#snap25 production

[thaimedia]

Ploy's Yearbook (2024)

[gunsatthaphan]

.₊ ⟡ ݁ 🏆 2024 Top 10 🏆 ⟡ ݁₊ .

hello! I got tagged by a few people for various kinds of tier-list-posts for this year, so instead of making separate posts that will probably end up being repetitive, I decided to combine them all into one Top 10 list of my personal favorites in 2024. My watchlist was not very lengthy this year, partly because I was busy with work and partly because the quality of many shows was not to my liking. I started a bunch of things and dropped them shortly after, which also included more widely popular ones, for which I did not share the general public opinion. In the course of that, I have become more hesitant to share my thoughts online, as with every mildly critical POV came a number of anonymous people breathing down my neck. Which isn't new for me but by the end of the year I have gotten tired and was debating whether or not I should make this post but then I decided that this is my blog and idgaf about butthurt anons lol. I'm trying to carry this mindset into the new year.

So here is my Top 10 of BL/GLs that I have started and finished this year. A very special shoutout goes to The Heart Killers which owns my ass 100% and I totally would have added it but since we're only on ep6, I feel like it wouldn't be fair to include it in this list - also because I sort of consider it a category of its own lol.

I had no trouble picking this as my number one, simply because it's an outstanding production with an S-tier cast and a very powerful and well executed script. I've always loved Up but Poom took the cake for me in this, I was absolutely starstruck by him and his screen presence, he's a big surprise for me and has become one of my personal favorites this year in terms of acting. I could fill books with reasons why I love this show.

I had to include this even though it's not finished but I'm really blown away by it. The GLs I previously watched were okay but did not strike me quite as much as this one. I knew I would love Film and Namtan together from the moment they got paired as they're both insanely skilled and I was not disappointed. They understand the assignment 100% and so does Snap25 and it really shows. I'm obsessed.

Speaking of masterpieces, this is another one. It didn't get much attention sadly, mostly because TayNew did not deliver the dynamic the general BL population was hoping for. Their loss. This is an amazing production from start to finish, the 4 of them are the best possible casting choice for their characters, the found family trope is one of the best I've seen and especially TayNew delivered another gem with this one. I shall never doubt them again. This is how you do bromance. Certain other shows could never. send tweet.

Ah yes. No year goes by without the obligatory Mame guilty pleasure lol. What can I say. FortPeat as annoying southern scuba boy meets snobby whiny writer on a beach. How can I look away. I genuinely enjoyed this, it feels like the story was written for them, it's a perfect fit for them and their range I think plus I'm glad that Aya finally found a GL partner that matches her energy lol. I loved both couples and even though the plot did lack sometimes, you can count on MMY to serve S-tier chemistry no matter what. A+.

This is my personal hidden little gem, a small production with not a ton of attention, let alone good reviews but sometimes those are the best ones. The beginning was a bit slow but it quickly picked up. I decided to give it a watch mostly because I was curious about Charles' followup bl role and ended up getting very attached lol. So much softness and deep emotions and mutual healing that happened here and that I appreciated a lot. This was also my first Taiwanese BL in I think 3 years(?) I loved it.

I was very excited to watch this and see what Change 2561 came up with after Pit Babe and even though I'm not the biggest fan of cooking plots, I ended up enjoying this a lot! I've been a SailubPon and GarfieldBenz connoisseur since Pit Babe and it was so nice to see them in the spotlight in this. I saw a bunch of people drop it because they found Plawan annoying but I disagree lol. I had a very good time.

I initially tuned into this for Seng and Best, just to see what they're up to these days and it ended with me eating the whole thing up lol. The unapologetic approach to topics like sex education mixed with the sweet love stories that came with it is one of the things I appreciated + enjoyed a lot. I was a big fan of Peak and Thanwa and would definitely watch another show with Seng and Best as I really love their dynamic. Latte and Almond had a good start but fell a bit flat towards the end. Still a very deserving 7th place for me.

I was sooo excited for this and overall it did not disappoint, though I think it could have been better in some aspects. The comprehensive vibe was juvenile but not in a bad way. I anticipated gmmtv would choose a trope-y plot for their first GL to test the waters and it seems they succeeded. The main reason I put it as number 8 is the AylinLuna side story which I very strongly disliked for multiple reasons I won't get into here. But MilkLove did a fantastic job and this was a very nice debut for them. Thumbs up!

This might be the most unexpected gem for me this year. I started watching it because I was bored and nothing else was on and I was curious to see Dunk in his first solo gig. Surprisingly he did a big leap forward with his acting in this and White was by far my favorite character. Lune on the other hand was my least favorite which was another surprise as I previously loved Phuwin as Peem in We Are so I'm not sure why Lune was so unlikable. But anyway this was a very nice combination of different cute little stories, LuneStar were very trope-y but White saved a great deal of it by being the third wheel lol, plus the BL sideplot was pure sugar. I'm sad we won't see Ryu and Java together again and I resent them not giving us that well deserved WhiteIvy endgame but overall I enjoyed this a lot!

Never thought I would put a Siwaj production in my Top 10 but I'm tired of pretending I didn't secretly love this lmao. So much chaos but so much fun. It's a typical ensemble show, mostly aimed at a domestic audience with lots of slapstick and horseplay comedy, but I ended up being quite fond of all the couples. The main crystallization for me was that this is PondPhuwin's territory, this is the type of show they belong in imo. They excel at this kind of comedy and they seemed very careless and joyful in this, which I enjoyed and which made them a decent main couple. The QToey plot was a bit draggy and even though it's a big cast, 16 episodes were not necessary, which is why it gets the 10th place. But overall it still deserves to be in this list.

Thanks again to everyone who tagged me; in this and other things over the year, I appreciate you thinking of me!! 🥺🧡 I didn't manage to reply to every tag but know that I see them all and I try to do as many as possible! Also a big thank you and much love to all the lovely people I talked to this year, especially @lattexalmond, @mayalunas @bl-recs-and-reviews and @my-wandering-rabbit, I love and cherish each one of you! 🧡 Happy New Year to everyone who read this far, here's to a kind and successful 2025 with groundbreaking shows lol. I'm hopeful.

xxxx

[girlacticrailroad]

series review: pluto

Ai-oon, the girlfailure of our dreams.

Pluto was a fun series to follow week by week, not just for the twists and turns, but for the extra layer of meta suspense on top: Could Snap25 somehow turn this trashy book into a masterpiece?

Okay, to be fair to Chao Planoy, I haven’t actually read the novel, so I shouldn’t judge. But among GL fans her work is controversial, to say the least, and Pluto—a messy tale of romance, mystery, and deceit—seems like an especially tricky work to adapt, with its dubious use of disability as a plot device, among other issues.

Nevertheless, backed by a big-time company (that sweet GMMTV money), and with two popular actors in the lead roles, Pluto promised to be one of the most ambitious Thai GL productions yet. Watching Pluto can feel a bit like watching acrobats walk a tightrope over an abyss. Every week I held my breath and wondered: Can they pull it off? Can the creative team make this adaptation work?

Pluto is the most visually striking Thai GL to date.

To their credit, they come *so* close! I don’t want to be too hard on them—by all accounts, they improved on the source material a lot, and most of the flaws are only glaring in hindsight. Let’s start with the good: Pluto looks great. It doesn’t have the extravagant sets and costumes of The Loyal Pin, but it’s more visually interesting; there’s an artsy flair to the cinematography that goes above and beyond what the story requires. On a storytelling level, Pluto is certainly one of the better GLs out there (although let’s be real y’all, the bar is not sky-high). The characters are fairly nuanced, and the plot is...well, unlike TLP, it’s not boring, that’s for sure. The acting, for the most part, is fabulous. Namtan is the standout as twin sisters Ai-oon and Ob-oom, two demanding roles that run the full gamut of emotion. She absolutely nails both, all without overacting or hitting a false note. It’s a bit scary how good she is. Film in some ways has the even more challenging role, since May is written less consistently imo, and her motivations are less clear, but she does her best with the material, and has lots of fun with May’s devious side. (Side note but it’s pretty funny that she has now played “girlfriend of comatose twin who dates conscious twin impersonating comatose twin” twice.) Also, that scene in the haunted bougie bathroom at the end of episode 7? Wowee.

Not a wholesome thought in this head.

It’s tempting to blame any issues with Pluto on the source material, but considering the liberties that were taken in adapting the book, I don’t think Chao Planoy can be held responsible for everything. What I think Pluto might be lacking, in the end, is a director. Technically the “Snap25 Team” is credited as director of the series, and I’ve heard they have a very collaborative style, working closely with the actors to develop the story. On one hand, I love that! And the egalitarian approach of crediting the whole crew is super cool. On the other hand, when you’re dealing with a story this nightmarish to navigate, it might have been smart to put someone with a clear vision in the driver’s seat. Because baby the tone of Pluto is all OVER the place. Sometimes the drama is lowkey and naturalistic, and sometimes the soap opera dial is cranked up to 11. Sometimes the writing is subtle, and sometimes a character will turn to the camera and say, “That’s emotional abuse!” in a scene about emotional abuse. Sometimes there will be a dream sequence/musical number with like seven costume changes in the middle of an otherwise down-to-earth episode. The whiplash is wild.

Namtan and Film display their mastery of the “down bad” stare.

There’s an inherent challenge in translating Planoy’s work to the screen, and there might not be a perfect way of going about it. Do you soften the characters, like Gap did, or lean into the toxicity, like Affair? Do you tone down the melodrama or embrace it? (You can watch the ongoing series Us struggle with this dilemma on a weekly basis.) Pluto’s problem is that it kind of tries every possible way of going about it. The instinct to make the characters more grounded and realistic is a good one, and makes the drama more relatable, but then you have to deal with these relatively normal people doing the unhinged things that the plot demands of them, and also with how seriously we should take all this as an audience. For me, the cracks didn’t really start to show until the last few episodes, or at least I was entertained enough to ignore them, but from then on it became clear just how much of Pluto was stuck together with masking tape. May’s behavior, especially, is increasingly bewildering. The dramatic scene in episode 11 where Ob-oom asks her sister to choose between her and May is a fan favorite, I know—but May’s reaction to being abandoned by Ai-oon makes no sense to me. Why is she sobbing like her only child was murdered in front of her eyes? Why isn’t she furious? Any sense of character consistency or emotional logic flies out the window for the sake of a big tearjerking climax, because someone thought the show needed one. A sharper directorial focus could have fixed at least some of these tonal problems.

Okay how tf does Namtam always look so damn good when she cries though? Girl stoppp

The lack of focus extends to the story, too. Pluto tries to be about a lot of things—disability, childhood trauma, forgiveness, atonement, justice, why you should never date a cop no matter how good she looks in that uniform—but can never decide what matters most. As a result, all the themes and subplots end up feeling underserved. The clearest victim is the Pang/Jan/Phim love triangle. To this day I’m not sure how they made me lose interest in a lesbian polycule revolving around potted plants. Three gorgeous potted plant enthusiasts one of whom is played by Earn my beloved? Um, hello??

How is this not riveting??

I love side couple drama, and I wanted to love this subplot so bad. I do love Jan, but I’m not sure how much of that is residual affection for Charoen, Earn’s character in 23.5. Sadly she’s not given much to do here, and the subplot as a whole feels weirdly disconnected and superfluous, like it’s just there to fill screentime.

So many other plot elements are potentially interesting but ultimately superficial. May’s lectures on disability rights and universal design are well-intentioned (and a vast improvement over the treatment of blindness in the original novel, I’m sure), but nonetheless sound like the screenwriter is quoting directly from a pamphlet distributed by a disability advocacy group. I’d be willing to forgive some stiff writing for the sake of raising awareness—I don’t think art always needs to be subtle about things like disability rights—except that the script, after insisting that blindness is not a limitation, then wants viewers to rejoice at the restoration of May’s sight, and even implies that her blindness was a punishment she had to endure.

The childhood trauma angle is another missed opportunity. The past exerts a powerful influence over all the main characters, and there are so many flashbacks emphasizing this point, but we never see the parallels underlined in a satisfying way. How was growing up with an abusive dad different from—or similar to—growing up with a caring but overbearing grandmother? What about growing up fabulously rich vs. growing up poor? All we really learn about May’s experience of growing up in an elite family is that she got homoerotically bullied for it. How do these different upbringings still reverberate in their lives?

When your anti-bullying PSA is awkwardly hot.

The flashbacks end up exacerbating the tonal whiplash because the childhood scenes are some of the most bonkers, like when baby Ai steals a picture book from her sister and just motherfucking burns it. That destroyed me. Later we see May’s cartoon villain father snatch a picture book out of her hands and berate her for reading too much. These are parallel scenes...sort of? But what on earth is the picture book doing as a symbol? And doesn’t that align Ai-oon with May’s dad?

Speaking of Evil Dad, I’m not necessarily 100% opposed to giving him a redemption arc—forgiveness is a theme of the story, and it can be interesting to explore the idea of atonement through a character who seems irredeemable—but you have to lay a little groundwork for it! We get absolutely nothing from this dude. He’s the worst man ever until one day he decides not to be. Show us a glimmer of remorse before his change of heart, at the very least.

And speaking of symbols, I wish I could say the Pluto metaphor was a successful attempt to tie up the themes of the series, but I honestly could not tell you what Pluto is meant to represent, despite multiple characters monologuing about it.

Pluto is a metaphor for the way my head spins when I think about May’s dad’s character arc.

I wonder if Pluto needed to be longer, to take the time to properly address all these themes, or if it just badly needed restructuring. So much time is wasted on the “Who was May’s first love?” mystery, and on May’s upper-crust friends, that could have been better spent on the hilarious “May helps edit Ai-oon’s bad erotica” subplot, or on developing the other side characters. There are some lines toward the end that suggest Phim may have originally had a larger role that got whittled down. Are there deleted scenes out there somewhere? I demand the footage! And, off topic, but while I’m listing random complaints, why are all the visual effects so godawful? The opening credits are an actual travesty—whoever is responsible should never be allowed near Adobe Protools again—and the car crash scene looks like it was done by an unpaid intern.

Here’s a spicy screenshot for reading all that, you’re welcome.

Um, so Pluto is kind of a mess, in other words, but at least it’s a glorious one! Mostly. Everyone involved (except the aforementioned vfx department) is amazingly talented and deserves a better story, although they certainly try their damnedest to save this one. I would love to see what this cast and crew could do with a stronger vision to guide them, or maybe just with some source material untainted by the pen of Chao Planoy. Which is why I am absolutely rabid for Girl Rules lol but we need not get into that here!

[babyangelsky]

Since my post was rudely hidden for some reason, I'm replying this way:

Sweet nonnie, in order to answer your question, allow me first to rant about The Jungle. And spoil it a little bit in the process. It's relevant, I promise.

That show had so much potential to be super fun and messy and dramatic and hit that telenovela/lakorn sweet spot that I love and crave so much. Like, you read the premise and think that's what you're gonna get, right? A group of pretty men having a great slutty time in this secret bar run by this mysterious and maybe sinister bartender.

WRONG!

What you actually get is an absolute nightmare of pacing because for whatever the Snap25 team decided to adapt it exactly like the novel. Every single beat. So instead of being messy fun time, it was just a mess. Novel pacing and television pacing are two very different beasts. You can skip through slow bits of a novel but you can't do that with a series or a film, you watch what you're presented.

That being said, this show spent FOUR ENTIRE EPISODES on a flashback explaining how the friend group met each other and also the relationship between Off and Pat's characters came to be. This was after leaving off on a CLIFF HANGER of their characters reuniting in the present. The entire story came to a screeching halt so we could get this backstory instead of getting it little by little as we went along.

I was waiting for Luke and Aye's characters to finally get their turn since this was an ensemble and they did that thing where every episode focuses on one of the couples. When it was finally their turn, THEIR STORY WAS IN THE SAME EPISODE WITH THE CLIFFHANGER! So it was a double cliffhanger! And when we finally got back to the present, their couple barely got any more screen time!

And I really wish that was all but it was so many things. These men were portrayed as notorious players but not a single one of them interacted romantically with anyone but their love interest. Hunter the scary bartender? Not scary at all. Secret bar? Barely a secret. The plot? Do not even get me started. And on and on and on.

So to finally answer your question, my main worry with Pluto being directed/written by Snap25 is the pacing. They ruined The Jungle, they ruined Ploy's Yearbook which was the most recent Snap25 production (that I dropped). I know there were leaked spoilers for all of the GMMTV shows but I didn't read them so I don't know what direction the story is going in. But my fear is that one, the third act is going to be profoundly unsatisfying; two, that they're going to waste everyone's talents by nerfing their characters and not giving them enough screen time; and three, that the pacing will ruin what could be a really great show.

But maybe it'll be fine. There's only one main couple and one side love triangle this time around which hopefully means there's less room for error.

[meu-light]

GMMTV2024: My predictions

I'll try to make it as short as possible but I make no promises!

Considering the line up and the fact it's part 1, I'm gonna say they are gonna announce 20 shows, +/- a few of course, could be 18, could be 22 we'll know soon enough.

I'm gonna do a list, I'm only going to predict the genre/feel of the show, not who's going to star in it~

Two GL(s)

Highschool setting

University setting

They have to go slow, steady and safe.

2. Eight BL(s)

Office setting

Something mature

Something supernatural

A lighthearted one

Highschool setting

University setting

2nd season of something they've already done/Special EPs

Can't really say what P'Aof has in his mind but probably a novel to series adaption, could be anything

Really rooting for the mature and supernatural content!

3. Ten Lakorns

By Lakorn I add anything that does not add up with the BL/GL/Queer genre.

2 or 3 shows will toy with the supernatural stuff (this includes 2nd seasons of their previous shows)

Office setting (I swear it's really popular)

A looking back to our past show, like melodrama

A lakorn af show with lots of family drama and rich people problems

A Snap25 Productions show that's a lakorn but for younger audiences

Age difference lakorn

I wanna say an idol story lakorn but it's a long shot, so maybe a mafia lakorn (?)

Something female based, like a girl trying to find herself etc

I also bet that they'll pull out a Midnight Series/Girl Next Door stunt and some of the shows are gonna be a part of a "bigger project".

4. I also wanna say at least one movie. I don't wanna guess what movie it's gonna be because their have a movie curse and they never end up releasing the movies in the original timeline.

[isbelevans]

i fear Snap25 are never going to put a production out again on the same level as PS I Hate You

[moleculardepot]

C. elegans SNAP25 Antibody

C. elegans SNAP25 Antibody Catalog number: B2016147 Lot number: Batch Dependent Expiration Date: Batch dependent Amount: 50 ug Molecular Weight or Concentration: N/A Supplied as: Solution Applications: a molecular tool for various biochemical applications Storage: -20°C Keywords: Synaptosomal-Associated Protein, ric-4, CELE_Y22F5A.3, Y22F5A.3, SNAP25 Grade: Biotechnology grade. All products are…

[babyangelsky]

I was gonna post this last week but I forgot. If you've ever seen a Snap25 production, then you know.

[gunsatthaphan]

Hey there!

I watched PS I hate you since you recommended it and...wtf how was this Show so good?! Like... the scene at the end with Wantan will live rentfree in my head for ever.

Thank you so much for the idea to watch it and I am now even more excited for The Jungle and got the feeling that Mix Character might be queer in some way since I havent seen him make out with one of the girls. Cant wait for Pat and Off together🙏

Have you already predictions for the Show?

hi anon!

omg I know right?? the show was a lot to say the least lmao but I loved it! The agony I felt from week to week trying to figure out who put the video on was,,,, intense djgdhgf

I did like the ending though. And the part with Wanwan was insane. Pat nailed it. (also not me loosing it over Wantan lmaoo) This was my first Snap25 production but judging from the trailer, I'm pretty sure The Jungle will be about as intense lol.

"Mix's character is queer because he's not making out with any girls" djkhfd you make interesting conclusions anon 😂 I don't think we can assume anything for now lmao let's see what happens.

OffPat seem to be a crowd favorite lol I'm excited to see them!! They're a powerful duo for sure.

The trailer was very inconclusive so I have no predictions whatsoever. It seems that there is a murder which should be interesting, also Nanon is playing twins? Or is it a split personality thing. I don't know. But I'm here for all of it lol. Need me a good messy show to get into the Only Friends mood lmao.

xxx

[moleculardepot]

C. elegans SNAP25 Protein

C. elegans SNAP25 Protein Catalog number: B2015031 Lot number: Batch Dependent Expiration Date: Batch dependent Amount: 10 ug Molecular Weight or Concentration: 23 kDa Supplied as: Solution Applications: molecular tool for various biochemical applications Storage: -20° C Keywords: Synaptosomal-Associated Protein, ric-4, CELE_Y22F5A.3, Y22F5A.3, SNAP25 Grade: Biotechnology grade. All products are…

[meu-light]

GMMTV2024: My predictions

have to update this bad boy before part 2.

Two GL(s) Considering the fact that 23.5 got moved to next year we did get 2 GLs but I'm still gonna keep the one spot for part 2.

Highschool setting gotta skip to part 2 I guess

University setting Pluto seems to have the story start during their university years but it also seems to be a bit more mature

2. Eight BL(s) it was eight + a couple of questionable ones (which made it to the lakorn category after all), I did pretty good

Office setting OffGun came to warm my hear again with The Trainee

Something mature I wanna say Wandee Goodday because GreatInn are both seasoned actors and although it seems to be more of a comedy show, I was really rooting for seasoned actors and storylines where the characters are older

Something supernatural Somebody at GMMTV must be smoking something really strong because whoever saw Gawin and said I need Joss paired up with him (or the opposite) must be either a genius or not okay in general, anyway My Golden Blood looks cringe af but I hope they make something AT LEAST watchable (don't fail my boy Gawin)

A lighthearted one Only Boo!

Highschool setting My Love Mix-Up

University setting We Are

2nd season of something they've already done/Special EPs leaving this for part 2

Can't really say what P'Aof has in his mind but probably a novel to series adaption, could be anything apparently P'Aof did some writing for My Golden Blood but he hasn't picked up something to direct yet, we'll see

3. Ten Lakorns they only announced six, what the....

By Lakorn I add anything that does not add up with the BL/GL/Queer genre.

2 or 3 shows will toy with the supernatural stuff (this includes 2nd seasons of their previous shows) Enigma 2 and Peaceful Property On Sale

Office setting (I swear it's really popular) I think I may have failed here

A looking back to our past show, like melodrama waiting for part 2

A lakorn af show with lots of family drama and rich people problems waiting for part 2

A Snap25 Productions show that's a lakorn but for younger audiences Ploy's Yearbook, although I could add it to another guess, I have to show my love for Snap25

Age difference lakorn man, they tried it 2 years in a row and now they may not wanna do it anymore

I wanna say an idol story lakorn but it's a long shot, so maybe a mafia lakorn (?) why did both of those guesses get into the BL category (Only Boo! and Kidnap), we'll see in part 2

Something female based, like a girl trying to find herself etc could have placed Ploy's Yearbook here as well but I'm gonna leave it for part 2

Overall I think I did pretty good but I really have no idea what my expectations for part 2 are... I guess we will see!

[meu-light]

I know I'm kinda late but I just finished PS. I hate you and it left me absolutely speechless... Where do I start from?... The writting.... The shots... The characters...

I'm going to admit that the main reason I decided to watch it was Mond but tbh the pre-made teaser from December was really interesting to me and I was really looking forward to the whole thing.

The SNAP25 TEAM which is the production team behind the show (which I also am not familiar with) did absolutely amazing and all I have to say is kuddos! I'll definitely keep my eyes on this team for future projects because DAMN!