Star and Sky: Star in My Mind | Sky in Your Heart (2022)

EPISODE 6 SHOULDN’T HAVE HAPPENED

This series was really going along quite well… until EP 6 happened. It seems like the writers were tripping or something. That “one day trial relationship” offer of Typhoon (which Nuea accepted – quite stupidly – when he and Kluen had just revealed their feelings for each other a few minutes before) was totally uncalled for and unnecessary. It was so unrealistic.

TECHNCAL DEPT. Nothing outstanding. Not the cinematography, not the directing. A little above average, but nothing spectacular. Same with editing and music. Nothing special.

ACTING. Kluen (actor: JOONG) is okay. He is consistently cool (and sometime cold) which is his character. Confident acting. Nuea (actor: Dunk), on the other hand, has many awkward moments – especially when crying is involved. Seems forced. Facial expression doesn’t register grief or pain. His acting was especially awkward when Kluen was showing him the art works he kept all those years. His smiles are also awkward, not showing genuine happiness. Maybe it’s his face and mouth/teeth. But the two has real chemistry. This would have been more intense if Nuea’s acting is at par.

I like Sean (actor: SATANG) and Typhoon (actor: PEPPER) for their honest and consistent portrayal of their characters. The other support actors are equally good, but there weren’t enough exposure for them.

STORY. Overuse of tropes (not telling the truth right away, etc) kasi. Seems like an insult to viewers. After conflicts were resolved (Gia, Fah, Typhoon), two were recycled after Episode 6 (Gia, Typhoon). Conflicts are forced or contrived).

I was ready to give this a 9.0 rating, but after Ep 6, a big turn off, I was ready to give ita 6.0 or 7.0. But the series has enough charm, thanks to the cast. So, I’m still giving it a rating of 8 / 10.

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The beautiful journey of Dao and Kluen

I really enjoyed this little show and watching Kluen and Dao on their journey to finally be together. The story isn't something new and based on a novel which I would love to read some time. I guess the story itself took a shortcut through the novel and seemed a bit rushed in some parts. That didn't really bother me because the story was carried well by the cast. Dunk as the main character Dao, did a fantastic job as a newbie actor. He is perfectly paired with Joong and they have incredible chemistry. Joong played his first lead role here and he portrayed Kluen absolutely perfect. The rest of the cast did an amazing job as well as a very loveable friend group and a big support for the lead characters. What is absolutely outstanding is the music in this series with two beautiful songs by Joong and Louis. For me personally this show has a high re-watch value, espacially because it's short and has a beautiful and cute story. It's for sure not an award-winning level show but the whole production is really nice and it is really enjoyable to watch. For sure this series is not perfect by all means but it definitely presents a wonderful, cute but also realistic take on falling in love. Both main characters have their issues to overcome but it's never too overly dramatic and in the end gives us a valuable lesson: love sometimes takes time.

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Cute Love Story about Insecure Youths

I found this series very sweet and it isn't because I am in love with the actors, because I'm not. It is a story about people who are immature and inexperienced, so they do not seize their opportunities due to feeling insecure. Our main leads have flaws, just like us normies. When Daonuea what doing Kluen's assignments, that was the time for Kluen to approach, but he didn't. Many young people hold back out of fear, which is why I think that Dao is the stronger of the two.

The redemption is, when Kluen got a second chance, he tried to make sure he didn't make the same mistake. Yes, Kluen messed up along the way, but he finally realized that he needs to take the risk, and be open about his feelings. It was nice to see a very attractive and charismatic persons have insecurities too. Many of us think that attractive people have it made (which they mostly do) but at least the character of Kluen has doubts just like the average Jo. I also like that Kluen didn't win everything like in other BL. He was not named the campus king (I forgot the contest name).

Second lead Typhoon was good looking, smart, empathetic and popular, but he is a symbol that even if there is a perfect person, he wasn't the perfect person for Daonuea.

I like that this this series shows that people have insecurities, flaws, make mistakes, but can still find happiness. Typhoon is a gem and will find love as well.

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Cliche but so cute

Honestly this has become one of my favorite shows ever. Its cute, has tons of fluffy scenes, doesn't overly sexualize the characters and while it is short it gives the characters time to be able to develop and get together in a natural way instead of having them fight in every episode and then make up in the very last one. There's no toxic exes, and any miscommunication is resolved within 2 episodes at most. The storyline is pretty cliche but there is something about this one that just stuck with me. It's not for everyone, (especially if you're into more intense dramas) but i do think it's worth watching at least once.

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A good watch

SO I'm going to start off with... I absolutely LOVE the cast which I why I couldn't wait to watch this. However, I feel like the chemistry, story line and conflict could have been a bit better.
The conflict was mediocre at best and we need to stop using these bad story lines. The show had so much potential but I feel like the conflict made no sense/ was really bad. If you like the misunderstanding genre of conflict this is perfect for you. Plus something felt off about their chemistry. Like there was room for more depth. Khluen was just overall a badly written character with his whole lack of communication issue.

Enough with the negatives.

I really enjoyed watching it nevertheless because... what can I say I'm a sucker for college bls no matter how bad they are. It was a good watch and it had me laughing and gushing over the cute moments. I wish it was longer so more effort could've been put into the storyline. I love the entire friend group and I made lots of ghost ships. (Like Maithee and Sean and to a far extent it would've been interesting to see Noel and Typhoon. Maybe its cause I felt sorry for Typhoon ) The show has lots of eye candies. :)

I can't wait to see Fah's and Prince's Story.

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A SIMPLE YET SWEET DRAMA

So first of all, many people are unhappy cause its really simple and very mediocre but personally I liked it a lot. I like the simplicity itself.

There was no toxicity, no fake friends, no jealous and crazy ex/second lead. It was very sweet and light-hearted. It wasn't a complicated mess and they finished the drama in a clean manner. No unfinished ending. Really enjoyed it.

The chemistry between the main leads was lit. The actors were a nice choice. For me, who has experienced unrequited love, it was actually pretty accurate. Ngl it made me emotional in some places.

If you are looking for something simple, sweet and refreshing, this is for you. But if you are more into intense stuff, this is not your cup of tea.

I'm making this short since I wouldn't wanna take up much of your time. Y'all please give this drama a chance. From my opinion you shouldn't be eading these reviews rn and should check out the drama for yourself cause at the end, other people's opinions dont matter much. I have understood this really late and have missed many great dramas. Soooo yeah. Thats all. Bye fellas.

If y'all want, I can recommend y'all some nice bl dramas cause I think I have watch A LOT of bl dramas.

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What the fuck was that

No like really what the fuck was that ending. Episode 8 was really dragging and the ending was like how did you leave us on a cliffhanger. I was really enjoying the series and i thought it was really cute. However the story was really well written in the beginning but towards the end your like what was all of that for. It was quite dry. I just felt like they could've done more. I just can't believe how bad that last episode was. Oh all is forgiven because we loved each other the whole time and now we are a perfect couple. Its just kinda dry and overplayed at the same time. I want them to be happy but weres the emotion and happiness. To be honest it just felt like it was missing something. Maybe its because there is no real rival.

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A light easy to watch coming of age romance

The core of this show is two young teenage university freshman dealing with their respective struggles that stems from previous trauma and how their actions and words or lack thereof affect other people. I found the conflicts that arose very understandable and true to character and importantly it's dealt with within the narrative for character growth. Daonuea is the art student and extrovert of the two whose cuteness and charm stems from how friendly he is and gets along with everyone. Kluen who plays sports is the introvert and the show progresses, he's shown to genuinely not understand certain kinds of social communication. He reads as socially awkward but is not outwardly noticeable because he's handsome and surrounded by outgoing people, so they just assume he's cool. The story starts off with Daonuea whose primary experience with love is being seemingly rejected by Kluen so he wants to avoid him. I really like that he easily becomes himself around Kluen once it's clear their scholastic activities keep them together for a while. This leads him to not want to hurt others as he himself was hurt so this causes complications when he has to deal with rejecting his own suitors. Kluen does everything he can to spend time with Daonuea coming from the school of thought of actions speak louder than words though he learns that words is also important to speak along with the actions. I quite enjoy the acting of Dunk who plays Daonuea. It's his first role and quite close to his real life personality. He's very natural and effervescent on camera. Joong who plays Kluen does well in communicating with his eyes and little detailed actions. The music is pleasant and the show overall is easy to watch.

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Underwhelming for actors with great chemistry...

**spoilers ahead**

This is my first JoongDunk series - I watched this the while I excitedly waited for their new series "Hidden Agenda". I honestly expected a lot more since my last watch was "Bad Buddy". Needless to say, this was not as good. I understand it's not a fair thing to compare to but the disappointment after watching such a good series and then this. I point this out to give a context on my mindset while I was watching this. The thing that bugged me the most was that there were a lot of irritating plot points and if there was anything that could sum up the plot it’s one word: miscommunication. Because Kluen doesn't know how to communicate. Or DaoNuea didn’t say how he felt and lied to himself about how he felt. Or WHATEVER. This series made me realize I loathe miscommunication tropes. While it's understandable that Kluen may have valid issues about communicating (something we never got a reason to, were we to assume it's just something he had from birth? Literally all his close friends and Nuea were frustrated at him constantly for this), it was so exasperating to see him navigate through situations that could have been easily resolved with him just saying what he fucking needs to. It was more frustrating that he also knew this about himself but until someone he cared about (DaoNuea) was hurt was when he finally did something about it. He had plenty of time to work on it and get better but didn't do anything about it.

I understand that this is a short series, but "Bad Buddy" was able to captivate and made me feel for the characters just from 5 episodes, something Star in My Mind failed to do so through all 8 episodes. I feel like we barely got to meet each character so it makes it hard to understand their actions too - especially when we don't really have a true understanding of who they are and what they're like.

The acting also took me out in most aspects. While I love and respect both actors, it’s not difficult to see that they are novice actors as some scenes felt awkward and forced- something I personally think they can definitely improve on as I believe they have the true potential to be amazing actors. I can't fault the actors for this alone though, as I feel like the director could have put in more effort on directing and guiding the actors. Their plot and idea were good but the implementation is truly lacking.

Overall - as a series, it was underwhelming as JoongDunk have amazing chemistry. Though I still have my reservations about their next series “Hidden Agenda”, seeing as it's the same director as the travesty that is "Step By Step", I am enthusiastic that since it's been over a year, "Hidden Agenda" will be both an improvement from this.

Satang/Sean was the perfect comic relief!
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I almost didn’t watch it after reading bad reviews but I’m really glad I did

There are too many bad reviews for this series…
Look, if you’re expecting a BL unlike anyone you’ve seen before then you’ll be disappointed. Although this is yet another story set at a university where the main character competes for the campus moon title - it’s still a super sweet drama with a more romantic and adorable love story than can be found in most BL’s.
A lot of the bad reviews I’ve read say they dislike the acting, I for one didn’t have an issue with it though but to each their own.
I enjoy watching BL’s that are like this one cause they’re quite simple and make me feel good.
If you’re looking for something simple but sweet to pass the time with then this is the perfect drama for you.

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Started out 'above average' but dipped to only 'average'

The acting and chemistry were good enough in the beginning that I was invested, but the turn of the story in the second half just felt like way too much drama and was quite convoluted. They also didn’t really execute the stoic character type that Kluen is very well. I thought there would be some insight into why he is the way he is, but the story just decided to say he’s dumb when it comes to love. And that felt cheap? Like, nothing more complex?

Because there were meaningful moments, scenes and interactions in the first half I thought we would get some kind of pay-off in the second half. But it felt like they changed writing teams halfway through.
Or it’s possible some people are good at romance buildup, but they aren’t good at sustaining conflict after the confessions. This show probably would’ve been better if it ended in romance instead of inserting extra drama to keep them separated until the end.

The series suffers the most from relying on only words instead of using visuals to tell us what people are feeling. There are even chunks of exposition given by side characters to advance the story. If there were no side characters, then nothing would’ve happened between the main couple, which is an issue because romance should grow out of two characters actions, not out of the actions of the people around them.

Promising in the beginning but then it just turned out stale in the end

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2gether vibes

SSIMM was the one of the middest and fluffiest BL I ever watched. Nothing about it stood out. Yet at the same time, it was engaging enough for me to remain invested. The conflict was also minimal, which allowed me to binge it without stressing. Overall, it reminds me a lot of 2gether the series, because the main characters, Daonuea and Tine, both have like 3 people who liked them, and the other male leads, Khabkluen and Sarawant, are super cold to other people who are not their partners, and it was also just mid. After seeing some reviews and comments for this BL, my expectations were at rock bottom, so it was a nice surprise to see that it was not that bad. I watched this because I wanted to get to know JoongDunk better, and I don't regret it at all. This BL nicely set up their chemistry, and I'm very excited to see more of them in Hidden Agenda!

Honorable mention to Satang in this because he looks so good in this series!

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