The Eclipse (2022)

Never Eclipsed My Heart

The Eclipse does not feature your standard school setting. No, instead, the school has a cult-like rule system the consequences of which dip into internalized homophobia and general dislike for people that are perceived as different. It is a social commentary twisting societal issues into a school setting with various gays we love--most prominently Akk and Ayan, with a side of Kan and Thua.
It's not that much of a light-hearted story--though it does have plenty of light-hearted and cute moments--but that's exactly why I loved The Eclipse so much.

Akk and Ayan are just perfect. Not that they don't have flaws--they do. I found Akk to be very intricately written with believable flaws and reasonings, despite how much I loved Ayan too. The writers weren't afraid to write actually opposite belief systems in characters that end up falling for each other, which I find doesn't happen often in BL or if it does, it is shallow.
I did wish Ayan had more involvement with the rebelling "The World Remembers", but it didn't otherwise detract too much from the story and romance.

On the topic of romance. I mean, with FirstKhao, chemistry is guaranteed, but watching these characters challenge each other and (unknowingly) grow closer was a real treat. They ended up so sweet and had plenty of kisses AND tension to share, as they evolved from outright hostility to playful bickering.

The side characters were also layered, though I cannot say that Kan/Thua really interested me in any way. FirstKhao definitely shone in the spotlight as they deserved, which meant that side characters, though important to the plot, simply couldn't reach AkkAyan's levels of interesting.

Rarely anyone ever mentions this in reviews as far as I've seen, so maybe I'm just an outlier, but the scenes where the school reinforces their rules--the cult-like scenes--made me so uncomfortable, all the while I pitied the students involved. Uncomfortable in the sense that it was creepy to witness! Brainwashing is scary! Every time I wished I could usher Akk away and lead him to a safe space instead.

But why the -0.5 star? Mainly because of Thua. He has a scene in one of the later episodes where he does something I despise and for which he doesn't deal with consequences I deem proper. I would've exiled him from my friends list for what he did. I won't go much into it for spoiler reasons, but yeah.
Another thing is also a spoiler-heavy plot twist/revelation regarding the villain character that I felt came out of nowhere and, though it did tie the mystery and plot together, felt a little underbuilt in the plot and lead-up.

Outside of the romance, FirstKhao are outstanding actors who can portray pain and hurt and tears and being conflicted believably. You'll at least understand their struggles and reasoning no matter what your instinctual gut reaction may be to some revelations.

If you're not into a slowly unravelling story that deals with various social issues in a cultish school, mainly internalized homophobia and restricting freedom of expression, then The Eclipse may be a sludge to get through. I personally loved the story and the characters and--well, almost everything--but I concur it's not for everyone.

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THEIR STORYLINE IS STORYLINING Y'ALL

This series broke my heart a thousand times and healed it at the end and all I gotta say I NEED SEASON 2 because the "special episodes" in Our Skyy 2 are NOT enough for me! The storyline is just so touching and holds an actual deep meaning which makes it worth re-watching many times just to pick up on all those little details you might have missed AND the acting?! SO GOOD. Whoever made the decision to pair up First and Khaotung as main leads DESERVES A BIG TROPHY cause these men ATE THAT UP. Their acting is so good you actually get invested in their story more and more with every episode you go through and seeing them learn more about each other and develop the special bond only they (main characters) have is something simply beautiful. I love the storyline, the main couple, their friends, their storyline, the meaning behind this series, just everything makes perfect sense and I don't know if any other series got my attention as bad as this one. Love. IT.

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LOVED THE ACTING

Such a wonderful character driven series that I absolutely loved. I have to say the plot was quite mid to be honest but the characters and their growth from repressed to finally being able to do and be who they are was beautiful to watch.

SPOILER

One thing I absolutely hated was how Thua outed Akk and Ayan the way he did. His outburst was needed but the way he went about it was so wrong. I get he wanted to tell the truth but boy was he a hypocrite when he said that.

Publicly outing Akk for the curse and then hiding that he was the one running the Eclipse account? Being so concerned for Kan and giving him time to come to terms with his sexuality but then outing his friends?

And all this while Ayan had been keeping Thua’s secrets to himself and did not say anything even when he knew about it publicly and only addressed it when they were alone.

Anyways, a wonderful series. How Akk and Ayan’s eyes spoke of their love. Their little banters and bickering, Akk coming to realise his sexuality and Ayan giving him the time to come to him but also being assertive and help him understand his feelings. Wonderful depiction of coming to terms to their sexuality.

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Things I really loved about this drama:
1. The acting
2. The chemistry
3. Everything Ayan chooses to be
4. Akk's issues with anger and internalized homophobia and his terror of being exposed. His torment over what he was doing even though he was utterly convinced it was the only way. Honestly First got most of the meat of this drama and he was wonderful, bravo.
5. Khao's song from the OST
6. The protest trio

Things I was meh on: pretty much everything else.

Still gave it a high rating because I find it extremely rewatchable but if not for the cast this would have been a bust. sadly.

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My disappointment is immeasurable and my day is ruined

First off, I want to preface this by saying that I had (kind of) high expectations for this series - I've seen it recommended EVERYWHERE. And then I watched Only Friends and FirstKhaotung were amazing in it and I just got more excited to watch this one.
It didn't, unfortunately, live up to what I was imagining (or hoping for). Here are my thoughts:

- The story (which was kind of the main selling point for this series) is incredibly weak and flimsy. They do a great job the first episodes at pulling you in and making you wonder what the hell is going on at the school: why is the principal so strict? Why do they run the school like an authoritarian regime? What is the curse and what does it entail? What does 'The eclipse' mean? Who is Ayan? ---- These are all great questions. Having watched the entire thing, though, I can confidently say that the answers to all of them are so frustratingly simple it actually hurts my soul. The curse wasn't a curse, it was fabricated (obviously). The eclipse is just there for the aesthetics. The school is strict because they are old, repressed and angry. Ayan is a sad kid with uncle issues. That's it.
The protests against the school's leadership are so unimportant and have so little effect it's almost funny. We are TOLD (not shown) that they are a big deal and it's impacting the school's reputation, but throughout the series we only see the same three guys weakly yelling dumb shit and holding up signs. Honestly, they couldn't have found less threatening people to be the face of a student revolution. Also, why only THREE? Did GMMTV run out of extras to cast? Do gays with signs pose such a threat in this fictional universe??
- Unlikeable characters. As it turns out, Akk was the one behind the curse. You're telling me he was trying to harm students into silence by dropping flower pots on them and setting things on fire?? Are we supposed to be okay with this?? Same with Thua - but I'll talk about him later on. Akk doesn't end up publicly owning up to what he's done, and he doesn't suffer the consequences of his actions. What he did is only discovered when Thua outs him in front of everyone, and even then Akk's friends save his sorry ass. Akk also turns a blind eye to Ayan's actions (when he knows he's stirring the pot and instigating the protests), while being incredibly strict with the rest of the students and essentially being a massive tool.
- And now onto Thua. OKAY. I am MAD about this one. See, by episode 10 he was my favorite character. He was nice, and shy, but was concerned about the rest of the students and saw the flaws in the system, and tried to distance himself from it. His scenes with Khan were also adorable. And THEN they felt the need for some drama, and of course they had to ruin the only good character in the fucking show. Of course. Turns out he's also doing shit to scare everyone into obedience, and was responsible for the more extreme acts directed against the trio leading the protests. He also randomly outs Akk and Ayan to the entire school and board of professors?? Because that's needed I guess??? This was not it. This is character assassination and oh my God, do I dislike it--oh. Now everything's okay and no one remembers and Khan forgives him and they're together? Nice! I guess I'll forget everything he did then!

In conclusion: I am so tired of this. They could have done better. First and Khaotung's chemistry is so much better than this. This is a problem I see with a lot of Thai BLs, they try to innovate and have more dramatic storylines but forget to actually develop said storylines and live up to the hype they themselves create. It's disappointing, honestly.

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What is a solar eclipse?

I am being so honest, I don't know what a solar eclipse is. This was really good; the average rating from me was 9.2 out of 10 stars. The plot was good because my ass was getting very emotionally invested. They could have dragged it out for one or two more episodes for some more plot, I hate when shows do that, but this show needed it. The end was very abrupt—super mega happy, but very abrupt.

It was a good drama; I was getting flipped on my head a lot at the end. The show was light work up until episode 7. From episode 1 to episode 7, they were running circles around each other, which is annoying. But that's okay. Because their chemistry and the fact it was still interesting during all of those episodes. It kept me hooked and really wanting more actually, which means they did a good job lol.

I am going to go to my Instagram close friends story and looking to see what else I need to add to this review. Yeah, This show got a lot of 9's for the episodes and one was a 9.5 (the last episode) and the second from last was a 10 because I got very emotionally invested and needed my questions answered lol.

Okay, starting off with the first episode and Ayan coming out of the bathroom with that tattoo, I feel in love with his character right then and there. That annoying little brat—god, I can't get enough of him while watching the show and now I can't get enough of him even after I finished it.

Akk has control issues, but that's not his fault; he needs that scholarship money, and I respect it. And Ayan likes to be controlled, well not at first, but he caves. They both do. Ayan also liked getting yelled at, and Akk yelled at him. Boom, perfect relationship. Already off to a fantastic start with these two.

As someone who goes to a private school and has been going to private schools my whole life, I can confirm that this is how the private school down the street (literally) from ours is (not us though). It's scary, lol. The uncle dies, or is already dead before the show even started; I thought that was Ayan's dad at first but figured out it wasn't.

These two had some serious tension with all these damn nicknames, the glances, the gulps, and the not knowing where to look. My god, these two Great acting, really, though. There was a lot of crying near the end, and the actors all did a really good job portraying those scenes. I could really feel the emotion through the screen.

Thua and Kan (i think), bro Kan was fighting for him right off the bat, and we love him for that. I don't know if it's prefects or perfects, but they are like the student body but higher, and they think they are hall monitors with all this damn walking. The height differences between our two couples made my day every time I saw them; they were so great.

Wat, Akk, and Kan—I fell in love with these three. They were so like able (some slightly more than others) and fun, and they just put on the front for the future and didn't even really believe it to begin with. Cult antics are all I have to say, that's just private schools though. They are for the rich, the elite, the smart or you are there on scholarship (me). I think they were supposed to be in high school. The principal and Chadok had no reason to put this much pressure on high school seniors (I think), who are literally leaving in a few months. These bitches just need to leave at that point. Take a few senior skip days dawg.

Nothing changes if you don't make sacrifices; that was one of the big lessons in this, which was a good lesson. Did they ever tell us the Suppalo (or whatever this damn school is called) rules? I don't recall. And what were the protesters fighting for? I don't remember either. They were fighting for change but what exactly?

That show had me doing double takes at the end and having an identity crisis near the end lol. That show had me thinking that I was lying to myself about the characters being good and bad. Oh my god. I recommend it; it's pretty good, actually. It deserves all the hype; the plot is not bad, and I don't know why people are flaming it. Pretty accurate too, lol (more or less). Good one. I will watch the our skyy in a bit. I was craving this show and really excited out of nowhere to watch it, so I'm happy I did. Okay bye!

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Muy buena , entretenida para una persona como yo q no se engancha fácilmente con una serie , está me la termine en 1 solo día puedo decir q estuvo buena 🤩las parejas son bonitas aunque en mi opinión les faltó más química entre las parejas pero aparte de eso la historia estuvo interesante y todo eso............................ ..............................................................................................................................................................................................................................................

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Enrolei muito para começar a assistir, mas assim que comecei, acabei me prendendo a tudo.

Os Firstkhao são uns amores assim como os Neolouis e ninguém pecou em atuação.
A história se baseou apenas na maldição e na vingança, e tudo bem. Mas durante o episódio 11 tudo se perdeu. Simplesmente parecia que eu tinha pulado um episódio inteiro!
Não houve diálogos após as ações do Thua, nem sobre o Akk e figiram que nada aconteceu, isso me chateou porque ficou sem pé nem cabeça.

É legal ver a amizade dos três; fiquei puta várias vezes, mas valeu a penaKKKKKKKKKKK
Eu realmente achei bom o desenvolvimento e como a confiança entre os protagonistas ficava cada vez maior, era lindo ver o apoio.

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You have been E-C-L-I-P-S-E-D!!!!

I love supernatural stories. I love fantasy stories. For that reason alone, the Eclipse should have been on my top 5 favourite series. But it is not. Why you ask? Let me tell you. I am going to begin with what I did not like about it(which is considerable) and what I liked about(saving graces).

What I did not like:
The story : GMM TV took an absolute masterpiece of a story and ruined it with lackluster execution. I mean, imagine madness setting in during an eclipse? Stephen King level horror and tragedy could have been made possible. But the sheer arrogance of the director and the script writer, who thought that the viewers are dumb, how many actually read such stuff, annoyed the hell out of me. Viewers are more discerning than whatever the production house thinks, let me tell you that. I loved the premise, and I was super excited, but my excitement fell flat. First couple of episodes in, I was completely sure that this was the platform to present another romance drama in all its glory and angst.
I am not against a good romance drama, in fact I love them, but please, then call it romance, not the fantasy farce that your are palming on to us.

The 'romance' between the head of the Student Welfare committee and Aye's uncle was probably the saddest adult love story I have seen. Ayan goes in all angry lion, roaring and charging, and comes out looking like a drowned cat. One photograph is his proof that his uncle is depressed and that's why he committed suicide. Just because you are working in such a place, and gay romances are frowned upon, change your job, change the place. No one has any right to dictate terms to how you you live your life and so that was a bit unbelievable as well.

The character of Thuapa. I love Louis, make no mistake about it! Neo and his cute and fluffy love story in Fish Upon the Sky is the reason I sat and watched that show. But what the hell was this. He has been bullied all his life because he is gay. Ayan is the one person who stands up for him, and what does he do? For some weird, sadistic reason, that is not even clear to me till now, he outs Akk and Ayan in front of the whole school, inspite of being in a relationship himself with Kan. I was even more disgusted that no one, I repeat, no one called his out on his bizarre madness, not even Ayan or Kan ! Blaming the eclipse maybe?

The whole protests idea. There are 3 students sincerely protesting. To ban uniform. Look, I know, wearing uniforms are boring. I get it. But where I am from, and in most Asian dramas I have seen, uniforms are compulsory. There is a reason for that. It's not to demean the value of you as a human being. It is just to remove all differences between people, including that of class and social strata. Plus what irritated me further, was the fact that those three were actually in uniform when Akk and Ayan come back to school.

Ayan coming out in front of Akk's parents without letting him know first. I did not appreciate that. And also him constantly crossing the boundaries with Akk was also not something I enjoyed. But okay, as they say, everything is fair in love and war!

What I liked about it :
Parents. I must say. Khaotung is one lucky guy. Be it Tonhon Chonlatee, Midnight Chicken and the Eclipse, he always gets the best moms. I just love how supportive she is right from day 1, when Ayan (though not explicitly) tells her about Akk. I love how Akk's parents were completely supportive of his sexual orientation. For them, his happiness was their priority.

Neo as Kan long. Someone looking for their true self, I loved Neo as a teenager trying to come to terms with not only his sexuality, but also trying to stand up for what he felt was right and be positive towards his friends as well. Hard role, played with ease. I have always loved Neo... And I can't wait to see him as an antagonist is Only Friends!

Finally, the coup de grâce !! First as Akk and Khaotung as Ayan. What a powerful pairing! I have seen both of them in their individual projects, and they are both brillant actors, absolutely no doubt about it. But together? They are indescribable. What a connect they have with each other! Khao is a phenomenal actor and he just made me feel Ayan's pain as his own, his nightmares were so real. We all have lost someone close to us, and I could understand his pain. And how I love how Ayan makes Akk smile. First's smiles are so precious. Soft and slow to bloom, but seriously sexy after all! All in all, a couple that deserves a lot more shows together!

I will ask you to watch it at least once, so that you can see my darling First, Khao and Neo. But that's it. Just once... No re-watch value at all! :(
It's not boring, but not worthy of being a masterpiece, not like Not Me!

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Un BL solide

Un autre BL avec une histoire, un vrai scénario, recherché, détaillé, qui implique un certain nombre de problématiques actuelles, en Thaïlande comme en dehors (violence du monde "adulte", pression sociétale, acceptation des couples LGBT+, dépression pour n'en citer que quelques unes) . Les acteurs sont tout simplement remarquables, FirstKhaotung en tête bien entendu, avec un +++ pour Khaotung, mais également les seconds rôles superbement castés. J'espère réellement que nous pourrons voir plus du couple NeoLouis à l'avenir, et avoir Neo dans un contre-emploi qui puisse montrer comme ici l'étendue de son talent, en complément de ses rôles énergiques et comiques (2023 devrait être une de ces années).
Certaines parties auraient mérité d'être peut-être approfondies, mais sincèrement il est si rare de voir une série Y au scénario solide avec le BL accompagnant l'histoire plutôt qu'étant l'histoire que je ne vais pas râler.
Le travail photographique et musical est également à souligner.

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Re-watch worthy? Yes.

The major thing that I disliked the most was probably the story. Everything happened way too quickly at the very start of the series. The whole 'curse' was thrown at us so unexpectedly that I didn't even take it seriously. I think the best decision that the writers could have made to improve the story was to go more in-depth to either the whole 'curse' of the school or stick to the school's strict guidelines and follow Ayan's uncle's story. With this in mind, the plot would be a lot more different, but I think that for ME to fully enjoy 100% of this series they would need to either take out the whole curse or fully develop it and make it more enjoyable to watch. Overall I think the series is interesting to watch and the chemistry between the characters is wonderful. Would I choose to re-watch it? Yes, yes I would.

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