Sneha Jaiswal (Twitter | Instagram)
Why does a smart introverted Thai student, who practically runs the other way when someone on campus approaches him, sport shiny dirty-blonde hair colour? It makes him stand out like Legolas amid a pack of bald men. But well, apart from his questionable hairstyle choice, Diew, the protagonist of ‘Monster Next Door’ is a cute little asocial weirdo, whose best-friend is a tiny turtle called ‘Khun Shy’. Diew has only one real friend in college and prefers spending his days quietly in his dorm room. So when a popular extroverted senior from University called God moves next door, Diew’s peaceful life turns upside down.
Directed by Kungfu Nitivat Cholvanichsiri (A Love So Beautiful, Doctor Detective), the Thai romance series Monster Next Door spans 12 episodes and is based on Jiwinil’s novel Godzilla Next Door. Park Anantadej Sodsee is the shy and misunderstood protagonist Diew, while Big Thanakorn Kuljarassombat (OMG! Vampire/Step by Step) plays God, his popular new neighbor & senior known who throws loud parties that annoy Diew. Despite being popular, God is considerate and kind, and once they become acquaintances, he keeps the noise down and develops a crush on Diew. Still healing from a disrespectful ex, Diew is hesitant to get close to God, but the patient and persistent senior doesn’t give up on wooing him.
‘Monster Next Door’ is a very slow-paced show, so it will test the patience of viewers who like their romances to move at a gratifying speed. Diew’s character is painfully realistic and representation of certain personality types – he is a introverted, anxious kid, with low confidence, so he avoids socializing with people, lest they make fun on him. Of-course, on the other hand, Diew also feels unreasonable/selfish – he goes an extra mile to protect himself, so he rarely considers how his actions might be hurtful to others. It’s hard to make such personalities come outside of their protective shell, so someone like the kind, patient, confident God is able to put up with Diew’s quirks in an understanding manner.
Those who aren’t able to empathize with Diew’s personality type, will likely lose interest in ‘Monster Next Door’ quickly. Although I really enjoyed the sweet, simple, slow-burn pace of the show in the first half of the series. The one thing that bothered me about the series was the small tank Diew keeps his turtle Khun Shy in, it was so small, it looked like a pet prison!
Park Anantadej Sodsee and Big Thanakorn Kuljarassombat are quite likable as lead pair Diew and God, especially after they start dating, a development that is thankfully not postponed until the climactic episodes. God is very respectful and considerate about Diew’s boundaries and his aversion to hanging out in large crowds or socializing too much, at the same time, Diew doesn’t show any jealous tendencies over God hanging out with his own set of friends.
Mhing Thatsaphon Ruengkitrattanakun plays Diew’s ex-boyfriend Pi, and their past is shown in flashback to better explain Diew’s reluctance to dating a popular senior. Big Thanakorn Kuljarassombat’s God is basically the God of this show (except for his questionable drumming skills), who always attempts to solve problems between him and Diew through healthy communication and rarely loses his cool.
There’s a secondary ‘friends to lovers’ romance in ‘Monster Next Door’ involving God’s best-friends Wan (Kade Tanapon Hathaidachadusadee) and Ole (Ole Thanakorn Sangwan), which wasn’t very interesting. God’s loud, tomboy-ish, single friend Biu (Proud Urucha Sirichaiwongsakul) was probably the most entertaining among the group, with her only romantic interests being food and drinks.
Overall, ‘Monster Next Door’ is a simple, cute-sy college romance, which is dragged out in the last few episodes, and should’ve been eight episodes long. If you’re looking for a ‘popular extrovert falls for a shy introvert’ kinda campus love story, this might be an interesting pick.
Rating: 6 on 10. You can stream the series on WeTV.
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