Watch diary jan-mar 25

Les contes de la lune vague après la pluie  or Rain-Moon Tales: sounds better in French!

A story about two selfish and weak men who forsake their wives in the middle of a civil war, in order to pursue their own goals. One wants to be rich and ends up living with a ghost while his wife and child starve. The other one dreams of being a samurai, so he spends all their hard-earned money to buy an armour and a spear and runs away to army while his wife is raped by renegade soldiers and becomes a prostitute.

No fairy tale (conte) here! Just a cautionary tale! 30/03/25

My first airing drama!

• Urban setting and realistic not polished like other thai bls.
• nail art: pretty but strange on boys though it serves its purpose in revealing the characters' inner divas
• why is the ML wearing a jacket when no one is? It is obviously hot outside!
• what would a thai bl be without a guitar or two: my ears are still bleeding from their singing!
• the girlfriend wanted to be in a fruple (friend+couple) so she became an ex. Afterwards he cried and realized after a few seconds he did not care about her at all!

Finally was not interested in continuing watching it. DROPPED 08/03/25 Picked up again 23/03.

The whole drama is actually an ad for Spotify. These kids spend their every waking moment on their phones, swinging between IG and spotify! What a sad life! DROPPED. AGAIN. 31/03/25

This is the first instalment of the anthology saga. It features kisses brought on by different situations. Expertly executed!

1 friends to lovers

2 drunkenly kissing a stranger after finding out her husband cheated on her

3 the third date, the first kiss

4 after an argument, the make up kiss in a bathtub

5 a high school student and the school nurse

6 overtime work in the office and a secret kiss between a girl and her boss and her best friend"s boyfriend. Complicated!

7 a girl kisses her boyfriend in a restaurant and he is so shocked that he just stays still and unresponsive

8 a man kisses a woman from toes to head but refuses to kiss her on the lips

9 a couple celebrates their 3 month anniversary be kiss feeding each other

10  reunion kiss after three months of separation

11 something in the rain, a comforting kiss between friends who are becoming more

12 a kiss on a picnic blanket after a nap

13 she needs to cheer up so, after a drink, her friend, the bartender kisses her

14 a kiss with her longtime crush after the high school reunion

Well, this was a fun watch! Took me longer to write notes than to watch it: episodes are 2min long! The chinese with their reels dramas invented nothing! 30/03/25

An anthology of short 6min films featuring different couples making out.

1. making out in the dark classroom while the teacher shows slides. The best and the most original!

2. an actor and his girlfriend read some lines...the height difference is huge and though they are both cute, they are not cute together.

3. a married boss and his assistant kiss in a hotel room

4. BL: in the office a junior salaryman and his senpai kiss on a table: hoooooot!

5 giggly fun filled kiss/pecks on lips between a voice actor and his producer but the height difference is right out of a manga...again!

6 an idol (the cute actor from ep 1) and his non celebrity girlfriend cement their relationship when the scandal breaks, with a kiss

7 a married woman makes out with her caligraphy teacher, thinking about breaking off with him while sharing a passionate kiss

8 a TV newscaster and his producer kiss  in order to forget a mistake she made and to convince her that it does not matter. The cute guy from ep 1 & 6 is there too...

9 BL between two idol singers. Apparently same character played by the cute actor: a seducer in high school, lives with a secret girlfriend as an idol and then after a tv show, he kisses his idol group mate in their van.

10 the other idol is a University student secretly dating a country bumpkin with a slight upper lip shadow

11 a Cinderella fairy tale between a rich prince and a poor kitchen assistant. Ridiculous!

12 a forbidden teacher/student romance with a fantasy, time slip element

This was a fun watch. I liked this almost full bi BL story over 4/5 episodes. Japan does these almost taboo (for many people today: infidelity, secrets sexuality etc.) topics perfectly. 29/03/25

This starts bad: some artsy cinematography's effect is ruined by an idiotic "traffic" accident involving an electric scooter?!? Really?!? And of course, the uke was saved by the same in a "spectacular" pirouette/fall way while our victim was completely dazed at the edge of an empty road and the scooter had just the width of said road to avoid our idiotic victim!

This is awful! So much bad acting and a ridiculous storyline!

Snapping fingers lift/porn electronic generic music? Really?!? Give me a break?

Why is DaOn's suit oversize: he is swimming in it and looks like a little boy trying to wear his father's clothes! And, of course, he has an abusive father!

Poor little uke stayed outside in the rain for full five minutes, the next thing you know: he's in hospital feverish and tired....

His voice is deep and serious....ly  ridiculous with his ample clothing. A metaphor for hiding in plain sight? I don't think the writers are that deep!

The third guy seems to be a true psycho! 

Uke is just a weak guy, completely lost (both in his clothes and his life) waiting for a saviour. He's been in love with Jaemin forever but could never date him because Jaemin and the psycho made a pact of non aggression. Why? When he knows that DaOn likes him? How much more idiotic can this series get?

Basically there are three guys in love with the damsel in distress. Two of those are true psychos! While the "poor" chaebol heir behaves like a baby psycho, throwing tantrums, the real big psycho is Jaemin, manipulation everyone, softly and calmly. He is the most dangerous because unexpected.

So the third guy is the saviour and as the plot progresses, DaOn gets to be more and more childlike, innocent and waiting to be helped. How did he ever become a Manager at work when he lets everyone walk all over him?

This is just bad! And lacking logic...DROPPED after 5 episodes. 24/03/25

Two strange stories about two policemen who eat at the same restaurant and try to get over a bad break up.

While the first story is rather psychedelic in the way it was filmed it is also short, about 30min. 

The second is just weird on many levels but the characters seem to accept that weirdness and revel in it. The girl just goes into the policeman's flat and wearing pink dishwashing gloves, she kind of lives there while he's out at work. She plays weird unhealthy pranks on him: changing cans' labels and drugging his water. Obsessed much? 

Definitely worth the watch for the visuals of two male leads. The rest is..not! 16/03/25

Basic plot: idols in training meet again after a misunderstanding and quickly get back together again, there is a nasty  ex -girlfriend and an alcoholic abusiv father....the classic KBL fodder! They changed the main actor halfway through: if I did not know about it, I would not have noticed. Some nice earnest kissing: unusual for horizontal format KBL. 12/03/25

Trying another BL after BLBliss' raving review and this starts strong: naked,muscly bodies frolicking in the water (sea, shower) separately, unfortunately because the music accompanying this fantasy is the ordinary lift/porn boring music....Let's see where this goes but it looks positively awful! And after the first episode it is definitely awful! Trope filled story with ridiculous coincidences and an incredibly high amount of bad acting. Moreover it looks like it was filmed by 14 year old fujoshis. DROPPED 12/03/25

Hamlet adaptation. Amazing filming and acting: goes by in a flash. The story is a tragedy because the good guys loose. The ending is a bit underwhelming since we were only told but it was never shown what happened to Nishi. So it is rather ambiguous with other characters faking death maybe he did it too? And he's going to be back and finish his revenge? We'll never know! 09/03/25

Another trope filled vertical drama with classic uke and seme roles. Seme blackmails uke into doing some modeling. The professor is harassing uke but surprisingly he stands up for himself and is not saved by the seme as it usually happens. And of course, the uke is traumatized by being abandoned by his mother. Moreover why would a boring influencer couple have 800K subscribers?!? You could not pay me to watch them answer insipid questions during a live stream about their boring lives.... Booooooooring! But only 1h long so.... 09/03/25

Still love it. A bit more dreary than the US version but the magic is there....1/03/25

Awful, trope filled and chemistry free dross. DROPPED 28/02/25

Nice, rather adult beginning: both men are in dying relationships they do not know how to get out of. They are both in sexless relationship and they want sex! (NB Big problem in Japan: the lack of sex drive!)

A couple of men of few words who find in the things they were missing and eventually completeach other.

This is the kind of BL I like.

Final dead fish kiss takes 1 point off. 27/02/25

Chinese silent film based on Shakespeare. Really well executed transposition to republican china. Beautiful two main actors. Stunning! 25/02/25

It was OK but they lifted completely the initial plot points from Naeil's Cantabile: two pianists, one a classical genius while the other is a genius forced into a box from which he escapes every time he can. They clash, sparks fly and then they are in love!

The only positive side in these reel dramas is that the actors are not scared of intimacy and the kisses look natural and real. The rest is boring and bad. 21/02/25

Very stilted acting, seems artificial, not natural. Weird... And the music? Japanese do no know how to choose music. Here we have cheerful music sounding like a mix of circus and folk italian music. The story is not a very cheerful one: about a man coming to terms with the fact that the world moves on.

What does the title refer to: the autumn of a man's life? Looks like it! The Father is getting older and lonelier as the time goes on. 19/02/25

Very graphic sex scenes. Is this art or porn? 

Whatever, not in the mood! Dropped 17/02/25

HM's funny review made me want to rewatch this so I started it. The dog and God pair are hilarious but the episodes are 44min long....why Japan, this is a BL, make the episodes short! I have no patience left. DROPPED 1/02/25

Actually, I changed my mind! So we have a body swap, two people in comas, a GL, a BL and a fake straight romance. All commented by a fujoshi talking dog. I am doing HM's Bingo and after 2 episodes, I am almost there: all I need is a nice little rain shower....Which I got in ep 3!

I love the opening credits! 

Rin is by far the best female character in a BL ever. Ever! (Followed closely by Sandee from thai Kiss Me Again) And I am loving the mothers: they are so different from the majority of moms in JBLs who are usually distant, busy and not interested in their own kids. Here they are the complete opposite! And so much more interesting for it! On the other hand, the fathers are nowhere to be seen. Working, in the office, long hours?

So one mother just needed to be worried about her son's gay future. And he, 5 years into a relationship (what would a drama be without a time jump!), does not want to kiss his boyfriend in public (a shrine deep in the forest) in front of a God?!? What a way to ruin a good drama! And, the cherry on top, a kiss filmed from 3miles away through sun rays and falling petals. Nice? No! Pretty? Yes! 02/02/25

Based on King Lear. Plot: a cruel and bloodthirsty king is caught up with old age and wants to retire in peace. So he decides to let his three sons rule the kingdom. But the youngest one refuses thinking it a very bad idea. King banishes him and relinquishes power to his two other sons. They promptly go and do everything in their power to get rid of their father and then they fight each other. The oldest son's wife keeps pouring poison in her husband's ear, seeking revenge for the slaughter of her own family by the old king. While running away, the King is made to face the consequences of his actions, of his cruelty, the hatred and the fear he provokes not respect and loyalty.  He is just reaping now what he had been sowing for a long time!

The women are dangerous: softly and silently, from their own chambers, they rule the unaware men!

The Fool is the only one who dares tell the king the truth along with his youngest son, but when the king finally realizes it, it is too late and he is left all alone!

I was a bit wary of watching a 2h40 long film  but it passes so quickly....

The Gods can't save us from ourselves. 02/02/25

I am going to be crude here, but halfway through this film (and I am really hoping that I am wrong about this!), everything points out to a middle aged man thinking with his dick instead of his brains and falling for a pretty young woman who is obviously manipulating him. Plots like these are a dime a dozen so let's see....Obsession and manipulation! Moreover, his best friend keeps warning him but he is too much "in love" too accept it.

Why do I have a feeling that the dog is going to have a major role to play in this? And that the son is going to be killed? Please, surprise me, don't make it so obvious! From the moment he met her, he's been having moments of absence, feeling heavy and tired....drugged probably!

Halfway through the film, she disappears so he starts investigating and keeps discovering disturbing circumstantial evidence.

Unfortunately, it did go they way I thought it would only the dog and the son were unharmed. 1/02/24

This looks like an ad for Line messaging service. Still, it is quite good so now, half way through I don't feel like dropping this. It has the added bonus of having only 10min episodes so no fillers and outlandish plotlines.

The misunderstanding at the airport was idiotic. ML was an idiot in giving his phone to a man who admitted, just a minute earlier, that stealing phones was his hobby! There were a lot of stupid moments like this throughout the drama. But the two keep texting each other throughout. They finally meet in the last episode: she missed an important audition and he is treating her as a friend. This is not a love story but a ridiculous, macho empowering ad. The ML is not a likeable character.

I finished it today and it has killed my addiction to asian dramas: I hope for the last time and definitely. 

The only saving grace in this drama is the main actress, cute as a button and very beautiful. 31/01/25

A film that is rough, raw, violent, explicit etc. about two men in love who cannot stay apart and who cannot live together. Their lives are made of breaking ups and getting back togethers.

Typical Wong Kar Wai film: the same warm colours (reds and yellows, saturated) that we can see in his other works.

Actors are perfect. But I definitely need to rewatch it because I was not paying enough attention due to subs out of synch on fsharetv. 26/01/25

Well, I did not know they still made silent movies well into the '30s! This is a curious one. Looks and feels like an american noir film:  the title, the characters, the sets, styling even the actors all look western not Japanese.  And that is fine! But the worst is the music: horrible strings noise!

The story: the local gangster boss is the idol of a young boxer who starts working for him. But the young man's sister is against it so she goes to see the boss who is won over by her beauty and her innocence. So much so he wants to get back to straight and narrow.

At one point, there is a party and they all hear the noise of a fistfight coming from somewhere: it is so funny to see all their heads turn in the same direction at the same time!

While most of the cast had been done up to look Western, she's the only one wearing a kimono! And the policemen have sabres (katanas)!

There is a running motif of wool and knitting: symbolic?26/01/25

This looks like a university film school project. Interesting topic but unclear ending. Two boys need to decide their futures after graduation: stay together or follow their dreams. The problem is that they do not talk to each other. 

Flying close to the sun (love, passion?) will burn your wings (ruin your life?). Ultimately, they decide that they need to let each other go and try to realize their respective dreams. Maybe?I don't quite get it! Not a happy but a very ambiguous, open ending.

I liked this though I wish it were longer and with a clearer ending. 25/01/25

Too creepy. DROPPED 25/01/25

A classic in B/W. A story of a murder but who is telling the truth? An outlaw rapes a woman and her husband is found murdered afterwards. Who did it? 

There is no misogyny here: women can be as cruel and as manipulative as any man. Nobody should implicitly believe in woman's innocence and kindness....

But why does the background score sound like Ravel's Bolero? Very distracting!

How quaint: it is raining outside my window and on my screen? 25/01/25

Very dark both cinematography (takes place mainly in the night, in clubs and storage halls etc.) and story (prison, gangsters etc.). It is a stroy of a young man, raised by a single mother who ends up in jail where he meets his "protector" and becomes his sex plaything. But the protector pretends not to know him outside which makes the young man even more disturbed! 

What language are they speaking? It does not sound like Taiwanese mandarin?

Final shot: Pau turning his back to the light, refusing to come out of the dark! Very symbolic!

Doom & gloom, can't catch a break, whatever can go wrong does go wrong, stoic long-suffering mother, beautifully shot,  skilfully acted, subtly written....Now I need something to cheer me up! 25/01/25

I forgot that I already tried watching this and dropped it after half an episode. I really don not seem to be able to finish this actor's dramas (Takahashi Issei) . Too odd for my taste. DROPPED 24/01/25

I like the premise but it is ultimately too much horror with those huge bugs entering people's heads. Not for me! DROPPED 24/01/25

Trying this again. It comes highly recommended from a trustful source.

Funnier than I thought it would be. They still grimace too much for my taste but the inner monologues is sometimes hilarious; when Haru goes out looking for Hase he keeps saying "Why am I running? Where am I running to?" and continues running. This is a staple scene in every JBL! Why am I getting a feeling that this looks like a prequel to Kinou Nani Tabeta? It is not: there are more intimacy here than in three seasons of KNT!24/01/25

Teens are charming and sweet and have oodles of chemistry. Their adult versions have none of those and the actors are badly chosen. DROPPED 21/01/25

Surprisingly interesting! It was likened to Queer As Folk so I am watching it as such an LGBT show not a BL. Trials and tribulations of a young man trying to find his place in the world, in the society, in life. How important is it that people know that you are gay? The ML is but he is not shouting it on top of the buildings, nor he is actively hiding it. Being gay does not define him, it is just a part of his personality. He is not an activist, is not bothered by LGBT agenda and fighting for gay rights; he just wants to have an ordinary life, work, have friends, have fun, love. Being gay is not the be all and end all. He seems to be sort of middle of the road. His first boyfriend is just like him only calmer so much so he found him boring. His second boyfriend is the closeted type: private is private, conforming to the society, hiding behind research. His attitude is understandable in a very homophobic Korean society. The third boyfriend is just like the first one, sweet and caring which eventually bores the ML. He is so lost, he seems to be fumbling in the dark looking for something but not quite knowing what. Sad and real. His boyfriends seem to be his mirror images and since he does not like what he sees, he does everything he can, probably unconsciously, in order to ruin the relationship. After 10 years of searching he finally grows up,moves on hopeful and confident.

What do you call stories written by a writer about a writer? Autobiography? Tongue in cheek?

Would this drama be as gripping if the main character were straight? Probably because the topics are universal. Because life is just a series of hits and misses, trials and errors, bad timings and wrong decisions.....

I like: opening credits (make me think of those 60s US films!), cinematography (many shots from above), music, acting (the ML is amazing!)

 Referencing, as for life lessons: Madame Bovary, Robert Capa, George Elliot, unicorns, Spinoza, astronomy, Kylie Wylde....21/01/25

I am still waiting for the BL bit but this is an interesting micro drama about a tech guy who got roped into making deepfake videos by his university crush. It is not vertical, the episodes have been seamlessly edited together and the subber made an amazing job of translating everything that appeared on screen. Very weird. Incomprehensible or just a story of a man driven to the limits of sanity by deepfake manipulation. Scary. This is not a BL, this is a horror story! 19/01/25

A cute web drama. I might even finish it!And an ML who does not condone drinking or find drunk people cute! Revolutionary for a K drama!!! Ok Taek Yon is cute not handsome and can be very funny. Talented guy! The plot is some outrageous insurance scam/murder conspiracy. A cute forgettable single watch. 19/01/25

I tried watching it twice: too weird for my taste. And that secretary dressed as a little girl is just too much. DROPPED 19/01/25

Bad, just awful and not even so bad that it is good. Unwatchable and chinese..DROPPED 19/01/25

Not a ghost story just somehow a parallel universe where people come back to life suddenly so much that there is a government service dealing with it. Lots of bad acting. DROPPED 19/01/25

Interesting concept but I fear too much stress and a predictable plot when you mix superpower of healing and politicians. Moreover, the healing guy in his transparent prison gives off the viba of Hanibal Lector. The video is of awful quality as well! DROPPED 19/01/2

Awful poster but cute actors and a silly story. A ghost needs to fall in love in order to be able to cross over....nice premise! Let's see what they do with it!

"I don't want to die a virgin!" the only thing young men think about!

This seems to be a typical OXIN drama OTT campy! And the ghost boy's horrible hairstyle! Or maybe it is a wig? He is ugly like that....18/01/25

I like the music and the adult feel to it: no teens, no school, no stepbrothers or robots and mafia but a bit of greek mythology and some bad acting/writing (the scene at doctor's office...) Certain indoor scenes would have benefited from less light: the brightness is blinding and therefore everything looks artificial. I like the animated sequences a lot.

The story is about an influencer slowly falling apart due to mental health issues and severe insomnia, while mixing past & present, reality & dreams. Halfway through, this looks like a multiple personalities disorder. Is it? All the characters have animal names: Raccoon, Kangaroo, Dog, Dolphin....and all seem to be connected to certain probably traumatic periods in ML's life. Every character is also dressed like the main character while they spend the time together and they all wear bead bracelets. Moreover, ML has Mommy issues: he suffers from being abandoned. BooHoo!

And after all this, we are left with more questions than answers. It looks like he decided to stay in his imaginary world and completely withdraw from reality. Excellent premise, terrible/unfinished/unclear ending. There is a longer version behind the paywall. Maybe that one is clearer? 

Actually the director clarifies the ending: they are happy together, visiting doctors regularly, having therapy and supporting each other. That is just one side but I still cannot get over the names, clothes and imaginary characters. I think that even his boyfriend is one, the last one and the only remaining one.18/01/25

KinnPorsche ripped off, shamelessly. The guy playing the idol has chubby cheeks, too chubby to be convincing....DROPPED 16/01/25

Holland plays the bad boy, a son of a rich politician and who is the head of bullying gang in their class. Everyone does whatever he tells them.

I hate bullying stories and Holland is not very convincing as a bully. I like the other guy, he is very very good looking and is trying to stay out but being forced in. DROPPED 16/01/25

I am liking this. It is a cute story between a rich spoilt brat and a poor deaf boy. Followed by a long suffering assistant who is trying to get him to be more adult, the brat falls for the poor boy who has a lot of difficulties finding a job.

But, the music is too loud and too overpowering and omnipresent. Too much, just too much of music....

I like those squirrels in parks...

Beside that we have:

• height difference
• fish kisses
• awful music
• world record of accidental almost kisses (the brat is clumsy)
• brat's harpy fiancée
• silly parents vs. horrible father and even worse brother/cousin
• brat is a businessman? Yeah, right, in his dreams!
• omnipresent loud music
• coitus interruptus
• both MLs have cousins interested in them, very very interested!Jealousy?
• sudden movements followed by long silences while staring at each other
• the brat's cousin has tight relations with the local mob and goes around waving guns
• the deaf boy's cousin is happy that he is happy even if it is not with her. She is making doe eyes with the fiancée! Promise of a GL couple?
• taekwando again?
• the second couple kisses better than the first one
• disappointment in love turns you gay or everyone is bi!
• the assistant's boyfriend looks like a reject from a vampire movie

Nothing to write home about! 15/01/25

Bert has a crush on his best straight friend. In order to drown his sorrow of impossible love, he has frequent one night stands. But his latest one turns out to be his professor. And his aunt's fiancé. Complicated? You bet! So this is basically a reels bl lakorn. Wicked!

The cast is universally awful: it seems like they chose the worst actors during the casting period. The production crew is just the same: awful camerawork, awful sound recording, awful editing, awful music and non-existent direction.

This squarely falls into the "so bad that it is good" category! Is this what they call a slap-kiss lakorn? 12/01/25

I am trying a lakorn again because I like the actor, Film. So far, so good! It looks promising! The story is the basic revenge between the wealthy families with the added bonus of soul swapping so this is fun so far. Stressful but fun. The actor playing the young version of the evil guy is the most beautiful actor in the cast. And a very talented one: those eyes are telling a thounsands stories...

The FL is smart and there are actually only three good cops here: everyone else is bought! Nice! The main cop is a straight arrow and his romance with Alisa is cute: that indirect kiss was ?

The FL does not know that ML is her dead fiancé: what right has the ML to be angry about FL trying to survive in their cutthroat world?

I am enjoying this crazy, senseless, exciting plot a lot. Basically it is a thai makjang, a soap with exaggerated, unrealistic characters made to make everyone's blood boil out of rage. Brilliant!

And the main pair have good chemistry. 

Now should I point out plotholes or,should we just suspend our belief and go with the flow? 

This drama is stressing me out: I want to punch the bad guy so much!! Can't binge-watch this! And yet I want to finish it just it is too long! The problem is that they dragged the plot out too much. Now on ep 14, things are finally starting to accelerate! I hope!

One thing I like here is that the FL takes about 10 episodes to believe the unbelievable, i.e. the soul switch, which makes this drama more credible, if you will. The FL is surprisingly smart and tries to avoid the usual drama complications: like SFL's jealousy. Refreshing! Moreover, an accident happens and she calls the ambulance first! Wow! 12/01/25

Hugo is too addicted to Hin to be reasonable. He is weak and Hin is using it to his advantege. Like always! Hugo has changed and Hin is starting to lose his beauty and appeal. Only Hugo still worships him. What a toxic relationship!

But after spending a night together, Hugo refuses to get into a relationship with Hin treating him just like a one night stand! Good for you Hugo! Hin must be wondering why his charms are not operating any more. But his charms now are soiled and wilted....

Victor has been in love with Hugo for a long time and when Hugo tells him there is never going to be anything more than friendship between them, Victor goes on an app to get a hook up and only gets drugged and raped. Hugo wants to comfort him but Victor refuses. They actually both suffer from unrequited love.

The ending is open again but we have finally seen the immature characters, especially Hin,  from previous seasons grow a little bit. We do not really know what happened with Oliver: he's not in the picture anymore and Hugo is very sad about it. 11/01/24

Hin is back from Taiwan with his tail between the legs, having failed to make his dream reality. He works in a bar and meets a new guy, Tony with whom he starts an affair. Hugo is heavily depressed and tries to kill himself. He is saved by his friend Cory. Afterwards, Hugo meets Cory's friend Oscar who's been interested in him since high school. (Why?). Yiu meets his ex Sheldon and that sends him into a tailspin abuse of BDSM...

Owan's hair is so bad: he really needs help to look uglier?!?!

Hugo is fascinated by Hin, talentless and selfish jerk. Yes, we do not choose who we fall in love with but Hin is not a nice person, handsome and charming, yes; nice?No way! Hugo prefers him over Oscar a talented, kind and generous man. What's wrong with you, Hugo?!?!? Get over your high school crush and move on with your life. God knows that Hin has moved on (if he ever thought about you in that way, to begin with!)! Or at least he thought he was only to get a taste of his own medicine when he is dumped and disregarded by Tony whom he liked a lot! So Hin, now at a lowest point in his life: no career, no friends, no lover ; calls Hugo, the only person who never said No to him. But Hugo is unreachable! Good for you, Hugo! Finally learned your lesson? 

This third season was very messily filmed, editing all over the place (flashbacks?I think?) and too many new characters just passing through. Still a worthy addition to HK BLs (considering it is under Chinese rule).11/01/25

Back in highschool, Hugo confessed to Hin but Hin, being selfcentered kind of guy, rejected him. Hin is looking for fame not love. Hugo is so disappointed that he goes on a rampage: from attacking potential love rivals to sleeping with anyone available. His father discovers he's gay and locks him up. Hugo leaves the house. 

Moreover, there are a few hot and steamy scenes....But the overall acting is rather bad especially the two main leads: Owan (who is so ugly...) and Pius (who has an interesting speaking voice. . but who cannot sing...)There is nothing much likeable about these characters which makes them all the more human. 11/01/25

This is a low budget HK production and it shows: messy storyline jumping all over the place, some bad acting and a lot of very bad subs which add to the overall incomprehension....

The plot: Hin meets two of his exes (Hugo and Yiu) suddenly after years of separation. That's it. This short drama is just the set up for the following seasons. 10/01/25

A JBL which has just finished airing:

• flashback (6 years) to high school days
• first meeting in slow motion
• the obligatory voiceover
• school rebel with an abusive father
• the actor playing the rebel looks too old to be playing a teen
• that first kiss...a dead fish kiss, of course!
• all these dramas give us the same message: teens are left to their own devices because the adults obviously don't care and cannot be trusted, be it parents or teachers
• ooooh, so romantic staying faithful to your first love 5 years later! NOT! Can we get some growth in these characters! The rebel had trouble recognizing his first love! But he never looked for anyone else....ridiculous! But romantic!
• it is so much more romantic to run to the person you love than to take a cab! NOT!
• the actor playing the quiet guy looks too young to be playing an adult: when he wears a suit and goes to work he looks like a kid dressing up! All round very bad casting!
• support characters are underdevelopped: Jin's friends: creepy, harrassing teacher; uncaring mothers
• so they took a bath together (naked, close to each other!) and just talked, then they got out, got dressed and jumped on each other's bones! What was the point of getting dressed? Actors' contracts?

Boring, trope filled, bad casting, not quite a waste of time but almost.... 9/01/25

Cute short film: an expat and a local boy meet and sparks fly. Can they work together? The initial problems were solved quickly...;so, it(s the happy ending! But I would love to see more of them! 5/01/25

Cute so far (ep 1): they brush their teeth a lot - probably a PPL! lol Story wise nothing much happens: one man has been having nightmares since he was 10. The other man, an actor, is hitting on him, apparently a crush (why?how?) and gets into a car crush by the end of the episode. This is turning out to be another: comatose person's soul/ghost asking for help .... DROPPED 5/01/25

First drop of the year: just not in the mood for this kind of quirkiness! 5/01/25

A cute short film promoting Chiang Mai and concert venues. And Teresa Tang. A local boy helps out a taiwanese concert organizer find an appropriate venue. And while speaking english, they fall in love. Nothing to write home about. 4/01/25

Widowed suspicious cold father, neglected and spoiled lying cold daughter, no trust between them...if the representation of kids in korean dramas reflect even a little bit the reality, then the low fertility in SK is self-explanatory! When you add loss of identity when women become mothers, bullying, cut-throat society etc. SK seems like hell on earth.

This drama is going to show us a bonding experience between a father and his daughter through a murder investigation. I hope it is not as predictable as this! (ep.1)Because of his job, a past incident and her refusal to talk to her father, he is so suspicious of his daughter: lack of trust on both sides of abysmal proportions!

This is proving to be a roller-coast of emotions: you understand, excuse, condemn, forgive their decisions and then start all over again! They are throwing red herrings at us constantly!  Moreover, the woman profiler has it in for the boss, doing her damnest to get him and his daughter down: so convinced she's right! Anyhow, the main culprit seems to be the landlady who manipulated everyone around her to conceal her crimes.

His daughter is investigating her best friend's disappearance and murder and that's how she got involved in the present case. And she is getting her father deeper and deeper into trouble, calmly and systematically. She seems to be manipulating everyone like a psychopath.

The actors are all amazing. But the way the main actor walks/talks is a bit odd, stilted, uncertain as if he's uncomfortable. I wonder if he walks like that in real life? I just don't like the female profiler's voice. And there is not a single likeable character....

The drama is very slow burn, nobody says much, least of all the father and his daughter; it is very gloomy, atmospheric, sad, the cinematography makes us really feel the heaviness of it all. I am loving those aerial shots! Music is amazing too. 4/01/25

What happens:  

• nice close up opening and the movie title written by a character
• very slow burn
• shy main character, cowardly, because of peer pressure, "best" friend
• first love but gay therefore scary
• homophobic and judgemental kids in the class
• great cinematography and camera shots: for example a lift mirror reflection of the shy ML
• cliché heart-to-heart talk in the empty playground's seesaw: points for novelty for not using the usual swings!

They eventually reconnect on the beach: the first one finally gives the gift and the poem he wrote and the second one shows up realizing that his "best friend" is more important than the pressure exercised by the other kids. Lovely, subtle and poetic. Lacking originality: we have already seen so many like stories. 4/01/25

A silly little movie about an airhead youtuber trying to get more followers by going to the gym and who ends up being swindled by a beefy trainer. Ridiculous and funny.

I am just wondering why none of the actors from this short film never made anything else especially the main actor who is cute and talented. A waste! 4/01/25

Cute vertical series ruined by invisible subs.

Misunderstanding trope which actually makes love bloom and not ruin a relationship. Moreover, the female character is not a crazy ex but a really good friend and we need more of those (though they are more and more frequent in BL so that's a plus!). 

Rather basic, chaste plot: an adult discovering he may be gay because another man likes him? We are treading on dangerous ground here going back to 2019? No, no, no! 3/01/25

One man hooks up with someone who looks like his ex. He turns out to be his ex's twin. Now they start a relationship all three of them together. Twins have very different characters.A friend tells the first guy to choose only one of the twins, the criteria being whose is bigger and who's better in bed?

Then the final twist arrives, and: there have never been twins! And that's when the whole story falls apart: they do not even try to explain what happened, why he imagined twins in the first place....nothing! The explanation for this imaginary twin is left to us, the audience, we can think whatever we like but nothing is logical. Everything is hanky dory, happily ever after. 

The film has a very interesting premise but it is too short and does not go beyond the premise. A wasted potential! 3/01/25

And another vertical bl. Beautifully filmed and excellently acted. They should have chosen the normal format.

The story is about being gay in the countryside. One ML has a terrible relationship with his irresponsible father, the other ML is orphan sleeping with his teacher who took him in when his parents died. Toxic and unhealthy. On top of that, there is the neighbourhood girl with a huge crush on the first ML who has a crush on the second ML. The girl tries to seduce the first ML but she fails repeatedly eventually provoking a scandal in a little quiet village. But the person who actually pulled the strings was the teacher who wanted to keep the second ML all to herself: evil but very pretty monster.

Eventually the father and the girl accept the relationship. The second ML finds the first in the water and even though he believs him drowned, he does not check the pulse or does any kind of CPR but only cries "Wake up!". Ridiculous. Happy ending. I think.

I want to see more of this director's works. This was beautiful. 3/01/25

A male prostitute's client showers him with kindness after a bad experience with another client. So much so he decides to quit this job. THE END The lengths people are forced to go in order to survive is tragic.

It is a short film but it is a bit empty.The story is interesting even though the depth is missing. Probably because it is a short film. Maybe I'm a cynic but the client's kindness seemed somehow fake. The hooker let himself believe it for a moment but he is realistic enough to know there is no future in this relationship. Sad and uplifting at the same time. 3/01/25

This was cute but rushed (it is the format!) with some acting and editing. I liked the story though: a happy go lucky kept man gets a job as a secretary to a stiff CEO and they fall in love. In the process the CEO gets to be more human. There is an evil secretary scheming to get the new man out of the picture (the actress is badly overacting!). 3/01/25

I am embarrassed to admit, but I have become completely addicted to these micro dramas. I still hate  the format but more often than not, stories and the production values are better than the mainstream BLs. I am repeatedly amazed how the producers on Vigloo manage to find actors in SK willing to kiss for real!

This one is unfortunately plagued by some bad overacting by everyone involved. The story uses some boring tropes: abusive family members and kids expected to pay off their parents' loan which is seen in so many k dramas. When the scandal breaks (they are outed!), provoked by their unruly bandmate, they rise above it, assume who they are and gain recognition for it.

I liked the fluffy ending and how they cut Alex down to size but the bad acting ruined it. Or I've seen too many of these? 2/01/25

Oh Tannenbaum as background music and it is not christmas?!?!? Come on! WTF?!? And it started so well....I like the salaryman, deadpan, serious and distant!

This was nice and cute. The actors have good chemistry. The story dealt with trust and self confidence and it was well written and filmed. It was a very good short drama. I wish normal BL dramas were as good. 

These micro dramas, both korean and japanese, have good natural kissing scenes. So much better than those ordinary dead fish kiss infested BL dramas. I want more!2/01/25

"Poor" little rich boy, rebelling against his father, unhappy, self centred and scornful towards others and a poor orphan boy who works for living and always sees the bright side of things - opposites attract! Cliché but it is sweet and cute. The poor rich boy will grow up and mature in contact with the brave poor boy. 

Another repetitive cliché but which says a lot about how "humane" korean society is, are the kids forced to pay off their parents' debts. Loan sharks are praying on the poor brave boy but he is too proud to ask for help or to accept it when it is offered. 

Just another cliché: poor but keep their pride even if it kills them. How stupid but it makes for a lot of dramas' main plots! And that's why we like them: so many recognizable tropes makes them our comfort minimal stress watch! lol

Eventually, the rich boy turned out to be mature and generous and the poor boy suffered from low confidence but they both solved their differences and...happy end! 

I love the actor playing the ppor boy, he's so cute and reminds me of someone else but I just cannot remember now...2/01/25

After spending the whole morning trying to make this work (finally ok.ru works better on chrome than on firefox...go figure!)....I am watching another vertical BL . No wonder they work: even I am watching it and I positively detest the format and keep wishing it would disappear. But I am currently just scraping the bottom of the barrel! And hoping this fad will end soon!

The idol does not look very idol-y....he is more of a chubby kid but maybe that's what an idol is supposed to look like, young and innocent, not hot and handsome. And what's with that hair of his? Just awful! On the other hand the actor dude is tall and handsome, a real adult with a body to match. (actually I wish the actor playing him would get more and better roles: so far we've seen him only in BLs and he's over 30: the clock is ticking!)

I like added animations : it is cute! 

Ths story was fine, told correctly without fillers (which is why these are gaining in popularity) but the main pair had zero chemistry together and in spite of hot kisses, the romance failed to convince me! 2/01/25

A cute and sweet time travel mini drama. Three lazy guys steal the teacher's book and find themselves 300 years into the future. A young women helps them figure out how to go back.

The guys are funny, constantly amazed by the modern world, trying to cook by adding Coke into the soup, trusting kind looking strangers etc.

One thing I don't like is the way they buried a  box in a very very shallow hole and nobody found it in 300 years? I am finding it hard to believe. 1/01/25

Sweet, cute, tender romcom. Funny and butterflies inducing. Who needs more?

The actor playing the brother pretending to be his sister is perfectly believable as a girl. The husband, after the initial shock, falls hard for him and even though he does not quite grasp the meaning of the situation, he is certain to care deeply for the guy. He fell for his kindness and intelligence.

And the best friend/policeman with his poetry and love letters was hilarious.

This is going to become my comfort movie. 1/01/25

Short, sweet and a bit boring: a typical JBL!

Three guys share a house: a cook and a model are gay while the photographer just broke up with his girlfriend. The cook falls for the photographer. 

The romance is far from convincing: the straight guy is too straight looking to fall in love with the cook. But love goes through the stomach so the cook makes the photo guy's favourite dishes.   And they end up together. 

The cook and the model have better chemistry. The actor playing the model is the most at ease with the role. The other two actor, much less. 1/01/25

Only starting this and the mood is the same as in the original version. I was hoping they'd give it a bit of j drama twist but actually, the original drama did not feel very korean to begin with. 

It is a story about a group of artists living in their bubble: apparently no family, no work, but have money and rather large flats and their main worry is their love life while pretending to worry about art and expression! Pretentious! Each episode is narrated(inner monologue) by a different character grappling with their feelings.

I love the music and the dreamy atmosphere all around. And of course the inevitable j drama voice over... But the actor playing ML does not know how to smoke: the cigarette in his hand does not look comfortable! And shoes with high heels? For a man or is he maybe gender fluid, being artist and all?

I remember liking the SML in korean version a lot. Not here: he's been in love with her for a long time but never had the courage to ask her out and therefore he does not deserve her! Now that she has fallen for the ML, is he going to make a move? It'll end up as a disaster for him, obviously!

After some soul searching, ML realizes what he wants and goes to get it. And of course she's waiting for him.... 1/01/25

Start as we mean to go on. Vertical BL. I am getting used to them....

This one was bad: low budget, low production value, low acting skills, low on chemistry but high in self investment (those kisses were hot!!!). The screenplay is half cooked and his "power" was left unexplained. 

I would love to know all four actors' names because one I saw somewhere else I just don't remember where.... 1/01/25