My Dear Donovan (2022)

Started out great but went downhill

I’m not the type to write reviews here but I just had to .
It’s been about 5 days since I completed it but I feel I won’t be able to rest properly if I don’t write this review.

This is honestly one of the worst dramas I’ve ever seen . The drama had so much potential but the writer ruined it .

The ml Dino was so dumb and easily manipulated.
I also found him a bit manipulative with the fl
The fl was too trusting and naive .
There’s a thin line between being naive and stupid, and she leaned more towards stupidity.

The drama was a hot mess . From the hypocrite of a grandfather and mother , to the annoying second leads.

Honestly, none of the characters were lovable.
I initially started it for Luke but I guess even his looks weren’t enough to save this .

I genuinely wouldn’t recommend this drama to anyone except you enjoy experiencing anger and frustration

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Don't waste your time

this has GOT to be a joke. it started off as well as any other drama, honestly I was very into it until episode 10. it COMPLETELY lost me. it was already boring leading up to episode 10, with more screen time with the neighbor and her freaking GRANDPARENTS than any other thing but it was fine because the chemistry between the FL and ML was honestly pretty good, but it became such a dumpster fire. I was unfortunate enough to waste several hours on this show, so please take my warning and don't even bother. it starts off good, but the downfall is so dramatic and awful that you forget what's even happening. It gets to the point where you just have to laugh because what is even going on?!

Spoilers but this is what I hated-

ML shouldn't have almost cheated on FL with Jessica, he went too far in the car scene

ML got SAed way too many times, and it gets so uncomfortable because it's honestly disgusting how he is treated

FL is way too trusting, it was refreshing at first and I enjoyed her trusting the ML, but it got to the point where she was just stupid. after finding the condom in his car, she BARELY gave any backlash to him

ML has no personality, and honestly the second ML would have been such a better choice, Mr. Aodd was a perfect guy that the FL should have gotten with. the ML was NOTHING compared to Mr. Aodd, only an attractive guy.

the grandpa. point blank and period, he is the most annoying character

the grandpa literally tries to shoot the ML at the end, ends up shooting the freaking mom, and then just goes back to FL and tells her he finally approves of her BF when it's like... bro, you just shot my mom over this??? get away from me!! this was honestly the most laughable part!!!

Truly a disaster. I hated it so much, and I'm so mad that I've wasted my life on it. it could have been so much more then what it was, but it was garbage. if I could give it a zero, I would. immediately. please please please don't even bother watching.

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A light intro to Thai drama for beginners ;-)

This series is highly recommended for those who are interested in watching Thai drama for the first time. Nothing special about it, a lovely rom-com. It's light, the pace is fast, and the 'Thai-dramas spices' in it aren't overwhelming. An excellent cast and the ending fits the genre. A happy ending : )

A review on MYdramaList must contain 500 words, so here is a bonus:
* Male lead-acter: Luke (27-28yrs) > A Japanese-American.
He left school for modeling and TV [7 dramas in total/1 Movie] Currently with GMMTV.
* Female Lead: Namtan (26) is pursuing a Master's in Performing Arts = beauty & brains.
Check out her IG: namtan.tipnaree.

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I Ship Pam & Dino

I enjoyed this drama.

I am not familiar with Thai dramas. I am, however, a connoisseur of the romance genre. And My Dear Donovan fits into the romance category perfectly.

It is a straight-forward romance drama where you know the players at face value - good guys, bad guys, grumpy grandfather. The hurdles the lovers have to go through to test their love for each other are adequte for this 16-episode drama. 

What I like: 
- The lovers liked each other from the start, and they were revealed their feelings early part of the series.
- Chemistry between the main actors is cute enough.
- You know exactly who the bad guys are. 
- The FL - she can do crying scenes well. Her puffy nose and redish eyes. Perfection.
- The ML - Great screen presence. 

What I find meh:
- The intrigues, reasons for break-up, and family dynamics were weak. However, it provided me with reasons to fast forward bits and pieces.
- Mr Aood - the apparent 2nd ML. He is unfortunately overshadowed by the ML's strong screen presence.
- Closure of the hurdles for the couple - it felt a bit of a rush towards the end of three episodes.

For romance genre lovers. This is not an epic intergenerational drama. My Dear Donovan is a drama to watch simply for enjoyment. 

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Sensible honest love has problem too?

I'm going to give my honest thoughts about this series. There are things that I didn't like and something I really loved.
The first thing I didn't liked about the series is the ML is very much objectified okay that's the biggest issue of the series but on the other hand it's true that not only women, but men are also victims of sexual harassment. It's very brave of GMMTV to show this side of the entertainment industry.
The other thing that I didn't like was the FLs overprotective grandfather. It's understandable that Pam's grandparents really love her, but her grandfather is overly overly protective towards Pam and that's really annoying.
Pam's mother is weirdly unbothered about her 1st child and is an epitome of an irresponsible mother. I know that's how the character really is, and this is a proof that mother like her really do exist.
But the chemistry between the ML and FL is very very good, Namtan has polished acting skills and Luke's acting skills developed over time.
Regardless of the flaws something about this series makes me wanna wait for an entire week. It's interesting and I love it.

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Little Substance, Save for the Beautiful Eye Candy

Not much going on with this series except the hotness of the ML. Lol. I did like how he was immediately attracted to the mousy FL, but the storyline was somewhat ridiculous. The FL’s mom is running a modeling agency and tricks her into becoming the ML’s manager under the guise that he needs an interpreter. Mind you she’s never been a manager in her life. She is a teacher, but somehow she’s able to be the ML’s full-time manager while also being a teacher. SMH.

She lives with her grandparents. With her grandmother being a sweetheart while her grandfather was just insufferable. The way he constantly scowled and was so overbearing was annoying. When he was having his health crisis, I was hoping he’d kill over rather than live on, that’s how annoying he was and a hinderance to what little story was happening in the series.

The ML’s storyline of moving to Thailand from the U.S. in search of his sister was questionable. There was no explanation as to why he and his sister were living on the streets in the U.S. and an even bigger question, why his sister was white, blond-haired, blue-eyed woman. Of course, the ML had a shady past that was literally keeping him awake at night, but it was nothing that I cared to know about. Again, the story just meandered from modeling job to modeling job for him why he and the FL went through their push pull thing.

There was the required interloper or two who were inserted into the story to cause unnecessary and oftentimes silly drama. But again, there was no substance to the storyline. The ML (Luke Ishikawa Plowden) was stunning in this. He is a beautiful specimen of a man and was very believable as a male model. Probably because that’s his day job. ? Lol. Overall, this was just okay. Would I rewatch? Perhaps some scenes to see the ML shirtless and gazing longingly at the FL. Lol. But other than those shallow reasons, no.

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Great chemistry and creepy villain

I really liked this lakorn a lot and not only because of Luke Ishikawa Plowden (although that is who I came for initially). The chemistry between the 2 leads is great. The respect Dino has for the much more traditionally brought up Pam is very sweet. Grandma is a lovely woman and I have no idea what made Grandpa hate foreigners so much (even one so well integrated is Dino!) but he got over it way too late. Poor Luke must feel so bullied with gramps talking about him and his parents. The dialogues and events were interesting enough to not let me be distracted by Luke Ishikawas beautifull features and voice. His voice is really worth mentioning apart this time, as he uses it amazingly. Soft and sensual, humorous and high-pitched, he does it all. I loved it. I would have liked Pam to be a bit more fierce, and Aood a bit less demure, but we cant have everything. Leaves just the music. Aside from the horrible theme song that irritated me from the 1st episode on, to the Never Ending Story theme/score (I looked it up, it is ACTUALLY from Never Ending Story!) this was really, really bad for an ost. Like really bad. The leads and the villain saved the drama and made me score it a 7. Would have been way worse without them

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Let's start with what's good about this series. Luke is so cute and his Thai is amazing considering he's Japanese-American and not Thai at all. Playing a model isn't exactly a challenge for him since that was his original profession. Our female lead, Namtan, is also adorable, and I appreciate that they didn't try to make her sexy. Poor Pod, as cute as he is, I'm sure he struggled with this role and for that I'll give him a big hand. We normally see strait guys having a hard time with their roles in BLs, so I can only imagine how difficult it is for a LGBT actor to play a strait role. Finally, the actress that played Grandma is cute as a button. Now, moving on to what's not so great about this series... Well, to make a long story short, all of it. The plot jumps all over the place, the remaining cast is sub par, and the ending is just ridiculous. Really? It's like one of those cheesey black and whites where they just laugh off serious issues with a "well that's Grandpa for you. We know how he feels about foreigners. Hahaha crazy old Gramps"...

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Needs better OST and Editing to Convey the Story.

ML and FL have good chemistry and communication. The OST doesn't really set the tone. The editing is so choppy that it makes it a chore to binge watch or enjoy the dynamics of the story. I like the story. It is good to see the other side of power and sexuality and trying to survive from a male POV. I understand overbearing guardians, but writers sometime overdue this concept which drains the interests of the story. Respect is one thing, but that does not mean control. The growth and dynamics within the relationship between the ML and FL was worth finishing the series. Overall, with better editing, OST the rating probably would be higher.

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waste of time

i finally got to watch this drama should have read the comment and review first, regretted not doing that. I watched the whole drama first half of the drama was ok but the other 8 episodes as(9-16eps) went to hell i wasted my time watching trash. The only thing in this drama was the eye candy which was FL played by Namtan Tipnaree Weerawatnodom as the character Pemanee / "Pam" and ML played as Luke Ishikawa Plowden as the character Donovan McDaniel . This was a horrible drama to watch i wish i could turn back time to stop myself from watching this trash. Don't get me wrong the actors/ actress were great but the character along with the amount of bullshit that the scriptwriters put in eps 9-16 made this drama to be bullshit even the plot felt like bullshit. The character FL(Pam) should have broke up with ML(Don) and moved on with life but no she ends up back with that asshole like honestly this was stupid. I'm pretty sure he cheated on her also what's with the kissing scenes with the 2nd FL i get that's his job but i bet you if FL was the model and she did kissing scenes with other males bet you Don would be feeling insecurity also he fueled her insecurity. Pam and Don relationship would never last if it was real thank god it's just a drama and nothing more. But honestly this wasted my time

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Rom-Com only for Luke's fans

A romantic Lakorn with Luke Voyage in ML's role (star model) and 1 FL, a young kindergarden teacher with a complicated family, who agrees to become his manager to pay for the hospital fees for her ultra-protective, rigid and authoritarian grandfather.

The acting is like in most lakorns, a little overplayed, compensated by the highlighting of Luke Voyage's visuals ( a lot and very hot ;). Some characters are not coherent at all : Jessica (one of the psychotics rivals) and the grandfather in particular, and the unbearable ML2, love rival and neighbor (except in the last 2 episodes).

BUT ABOVE ALL, the story is not well writen :
- View of romantic and sexual relationships, quite murky (drugs, harassment, assault, etc.) including when guys are the victims (which is good representation, but rarer IRL;)
- anti-foreigners racism in Thailand
- Very distorted vision of Western countries (poverty, racism, illegal boxing matches, etc.)
- Vision that does not seem credible to me either of the modeling world (party people, sneaky, very dependent on a few influential people, etc.).
- the inevitable break up "to protect you" annoys me especially when it doesn't make sense, like here.
- the OST are too "lakorn" for me....

=> Series to watch only for the very hot Luke's visuals and the chemistry within the CL despite the multiple plotholes and flaws.
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Lakorn romantique avec Luke Voyage en ML (mannequin vedette) et 1 FL, jeune enseignante avec famille compliquée, qui accepte de devenir son manager pour payer les soins de son grand-père, ultra-protecteur, rigide et autoritaire.
Acting un peu surjoué, TB mise en valeur des visuels de Luke Voyage, et un ML2, love rival et voisin, insupportable(sauf dans les 2 derniers épisodes).
MAIS SURTOUT :
- Vue des visées amoureuses et sexuelles, assez glauque (drogue, harcèlement, etc.) y compris vis à vis des mecs (ce qui est bien, mais rare ;)
- racisme anti-étrangers en Thaïlande
- Vision des pays occidentaux très déformée (misère, racisme, matches de boxe illégaux, etc.)
- Vision qui ne me semble pas crédible non plus du milieu du mannequinat (fêtards, sournois, très dépendant de quelques personnes influentes, etc.).
- certains personnages ne sont pas cohérents du tout : Jessica et le grand-père en particulier.
- l'inévitable break up pour te protéger m'agace surtout quand il n'apas de sens comme ici.

=> A voir pour les visuels très hot de Luke et l'alchimie au sein du CL malgré les multiples plotholes et flaws.

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