BL Compilations

Timeline is a bit confusing, but an overall sweet short film

Overall: This 15 minute short film from Malaysia explores a major challenge to an established m/m relationship. Watched on gagaoolala.

Content Warnings: homophobia

What I Liked
- starts with an established couple
- that they communicate about what they are going to do instead of 1 person just ghosting the other
- cute scenes like at the beach
- the mom's growth

Room For Improvement
- the frequent time skips backwards and forwards made it difficult to know the sequence of events and made it feel disjointed. When the subtitles said Tokyo, Japan they could have also said X weeks, months or years later
- quite a lot of background road noise in a scene towards the end

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A family centered story

Overall: this centers on Artemisia, a woman with a queer son, a daughter studying/living abroad who then returns with a surprise and a bigoted, penny-pinching mother

Content Warnings: the grandma is very bigoted but it is not shown in a positive way

What I Liked
- the m/m had an actual realistic conversation about thoughts on planning a trip together and whether or not to come out
- the kiddo is super cute
- showing challenges and working through them (Artemisia)
- the mom hanging up that underwear to dry was hilarious

Room For Improvement
- the boyfriend coming over unannounced felt like an ambush and was forcing the son to do something he wasn't yet ready for
- the ending feels a bit abrupt or too open ended, though you can infer what is happening with the son and his boyfriend and I liked the tai chi (I think that's what it is)

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A Quirky Short Film

Content Warnings: none

Overall: a cute short film (30min) with an art house film quirky vibe

What I Liked
- the set design is really nice
- the camerawork and lighting made it have an art film/quirky/unique tone
- I could see this being a whole series and I don't think I've seen a fortune teller reading tea leaves in BL yet...

Room For Improvement
- I think I know what happened at the end but I'm not really sure...which generally isn't how I like to feel after watching something
- the goofy sound effects were okay, I liked that they toned them/got rid of them later on

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A Realistic Slice of Life Set in a Religious High School

Content Warnings: none that I can think of

Overview: you might like this if you like slice of life stories

What I Liked
- the setting of an all male religious school is fairly unique from what I've seen thus far
- the main character Dominic has (stereotypical) feminine qualities which is rare to see and I liked that he character wasn't played just for laughs like I've frequently seen with trans women or crossdressing men (though this did happen with the fortune teller/assistant)
- the ex girlfriend wasn't some flat evil character, she saw that he changed, they were more compatible now and wanted to give it another try

Room For Improvement (minor spoilers)
- that Dominic lied and said he just wanted to be friends/platonic when almost the whole time he was looking at it from a romance aspect
- was it ever explained why Dominic didn't go to the playground, did he forget? what happened???
- how the ending played out, it felt like Dominic was trying to force Luke...

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a short miniseries with love triangles (or rectangles???)

Content Warnings: none I can think of

What I Liked
- visuals, the actors are cute
- production (like sound, subs, lighting) are actually pretty good for what I'm assuming is a very small budget
- the BTS clips at the end of each episode are fun to watch

Room For Improvement
- the crying itself was fine but when he raises his head it didn't look like he had been crying at all (i.e. no tears, red eyes or nose)
- the kiss wasn't the best but it definitely wasn't the worst that I've seen
- this season ends on a cliffhanger
- I'm watching the 2nd season and you really don't know who to ship or what the endgame is, there are multiple people liking other people

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solid ending

Overall: it was exciting to see Singto and Krist again with a story not about high schoolers or university students; however, one of my most hated tropes is the basis for this series which made me not rate it higher. 10 episodes about 50 minutes each. Aired on GMMTV's YouTube Channel (not available in Thailand, Korea or Japan) https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLszepnkojZI6nPzMs-RhMalpGr-jA0_3C&si=cEfvTY0ErPMrmQZn and Viu (Thailand).

Content Warnings: non con touching, non con video recording/sharing/outing, attempted murder, blood, manipulation

What I Liked
- great to see Singto & Krist again
- clear premise in the present
- clear flashbacks
- protect mode
- callbacks like with the engineering shirt
- once together their ongoing intimacy, good kissing
- Mix's cameo
- styling
- excellent finale

Room For Improvement
- the noble idiot trope where a person caused much more pain to the supposed love of their life than if they had talked to their loved one and told the truth, we finally learned what happened in episode 7 part 1 which made it difficult for me to enjoy their past relationship knowing how they ended up in the present and (correctly) guessing their rift was based on stupidity (if you're struggling, I suggest start at episode 5 part 3, then skip over where you see angst/anger, fairly smooth sailing episode 7/4 and onward)
- how Tam didn't tell his mom like it was/standing up for his relationship (he had a conversation off-screen with her)
- a character told something that the mom had instructed him not to say

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meandering plot and incomplete feel

Overall: I was intrigued in the beginning, but it lost my interest with the large amount of staring and lack of meaningful dialogue. Began airing on YouTube November 20th https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PL0Njz75725bXKH1h92Yn-RCgu5EZb_SW-&si=P7Jx-VCWqEIUqr_b, then moved uncut episodes to a different platform and then moved an uncut version to WeTV in January https://wetv.vip/en/album/dd8g63nmfpkqdwg

Content Warning: sexual assault, non con touching, death off screen, self harm

What I Liked
- unique premise
- caring moments
- steamy scene in ep 4 uncut version was well done but it seemed to go on for too long
- production value for what I assumed was a very indie production

Room For Improvement
- voice over exposition
- too much staring/flashbacks, they needed to talk/learn about each other more
- I'm not familiar with the Thai prison system but it seemed odd they had a fully stocked music room and library based on the other facilities and the whole music video/the voice thing, how some characters had those numbered shirts and others wore regular clothes, also they were packed like sardines for sleeping but then magically at the water area there was no one around
- showing a character defecating was not needed
- the ending was a non-ending, apparently there was supposed to be a special but months later and there's no special, the series feels extremely incomplete
- made viewers wait a month for the last 4 episodes, the release platform/schedule felt like they figured it out as they went instead of it being preplanned

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rich boy and poor boy vertical series

Overall: I rated this against other verticals of a similar genre. 50 short episodes. Aired on iQIYI.

Content Warnings: non con kisses, slap, coercion, workplace bullying, manipulation, punch

What I Liked
- chuckled at the push up part
- the dads (except for a couple of lines below)
- avoided the noble idiot trope
- visuals

Room For Improvement
- cliche wannabe wife
- love rival/jealousy
- comedy sound effects/music
- dad said teach your wife a lesson...make her submit
- gay for you trope
- hobbled around the next morning

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Thai romcom (watch suggestions)

Overall: it was great to see several actors again, but this style of comedy didn't work for me. 10 episodes about 45 minutes each. Aired on Viu.

Content Warnings: stalking played as comedy, bullying, vomiting, beaten up, manipulation, non con touching, manhandling, beginning sexual assault (not between the MLs), punch, harassment, attempted murder, blood

Watch Suggestions (if the humor doesn't work for you and to focus on the romance and take out content warnings)
- read the synopsis and skip episodes 1-4
- episode 5 watch 23:45-28:40 and 30:40-end
- episode 6 watch beginning-6:10, 16:40-21 and 31-34:45
- watch episode 7
- episode 8 watch 11:50-13:30, 18:45-20:50, 29-31:05 and 36:30-end
- episode 9 watch beginning-4:45, 7-11:40, 13:20-15:30, 29-35:40 and 38:30-41:20
- episode 10 watch 11:40-14:40, 20-34:20 and 42:30-end

What I Liked
- actors did a good job with the script they had
- good consent, didn't kiss him when passed out drunk
- intimacy
- easy to understand premise
- happy that a bullying survivor didn't quickly forgive the bully

Room For Improvement
- cringey sound effects that were constant
- the overheard and never communicated trope
- two of the other 3 romance stories didn't work, they didn't get much screen time and the former bully's victim was reluctant for too long for it to work as a romance, also 2 were unresolved
- terrible prank at the end of episode 9/beginning of episode 10

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nice to see continued character/relationship growth

Overall: though it felt more like a season 2 than a movie, it was nice to see more smiles between them. The tone was a bit heavier than the special though. The movie is 2 hours long. GagaOOLala picked this up in September 2023 which is when I watched it (GagaOOLala picked up the whole franchise and the order to watch is: season 1, special, movie, season 2 which is airing October 2023).

Content Warnings: homophobia, past death

What I Liked
- comedy moments
- cute moments
- communication/relationship progress
- familiar characters

Room For Improvement
- the trumpet music doesn't fit at times
- they called that hairdresser guy a wisdom machine when he said you have to be honest with your partner (he called her an ugly hag) but maybe they were being sarcastic?
- felt more like skits/episodes put together than a movie with an overarching plot
- unrealistic that the neighbor hadn't met Kenji in over a year but that's also on brand for Shiro
- the blocks at the end

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a well done m/m reality dating show (ep 7 was the best)

Overall: I believe this was the Philippines first m/m reality dating show and I think they did a good job with it. 8 episodes at about 30 minutes each. Aired on Black Sheep YouTube Channel.

Reality Series Note: with any "reality" series I keep in mind that what the audience sees doesn't necessarily reflect what actually happened. There can be guidelines the audience doesn't know about, parts are edited out or ordered in different ways to show a certain narrative. I read in the YouTube comments that the director said it wasn't scripted, but I always take that with a grain of salt. My goal for reality dating series is for people to have a good time and maybe make a new friend. Any actual pairings at the end of the show are icing on the cake.

Content Warnings: discussion of mental health struggles, suicidal thoughts, homophobia

What I Liked
- the intros of the 10 guys to the audience and that they had name tags on most of the series (as someone who has trouble with remembering names, this is very useful and I'm guessing was useful for the participants as well), although it could have been something like a necklace with their name
- that they started with a game and there were two 1 on 1 dates (not really a fan of the twist though but it was okay)
- diverse personalities in the group
- the emcee was great, she was caring and empathetic
- defined pansexuality and emcee said she loved how they were being sex positive
- episode 7 at the pool party was my favorite episode
- excellent that they included a mental health hotline at the end of episode 7

Room For Improvement
- group games: the oil was unnecessary, the guys just met each other and they could have played the game without the oil part, should have had less physical games and maybe some where they pair up, go on a scavenger hunt or something? or maybe group get to know you games like "never have I ever"
- too much group sharing times, it bogged things down, although I think 1 group share is a good idea, I personally don't think it's great to discuss past exes, leave the past in the past
- would only have 1 secret spark exchange or have it more like a phone call or letter where they could write their name, but it's painful to see some guys not receive a spark multiple times
- background noise during the pool party

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Actual communication & character growth!

Content Warnings: bullying, maybe that super bizarre meet cute, 
(minor spoilers)

I watched the first 5 episodes but since I'm not a fan of love triangles (rectangles? pentagons?) or slow burn romances, I decided to wait until it was finished and binge the rest if reviews were good. And I'm so glad that I watched the rest (albeit on 1.5 speed).

What I Liked
- hold onto your hats because...characters actually communicate with each other, whaaaaa???? Not perfectly, but there is a bunch of effort and it's so nice to see characters looking for clarification and communication. 
- characters actually apologize for mistakes they made and try to learn/grow from them
- attention to detail with the production/production value. I can tell thought was put into things (such as a character is mentioned to have red ears and his ears are actually red).
- Shi Woon is the best boy, I liked many characters but Shi Woon is a goofball who isn't stupid, more of this please
- the parallel with the cat
- finally a supportive and kind teacher who isn't flirting or hooking up with a student
- some great lines including "steal what, Tae Kyung is not mine just like Da On isn't yours"

Room For Improvement
- that absolutely awful meet cute with the you know what and referring to his butt, no way. The writers must have thought this was funny but it was totally not funny and awful to watch. 
- I know it's based on a game but I wish they would have made the names more unique from each other, because I kept getting confused about which person was being talked about
- It can be slooooooowwww, like those 2 minute lingering glances after a catch and fall, talking slowly, walking slowly
- once again we have the female character who make a terrible decision but at least this one has character growth
- the 2 kisses, especially the 2nd. I give them 1 shocked kiss but when 1 person doesn't move their lips/pucker and the other is making an effort, it looks so awkward. I blame the director/lack of workshopping. Looking at the BTS, neither actor had done an on screen kiss. The actors should have been given some direction/information in a smaller group setting before going to film it.
- the last episode left many things unanswered and felt rushed but perhaps there will be a season 2

Speaking of, I'm looking forward to a season 2 or a spinoff (but don't make me get rid of one of the things on my What I Liked list).

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trippy bait & switch

Overall: the promo pics showed 4 guys on top of each other, half naked and oiled up. I thought this would be a sci fi romance, but there was more het romance than m/m romance and the sci fi was confusing. Aired on Viu in a few countries like Thailand, no other release.

Content Warnings: murders/deaths, suicide, blood, attempted murder, held against will

What I Liked
- would like to see all the actors in something else
- different premise
- landscape/setting

Room For Improvement
- a series can have plot twists but should still make sense in earlier episodes
- the riddle thing was kind of lame

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a confident King goes thru the ringer

Overall: I give the production large props for tackling several realistic issues; however, there were too many plot threads for them to develop them all well. Aired 8 episodes about 30 minutes each on ANIMA Studios YouTube channel. Here is the playlist: https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLMPz9QG8YAxIjGoPfHFugXYAbumaqC0Cj&si=4tZjYcP2X4JCgqlO

Content Warnings: past suicide, grief, hate crime, blood, homophobia, transphobia (including repeated dead naming), manhandling, non con picture taking, unwanted public outing, slap (the series needed more trigger warnings on the intro screen as I could see many things being very triggering for some people)

What I Liked
- the intro with some historical information included, integrated historical people in with the present
- an outspoken character that felt like a real person and not a stereotype
- queer representation including a trans female character (and something else but it's a spoiler)
- characters used stereotypes to determine who was queer and then called themselves out about it
- addressed realistic issues like homophobia/transphobia
- some sweet moments and the flag/scene at the end was excellent
- supportive friends, grandma & a dad
- production value

Room For Improvement
- hope that friend was fine in episode 1 when the dean was yelling at them and a character did something suddenly, would have been nice to see a check in about that
- odd that the first thing the grandma says to a grandson she presumably hasn't seen in awhile is to ask what his preferred sexual position was
- the water rescue trope where it was so shallow it looked like he could stand
- a terrible "plan" related to the pool
- what the mom did in episode 4 that isn't really addressed
- in episode 4 it wasn't as emotional as it could have been because they at first weren't clear what happened in the past and they hadn't established that character
- too many plot threads/antagonists, weren't able to develop all of them really well
- in episode 5 it wasn't clear what Lili told her friend
- as much as I hated Marco's actions, Lili saying "nobody loves you" went too far, maybe it was a translation error
- kind of making fun of getting consent in episode 6
- I understand why King said, "it's okay to be (spoiler)" but he should have checked in with that character first (ep 7)

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Content Warnings: violence, tragedy (not between m/m)

Watch it for Pitch/Bank if you want, but unfortunately the potential was definitely not reached.

What I Liked
- a nice concept of a bodyguard/protectee
- humor mixed with action
- some cute fluff moments
- Pitch/Bank as the side couple
- Sky's dad's acting
- production value seemed fine

Room For Improvement
- that sponge bath was too invasive
- Gun's sad/angry acting, this was just painful to watch and it's partially the director's fault
- many plot holes/non-logical things such as: why wouldn't Sky's mother pre-donate her own blood (especially when she was pregnant as there can be complications), why couldn't Sky donate to her (granted he couldn't do as much as he was a child but still...), why wouldn't Sky pre-donate his blood since it's so rare, why would you put one of the only blood donors in an extremely dangerous job, why did the writers have them be in the art department when Sun can't draw and that's easily found out by the university, why did Pitch get a personality transplant, how did Pitch/Bank become boyfriends
- how Sky used those two women which I was worried about from the beginning, they should have cut out their characters and focused more on Pitch/Bank
- lack of character growth from Sky especially
- I absolutely hate time gaps and this was no exception, the ending felt very rushed

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