BL Compilations

mixed feelings

Overall: there were parts that I really liked and one aspect in particular that I really didn't. I initially watched for the side m/m couple (they meet in episode 2 and have a few minutes every episode). At times, this series has a bit of a soap opera feel. Watching on Viu with VPN set to Thailand. This is the episode 1 part 1 link https://www.viu.com/ott/th/th/vod/439286/My-Coach  Watch past the credits of the final episode for wrap ups of the characters (Plueng and Yu are at the very very end). 

Content Warnings: past bullying, sexism, punches, manipulation, harassment, drugging, attempted sexual assault, non con kiss, past trauma, homophobia, transphobia, unwanted outing, blackmail, held against will, high school student/coach relationship, bribery

What I Liked
- discussion of issues: i.e. challenges of being a woman in a male dominated career, importance of having safe sex and carrying around condoms, sexual harassment, pursuing your dreams, about being your true self and deserving love and happiness
- the end of episode 14 brought tears to my eyes
- Plueng and Yu, I wish they had had more screen time
- nice to see a darker skinned character and I really liked their conversations with Yu
- the intro song

Room For Improvement
- how both the coach and assistant coach were ogling the bodies of their students (high schoolers) and the things that followed, this just reinforces negative stereotypes of women in male dominated careers

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In Your Heart?

Overall: choppy BL with a bad ending. Watched on Gagaoolala (also on Viki).

Content Warnings: rape (portrayed as romantic), non con kissing/trying to kiss, punches, beaten up (off screen)

What I Liked
- the OST and intro sequence was well done
- there were a few funny moments like the music when they were sitting on the wall, broom fighting
- good production value

Room For Improvement
- the non con was totally unnecessary and the ending was stupid, it didn't make me throw my computer in rage but I was disappointed
- the female love interest part was confusing and unneeded
- that mom looked the exact same age as the high school student (actor is 29 apparently, the mom should have been an older actress)
- choppy editing/plot
- the side characters needed more development
- continuity error, after being beaten up with visible injuries, they are injury free in the next scene
- the scene in the principal's office/that money thing were too long

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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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your emotions will be served

Overall: grab a tissue box because this was a roller coaster for me. Note the content warnings and the series itself may be very triggering. 10 episodes about 20 minutes each. No official international release (which is a huge shame and I hope it gets one eventually). Spoiler for the ending in the comments.

Content Warnings: intimate partner abuse/violence, past rape/sexual assault, manipulation, homophobia, death, grief, past abuse

What I Liked
- an established couple who wasn't dealing with a love rival or terrible communication (the lack of physical affection shown didn't bother me as they were together a long time and not everyone is super physically affectionate, it was obvious that they loved each other)
- opposite personalities that compliment each other
- discussed the unfairness of current laws
- that they touched on Japan's single custody law where one parent gets full custody and can deny the other parent from ever seeing their child again leading to 70% of children in sole custody having no visitation with the other parent (there is a new 2026 law that might change this), which is likely why a character didn't seek divorce earlier (because they might lose custody)
- avoided a cartoonish antagonist

Room For Improvement
- a character was allegedly extremely intelligent, but didn't seem to mind putting is job in jeopardy
- some of the side stories weren't as gripping, I think they should have pared them down and focused on the main plot

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too slow paced for me

Overall: I skimmed several episodes (5 and 6 were okay) but it was too slow for me and then I skimmed the final episode and am happy I didn't watch all episodes (not a fan of the ending) 12 episodes about 45 minutes each. Watching on GagaOOLala

Content Warnings: non con picture taking, harassment, manhandling, fight scene, manipulation (potentially more)

What I Liked
- clear premise
- how Kiao actually felt like he was from the past and not knowing several things like cell phones
- the other characters' reactions felt fairly realistic with the situation
- addressed transphobia/homophobia in a natural way (Kiao was using an older term)
- character friendships
- how the adults resemble the actors who play their younger selves
- neutral, there are comedy sound effects

Room For Improvement
- was really slow, scenes dragged on too long, a lot of unnecessary stuff
- set up for the 'gay for you' trope
- the plot, especially towards the end
- that ending

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hurt & healing

Overall: this series is getting better for me as it goes on. 9 episodes about 20 minutes each. Airing on GagaOOLala https://www.gagaoolala.com/en/videos/5935/therapy-game-2025 (not available in Japan or South Korea).

Content Warnings: non/dub con, held against will, manipulation, past death, trauma

What I Liked
- easy to understand premise
- caring moments
- a character stood up to his friend
- supportive people (friends, sibling)

Room For Improvement
- started with a flash forward
- his friends just left him?
- nonsense stuff: a cliche in episode 1, a person couldn't get out of a necklace that had a magnetic clasp/looked very easy to break
-(neutral) I'm generally not a fan of healing trauma through romance but this doesn't seem to bother me as much

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when bickering turns to love

Overall: feels very similar to Bad Buddy with their dynamic. Adapted from the book "Nai Khrai Wa JJ Mai Thuk Kan" by My feline10 episodes about 40 minutes each. Airing on GMMTV's YouTube channel https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLszepnkojZI4HRwD1wzag844Ig0ZGT_Pl&si=xYCTDHhz8MsyjvGp (everywhere except Thailand)

Content Warnings: bullying, punch, past: punch/hits, bullying, unwanted outing

Note: if you aren't into bickering/bullying start at 4/1, then skip 5/1 and 5/2 and watch from there.

What I Liked
- even with the fantasy element, it has an easy to understand premise/relationship dynamic
- interested to see how their relationship changes

Room For Improvement
- unless I mixed up who was who in the flashbacks, the bullying felt more one sided
- the comedy sound effects didn't make things funny

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back to square one (uncut version)

Overall: I enjoyed how Pit Babe was different from most BL, but I wish there had been less nonsense writing and noble idiot tropes. Here is my review of season 1 https://kisskh.at/profile/blcompilations/review/317279
13 episodes about 45 minutes each. Uncut version aired on iQIYI https://www.iq.com/play/qlw2ei88cg?lang=en_us&sh_pltf=4 ; cut version aired on YouTube (I'm guessing NSFW is cut shorter, not available in North America, Central America, South America, UK, Australia, Southeast Asia, Korea or Japan) https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLc3B9DM2kKP7vC_8E0mCBU7G27St3LqM5&si=wrOib7pJ5705qgdH

Content Warnings: murders, kidnapping, blood, violence, torture, sexual assault, non con touching, punch, dub/non con kissing turned consensual

Watch Suggestions (focuses more on steamy/sweet and removes most violent stuff/love rival)
- watch episode 1
- episode 2 skip 14:10-22:45
- episode 3 skip 23:10-25:45
- episode 4 skip 14:15-19:10, 37:10-37:55 and 41:35-end
- episode 5 skip 15:55-17:45, 42:40-end
- episode 6 watch 27-29 and 43:30-end
- episode 7 watch 15:40, 29-20:10, 35:30-39:15 and 43:45-45:40
- episode 8 watch 21:30-23:55, 25:15-29, 29-31:10
- episode 9 watch 32:35-33:35
- episode 10 watch 12:40-14:25, 16:30-25
- episode 11 watch 8:25-27 and 31-43:45
- episode 12 watch 20:30-21:50
- episode 13 watch 13:40-14:50, 27:10-30:50, 33:55-34:20 and 39-end

What I Liked
- fun racing sequences
- visuals
- chemistry/intimacy (ready for and interested in more)
- sweet moments
- mystery element
- production value

Room For Improvement
- established couples had terrible communication, noble idiot tropes
- idiotic plans
- too much time spent mourning a character who did some really terrible things, I think they should have stuck with showing short grief scenes with a couple characters instead of that scene with everyone in episode 1
- once again we had a ton of characters (and new ones were added), there wasn't really a re-cap from season 1 and I was struggling to remember who some of the characters were/their relationship to other characters
- too much time spent on nonsense plot stuff instead of relationship development
- amnesia trope
- nonsense plot stuff (police aren't aware or involved at all???, believing people because they say so, not having security, etc)

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it's not sexy

Overall: I was trying not to view this thru the real life lens of sane, safe and consensual (what I would do to get a m/m romance series that follows this!), but the plot doesn't make sense. 11 episodes about 10 minutes each. Airing 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
- it wasn't enjoyable to watch 1 person being scared/reluctant
- 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 is his motivation for staying? and then in episode 3 he's 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 is terrible

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sudden character shifts

Overall: note that this review and the series might be triggering regarding intimate partner abuse. My main issue is how multiple characters flip flop and I can't trust them with one in particular being abusive and then super sweet. This is based on the web novel "Thundercloud Rainstorm" by Caesim, which I haven't read and am reviewing the series based on its own merits. 8 episodes about 30 minutes each. Airing on iQIYI https://www.iq.com/play/thundercloud-rainstorm-episode-1-1n404dlzgcg?lang=en_us ; GagaOOLala (available in Taiwan, Hong Kong, Macau, Southeast Asia and Europe (excluding Spain, Portugal, and United Kingdom)) and on Heavenly in South Korea.

Content Warnings: non con kiss, punch/beaten up, manhandling, coercion, intimate partner abuse, victim blaming, cousin romantic relationship

What I Liked
- chemistry (in the beginning)
- visuals
- that one character wasn't completely child-like (the kick in ep 3 was good, wish we saw more agency from him)

Room For Improvement
- some choppiness especially in the beginning with time jumps
- a character's action in the beginning of episode 1 made no sense if I'm understanding the timeline correctly, also they said he should have been in a ton of pain??
- the drunk and forget cliche
- Il Jo needed more agency
- inconsistent characterization, a character is cruel and the next second in love, then abusive, then a sweet puppy and so on (it makes it so I can't trust their nice side because the other side is always lurking around the corner)
- a character knew something terrible could have happened and then sat around for awhile towards the end of episode 4
- some night scenes are too dark, needed more light on the actors' faces

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soap opera-y vertical micro BL series

Overall: it was decently entertaining and I liked one of the MLs. Aired on the app ShortMax.

App Info - this series takes about a week to watch for free. Episodes 1-7 are free and then I could watch 5 episodes with ads. The daily check in, watching 6 more ads got me about 4 more episodes a day (so 9 episodes each day and 62 paid episodes). Some of the other apps only take 2-3 days but it wasn't as bad as Please Teach Me which took me 13 days to watch for free.

Content Warnings: attempted murder, past suicide, trauma, kidnapping, violence, drugging, slaps, non con touching, manhandling, non con photo taking/posting, choke, manipulation

What I Liked
- a main character stood up for himself/decided to get what he wanted
- good kissing
- caring moments

Room For Improvement
- the cliche wannabe fiancee character
- did both teacher/student and boss/employee tropes
- voice overs
- bad crying
- 3 kidnappings in 2 hours runtime, 1 guy was slapped by 5 different people

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needed more focus on the main leads

Overall: too much time spent on the dad and the cliche female character, I gave this an indie bump for the rating. 6 episodes about 5 minutes each. Aired on Lovememory YouTube channel https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLwW9ZsuS2FnaW9PRqot0U_yIyMdzmHw96&si=9rOJwr-2MhMVF1YV The channel membership has longer episodes, likely with more kissing.

Content Warnings: past death, past child abuse, alcoholism, death off screen

What I Liked
- idol trainee character
- easy to understand set up
- episode 1 sweet flashback
- the music
- some good kissing
- good they communicated right away in ep 4

Room For Improvement
- noble idiot trope
- music with lyrics was too loud when characters were speaking
- an actor switched partway thru and they needed an on screen video explanation before the start of that episode
- cliche female character
- nervous that a character did something right after his dad re-appeared, it made me nervous about the future
- didn't like a character saying what he thought the dad felt and how the dad went to a good place

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mildly infuriating (watch suggestions)

Overall: one thing I've loved about Strongberry's shorts is how they managed to tell complete stories in short run times. I think this series should have been a tight 6 instead of a meandering plot points/characters. 12 episodes about 15 minutes each. Aired on Strongberry's YouTube channel https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLNd7BhdAz80qWw5TVGLUlVThCJPKyvJ6X&si=iz35RIq3BEz5I4H3 - Strongberry also made the series Long Time No See (sometimes combined into movie format), Choco Milk Shake and Blossom Campus as well as numerous short movies (my favorites include: A First Love Story, Some More, My Pistachio and As If You Whisper).

Content Warning: manipulation

Watch Suggestions
- read the summary and skip episode 1
- episode 2 watch 10:20-end
- episode 3 watch beginning to 5:35 and could watch 12:15-15:40
- episode 4 watch beginning-1 and 14-end
- watch episodes 5 & 6
- stop episode 7 at 17:50
- episode 8 watch 4:30-5:30
- skip episodes 9-11
- episode 12 watch 5-end

What I Liked
- chuckled a few times
- visuals
- easy to understand premise
- good kissing

Room For Improvement
- the flash forward as a hook for episode 1
- slow pacing, first 2 episodes were set up, the main leads had barely any screentime for 3 episodes towards the end
- wish it had been Yooha's idea instead of him being coerced into it in episode 2
- noble idiot trope, didn't communicate
- it was really odd with a third character who seemed to have more chemistry with a lead, and then that made it challenging to ship the second couple (almost felt like he was sad and accepted second best)
- the second half of the finale was anticlimactic, what was the point of showing him shopping (and I'm confused what the gift meant as it seemed much too premature unless it's something else)
- too much blur filter

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on hold - lack of official international release

Note: I have taken off a full point from my initial review for the unprofessionalism regarding the change of platform/airing plans. All of this should have been worked out before the series aired, not changed partway through. Currently only those in Japan and Thailand have a way to watch this series.

Overall: this appears to be a solid romcom with a dash of angst. First episode aired on YouTube, company posted they will not post future episodes on YouTube. 10 episodes about 40 minutes each.

Content Warnings: none so far

What I Liked
- clear set up and then that it was a flashback
- funny parts
- Bas's cameo
- a bit of mystery at the end of the beginning part in the present, and then we'll see later what exactly is happening between them
- sword scene was fun
- don't think we've had a romcom BL about a boyband group forming yet

Room For Improvement
- the hardcoded subtitles would be better as YouTube softsubs so they are larger, easier to see and people could auto translate into their own language
- felt a bit slow in parts and I watched on a faster speed

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unique premise

Overall: the confusing plot (though intentional) and distrust that the main romance was real made me not invested in this series. Major ending spoiler in the comments. Adapted from the book "Mystique in the Mirror" by Patrick III Rangsimant which I haven't read and this review is based on the series. 8 episodes about 45 minutes each. Aired on iQIYI https://www.iq.com/play/mystique-in-the-mirror-episode-1-13h4cxtv8zg?lang=en_us

Content Warnings: held against will (complicated), non con kiss (complicated), past death, death, grief

What I Liked
- a different premise
- that we couldn't see the ending/it was unpredictable
- fantastic finale

Room For Improvement
- the suspense was more confusing so it didn't keep me hooked
- since I doubted the main romance, I was never fully invested in it
- dubious medical ethics (I'm not a doctor, but some of the medical stuff felt dramalandish)

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