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A Somber Love Story with Realistic Characters
In a world filled with sound, it’s easy to get lost in the noise. In a world of silence, it’s easy to get lost in the stillness.Adapted from the manga Hidamari ga Kikoeru by Yuki Fumino, the Japanese BL I Hear the Sunspot explores the themes of sound and silence through the journey of two young men who find solace and understanding in one another.
Starring Nakazawa Motoki as Sugihara Kohei and Kobayashi Toranosuke as Sagawa Taichi, I Hear the Sunspot follows deaf student Kohei as he navigates university life, feeling isolated behind the barrier his hearing loss has created. Everything changes when he meets Taichi, an outspoken, cheerful student whose lively, somewhat naive personality is impossible to ignore—and all too easy to fall in love with.
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https://the-bl-xpress.com/2024/09/20/i-hear-the-sunspot-series-review-ep-3-to-12/
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A Timeless Masterpiece Indeed!
It can feel strange to describe love as feeling like an electric moment, but it often does feel electric, shocking, exciting, and overwhelmingly terrifying.In the Korean BL film The Time of Fever, love is all of the above and more. Starring actors Won Tae Min and Do Woo, it tells the story of Ho Tae and Dong He, who have been inseparable since childhood, growing up like brothers. When Ho Tae returns to their hometown after his father’s funeral, he finds Dong Hee living in his old house, having been kicked out after coming out. Reuniting under one roof, their close bond begins to evolve as old feelings resurface. Dong Hee, who has secretly loved Ho Tae for years, tries to suppress his emotions, while Ho Tae is suddenly faced with unfamiliar feelings of his own. As Ho Tae recklessly dates others to avoid his confusion, their friendship is tested, leading to a gradual and emotional shift in their relationship.
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https://the-bl-xpress.com/2024/09/14/the-time-of-fever-series-review-ep-1-to-6/
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A Historical Saga that was a Good Attempt
“Why do you always want to go back to the past?” – Quote from “Meet You At the Blossom”This is a titanically fun series to watch. But I am biased. I love history-period pieces, especially Asian ones since I know so little about Asian cultures and customs in general. For me, I romanticize the story even more and thus, it becomes pure escapism.
I confess that I got completely lost in the complexities of the story and with the names and who is kindred to whom. I had a hard time following the lineage of who is related to whom and therefore the story for me got a shade complicated. However, I got the gist of the story and all I was interested in really were the main characters. They were not just entertaining. They were tantalizing. For some reason, decidedly handsome men in exotic period costumes add a greater dimension to the level of the portrayals of their characters they are playing.
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https://the-bl-xpress.com/2024/09/07/meet-you-at-the-blossom-series-review-ep-1-to-12/
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An apt adaptation that spins a pretty satisfying tale!
Love isn’t a competition, but it can be a transformative force that inspires the people we love to reach the happiness they deserve while we, too, find and hold onto that same joy.In the drama adaptation of Narashima Sachi’s manga series Cosmetic Playlover, star employees Sahashi Toma (Toyoda Yudai) and Mamiya Natsume (Okuno So) are male beauty advisors who start as rivals and end up as lovers, all while coming face-to-face with their insecurities, their pasts, and what each of them wants from the future–from themselves and each other.
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https://the-bl-xpress.com/2024/08/31/cosmetic-playlover-series-review-ep-3-to-8/
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An Emotional Romance with a Beautiful Casting
This series is exceptional, surprisingly. I was not expecting it to affect me as deeply as it did, but one had to frankly get through a lot of cacophony to get to the story. But once you did, and evaluated that, it was much deeper than most viewers, I think, realized. It honestly left me emotionally drained. This series, I felt.It starts out as your typical Thai BL series with a character who seems superficial, spoiled pampered, and arrogant with a ginormous ego. A successful and well-off writer, Tongrak [Rak] (Peat Wasuthorn), seemingly coming to a remote island to clear his head, acts pensive and appears obviously troubled. Good-looking to be sure, but aloof and evidently wants to be left alone. The person who is paid to take care of him while on the island is Mahasamut [Mut] (Fort Thitipong), a bit of a celebrity on the island. He is dropped-dead gorgeous himself and plays with Rak like he is playing a musical instrument. In other words, he is unimpressed with Rak’s status and money. Throughout their stormy exchanges, Mut develops strong feelings for Rak. Rak pretends desperately not to be enamored with Mut but becomes captivated by Mut’s sincerity and utter charm. It does not take long for sparks to fly and fly they do.
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https://the-bl-xpress.com/2024/08/29/love-sea-series-review-ep-1-to-10/
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A Tale of Love, Friendship and Woman Power!
“Show Me Love” is a story about girl power, sisterhood and falling in love. The acting is quite outstanding, and the actors are extremely comfortable in front of the camera and have great chemistry, which was refreshing to see (this has to be said because there are a lot of actors that get to lead series but are very stiff in front of the camera it’s uncomfortable to watch). Although the story itself is your run-of-the-mill romance story, it is not complicated, and the characters are able to talk through things to avoid any unnecessary prolonging of the story, which I quite appreciated. The chemistry between the leads was so compelling that even though a “special episode” was released to show the more intimate scenes, the scenes in which they were more oblivious of their feelings were much more captivating to the audience.“Show Me Love” follows the story of Cherine (Charlotte Austin), a beauty pageant who has always dreamt of becoming a beauty queen but was discouraged by her past attempts and is thinking of giving up this dream, and Meena (Engfa Waraha), a village girl who runs away from home to the big city in pursuit of her dream of being a singer. Despite her talent, Meena sees that Bangkok is a tough city to succeed in, as her dreams of becoming a singer seem to be evading her every chance she tries. When Meena meets Cherine, her seemingly stuck-up neighbor, they do not immediately get along, however, this changes when Cherine and her friends witness Meena singing, and realize this talented and beautiful girl might be what their agency need in order to compete in the Miss Grand beauty pageant.
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https://the-bl-xpress.com/2024/08/22/show-me-love-series-review-ep-1-to-9/
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An Ensemble Casting with a Good Storyline
“We Are” is a medley of romantic tropes and sappiness that is very welcome in the BL scene. It is the quintessential romcom, an easygoing series about a group of friends who find love and support each other throughout the process. “We Are” is refreshing and fun and even though it doesn’t give you any drama, the romance and friendship are enough to drive this 16-episode series, and the different couples give us a wide range of romantic tropes, there is no screen time wasted because all the stories develop at different paces, keeping us engaged from start to finish. As a big fan of slice of life shows with minimum conflict, “We are” was such a treat, and I hope there is more demand for such low stakes BLs in the midst of all the high drama, high production and educational ones.Read the complete article here-
https://the-bl-xpress.com/2024/08/06/we-are-series-review-ep-5-to-16/
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Netflix Really Outdoes Itself This Time
“How should I write this review?”I contemplated on the answer to this question before diving deep into the oceans of “The Boyfriend”. Compared to most dating shows I had watched in the past, this one was unprecedented. And I’m not even talking about the contestants. When I first learned that the contestants would be running a coffee shop, I had doubts of my own.
Will this bring them closer? Will they learn more about each other? Will it be a simple cohabitation and nothing more?
Curiously enough, that wasn’t the case. The said coffee truck became a source of income and also a place to share their thoughts, opinions and most of all, their feelings. It was a “created opportunity” for the contestants to know each other better while working in close quarters; you can call it office romance with a bittersweet twist!
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https://the-bl-xpress.com/2024/07/31/the-boyfriend-series-review-ep-4-to-10/
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Adorable Main Leads with Fluffy Chemistry
This is a Thai BL that frankly stands out for me. I had almost given up on Thai BLs because of their unoriginal story lines and sameness. Frankly, they were getting banal. And with the title of this one, it well sort of screamed out to me to skip it because of its vapidity. I am so glad I did not. I loved this series but with two caveats.The saga starts out pretty much predictable. A precocious young man named Moo (Keen Suvijak) is not living up to his expectations, according to his mother. Moo wants to be an ‘Idol’ and is fixated on it. With grades slipping, she gives him an ultimatum and a challenge. Change or Else. So, she sends him off to a school where she attended that is a bit remote and is given instructions to concentrate on his studies enough to get into a university, and then he can pursue his dream. Meanwhile, he cannot sing or dance until these academic conditions are met.
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https://the-bl-xpress.com/2024/07/27/only-boo-series-review-ep-1-to-12/
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It Wasn't That Bad
High school is challenging for everyone, but it’s even more daunting when you’re a notorious gangster trapped in a teenager’s body, just trying to blend in.This intriguing premise sets the stage for the new series “High School Return of a Gangster”.
The series follows Kim Deuk Pal (Lee Seo Jin), a feared thug and the vice-leader of a gang. Despite his lack of formal education, Deuk Pal is determined to change his life by hiring a tutor and studying hard. However, his efforts are hindered by his struggles with coursework and pressure from his boss to prioritize gang-related activities.
Later, while on the road, Deuk Pal encounters a high school student named Song Yi Heon, who has been relentlessly bullied and decides to end his life by jumping off an overpass. Deuk Pal tries to save him, but instead, they end up switching bodies. Deuk Pal’s body dies, and Yi Heon becomes a ghost, while Deuk Pal inhabits Yi Heon’s body and continues living.
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https://the-bl-xpress.com/2024/06/25/high-school-return-of-a-gangster-series-review-ep-1-to-8/
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Absolutely Heartbreaking
In essence, this 20-minute short film imparts more than most BLs do in 12 episodes. Ironically, it also goes deeper emotionally than most BLs ever go as well. Additionally, it is one of the best acted BLs from Thailand I have seen in a long time. So, in that sense, this film is genuinely a paragon. As much as this is a gem, I rejected its subtle underlying message ardently and found it quite demoralizing as a gay man. Allow me to explain.The saga itself is not exactly original but how it is told, is. It is creative with its intent to pull at the heartstrings. Two young men meet at an audition for a series and initially form a friendship. Instantly. There is a natural connection between the two and there is also an organic chemistry between the two. They seem to have an instinctual bond to one another, as if it was meant to be. So much so that they are ‘shipped ‘together and over the years do one series/movie after another.
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https://the-bl-xpress.com/2024/06/18/spaceless-movie-review/
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Could Have Been Better But Was Lovable Enough
GMMTV is clearly winning all hearts with its variety in tv shows, series and LGBTQ representation. Adapted from the novel “23.5 When the Earth Is Spinning Around”, “23.5” is one of the shows that will win your hearts from the first episode, even though there is nothing new or refreshing, but its the characters that wins the people’s heart. But as much as I wish to say that the show kept up its good work up, it will be wrong to say so because the series went a bit downhill after Episode 4. Milk Pansa and Love Pattranite as Ongsa and Sun were very good individually but together they lacked the chemistry and passion that two people in love have. Individually, they really shine in their respective characters but when you are playing the lead role in a romantic series, it’s important to show some passion in the romance scenes.Read the complete article here-
https://the-bl-xpress.com/2024/06/15/23-5-series-review-ep-3-to-12/
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An Interesting Depiction of First Love
Courage can be as simple as taking that first step toward something you’ve longed for but were afraid to hope for.In the Japanese BL film Sono Koi, Jihanki de Kaemasu ka? (Can I Buy Your Love From a Vending Machine) adapted from the manga of the same name by Yoshii Haruaki, Salaryman Koiwai Ayuma (Matsuda Ryo) takes that first step and finds himself face-to-face with a love he wants while being afraid of losing it.
The film follows Ayuma as he shyly approaches the strong and muscular vending machine worker Yamashita Ryoma (Tazura Shogo) at his office, using his desire to add orange juice to the options as an opportunity to talk to the man he’s been crushing on. To his surprise, it leads to much more when the more direct Yamashita asks him out.
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https://the-bl-xpress.com/2024/06/08/can-i-buy-your-love-from-a-vending-machine-movie-review/
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Main Leads Were Good, the Story Not So Much
Repetition of coincidence is destiny.Destiny is defined as a predetermined course of events.
The hidden power believed to control what will happen in the future.
Fate.
This appears to be the foundation upon which “Blossom Campus” bases its two leads’ romance. A sequence of meetings that reinforce the notion that two young college students were destined to meet and fall in love.
It is a promising idea that “Blossom Campus” fails to execute.
“Blossom Campus” follows the story of two college students, Kim Min Jae (Son Byeong Hoon) and Yoon Chan (Choi Dong Ho). Min Jae, a practical music major, works part-time at the library. Yoon Chan is a Taekwondo major. When Min Jae transfers to Yoon Chan’s school, he needs help to find his department’s building. Yoon Chan assists him and later helps Min Jae reach a book on a high shelf, leading to a quintessential K-drama moment. Soon after, Yoon Chan realizes he is falling for Min Jae and starts to actively pursue him.
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https://the-bl-xpress.com/2024/06/06/blossom-campus-series-review-ep-1-to-6/
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Could Have Been So Much Better
Frankly, it is irrelevant how many worlds this series had; even a half a dozen more would not have helped. It is just awful. I am sorry to say that as I so wanted to like this drama. However, this is again going to be one of those series that if you are a fan of the two leads (which I really am), you will perhaps enjoy this series. I tried, but for me the whole thing fell apart at the beginning- from the banal screenplay to production issues to vapid acting. All of it was just plain mediocre to subpar.The storyline was a good one, initially. I love transcendental legends, and this had all the earmarks of a great fantasy. The supernatural power of the Moon Shadow Waterfall is both miraculous and metaphysical. It can transport you to a parallel world where your loved one who died is not dead in that world but lives a conforming life. They are not resurrected by the same person in a parallel world. A worthy premise.
https://the-bl-xpress.com/2024/06/04/two-worlds-series-review-ep-1-to-10/
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