Roy Mai (Silk Trace) general thoughts

The first few episodes intrigued me with the promise of an epic, tragic romance that will sweep me off my feet and then delight me when the star-crossed lovers get their happy ending in the present life. Well, I got the happy ending part correct.

I enjoyed the beginning of RM as can be seen from my earlier fangiry posts. I liked how the past/present lives were weaved together (pun intended) and though there were many side characters buzzing about, the drama was concentrated on the OTP and Aum/Aff’s chemistry really shined through. Unfortunately, as the drama progressed, more and more screen time was given to the main villains Bua Ngern and Mei. Perhaps the intention was to emphasis BN’s evilness and contrast it with Maneerin’s kindness to up the tragic factor but BN’s schemes were boring and laughable to me. I was weaned on HK and China’s palace dramas which have plenty of ‘high level’ backstabbing so I found BN’s petty tricks insignificant and it was ridiculous how she got away time and again. Are the king and queen there for show only? They don’t seem to notice much of what’s going on around them I wonder how effectively they are governing their country. May’s acting and her way of speaking local dialect also bugged the hell out of me. Ok, I geddit, you’re the evil bitch, no need for the exaggerated facial expressions. I don’t know how she got through the lakorn without pulling a facial muscle or two.

Even with poor pacing and flat secondary characters, I can overlook pretty much anything if the main couple gets me emotionally invested but in RM’s case, they failed to do so after ep5. With love and drama watching, there’s simply no forcing of emotions and as much as I want to love and root for Siriwong/Maneerin, I have to say for a fact it didn’t happen. As I begin each episode, I keep thinking, this will be the one to suck me into their romance but nope – I was emotionally detached most of the time, not feeling happy or sad for the OTP, not even feeling angry at the villains.

There were still some scenes in the last 2 episodes that moved me though.

I’ve always thought that Aff’s acting was too ‘surface’ but I felt she did well in the scenes after Siriwong’s death. Maneerin quietly laying her head on Siriwong’s body conveyed her deep sorrow much better than if she were to cry hysterically.

Rerin loses her memory after surviving the drowning and somehow that makes her revert to a childlike state. Go figure. The scenes of Suriyawong taking care of Rerin were reminiscent of Jai Rao’s ending and while I didn’t care for Ken/Aff in JR, Aum/Aff just works even though the situation was rather lame. The way Aum looks at Aff is asldflskajfhlkjh. Me thinks Aum/Aff needs to collaborate again in a modern day romcom! My thoughts on the final episode are similar to Fia’s so I’ll be lazy and direct you over there instead of blabbing on further.

If Bua Ngern’s scenes were cut and more time spent developing Suriyawong/Rerin’s present day love story, would I have liked Roy Mai more? Ah well, I will never know the answer.

I rate this: 3/5

falling in love with ATeam again

I forgot how wonderful Aum/Aff are together. They are making me a giggly fangirl again with Roy Mai, heck, I even went and watched ep 5 without subs.

Siriwong is holding on for dear life, crying for a love that he knows will never be.

“Don’t mind a drunkard. I just want to tell you … love, though it may come late, it’s still love, isn’t it? Little Princess”
(translation credit to Cecilia on asianfuse forum)

The story and its pacing have been good so far but I’m not getting Thanin’s character. Rerin has dated him for 11 years and they apparently like each other enough to get engage but I’m not feeling any love at all between them. Thanin doesn’t give a damn about what Rerin thinks or feels and sleeps around with her colleague. Is this how you treat the woman whom you are about to marry? He looks like an all round jerk and I can’t fathom why Rerin has stuck with him for so long!

Roy Mai OST / Tard Rak

lalala, I can’t wait for the story of their past life! Princess sent to marry the Crown Prince falls for his brother instead and both end up dead over their forbidden love – predictable but so wonderfully pretty and angsty. Anyway it’s not all that angsty since they do get another shot in their next life.

While waiting for the next episode of Roy Mai, I gave ‘Tard Rak (Slave of Love)’ one final shot. I tried watching it a couple of times while it was airing but it was too blah for me and I never got past the first episode. I skipped to the 2nd episode this time since I already have an idea of what’s going on and I ended up marathon-ing 4 episodes last night. What do you know, I’ve finally found a lakorn of Cherry’s that I like!

Am I evil for fancying Khuad, the brothel’s muscle for hire? His moustache is distracting but his muscles are even more so when he walks around shirtless most of the time. I feel bad for ogling him when he’s slapping the Princess-whom-he-thought-was-a-runaway-slave around but hey, it’s his job to keep the girls from running. It would be kinda funny if he turned out to be the lost crown prince though. XD

Roy Mai ep1-2

My last ATeam lakorn was ‘Namtan Mai’ and that didn’t turn out too well plus the more I saw of Aff, the less impress I was with her acting so suffice to say, I wasn’t exactly trembling in anticipation for ‘Roy Mai (Silk Trace)’. 2 episodes in though, I happy to say that it’s actually pretty good. Whatever my opinions are on Aff’s acting, she has an undeniable chemistry with Aum and I’m already rooting for Suriya and Rerin though they have just gotten to know each other. I love angst in stories and I foresee the angst coming in dollops when we get to what exactly happened to Prince Siriwong and Princess Maneerin.

What I didn’t expect was the horror element. Ok, it’s not really scary but I have a low tolerance for horror and the first time the demon/evil spirit or whatever thing that Mei was supposed to be showed up, I was startled. Other than that, we also have the ghost of King Siriwattana stalking Rerin. He’s nice and all, but seriously, if I were Rerin and this guy keeps showing up everywhere I go and disappearing suddenly, I’d be pretty freaked out.

Thara Himalaya

I’m done with Thara Himalaya! The story had 3 main lines going on: the Prince/Nam love story, the 3 brothers trying to get rid of Dr. Nat as Nam’s potential boyfriend and the evil Prime Minister of Parawat plotting to overthrow the monarchy. I was rather surprised at how much time the lakorn gave to the antics of the 3 brothers because I don’t think it contributed much to the love story but since the brothers will be getting their individual stories later, the scriptwriter may be helping to warm the audience up to them first. Anyway, I’m not complaining about this because it was the 3 brothers and 2 bodyguards that kept me watching – I pretty much fast-forwarded through the love story. It’s not that I dislike Puwane and Nam, it’s just that I find their love story too contrive and uninteresting. Kim’s acting remained stiff right to the end, and her lack of acting chops was painfully obvious in the sad scenes where she just furrowed her brows and had rather fake looking tears wetting her cheeks. (Strangely, I wouldn’t mind watching Kim in another lakorn despite my complaints about her acting. She’s the type that girls would like to have as a friend, you know what I mean?) Would it have helped if a more experienced actress had taken on the role? I’m not sure, because Aum was fine as Puwane but I couldn’t care less about the Prince. I preferred Aum when he was acting as the evil Prince … so yea, the characters were probably not the type I like.

On to the bits I do like.

Din + Lom + Fai = hilarity. The brothers are a hoot to watch and I enjoy the banter they share when they gather to come up with yet another stupid plan. Their characteristics were well brought out through their interaction: Din, the schemer who prefers planning to execution; Lom, who is actually more sensitive than his play boy image lets on; and Fai, the baby of the group with a hot temper. It’s funny how Din and Lom always pushes the dirty work to Fai. XD I hope they continue to be as interesting in their individual stories because I’m liking them a lot!

Their nicknames are based on the 4 elements: Din = Earth, Lom = Wind, Fai = Fire, Nam = Water. Reminds me of the Captain Planet song which I can actually still sing. I watch too much tv as a child.

The rebellion story line was quite well written (by romance novel standards anyway) and it was my favourite part of TH. Scenes of the made-up country of Parawat were filmed in Nepal if I remember correctly and it helped to make the lakorn feel more realistic but the real star of this part of the story is Rajeev, the bodyguard. He may not be as handsome as Aum but a manly man with brains is so much more attractive than a pretty-faceand bod prince. If not for Rajeev, Prince Puwane would have been killed when he went to Thailand and there wouldn’t be a lakorn for us to watch. And even if Puwane survived the assassination, he wouldn’t have had the resources to sneak back into Parawat and enter the palace to reveal the evil doings of the Prime Minister. I love how Rajeev was clever enough to pretend to betray the Prince when the Prime Minister held his family hostage and then secretly plan to help the Prince get back into Parawat. If it were the straight-laced Warun that got threatened, I imagine he would rather kill himself than betray the Prince. Ah well, too bad Rajeev was only Puwane’s side-kick, I’d love for him to get his own love line.

Screencap-ing fail. But since I can’t find any pictures of Rajeev online, this is the best I can do.
I love men in uniform! Teeheehee . That’s the back of Warun’s head.

Badass Rajeev saves the day! Hmm, technically Warun did by shooting the Prime Minister but oh well.

I rate this: 3/5

Thara Himalaya

I still haven’t got started on ‘365 Days of Love’. Well, actually I did catch the first 20 minutes but it didn’t manage to suck me in right away. I’ll definitely get round to watching it, but perhaps a little later. Haah.

I was checking out wishy’s youtube channel on a boring Saturday afternoon looking for something to pass time, when I saw that quite a few episodes of Aum’s new lakorn ‘Thara Himalaya’ had already been subbed, so I thought, why not? I cleared 2 episodes that day and it’s interesting enough for me to want to continue. ‘Thara Himalaya’ is the first story in the 4 Hua Jai Haeng Khun Khao (4 Hearts of the Mountain) series, which features the 4 love stories of a set of quadruplets. (synopsis for all 4 stories )

Aum is as hot as ever and he goes shirtless for quite a few scenes, I’m sure to the delight of many fangirls. I’m a bit iffy about the acting of the nang’ek Kimberly though. She’s a bit stiff sometimes and I want to facepalm when she’s doing her ‘doctor scenes’ (she plays a doctor) because they are so not convincing. The only thing she does as a doctor is to hold the patient’s hand and speak encouragingly to him. Wow. But I should probably blame the scriptwriters? Anyway, it’s apparently her first lakorn so this level of acting is still acceptable to me and hopefully she’ll get better as the lakorn progresses.

I’m not feeling the love between our prince and the doctor yet but I suppose it’s still early. The first 2 episodes is more comedy than romance because it focuses more on Nam’s 3 over protective brothers and the antics they come up with to scare away her potential suitors. Thoughts so far: a reasonably entertaining lakorn that I will continue watching but it’s not yet on the can’t-wait-for-the-next-episode level.

Drama updates

Gomen, I’ve been lazy about updates… I haven’t slackened on the drama watching though. XD
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First up, let’s give BBK a wrap. The happy ending was predictable, only surprise being how Pimpa went berserk and killed Chakrit, her own son. I re-watched BBK as the English subs came but I found myself not liking the plot/Jorm’s character as much after I understand the dialogue! I stopped watching the English subs around epi8 because it was getting harder and harder to root for Jorm when I really want Noung to just tell everyone to f-off and leave her alone. I might get back to BBK eventually just to get some ‘closure’, perhaps when the English subs are all out so I can fastforward through it!

The two lakorns that I’m looking forward to are “Namtan Mai” by Aum + Aff and “Soon Sanae Ha” by Ken + Ann. So the ‘original pairings’ are back together and I believe the chemistry between them will be great! I’m actually not too keen on Namtan Mai’s plot, it’s so melodramatic, complete with scheming third parties and misunderstandings that make you wanna bang your head on the wall, all for the sake of keeping the star-crossed lovers apart for 12 episodes. Nevertheless, I’m hoping the plot will be updated (it’s a remake of a drama from the 80’s?90’s??) and that the ATeam will keep me riveted with their performance. Anyhow, it’s still some time before the lakorns air (SSH just started filming!) so guess I’ll take a break from Thai dramas for now.
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I’ve also finished “Love Shuffle”, a Japanese drama that I enjoyed tremendously. Apparently it didn’t do too well in ratings but no matter, it’s been a while since a J-drama was able to captivate me like that.
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Another drama that hasn’t done well in the ratings department (truth be told, the ratings are downright dismal in Taiwan) but that has managed to capture my attention is ToGetHer 《爱就宅一起》. 收视的肯定对剧组和演员们来说无疑是很重要的，我想现在的情形或多或少都会影响他们的心情。不过我想说的是，《爱宅》还是给很多很多人带来了感动，包括我在内。所以，大家的努力并没有白费! =)

BBK

“Borisud Bumbut Kaen” will be coming to an end next Wednesday but I still have a long wait ahead because the subs are only at epi5. T___T While I do manage to get the gist of things, I need to actually understand the dialogue in order to fully grasp the plot.

I’m a bit iffy about how things have progressed since, with Jorm going completely mental and doing the whole kidnap/toture routine with Nong. This kidnapping business is starting to get a bit old … I think this is the 3rd lakorn I’ve seen with such plot development and I’ve only watched what, a grand total of 6 lakorns so far???

Some people have commented that the plot is too weird and/or draggy … well, the weird bit may be true since I haven’t seen other dramas with so many people literally going crazy but I actually rather like this change. XD At least there’s a logical explanation for the craziness. Taywun was too traumatised from losing his wife and son and then finding out that his wife had indeed cheated on him, so he created his alter-ego Jorm, a confident suave businessman that was so unlike his former self to escape the pain. He subconciously chose to forget Narlee’s infidelity and instead blamed Nong for indirectly causing the car accident that took his family’s lives. It was simply easier to make it Nong’s fault and plotting revenge gave Taywun/Jorm a focus in life. But of course, as he slowly got to know Nong and realise that she was not what he made her out to be, his mind was further confused and the conflict between his two personalities intensified.

As for Nong, her mental state was affected by her troubled childhood and witnessing her mother’s suicide. When she slowly recovered, her craziness was subsequently ‘manufactured’ by her nasty fiance Chakrit and even nastier mother-in-law through medication. Nong believed that Chakrit was the only one who would accept and love a ‘crazy’ person like her, so she became an easy target for Chakrit.

I’ve already raved about Ann and Aum’s performance but I have to do it again. With each passing episode, it becomes increasingly clear why Ann is still the nang’ek after so long. She is that good. Aum did a good job but there’s room for improvement, especially in those scenes where he suffers a mental breakdown. But… he’s still hot. =P

Thai lakorn

well, I’m back much faster than I thought! Just to get things rolling again on this blog, I’ve decided to document my latest craze, that is, Thai dramas! I never thought I’d be watching Thai dramas but I stumbled onto them entirely by accident while on leave last November and so far, I’ve enjoyed most of the dramas I watched. Perhaps I’ll do more ‘introductory’ posts in the future but let me plunge straight into the lakorn that I’m currently on.

Borisud Bumbat Kaen starring the lovely Ann and ever so HOT Aum. XD

I experienced a lakorn drought after the enjoyable “Oum Rak” also starring Ann, and was very much looking forward to BBK because of the interesting premise. Revenge themed dramas seems rather common in Thailand (at least that’s the feeling I get) but having two mentally unstable lead charaters? Now, that’s interesting.

Sadly the english subs for BBK hasn’t quite kept up with it’s pace of screening. I couldn’t resist and went on to watch epi 4 to 9 without subs and though it takes a lot of guess work (seeing that I don’t, you know, understand Thai or anything. XD), I can still follow the story. The wonderful performances of Ann and Aum also helps to convey the strong emotions of the characters and no subs are needed to feel their desperation and struggles.

Some detractors of Ann say that she looks too old/odd etc and I have to admit that at certain angles, she does look older especially when compared to the multitude of younger actresses out there.

Here’s Ann looking might pretty in BBK. =) Ann’s look may not be everyone’s cup of tea but her solid acting chops has made me a fan.

I wasn’t quite sure what to expect from the pairing of Aum and Ann because the Ken+Ann and Aum+Aff team up were quite established after their classic lakorns together. This time the partners were switched with Ken and Aff getting together first for “Jai Rao” (which I didn’t watch ‘cos I found the story too dramatic and weepy for my liking) and now Aum with Ann for BBK. Thankfully, the chemistry between them have been sizzling and I find them the perfect choice for such intense characters. This comment I found on youtube sums up my feelings of the new teams.

it’s like Ken & Aff are the child sweetheart couple all young, naive and cute..through all these years you still have all of me kind of love and Ann & Aum are passionate, mature..gosh where have you been my whole life kind of love

Haa, I realised I’ve been rambling on but haven’t actually commented on the drama proper. Promise next post will be strictly on the story and it’ll come soon!