Oxygen (2020)

Good, but nothing you probably haven't seen before

This series has its moments, but it really isn't anything new.

Solo, a freshman university student majoring in music, has been lonely ever since his mother died. His father is distant and controlling and has clear ideas about what he wants his son to be, regardless of what Solo actually wants.
One night, Solo wanders into a cafe and meets Gui, a fourth year engineering student (yes, again) whose kindness and caring start to open up Solo's frozen heart.

This had the potential to be really good but alas, it suffers from an overabundance of characters - most of whom I didn't like and couldn't bring myself to care about.

Instead of focusing on the main leads, and then one single side couple, this just had to throw in a ridiculous love square between Khim, Gui's co-worker at the cafe, Dr. Petch, his friend Dr. Perth and Khim's brother Khem. It's badly written, badly acted and painful to watch.

The side couple, Kao and Phu, are the best thing about this series. Kao is exuberant, ebullient, fun and mischievous whilst Phu is serious, solemn, sincere and upright. He even has a thing for rabbits.

Hmmm. I wonder who these two remind me of?

There was a rival for Gui's hand in the form of a junior from his dept., but he was there for about two episodes and gone again, so I don't even remember his name.

I try not to be critical of child actor as they are, y'know, children and are still learning, and little Moon was quite cute but I honestly wonder what his inclusion did for the plot.

Except....hmmm. There go those parallels again.

This series leaned full on into the terrible father trope, and then went even further with the catty love rival in the form of Linda, who was chosen by Solo's father to be his personal assistant and future bride even though Solo doesn't care about her at all and it's clear she's just after his father's money.

If you haven't watched a lot of Thai BL, and you're looking to get into it, this isn't a bad place to start. And I can't even say it's a bad series, it's just nothing new.

The main theme was kind of done to death, but I don't care because I love it and I want it on my BL playlist.

Lire davantage

My favorite new series of 2020

The story in the series trailer initially was what interested me in Oxygen but once I started watching I was struck by the talent of the actors. The different character stories are weaved together expertly. Although I found them all interesting, Gui and Solo's tremendous chemistry on screen quickly made them my favorite characters in the series. I found Gui's sober advice and caretaking of Solo to be striking as he is the smaller of the two men, taking on a role that usually isn't found in the smaller of a BL couple. Solo is tall, a talented musician and singer, and the younger of the two men. He comes across as vulnerable, solemn and quiet. I found the mix of their character personalities to be very intriguing and different from what is usually portrayed in this genre. The music performed in the series is wonderful. I have a hard time getting it out of my head after watching. It is without a doubt my favorite series of 2020 so far and I hope it comes back for a second season.

Lire davantage

cute but messy

well... what happened? who knows? i don't. that's for sure.

i haven't read the novel but the drama inserted multiple storylines into one that makes me recreate the mathematical equation meme with me as the confused goof.

from the start, it was refreshing to see completely new faces, very chill cute couples and a catchy ost as well. i absolutely loved seeing solo and gui develop their relationship, no running around in circles of their feelings toward each other. it was pretty clear they were whipped for each other and without confessing, they both can tell. that was a charming way to show the relationship between the two and i really thought i could sit my bum without having to sideeye things. however, this is the bl world and you're sometimes bound to see some problems here and there.

so.... what were the problems?
-no consequence to one's problematic actions
okay. picture this. you're chilling at a cafe shop with your bud and you catch the barista taking pics/making a livestream of y'all without your consent. a normal reaction is get pissed and call the police.
what did dr. petch do?
listen to khim's outlandish excuse that she's some lgbtq+ guru and that the he's the one in the wrong and soon some total A+ bs happens of dr. petch doing exactly what khim did, hurting other people in the process... and they fall in love.
don't get me started with the attempted sexual assault on solo and how it was brushed off without that girl and her accomplice facing consequences.

- "boys don't cry"
whew.... i don't know if this is a mistranslation but wow this line irked me. when will this type of mentality be erased? everyone deserves the right to cry their eyes out! the fact that solo said this to moon, a literal kid was astronomically disappointing.

-the father a.k.a dementor
i'm still flabbergasted about how solo's dad literally stalked him for years and then when he was beginning to find his source of happiness, this dementor dude emotionally abuses, locks him up and starves him. is solo his son or a prisoner?
also, you're telling me he made gui suffer along with his son as a test to their relationship? nope. bye.

the main leads are not entirely bad actors as seen in emotional scenes such as the death of big mama and when solo got locked up and also the card denied scene. those were pretty good performances. this then makes me wonder why the acting seems out of place at times. the facial expressions can seem blank and not conveying any emotions at all. this also applies to phu's actor which i did love but was stiff at times. kao's actor was decent, the character was playful but also delivered well written lines.

overall, this can be a hit or miss. the storyline is quite messy (if only the doctors and khim wasn't dragged) with a bit of an underwhelming ending but if you like cutesy couples, this is for you.

Lire davantage

robotic acting + cliche story

A bad and boring series!

I decided to watch this because of the feedback I read on Facebook saying it's cute and all but...

I was disappointed.

Even once, I didn't like a single episode. The only good thing about this show is the story of Dr. Petch and Khim. Grateful for them for saving the show for just a short period of time.

The main couple and side couple is so bad on acting. Most of the scenes are so corny and cringe. I just keep watching to complete what I started.

I am bored to the max from the first episode until the last. Bad, just bad!

No plot twist, weak chemistry, poor script.

Ahhhh, at least for the OST, it is good.

Lire davantage

in love

**I wrote this review while it was still ongoing**

A lot of people dislike this series because the main couple is "boring" but thats exactly why I love it. I love how simple the main couple is and how calm both Gui and Sol are. Maybe its bc im going through a not so great time right now but I was kind of wanting a break from all the one of the leads being overly/unnecessarily aggressive and all the problem-after-problem situations that cause stress while also adding some *sPiCe* to the story and Oxygen is that one series you can watch whenever youre stressed out or dont want to watch anything toooo complicated while also making you excited for the next episode. At this point, Oxygen is why saturdays are pretty much the only days I wait for and probably the only days where I can feel safe and genuinely happy but lets not get sad here lol.

-Story-
Yes Oxygen is quite fast paced for the main couple but not in a bad way, there are no major obstacles (so far) but I was still so intrigued and waiting a week was, and still is, too much for me. While a lot arent I'm interested in all the couples:
The main couple, SolxGui have a fast paced but cute story, I love them sm and their interactions always make me scream, same with PhuxKao, their story develops much slower than the main couple's and is more interesting and I love it when Phu calls Kao his bunny and basically die at any interaction they have haha. And (probably) last but not least Dr. Petch and Khim/Dr. Perth? I honestly have no idea whats going on in Dr. Petch's case rn but his "story" with Khim goes somewhere different every week which always leaves me in a "hm. what was that" mindset as the doctor always gets himself in different situations every time.. but what is that? Based on ep7 Khims brother seems interested in the Dr? This is what I mean, Dr Petch is in all kinds of positions I love that for him? xD

-Characters-
I fell in love with everyone:
- Gui is so painfully adorable and such a decent human being and I honestly love him so much.
- Solo is extremely attractive like- this man is going to be the absolute *death of me*, the way he looks at Gui gives even me butterflies and like, why cant someone look at me like that >:(.
- Kao is so cheeky and literally not afraid to say what he wants to say and I love that he's so straightforward with Phu and honestly wingman of the year award easily goes to him.
Phu = one word. Tsundere. I love him. Hes hot hes cute need I say more?
- Dr. Petch - I like him, hes kinda shy and he can even be adorable sometimes and I even relate to him sometimes lol. - - Now Khim.. I'm not gonna lie I kinda hated her at the start, like, I found her extremely annoying and just didnt like her at all specially when she done those stalkish things in the beginning lol but ive actually come to like her a bit now so yay ig :D.
- I feel bad for Dr. Perth and we dont rly see much of him, but I like his character lol

-Acting-
The acting sometimes feel stiff but not at the same time? I feel the chemistry but sometimes it feels empty but not empty enough to feel awkward, but thats understandable bc most of the actors are quite new! fun fact = a lot of the cast were supposed to be in "My Engineer" but you know how they changed the cast a few times. So basically most of the cast in Oxygen are My Engineer rejects :D! im jking ab the rejects part pls dont attack me lmfao but yea I was shocked to find out that they were supposed to be in My Engineer, I feel like Nut (Solo) would be Bon and that TERRIFIES me.

-OST-
I listen to the OP everyday like its a religion (it is) and the intro is honestly amazing I love it. I gotta stand up and bust a few moves every time the episode starts haha.

-OVERALL-
Sorry this is really long lol. But if youre looking for a more complicated story with a lot of tension, Oxygen is prooobably not the one for you. However if youre looking for something simpler then youve come to the right place! I definitely recommend giving it a try!

Lire davantage

Cute and Sweet story

its a cute and sweet story.. it was amazing watching it
Characters are very cute you will always have a smile on your face while you are watching it
the main couple Solo and Gui are very cute and sweet.. I like how sweet both characters were... how they were each others pillar how they supported each other and what liked the most was Solo's jealousy he looked so cute when he was jealousy!!! it stole my heart literally... I loved them very much!!! it was good to see Gui understand Solo and giving him time to tell him things and when he said what was necessary to say and especially Gui smile it was very lovely
i absolutely loved the music in background i mean the title song is amazing "you are my oxygen" it was very good i fell in loved with the song.....
the other characters were also good their acting was good.....
the story of kao and phu was sweet too but it did hurt when phu had to leave but left left with the promise and that's what soothed me.... it was amazing acting in terms of kao the way he looked i felt sincere and not faked it was my favorite moment of their part...

Lire davantage

Will the be a second season

Great storyline. I liked all the main actors. Hope they
will come back with a second season. I really enjoyed the show. I want to see Guitar and solo get into a deeper relationship and adopt the little boy. Also bunny to be with the guy to be serious with each other. All the casts to be return in the second season. I will be telling all my friends to watch oxygen. I give credit to the writer, producers, the actors. Hope one day to visit Thailand. I have become a Bl fan. I will like to see dr and the girl get serious on the second season. Also the younger brother with the other doctor.

Lire davantage

your own perspective

every person has their preference so this review may or may not help you but it's my personal opinion 

-We all know that a drama cant contain All informations a book could give us, so I understand that some could get disappointed just like the untamed/mo dao zu shi(as reference I don't mean anything bad by mentioning this)in the drama there wasnt everything included so i kindly advise you to aslo read the novel.

-the music was great i liked the original soundtrack "Oxygen" sung by Supanut and also by Boss

-all actors and actresses did a great job portraying their respective characters 

Lire davantage

not what i expected ( short review)

i went into this with low expectations and it was better than i thought.
the story was ok it was lacking i dont even know what the plot was even about besides the fact that solo lost his smile after the passing of his mam and his dad is homophobic and wants the "best" for him. then we have phu who also is in the same boat as him he has a dark past ( honestly forgot what his story was) but i loved him and kao. then we have the others which i just honestly idek what their story was if u want to watch this show and enjoy it a little better i suggest skipping all scenes that include petch/khem/perth/khim together its just not worth the time. cast: nut as solo: honestly i love nut hes one of my favourite actors and he can act i suggest watching his newest bl something in my room to showcase that because this show really was a let down and i blame the directing on this one. he was outstanding a 10/10 in simr and here not so much. his acting was stiff but did get a lot better towards the end. petch as gui: acting was stiff it did improve towards the end he really didnt stick out to me as much as nut but he wasnt terrible. phuri as phu: honestly 8.5/10 on his acting even with his character having walls up he still manage to let us know how he feels even when there isnt much expression and i just love when he calls kao bunny. boss as kao: once again 8/10 on his part his character can be found annoying but i wouldnt blame him he really had to get his way when it came to phu and the goodbye scene i cried so hard. they deserved at least him coming back in the last scene of the episode but they still had their happy ending instead of breaking up so im not complaining.

overall : its ok the ending could of been better , i hate love triangles let alone a love square. side couple was my favourite, its an okay watch dont expect much from it.

Lire davantage

Two good lead actors wasted in unwatchable series

This was a long wait through far too many episodes in Act 1 to reach the pay-off in Act 2 and I doubt many viewers would be so patient, primarily because the producers had paired two sympathetic lead actors with two other actors with performances so wooden, you wondered where the attraction was to bring each of these two couples together. Other reviewers have dissected the plot with precision: I don’t think it deserved such careful consideration. I suspect that Thai screenwriters, chained to their source material and observant of manga conventions and Thai cultural behaviours, have either avoided or abandoned any effort at any meaningful psychological understanding of their own characters. People are reduced to cliches - such as a child deprived of a mother’s love - to explain a person’s entire life, and by this single notion, to represent the totality of that person’s contemporary behaviour. Here in this series, the father is prepared to use violence to control his son’s behaviour but manages an epiphany within two episodes. This total change of heart is shown not by the character himself but by the explanation of another character altogether, as if all ogres are basically good at heart, if you look hard enough. Thai producers of BL series had better be careful; they think they’re in clover and can keep expanding the viewer market exponentially. I understand 75 shows are slated for 2022. I think they’re taking their audiences for granted. They shouldn’t. Viewers won’t put up with low quality like this forever.

Lire davantage