BL Compilations

baseball backdrop for short vertical BL series

Overall: once again needed to cut out the love triangle and focus on the leads and their relationship development. It was between a 7.5 and 8 overall for me, a decent way to spend a little time. 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=6ZoFZr9mELc  Aired on Shortime app which also has: 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: dub con kiss

What I Liked
- caring moments
- though there wasn't a ton of baseball, it was nice to have a different sport as a backdrop

Room For Improvement
- love triangle
- relationship development felt sudden

My Watch For Free Plan (updated Feb 2025), should take about 3 days
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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aggressive pursuer

Overall: the pursuer was too aggressive. 40 episodes 1-2 minutes each, episodes 1-6 are free on the Shortime app and you can watch on YouTube https://youtu.be/6-JLrv9n048?si=39BhMVZVh5SDRba7. Aired on Shortime app which also has: Accent, Please Teach Me, Falling For My Boss, The Secrets of Male Students and Buddy Boy. App information is below.

Content Warnings: blackmail, non con touching, non con kissing turned consensual, manhandling, sexual harassment

What I Liked
- when he stood up for himself
- there was an apology

Room For Improvement
- started in the present then flashback to a week ago
- the blackmail and ignoring boundaries
- they switched their heads too much when kissing

My Watch For Free Plan (updated Jan 2025), should take about 3 days
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
In general it should take about 3 days to watch for free: Day 1 watch 1-6 (free), 7-21; Day 2 watch 22-33; Day 3 watch 34-40

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tried to do too much

Overall: I liked the unique premise but when people have to make charts to understand the plot, then that's a bad sign. 11/12 episodes (there is an alternate final episode). Aired on WeTV.

Content Warnings: punches/fight scenes, manhandling, blood, non con picture taking, gaslighting, there is a major one in the first episode but I'm keeping this spoiler free

What I Liked
- unique premise
- the intro sequence
- lighting, kind of supernatural vibe and it differentiates the universes
- the brother/sister dynamic
- some cute moments
- same sex marriage advocacy
- the side couple (though wish for a bit more enthusiasm earlier and also that stuff in ep 10 was way too early/rushed)

Room For Improvement
- the world building was just too confusing, I think they should have stuck with 1 world building concept instead of multiple, the characters tried to explain it a bit in episode 5 and 7 but that was too late
- lack of clear resolution for Dew's universe
- unrealistic how player Mum just flips on a dime and how Dew and Mum interact when 1 doesn't know the other person and then only talk afterwards
- did not understand why Dew/Mum loved each other so much or feel their chemistry
- didn't like Mint's character but did not like Dew either for not being clear and going along with her suggestion, Mint's character did a bizarre 180 in one of the final episodes
- police should have been called a few times and weren't
- Mum with the 'gay for you' trope
- would a younger person not know about bi/pan as options???
- did not like the choose your own ending

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slice of life series

Overall: this is what I would call a slice of life series, i.e. more true to life versus a romanticized version. Though I was put off at the beginning of the 1st episode with the flash forward and the first few episodes were especially slow going, I'm glad that I stuck with the series. Watched on Gagaoolala (also on iQIYI).

Content Warnings: distant past suicide mentioned, punch/bullying, stalking, outing, manhandling

What I Liked
- some cute moments
- there were actually customers in the cafe at times and the cafe workers were actually working
- a character dreams different kdrama scenarios (I think one was Crash Landing On You) which was fun
- a character said that people who love each other should be able to marry
- the female friend wasn't a cliche evil wannabe girlfriend, though I don't approve of how she handled something
- representation (although I think the writers could have had a more realistic explanation/explained things better)
- Le's mom
- that nose ring, I think it's the first nose piercing I've ever seen in a BL, the hair was fun too
- the friendship between Le and Li

Room For Improvement
- I wish they portrayed the relationship between Li and Gwan differently. At first, I wasn't even sure what their relationship was. It didn't seem that they really even liked each other as friends with the way they treated one another.
- cliche "let me explain" then does not explain with side couple
- the main couple/side couple screen time was odd. Li and Gwan had an entire episode and then pretty much vanished.
- a bit choppy when they were in the forest the first time
- slow pacing
- I think the title "DNA Says Love You" should be "My DNA Says I Love You", I see it's listed as an alternate title but I wish this was the main title
- the pronouns appeared incorrect a few times, but I think this was a translation error (I didn't take off review stars for this)

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I really wanted to like it

Overall: I was super excited when the series was first announced to have a lead in a m/m romance series love to wear high heels, be confident, etc; however, the mediocre writing let the actors down. This is based on a webtoon that I haven't read and I am reviewing the series on its own merits. 13 episodes about 50 minutes each. Aired on iQIYI https://www.iq.com/play/i-m-the-most-beautiful-count-episode-1-1hwby7xm14c?lang=en_us and YouTube (not in North, Central or South America, the Caribbean, U.K, Japan, Korea, Southeast Asia or Australia) https://youtu.be/JW3Sni7GJK0?si=Rn-vf6SAfAvJ1lRe

Content Warnings: slaps/hits, attempted murder, multiple murders/deaths, blood, drugging, queerphobia, violence, manipulation, past bullying

What I Liked
- that the lead wore stilettos, had long nails and was sassy
- historical setting
- styling
- talking about queerphobia, inequality
- sweet moments

Room For Improvement
- the switches between slapstick comedy and massacre of innocent people was jarring
- a common stereotype of effeminate men/trans women in media is hypersexualized/handsy and comic relief but in the 'laugh at you' and not 'laugh with you' kind of way. Unfortunately, the writers reinforced both of these with their lead character. Even more jarring is that the series is trying to call out inequality and queerphobia yet engages in writing stereotypical characters. I do not blame the actors at all. 
- the writers were maybe trying to portray Kosol as stoic but he came across as abusive and violent especially in the first few episodes
- it was supposed to be a comedy but I rarely laughed, it has many comedy sound effects that didn't enhance the humor
- love triangles/love rivals/jealousy (the main one took 10 of 13 episodes to resolve)
- I liked the side couple a bit but not how the one with more power commanded the other guy to do things on several occasions
- no one told 1 character a plan in episode 11
- the fake out in episode 13
- note: at 7m 30s in episode 6 when the character said 'kathoey' it was translated as trans woman. They should have left it as 'kathoey' or maybe used 'ladyboys or him say "I am a queen" because trans woman was not an accurate translation.

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horny butler and bratty owner (watch suggestions)

Overall: the beginning episodes containing non con/dub con with the main couple was disappointing, but there were good visuals and sweet moments. 12 episodes about 20 minutes each. Aired on GagaOOLala (Americas, Europe, Middle East, Australia, New Zealand, India, Southeast Asia) https://www.gagaoolala.com/en/videos/5016/eternal-butler-2024-e01 ; iQIYI (available in USA, Spain and ???) https://www.iq.com/play/eternal-butler-episode-1-dst0wmvc9g?lang=en_us ; YouTube (available in African countries, Greenland, Thailand, Vietnam, Taiwan, Egypt and a few others) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fZCKtVEQmC4

Content Warnings: past suicide, blood, manhandling, non con kisses, drugging, violence, past self harm/suicide?, non con/dub con, torture, kidnapping, fight

Watch Suggestions (takes some of the dad out, focuses on sweet moments)
- watch episodes 1 & 2
- episode 3 end at 21:55
- episode 4 watch 4-5 for a cameo, it does get steamy around 15 min but I couldn't enjoy it due to the circumstances
- episode 5 skip 5:50-17:30
- episode 6 end at 20 and then watch 24:30-end
- episode 7 watch 11:20-end
- episode 8 watch beginning-3:35, 5-15:30 and 21:20-end
- episode 9 watch 3:30-4:30, 8:30-10:30, 17-19:30
- episode 10 watch 2:50-11:10, 13:30-25:20
- episode 11 watch 7:45-12:30 and 15:50-end
- episode 12 watch 5-end

What I Liked
- easy to understand premise
- the sci fi element
- visuals
- supportive friendship
- sweet/caring moments
- the side couple dynamic
- Stay By My Side and other cameos
- character growth with the dad
- good they discussed something in the final episode*

Room For Improvement
- started with a flash forward
- the main couple dynamic of brat vs ignores boundaries robot
- nonsense stuff such as dumb design with the glasses aspect (which is then later completely dropped), an extremely intelligent robot caused the main lead to hobble around the next day, a character in debt wore a shirt full of holes to work (he was later shown as having non-damaged shirts) but had an apartment full of nice furniture, an ultra intelligent robot only could find paid work as an escort, just ignoring warnings instead of dealing with them
- (neutral) sound effects
- episode 4 steamy scene was ruined by the circumstance which I labeled as non con/dub con
- the line "if you caused it, you have to take responsibility" in that circumstance
- the contrasting reactions to giving vs receiving
- the yelling dad
- noble idiot trope in ep 9 but thankfully only lasted a few minutes
- put a tracker on someone without their knowledge
- told parents without consulting his partner first
- can't believe the side couple didn't do something for 10 years
- *one character was still selfish/bratty to the very end, thinking about what he wanted as most important

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I've forgotten why I liked this series...

Overall: although I love some of the realistic slice of life parts, it's just too slow. Aired on GagaOOLala.

Content Warnings: manipulation, something else that is spoilery for a side character and I'll put it in a comment after this is done airing

What I Liked
- those kids were super adorable in ep 1 and did a great job
- set the time well with SARS (2003), although VHS tapes weren't new technology, it should have been a DVD player unless I understood this incorrectly
- differently abled representation with two characters
- the transition with the photo taking helped me figure out who was who in ep 1
- some realistic parts like having school pen pals, how you feel when you first start university and are on your own
- that hair made me laugh and the grandpa and friends reactions were hilarious*
- supportive friends with the pen pal thing
- production value

Room For Improvement
- too many time jumps and some not clearly marked, this reminds me of when I used to write stories and came to a less interesting part I'd just skip over it and jump to the next section
- I watch at double speed and it still feels slow, they should have cut this down to 6 or 8 episodes instead of 14
- in general I didn't care about any of the romantic relationships, I felt nothing about them
- Champ's character's plot could have been folded into another character
- that's an oddly aggressive pursuit from Nan, I guess it's supposed to be romantic but it felt unrealistic and unwarranted
- the whole thing with the Name's secret online friend was annoying and I would have been waaaaayyy more angry but I guess with the other circumstances he didn't care
- the lack of communication/being honest dragged out way too long
- need more than 1 song played on repeat every other minute (it's a nice song but I've come to loathe it)
- the constant references to the time period are unnecessary
- in episode 1, it seemed unrealistic that a parent or teacher wouldn't have talked to the other students about Name (update, confusing if he was homeschooled at that point because he was wearing a school uniform)
- the awful wigs* why oh why were there sooooo many bad wigs for so much screentime

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excellent visuals, nonsense writing

Overall: I can accept and enjoy vampires, aliens, etc but the world building and writing still needs to be consistent and make sense or it breaks the fantasy for me. 12 episodes about 50 minutes each. Aired on GagaOOLala (available in the U.S., U.K, Australia & Germany) https://www.gagaoolala.com/en/videos/5176/my-golden-blood-2025-e01 ; iQIYI https://www.iq.com/play/my-golden-blood-episode-1-15i43kuok94?lang=en_us ; GMMTV's YouTube Channel https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLszepnkojZI6dCriKkjM96prEY5v2Nhtu&si=_TzfUsEzmPpPs7Jw (not available in SE Asia and countries covered by GagaOOLala). All 3 platforms appear to be the same length.

Content Warnings: past and current murders, blood, stalking, intimate partner abuse, held against will, manipulation, age gap, kidnapping, fights/violence, grief, torture

Watch Suggestions (to focus on sweet/steamy moments with the MLs)
- read the synopsis and watch episode 1
- skip episodes 2 and 3
- episode 4 watch 23-24:30 and 43-end
- episode 5 watch 40:45-end
- watch episode 6
- episode 7 watch beginning to 6:20 or can watch all
- episode 8 skip 12:30-20:15 or could even start at 49 and watch to the end
- stop episode 9 at 35 minutes (they missed out on what could have been a fantastic side couple/redemption arc imo)
- episode 10 watch 15:30-15:55, brief kiss around 18, 22-25, 45:55-end
- episode 11 watch 22:15-27:05 and 28:30-35 to avoid angst/serious stuff
- episode 12 watch 36:45-end

What I Liked
- visuals
- vampires
- sensual moments
- they refused to do the noble idiot trope

Room For Improvement
- not sold on the world building, police aren't concerned about what was happening?, a character who is supposedly good let another character go off and likely murder a bunch more people
- felt they were going for serious/sensual but then the special effects and dialogue gave it a corny feeling
- not a fan of the giant age gap because the younger guy acted like a toddler and also the "taking care of from afar" aka stalking as the younger character was growing up, the power imbalance is gigantic
- episode 2 was a world building exposition dump
- sick after the rain trope and refused to communicate in episode 5
- voicing inner thoughts
- missed opportunity of a solid redemption arc and side couple
- cartoonish idiot villain (why on earth wouldn't he have gotten proof/talked to them earlier?!!!, and he's lived a super long time but somehow isn't smarter/doesn't have resources and is camping out in the wilderness?!!)
- total nonsense to not tell friends the truth "in order to protect them" when not telling them obviously puts them in more danger because they can't make informed decisions, not talking about an obvious solution beforehand, terrible "plans"
- voice over exposition dump at the end of the finale

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wanted more chaotic fun (and BL)

Overall: it had a very similar premise to The Hangover, but I didn't find it as entertaining. This season had totally different actors/characters/plot than the previous 2 series so you can watch this on its own; however unlike the last 2 seasons there was no mutual m/m romance. 6 episodes about 30 minutes each. Aired on GagaOOLala.

Content Warnings: vomiting, held against will, drugging, punch

M/M Kisses (note, there was not a BL couple in this series): a brief flashback at the beginning of episode 2 and episode 5 2:30 and then 20 minutes

What I Liked
- clear premise
- introduced the characters well
- made me laugh a few times
- the twist/subverted trope in episode 4
- liked the mom reveal
- production value (especially the music)

Room For Improvement
- needed to be even more chaotic, I was bored
- nonsense stuff (the police didn't say/do anything about the handcuffs, they guys would have pain on their backs, their total lack of negative reaction to what was on their backs, the CEO was just cool with everything they did)
- neutral, comedy sound effects

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opposite personalities

Overall: an indie series that centered on two characters. 8 episodes under 10 minutes each. Aired on QueerDeep YouTube channel https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLkrefPXGX2ya2fvYODySdXnGenCnRLMTn&si=rvoa6yi_AUexHzIs

What I Liked
- opposite personalities
- kissing
- that we didn't have a bunch of characters

Room For Improvement
- I couldn't shake how creepy it was that that delivery person entered his apartment
- the episode 7 drama felt like drama for drama's sake
- (neutral) the English subtitles make some things difficult to understand

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some good, some not so good

Overall: I'm pretty torn on this series. I really like how we had several queer characters and Diamond was awesome but then they had too many characters to fully develop and things were unresolved for several of them. 8 episodes about 50 minutes each. Aired on iWantTFC. The director/writer Ivan Andrew Payawal also directed Gameboys.

Content Warnings: fight, transphobia, homophobia, discrimination, past memory with blood

What I Liked
- Uno's mom
- they called out being disrespectful and the hypersexual stereotype
- Diamond was my favorite character, the situations she faced were realistic, rarely portrayed in media, heartbreaking and well done, wish we had more with this characters

Room For Improvement
- multiple lead characters had too much jerk behavior, I was so annoyed with Jared in particular
- the het romance was at the center which whatever but then there was no resolution with queer characters

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hot and cold ML

Overall: was not a fan of one ML being hot and cold. Too much time spent on obvious villains. 65 episodes a couple minutes each. Watch episodes 1-5 on YouTube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=94xidyP8QrQ Note the uncut version is almost identical to the cut version, perhaps a few extra seconds of kissing so watch the uncut version. Aired on the Shortime app which also has: Double Play, Please Teach Me, Falling For My Boss, Summer Indigo, The Secrets of Male Students, Accent, Ippon: Hold Me Tight, Influencer Love, Blue Complex 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: homophobia, manipulation, hit, violence, non con kiss, past murder, murder, manhandling, trauma/mental health struggles, drugging, kidnapping, unwanted public outing

What I Liked
- that a ML tried to change his fate
- sweet moments
- perceptive co-worker
- intelligence shown in episode 50

Room For Improvement
- nonsense, who just stands and stares at an incoming car and also the car didn't break? then at the end they decide to walk on the street instead of the sidewalk
- episode 13 back hug felt very out of place
- cartoony villains, wish they had spent more time on the relationship development
- one of the MLs was hot and cold and I couldn't trust his feelings
- the non con sleeping kiss
- telling the plot through voice overs instead of showing the viewer


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)
- 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

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glad they made this special

Overall: this special made me bump up the series rating by .5; however, the nonsense worldbuilding prevented me from rating this or the series higher. Eight and a half minutes on YouTube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rIcdgalcMUE&feature=youtu.be

What I Liked
- seaside
- that we got something at the very end
- production value decent

Room For Improvement
- exposition dump
- way too long of a time jump
- more nonsense worldbuilding, so something no longer matters? why? why does a character magically regain something? and if he regained it earlier why wouldn't he immediately tell the other character who has been in a ton of pain?

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