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Hard Love Mission (Thai Series)

This small little mini series has a paper thin plot and offers almost nothing new. What's worse is that there is not even a proper romance. Oh well!! On a positive note side, the show is only 7 episodes of average 25 minutes with last 2 episodes being half size. A story about a journalist and an actor/model is as band as anything.

Yoshi and his friend Ampere are reporters. Their boss wants them to interview Putter, one of the trendiest actors, but also an elusive one. Interestingly Yoshi knows the actor's manager and thinks he can get an interview. When they arrive at the beach destination, the manager calls Yoshi and tells him that because of an urgent work cannot come and asks him to become a temporary manager for Putter (given his prior experience in the field). Thinking that this could help him get the elusive interview to save his job, he agrees. The manager also tells him that the female co star Vivi will try to get too close so keep Putter safe from that. When Putter arrives, Yoshi and him get along well, but with the help of his friend, Yoshi is trying to keep Vivi as far as possible. Turns out, her manager is trying to get some compromising photos of the two so Vivi can get publicity form an alleged affair with the famous actor. Yoshi and his friend help expose this plan. Eventually Putter agrees for the interview which is where he tells that a good human being helped him on the first day of his audition because of which he was able to succeed and turns out that it was none other than Yoshi. The interview ends with a kiss.

Let's talk about the very few positives that the show has. Firstly it is not necessarily stretched for 12-14 episodes as most Thai BL are infamous for adding 4-5 parallel storylines. Thankfully here the storyline is very focussed on a temp manager trying to keep a budding actress away and in process the duo falling in love. Sadly, this and the pretty beach locations are the only two positive aspects of the show. In terms of story or romance noting new is offered. In fact there is literally no romance build up at all. There are usual tropes of sharing a bed or healthy flirting but no sign of any attraction or romance except a straight kiss at the end.  They have no chemistry whatsoever, so their interactions are awkward, embarrassing, and contrived. Also when the plot of getting Putter with Vivi photographed is exposed, it is so laughable, especially when the photographer takes out a gun. I laughed so hard. I mean, the makers cant take audiences to be stupid. The plot is so thoughtless, the romance is so passionless, and the acting is so charmless. It's safe to just stay away from this one. Good production values cannot keep audiences attention especially in this day and age when there is no shortage of content. (2.5/10)

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