4
10
1
1
close but not quite
Overall: there were parts that I really enjoyed but other areas were lacking, it's between 7.5 and 8. It had 10 episodes about 30 minutes each. Aired on iQIYI in U.S., Thailand and Indonesia.Content Warnings: hit, harassment, non con kiss, manipulation, past physical abuse
What I Liked
- funny moments
- cute/caring moments
- the small town vibe where everyone knows everyone
- the cafe owner Kim Dong Hee and Go Ho Tae*
- that Ji Won Young stood up for himself with the ex and at the end that manager
- production value
Room For Improvement
- dead fish lip presses/fake shadow kiss
- *the side couple had way too little screen time, their story wasn't explained well enough, the hits were not needed and then it wasn't resolved well
- felt the drama towards the end dragged on too long but then the very ending felt rushed
- bad "plans" and poor communication
- continuity errors (ep 1 bird poop, left his credit card behind and it wasn't addressed, character punched but next day does not have any injuries)
- non realistic things (says he's super sick/was told to rest and then he's cleaning floors)
- felt more like a 'gay for you' trope rather than a gay awakening
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This review may contain spoilers
episode 9 made my score plummet
Overall: I thought it was a good start to a series with a unique premise but slow pacing and both characters doing something awful lowered my score. Note this review contains words that might be triggering. 16 episodes about 45 minutes each. Aired on: Viki https://www.viki.com/videos/1262518v-desire-the-series-episode-1 ; GagaOOLala (not available in Japan or Korea) https://www.gagaoolala.com/en/videos/5570/desire-2025 and Heavenly (South Korea) https://heavenly.tv/en/detail/955 Was originally also on iQIYI, WeTV, Youku and YouTube but was removed mid-airing.Content Warnings: two rapes both shown, past intimate partner abuse, intimate partner abuse, non con kisses, non con touching, manipulation, sexual harassment, fights, blood, kidnapping, attempted murder, gaslighting, lovebombing, non con kissing turned consensual, self harm
What I Liked
- unique premise for a live action series
- visuals
- how Hua Yong stayed consistent in his characterization
- an extremely wide release, might be the most platforms I've seen so far for a BL series
Room For Improvement
- in both couples one character raped the other character and both were shot in a romantic way and of course we know how this ends, I don't give af about fictional biology that made at least 1 allegedly not have a choice, both characters were jerks and abusive and I don't want them in a romantic relationship with anyone.
- I can enjoy a player getting played but the problem here is we never really see the player being a player and he is so manipulated that his biology got changed without his consent and he had pain/problems from the master manipulator who supposedly loved him. For me the manipulator treated a person like an object to own and it was about power and control which is abuse and not love.
- slow pacing in with both couples, felt like they went in circles for a long time
- the exposition dump/world building dump in ep 1; however, I realize that many people aren't familiar with the setting so it was a fast way to give everyone the basics
- Hua Yong's backstory was given too late
- the narration/mysterious voice in episode 15
- extremely rushed finale with a multi year time skip, that it was the dad that told him, how Shen Wen Lang was a jerk almost until the very end and then did not have nearly enough groveling and their story didn't really have a satisfying resolution
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could have been a 10/10
Overall: although I enjoyed the beginning, things unraveled for me. 8 episodes about 1 hour each. Aired on GagaOOLala uncut: https://gagaoolala.com/en/videos/4688/4minutes-2024 (except Thailand, Japan, Korea); iQIYI uncut https://www.iq.com/album/4minutes-sultrier-version-2024-1zc6sune8fl?lang=en_us and cut version https://www.iq.com/album/4minutes-2024-1h7yndte6zx?lang=en_us (Australia, Argentina, Brazil, Canada, Chile, Colombia, Mexico, New Zealand, Peru, Spain, United Kingdom and United States); Viu with some countries having the cut version (Thailand, Philippines, Indonesia, Malaysia, Hong Kong, Macau, Myanmar, Singapore); Rakuten TV in Japan and Heavenly in South Korea. Re-aired in April 2025 on Viki https://www.viki.com/tv/40989c-4minutes The cut version has NSFW shortened/cut and also cuts out some plot as well.Content Warnings: most content warnings, it has some very dark/graphic parts in it
What I Liked
- mystery element
- grey characters
- use of the number 4 or things adding up to 4
- production value* (includes cinematography, use of color as symbolism, props to represent things)
Room For Improvement
- not a fan of a flash forward (or back) as a hook for a series
- there were too many characters/plot to fully develop them all, also pacing
- misleading trailer, it felt that a different character is the main lead instead of a character people were led to believe
- tricking the audience, not a fan of how that was done
- sweet moments that didn't actually happen
- cliched plot stuff
- no reason why a character had a girlfriend, I couldn't support a romance because it was built to not be a romance
- cringey guitar playing/serenading
- *many scenes were too dark to see the actors' faces or even what was happening, even for scenes at night they need to put light on their faces
- nonsense stuff: I can't comment on all of the medical things and their realism, but I highly doubt any surgeon would spin his medical implements before/during a surgery, that seemed to be a ton of papers for a small clipboard in ep 1, an investigator who didn't wear gloves at a crime scene, in ep 4 a character oddly didn't wear a mask when he should have
- Be On Cloud decided to sell it to a company where it is only airing in 8 countries (and perhaps 2 more) and then had the gall to not respond anywhere to questions about the remaining 180+ countries but instead posted about how to only watch it via official channels, I don't mind companies needing money to get things made but they should have been clear about where and the why (update: after 5 weeks they had an actual international release and the reason was likely money/maybe they couldn't say their whole release plan due to a contract but it still was bad to not have an official platform for 180+ countries for 5 weeks)
Note About an Actor's Age (I didn't take off points for this but as an fyi 1 actor was likely 17 when he filmed several very explicit scenes, age of majority in Thailand is 20)
- it's valid to feel uncomfortable with a 17 year old actor doing explicit scenes and to not watch this series
- it's valid to feel fine with a 17 year old actor who voluntarily agreed to do explicit scenes (and had his parents' permission) and watch/enjoy this series
- everyone gets to make that decision for themselves, I hold no judgement either way for this example, personally I am watching the series but I'm not re-watching that actor's NC scenes
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A cotton candy BL - sweet & fluffy with nothing substantial to it
Overall: if you want to see a ton of longing and jealous looks, gorgeous guys and like food, then this is the show for you. FYI the description on viki is not accurate as to how the plot plays out (you don't cook for someone that you hate). At only 8 episodes ~10 min each, it's very bingeable. I'm waffling between overall an 8 or 8.5.Content Warnings: 1 punch
What I Liked
- the visuals
- the production value was good
- there were several sweet moments
- the funny moments , my new favorite way to tell someone their cooking is awful "it tastes new" haha
- I actually don't mind the common tropes like accidental fall, hurt/comfort, apron tying, drunk scene, etc.
Room For Improvement
- this is a 'love at first sight' situation which though common, isn't my favorite
- how the two guys were fighting over the other guy like he was an object and didn't have any say in the matter
- odd how the cook left his recipes and baby photos in his old apartment
- though I think it played out pretty mildly, love triangles aren't my thing
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cringiest series with the best subtitles (need a Daisy/Touch spinoff)
Overall: this series has some of the cringiest moments (especially the beginning episodes) that I've ever seen in any genre. There were aspects that I disliked, but it also had several amazing things. Watched on YouTube.Content Warnings: stalking, taking photos/video without permission, dub con touching/kissing (drunk), non con kiss between m/f, cyber bullying, body shaming, attempted suicide?, violence in a dream sequence
What I Liked
- this series has the BEST subtitles, we were given additional information about references non-Thai audiences likely would not know about
- the friend groups, especially Toh's, they really supported and loved one another
- Daisy/Intouch, I'm sad we didn't get more scenes with them, they could have left off that pointless new character towards the end and developed Daisy/Intouch more
- acting, as much as I dislike some of the characters' behaviors, the actors did an amazing job. I don' t know how some of them didn't die of embarrassment while filming. I cried when Som cried and I believe those were real tears/crying instead of the frequent fake tears that I see
- the stylists, some of these characters look soooo different in real life you wouldn't even know they were the same person
- how Toh and Nuea are horny for one another, I appreciate that there isn't just 1 kiss at the end in this series
- the GL though it was not shown that much
- the funny moments, I laughed several times throughout the series
- the poignant moments, characters have some really good conversations
- Toh's parents
- I was happy that they revisited the bathtub scene with Toh and Nuea a second time and Nuea said "of course" because the first time it seemed that Nuea was setting up Toh to fail
- good production value
Room For Improvement
- serial killer stalking level: taking a can out of the trash, vacuum sealing things, an entire wall of photos, projector image, sticker on his phone, pillow, life size standee and then actively stalking him. This is played as comedy and the characters do address it later but it was not my thing.
- not enough screentime with Daisy/Intouch, crucial moments seemed to happen off screen and we really needed more scenes with these two
- Nuea kind of plays games (as does his dad) which is also not my thing
- that dream scene with the dad at the wedding was disturbing and unnecessary
- the cliche evil woman wannabe girlfriend
- Jao was too reluctant, there is a difference between nervous and unwilling and he was on the unwilling side. Even in the last episode he scrunched up his face preparing for a kiss which is uncomfortable to watch.
- the stereotypical trans women at the food stall
- some bad consent examples, saying that kissing is better when drunk, giving a hand job when the other person is drunk
- the theme song was nice but they played it over and over and over again
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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.3q2hki0rbshbgwxs4s4rnnivzContent 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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beautiful and heartbreaking
Overall: this is not your typical BL romcom, it's beautifully done but heartbreaking. I wasn't sure about the dynamic with the cold/low affect guy and the happy go lucky guy but we get important background information and their dynamic grew on me. Airing on GagaOOLala and Viki (depends on your country).Content Warnings: death, grief, threatened suicide
What I Liked
- cute moments like the studying
- the younger siblings were adorable
- consent scene
- the perspective flip in the final episode
- production value
Room For Improvement
- not a fan of flash forwards/flashbacks right away as it makes it more confusing, but I followed this one pretty easily
- the part at the end of episode 1 is not realistic for how he looked based on what happened
- some unrealistic parts/confusing world building
- should have made the previous summer flashback more clear
- I wasn't happy with the end but not for the same reason as maybe other people, I liked what they were talking about with the teacher and wanted them to go that route
- the happy intro and outro was a stark contrast to the story
- there were several large plot points that were revealed right at the end of the series and would have liked more time to develop these
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good ingredients with a subpar recipe
Overall: they had a lot of great elements but unfortunately messed up the writing. 6 episodes 45 minutes each. Aired on GagaOOLala and re-aired on YouTube and later Viki https://www.viki.com/tv/40695c-bake-me-pleaseWatch Suggestions:
- watch ep 1-3
- watch up to 28 minutes in episode 4 and then 39-42 minutes
- skip episode 5
- watch episode 6 starting at 24 minutes to the end (although 11-15 minutes was good too)
Content Warnings: manipulation, shoves
What I Liked
- supportive grandma
- Atom (also the brother's relationship)
- Peach pushed back against Shin at times
- production value (cinematography)
- (neutral) comedy sound effects, they weren't overpowering
Room For Improvement
- too many love triangles for a short run time, needed to really build up 1 main couple
- I don't like either of Peach's love interests as they are both throwing red flags right and left (no you don't get to ban your significant other from hanging out with their friend, no you don't lie about dating and use a person as if they were a trophy)
- why did no one apologize to Peach, maybe Shin did off screen but we didn't see it?!?
- too little character growth too late, there seemed to be a little bit but Shin backslide too far
- rushed pacing and then wasted screentime on a bunch of angst, some choppiness as well
- cliche plot points: got sick after getting wet trope, saw something and made an assumption, failure to communicate clearly
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strong start
Overall: the tension/chemistry led me to first rate this as a 9.5, but cliched writing and a rushed ending lowered my final rating. I gave this a slight rating bump because it's from China, had kisses, the ending could have been worse and the creators managed to get it to air 4 months after it was removed from iQIYI. 12 episodes about 30 minutes each. Aired (not in Japan or Korea) on GagaOOLala https://www.gagaoolala.com/en/videos/4856/blue-canvas-of-youthful-days-2024-e01 ; YouTube (not in Japan or Korea) https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLTB73Ibi_X3HZZP24Z0cwpC1PhZUYKI1Q and Viki https://www.viki.com/tv/40802c-blue-canvas-of-youthful-days?locale=enContent Warnings: murder?, death, past death, grief, physical child abuse (very violent and shown), beaten up, manhandling, manipulation, blackmail/coercion, non con picture taking/sharing/outing, mental health struggles, alcoholism
Watch Suggestions (to get some moping/nonsense stuff in the later episodes)
- end episode 5 at 22 min
- watch episode 6 25 min to the end
- watch episode 7 7:25-10
- watch episode 8 7-13
- watch episode 9 19:45-24:40
- watch episode 10 beginning-4, 12-12:45, 16-end
- watch episode 11 19-21:30, 24:10-end
- watch episode 12 beginning-4, 7-10 and 28:45-end
What I Liked
- characters and their dynamics
- sweet moments
- a hard of hearing character (though some things related to this didn't make sense to me)
- clear premise
- supportive grandpa
Room For Improvement
- some nonsense plot things
- not sure the ages of two characters
- a character should have first asked/talked to another character about what he wanted
- not a fan of a flash forward and then going back to the past to start a series
- too much blur effect in scenes
- in episode 6 a character veered into creepy stalker
- why didn't they make a character a boyfriend instead of a brother, that was weird
- lack of communication between the leads, lying by omission about some giant things
- angry about what they did with a character in ep 11
- 2 noble idiot cliches
- large time jump with a very non realistic reunion (watch past the initial end credits)
- rushed finale, choppy editing, gang that appeared out of nowhere practically, written out exposition dump
- lack of consequences for a trash character
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a writer and a fitness trainer
Overall: a short and sweet series. 6 episodes about 9 minutes each. Aired on Love Memory's YouTube channel https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLwW9ZsuS2Fna5bej9iBNNK4IQsM2rz3XR&si=so3Dh40QFEPEU5qTContent Warning: homophobia
What I Liked
- the beginning
- a flirty protagonist
- a protagonist telling his friend off when he was rude
- pushed back against homophobic comments
- that poor communication was resolved quickly
Room For Improvement
- that a character didn't explain why he said what he did
- a hug with too much space and 2 dead fish lip presses
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This review may contain spoilers
apt title
Overall: the slow pacing and nonsense actions took me out of the Indiana Jones-like plot/the romance. 10 episodes. Aired on Ayu Entertainment Official YouTube channel https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLtIeDs4zbPZjMjeNvgtLHqdH4QEjtodZO&si=L4GffCzTeGB5xvwHContent Warnings: murders in the present and the past, blood, fight, manipulation, past drugging
What I Liked
- initial premise/they tried something different
- vistas
- that the hot tempered character did not have a certain power
Room For Improvement
- love triangle (wish they had been innovative with this in the present)
- bordered on campy at parts
- cookie cutter villains
- nonsense character actions/reactions, the very sudden character redemption arcs/switching allegiances
- lack of development for the m/m side couple and their sad ending
- that ending was not it, they should have either explained a bit more at the very end or kept it at tragedy
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adventures in sex & love (need season 2!)
Overall: this is a sex positive series that focused on the sex and love lives of 3 main characters. I gave it a rating boost to 10 because it discussed several lesser talked about topics in a realistic way. Know that this is not a tragic series, although there are some sad parts, it celebrates love, life and friendship. 10 episodes about 30 minutes each. Aired on GagagOOLala https://www.gagaoolala.com/en/videos/4915/the-nipple-talk-2024Content Warnings: gaslighting, discrimination, cyberbullying, slap, manhandling, non con kiss
What I Like
- the friend group and how they supported each other, even if they messed up they had good intentions and apologized
- realistic scenarios, depicted several topics that aren't shown very often in media
- MAMA* and the styling
- a character had a spine and knew what he wanted/what his deal breakers were
- showed the difference between open relationships and cheating
- good foreshadowing with the flowers
- character growth
- supportive sibling
- sweet/caring moments
- depictions of intimacy
- production value (especially enjoyed the music)
Room For Improvement
- not a fan of voice overs
- *I wish MAMA was actually the 4th main character and he had his own plot line instead of just an advisor and showing his brief steamy flashbacks
- the cliffhanger ending for 1 protagonist
- (neutral) on the friend letting her go with him when she was extremely drunk
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how another person can change self-perception
Overall: this is a grittier story, but there is still hope. The series was based on a manga which I have read part of, however I tried to review the series on its own merits. 8 episodes about 25 minutes each. Aired on GagaOOLala https://www.gagaoolala.com/en/videos/4708/happy-of-the-end-2024Content Warnings: almost every single content warning, it has very serious themes (episode 4 was pretty brutal, could skip to 21:30, also the first half of episode 6 was difficult for me to watch)
What I Liked
- a grittier story we rarely see
- flawed characters
- the cooking subverted trope
- acted like grown adults who went thru some terrible things
- caring moments
- that a character didn't believe what another character told him in ep 7
Room For Improvement
- not a fan of exposition dumps but I realized they were trying to cover a lot in not much screentime
- were there no brakes on the truck in episode 5?
- in episode 7 a character was pretty stupid to rile up another character
- seemed pretty nonsense that a character was walking free after there was video evidence, also I don't think victims need to press charges, I think law enforcement can proceed with charges themselves
- one character had not enough consequences (and the lame last minute attempt at trying to make that character sympathetic), and then another character had too many consequences
- I'm not a fan of episode 8 overall, it didn't seem to fit the characters
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nice small town vibe but with cliched plot
Overall: a slice of life with cliched writing. 28 MDP Studio also produced Hard Love Mission and The Love of Winter. 4 episodes about 20 minutes each. Aired on WeTV, need a vpn to Thailand and eps 2-4 require a VIP membership, here is the free episode 1 link https://wetv.vip/en/play/b6596rikhukzfxi (if nothing shows up, first use a vpn set to Thailand and then try the link)Content Warning: non con kiss, manipulation
What I Liked
- small town setting
- a smaller cast of characters
- the violin playing seemed to match the music (the piano not as much though)
- sweet moments
- intro/closing song
Room For Improvement
- totally not needed for what happened at the end of episode 3 and then the cliched plot points afterwards
- the 2 random side characters were maybe supposed to add humor but didn't find them funny
- unrealistic that he wasn't shown as drunk but somehow ended up like that at the beginning of episode 2
- voice overs telling instead of showing
- the ending
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better than the series
Overall: this is a re-edit of Burger/King's scenes from Burger's perspective (it has basically the exact same plot as a Japanese BL). First released as 11 short episodes and then in a movie format https://youtu.be/M-13TVFe9g8?si=GvAElSlfmAtFen4j It solved a lot of the problems that I had with Hit Bite Love, though I think they could have improved even more with the footage they had. My review of Hit Bite Love https://kisskh.at/profile/blcompilations/reviews/254503/ Aired on Jinloe's YouTube channel.Content Warnings: hit, kick, coercion, manipulation, non con touching
What I Liked
- sweet/cute moments
- a few funny parts
- how King was up front about what he wanted
Room For Improvement
- a voice over/exposition dump to start it but I didn't take off points
- the stereotype of a yelling trans woman
- in episodes 8 and 9 there were brief flashbacks to scenes that they didn't include in this version, I think they could have edited a bit better
- Burger is too reluctant for too long and King is a bit too aggressive, they could have also edited this to tone it down a bit
- Burger used that resume against King though it was toned down
- we needed 1 additional scene for the ending because it felt incomplete, even if they had shown us texts they had written to one another where Burger asks King to go on a romantic date
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