Bad Buddy Series Boxset (2021) (DVD) (Ep. 1-12) (End) (English Subtitled) (Thailand Version) DVD Region 3

Directed by Backaof Noppharnach Chaiwimol, Bad Buddy stays in the familiar territory of school romance. Pat (Ohm Pawat Chittsawangdee) and Pran (Nanon Korapat Kirdpan) are next-door neighbors whose parents hate each other. Inheriting their parents' rivalry, the two boys competed over everything from a young age, but an incident led them to a truce until Pran was sent to boarding school. Pat and Pran reunite at the same university, but they're forced to fight again because of the heated rivalry between the Engineering and Architecture departments. To stop their friends from exchanging punches every time they cross paths, Pat and Pran agree to work together to avoid confrontations, but in the process, they have to confront their feelings for each other.

At first glance, Bad Buddy is a completely typical Thai BL series: a college romance about opposites attract and bickering rivals turning into lovers – and, of course, one of them is an Engineering student. Bad Buddy simply does every part of that typical BL campus romance story better. Given the setup, the series is almost surprisingly reasonable and realistic with the protagonists' interactions and relationship development. This is the rare romantic drama where the leads resolve misunderstandings by talking to each other, and don't partake in toxic behavior or noble idiocy.

Between their families' and their faculties' overblown rivalries, Pat and Pran have a modern-day "Romeo and Romeo" situation going, but they just sensibly get over the animosity of their parents and the immaturity of their friends. At the same time, both revel in immature bickering, tussling and flirting with each other, providing the audience with plenty of comedic and romantic moments to smile over. The script often smartly uses humor to tone down potentially cliched or cheesy scenarios while depicting the heart-fluttering push and pull of testing the waters. Bad Buddy is genuinely funny and fun to watch.

Ohm and Nanon really sell the youth, romance and comedy aspects of this youth romcom. Ohm's experience and comfort with the BL genre shows as he hits all the notes naturally, while Nanon, with his baby face, expressive eyes and all, continues to be a young actor to be reckoned with. Besides earning their couple hashtag with natural chemistry, this pairing is among the strongest in terms of acting quality in a BL series.

Bad Buddy even does product placement better than the rest. Every GMMTV drama comes with blatant product placement, and it's usually awkward and obtrusive. Watching Thai dramas has introduced me to as many Thai beverages as actors. Bad Buddy, however, manages to integrate its PPL quite well into the script, turning bottled tea, makeup remover, printers and even a nasal stick into sweet or funny points of interaction for the protagonists.