Pinoy BL Series

Episode 8 tried to resolve some lingering issues from previous episodes. In particular, Zag clarified with Zirgo, hopefully once and for all, that he only sees him as a brother. Zig's mother, Cassandra, chatted with Zag about helping her talk to her son which in turn gave Zig the impression that Zag is taking his mother's side in their strife. This looked like the final conflict setting up the final two episodes of this series. Even though Even After has a simple plot/storyline, I've long appreciated that it's relatable enough. The screenplay was cheesy but it's generally ok. Sure, acting needed improvements, but it wasn't really bad. I also noticed some improvements on audio, musical scoring, and split screen editing. For the last two episodes, my hope is for the series to produce its best episodes yet and for ZigZag to get a well-deserved happy ending.

I like the pace of Quaranthings: The Series. It's not too fast and it's not too slow. It seemed fit for an 8-episode series. The plot/storyline progressed smoothly on Episode 2: Alcohol. Character backgrounds for both Judah and Rocky were established. Contexts were clear with real-life issues like family disagreements, competitive school environment, employment, and navigating through the pandemic. Yes, we don't condone stealing but we can understand where the recently fired Rocky was coming from. The way the rich were treated as the other on this episode, somehow, I feel there's some class consciousness on this series. Screenplay was relatable. There were socially sensible lines about being poor (It's hard to be poor in this country), internalized homophobia (Do you have some type of internalized homophobia?), sexual harassment (I hate people who sexually harass others), etc. Although not as funny as last week's script, there were still some humorous dialogues. Acting was generally on point. Kyo was good with the comedic scenes but he still needs to improve with the more dramatic parts. His scenes with Royce were cute and endearing. And the last scene was heartwarming. Audio-visuals were ok but editing needs to be smoother. Overall, Episode 2 was a very good episode.

In Between is now available on GagaOOLala. Ep10 is now available. I've watched it already but I'll comment on it on Saturday :)

Robin Hanrath didn't appear on Episode 5. His character name (David) was mentioned but he didn't appear on that episode -- mention of character name doesn't merit cast credit. Whoever keeps on adding his name in the cast & credits, please stop. It's getting tiresome editing the cast & credits. Thanks!

I would want to watch them all together (because I write episode reviews) but most of the time I can't help myself, I watch each part as soon as they are released.

While Episode 5: Momi, Dadi & Me might have pertained more to Princess, Jimmy, and Joey, this episode's actually Nuan's episode. The plot/storyline progressed in this episode with the pregnant Princess moving in with Jimmy. There's character development for Jimmy with him worried about his mother and with him taking responsibility for Princess' pregnancy (by the way, I just have to say it, the prop for the baby bump was terrible!). But probably the most impressive about this episode was the character background for Nuan. Gilbert is a disgusting character. While I understand the importance of representing such repulsive characters because they do exist in society and I recognize the value of demonstrating rejection of such characters (which Nuan's brother manifested), I fear that this could further engrain the conservative, regressive, and stereotypical notion that queer people are not fit to adopt children. Let's be clear, Gilbert is a sexual abuser/groomer because he's a sick person, not because he's queer. Anyway, I've always been biased for Nuan so I'm happy there's depth in his character background. As for Wil, nothing much happened. Well, he talked to the plant and had ensaymada (cheesy, soft, and sweet dough pastry) with Joey. I don't know how other viewers felt about these scenes but I was quite bored with the long and repetitive monologue (with the plant) and dialogue (with Joey). Both scenes started cute but got dragged too much they became dull. In general, screenplay for this episode was tiresome but compared to the lines with Will, the script for the other scenes was tolerable. With regards to acting, Jules shined in this episode. He was really good. I only wished the Director didn't prolonged his scenes because in doing so, he lessened the scenes' impact. Among the lead cast members, Jules has shown the most range in acting. Drei is the most natural while Erwin is the most trained. While Ivan has always been interesting because of the mysterious vibes he exude, his acting has become monotonous as of late. He needs to be given more challenging scenes. Gabo was fine but the rest of the support cast members had lackluster acting. Production technicals still need improvement. Audio was still bad with all those distracting background sounds. Camera shots were too simple and straightforward which contributed to this episode's unimaginative visuals. Editing was still generally uneven. I'm still hopeful the production crew can address these production issues on the next episodes! Twenty-five episodes more to go!

Yeah, maybe Tau is really a classic case of someone with internalized homophobia wherein he denies queerness exists. I agree, guys like that do exist. There's no denying that. But I think people are sick of this because we've had too much of this in the boys' love (BL) genre. We just want boy-to-boy relationships to be represented as gay, bi or queer relationships. But I still like this series so I'll continue to watch it.

Lol on the underwear :)

While I appreciate innovation and promotion of social change in Filipino (Pinoy) boys' love (BL) series, these characteristics should be synchronized with the ability to generate audience comprehension and engagement. I've never really appreciated series that are high brow art for art's sake. Unfortunately, Oh My Sexual is slowly turning into one. It seemed to be living in its own world without much regard for viewer reception. Episode 4: Oh My Kim! reverted back to being highly incoherent with too much exaggerations. Kim's story was quite tiresome. And the technicals of production in terms of audio-visual didn't improve much. Frankly, for the next episodes, I don't expect much from this series anymore. I just want it to at least make some sense for the audience.

For some reasons, Episode 3: World War 3 was delayed for a week. Dave's socio-economic status was even more contrasted with that of Terrence in this episode. They continued with their online banter. And three new characters belonging to the group "Varsity Boys" were introduced in this episode. But even with these developments, the plot was still not compelling enough. There was an unnecessary scene (Gigi asking Dave for sugar). Screenplay was a bit more natural but was still dull. Acting performance of the new cast members needs improvement. Production technicals were better than previous episodes but there were still some issues (like loud background noises). For the next episodes, I'm just hoping for continuous improvements with respect to plot, performance, and production.

It aired today :)

I agree. What Jelai's doing actually qualifies as sexual harassment based on our law. We have Republic Act 7877: Anti-Sexual Harassment Act of 1995 in the Philippines. What this show is doing with Jelai's character is normalizing sexual harassment in the workplace. And we should point this out. We might like other aspects of the series but if we find some aspects objectionable, I think we need to point them out.

Episode 8: End to Begin at least tried to resolve Thirdy's issues with Cerwin, Dean, and Bench. Thirdy's sister even made an appearance. But all these failed to solve the shallowness of the plot/storyline of this series. The script was extra preachy in this episode. Acting was generally uninspired. Production technicals had some problems. Connection and feed hanged several times. Audio was choppy. And for the most part, the finale was underwhelming. The grand reveal was quite blasé. At one point during the grand reveal, even Thirdy asked: "is this it?" (ito na yun? ). While I understood why Thirdy chose loving himself over Bench, I hated the idea of asking Kumu app subscribers to vote only to render their votes useless in the end. The title of this episode was open-ended -- maybe hinting on a full narrative series. But if planned full narrative series doesn't depart substantially from this experimental interactive series in terms of plot/storyline and performance, I don't really see the point of producing a full narrative series.

I super love this series! This is definitely among my all time favorite series! Episode 1 was great!

Hmmm... Episode 6: Bangkok Can't Wait wasn't a good episode. From being officially together just last week to breaking up this week to hooking up with someone else next week? Somehow, Hook Up's plot/storyline had gone off the rails. Yes, the need for good communication and management of egos in a relationship was highlighted in this episode but aside from that, nothing much helped in advancing a satisfactory narrative. Dialogues were unnecessarily circuitous and long. While Niko played his role well, his character was annoying. Audio was uneven for this episode. Editing wasn't good. There were some dead air and gaps during split screens and post-credits appeared twice with Niko's name not fully integrated -- which is actually an improvement from last week when Wex's name wasn't even fully credited. With two episodes left, I hope the cast and crew can still salvage this series so as to end on a high note.

While the plot/storyline progressed on Episode 5, everything else didn't. Screenplay was cringy, irritatingly long, and repetitive (cases in point, scene where Moira confronted Sky in his room, bar drinking scene with Sky's friends, etc.). Because of his near death experience, Ace's character development and redemption arc should have started in this episode (not on Episode 3) which would have made the overall narrative more believable. There's still no explanation why Moira's the way she is other than the sexist explanation that she's a bitch. Gay representations were still bad. In terms of acting, Aki and Shanice were equally poor while Miko was just ok. Similar to previous episodes, what went well for this episode were the production technicals. Production design was good [some may even say, comparable with some of the top-notch Thai boys' love (BL) series]. Although simple techniques were employed, cinematography was generally decent. Taking all of these together, this episode still didn't impress me. I hope next week's episode is better.

I enjoyed Episode 9: Hinala. The plot/storyline developed in this episode. There were character developments and relationship complications revolving around suspicions. Brianx was suspicious of her boyfriend Jet, the gang was suspicious of Nin after he called someone Pangs online, and I think Otep was suspicious of Tau and Orion. I'm fine with Tau referring to Otep as his best friend instead of boyfriend. Maybe Tau's not yet ready to come out to his family and co-workers. But Tau should have discussed this with Otep prior so as not to catch Otep off guard. Screenplay was generally ok. Pangs had some cheesy but sweet lines. Makisig's singing was cute. Acting was fine. I also love the vacation vibes of this episode. They were eating again! This is probably the Filipino (Pinoy) boys' love (BL) series wherein the characters eat the most, lol. The resort scenic view was amazing. With all these, I think we can at least expect more complexities in the five remaining episodes.

There were obvious improvements on Episode 3. While still simplistic, the plot/storyline was at least contextualized to highlight how teens manage home and school life amidst the pandemic. Screenplay was still cheesy but a bit less cringy. There were still pointless hand gestures but it was evident that acting was toned down. But the biggest improvements were on production design, cinematography, and editing. They were nevertheless below average but tolerable at the minimum. On the next episodes, I hope Unexpected continuously improve.

It's good that on Episode 7, ZigZag finally decided to put a label on their relationship. They're now boyfriends! Yey! A lot of boys' love (BL) series would drag the labelling part till the finale as if ending up as boyfriends is the be all and end all of relationships. In fact, in most cases, the things that happen after you become boyfriends are even more challenging. I'm glad that Even After will explore some of these issues in the remaining episodes starting with the challenge posted by Zig's mother wanting to talk to Zag. I'm actually scared of what she'll say to Zag. Again, it's just too familiar for me. Here's hoping for a not so heart-breaking Episode 8!

Unfortunately no. Only the one whose name appears in the pass can go out. That means you'll have to ask the one with the pass to buy things for you. But this quarantine pass regulation is not for the entire Philippines. It's only being implemented in places where there's a high number of Covid-19 cases. They are set in Quezon City, part of Metro Manila, Philippines where there's a high number of Covid-19 incidents.