3
Intense
It is very intense and full of assault, violence, deceit, and passiveness, closely bordering on abuse. I for one did not see this as others saw it. Yes, there is violence but not abuse. It seems either the positive path or negative path, it will lead to the same outcome. While it seems destiny is written, there are clues that somehow things are different and the story is not the same, even though the path might be the same. Yes, I do understand why some disliked this series as it is driven by a person’s irrational and negative obsession for another. BUT, that person is not totally powerless to stop it. He just cannot. It may not be the story of redemption that is based on a path of understanding, but it is one based on great pain, wrongs, and toxic behaviors. I thought it was raw, intense, painful to watch, and in every sense of the word, real. Some relationships are based on emotionally painful and toxic journeys before a deeper appreciation and understanding of each other can be attained.Was this review helpful to you?
Only One Reason to Watch .....Perth
Romantic, angst, but misses the mark. This series is a bit better than 'Love by Chance 2' but again, there just is too much of a good thing. Way too many characters and way too many very serious issues that are dealt with so cavalierly. This series tried to do too much with too many people with too many overlapping situations. Sometimes, simple stories work best but this was overly busy and filled with a lot of very unnecessary individuals. Had this story focused on one or even 2 relationships, it would have been tighter, leaning, and a more watchable series. Digressing for a moment, this series does have the one thing in it that would want me to rewatch it. Actually, the only reason. And that is Perth as Ae. He is simply outstanding. He is by far my most favorite actor in any series. He is just a joy to watch. You can read my full review of this series at ppbongi.medium.com. Leave comments if you like.Was this review helpful to you?
Romantic, Beautiful, and Quirky
I really liked this series, although everything in my being at the beginning said that I should not. The first episode is simply awful if not terrible. The acting was bad, and the production value was amateurish at best. You must get through the first episode and some of the second before this story will grab you and it surely did me. What made it interesting is it centered around a boy band’s difficulties in interacting with each other with an odd over the top band manager to guide them. It is so obvious from the beginning that they guys are new and very much inexperienced in acting but yet the story intrigued me, and the dialogue hooked me to watch more and I am so glad I did. The acting, the story, the characters got much better as they became more comfortable in their roles. They let loose and it became a surprisingly interesting and entertaining series. One final word about these actors. In some sense, I found this ensemble of characters interesting, dynamic, and honestly one of the best in a BL series. If you want to review my full review of this quirky series, see it at ppbongi.medium.com. Enjoy!Was this review helpful to you?
In Between (Sa Pagitan ng Kamusta at Paalam)
1 people found this review helpful
Never Reaches Its Full Potential
This is a very romantic story with solid performances and a very nice flow to it. However, it does have its issues. The biggest one is the not quite believable love between the two main characters. While there was some chemistry, there was no spark, no passion, and no real connection between the two. They ‘played’ the parts well and made a beautiful couple, but there just was something about the sincerity of the attachment I found missing and lacking. But that did not totally negate the overall positivity of this series. Everyone here is certainly likeable and all did a good job of acting. However, some I liked more than others. If you want to read my full review of this series, please go to ppbongi.medium.com. I have more to say there and also about the 'Pangs'.Was this review helpful to you?
Tender and Beautiful
This series is superb! I loved it. One of the finest acting BL series I have seen. It is just joyous, funny, poignant, and intensely real. It is a simple story of a student who is paired with a ‘jock’ for a school project to benefit both. The screenplay is simply brilliant. There are no gimmicks or artificial dramas here. You see the characters flawed but each of them grows not episodically but by slow moving connections. It is the little things that they do for each other that lead to profound changes. They did a much better job of showing the raw emotions of the characters and the beautiful split screen shots that made them look like they were actually together than other series which used the same techniques. If you want to read my full review of this wonderful series, go to ppbongi.medium.com.Was this review helpful to you?
Emotional pain is the focal point to this series
It is a story about two guys essentially stuck in a condo because of the Covid pandemic. They do not know each other which makes for interesting dynamics. The dialogue between these two is nothing short of brilliant. This story grows on you because of two things. The acting becomes sincere and believable and the dialogue is superb and top notch. There are such deep meaningful dialogues almost too many to catch in one setting. The screenplay centering around the conversations they had between each other is one of the finest of any BL series. If you want to read my full review of this short but very interesting series, please go to ppbongi.medium.com.Was this review helpful to you?
Profoundly Realistic
This series is hard to describe. It starts out with a comedic flair to it and it is funny to a point. The screenplay for this series is one of the best. It captures in a very profound esoteric way the pain of coming out and how individualized it all is. Some are never able to make that transition while others make it almost instantly while others suffer through it perhaps in a torturous state , sometimes for years. The ending may put you into a deep funk but yet it is so realistic for many, many individuals who are trying to grapple with being gay. My full review of this very likeable and realistic story is at ppbongi.medium.com.Was this review helpful to you?
Storytelling at its Finest
What a story! This is SO good! It is a short (4 episode) series. It is like watching a movie that was simply broken into 4 parts. This is storytelling at its finest. It involves basically two characters with several supporting roles. To say that they are handsome would not do them justice. There is such chemistry between these two that is instantaneous. There is not a lot of back story and frankly none is needed. You only CARE about them. This is one of the finest acted BL series I have watched so far. It is intense with the last scenes so powerful that I honestly had to stop watching so I could compose myself. The story is imaginative, creative, quirky, sad, beautiful, and fulfilling. My full review is at ppbongi.medium.com.Was this review helpful to you?
A Secret Pleasure!
Formulaic, superficial, and unfocused (well, sort of). But sshh, I liked it - a lot! This BL series is an obvious low-budget, cookie-cutter story with stereotypical characters, and so-so acting. But what was great about this story is that it is NOT in a university, or filled with rich people or fancy cars, and everybody seemed to be cut from the same human cloth. It is in a rural area with a dialect I am not familiar with (or did not sound like your typical series from Thailand). Look, this is not a deep series. The acting is not first rate, but it is not bad. They seem wooden and stilted at times, but they are playing their parts with purpose and comfort. They are all so incredibly good looking, handsome, and beautiful. There is no lack of good looks here. This was quite a relatable story to everyday people who live down here rather than in sheltered environments like universities or surrounded by wealth. Kudos. If you want to review my full review of this rather interesting and likeable BL series, please read it at ppbongi.medium.com and leave me any comment. I would appreciate hearing from you.Was this review helpful to you?
Disappointing and Meandering
This BL series had such good potential and started out well. But then it meandered and veered off into silly and unnecessary directions, which was too bad because the overall story is actually entertaining. This was one of the few series that I almost gave up watching. The production, editing, and translations into English made it very difficult to watch. The story dragged on and on especially for the' main' couple and I found that relationship insufferable. I thought the 'secondary relationships' (if you want to call it that) were way more interesting and had more potential for development. This could have been a good solid story but it did not believe in itself and then got lost. These actors, for the most part, are very young and inexperienced yet they carried what they could on their own without any real direction or solid production. If you want to read my full review of this series, please go to ppbongi.medium.com. Leave a comment if you like.Was this review helpful to you?
Almost a Masterpiece
This series came the closet of any series I have watched (since “Until We Meet Again” to becoming a masterpiece. It is a brilliant and superb work of beautiful art that will be remembered. It is a profoundly moving and deeply spiritual series that is one of the best if not the best acted BL series. The ending just let me down in so many, many ways. So, it never quite reaches the mountain top. They just did not believe that they had an amazing story and instead went to tug at heartstrings and missed it completely. This is a story of love. Actually, two love stories where nothing else really matters. Both are deep, intense, and forever. You know that; you sense that; you feel that. One love is destined for tragedy and the other is destined to transcend time itself in its simple beauty and intensity. No matter how you look at this series, it will be one that no doubt will deeply and profoundly affect you. It is impossible not to feel. The acting in this series is nothing short of superlative. All four have shown great depth to their characters and took us on a journey through their characters’ developments. The major flaw in this series is that it did not bring the audience on the journey even if that journey is painful. If you want to read my full review of this amazing series, go to ppbongi.medium.com. Thanks.Was this review helpful to you?
Standard Thai BL
Admittedly, this series is perfectly named. It did seem to continue to go on and on endlessly. It was like being adrift in a rudderless boat floating in an ocean of tropes, clichés, banalities, stereotypes, and platitudes. Sooner or later, you would bump into one of them on your way to wherever it was you were supposed to be going. Unfortunately, this series went nowhere because it had nowhere to go to. Honestly, you have seen this story hundreds of times if you are an avid BL watcher. If not, you will no doubt run across its plot again because it is standard. It is another high school love story between two best friends. I know that many will no doubt like this series, but I found this series wantoned for its shallowness, use of endlessly tropey and cliché storylines, supporting characters that were superfluously infantile and not funny, the main characters never got to be a couple until the last episode and by that point it was too late, and a supposed secondary couple that was never fully developed into anything meaningful. I also found it quite sad that these two guys, who are otherwise solid and successful, could not bring themselves to communicate with each other. That for me is simply not a subject matter I can find funny.Was this review helpful to you?
Profoundly Sad Tale
This is a difficult series to review. It is NOT entertaining and at times gets tripped up in its own minutia. There is no real love in this series. It is more pretend or school-boy fantasies of love. The main protagonist is unlikeable. The reason for my anxiety about this series is because of its glorification of abuse for the sake of love. No one is worthy of love who is abusive and to make matters worse, this series paints a picture that the victim is the one who is wrong. I know what it was trying to say but for me, it failed and I wept at all the overt and covert signs of emotional, physical and psychological abuse dispensed like candy in this series. Production is excellent and by no means am I implying the the actors/actress were bad. They were not and in fact there is some very good acting in this series. Its the message and how it was presented that is bothersome.I could not re-watch this series again.
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The Brilliance Of This Series Is Its Omnitude
This is a rare gem that tells such an aggregate story in an uninhibited way. Not from a BL slant but from a gay man’s perspective. It is refreshingly honest, touching, and one of the most contemplatively deep series I have ever seen. The title is a bit of a misnomer to me, however. So much more than romantic love is explored in this series. It goes beyond classical definitions and allows us to see affection, devotion, attachments, friendships, and yes passion and intimacy as well with gradations within those feelings as well, all within its location of a big city only as an afterthought. It is one of the most powerful dramas of this year.Was this review helpful to you?
On My Must See List!
This is an astonishingly funny yet poignant series completed a number of years ago that is just awesome. Funny, cute, and filled with real human characters that are relatable, charming, and individuals i would want as friends. It is a story of friendship and of life and how in life there are always challenges to relationships that must be resolved by ending them. The timing of the humor is shear perfection and the whole series just has a certain 'lived in' feeling about it that is so relatable. I loved this series a lotIf you want to see my full review, read it at BLBliss.com.
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