Love in the Air (2022)

prapaisky.

1/10 for rainpayu's episodes. 100/10 for prapaisky. not a perfect drama in any way and didn't want to support it because it's by mame, who is a very problematic writer and director, but prapaisky's storyline hit me so deep inside and prapai and sky are characters that i grew to love so much, too much actually. they will always be one one of my favorite couples and i really wish this series wasn't directed by mame and that prapaisky had their own show without other characters so that i could give them a rating. all of that aside though, i love prapaisky a lot and give them a 100/10 in my head.

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sweet!

The series as a whole, was very well filmed, well produced!
They really thought about every detail, I really enjoyed the night scenes.
You can divide the series in to two parts: Rain and Payu and Sky and Prapai.
The first part: Rain and Payu
The chemistry between the actors was amazing, the acting of the actor who played Payu was very seducing.
I really like how their love story developed, Rain is such a silly and naive character. Payu on the other hand is very smart and calculating. This two really are polar opposites The story it self was very interesting. Sometimes it bothered me how dominating Payu could be but he always ment well. I wish they elaborated more on the past of Payu and why he is so "carefull or dangerous". Their story is probably my fave.
At the end I just fell in love with Payu.

The second part: Sky and Prapai
I was at first bothered by the acting it looked very awkward. I would say their chemistry increased the more you watched. By the last episode I was sold! The story of this part is more dramatic and serious than the first part so I expected more. Sadly it didn't give me more. But that's alright. The last episode was amazing! grate chemistry, finally all the questions where answered. And the ending was very wholesome.

I do recommend this series, you get a little bit attached to the characters. And charmed as well.

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if you like quick relationships, go for it

at first i was really hyped to look it, and i must admit i enjoyed the serie. but...
first, the relationships go way too fast. Rain et Payu get together at like episode 5 ? and when they do we switch to Sky and Pai. for me they became the main couple of the story because we nearly never see the others after. their story is quite interesting but it can trigger a lot of people cuz it mentions r*pe, domestic ab*se...
second, it's a bit redundant. it's almost always the same tropes in each episode. Payu rides his motorbike, repairs cars, works and Rain goes to class. they never go out on a date, and when something happens they solve it quickly.
third, i'm sorry but the fighting scenes are ridiculous. when Payu goes to save Rain from the guys he beat during a race or when they go to save Sky from his ex... it honestly made me cringe and laugh at the same time.
but overall it's not the worst thing you could watch, just don't have high expectations.

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Very nice chemistry and acting but Mame as usual being "ugh"

Let's just agree with one thing first. They need to stop giving this woman anymore chances to spread and normalize her bs views on consent.

The cast save the whole thing. We don't get to see BL actors being casually involved with each other when they are in a relationship. Usually it's one one stiff one who doesn't know what's happening and the other one carrying out the intimate scenes. But the actors in this series definitely knew what they were doing. When you are in a relationship you also adore the person. The affection, the love, the adoration they portrayed them really well. They even delivered the cringest dialogues smoothly. Which only says their quality and capability as actors. Really appreciation worthy. Hope they'll get to play series with better storylines.

Now coming to the storyline. WHY? JUST WHY? Mame needs to stop writing stories about things she doesn't understand. Not caring about consent is not sexy. Exploring sexuality is not a crime. You don't call someone stupid just because they are not gay. In Mame's universe everyone is gay. Even if they haven't figured out yet, they are supposed to return the feelings of the main lead. What a bs concept. She somehow wrote Sky's story less offensively. Or maybe the production changed it because knowing her she would have glorified it too.

In conclusion give the series chance for the actors. I have skipped multiple scenes because of the dialogues. Like I finished 13 episodes in 5 hours I guess.

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Love Sky!!!

1. PayuxRain

Honestly, the first couple wasn't it for me. Aside from Boss looking godly in his ponytail, I loathed the character Rain as I couldn't bare how a 19-year-old acted like he was a day passing 6 or something. Their story was chopped, cringe, and most questionable with how Payu acted unrealistically domineering and Rain was an utterly helpless damsel-in-distress. What's with the waterworks????

I had originally given up on LITA right after finishing EP4 because it just didn't have any appeal nor those aspects that would rope whoever watches it in. My god, for me personally, I can handle no secondhand embarrassment without possibly popping a vein. I just recently gave it a shot because of the second story; SkyXPrapai.

2. SkyXPrapai

Alright, in my opinion, FortPeat did a job well done with what little they were given in terms of production and story. They were definitely worth the watch. I love Sky and his sassy yet capable personality, but how he immediately was reduced to just Prapai's boyfriend was kind of meh. I love Prapai too as their more consistent story developed his morally grey characteristics of not taking 'no' as an answer and pushing himself onto Sky subdued. He actually tried to change. (the bar is so low fuck it) Their 'soft' moments made me MELT X (i love their chemistry)

Given its MAME, sexual assault has been reduced to a mere plot device here too and it was overall hella red-flagish for both stories. But I like how Peat's portrayal did somewhat of a good job so it wasn't totally pulled in on the last episode but throughout their journey.

To summarize this up,
SkyXPrapai>>>>>>>>>> PayuXRain

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Two predators and their victims

This series deserves all the flack it gets. Yes it's fiction, but there is so much romantization of stalking, SA, and very loose definition of consent. IF they had even addressed that yes! stalking is bad! forcing someone to pay you back with their body is bad! Then I might have liked it slightly more. Not only did they not discuss this, they actually romanticized it.

You'd think that the first couple was problemating with some grooming themes with the sudden (non-sexual) spanking scene that came out of nowhere, the older dude saying shit like "I don't like boys who use bad language", and just literal weird parental dynamics. But I'd argue that the second coupling is even worse, and the bar was already in hell.

At least with Phayu and Rain, they actually started out with a very strong meet cute and very strong attraction even from Rain's end. Like that boy was lusting after Phayu before he even knew that he likes men. Like yes, Phayu did initiate sexual contact without clear consent when he brought Rain back to his room but I can believe that it was a misread signal. I would also thought Rain was hitting on me if his car breaks down the second time in my vicinity after him spending his dinner literally ogling at me. Yes, he should have stopped the moment Rain says no the first time, I am not justifying that. But him giving Rain a proper out by clarifying that he's not going to try anything anymore and that he's not in the mood anymore is better than what Pai did for Sky. For me things really only started getting problematic after Phayu implicating that he wants Rain to pay back the car servicing with his body. That couple went straight to hell after that but became kinda cute again after Rain starts feeling more comfortable in that relationship.

The same thing can't be said for the second couple. With Sky and Pai, the way they started out was already dodgy as it was literally presented to Sky as a "fuck or die" type of situation. Noone would see his reaction after and think "oh, this person just had a consensual sexual encounter." Then this Pai dude went on to just straight up stalk him - and you can literally see that Sky was so distressed in the beginning about this, and then Stockholm syndrome kicked in and he started giving this psycho stalker a chance. And what did this psycho do? Create a copy to Sky's room key and intentionally spread the rumor that they're dating when they were not. He did a couple of decent things like took care of him when he was sick, be a little bit romantic, and then Sky, who already had such a low bar in relationships due to his previous history of dating an abuser, ended up falling in love with him.

I'm sorry but I'd rather watch eat dog shit than watch this hot mess ever again. Yes, the sexual chemistry is there, but if I wanted that I'd just watch porn. At least I can filter out non-consensual contents. I honestly regret this as much as I regretted watching tharntype and dark blue kiss.

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This cast deserved better - and so did the audience

After hearing a lot about LITA I binge-watched the whole series + the special. Intrigued by how different the reactions and reviews are (most people either love or hate LITA), I decided to write a few words about the show myself. I didn’t read MAME’s novels the show’s based on nor do I think comparing the novels and the show would be useful – after all these are separate works and the show needs to stand on its own.

Plot, characters & message
The plot is basic and simple: hot faculty legend Payu seduces cute and naïve student Rain, while Payu’s rich and hot friend Prapai pursues cute and sassy student Sky. While this seems perfectly okay, the devil is in the details: Payu manipulates Rain from day one and Prapai is a stalker; neither Payu nor Prapai take no for an answer nor acknowledge any boundary or limit – they alone decide where those are and how far they will go pursuing their goals. Even when they offer support, protection, affection and love, it’s from a dominating position, exploiting Rain’s and Sky’s vulnerability and desires (in the special episode attempts are made to mask this imbalance: Rain and Sky go on a trip and “punish” their partners). There’s more disturbing behavior resulting from the above, like nonconsensual touches, kisses, spanking (although this isn’t sexual) or coercion. Many have criticized this aspect of the show, while others found it appealing and okay. In my opinion we need to separate two things: the show including characters like Payu and Prapai and their actions and the message the show sends along with it. The show has every right to include manipulative, calculating, even creepy characters, instead of clean cut, perfect human beings. I hate, however, the message sent by the show – that Payu’s and Prapai’s actions are okay and justified by their desires, feelings, (supposedly) good intentions or by how hot they are or, what’s even worse, by Rain’s and Sky’s actual feelings for the two pursuers. Take how Rain was portrayed: he starts as a closeted 19 y.o., meets Payu and is immediately smitten with him, gets aroused by Payu’s every touch and does everything to spend more time with him, doing his best to tease him and win him over. The show even disavows Rain’s objections to Payu’s forced sex attempt in episode 1 – Rain willingly climbs into Payu’s bed, falls soundly asleep and even hugs Payu lovingly. In my opinion stuff like that confused many watching the show, twisting their perception and making them color-blind to all the red flags risen by Payu’s and Prapai’s actions. Instead of punishment or at least failure the show rewards Payu and Prapai, making them the good guys; there isn’t a single line of actual, serious condemnation or disappointment uttered by Rain nor Sky towards Payu nor Prapai (even something light like “you hunted and cornered me, treated me like a trophy; you should be ashamed of yourself”), no need for forgiveness for their part misdoings – as if they did nothing wrong. That’s where the show fails completely. There’s one more issue with the Sky-Prapai storyline: Sky’s trauma. I was surprised to see a serious and heavy issue like that thrown into such a show. It wasn’t dealt with properly, sending another harmful message: that love can heal you from trauma. It can’t; therapy can.
My biggest complain regarding the plot is that the script could have avoided all of the above and still be hot and sexy. You can be seductive without being manipulative, you can pursue someone without turning into a stalker and you can definitely be strong and independent respecting boundaries set by others. The showrunners didn’t know that or didn’t care about what message they were sending.

Cast
I was impressed by how natural and laidback the performances of Boss, Noeul, Fort and Peat were – given that only the latter two had some, albeit very modest, acting experience. There’s so much banter and good chemistry between them (to no small degree thanks to both couples being very well matched) and their portrayals are very convincing. This was only helped by them not shying away from performing all the scenes filled with sexual tension or sex itself. Seems that Boss and Fort channeled a lot of their personal charm into their roles, making Payu and Prapai likeable and desirable (that’s another reason, I believe, why so many were okay with those characters and what they did). Noeul was very effective in creating a young, naïve, confused and relatable character – which was no small feat, as Noeul seems very different from Rain. Peat deserves highest praise from the principal cast, as Sky is the only somewhat developed and complicated character (compared to rather one-dimensional Payu, Rain and Prapai); also his scenes, including solo ones, were the best.
Shame that Boss, Noeul, Fort and Peat didn’t have a better script to work with. Seeing how they managed to elevate the mediocre material they got I can only say that they deserved better.

Editing, sound
The editing was at times confusing, with weird cuts and scenes disjointed, unconnected with the rest of the show and/or previous and/or next scene; order and succession of scenes seemed off a few times, as if the editing team had too little time to make an actual show out of the material shot by the crew (e.g. in episode 7 Rain is with his friends somewhere outdoors and Payu calls him to tell him he’ll pick him up; in the next scene Rain is surprised to see Payu show up there and hides from him – these two scenes contradict each other, maybe just one of them was meant to be used in the show).
Sound editing seems non-existent. No idea whether they recorded dialogues on set and didn’t redub them or what happened there but through most of the show music is to loud and distracting while dialogues are too quiet.

Impressions
I liked the show for all the right reasons: hot actors, cuteness and banter, unabashed intimacy. All of that was like sweet-sweet candy poured over everything wrong with the show; blinded by that I enjoyed myself.

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An Incredibe Series!

I am going to be honest...

I wached this series twice, a few weeks apart. I am glad that I watched it a second time, and I will tell you why:

The first time I watched this, my review would have said that I liked the first story, but not the second story. It would have said the second story was too brutal for me. I would have also recommended that they merge the two stories instead of having one after the other.

But after I watched the entire series again, I changed my mind. The two stories being so different, I don't think merging them together would have been better. I still enjoyed the first story better, but I also picked up on a lot more in the second story, which made me appreciate it more than I had previously. Someone who is lost and needing the strength and trust to love again and a guy who is patient and caring who comes into his life. This is such an important message for anyone who has been truly disillusioned by love. And the message near the end really hit home with me. With a tragedy in my life, (not a love interest, but a loss that devastated me) I really took to heart the message that if you are hurting and do not pick up the pieces of your life, your loved ones will suffer.

The first story is fun and loving, all four main characters are persons I would like if I met them in real life. The stories are so well done and production, lighting, music, everything was spot on.

So... I not only recommend you watch this, I recommend you watch it twice, just a few weeks apart. See if your viewpoint stays the same. I believe this is one of the better bl series to come out this year.

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Prepare To Feel Single!

First, I 100% recommend this show but prepare to feel single at almost every episode lmao. Anyways onto my review.

Payu and Rain:
When I first started it, I had not read the novel so I went in blind and I gotta say, I sincerely enjoyed their half of the series. It was sweet, funny and slightly wild at times. I enjoyed it for what it was, the kidnapping was a bit nonsensical but gotta have drama I guess haha. I read the novel and it follows it pretty much to a tea with a few much needed changes. I loved their love story even when I was at a loss for why Rain did the things he did at times but that's his charm haha. As for Payu, as hot as he is, I don't think I would fair as well as Rain with Payu as my boyfriend since he seems to have a humiliation kink and I'm not really into that lol, his seriousness for keeping up with my grades would come in handy tho. Speaking of Rain tho forgot to say his friendship with Sky is honestly everything to me, I love them and it saddens me that people don't see how much they actually care for eachother. I can't wait for the special to see a certain scene that Boss and Noeul talked about play out, I know I'm gonna die >_< seeing it come to life. Anyways Boss and Noeul's chemistry was of course top notch, no complaints, they constantly made me feel single. Missing them as I type this... I've actually rewatched it a couple times already lol.

Prapai And Sky:
MY BABIES. Am I a sucker for a good second couple? Yes, yes I am. Prapai and Sky gave me everything and more, I read the novel for their story too so I knew what to expect knowing it was going to be a darker story; Fort and Peat gave me everything I needed as Prapai and Sky, I felt the angst, love and overall playfulness of their characters. As far as husband material, to me Prapai is it. Also relating to Sky In a way, I felt his feelings of thinking he's unlovable and the massive pressure he would put on himself to help those around him instead of himself. I know Prapai's tactics could be seen as red flags but his intentions behind everything he did were never malicious so to me he's still a green flag with minor flaws. In the end he's exactly who Sky needed to as he put it "wake him up from his nightmare" with tough love, persistence and consistency to crack through his wall. Fort and Peat truly had me in my feels and I'll never get over PrapaiSky's love story and can't wait for the special to see them interact with Pai's family more hopefully, for those that read the novel- Shirts! ♡♡♡

Gun and Petch:
No disrespect to the actors but Gun and Petch are at the top of my hit list. The way they boiled my blood... kudos to the actors for playing such disgusting characters.

Production:
The sound issues were disappointing honestly but didn't distract me much, I still enjoy the series regardless thanks to the actors that make the characters who they are. Also some of the directing decisions for the second half of the series were off but of no fault of the actors whatsoever.

Music: Both intros for both halves and the outtro are on a loop, love them all.

Another thing I wanted to add is that I liked the format of splitting the episodes per couple cause one doesn't outshine the other at least for me, I loved both couples and didn't get second couple syndrome like usual and it gave us more time to pay attention to each story than we would've if they were intertwined with eachother. Anyways, love the cast so much and I'm now in my mourning period till the special.

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Big on chemistry, sullied by questionable moments

Love In The Air is roughly split into two parts, each focusing on a different couple. And if you ask me which is the better half, I’d have trouble giving you an answer. The chemistry is pretty good and the flirting will keep you hooked.

However, I wish the storyline made a little more sense – it would have helped if the characters’ personalities were more consistent and even better if their backgrounds were fleshed out a little more. The rating would also be higher if the characters didn’t have all these problematic moments that made me go Ehhhhh…?

Doesn’t make it a bad show, imo, just lacks thoughtful writing and actual depth.

You may have come across some criticism regarding Phayu’s problematic behaviour in the initial episodes. Personally, I thought this was quite out of character for Phayu as he is shown to be quite thoughtful and non-toxic in the later episodes, and the story does get better and a lot more wholesome, so I don’t know what was going on in the earlier parts.

Now on to the second couple - at the start, Phai has all the signs of a walking red flag. Shamelessly full of self confidence, glib tongued, and basically too hot and too rich to take anybody seriously. But I’m here to tell you it gets better. In fact, Phai turns out to be a total green flag, and they’re just so unbelievably cute together I have to stop myself from screaming every time I watch an episode.

Verdict? Watch it and maybe you’ll get hooked too.

Full review here: asianblreviews.wordpress.com

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Not for me

In the beginning it had potential it wasn’t the best but maybe they needed more time to start up cus most of the time they get better, but this one just went down hill. I think the writers thought that enough s€x scene’s would make up for the poor written plot, but it just wasn’t enough to make the series enjoyable to watch. Maybe the second story is better than the first one but I don’t think so. It’s also so overrated on tik tok and other platforms. I think as long as a series has enough spice and hot characters, everything can be seen a “good” series.

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