MY BROMANCE THE SERIES - REVIEW OF EPISODES 01-04

I'm basically watching this BL lakorn almost entirely because of Cooper Patpasit (he plays the lead role Golf). He isn't classically handsome, in fact, there's something simian about his features, but what an extremely sexy young man! And the fact that he can act actually makes the four episodes watchable; His acting holds up large swathes of this somewhat plodding drama, and his presence and charm make him a budding star.

Cooper with his lovely long, lean torso

This 20 year old isn't pretty-pretty but he makes up for it with a 20 year old's nubile, athletic build, an asset that was quickly showcased in the diving scene way up in the debut episode - and then again and again - which makes My Bromance captivating and exciting to watch - and yes, a bit more adult (than let's say Make It Right), if only marginally so.
I think this series treads the middle ground between Grey Rainbow, which was thoughtful and thought-provoking, and the pure tooth-rotting fluff of Make It Right. My Bromance doesn't have the depth of the former, no philosophical or religious basis, nor is it entirely devoid of realistic detail like the latter. What it has is plenty of family drama that at times feels totally unnecessary, and diffuses the buildup of the love between its leads.
I think the makers have mistaken a convoluted family structure for depth - it's not profound or complex, merely tedious and confusing. For instance to have Golf's mother have a twin sister who lives with Golf. Why twin? Why not just a sister who could be played by some other actress, not the same actress that doubles up as Golf's mother? Then Golf's mother is a manic depressive, who commits suicide, after fighting with her husband over a non-existent mistress. The father is also sick - there are scenes of him being attended to in hospital - overall there's a heavy sense of illness hanging in the air that forebodes tragedy - so no fluff here.
Now, the aunt also has a rather shrill daughter who lives under the same roof as Golf and acts like a sister, but isn't, She doesn't have a father. There's drama over the house which has to be sold, etc and so forth and it goes on and on. It certainly doesn't help that even the flashbacks aren't told chronologically but flash back and forth, with repeats.

Does one need to watch a tapir fall in love?

The casting of Kaii is also hugely problematic for me - firstly, Kaii is physically not as attractive as he should be. I'm trying to reach for a polite way to say that he looks like a baby tapir but I can only go so far as to say Kaii is not slim. The face isn't even agreeable, and the beaky nose and sly eyes make him look devious and scheming when he needs to look vulnerable. I don't know what he has done to deserve this plum role - but it certainly isn't his acting ability. The role cries out for Oat or Min Thitipat of Love Sick, someone with a bit of fragility and innocence.

His looks and appeal are cruelly brought into focus by having his character be a magnet to no less than three suitors - the series opens with one American suitor proposing marriage to him; Jaguar plays the student council that courts him in school; then there's Golf. All three are very attractive alpha types, making it unlikely that any of them, not to mention all of them, falling for Kaii.
And all this could be overlooked if there was even one jot of chemistry between Cooper and Kaii - alas not a quiver of chemistry. Zero. Zilch.
Cooper might as well be making love to a particularly lumpen body pillow for the total lack of electricity.

Flashback: Look Back At Men's Fashion In 2015 (Part 4)

WORLD WORE ‘15
Look back in wonder at the year in men’s fashion trends and themes in this flashback. By Daniel Goh

Givenchy look embodies the new untraditonal suit

Dandy No More

Tailoring has finally gone over the pedantic Mad Men phase when everyone who wore a qiuff wanted a suit with all its period trimming (pocket square anyone?); entire streets crawled with what looked like heavily-sweating, badly-dressed extras in some poorly-researched period drama. We are glad to see the “sartorial” period RIP. Men’s tailoring has gone more innovative with surprising new twists to the suitings genre, with classics kicked up, mould broken, taken-apart, reconsidered, re-decorated into an entirely new beast.

Riches are piled on riches in a wealth of technique (intarsia, slashes), a riot of prints (lace, glitter) and ideas.

(FALL/WINTER: Burberry FW 17 18 19 24; Dolce FW 21 27; Comme FW 30 31 32 33; Dries FW 16; McQueen FW 7 8 9; Dior FW 37)

Raf Simons mashup of office and kindergarten

Everyone Needs a Hobo

The defining style of this era is the miss-match and contrast of genres, a post-modern mashup we had a first inkling of when street went luxe (the embellished sweatshirt is a key example, or the hybrid brogue/trainer, or pin-striped jogging pants). The more extreme the mashup the better: Think academic tweedy mashed up with slouchy denims, or grandpa mashed-up with jock, to become the new royalty of the coolly rumpled.

(FALL/WINTER: BV FW 35 15 2; Comme FW 3 4 8 16; Dunhill 4 24)

Dries Van Noten's East/West mix

The New Silk Road

The New Silk Road isn’t just China’s infrastructure investment (USD 200 billion) in trade and diplomacy projects across the globe through Iran, Pakistan, Russia and Asia – and neither is it a new hotpot restaurant. Fashion has simply opened up its notions of beauty to embrace Asian forms and decorations – and not in a simplistic or shallow way. Traditional East Asian shapes, colours that pack heat, ethnic minority embellishments and a certain unbuttoned, wrapped over volume is proposed in modern, surprisingly elegant new ways of dress, a (literally) seamless hybrid of East and West.

(FALL/WINTER: Burberry FW 10 11 12 13 15; Comme FW 6; Dries FW 14 8 18 27 28 40 30 35; Etro FW 2 6 9 40; Givenchy FW 25 26 27 36 41 48 55)

Punk Grunge Love

Gucci grunge

And just when you thought everything was going swimmingly rich and fatly irrelevant in this world of constant chaos and natural disasters, a spike of aggression and anger is both expression of and antidote against the tough new world in which we live. Think seedy and rough leathers, vests and a violent attitude.

(FALL/WINTER: Gucci FW 2 6 13 31; Etro FW 14; Givenchy FW 5 35 37) 

Part 4 of 4 - End