Pinoy BL Series

Me too! And it's an open mouth kiss. We don't even do that in most of our television dramas (teleseryes). We only do that in some of our movies. Maybe it's good Gameboys is on Youtube and not on a regular Philippine television channel, less censorship/regulation I guess since Youtube is not under MTRCB. This makes me think, how will they do kissing on the promising upcoming Pinoy BL series My Extraordinary? My Extraordinary is our first Pinoy BL series on a regular Philippine television channel (TV5) so this will probably be challenging since they are under MTRCB.

It was a problem with translation. Jimmy used "bakla" which is equivalent to "gay." Bakla is a neutral term, it can be both positive or negative depending on the context of use. I don't think we have a word for "faggot."

Updates: Pangs will get a spin-off series while Jet (Ron Angeles) will no longer appear on In Between -- so I guess, it's the end for BianxJet. Ron will appear on another Pinoy BL series, BenXJim.

Gameboys, the highest rated Filipino series of all time on MDL, is now ranked #30 overall -- this is the highest ranking Gameboys has received :) A 9.0 rating will put Gameboys within #16-22 :)

Agree. I also remember Leila telling Cairo that her husband’s hospitalization drained their family’s savings when she first brought up Bukidnon.

Yes, happy for Fuccbois’ alumni Kokoy & Royce, also In Between’s Migs & Ron Angeles. By the way, I heard Ron will no longer appear on In Between & we all know what happened to My Dreamboy where he was supposed to be the lead star (production company Dreamline Digital TV is a fraud according to the cast & crew). Thankfully Ron will appear on BenXJim.

The good thing about Episode 5: Oh My DJ!, we got a clearer idea of the interconnectedness of the main characters. At least the plot/storyline progressed on this episode. Generally, I don't like silly and thoughtless tangled web of love and relationship trope but we'll see on the next episodes if the use of such trope on this series makes sense. This episode seemed more akin to Episode 3. Like Episode 3, exaggerations were lessened on this episode that allowed more comprehensible script and relatable acting. Even the audio-visuals were not as distracting as the previous episodes. All in all, this episode was watchable.

After 4 episodes, nothing much has happened on this series. The conflicts laid out during the pilot episode (sexist Twitter commenter, unemployment, etc.) were the same issues depicted on Episode 4: Lean on Me. The plot/storyline has dragged on. It needs to progress somehow. While script and acting were better compared to previous episodes, they still need improvement. Audio was clearer on this episode (less background noise) but some issues with visuals remained. For example, the computer graphics for the Twitter handle of Terrence still showed @ReuvenEj which is actually the name of the Lead Actor/Director. This should be changed to a Twitter handle closer to Terrence's name. This may be a minor concern but similar issues like this should be cleaned up.

According to Ticket2Me (production company) premiere dates: October 15, 2020 | 8PM PH | Ticket2Me Video Player & October 18, 2020 | 8PM PH | Ticket2Me Youtube Channel.

After reading my Gameboys series review, my Marxist friend told me he likes Gameboys but his one issue with the series is that it has no class consciousness or it doesn't really represent majority of Filipinos who are having financial difficulties. That's why he said he prefers Quaranthings over Gameboys because at least financial difficulties are represented in Royce Cabrera's character (Rocky). I disagreed with my Marxist friend. I told him that precisely the reason why Cai's family is moving to Bukidnon is because they can't afford to live in Metro Manila anymore. Cai may not be poor like Rocky but there's still some class consciousness in Gameboys. And I also love Quaranthings. After two episodes, I agree with some of the commenters, it's really a top-tier Pinoy BL series in the company of Gameboys and Hello Stranger. Of course, Gameboys is still the best for me but do watch Quaranthings as well, it's also very good.

Thanks for the comment! There was a lot of good Thai BL series in 2019 [Until We Meet Again, He's Coming To Me, 3 Will Be Free (more LGBTQ+-themed than BL), Dark Blue Kiss, Theory of Love, etc.] but I think 2020 is really the year of Pinoy BL series. Aside from Gameboys, Hello Stranger, etc., there are other promising Pinoy BL series this year. Currently, I'm enjoying Quaranthings but watch out for Like in the Movies (Gaya Sa Pelikula) [Sept. 25] and My Extraordinary [Sept. 27], they look really promising. I'm not sure about the other upcoming series but Like in the Movies and My Extraordinary impressed me with their promotions (including trailers) so we'll see.

We need more comments, more high ratings, more reviews...

yes a'tin!

Yes, most drama series including BL series like Gameboys and Hello Stranger employ the “enemies to lovers” trope so my general rule is to look for something new on these series which I found in both series so I’m fine with both.

I do think that these hateful fans are a minority so let’s not mind them.

Whether it’s 1 or 2 or more episodes, if they start as enemies and end up lovers, it’s still considered “enemies to lovers.” There are reasons why Tony who has been in show business for a long time hasn’t won any reputable acting awards. His vocal, physical, emotional choices in acting are not always consistently in sync. He’s oftentimes betrayed by his eyes in dramatic scenes. JC is really good and I really like him but acting coaches will probably have a minor issue with him. He sometimes telegraphs his acting, meaning you’ll know when the dramatic acting’s coming and how he’ll do it. He’ll need variety in delivering his dramatic scenes. But this is a minor issue that I’m sure JC will be able to address in his future projects. He’s still very young.

As for why people like Gameboys, please check out my series review. I’ve been doing episode and series reviews since the start of the Pinoy BL series craze. I’ve done 5 series reviews and 90+ episode reviews. Interestingly, I’ve only received vitriol twice from two Hello Stranger fans accusing me of being biased and hating Hello Stranger (check out the comments on the Hello Stranger MDL profile). I’ve consistently rated Hello Stranger 8.5-9.0. I don’t think that’s hate. This accusation came from fans who rated Gameboys 1.0. I mean, who’s biased and who’s hating here? I’ve always grouped Hello Stranger with Gameboys as among the top Pinoy BL series. I just prefer Gameboys for the reasons I stated in my series review. Luckily, most Hello Stranger fans are nice and respectful so I enjoy engaging with them. Similarly, you’ll find such hateful fans supporting other Pinoy BL series so just don’t mind them, they’re very few. Most of the commenters here are nice and respectful.

When will this rating go up? "Yeah, we gonna go up (We go up)" [SB19]. Lol!

And that folks is how you do a finale! In Episode 10: Crossing the Line, the plot/storyline had come full circle. All the major issues were resolved with the overall tone of the series maintained. Screenplay was as impeccable as ever. Ash gave us all the happy things we want from this series: strong women in Pearl and Leila saving the day, Terrence and Wes (maybe) finding each other, and of course, Cai and Gav loving and kissing each other and even living together. We even got to see Cai, Gav, and Pearl together in one scene! Acting was topnotch. Production design, cinematography, computer graphics, sound engineering, musical scoring, and editing were all great. I also love the fact that a number of the OSTs were integrated in this episode. And finally, there's no better way to end this episode than by teasing "Gameboys 2. Soon."

I can relate. I have already developed a self-switch -- switch-on and switch off. When the fillers or product placements or ads are on, I switch myself off and switch back on after, lol.

With this episode shooting down the idea of Mark hooking up with Lucas, Hook Up seemed to be back on track. The plot/storyline progressed in Episode 7: Stop Luke & Listen to set-up next week's finale. Mark showed his vulnerable side in this episode. While Lucas was still annoying, we at least learned some things about him that could explain why he is the way he is. Screenplay was realistic enough. Even the serious lines with Tita Cassie were measured enough not to be preachy. Acting performance, especially from Niko and Marky, was good. Special mention goes to Marky who has gone a long way since his Truly Very Yours days. His acting performance on this episode was certainly admirable. If there's one issue I had with this episode, it's with the camera shots. I don't get it why they had to cut off Tita Cassie's head on parts of her scenes. Anyway, another nice thing about this episode, it's not immune from what's happening in the real world. When this episode started and ended with a socially relevant message, it was sincere, it wasn't tokenistic at all. Hook Up's cast and crew have always been consistent about their views on societal issues. So to end, let's reiterate their message for this episode: #TransLivesMatter #JusticeForJenniferLaude #NoToGenderRelatedViolence

Episode 6 is My Day's best episode yet. The plot/storyline progressed in this episode and most of the scenes were a lot more purposive. Screenplay was generally ok. There were unnecessarily long lines (e.g. between Ace and Kim) that lessened the impact of the scenes but they were tolerable. There were still some objectionable dialogues (e.g. Jelai castigating Marianne for wearing short skirt; queers going super gaga over Ace) but they didn't really surprised me anymore given the weak gender consciousness of this series. The naughty lines (e.g. between Ace and Sky; between Ace and the gym trainer) were nice though, not because they were naughty but because they revealed that Ace didn't just wake up suddenly liking men; the feeling's been there all along. With Sky, this still needs to be established. Acting was generally ok. Aki's acting was underwhelming but he was watchable on this episode. Both Leilani Kate and Miko were good; same can be said for the actors playing Sky's father, mother, and brother. Production design and cinematography were generally ok. Overall, Episode 6 was a good episode.

Jealousy as a plot/storyline device in a lot of drama series is a staple and Episode 10: Selos showed that In Between isn't an exemption. Being so cliché, I don't know if Otep's reasonable jealousy of Tau and Orion did the plot/storyline any favors. Will this contribute to the overall theme of the series (in between hello and goodbye)? We'll have to see in the next episodes which I hope will have a much faster pace. In Between has been quite dragging the last couple of episodes. Screenplay and acting were generally ok. There were cheesy yet cute lines especially between Nin and Makisig. Nin's song number was adorable, lol! Honestly, I'm enjoying this Pangs ship even though it isn't really going anywhere, lol! I hope their narrative progresses soon before it gets boring. Production technicals were also generally ok. For the last four episodes, I look forward to seeing the complexities of the series' relationships (TauTep, Pangs, BianxJet) in line with the theme of the series.