My Boy – Series Review

Nut is a university freshman, slightly more advanced in age than your typical student. He already completed his studies years ago, but had to drop out of school for personal reasons. Nut has now returned back to university to graduate properly this time. At school, he has a close-knitted group of friends, which consists of Nine, Jadai, and Pang. His friends affectionately call him "Uncle Nut" due to his wisdom and kindness.

One day, Nut occupies a chair that was reserved for Satha, upsetting him terribly. Due to this minor misunderstanding, Satha has a negative opinion of this freshman student. Later, Nut and his friends join the photography club, where Satha is the president. He begins antagonizing Nut, and the two of them have a rocky start to their relationship.

Over time, Satha and Nut clear the air with each other. Making up for his earlier hostility, Satha takes a keen interest in Nut's life. He discovers that Nut cares about money a lot, because he needs it to pay for his tuition and his father's gambling debts. The more Satha learns about him, the more he respects this hardworking student that he misjudged badly at the start.

Before Nut enrolled in university, he was in a committed relationship with his boyfriend Ball. However, Ball cheated on him in the past. Nut can't forgive his indiscretions and walked away from this romance. To this day, his ex-boyfriend is still hung up on him. Ball begins stalking Nut in secret, taking an unhealthy interest in his university life and his new circle of friends.

Meanwhile, Satha has been flirting with another senior named Alice, who clearly has a crush on him. Although Alice makes advances towards him, Satha doesn't give her that much attention. Satha's roommate Nanon has a secret crush on Alice and feels annoyed with the way his friend is treating her.

My Boy is not a good BL drama, let's get that out of the way. It's simply an unpolished series with a subpar plot, shallow characters, and scattered pacing. There's no diamond in the rough and the quality doesn't improve much after a rocky start. While My Boy has a few redeeming qualities, it's a very clumsy attempt at BL and you're probably better off watching something else.

In the beginning, My Boy will confuse you by introducing dozens of irrelevant minor characters. Some are designated as comic relief, while others are there to take up space in the bloated cast. You can hardly distinguish between the gaggles of friends, multiple professors, bartenders and baristas, as well as the one-dimensional villains. The filler cast is involved in many frivolous scenes, which don't advance the plot and will cause you to lose interest.

There's an aimlessness in My Boy that will frustrate you as much as it bores you. The paper-thin plot is only made worse by the dreadful writing, which relies too heavily on juvenile humour that isn't very funny. A few comedic moments are kinda amusing, like the cute basketball scene in Episode 6, but they're the rare exceptions to many other awkward jokes. Almost all the characters are silly stereotypes and theatrical caricatures, completely devoid of depth or substance. They only exist to deliver bad gags and do nothing else.

The single outlier is Uncle Nut's character, a very inspired choice for a protagonist. His advanced age makes him an unconventional lead for a university BL romance, opening up new storylines that you don't typically expect. We explore topics like ageism, financial burdens, adult responsibilities, and second chances. While these themes aren't examined too deeply, I applaud My Boy for going against the norm with an older main character. I wished they pushed the envelope further, because Uncle Nut could've been a really unique selling point in this series.

It's a shame that Nut shares little romantic chemistry with Satha, who's an awfully written love interest. His initial hostility towards Nut is ridiculous, yet it makes no sense when Satha suddenly becomes infatuated with the person he's antagonizing. I never warmed to him and found his character thoroughly unlikeable. My Boy keeps emphasizing how handsome and popular he is, putting him on such a high pedestal that it's a turn-off. Also, I want to talk about that unibrow, but it speaks for itself…

My Boy ends with some annoying last-minute drama, which gets resolved in the final stretch of the episode. Perhaps the best part about the finale is that Nut got a massive glow-up, making him look less like an uncle and more like a mature daddy. Despite the happy ending, I still feel like Nut and Satha's love story is severely lacklustre. Watching My Boy hasn't been an enjoyable journey, straying too often into absurdity, banality, and superficiality. I don't recommend this series unless you have a high tolerance for ill-conceived BL dramas.