Okay, I love it when I find series like this that are hidden beneath the other pile of oversaturated BLs and it becomes something of its own that completely makes me fall for it. I was 100% ready to drop this series after the first episode, especially after looking at the rating and comments, but I was pleasantly surprised in the beginning and it carried out until the very last episode. I'm only upset I'm just now seeing it as it's been released since May 2023. I wish I was on that train when it was airing tbh.

Let's Dive In.

So The Promise is essentially a series about two childhood best friends who find their way back to one another after 10 years. The plot itself is pretty simple, but the execution, along with the production budget, makes this series spectacular. And if you don't know, friends to lovers is my favorite trope of all time, and if you mix a slow burn with that, it's damn near impossible for me not to love it. And oh, how I loved this series. It executed their relationship (friend-wise) so perfectly; showing those fleeting stares, those one-off comments, the small gestures. And it makes sense with everything that happens between them, with Phupha leaving and returning and not knowing how to tell his friend about his whereabouts or why he left. They did great at keeping that ambiguity from the audience as well until it's revealed, which I liked that we also didn't know until Nan knew as well. Same with Khunkhao, who was Phu's secret brother, which felt too coincidental, but I didn't hate it. Overall, they perfectly mapped out their friendship into a relationship so perfectly, and it's above all, my favorite aspect of the series.

Now, the chemistry is good, not great, but it's good. It's enough for me to be convinced that Phu really does have feelings for Nan, but I will say that once they get together, that tension between them dies and it's not as punctuated as it was before they got together. Not all of the kisses were bad, but there were some dead ones. The NC scene at the end is actually very sensual and very beautiful. Also, seeing them both topless doesn't hurt either.

The relationship between Phu and his grandmother had me in shackles. Oh, I loved it so much, the openness they both were able to have with one another without it being a deal that he likes a guy, which I'm pretty sure they innuendo that his grandmother was a lesbian/bi since she hung out with other older lgbtq people. I think her death is justified (?) enough in the series that when she does die, it doesn't feel like an irrelevant death, but something that for Phu's character specifically, needed in order for them to get across that Nan would be there for him and help guide him through it. Onto more of the smaller roles, Party was okay, I think it was irrelevant to make his character in love with Nan, but it is what it is. Giegie was super fun, I liked the comedic aspect of the series with her astrological antics and whatnot.

Now, onto some things I wasn't appreciative of. There were plenty of office scenes that could've been cut down. They drag for far too long in some episodes, and I just skip right over it because *Snooze Fest*. Same with Jo, I know he's the comedic boss who's bad at his job that everyone somehow puts up with, but I kind of wanted to see him fired, won't lie. Episode 10 was the only episode that I really didn't like. Before then, I honestly loved each episode, but the last one was the one that took down my 10/10 score. There were so many unnecessary, irrelevant conflicts that the writers dropped for no reason. Like how Nan is upset that Phu tells him to go move to his new job only for him to be okay in the next scene. Same with the bewildering, "Nan's plane disappeared" plot that was literally, like, what the fuck? And then again, resolved in the next 5 seconds. Also, I don't recall Phu explaining to Nan why he left, even after they got together, which was pretty anticlimactic.

I think this was supposed to have a season 2 (which it really doesn't need one) to go into further depth about the couple they throw in at the last minute (khunkhao and some rando getting beat up on the street), but it didn't get enough popularity within the fandom, which is kind of upsetting, cause besides all the negative stuff, this series really ate down, in my opinion.

Ratings:

Story: 8/5/10: some boring office jargon, and some really left-field writing decisions, but overall, the execution of the main leads is brilliant.

Acting: 9/10: Really good! This was Kun's (Phupha) first acting gig, and I could definitely see the minor mistakes, but he did an excellent job (also, that man is too fine). Kiak also did good, and everyone along the road did just as well.

Music: 7/10 - I actually loved the OST! it gave nostalgic vibes, so I was here for it.

Recommendation Value: 9/10 - I would highly recommend this series, especially to anybody looking for a good friends-to-lovers plot. It did such a good job, and I'm so upset this didn't get the hype it deserved, but oh well.