#matalada

Lily said that she's going to New York. Trai also said he's going to New York. What is this? Are you two secretly dating? What? I didn't know that he was going to New York as well.

FAVORITE MEDIA | THAILAND | LAKORNS

axelle judges non bl shows > To The Moon and Back

/!\ SPOILERS AHEAD

summary: Matalada is a naive and kind girl who was raised by a community of queer drag queens. When she meets Pennueng, a doctor who was raised to be nothing but perfect his whole life, sparks flies and opposites do, as always, attract.

where to watch: dramacool

grade: 8,5/10

pros:

this story was so fucking down my alley, bro. minimal drama and pure character development & analysis for 21 episodes? sign me the fuck up!!! the themes were so beautiful, about forgiveness & growth, chosen family & kindness always winning... I ATE THAT SHIT UPPP!!! such a heartwarming & honestly important lakorn for choosing depth above drama.

this is the least toxic lakorn couple I've ever seen, apart from maybe the one in to me, it's simply you which I also loved! they just truly love & respect each other and were written incredibly well. even though they're vanilla af, I didn't get bored at all?? LOVE THEM!

bruh, the characters!!! truly the first time in a lakorn where I truly love not only the main characters, but the entire cast. pennueng is so fucking soft, mata is legit the queen of my heart, trichat owns me entirely and is one of the most complex & interesting ever in my eyes, pang was also super complex & badass, and matalada's entire family????? are my family now. I absolutely adored them, and it was by far one of the best queer representation in lakorns!

the chemistry was beyond incredible! the main ship is perfect & truly feel like soulmates, and the side ship was SO HOT & iconic together, I was stanning! two different vibes but they both ATE!

the acting was PERFECT! everyone did an amazing role, james jirayu perfect in the role of the sad & stilted doctor, toey jarinporn impressed me so much for the first role I've seen her in, she was perfect for mata & absolutely made this role hers, the pang actress was great, I loved seeing the dad actor in a queer role, he honestly ate, the aunt vee actress ATE, especially considering it's her first role ever, the grandma??? fucked me up, I cried so much in her scenes lol. but the one who impressed me the most is ryu wachirawich. I only knew him from 9x9, but BITCHHHHH. he absolutely BODIED trichat & made him his in a way that has made me an immediate stan even though it usually takes me 2 to 3 roles to stan someone! he was so good & I'm looking forward to his next roles!

cons:

I was so confused by trichat ending up with riri. while I liked them together & they had been built up to have some tension since their first meeting... obviously trichat & pang should've ended up together??? in fact, I was certain they did??? didn't they mend things together & go on a double date with the main couple??? that whole thing was so confusing bc tri & pang had been far more developed and also built up to be soulmates like the main ship, so I was so disappointed by this choice of ending. ESPECIALLY since riri is canonically queer & used to like mata, so I wish we'd have seen her end up with a girlfriend, which would've added to the representation of the show.

similarly, I think the whole tri x pang storyline was made overly complicated for no reason. what was actually my favorite ship of the two quickly became a bit slow & repetitive after a while, and I believe they could've conveyed the same type of story better.

I wish we'd have seen at least one queer character get a love interest. this lakorn focuses more on the 'identity' aspect of queerness rather than the 'sexuality' aspect, which I found very interesting & worth exploring, but considering half of the characters are queer & they're basically the only ones ending up single feels kinda weird. just something they could've improved.

would I rewatch it: yes!

Are you tired, Penneung? Are you tired?