Meep. I saw this the moment I woke up and on one hand my excitement just fizzled and i'm like ... "meh..." and after thinking things through, I'm excited for it again. haha.
I am a complete Lakorn newbie so I suppose I have fewer expectations (or even perhaps "standards") than most of you. Admittedly james ji's mustache threw me off. :yuck: It was really bad! hahahaha. But later on there was a picture of him in side view and he was doing that conceited "hey baby" look of his (sorry, hard to explain haha) and I think they were trying to achieve the Clark Gable with a mix of James Dean look for him. That is an oxymoron in itself because heck those two guys look so different. (just notice how his hair isn't flat and all khun chai like, it's fluffy and/or puffed up then they have that thin line mustache on him). I think after the initial shock of seeing him with a mustache has passed, he starts to look "passable". So I guess it'll be a challenge for him to pull off that look with his acting.
Also, when he donned the bomber jacket, I can't help but compare it to James Ma back in the SJ fitting days. I remember in the forums there, everyone started to notice newbie James Ma when he had that bomber jacket look down with the same hairdo despite him looking so different in his candid pics. I can't make up my mind who pulled it off better, but i think that's not the point :scratchhead2: Anyway. I think, James ma was able to look more mysterious with his "mysterious sort-of-smile" - and James Ji looks more should I say cocky or "naughty" with his more smiley face. Perhaps it's also why they gave him a mustache. I don't know how common it is for Lakorns to have heroes who are "young" and with a military background - that they have to clearly set them apart from the others.
Bella's make up could have been done better. I agree that she does look older. I think it's because they made her eyeliner/eye shadow too dark. They need to soften her eyes to make her look younger. In Puttipat, she looked so young in episode 1 where she barely had make up on.
Lastly, I think it was the set in general that looked "cheap" - I mean, the pictorial only had them standing, with the cloth or the brick wall. there were no props like the chairs, and the sets and everything else. With the clothes, they didn't seem elaborate but I think they weren't that bad (though as I said earlier, I haven't seen enough Lakorns to pass judgment). Perhaps the characters here are not as affluent as in the other Lakorns? Wasn't Bella's character supposed to be like a Cinderella here?