BL Drama Lovers Club

My Bias is Showing - Final

I really enjoyed EP 9.  The scene where Si Yeol tried to act cool in front of the manager while having bedhead cracked me up. 

I thought the make-up & confession scenes between Si Yeol and Ae Jun were done really well considering the actor playing Si Yeol seemed stiff or wooden for the majority of the series.  He did better in EP 10 too. I even saw him crack a big smile that looked genuine and carefree.

The female playing the director or whatever her staff position was did a great job. I think she's so cute but don't see her listed in the MDL cast line-up. She seems like a sweetheart.

Some things could have been done better but overall I felt warm and fuzzy by the end and that counts for a lot!

One more off the CW list and on to my fav BL list Woot woot!

So in the last month I watched quite a few series, mostly older or even “classic.” Here are my comments about each.

Together With Me (2017)          my rating: 8.5 (=liked it a lot)

This is MaxTul’s first series, and they are fire together immediately. Quite literally, in fact, as the series starts with an NC scene. They play best friends who sleep together when drunk and then spend the rest of the series trying to figure out their relationship. Tul has a girlfriend, which complicates things. There is a second BL couple with a 20-year age gap and a third couple of a teacher/student. This is a campus romance with a great friend circle but also some really manipulative characters who create quite a bit of drama.

i thought Max and Tul were great, both together and separately. They really sold the emotional challenges they each faced. The other characters in the show are more exaggerated but still interesting. There are definitely some annoying and upsetting story elements but overall this is really good and totally worth watching. Dramatic rather than fluff, though.

I thought it was really interesting to see passionate NC scenes in such an old series, especially a campus romance. They weren’t explicit but showed more intimacy than I have seen in any other early BLs. Also, Max doesn’t have your typical BL actor build. He is very muscular. I guess he could be compared to Big or Mos but he struck me as more bulky and therefore different than anyone else I’ve seen.

FYI, I also watched this because RX has it listed as one of his favorite shows.

Dark Blue Kiss (2019)     My rating=8.0 (I thought it was good)

This is TayNew’s first series as the lead couple. PodGawin play the second couple and there’s a third straight couple. TayNew’s couple was apparently established in a prequel which I didn’t watch. (Someone has compiled clips of them from the prequel and I plan to watch that instead.) PodGawin are an enemies to lover’s story. TayNew’s story is about facing challenges and being closeted. This is also a campus romance, with some familiar GMMTV faces in supporting parts.

i watched this because I loved TayNew in Cherry Magic. Unfortunately, for the first half of this series they annoyed me. Their manner of flirting is to tease/wrestle with each other, and somehow it just didn’t seem cute. Also despite hinting about how often they have sex, they don’t show them kissing for the first half of the series. So I started off being bored and just waiting for PodGawin to stop being enemies. About halfway through the story really picked up, though, and by episode 7 or 8 I was heavily invested in both couples. Then there was some drama, and some things made me cry, but it all ended well.

I gave this an 8 vs an 8.5 because of how long it took me to get into it. But I loved the second half and would definitely recommend this show.

Oxygen (2020)      My rating: 7.5 (I liked it but it had flaws)

A third campus romance with two BL couples and one straight couple. This stars Supanut. I’m not a huge fan of his, so I mainly watched this because RX loves it. The main couple in this are ”love at first sight/rich boy-poor boy” and the second couple are “grumpy-sunshine.” There are a lot of the usual tropes with a few dramatic twists. I found the story a bit slow and not always engaging, but it was still sweet overall.

also Michael from Pit Babe has a side part in Oxygen.

 dora:

Oxygen (2020)      My rating: 7.5 (I liked it but it had flaws)

I loved "Oxygen", despite its flaws (especially the third storyline). The main storyline (Solo/Gui) is one of my core comfort rewatches, and I've watched it more times than I can count.

This was the first time I ever saw Supanut, and althoúgh some criticised his acting as stiff, I thought he played the role (Gui's faithful puppydog) quite  well, and I very quickly fell in love with him. The "love at first sight" trope really works for me. Gui's character was also lovely. And of course, there's Supanut's beautiful theme song, especially when he performs it at the university event. He's a top-notch musician.

Although it took me longer to warm up to the second storyline (Phu/Kao), it got better, and I thought it turned out pretty well.

The biggest weakness is the third storyline. Khim (the fujoshi) is a great character, but the doctors just didn't work at all for me, and it dragged on much too long. The series would've been much better if they had kept Khim as a comic support character, shortened it, and maybe done a simpler "young first love" side storyline for Khim's younger brother Khem.

Mr. P

i agree with most of what you said about oxygen. The main couple story did work well, and the second couple grew on me. As for the third couple, I’m just glad BLs no longer feel the need to include a straight couple as well, lol. They (straight couples) have enough good stories elsewhere. 

I would recommend this more than most shows I give a 7.5. And, yes, I loved the theme song by Supanut.

The Last Night 

I hated it. I don't know what they were trying to do, but it did not work for me. I just want to erase this drama from my mind.

My Bias Is Showing?! 

I loved it! I think it started off a bit weak but the last 4 episodes were really good.  I especially loved their emotional scenes,  they portrayed the emotions so well.

I was surprised by Kevin, I didn't know he was such a good actor. I loved his performance from start to finish, I think his portrayal of the character was really good.

The relationship between the manager and Na Aijoon was also really wholesome. I loved seeing their scenes together.

Summer Crush 

For a short series, it was surprisingly well done. I really liked the chemistry between the leads.

Cherry Magic  Thai version

After months of starting this, I finally finished it.  And I think It was really good.

It's been such a long time since I watched a series with Tay and New as leads and honestly, I forgot how much I loved seeing them together. Their chemistry is still strong, I could really feel their ease with each other.

 Seeing Tay as Kurosawa wasn't somenthing I though i needed, but wow.. he was so good. 

I feel like both versions have their own charms, and watching this made me love every character.

I think this series is going to hold a very special place in my heart.

 p43425:

directed by four visionary directors

Wait, differents directors? I had no idea! At this point, I'm not even sure if I'll check out the others lol

 p43425:

As I posted a few days back (can't find my post now), I've been working my way through all the BL reels and mini-series on Shortime, and so far "Summer Crush" is definitely the best

Oh right! I think it was your post that got me to watch it.

 Indie Art Girl:

Is this a vertical?

See my post on p. 2255 (near the bottom of the page).