Woon nuk ruk tem barn

So I've finished my first Thai series. I chose a remake of a Korean series from 2004. You can kind of tell from it that the Thais haven't really found their own footing yet and they are copying what they can, even though they did add something to it that wasn't in the original series. While it's not as fancy as the Korean production, it's less melodramatic and cute, endearing by comparison. It was a bit hard to get used to the language at first, but after twenty episodes it was fine. Plus, since I know the story, I didn't really enjoy the beginning. But the rest made up for it. It was really so good that I was sorry I had to say goodbye to them so soon. Overall, the series runs at such a moderate pace: it has comic scenes, funny but also sad – but it doesn't go to extremes like Korean series and that's a big plus. This is a really nice respite and definitely worth a try. Not only the main characters but also the supporting cast are independent people with their own personalities and motives, so even if you hate the chick who selfishly wants Mike all to herself, she turns out to be a person, so you can understand why she behaved the way she did. So I really liked the show from that point of view as well. I also liked Mike's family – especially his grandmother, she reminded me a lot of mine in some of her gestures. And so when I was watching it I found myself in a very comfortable, almost familiar environment. Not to mention the music, which perhaps borrowed from everywhere (I heard themes from The Matrix and Pride and Prejudice). Plus I really liked the Thai wedding. I'll probably revisit the series in the future. Of course, it's not just beautiful and awesome, and there were scenes that I didn't enjoy, but that's just the way it is, and it still didn't take away from the beauty of the series. A nice 4 stars. *** Okay, after a second viewing, I'm upping it to 5 stars, but just barely. I just loved it, I was grinning at it like I haven't in a long time, I was admiring how great Mike's acting was, how good they looked, and at last I had a main character I didn't want to strangle. Even though it has its flaws and the story gets too drawn out for my tastes towards the end (the last 4 episodes), I still had fun. I really did. I walked away from it feeling like I was glad I gave it the time of day, now for the second time. Aom and Mike have officially become my favorite fictional couple. No one else has yet to come close! (19/04/2014)