Big Dragon is not a show for everyone, perhaps not for me either, but I’ll try my best to bring out all aspects of it in this review, and leave it for you to decide for yourself.

As I wrote elsewhere, I was this close to shutting down my laptop after finishing the first episode of Big Dragon, and cursing out every higher power that had brought the show into my feed and for whatever reason compelled me to watch it. The first episode, putting it lightly, was just not my cup of tea.

It portrayed what was obviously a very unhealthy relationship dynamic. The plot revolves around Yai (ISBANKY) and Mangkorn (Mos Panuwat), two college students and rivals, who have a drunken, dubiously consensual one night stand after Yai attempts to drug Mangkorn and inadvertently ends up getting drugged himself. His plan to record an unconscious Mangkorn in a compromising position backfires on him when Mangkorn steals their video and uses it to blackmail him.

How will it continue after that, you may ask. Will it show an intense enemies-to-lovers plot point strife with tension and toxicity because they are both, quite frankly, depicted as terrible people?

Not quite.

The second episode is a dramatic shift towards what has become a comedy almost. They meet and they bicker like they are the protagonists of a light hearted university show and not the victims of drugging and revenge porn respectively. We also get to see bits of Yai’s life that paint him as more of a three-dimensional person than a shallow jerk.

Mangkorn misplaces the SD card with the video and undergoes a series of comic mishaps trying to get it back. Yai, on the other hand, meets with his father’s business partner (and perhaps a partner of a more intimate sort) whom he is aloof towards, shedding some light on his inner troubles. The only question remains is whether the funny antics and the more serious parts are enough to redeem the characters we met in the first episode.

For me, not particularly. I am still in two minds about whether the first two episodes have given me enough motivation to continue this, or whether I will leave this in favour of the many others on my to-watch pile. As far as I have heard, the third episode does have more bonding moments between Yai and Mangkorn, as well as discussions about marriage equality in Thailand, which is definitely a plus, and might tip things in favour of me ending up finishing this after all.

If nothing else, the show does have one of the most interesting OST’s I have come across, and I would highly recommend everyone to give Dancing With the Devil a go.

Rating: 3 out of 5

Streaming on- IQIYI or here

Krishna’s Sidenote-

☆ Big Dragon’s lead actors ISBANKY & Mos Panuwat featured on the cover of Spotlight Magazine China

https://www.instagram.com/p/CkFEY_RBAyx/?igshid=YmMyMTA2M2Y=

https://www.instagram.com/p/CkNJSF2LURD/?igshid=YmMyMTA2M2Y=

☆ ISBANKY & Mos Panuwat were also featured in Madan Fun Magazine