Y Journey: Stay Like a Local (2023)

Cute

I never thought my first review would be on this, yet here it is. I do have some ups and downs on this series but that comes with any.
For downs, I can say that I didn't follow the relationship in some of the couples. I felt like some logic wasn't there. I also didn't connect to like 2 of the couples. It's a shame this wasn't longer but I think that adds to the ups with this.

For ups, I have to say that one: It takes up just around an hour of your time to watch through the whole thing, and you can decide for yourself whether you like it or not, but I think that it does have a high rewatch value. It not only showcases different parts of Thailand, but also different food and a small lesson in each one, take it or leave it.

Lire davantage

short and cute tourism promo with BL actors

Overall: 12 BL actors showcased parts of Thailand thru 6 short episodes. Each episode was about 8 minutes. Aired 2 per week on YouTube https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PL6jUaCqlEcp3ROAMOSYvXJ2ij5mxjCkzy&si=zEc7KOdeB5fTzvI4 Note: several of the episodes were not clearly BL but open to interpretation

What I Liked
- it was a cute short story/tourism commercial
- favorite story was probably ep 2 with Mai & Win
- so happy to see Frank without a wig
- happy they aired 2 per week and it was free to watch on YouTube

Room For Improvement
- they needed to subtitle the locations that the characters were at, although the information does appear in the video description
- each episode was very short and several were open endings

Lire davantage

A cute tourism ad, that does what it should

For 6 short episodes, each under 10 minutes, there isn't much to expect, but it does what it needed to do while giving us some cute, and some genuinely romantic scenes that pull on the heart strings.

The series itself is an anthology of stories promoting tourism and sustainability in Thailand, and they did a wonderful job merging the values with the story without making it seem too much like an advertisement.

The stories themselves are short, there isn't much backstory, but you can feel the connection between the leads and they're really cute. There are some sudden changes in genre, but that episode ended up being my favourite.

A short and sweet series.

Lire davantage

Love & Ecology

Stay Like A Local is a short omnibus series featuring beautiful places and yummy local food in eastern part of Thailand. The first and the only criticism I have to voice is the lack of translation of local names from thai to latin script. Probably in order to find out WHERE they actually are, you should pause the episode and Google translate the thai script on screen. I did not do that because the episodes are too short (7min each) to pause.

The 6 places are showcased by 12 young bl actors: each couple has an individual story with the local sustainable economy as a background. Each story is a love story using the well know tropes:
1 Friend Zone - the title says it all: best friends meet after three years. Are they still friends or maybe more? The story is sweet, full of side looks and hesitant words.
2 Confession - how to come out to your parents while helping them develop business using local produce? Dealings with parents always make me feel a bit uncomfortable and I can feel for the characters.
3 He's Not Happy - boss / employee relationship that goes both ways. Fluke has the strangest hair colour but the story is cute.
4 Goes On A Trip - a couple of coworkers go on a business trip together. Will there be something more developing between them? The glances are rather telling!
5 Let's Say A Lover - a holiday fling or more? Move on or stay back and try to fix things that are maybe not meant to be fixed...the future is open!
6 Memories - friends and maybe more meet again after certain time had passed. Will they finally be honest with each other and their feelings?

There are some really lovely stories here told within some magnificent scenery. The acting is a bit all over the place, the worst being Fluke (ep. 3 and still playing the same kind of character like in UWMA). The hair styling as well (again Fluke in ep.3 and both actors ep.6).

Everything considered, this is a nice short series expertly promoting Thailand, its gastronomy and the efforts they are making in sustainable economy. It is probably produced with the target audience of young professionals in their twenties: fans of BLs and worried about ecology.

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