Love Sick: The Series Review (Spoilers)

I talked a little bit in my last post on Crazy about this drama, Thai Dramas, Not My Cup Of Tea, which I’ll repost here on the new site. As more and more time passes between me and the watching of this drama, I’m looking fonder upon it. Figuring it was best to bang out a review before my rose-colored glasses of nostalgia renders everything with a rosy, “wasn’t that so freaking cute” glow, I sat down to work.

Although, in all honestly, it might be a little late for that already.

The glow of love around story is multiplied by the fact that I managed to find someone who is translating the web book that the story was originally based on. While the storyline sticks fairly close to the source material, there is so much more to the book that I’m really enjoying and makes me love this couple even more.

Although let me tell you, if I get to the end of all this and these two guys don’t get to stay together in the end? There is going to be some first level retribution plotted in my head. Seriously, Noh and Phun are freaking adorable and if they don’t get their happy ending merely on the grounds that they are gay? It will be completely unfair, and I will lose all faith in drama-love.

Perhaps I should back up a bit.

Love Sick: The Series is a Thai high school drama from 2014. It is made as an ensemble drama, but the main storyline (or the only one that anyone actually cares about) revolves about the relationship of Noh, the cutely foul-mouthed leader of the music club, who has to come up with 30,000 whatever the moneys to pay for new drums after his budget gets slashed, and Phun, student council member, most popular and well-liked boy, who comes from a wealthy family. Noh needs money? Phun has a solution. He can arrange for the money to pay for the drums, but on one condition. Noh, has to date him. Before you get all skeeved out (like Noh did), you need to know that Phun has a girlfriend who he loves a lot. So why the plea for the boyfriend? His parents want him to start dating someone of their choosing, and, as an obedient son, he can’t refuse them. His only option? Go to his spoiled sister to get her help. There is just one catch. His sister is obsessed with Yaoi (gay) mangas and will only help him if he introduces her to his (has to be cute) boyfriend.

Hijinks ensue from there.

Although it’s not actually hijinks, these two guys, after continually being thrown together by circumstances, slowly become friends, and then they fall in love. Having to deal with not only their growing feeling for each other, but having to balance that with family’s expectation, and what society accepts, is not an easy road. By the end of the series, they have decided to abandon their relationship, not wanting to ruin the amazing friendship they’ve found in each other with the scary aspect and eventual repercussions of being a couple. Queue heartbreak.

Mine.

When I first watched the drama, I was very, very upset with how they ended it—a rough break up and sadness. But then after ranting for about 20 minutes, I looked down and realized I still had three more episodes left to watch. Whew—they still had time to dig themselves out of the hole in which they’d found themselves—they could still unbreak my fangirl heart and get back together. Then, I’m sorry to say, three episodes later, (with a lot of filler) my guys were still broken up. WAAAAAAH!

This was when I learned that this is actually a series (not sure why Love Sick: THE SERIES didn’t clue me in), and the second part is slated to be filmed sometime this year. On the one side, yay, we get more chances to make this all right (seriously guys, cutest couple ever! If I had seen this before my end of the year post, they absolutely would have made my top five couples of the year post). On the other hand, I could put in another 12 hours and they still might not end up together. The good thing in all this is the fact that the online book is completely (only 16 more chapters until it’s all translated!!! Seriously, I’m so excited about this, I converted it into a kindle file so I could read it on the train) done so at least the writers of the drama are working from something where they know that there is an end point—unlike the creators of Skip Beat. (Ugh)

I originally had issues with the romance, or how they broke up. But that’s where the distance is helping I think. Yes, essentially Noh backed out and broke them up, but in his head, he had really strong and unselfish motives to do so. He cares too much about Phun to lose him. He knows how much Phun loves his (from what I can see unaccount) girlfriend and doesn’t want to be responsible for causing others’ hurt. And mostly? These guys are like juniors (possibly seniors) in high school. Before this, neither of them had any clue that they may be gay. This is a lot to take in, and if he chooses (please let it be momentarily) to take a step back and do ‘what he thinks is right’, well then I’m not going to fault him for it.

So everything I love about the drama? The guys. The guys and their love. What don’t I like about the drama? Everything else.

There are actually a lot of other plots and characters within the show. The odd thing is that none of them are in the book, so it is simply filler the production put in there to fill out the cast and allow the series to be… well… a series, instead of a one-off drama, which it should have been. I don’t want to be all Negative Nelly, but the remainder of the plots just aren’t written with the same amount of heart or caring as Noh and Phun’s. When I was learning writing, I learned if something could be removed from the story and the story still made sense? Then it was filler and didn’t need to be there. Time to put on some big girl panties and cut that shizzle.

Not only were these elements not necessary to the main plot, it seemed like all the women within the drama were jerks, just out there to take advantage of the men around them. Take the new girl. At the onset of the drama you think she’s going to be all misunderstood and super nice, but then as the story goes on, she easily mixes in with the popular girls, starts dating a boy, making him buy her all this stuff that he can’t afford, and then dumps him when she finds out his family isn’t rich. Ugh. You take me away from Noh and Phun for this? Then there is the random girl living with her boyfriend, who is jealous of her friendly neighborhood hot guy. Who cares? How does this affect anything?

Oh right, it doesn’t.

I’m not sure if I would recommend this drama to you. If you are partial to a super-cute gay storyline? Go ahead. But again, just be aware that the drama isn’t completed yet, so I could very well be dropping you in the middle of an emotional minefield. And then of course, you’ll also have to wait who knows long for the show to come out, get subbed, and then get put online to find out for sure. Dude. Unless they decide to pull another season on us. Which they’d better not. I’m just stayin’—Stephanie will cut a bitch. If you can’t wait to find out if these two crazy kids are going to make it, I’ll recommend this blog. They have been subbing it week by week and are up to chapter 51 (67 chapters in all). Of course if you do decide to watch it, I’d highly recommend just fast forwarding through anything that doesn’t feature Noh and Phun—trust me, you don’t need it.

However, if you did watch this—please—let me know what you thought!! Or as Liz Cook from instagram says: Team Noh or Team Phun??

Related Posts: If you like Love Sick, check out our special bonus podcast episode Lovesick over Love Sick!