Eliot_Rulez

mature story, bad audio-editing

The most positive of this show is that it's not childish at the least, as most of the thai shows aired 2024.. The young actors did their best to transport the story which plays out in an unusual setting: A thai prison. Of course this is not a polished high budget production, but the lack of polish was compensated with more workshops and pre-production run at least a year to improve the acting skills of the cast. In contrast GMMTV does the reverse, high polished production but the acting skills of most of it's actors are either lacking or the script is so bad, their skills don't matter.

The most negative of the show is the drowning of the actors voices whenever background music overlaps. This is really annoying. They also used some lip-sync which were not top-notch. Also the ending is not a real ending, it's a cliffhanger for the special episode which is seperated from this short series. That we had to wait for the last four episodes for nearly a month made the show not better.

It'a mostly a story of power dyanamics in a prison with a flair of a partly fluffy BL. It's also a story of a gay youth doing something stupid and going to prison for it twice, finding someone he falls in love with but his partner while showing some feelings does not commit. I liked this story much more compared to most other shows... It's not great, but it's good for what it is. The end is a bit abrupt and not happy at all, but I suppose the special episode will resolve that. For a low budget production it's well done. If you watch on youtube, be aware there are only auto-generated subtitles on the last four episodes which makes some dialoges hard to understand. Maybe in the future they remedy that problem.

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Not the best BL in 2023 by far...

What I like:
production quality
costumes
music
most acting

What I dislike:
The ending; yes it's fantasy and so on, but it's not believable.
Jom - he is sometimes docile, sometimes mature. Only in the finale after "returning" he is much more believable.
Stereotype evil Robert, he is too plain, just a 08/15 bad character from one of the cheap novels published every week, no depth, no other side of him, just 10 pages worth of the 60 pages.
Story-Plotholes: While Yai falling in love was shown for a long time, Jom just did it out of the blue, overcoming his trauma from ep 1 in a blink of an eye. To be gay in early 20th century was by far not as easy as it's depicted in this story. Yai confesses he loves Jom and the father was relativly mild., compared to other series where the family explodes even today. There were always exceptions to the rule but it makes this point of the story not believable.
Pacing: After Robert is removed from the series everything is dragged on an on which made me skip some scenes.
Yai with silly Mustache

Summary:
While the production quality was top notch, music was very fitting, the acting overall very good, the setting something unique, the ending unbelievable and the preview of a second season unnecessary, this show is a mixed bag. Jom should have been more struggeling and maybe slowly falling in love in episode 7 with the first spicy scene in episode 8. But of course they could have paced the show faster with some serene scenes inbetween. If there is a second season I hope they will not repeat the same mistakes they did this time where script and direction was sometimes weak.

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A realistic depiction of gay life end of the 1980ies...

While nowadays so much BL crap is produced, this is a very serious story about how life was for teens at the end of the 80ies. It's especially important because this movie begins when the martial law ended in Taiwan. They discover themselves, they discover how cruel the world is, discover that the end of martial law does not change people over night and also what role the church played against homosexuals.

It's one of the masterpieces Taiwan always produced in the BL-World where the story matters, where the characters matter, where the acting matters and where the production quality, direction and execution matters. All is done so well and all makes sense.

This movie does not have a happy end, so I advise caution before you watch it because it could make you feel terrible, sad or even depressed. Still, it's a masterpiece and leaves a strong impression.

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Not a love story...

Two boys meet at a playground and since then are often together. Both can't communicate well. One is "docile" and bullied a lot - at least at the playground and the other is a "cool" boy but void of emotions. That's a typical J-Drama, full of misunderstandings and poor communication. In highschool they meet the same girl, and the "docile" boy falls in love but again no communication. The "cool" boy says bad stuff about the "docile" boy, but he seems to be jelous of his love and so he takes interest in the girl and after university they marry. You may think it's a love triangle, but it's not. And then all the bad stuff happens.

While the story is not as good as it could have been, it's consistent and logical. The acting is top notch, I guess you can say it's not natural and a bit over-acted for dramatic effect, but all chars are still believable. Camera, Lighting everthing was very good too giving this series a special vibe (which gets a bonus point in my rating). I would have wished, they would have expanded on the flashback as boys to see if the "cool" boy was always an asshole especially to the "docile" boy, but we will never know. For me it had some bromance vibes surpressed by the "cool" boy.

Overall a vey good show, but nothing "entertaining" in the usual sense.

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Whats with the cliché storyline?

While the first part of the series did have a female antagonist which felt forced, I have no idea how they could insert such a story plot in episode 7. I can't understand as well why there is still miscommunication and trust issues when they seemingly resolved their problems in ep 5 & 6. I don't really get it.
I thought they would tell a story where both of them would grow but not to insert a third wheel which will shaken one of them. The ending feels like they are in a fragile relationship and even if the ending seems to resolve all problems I don't feel it will.

So overall a medicore storyline with cliché plotpoints. I can't fault the acting and the kissing scenes felt natural for me. Maybe the epilogue in the "payed" version would have brought more clarity but to pay for some minutes more content is not worth it for me.

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much better than the manga...

I did read the original source and I think it was a medicore manga.
But this show fixed most flaws in the manga, reduced the story to the essential but did miss out on Hiros development so the ending feels rushed.

The jerk-off scene stired some controversy but I think it should show Hiros docile character, running like a machine without an option to decide what he wants.

I wished they had at least one episode more to go deeper into Hiros character. I don't think the office scenes were too long, they are essential to understand his struggle but how he did come to the conclusion to change his workplace was too fast, when Hiro has lived in a "treadmill" for five years. Also some flashbacks to Kais family live with his father would have helped the show.

It's always a problem with such short shows to go deeper when all you have are six episodes. I don't quite understand why they have to limit themselves. Two episodes more shouldn't do that much for the budget but could make the show better.

Some are impressed by the opening sequence which I don't like. Why? Because most japanese series show the happy end and they waste 1:19 of only 24mins runtime.

Regardless of the flaws it was a good show with high production value with some fluffy scenes and an adorable couple. MDL is missing a voting for cinematography and design which are also integral for a good series, so my endscore is higher than "calculated" :)0

Update: My perfect BL of 2024 :) (not the best BL/queer drama of 2024, but from the viewpoint of a BL it was perfect)

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hard to judge because it has it's lengths

The best thing the show did, was not starting with a sex scene as the manga did.
What was frustrating was the lack of communication overall, but especially on Asamis part. He was in love for years and still can't communicate properly when he has the chance. Of course, if both are in love they don't really need words to convey their feelings, but if the partner is inexperienced, shy and never experieced love in his life, it would help tremendously. They should have shown Asamis reason to love Yuki in Episode 2 also much earlier to give the viewers more to work with and to better understand him, I think to do that in episode 7 was a bit late.

Besides that, the series was beautifully crafted, cinematography was great and they tried to be sensual all over. The mellow pace was not a negative for me per se, but the series draged on a bit. Even with this flaws the MLs did act a wonderful job and only failed with the kissing scenes which was a bit disappointing.

So in summary a good show with some flaws but enjoyable to watch.

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What a bad ending...

While I can understand that it can be hard to accept a gay relationsship, I don't understand why the finale needed a female antagonist with the most cliché story imagable. Instead of fighting for the relationsship and a more in depth talk, the antagonist took all the screentime so there was only a "bad" ending left.
The story was quite good thus far, regardless of some hick-ups and unnecessary scenes. The chemestry and acting was very good for new actors in such a genre. So the ending did disappoint even more. Overall better than expected, there is much room for improvement for the writing, but the MLs were the highlight of this short show.

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Thais can't adapt a foreign story....

After we had Cherry Magic and My Love Mix-Up, I had not much hope that any thai production company can adapt a non thai story. And they did not disappoint.

Why do they think, they have to make anything into a comedy with material that does not match. "Addicted Heroin" is neither funny nor a comedy. It does not make sense to have a serious story made with lot's of comedy elements (and it's stupid sounds). I can't fail the actors who all did a very good job in most scenes. Even Mac as newcomer performed much better than I would have expected. Regardless the writing was as usual lazy especially with the finale.

The final episode was confusing. The bad dad should have a relevation, so it does not make sense that both of them run away... And they are 17 or so... where can they run? Also the second couple was confusing as well and we do not know if they got together after they have chased each other for 8 episodes, than a strange reveal that "Only" was into "Pop" which did not make much sense for me.

What they also did not incorporated was the passion for each other. No time in the series I had the feeling they burn for each other. It was mostly childish or awkward. And due to the underage of Mac there is no kissing. The only highlight of the whole show was the family of Pop's dad. So in summary, this was a bad adaption as well. The series without the knowledge of the novels was not even medicore, especially because the finale does have too many loose ends and unlogical "conclusions".

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Much better than the series, but not exciting...

The bad stuff first: Intel & nVidia placement. No gamer (who really calls himself that) would ever buy Intel in 2025 and no serious PvP Gamer would buy a 600W graphics card. The worst thing: We never see the "new" computer - and the "old" one neither, he only plays on his mobile. His computer was quite essential (for him) in the first season. The usual "funny" soundeffects are still annoying but where used less. And snow in LA is a bit stupid, but I'm sure they meant Boston.

The good: They do not act childish most of the time, there is some seriousness behind their conflict. So at least they did mature. I hope, they keep that up in the 2nd season.

Overall: It's a nice special, but nothing stunning or emotional challenging. There is conflict, there is fluff and of course there is an tasteful intimate scene. I can say it was exactly what I expected.

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Not a BL but worth every penny the taxpayer spent....

Of course this is not a BL, it's a drama about a gay man. We see a real depiction of gay life in Korea with all the harsh realities Korean society (and many other) offers. There is no pink-washing of reality, there is just reality in an unapologetic way. Of course we wished for Ko Young to have a happy life. But life is tough, espeically as woman or gay man. I am glad the Korean culture ministry spend tax money on this show, because it's an important piece of education too. And because it's not a BL, we don't get the happy end Ko so much deserves.

One of the best gay shows ever produced even when some parts of the story were not perfect or not expanded and explained in a way I wished for (mother/son for example). On the plus side is the great acting, especially for the MLs who never played a gay character (and went into it giving 110%), and the stunning visuals.

So overall I can only recommand everyone to watch this series, 400 minutes worth spending!

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A show needed for every country....

A consevative and close minded Dad opens up to a world where humans are not like society wants them. Humans have many nuances of sexuality, identity, looks and expression. He learns to accept that humans come in many "shapes" and that he did neglect his family. We see how he opens up and how he "upgrades" himself, returns to good terms with all members of his family and how he influences other to change as well.

Thanks to a friend for recommanding this show. 🙇‍♂️
This is an important piece of drama which should exist everywhere. There are only some nitpicks which make the show not perfect but I won't bore you with them. Overall the team did a good job raising not only LBGTQI+ issues but what should be human rights. Don't judge people regardless of their sexual identiy, sexuality or how they look in general. Acting was also very strong and sensible done. I can only recommand this show to everyone!

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What this show lacks on drama and acting it compensates with cuteness

The first thing to say is, this show is the cutes BL I have ever seen.
While fresh actors are always a risk, Keen did a superb job, Sea was a bit stiff in some scenes but he hold up well. The side couple was not as interesting and cute, but it worked ok for me.

This show was made for teens I suppose, but while the story is not really dramatic, it was fun to watch, was executed in a great and cute way. Production value was high, the OST much better than most GMMTV shows and the commercials inbetween were kept to a minimum.

There is not much else to say, if you like cute, this show is for you!

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One of the best BL series ever!

After two years I watched this series again and it was as good as I remembered.
This series was amazing in beautifully crafting an enemy to lover trope in an unconventional way and with a heartbreaking ending.

While the second couple had a slow start, it was also a realistic way of showing how lovers could come together with one enthusiastic teenager and an older, hurt adult. I have no clue why there is so much complaining about an age gap. It was not that big and it happens in real life too. You can never decide to love, it just happens!

Also some complain about the ending, but that can happen and I personally think it's great to depicture something like that too. It transforms this series from the typical highschool romance to a mature slice of life.
Everything was thoughtfully executed, the nuances in the acting were amazing. and it will be one of the best BLs of all time imho.

If you can stomach a really heartbreaking ending you should watch for sure!

PS.: In this year (2024) should be a second season, I only hope it can be as amazing.

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selfish guy vs weak guy?

It's hard to rate this series, because:
The "bad" guy left the "good" gay to have a "normal" life, but when the "bad" guy is getting married three years later, he comes back to the "good" guy...
Is that realistic? If I were the "good" guy I would have moved on long ago.

In this story the "good" guy did not move on and is still yearning for the "bad" guy and as it happens they end up together. But not with some drama in the end where the ex-fiancé is threatening the "good" guy as in outing them and legal action and telling him seeing two man together makes her puke.

So this is not a happy story and the homophob ex and the selfish "bad"guy are a big minus for the story. The execution and acting was very good and a big plus. And after you have watched it, you will have a bitter taste left. So I guess, this short series was well above average, even when I don't like such stories.

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