BL Compilations

bit off more than it could chew

Overall: there was too much plot/too many characters for what amounted to about 15 minutes of screen time. Aired on the Sculpted Light YouTube channel https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLqcT2jynQLycM-G7RCQ4cM5P9pVnUKjXS&si=9vGdrAkRh7E_5JwB

Content Warnings: punch, violence, manipulation, abuse/held against will, death, murder?

What I Liked
- one guy tried to have some agency
- tie pull in episode 2
- visuals

Room For Improvement
- started with a flash forward and then back to the present
- too many characters/plot for the short run time so it felt choppy, needed to focus in more on the relationship development
- didn't take off points, but hardcoded subtitles were very difficult to read

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darker premise, but too much circling

Overall: 50 short episodes, vertical style. Aired on Lezhin Snack app (5 episodes per day for free by watching ads, except the last 5 which was super annoying)

Content Warnings: rapes (off screen, not between the MLs), manipulation, drugging, kidnapping, beaten up

What I Liked
- different premise
- visuals
- acting

Room For Improvement
- the journalist could have easily video or audio recorded something really early???, the plot circled a lot
- they needed more time spent in the past, I was confused why 1 character allegedly disliked the other character so much
- several scenes were too dark

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jarring tonal shifts

Overall: there was a gruesome murder and then it jumped to a lovey dovey moment, it's like there were 2 different writers and 1 wrote the murder mystery part and the other wrote the romance part. 10 episodes about 45 minutes each. Aired on Netflix https://www.netflix.com/watch/82653659

Content Warnings: multiple murders shown, blood, torture, held against will, manhandling, beaten up; (past: murders, drugging, repeated rape, non con recording/sharing/blackmail, near suicide)

Watch Suggestions (to focus on the romance part)
- episodes 1-3 you're on your own, note there are very graphic things in these episodes
- episode 4 watch beginning-8:20 (when the romance kicks into high gear), 41:15-end
- episode 5 watch 3:45-5, 6:30-11, 19:30-20:55, 29:30-32
- episode 6 watch 6:45-11:30, 31-42
- episode 7 watch 3:30-9:10, 40-end
- episode 8 watch 14-16:45, 24-28, 37:30-end
- episode 9 watch 11-13
- episode 10 watch 27:30-end

What I Liked
- good production value
- tension
- visuals
- mystery element

Room For Improvement
- tonal shifts from torture/murder/gore to romance
- a ton of nonsense stuff (what was with the "officers will check on you every 2 hours" when they knew who the targets would be?!!!)
- character rebuffed intimacy
- was not satisfied with who made it out alive in the finale

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enjoyed volumes 1 & 2

Overall: I liked the first two volumes but the third is way too messy for me. 20 episodes about 10-20 minutes each. Airing on CityBoy Log YouTube Channel. Volume 1 playlist https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLZ__edMZliXv2-pPOpBjz6_WOXOarSNhn&si=VWoqMbuFa6eZgH0F

Content Warning: kind of dub/non con kiss (someone was pretending to sleep but the other person didn't know they were awake)

What I Liked
- cute/sweet moments
- visuals
- production value/editing for a vlog style series

Room For Improvement
- that they dodged answering if it was scripted or not for awhile (it was scripted)
- volume 3 took a negative/serious turn
- the non/dub con kiss
- at times I was confused as to who was dating who/liked who

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On Hold - Coffee Melody

Overall: the series is very slow and the cliche plot point at the start of ep 7 has made me put this on hold. I'll wait until it finishes airing and maybe pick it up again then. Watched on Viki.

Content Warnings: non con picture taking, gaslighting (from music boss)

What I Liked
- I appreciate an aggressive/obvious flirt
- cute moments like with the cake
- the rainbow poster in the background when the band is practicing
- Duean Yi's family
- (neutral) it has comedy sound effects

Room For Improvement
- wasn't hooked in the first scene
- the fangirling thing
- slow, I watched at 2-3x speed
- cliche plot point at the beginning of episode 7
- I didn't mind the cartoon flowers but I didn't like the cartoon music notes from the piano
- choppiness between some scenes
- random characters like those tween wannabe pop stars
- odd yellow/purple lighting in his room
- that jerk music boss

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blended different tones very well - a must watch

Overall: there are very few series that manage to balance humor, romance, realism and sadness well, Love in the Big City is one of them. Based on the book Love in the Big City by Sang Young Park which I didn't read and I reviewed the series on its own merits. 8 episodes about 50 minutes each. Aired on Viki https://www.viki.com/tv/40771c-love-in-the-big-city

Content Warnings: (2 major ones, see my spoiler comment and how the romance plays out), harassment, unwanted outing, homophobia, non/dub con turned consensual, conversion torture (off screen), punch

What I Liked
- acting/chemistry
- supportive friends
- blended different tones very well
- sweet moments
- intimacy
- character growth
- production value

Room For Improvement
- exposition dump to introduce his friends
- series covered 10 years, so voice overs were used to show passage of time
- odd that a certain aspect wasn't discussed in episode 5
- episode 8 jumped back and forth between flashbacks and the present

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watch suggestions for the 2 main couples

Overall: beautiful vistas, sweeping musical scores, good kissing with on brand drawbacks (a ton of characters/plot I cared nothing about, intended comedy that didn't work). 13 episodes about 45 minutes each. Aired on Oxin Films YouTube Channel https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLcQaxIPsTWdNrlWiw7D9H3Fjc3ycc7S3A&si=DcyQk4UKyhaKD5L0 Oxin also produced: My Day, Rainbow Prince, My Story, Our Story, Tie the Not

Content Warnings: death, past death/murder, sexual assault, non con kiss, intimate partner abuse and violence, manhandling, stalking, punches, harassment, non con touching, kidnapping/held against will, homophobia, cyber bullying, drugging, (note: episode 9 part 3 flashing lights)

Watch Suggestions (gets rid of love triangles and evil exes/wannabe boyfriends)
- watch episode 1
- watch episode 2: part 2, part 3, part 4 beginning to 2:20 and 6 to the end
- watch episode 3: part 1 beginning to 10, start part 2 at 2:30 and end at 8:25, part 4 5-end
- watch episode 4: part 1, part 2, part 3 beginning to 3:30, part 4 2:30-7:70, 10:35-11:20
- watch episode 5: part 2 (if you want to cackle about a voice over like nature documentary the whole thing) or 9 to the end, part 3 2:20-4:20, part 4 4:30-5:20
- watch episode 6: part 2 4-4:35, part 3 15s-1:50
- watch episode 7: part 1 beg to 8.45, part 2 6:40 to the end, part 3 9:15-end
- watch episode 8: part 3 beginning to 8.20 & 10:40-12.35, part 4 1:20-3:10
- watch episode 9: part 1 1:45-2:55, 8:15-8:45, part 2 4:55-7:25 & 11:15-end, part 3 5:45-6:10
- watch episode 10: part 1 8:30-end, part 2 beginning to 2:30 and 11:20-end, part 3 5:10-7:50 and 12:20-end, watch all of part 4
- watch episode 11: part 1 6:50 to 7:40, part 2 4:55-6:30, part 4 10-end (singing)
- watch episode 12: part 2 beginning to 1:15
- watch episode 13: part 3 1:45-6:45, part 4 11:40-13:20 and 17:30-end

What I Liked
- visuals
- the setting/vistas
- I cackled a couple of times
- intimate scenes
- supportive dad at the end
- production value improved

Room For Improvement
- many characters introduced in the first episode, cared nothing about the evil ex/wannabe boyfriend characters nor most of the plot
- tone/plot was all over the place (comedy, romance, very violent parts, work drama, family drama), and did not mesh well together
- most humor was a miss (the 3 stooges were not funny at all, innuendos can be fun but the frequency and duration made them veer into cringey territory)
- choppy transition in episode 10
- failed to be innovative at the beginning of ep 11 after a promising ep 10 end
- multiple failed redemption arcs
- lack of consequences for 1 villain (also cartoonist villain)
- a character constantly calling the other guy his girlfriend and wife
- 1 year time jump

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wanted different pacing

Overall: I wish something had happened earlier so we had more time in the 'after' part. 8 episodes about 25 minutes each. Aired on GagaOOLala (not in Korea or Japan) https://www.gagaoolala.com/en/videos/5836/punks-triangle-2025

Content Warnings: manipulation, vomiting

Watch Suggestions for 6, 7, 8 to remove angst
- skip episode 6
- episode 7 watch 6:30-8:25 and 10:55-23
- episode 8 watch 14:50-end

What I Liked
- styling
- easy to understand premise
- supportive classmates/instructor

Room For Improvement
- voicing inner thoughts/exposition dump
- nonsense: bit of a Clark Kent situation happened, the piercing scene
- too many flashbacks
- rushed finale

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a little better as it went on (watch suggestions)

Overall: unless you enjoy over the top humor with a ton of comedy sound effects follow my watch suggestions. 8 episodes about 45 minutes each. Aired on Mandee Channel's YouTube (cut), GagaOOLala (cut), iQIYI (uncut) and Viki (I assume cut). Mandee Channel/Domundi also produced Naughty Babe, Bed Friend, Cutie Pie and Why R U.

Watch Suggestion (watch the cut version & play at a faster speed unless noted)
- skip episodes 1, 2 & 3 (though shirtless Mai in ep 3 is nice)
- watch ep 4
- watch ep 5 to 48min/standing on the podium
- watch the uncut version of ep 6 15-18 minutes which includes a brief kiss with the side couple (this scene was totally removed from the cut versions for some bizarre reason)
- watch the uncut version of ep 7, can start at 27 minutes with Gus/Tong or to skip over something sad that happened in the past and start at 37 minutes and end at 43 minutes, then you can watch thru to the end with Mai/Jade or skip to 1hr 4min to see their final scene
- watch the uncut version of ep 8 which has a lot of sweet moments and NSFW scenes with Mai & Jade

Content Warnings: hits played as comedy, vomiting (in uncut ep 2), molestation off screen, past death/grief

What I Liked
- enjoyed some of Uea/King's moments (like in episode 5)
- Mai's flirting (wished they had shown why he liked Jade earlier than ep 5)
- Jade's and Mai's supportive family
- cute moments
- how Jade did have agency in episode 8 and initiated things
- good consent/communication in episode 8
- that it has a wide release on 4 different platforms

Room For Improvement
- the three minutes of cringey animation didn't hook me
- Jade's exaggerated/yelling was irritating especially in the beginning episodes
- cringey editing, voice overs and comedy sound effects that didn't make anything funny
- the side couple was oddly hot and cold (note, apparently the cut version removed several of their scenes which is contributing to their confusing interactions with each other)
- not happy with the Uea/King reluctant/violent dynamic, how King was jealous/retaliatory at Uea in ep 6 for just talking to another guy
- slow pacing/repetitive, in episode 6 as an example Mai had almost a duplicate conversation with his mom
- bad decisions with what they cut, I was happy they cut the vomiting scene in episode 2 but why on earth cut an entire scene including a kiss with the side couple in episode 6??? I normally would expect a cut version to reduce a NSFW scene but there wasn't anything to cut up to episode 7 (and then they did cut the NSFW scenes in ep 7 and 8)
- the NSFW scenes were kind of choppy, one of them oddly stopped and then re-started

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dropping this

Overall: There are valid reasons why people write/read/watch/enjoy FICTIONAL toxic/abusive relationships which I'm not going to get into. Day constantly abusing Itt along with other things has made me drop this series. FYI, this is based on the third book in a series - I have not read the books and believe that series should be able to be watch/enjoyed without knowing about the source material so that is how I'm reviewing this series. Aired on WeTV. Later re-released on Viki https://www.viki.com/tv/39900c-love-syndrome-iii

Content Warnings: fight scene/beaten up, violence, blood, intimate partner violence, manipulation, manhandling (likely more content warnings will happen in future episodes)

What I Liked
- Itt's parents
- their friends
- that ep 1 fight scene was just plain fun
- how a former girlfriend is not a cliche evil character
- skinny black jeans and Day's abs

Room For Improvement
- ep 1 Itt screaming about cake for half the episode, I understand that Day likes Itt to rely on him so it's not like he's a victim in all this but the cake screaming was super annoying
- the production should not expect viewers to have read the previous 2 books and understand the characters/story, what we saw was Itt being annoying in episode 1 and then being constantly abused and crying in the next few episodes, this does not make for enjoyable viewing
- scenes dragged on, they spent way too long in the hospital
- a parade of characters in episode 2 made it difficult to know who was who and what their relationship was to one another
- nonsense things like Itt spending multiple days in a hospital for fainting, why were Day and Itt sleeping on couches at their house???
- end of episode 3 looked good but then the beginning of episode 4 skipped over that cliffhanger
- missing and difficult to understand subtitles
- ballad song for the intro/outro was odd given the tone of the series

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not a romance

Overall: this was not a romance in my view. 5 episodes about 11 minutes each. Aired on Secret of Us YouTube channel https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLWkgQnmNfoss&si=-qbWVbgHYhdIacOe

Content Warnings: blood (small amount), held against will, past murder, blood, drugging, manipulation, murder

What I Liked
- suspense vibe
- focused on two characters

Room For Improvement
- didn't work as a romance, but it wasn't enough horror/suspense for that to work for me either
- terrible to do that when the character was a child and did not have a direct hand in things

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