Stalker (2022)

Acceptance, tolerance and the best friend groups known to humankind.

I want to rate this series 12/10. It managed to show the best of BL whilst avoiding the worst.
I really don't understand the low rating and I don't understand accusations of stalking by Toh. He never approached Nuea.. never tried to make Nuea uncomfortable and never thought he owned Nuea. He was happy watching from a distance. Sure, he collected weird things as mementos BUT the series is based off a manga therefore some things will be exaggerated. People love manga for the weirdness, the exaggeration of details, well, that's why I do.
I will be watching this series again, to remind myself of what good relationships look like, what amazing friendships look like.

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Despite the title of the Novel "Stalker", Toh is a "Collector" not a sociopath or a criminal

First of all let's see what a " Collector" is, according to psychologists.

For people who collect, the value of their collections are not monetary but emotional.
The collections allow people to relive their childhood, connect themselves to a period or to a time they feel strongly about. Their collections help them ease insecurity and anxiety about losing a part of themselves and to keep the past to continue to exist in the present.
Toh thinks he will never be worth of Nuea love. He thinks he does not have anything to offer, that he isn't something special, no good looking, shy, nerd.
So he watches him from afar. Collecting mementos of moments that are precious for him.

Collecting may provide psychological security by filling a part of the self one feels is missing.
When one collects, one experiments with arranging, organizing, and presenting a part of the world which may serve to provide a safety zone, a place of refuge where fears are calmed and insecurity is managed.
In his room, Toh can openly fantasize about being loved back. He is bold and brave, he approaches Nuea.

Items in a collection are neatly organized, maintained, and presented or manipulated with ease.
(If a collector of 1000+ trains wishes to find a particular specimen from their collection, they can find it easily. )
Collections are often catalogued, sorted, and objectively maintained like books in a library.
Toh mementos are kept like treasures, handled with care and perfectly organized.

This is not a dangerous behaviour.
Although it still has its counterpart that is scary, creepy and dark. IT' S NOT THE CASE IN THE SERIES.
So judging Toh like he was a serial killer,( as someone did in their review) is really too much.
It's true he is a controversial character and his "obsession" might result uncomfortable but, please give him time to develop, grow and change.
Nuea seems to be aware and know a lot about Toh and his particular interest for him and never embarass him, or treat him harshly.

Please, don't just drop the series at the Synopsis or the 1st episode.

Cheewin Thanamin has directed a lot of other successful series : Why RU, YYY, Close Friends, Y destiny, You Never eat Alone.
He has a unique style, so you will surely get captivated by the characters, their stories and their growth throughout the episodes.

Idol Factory actors are mostly rookies but very talented and they all did a good job portraying the different characters who are part of this story.
They convey emotions, it's easy to connect with them, understand what they are going through and being emotionally involved in their struggles, joys and intimate feelings.
This series will make you laugh, cry and be all giggles.

Give it a chance.
It is really worth it!

It airs on Channel 3 Thailand every Friday at 23.00, watching live doesn't require a subscription but subs aren't provided on TV. Can be watched also on CH3 Plus App but without subs. ( no subscription, no VPN requiered)
There is an exclusive re-run on IDOL FACTORY official YouTube channel soon after the episode ends.( ENGLISH sub provided)
Other languages are added during the next days .

Thanks for reading

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You Definitely Have to Watch!

It is so funny to think this is the show that got me to finally get an account to write a review. I have been watching BLs for years now and never once felt the need to write one but this show definitely did something to me.

I want to first start off by saying I went into this because I kept getting mixed reviews on the show and had to finally see what the issue was. And I can say the first two episodes had me iffy. I was not a fan of the start, especially seeing how weird they made Toh, but once the 3rd episode came around and things started getting serious I fell in love.

This show may have its crazy embarrassing moments that cause me to pause or hide but I think it plays into the trope of these issues. I think we all have our weird quirky moments especially with a crushes that make us do things that others find odd. And they are obviously exaggerating it to make a joke on it. And I think it is needed. Sometimes we have to see others being just as odd to feel better about ourselves.

But what sold me was the actual plot of each characters insecurities. We get to see everyone have an emotional side. It isn't just about Toh and Nuea. Or even just Toh at that. They delve into Nuea emotionally too which is rarely seen in BLs. But every character has something that is stopping them from what they want in life. They delve into body dysphoria, sexuality, gender, friendship and it is honestly moments that we can all connect too. Yes it is goofy and weird but it knows when to cut that off and show us what being human means.

Then the acting is another thing. The level of professionalism and skill you need to have to play these odd, quirky roles is a lot and Toh and the others are doing well in making us uncomfortable watch them. Us wanting to pause, hide, and scream means they are doing their job. But they all have this level of chemistry that feels real, especially the way Nuea looks at Toh. I didn't feel like any couple was pushed or forced on us. They all complemented each other well. Even the friend groups. It made me miss the group of friends that I once had.

So in all it may not be everyone's cup of tea but it is a great show overall in its messages it tries to send to the viewers. I think everyone should give it a chance!

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An Amazing Series

I Love This Series! While I would not rate it a 10, as I do my absolute favorites, I still think it is close to a 10.

I watched both the cut and uncut version - there is a world of difference between them, so if you have not watched the uncut series, you really should because so much of the emotional scenes and intimate scenes are left out of the cut version, which leaves behind an incomplete story and a lot of nonsense. Find the uncut version at Idol Factory Youtube Channel

At first the shy male lead is overly shy and comes across in kind of an irritating way, after a while I am not sure if he settled down a bit or the whole story just made up for it, but I ended up really liking him and rooting for him. The other male lead is really attractive. Both are excellent actors. The second couples' story is cute too and it's amazing to watch the shy boy in this relationship gain confidence and acceptance of himself as he falls in love.

I would definitely watch the uncut version of this series again ad urge you to give it a try, at least through the first seven episodes before you decide if it is right for you.

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I wish I didn't watch it....

Because I cant never watch it for the first time anymore. I Loved this series so much.

I've seen a lot of comments about the show being cringy and embarrassing. In the words of Viola Davis "To make you feel those moments that you have in private that I'm bringing to the public; They may make you squirm but if you recognize it Then I've done my job as an actor".

So basically when we watched Toh does the things we would not be caught dead doing, we're actually remember those times we thought about doing them or even done them in private so actually seeing it being done in public...on the screen, makes us feel exposed so of course the first thing out of our mouths is how Toh is crazy and etc and try to disassociate his character from us.

No lie detected here. I Jost hope people realize how good this show is in dismantling our perception of others by how the media/society views us.

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Cringiest but Best BL you'll ever watch!!!

Absolutely Amazing. No toxicity. No angst. No backstabbing. No misunderstandings. Just 100% pure love. Plus, hands down the best most supportive friendships of any drama, ever. This drama checks all the boxes we watch these shows for. You'll get all the, kisses, visuals, romance, heart flutters, blushes and squeally moments you can stand. Chock full of cringe but in the funniest of ways. Every kiss felt real! (Oooph that second kiss at camp! Mmm mmm mmm) The actors had some of the best chemistry I've ever watched. (We're talking TharnType, WhyRU level chemistry) Watch this drama. You wont be disappointed.

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Displeased

Okay so for starters, keep in mind I was already halfway in this series when I realized it's aka as "Stalker". lol
I didn't hate this series but I definitely don't think it deserves half the praise it's receiving. It was cringe fuel at it's finest. The support cast were funny and even tho I wish some of them got more screen time you'll quickly see what I mean when I say they are extra af. Way too invested and just clear over the top acting for the scenes. But I'm going to let that slide cause it's clear they're new actors and like I said, they were funny.
Moving on,** IT'S NEVER OK TO STALK SOMEONE**
This I can't stress enough that it was only finished because what was good was really good. This took getting your crushes attention to a whole new level! It was meant to be quirky and cute I know, but I can't get past some parts...most importantly the box(s) dedicated to TRASH that belonged to the MC.
The relationship(s) in general moved very quickly which isn't really a problem but other than that some of the episodes made no progress in the storyline itself.
Can't see myself recommending to anyone but,
Enjoy...

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Soooo

I did not expect to be hooked on this series at all. I started watching it 2 days ago and I'm now on ep. 11 in front of my laptop screen crying. I thought it was just going to be silly and won't have a deep meaning to it because of some clips I watched on TikTok but I'm legit shocked how good this series is.

I wish I had watched it while it was airing, but now I think about it, I'm glad I didn't because I would not have been able to wait a week for another episode. Those who actually did that... KUDOS to you! I'm trying to prolong watching the ending and even ep 12 looked a bit fishy to me so I'm praying nothing huge happens and they all just stay happy.

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Save yourself and skip this one

I know the point of this series is to show how people who really love you will still love you despite your flaws, nobody is perfect. However, all it does is let a disgusting stalker get what he wants without ever improving himself. The main character is without a doubt one of the worst characters I have ever seen, and that lack of character development completely destroys this series. And his friends seem to realize the unhealthy behavior but still continue to help him do it. The side couples are much more realistic and actually work together to deal with some very important issues that happen in the LGBTQ+ community, such as internalized homophobia, self doubt, and struggling to accept love. That being said, even with the decent side couples, this is not worth watching.

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Is it worth watching? Yes.

As someone who watches BL often and tries to keep up with BL releases, I admit I didn't have much hopes for this series just based on the trailers. I'm the type to at least watch the first epsiode though, so I gave it a try. I have to say, the embrassment was way too much for me and I put it off for at least a month before trying again after multiple recommendations and good reviews from friends. After the first 3 epsiode though, it did get much better. So for those looking to see if the series is any good, you'll have to survive the first 3 epsiodes before you make any judgements. I would recommend watching at least until epsiode 5 before deciding whether or not to drop the series. Also a warning for those who are new to the series and has just started watching. Toh is the defination of second hand embrassment. If I got a dollar everytime I had to press pause, cover my face in embrassment and scream at my laptop, I'd be a millionarine right now. All in all, the series itself is very unique and weird (which I think is done on purpose) so going into it, keep in mind that it isn't like any other BL series you've seen so far and don't try to treat it as such.

Before anything, a big shoutout to the translators who diligently worked to put up subtitles for us international fans. They were one of the best I've seen on an offical channel. Thank you so much for all your hard work~

Story : There are multiple things I like about the story itself. One, it has a unusal main character. Almost all BL stories start with the main character being a normal good looking guy who somehow ends up in a werid situation with the main lead and then falls in love. Here we know, Toh is not normal at all. He has his issues, (extremely) embrassing moments and is in love with Nuea from the start. He goes too far sometimes and honestly really needs to see a doctor that specializes in mental illnesses. However, there's character development. We do see somewhat of an improvement. His friends advice him and go as far as restricting him by keeping someone nearby to watch over him. Although this isn't very helpful, they are trying their best and at the very least doesn't brush it off. They acknowledge that he has a problem which is the first step. As his relationship with Nuea gets better, we also see his friends helping him address and change his hoarding habits. They even thought about him having withdraws and instead of instantly insisting he change immediately, they restrict it to him collecting one item each date. They'll slowly start restricting him to one item a week, one item a month, one item a year and so on until he stops all together. This is not only helpful but also better for both Toh and his friends. Making him stop collecting items immediately would not only cause withdraw symptoms like they said but would also lower his confidence and self esteem when he sees that he's not able to follow the set of rules. It'll not only make him feel bad and less deserving of a happy relationship with Nuea but also disappoint his friends which can cause tension between them. I'm glad the show decided to use a realistic way to help with Toh's bad habits. I'm also glad that Toh's willing to follow his friends advice and not break the rules they've set for him despite all the grumbling he does. This not only shows how much he treasures their friendship but also that he understands his friends' worries for him. It shows how close-knit their friend group is.

Two, the story centers around feminie characters. Most BL shows have masculine or manly characters and use good looking (mostly straight) actors so they can attract females and get more views. They use actors with softer features as bottoms but be honest, they would totally look like straight guys if you saw them alone walking down the streets and didn't know they were in a BL series. They do sexy photoshoots and even in sex scenes where they're supposed to be getting railed, they're told to look sexy in order to avoid looking "feminie" or "weak". Yes, there's nothing wrong with a manly bottom but there's also nothing wrong with a feminie bottom. The only reason why most shows don't use feminie looking actors is because in Thailand and SouthEast Asia especially, females or being feminie is considered weak. A guy who acts feminie is considered not a man. Guys who act feminie are shunned from scoiety. Even in movies and TV shows, they're there to provide comedic relief, be a cannon folder, a confidant that the female lead shares her worries to, or a side character that'll never get his own happy ending. They're only given jobs like hair stylists and makeup artists because those are considered feminie. hey're always the butt of the joke. It's been this way for centuries in Asia. Toh's whole group of friends are very feminie compared to other male characters. They talk about guys, they sqeaul when there's someone hot, they tease each other about their crushes, they go into detail about their relationships, etc. Most of all, they act and dress feminie. They show their emotion, they cry, they blush and are openly (mostly) gay. Although these aren't exactly what we would call feminie traits, compared to other male characters, they are considered as such. I love this show because it shows us their perspective. It treats them like normal human beings.

Three, we're seeing many new LGBTQ+ representations in the series. I would say it is the most inclusive series I've watched. We have bisexual main characters (Nuea, Sky), openly gay group of friends (Toh, Jao), a trans person (Daisy), straight people who are fine with other people's sexualities (Intouch, Som, Tor) etc. The characters in the story are already gay, bi or pan. They don't get "turned" gay or play the "I'm straight but the person I like just so happens to be a guy" trope. By accepting the fact that there are other sexualities and that straight people don't just happen fall in love with the same sex, we are one step closer to the goal (portarying LGBTQ+ people correctly and as normal people). In addition to the male x male couples, we have two straight couples (no more, everyone in the world is gay trope), and a lesbian couple (the very first too). We see them give Daisy her happy ending with Intouch unlike other BLs where characters that are trans or as openly feminine as Daisy are used as comedy relief. This is a huge improvement for the BL industry and Thailand.

Four, although we get introduced the main characters with their groups of friends, unlike other BL series, they don't just disappear as the plot continue. This is honesly one of the best things I like about the series. Both Toh's group of friends and Nuea's group of friends are seen multiple times. This is unlike other BLs where you can count the amount of the main characters meeting with their whole gang in one hand. They encourage them, comfort them, help them and advice them. At the same time, they call each other out when they see them doing something bad. They don't just brush it off because Toh's the main character or they're all busy with their love lives. They help with Toh's bad habits, Jao's insecurities, Daisy's worries, etc. They are great friends for each other. They don't get ignored or forgotten as the couples get together. Yes, we see lots of scenes where each individual ship is alone but we also see lots of scenes where they're with their friends and are talking about their problems or listening to others' problems.

Five, the relationships develop very naturally. We can see their whole love story and can even tell accuate timelines about when they first meet, when their relationship start to change, when they started falling and when they finally agreed to date each other. It isn't a sudden interest or relationship because we see them gradually falling and changing both in the way they treat their love interest and the people around them. Because we can see how much their relationship change them for the better, we're able to root for them more. And because their love story happened so naturally, it doesn't feel unexpected or something done just to get the plot going when they get together. This is possible too because the crews are always together. We kinda see everyone's love stories at the same time and how it affects others. Props to the director for being able to not make it look overwhelming. Seeing them interact with all their friends together with their little movements, the way they are close to each other and the way they touch each other makes them look so much more natural. This can be seen in epsiode 10 (the basketball court) or epsiode 9 (at the bar). Plus, the other couples give a good contrast to Nuea and Toh's relationship. Their relationship is obviously very strange and weird but the writer's telling us that not all couples are like that and there are couples with healthy relationships in the show which is a good message to send espeically to the younger audience who would wish of a love story similar while watching these series. At the same time, just because these couples are in a healthy relationship and started out much more normally than NueaToh, doesn't mean that they don't have their own problems and worries. It shows that all the couples have their ups and downs too, not just the strange ones. Relationships aren't just all cute and butterflies. To have a real relationship, you have to put in the work.

Six, character development. There's so much character development in this series. Almost everyone has some level of character development which shows that the writer, producer and director really worked to give the characters depth and improvement. Considering how cartoonishly funny they acted in the first 3 epsiodes (also probably the reason why most of us cringed a lot), we see them have flaws, probelms we relate to, improve, and eventually makes us see them as real life people instead of just characters. Yes, they still have that cartoonish manner that reminds us these are just characters in a BL series but as we continue to watch the epsiodes, we connect with them. We see character development from everyone. We see Nuea changed from this cold, manipulative person to cute and clingy as he falls and confirms his feelings for Toh. We see his jealous and possessive side as well as his considerate and kind side. He reasures Toh when he has insecures about himself or the relationship. He's patient with him when Toh's throwing one of his tantrums. Heck, he even lets Toh try topping him once (though it didn't work out) because he didn't want Toh haven't any sort of regerts in their relationship. But, not only do we see their individual developments, we also see their relationships develop. NueaToh for example, started out more as Toh being head over heels for Nuea and worshipping him like a god. He even gave him "Red" as a nickname because red is considered holy and auspicious. It is also because of this that Toh can not bring himself to talk about his flaws with Nuea as he's afriad that'll cause them to break up. As the relationship goes on, Toh opens up to Nuea. The turning point is when Nuea discovers Toh's hoarding habits and breaks down realise that even though Toh loves him very much, he's just waiting for their relationship to end because he doesn't understand how someone like him can be with someone like Nuea who is a god to him. This made Toh realise that while Nuea's amazing, he's also a human being with emotions and feelings. It made Toh understand that even though Nuea has been the one to reasure him about the relationship this whole time, Nuea might also be feeling insecure about himself. He now knows he's not the only one that could get hurt by this relationship and Nuea is just as vulnerable as he is.

We also see Sky change from this teasing playboy to someone who's seriously in love. He's open with his feelings, considerate, kind, patient and tries his best to understand Jao. He cheers Jao up, give him more self esteem and confidence and listens to his concerns and insecurities. He went from a player to the best boyfriend anyone could've asked for. We also see Jao's journey as he goes from being insecure about his body and doubting whether anyone could actually love him to accepting his flaws and eventually Sky's love too. From trying to drown himself in the ocean to accepting people can love him despite his flaws is a huge improvement.

We see Daisy struggle with her gender identity as she gets feelings for Touch. This shows us that despite the happy, easy going image Daisy has, she also has her own struggles and worries. She worries about how her being transgender might affect the people around her. She's worried about how others might think of people she love because of her. She even tries to change herself and become "Day". We learn about the struggles that come with being trans and dating as a transgender person. I also really liked that all of her friends, especially Som, was extremely supportive of her. Som also made sure that Daisy changing herself into "Day" was something she wanted to do, not something she did for other people. And that if that was really what she wants, she is always ready to support Daisy. Som and Daisy are usually the ones that are always happy, so I'm glad the show showed a new side to them.

Seven, The series doesn't have any problems concerning sex or consent. There's almost no action when one of them is drunk, asleep or drugged. Even kisses are consented by both sides and done mostly sober. I think the only time they kissed when one of them was drunk was in epsiode 7. Toh asked Nuea to keep his promise and even admitting to drinking the alcohol just because Nuea had told him drunken kisses are better. He insisted but he was still a little bit drunk (he remember what he talked about with Nuea though) so I guess it doesn't really count as him giving Nuea consent. Even in epsiode 9, Nuea didn't do anything sexual to him other than giving him a bath until Toh was awake and sober enough to talk and understanding his surroundings (Toh was apperently pretending to be drunk but Nuea didn't know that so it was nice to see he didn't do anything despite them already being offical and Toh being a clingy "drunk"). They also talk about safe sex and seem to always use protection while doing it. So big props to the writer and the director.

However, the story does makes me cringe a lot and there have been times where I just couldn't take the secondhand embrassment. I also dislike that while they acknowledge that Toh has a problem, they haven't done anything to help with it like taking him to a professional. Even in epsiode 8 where Nuea tells Toh he knows about the photo collection and that he knows Toh has been following him around taking pictures, it is evenually seen as a romantic gesture made from a supposely one sided crush. In epsiode 13 where Toh's hoarding problem gets exposed, instead of Nuea talking about how problemic this is, the shows says that it only happened because Toh was so insecured in the relationship that he wanted to keep things as memories for when they eventually break up. But I do give it credit. Despite it not doing much about Toh's stalker and hoarding tendencies, we do see that the series does have realistic solutions for his hoarding problem. Toh is also willing to listen to his friends and change. However his stalker and hoarding tendencies do need to be addressed and shown very clearly as a bad habit.

I really like the series and there have been so many things to praise it on, but in the end Toh is the main character and I really dislike that they somewhat ended up brushing off his problems. What I had hoped for is that they either get Toh some help or show Toh's character development regarding that problem. 8.5/10

Acting/Cast : Billy did a great job as Nuea. He was able to express Nuea in his own way. The most memorable of course are the kissing scenes. We can all see how hard he and Seng worked at those. I'm glad we saw an realistic portayal of how actual kisses would be like (the panting and moaning from both members is just chef's kiss). Both parties where whimpering, moaning and panting which not only show us how pleasureable the kiss was, it is also an accuate portayal of how someone would react kissing their long time crush in a heated kiss. This was unlike other BLs series where these sounds are either edited out or covered by music. Thank you for showing how a heated kiss is like in real life. Seng also did an amazing job as Toh. He was exactly like how I imagine Toh would be like. He had me convinced he was Toh. I don't think anyone else could have replaced him. The rest of the cast was also very good but I think personally, I liked Opp and Nut's chemistry the best. They worked really well together and I was rooting for them hard. I hope to see them in more scenes and BLs. 10/10

Music : The music was amazing. I really liked the opening music and I played it so much while waiting for the next epsiodes to drop. It was the perfect music for the series. The moment that song played, I knew exactly what it was for. Which in my book is high marks considering how bad my memory normally is. Other than the OST, the other music pieces used were also good. The timings were right and the editor did a great job puting them in. It was nice. 10/10

Rewatch Value : Honestly, I would not rewatch it. At least not everything from the start to end. I might rewatch certain parts I really like but the embrassment and cringe is too much for me to want to watch the whole thing again. 8.5/10

Overall : 9.5/10

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Well shit!

SPOILER To anyone that have not reached this episode!

Holy shit! This series was amazing. The deeper you look, the more meaningful and mind-blowing it is. I just went back and watched ep. 6 where NueaToh were sitting on the sofa after Toh got a bloody nose. That moment seems like any other moment that people would have a conversation. But No... it was so much more than that!!!

This whole time people are commenting on how Toh should have been forward and told Nuea how he felt instead of "stalking" him ( I use that term loosely). But I think we forgot the fact that Toh did not know if Nuea was interested in men or not. Toh, is of course out but he did not know if Nuea would ever accept him or not. I realize now that Toh not only loved Nuea from afar, but he was also afraid, scared, in fear that if Nuea knew he took pictures of him at school events not only because he was a photographer, but because he, as a man, loved him romantically. And the fact that Toh didn't know if Nuea liked men or not made him stay away from him.

Then on ep. 6, when Nuea asked him about his crush saying "Is it a woman or a man", It hit me. NUEA KNEW TOH's hesitation and why he was being closed off. He then said to him "Do you know being with/kissing a man is different than being with/Kissing a woman"? Thats when Toh asked "Why do you ask as if you know the difference?" and Nuea replied, "I know about it more than you do"... which made Toh's Red-light turn to Yellow... he still was not 100% sure but he now knew Nuea has had some experience with both genders (I believe Toh was Nuea's experience with a man as the series did not suggest Nuea having any other experience with men before Toh. And also how Prao said "this is just a phase" (I'm putting her words nicely than she said it)

This is just One scene from One episode. How many deeper meanings will we find if we focus and watch the episodes again. I Applaud the director/writer/screen writer/producer for this.

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