Pinoy BL Series

On Episode 7, Andrei helped Sef with his studies. As a show of gratitude after getting high marks, Sef gifted Andrei with a laptop. Prior, Andrei and Sef went on a nice boat ride. There seemed to be some sort of relationship development and yet I don't feel this series is progressing at all. The plot/storyline's moving on a snail's pace. Screenplay was generally ok though. Allen and Ivo were cute together but they were still tentative at times. Most of the supporting cast members were annoying. Production technicals were weak. While there were some nice camera shots (e.g. boat ride shots), editing for the most part was pedestrian. Scene transitions need to be more fluid. On the whole, even with its shortcomings, this episode was still better than the previous episode.

Star Image Digital Network is awful at finales. They just don't know how to properly end series. Episode 7: Exchange of Hearts felt rushed and unfinished. Script was boring. Acting was uninspired. But if it's any consolation, audio-visuals were mostly ok. All in all, this wasn't a good finale.

What a disappointing ending for this series. While I appreciated this series' efforts at being socially conscious, with the COVID-19 pandemic context incorporated in the plot/storyline, I didn't like the use of the outdated bury your gay and queer grief tropes. These tropes reinforce the notion that gays and queers don't deserve to be happy. Representations are good but if gays and queers keep seeing their representations get killed, as art critics and psychologists have pointed out, those representations can also be harmful. On Episode 5: After Life, Cardo died and Nathaniel was left to bury him weeping. The end. That was terrible. Screenplay was generally circuitous. Gino's acting was good but the prolonged dramatic scenes lessened the impact of his performance. Given the weak characterizations, it was also difficult to empathize and sympathize with the characters. Compared to previous episodes, audio-visuals were a bit better though. Overall, this was mostly an upsetting finale for this series.

Similar to most do-it-yourself (DIY) Filipino (Pinoy) boys' love (BL) series, "Coming from the Star" has poor quality. Episode 1 suffered from an uninteresting plot/storyline. There were a couple of unnecessary scenes. While screenplay was somewhat conversational, it was nevertheless unexciting. There were repetitive lines. Acting was quite weak. Cast members weren't endearing enough. Audio-visuals were mostly substandard. Some scenes didn't even have sound. There were also distracting background noises. Camera shots were largely amateurish. Frankly, I don't know what will happen to this Pinoy BL series. The last Pinoy BL series by the same Director got cancelled so I won't be surprised if this one gets discontinued as well.

Similar to "Lust Never Lasts," this Magnifico TV-produced series "Simply Don't" also suffered from a shallow plot/storyline with a regressive message. This series looked at cheating. The depictions of Shasha, an effeminate gay, and Manang, a female maid, were likewise problematic. Screenplay was mostly preaching backward thinking. Sure, acting on this series was slightly better than "Lust Never Lasts" but it was nonetheless still poor. Greyson and Jhay Ar's kissing scene was more exhausting than exciting. Audio-visuals were substandard. Overall, this was a weak pilot episode.

I agree. I don't know what's happening to this series. It's really regressing.

We got this from the Director. He posted this on his Facebook page. There was no citation for the source.

Similar to previous episodes, Episode 3 was bad. There were poor characterizations. Yes, Andrei and Julius are now together but how they got to that point felt forced and rushed. The plot/storyline lacked focus. Screenplay was awful and the delivery of lines was equally dreadful. Audio-visuals were still weak. All in all, I'm just glad there's only one episode left.

On Episode 8, Martin confessed his love and asked Ethon to be his partner, to which Ethon said yes. This episode also saw Dane outing Ethon. While there were cheesy lines, repetitive words, and prolonged scenes (e.g. Martin's monologue confession), this episode was nevertheless ok because the plot/storyline moved forward. Acting by Solo and Aki was mostly fine. In terms of singing, Solo wasn't great but he sounded good enough. Production design, cinematography, and editing need improvement. I feel this series regressed a bit in terms of production technicals. All in all, even with its shortcomings, this episode was still watchable.

Episode 4 was excruciating to watch. There were cringy prolonged scenes (e.g. Benjo fantasizing with Emil's underwear) as well as sloppy scenes (e.g. as chefs, Emil and his assistant didn't even have a tray and they didn't even know how to properly carry the plates and serve the food). Plus the drunk scene at the end left a bad taste in my mouth. The lines that were supposed to be funny didn't quite deliver. While Carl and Johnrey were generally ok acting-wise, the bad script and poor scenes didn't do them any favors. Audio-visuals were uneven. There were sound volume fluctuations and disorienting color grading and lighting. Overall, this wasn't a good episode.

Undoubtedly the series' best episode yet, Episode 7: True Love's Kiss was a beautifully made intense-filled episode. This episode confronted the character flaws of both Reb (with his idealized outlook on love) and JM (with his anger-driven and pessimistic view of life) head on. All the scenes were purposive and the screenplay was very apt. This penultimate episode will be remembered for the powerful confrontation scene that concluded with the lines "Fuck you" and "I hate you" and yes, sealed with an emotional kiss. Yves, Iyo, and even Beverly, were all amazing on this episode. With Yves, I really felt JM's personal struggles. And I empathized and sympathized with Iyo's Reb. I wanted to comfort and hug him (with consent, lol). As for Beverly's Aaliyah, I wanted to slap her for giving JM a final kiss, lol. Anyway, audio-visuals, including the soundtrack, remained solid. Overall, this episode was a great set-up for next week's finale episode. I expect to see character and relationship development! Here's to a hopeful finale episode!

In terms of plot/storyline, screenplay, acting performance, and production value, the main weaknesses from the previous episodes lingered on Episode 6. It just so happens that this series has charming leads in Allen and Ivo so this episode was at least tolerable. Clark had better make-up too. Anyway, on this episode, despite his domineering and sexist exterior, Sef showed signs of character development. But this wasn't really enough to make this episode interesting. I hope next episode's better.

On Episode 4: Asymptomatic, Nathaniel was forced to home care Cardo because they lack money and support for hospital treatment. There were bits of information about Nathaniel's background but overall, nothing much happened on this episode. Script was alright. Acting was fine. Production technicals remained the same. All in all, while the pace of this series was just too slow, this episode was still mostly ok.

Episode 2 was a cringefest. Lester getting in the way of Andrei and Julius' friendship because he's in love with Andrei was uncreative and shallow. The script had corny lines and preachy dialogues. Acting was horrendous. None of the characters were endearing enough. The actors need to undergo intensive acting workshops. And while the annoyingly loud background music and sound effects were minimized on this episode, the production technicals by in large remained weak. I will not pretend to be excited for what happens next on this series.

This series was one of those Filipino (Pinoy) boys' love (BL) series that I'm really glad was over. After all the drama, everyone's good with everyone and Kim identified as a woman on Episode 6. The plot/storyline just made no sense. Script was bad. Acting was terrible. And audio-visuals were weak till the end. As announced, there's a second season. If it's going to be more of the same, enough please. We don't need another Pinoy BL series without even a modicum of sense.

You can still see our list here: https://twitter.com/PinoyBLSeries/status/1397855185330786307?s=20

We posted our Top 12 #PinoyBLSeries for 2020 on Twitter :)

We share your disappointments with most of these Pinoy BL series. Out of the 79 Pinoy BL series released, we only consider less than 15 series as top-tier. There are also a lot of issues against some of these series (accusations of absence of contract, unjust compensation, grave threats, mistreatment, sexual harassment, even rape) that we post (and at times, even expose) on our Twitter account @PinoyBLSeries. Despite these, we want to support and promote all Pinoy BL series while still being critical. We try our best to soldier on.

No, we aren't paid by anyone. This is purely volunteer work for us. We promote and support all Pinoy BL series, even the lousy ones (check us out on Twitter). We try to be critical (you should read our critical comments about some of the DIY series) but we also temper our criticisms in recognition of all the efforts by the cast and crew to produce these Pinoy BL series especially given the generally sexist mass media landscape in the Philippines. Our comments are informed by our backgrounds. Our backgrounds are varied (information technology, health sciences, literature, mass communications, and social sciences, aside from being long-time BL fans of course) but the one who makes comments here on MDL has mass communications and social sciences background. We are one of the organizers and sponsors of the Pinoy Boys' Love (PBL) Awards so we watch all Pinoy BL series so that we can appropriately judge them. How can we judge them if we haven't seen them? You're entitled to your opinion about these Pinoy BL series. We're pretty sure it is based on whatever background you have. But in our case, we don't pretend about anything or spin anything. We review these Pinoy BL series as we see them, based of course from the backgrounds from where we're coming from. To get a sense of how we rate Pinoy BL series, please check this out: https://kisskh.at/list/1xrP8Gd3

If you really read and understand my comment, you'd see that I had more good things than bad things to say about this episode.