Niniane

Beautiful but lacking substance

Our MaxNat have returned and take on a fantasy time jump theme. This line would make any serious BL-fan salivate and so it did. And it's a good watch. Max and Nat are improving their acting every next show, and there's not a lot to criticize, apart from the mannerisms of mostly Nat. What I do criticize is acting of the supporting cast (awful) and the lack of screentime for the second couple. I would've liked to see them interact more after that night in the cabin, but alas. The main lovestory is meant to be an epic one spanning dimensions. Unfortunately, while the love is certainly there, the whole epic-ness is underwhelming. This is mainly due to sloppy writing. The story is second to almost everything else. I was more impressed with some of the scenery (beautiful trees and caves).
This means that although acting, background and theme are great, it falls a bit flat because it lacks the substance of a real epic tale that fits all that.

Special note for the NC scenes. These are amazing. I would even say epic. And also note the kissing.. Especially TaiKram and how that's different from PhuphaKram.

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Good overall, but Barcode award worthy performance

For this drama, the title alone would compell me to watch it. The fact that it comes from BOC, the company who gave us KinnPorsche and ManSuang, makes it a mandatory watch. And it was a good watch, but was it up to standard? Well, yes and no. The theme (revenge thriller) is an original choice in BL-land. and for this kind of theme I expect a solid story, taking me to a climax and having me root for one or more characters on the way.

The story is solid enough, theres a clear line, even with the flashbacks and - forwards. But i could not root for any of the characters. They were either too shitty or too obscure to identify with. In the friend group there are a few identifiably archetypical characters, but not all of them are written in to be a real part of the plot. The ones that are essential to the plot are lacking in detail so we're left wondering about motives and patterns, What made Tan/New go so insane? What about Jin makes Phee fall for him?

The only character I could "feel" was Non. Barcode seemlessly goes from sweet and innocent to dramatic and psycho and then to mysterious and sad. It was a thrilling experience that he can do that t such a young age with so little experience. Can't wait to see more of him.

There were some annoying plotholes. What happened to the opening scene? This scene is not in the movie they made and is never mentioned since, What happened to Tee's father? and the most important question: who killed mr. Keng? Since Jin keeps seeing him in the hallucinations, could it be him? And speaking of hallucinations, what kind of stuff is this? And it has an antidote? And it works with just a whiff of it in your nose? But not if you're wearing half a mask? Like I said: annoying and sometimes distracting from the story.

I'm left feeling that if Barcode did not do as well as he did, I might not have enjoyed this series half as much. Go Barcode!

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Everything I love in 1 show!

This long awaited series did not disappoint. It has so many elements to love, that the only thing that keeps it from being rated a 10/10 is the fact that it did not have double the amount of episodes, so some scenes could have been elaborated on an the last episode did not feel a bit rushed. So sad it ended!

Elements to love in this show: BL (obviously), chemistry, amazing storyline, supernatural, SFX, crime/mystery, good comedy, beautiful NC scenes, great cinematography, well outlined side characters, amazing score/ost.

Elements that could be better: ending felt a bit rushed, underexposed side couples, not enough episodes.

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Epic love in just 6 eps!?

Please make sure you watch "The Boy Foretold By The Stars" movie before you dive into this series. The movie tells you the start of the romance between Dominic and Luke.

The series is a very welcome and well executed addition/elaboration to the movie. I watched it all in one sitting on YouTube. Every time I watch a Philippine BL I remind myself to watch more of these, but because they are not widely available I don't get around to watching them often enough, which is a shame shame shame.

This one is another example of how good these can be in their simplicity. No distracting side-stories, just the main couple and their love story. But it's evactly that storytelling that is so good. We get swept in their world and we live every moment with them. The love, the fear, the parents, the teachers, the friends... perfect. So real.

HIGHLY recommend!

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Fluffy and light feelgood

This movie is a great watch. It's well-paced, with humorous notes and some emotional scenes at exactly the right timing. The chemistry between the two leads is very present, and you can really feel their falling in love through the screen.
Representation is usually done well in Phillipine BL, and this one is no different. It's scenery is a typical high school environment, where competition, bullying and teen-angst are omnipresent. Furthermre, this is a catholic high school, with actual clergymen as teachers and headmaster. It's a delight to see that there is no condemnation from the faculty towards the openly gay community in the school, they are even welcomed as organisers of some kind of bible-camp where the students learn about the love of Chist.

The feel of this movie is very fresh and light, with some more serious notes here and there. Above all, it's a movie about falling in love for the first time and what that does to a person.

Highly recommend that if you watch this movie, you watch "Love Beneath The Stars" the series right after, where the story between Dominic and Luke is explored more deeply.

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Purpose unclear, mildly ok parts

This series consists of 12 2-ep stories of love. Most of them are about the beginning of love, but in some the failure of the same. I was left with the feeling that these were all stories that could at some point be made into a full series, but were not due to lack of funds or otherwise, It all feels rushed, low budget with unknown actors thet we have either not seen before or only in supporting roles. Some themes really deserved more time and attention, such as Friends Forever and Pisces Of Me. Some should be fast forgotten, such as Marry Go Round and Fake Love. Some are really good in this short form, like You Are My SoulMate and Lucky Love. On average it was a 5,5/10 for me.

Casanova Begins: 5/10 huh, why?
Marry Go Round 4/10 Cringeee
Right Time, Right You 7/10 Great chemistry
You Are My So(ul) Mate 7,5/10
Lucky Love 7,5/10
The Camp Fire 6,5/10 (reveal ruined it, wth)
Friends Forever7/10 so sad
Fake Love 4/10 bad directing bad editing gaps, repetitions
Pisces of Me 5/10 heavy subject too rushed
1626 7/10 what happened next?
Refund Love 6/10 fun concept, badly executed
I Wish You Love 6/10 melancholic

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Problematic but addictive. One to binge!

I binged this after airing, and I'm convinced that's the way to watch this.

For those who like a dominant man, I get you. But should you ever meet someone like Shangzhou irl, I would strongly recommend running in the other direction. This man has "unprocessed bagage" written across his forehead. That being said, Shunyu is no kitten either, although it seems otherwise in the beginning. The combination of these two is nothing short of FIREWORKS. The chemistry is banging. and that chemistry is what makes this 10 ep. series absolutely worthwhile.

If you are sensitive to non-consentual touching, pushy innuendo and powerplay, you should proceed with caution. Shangzhou uses all these techniques to get what he desires. At first, Shunyu is not having it, but as soon as his boss shows a sliver of heart, he starts falling for him. Like I said, don't expect too much reality-based interactions. While Shangzhou is convinced he is clearly showing Shunyu he likes him, the object of his desire is convinced his overbearing strict boss hates him. There is a rather large communication gap here. Only after a drunk interaction Shunyu starts to understand Shangzhou's feelings. But that just ushers in further misunderstandings and issues, since Shunyu is totally spooked and runs off.

Shangzhou sees no other way than to pressure Shunyu into staying, which complicates and cools things between them significantly. What turns this around you ask? Well, of course there should have been a heart to heart between them to clear the air, or lawyers should have been involved to break this insane contract. But no, Shangzhou's older brother steps in to make Shunyu understand how troubled a man his little brother is since he's been so mistreated since childhood. He just can't properly express his feelings!

This is all Shunyu needs to set aside all his misgivings and give Shangzhou another chance. He even stands up against Shangzhou's mothermonster, with Shangzhou himself not uttering a word...

While all that I've written before might give you the impression that I didn't like the show, that is not the case. I wanted to hate it because of the insane actions of Shangzhou, but I couldn't.

There is so much to hate, but also so much to love. As I said, the chemistry, but also the side characters are very well done. little details like the stress doll of the head secretary are hilarious, Shunyu is cute as a button, the pace throughout is perfect and the ending is so so sweet.

Go binge it. Now!

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So sweet but why so short

Come on, what are we supposed to think of all these potentially amazing stories that get cut into 15 minute eps when it could have been a nice movie or a longer more elaborate and captivating story?

Add a build up, a back story or 2 and some more sweet scenes and it's a hit.

Don't get me wrong, I didnt rate this series an 8 for nothing, there's true gold to be found in this. The acting is good, the music is amazing and the story is very sweet. The last scene brought tears to my eyes, the sincerity and chemistry was fantastic. It's just that I'm a bit done with these series that are wasted as fillers. They could be so much more.

It will get a nice place on my re-watch list.

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Cute but pointless

Writing a review about this BL is not easy, since there is not that much to review. Why this series is 10 eps long is anyone's guess, it could have been done in 4. Or even none at all. Don't get me wrong, it's not bad. It's just.... not good.

I'm a generous rater and my 7,5 is used for average drama. This is below avg, so a meagre 6.0 is all it gets.

Tin is cute as a button although a bit too childish. The way Park goes from I'll kick you to I love you was so sudden I thought I missed a scene. But I didn't. Pao is supposedly a teacher but works at an office? There is a whole drugs depression and angst plotline there that could have been explored but wasn't. The whole brothers-to-lovers is never not weird, mainly due to the consistent references to parenthood. Chemistry is spotty, mostly in the beginning and with the PaoKana side couple. I get the feeling this was a practice run for the screenwriter (also the MC) and the actors. I hope they learned a lot.

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Only watch on a binge!

I watched this BL on a 2-session binge and I believe thats the only way to watch this and still have a nice time doing so. The first episode threw me off bc of the weird double time jump. The first scene is never followed-up. Where is this helpful President everyone needs every morning?? The fact that Songkhram has liked from the very beginning should have been explored more. He never even tells Ai, except when showing the bracelet in the last ep. The firts 2 kisses were horribly bad. What on earth were they doing? The kisses after that were much better. Both leads act reasonably well, especially Bank. The chemistry is spotty, sometimes its there, sometimes its not. The NC scene feels very genuine and sweet.
The side couples get quite a lot of attention and thats nice, especially for Pipe/Meen. To top it all off, we end with another double timejump. i HATE THOSE, EVEN IF DONE OK ok?
Overall a nice BL to binge and not waste too much time on. Nice, nothing special.

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If you love somebody, set them free

This drama is about what kind of love and life do you want? Which is kind of a deep theme for the lenght of this drama. It seems they bit off s bit more than they could chew, but they try there hardest to make due with nwhat they have and in thet resoect, they did quite well.

The main characters are a love triangle, one current relationship and one (possible) future romance. The current boyfriend is a protective and somewhat cold man, who schemes and plots to keep the status quo, under the pretence of protecting his lover. He never asks him though as if he thinks his boyfriend is a child or stupid. Only at the last second does he come to realize he should be helping instesd of controlling. The new love is 100% support and positivity.. This boy adores him so much he cant stop staring. He builds him up and makes him face the world without force, but while completely having his back.

Other characters play their part around those three, and they are all complex characters, that do not get the screentime they deserve at all. I needed some more back story and more explanation. What exactly happened that waqs so bad that got this writer completely cancelled? How did that book get printed from first just being on a laptop and why is writer Cha ok with that? Who lives where? Whats going on? I could have done with 4 more episodes and make it a nice 12 eps one. But this is a SKBL, and that just hardly ever happens. Too bad. So sad.

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We want more than just "promising"!

Korean BL overall has the same 'flaw': Great story or concept, wickedly good acting some amazing chemistry, but they tend to disappoint every time when it comes to the actual romance part. This BL is no exception to that rule. I was fully engaged from ep 1 through 7 and ep. 8 was an enormous desillusion. Really?? Thats the way you kiss your re-kindled first love when you finally understand each other? Thats the way toddlers kiss when they play house, i'm not even kidding. It could have been so much better with just a few degrees more heat.

I would have liked more story from the side characters, an explanation on the sweater and the how and when they started liking each other, but I would have been so happy with just one real kiss.

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What did I just watch?

This is honestly the first time ever that I wondered what I just watched. This BL wants to be more than it could ever be with the limits of budget, acting and time.

I'm sure there was a vision here, but what it was got totally lost. And as a consequence so did I.

The theme is very interesting: the end of the world due to the moon crashing into the earth a few days from the start of the series. A few people who couldn't get to the bunkers remain to fend for themselves in a doomed world.

This interesting starting point is shot off without any clear direction. Is it a tear fest? Many emotional scenes, deaths of loved ones, misunderstandings... A gore fest? So so much violence and bloody stuff. Not always functional to the story. Some violence and death seem completely unnecessary and only meant for effect. It has the opposite. A f*ck fest? There's a lot, and not from the main couple. Another case of effect chasing.

All this energy should have gone to telling a consistent and compelling story. There are only sparks of what could have been.

What is good: The relationship build up. The brother. The lovely Sis Mam.

What is bad: lack of clear motivation for some actions. For example: why would you stop someone from leaving when you just decided to let them go? Also weird plot parts. The world ending kind of defeats seeking shelter, even in a bunker. Why don't they ever worry about their parents. The lack of anxiety over the world actually ending. The science of the moon crashing does not add up. I could go on and on.

This should have been given much more thought, attention and budget for it to become a good show. They wanted more than they could deliver and that's a shame

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Everyone is evil

The thing i took away from this drama is that there was nobody i could really identify with. The character Giwi is the worst, but just about everyone and their dog has an evil streak and/or is an opportunist. The only one who was at least a little likeable was the cop Tin (Tay Tawan). But, for an inspector he is surprisingly gullible to the real character of the girl he is in love with. This drama is a parade of bad people. Spycho's criminales, corrupt politicians, blackmailers, murderers, entitled heirs et cetera. The people who we should believe are in love do nothing that convinces me they are and because these are very good actors (Mek, Foei and Joss) this is most likely due to bad directing.

Don't get me wrong, i never considered dropping it, and I enjoyed ranting at the screen a lot. The acting was mostly on point and I enjoy watching these kind of dramas . it's just that this as not as good as some others I have seen.

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Beautiful & underrated

This is what small production houses can do! Just 2 actors, the Thai mountains, fitting music and a classic tale of love is all it took to make this highly underrated gem of a BL.

The story is a classic mythical and mystical tale, told in pieces, so that we are continuously puzzling together what actually happened. In the end, we did not get all the answers, but do we ever in these kind of tales? The overall feeling is one of happiness and completion.

The acting is very good. Imagine no side stories, marginal side characters so all the work comes from just these two. Excellent! The Thai scenery should have been a paid actor, as this (intentionally) contributed so much to the story.

I thoroughly enjoyed it and will put in on my re-watch list!

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