Manner of Death (2020)

One of a kind

3-4 years later I finally watched this and I quite enjoy it.
Although we have to be prepared mentally because it's dark and horrible but the chemistry between the main leads compensate it somehow lol.

The story is sometimes predictable (and not really surprising), a bit confusing but still make you want to watch the next one till the end. It's indeed different from what I've seen in Thai BL (I don't include The Sign, I mean, I was saying from the date released). The acting was quite nice, I love the different settings (in North of Thailand I think?) and interesting story overall and I felt so bad for doctor Bun and her childhood friend but also for other girls..
The side character but important, Rungtiva played by the actress which I first watched her in Ngao ruk luang jai, she was so great in this.

Doctor Bun and Tan look so good together but is it just me or something off (I don't know if it's because it's a bit short and with the case, I didn't think they have times for their relationship?? or maybe I was too focused on the investigation that I even forgot it's BL LOL). However, it was satisfying especially at the end. So it worth the watch.

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Good introduction to the "BL world"

This is one of the VERYYY first BL series I've watched and I'm so glad that I happened to watch Manner Of Death in particular. I mean- it's just just something that has "interesting enough" storyline and isn't cheesy but at the same time isn't too heavy. Of course I'd say this series is more on the "serious" side but it's not going to break you into small pieces that can never be collected together. It has some serious heartbreaking scenes but it also contains a lot of funny moments and romantic ones and it's all just.. well-balanced. Great acting, unique storyline and will for sure make you want to explore the world of BLs more 😆

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A queer twist on a classic crime thriller

I liked this one! It's different, intriguing, and on the whole pretty good fun.
The acting, cinematography, and pacing are all solid and make for an enjoyable whodunnit thriller experience.
The murder mystery is, for the most part, very well executed and fun to guess along with and is balanced quite well with the romance elements.
The characters are largely well-written and feel fully fleshed-out and three dimensional. My personal favourites are Sorawit and That, my beloved itty bitty gay sleuths, but the rest of the cast is, if not likeable, then at least interesting and compelling to watch as well.

This show isn't perfect by any means; in keeping with classic crime drama tradition it is more concerned with aesthetics and style, as well as making the viewers *feel* something rather than with telling an entirely logical and coherent story.
This to say there are several plot holes (although how bothersome these are is entirely subjective) and the story side-lines character development and gets a little too wrapped up in its own twisting, turning mystery for my personal taste towards the end.
I also wish there had been more plot-relevant female characters who don't wind up dead or otherwise disposed of, but for what it's worth the women of this story all get plenty of screen-time and agency, which sadly isn't a given in many male-centric queer media, or even in crime dramas for that matter.

All in all though, Manner of Death, despite its shortcomings, represents a step in a new direction for the genre and likely helped pave the way for later shows to deviate even further from well-established tropes and plots and for that alone I appreciate it greatly.
So if you're interested in watching a little piece of queer film history, or are looking for a well-paced thriller that is neither afraid of exploring some very dark topics nor of casually incorporating queerness into its characters and plots, then you should definitely give this show a try.

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If you want to watch a detective series or a BL where romance take secondary place

It looks like it was not a high paid project, but it still looks good and has a unique atmosphere. These foggy landscapes, forests and houses made of wood, street markets, Viangpha Mork's small population where everyone knows each other. It's beautiful, and it's something I'd like to rewatch someday simply because of this little and alluring world. The story is not so pretty. Terrible things are happening here, many towners have skeletons in their closets. Dr. Bunn - who is a new medical examiner in town - is expected to play his silent role, which he denies and so he gets involved and very badly.

Time flows slower here, and the plot will unfold bit by bit with each episode. Music builds up pressure very well, though I'd like to see more vocals in series, not just instrumentals. Love story doesn't take much time - the attraction between TanBunn is immediate and there is nothing to stop them aside from dangerous case they are involved in and death threats. New obstacles appear between them, but they try to protect what they have, not always making good choices, but still listening to each other. Their flirt is something too X)

Young cast have something to learn, but I was amazed bythe play of older actors, especially by Max, Tul, Mint, Foei and Great (the character doesn't show much emotions and mostly driven by his will to do his job right, but the actor portrays him with appropriate style, Inspector M is the most real for me in the series).

Overall, I can not say the series look fantastic and new, outcome wasn't unexpected and there were too many men jumping out of nowhere with guns, but - aside from the last one - everything else was smooth, adding up and with unique charm. It's a pleasure to slowly explore the story. Definitely recommend if you want to watch a detective series or a BL where romance take secondary place.

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Favorite Show At The Moment.

The BL content as well as romance happened to be there, with the exception of it wasn't the main plot. I started watching this because of the BL content but stayed for the amazing story. The story itself surprised me every episode as well as kept me coming back for more.. I never could figure out the outcome of the story which I usually do when I watch anything suspenseful. The characters happened to be complex as well as the actors played their roles so well, I forgot they happened to be acting. However, I believe the side characters could've been more complex as well.

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Must Watch!!!

Wow, this was an outstanding series. This had so many impactful storylines. The best thing about this series is it’s a crime mystery first and a BL series second, which I love. The script has wonderful. It had so many twists and turns to keep you guessing without getting you confused. There are some big surprises towards the end that I did not see coming. All of the actors did an amazing job with portraying their characters. Tul and Max are outstanding actors and have great on-screen chemistry. This series helps show off their acting skills. The cinematography was stunning.

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Maxtul Vibes di series misteri! wow

Menceritakan seorang dokter bedah bernama Dr.Bun yang menautopsi jenazah (temannya) yang kematiannya tidak jelas karena apa dan memberikan kesimpulan yang rancu, dia berusaha menyelidiki kebenaran yang terjadi. Di saat yang sama seorang guru les bernama Tan yang kebetulan bertemu dengan Dr.Bun disebuah bar ternyata memiliki kemampuan untuk membantu Dr.Bun dan memiliki hubungan yang kuat dengan kasus ini. Mengharuskan mereka berdua tetap berhubungan dan saling berkomunikasi bertukar informasi, hal ini menyebabkan mereka terus bersama walaupun Dr.Bun bahkan mencurigai guru les ini, Apakah kedekatan mereka memunculkan romansa cinta? Sebenarnya apa yang terjadi? saksikan seriesnya. Dari segi warna sangat jelas series ini memiliki saturasi warna yang rendah mencerminkan bahwa series ini merupakan series misteri. Untuk Scene cukup detail dan masih bisa difahami walaupun menggunakan alur yang agak rumit dan mungkin harus fokus untuk menontonnya agar dapat merasakan esensi series. Dari segi penokohan menurutku sangat cocok, tidak hanya Dr.Bun dan Tan ; tokoh pendukung lainnya menurutku mereka semua sangat cocok memerankan perannya masing-masing, dari segi romansa, agak lambat ya ; namun perlahan terasa. Series ini berfokus pada penyelidikan daripada romansa cinta, walaupun menurutku porsinya sangat banyak untuk romansa cinta, namun kita akan merasa seperti cerita berfokus pada "latar belakang kasus" daripada hubungan mereka berdua (Dr.Bun dan Tan) - tapi perlu diingat dan tidak perlu cemas karena ini merupakan series bL. Rekomended? jelas - sangat rekomended.

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I'm sad that I got disappointed...

Maxtul is known as the Kings of BL, so I was expecting sth (not much though), when I started with this series, my first Maxtul show. Idk if it's bc this is not romance focused, but I didn't feel much of their chemistry unfortunately... Honestly in the first 2-3 ep I felt a lot of good tension between them, but later on not much, or rather nothing... I will make sure to watch Tomorrow with you to give myself a chance to like Maxtul...

Aside from Maxtul chemistry, I also had some expectations for the story (again not very high), since I've read a lot of good comments. I got a little disappointed, there were some plot holes and much of the story was predictable (but it also had some very good plot twists), so I wasn't very impressed. Maybe bc I have already watched Not me, another BL series, that doesn't mainly focus on romance, so this wasn't really sth new for me.

The 2nd last scene was predictable for me as well & tbh I cringed a lot...

Nevertheless I liked ThatSorn, they were very cute!

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This one went way beyond my expectations

I was very hesitant about this series, because murder mysteries aren't my cup of tea - if I have to choose, I'd pick a sweet romcom over a thriller any time. After seeing "Manner of Death" popping up among BL recommendations, I finally gave in and decided to give this series a try, ready to drop it as soon as I got bored with it.

Now that I finished binge-watching the entire series in the span of a couple days, I can confirm that it was absolutely worth it. The only reason I gave it a 9 instead of a 10 is that, as I said, it's not my preferred genre, but that's it, because everything else was great.

The plot was very well built. It's well-paced throughout all the episodes and there are no useless/filler moments anywhere (I especially appreciated the lack of the usual product placement skits that can be found in several Thai BL series). It's very suspenseful and I genuinely couldn't figure out who was the culprit and what was the entire story like until the end. The characters and the music are very well utilized as well.

I hadn't realized that the main actors were Tul and Max, the same main leads as in Together With Me, but when I noticed I felt so happy to see them again in a series together. More than anything, I was happy to see that they got a series without the annoying dynamics of Together With Me and its sequel - both actors are very good and have great chemistry, so they really deserved it.
Another thing of Manner of Death that I greatly appreciated was the very little drama regarding the main couple's romantic relationship. There was no insecurity about anyone's sexuality, no ex relationships, no miscommunication (and if there was any hint of it, it didn't last long). The dramatic part of the drama was entirely for the mystery murder part of it, which made me appreciate the main story a lot more.

I'd rather not say too much about this series because I think it's better to just watch it and enjoy. Be careful for several sensitive topics in case you have problems with those, but other than that? You're in for a great ride.

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Una historia que trasciende un género

Disclaimer: Hay una realidad en esto y es que sí esta serie no fuese protagonizada por Max y Tul no creo que tenga el mismo resultado. Pero, como ellos son los personajes principales y la historia es TAN buena que funciona todo como una ex-machina.

Manner Of Death es una serie por demás interesante, contando la historia de Bun, un médico forense que vuelve a su pueblo natal con el fin encontrar algo de paz en ese lugar que recordaba con tanto cariño, y se encuentra con una realidad muy distinta que lo golpea en la cara dado que tiene que investigar diferentes casos de asesinatos de mujeres que al principio no parecen relacionadas pero, acorde avanza la trama, no sólo se relacionan sino que se complejizan y se ve envuelto en una red de trampas junto a Tan, dueño de un bar y profesor particular que está loco de pies a cabeza por el médico y va a hacer todo lo posible para demostrarle que digno de estar a su lado, incluso si significa morir en el camino.
Pero eso no pasa gente, tranquilxs. Aunque durante esos 14 capítulos vas a estar con el culo al borde del sillón dado que hay momentos en donde no vas a saber como puede disparar y gritar de la rabia por lo injusto de todo, el final es tan...perfecto, que te encontrás diciendo "Por fin tienen el final que se merecen :')".
La serie hace un excelente trabajo mezclando la relación entre los diferentes personajes y cuestiones tan presentes en nuestras sociedades como así injustas como son la corrupción, el abuso de poder y la vulnerabilidad de derechos. Porque sí algo es claro durante toda la narrativa es que siempre son lxs niñxs y las mujeres aquellas personas que están más vulneradas y que el resto -sobre todo los hombres- piensan que pueden abusar como se les plazca.
Al lado de Priest, Sammon es otra escritora del carajo en cuanto a las historias que trae a la mesa, y siempre es precavida en contar historias de amor maduras que se mezclan con los juegos de poder que parecen rodear a Tailandia. La novela de Manner Of Death incluso se toma el trabajo de profundizar en los conflictos que la homosexualidad genera en Bun, no de la manera que se suele ver de tipo 'aYyY cOmO mE pUeDe gUsTaR oTrO hOmBrE' pero más del hecho de que Bun tiene miedo de que poder amar a otro los exponga a ambos a situaciones que él no pueda controlar, y esa otra persona salga dañada. En la serie esa parte la obvian pero si dejan la particularidad del personaje de no poder permitirse amar por dudar, y la desesperación de querer probar algo por el hecho de querer creer que Tan es bueno y que él se puede permitir amarlo.
Todo se desarrolla de manera perfecta, en los tiempo acordes y de forma natural llevando a que pueda desembocar en lo que sucede al final de la manera que debe ser, así que, si todavía no han visto a esta serie haganlo porque en realidad va más allá de lo que puede ser considerado 'BL' en tanto a sus componentes; es una serie de suspenso que cuenta la historia de dos personas que tratan de enamorarse en el medio de un tornado de situaciones que ni ellos ni los otros personajes a su alrededor (ni en realidad NADIE) deberían pasar.
Mirenla, y van a salir sabiendo que vieron algo que trajo algo nuevo y le abrió la puerta a nuevas ficciones para poder contar una historia POSTA al mismo tiempo que mostrar a dos chabones besándose, sin caer en costumbrismos ni factores heteronormativos, dejando así que puedan trascender el género y ser consideradas como arte también.

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A MUST WATCH FOR BL LOVERS: A LITERAL BREATH OF FRESH AIR

I wish I could give an in-depth review but time does not permit me. I would just like to say that this show is great. PERIOD POINT-BLANK. Yes, there are few misses here and there, but are they enough to make this a bad show? Not even close. Because come on, which show is perfect? I think this show stayed true to its genre: a crime/thriller BL. The crime did not overshadow the BL and vice versa. Everything flowed so well together. IT IS WORTH YOUR TIME, trust me. I came here for MaxTul and I most definitely was not disappointed in the least. I love this show. Like this is the only show I have ever written a review for!

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