So, I’ve finally reached mid-season and so far, I am still enjoying the series. However, the episodes feel really long. They clock in at a little under an hour, however, I truly feel that many scenes can either be trimmed down or cut completely. By the time an episode is finished, I can actually feel the length of it, if that makes any sense. Usually, when shows have my interest, I can binge it without realizing how long I’ve been sitting in front of my computer. The story flows so nicely that times flies by. But these episodes actually feel long. Like, longer than a normal tv episode, but shorter than a movie.
Anyway. We have now met who is going to be the third couple. This new potential couple is Syn, one of Keua’s university friends, and a new student whose name I can’t remember who transferred into the auto engineering department and is working in a group with Kuea and his friends. This new kid has made it blatantly obvious that he is going after Kuea and even admitted it (even though he knows that Kuea has a fiancé that he is having complications with). The rest of Kuea’s friends don’t really like this new guy, and honestly…I don’t either. He’s kinda creepy and comes on way too strong.
There is supposed to be a building of tension between him and Syn, with a whole hate-to-love/enemies-to-lovers situation going on. But it’s honestly just not working for me, and I whole heartedly feel like their storyline is unnecessary. I can understand scenes with Kuea and his friends to build a fleshed-out background for Kuea. As the main character, it’s important to make him feel like a well-rounded person with hobbies, interests, and friends that he can depend on. But to try and give one of his friends a love story that has absolutely nothing to do with the main plot feels unnecessary and drags out the episodes.
We’ve also been introduced to another character named Gemini who is the owner of Gemini Club where Kuea often performs at as Kirin. I don’t know how I feel about his character yet because he seems kind of shady. He acts like a friend to Kuea, but the relationship only feels self-serving because Kuea helps keep Gemini’s club in business since people pay to come see him perform. However, Gemini also has a secret relationship with Lian that Kuea doesn’t know about, and it all just makes him seem like a two-timing frenemy even though Gemini’s relationship with Lian is not romantic.
We learn that Lian is trying to go into a business partnership with Gemini, but it seems like he’s only doing it to keep watch on Kuea, not because he actually wants a business partnership. There was also a mention that Lian was trying to buy the Keerati mansion which is Kuea’s family home and has been in his family for multiple generations. I was super confused when this was mentioned and it didn’t sit well with me, because why would Lian buy Kuea’s family mansion?? And why is he keeping this a secret from Kuea? Why would Kuea’s family even sell the mansion in the first place? It all just feels shady. Especially since Kuea doesn’t know anything about this.
After the first couple of episodes, Kuea moved in with Lian because even though he has tried to call off the engagement, Lian won’t agree to it and is now pursuing him in a romantic way. It’s weird and kind of confusing as to why he’s doing this because he’s made it obvious that he didn’t love Kuea nor did he want to marry him. But ever since Kuea says he doesn’t want to get married anymore and feels freer to be himself, now all of a sudden Lian wants to pursue him with the objective of getting married. Only, he still freakin sucks at it! Lol. He’s mean, pushy, and controlling, and even uses Kuea’s mom to get Kuea to do what he wants which really annoys me. Kuea’s parents, as well as Lian, treat him like a child. They don’t allow him to do anything and are constantly calling him “bad” and “naughty”. Like, they literally don’t let him breath but then turn around and wonder why he’s always trying to sneak out somewhere. Let him live his life! Sheesh. He’s 20 or 21 or something, and he’s never felt like he could be himself because of all the pressure his family places on him as well as Lian. But then Lian gets upset that Kuea is fake and acts like a doll?
Someone make it make sense!
I really felt bad for Kuea because he didn’t want to move in with Lian, but he was basically forced to. He got home to his family mansion one evening and found Lian at the house and most of his things already packed. Lian had ordered the housekeepers/maids to pack his things up, then he waited at the house until Kuea arrived. Kuea was pissed, and rightfully so. He even cried on the ride to Lian’s mansion. Lian saw this and we as the viewer could tell that he was feeling a little guilty.
Lian went out of his way to make sure that his house contains all the things that Kuea likes, including instruments since he likes making music. He told his personal assistant, Foei, to make sure the house is in such a state that Kuea would never want to leave. And unfortunately, its working lol. I honestly want Kuea to put up more of a fight, but he becomes a scaredy cat when it comes to Lian which is completely opposite of how he is with his friends.
And speaking of Foei, he’s my favorite character! Lol. I freakin love him. He’s a minor character and does his absolute best to please Lian and not make him mad, but he’s so goofy and sometimes a bit dense, that he often still ends up getting on Lian’s nerves anyway. But Lian has kept him around all this time so…at least Foei is still good enough to keep his job lol. Every scene that has had Foei in it, I’ve either laughed out loud or smiled at my screen.
Lastly, I will talk about Yi and Khondiao. I was incorrect in assuming that they were already engaged. They are not engaged. Yi just takes care of Diao and we find out that they have a bit of a tumultuous history with each other. Something happened in the past where Diao got hurt, causing him to lose a lot of his memories and Yi believes that he was the cause of it. So, he harbors a lot of guilt about it and feels obligated to take care of Diao and make sure he doesn’t get hurt again. He genuinely cares about Diao and wants to protect him, but he handles it the wrong way. He’s so strict and quick to get upset that Diao feels that Yi doesn’t love him at all. And just like Kuea, Diao often lies about his true self and sneaks out a lot to do things he wants to do. Yi even gives Diao a curfew, for heaven’s sake!
Outside of this, we still don’t know that much about Diao’s and Yi’s relationship. Diao loves Yi, but he is scared of him and doesn’t know how to be himself around him. Yi cares for Diao, but I am not sure yet if these feelings are romantic or feelings of obligation due to his guilt. I am interested in seeing how they develop.
There are a total of 13 episodes, and I’ve watched the first six. In the sixth episode, there seemed to be a bit of a breakthrough with both couples. Diao and Yi seem like they are going to open up to each other more (hopefully). Yi seems reluctant because he fears that he will hurt Diao again and thinks that if Diao finds out that Yi is the reason for his memory loss, he will hate him, and Yi can’t stand the idea of Diao hating him.
Kuea and Lian have also opened up to each other more and are being nicer. At this point, I think Kuea is just tired of all the back and forth and knows that he will never be able to “beat” Lian because Lian is so sneaky and has eyes everywhere. And since he did love Lian from the beginning, I think he’s just willing to take what he can get, although he is still contemplating ending the engagement for real if Lian goes back to acting like a jerk. Ending the engagement is still an option for him. I’m happy about this change because all the back and forth between Lian and Kuea, and Kuea constantly not making the connections that Lian already knows about his secret life was really starting to get on my nerves.
Overall, I’m still enjoying the show. There are only 7 episodes left and all of them are between 50 and 54 minutes, with the exception of the final episode being an hour and 14 freakin minutes long! I’m hoping I can enjoy it until the end and that the long episodes make the entire experience worth it. I’m ready for our two couples to move into fluffy romance territory. I really couldn’t care any less about the third couple though. Their storyline should really be axed in my opinion.
If you’re new to my Cutie Pie reviews, start from the beginning: Episode 1 Review
Follow me on the interwebs:
