“We Are” is a medley of romantic tropes and sappiness that is very welcome in the BL scene. It is the quintessential romcom, an easygoing series about a group of friends who find love and support each other throughout the process. “We Are” is refreshing and fun and even though it doesn’t give you any drama, the romance and friendship are enough to drive this 16-episode series, and the different couples give us a wide range of romantic tropes, there is no screen time wasted because all the stories develop at different paces, keeping us engaged from start to finish. As a big fan of slice of life shows with minimum conflict, “We are” was such a treat, and I hope there is more demand for such low stakes BLs in the midst of all the high drama, high production and educational ones.

PEEM (PHUWIN TANGSAKYUEN) AND PHUM (POND NARAVIT LERTRATKOSUM)

Peem and Phum are the main couple in the series. The two meet by chance when Phum ruins Peem’s art, and in turn Peem kicks Phum, which leads to the two entering an agreement for Peem to be Phum’s art. Although the two start out disliking each other in a mostly playful manner, they realize that neither of them is as bad as the other thought, and a real friendship begins to develop between the two. Before long, Peem and Phum’s relationship becomes flirtatious, and it becomes clear that Phum is courting Peem. Despite Phum being somewhat closed off, he becomes comfortable around Peem quickly and the two share a kiss which they do not quite address, but both their cards are put on the table at an early stage despite the two not confronting their feelings directly. Their relationship is put to the test by Kluen (Title Kirati Puangmalee) another student who shows interest in Peem. Although Kluen is direct with his feelings for Peem, it helps Peem and Phum come to terms with their feelings for each other, with Kluen as unfortunate collateral damage.

TOEY (SATANG KITTIPHOP SEREEVICHAYASAWAT) AND Q (WINNY THANAWIN)

Toey and Q’s relationship is surprisingly the most turbulent of them all. The two are both art students and are mentor and mentee, however, Q is rather oblivious of the fact that Toey has a crush on him and that they knew each other prior to their varsity life. Q’s friends become aware of Toey’s crush on Q and their history, and they help Toey speed up the process of Q noticing him and eventually dating him. Through a series of tricks and hijinks, the gang uses Chain (Marc Natarit) to act like he has a crush on Toey in order to make Q jealous and in turn act on his feelings for Toey. Although the plan is successful, Q finds out that he has been manipulated, and also finds out that Q was the mysterious “Milk Frappe guy” he had a “penpal” relationship with years ago, which leads him to feel dejected about his relationship with Toey. The two are obviously able to resolve this.

TAN (AOU THANABOON KIATNIRAN AND KAOFANG (BOOM THARATORN JANTHARAWORAKARN)

Tan and Khaofang, who is Phum’s brother have a very interesting relationship, as Tan is more expressive of his emotions, while Khaofang, like his brother Phum is closed off and not as expressive. This relationship dynamic plays out well because we also see that Fang is very expressive behind closed doors and the two actually match each other’s freak regardless of how they present to their friends. Fang is able to be vulnerable to Tan and Tan, who has so much love to give is met with the same energy from Fang who is in need of this love and reassurance due to his family drama. The two are a match made in heaven and their playful teasing provided most of the comedic relief in this story because their relationship was always solid and stable.

CHAIN (MARC NATARIT WORAKORNLERTSITH) AND PUN (POON MITPAKDEE)

Although it was always clear that Chain had a crush on Pun, despite the two being friends, their relationship takes a major backseat throughout the series. This might be because it’s the easiest to resolve and there was no need for any theatrics for the two to end up together, however, the slow burn allows us to have a bonus coupling by the end of the show when everyone else has settled into their relationship, a new one springs up, ending the show on a high note.

All in all, “We Are” is a fantastic romantic comedy BL and it will quench anyone’s thirst for some wholesome pure romance with a friendship backdrop that makes for the perfect comfort watch. I hope more people watch this, to show the big networks that people love cheesy romcoms and there is a large audience for it. The different couples are given enough screen time that the audience is not left wanting, and the storytelling was quite balanced, which even allowed for filler episodes throughout the run of the show. We hope to see longer form romcoms in this age of 8 to 10 episode TV shows. “We Are” is a must watch if you love BL and love rom coms and are in need of a comfort show to just lift your spirits and renew your faith in love.

Rating- 4 out of 5

Streaming on- GMMTV YouTube Channel