23.5 (2024)

Nice first try, lovey-dovey, but boring and with many mistakes

Caution: a very, very long review with, unfortunately, a lot of criticism.

As a normal series I would give it a 4 or 3 out of 10, but as in Thai BL-GL industry series I would give it a 6 or 7 out of 10. Frankly, I wouldn't dare give it less because I SERIOUSLY want more GL's to be made, I seriously want industries to know that there is enough audience to start GL's. But that doesn't mean it's okay to accept anything without any criticism. I find it really a shame, but often the first products of something are generally bad. Not to mention the first GMMTV BL's, which were, and I'm sorry, trash. So, don't get me wrong: if we compare this with Love Sick, 23.5 is pretty a masterpiece.

Things I liked: The color palette, View as Aylin (although I didn't really like how the subject was handled) and the acting of Milk and Love. Milk and Love's performances are incredible, they really shined. I particularly liked that Sun has a very thick accent, a way of speaking that Love created for Sun's character (that's great!) Milk is not far behind, her dramatic scenes (both comical and sad) could really produce feelings in the viewer. She took the center stage and never let it go. Milk and Love have my full support. But I think that is all. Sorry, I have a complaint to every element of this series.

Things I didn't like:

I didn't like the camera direction and the pacing. Too slow for so little story being told. I really don't understand why they didn't use the most used and obvious resource to show the passage of time, which is to record several takes in different spaces and with different costumes in different contexts. The series lacks the "show the passage of time" factor. Why is this important? Because it not only shows the quantity of time, but also the time they have to known each other. Although the viewer would feel that Ongsa and Sun had only known each other for 3 weeks, suddenly Sun was blindly in love with Earth (same with Ongsa, ngl). On the other hand, the Aylin - Luna couple, although they are cute and their lovey dovey scenes are adorable, I felt like they hardly knew each other until they "fell in love" as deeply as they did. They practically didn't even take the time to get to know each other. From my point of view, everything that happened in the series could have easily happened in 2 months, and it's supposed to have been just under a year.

The chemistry between Love and Milk was lacking, I felt like they had more chemistry when they were Ink and Pa in BB than here. But I don't rreally blame them, maybe it was the script. As the series progressed, I also felt some discomfort seeing them together. Like I know I have to feel like they have chemistry, but I can't feel it, which is frustrating.

The radical change in pacing between EP 1 and the rest of the episodes is dramatic and a terrible move. The first episode was incredibly dynamic, loaded with jokes, a hilarious Ongsa and loaded with action. However, that episode is behind us and the pace slows to the point that it produces a yawn. Why did they give so much emphasis to Tinh and Chaoren in the first episodes if they were then completely forgotten in the others eps? Why this change?

GOD the infinite shots. They could record just a character's face without any expression for 10 seconds. What does this say to me as a whole? That they had no more story to tell but they had to reach 45 minutes per episode. That's so frustrating. It's like stretching out flavorless gum until it becomes a thread.

It lacks a soundtrack. Scenes without any background music + a story in which essentially nothing happens couldn't be a worse combination. The lack of dynamism could have been compensated with a strong soundtrack to enhance the scenes. But long, boring scenes, no story, MORE silence? It is a combination that induces drowsiness. (Also, too many comical sound effects that after insisting stopped being funny)


Although P'Ton was the character that I liked the most (not saying much, because neither character was developed enough for me to be interested in any of them), or rather the one that made me laugh the most because he is extravagant, his time in screen with Mawin was a mistake. God, why so many scenes of them that led to absolutely nothing? Do you know how terrible, how frustrating, how annoying it was when MAWIN interrupted Aylin in her confession? God, what is he doing there and why did he interrupt her? Why is he on the scene? I repeat, the importance they gave to his character along with PTon's was a complete mistake. Having cut out all the time the pair takes up on screen, easily could have put in the scenes of Aylin Luna getting to know each other.

Something that was mentioned a lot on Twitter, and it's true, is that Sun seems like a secondary character. She seems to be as secondary as Aylin or Luna or P'ton. We don't know anything about her and until episode 10 she had no dreams or flaws at all. She was perfect the entire series. She wasn't a real person. Ongsa, although a little more faceted, we don't know much about her either. We know that she likes dogs, likes astronomy and that she has social problems (and that she is extremely coward). And that's it. The only characters who have distinctive traits (things we know they like) are Chaoren and Aylin. Luna? We know nothing, absolutely nothing about Luna. We know more about Alpha than Luna, and Luna is part of the secondary couple.

Wasn't Sun the most popular girl in school? Why does she seem like just another ordinary girl? Why on her birthday did no one but the protagonists say happy birthday to her and only a few went home to celebrate if she is supposed to be popular? Why does Ongsa have so many social problems? What was her life like before moving? Why did she move out suddenly? What was her relationship with her parents? Why does it seem like she barely knows her mother and is there a latent discomfort in all of her scenes? Are they blood family or are she and Alpha half-sisters? There couldn't be less chemistry between her and her parents. Through the screen, it is as if she has been living abroad and only in the recent year has she returned home. There is no family dynamic or chemistry, they are characters that were created, completely artificial and empty, placed in EP 1 to conform a family.

That's what this series is: hollow. It is somewhat hollow. Not completely, but enough to make it frustrating to watch the series.

Is really no one, no one going to mention the hair color change in Luna's hair? In a single episode, she had light brown hair in some scenes and dark brown hair in others. GOD, why haven't I seen anyone mention that blunder? Why they did that? I can let it go (although it bothers me) the change in haircut or hairstyle (particularly in men) because it is a mistake that its made in almost every series. But the hair color, really?

Do you know why I criticized the series so strongly, even though I waited for it to come to an end? Because I was waiting for this since 2022, and because the news that it was the first GL from GMMTV, the largest BL's company in the world, was exciting news. But here we are. And I'm so, so sad. I really wanted to love this show.

Nice try, really. although I am currently very frustrated, I appreciate all the love put into the series. Thank you very much for finally taking into account the GL's.

Lire davantage

This high school GL drama was a sweet little romance with so many lovable characters to get attached to. But perhaps a merged or cut storyline could've allowed the much needed foreshadowing of character flaws that were relevant to the drama's climax. I also found that the lack of addressing of 2 red flags (one from each of our main characters) killed my investment into their particular ending.

SPOILERS START HERE!!!

>>> Ongsa and Sun <<<

I absolutely loved the initial set up for this couple. Ongsa is an insecure, anxious, and socially awkward teen from the countryside. Sun, is the popular (though we really don't see this really), confident, and mature classmate who Ongsa instantly develops a crush on. They accidentally become penpals and Ongsa anxiously lies when it starts coming time for them to actually disclose stuff like names and such. This arc didn't overstay its welcome in my opinion (but Aladdin's the genie "Tell her the truth" scene certainly played in my head on repeat). I was also quite taken by how maturely Sun handled this. Demanding an explanation and refusing the nonstop stream of unexplained apologies. Most love interests would have stormed out, and the lack of communication would have been dragged out for days/episodes. Not here.

By the end of the drama, we start to realize that Sun isn't the perfect, one-dimensional love interest previously portrayed. While her dream is repeated rather verbatim in a short span of time, she does have a dream that she is passionate about and knows where her future is going. She also is not quite at the maturity generally presumed around her. Indeed, much like most teenagers, that "maturity" is partially covering up the fact that Sun molds herself and her reactions to what she thinks is expected of her. Which, of course, causes problems in her relationship with Ongsa - especially since Ongsa is also not thinking as a unit (most high schoolers/first relationship couples dont) and makes the unanimous decision that Ongsa and Sun shouldn't be out to anyone but their shared friend group. This was frustrating, and i feel like Sun's character flaw could've been better hinted at earlier in the series, but overall, quite true to a high school first romance.

What did make me angry is the fact that both Sun and Ongsa did incredibly red flag things that were never really addressed well. Sun literally outed Ongsa, Aylin, and Luna. She outed Ongsa once to her (Sun's) parents without warning, and then again (along with Aylin and Luna) to Ongsa's own parents despite/in spite of Ongsa's attempts to stop her. This wasn't even addressed once, let alone condemned. Being out very obviously means something in the world of this drama, and Sun couldn't have known what Ongsa's parents' reactions would've been. And then, after their break up, Ongsa wouldn't leave Sun alone. This was brought up once, but then was swiftly ignored when Ongsa came with a more detailed apology (that I sorely hope was victim to something being lost in translation, because i didn't like how it compared their love for each other as one being more true than the other just bc Ongsa was scared to be out of the closet).

I am, however, glad that Sun realized that she was being hypocritical and unfair though, especially since she was molding herself to what she thought Ongsa wanted in their relationship, instead of talking to her. And so, i appreciate that they became a more healthy and stable relationship afterwards. Though, admittedly, my enjoyment of them as a couple was killed by their red flag actions that weren't properly addressed. So, I wasn't really invested in their ending.

>>>Aylin and Luna<<<

An absolutely adorable 2nd couple. I loved how honest Aylin was, even when she was nervous, in pursuing Luna (after Luna showed her she could trust her). And i loved the relationship between Aylin and Ongsa (her cousin). Aylin and Luna were a healthy couple pretty much from the beginning (with the hiccup of pushing Aylin into socialization too fast), and I don't think i stopped smiling for a moment when they were on screen together. And Aylin's neurodivergent (potentially autistic?) coding was great to see - especially with her lack of social cue awareness, her needing clear answers to social questions, and her displays of overstimulation that can be seen even in the background of other scenes. However, my one complaint is probably that Luna, as cute and lovable as she is, didn't really have a character flaw in sight.

>>>Alpha<<<

Alpha is Ongsa's older sister and Aylin's older cousin. On one hand, i loved that her presence helped contribute to Ongsa's family relationship development (she and her father had lived separately from her mother and sister for several years). Her scenes with Ongsa and Aylin were sweet. And i really related to her pre-graduation stress of uncertainty in her future and in her family relationships. But, she really didn't have much of an impactful role. So perhaps this was a storyline that could've been omitted or perhaps merged with Luna's (perhaps to balance out Luna's perfection) since they share similar traits and are in the same year together.

>>>The Friend Group<<<

I really value the focus on Ongsa's growing friend group, as it really helped her develop as a character and in her confidence - not having any friends coming into school and all. They're supportive, distinct, eclectic, quirky, and diverse. It made for the perfect complement to Ongsa's story and needs. There was also some comedic relief in there I really appreciated.

>>>Teachers Bambam and Nida<<<

These characters stole my heart. I loved their low-angst side story of the hapless accident-prone and tarot-loving Bambam and of her caretaking friend who developed feelings. Furthermore, I liked how they provided advice to their students when needed, and also stepped away so the major characters can figure things out on their own. And of course, they helped to drive the story forward at a few places, in believable way that never made me blink twice.

Lire davantage

Wasted

When I saw the trailer I was excited and I rewatched it. I loved Milk and Love from Bad Buddy so I was looking forward to this. The first episode although okay was still a doozy for me and took me out as I started to wonder what was happening. Every episode I kept wondering if there was a point of the series and when it would come into play. Honestly, it kept getting boring and I started watching in 2x.

The lack of parenting in this series. Seriously where was everyone (besides when the plot needed it)? Sun's parents seem okay but Ongsa and Alpha parents need a talking to. These girls were let down by the adults in their life. Everything is just happy-go-lucky and that's not real life. Stopping by and just casually sleeping over at each other's house, running off and no one being able to contact you and facing no repercussions. Like WHAT?!

I kept watching because I wanted to see the entire thing through to the end but it was a struggle for me as I kept falling asleep and fast-forwarding as I was bored. There were so many gaps, and long periods of silence, and then skipping to the next scene just took me out of it. The acting wasn't anything compelling and even the friend groups were a bit boring. It's like nothing was going on. I agree not everything needs to have a plot but give me SOMETHING. I'm not really sure what happened when they were planning this but this was very weak and forgettable. I'm a bit nervous for the others to come but I'll trust everything to go well.

Characters:

Ongsa - I just can't with her. She's too much, I'm afraid. The unnecessary screaming and theatrics were getting on my nerves. She was doing too much. Even if a lot of us are introverted, I don't believe for a second that we all act like this. Her catfishing Sun was still messed up and should've been addressed.

Sun - She was not given time to shine and most times I forgot she was there because the writers forgot about her as well. Her also outing Ongsa, Aylin and Luna is still a no-no for me.

Ongsa & Sun - I'm still not sure why Ongsa likes Sun and I'm even more confused as to why Sun likes Ongsa. No development. Things that should be an issue are resolved too quickly. Also, they don't have any chemistry. I was really confused because they worked so well in Bad Buddy.

Aylin - Love this girl. I kept watching for her if I'm being honest. She just stole the show for me. But she needs help. This girl was let down by the grown-ups in her life. Her, Ongsa, and Alpha.

Luna - I liked Luna not gonna lie but I wasn't pleased with her forcing Aylin out of her shell like that but things worked out in the end.

Aylin & Luna - I'm not really sure how they began to like each other but they actually had chemistry and I enjoyed their scenes. I wanted to see more of them.

Alpha - Oh lord, they did my girl dirty. They could've done such good things with her storyline. But she was just floating around until the plot needed her.

Tohn, Tinh, Mawin, and Charoen - Tohn got annoying at the end especially since he refused to leave Charoen alone. Not sure why they were trying to make Tinh and Mawin a thing when they had no chemistry and barely had scenes.

Nita and Bambam - I liked these two and how they'd give advice when needed.

Lire davantage

A sunny day on Earth with a raincloud overhead

23.5 was a fun flurry of cuteness that managed to wonderfully capture teen love in school. It kept a light comedic tone and, while leaning into many tropes typical of teen Disney romances/Thai BLs, managed to stay fresh with an energetic tone, well-rounded and communicative leads, and unique side characters (need I talk about Aylin, our resident Alien who captured everyone's hearts?).

Even the main misunderstanding was executed better than many similar dramas. Instead of a dragged-out separation topped with assumptions and more misunderstandings, 23.5 pushed through it with heart, developed insight, and thoughtful conversations.

The final conflict is where I felt like this drama was pulled down from greatness.

For a character like Sun, who is presented as a bright, caring ray of sunshine who looks out for others and is mature for her age when it comes to handling emotions and complex situations, you'd think she'd be able to analyze and be critical of her own actions, considering the hurt they caused someone she loved. Granted, she was raised in a fully accepting and supportive environment with a family who never forced their own wants onto her and pushed her toward her dreams. But she also, through Aylin, directly got to see/observe how ignorance/bullying could affect someone.

And while both Sun and Ongsa had work to do on themselves and did grow over time, I found myself unable to fully appreciate it when what should arguably be the biggest conflict they have amounted to a one-sided blame game with a cutesy and rushed make-up unfitting of the situation.

A lack of awareness/regret and the drama's unwillingness/oversight in not calling out its characters is what kept me from finishing 23.5 on a high note. As it stands, I feel pleased as well as disappointed.

All this being said, I do recommend it, just with a small sigh.

Lire davantage

Cute but would not watch again

Acting:
Acting in general was ok. I think the standouts for me were Ciize, View and Love. They all protrayed their roles well and with emotional depth. Ongsa's character was a disappointment. I'm not sure if it was Milk or that the script confined her to this bratty, whiny, crying, annoying girl but I could not stand her character.

Plot:
I think the plot was weak in the sense that it was unrealistic.
Firstly, everyone accepts everyone and loves everyone. We all know that's not the case irl.
Secondly, the plot point about Earth lying to Sun would have been such a huge point to expand on to show character growth and depth and lessons but nothing happened. Earth cried a bit, avoided Sun and Sun herself had to reconcile with herself and go and seek Earth out. WHAT??? That makes zero sense to me and would not happen irl.
Thirdly, no one, not even both sets of parents nor friends are shocked that girls are dating girls. They are all preachy lovey you can love anyone you want to like from the get go. I know the show wants to make these homosexuality unsurprising and untaboo, but disregarding that, even dating in high school, surely some parents would be worried. Partners sleeping over in each other's houses in high school? Parents wouldn't normally allow that, regardless of gender. It feels like everyone is just too chill and unbothered in this show.
The break up reason was lame. Until now I still don't understand why Love broke up with Ongsa - I think Ongsa is still clueless too.
I feel like the breakup scene was so forced like they tried to force a problem on them and then they quickly make up and get back together. What???
Also the chemistry between Milk and Love - you can tell they are just good friends. There's no sexual tension, no romantic feelings. They say they love each other (wayyyyy too quickly for high school students btw) but what does it actually mean?
Also, not everyone needs to be coupled up in a show you know!? It's OK for the majority of people to remain single. Why did they have to couple up the boys and the teachers too? What value does that add to the show?
Aylin and her partner (can't even remember her name) was a strange coupling up too. They fell in love - how? Why? Why are they attracted to each other? It was utterly unconvincing.
The plot frustrated the hell out of me and it felt like it let the actors down and was just lazy writing.
I'm glad that gmmtv gave GLs a chance but I feel like it let the actors and audience down when it could have done more. Just because we are starved for GLs doesn't mean we will take anything.

Lire davantage

23.5 + more wasted potential

There's been a lot of talk about 23.5, ever since the pilot teaser was released, and for good reason. But as of this moment, I'm just a bit dissapointed.

It took me a while to actually clear up my thoughts on this and write a review that was cohesive and not spoiler heavy, because despite my disappointment, a lot of the series is worth watching. A cute and fluffy rom - com that looks like it's been engulfed in peach lighting, it truly did have it's wonderful moments. Unfortunately, the bad almost edged out the good for me here.

Let's start with the positives: a positive and playful setting, supportive friends, supportive family (mostly), supportive teachers, a lot of cute moments between all the couples, and some wonderful supporting characters. It doesn't seem like much when banded together, but there were individually quite a few good moments. But this is also where the list of positives end.

With the rosy lens they used to shoot they series, it's almost like they forgot that sensitivity is important when you try to address important and relevant conversations. This is one of the major reasons my rating fell, hard. The (almost) complete disregard of awareness in the storytelling absolutely boggled me, characters not facing any sort of repurcussions for their actions, slightly troubling behaviour from the leads being glassed over to display forgiveness and understanding, writing off a character's genuine worries and fears as her first being weird and then others being mean, this is just part of the bad writing of the characters.
Not that this was helped much by the plot, it was set up in the way that the plot only magnified the problematic stuff that the characters did. From Ongsa manipulating Sun's feelings, to Sun gaslighting Ongsa, I was incredibly frustrated with a lot of the plotlines they had in place. I realise that these are strong words and I don't have a problem when dramas exhibit these behaviours for what they are, what really ticked me off was the fact that they trying to keep passing all this off as minor arguments, and the fact that they tried to convince us that all was perfect and healthy, when it wasn't.

As I write this, I can say I have no problems with plots where nothing happen. Even if it's just two people falling in love without much else happening, I can appreciate it for what it is, but this felt like an attempt to create something where a lot happens, but towards the end, nothing has truly happened. I honestly would have preferred something that was boring as opposed to this. Maybe try fleshing out the characters a bit more, giving them time to grow into themselves and establish relationships with the other characters? What we got was a ton of half developed characters in a bid to rush along a nothing plot, which meant that when it came time for us to understand why certain characters behaved totally out of character, we're left scratching our heads.

That leads me back to the characterisation. I feel like the characters were split into two: the ones who get development and the ones who don't. They had so many wonderful characters, and only about two or three of them had actual growth and context, and even then, just half done. The rest of them were perfect as they were, needed no growth, could do no wrong which only made it more frustrating when they did something wrong. I'm circling here so I'll conclude the review.

I realise this an incredibly long review, but I guess I just had a lot to say. And for all the faults I found, I will say that they truly did try to make something worthwhile, and they almost did. It genuinely did have some moments that made me so happy, but now I'm just so sad because I was expecting to love this a lot more. The acting was good, the chemistry was decent and like I mentioned, a few of the supporting characters were amazing. But the writing just let everything down.
I've said this before, but bad acting, subpar cinematography and editing can be supplemented, but a bad story? Drags everything down.
I really wish it hadn't.

Lire davantage

23.5 review

honestly its boring. i dont get the hype about this series. its nothing special for real. i had to force myself to watch this. i skipped so much parts. the storyline was not interesting at all. and its worse to know that love has a bf irl.
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I wish I liked it

After loving Milk and Love for so long and looking forward to this series since it was originally announced, I wished I could say I wasn't disappointed. I waited to watch it until now in part because of so many toxic new accounts on here who attacked everyone who didn't treat this page like a fan site.

I'll never understand why some people defend fictional characters who did not exist by making personal attacks against real people whose only crime is having a differing opinion. But this show could/should have been better written. I wish gmmtv spent time writing a great script for their first GL, but the writers gave us so much repetition and so many cliches that have been done REPEATEDLY in other gmmtv series. So many lies, tears and moments. It was exhausting.

It was hard enough to believe Milk playing a character 10+ years younger, but Ongsa was the only character I never liked throughout the whole series. Sun was fine for most of the episodes, but her fairytale princess routine got old when she started outing people and just decided that she was entitled to the scholarship that she hadn't even applied for at that point. But that's what happens when the writers are lazy. I know some people want the writing to be given a pass because the characters are kids. But great series exist about high school students. But I didn't like MSP either, so I've kinda accepted that gmmtv high school shows these days aren't for me.

Aylin and Luna were the only reason I didn't drop the series. I loved both of them and wished they got more screen time. I hope gmmtv actually ties with their next GL, the trailer looked great, but after this show, it's hard for me to get my hopes up.

Lire davantage

Earth and Sun.

Tô muito apaixonada nas Ongsasun, são extremamente fofas e amáveis. Não só isso como também, além delas tem mais dois casais secundários que tão acontecendo também e ambos são sáficos!

A Aylin e a Luna que é um dos casais secundários são muito princesas e queridas. Eu amo elas infinitamente. Muito fofo o jeito que a Luna teve todo um cuidado de se aproximar da Aylin (Já que ela é bem antisocial e diz ser um alien que não gosta de humanos) pra fazer com que ela participe do clube de astronomia.

Enfim, me identifico muito com a Ongsa também. Loser igual ela.

Lire davantage

It's sooo good

I came with little to no hope, Was tired with the school romance, Thought it was going to be soo boring. Oh god I couldn't have been soo wrong.

I don't know what happened but the moment I watched ep1 I was just soo entertained. Ans as i kept watching it did not let me down. Had little hope since it was the first ever Gk from Gmmtv but oh man, Im bit even that in to gl but this gave me everything that i ever wanted.

This is a comfy cosy laidback Gl to just ease your stress like the other series im watching gives me so much unnecessary stress it's so refreshing.

No straight to gay bullshit. Characters are bi and has always been kinda nice sense most bl just turn characters Straight to gay ( I hate that shit, just make them bi). I love love the bi representation and all the diverse characters specially the Aylin idk but she's really very interesting character. Coming from 'Dangers Romance' (Droped), I thought she would just be meh but ended up being my favorite character. I just can go on an on about how the character are so well written and relateble and how side characters don't fade in to the background and just is there to aid the main lead. The side characters are somewhat connected with the main but they just feel like they have there's oen ark and own personally where sometimes in other series background character are less and less interestinng.

Also thank god tgey didn't try to force in a love triangle. I hate that shit

Are there any bads?
Nope. Not yet at least. 😅 And i don't think tbere will be. Cant wait for the next ep's.

Lire davantage

So many wasted chances

I really wanted to like this series. And even though I kind of do, I have some major itches for it (there are also a few great things).

Things I disliked:
1) I hate the "I text with my crush but they don't know it's me and we become emotionally attached" so much. Especially when all the lying goes on for a few episodes (MSP had this also but they gave it up after a short while). The fact that Sun fell for Earth was already like starting a romantic relationship in a very toxic way.
2) Outing each other. Since Ongsa didn't want to tell her parents about her relationship with Sun, we clearly do not have here a world where queerphobia doesn't exist. And if so, why is Luna outing Aylin (and calling her her girlfriend even though they did not talk about their status) and why is Sun outing Ongsa to her parents? Take a hint, Sun. This kind of things should be talked about first.
3) The whole alien treatment. Aylin is clearly autistic-coded and she was constantly (for the first few episodes) forced to do stuff even though she very obviously was not comfortable. For some things, she didn't even get Luna's apologies.

Things I liked:
1) The teachers' storyline. I hope this actress' pairing will be cast in other series cause it was very adorable.
2) How Charoen hasn't fallen for Ton's flirting. Otherwise it would have felt forced.
3) The overall cuteness.
4) How they developed Alpha's character and problems.

There were a lot of moments where the creators could have done the right thing and add a little apologizing here and there, and simplly not include some of this toxicity. But overall, for first proper GMM's GL, it was good and adorable and I sure hope they keep improving.

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