“Vampires are not that scary, Master Yoh. On the other hand, humans can be scarier.” – Quote from 1000 Years Old

Perhaps the above quote is a truism and is more meaningful than realized. And in a sense this series shows exactly that. Sometimes the actions of humans are way worse than the supposed actions of a few vampires. More consequentially, this series left me in a complete conundrum. I honestly do not know what to think or make of this series. It left me exceedingly flummoxed.

To be sure, it is a series about vampires but not in any traditional sense of how I understood vampires. This particular vampire was likable; good even. In addition, to being heavenly handsome. His name was Pun (Shane Nutchapol). He tells everyone he is a vampire but literally begs them for secrecy. It is one of the many ironies in this series.

In fact, everything about this series is quirky. Rather than drink human blood, he has switched over to consuming pork blood, mainly in the form of eating pork blood soup. At the local pork blood soup stand, which he comes to every day, a rather handsome young student frequently visits as well. His name is Yoh (Opal Kritsapatorn) and seems intrigued by Pun’s mysteriousness. Before long, the two meet up, and Pun is immediately drawn to Yoh and is more than overt in his advances towards him. Yoh is perhaps initially anxious about his subtle romantic gestures towards him yet does nothing to dissuade him nor discourage his advances. In fact, he seems to enjoy them, even though Pun makes it no secret he is a vampire.

Naturally, given the kind of series this is, a maverick cast of characters is also involved in the development of a pork blood soup mini-restaurant on top of the apartment building. To say that they all are a bit odd and weird would be an understatement. Everyone from the cook to Pun’s brother is just odd. And each plays the characters atypically.

I enjoyed each of these characters yet disliked the performances. They were all so flat. Honestly, it is hard to describe the way the acting was performed. It was certainly never overacted; yet never underacted either. It was like watching a page in a comic book come alive – somewhat. They merely acted in the moment of a scene. No one person made an impression. Yet, if any of them were missing, it would have seemed empty. I know it makes no sense but nothing in this series made any sense. The acting was not even two-dimensional – it was merely one dimensional. Most of the time it did not work; yet when it did, it was sincerely moving.

This series is not funny, certainly not scary, nor a thriller. And definitely not a BL even though there are love overtures between Yoh and Pun. We really do not understand Pun or his brother, Somchai (Bigboss Nattchakit), although he seems to fit the more traditional concept of what a vampire is. Pun’s forlorn love betrothal is another mystery. Janja (Jomjam Karnpicha) has apparently been trying to ‘marry’ Pun for nearly 1000 years, but he keeps rejecting her and scorning her. She is really a rather sad figure and really the only one with feelings and one can develop a feeling of empathy for her.

This series does not come ‘alive’ until the last episode. We find out why Pun is so drawn to Yoh. Yoh is a reincarnation of Pun’s first and only love nearly a thousand years ago and bore the same odd birthmark on her neck as Yoh has on his neck. The mark on his neck is obvious from the beginning, yet treated as if it is self-evident as to why it is there. Another quirk to this series.

In essence, it is not Yoh that Pun is committed to but the memory and the reincarnation of his first love, no matter what form that love takes. Fundamentally, this story is deeper than its own superficiality. The end scene where we see Yoh in old age, dying, with young, ageless, Pun still by his side, telling him to hurry up to be reborn again as we will wait for him. One last time, as Pun is meeting his 1000-year mark, and his own life will end. This is something quite moving about that scene and is poignant that I found myself tearing up over it. Still, I cannot explain why. It is not as if I fully believed that Pun ‘loved’ Yoh.

I tried to look for hidden meanings in this series and could find none. I looked for messages or moral arcs to hang on to, but all to no avail. I even looked for being entertained with this series; yet I could not. And I found the consummation of all that pork blood soup simply revolting and nauseating. So, I go back to my statement from the beginning. I am flummoxed as to why I watched this, why I honestly liked it, since it really had no romance at all in it, or even entertainment. Yet, each episode drew me further into the lives of these one-dimensional characters and I honestly do not know why.

I completely understand why most people did not like this series or perhaps found it dull. So did I! Yet, I could not help being drawn to its simplistic story of a very lonely vampire finding in essence, at least for him, what turned out to be a family, albeit a bunch of misfits, and falling in love with a very lonely man who, if you believe, the story, was his former love. Is it his former love? Or happenstance? Or does it really matter.

All I know is that I viscerally enjoyed the quiet fortitude that this series gave me. I am sure it is just me.

Rating- 4 out of 5

Streaming on- Gagaoolala