Good Ol’ Review: GMMTV’s “Fish Upon the Sky” a Charmingly Fun and Fluffy Series

Fish Upon the Sky Review

TYPE OF REVIEW : GOOD OL’ REVIEW
No spoilers.

It’s been a while since my last Thai BL series, which was TayNew’s fun, soapy Dark Blue Kiss. In the last year and a half since that series aired, I’ve focused my TV viewing on the dozens of past Korean dramas I’d been meaning to watch for years. And that’s in addition to all the new current dramas that pop up every other week. As a fan of #TayNew (them having been the first Thai BL couple whose series I actually watched), I tuned in to the entire 2+ hours of GMMTV’s recent trade launch touting their upcoming 2022 series. All in the hopes that a surprise new TayNew project would be announced. Sadly, that wasn’t the case.

However! I was intrigued by one of GMMTV’s upcoming series, Never Let Me Go. A few of them intrigued me actually, but I was most interested in Never Let Me Go because I’d regularly come across TikToks and Instagram posts featuring its stars Pond and Phuwin in the last year. So they looked familiar, yet the trailer for Never Let Me Go was so far from the light, fluffy clips I had stumbled upon on social media.

That interest led me to checking out the show those clips were apparently from which was their debut series together entitled Fish Upon the Sky (ปลาบนฟ้า). Finding myself in a bit of K-drama hole recently, I decided to go ahead and watch the 12-episode series. And though it was far from a perfect series, it easily made me a fan of its stars and reminded me how fun and refreshing these interesting Thai BL series can be.

There’s definitely a reason (or three or more) that Thai BL series have exploded in popularity in the last few years. There’s a fun charm about them that I think is universal and relatable. You don’t have to necessarily share the same exact preferences or life situations or culture in these series to be able to relate to and be endeared to the simple, straightforward, yet relatable characters.

That was certainly the case for me with Fish Upon the Sky. The series follows university dental student Pi (Phuwin Tangsakyuen) as he tries to muster up the confidence and courage to approach his crush Mueang Nan (Mix Sahaphap Wongratch). But in the process, he meets med student Mork (Pond Naravit Lertratkosum) who he believes is his rival for Mueang Nan’s attention.

It’s not hard to guess what’s next though as Pi and Mork begin spending more time together and run into each other more often. The sparks fly and we get a familiar, good ol’ rivals-turned-lovers situation.

Couple that with a parallel subplot featuring Pi’s brash older brother Duean (Neo Trai Nimtawat) befriending (and then falling for) the kind and gentle Meen (Louis Thanawin Teeraphosukarn) and you’ve got a solid lead quartet. A pair of couples you want to root for and follow, even if many of the things around them can get too crazy and over the top.

Indeed, there are some annoying, unnecessary over-the-top aspects of the story and associated characters. There’s more than enough for the four leads to carry the entire series on their own without the contrived slapstick and over-the-top attempts at humor that rarely land.

When the focus is on our two main couples, the series is at its strongest. That’s not to say the series breaks any new ground. Because it absolutely does not. But it’s merely a nice, fluffy opportunity for a hopeless romantic like myself, who can’t help but cheer on a pair of nice couples to get together in the end.

The four actors have good chemistry with each other, even beyond their respective couplings. And they’ve obviously endeared themselves to the audience enough for each couple to get more projects together in the new year.

Overall, watching Fish Upon the Sky was a fun little re-entry for me into the world of Thai BL series. Though the series was far from perfect and it never breaks new ground, it’s the kind of series that you just sit back and enjoy. A sweet, fluffy and easy to watch escape.

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