Ready, Set, Love (2024)

a quick watch with a bearable storyline

so, i didn’t finish it obviously because i really couldn’t watch it anymore 😭

tbh no hate to it at all, if you’re into short dramas that have a cute little expected story going on then this might be just for you. me on the other hand, im not exactly into basic storylines with basic characters so.. BUT that’s just my own opinion.

also, it kind of reminded me of meteor garden (a chinese drama) that i had ALSO dropped halfway through and the way it reminded me of meteor garden just pushed me even more to the decision of dropping it.

the typical weird funny girl x coldhearted boy trope is just KINDAA not for me, so that’s the only reason. other than that, it was pretty okay

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Fun, funny, intense, and interesting dystopian story

This was a really interesting story and a lot of fun without being too superficial or too dark. I enjoyed the plot and I enjoyed how it moved along and didn't waste a lot of time on unimportant things. Definitely worth a season 2.

Everybody's acting was pretty good. I'd like to imagery in a lot of ways because they made it very clear and bright while discussing a subject that was somewhat dark. The game show itself was really interesting but you know predictable in some ways because of the story of the show being rigged. But the way they described the subject around it was interesting.

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If you can look past the slapstick comedy elements it is a hidden gem rom com

9.5/10 is my rating. This is a 2024 Thai Dystopian Romantic Comedy Series with 6, 63-7 minute episodes.

First I provide a unique synopsis then review

Synopsis

The show is set in a dystopian parallel universe where a virus has resulted in males representing only 1% of the population. The rarity of males has lead to the government raising them from birth in a controlled, secure, and luxurious environment (a gilded cage) called The Farm. Every Four Years a contest is held in the form of an elimination dating game where ladies are able to choose to marry an individual from a group of the young bachelors. In previous games, the contestants were chosen from elite families only but, for the first time, they hold a lottery to choose an average femalecitizen to compete. Darika Chokwithee or “Day” (Belle Kemisara Paladesh) is a hardworking young lady whose life centers around making sure her sister, May (Neen Neennara Boonnithipaisit) who has cancer, gets the best care. Her sister May though has always fan girled over the boys on the farm particularly Son (Blue Pongtiwat Tangwancharoen) who she particularly admires. While Day is busy working a variety of jobs, May focuses on getting as many entries as possible to the lottery. When a miracle happens and May’s entry is chosen, she talks Day into going in her place. Day could care less aboit some frivilous show until she discovers if she wins, and marries one of the men from “The Farm”, she can secure the future for herself and her sister including top quality medical care. But, things are not as they are portrayed and the game has been rigged for the top elite to have their choice of the men. Day’s friend, Valentine (Jane Jaytiya Naiwattanakul) is working with a counter group, and goes to work for the show as the spy inside. Can true love overcome odds so heavily weighed against it?

Review

If ypu can see past some of the siily slapstick aspects around the game show, it is a hidden gem. It can be hard to find a truely feel good romantic comedy like this one. This is cute, not super complex, and ends happily with all major plot elememts neatly resolved. It is short but the number of episodes were enough to tell the story well. I would rewatch it in the future and recommend it as a heartwarming romantic comedy. I could habe done without the boy love and girl love elements but it was not hyper sexualized content in general so it was not a big deal.

Spoilers

The only very slight detractor for me was some of the three stooges level comedy. But it did make me giggle a couple of times as it was so incredibly silly.

Despite the relative light fluff of the main story, there are some deeper messages. What is health and safety without freedom? The men on the Farm are living in the highest level of safety with every luxury but they are not free.

If there was ever a situation like that we can all envision where the elite would likely control it. Natural selection and genetic diversity is what keeps a population strong and healthy. So their “selection” system would be horrible from that perspective. But if you think of inbreeding among royal lines in the past, and the genetic issues that caused, it is not surprising.

Almond’s (Man Trisanu Soranun) fear and decision to stay behind makes sense considering the psychology of a situation like that. It is like opening a cage and the bird or whatever either does not leave or uses it as a home base.

#ReadySetLove #BelleKemisaraPaladesh #NeenNeennaraBoonnithipaisit #BluePongtiwatTangwancharoen #JaneJaytiyaNaiwattanakul #ManTrisanuSoranun

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Unique romcom that captured my heart

This drama was not one I had been anticipating, I just happened to come across it. And immediately after the first episode, i was OBSESSED. I absolutely loved how interesting the plot was - it was lighthearted but also serious when it needed to be. I loved how each 'main' character had a purpose in the show - except for Jin... his job was literally just making anyone put on his team, lose. Regardless, I liked how the plot was developed. The acting was great - of course it was silly at times but I think that suited the vibes of the show. I am now a huge fan of Blue since he did such a good job playing Son! I also loved the gay sideplots - both Paper and Chun as well as the producer and her girlfriend. The OST made for the show was very fitting. I'd definitely rewatch this again - it provided me with so much comfort. I feel like the ending was conclusive while also being open which is great. PLEASE GIVE US A SEASON 2.

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Muito divertido de assistir

Um romcom muito divertido e diferente do usual. Ao mesmo tempo que entregavam comédia eles conseguiram colocar também uma parte de investigação na história e ficou ótimo!
Apesar de ser bem curtinho é um ótimo lakorn que te faz rir em todos os eps. Gostei da atuação de todos os personagens e da diversidade entre os casais. Eu adorei o enredo de ser um mundo com praticamente só mulheres e adorei tbm esse conceito do reality para conseguir se casar com um dos homens, todos os jogos foram mt divertidos. Ansiosa pra uma nova temporada!

Pra finalizar, é um dorama bem curtinho mesmo, que não é pra ser extremamente elaborado, é só pra vc curtir e se distrair assistindo, recomendo bastante, principalmente pra quem adora uma comédia romântica!

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muito bom????

Quando vi a sinopse desse drama, confesso que dei uma respirada e revirei os olhos. Depois do lançamento, vi bons comentários e fiquei curiosa... fui assistir totalmente sem expectativas e saí apaixonada.

Me apaixonei por todos os personagens, tirando a vac4 da mãe da Channel, e achei até o Almond interessante. Dei umas gargalhadas gostosas com toda a farofada, principalmente da protagonista que virou minha protegida. Amei a relação da Day e da May, da Channel e da Bovy e da Day e da Va. Não posso esquecer do meu casal sáfico de mamães que também foi tudo!! Amei todos os casais, mas os protagonistas me pegaram com tanta fofura!!

Gostei do plot principal e de como o drama terminou, mesmo que não tenha segunda temporada. É difícil mudar um sistema, mas as raízes de novas possibilidades foram plantadas.

Soltei uma risada gostosinha com "direitos dos homens são direitos humanos" e amei como o movimento #freemachos serviu protagonismo feminino do início ao fim.

Amei, amei, amei ver tantas mulheres, muito diferentes entre si, construindo seus próprios caminhos, sendo corajosas e escolhendo por si mesmas.

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Asks interesting questions

This had been something I'd been meaning to watch since it was released but I have only gotten around to watching now. I watched it over two days and can say that whilst it is both entertaining and intriguing, it does leave much to be desired.

[THE GOOD] This show is visually captivating. From the bright colours and attractive cast, it is very pleasing to the eye. The set design of the dating game, which makes up the bulk of the show, is brilliant and heavily inspired by 'Squid Game', and you can see a lot of effort and care was put into the production. The dating game in of itself was amazingly done and though the explicit concept of the Gentlemen being essentially sold of as cattle left an uncomfortable feeling, the games of the show being used to win dates was both refreshingly different and similar enough to current dating reality TV shows for it to be plausible for such a show to happen today or in the near-future.

I didn't have a problem with the acting in this show, it was neither brilliant nor awful. Simply acceptable. For some the acting may be considered too exaggerated, but it's done in a way which matches Thai humour and you adjust fairly easily to it. The characters, bar a few, are likeable with interesting stories. The female lead (FL) is one of your typical headstrong and true-to-herself leads but it's not overly forced and given the ridiculous world she is placed into, her awkwardness is understandable. The male lead (ML) starts off as a typical cold character but you quickly come to realise it is a facade he puts on as one of the Gentlemen and the person he is with the FL is much more real and likeable.

A character I didn't expect to love so much was Chanel but she ended up becoming my favourite. Although she is one of the elites of this society, she is still a victim who suffers under the expectations of her mother. Her character development is great as she moves from being somewhat emotionless only acting on her mother's instructions, to being emotionally vulnerable with Max (her eventual love interest) and then having the confidence to go after what she wants. I really wanted her to win the dating game and I was so happy when she did. Chanel's story also reveals certain things about their society which beg questions of what would happen if we lived under a matriarchy. Though their society is completely matriarchal, it is still not enough to be a girl. Chanel reveals to Max that her mother's tough expectations of her stem from the fact that she wasn't born a boy in a way that reflects many societies today. In this matriarchy, the male sex has remained a symbol of status and power.

I also enjoyed the stories of many other side characters. The queer representation on this show was done very well as although heterosexual relationships are viewed as almost sacred given the scarcity of men, this worshipping is questioned briefly in the first episode and there does seem to be a general accepted lesbianism of that society. It is nice to see an actual lesbian couple go through pregnancy and the difficult decisions they are forced to make upon learning they have a son. The gay storyline of Paper was also done really well as that was one of the first questions I had early on in this film; what if some of the men are gay? Whilst Paper was able to have that gay relationship by the end, it would be interesting to perhaps explore a man who had had to deny that and be part of a heterosexual relationship, maybe in a second season.

What I would also like to be explored more in a second season, if they do one, is the familial relationship between Valentine, Almond and their mother. Though you could see the plot twist of Almond being the missing brother from a mile away (most plot twists were very predictable in this show), I think it sets up a very interesting story to explore as though Valentine misses her brother and wants him back, Almond is in a completely different situation. He has never grown up with that family, he never expected it to be something he could have and how can you miss something you don't know?

[THE BAD] This show tried to do too much with too little space. It was obvious from the start that this was going to be an issue but the mixing storylines began to feel much clumsier towards the end than they had appeared at the beginning.

The story building is weak. Yes most dystopian stories have massive plot holes (almost all of them forget that other countries exist and that no country acts in isolation), but the actual premise for this show doesn't make sense at all. The disease that has caused the decrease in the male population is terribly explained and not expanded on at all. It isn't clear whether or not this disease only affected birthing rates or if it killed the male population because if it only affected births then there should be a lot more men in the show from the ages of around 50 upwards as it is only set in 2024. The lack of this older generation of men suggests that they were killed off by the disease, but then it doesn't explain why the few remaining men and those being born aren't affected by the disease. The cause of the disease is implied to be rooted in women, but as the female sex have no control over the sex of the child (only the male sex carry the Y chromosome) it just doesn't seem plausible that women are the issue. Not that it really matters as there seems to be no talk of finding or creating a cure at all in the show.

The lack of talk surrounded a cure suggests that this society doesn't want to find one. Given how they treat men in this show and our current patriarchal societies, it is entirely plausible that they dislike the male sex in spite of their worshipping of the Gentlemen. It was noticeable in the show that society was functioning totally fine without the male sex and actually seemed more peaceful. Outside of The Farm, there were no police officers and there was no mention of crime whatsoever. In fact, as I was watching, I caught myself wishing that I lived in such a place where I could be free to go out without worry and simply have fun as a woman. They don't explore this at all, but I wish they would have because there are many reasons why women would prefer to live in a male-free society.

The reproduction in this show also doesn't work at all. Though there are many ways they can make children, whether it be through sperm banks, artificial sperm (through stem cells) or even asexual reproduction (which could potentially happen due to the lack of male sex), the gene pool is significantly reduced. You'd either end up with most of the population related to one another or as clones, an inbreeding that would make them extremely vulnerable to disease. The female population would eventually end up naturally decreasing to match the male population or it would be the end of the human race entirely.

[SUMMARISE] This show was entertaining with a good love story, good characters and intriguing plot. However, the dystopian world was poorly constructed and was avoided for most of the show. It had a good beginning but weak end, I especially disliked the time skip, but I will be watching a season 2 if they create one. Most importantly, this show introduced interesting questions such as:

(1) Would patriarchal ideals still be present in a matriarchy?
(2) Would the rights of gay people be restricted in response to a population crisis? - particularly relevant when looking at current CCP policy in response to China's population issues
(3) If given the option, would women choose to live in a world without men and at what cost?

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¿Así sería un matriarcado?

es una serie buena pero hay ciertos detalles que vendrían bien pulir. En ciertos momentos la historia se hace incosistente, no me creo que la Bovy deje tan libremente ir a la Chanel, Bovy eres super bollera me niego a creer que te pinten como hetero. Tampoco me creo el amor de Max a Chanel , ni como dejan que la Day haga su discurso para que inicie una revolución.
Pesimas actuaciones en ciertos momentos como la caida de Valentine despues de descubrir la prisión de las madres, asi como otros momentos que por favor piden una mejor ejecución. Es una premisa buena pero siento que se centran demasiado en el programa y podrían haber hablado mas de la pandemia y como es que hay tan pocos hombres y toda la creación de granja. Si quieres hacer una distopía, hazla bien y profundiza y crea mayores problemas sociales y explica bien sus causas, si por el contrario quieres centrarte en el concurso que es totalmente legitimo , centrate en el concurso.

Me ha gustado la historia de Son y Day y me hubiera gustado conocerles mas, siento que podrían haber hecho mas de 6 episodios y haber explicado mas cosillas. El actor y la actriz de Day me han encantado. No es que hubiera gran quimica en ellos pero son las unicas actuaciones que me han gustado.

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Molto carino, ben fatto e pure sorprendentemente coraggioso

Quando mi approccio ad un drama thai ho sempre un poco di apprensione. Ho visto drama thai di cui mi sono innamorata alla follia e altri che ritengono inguardabili, specialmente per un occidentale, perciò non so mai cosa aspettarmi. La prima puntata di questo drama mi aveva leggermente preoccupato per la recitazione decisamente sopra le righe di diversi personaggi, specie della protagonista femminile, ma poi mi ha sorpreso piacevolmente. La recitazione si è stabilizzata e dove era troppo oltre risultava comunque piacevole perchè era un troppo utilizzato per prendere in giro molte tematiche dei giorni nostri: i reality show, gli idol e gli spot commerciali degli idol, i drama e i loro plot prevedibili, la falsità delle televisione e dei massmedia, il potere delle classi elitarie ecc... Inoltre la trama che all'inizio risulta molto prevedibile, e lo resta, regala comunque alcune scelte piuttosto coraggiose riguardo alcuni personaggi e devo dire che l'ho guardato con molto piacere. Entra a far parte dei drama thai da me più amati senza alcun dubbio.

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gave more than expected (but maybe not enough?)

I picked this up thinking it would be just a light watch as I was getting bored,
but surprisingly it actually hooked me

the acting wasn’t top-notch, but it wasn’t bad either, most the actors gave exactly what was expected of their characters without taking away the spotlight of the other characters…

the show gave you enough to watch to keep watching and the over exaggeration that’s expected from Thai dramas too adding a more light tone overall and a comedic twist

the separate relationships between the characters was dealt with well too (romantic, platonic, parental etc)

However, I think with a longer run/ or even within 6 episodes, the more dystopian side could be explored, I think it was slightly brushed off how the societies normality wasn’t equal between men and women but no one had any issue with it until the last point (which was shown with the revolt at the end and almonds character showing how integrated the regime was). Also there was no true resolvement apart from the couples
(but there is a possibility for a season two)

overall it was a good watch if not deeply interpreted and taken more on face value with a hint of more complex details.

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