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Cute but Toxic and Abusive!
Honestly, you have to suspend this series’ entertainment value from any sort of connection to reality because if you do not, your mind would be twisted into a pretzel of contradictions. It is a cute, entertaining BL at face value but if you dig deeper, it is a series that has so many incongruities in it and abuses, that it is hard to ignore those aspects of it. I know this is a BL and that portion was done in an entertaining way. While they made a cute couple, I never bought they were a couple, which of course did not happen until the last episode and then the screen was filled with moonbeams and hosannas. It was just a bit too Pollyanna and rushed.Was this review helpful to you?
One of the Best in 21
This is an astonishing BL series full of angst, pain, and heartache. It is hard to watch because love here is not a storybook fantasy but an obsession. Well, more like possession. It is raw, gritty, and unhealthy. Yet compelling. This is not romance; its abuse. Told astonishingly and acted brilliantly. One of the best for the year 2021. This kind of story needs to be told.It is a toxic love story that should not be romanticized. It does not make it less brilliant, but we should not try to fit a ‘square peg into a round hole’. It is haunting and will leave you feeling something. You must decide what to feel.
If you want to read my full review, go to my website at BLBliss.com/
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Great Murder Mystery But Dumb Love Story
Visually, this series certainly has its selling points. And it sure starts out with a fascinating and dynamic introduction. Certainly, one cannot argue with the dynamics of the storyline; they are intriguing and entertaining. Oh, by the way, there is also a love story, actually two, thrown in as a ruse to throw you off guard from the gruesomeness. I simply do not consider the focus primarily a BL, however. This is a very involved murder-mystery involving occult, supernatural spiritualism, ancient sorcery and utterly inept police work in order to stretch the story out to 13 episodes. So much of this story was so contrived that after a while, I was getting rather bored with the incompetence of the police and the dumbness of the leadership from the police echelon. In today’s world, it would be understandably hard to accept the abilities and trust the reliance of spiritualists who claim to see ‘ghosts’ as the basis for solving crimes. While I am not questioning such practices or beliefs, this story frankly carried it to an extreme, bordering on all kinds of creatures, both human and spirits, acting completely irrational. That I had a hard time wrapping my head around as a person who tries to see the world through some sort of logical lens in a world right now that is not showing much signs of being very logical. I wish these series would start to grow-up and present straightforward relationship developments without all the fluff and side-shows for a change. I do not want to have to dig to find the BL.Was this review helpful to you?
Game Therapy
This is an emotionally draining series that is so exacerbating in the way it was presented. It had such deeply poignant undertones to its characters – all of them. Yet, proceeded to present them so superficially and without any serious profundity to them. If you are going to present distressingly flawed individuals, you need to present them in such a way that we can feel their pain with more solemnity and intensely. Not just seeing it in snippets or revealed in discourses. That was not the only flaw in the story which began so enticingly but ended up being just another trite-filled half-empty pseudo-psychological case study filled with people who, I do not think, honestly, exist. At least not in real life. What is so bothersome about Japanese BLs as of late is that they play everything too safe. The story, the screenplay, the acting, the plot, and worst of all the lovemaking. This is a story full of intrinsic pain treated with superficiality and in glossy terms. They present individuals in highly idealized fashion that simply do not exist or as adolescent caricatures. Introducing change in an entrenched culture is difficult and the subtle hints about gay marriage in this series were not lost and are deeply appreciated. Art in all its forms, including BLs, is the perfect vehicle to introduce change to an audience that would be more receptive to it. Be bolder and take bolder steps to be more real in presenting gay life. Reflect the real world for a change.Was this review helpful to you?
School Trip: Joined a Group I’m Not Close To
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Joy!
I have not felt so good about watching a ‘BL’ in a long time. I hesitate to call it that though. It feels more like a coming-of-age tale with a hint of adolescent romance that will remain with the two of them for the rest of their lives. You never forget your first love; and nothing is ever as impactful as your first love either. It stands unique among all your loves – whether he (or she) is the only one you love for the rest of your life or just one of many you fall in ‘love’ with throughout your life. The first always stands out. The characters in this story are so refreshingly cute and relatable that the time watching this series seemed to have flashed by. This series is impossible to dislike. It hits all the right notes and emotions. It gets close to being overly sweet and Pollyanna but never crosses into being overindulgent. It was ‘puppy-love’ not meant to be taken seriously. This is one of the best coming-of-age stories to come out of Japan in a long time. While I found the actors exceptional, the screenplay top-notch, it just feels too polished to be fully believed however.Was this review helpful to you?
The Same Game
Honestly, what can one say about a series that has so little going for it? The plot is dizzyingly twisted. Frankly, it has no socially redeeming values about it at all and there is no point pretending it does. The principal characters are all sycophantic, disreputable, and unprincipled. There is essentially no love story to speak of and what little effort that was put into a love connection, was feigned, contrived, and absolutely based on insincerity. Frankly, I am not sure how I sat through this trashy soap opera. We have seen this theme so many times before. These Bls with their cookie-cutter, cliché-driven, insincere, (poorly done) overdramatic action plots have simply got to stop. Along with the egregious, initially inauthentic love connection – one with not a shred of chemistry or sincerity about it. Honestly, you must have a brain filled with rocks to believe that the main protagonists were in love let alone believe they were in an impassioned sexual relationship. If you do not believe me, then rewatch the last episode with your eyes wide open and tell me that I am wrong. For sure, everyone looks ‘good’ but that is not enough to carry the story across the finish line.Was this review helpful to you?
OBSESSION
This series is a deeply pensive and reflective mind-twisting journey into OBSESSION. And not just of one individual either. It focuses on one young man’s adventure into a world of devotion, adoration, fixation, and absorption to another human being. This individual became his goal, his preoccupation, his desire, his passion in and for life. Meanwhile, the other young man starts out as being curious about the other but then slips into the abyss of falling in love without knowing why and falls prey to his own set of undefined impulses. I honestly cannot say I disliked this series. On the contrary, I thought it was well done for about three-fourths of the way. I knew then, the story was going to hurriedly end without a more reflective and challenging transition for both protagonists. It got so close. Then it fell flat. Seeing two men in a sexual gay sexual relationship in Japan has a long way to go before it reaches an affirmation. It still needs to grind through in an esoteric stage of acceptance.Was this review helpful to you?
Lost Some Of Its Charm
While I have a great affinity for Seasons 1 and 2 of this series, this set left me just a tad feeling deprived. It felt ‘empty’ and a bit stale. While certainly entertaining and funny overall, it lost a bit of its magic; at least for me. However, its ending did redeem itself. There is no question that overall, this series is entertaining and still humorous. I did not find it as funny or as creative as the first two seasons, however. ALL the characters seemed stuck to me; that is, none show any progression or movement or growth. I know that this is a guy living in a fantasy world of BL and it has a sense and feel of an animated comic strip coming to life; but there is nothing new here. In addition, the actors are getting to the point that they simply cannot play high school or college students anymore. I do not care how much make-up you powder yourself with, there just comes a point that someone in their late 20’s or early 30’s cannot play high schoolers anymore. It becomes a physical impossibility as well as an emotional and psychological barrier. You just have too much life experience to play sweet innocence with any honest conviction.Was this review helpful to you?
Almost A Complete Disappointment Except For...
It is one of the biggest BL disappointments for this year. What literally saves this series is only the way it is displayed. It is a cinematographic triumph. The costumes, the settings, the fantasy theme all come together so breathtakingly impressively. There has not been a portraiture this flawless in a long time. But its cosmetics are simply not enough to save or salvage the story itself. Quite honestly, it did not make any sense; at all. It is convoluted. Contrived. With much of it displaying grandiosity and concentrated wealth to the privileged few, while people are protesting issues of poor working conditions and dying under those condition at the same time, there is also a deep-seated acceptance and tolerance for gender inequality. In the meantime, people are forced to bow and bend-the-knee as a form of subjugation with intense injustices going on within the various subkingdoms. All of this is in plain sight but accepted as inevitable and in fact, romanticized as ‘good’ for the people. I found no depth between these two and could not believe in any type of connection except one that was rehearsed for them. I am sorry but this is not expressions of love. Both actors showed up for work, but the commitment seemed rather scattered and at times insincere. It just did not work for me whereas others obviously poured their heart and soul into their roles.Overall, I did not like this series. It is ‘pretty’ and presents well, but the story is unfocused, disjointed, and little depth to it. Watch this series for the supporting cast, in particular the connection between Jimmy Karn as Prince Ramil and Ohm Thanakrit as Paitai. They are the REAL stars of this series along with all the supporting characters. You can read my full review of this disappointment at BLBliss.com.
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Certainly A Study In Shyness. Does It Work?
Tactically, this series is a bit incongruous simply because the story is not unabridged. To be honest, I ended up disliking it. Not because it was poorly acted. I eschewed it because it had no point, and it aimlessly wondered around trying to find one. It simply could not. I just did not get the why of the story. The whole story felt undeveloped. This is a good story that was overdone. It showed very little understanding of their relationship and even less understanding of them as individuals. Then there is this sudden burst of personalities from both at the end of the series that just felt like it was too contrived. I found nothing outstanding about this series. I could have easily skipped it as it had little effect on me. While well-acted, and we are certainly entertained by the supporting cast, it just did not do much for me. Watch it if you want. It is “okay’.Was this review helpful to you?
The "BL" is Great; The Story Is Lousy
This series can best be described by a quote from Charles Dickens, “A Tale of Two Cities” – “It was the best of times, it was the worst of times.” It had an exceptional storyline only to slip into banality and nonsensical story arcs. Here is yet again another Thai series that simply had no idea what a great diegesis it actually had. If only they had followed through with their main title.It is first and foremost a love story dawning in a rural backdrop in Thailand which in and of itself made it unique and refreshingly different. That alone was enticing. The basic, simple life of rural Thailand seems almost idyllic to those of us who do not have to live in it. It felt sublime. I know, of course, it is not. And sadly, that reality is bore out in all too graphic ways in the end.
The love story is between two childhood neighbors who over the years of being companions developed an intense devotedness and bond to one another that is discernible. Closer than brothers. Cherished friends who know each other better than they know themselves. But as they grow closer to the age when expectations are that each must seek a mate for marriage, as is customary, it finally spills over into a physical relationship. One that at first feels awkward but at the same time is unambiguously inevitable. Both knew or at the very least sensed that someday it would lead to this moment. Both and each knew they were in love with each other. Not just ostensively or only merely in a physical sense. They were meant to be – had to be – together. Each thus pledged their undying love for one another both in words, actions, and emotions.
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Surprisingly Effective
Honestly, I was not expecting this short web series to be so effective and poignant. But it truly is! And I was surprised by its effectiveness. Where it fell flat was its lack of fully committing itself to the romance. This is a decidedly short series, and a lot is crammed into this time. The whole drama is just about an hour or so. Yet, the production value of this series is surprisingly good. The screenplay is witty and sharp and at times rather poignant. I wish I could say that there is a strong screen chemistry between the two main leads, but I cannot. While they are stunningly handsome, both project a sense of uncomfortableness that becomes obvious with their closeness to each other, although they did try to hide that. There is little romance in this series. If you have a spare hour and want to be thoroughly engaged, this is a very good series to watch. It is entertaining and cute. Although the protagonists are attractive, they are not very enchanting as a couple. They just did not know how to be, or maybe did not want to be although they exude desire like crazy.Was this review helpful to you?
A Hidden Gem
This series not only started emotionally deep, it also ended up being deeply substantial. I honestly felt like we really got to know these two unlikeliest of inamoratos. Do not misinterpret what I just stated, however. Although this is not an intensely romantic story, it is nonetheless a profoundly solemn love story. This is one of the most distinguishable love stories I have ever seen and certainly one of the more insightful Japanese ones. While Japanese BLs sometimes go deep, dark, and pensive and paint life generally in broad strokes as somber, this series projects intimacy between two guys in a non-intimate way but still affirms a sense of profound communion. Overall, however, this is an exceptional and deeply introspective BL from Japan that concentrates on the two protagonists that makes you feel as if you are watching the cultivation of a relationship that is a world onto their own.Was this review helpful to you?
Just another 'Basketball' BL
While parts of it are well crafted, well written, and even occasionally well-acted, all that gets lost in the completely mundane storyline replete with the usual trite, cliché set-ups and standard screenplay. It is just another one in a long-line of other ‘basketball’ BLs that are similar. This one, seriously, had nothing even creative or original about it. As usual, it writes itself. It is simply another 'basketball' BL and not a very good one at that. The minor characters of Shogun and Que made this series, and I do not think I have ever stated that about supporting characters in a series before. If it were not for these two very interesting and dynamic characters, this series would have been an abysmal failure. Overall, there was just nothing here to sustain my interest or even be entertaining. These two gave it life and a connection to empathy.You can read my full review of this series at BLBliss.com.
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Very Avant-Garde and Misunderstood
To be sure it is a stream of consciousness movie of a troubled young gay boy. An allegory. If you observe it as a parable of his journey to discovery, albeit, dark and problematic, it will make a little more sense. If it does not, then simply drink in its utterly fascinating and captivating tale of the imagination and madness of a teenage boy. Admittedly, this movie is confusing and will require your complete attention or perhaps a second go-around. It is that complex. It is that deep and full of hidden meanings. To understand this movie, you need to understand its title. The blue hour is the time between sunrise or after sunset when the sun is low on the horizon and the sky takes on a soft blue color. It deserves to be reviewed more positively than it has.See my full review at BLBliss.com.
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