Eliot_Rulez

dark, disturbing, disgusting, but beautiful

Such a story makes speechless. It's a story of two man who suffered a lot, especially one character has a deep trauma because he was sold as a child to a sick man who sold him out to other sick people who sexually abused him. It's a story of two people changing each other and heal each other, first in baby steps but later their bond grows strong.

I can't describe what feelings go through you when watching this, It's the whole bandwidth from disturbing, disgusting, aghast, angst to beautiful when you see both getting closer together. Due to the theme it's not a fluffy, funny show, you normally expect a BL to be. This is not really a BL but a drama where two man happend to be gay and finaly love each other.

When you can stormach such heavy stuff, this is a must see. If you are too sensitive seeing abusive scenes, you may watch with friends and help each other process the episodes one by one, If you are suffering from depression or other mental problems, you should not watch it at all. It was extremly brave for the team to take on such heavy non mass compatible material. The actors did an incredible job, cinematography is top notch and we get an intro which does not spoil the whole series which is so common in many series. My respect goes out to all involved in this project delivering such a unique show.

Read More

That was disappointing...

First, there is a "dog" cafe without dogs... that's strange as hell.
There is ONE dog in the whole show.
All Koreans understand Thai for some reason without translation devices or so it seems.
The story was soooo slow going in the beginning and then the ending was rushed. What did they wait for? Most of the inbetweens scenes did not much for the love story. The "traitor" was still in the final shot - I only thought WTF? There was a chance for an emotional outbreak for what he did, but nothing happend.
The production value was high, but for such a subpar story it was wasted.
The chemestry between the two leads was ok-ish, I guess a language barrier is not so easy to overcome. They still lacked passion and longing for each other.
All in all I could have skipped it and not miss a thing.

Read More

Exceptional queer movie with realistic approach

Hi, I am late to the party, but I should write a review, because this is one of the exceptionell queer movies of 2024.
If you do expect a BL you will be disappointed, it's a queer movie and the romance of a BL is not the focus of this movie.

It's a story of gay man who struggles with the society he lives in and a girl who also had go through some hardships. They both meet at university and the grow closer together, overcome hardships together and accept each other for what they are. Both discover who they are and what they want.

Cinematography, direction, acting are also exceptionell.

This is one of the best queer movies ever made which does not focus on the gay aspect per se. It's part of the story but the main part is the development of a deep friendship between a gay man and a straight woman. Regardless if you are straight, bi, gay or inbetween or nothing of that, regardless which gender identity you have, it's a powerful story and a wonderful movie and you should watch it!

Read More

Not a typical BL, coming of age and discovering yourself

While many of us not understanding japanese have gripes with some of the subtitles, the second negative was the wig. It was a distraction in the whole series. It's not such projects are done overnight, so after casting they could have told him to grow his hair and use extensions.

The third negative is the ending for one of the characters, keeping in the closet, being at least gay and denying himself to be truly happy but getting married for the "family".

The ending for Mishima could be closer to the manga where you see him living with Fujimoto together as a happy couple.

Other than that, the team removed some of the harshest scenes from the manga and tuned it down for normal viewers in contrast to "Happy of the End" which was raw. Other than that, the story was very close to the manga, the acting and cinematography was really good.

Mishima grows after enduring mental and sexual abuse, also with help of his understanding mother. The change of Fujimoto from bully to lover was also nicely done.

Overall a depiction of the harsh reality in a rural area in the 1990ties which is still common nowadways where especially boys who do not conform to expectations of society are still bullied without reason and due to bad parenting. There should be licence to be a parent imho, because it's a lot harder than driving a car.

When you find a service which offers good subtitles, you should watch it, but don't expect a BL, because it's a gay series which is a trend I wholeheartedly approve of.

Read More

"Watered down" BL, which is disappointing...

While the manwha was about four boys, this was "heterofied" for unknown reasons.They changed a lot and cut a lot which did not do the manwha justice. Because there are not four boys anymore they also changed the dynamic between the characters drastically.

While I get the teenager angst to confess, this was sometimes frustrating to watch.
Please, for god's sake just say it and be over it. But no, it dragged on for 9 episodes.

The rest of the show was not bad, the actors good and the cinematography top notch. But overall they invested too much into the hetero pairing imho. After the confessions, we did not even get a kiss 😭. So this is a bitter pill to swallow and kills the BL imho.

Read More

dreadful and frustrating, but brilliant!

When many people say BLs are fiction, that is not entirely correct. The premise of the show of a sexless marriage is a common problem in Japan. The latest study in 2024 found that 48.3% of married couples are sexless, which is nearly double as many as in most other countires. If one of the partners "don't won't the hassle" and the other do need it, it puts a lot of strain on the mental health. This show depicts this reality brilliantly and I felt how dreadful that must be. I also felt heavy and frustrated as Hagiwara with his girlfriend. Kaori does not like to be intimate with him any more.

On the other side we have another sexless gay couple which are a couple for the wrong reasons. I'm not happy with the finale explaining Fujisawa reasons for his behaviour -it does not explain the refusal to be intimate. Guilt is always a bad motivator to be in a relationsship. Of course Sei is not innocent in this too. He let Fujisawa isolate him, he did not force the issue much much earlier and wasted years with a love which could never fulfil him.

After a wrongly sent email Hagiwara & Sei kept in contact per mail and discuss their lives even in sexual matters. As it must happen, they did not know they were co-workers. For reasons they discover that by chance and have a lough. After another refusal of Kaori Hagiwara felt so deep in a hole, he contacts Sei and they meet and they have one of the most sensual scenes in a BL. I don't mean the touching and kissing, I mean the feelings they convey... I felt how they urge for the touch, to be close, to be one.

Of course their sexual affair did not get unnoticed from Kaori and both of them got in a chaotic situation. While Kaori did scrutinze Hagiwara's phone, Fujisawa went into a jealous rage, raping Sei which was not shown directly but he had the marks afterwards. Sei seems to think it was a deserved punishment which sounds insane for most viewers and left me speechless. While Kaori does not seem to be a bad person per se, she is not able to communicate her desires and problems with her partner. Kaori's talk with Hagiwara ended with the expected breakup because she is unable to comprehend what she has done and how Hagiwara felt. Sadly Sei also pushes Hagiwara away.

At least there is happy end and I'm not happy that we did not get another episode.

Cinematography, direction were on point, the cast acted their roles to perfection, making this drama very special. If you think, they all should have communicated better, don't forget, Japan is different from most countries. Feelings are kept hidden more, problems are often ignored especially in relationships and due to the work mentality - which is insane for every other country - they often don't have time to do so.

This is for sure a show to binge-watch and I can't tell you how highly I recommand you to do so!

Read More

raw, emotional and with a cliffhanger....

While some episodes where not as interesting as others and had some "logic holes", the outstanding feature of this show are the characters and the actors playing them. Even the action scenes were, for a thai BL, quite good (in contrast to Jack & Joker). It's rare for any thai BLs to leave "badies on the field" after the final episode, something we have not seen yet. But the bitter pill we also have to swallow is an open end, which means they are gearing for a season 2.

This show is not for everyone. While there is eye candy and sensual scenes, this show is mostly raw and brutal. That begins in the prison with all the abuse you may associate with it and ends in the finale which is one action sequences after another ending in a blood bath. Also the thai/korean co-production did not feel akward compared to other shows, even when the K-Dad was not really Korean at all, but we will forgive that.

Overall it was something fresh for a thai BL, something different and something not seen yet and for that courage alone we should praise this show. Of course, it was not perfect, the storyline could have been better, but some twist were also well thought out and not as predicable compared to many other shows.

So, if you can stomach the raw and brutal scenes or don't like the overly fluffy stuff, it's a show worth watching.

Read More

unique story, great acting, best thai show 2024 (so far)

First I was intrigued to get a different story every episode or so I assumed. But after two stories, the stories get expanded. And when you watch ep 6 you know there is something different going on. That's a novel concept to watch many BLs in one BL :)

Both MLs are very good at their jobs conveying different characters with different mindsets and with many emotions.
Both are standing out from most other thai BL actors playing the same character over and over again. So this show stands out in creativity and execution. While not perfect it's exceptional in the year 2024, where we got so much trash. Without a doubt, it's the best thai BL series in 2024 so far. Update: Spare me Your Mercy was a notch better in my book, but still this was great.

I don't want to spoil the fun for you, but you should watch this. Yes you will cry, but you will also feel happy.

Read More

The not a BL continues...

I have no clue why MDL says it's the "Side Story" when it clearly is not. This is chapter 2 of the series and it continues from the last series. https://kisskh.at/profile/11366851/review/475568

The premise is different this time... There is a new young man seeking out the tutor, but he has an ulterior motive which gets revealed in the end, but the story is not finished when this series ends. So I hope there will be another three or six episodes to complete the whole story.

While it's not a a side story, this also turns it up a notch. More story, better NC scenes and much better chemistry between the two actors imho. It did not feel akward in the least and both actors did a great job. So, if you have not much experience, you should watch it regardless, because you may learn some things. Otherwise it may be too much for the fangirls, because it's pure and raw without fluff.

Read More

No bullshit BL...

I don't know if we can describe this mini-series as BL. It's more in the realm of a queer mini series. Besides that, MDL says it has only three episodes and say's the second part is a side-story - which it's not! It is a continuation of this series.

A young man has a breakup because his girl friend just tells him, he's "bad" in bed and does all the things wrong. She recommands that he should take lessons. He made a post somewhere to search for a tutor and he found one. But he does not know that his tutor is also male - that's the story in this three episodes.

This is not fluff, this is not a love story (not yet, anyways), but the teacher does just teach. This is a really unique concept to take all the bullshit of any BL out and just make it about learning how to respond to your sex partner, how to make him hot and how to do "stuff".

While this mini-series has not much story (yet), the actors are really naked, no BL make-out under the blanket or just the foreplay. It's also about penetration and how to do it right and you may think it's p0rn but it's not. I find this concept refreshing and something completly different to nearly every other show. The next three episodes will get more story and I can only hope they will continue the story because the story itself has potential. And I bet some people could learn from it!

Read More

strong start, rushed end...

As typical of a JBL we get an interesting premise, we get an serene atmosphere and quite a slow pacing. I just feel the end is rushed, another episode should have extended the end which was overly fast and breaks with the overall pace of the show. Especially they introduced the "Konno goes abroad" thing which is not in the original manga and which did not make much sense especially when they were limited on episodes anyways. To introduce drama is not always a good choice, this series could have done without it.

The cinematography was top notch, the actors did a good job, except with kissing. What's the point of close ups "kissing" when the lips are only touching for a "endless" time. Besides that, I have nothing to complain about. So overall a good BL which started much stronger (the first two episodes were just perfect) and gave us a weaker ending. The series is extremly short, only about 24 minutes per episode (except the finale which is about 30 minutes), so you can easily binge-watch this and have a better flow and not a week long suspense.

Read More

That's how an manga adaption should always be...

Once bitten, twice shy - I thought "please let it be at least decent", but compared to GMMTV this show blowed any other thai manga adaptation out of the water. Of course this show is also not perfect with some characters less developed then they should be, but: SmartBoom saved the day. There acting is far ahead of what we often get served nowadays, because the script was good. Their chemistry is excellent and once I wish they end up together 🤣. One show which does not play at an university, one show which is not absurdly cringe or stupid or childish and one show that tells a meaningful story. I have not read the manga, because I don't like spoilers at all, but everything in the story makes sense for me, so I have no need to do so now.

If your are sensitive like me, you need a tissue-box for sure, it's an emotional rollercoaster between dreadful sad to happy to enthusiastically overjoyed. And don't forget the honey NC scene, which got even artsy. So even the fangirls get served (I mean the fangirls not caring about a story of course).

Production quality, cinematography was perfect as well. All the other reviews will depict the story for sure, but the only thing which is important is, I hope we get season 2 and season 3 asap. This is also a novum at least in the thai industry, to plan a series for 3 seasons and not compromise on the story-telling.

Overall, this thai series is highly recommanded!

Read More

I am glad it ended.

What can you say about a show which does start with sexual harrasment and mentally abuse?
It's a trope nobody needs, a trope nobody asks for and a trope which was lame 10 years ago.

Besides the cinematography and the title song this shows has nothing really likable. The characters are plain, the story is awful and everything is so full of clichés. If you want to know more other reviewers will detail all the points which are bad, but I have no time to waste on this show anymore.

It's one of the dissapointments of 2024. Nice production quality meets aweful script, boring acting, some fan-service and nothing more. You should avoid it, if you haven't watched it yet.

Read More

A show nobody needed....

With WeTV nowadays you have a chance to get a gem or in this case step into a big pile of crap.

I have no idea what the writers/director/producer smoked to put a) so many clichés b) so many couples c) rape into such a short story. Especially c) is repulsive because it does not have any consequences and the character who got raped acts like as nothing ever happend. WTF?

It's a waste to write anything more about this pile of crap. I'm really sorry for the actors who had to act out this shit. But at least it did not drag for twelve episodes 🤣. The money could have been used for other things!

Verdict: Avoid it like the pest, it matched the absolute low like "Flirt Milk", both shows are equally terrible.

Edit; Meanwhile the actors are suing the production company for not paying them the agreed sum which is paltry in comparision to other productions. So now we know where the money went... not into this productions, not to the actors.

Read More

oh sooooo boring....

While not really a bad show, man was it boring.
The writing was predictable, there were no real challenges and if you do food, why is the "super monster chef" just the jury verdicts?

At least one fresh face with Aungpao who did a good job but most were acting like highschool kids and not like grown up humans. I am also not a fan of the weird sounds used in Thai romcons, but at least they did not overdo it.

The kissing scenes with OffGun looked strange for me. I mean they kissed really well in other shows but here it feels shallow without the feeling of love or desire.

This show is a good downer if you have seen something like "Not Me", to calm you down and turn your brain off, because the story does nothing to challenge it.

The finale was an all around happy end, all the parents are soooo nice and so understanding especially Fire's mother. Of course grandma was always cool and always supportive but for the rest I would have wished a more rocky ending or more episodes to see them come to terms and less of the earlier meaningless stuff.

All in all this show was a disappointment.

Read More