BL Compilations

gentle and sweet slice of life (need a third movie)

Overall: the sequel is very similar to its predecessor with the theme of friendship and infusion of cooking/food into the story. I was happy we saw progression but a third movie would really be the cherry on the top. First aired in Japan June 2024. Aired December 4th 2024 on GagaOOLala https://www.gagaoolala.com/en/videos/4988/lets-eat-together-aki-and-haru-more-please-2024 (not available in Japan, Korea, Hong Kong or Macau)

What I Liked
- sweet and caring moments
- the cooking/food
- realistic to practice interviewing
- non cliched female characters
- avoided a common plot element at the end (i.e. technology exists)

Room For Improvement
- the voice over recap of the first movie
- thought there had already been some realizations in the last movie, wish we had seen more progress earlier rather than the very end

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got better as it went on

There are some solid reviews on the movie so I'll just add a few thoughts.

Overall: this got better and better as it went on with an ending that was extremely well done. In the beginning, I really struggled with the homophobic, self centered, jerk protagonist. But he actually has character growth which was great. I need a sequel to this movie. Somehow he gets reincarnated as an adult and they solve another mystery together (and also showing explicit romantic feelings would be a bonus)

BL? Bromance? I think they definitely loved each other, whether that was platonically or romantically is not clearly defined, I think it can be a bit up to the viewer's interpretation.

Content Warnings: death, grief, manipulation, violence, held against will

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Cute short movie featuring spicy chicken obsession

Overall: a 15 minute short movie about two friends who start living together. Bought/watched on Vimeo.

Content Warnings: none

What I Liked
- the obsession with eating chicken was kind of funny
- the sweet moments including the subverted wipe mouth trope
- I appreciated the good continuity, a character said it was late and the clock was 10:10pm

Room For Improvement
- this really needed another minute or two at the end, it ended so abruptly. If the one guy had just passed out, but then they had a conversation in the morning when non-drunk, that would have been great.

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Love With... painfully slow pacing

Overall: If you are into love triangles and a really slow moving plot, then you might like this. I would have dropped it if it was longer than 5 episodes. Watched on YouTube.

Content Warnings: non con kiss and touching (character was asleep)

What I Liked:
- I think the three protagonists and the acting coach did well with the script that they had (I quite liked Gameplay portraying a moody/prickly character)
- the production value was decent for what I'm assuming was a smaller budget

Room For Improvement:
- the main problem was the pacing was too bit slow. If they had cut this from 45 minutes to 20-30 minutes, then I would have enjoyed it more. Everything was just too draggy and boring.
- also I didn't really see the motivation for changing feelings, it felt like the viewer was supposed to connect too many missing dots
- another stupid love triangle
- the acting coach being harassed, that whole bubble tea scene was not funny. I'm done with the stereotypical trans woman as comedy thing.

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left no lasting positive impression (watch suggestions)

Overall: I enjoyed the country/beach setting, but the bratty ML and cliched plot points were annoying. 9 episodes about 24 minutes each. Aired on Viki https://www.viki.com/tv/40928c-impression-of-youth ; iQIYI https://www.iq.com/play/impression-of-youth-episode-1-rfcqsvgnbk?lang=en_us ; and Apple TV+ https://tv.apple.com/show/impression-of-youth/umc.cmc.3q2hki0rbshbgwxs4s4rnnivz

Content Warnings: past death, grief, high school/substitute teacher (not portrayed as creating a power imbalance but this dynamic inherently has one), non con kiss

Watch Suggestions (I don't have the energy to back thru the first few episodes, here are suggestions starting at ep 6 to focus on sweet/steamy parts)
- episode 6 start at 20 min
- episode 7 watch beginning to 4:40, 11:20-11:45, 15:10-17:30, 21:20-end
- episode 8 stop at 11:50
- episode 9 watch 23:20-end

What I Liked
- easy to understand premise
- sibling relationship/suppportive, the older brother gave good advice in ep 9
- shirtless construction work
- countryside/beach setting
- intimacy, not afraid to shower together

Room For Improvement
- the pacing with the main relationship development went way too fast, it felt jarring
- too many flashbacks of recent events/repeated flashbacks/of a character who died
- used his friend like that to confirm his feelings
- normally a 4-5 year age gap (the teacher was graduating university so ~22, in episode 8 they confirmed the age of the high schooler so he was 18 when the series started) wouldn't bother me, but the high school student acted so young (pouty, moping, bratty, refused to communicate, even his brother said he was throwing a tantrum) and the fact that they made the older guy his teacher (even though it was a short substitute position, he was still his teacher) made me not invested in their relationship
- too much screentime taken up in flashback with his female friend in episode 7
- the 2 year time jump in the final episode, but at least it wasn't longer
- the ending with the main couple felt anticlimactic/incomplete

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want to see actors in something else (watch suggestions)

Overall: this is an old school Thai romcom/drama that should have been left in the past. 8 episodes about 45 minutes each aired in Thailand. I watched the WeTV version that had 10 episodes but most of episode 10 was the actors talking about the series. Aired on WeTV https://wetv.vip/en/play/e36k7s4okwtoesy-A%20secretly%20love%20(Uncut%20Ver.)

Watch Suggestions (this avoids a lot of a guy harassing his ex-girlfriend, hazing and second lead syndrome)
- watch episode 1 from 5-19:20 (flashback to them in high school)
- start episode 4 at 37:40
- watch episode 5
- watch episode 6 from 23 to 34:20
- watch episode 7 from the beginning to 6, then GL at 16-17, watch 23-29 or continue to the end if you want to see a lot of music practice/performance
- watch episode 8 from 4-18:40 and then 41-42 has a nice message about funding rural schools
- watch episode 9 from 18:30-23, 26-29:40 and 34-39 (or can watch to the end)
- either start episode 10 at 6 minutes or you can watch the whole first 12 minutes (the rest is behind the scene stuff)

Content Warnings: slaps, manhandling, blood, beaten up, stalking, harassing, hazing, slaps played as comedy, non con touching

What I Liked
- clear premise
- supportive friends (the twins)
- the GL after they communicated/were honest with each other
- episode 8 message of the importance of funding rural schools

Room For Improvement
- for the majority of the series viewers saw an utterly unlikable character, he's harassed his ex, was immature, acted like a jerk, there were almost no redeeming qualities so I did not want him in a romantic relationship with anyone
- cliche (more than once) saw something and didn't communicate
- comedy sound effects that didn't make it funny, nor was the toilet humor in episode 9 funny
- was not a fun way to start a series (and I hope unrealistic)
- confusing parts, based on the summary and what was shown they first met in high school when Khon was a Freshman and Pluem a Sophomore, in the present they were a Sophomore and Senior in university, Khon didn't interact with Pluem for 2 years at the same university? he's just started the hazing/initiation stuff with Pluem?
- kind of a 'gay for you' trope
- episode 5 had a flashback montage of what we just saw in the episode
- very confusing subtitles (didn't take off points although it did negatively affect the ability to understand what was happening, Necklace was the ex-girlfriend)
- the title should have been "I Secretly Love You" or "A Secret Love" (didn't take off points)

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horror series with horrible characters

Overall: though I appreciated that they tried something different, its release was clouded by lack of an official international release and delayed episodes. Airing 10 episodes about 45 minutes each on Fix Entertainment's YouTube channel (need a VPN set to Thailand). Here is the first episode part 1 link https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6sNsxNokJwc

Content Warnings: murders, deaths, attempted murder, rape, attempted suicide, torture, blood, gore, jump scares, mental health struggles, kidnapping, gaslighting, sexual assault, coercion, slap, homophobia, non con video recording, manhandling, manipulation

What I Liked
- unique premise
- twists and turns
- intimate scenes were fine (but they were between awful people so I didn't get into them)

Room For Improvement
- many characters were stupid ie telling a murderer that you know what they did
- trope of saw someone hug and thought they were cheating
- trope of extremely drunk and then active participant during sex
- the kid slept way too much (he's 5 so might not be in school, but I've never seen a 5 year old sleep/nap that much)
- really hope there isn't a happily ever after for a certain character because what he did was beyond awful in episode 9
- they never had an international release, made no sense why they geo restricted it to Thailand on YouTube
- that they delayed an episode by a week and then delayed the finale with no word on when it would be released

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a quirky comedy that will make you smile

Overall: this should put a smile on your face, make sure to watch the entire final episode and watch the ending credits as they change. Aired on GagaOOLala https://www.gagaoolala.com/en/videos/3064/i-will-knock-you-2022-e01 and AIS Play's YouTube Channel (for members) Re-aired on Viki https://www.viki.com/tv/39897c-i-will-knock-you

Content Warnings: fights/violence, manipulation, stalking, non con touching, highschooler starts as a sophomore 15/16 and university student who starts as a junior 20/21 (didn't bother me*)

What I Liked
- Noey's aesthetic, it's unique
- Noey's vain/forthright/quirky character
- several funny moments, especially subverted tropes that made me laugh
- sweet moments
- Thiw was such a supportive friend
- Noey's family dynamics were very realistic, they bicker, they laugh, they cry
- hints of GL
- that they changed the ending credits to match what was happening
- good production value
- the music

Room For Improvement
- it dragged a bit in the first half but then sped up at the end and they didn't fully explain or resolve plot points (Noey's dad???)
- the drama at the end of ep 11 and beginning of 12 was cliche (but I was really happy with Thi being honest in episode 11)
- very unrealistic that that was the first time they did that at the end of ep 12
- Thi's laugh/tense shoulders/scaredy cat vibe was a little too much for me and I wanted him to have more character growth sooner
- I think some of the jokes didn't quite translate well like the thing with the charm towards the end, also Thi's dream in episode 5 was a bit too grim
- not a fan of an aggressive pursuit after that woman, also not a fan of bullying
- *this was a very PG rated series so the age gap/under 18 aspect didn't bother me

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a jerk and an idiot with good chemistry

Overall: We managed to get not just 1 but then a 2nd jerk main leads (well Aioon was maybe more of an idiot). They had good chemistry, but things just didn't make sense. Watched on Gagaoolala.

Content Warnings: physical violence, fight scene, threatening violence to employees, manipulation, mental health issue, bullying

What I Liked
- Aioon and Nawee had good chemistry (they looked comfortable in intimate scenes, I would like to see these actors together in another series)
- Jeff Satur is singing the OST
- pretty good production value (I liked that mirror reflection shot in the last episode)

Room For Improvement
- I really didn't like Nawee's behavior/character. Past trauma doesn't give you an excuse to be a total a**hole - if they had shown his dad/step brother being abusive in the past and then Nawee had character growth, I would have been better with that
- the cliche wannabe wife/girlfriend plot*
- *this just made me dislike Aioon for stringing her along for who knows how many years, so Aioon is a jerk too
- I don't understand why Aioon had such a sudden change of heart. Nawee treated him terribly and then one finger suck and he's in love???
- Aioon is also an idiot, who tries to cure anxiety/phobia like that? If it were that easy, then people wouldn't have anxiety/phobia.
- cliche drama at the end and then a rushed ending with a flashback montage
- that dad's character didn't make sense. Why would he have Nawee run the company only to then later switch it to his step brother? If the dad hates Nawee that much he would never have let him run it in the first place.
- I think they should have cut the adopted brother character and made Nawee's assistant and Aioon's brother be romantic or used that time to develop the Nawee/Aioon plot more
- the mullet (I didn't take points off for this, but I dislike mullets)

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slice of life mini series

Overall: this is a 20 minute short movie that was originally released in 2022 and was broken up into 3 mini episodes (first episode was 5 minutes without the credits). Aired on Strongberry's YouTube channel over 3 weeks (1 episode per week)

What I Liked
- fighting over the diary
- realistic vibe
- production value

Room For Improvement
- beginning didn't hook me, and how I couldn't see the main character's face
- released such short episodes at 1 episode per week instead of all together
- the ending was open to interpretation with contradictory clues/evidence for each ending
- the title (just do an internet search on "happy ending slang" if you don't know what it means) but I didn't take off points
- the subtitles needed to stay a little longer on the screen as people read slower than when they are just listening (didn't take off points)

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totally wrecked Zeke/Fifth (watch ep 1, 2 and 13)

Overall: I liked Zeke and Fifth in My Story because they were flirty and sweet. In this season the writer totally ruined their characters and relationship. I was actively rooting for them to NOT end up together. Our Story is the third in the trilogy (season 1 is My Day which is not needed to watch to understand Our Story, season 2 is My Story which shows the beginning of Zeke/Fifth as a couple and is helpful to watch but not totally necessary) 13 episodes about 37 minutes each (taking out the built in commercials at the end). Aired on Oxin Films YouTube channel.

Notes: I watched most episodes but skipped a few because I wanted to poke my eyeballs out, I kept up with comments/what happened overall though. I suggest watching episode 1, 2, episode 9 part 3 at 7 minutes (nsfw scene), episode 10 part 3 at 10 minutes (nsfw scene) and episode 13

Content Warnings: attempted suicide, past suicide, parental abuse, intimate partner abuse, homophobia, non con picture taking/sharing, alcoholism, depression, sexism, gaslighting, manhandling

What I Liked
- Zeke and Fifth were cute/sweet/flirty (ep 1 and 2)
- GL rep (though the pacing was odd/not enough screentime)
- it was too frequent but the innuendo jokes were fun
- Xion Lim (director) played an assistant as Easy Ferrer (writer) as the other assistant
- Zeke's supportive mom (though she was a bit too involved at times)
- opening song and ending credit song

Room For Improvement
- the writing destroyed Zeke & Fifth both as individual characters and as a couple, Zeke said how he was hurt that he was called toxic while he screamed at his boyfriend was terrible writing, Fifth's actions make zero sense to me, so many characters did total nonsense things
- abuse was handled really poorly, Fifth said "he {dad] beat us" and the response was "that means you still matter to him", like WTF?!? and then later Jelai says his ex-boyfriend who was abusing him is awesome and Jelai apologizes to his abuser?!? what year are we in?!? akldfjkslajkdljaidla!!!!!!!
- way too many couples (6 couples/love triangles) and I somehow didn't like any of them
- exposition dump/voice over to start the series
- so many nonsense/unrealistic plot things (I'm not even going to try to write them all out) example 1: that a significant other didn't know of a life threatening food allergy until 6 months of dating, example 2: that a hospital didn't have any A+ (30% of the population has this blood type) or O negative (universal donor) blood?!? they should have had Zeke have AB negative blood because a 5 second internet search showed that number of people with: O positive: 35%, O negative (universal donor): 13%, A positive: 30%, A negative: 8%, B positive: 8%, B negative: 2%, AB positive (universal recipient): 2%, AB negative: 1%
- the comedy sound effects
- toilet humor
- super dramatic thing happened at the end of episode 11 and then the majority of episode 12 we have no idea what is going on, just random side character plots happening?!?
- in the final episode, did Zeke ever apologize for all the awful things he did?!? why was just Fifth apologizing?!?!!!!!!

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Chosen Family (need a season 2)

Overall: "Our efforts were not wasted, right?" "Yes, it was worth it". The writing in this series is impeccable. Themes and characters I thought were random were later seamlessly integrated. Shifts between comedy and seriousness were impeccably executed. 10 episodes about 45 minutes each. Aired on Netflix https://www.netflix.com/title/82153387

Content Warnings: slap, internal and external homophobia, sexism discussed

What I Liked
- addressed marriage equality in a realistic way
- that I didn't know what the next episode will have in store
- discussion of sexism (one of the few romance series I have seen that passed the Bechdel test multiple times)
- how characters had their quirks, but still feel like people I could meet in the real world
- intentional characters, they might have seemed insignificant, but they came back later
- no cartoonish antagonists
- avoided evil ex cliche

Room For Improvement
- I couldn't really sympathize with the mom
- at times the pacing was a bit slow for me

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stellar visuals with mediocre writing (watch suggestions)

Overall: it has a unique premise but the pacing was very slow and the writing was lackluster. 12 episodes about 23 minutes each. Aired on GagaOOLala https://www.gagaoolala.com/en/videos/5405/the-promise-of-the-soul-2025-e01 (available in the Americas, Europe, Middle East, Australia, New Zealand, India, Southeast Asia) ; iQIYI https://www.iq.com/album/the-promise-of-the-soul-2025-w4opu9ieap and VBL Series YouTube channel with membership (not available in Japan) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=akfMhc4hIXw - VBL (Variety Between Love) has also produced: Fight For You, Eternal Butler, Stay By My Side, You Are Mine etc. There are sometimes bonus scenes at the end, including at the very end of the finale.

Content Warnings: non con touching/kissing/sexual assault multiple times, past deaths, death, bullying, punches, ex-partner intimate abuse, held against will, blood, suicidal thoughts, attempted suicide (it's complicated)

Watch Suggestions (if you aren't into slow pacing/a cold ML and focus on their sweet/steamy parts)
- read the synopsis
- skip episodes 1-4
- episode 5 watch 5-11:10 and 19:45-end
- episode 6 end at 21:55
- episode 7 watch 4-10:35 and 13:20-end
- episode 8 watch beginning-19
- watch episode 9
- skip episode 10
- episode 11 watch beginning to 9:10
- episode 12 watch 3:30-5:15, 6:50-8:05 and 15:45-end

What I Liked
- visuals
- the grandpa
- that everyone knew what happened right away
- the GL couple
- VBL cameo with the dorm supervisor and his boyfriend

Room For Improvement
- slow pacing
- the sexual assault (multiple times) and then poorly done redemption arc
- tropey (the accidental kiss)
- nonsense (not talking about the premise) perfectly coiffed hair after waking up in the morning, he wasn't brought to the hospital at the beginning of episode 7
- in episode 8 our supposed hero acts exactly like an abuser

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fire chemistry, lackluster plot (watch suggestions)

Overall: the plot was a mess, but the leads' chemistry was good. 10 episodes about 45 minutes each (episode 1 was 45:51). Aired uncut on iQIYI https://www.iq.com/play/the-boy-next-world-episode-1-1dszq3d8c3o?lang=en_us

Content Warnings: blood, violence off screen, non con touching, manipulation, coercion, child abuse, past harassment, past cyber bullying, past suicide, past death, non/dub con kiss, punch, slap, non con picture taking

Watch Suggestions (focus on sweet/steamy parts)
- episode 1 skip 5:30-18:45
- episode 2 watch 8:30-11 and 13-40, 44:30-end
- episode 3 skip 18:45-31:30, 27:30-32 and 40-42:45
- episode 4 skip 20:50-44:20
- episode 5 skip 23-30:30, 31:40-39 and 47-end
- episode 6 watch 20-25, (can go to 27 if you enjoy singing), 35:40-38 and 43-52:30
- episode 7 watch beginning-52:05
- skip episode 8
- episode 9 watch beginning-9, peck at 28:50
- episode 10 watch 13:30-18:10, 42:45-43:15, 50-53, 57-end

What I Liked
- intro got my attention
- excellent chemistry/intimacy
- sweet moments
- in episode 3 the blue vs orange lighting for their apartments

Room For Improvement
- Cir was extremely manipulative and never told the truth, the other lead found out at the end of episode 9
- Phu acted like a child (who calls their university friends to complain about not finding their underwear), update, this wasn't as bad in future episodes and Phu questions why Cir likes him/brings up valid points but his room is filled with stuffed animals and he still has a child-like persona
- extremely disappointed in the world building, (random superpower appeared in ep 4), exposition dump in episode 8 to explain the world building
- in episode 2 the friends argued way too long
- the mom character/drama, can't believe that was how they resolved things with her
- nonsense: someone who is very ill who would want to do that, he's an adult and does not need to maintain his "deal" with his mom
- cliche, 'I need to tell you something important', 'I don't want to hear it now' (plenty of time to say was it was)
- cliche evil wannabe wife
- cringey singing in the apology video
- (neutral) there were some comedy sound effects but at least they weren't the entire time

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nice slice of life series

Overall: I enjoyed two high school friends and their changing relationship dynamics. Aired 8 episodes about 20 minutes each on Netflix Asia (and then more widely released on Neflix once it was finished airing). Re-aired on Viki https://www.viki.com/tv/40495c-i-cannot-reach-you

Content Warnings: manhandling, dub/non con touching, punch

What I Liked
- cute and sweet moments
- few funny moments like Yamato's blocks with other people
- that Yamato did try to communicate and was clear with that teen who expressed interest in him
- supportive classmates
- supportive non cliche female characters
- character growth with not being a go between for the present
- production value

Room For Improvement
- the multitude of interruptions
- Yamato was a bit aggressive though he did apologize once
- very tropey (multiple kabedons and running scenes as examples), getting sick from the rain
- the initial reluctance in nurse's office/dead fish lip presses

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