Series Sunday: Cherry Magic

Welcome to part one of double Series Sunday week, and we're starting with an absolute cherry on top. We're talking all things Cherry Magic - from what made the Thai adaptation stand out and why TayNew were the perfect casting choice (in our humble opinions) to why Janhae is an icon and our favorite Project Alpha cameos.
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[@vitorhugolab]

I really, really like it. As you said: it's very Thai, they made it their own. It's a shame that the distribution had all the problems and stuff, 'cause it's a very good show. And yay, I was wondering: where's TayNew interview? heheheheh :D

[@vikctoryan15]

Wait what happened with Mek and Mark? How did Mark get mek fired? Mek has literally been at gmmtv for years....

[@itsjovichamp]

Cute sweaters! 🍒🤩

[@Havini.]

I think you should do a "best rooftop scenes" episode xD And I also really liked this version of Cherry Magic (I was worried a little bit, because - I know it's unbelievable - I'm not a big TayNew fan, but they really did a great job) and I loved everything about the relationship of Pai and Rock :33

[@keanikreienbaum9670]

I love the Thai Cherry Magic, but one thing I noticed is that the chaos the Japanese version mastered wasn't there. While the Thai version was really sweet and calm & TayNew were amazing, I was missing the chaos. As I'm falling in love with Ossan's Love and all the adaptations, I'm nervous on how GMMTV could lower the chaos/unhinges-ness as they create their adaptation

[@dexterfishpaw1]

Faceless love Dew+ Kao supssara. Remake of Japanese drama Rich Man, Poor Woman

[@thanhphongnguyen7875]

Thanks for reviewing Cherry Magic ladies! In my case, I was able to watch the show thanks to the livebroadcast that had English subtitles (thanks for mentioning it). I totally agree with you that TayNew were perfect as Karan/Achi, I loved the dynamics of SingJan (Rock and Pai) and I even enjoyed Junior/Mark (Jinta/Min). Can’t wait to see the season finale podcast with Tay/New! FYI, GMMTV is currently (re)uploading the episodes of Cherry Magic on KZbin (the most recent one is episode 4) but as it is only for Thai viewers, you’ll need VPN to watch it. You’ll also need VPN if you to want to watch A Tale of Thousand Stars, My School President, Star In My Mind, 2Together/Still2gether on KZbin (the shows are not completely removed, just geoblocked) as GMMTV made a licensing deal with Viki for international streaming, just like you had mentioned 👍

[@SammieLightwoodBane]

Hi LADIES! Did you both not watch Midnight Museum? Junior and Mark were the phone booth couple; Mark totally got run over and killed by the Suzuki Swift!!!

[@LetsTalkBL]

Omggggg we didn’t 😆😆 we definitely need to now 🫣🫣

[@liana3886]

That’s really surprising to hear about the fanmeeting in America, as there have been fanmeetings in Europe (specifically Italy) and they are well-organized, well-attended and the upcoming one for FirstKhaotung and EarthMix got sold out SUPER quickly. I hope all the future fanmeetings in the US will be managed better 🙏🏻 When it comes to Cherry Magic, I agree with pretty much everything said here, except for the relationship between Pai and Rock. While it was super wholesome on it’s own, I couldn’t forgive it for what it took away from the original. In the Japanese version, Fujisaki-san (Pai) is very much aromantic presenting. Her whole struggle / character arc is that she’s not romantically interested in people, she is very happily single and would like to continue in that fashion, but her family from the country side - especially her mother - is pressuring her to basically get married. She admires Adachi (Achi) for his utter acceptance of her like that and not questioning her “otherness” at all. She is also a wholesome friend of all the characters and has a nice friendship with Rokkaku (Rock). Not only is it a portray of a very much universal struggle for many single-by-choice or even child-free women all over the world, it also dismisses the stereotypes that a man and a woman who are friends have to end up in relationship, and most importantly, is one of my absolute favoutite portrayals of aromantic identities in tv shows. And although Thai Pai is her own person and has her own struggles, I cannot forgive GMMTV for erasing one of the very few, actually well-made aromantic characters, just to give us another couple. I would have loved to see a Thai version of aromantic Pai and how it would present in Thai society. And it’s also not the first time GMMTV have erased aro/ace identities, in Be My Favourite, Kawi is at one point asking Max, his outspoken gay friend - who we, as the viewers are supposed to see as a mentor / advisor of sort in that particular moment moment - this: Kawi: “Max, do you think it’s possible for two people dating to have no sexual activity at all?” Max: “Personally, no. I even have sex with them before I agree ti be with them. Kawi, you already ceossed the line. What else are you afraid of?” As an ace myself, I immediatelly dropped the show after this scene has played out. It’s not a one-of comment made in passing, there was a whole set-up for this scene and we and Kawi are supposed to perceive Max’s answer as the correct one. They didn’t have to erase asexual identities like this, they could have mentioned ace people or format the question differently. But they chose not to. And this time again, they had an amazingly written aromantic woman who had her own personality and struggles, and they still chose to take her aromantic identity away and make her straight. And it hurts. I know most people will overlook this, but every time I see bl shows do this, I lose a tiny bit of hope, because it really screams: “make more of the gay stuff that sells” instead of “let’s portray as much diversity as we can”. The saddest thing is that in both cases the erasure was totally avoidable, yet nobody cared enough to notice it was erasing something valuable. It really took a show that was specifically made to educate people about sexualities - The Warp Effect - to have any representation at all. Sorry for a rent like that, I just found it really frustrating and it prevented me from rooting for Pai and Rock. Instead, everytime they grew closer, I could really only think about how Fujisaki-san would have hated to see that in an alternative universe, she became someone she’d hate to become.

[@tallactordude]

This was absolutely a feel good show for me that was delightful from beginning to end. And all of the couples worked for me. I didn’t have a problem with Mark, but then again, this was the first time I had ever seen him in anything, so I had no preconceptions. I had the impression that Tay and New were both very much playing against type, which was confirmed by them in another interview with them that I have seen, and I thought there was a lot of fun in that. The only series I had seen Sing in was He’s Coming to You, and even though he’s four or five years older now than in that show, here he looked like he was about 16 (I think the way he wore his hair in this series had a lot to do with making him look so boyish). The whole show was delightful, romantic comedy, and made a nice contrast to the angst of Last Twilight.

[@jenL_7]

Looking forward to the TayNew interview! 🎉🎉🎉 this was a funny, poignant and lovable show. Tay and New embodied their characters so perfectly and the rest of the cast supported them so well to make this show so special and a huge success ❤

[@dexterfishpaw1]

More people need to check out New in You Are My Missing Piece. He was amazing as a man with severe OCD.

[@SigelTyr]

❤🎉 P'Tay and New should be here

[@dexterfishpaw1]

Ashi got signed to gmmtv and will also be in only boo. I wish Time had got signed cos I always wanted to see him make out with boys 😂 but maybe being in CM is a step in that direction.

[@LetsTalkBL]

Omg that time comment 😆😆 listen… I wouldn’t be mad about it