Earth

Stunning! Slow-burn, intense romance between polar opposites, set in the mountain-forests

This is one of the best shows airing right now!!! I am upping the score to 9

BL-Needle Score: 8.5. High BL-ness

It started with cute romancing over weibo chats, and them doing everyday things together in the quiet and beautiful mountain forests, their saucy back and forth, quiet intimate glances, restraint despite the obvious attraction, and all that tension..wooooof...and then the love-hate right now, the clandestine meetings, intense pining and hunger for each other ... all of it is just perfect!!! The cinematography is stunning and the music is really, really good....

I'm absolutely glued now. So happy that this will be 16 episodes long, which will let us soak in all the loveliness

Verdict: Yes, Definitely Watch

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Underwhelming

Why on earth would one want to make a series with not even a half-cooked script...beats me.....It seems like they just put together some trope scenes and thought it will suffice....maybe this could just work as a comic strip/manhwa, but as a live action show- NO.

BL-needle score: 8. Reasonably high BL-ness

Nothing much to write, the casting, the dialogues, the script, everything seems half-hearted and pointless. Even with a 8 minute length, or 13 minute (episode 3) it's a drag. Why waste so much effort and money...I wonder!!! My verdict - Nah, don't waste your time.

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Sleek, full of intrugue, electric tension and suspense....damn good!

After episode 4, this goes straight to my top 3 currently airing shows......its so good that its making me angry, really angry!!!

I must say that I love the tension and intrigue and the build-up for the 'revenge'......I started this only because I liked the dark storyline, to an extent Fuiaz, and the colour palette ...and am surprised how good the first episode was!! I guess this one will turn out to be one of those good story, good acting, gripping tales from iQIYI

BL-needle Score: 7 Moderate BL-ness so far

The story, script, acting and production values - all of them are just right for this one, a least for now. The dark story, the stench of intense betrayal, the clueless guy turning the schemer and reaching his goal with powerful allies...and then, the allure of a romantic pair that seems intense, power and angst-craving driven, is a sure shot add-on......it definitely looks set to bang!! Glad that I decided to watch it.

Verdict: Definitely Watch

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A solid start - the Krist-Singto magic is back, or so I thought...sigh...Nah!

Ok, I took a very long time to admit that I just could not finish watching this one.....it lost steam super quick and no matter how much I promised myself to get back to it for the love of Singto.....I just couldn't continue to watch this...😥.....and here I am, after many months of denial, finally accepting that this was just bad and a disappointment....I'm leaving my original review after Ep 1 intact below just so you know I was excited and convinced, like so many others that this will deliver..but..sigh!!

Original Review after Ep 1:
Yaay!!! Finally Krist-Singto are back ...and they are back with what seems like a good script, enough potential for mushy moments and a slice of real-life ...The chemistry is still bang on and delicious.....this definitely promises to be an action-packed and entertaining show

Just a quick observation - Is it just me, or did they seem a tad awkward for that first peck on the cheeks?? Also, it was nice to see that gentle kiss, almost felt like we are back to the SOTUS days..:D

BL-needle score: 7. Reasonable Bl-ness so far

I don't think a lot needs to be said about the anticipation this show created, since most of us would anyway turn up to just gawk at the legendary pair.....beyond the chemistry of Krist-Singto, the show promises to be well-scripted and a mostly light-hearted story so far. Even though a weather forecast anchor with his own screaming fan club is a tad umm....extreme, I admit...but with looks like Krist's, well, it's at least not unimaginable....:P

I'm also betting that the show will likely have a slice of reality (read muck) from the entertainment-news media sector...the mad competition, the star tantrums, the realities of people behind the camera, etc. I'm glad that Krist took on a character which has more than its fair share of shadow elements...also, I'm sure as the show reveals more we will learn why Padtaphi turned out to be the way he is and what really transpired between him and Tamtawan....


For now, I will be glued on. :D

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Kawaaiiiiiii...this is cute as hell.....seems like a sure shot mood lifter

The older virgin-clueless in love-cute office worker and his younger hot-popular-savvy colleague entangling in an unlikely romance....there have been many of this trope in JBLs (Ocean's Love, Old Fashioned Cup Cakes, etc.)...and they get me every damn time...this one seems to be headed the same way...and I'm not complaining at all!!

BL-needle Score: 8. High BL-ness

I love the stereotype of middle-age, shy Japanese gay man who has never explored any dating, romance or even kissing...who spent his life so far just working and getting back home, and then repeat...but also the slight break away from that stereotype where Suzume buys all those soft toys, dresses up in that cute suit at home and eats what he wants to....the adorable details of a cute character....and then the way Keiji uses the 'Oh he is good looking and must have a girlfriend' to conveniently hide him being gay, while secretly watching and crushing over his senior colleague...in other words, both the stereotypes and the quirks in this drama make me grin like the chesire cat :D

And that scene where Suzume jumps at Keiji to try and take his phone and struggles due their height difference, and how Keiji hugs Suzume from the back....awwww...it has me melting all the way.....

Watch if you like them JBL tropes, and also if you feel out and blue....it will surely lift your mood

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Thai BL meets Lara Croft meets Last Airbender meets a very good looking cast - I'm so sat

There's not one boring moment in this one so far....any more ingredients and they can make at least 3 dramas out of it ...but I love it nonetheless ...NGL, the very good looking cast plays an important role in that, other than the good production values...So initial verdict is: Aye, Aye!! 😍

BL-needle Score: 8, High BL-ness

So, this gives off aThai BL meets Lara Croft meets Last Airbender vibes, with a lifetimes-spanning love rivalry thrown in...and who wouldn't sign up if the trio look as good as Khunkhao-Siwat-Thara...with a few more yummy bois as friends thrown in, you could watch this for a few episodes just for the cast...🥰

But the story promises a lot too...and I mean a LOT...may be a tad too much...not complaining, just saying......element bending characters, ancient and magical civilization/dynasty with a secret hidden in deep lush forests, pre-historic monsters, present-day evil stepmother and her lover-aide, ancient and modern day love triangle.....phew....I hope they are able to focus on 1-2 main threads as the story progresses, or at least manage to weave all of these layers into a smoothly flowing narrative

So the elements-bending trio Siwat-Khunkhao-Thara have been locked in this three-way friends-turned love rivals-trying to woo their common friend, since the Tambralinga days...no wonder Thara wasted no time in cozying up to Siwat and went against Khunkhao's ire on learning Siwat's father's name, probably knowing deep down that he looses out to Khunkhao in the end...I mean what can he do if Khunkhao carries the 'Linga' to Siwat's 'Yoni'...that's plain (or should I say deep? 🤭 ) unfair advantage

So Siwat is fire bender, Khunkhao is Air bender, and Thara is Water bender....I wonder who the earth bender is then, is it their rival? The one who was briefly shown in the glimpse from their Tambralinga times....seated, probably in a lotus position, emitting black resentment Qi ?

I am so sat for the adventure, and suggest that you also come along...it promises to be a helluva ride!!! 🥰

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High tension drama with crazy plot twists and delish acting

The tension in the story is tantalising, and the good looking cast pulls off a very convincing act.....but the best part of this show are the plot twists.

Bl-needle Score: 7. Moderate BL-ness

Da On is torn between three characters - Jae Min, his senior and a psycho and obsessed 'lover' who manipulates like hell to keep having power over him, Su Hyeon, a perpetually pissed ex who wants to use sheer force/power to get back together, and Seong Hyeon, a sane, strong, love interest who shows up when needed...no prizes for guessing who gets the guy....but the meandering path the drama takes is quite something, and so is the performance from the cast.

The story has crazy twists, usually revealed at the end of each episode, in the form of brief flashbacks of the lives of Da On, Su Hyeon and Jae Min....and almost every time that happens you will likely go...Whaaaaaaaat???????

I loved the tension all through the episodes, though from episode 6 onward it started to become slightly more predictable, though that does not really take away from the series too much. Ideally this could have been a 10 episode story with a gradual reveal and unraveling of the truth, which would have done justice to the intense build-up that was really the hook of this show.

Nevertheless, they did a neat, even if a tad rushed, wrap up to the story and give us our happy ending. So no major complains.

I would definitely want to see this caste get together again, they were really good and one of te main reasons that I watched this, other than the plot twists.

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Three stories - first story was good, the other two, about okay

This comprises of several stories, each one unlinked form the other. I liked the first story. If you are up for some quick, quirky fluff, you can watch it...won't hurt.

BL-needle score- 8.5. High BL-ness (1 & 3), 6 Low BL-ness - Story 2

Story 1: The first story was quirky, and fluffy, with a tiny time loop thrown in. I was thinking, oh, yet another predictable, super-photoshopped KBL.....and then I saw that each episode is roughly no longer than 10 minutes, which made me binge-watch all 4 episodes and change my mind.....while it still is quite 'photoshppped', it's damn cute, with good production values, and has a time-loop plot to boot...I must admit I was pleasantly surprised...:D

Two uber-cute Korean boys secretly crushing over each other for a long-ass time without confessing...nothing new in that....but their moments were cute .....and then when they grow up and get into that confession time loop, it was super cute and funny....and that background guy , apparently minding his own business, but actually being the audience's voice all through the 6 time loops...lol...that was a clever and quirky insert that I really liked.

Story 2 is sad, and actually could have nice if the treated it better. It had a nice angst in it, with reasonably ok acting by the actors, but I felt that they could develop it too well, and it ended up feeling truncated, instead of giving us the jolt it was expected to, I guess

Story 3 is pretty run-of the mill, two ex-lovers getting back, did not really get the purpose of making a short like that, I mean if a short doesn't have a quirk or a twist, how does it qualify to be a short, right?

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Another KBL with flawless skins, perfectly dressed people, and fake dating theme, but not half bad

It is a truth universally acknowledged in the KBL universe that a single, high net worth rich heir and young tech-entrepreneur, with stone-cold heart, flawless skin, and 'never-gonna-marry' stance must be in need of a 'gay-fake-dating' candidate to ward off them blind-date gals....and a guy who can pretend to be the parent on the phone, clear clogged toilets, has a body fit for nude modelling, over-performs at impersonification gigs, and is desperate for money, is without doubts the best candidate ever....

BL-needle score: 6. Moderate BL-ness so far

As the usual story goes, they will off course eventually fall in love for real and satisfy all the expected tropes.....may I add that when the time comes, I expect one of them to wear oversized KBL-clothes in pastel shades and the other perfectly tailored formal clothes, find a soft diffused-lights-environment to slightly peck each other on the lips (without ruining the glow-make up)...if they end up doing more than that (I hope they do), I will definitely raise the score...:D

Lol...the tropes notwithstanding, I like the good looking cast, and the high production values.....the acting is also reasonab;ly alright so far....have decided to keep watching for now .

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Yummy bare torsos decked in jewelled belts, not much otherwise :P

I love Pak's bare torso...particularity in his past-life avtaar, wearing that white chong kraben and silver jewelled belt across his tantalising torso.....:D......beyond the tantalising half-bare men, this has little to offer so far...this kinda reminds me of school projects

BL-needle score: 7.5, reasonably high BL-ness

With past-life romp flash backs, present day showering scenes, and an attempt to weave a story that links both, all within 7-7.5 precious minutes is a tall order....each of the 10 minutes-long episodes of this mini series has 1 minute each of titles at the beginning and end, and 1 minute teaser of 'next episode' at the end...

The principal reason that I decided to watch this is because it is a mini series, and the leads seemed easy on the eyes....watched all the four episodes at one go....I liked the leads and their 'offerings'...but that's about it...I might come back to binge watch the rest of the episodes at one go when they become available...I hope they don't cover-up those bare torsos. :P

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Sold off by his own family, poor, bullied country boy finds an unlikely benefactor in a rich family

A slow start but not half bad...go past the first episode and you will like it...the story set in the 90s, is slow paced, borders on dark with toxic elements and has potential to become a strong tale if handled right.

Be warned that it has a lot of bullying and some scenes borders on SA

BL-needle Score: 6. Low BL-ness so far

Xiao Fan, a country bumpkin with no education, zero self esteem, mostly bullied and uncared for, gets literally sold off by his family to a rich family who were looking for a 'groom' to shield their bratty daughter from social shame of being pregnant out of wedlock....the daughter who seems perpetually angry, rude and borderline narcissist, insults and bullies her fake husband every opportunity she gets as he lands in their palatial city home to act as her husband....her brother, the quiet and intelligent Bei Lu, however develops a soft corner for the poor chap...buys him clothes, tutors him and tries introducing him to the ways of the world...as the story progresses, we see this tender bond developing between these unlikely pair, the extremely lopsided power equation notwithstanding....

While Xiao Fan struggles with the education and becomes a butt of jokes with Bei Lu's friends, he seems to be good at cooking...the chief housemaid Aunt Lin takes a liking to him and teaches him to help around the kitchen and cooking...soon he starts serving soups to Bei Lu, as his way of thanking that one person who he hangs on to for some shred of kindness and hope....

With Bei's help Fan manages to get into college for vocational course, but gets bullied there too....his family continues to pester him for more favours from the Bei family every now and then and the spineless, self-loathing Xiao Fan keeps failing to say no and turns to Bei Lu every time...so much so that your blood start to boil at the shamelessness of the mother and family and the never-ending cowering of Fan...Bei Lu however seems to have genuinely fallen for the pitiful boy

Will the perpetually apologetic, servile and self-loathing Xiao Fan ever be able to find the courage to stand up for himself...where will this unusual pair head to? I'm intrigued now

Verdict: Watch, or maybe wait till a few more episodes are out and more people have reviews on it to be sure. I am watching it

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Achy-breaky-cute rom-com - made me happy

Sappy- check, Cute- check, Tearjerker- Check, Logic- None, Happy- YES ...:D

BL-needle score: 8 High BL-ness

In my first attempt, I had stopped watching this after the first 10 minutes and tried once more on being recommended by a BL-bestie...and man I was so swept away by how achy-breaky-cutey it is....it so satisfied the sappy, romcom watcher in me..sigh!

Bai comes from a family of intelligence officers over generations and is seen as the weak and emotional one by the patriarch of the family, Bai's grandfather. He wants Bai to toughen up and hence puts him under the tutelage of one of his trusted officers and assigns him to a case to spy on Hei, a fitness instructor, part time sparring partner (probably street fighting where he has to loose to get money), and apparently close to the intelligence agency target Dou Keyi, who runs a questionable all-service agency. Hei has a run-in with the agency since he is trying to get a lot of money in a short amount of time to pay for the medical bills for his sister's heart surgery. Bai has to prove to his grandfather that he is tough enough to continue the family legacy of being intelligence officers. Even though he starts off well by being Hei's apartment-partner and successfully tracks his moves for the first few days, he gradually gets sucked into Hei's endearing family, his struggles, and starts to fall for Hei. What ensues is a difficult and conflicting time for Bai as he is torn between his need to prove himself to his grandfather, find his own understanding of right and wrong, while keeping his identity from Hei, a person he has come to love.

The idea of the plot was quite good, but the show wanted to focus more on the emotional and love aspects of the story rather than trying to portray an authentic spy-tale. So the end results are a mostly no-logic spy story that only serves as the backdrop of their love and emotional struggle, which is delivered quite well. By the end of episode 5, I couldn't care less about the huge script holes in terms of the spy-story because they served the romance so good. If you decide to watch this, watch it for that.

The chemistry between the leads is adorable, the acting is good for the leads, and strictly tolerable for the rest of the cast, production values are reasonably good, and so is the music.

So, should you watch it? If you like silly, tearjerker, romcoms with cute leads, then YES.

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One of the cutest show airing right now.....I'm totally melting with the first story..<3

This level of cuteness should be banned....I'm just melting, melting, melting....I don't know how to say goodbye now that we are almost at the end of Mawin and Err's story :(((((

BL-needle Score: 9. Extremely High BL-ness

I loved them in Only Boo, but Keen-Sea are beyond just cute in this 4 episode 'Hi' By My Luck'..they are totally scream-worthy....even with a simple story, and only 4 episodes, they will have your heart in a stronghold....I can not have enough...just cannot...I now want a full series of their melty-cutesy-adorable love story.

YES, YES, YES ......WATCH!!

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Started off quite well, good script, enough eye candies, and gives you the jitters alright

I like that we are getting so many horror-suspense themed BL dramas these days....and this landed right on Halloween night, so I guess they timed it like that intentionally. Frankly, I wasn't expecting a lot from this one and started watching simply because I was intrigued by the synopsis and trailer earlier, but I actually ended up liking the first episode quite a bit.

It started off really well...leaving out a few logical loopholes here and there, which us BL watchers are mostly seasoned to by now, its pretty well scripted, and believable...acting, cast, production values, make-up, sets, all of it is quite good too. I think the scares are pretty good too, comparing with other Thai BL shows.

While I haven't watch Pit Babe, I like the lead pair's chemistry in this one so far. Also, Pavel is looking delish as SIngha, and so is the guy who plays King.....it seems like Singha and King have some beef from how Singha was staring daggers....I have a hunch that King may be part of the bad guys.

All in all, I would say it's safe to watch.

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Watch it only if you are a fan of the leads, the story is rather tame

If you are a fan of Joon-Dunk and/or First-Khaotung and are here to watch them being cute, smexy, etc., then you would definitely enjoy this. Otherwise its just tame and yet another OTT Thai BL that ends up offering the same old.

BL-needle score- 8, reasonably high BL-ness

I find Joon really hot, and like Force's acting - two main reasons that I had started watching this. But it just grew more and more tame and lost reasons for me to continue to watch it. I mean its not worse than a lot of other shows that I have watched earlier, and I wasn't expecting a lot from it anyway, but given that I am not a fan of the leads (the reason I continued to watch Jack & Joker, for example :D) and have grown more nit-picky these days about the story, I dropped it.

My verdict - go in only if you are a fan of the leads, otherwise you will be disappointed.

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