Yaoi is a genre of anime and manga that features boys and men engaged in the most outrageous and erotic situations. You know from the moment you opened one and pressed the play button what you’ll get. Two men kissing at some point and more being the general draw that pulls readers and viewers into spending their time enjoying it. Thailand’s Boys’ Love for the past few years seems to have noticed the success of this rule, and has outspokenly modeled recent shows based on this concept. Attractive strong men and effeminate pretty men are in hi definition focus but now they face witches, demons, ghosts, abusive bosses, and the most venomous women for that happy ending we all secretly or overtly wait episodes for.

IQIYI’s “Two Worlds” enters the new year, fully self-aware and not afraid to be that one show with parallel worlds and time travel. But does it do what “Absolute Zero” failed to do and give us as viewers a well mapped out and better written script? Also, based on a novel the answer is (spoiler alert : kind of). Written by Prang, the story centers around Kram (Nat Natasitt) a failed painter’s son who is undeterred by his father’s current position and is an artist himself. His father Dilok played by Tar Phasin is happy and able to support both of them all the same. When Dilok brings his friend’s son Phupha (Gun Thapanawat) home, Kram’s life begins to change forever.

As concise as that sounds the episodes are not. The series directed by Khets Thunthup, starts off trying to be cinematic with expansive shots using the darkness of night to create a mystical mood as Kram wistfully stares into the waters in thought. Before dropping something precious as well as himself into the waters that had begun to glow blue. Scenes like this foreshadow and draw the viewer in, so they want to know how the character got to this point; which it does, but try as much, this show fails to allude to something, it isn’t consistent in the story’s continuity of times and events.

The show seems set to fast-forward in certain instances to slow the pace in long pauses as the characters stare at each other in silence for extended moments; which would have carried dramatic weight if I knew who these people are but in the next ten minutes, it’s still not there yet. The relationship between the two starts off rocky. Kram a virgin/shy young man sees Phupha naked for their first interaction. His standoffish nature versus the artificial haughtiness of Nat as Kram seemed annoying and unnecessary as minutes were spent with Kram being forced to show Phupha his temporary surroundings as he would be staying with them for a while.

During the start of the show Tai (Max Kornthas) enters the series as a rough, gangster with scars on his face and with a mean demeanor. He is pitted against Phupha with no preamble given. At this point my confusion was stacking because as cute as everyone on this show is and the chemistry is present. I was very confused by a character being hostile and antagonistic for no real cause. This just made the displayed emotion seem hollow as there was no context provided. Kram who was the subject of Tai’s standoffish behavior and sharp words had earlier painted a portrait of Tai (with no visible water present?) which Phupha saw and was intrigued enough to hire him to draw his own portrait.

In a Yaoi form trie to its context, the portrait is a nude, how he got Kram to agree to paint him naked will be a mystery for the ages. But it does happen, until the flirtatious Phupha discovers mosquitoes frequenting the lake. The two begin the enemies to lovers path as Kram rubs the repellent onto Phupha’s skin. Before too long the pair light speed past enemies, to friends, to about to have their first sexual experience with each other before they realize between the lack of lube and reality setting in that neither knew how to have sex, it wasn’t going to happen.

The show practically demands you to suspend disbelief as Phupha takes the impoverished Kram to an unnamed city in less than a day (you don’t know what city or province that takes place in, just that you can get to either place in less than a day). I remember in past reviews how I complained about information dumps and storytelling that wasn’t consistent. As more and more characters zoom in and out of my peripheral, I found myself confused. A lot of characters didn’t have names and the situations either were based around the cuteness of Kram and Phupha’s romance or Tai’s random decisions leading up to the end of the first episode in which Phupha is outed by his acquaintance as to having a fiancé infront of Kram. Before there is even time to consider that, a scream is heard and an acquaintance is lying in a pool of his own blood. His fiancé Run is the one who screamed (where did she come from, how long has she been there?).

The ending of the first episode leads directly into the second where Phupha lies dead in the forest room that Kram built in the middle of the woods. The red line of a garrote impression wraps around the front of his neck from where he was strangled. The fact that Phupha was in real estate and had no real reason to be assassinated never left my mind, as the show turned surreal through awful editing. From Kram’s POV we see how fast his mind created an alternate reality where Phupha was fine. The editing flashed between the dead body and Phupha deluding himself in a manner that was just jarring.

Up to this point I had a strong sense of confusion and it doesn’t really go away. As the story continues and Kram goes to the other world and meets the alternate versions of people he already knows; scenes from the first episode are recycled making me wonder why this was the path they went down when the book is apparently very long, and they have only 10 episodes to tell a story. But while watching the same things happen with all the information from the first episode I had a strong opinion about Phupha I didn’t have the first time. It’s clear the man has another side to him, since his real estate business has the markings of a gang (for whatever reason). Cheating on his fiancee with a man; the fact that he is a bastard child whose father had no idea of who he really is. Again these would have been amazing story points but instead the show chooses to focuse on Kram and his dogged desire to save the man from the other world who resembles Phupha but doesn’t recognize him.

The way the script is written in a way where Kram easily convinces the much nicer Tai in the other world, to help him save Phupha’s life. If the Phupha in his world was assassinated and that version of Tai is evil, what makes him think that this version is worth saving? Clearly the man is someone he doesn’t truly know, and this version less so. All that aside he convinces this version of Phupha to follow him to the blue water but as he falls into it with the living Phupha the water does not take them anywhere.

Suspending disbelief is really hard to do in the third episode. Kram awakens to being beaten while being interrogated by one of Phupha’s men Wayu (Mon Taechin) while Tai watches from the sidelines; this is Phupha without Kram’s family to influence him. Not that past two episodes showed how Kram’s father had any influence on Phupha. This version of him is quite a cold man who is all right with the torture. It’s not long before we meet another character, Jao (Pak Varayu). Bear in mind the pacing and character inserts push the suspended disbelief really far. We have never seen Tai with a phone. We have never seen Jao AT ALL! But as Tai and Kram make their escape and Phupha surprises them with a gun pointed at them; Jao appears behind him with a gun pointed at his head.(it’s a Yaoi let’s not take this too seriously and go with it). Tai and Kram escape with Jao and it’s clear Jao works for Tai (the guy who hasn’t had contact with the gang his father owns). The episode continues down this path of nonsense in a variety of ways.

Phupha and his body guard Wayu are attacked by a masked man; leading him to seek Tai and Kram who warned him someone was trying to kill him, while Tai and Kram go to see alternative Kram’s mother who was blinded by Tai’s father in this world. They make her believe Kram isn’t Kram and it’s working really well. Till Kram’s friend appears and Kram tries to get her to recognize him (why? Yaoi that’s why). The episode does focus on Tai and his clearly growing feelings for Kram who seems to be feeling the sway as well.

The first meeting between Jao and Wayu stole the episode for me. When Wayu scouts around for Tai and Kram, Jao confronts him and the two get into a threatening match as angry words are exchanged (again for no reason) until the two are chest to chest egging the other on in a tensely heated exchange. Until Kram stop them and in a moment I can only call “cheap” there is a cut away and then Kram explains that the two men have lived close by each other and just don’t like each other (they have amazing chemistry). It becomes clear after these horribly edited moments why Wayu is there and everyone sits before the woman who owns the land the mysterious blue water is on.

In a moment that I assume was meant to be a information exchange, Kram doesn’t explain ANYTHING about why he’s there, how he knows Phupha is going to die (what was the point?) the two men tell Phupha to live his life and that someone close to him his trying to kill him ( I would totally be living my best life upon hearing this) and they would get the person responsible (how? I have seen neither have a phone or a car). But in the shinning moment of pure “hold your breath disbelief” Phupha contacts everyone close to him to tell them all what he has learned. Because …I don’t know? He wants to make sure whoever is behind his murder has a head start, I guess.

Not that it really matters the episode ends with him getting attacked again and winding up in Kram’s arms. Bleeding while Tai suffers PTSD flashbacks to his Kram dying. Coupled with his pain over seeing Kram screaming for another man.

Final Thoughts

This show is very interesting but hard to sit through as it was horribly edited. Various issues with script continuity abound throughout and I had to suspend my disbelief on so many things, I had to rewatch certain sections to make sure I had the plot down. Alternate world stories are hard to write as you have to make sure your characters from one world are accurate versus the alternative characters. That being said, Kram’s emotional breakdowns in the second episode versus the third was realistic and well acted having experienced Phupha die twice. Max’s acting as Tai was probably my favorite of the cast; he plays murderous Tai very well, versus the calm and cold Tai with an easy duality. Gun unfortunately was the worst actor on the series as his portrayal of Phupha didn’t change between worlds and I honestly think if he lives through the third episode, there won’t be much difference to his character.

The pacing was awful and I felt like the first two episodes were on fast-forward. By the time it got to the third, and they slowed things down I felt bored to tears watching all the scenes that made no sense. It was beautiful and everyone did really well with the script they were given but over all it was overwhelmed by the bad editing.

Rating- 2 out of 5

Streaming on- IQIYI