Look, because I want to be objective my rating 9 BUT subjectively this drama is 10 for me.

It nails all of my personal favourite tropes (rivals to lovers, secret relationship, forbidden love, two idiots in love) which is the reason why my subjective rating is that high. And in my opinion this drama deserves high ratings because it delivered and nailed almost everything it promised to be.

I see lot of people say that the story isn´t original but I have to disagree. Yes it has the common trope of rivals to lovers but the Romeo and Juliet type of trope isn´t really that overdone. Not to say that Bad Buddy does all of it in its own way. I think that saying that the plot isn´t original when talking about BL is a strange statement because there are only very few series that are "original".

But yes, what makes Bad Buddy unique isn´t the plot - its the execution, the characters, the emotions and the overall message. Its very mature and well realized series.

Best thing about this series is the couple themselves. Their natural chemistry is one of the best i have ever seen. Their relationship is healthy, they trust each other, treat each other with respect. Their rivalry doesn´t stop when they end up together, they still tease each other and are just two idiots head over heels for each other. All of this makes the fact that the circumstances are unfortunate for them that much more tragic. Look at them, they just want to be silly with each other, why do you have a problem with that?

Another thing to applaud this series for are the reasons why their parents hate each other and forced them to become rivals. It doesn´t feel far fetched, it makes sense and isn´t overly dramatic . It was one of the things that could go badly for the plot but didn´t. I think its mainly because it wasn´t this one big dramatic thing that would made them hate each other for infinity but mixture of things that grew bitter over time. And made it much harder to magically fix and established that some things take a lot of time to fix , if they even CAN be fixed in the first place.

The parents could have been a bad plot device but they were so well characterized. They aren´t big bad villains, they are caring parents. Yes, they were petty and controlling, they couldn´t leave their past behind and dragged their children into their mess. They hurt them but it was because they wanted the best for them. Even though they more thought about themselves than their children. Its scary thing that happens in real life. I wish we saw more of them!

ACTING

Oh Nannon, he is stellar. One of my favourite moments is the ending of Ep. 4 and his performance. It was so sad, touching and realistic. I could feel it. I love how he portrayed Pran, he became one of my favourite characters in BL. Ohm is great as well. The scene where Pat realized he had feelings for Pran was also so well done by him. In fact I cannot think of any instance when would the acting fall off. Everyone is great and Nannon is phenomenal.

BUT WHY NOT 10?

Well, objectively this series has it´s setbacks and they mainly come in the middle were the plot kinda stalls and has some unnecessary plot points (like the whole Wai x Pa thing). I cannot really think of a good reason why were we so occupied with the architecture play. I think there were more interesting ways of moving the plot forward. And it took away time that was needed ( for developing Pa and Inks relationship, we need more GL for the love of GOD). Because my biggest problem was that they established faculty rivalry but Pat friends moved on so quickly and easily. And they were the more agressive part of the conflict in the beginning. They sometimes even bullied Wai and then never apologized. Not even Pat.

So this drama has a storytelling problems, nothing big but noticeable. Like I think we should have known the reason why Pa wanted Pat to protect Pran sooner, otherwise Pat character doesn´t make sense in the beginning. ( I am nitpicking, I know. Just my thought)

And the finale.... it could have gone better considering how good was ep. 11. The parallel between Junior and his mother and Pran and Pran´s mother was weird. Pran´s mother slapped him, she was in the wrong, Junior mother wasn´t. Pran forgave her too quickly a once again some things felt unnecessary. BUT I like that not everything was sun and rainbows at the end.

Overall the finale was satisfying end to an amazing series and one of the best that came out in 2021. I re-watched it, it was even better and would recommend this series to anyone, even if you don´t usually watch BL.