A love potion, two handsome young men, and the woman who gets caught in between. These are the main elements of a chaotic love triangle portrayed by My Bubble Tea – the recent Thai rom-com series.

“My Bubble Tea” brews an extraordinary love story through its very first episode which aired on May 22, 2020. The latest VIU original series from Thailand entices a spellbinding love story that enchants its viewers.

My Bubble Tea is a romantic comedy series based on popular online fiction, “Make Me XXX,” which tells the story of a young woman who concocts a supernatural bubble tea brew to win the love of her boss. But it is precisely the man she hates who accidentally drinks the tea and falls head over heels for her, forcing her to undergo a chaotic and hilarious love story – which definitely makes My Bubble Tea a series you don’t want to miss.

Modem is a social media enthusiast who has recently graduated and wants to start her work in the marketing sector. As the series goes on, she is offered a job and a handsome boss who makes her heart race. Hailing from a family of spellcasters, Modem is not keen on practising her gifts. On her 24th birthday, she receives a gift from Auntie Shell: an enchanted true love bubble tea, which when consumed by anyone, would make them fall in love with the first person they see. However, Modem insists that she would never use it as “magic-induced love can never be true.”

The universe, however, has other plans. Fateful as it is, as she throws away the magical tea, it falls right down onto the helmet of the delivery man, Light, who has a bad reputation but suddenly becomes so sweet towards her!

As dramatic as it sounds, Modem is in love with someone else: her boss. Her love with Boss doesn’t seem to go anywhere, obviously, while Light is obsessed with her, which leaves her no choice but to keep telling herself that Boss is her true love, while Light is just affected by the spell.

And as if things aren’t messed up yet, the family’s secret magic bubbles (or pearls, in this case) are nowhere to be found! In her quest to bringing back these bubbles, Modem unravels old haunts with her school mate, Ray, who admired her for popularity in school. They open up about past wounds and with the help of one of the magic pearls, their relationship is mended. On the other hand, Modem acknowledges the connection between Light, Boss, and herself and comes to realize that everything that’s happening isn’t just a coincidence, but is destined. So, is Modem going to lift the spell cast unto Light and risk her love of a lifetime, or is she going to leave it as it is and never break free from the enchantment?

Now, it’s important to keep in mind to not judge a book by its cover – or in this case a drama by its cover. When I first came across this show on Facebook, I thought it must have been some sort of meme, especially when reading the synopsis. However, I changed my mind the moment I started the first episode. The opening soundtrack is simple and the graphics are cute. The story and the characters have a lot of solid development – which I don’t see much in a lot of the dramas – the acting was great, and the visual effects of the magic were magnificent.

I loved that this show was so unique in its story, despite being laughable at first glance. As a fan of Asian drama and love stories, I simply got onto this thinking it might be a fun and hilarious story, but what I found instead was the magic (pun intended) in the story. The story has so much heart, and I loved that there were actually some life lessons built into the episodes, likes ones from Modem and Ray, Light and his father.

I felt such an attachment and resonance to all characters, from Auntie Shell and Uncle Hoy to Wifi (Modem’s little brother), and Modem’s sidekick friends: Up, Oor and Yogurt – they were all lovable. Supporting characters such as Ray and Boss also gained a lot of character development and this is something that is also pretty hard to find in any Asian drama.

I completely enjoy this series and wish that it was a bit longer, just because there is so much more this series could cover. One thing that disappointed me was the inadequate use and mention of magic. The synopsis makes it seem as if magic takes center-stage in the entire series, but after a couple of episodes where Modem finds all the magic pearls that she accidentally lets loose into the world, it’s put onto a back burner, until we find out that Boss takes the role of Cupid and is a literal angel. Later on, we find out the magic council wants to punish Modem for releasing the magic pearls and letting magic be known to the world. All of this happens in the last couple of episodes and feels quite a bit rushed and TMI in my opinion.

The development of this could have been better, such as answering questions about how Auntie Shell became a witch – was she born with it, did she gain the powers, and so on – but such questions are pretty much unanswered. As such, maybe a spinoff show about Auntie Shell, her magic and the world she might have come from would be nice.

Nonetheless, this is definitely a series I would recommend watching. A 10/10. Even if this was just one big advertisement for bubble tea (eww), I wouldn’t have minded at all. The story being as good as it was was just a huge advantage, and I think it will probably make anyone who has never heard of bubble tea or had it before want to try it. Bubble tea is magical, and the show literally went with this idea, turning something so cliche into a work of art.

If you want to watch the series, simply google “My Bubble Tea Viu.” It is also available for free on dramacool.com.