Only Friends (2023)

Real Life Experience in a Show

Except for certain scenes and the ending: This was a series with the perfect depiction of real life and relationships. It showed raw emotion and how messy those early twenties can be. You think you are grown-up and know who you are. Its a show with no good-guy and no villain, just regular messy human-beings.

I was a little disappointed in how the series was tied up at the end, and it felt a little like a cop out. However, I understand why they chose to do as they did. We could have had the same ending, but written better.

I love the characters, the cinematography, the sets, the feelings and the plot. All in all this is one of the best BL shows I have ever watched. And I have already rewtched it in parts and will definitivly do a full rewatch later on.

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I love my GMMTV boys. Messy perfection.

My advice to new BL watchers, OR new to GMMTV BL's, don't start with this one. I think what made this show so amazing, was being in love with all these characters/couples already and watching them in a whole new light.

This was everything. The couples were amazing, the situations were messy, realistic. My heart hurt, my heart healed, my anxiety went through the roof!

My favorite couples are Mew & Top, I really felt and loved both of them. My second runner up was Ray & Sand, their story was very interesting, touching, and deep. Also Nick, I felt so much for Nick. I want to see Mark(Nick) get a happy series as a lead role.

I also want to see Mond (Boeing) as a lead in a BL. He was so naughty in this one! And honestly I loved it. I am glad they didn't drag out those issues for to long.

Overall, I can't say one bad thing about this show. It was messy perfection.

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Messy but Fun

Only Friends, a 2023 Thai drama, follows Mew, Ray, Boston, and Namchueam - a group of business students running a hostel together – who blur the lines between friendship and romance.

This series is a breath of fresh air. Unlike the standard Thai BLs, Only Friends explores the complex dynamics of friendships and romantic relationships. The characters are flawed, sometimes to the point where you don’t cheer for them. Their relationships are complicated and often frustrating but very realistic and raw. Although the plot follows the friends running a hostel together, I find that the real plot lies in the characters' relationship development and character growth. It left me gasping and screaming whenever something happened, although I do wish the plot focused more on how their friendships/relationships affected the hostel business.

All the characters have very different personalities and face unique issues. The series touches on problems of jealousy, unfaithfulness, dishonesty, and addiction and how they impact characters' relationships with others. But it also shows the significance of growth, honesty, forgiveness, and self-love. Most importantly, it emphasizes that all actions have consequences, good or bad.

The actors did a great job portraying their respective characters, however "Neo" Trai Nimtawat, who plays Boston, does a phenomenal job, I truly enjoyed his performance. I wish more emphasis was put on Namchueam and her relationship with her long-term girlfriend instead of adding characters such as Atom and Boeing who in my opinion only served as a distraction and didn’t have such an impact on the plot. I was invested in some relationships more than others but was happy with how they all developed.

This drama was aesthetically pleasing to watch. I loved the dark-lit bar and club settings. Cool locations around Bangkok created great atmospheres for certain scenes. Big applause to the styling team for giving us amazingly dressed characters as well as interesting interiors. The music was good as well; I appreciate that they included some Western songs.

Overall, Only Friends is a well-produced, enjoyable drama, more realistic and sexual than your typical GMMTV drama. If you enjoy dramatic relationships this one is for you!

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Could have been more, but still a trailblazer!

Going into Only Friends, I knew the plot and vibe weren't my cup of tea and that I was there for the cast and for the sexy scenes. I greatly appreciated the performances from every single cast member, but a true stand out for me were Mark Pakin and First. I haven't seen Mark in a role that let him shine like this before. He did a phenomenal job!!! He was the perfect Nick, and his eyes were always acting overtime. What an incredible performance! He and Neo portrayed some of the most risky and vulnerable scenes, acting in very explicit scenes as actors with such huge visibility, and they KILLED IT! I'm incredibly proud of them and loved their performances. First was also phenomenal as always. Similarly to Mark, his eyes just do so much of his acting... he was a joy to watch through and through. Book was also a stand out and I loved him as Mew. Mew was probably one of the best characters!
As far as the STORY goes: I had quite a few issues with some of the plot decisions, especially in the latter half of the show. I felt that Ray was let off the hook way too easily too many times. But I loved TopMew's story and genuinely enjoyed all their scenes. I was also pleased with the way Boston and Nick's story ended. I hope Nick enjoys a happy and sexy relationship with Daddy Dan! I think the show tried to do too many things and suffered from the breakneck pace at which they had to film and edit. If they had had a bigger bidget, 1-2 more eps, and taken more time to perfect the show, things would have been better. It's disappointing that GMMTV is so cheap when it comes to a trailblazing show like this. All the sexual intimacy was done so well and that's so important. The production deserved better.
And of course.,..what a perfect final scene! Mix!!!!!! Everyone's beloved!!!!

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catches you from the start till the end

first of all, can't put in words how much I loved this cast. Every actor tried their best to get in character, you don't only look at them, you feel every single personality and this is insane

if you searching for healthy relationships this is not your pick thus time, everithing always goes wrong somehow, you will hate some of them that's inevitable, but if you ready go for it. This serie will not disappoint you!!

I hope to see more lesbians couples and trans people in stories like this <3

I feel like something big just came to the end, feeling certain void inside my chest right now, it was awesome to follow this series every week :D

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Sorry but not sorry!!!... It's my totally Biased rating

Well, being honest... Does this series deserve a 9.5 ? No ... Did I enjoy it? Hell yeah.... Why am I rating this 9.5? Because this series got me hooked and invested in every single episode soo much, that none other series has done yet.

The charm of this series lies mostly of this series being able to create different human perspective and opinion. It was so fun and intresting to analyse the stories and characters after every episode and talk about it with our peers. This made the series even more entertaining that one would not feel of binge-watched.

At first my impression of the series after the trailer was that its just going to be another hot BL series with lot of explicit content(that most of the series are doing just for the sake of popularity). But right after the first few episode, i was proven wrong. I was so invested in the story that the hot NC scenes didn't matter anymore. What mattered was the story, the characters , the trauma the flaws and the judgement. There were definitely some parts of the story which i believe could have been manipulated, but I am not complaining for what it is now as well.

The casting director did a amazing on by casting ForceBook, FirstKhao, NeoMark and Lookjun. I cannot say more to them for their exceptional acting. They gave their best to their roles. We as viewers got to love, hate, resonate and emotionally get invested in all the characters. That means the actors did a really good job.

FirstKhao: What more should I even say
ForceBook: We really need more of ForceBook projects in future. When you watch them, it feels like they are really serious about their work and are hardworking actors. They are kind of actors who grow more and more after every project. Personally I would like to see them in some agressive and bad boy roles.
NeoMark: who would have thought that this pairing would become one of the most incredible pairing in the history. I am just speechless. I hope they better not ignore this one.

Also nonetheless the special appearance cast Papang, Drake, Mond and Mix were so amazing too.
They delivered soo much in such a little screentime.

Gmmtv should make more series like this... !!

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Gonna miss all this messy chaos from these characters

From the first trailer last year, I just know that this series was going to be messy (love) story. I was actually afraid that I was not going to be able to follow it, but...I actually did!

Story-9/10
I'm not even gonna try to explain it, because like I said, I was hella confused from the first time I saw the preview last year. But all I can say is that all of the main characters had their good side as well as their bad side. At one point, I was rooting for them. And then at another point, I was screaming bloody murder and wishing death upon them. It can also be seen as realistic, because not all of the three couples got their happy ending together (and this is why I was most happy for Nick's ending because he chooses to love himself than to be in a relationship with Boston who wanted to change for Nick, but still was the same- although I must say that he did try at least).

I just didn't really like the character Boeing (and nothing is going to make me to). All in all, I'm going to give it a 9.

Acting/Cast-9/10
Everyone was phenomenal, especially First, Khatoung and Mark. I really loved their character and felt that they portrayed the emotions well. Force and Neo played their characters well also as they had me hating on them at one point of the series. Due to this, I'm going to give them a 9.

Music-8.5/10
The music was interesting and went well with the series. As such, I will give an 8.5.

Rewatch-10/10
I will most definitely give this another rewatch. Because it may give me a better understanding of the characters. Also, I like messy and complicated stories once told properly, which this one was. I would give this a 10.

Overall-9/10
Overall, I give this series a 9/10. I was thoroughly entertained. And was interesting in seeing Force and Book yet another character that were totally different from their previous two. I would most definitely recommend this to others who want to watch a messy and chaotic series done right.

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Just go watch it.

I was screaming the whole season. Not only do we get to see some of our favorite ships, but the acting is out of this world. They seriously outdid themsleves. Khaotung is an acting phenomenon and seeing with him First once again makes me sooooo happy. They kill it! You'll feel every emotion watching this. And its definitely NOT vanilla. The first "intimate" scene between khaotungs character (Ray) and Firsts character (sand) is so fire. The smoke... i mean..... 🤤 And we have to talk about Neos character (Boston) because ive never both hated and rooted for a character as much as i have here. He sucks but we are whipped for him anyway just like Marks character (Nick). Marks character earns so much merit in the show because we get it man lol. I mean First and Marks characters are our favorite masochists after all. And last but not least we get to see ForceBook once again and man is it chaotic lol. The character development in this show is wild. Especially with Khaotung and Books characters.

Just go watch it. And
also.......

********* SPOILER***********


They tease at a season two where we get to see our baby Mix about to fuck shit up.

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Not Everything We Thought It'd Be, But Still a Great Show

Let's be honest. We as fans got collectively way too into this show. People were piecing together fan theories and character motivations like this was Game of Thrones or something.

And it wasn't that.

The show is exactly what it sold itself as, the story never venturing beyond the expected. But you know what? That's okay, because it was still a well executed show. This was the closest to realism that I've seen in BL- especially in Thai BL and the characters were great, complex and messy. Just being in the fandom while this was airing was like riding a crazy tidal wave, and I enjoyed every second of it.

Top notch acting, nobody dropped the ball. Were there storylines that I liked more than others? Yes. We're there couples that I was rooting for and others that I was actively rooting against? Yes. But not once did the quality dip, and it really felt like they told a complete story, and that was the story they wanted to tell. Also, the music was fantastic.

I wouldn't be mad if they decided to do a season 2, is all I'm saying.

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Bunch of horny adults doing shïtty things to make their life more miserable, which made sense!

5 reasons why I liked Only friends-

1. Characters were complex AF!
2. They were imperfect
3. They knew they were imperfect and tried to make things better
4. Not everyone got their desired happy endings cuz it's natural this way.
5. The characters weren't dumb they had their priorities sorted.

Character Analysis:
Ray: The cocky b@stard who is ready to chang himself for the sake of himself only.

Mew: Mentally sorted person still made some shitty decisions for himself.

Boston: The ACTUAL b@stard who knows how to füçk up his own life by his own hands and make others life miserable as well.

Cheum: Relatively blind person who judges people too quickly.

Top: Troublemaker Playboy at the beginning but found the "one" to take him out of his man-made gutter.

Sand: Lover boy romantist who falls in love with trouble easily but never loses his self-worth! The most responsible adult out of all.

Nick: Timid little guy who did terrible things to terrible people for the sake of love which didn't even exist :|

It's been quite a hectic journey with some heartbreaks, shït days and blood boiling mistakes but we made peace with the imperfect characters in a most imperfect way possible. Happy endings do exist and is very subjective but do not exist for everyone, regardless of their wrongdoings or good deeds.

My rating: 8.5/10!

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Messy but neat

This drama is intriguing showing different types of love and had me on a roller-coaster of emotions even ones I didn't know existed, asking me how unhappy it was finished

Sand is my favorite being a friend to Nick and actually giving good advice to him about love. He is so confident and so kind that people like Boeing took advantage of it hurting him. When he laughed I laughed. When he cried I cried wishing I could give him a hug. He is so relatable I saw myself at times. I have watched most dramas he is in and only like it because of him.
Ray didn't deverse him at all as he was so messy not fully understanding his emotions to the point he messed everything up and constantly was hurting the one that cares so much running back to mew as he was too attached

Nick, I saw so much of my time being hurt and cast off only seen as entertainment to be used. Hr is so innocent it crushed me that he blamed his friend(sand) because of the happiness he got from. He has great character growth realising just how much he is worth to end the toxicity of the relationship.
Boston clearly doesn't get enough love and attention from anyone making him a predator using anyone he can including his friends I hated what he made so many people put through but the end made me pity him as he messed up big time after being forgiven and wanted

Top and Mew is the couple I didn't like much making me skip most of their scenes together as they just dragged everything. Top I believe is so stupid to do the act then not trying to say anything as we all guessed it would come in the light. Mew, I get trust was broken but he was too cruel for Top that it took so many episodes to forgive

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