#and also she was not only the director but also the screenwriter ahhhh we stan this woman!

[namtanlovesfilm]

axelle judges non bl shows > Happy Birthday

/!\ SPOILERS AHEAD

shitty summary: Tonmai, a kid who has been treated unfairly by his parents since his birth, finally gets a gift for the first time of his life on his seventeen birthday: the old room his deceased sister used to occupy. But with that gift comes an enormous responsability, the one of taking care of his sister’s ghost.

where to watch: youtube

grade: 9/10

pros:

- the characters. and I know in every review I’m like “oh the characters are so good omg” but here I really, really, REALLY mean it. if you’ve been reading my reviews you know that characters are for me the most important thing about a show, and this show delivered soooooooooo well!!! while I watched the show I really didn’t focus on Tonmai a lot but honestly once I finished it I realized I adore him and I identify with him quite a lot. he is such a perfect protagonist because he doesn’t have a protruding personality that makes him stick out too much but is still so so so lovable and this story isn’t the one that would benefit from having a super out there extravagant main character. Noina was bae, I literally fell in love with her and I think she was an amazing supporting role, Namtan was... absolutely incredible as a character that is the embodiment of cute and quirky but also very dark and depressed and I loved her as well. Tee was fucking everything, I adored his role, Mr. Tai is the role mvp of this whole series, Lookgolf was incredible in her restraint and Pana was a very interesting supportive role. I honestly could write a whole essay on each of these characters because they were so gooooooooooood, and I’m forgetting the two strong women characters that we get in this show consisting of Tonmai’s mother and another mother that I won’t go into details about (as I’m trying to keep this review spoiler-free for once)

- the character development. WOW. the biggest part of me loving characters the most in a series is because it has the time to do what movies can’t often do which is mature their characters like fine wine. and gosh, this series does ittttttt!!! it is incredible to see every character grow and evolve throughout the series, little by little, and as someone for whom it’s the favorite part I was thriving!

- the acting was through the roof!!! there was not one bad performance, for me Mild (Namtan) and Push (Tee) are the ones who knocked it out of the park the most but literally everyone had their moment to shine and it was amazing to see Pluem whom i’m starting to really be fond of finally have a role where he can show his potential! the cast is truly incredible (I mean, Mild, Pluem, Golf, Jan, Push and Plustor??? wow) and I feel like every actor was pushed to their acting limit! this is truly the best acted gmmtv series for me right alongside the gifted, the acting is top tier and next level!

- the relationships were all also so great and diverse: Tonmai and Noina were the cutest I adored them, the relationship between Namtan and Tonmai was so genuine and beautiful, the one between Tee and Namtan so complex and tragic, the one between Namtan and Mr. Tai honestly sob inducing and iconic, the one between Tee and Lookgolf simply beautiful and full of devotion (I wish they would’ve ended up together lol), the one between Tonmai’s parents as well, between Tee and Pana... anyways I could continue all day lol. the relationships are incredible!

- the story. I hesitated for about a year before watching this series for two reasons: I knew it was going to be exhausting emotionally and it was a ghost story and I had just finished watching he’s coming to me right when I started hearing about it. but the story is truly amazing. it is much more than a ghost story, but it’s a story about healing, about forgiveness, and it’s written in such a beautiful sensitive way that you cannot not get attached to it. every character is flawed yet you end up loving them all because this show reflects real life and our complexity as human beings

- the pace and structure was amazing, like the first episode left me wanting to know more but also not really that enticed to keep watching but from the second episode to the 8th or 9th one this show has plot twist after plot twist and you cannot stop watching! also because it has only one central storyline that every character is tied into, it feels very organized and it takes its time to deliver the story from everyone’s perspective. really the writing is some chef’s kiss shit!

cons:

- it is a very draining show, and because of that by the end of it so episodes 12 and 13, it’s kinda hard to feel much and cry again because every episode up until that has been so full of emotion. so what should be the most important moments get kinda washed out because there has already been so much moments that have felt just as emotionally charged and groundbreaking.

- there a few writing choices that can be criticized, like the fact that Pana never got to talk to Namtan, or that Tee’s suicide attempt is never addressed after Tonmai saving him, or even that Namtan’s mom thought her now 34 years old daughter still lived with her dad... there are a few things that are not super super tight in the writing but honestly it’s just me nitpicking and the rest is absolutely amazing. (also yes this is actually gonna be a spoilery review, whoops!)

would I rewatch it: probably not for a while. it’s a very heartwrenching story that also relies on twists and turns so watching it in a few months would lessen the impact it had on me. but I see myself rewatching it in 10 years to reminisce of the great thai series I used to watch at this time of my life :)

This series is definitely one of the best thai series I’ve seen, and it’s kinda sad how underrated it is. I would definitely not recommend this one to everyone as it is very sad and deals with serious topics like depression and suicide but if you think you can handle it I would really suggest you watch this series because it is handled in a beautiful realistic way and I’m incredibly proud of the whole cast and crew that worked on it :)