memorized? It was just a very flimsy point to have the entire series based around and focused on. Flashbacks are used liberally and while I have no objection to flashbacks when used well, I don't think this is a good example of it. There's a lot of bouncing around time wise and unless you're watching the drama all at once or in a very short time span, you may forget things that were shown in earlier episodes that are suddenly relevant to the flashbacks in later episodes. Frankly, I think they would have benefitted from showing the bulk of the flashbacks in a more linear fashion while still keeping the ones relevant to the big reveals as they were. As it stands, there was just a lot of trying to keep things straight and decipher where scenes fell around what had already been shown. While each couple gets their time to shine, there were some that seemed to get more attention than others though they do all kind of ebb and flow around each other. And there is a certain repetitiveness to it all. Prof Ploy and Kram's storyline in particular was almost painfully so with the back and forth between them. There's also generally a scene of the ladies rallying around whichever girl is struggling with her relationship to provide support and, sometimes, booze. Those are just two examples. There are certainly aspects of the storyline that felt unexplained or very convenient or left hanging (the whole thing with the flyers left unresolved does still bother me), but I didn't feel like it took away from the entertainment value too much.

I did overall like the characters. While I didn't necessarily find them believable as a whole friend group, I did find the girls more believable with the way they came back together after the years apart. Some friendships are just like that. You fight but you eventually make up and move on. The guys made less sense to me, but I am also not a guy so I have less comprehension on how those friendships work. We didn't see them interact that much in school so I found the idea that they retained contact and hung out years later a little harder to believe but there was also the fact that we never saw any kind of fall out between Thap and Mek or at least any kind of discussion which seems really weird to me. I guess it was easier to just lay all the blame on the girls. While we get to see interactions between the couples both as high schoolers and then again as adults, one thing that was really lacking with a few of the couples was showing why they were even in love with each other. Given some of the literal crap that was thrown in, it would have been nice to actually see why these couples ended up together aside from the obvious and shallow, he's nice and she's pretty kind of thing.
-Pretty Ploy and Mek had one of the more interesting arcs and I liked their story. I particularly liked that they both grew as individuals with Pretty maturing and losing her obsession of having a boyfriend and learning to love and respect Mek and Mek learning to open his heart and trust Pretty again. Their story was overall pretty satisfying. I also really enjoyed Pretty's friendship with Thap though I would have liked to have seen more of Mek's friendship with Prof as that was done away with pretty quickly.
I really have to commend PunPun for her handling of Pretty's character as it would have been very easy to make her insufferable. Instead she was able to create a balance and build a character that was a tad narcissistic and vapid, but wholly likeable. Jimmy just continues to grow and improve and I really enjoyed his performance as Mek. He was expressive without being over the top and I appreciated the subtlety of some of his acting choices. Their chemistry together was solid even without them sharing a single kiss.
-Prof Ploy and Kram had the most over the top, ridiculous arc that was far too repetitive and took up too many episodes. While they had some very cute moments, I was overall not a fan of them or their storyline. I wasn't particularly bothered by the fact that they had a relationship when Kram was taken in by Prof's mother since they were both teens and seemed aware of their feelings. The rest of it though, the back and forth, Kram being all self-sacrificing and what not, it just got way out of hand and I was really done with them by the time their story was wrapping. The fact that their drama continued even after just added to the tedium.
Jamie is a decent actress and I don't think she did badly here, but I did not find her believable as a CEO which, while I understand was the point earlier on, I think she needed to have grown into that role as the series progressed. Her expressions were a little one note, but she also had some great moments where the character's cleverness really came through. Mond is a good actor, but Kram is a such a dull character, I don't think he really had the opportunity to show that. He had a decent amount of screen time, but I feel like a lot of it amounted to stand here and look pretty. He did that beautifully, but he definitely was not allowed to shine. They did have good chemistry, it's just unfortunate that the absurdity of everything overshadowed it.
-Punk Ploy and Tawan were my least favorite couple and the second most convoluted story. The immediate ick factor for me when it comes to them is that they were raised as siblings since they were kids, so the idea of a romance springing up between seems weird. That coupled with the fact that Punk was straight up abusive towards Tawan, I really don't understand why he fell in love with her and I don't feel like that's ever clearly shown. And while there were times that I appreciated Punk for her bluntness and boldness, most of the time she was a straight up b***h with no filter and no consideration for those around her. There was no explanation for her angry at the world attitude and it was very off-putting. The whole thing between Tawan and Jaochan was confusing. They were married, but not really together anymore, and she was now in love with Pat, was my understanding. Maybe it was just the translation but my head was spinning a bit. I didn't fully understand why Jao had married Tawan in the first place when it seemed like she was aware that she was never first in his heart. She seemed far too smart and self-aware to do something like that, but I guess love makes us all stupid at times.
While Film was sometimes a bit stagnant with her expressions, there were other times where she did a great job with showing the various emotions her character was experiencing. Joong, on the other hand, seemed to interpret his more stoic character as meaning that he move his face as little as possible. He can be a good actor, but this wasn't it. The chemistry was lacking and I really didn't feel anything between the two of them. I think they truly would have worked better as siblings.
-Plain Ploy and Pimais were a favorite although I felt their story was left underdeveloped and also strayed into the ridiculous. Her history with Saendee was left largely unexplained. I understand wanting to have a family, but did she really not make any effort to find Pimais after he didn't show up? Did she just immediately give up on him and jump to the next guy that would have her? If so, that does sour their story as it doesn't seem like her love was sincere. The whole trial process regarding her daughter was absurd. I sincerely doubt that's how the Thai judicial process works. Pimais' reluctance to reveal everything to her and the fact that he had the accident and then had the tumor as well that could make him forget her seemed like overkill. Just let them get together and be happy already. Pimais reminded me a bit of Tawan with his self-sacrificing tendencies, though with his head screwed on better. I did feel like more could have been given to his character and his personality as there was so much wrapped in his brother and the past that we didn't get a great sense of him in the present. I did find the fact that Plain worked as an editor for some kind of erotic magazine or whatever it was interesting and rather progressive and liked that she had no shame for her work even though others tried to shame her for it.
I enjoy Aye as an actress. I feel that she has a more subtle acting style but she always delivers and I really enjoyed her performance here. I felt that her character was lacking, through no fault of hers, and yet she still managed to give her a level of depth. Toy was a complete unknown to me, but I thought he did a fantastic job portraying both Pimais and Plaimas. He created two very distinct characters that could be easily separated and yet had a clear, brotherly bond. Major props to him. He and Aye were cute together and I liked their chemistry. It wasn't sizzling, but it was very comfortable and it worked for their characters.
-Prez Ploy and Thap were the slow burn that started everything and they were probably my favorite couple. They were the epitome of will they, won't they from the get go and highlighted all the ways that our fears can sabotage our own happiness. Despite the push and pull between them from the beginning, once the story focused on them there in those last episodes, it felt rushed. I felt like some of what transpired between them could have been scattered throughout the series more, but then that wouldn't have stuck to the formula. I did like how they came together and how their preconceived notions of each other were gradually destroyed and that's how they fell in love. Also loved that it was Prez that proposed and Thap totally just went with it. It was cute.
Namtan is absurdly gorgeous and talented and I loved how she portrayed Prez. I thought she vacillated really well between the character's various emotions without being over the top. She made the character feel relatable both as a high schooler and as an adult. Earth is also incredibly talented and I thought he did a good job as the bad boy with a heart of gold. He didn't really fit the profile of a bad boy as a high schooler to me and he didn't blend as well as the others, he just looks older, but I appreciated his character and I loved the adult Thap, his subtle way of still taking care of Prez though he could still act childish at times. These two had some of the best chemistry of any of the couples. It didn't matter if they were kissing or just talking and generally interacting, they just clicked and I loved watching them act together.

The production value was good, but nothing particularly jumped out at me. Although I will say I like how distinct they made the flashbacks. They kept the hairstyles and costuming consistent so even when the characters weren't in school, there was absolutely no question as to whether a scene was in the present or past which I appreciated as I've watched other series where it was not so clear cut. I liked some of the music used, the opening song was catchy, but ultimately found most of it to be pretty forgettable. I did also like the notable lack of product placement especially after watching the likes of My Love Mix-Up! which was bursting with it.

Ploy's Yearbook is nothing special all things considered. It's not a ground breaking series by any means, but it is enjoyable. As ridiculous as it is at times, you have to kind of love a strong group of women coming together to win back their men and their lives. It's not one that I anticipate coming back to in the future, but it was fun to watch once.