I know I’m the odd one out here in the sea of masterpiece reviews for both ITSAY and IPYTM, but see below for my honest thoughts on this without rose coloured glasses on. I’ll preface this by saying I thought ITSAY was good, but not a masterpiece either. Which meant I went into this 2nd season without much expectation or bias.

The Story: I actually think they showed a lot more restraint with the storytelling in this season. The storyline may not have been what we wanted to see (mainly, the cheating). But I think it was actually a better told, more fleshed out & mature story than the 1st season was. I say they have more restraint here because one of my main criticisms with ITSAY was that a lot of scenes were very overlong, drawn out and extremely melodramatic. I got tired of the tediously long crying and phone related scenes that went on forever. I feel like they utilized screen time a lot more efficiently in IPYTM to add to the story rather than drag it out where it wasn't needed. Although I'll admit I still personally liked the storyline more in the first season overall because I’m ALWAYS going to be more drawn to watching the “developing love” stage of a relationship rather than the “years into it working through relationship issues, after honeymoon" stage of a relationship.

I think a lot of people are disappointed with how their relationship develops this season and how shitty Teh becomes. I think their relationship progression was really realistic (which is probably why a lot of us aren’t super in love with it. Because I know I myself often come to romance dramas as an escape to see all the cute, lovely parts of relationships for example rather than the realistic, not so sweet aspects).
This season was a really strong narrative example of a teenage/high school relationship adapting to the “adult” world and all the realities that come with it. Because in real life you often do change, grow and become a somewhat different person as you mature and learn who you really are and what you want to do with your life etc. I think they really handled it well showing just how different both characters really are and their motivations in life. Their conflict was believable and realistic. Sad, but realistic.
Especially with childhood loves (or even friends)- you can really feel like they love you for who you were in the past and not who you are now. When someone comes in that gets who you are now or is more like who you want to be (Jai for Teh), it makes complete sense you may be drawn to them over what you see as the past you (or what you feel subconsciously may be holding you back -Oh-aew for Teh). Teh had emotionally moved on way before any physical action took place. His immaturity meant that he went ahead and acted on it without any care for his actual partner- which was really cemented by him confessing to Jai and wanting to progress with him. I'm still annoyed at what Teh did and if this were a real life romance, I would really be against Oh taking Teh back in the end. As I really feel like that whole scenario showed he really didn't love Oh enough, even if he did love him. But I understand this is a romance drama at the end of the day. And them getting back together was always going to be the end of their arc- no matter what happened in between.

Characters & Acting: Teh is a really immature and selfish character. He deals with situations immaturely and irritatingly compared to Oh-aews softer, more sensitive approach. I’m still not convinced these characters suit each other as Oh-aew deserves someone more emotionally in tune in my opinion. I find Teh pretty unlikeable in general if I'm honest.
The actor for Teh really improved a LOT compared to the first season though and we were weren't given a million of his sometimes cringey extended crying sequences- which I found a relief. I was much more impressed with his acting in IPYTM. His haircut and styling was also so much more flattering this season as well thank gosh. I thought they made him look really dorky and unappealing in season one- which combined with his personality made me wonder at times why Oh-aew even liked him.

Oh-aew was pretty whiny and needy in the first ep, but it was an important part of seeing his character grow and try to adapt to a different environment and life. He’s a soft character that I relate too a LOT more than Teh’s headstrong, abrupt attitude. The actor was incredible and nuanced here just like he was in the first season. I loved that he realized acting wasn’t for him and changed courses even against Teh’s whining. Because I really felt like the first season showed that Oh-aew didn’t really know what he wanted yet and that was something his character really needed to work through for himself over time. And he really did do that this season and I just love how they showed his character progression through the years.

Production & Music: There is no criticism here, it’s filmed and scored beautifully. The production quality of both seasons is far above pretty much any other Thai BL series. Beautiful.

Overall I think this season excelled at character development rather than romance and it did so better than probably any other Thai series I’ve watched. I didn’t necessarily love where the story went and enjoyed the sweet, romantic vibe of the first season more- but this season really did well at showing the future of both boys in a realistic way.