4
10
1
1
56 minutes (not a BL)
Overall: I generally give indie productions some leeway but the very ending of this was...a choice... not really sure what message they were trying to convey. Watched on YouTube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hNtNapJNVeQContent Warnings (it's complicated but I'm keeping this spoiler free): intimate partner abuse, held against will, non con touching/sexual assault and something else
What I Liked
- easy to follow plot
- tried to talk about mental health issues
- they uploaded to YouTube and added English subtitles
Room For Improvement
- randomly couldn't swim
- I did not agree with all of the messages around mental health issues, society/the environment is not 100% to blame, biology plays a factor as well
- that ending was not what I was hoping for, it wasn't a funny joke, were they trying to say that pushing/ignoring boundaries/sexual harassment of a coworker was fine???
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glad we got our follow up
Overall: Stay By My Side ended on a cliffhanger so I'm glad we had this special but I did want a few changes. Aired on Viki & GagaOOLala.What I Liked
- chemistry/kisses
- sweet moments
- gave us a conclusion we needed
- callbacks to the series
Room For Improvement
- disappointed that they used the same plot device as the series instead of direct communication shortly after the thing that happened at the end of the series
- some wonky camerawork
- added in additional characters and tried to do too much, would have liked to see them narrow the focus more
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different personalities blended beautifully in one room
Overall: I never thought I would fall for a sassy angel and a gloomy guy like I did. One Room Angel is based on the manga (same title) by Harada which I haven't read and I reviewed the series on its own. 6 episodes about 24 minutes each. Aired on GagaOOLala except Japan and South Korea, also aired on Viki.Content Warnings: (there are some major content warnings mostly done in flashbacks, I've put them in a comment under a spoiler)
What I Liked
- good balance of seriousness/humor/sweetness
- mystery, we learned more and more about the characters as the series continued
- the mom
- production value
Room For Improvement
- the wings were a bit cheesy but they weren't terrible
- unrealistic that a person would be punched in the face several times and talk normally/not be bloodied or unconscious
- ending was confusing/too open ended
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skip episodes 3 and 4
Overall: the first two episodes were cute and promising but it went downhill in the 3rd and 4th episodes and it just couldn't recover. They combined 5 of the TikTok episodes into each longer YouTube episode. Aired 7 episodes about 30 minutes each on the Puregold YouTube channel (from what I gather Puregold is a grocery store chain in the Philippines)Content Warnings: non con video recording and posting, past death
What I Liked
- a few central characters
- the dad (initially)
- that they explained the word Plantito towards the beginning (a guy who likes plants/gardening)
- cockroach scene
- eventually explained about Mico's sister
- Mico's abs
Room For Improvement
- they needed to show why Mico and Charlie liked one another, more bonding moments and less Bianca time
- before my rant, I need to say that video recording someone against their will and publicly posting it could get a survivor of intimate partner violence killed
- disliked several characters in eps 3 and 4, I was enjoying Charlie's dad but then his answer to Charlie's illegal actions was 'don't worry if you get sued I'll get you a good lawyer' like WTH?!? Charlie was obsessed with making money but we didn't have any real indication that they are poor until episode 6 so he came across as very self-centered/materialistic. Bianca gave awful advice but Charlie was a grown adult and could make his own decisions. And after being rightfully yelled at, Charlie didn't even do what was instructed (he hid them instead of deleting them which are not the same thing). Then he wallowed in self pity. He didn't seem sad about missing a chance to date Mico, more that he wouldn't be popular/make money with his vlog
- kind of a dig with the comment that his neighbor seemed too big to be a trans man in episode 1
- hiring Charlie as a social media manager made zero sense
- rushed ending
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a sweet commercial
Overall: this is basically a 7 minute commercial, but it's cute and a nice way to spend 7 minutes. Aired on Thai Mini Series YouTube Channel and their Tik Tok channel.Content Warning: non con picture taking
What I Liked
- sweet/flirty moments
- that there was a decent "plan"
Room For Improvement
- wish they had released this as one 7 minute video on YouTube
- episode 6 had a Korean subtitle instead of English, apparently it was "hope we're on the same page"
- the ending felt incomplete
- wish they added all episodes to their YouTube playlist and/or added cards for the next episode (after it was available) to make it easier to watch them all (or combined them into 1 video as I mentioned)
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short and sweet BL series
Overall: this is a small production with some rough subs, but definitely worth a watch. Watched on YouTube https://youtu.be/2DDL0oXS9UsContent Warnings: manipulation, maybe colorism (he says 'dark bastard' in ep 1 but the translations aren't great so maybe it wasn't translated correctly)
What I Liked
- the OST is really good and they have a MV of the two leads singing it
- funny and cute moments
- that puppy was adorable
- good continuity with injury, i.e. he wasn't healed the next scene or day
- the setting/cinematography at the end with them sitting on the rock was really nice
Room For Improvement
- there are some non logical things, like not untangling keychains right then or the cliche thing in the final episode
- too many comedy sound effects
- the subs are pretty rough/missing, but it's enough so you know what's happening and I appreciate that they did add subs
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not a fluffy series like the trailer indicated
Overall: I had to adjust my mindset when the first episode took a dark turn towards the end. Although the series had promise, it had too many characters/plot points with not enough run time. Watched on Gagaoolala.Content Warnings: (not between m/m ship) stalking, non con taking photos, violence, manhandling, teacher/student relationship between side characters
What I Liked
- some cute moments
- the opera music on their date
- the release schedule of 1 episode a day for 6 days, makes it easy to binge if wanted
- production value
Room For Improvement
- the idiocy of not telling the police right away (also that they all relax and think it's solved when it's not...)
- why does Ro-A like Ji-Woo, we don't even see a "love at first sight" scene (we finally see one in episode 5, I'm still not satisfied)
- love triangle/s
- weird plot with the other female classmate and the professor
- super cliche ending makes me want them not to be together
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30% Eating, 70% Traveling, 85% Win Being An Immature Jerk (YouTube version)
Overall: this is yet another plot where a 1 minute conversation would have cleared up poor communication. It is especially infuriating because the two people involved have been lifelong best friends... Watched on YouTube (the re-edited by director Aof)Content Warnings: off screen side character death in flashback, manhandling, punch/kick, non con touching (sleeping), non con? touch/kiss (using another body)
What I Liked
- the intro animation/sequence
- the cute moments
- the funny moments
- Korn did 1 smart thing regarding the water
Room For Improvement
- Win is a jerk and unfortunately did not have character growth. Grieving does not give you the right to scream at people and drag them around.
- the misogyny of constantly portraying Lin's body as weak (she can't even drive a car?!) If they had explained that she had a chronic illness then this would have been fine, but instead, her body is continually referred to as weak. Also, I didn't like how the pms was portrayed, it feeds into stereotypes that all women become very emotional when having their period (which apparently lasts 1 day lol). While some people do become more emotional, for many women you don't even know they are having their period... They could have just stuck with the painful cramps.
- the cliche miscommunication/lack of communication, and saying "you know how I feel" is NOT the same as actually saying how you feel
- non logical things (there is no one else on the farm that knows how to do that procedure??? The doctor couldn't find a short video on youtube and do that???)
- stupid decisions by several characters
- mom's instant forgiveness
- this truly awful line/sentiment "you have to listen to the older generation and when they are gone you can do what you want" (but younger generations have to live with the consequences of the older generations decisions, ugh)
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confusing with cliche plot points
Overall: this is a lower budget production that once again would have benefited from a narrower plot (i.e. no love triangle) due to its short runtime. Watched on YouTube.Content Warnings: smack on the head, blackmail
What I Liked
- the intro animation sequence that went into the live action
- I like the original focus on Judo (but that vanished unfortunately)
Room For Improvement
- confusing/choppy, especially in the first episode scenes just cut to something else and I was confused who the characters were
- too broad of a plot, they should have just focused on two judo players
- cliche things that I hate: love triangle, miscommunication/lack of communication, long time gap (6 years!), open ending, gay for you trope
- camera trick to not show the kiss well
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a cute short movie
Overall: a writer is told his poem? script? isn't honest and his friend tries to help himContent Warnings: internalized homophobia
What I Liked
- there was some nice piano music
- come cute moments
Room For Improvement
- it isn't clear what their relationship is at the beginning, I guessed that they were platonic friends but that could have been made more clear
- I wasn't sure if everything we saw actually happened, or if some of it was in his imagination
- some of the lighting was too dark
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What did I just watch?
Overall: Even reading the summary doesn't help me to understand what it was that I just watched. And I have zero desire to re-watch it and see if I can figure out what was going on. It appears that this was related to the first Find You In The Crowd, but don't ask me exactly how. Watched on Gagaoolala.Content Warnings (I'm not sure what was reality and what wasn't with these): murder, attempted suicide (graphic), manipulation/lying?, suicide?
What I Liked
- there was some nice music
- acting was fine
Room For Improvement
- the plot was incomprehensible, multiple flashbacks/forwards/dreams/maybe dreams?/cutting quickly to other scenes/choppy editing
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short and sweet
Overall: A soft 25 minute story about a college tutor and his high school tutee. You can find this on YouTube.Content Warning: under 18 (assuming, but he could have been 18) and an over 18 year old. Personally, this didn't bother me as their age gap is two or three years and the younger one made the first move.
What I Liked
- the montage to show that time had passed and they became friends
- I didn't like how it came about, but I actually liked the direction this went and was fine with the ending
- that Tone was clear about his sexual orientation (though the word wasn't subbed, I can guess what it said), but sad he showed internalized homophobia
- Pun doesn't say a lot at the end, but when you think carefully about how he was struggling with school, how he must have worked hard and then selected that college, it says quite a bit
Room For Improvement
- although I kind of understand the sister's reaction, I wish she would have been honest with her brother. Instead, she flat out lies to him when he asks her if she said anything to Tone. She didn't want to be the "bad guy" and made it so it looked like Tone was the jerk. Thankfully, Pun wasn't a moron and saw through things.
- the subtitles have errors but you can understand what is going on, from 15:20-16 the subtitles are missing, turn on auto translate from the Korean subs to English and it works or check the comments
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Confident Guy Goes After Who He Wants....Yessss!
Content Warnings: noneOverall: so refreshing to see a confident guy going after someone who isn't ridiculously reluctant/nervous, hope they can develop this story into a longer series or pair these two up again
What I Liked
- I think they both did a nice job acting and have good chemistry, those smirks and eye movements
- I find confidence to be very attractive and Kong is such a refreshing character
- likewise you can tell that Film is receptive from some of his facial expressions
Room For Improvement
- I'm grading this on a curve because I think it has a very small budget, it would be great if this were a whole series and more fleshed out
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intimacy done right, a very enjoyable BL
Overall: all the feelings (hurt, hope, shyness, giddiness, happiness) feel natural in this series. 8 episodes about 15 minutes each. Aired on Viki and GagaOOLala.Content Warnings: workplace bullying
What I Liked
- what happened at the end of episode 5 was well done and included some of the original sounds!
- ongoing affection/playfulness (hand holding, hugs, quick kisses, etc)
- that communication issues didn't drag on in the present and were addressed fairly quickly
- integration of computer/gaming animation, including the ending sequences
- according to my expert, the computer stuff was mostly realistic, especially the stuff in episode 5
- end of episode 4 was very well done
- workplace dynamics and that they were actually working/busy
- production value
Room For Improvement
- I struggled with this premise but things took a turn for the better the end of episode 4 once I understood that a character was hurt/upset
- strange that the beginning of episode 5 didn't start at where the story was at the end of episode 4
- wanted a bit more transparency but I'll pretend they had a serious conversation about the decision off screen
- was really happy at the end of episode 8 but it was awkward their hands were both at their sides instead of on back of neck, back, arms or chest and also the distance between their bodies was strange
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could have been a 9 or higher
Overall: once again needed to focus on the leads and their relationship development and this time give a trash character some consequences. 60 episodes 1-2 minutes each, episodes 1-10 are free on the Shortime app and you can watch on YouTube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZzMzx8JLRJA Aired on Shortime app which also has: Double Play, Please Teach Me, Falling For My Boss, Summer Indigo, The Secrets of Male Students, Accent, Influencer Love and Buddy Boy. App information is below. My invite link is https://playground.shortime.app/en/invite/NKNIWI - the code is NKNIWI (those are all capital letters, that's the capital letter i)Content Warnings: physical abuse, bullying, near self harm, blackmail/coercion, punch, manhandling, non con recording/sharing, unwanted public outing, slap, cyberbullying
What I Liked
- dream kiss in episode 1
- sweet moments
- martial arts backdrop
- the bully did apologize
Room For Improvement
- there is a truly awful character who seems to have zero consequences, he should have gone to jail
- really stupid plans, is the team a gang, why can't people just quit?
- two noble idiot/refuse to communicate tropes
- a camera angle blocked kiss
My Watch For Free Plan (updated Feb 2025)
1 friend referral code = 20 (1 time bonus) My invite link is https://playground.shortime.app/en/invite/NKNIWI - the code is NKNIWI (those are all capital letters, that's the capital letter i)
On the Rewards (popcorn bag icon page)
- check in = 5 (increases over 7 days up to 25)
- turn on notifications = 30 (1 time bonus)
- create a login = 20? (I did create a login because otherwise you only get 1 Always Win box instead of 3 per day, I think this was 20 popcorn)
- do the 3 random popcorn from the daily Always Win box = 30 (I'd normally get 5-15, around 30 in total)
- Watch Ads, watch all 10 ads each day, have to wait 30 seconds in between ads = 110
When you run out of popcorn while watching, you can watch 5 episodes each day with ads
Note that there are other 1 time bonuses like following on social media
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