BL Compilations

a little bit dangerous and a lot romcom cliches

Overall: the trailer promised a grittier/darker series but it's like the directors/screenwriters never talked to each other. The first two episodes were what I was expecting, then it went full romcom (i.e. multiple accidental fall/stares), then some danger towards the end that didn't make sense. 12 episodes about 45 minutes each. Aired on GMMTV's YouTube channel.

Content Warnings: bullying, punches, violence/beaten up, non con kiss, non con video recording, cyberbullying, manhandling, attempted murder, drugging, attempted sexual assault

What I Liked
- that Sailom was book and a bit street smart as well in the beginning
- Sailom's friend group
- Kang's grandma was amazing
- sweet moments
- a couple funny moments
- production value

Room For Improvement
- too many romance tropes like the accidental fall and catch/stare (there were at least 3 in the first 7 episodes)
- odd pacing/plot, enemies part was too short and then rushed into becoming boyfriends
- the writers made Sailom too reluctant once they started dating/too many near kisses, made it feel more like a bromance, several kisses were uncomfortable to watch
- the comedy sound effects should have been left out, they didn't fit well
- Kang did not have a good enough villain origin story (not that any reason makes it okay to physically injure another human being)
- didn't root for the second couple because of the bullying at the beginning
- Kang's character was very inconsistent, I didn't want him in a romantic relationship because I felt like he'd bail again at the first sign of trouble
- Saifah was too stupid, there could have been a really interesting side plot/character there but his character was poorly written
- nonsense/because the writer said so stuff (some examples, that gang boss's "plan" in episode 11 made zero sense, what that police officer said, there was no reason given for Saifah trusting Name so much)
- not sure what was being hinted at with the student/teacher but they mostly disappeared
- some scenes were too dimly lit
- too many flashbacks especially in episode 6 and 11
- jumped to the past/present repeatedly in episode 7 part 1

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Tide of Grunts (hope the actors get a better script next time)

Overall: I didn't expect them to do a safe, sane, consensual BDSM series (which would be amazing to finally see), but I was hoping to at least be entertained (I wasn't). 10 episodes about 10 minutes each. Aired on the app Shortime (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) and it should get you a bonus); GagaOOLala https://www.gagaoolala.com/en/videos/5972/tide-of-love-2025 (not in Korea) and SEEKmeda for channel members https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLwfmKArt9EtWOQm5LiWg9mKzvMpkpPCHe&si=ZRyYUHDRbQjrlHHh and iQIYI https://www.iq.com/play/tide-of-love-episode-1-24f4ukbxh0g?lang=en_us

What I Liked
- visuals

Room For Improvement
- started with a voice over exposition dump (continued voicing of inner thoughts)
- it wasn't enjoyable to watch 1 person being scared/reluctant in the "BDSM" scenes
- it made no sense in episode 2 that a character had plenty of money but continue when he doesn't seem to enjoy it, what was his motivation for staying? and then in episode 3 he was suddenly in love but disgusted during their NC scenes???
- I normally give indie productions a pass with editing/production value but SEEKMedia had extra time after they sold it to streaming platforms and needed to work on the editing which was terrible (sounds didn't match visuals, bad transitions, continuity errors like buttons that magically re-buttoned themselves)
- the grunting was bad (but almost so bad it was funny)
- did the writers not understand why BDSM can be sexy?, nearly waterboarding multiple times was not sexy, having a person write the other person's name multiple times was not sexy
- their kissing energy didn't match at all, one guy was sucking the other guy's face off whereas that guy didn't want to open his mouth or move any part of his face

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nonsense writing in the worst way possible, the actors deserved a better script

Overall: up until the end of episode 5 it felt old school Thai BL with the aggressive pursuit of a reluctant pursuee, but the terrible and nonsense writing at the end of episode 5 and after made my score plummet. Note that this review contains words/discussion that may be triggering. Based on the books "Gear & Gown" and "Extern" by Mynt. I haven't read the books and I reviewed the series based on its own merit. 10 episodes about an hour each. Aired on GagaOOLala uncut (not available in: Japan, Cambodia, Thailand, Philippines, Indonesia, Myanmar, Singapore, Hong Kong, Macau, Australia, New Zealand, Korea) https://www.gagaoolala.com/en/videos/5571/doctors-mine-2025
Available worldwide ; YouTube Kongthup channel cut (not available in Japan) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b_6IR1YkXRg&ab_channel=KongthupChannel ; YouTube Kongthup channel members uncut (not available in Japan and Thailand) https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PL-3lmw1GIQMnDQdR2BDbYNrdcRc3azVoC&si=fCHe5QuQYLf7dXJA and Viu (Thailand, Philippines, Indonesia, Hong Kong, Singapore, Macau, Myanmar) uncut though someone said the first episode was cut so maybe some countries get cut and some get uncut. The cut version on YouTube cut down a NSFW scene by 2 minutes (it was in part 2).

Content Warnings: fight, blood, non con kisses, dub con sex, slap, non con touching, manhandling, coercion, *depicted rape that did not actually happen at the end of episode 5, gaslighting, homophobia, punches, fight, past non con touching

What I Liked
- Knight's mother
- chemistry/intimacy with the side couple (and eventually the main couple)
- showed condom use, talked about AIDS and PrEP
- Mild finally showed some interest/initiative in later episodes
- that Per stood up to his mom

Room For Improvement
- nonsense/terrible writing: how did the brother see something when 1 person was fully clothed?, he didn't tell his brother what he thought he saw and just kept punching Knight, everyone saying "trust me" and "I can explain" but then taking way too long to explain, terrible that Knight did more non con before explaining what actually happened
- some of the worst gaslighting I've ever seen in fiction including vomit-inducing lines such as "everything that happens has its reasons" and "what actually happened has a good side to it"
- the cliche 'seemed to be very drunk and then suddenly was sober' in episode 1, also he asked the guy not to do something and then the guy did that exact thing
- the series talks about consent and then has multiple characters ignore it multiple times
- finally in episode 7 we see why Knight was so interested, they needed to show this sooner as he seemed creepy (though saying how he liked that Mild couldn't contact anyone was also creepy)
- flashbacks to recent scenes
- some scenes went on for too long/slow pacing
- noble idiot trope and then Per acts like he couldn't find him when they go to the same school and also had no idea what was wrong?!!!
- a character was stabbed multiple times in the abdomen and future doctors talked a bunch instead of immediately calling for help/applying first aid?!!!!
- draggy 3rd couple then rushed 3rd/4th couples
- that was one of the worst proposals either, so rude to put the love of your live through that

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I had no choice but to laugh

Overall: a very enjoyable comedy with some serious parts that provides a good contrast. I read the manga, but I'm rating this on its own, not how good of an adaptation I think it was. Watched on Gagaoolala.

Content warnings: punches, slap, non con kiss (sleeping), manipulation, held against will

What I Liked
- the duality of Fukuhara, and that we learn more about his motivation thru childhood flashbacks
- the funny moments (I laughed out loud many times)
- the ending of the first episode which was a pleasant surprise
- how thoughtful and caring Shinomiya was
- Shinomiya's friends and Fukuhara's friends
- the breadcrumb of GL (but wish it was more overt)
- domestic bliss moments
- production value, including some very beautiful shots like the one in the final episode that also appears in the intro

Room For Improvement
- the counting thing in ep 3, ignoring when a person looks obviously uncomfortable
- a few things felt too serious/jarring - I wish the first punch had been a shove instead and the ending of episode 7 was not my thing
- that they went with the unwilling/nervous character, I wanted to Fukuhara to take some initiative
- the final episode had too many flashbacks/filler, also they tried to pass the beginning part off as comedy and that did not work for me as Fukuhara was understandably very upset during it
- disappointed that even after the professor talked about it there was a non con kiss
- too much blur, they looked like ghosts sometimes
- (neutral) Fukuhara has that kind of overacting comedy shtick that some viewers might not like, I've gotten used to it now and it doesn't bother me

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writing/marketing miss (watch suggestions)

Overall: they screwed over fans with their misleading marketing (I'll talk more below). Almost 2 hours runtime, make sure to watch the very important scene after the end credits. Aired on iQIYI https://www.iq.com/play/1qz7s34vza0?lang=en_us&sh_pltf=4

Content Warnings: attempted murder, violence/fights, blood, kidnapping/held against will, grief

Watch Suggestions (focus on cute moments)
- watch 12-19:45, 24:15-33:50, 35:45-36:20, 39, 1hr9-1hr10m30s, 1hr31m20s-1hr34m

What I Liked
- the actors
- grandma is MVP (most valuable player)
- sweet moments
- kisses
- the dad asked who was the bride and who was the groom and the kid said we don't ask, that's their business
- they at least had one back up plan this time

Room For Improvement
- the marketing was that there was a marriage/sweet moments, but there wasn't an actual marriage and there's been no season 2 announcement, if they had marketed this accurately (angsty/action/comedy with a few sweet moments), actually had a marriage and had a season 2 announcement then my rating would have been higher
- more stupid actions: do police not exist in this universe? bullet proof vests??? how on earth would someone who was shot in the stomach twice survive without major medical intervention????
- the cliffhanger scene after the final credits with no mention of another special or season 2 announcement

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way too many characters and uninteresting plot points

Overall: on brand with nice music, innuendos and way too many characters/plot that I cared nothing about and intended comedy that didn't work. 13 episodes about 50 minutes each. Aired on YouTube https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLcQaxIPsTWdN8c6czpNNhuciPMIkpAIH6&si=m9MlfDD-TDMRK8aN Oxin also produced: My Day, Rainbow Prince, My Story, Our Story, Tie the Not, Sky Valley

Content Warnings: sex trafficking/coercion, manipulation, dub con kiss, non con recording, mention of past abuse, hit

What I Liked
- visuals
- easy to understand premise
- chuckled a few times with the innuendo
- supportive sister/sibling relationship
- flirty moments, good being interested in more intimacy
- music
- the line "your lips got tired and laid on her lips?!"
- Xion Lim's cameos and not wearing shirts under his suit jackets

Room For Improvement
- flash forward with voice over start
- too many characters, cared nothing for the creepy manager/plot
- did not find most jokes funny
- 5/3 did not need to see a conversation while one guy was sitting on the toilet (and more toilet humor in the finale)
- camera blocked kissing in 6/4
- liked one pair but then a guy was a jerk in the second part of ep 7/1
- liked the makeup artist but then he tried to guilt his friend into a romantic relationship
- the finale had zero kisses!!!, we got a near kiss and a hug, meh

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acting based vertical series

Overall: they needed to narrow the focus to the main leads/their relationship development. 35 episodes 1-2 minutes each, episodes 1-5 are free on the Shortime app and you can watch on YouTube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PnoGS9rLwwY on Shortime app which also has: Please Teach Me, Falling For My Boss, The Secrets of Male Students, Accent, Influencer Love and Buddy Boy. App information is below. My referral link is https://playground.shortime.en/invite/NKNIWI (all letters) and it should get you a bonus.

Content Warnings: past bullying, abuse, mental health struggles

What I Liked
- caring moments
- good kissing

Room For Improvement
- love triangle/needed to narrow the scope to be on the two leads
- a few unclear flashbacks
- cliche power of love healed trauma
- should have cut the love triangle or the past trauma
- bad redemption arc for a character

My Watch For Free Plan (updated Feb 2025), should take about 3 days
My referral link is https://playground.shortime.en/invite/NKNIWI (all letters) and it should get you a bonus.

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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poor communication cliche

Overall: it was difficult to root for the couple when they kept hinting at something. Episodes were about 8 minutes each. Aired on Lovememory YouTube Channel https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLwW9ZsuS2FnYYgDhkvkW1AB3NfnyzYckm Lovememory also produced Twosome Boys

What I Liked
- good kissing
- an established couple

Room For Improvement
- didn't feel chemistry between the leads
- the bad communication trope, just talk for 5 minutes and clear things up!
- maybe there were some language things that weren't translated, but it wasn't clear at the beginning if the two characters were boyfriends or best friends
- most of episode 6 was flashback

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supernatural indie BL

Overall: 4 episodes about 20 minutes each. Aired on DFJ Entertainment YouTube channel https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLkUDyVkT_XranODtshU1r7qE5sOkW-0Nt&si=05L9CVhQcGvkj-EB I suggest for episode 3 to watch 17:30-end and the rest was product placement/flashback.

Content Warnings: hit, past suicide shown (it's complicated)

What I Liked
- supernatural element
- caring moments
- the ending

Room For Improvement
- world building exposition dumps
- spent too much time in flashback on the third episode, could have used that screentime with the main couple in the present
- (neutral) there were comedy sound effects, but didn't feel overwhelming
- (neutral) the subtitles were confusing. I gave them points for adding them, but I think they made the plot more confusing than it was supposed to be. For example in episode 2, why did he invite his friend over just to scare him? There is an extra scene at the end, however, it still didn't make sense.

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a fun comedy vertical series

Overall: note that the focus is more on the contentious relationship of the actors than the romance with the guardian spirits. 30 episodes about a minute each. Watched on the Vigloo app - the first few episodes can be watched here https://www.vigloo.com/video/15000105?season=15000105&episode=1 Vigloo also has: You Want Some, Match Play, Rule #1 No Dating Rule, Love in the Apocalypse

What I Liked
- the guardian spirits and their story
- it made me laugh a few times
- the group hug

Room For Improvement
- too much screaming
- kind of ambiguous with the actors' relationship


How to Watch for Free (episodes are 50 coins each, you can't skip episodes but once unlocked they stay unlocked forever, there are additional tasks to get more coins like following the company on social media)

Day 1
- watched episodes 1-8 (free on the app)
- can watch 10 episodes free with ads, I unchecked the auto unlock, clicked off of that box and another box popped up saying "view ads to watch for free 0/10" (I did that for eps 9-18)
- watched 15 ads per day for 30 coins each on the rewards page and did the daily check in (eps 19-27)

Days 2 & 3
- watched 3 more ads for the last 3 episodes

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hope to see the actors again

Overall: this was a disappointing special. I do hope to see all of the main actors in another series soon as I think they did a good job with the plot they were given. The special episode was about 53 minutes. Aired on GagaOOLala https://www.gagaoolala.com/en/videos/4591/i-saw-you-in-my-dream-2024-e13 and WeTV https://wetv.vip/en/play/w52tycxawaajel4-I%20Saw%20You%20In%20My%20Dream/u41005rux5c-EP13%3A%20You%20%26%20I%20in%20Our%20Dream

What I Liked
- sweet moments
- good f/f established relationship
- production value

Room For Improvement
- there was zero character growth, 4 years later and they still had poor communication and one character was extremely immature, he intentionally caused the love of his life to be distressed, it wasn't cute or funny
- very odd that the main couple had zero kisses in the special and the side couple had a few quick pecks/some dodging that happened
- nonsense world building, something could suddenly happen that had never happened before, the flashback was a non-explanation
- comedy sound effects didn't make things funny

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only 10 minutes of the 20 minute short film

Overall: the production has made the odd decision to release only 10 minutes of the 20 minute short film. They have a fundraising project here https://www.zeczec.com/projects/Prayinlove_BL where people can pay and see the fully 20 minute short film in July. However, they also want to raise funds for the whole series. I think that they should have released a really engaging short film in its entirety for free and used that to fundraise for the series. They also needed to use an international friendly platform (I didn't see an option to change the language on their current site) and include internationally friendly rewards instead of physical goods that no doubt require a lot more money to ship internationally.

The 10 minute short film is here https://youtu.be/JhYUeHrlABw?si=6JDp9miOUEmpVJBc and it was okay. For a BL movie/series, they needed a better start than a guy surrounded by women flirting with him though.

I do think productions could do crowdfunding for BLs, but if they aren't with well known actors in BL or a sequel to something really popular then they need to have a really amazing trailer/hook, be realistic about how much they can raise with crowdfunding and be international fan friendly with reward levels and crowdfunding platform. I recently participated in a BL manhua kickstarter that exceeded its goal by a lot, so the money is out there if the project is done well.

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too much of an unlikable character

Overall: I'm generally more lenient on indie productions; however, Wayufilm has been making short movies for several years and they have had some that I enjoyed so I know what they are capable of. However, in this "The Star" they spent the first 20 minutes with a character who was such a jerk to another character that was a complete doormat. Then in the second part, there was a very fast mostly off screen redemption arc. We didn't get to really see their relationship develop/sweet moments. I did appreciate their frank conversation and the condom in the second part. And I understand why the NSFW scenes needed to be cut on YouTube though it made the second part feel choppy.

Aired in 2 parts for a total of about 45 minutes on Wayufilm's YouTube channel https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLOA6_oQmuXGBm-k0qjRmKX3mZLev2M7do&si=ldSLP6IMp8PTcYJf

Content Warnings: bullying, manhandling, threats

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fashion industry romance with a side m/m couple

Overall: I enjoyed the fashion industry setting, but it became very soap opera like in parts and dragged at times. 10 episodes broken into 2 parts for 50 minutes per episode total. Aired on WeTV https://wetv.vip/en/play/honrgjq1uhtv8gn-Intern%20In%20My%20Heart

Information for the age gap: first met when he was 8 and she was 21ish, in the present he is 20 and she is 33, based on how this played out I didn't include it as a content warning
Content Warnings: near suicide, non con touching, bullying, non con picture taking/sharing

BL Relevant Scenes
1a 9:45-11
2b 17:15-end
3a 5:15-6 & 19:30-21
4a 14-16:30
4b 6:30-7:40 & 14:10-15
5a 12:30-14:15 & 18-20
5b beginning-2:15 & 13-18:10
6a 5-6:10, 8:40-10 & 18-19:30
6b 8:50-10:30, & 12:10-13:40
8a 21:30-23 & 32-end
8b beginning to 3 & 8-13:30
9a beginning-6:30, 8:20-12, 20:30-23:30, 26-end
9b 21-26
10b 18-18:40 & 20-21

What I Liked
- sweet moments
- friendships (though he shouldn't have touched the guy when the guy didn't want him to)
- character growth

Room For Improvement
- exposition dump
- comedy sound effects
- cliche see something and don't clarify what it is
- stupid decisions/unrealistic actions

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