Second Chance The Series (2021)

not bad not great

ngl i was so confused in the first eps about Jeno and Near but things cleared up in ep 2 thats when i realised they are different guys lol
this serie isnt bad but i enjoyed the first half more than the second one, acting is not bad, kissing scenes are good, i think the only thing that i didnt enjoy much is the pacing, in the first few eps it was good but later on it felt a bit too slow and some drama scenes there didnt look necessary its like it was there just to make it longer thats why i wished the drama issues were a bit different or get solved faster, maybe something more convincing,it felt a bit plain, it miss a spark, it miss something that keep it interesting, it doesnt necessary mean that its bad i know some people who love simple cute shows so i understand that.
the characters that looked attractive to me are Chris, M and Arthur. because Arthur even if he is a villain he at least gave some tension in this serie

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Meh

Chances are (pardon the pun), if you've seen one BL from Thailand, you have seen Second Chance as well.

Second Chance was a six-episodes short series filled with all imaginable clichés you can find in lakorns, BL or non-BL. It revolves around the theme of forgiveness, begging for a second shot at a relationship that never came into fruition (hence the title, "Second Chance").

We start off with our two leads, Paper and Sky, fighting over a misunderstanding in a scene that is very reminiscent of Dark Blue Kiss, with the latter being pushed into a pool in reckless abandon. While I have to admit that the pool scene was filmed very well, I can't help but wonder: Thais love filming underwater, don't they? Seems like the creator of this series tore several pages off Dark Blue Kiss's book.

And then we get that big ol' flashback: we see Paper and Sky being the best of friends, both ranked top of the class, both with great ambitions for their future. They have grown up together as best friends but, in the Thai BL universe, no two seemingly straight guys can remain best friends forever.

We now get to see that basketball scene --- a game that elevated Paper and Sky's relationship into a new level after falling on each other's faces when one of them lost his footing. Sigh. This kind of scene again? I could swear these lakorn creators have run out of ideas. We get the usual 5 seconds of silence as the two boys stare at each other's eyes, and as they picked themselves up from the floor, they just knew from that moment that their friendship will never be the same.

Then enters the third guy in their circle: the overzealous yet directionless Chris. Apparently he's been a long friend of Paper and Sky yet he totally has no clue that either of his friends could be gay. Hmmm, where have I heard that concept before? Ah yes, in about 95% of the Thai BLs I've watched. If Paper and Sky borrows plenty of elements from Dark Blue Kiss, the story of Chris is a watered-down ripoff of another beloved yet questionable Thai BL, Love by Chance. You see, on the outset, there's no reason for us to suspect that Chris is also gay. He's ready to rumble, goes to a Muay Thai studio every week, being the joker in his circle of friends, etc. But for some reason, he is charmed head over heels by Jeno, a shy gay schoolmate who is being chased non-stop by bullies. Do you see now the resemblance with Love by Chance?

Chris is basically a carbon copy of Ae yet is light years behind him when it comes to being physically, emotionally and (possibly) sexually abusive to his partner. Disgusting little creep. Anyway with that being said, I could describe Chris as a much improved version of Ae as I have never seen him harm nobody. He truly loves Jeno, but for reasons that have never been made clear to the audience.

Similarly, Jeno is an improved version of Love by Chance's Pete in the sense that he actually does something to defend himself from his bullies. Funny enough, Jeno's bully is also a carbon copy of Pete's bully as they both literally disappear mid-season, leaving no proper conclusion to their plotline. One thing that confuses me about Jeno is that his personality makes a complete 180-degree turn literally the day after signing up for Muay Thai classes. From weak and bashful, he suddenly became brash and snobbish. I wonder what happened during his first session?

We also have this weird plotline involving a third pair. M and Near are working in a boardgame cafe being frequented by the Paper/Sky/Chris gang. I have to say that this subplot is the one truly original contribution of Second Chance to the BL universe as it introduces a concept we've never heard of (so far) --- about two guys catfish-ing each other. While keeping their identities hidden, M and Near falls for each other through an online game. Yet their story suffers from one of the lousiest writing I have seen. Similar to Paper/Sky and Chris/Jeno, there was zero development in these characters' arcs.

Outside of these three subplots, there's also this annoying supporting female character that is just so fucking corny.

I wonder why the comments and reviews are praising this little "gem" when there is little to be praised about it. Acting is subpar (though I'd admit that Mawin and Run, who played Chris and Jeno, were quite good), writing is lazy, and there literally is only one score in its entire soundtrack (that guitar strum is repetitive/annoying AF). But surely there is something to see here, right? Well yes, if you are a hardcore fujoshi who gets off at seeing guys making out, Fluke and Tong (playing Paper and Sky) had an intense makeout sesh at the middle of the series. Right off the bat I would say it was one of the hottest kisses I have seen in Thai BLs, where most leads would simply press their lips with each other and sell that off as a "kiss." But Fluke and Tong put their hearts into their big reveal apparently, showing boys (and girls) how it's done!

Overall: 2.5/10

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A sweet cute series to pass your time.

I have watched this series, this short series!??!? I was really in a haze of the plot. I think it's kinda digestible but there's something can be done to make it better. I love the cast especially Tong and Mawin, as well as Fluke. As you can remember three of them (Tong, Mawin and Run) came from TharnType. Their acting skills, for me, improved. Mawin's sense of humor were toned down and Tong's demeanor in TharnType is more mild than here. In this series his character clings to a somewhat dramatic spectrum of the series. Honestly, I really like Mawin here among others. He really pulled me in. Mawin and Run have a good chemistry. Although they are a chaotic couple in TharnType, in this series their togetherness is more calm and not irritating. And that's what I like. It just felt like it is where it should be. Fluke, on the other hand, is very charismatic. The way he stare at Tong it feels like he will eat him like yess tf!!

The downside of this series is that the plot is mediocre in a sense, two students being together as the show goes. I also hate the violence where a gang of three beats a student because of unreasonable shits. Yeah those are the defects of this series but after all it's good to watch and rewatch.

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Slow and predictable, but safe

I'm not going to lie, I really had to force myself to finish this series. The first episode throws a lot of information and plot at you and then it just really slows down after that.

So I'll just go through each category individually.

Story:

Pretty bland, milquetoast if you will. Pretty standard use of tried and true BL stereotypes and tropes. Doesn't really do much expanding on them. Nothing too out of the box, but it's fine if that's what you're wanting.

Acting/Cast:

The main male leads were all pretty good. Some of the female side characters were pretty cringe, and not really in an endearing way like I think they wanted us to see them as. My biggest gripe is who thought it was a good idea to cast two brothers (who look nearly identical) and then never explicitly state the difference in their characters (who aren't related in the show btw) and then wait until the very last episode to even put them in the same room together? I saw so many comments stating that people thought they were the same person for basically the whole show. (I could only tell them apart from their different colored book bags). Whoever decided to do this was foul.

Music:

Eh. It was fine. The main theme wasn't really anything spectacular. I don't remember any other music so it must not have been that memorable lol.

Production Value:

I swear every single Thai BL show that I have watched thus far has had bad audio mixing for at least a few scenes (if not the entire show). I'm pretty sure in the good year of our Lord 2022 that production companies should be able to afford decent microphones (or better yet quality sound engineers) There was a scene in an early episode where a teacher was addressing a group of students at the front of the classroom and whenever it switched between the two scenes, there was a very noticeable change in audio quality. For me that just completely takes me out of the story and makes me question just who directed this and listened to this scene and thought "Yeah, that's good." and then just kept it in?? Maybe I'm just nit-picking, but I digress...

There were so many plotlines (and potential plotlines) that were touched upon or mentioned, but never explored deeper. Just to name a few:

-Arthur?? My guy?? Like I get he's there to move the plot along but that sudden 180 he did at the end really threw me for a loop. Then he just dumps all his feelings out and complains that nobody loves him? Where was the character development? Where was the exploration of how/why he felt genuinely bad for how he treated Jeno and truly wanted to repent? He plays a main role in the first two episodes, then gets expelled (we are led to believe) and then just shows up at the prom and airs it all out? They could have done so much for with him as a character but I guess it is what it is.
-Chris and his studies. It's brought up multiple times throughout the show and we are made to believe it's a very important part of Chris' story: What exactly does he want to study at University? The answer is...We don't know! He never decides, or at least he never states it out loud. Guess it wasn't that important, but then why dedicate multiple scenes to him lamenting on it? Wild.
-What actually happened to Tong Fah in his accident? They didn't want to dedicate any screen time to it, so did it get mentioned, even in passing, what happened to him? Absolutely not. I guess it's up to our imagination.
-Literally what is the point of the pool scene in the first episode? It's never explored or even shown again in the series later on, until the very end of the last episode, and I guess it's then that we learn it didn't really ever happen? Maybe it was just a metaphor for Tong Fah's feelings. Still, it felt a little out of place.

Overall:

Pretty standard, safe BL trope. It didn't quite give me the warm fuzzies and I ended up having to try and convince myself to even finish it. Maybe it was a bit boring for me? Either way, it was fine for what it is. I probably won't end up re-watching it though.

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Likeable Series but Should Have Aged up the Characters

This was a surprising good little project. The acting was very good, and even the villains were redeemable. The elephant in the room is, the actors are way too old to be playing high school students. This would have been better in a university setting, since the plot was mainly about falling in love right before graduation. Unless I missed it, I still have no idea what Chris and Tong Fah will be doing at university, just one of the loose ends that was left unresolved.

Run from TharnType and his real life brother play unrelated characters in this series. Their characters do not interact that often, otherwise their obvious resemblance would have been a distraction.

It would be nice to have a special episode to tie up loose ends. For example, Near's co-workers complained about his work performance, but besides being late, he seemed to provide good customer service. Does he get rehired after quitting? Will Jeno win a Muay Thai match? Hope to see more of this series in the future.

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Not for me, I'm sad to say

God, I feel really mean giving this show the lowest rating out of all the shows I've reviewed, but this just missed the mark so thoroughly for me.

I usually love slow-paced, character-focused stories with an emphasis on human connection and the varied queer experience, but personally I got none of that from this show.
I couldn't really connect with any of the characters, as sweet and harmless as they are.
The visuals and music were alright but nothing specifically stood out to me.
I didn't really like the pacing or any of the character arcs, they all just left me feeling indifferent at best and dissatisfied at worst.

But it's not like the show particularly does anything wrong either. Almost all of my gripes with it come down to taste and what didn't work for me might just be perfect to someone else.
And I'm really glad that this show seems to have a small but dedicated audience that clearly got a lot out of the story and really seem to love it with all their heart. It genuinely makes me happy to know this show is making someone's life a little better even if it did nothing for me personally

So if you like sweet, low-drama high school romances or Thai dramas that don't feel like an endless parade of product placements (not to rag on those types of shows too much, they've got their perks too) then I'd suggest giving this a shot.
There's clearly something worthwhile hidden in this show if some people adore it this much - who knows, maybe you'll find it even if I couldn't.

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Really good story, acting good, casting is hard to believe

I really really liked this show. It has a good plot, nice cinematography, good acting, and nice little details like all of the gay movie posters in the gay dudes' rooms. The only thing I wish was different is that some of the actors do not pass as high schoolers which I can overlook but they would have been better off with making this a university story like just aging up the characters. I also wish they had a discussion of sexuality a little bit because they do not mention it at all which is a little hard to believe. I also wish we could have gotten a little bit more in the way of cute scenes between the couples. I also would like to have seen a little bit more of near/em their storyline was cute and it could have been stretched out . Overall a really cute and mostly fluffy show. Recommend you watch!

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my source of comfort

For the past 6 months I have tried to put into words the way this series made me feel.

I'm not going to lie, I started to watch it with little no expectations. I even thought it was one of the bunch, but as the episodes went by, I grew fond of both the characters and the story.

Maybe it was because I find out about it at the right time. It gave me the calm and comfort that I needed so much back then. It made me laugh, cry, but above all, it reminded me how nostalgic hightschool love can be.

The characters are (for the most part) endearing and the relationship between them is probably one of the healthiest I've seen on bl series in a long time. The dynamic between couples is one of the strengths of the series, imo. The chemistry between the main leads was off the charts!

I don't have much to say about the other pairings, especially M and Near. I feel like they would have worked better as an established couple or with the occasional hint to make the viewer understand that there was some mutual interest between them. Their story was too confusing for me, and the way their conflict was resolved felt forced. Although it may just be me, since I could not connect with them as characters or a couple.

Considering it was a short series, they could have used their screen time to focus on the main couple and give the characters a bit more background. Especially Paper. I feel like a lot of people couldn't empathize with him as a character because not much of his story was shown, aside from the fact that he was just as lonely as Tongfah.

The script is nothing extraordinary and some things could have been handled better, but despite its ups and downs, it's a pretty solid series. I always find myself going back to the moments that made my heart skip a beat.

Definitely, one of the series that I could watch over and over again without getting tired of it.

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Very sweet! So much nostalgia!

This series was so so so and sweet, yes its very short but it still made me feel nostalgic.Glad I found this series by chance, all the couples are sooo cute and their acting was really good, its a simple romance story that explores how 3 different couples approach and deal with love, but has a different feel from other GMMTV BL. The OST is also as sweet as cotton candy, whenever the background music played I was like awwwww. Love it love it!

Wish love irl was as sweet as this, too bad I fall in disgust at first sight irl, no wonder I indulge in so many romance as an escape from reality lmao jkdvkshskskn

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Just skip the cringe stuff and you’ll discover something sweet

I don't know why, but through the whole series, I felt like I was watching something similar to Dream Night.Although, I am not the biggest fan of the plot that works with best friends turn lovers' kind of thing, I have to admit it was delivered well here. It had great potential and could have been even better. Still, I understand that some factors possibly worked against it. Like budget etc. I just wish that they would stop putting this kind of cringy, comical stuff like the girls and the screaming and the unhinged laughing, if you know what I mean, but I enjoy watching it in the end.

I love the tension between the main couple. They worked well together, and it was one of the best kisses I have seen.

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Forget it; I did.

This show is forgettable. And I mean this in the most literal way: I first watched this series some time the summer of 2022. When I came across the title again in the autumn of the same year, I had no idea what story this was supposed to be -- only during watching had I the feeling that I knew it somehow. And that happened again a few weeks later.

I have no idea why the series was such that I forgot about it -- even after I watched it a fourth time. This is what could have contributed:

* The storylines are stereotypes -- friends to lovers / trusting a new relationship after a bad one / secret identities; they all seem to develop slowly but fast at the sam time? Maybe three couples was a bit much for 6x40 minutes. I am not even able to give a description of the stories (see above).
* The actors all look the same to me. Not only those who are brothers IRL, but also Chris and Ton Fah looked rather similar.
* The music was amazing in itself but made the whole show feel a bit dreamlike and apart from reality. I think a second soundtrack for the more dramatic and the emotionally heavy scenes would have helped.
* It feels as if there's a lot of backstory that we don't see, and there are also several inconsistencies.

All in all, I don't think I've made a connection to the characters in the series, maybe due to one of the points above, maybe not.

That said, the show is not bad, even mediocre is not the right word for it, it's just ... bland.

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Very sweet and gentle

Second Chance The Series is absolutely worth a watch, besides it's short and sweet, really no reason not to watch it!

I initially wanted to watch it because of Tong whom I love in Tharntype but everyone in this is really cute. I liked how different he is in this series despite their characters not being that different in themselves, he somehow manages to convincingly act younger. Mawin and Run as well, who are much cuter in this one!

The soundtrack is really sweet as well and compliments the mellow vibe of the whole series. It's not the kind of show with ridiculous sound effects; it's just very real and down to earth. Despite being pretty plain in terms of storyline, the main couple genuinely delivers some really memorable scenes.

Some issues I had was how long it took me to understand that Run and Games were not in fact playing brothers, but the thing is for me, they look too similar to be cast together as anything other than brothers. I also could not tell you when the first scene takes place. Was it not a flashback? I'm confused... It maybe lacks consistency in terms of the characters' intentions which can easily be explained by the fact that the plot isn't much to go on, while it's eventually explained for Jeno, not really for Paper, but hey... The editing was off at times, and yet despite all that it was still really enjoyable.

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