Love Storm (2022)

2 stories strung together well with great acting

I have always found Thai BL to be a hit or miss so I usually keep my hopes under check when I decide to give any series a try. This was no exception. That being said, after finishing the series I can state that I am glad that I gave this one a try. It was certainly not perfect (hardly any series can be) but it was good and entertaining.
The series is divided into 2 parts, each part dedicated to each of the 2 couples. The 1st part is about Rain, an engineering student who is in love with a girl but due to some circumstances meets Payu, an engineer and a bike enthusiast. Payu shows interest in Rain and devices ways to meet and tease him so he would fall for him (huh! what?). Ultimately Rain bets that in 1 month he will make Payu fall head over heels for him and bring a stop to his teasing. Here starts Rain's attempt to win his bet while also ensuring his engineering studies arent affected.
The 2nd part revolves around Sky (Rain's friend), another engineering student who is good with his studies and takes the responsibilities of being a senior seriously. Although he seems happy you later find out that he is battling his own past demons. His life is disrupted with the entry of Prapai (Payu's friend), a rich businessman, a philanderer and a successful racer who cant be beat. Prapai tries all the usual tactics to get Sky to fall in love with him and help him to get over the past issues that haunt him.
I am glad that they decided to keep both the stories separate although it dealt with the same set of people. This gave them enough time to concentrate on 1 love couple and bring out of the best rather than moving back and forth between 2 couples. It sometimes becomes an editing nighmare and there are countless such series that fails due to atrocious editing.
To begin with the 1st storyline, there are some great moments while Rain is trying to get Payu fall for him and is failing miserably. They are funny and sometimes heart-warming. You see that Payu likes Rain but is strict with him when it comes to his studies thereby showing that he really cares. As the story progresses you find out Payu has been manipulating the situation right from the beginning for Rain to make the bet and instead make Rain fall in love with him. This is where I was pulled out of the storyline a bit. It seems absurd that Payu can plan this whole thing out and knew that Rain will fall for him. I understand this is fiction but there is a limit to my suspension of disbelief. They could have ignored the whole manipulation plot and nothing would have been lost. But I did certainly ignore that facet and continued watching it with equal interest. The chemistry between the 2 leads was exceptional and it was believable that they are in love. 8/10 to this story. Certain scenes could have been trimmed to make the story more crisp but still good nonetheless.
The 2nd plot about Sky and Prapai was near perfect. The story had gravitas. On one side we have Sky, a broken boy with a dark past that haunts his dreams. He is seriously traumatised and that part of his is uncovered slowly and I loved it. On the other side we had Prapai, a rich boy who seems spoilt but is smitten with Sky after their first encounter and is willing to do anything to win him over, in the process changing himself and bringing Sky to terms with his past. The story is not something I have seen explored in a lot of BLs and I was glad to see it here and both the actors were convincing enough. Just like the 1st plot a few scenes should have been trimmed to make way for better story building about Sky's trauma rather than religating it to a few minutes in the last episode. That storyline had potential and should have been more fleshed out but you cant get everything you ask for and as I said earlier I entered this series with little hope. 8.5/10 to this story.

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dubious consent with a healthy serving of boring and fumbling of serious topics.

first half of the show the couple was interesting enough with some consent issues in the first couple of episodes but it’s mame, remind me to check if shows are adapted from her stories next time.
but the second half and couple were boring, had little chemistry. The acting and handling of rape and abuse weren’t the best. sky really just needs therapy instead of a stalkery love interest. Not a fan of how his personality changed just because of some rich guy. He lost everything that made him interesting in the first half.
The drag racing was an interesting idea but a lot of the racing scenes are just really long for no reason and in general there were scenes where it felt like it should’ve been cut shorter, the voice audio cuts for the phone scenes were hilariously fake and basically just audio recordings of the other actor speaking.
I’d probably give the first half a solid 6 (with no rewatch value) but with the second half and how it unceremoniously turned Payu and Rain into side characters rather than tell both stories intertwined, it’s barely scrapping a very mediocre 5.
My advice, if you’re absolutely set on watching this one, just watch the first half and skip the second half completely.

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Love Storm a bit less Sky

The end of the Thursday rendez-vous , I won't miss them but it was an acceptable story if you consider the entertainment side alone, because it undeniably was.

I much preferred Love Storm to Love Sky, the main reason being the chemistry between the characters. Boss and Noeul managed to bring this uneven dynamic between Phayu and Rain to life in both the domestic and intimate scenes in such a fluid and simple way. On the other hand, in some of the scenes between Peat and Fort, I felt like I was on the set, hearing the director's instructions and seeing the actors comply with them (tap your shoulder, smile, kiss, bow your head, etc. ....).

Both stories have the same flaws:
🍅 A power struggle rather than complementarity. I'm not criticizing Rain's ingenuity or Phayu's bossy, manipulative side, but rather the way it's brought to a head and wrapped up. As for Sky and Prapai, we have two stubborn personalities, both manipulative and who confront each other to know who will capitulate first and once again I didn't appreciate the deconstruction of these behaviours.
🍇Mutual understanding, getting to know each other if you like, is not yet the high point of establishing the foundations of relationships, it's preferred to the passionate side. I have nothing against the kissing and bedding scenes, but I would have liked Rain to talk a little more about himself. It always seems to be a one-side view. Sky and Prapai have been more generous in this area but it's still not enough. When the plot is non-existent because it's intended to be, we should be able to fall back on the characters' portraits. Here, apart from Rain, no one interested me.
🍉 Skimming over serious issues or just brushing them aside as if they didn't exist. To be honest the treatment of Sky's character still sticks in my craw because even if it's fiction you can't let a trauma like hims be swept under the carpet and only be brought up to introduce the token villains and return to the famous clichés of Prince Charming to the rescue of the sleeping beauty.
🌶️ Consent and privacy are still not properly addressed. Some scenes, especially at the beginning of their interactions, will make you cringe. It didn't get any better in a snap of the fingers but overall it's still manageable.

Admittedly, I cited more negative points or to be improved than positive ones, but I can say that you will not getting bored by these two stories, the rhythm is good, the acting for rookies actors is acceptable, and above all, Boss' performance is stunning (you'll want to see him again).

My final rating 7.3 out of 10. Not meh nor good.

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I don't like it very much

First I wanna say that the reason people liked this so much was because of the sex scenes and hot actors. I like the actors too, but this was not good. I liked it a lot when it started but the dad-son relationship Rain and Payu had made me uncomfortable and I cringed. I decided to ignore that and I actually enjoyed the first half of the season, cause I kinda liked the couple and Rain and Sky's friendship too. Sky was so funny and confident at the beginning so when he turned into a weak bottom who functions because of men's validation I hated it. I know he had a very terrible trauma but I also think it was very random to put those rape scenes in a show that seemed to be very much more comfortable to watch. Not to mention the very dramatic plots that they forced like that random kidnapping of Rain. About the Sky and Prapai couple I was hoping to like them more, but then it was just drama and sadness and Sky's actor was not a very good actor so he couldn't do crying scenes, which made me feel nothing and I just wanted it to end. So basically: the screenplay exaggerates, the acting is very medium, the story is mediocre as well and the older men of the relationships are way too possessive and kind of toxic but it seems to be what people like these days.

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Cheaper off

So it seems like they didn’t use the best sound and cameras that they could of. Story got a bit boring towards the end. Won’t rewatch and am disappointed in the sound and the shakiness of the camera at times.
P’Phayu and Rain were my favorite couple. P’Pai and Sky were okay. Their story and acting did not seem as good as the other couple
It seems like this might have been better as 2 mini series or else when they could spend a little bit more to help the production of it. TharnType had better sound quality and camera movements along with Don’t Say No.

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bad production bad scenario

the production is lousy and poor quality. the voice quality must be a joke. the storyline of the first couple was awful. the development of their relationship just didn't make sense. assaulting someone is never okay and rain's "revenge" evolving into love and admiration(?) was such a shame. at first i gave 3 points only for the sake of the second couple, but they dont even deserve that. side couple's storyline was much better and much more interesting; it also touched on some heavy topics. yet, it wasnt enough to save the show. the acting was okay. overall, i don't recommend this at all. just skip it and you are not missing anything.

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yall im ngl this series is asssssssssssssss

IM ON EPISODE 8 MIND YOU - and this is the corniest series i have EVER seen in my entire life.

maybe its a me problem but this drama did NOT have me hooked or at the edge of my seat at all, some scenes even made me want to burst down into tears from how much disappointment i felt. i feel like im gonna need therapy after watching this drama not because of how emotional it made me feel, but from how down atrocious it was. 😀

idk abt the second couple but the first couple's dynamic and entire storyline is SO cliche, its another enemies to lovers story. and that's not even the problem,, like i love me a good enemies to lovers trope, but somehow i hated it in this series. payu and rain made me cringe so hard my brain stopped functioning at some point from the embarrassment. especially in scenes where payu gets all mysterious and says some cheesy line like "you dont know what kinda man i am..."😭😭😭 shit had me curled up on the ground CRYING from awkwardness.

not to mention, i had to FORCE myself into finishing every episode since yall mfs kept hyping it up. also bc something in me hoped to god that it would progressively get better, but it didn't get better. like. at all. 😐 so now idek if im gonna finish the series.

seriously yall this entire series felt like a whole fever dream to me and like really , if you enjoy it, dont bash me for not liking it. i just hated how illogical the entire thing felt to me. i'm into fantasy and all that but are you fr ??? rain wants to prove to payu that he's NOT DUMB by trying to make him fall in LOVE ??? be SO fr with me, like what the hell is going on ?? 💀💀💀 yeah this aint doing it for me,, im sorry.

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too stereotypical

i really don't know how people can enjoy this show. like this is too stereotypical and doesn't have any plot for real? i felt like i was watching something at first, you know, motorcycles races and stuff but later this started having no sense.

let me tell you something about phayu x rain relationship

i like how they met - that's was really nice and good acted but later? phayu forcing rain to have sex with him? and rain doing nothing about it really? it was portrayed like it's okay to put pressure at other people in this matter.
later phayu started doing some cringe and weird shit: "i'll make u love me, just watch" like he didin't force him to have sex with him... and rain was like "oh, okay, i love u". their relationship was dry, nothing more and i didn't feel chemistry from them, yeah they're had some sweet moments but for me it's still no.

apart from phayu and rain we also had sky nad prapai..... I DON'T KNOW WHERE SHOULD I START
i hate prapai for forcing sky to like him. you really don't know what NO means? sky told him many times that he doesn't want to know him and even talk to him and that man couldn't stop for what? if someone tells you that they don't want to talk to you and have contact with you what'd you do? force them to be friends OR EVEN MORE with you? nah, you won't do that so why prapai couldn't stop i really don't understand.

sky was traumatized but oh, he can be fixed by handsome man and power with love, ah... what a beautiful thing... what a pity it doesn't work like this

at the end - everything was about sex and some weird stuff (MY GOD DO U REMEMBER THAT KIDNAPPING SCENE?) i wouldn't recommend this bl to anyone

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Nice plot ruined by bad production

The show is enjoyble, but poor quality spoils everything.
Editing and sound are ridiculous, the direction is shameful.
They could have done better, since the plot is not bad and the actors are very nice.
Phayu/Rain’s story arc was handled better. I can't explain why the quality has dropped so much in the last few episodes. It’s shameful, because Prapai/Sky’s story is intense and deserved more. MeMindY and MAME still have a lot of work to do to meet the standards of other production companies. Although smaller companies have done better. The budget is important, but the ideas are more important.

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Can Payu and Prapai really be considered green flags?

I actually quite liked the series. I think the locations and production value are great, the OSTs are beautiful and catchy. The actors did an amazing job portraying their characters and the chemistry between all of them was amazing.

We actually follow two almost separate stories that feel like spin offs of one another. I think we would all benefit from two separate series with an extra episode or two each, because things felt quite rushed at times. There often wasn’t a clear logic in the way scenes followed one another either. And quite a few plot holes or plot choices that make absolutely no sense. What do you mean Rain was afraid of telling Sky that he likes a guy? Sky literally helped him plan how to win over the guy!

Payu & Rain: where to even start? Payu seems to be a bit cold, but very confident and independent. He knows what he wants and goes for it. Rain is… annoying. I don’t know how else to describe him, but he is supposed to be this innocent and overly dumb character. There were a lot of scenes in which I just felt annoyed by him. But at the same, he felt very relatable. When his car breaks down in front of the bar and he is unsure how to react. Every new driver has probably felt that way at one point. Boss and Noeul have great chemistry, there is no denying that. Their NC scenes were done incredibly well and I think that them being comfortable with each other off screen really translated well into the series.

Prapai & Sky: Prapai is sweet, rich and caring. He seems to be less cold than Payu and tends to make his intentions clear early on. Sky is my spirit animal. I absolutely love his character. The sass, the constant snacking, the sarcasm and just generally being done with everyone. He has a horrible past which means he doesn’t really open easily though. Fort and Peat also have an amazing chemistry, they really did great in their NC scenes as well. With their first night together being a mess, I really appreciated how important consent was between the two going forward. Sky always either initiated things or gave consent clearly.

This is based on a MAME novel, so I should have known better than to hope everything will be great and that we will finally get some real green flag characters. Here’s the thing, I don’t mind red flag characters if that is shown clearly. Go be toxic, just be honest about it. We were gaslighted into thinking that both Payu and Prapai are walking green flags when the reality is far from that. From manipulation, stalking, sex coercion and non-consent, forced coming outs… and I could keep going. But most of these were very well hidden in the plot, so they can be easily missed or shown as something romantic. Which is also problematic.

I really want to take a moment to talk about Gun, Sky’s ex. I’m not going to go into what has happened with him as I don’t want to spoil anything, but I was so impressed with Dunk’s acting. It is very hard to make us hate a character as much as he made us hate Gun. And sure, Gun is the villain in the story, but if the villains are not well thought through or portrayed right, I don’t really care much about them. But Gun? I loathed him.

All of the side characters were a lot of fun actually. I really liked Sky’s and Rain’s university friend group. They were a lot of fun, and I was living for Sig doing his best to annoy poor Som. Payu’s boss in the office was interesting too and I really liked their relationship. Don’t even get me started on Chai, Pakin’s right hand man. There was just something about him that demanded attention when he appeared on screen.

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Before I say anything, i just wanna tell you Guys if you want to watch this series but is having double mind because of other peoples opinions...JUST DON'T THINK ANYTHING ELSE....I also watched this series after reading reviews (no hate to anyone) thinking its not good and the story is bland but believe me JUST WATCH IT WITHOUT ANY DOUBLE THOUGHTS. You'll gonna love this. Especially the acting of the all four cast. I can't believe it's their first time doing the series and they actually nailed it.

I dont know why most of the people didn't like this series. I really loved how they showcased students struggles in some Scenes, also (🚨 TRIGGER WARNING🚨) i really liked the way they portrayed the SA issue. Despite Phayu and Rain story being so simple, i enjoyed every minute watching them. I liked it how they didn't make them do cringey stuffs like other bls and instead it looked all natural, fluffy and cute. As for Prapai and Sky, gurl i was so blown away by their story. I really liked Fort (Prapai) acting, the way he portrayed emotions in last two/three episodes made me want to go and kiss him for doing so good. And as for Sky i dont think anyone would have done such a brilliant job in portraying that character apart from Peat. I really want to hug him for doing so great.

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