Oxygen: The Series (2020)

1st episodes are important people!

This drama is definitely worse than what the rating is given is my honest opinion. Overall, this drama was just another drama in the rush of BL dramas. I read the first half of the novel and although the original novel wasn't anything special, it was just a sweet story, the drama destroyed it. So. Bad.

First episode, 2 minutes in and I was already grossed out at how bad the editing and script-writing was. They started off with a phone-call between the main character and his friend and for some reason added some weird and useless scenes. Added no detail or emotion at all. What were they even trying to do? People don't realize but 1st episodes are so important to let the audience know what the drama is about and why they should stay. I wanted to close the video as soon as the opening started. After the opening, they started somewhere later into the story, only to flashback 5 minutes later. Like??? Such horrible directing and script-writing. I only continued this drama because I had literally nothing to do when I was neglecting my schooling.

The actors were decent. Their character didn't have much depth so I don't know what they could've worked with there. I'd say out of the main couple, the male lead was the worse actor of the two. His scenes when he acted angry were so... off and he's just eye candy to be honest. But he can get better, maybe he's just not that experienced. The couple were cute at times though, when the shots were pretty decent.

The only thing I liked was the music which is one (1) song. Were there even other songs? I feel like I heard the same song a thousands times in the drama.

Overall, skip this drama. Go watch some other BL dramas. Or just watch this when you don't have anything to do.

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Simple, yet adorable

I didn't read the reviews before watching the series and I'm glad I didn't. Some of them are quite discouraging and I'm not sure whether I'd watch it with the same enthusiastic feeling I had.
Story starts off at the perfect pace. Some shows take a little too long (to my liking) before something finally starts happening and before we can see some scenes with a little physical contact or even some tension between the characters.
I found interesting the choice of personalities the main couple has - for the first time I saw a series where the characters have kind of similar personality and it was interesting to observe.
The most important aspect for me about the series is the feeling it gives me. If it made my heart flutter, the show succeeded. Is this a case of Oxygen? Yes! :)
For sure - it's nothing innovative, you can witness some typical stereotypes commonly used in BL series BUT it doesn't ruin the whole experience and it's still very adorable. Would recommend :)

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Could have been great :(

Okay, I persevered until episode 10 so I think I can safely say this is a miss for me. It's such a pity because the lead couple are really sweet and have good chemistry. Even the second couple were moderately interesting so I invested some time waiting for the show to save itself. We have lots of tropes that we love here, with some twists that could have really made it stand out. We have a tall, handsome, rich and talented seme paired with a super nice boy-next-door kind of uke with a heart of gold. A nice change in the trope dynamic is that despite being gentle, the uke is older and does take the lead in many situations - he knows how to train his seme! :P In contrast, Seme Solo is younger but the more dominant of the pair (or is he?) - he comes across as broody and aloof to everyone else but in reality there are two introverts here who discover a lovely, gentle relationship (think 1000 stars and UWMA vibes). So there was a lot to like to begin with.

Unfortunately that's pretty much all there is going for Oxygen. The story line was super mediocre and let the actors down. The third pair were either annoying or boring - you can basically skip through all their bits and not miss anything in the show, really. Do we really need another female character in a BL show who is a super annoying shipper?! I think we can count on one hand the nice and interesting female characters in Thai BL, so many of them are trashy and mainly there for makeup product placement. What a poor representation of women in general.

But really, hands down the worst part about this show is the music. Considering Solo and Kao are both music students and the actors themselves seem to have genuine musical skills, this was such a waste. Apart from a handful of times they sing the OST(which is not a bad song and they do a pretty good job of it), there are no real musical moments in this show. But worse than that, the underscore is downright bizarre, all over the show and inappropriate. We got strangely comical music happening in serious moments, and tense music happening in scenes where nothing actually happens. Honestly, if you don't have a budget for a good composer, the least you can do is make the score as unnoticeable as possible. What they ended up doing was the total opposite, and the music ruined the vibe in so many places and coloured the scenes in truly incongruous ways.

Okay, rant over. I hope Nut and Petch get the chance to be casted in something better - they deserve so much more than this.

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Did I really finish that?

Why did I watch this until the end? I don't know...
I just finished to re-watch another Thai series: Project S SOS Skate (my favorite Thai series) and I choose to begin Oxygen and what a disappointment.

- The series doesn't have any original point of view. I just had the impression to watch a soap-opera. I'm kind of mean , I watched some episode of soap-opera which conveyed more emotions.
- The casting was really strange , many actors didn't really fit their roles. And the acting didn't really help.
- Cringe, Cringe, Cringe ...

Maybe I'm too strict with my notation but I'm tired of the emptiness of this kind of BL series.

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For A Series Called "Oxygen" It Didn't Take Away My Breath Once

Don't get me wrong this is a cute series starting off, but even right of the bat it's kind of slow. Then it got even slower and holy crap it was dragginggggg at parts. It put me in this dream-like state whenever I watched it, which sometimes was nice because it's a pretty chill show but other times I almost fell asleep. Solo and Gui were really all I cared about in this, their relationship and their storylines respectively. The actors didn't give me many major chemistry vibes, but they were okay. Solo (played by Nut) was actually the most interesting character throughout. If he wasn't in this I would've dropped the series pretty quickly, he also was the best actor when it came to emotional scenes. Though he was stiff during most of the rest. Kao and Phu were...huh? I honestly don't understand what the point was with them. Just to fill up space I guess? But literally nothing ever happens and it was super cringe. I'm sure some fans will love the cutesy (kinda aegyo) stuff for them, but it's not my style. I need more than fluff to like characters and couples.

Khim and the doctor I absolutely hated. That storyline was so stupid with her kinda trying to force a sexuality on him and then him falling for her? Wtf was that about? Then everyone was falling for him and he kept lying to get her. Dumb, really dumb. I literally ended up skipping all of their scenes I couldn't stand it. So like I said before, it didn't feel like much was ever happening in the show so I didn't understand it. Then all of a sudden why is Solo's dad literally the godfather? What the hell is going on with locking your child away with no food. Literally go to jail. By the end the dad didn't even get in trouble for doing any of that. He literally was gifted a new adopted child? Who the hell would give this man another kid to terrorize and psychologically damage!? What even did this show want to be?

So basically for me the only saving graces of this show were; Solo's storyline, a few scenes between him and Gui that were cute, the big Mama stuff was pretty interesting with the kids and the theme song of the show. That's about it. I would skip this one, or skip around it HEAVILY to certain scenes worth watching.

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Phu and Kao saved the show

For me this drama was just alright... The story of the two main leads started quite great, but I lost interest midway through. For some reason, their story was getting too predictable and more the drama was progressing, their complicity was still unnoticeable. Some of the actors were a little "stiff" and awkward at times but nothing dramatic. The biggest disappointment here was the side story of the doctors, the fujoshi girl and her brother. This weird square love (because I seriously don't know what else you can call this thing that was going on here) was more a headache than anything else. Completely useless and I think they should have give more screen time to Phu and Kao story instead of feeding us this weird and confused love square. Phu and Kao literally saved the show for me. They completely had my attention. Their characters was interesting and their romance was so adorable that I was always craving for more. I wish they would make a spin off for Phu and Kao story. If they make a season 2, I will only watch it for the both of them. I wont deny that there was a few cute moment between Solo and Gui, but sadly not enough for me to watch a second season of these two as main leads.
So in general, the plot was predictable and annoying (except Phu and Kao story) and I would strongly recommend to skip all the parts of the side characters (the doctors, fujoshi girl and her brother) if you ever want to watch this drama.
(The theme song is fairly good and quite catchy)

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You are my milk Man

On the finale episode of “You are my Milk Man”, Milk Man delivers milk to his master and finally yells at him in gas station. Gui who has given up his dreams for his “ Solo” dream - to make Solo the best human n best business man ever is rightfully upset when Solo wants to leave it all and run away.
Solo then realizes that Gui has given up his dream because his Ice father “gently threatened” Gui and put then him in Admin department so that he can train to be a secretary for his son!
Solo wants to learn music, so atleast secretary should have some business sense. So best to make Gui (who is dreamless n in pain after his adoptive moms death) study MBA n learn business n then support his super rich boyfriend.
I mean, so logical ... Gui, an orphan can never reach Solo’s level of success, so best to just manage Solo n stand behind him while being a supportive mom , boyfriend, business adviser and Milk Man! Behind every successful man, there’s a ______? It’s Gui! Gui has to be behind Solo!
Father Billionaire Ice who is squint eyed lacks any warmth but Jay assured us all that it’s there. When we think Mr Ice is looking at ghosts on walls while Solo is talking about his life plan, Jay actually knows that he’s looking into Solos heart n not ghosts ! So when he plans to adopt Moon, how can one not be over joyed that he will have another chance to see if he can produce another model child like Solo n give him the same love Solo always grew up with. I’m sure Jay will interpret this love for us soon.
Also, stellar acting by the leads ... I hope Covid doesn’t cancel Oscars this year! If does get cancelled ... we know that Hollywood is being threatened by Solo and Gui’s acting.

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I enjoyed it

I can understand why some people didn’t like this as much. The relationship of the main cp didn’t follow a typical BL format. There’s no guessing, tug of war etc. But that’s exactly what the title is, Oxygen. You don’t have to play games with oxygen, you just naturally depend on it and can’t live without it. What I don’t like is actually the last part when they tried to make a drama out of it, going back to the old lakorn format; taking out the freshness and replaced it with cliche. Also wish they could talk about the relationship between the father and his assistant. Overall, if you fast forward the siblings/doctors part, it’s watchable BL.

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It could have been 10/10....

Even then.... ITS WORTH WATCHING FOR SOLO AND GUI!

I love their dynamics. It isn't a very typical "top vs bottom" scenario you see in school BL. They both take initiatives to take care of each other, not just one being the "female who needs help or being spoiled"

It's quite evenly spread out between them two, hence I find it really healthy relationship for them, with no toxicity.

Yet, it isn't shallow. They face real life issues that go beyond the typical "homophoic parents story". I wouldn't say much to avoid spoiler, but there are scenes that really are healing and touching, especially one where they are in farm with kids.

A well balanced storyline that has good mixture of school vs work, fantasy vs reality, yet really sweet and cute couple at same time!

Do I even need to mention how cute Solo is?! lol

I'd rated the show 10/10 if this show is only about them! But since, I pretty much skipped the rest of the story (as I find the rest of couples less interesting to follow), I am rating this 8/8.

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The series is a fun story.

I liked the series a lot, it has so many levels of emotion and character development. The leads are great together. I adore both couples. Sol and Guitar have great chemistry and make you smile at the tender moments. Kao and Phu are so cute and funny together especially calling him bunny. The cast takes you on a roller coaster of emotions, showing great depth of character growth. Going from college life to adulthood. Could have done without the jerk Dad making trouble. The last storyline was not needed and should have ending at episode 10, but I get it, I was not a fan of the ending drama. The friends were a nice added bonus to help things flow. I adore Jay the secretary, he helped a lot. A good fun series to enjoy with a overall sweet ending.

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A slow-moving sweet series about love and support

If I had to describe this show with only one word I would say it is calm. The pacing, music, acting, videography - everything is very soft and calming, some would probably even use the word boring. If you’re more into loud and steamy Thai dramas with over the top acting, then it’s probably not your cup of tea. I personally quite enjoyed it. There were definitely a lot of things that could’ve been better, but overall I liked it.

The story itself is your average BL, nothing too original, but what lured me in was the calming atmosphere this show had. Videography was really well done in my opinion. And the music choices complemented it nicely. I liked the idea of another person being your oxygen in life, but not in a way where they save you from everything and make everything bad disappear, but rather help you conquer the world by being next to you and supporting you. The relationships in this story were realistic and healthy. Also, I loved that they didn’t use those typical harmful BL tropes like top/bottom, wifey, overprotectiveness etc. I am a big fan of shows that don’t use too many steamy scenes just for the sake of it. I am a sucker for the soft beautiful love, where a couple holding hands, cuddling and having one or two kisses is more than enough to understand their longing and love for one another. I find it much more powerful than any steamy scene that usually has no importance to the main plot.

Usually I’m not a big fan of OST in Thai series, but I really liked the song Oxygen as it really sums up the whole series and what it is about. Nut’s voice was really suitable for this song as it gave it life. I want to say a big thank you to them for making an English version for international fans. It’s such a small yet nice gesture.

As for couples I find that even though Solo and Gui’s story is a beautiful love story, I do think that their acting wasn’t the best. I know that these roles were, for both of them, their first bigger acting jobs. Therefore, I think that some of the problems lie there. But maybe it is because of the director? Who knows… The point is there were scenes where I did enjoy their acting and then there were scenes where I felt like they were just reciting text not acting. There was often no flow in their dialogues, like something important was missing. I wonder whether maybe they got too little time to prepare before shooting started? It may also be because of the script or the fact that they made a couple out of two introverts who both had sad backstories and therefore were meant to be quiet and serious. You have to be quite an experienced actor to pull off a character who doesn’t speak much, because you should be able to convey emotions through body language. All in all, I did like their story, but at the same time I felt that chemistry and acting wise there was much left to desire.

For me the whole heart of the show was Kao (and his relationship with Phu). Boss definitely stole the show with his portrayal of Kao. I even think that they were better than the main couple which doesn’t happen often in series. I just felt that Kao brought the whole show to life. Whenever he was in the scene the scene was so much better. He is much more experienced than the other mains, so it is quite understandable. His scenes had more flow and playfulness in them, too. It may also be the case because his character was one of the only extroverts in this show. As for his relationship - I wasn't a big fan of Phu, but after each episode I liked him more, even though it was clear that acting wise Phuri is not as good as Kao. But he managed to pull his character off, though.

As for the third story - I couldn’t care less! It was such a mess! I couldn’t stand Dr.Petch at all! He was such an unpleasant character. He was basically using everyone around him during the whole show. Khim also took me almost the whole show before I could stand her. Her obsession with same-sex couples was disturbing (she taking videos and pictures without consent was just horrible, but then she also posted them online) and her reasoning behind why someone is gay or not was just so harmful stereotyping of a gay man. I had to really push myself to not skip their story completely. And their ending? I really didn’t get it either. As I said - it was a mess.

Another disturbing thing for me was Solo’s father. First, I wasn’t too keen on the casting choice. I was expecting someone much older, but we got such a young actor instead. It would have been okay, if there would have been a story that Solo’s parents were young when they got him, but no - it just didn’t make sense. Second, he was such a toxic character. He basically imprisoned his grown-up son and starved him, because he wanted to visit his boyfriend. Like what? And then, when said grown-up son manages to escape, his boyfriend and best friend basically say that he is selfish, when in reality it is his first time to do things for himself in order to get away from his controlling father. And then everything is just pushed under a rug like nothing bad happened as both characters decide to start on a clean slate. This whole storyline was a big no-no for me.

So, in the end, I do think this show has its moments and charm. However, I do understand why some don't like it at all. One of the main reasons this series is not a ten point series is probably acting and casting. Also, the script could’ve been much better. I do recommend you to watch it if you are more into calm and soft love stories with beautiful videography like me :)

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