Chimon Nanon Ohm
Thailand
I started watching Thai drama series when I moved to Thailand in 2013. I was never fond of traditional Thai lakorns (traditional lakorns are different from series). I watched a few episodes here and there but never really got to finish any of them because they were too conservative, too caricaturist, and too formulaic for my taste. But somehow I stumbled upon the Thai drama series Hormones (2013) and I actually enjoyed watching it. It's more progressive in terms of perspective on social issues and more realistic in terms of plot/story, script, acting, and overall production value compared to traditional lakorns.
Hormones had a boys' love (BL) side story but the first popular Thai drama series with BL as main story was actually Love Sick (2014). I love Love Sick! I don't think it's entirely fair to assess Love Sick based on current artistic and social standards since Thai BL series in general have improved a lot the last couple of years. Love Sick should be appreciated because it's a forerunner in the history of Thai BL series. It's not simply an imitation of Japanese BL series but an improvement of the traditional Thai lakorns. It also blurs the heteronormativity found in most Japanese BL series and traditional Thai lakorns. When Love Sick came out, it was actually revolutionary. No one was producing Thai BL series then compared to now when it's almost like a dime in a dozen. I remember during that time, the conservative sectors of Thai society even made a big fuzz about this Thai BL series (the same way they criticised Hormones). Some were even calling for the boycott or banning of Love Sick. Luckily, Thai BL series are more accepted now not only in Thailand but also in other parts of Southeast Asia, hence its current popularity in the region.
In terms of plot/storyline, Love Sick is very simple and yet very charming. It's about school boys falling in love with fellow school boys and how they navigated not only their school lives but especially their homoerotic and romantic relationships. Of course, aside from their homoerotic and romantic relationships, boys have other problems that could have been given more focus in Love Sick but let's understand that this is the first popular Thai BL series; everything's new, so let's give it a pass. The script was more natural and realistic compared to traditional Thai lakorns although there were a few times when the dialogue did not really make sense. Acting was generally ok if we take into consideration the fact that most, if not all, the cast members were newbies. The portrayals of Noh, Phun, Earn, and even Pete were actually cute. The chemistry between Noh and Phun was good. Noh was particularly endearing. Editing was awful especially of the first two or three episodes but it did improve in the succeeding episodes. With most probably a very low budget, not much can be expected in terms of production value. But Boy Sompob's official soundtrack (OST) "Shake" for Love Sick can be considered as a template for Thai BL series OSTs. No one does it better than Boy Sompob in bringing sensitive and touching emotions to Thai BL series OSTs.
Overall, I would recommend to watch and rewatch Love Sick. It's always good to look back and learn from the history of Thai BL series and see how far the genre has improved and still needs to improve.
Hormones had a boys' love (BL) side story but the first popular Thai drama series with BL as main story was actually Love Sick (2014). I love Love Sick! I don't think it's entirely fair to assess Love Sick based on current artistic and social standards since Thai BL series in general have improved a lot the last couple of years. Love Sick should be appreciated because it's a forerunner in the history of Thai BL series. It's not simply an imitation of Japanese BL series but an improvement of the traditional Thai lakorns. It also blurs the heteronormativity found in most Japanese BL series and traditional Thai lakorns. When Love Sick came out, it was actually revolutionary. No one was producing Thai BL series then compared to now when it's almost like a dime in a dozen. I remember during that time, the conservative sectors of Thai society even made a big fuzz about this Thai BL series (the same way they criticised Hormones). Some were even calling for the boycott or banning of Love Sick. Luckily, Thai BL series are more accepted now not only in Thailand but also in other parts of Southeast Asia, hence its current popularity in the region.
In terms of plot/storyline, Love Sick is very simple and yet very charming. It's about school boys falling in love with fellow school boys and how they navigated not only their school lives but especially their homoerotic and romantic relationships. Of course, aside from their homoerotic and romantic relationships, boys have other problems that could have been given more focus in Love Sick but let's understand that this is the first popular Thai BL series; everything's new, so let's give it a pass. The script was more natural and realistic compared to traditional Thai lakorns although there were a few times when the dialogue did not really make sense. Acting was generally ok if we take into consideration the fact that most, if not all, the cast members were newbies. The portrayals of Noh, Phun, Earn, and even Pete were actually cute. The chemistry between Noh and Phun was good. Noh was particularly endearing. Editing was awful especially of the first two or three episodes but it did improve in the succeeding episodes. With most probably a very low budget, not much can be expected in terms of production value. But Boy Sompob's official soundtrack (OST) "Shake" for Love Sick can be considered as a template for Thai BL series OSTs. No one does it better than Boy Sompob in bringing sensitive and touching emotions to Thai BL series OSTs.
Overall, I would recommend to watch and rewatch Love Sick. It's always good to look back and learn from the history of Thai BL series and see how far the genre has improved and still needs to improve.
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