Here again is another BL that I desperately wanted to like. And oh, did it have some fine moments in it. Perhaps it might STILL not be registering, without hard proof, of course (because it is difficult to obtain accurate numbers), that the majority of the BL audience may not be Thai or, at the very least, might be very evenly distributed. While the story certainly does not have to appeal to the non-Thai audience, nonetheless, that fact must be taken into consideration. So, the understanding that a large part of the audience might not know the nuances, intricacies, or subtlety of something so unique like Likay. I reviewed this series from a perspective that I know nothing about Likay Thai dance. For me, this was discernably unique, beautiful, exotic, mesmerizing, colorful, and captivating.

And I fell in love with its uniqueness and artistry. It is all so captivating. While I do not know if the performers were master crafters, they made it look professional and very accomplished. For that, the production ought to be commended along with all the performers. I am sure it took many, many hours of practice to display the nuances and subtleties of the dances and movements and I for one, am deeply appreciative of those efforts. So, the story around the Likay dance was exceptional.

Unfortunately, the romance and drama around the protagonists, sorry to say, was a whole different story. It was unfortunately weak. It got tropey, cliché, and formulaic. Then it took a deeply dark turn that it did not need to take, as a main theme for one of the protagonists was already somber. As long as the story remained on course to the development of Likay, it made sense and was entertaining.

Jamakorn [Ja] (Zaleng Teerachot) is the leading Likay male dancer in Thailand. He is very well known and is developing quite a cult following. Jack (Leon Krittapod) is the newest rising star in the film industry, and the pitch was to perhaps have Jack learn the skills of Likay for a new role for him. Both young men are strikingly handsome. So, it is proposed that he join the theatrical company that Ja and others are touring. He does.

In that process, Jack, still a bit innocently young and naïve, falls in love with Ja without understanding the full ramifications of what all that entails. Not completely culpable here, however, as Ja is holding back on two secrets that he does not deliberately share with Jack. One is that he already has a boyfriend named Win (Kimmy Thitisan). They had been in a deeply entangled relationship in the United States, but circumstances forced a dissolvement of their relationship but they never had a full and final closure of their romance.

This comes to a head when Win returns after nearly 5 years away, ready to try and reconnect with Ja, as he is obviously still deeply in love with him. But too much time and levels of feelings have now changed Ja. Plus, there are now mixed feelings for Jack. The love for Win is not one of a lover anymore, but only as a brother. Their breakup when Ja left the United States to return to Thailand, was presented rather unnecessarily obtusely. I just wish it had been made clearer and cleaner progressively rather than needing a roadmap to figure it out. By the end of the series, it made sense to me; but by then, it was ineffective.

The story unravels further due to Ja’s second secret which he is reluctant to reveal or make known to anyone. The plotline suffers, like most Thai BLs do, from a lack of communication (surprise). Ja does not want to share his medical condition that affects him in a profound way. Finally, he has to with Jack. While Jack is younger than him and honestly not mature in many ways, he rises to the occasion when he does find out.

Frankly, I was impressed with, despite Jack’s pitfalls, how completely and totally committed he became to Ja. This was a burden that he was willing to carry for the rest of his days with him. Ja has macular degeneration, which means that his eyesight will slowly (or suddenly) deteriorate to the point he will go blind. That is a heavy responsibility to carry for a young man in a new relationship. Ja also refused to disclose his condition to the other members of his troupe, although Win certainly knew and did try to help him look to ameliorate his condition somewhat in the States, which was the cause of their separation.

Given the formulaic nature of Thai BLs, there is a secondary love connection which I thoroughly enjoyed because of the actors. While it never fully evolved, the two of them had such strong personalities that they made their ventures together so entertaining and fun to watch. Plus, they were believable. Atom Attsavaj (who admittedly is one of my most favorite BL actors) plays Thanu, the stage manager for the Likay troupe. He clashes with the manager of Jack named Kwang, played by Cooper Patpasit. There is just something about these two actors that exude intense screen presence and star quality. While their roles are not extensive, their characters were alive and vibrant and so energetic. They were noticeably genuine. You could feel the sexual tension between them from the beginning, and they just looked like two guys that were just meant to be together. I wish they had advanced their relationship more intensely, but what little we saw of them as a couple is just so entertaining and honest. I liked them as a couple. They made sense.

Overall, this series is such a mixed bag. It starts out so enchanting and so enthralling with its emphasis on the beautiful and crisp movements of the Likay dance. And the training and discipline that goes into it as well. That showed true commitment and passion. Then it drifts into the BL land of silliness and frankly childishness. I simply cannot understand why the major theme of Thai BLs continues to be the lack of adequate and honest communication. It just simply gets old. And then the childishness of responding to adult sexual situations. Why must one and sometimes a pair end up reverting to pre-pubescent behavioral patterns when it comes to dealing with all matters relating to sexual activities and gay connections? Honesty would be so refreshing for even a small change.

Towards the end, it just simply got really disconcerting and wanton. The whole series felt flat and no one was acting or behaving with any sense of tethering to reality. People were not who they were. A member of the troupe gets murdered more for shock value than advancing anything in the story. Miscommunication causes the entire collapse of Jack’s promising career in acting. To be honest, I found the whole personification of Ja to be one of the most self-centered and self-serving protagonists in a BL I have ever met. He frankly acted as if he was the only one who had suffered from a debilitating medical condition, and he felt the need to carry the cross all by himself. That, to me, is not noble but arrogance. He becomes incapable of discerning anyone else’s position except his own. He became dismissive of others who really only honestly wanted to help or at least help share his mantle with him. None of that is dealt with openly or effectively. Regrettably, Ja needed a sincere dose of reality therapy himself.

The series is a hodgepodge of activities loosely centering around Likay. The Likay story was the most interesting and quite entertaining. The love story between Ja and Jack was not, although I thought Jack went from a sweet innocent rather naïve boy to a sweet, thoughtful responsible young man. Ja remained pompous throughout. I realize that a lot of his behavior might have been compensating for his medical condition, but that does not excuse his egotism. I also loved the budding but rather nebulous and undefined relationship between Thanu and Kwang.

Look, there is gorgeous dancing, amazing costumes, and certainly entertaining characters. Not all of it worked. For me, it became just too formulaic and standard. I am so, so tired of stories where protagonists are not real or frankly relatable. If the protagonists were simply honest, answered questions with truth and openness, especially after a relationship has been established, you would have a much deeper quality to a story. You would not have either ‘good’ or ‘bad’ characters; simply ones who are sincere and authentic that are fragile, frightened, and fallible. Just like us.

Rating: 2.5 out of 5

Streaming on- Let Me In Your Heart YouTube Channel