Duang Tah Tee Sarm (2021)

One of the best Thai dramas of 2021.

James and Mew, have a fun playful quality as actors. Both strong in their humor, they play off other actors' emotions so well. As, one of the sweetest pairings to date; these qualities they bring to the characters of Squinty and Pum.

I never doubted for one moment that the mains weren't in love. The chemistry between them is refreshing. This romance is non-toxic and natural. Misunderstandings are voiced, and worked on together as friends first and then as a couple. With multiple characters, a second couple, three if you count the parents - it's quirky and fun. This is really an ensemble cast with everyone (even the non-living) having multiple stories played through, and resolved. I would recommend this to anyone who wants a little more than sweet, but without that bitter aftertaste of some dramas. Enjoy.

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Entertaining but very frustrating!

So many times I wanted to write a review because I got so frustrated but then I decided not to. Finally I can't help it anymore so here it goes. I like the drama series for its comedy. There are definitely great moments. But the main character, he's 25 years old. He acts like a little kid that is way too slow to act. Instead of asking questions, he just stands there and calls out names. Aside from his ability to see ghosts, there's nothing special about him. Nice? Not really, he doesn't really go out there and help free spirits. He sees them all this life, but yet, at times he's totally fine, and at times he's all afraid. The consistency of characterizations in this drama series is just terrible. The most frustrating part of this series is during situations when someone is hurt. They all just standing around and calling for the ambulance takes quite a bit of time. The emotion that goes into seeing someone passing out or injured feels as though not there.
Situations and storyline are just very inconsistent and frankly not many things make sense. The main story is not bad but everything else that supports it is not really there unfortunately. As mentioned above, it's a relaxing and entertaining series to watch but if we were to pay attention to the details and the conversations as well as characterizations, we will get very frustrated. Just a few personal opinion. Enjoy the show!

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Try this if you want something light, sweet, warm, funny drama

Like:
-I appreciate the team for producing this down to earth drama: casual outfit & natural make up for almost all casts (esp Mew&James, just with their T-shirts&jeans, are already charming!), simple yet beautiful houses, modest lifestyle, etc. The way Pum&Tree’s parents when knowing they’re getting married yet aren’t financially steady so they ask both to live together with them, is so relatable with our daily life.
-story: the story isn’t stressful at all. The ghosts aren’t scary & the horror story are entertaining. The antagonists aren’t that annoying. Even Top, Top’s mom, & Wonchana can’t be that harmful bcoz Pum is smart to counterattack them LOL. The story is mostly focused on Hideko’s “family” which is always entertaining. I cried in certain scenes tho, especially in the last ep, cried so hard that I stopped in the middle ep, & continue it the next day to prevent my eyes swollen.
-character of the leads: Tree isn’t kinda superhero who always saves the FL etc, he’s just an ordinary kindhearted guy, even in certain scenes it’s the FL who saves him. But I love this ordinary character. Pum, I love her strong, brave, funny, yet shy character. I never worry someone will bully/exploit/abuse her since she can defend herself. As their chemistry, they aren’t kinda lovey dovey&intimate couple, but I love their sweetness. Mew&James successfully build the chemistry since in Pum&Tree’s childhood. Pum is straightforward but in certain scenes she’s shy towards Tree & it’s cute :)
-whole cast: love the chemistry in Hideko’s “family”, they’re all warm&cheerful, helpful to everyone, hilarious. I wish I could be their member LOL. Also Pum&Tree’s parents, they’re warm, especially Tree’s when welcoming Pum as daughter-in-law, so lovely!
-to me almost the whole scenes are safe&comfie to watch: no erotic scenes, extreme abuses, too-revealing outfits for female cast.

Dislike (?):
I dunno whether it’s like/dislike. Since the story is light, I wasn’t really attached to the story that much, so fortunately I didn’t need to bingewatch it.

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Produksi lakorn ini natural dan sederhana hampir di semua hal: wardrobe, rumah, gaya hidup, dsb. Cuma pake t-shirt dan jeans doang pemainnya udah pada keren. Kalian wajib coba nonton ini kalo mau tontonan yang ringan, manis, hangat, dan lucu. Tapi, kalo kalian mengharapkan banyak romance scene, maka lakorn ini bukan untuk kalian. Plot lakorn ini ga bikin stres sama sekali. Hantunya juga ga menakutkan dan kisah horornya menghibur. Antagonisnya ga terlalu annoying. Bahkan Top, Ibunya, dan Wonchana ga terlalu berbahaya. Ceritanya malah more focused ke “keluarga” Hideko yang selalu menghibur. Chemistry-nya bagus, mereka semua hangat dan ceria, membantu semua orang, dan yang pasti, LUCU. Aku berharap bisa jadi anggota mereka LOL. Juga orangtua Pum dan Tree; mereka hangat.

Tree bukan superhero yang selalu menyelamatkan Pum, dll. Dia hanya pria baik hati biasa, bahkan dalam adegan tertentu, Pum yang menyelamatkannya, tapi aku suka karakter yang biasa ini. Pum; aku suka karakternya yang kuat, berani, lucu, tapi pemalu. Aku ga pernah khawatir seseorang akan menggertak/mengeksploitasi/melecehkannya, bcs dia bisa membela diri.  Pum-Tree bukan pasangan yang mesra, tapi aku suka manisnya mereka.

James Ma-Nittha berhasil membangun chemistry sejak masa kecil Pum dan Tree. Mereka punya kualitas bermain yang menyenangkan sebagai aktor. Keduanya kuat dalam humor. Mereka juga memainkan emosi aktor lain dengan sangat baik. Chemistry mereka bagus dan fresh; tapi ga sebagus Nittha-Mark. Nittha sangat pandai menyampaikan ekspresi mikro yang halus.

In my opinion, hampir seluruh scene aman dan nyaman untuk ditonton. Ga ada scene erotis, pelecehan ekstrem, dan pakaian yang terlalu terbuka untuk pemeran wanita. But, nonton ini tuh hampir lelah sih, bcs ada cutting dan screentime dari plot yang berbeda yang dilakukan dengan buruk. Seharusnya beberapa scene yang ga ada relevansinya dicut aja. Meskipun begitu, aku sangat menyukai scene flashbacknya. Ada backsong yang beberapa kali menarik perhatian aku, bcs cuttingnya cocok sama scene.

Aku akan rewatch, maybe di beberapa episode terakhir aja.

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I have to admit; I almost got viewer fatigue while watching this. The cutting and screentime of different storyline threads was done poorly and some scenes that had no relevance could have been cutout completely. If you expect lots of romance, then this lakorn is not for you.

STORY

Trikarn has just arrived in Bangkok in search of his missing childhood sweetheart Pum who had run away from home and a forced marriage. On his first day he meets a Japanese restaurant owner; Hideko, who also runs a shared house for her staff. He is offered a job and a place to stay while he trys the find Pum. He soon runs into a woman that is the doppleganger of Pum named Palissa.

Palissa has a current boyfriend but also had been in an accident where she suffered memory loss. Palissa ends up moving into the shared house and Trikarn is suspicious whether Palissa is Pum. Supernatural stuff ensues as Trikarn chases the truth of Pum/Palissa.

With a lot of supernatural investigative drama's; the format tends to be very episodic with only a vague overarching goal. This was the case with this lakorn and contributed to my viewer fatigue, the directing went off track from the romance and started to focus more on the supernatural mystery solving. I would have had no problems if the directors/writers used the supernatural cases as a mechanism for the main couple to become closer and as a tool for Trikarn to dig into Palissa/Pum identity. However the background supernatural theme slowly became the main theme and we lost the romantic search.

I really loved the flashback scenes though.

ACTING/CAST

James and Mew had good chemistry; not as great as Mew with Mark, but the affection and love were clearly displayed by both actors.

Mew is very good at conveying the subtle microexpressions, her looks of disgust and frustration were exceptionally well done and her smile is absolutely beautiful and you can't help but smile with her.

Support staff were great though I did feel like they did Pat the dirty by making her less pretty in many subtle ways but I guess that was part of her role.


MUSIC

There were a few times when the music caught my attention at how appropriate the piece was for the scene.

REWATCH

I rewatch for maybe the last few episodes.

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