46 Wan (2021)

Chaotic and fun until the very end, a rom-com in the truest sense

No spoilers here!

So, what is a romcom?
A funny story centred around a romance. And, more often than not, it comes with a L O T of cliches.

46 Days was a romcom in the truest sense. There was a lighthearted and humorous plotline studded with tropes and centred around a cute romance and supplemented with some angst, sprinkled with family and friendships that run deep and rounded off with an essential life lesson. Lets look at all of these shall we.

• Comedy:
First of all, 46 Days wonderfully delivered on that comedy tag. The humour was woven into the story in such a way that it wasn’t “trying too hard” as some other comedies seem to do, nor was it over the top (except when it was ;).

• Romance:
The romance was adorable. There are three couples here, the main couple everyone is rooting for, the cute second couple everyone wants and the surprising third couple which everyone eventually comes to like.

There wasn’t a single dull moment for me during this ride as I watched Ying Ying trying to help Noina win (what she believes is) her first love in 46 days; while Pat follows Noina around like a puppy and *no spoiler* the third couple whom I frowned upon at first but slowly came to like too.

Ying Ying and Korn’s story wasn’t easy, they set expectations for themselves based on other peoples’ perception of them and drive themselves into the corner while trying to meet those expectations and hence keep pushing each other away but its a lovely story.

• Tropes:
Now this can be looked at as either positively or negatively. For me, 46 Days had “Tropes, proceed with caution” written all over it. If you hadn’t already figured out that there would be tropes well, you have it now ;)

In my honest opinion, 46 Days used the tropes in what was a truly refreshing manner. Love at first sight but with a twist. It was actually quite predictable and you could see the events from miles away but there is something about this drama which makes you gravitate towards it and just—keep watching ;)

(The period when GMMTV got hacked was such a drought. I was so overjoyed to see the episodes up again on the newly restored channel :')

• Characters:
A cute and soft-hearted male lead; an enterprising female lead who puts her loved ones first; a funny and warm second male lead; a cute but occassionally tiresome second female lead with a growth arc; a caring third lead; an annoying antagonist with a redemption arc which makes sense; a transgender sister who achieves her dreams.

46 Days was full of amazing characters that make you root for or understand them and that, I believe, is the most important thing while writing a character. No matter how bad a character is, the audience should be able to feel the struggles they undergo and the motivations which drive them.

• Cast:
I always say that, "the characters are only as good as the cast."

A weak cast cannot carry the show. I was already a huge Off and Mild stan. Jennie always does surprise me with her capacity to play different roles. Chanon grew a lot since Bad Genius, and I am not talking about his abs. Baifern...I can’t express how wonderfully talented she is, how she musters the most satisfying expressions for her emotions. And Ploy! Hats off for playing her role.

46 Days combined a lot of GMMTV's best.

• Life Lessons:
Here I am mainly talking about Ying Ying’s coming to. She is a great friend, sister, daughter and girlfriend and she is flawed. She stretches herself too thin for others and 46 Days teaches you to choose yourself.

It teaches you that love can’t be decided by fate, magic and rites and what your family desires. It’s about your feelings and their feelings and it's just you and them.

Everybody had a character growth here, and so did Ying Ying and Korn. And through their growth, I felt there were life lessons to be learnt here; that being selfless is a virtue but sometimes we should put ourselves first.

+ huge plus for the transgender representation and the drag culture. It wasn’t there just for comedy, Pang was an actual transgender mtf character with her own problems (transphobic father) and dreams (to be a dancer)
+ for the pacing and good ending. Endings are where series go wrong and 46 Days was bomb

Overall 7.0» A great show. (Check out my profile for the rating scale :)

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One of the Most Delightful Shows I’ve Seen!

This show is such a delight to watch— so campy, over the top, and hilarious, while also being romantic and touching all at the same time. It also did a great job balancing all the different and complex relationships within the show— from Yingying and Noina’s friendship which Yingying puts above all else, to Yingying and Pang’s sisterly relationship, their mothers’ complicated love triangle, and more. It’s definitely a show that’s focused on the romance, but there’s so much more going on.

I adored all of the characters in the show, and I thought the acting was phenomenal. The girls in particular stood out to me. Baifern as Yingying was hilarious, heartfelt, and so easy to care for. I also adored Mild as Noina, though that seems to be an unpopular opinion. I thought Noina was so cute and funny, if a bit whiny. Mild also killed some of the more emotional scenes towards the end (same with Baifern— god, I was in tears!!). And Ployphat as Wisa was so amazing— Ployphat played her perfectly! I couldn’t stand Wisa throughout the majority of the show, though her antics were so over the top and hilarious to watch, and yet there were soft points where I did end up feeling for her. She’s definitely a character you love to hate, and it was done very well.

The writing as a whole was really well done! The characters were all distinctive, and we got to see different sides of them throughout the show. I also liked the amount of symbolism and foreshadowing used in the show— specifically the scene with the puppet show. It perfectly mirrored the romantic arc of the show and was a cool touch. I thought they did a really good job of developing Yingying’s relationship with Korn, as well, especially when they mirrored it with Noina’s attempts to woo him. Noina tries to show Korn she’s good with kids, we see Yingying actually being good with kids. Noina tries to force “chance” encounters, Yingying actually bumps into Korn by accident. Etc, etc. It clearly showed who would actually be a good fit for Korn without shoving it down our throats.

And on the flip side, we can see early on that Noina will actually work better with Pat, especially given the fact that she never acts like herself in front of Korn and yet is so easily herself with Pat. He’s truly the better option for her, as he falls for her without her even trying. Similarly to how Korn falls for Yingying even without her trying. The relationships were all very well done— believable and romantic.

I don’t have any complaints about this show, really. It’s been such a joy to watch it every week, and honestly I’m so sad it’s finally reached its end. I will definitely be revisiting this story in the future.

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