BL Compilations

similar to the series

Overall: a year later and I was hoping I'd have more confidence that they'd be in a happy relationship after they'd worked on their insecurities/issues, but that's not what was presented. 16 minutes (plus 3 of behind the scenes). Aired on Gaga00Lala (not available in the Americas, Europe, Oceanic, Japan and Korea) https://www.gagaoolala.com/en/videos/5263/business-as-usual-2025-e07 ; Viki https://www.viki.com/tv/41031c-business-as-usual ; iQIYI https://www.iq.com/album/business-as-usual-2025-27zq5u8svtd?lang=en_us ; Line TV ; Heavenly & Rakuten Japan. My review of the series is here: https://kisskh.at/profile/blcompilations/reviews/444218/

What I Liked
- acting
- production value
- the sweet stuff 10 minutes to the end

Room For Improvement
- the one guy is still insecure but now vocal/angry about it. I have little confidence that they will stay together happily. Either they'll be together frequently miserable or they will break up. Needed to have more character growth.
- spent the first 10 minutes with them in a fight, only had 6 minutes of cuteness

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wanted more of this dance based romance story

Overall: I really enjoyed the dance aspect, but with the short run time, I wish they had cut out some of the side plots/characters to make things a bit less rushed. 8 episodes about 13 minutes each. Aired on Viki https://www.viki.com/tv/37669c-you-make-me-dance and later turned into a movie version (don't think there were new scenes, just all episodes put together https://www.viki.com/movies/37685c-you-make-me-dance-movie)  ;  WeTV https://wetv.vip/en/play/h6ut21v6mukfymd-You%20Make%20Me%20Dance and Viu https://www.viu.com/ott/th/en-us/vod/339544/You-Make-Me-Dance

Content Warning: held against will, manhandling

What I Liked
- dynamic/different personalities
- caring moments
- dancing
- intimacy

Room For Improvement
- flashback intro (though it was cute) with the time jump
- I really disliked the mom and wish that call in episode 6 had gone through
- what a character did around 7:30 of the finale instead of telling him the truth
- too many flashbacks
- the CEO character's actions felt unrealistic at the end
- cliche running scene

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meta BL comedy

Overall: a fun meta story where the main character is in a BL comic/world. 4 episodes about 30 minutes each. Aired on Viki https://www.viki.com/tv/37904c-a-man-who-defies-the-world-of-bl and GagaOOLala https://www.gagaoolala.com/en/videos/2420/a-man-who-defies-the-world-of-bl-2021-s01e01

Content Warning: manhandling, spying

What I Liked
- awesome dance/music intro sequence
- the mini side couples/BL tropes
- the flowers and blinding light
- I chuckled a few times

Room For Improvement
- was going to say I liked the sibling relationship but in episode 3 Mob says goodbye to his brother and he also tried to take his brother's agency away
- lip press in episode 3
- not sure if it was an error in translation but Mob bordered on homophobic at times with how he talked about his brother being contaminated and not helping someone lest he get in a relationship with a man and be contaminated, on the flip side he wished other guys happily ever afters
- (neutral) normally I'd take off a half point or more for a cliffhanger ending; however, there was a season 2 (and season 3 though as of 2025 hasn't had an international release)

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a modern day bodice ripper with a fantasy twist

Overall: I rated this a bit higher than I would normally as it aired in 2017 and I believe it's supposed to be viewed as a bodice ripper type story aka the fictional mouth says no, body says yes. Available on YouTube https://youtu.be/OnCD6xSzUP8?si=4PGL8PAcHyHRhvBq and Viki (episode 3 runtime 70 min) https://www.viki.com/tv/35898c-history-1

Content Warnings: death (it's complicated), grief, blood, harassment, held against will, sexual assault/non con touching & kissing, blood, manipulation, choking/neck grab, non con turned consensual

What I Liked
- that he decided to change in the past and there were other things that changed (butterfly effect)
- funny with the gate in ep 1 and "how could he know it was me?" when his name was on the page
- caring/sweet moments
- supportive friend
- side couple though it was very rushed
- non-cliche character that was supportive, albeit maybe could have figured out another plan
- chemistry

Room For Improvement
- in the present/future there's no reason why he couldn't have told him about his stupid "plan"
- wish they had been mutually obsessed, because it was mostly one-sided and it felt like intimate partner abuse especially the lines towards the end
- voice over exposition dump towards the beginning
- flashbacks to recent scenes
- overly dramatic music

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coming of age romance

Since GagaOOLala picked up this movie, I decided to write a review. Watched at https://www.gagaoolala.com/en/videos/5213/does-the-flower-bloom-2018

Content Warnings: past death, internalized homophobia

What I Liked
- Yoichi's supportive group
- struggling with living up to a parent's fame, trying to find your own path in life
- that Yoichi said he wouldn't follow someone who was indecisive and wanted to stay where he was
- the hugs

Room For Improvement
- the love rival, that time could have been better spent elsewhere
- nonsense that they didn't bring a character to the hospital, he could have had appendicitis which is deadly
- dead fish lip presses, didn't always feel the chemistry

Note: I didn't put a content warning even though there's a 19 year age gap. Yoichi was an adult (19) and there was no manipulation/coercion in their relationship

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happy to finally see it officially

Overall: I'm ecstatic that this finally has an official international release on GagaOOLala https://www.gagaoolala.com/en/videos/5208/no-touching-at-all-2014 I gave it a bit of a rating bump because it originally aired in 2014 so I'm trying to judge by those standards instead of today's standards

Content Warnings: manhandling, past bullying, homophobia

What I Liked
- their different personalities
- that Shima had a reason for acting like he did
- the cliche plot was not for a long time
- being smart during that phone call towards the end
- how people grow together

Room For Improvement
- whiff of the gay for you trope
- Shima felt a bit too unrealistic with his level of prickliness
- the ending is fine but I enjoy a more clear ending

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an indie production with representation

Overall: I gave this 40 minute movie an indie and a representation bump. Aired on Wayufilm's YouTube Channel https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iJuzPtHUKMs&vl=en-US (membership has access to steamy scenes).

Content Warnings: past death

What I Liked
- representation of a character in a wheelchair as a romantic lead and also a character with a neurological issue
- caring moments

Room For Improvement
- slow pacing but then the romance needed more development
- odd that a character was smiling/laughing as he talked about how his dad died
- I'm not an expert but I found it odd how he could use the bathroom on his own at night but not get into the bed

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surprising depth for what I assumed was a comedy

Overall: I ended up really enjoying this indie series. Originally aired on YouTube, unfortunately it appears videos are now gone https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y3To3tqb3kw&list=PLSQPiMoYAX3iVDfDFhi_BI_paXO0T9GFG&index=3&ab_channel=%E5%93%88%E5%88%A9%E7%9A%84%E5%B0%8F%E5%89%A7%E5%9C%BA

Content Warnings: non con video recording/sharing, past death, grief, non con touching

What I Liked
- sweet moments
- supportive friend
- good kissing
- made me laugh a few times
- poignant

Room For Improvement
- a cliche plot point of seeing something but it was resolved quickly
- cliche swimming and got a leg cramp
- continuity errors
- (neutral) comedy sound effects

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slice of life mini series

Overall: if you want something short and light, then this is a good mini series to watch. It's more BL thru other characters' eyes or situational, I didn't feel major romance vibes from the two leads. For me, it's similar to the Taiwanese series Bro & Me and the South Korean series The Boy Next Door. Aired 24 episodes about 3 minutes each on Romance Realm's YouTube channel https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PL8vrGoxHdgrqbFj-zzBCU79QRm-RiOkqr&si=N25LnJeD4eVEeOGb

What I Liked
- easy to understand premise (they are non-related/same age guys who have to live together due to their parents wishes)
- caring moments
- Chen Wen (who was in the original Addicted series)
- production value
- that they managed to release this, appears to have been filmed 4 years ago

Room For Improvement
- frequent cowboy western music
- the female love interest
- think they could have had more hints that there were romantic feelings between the leads
- I'm not sure about bringing in Autism as for why a character had difficulty interacting with others, I'm not an expert in that area so I can't comment about the accuracy of the depiction

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spooky/campy/romantic

Overall: the dynamic was good but I'm neutral on the ending. 7 episodes about 15 minutes each. Aired on Regal Entertainment YouTube channel https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL7SneaZWMW0pKKXwXHp9rjxF-KSh9m5Cp

Content Warnings: death, grief, manipulation

What I Liked
- dynamic between the leads
- caring/sweet moments
- chuckled a few times
- good dream
- non cliche female character (the ghost)
- blooper reel at the end of ep 7

Room For Improvement
- the pace could have been tightened at some places, for example I'd suggest starting episode 1 at 3:15
- an abrupt transition from night partying scene to both of them shirtless
- that peck needed to be a little longer
- not a fan of the ending though it's about what I expected

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pandemic era enemies to lovers BL

Overall: I enjoyed it when it first aired on YouTube in 2020 https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PL87uyU6xM7Lfd2QD0K93fthRzAkA51x2B&si=ititymR4vVArHhXN and I enjoyed it 4 years later when I re-watched it on GagaOOLala
https://www.gagaoolala.com/en/videos/4270/hello-stranger-2020-e01

What I Liked
- dynamic
- music
- sweet moments
- non cliche female characters
- the friend group (they were maybe a bit harsh at 1 point but I understood their frustration)
- that there were some in person scenes, it wasn't 100% video/phone call/text interactions

Room For Improvement
- comedy sound effects in episode 1 (either went away or I didn't notice them in later episodes)
- that there were 2 female antagonists/the rushed side couple that developed
- (neutral) although Xavier bothered me at times, I thought his reactions were realistic

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an okay follow up to My Biker

Overall: I was a bit disappointed with the plot in the sequel, though I did like the more realistic vibe. About 35 minutes long. Aired on Wayufilm's YouTube channel https://youtu.be/-JNhFEbulXc?si=MfBagI18jMzGWIdb

Content Warning: homophobia

What I Liked
- sniff kiss attack
- production value for an indie production company

Room For Improvement
- pacing too slow/dragged at times
- though I appreciated looking at internalized homophobia, I didn't have any confidence that there was enough character growth to lead to a happily ever after

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messy characters (watch suggestions for BL)

Overall: although I think they did a good job telling the story they wanted to tell, that story was not interesting to me with the amount of cheating and terrible decision-making. Note that every 4 episodes the story re-sets from other characters' perspectives (the middle 4 were my favorite episodes and I did like some plot lines in the ending 4). 12 episodes about 40 minutes each. Aired on Viu.

Content Warnings: near rape, sexual assault, minor?/non-minor, pregnancy loss, blood, manipulation, blackmail, addiction, vomiting, gaslighting

Watch Suggestions for BL Scenes
- episode 5, 24:40-25:40 & 32-33:40
- episode 6, 22:15-22:30 & 38:55-41
- episode 7, 28:10-33:05

What I Liked
- a trans character that felt like a real person instead of a stereotype
- diversity in sexual orientation
- I hated the beginning of episode 8 but I did like that they showed a 'freeze' response because most people just think of 'fight' or 'flight'
- showcased complicated emotions around pregnancy and pregnancy loss
- touched on struggles of being trans and also being in a relationship with a trans person
- production value (music, start was in gray scale, ending credits changed)

Room For Improvement
- there were 22 characters and it was impossible to remember who was married to who, exes with who, cheating with who, related to who, etc.
- I had no interest in a whole bunch of characters/their plots

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