#viu Thailand

[mysterygrl20]

it was proposed to see how watching the cursed 360 kiseki trailer would work on a curved screen and…

[gunsatthaphan]

….Bruh 😩😭

[twig-tea]

I Owe an Apology to Cherry Magic Thailand

This is me righting a wrong. A few weeks ago I wrote this post in response to an ask about Thai BL including what Thai BLs airing at the time I was enjoying the most; I listed Cooking Crush and Dead Friend Forever, which was true. I didn't list Cherry Magic Thailand, and the reason for that is the timing of that post coinciding with the very unfortunate Cherry Magic Thailand episode 8 which was a filler episode that made some really unfortunate choices. None of those choices affected the relationship writing or character arcs of the main characters, but the conflict was poorly written--it didn't fit well in the narrative, it didn't even really make sense, and it didn't land the way it was clearly meant to--and I was afraid that the writers of the show would not realize the really interesting things they had done with the main characters in the Thai adaptation and how that would have to change the way the story progressed in order to be consistent, and so I was ready to watch this show go off the rails. But happily, I was wrong, and instead we got an excellent episode 9 and 10, so I am here to publicly tell you:

Watch Cherry Magic (Thai adaptation)!

The one episode 8 misstep is worth living through for the greatness that is happening in this series.

If you're familiar with the source material, here are a few things that I absolutely LOVE the Thai adaptation is doing (very light spoilers, I kept the big stuff out so that you could read and still be pleasantly surprised if you decide to watch the show):

The "magic" is used in fun and clever ways that keep the show funny, interesting, and fresh

Achi [the Thai Adachi] is more self-actualized and self-driven from the get-go, and is more willing to fight for the relationship

Karan [the Thai Kurosawa] is even more of a simp, and is less outwardly perfect than in the Japanese live action, and is also a little hornier (though not as much as the anime version lol)

Both Achi and Karan have stronger character arcs in the Thai adaptation than Adachi and Kurosawa did in the Japanese live-action

Jinta and Min [the Thai version of Tsuge and Minato] are also really great; they're hitting a lot of the same beats but at different times, which makes their progression feel stronger, and there is less of an emphasis on the age difference between them than in the Japanese live action

Min also gets an arc with Rock [Rokkaku] that gives him more depth than in the Japanese live action

We get more of Jinta and Achi's friendship than we did with Adachi and Tsuge

Pai [Fujisaki in the Japanese adaptation] is a fujoshi, which is from the original manga, but the show is still doing something really interesting with her as (I think?) a nod to Fujisaki in the Japanese live action being on the aro/ace spectrum

They have done a great job making the show feel Thai (e.g. including Thai cultural festivals, changing the scarf to an umbrella, adjusting the humour)

There is a kiss!

Anyway. I'm really enjoying it, and it's worth fighting past the annoyance of needing a VPN set to Thailand and waiting an extra day in order to access the show on VIU's website.

[lurkingshan]

Cherry Magic Episode 3

THAT’S RIGHT BESTIES, WE ARE FUCKING BACK!!

First of all, let me pause to share the good news for anyone who hasn’t heard: GMMTV decided to give a hearty fuck you to Square Enix by putting English subs on the episodes airing on Viu. All you need is a VPN set to Thailand and a free Viu account and you can continue watching Achi and Karan and friends. Cheers to GMMTV for making sure their international fans didn’t get totally fucked over by this mess.

Now onto the episode: ANOTHER BANGER. If I could, I would ask for this episode’s hand in marriage. A few important points:

This is all new material that is NOT in the jbl (but presumably some of it at least is sourced in the manga, I’m no expert so manga readers hmu if you know)

It all felt so so very Thai—a field trip! a street fight! new side stories!—in the best way

They are using much of the extra time to deepen Achi and Karan’s characterizations and add more heft to their getting to know you arc, which is basically my dream scenario for this adaptation

This episode is all about Achi learning to see past his own insecurities to see the humanity in others, even people like Karan who seem perfect on the surface, and recognizing that he also makes real contributions to his community that people see and appreciate. I loved the arc of this episode and the way they let Achi work through his emotions until he arrived at a place where he could be the one to reach out to Karan and offer him some reciprocation for his kindness. It was so beautifully done and well earned.

I also really liked what this episode did with the side characters—Pai in this version is clearly different from Fujisaki in the Japanese live action, but there were some clever nods to a possible aroace read on Pai in this plot about her ex (Papang!). Rock growing to appreciate both Pai and Achi more was also very sweet, and Min and Jinta bonding over the kitty was just adorable. This show is so much fun and I’m thrilled we can continue to watch it.

[hughungrybear]

The problem with setting my VPN to Thailand is knowing there'll be no English subs in ViuTh 😭😭😭

Edit:

I checked again and I'll be damned - GMMTV did managed to put English subs 😭😭😭 This is a public service announcement to international viewers with Viu and a VPN. 😊

[respectthepetty]

Hi Petty, as our resident colour demon I was pretty sure you were one of the people excited about Wandee Goodday. So I'm hoping you can answer this - do you know where the uncut version is airing please?

For most international folks, YouTube is the uncut version which is why some had to log in for the fourth part of the first episode since it was spicier.

For the countries that can watch it on TV, which I think might only be Thailand, the uncut version is on Viu.

Someone correct me if I'm wrong, but I know this came up during Only Friends, and the director reassured international fans that they were getting the full version on YouTube unlike whatever stunt GMMTV was pulling with Cooking Crush, so . . .

Enjoy!

[prettysweetprettysweet]

I cannot fully express it with words but Cherry Magic (Thai version) is an infinite source of joy for me right now and I want you to watch it!! Its up both on MKVdrama (1080 res) and Dramacool (720 res) and airs for free on Viu every Saturday (you need a VPN set to Thailand or one of its other streaming countries). Please let me pitch it to you:

If you aren't familiar with the Japanese source material + TV show/movie, Cherry Magic is about an 'unaccomplished' 30 year old office admin who hasn't met any major life milestones yet, and is still a virgin. He eventually learns that if you're still a virgin by your 30th birthday, you will develop the ability to read the thoughts of anyone you come into physical contact with. With this new ability, he discovers that the kindest, most hardworking, most handsome and universally desired man in the office has a wild crush on him. The show has married the source material with Thai culture beautifully while also paying homage to its Japanese roots, and uses the culture change to build on and enrich the story in a lot of ways. It is delightfully sweet, funny, and vibrant.

New Thitipoom plays Achi, the office admin. New has a particularly special gift with physical comedy. He is also very, very beautiful.

And Tay Tawan, who is one of the most charismatic actors in Thai entertainment right now, plays Karan, who is so sweet and pure and gorgeous and lovely in all of his genuine affection for Achi.

PLEASE WATCH IT AND THEN REPORT BACK TO ME TO WITH YOUR THOUGHTS AND WHALE SCREAMS

[kess-in-the-perthchimzone]

PerthChimon have a lot potential and have grown a lot in their abilities. But I feel like Dangerous Romance, whether right or wrongly, didn’t live up to the audience expectations. I’m hoping that they will get another series this year and it will be better received. If it’s not, I admit I will be alittle worried about their status within Gmmtv. I don’t like seeing good actors go to waste. My personal preference is for them to do a mafia AU, with two warring families sort of like Romeo/Juliet. But I will be happy with anything. Anyways just my two cents, love your meta!

Hi! Thanks for sharing all this! LOVE the warring families, Romeo & Juliet idea!!

I had to sit with this ask a bit because my brain wanted to write a novel about how wonderful Dangerous Romance is in so many ways and how I think it has been judged more harshly and unfairly than any other piece of media I’ve seen so far in my time in BL. But I have written a lot about it (all tagged here) and spoken about that at great length on the @criticallyobs podcast and I have to think anyone reading this already knows how I feel about DR, so I don’t want to distract from the actual point of this ask, which is PerthChimon’s future.

Regardless of how their next show performs, which I’ll come back to, I feel very confident they have a long future ahead for several reasons:

-Their popularity is clearly on the upward trajectory. Just this year to start they’ve had two fan meetings in Japan, one in Hong Kong, and one in Taipei. They themselves have showed us in videos how amazed they are by the crowds turning up at airports and waiting outside venues.

-GMMTV has invested a lot of time and resources in them since Nov 2022. They have an established brand (in terms of color, logo, etc) a new mascot (SOL CUTE MY BELOVED), are being featured at LOL, and had a role in the GMMTV fan weekend in Japan. While I don’t think it’s hard for GMMTV to split up a pair like Mark & Neo who’ve done one show together, once any two people are an official couple within the organization, I think GMMTV has almost no vested interest in splitting them. They would lose years of promotion and time developing the brand assets. Things like shared merch are a sign that GMMTV has faith they will continue to SELL for a long time.

-And on that note, their merch has been selling! The box set for Dangerous Romance is sold out. The photobook sold out and had to go to reorder. Money talks!!

-PerthChimon want to stay together a long time!! And given that I believe every branded pair breakup we’ve seen so far has been initiated by one or more members of the pair, I think that is important to note. Here’s just one quote:

Taken from this amazing PC translation blog.

Okay and then I want to talk about how DR performed and how their future show will very briefly. My number one takeaway is I don’t think all the negative voices on social media are a good marker for how it performed and that while it wasn’t a smash hit, I think Dangerous Romance did well by several markers:

-Views on YT are consistently over 1 million and many have cracked 2. Chimon’s OST is over 3

-DR did regularly trend in Thailand and several other countries on Twitter

-it consistently performed in the top 10 on the Viu streaming app; including being ranked number one (and P’Tha took notice!)

I also have spoken with several new people who are discovering it now and aren’t biased by the constant negativity towards it that was happening in the fall last year, and absolutely loved it (in fact, who couldn’t understand how there was backlash at all), so I think it’s going to be a show that becomes more popular and well regarded over time.

But all this aside, it’s hard to know how PC’s next show is going to do. A whole lot of people online already seem to have made their minds up about them based on their physical intimacy in a show set in high school. I however, am confident of two things:

1. They have only gotten closer and more physically comfortable with each other. That has been clear in their recent interviews and fan meetings.

2. They are absolutely amazing actors who are committed to their craft. They wouldn’t be this excited about their upcoming show if they didn’t feel confident about it. And they won’t give us anything less than their all!

This is way more than you asked for, I am just incredibly fascinated by the behind the scenes of branded pairs and why they exist and how they make money so I think about these things often!

[bengiyo]

Hi, your posts REALLY make me want to watch Cherry Magic Thailand but I don't know how?? Where do you watch it and how do you go about it? I've tried to change my VPN location to watch on Viu but the videos never load and give error messages. Thank you for any help you can give!!

Sorry, Nonnie, I don't troubleshoot finding content that's not available through the legal channels in public asks like this.

[mysterygrl20]

THAILAND | VIU Original CloseFriend3: SojuBomb starring Best Cholsawas, Dunk Teerathuth, Win Suphawit, Earth Nanthawat, and Au Patrapon, premieres March 13 on Gagaoolala!

The story revolves around the journey of five trainees—Best, Earth, Dung, Win, and Au—with aspirations to become K-Pop idols. "Best" is the serious-looking leader of the group. "Earth" charms with his mischievous demeanor and bright smile. "Dung" holds a belief in good karma. "Win" is a quietly charismatic man who showcases his artistic talent. And lastly, Au, the youngest member, exudes optimism about their endeavors. Despite their rigorous training, their project in Seoul faces rejection from a music entertainment agency, and they did not make their debut. Before departing for Thailand, they gather to "get drunk" together. However, an unexpected incident on that fateful night shakes their lives, reigniting their pursuit of their dreams!

[gunsatthaphan]

~ Monthly BL Breakdown: December 2023 ~ 

🎆 Happy 2024!!! 🍾

Disclaimer: ALL shows can be streamed here or here, as well as on Youtube and other platforms. For more info on where to watch what, check out this post! 

New breakdowns are coming at the end of every month - feel free to add stuff! -> previous breakdowns

What came out this month? (green = seen/currently watching)

🌟 You're My Star (Christmas Special) - December 4th (Philippines)

🌟 Bagan Beginning - December 5th (Myanmar)

🌟 Chains of Heart: The Movie - December 7th (Thailand)

🌟 Cherry Magic Thailand - December 9th (Thailand) ✅

🌟 It's Complicated - December 14th (Thailand) 

🌟 Dear Kitakyushu - December 14th (Thailand) 

🌟 Colorful Melody - December 16th (Thailand) 

🌟 Night Dream - December 16th (Thailand)

🌟 DMD Friendship (reality show) - December 17th (Thailand)

🌟 Scent of Memory (I Feel You Linger in the Air Special Episode) - December 17th (Thailand)

🌟 Dead Friend Forever - December 23rd (Thailand) 

🌟 I Became the Lead in a BL Drama - December 24th (Japan)

🌟 Mr. Nice Guy & the Lonely Man - December 25th (Thailand)

🌟 Love on Lo - December 26th (Thailand)

🌟 You and My Stars - December 30th (Thailand)

Monthly likes/dislikes

❣️ Cherry Magic - It's cute so far, this is the first adaption where I've actually seen the original and I'm pleasantly surprised. The plot is familiar but they're adding things to it which is nice. It's extended and more explorative compared to the OG but in an endearing way. TayNew do the roles justice, I couldn't imagine a better fit tbh. And even Mark and Junior make the side couple likable who I really did not like in the original lol. Thumbs up so far 🫶🏻

New series & movie announcements

🎥 Knock Out (produced by Dee Hup) - Date TBA (Thailand)

🎥 First Time Love - Date TBA (Thailand)

🎥 Perfect Propose - Coming February 2024 (Japan)

🎥 The Fridge - Date TBA (Thailand)

🎥 Caged Again - Date TBA (Thailand)

🎥 Likay The Series/Let Me Into Your Heart (novel adaption) - Date TBA (Thailand)

🎥 The Only One - Date TBA (Taiwan)

Other news from the BL world

❗️ GMMTV's upcoming BL We Are has started filming. The show will be directed by New Siwaj and stars PondPhuwin, WinnySatang, AouBoom, MarcPawin and more. It is thus the first production from the 2024 lineup to go into production. Aside from that, many other upcoming BLs have started filming including The Trainee, Only Boo and Wandee Goodday.

❗️This year's Y Universe Awards were held on December 11th. The following BL actors & productions won:

Cutie Pie 2 You - Best Series

Moonlight Chicken - Best Series Script

Aof N. - Best Director (MLC)

Gemini N. - Best Supporting Actor (MLC)

Khaotung T. - Best Supporting Actor (MLC)

Fourth N. - Best Leading Actor (MSP)

ZeeNunew - Best Couple

I Feel You Linger in the Air - Best Series Soundtrack, Best Production

Laws of Attraction - Best Social Reflection

❗️The Japanese BL The Man Who Defies The World of BL is getting a third season to air in 2024. Further details are unknown.

❗️After further copyright issues, the Thai remake of the Japanese BL Cherry Magic had to be removed from youtube and will no longer be aired on the site. The show will continue to only be available nationally on VIU. Viewers with a VPN can still access the site, other streaming options are KissKH, Dramacool and KissAsian.

❗️The streaming platform WeTV announced a new original BL titled Caged Again which tells the love story between a penguin and a panther. Both animals transform into humans while travelling between universes and fall in love. The show is set to air in 2024, the cast is unknown.

❗️The Thai BL production company Domundi announced their upcoming project The Next Prince to release its pilot trailer in the first quarter of 2024. The show stars ZeeNunew and others and has a historical theme. Filming will likely begin later this year.

Upcoming series & movies for January

👉🏻 BL Drama no Shuen ni Narimashita: Crank In Hen - January 2nd (Japan)

👉🏻 Ossan's Love Returns - January 5th (Japan)

👉🏻 Refund Love - January 7th (Thailand)

👉🏻 Time The Series - January 9th (Thailand)

👉🏻 Intern in My Heart (BL side couple) - January 10th (Thailand) 

👉🏻 Sukiyanen Kedo Do Yaro ka - January 11th (Japan)

👉🏻 I Wish You Love - January 21st (Thailand)

👉🏻 Beside You (mini series) - January TBA (Thailand)

👉🏻 Love for Love's Sake - January TBA (South Korea)

[aprilblossomgirl]

i know we're all a bit discouraged by the 'we are' news, but maybe it will still be available on youtube for international audiences. i have to admit the thing that does worry me a bit is them saying it will "only" be available on iqiyi

when they were posting about 23.5 degrees being on netflix they never said anything about it being youtube despite the show actually being aired on youtube. so this could be a situation like this one since gmmtv, as a thai channel, is obviously mainly posting info for thai audiences. also, 'between us', which is a new project and related to wabi sabi just like 'we are', also used to air its cut version on youtube.

they would be stupid not to air it on youtube at all even if it's just a cut version. also, iqiyi thailand is the only iqiyi twitter page that has posted anything about 'we are' airing so far so there might still be hope 👀

Anon, thank you for your optimism. Sorry it took me a while to answer because I need to check something first, since I think that the case of We Are is a bit 'context sensitive'.

So, first, personally I admit that the information from GMMTV was not clear enough for international fans (me included) to interpret. The 'uproar' among fans, now that I see it, was mostly due to the accumulation of our disappointment towards the company's way in handling the show's promotion. To list: (1) the change from Sunday slot to Wednesday, due to the refilming and thus extended schedule, (2) lack of promotion, in this case it's the usual press tour on the premiere day -- that's suppose to happen this Wednesday (3 April), but GMMTV decided to assign PondPhuwin and WinnySatang (the main casts of We Are) to promote/do press tour for the LOL Fan Fest instead on the day (in addition, the artists distribution through the three days LOL press tour was deemed unfair with 6 pairs all doing the promo on the 3rd of April including PPw-WS; but this is another thing to talk), so that (3) when the announcement about the change of viewing platforms dropped today, which implied that the show might not be available on YouTube, things blew up.

I checked some posters of older series to see how they usually informed about the viewing platforms; all I can say is these posters were made mainly for Thai audience first. So, the information published usually is what was applied there which is not always the case for the international audience. For examples, The Eclipse (and many other shows)'s poster listed GMM25 Channel and VIU, and didn't list GMMTV YouTube; this means, in Thailand, the show was broadcasted in the GMM25 Channel at 20.30 while the uncut version can be viewed on Viu later at 22.30 (the usual time for Viu broadcast). However, international fans could watch the episode on the GMMTV YouTube channel at around 20.30 (almost at the same time it was broadcasted on the tv) -- that this information was not included in the poster since the YouTube broadcast was geoblocked in Thailand. I couldn't remember, but I'm sure, somehow, this information (about the show being available on the YouTube Channel) was clearly relayed to the international fans.

Now, 23.5 being on Netflix was already clear from the first announcement about the viewing platforms. The poster only includes the GMM25 Channel at 20.30 and Netflix at 21.30 as the YouTube broadcast was geoblocked in Thailand, along with other countries in SEA and Latin America. However, the information that YouTube viewing would still be available for audience outside SEA and Latin America was clearly published by GMMTV.

Back to We Are, I think this is the first time GMMTV put their show on iQIYI (please correct me if I'm wrong), so I'm not sure how it would work this time (I can't remember much about Wabi Sabi's Between Us). I'm pretty sure the YouTube broadcast would be geoblocked in Thailand since they would make it available on iQIYI, but I can't be sure about international broadcast. What actually confused (or maybe even disheartened) us, fans, was the sudden change of information, in which the pervious show's poster clearly mentioned that the show will be broadcasted on both GMM25 Channel and GMMTV YouTube Channel at 20.30, but now (only three days before its premiere) it's no longer the case. It's still a question whether the YouTube broadcast will still be available for international fans, and if so, will it be the uncut or cut version (some fans on twitter also have already mentioned the possibilities). So, unless GMMTV formally announced it, just like what they did with 23.5, I guess we all need to wait until Wednesday to know.

I'm sorry this gets extremely too long, but suddenly I feel like to untangle this.

ps: I didn't re-read this; I hope this post won't confuse you :')

[dailyexo]

Chanyeol - 230805 Back-to-Back Fancon in Bangkok press conference

Credit: VIU Thailand.

[lurkingshan]

Your list of ride or die couples is iconic and has so many of my faves, flower of evil bad buddy it's okay that's love lighter and princess one spring night like yes give me a show where the entire story is two individuals willing to take on the world together and for each other, it's my favorite dynamic and we don't get a lot of it especially in heterosexual couples. You have amazing taste and I would take any other suggestions you have of the same dynamic.

Hi anon! Thank you for the kind words, I do agree that I have amazing taste. :) The Ride or Die list is specifically about drama couples who we get to see be in a confirmed romantic relationship for at least half of the drama's run, with their relationship development the primary focus of the plot. I think of them as battle couples; they face challenges together and stay loyal even when they struggle. There actually are not that many of these in dramaland, which is why they are so precious to me and why I hold them close.

That said, since I wrote that post I do think we have gotten a few more entries for the list, so here are some additional recs for you:

Won and Sarang, King the Land

(S Korea, Netflix)

It was getting salty about fan reaction to this show that inspired the Ride or Die list in the first place, and I am happy to report that when it finished its run, these two were still a rock solid couple. This drama is entirely about their relationship and we get lots of time with them as an established couple getting to know each other and settling into a great relationship. I love it and will stab anyone who says it's boring.

Ten and Prem, Cooking Crush

(Thailand, YouTube)

Ten and Prem, my beloveds! These two meet, start liking each other, and move into dating in relatively short order, and the back half of the show has them navigating a slew of external conflicts that would normally result in a lot of breakups and false starts. But not for them! They slay every relationship demon via the power of communication.

Maki and Haruta, Ossan's Love Returns

(Japan, Gagaoolala)

This one comes with a caveat that this is technically a sequel season, and the first one would very much not qualify them for this list. But you don't have to watch that first season if you don't want to, and in this return they are a couple the entire time and there is just so much time spent on them navigating their relationship and facing every day life challenges. They're an extremely charming pair.

Yuanzhou and Ruyi, A Journey to Love

(China, iQIYI)

The most literal battle couple on this list, we have ourselves an assassin and spy master pair here. They meet, she decides he's the perfect baby daddy specimen, and a hilarious pursuit begins. These two get together remarkably early for a cdrama and face just so many trials and tribulations, phew. But they face them together in their color coded costumes and look amazing doing it. CW: the plot is basically about them and a band of buds leading a suicide mission so, uh, there will be many deaths, and their ending can be read as ambiguous but IMO is actually quite a happily ever after in context.

Achi and Karan, Cherry Magic Thailand

(Thailand, Viu)

Karan and Achi are so into each other it's embarrassing, and we get to see them build and deepen and maintain their relationship every step of the way. This one is a little harder to watch--you will need a VPN if you're not in Thailand--but so worth the effort, trust me. And you may recognize this actor pair from the main list, because they are in fact the same beautiful faces behind Pete and Kao of Dark Blue Kiss. Congratulations to Tay Tawan and New Thitipoom for being the only actors who have achieved the honor of making the coveted Ride or Die list twice.

[hughungrybear]

Weeks after the final episode aired on Viu, GMMTV still working to get Cherry Magic Thailand available on YouTube 😔

Source: GMMTV Facebook page

[missingkanghansailom]

I love how people bashing DR but it keep trending in Thailand nonstop 🤣 be it viu or local channel it really got good response from Thailand viewers.