BL Compilations

slice of life

Overall: I really wanted to like this slice of life, but it never hooked me. Based on the book "Love and Punishment by the Unnamed Lake" by Ni Lv Zhu Ren which I haven't read and am reviewing the series on its own merits. 8 episodes about 40 minutes each. Aired on Viki https://www.viki.com/videos/1270086v ; GagaOOLala https://www.gagaoolala.com/en/videos/6540/feel-what-you-feel-2026 (not available in: Japan, Korea, Americas, Europe, Oceania, India or Middle East) & Heavenly (South Korea)

Content Warnings: bullying, non con/dub con kiss, attempted murder, blood, non con kiss likely turned consensual

What I Liked
- the premise
- slice of life vibe
- second couple

Room For Improvement
- the voice over start and more voice over later
- the main couple pacing was too slow and then rushed in the finale with a few minute montage
- knowing this is set in 2001 and the location, it pulled me out of the series that there were 2 queer couples (even though I enjoyed the 2nd couple)
- odd ending for the second couple
- the finale went soap opera (can skip episode 8 2:40-13:30 to skip past it)
- snooping in the diary wasn't romantic

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crack comedy to very dark at times

Overall: I was a bit nervous with the premise, but they did handle that aspect fairly well. The tone however was jarring at times. Aired on YouTube https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLszepnkojZI5aWDfcMptZ4BC9dSSljMGa&si=lqhtFN5MkArH3W5w
(available for some countries in Africa, China, Mongolia, Korea, Japan and SE Asia) and Viki viki.com/tv/41430c-love-you-teacher

Content Warnings: past death, past mental health struggles, current mental health struggles, manipulation

Watch Suggestions (if you want to focus on their relationship as adults and cut out the darker parts)
- watch episode 1 to get an overall sense of the story
- episode 2 watch beg-10:10, 25:40-28:20 and 36-end
- episode 3 watch 3 15:10-18:40, 30:10-35:20 and 50:35-end
- episode 4 watch 11:30-17:30, 23:30-25:40, 35:30-41:40 kiss
- episode 5 watch 9:15-10:45, 27:25-30:15, 41:40-end,
- episode 6 watch 32:40-35:20, 42:40-end
- episode 7 watch 42:20-end
- episode 8 watch 2:10-3:40,15:30-18
- episode 9 watch beg-2:40 and 36-end
- watch episode 10

What I Liked
- chemistry
- an established couple
- supportive friend and boss
- theme of how challenging it is when your romantic partner has a health crisis
- good Solar put parameters until he was fully recovered (though wasn't quite sure why he removed them early)
- laughed a couple times*

Room For Improvement
- the comedy and darker parts did not always mesh
- a character lied for way too long
- a mom was positioned as an antagonist when she had completely legitimate concerns
- wish they hadn't gone with the feel good discovery in episode 9 and left it the way it seemed originally
- there was a ton of nonsense, and it did pull me out of the story a few times
- *most humor didn't work for me

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lack of communication with some sweet moments (watch suggestions)

Overall: cliched grown adults who refused to talk to one another. You do not need to have watched seasons 1 or 2, they operate separately from each other. Aired on GagaOOLala https://www.gagaoolala.com/en/videos/7600/love-class-2026 (not in the Americas, Europe, Oceania, Middle East, Japan, and Korea) and Viki https://www.viki.com/tv/41421c-love-class-3

Content Warnings: past & current stalking, homophobia, non con kissing, non con touching, coercion

Watch Suggestions
- watch episodes 1-3
- skip episode 4
- episode 5 watch 10:45-12
- skip episode 6
- start episode 7 at 1 minute
- episode 8 watch beginning-7:30
- episode 9 watch 9:10-12:10
- can skip episode 10
- episode 11 watch 2:15-4:05, 5-7:25 and 9:55-end
- watch episode 12
- episode 13 watch beginning-2:30, 8:45-11:50
- episode 14 watch beginning-4, 7:30-10 and 12:10-15:45
- episode 15 watch 50sec-2:20 and 7:45-11:15
- episode 16 watch beginning-1:30 and 8:20-end

What I Liked
- visuals/styling
- good intimacy
- cute moments
- enjoyed the second couple (guy from Thailand) though there were some annoying hot and cold moments
- that the fan in episode 15 did not demand a picture or signature, she expressed her appreciation and then left them alone

Room For Improvement
- comedy sound effects
- a bit confused with what were flashbacks vs present in the first few episodes
- cliche jumped to conclusions and refused to communicate (multiple times with both couples)
- noble idiot trope, ghosting and 1 year time jump

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sharing the pain and joy

Overall: a slice of life that touched on several real world issues. For some reason it didn't hook me the same way other slice of life series have. Based on a manga which I haven't read and am reviewing the series based on its own merits. Airing on GagaOOLala https://www.gagaoolala.com/en/videos/6550/life-in-smokey-blue-2026-e01 (not in Taiwan, Japan or Korea) as well as FOD and TVer (Japan)

Content Warning: drugging, mental health struggles, death, grief

What I Liked
- characters who weren't in high school or college
- that 1 character went for it in the present
- the caring moments that were shown
- production value

Room For Improvement
- I couldn't get behind the romance due to multiple dead fish lip presses and one character seemingly disinterested/less interested until the end of episode 9

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abuse

Overall: abusive characters were abusive. 18 episodes about 5 minutes each. Aired on 欧芝居 YouTube channel https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLNYcOUpIAiIkfPSoVrxOT8YDD3V2rjs-m&si=MymiwAhc6uAAmY_X

Content Warning: multiple slaps, held against will, sexual assault, past child abuse, coercion, repeated rape, drugging, suicide shown, past deaths/murder, blood

What I Liked
- episodes 10, 11 and 12 up to 3 minutes
- I did chuckle when the bodyguard interrupted 2 guys kissing and the 1 guy punched the bodyguard

Room For Improvement
- the side couple was terrible, repeated abuse then a ray of niceness and even after the guy is awful the other guy suddenly loves him, super sad that he killed himself
- a main character is 17 years old and the other character destroyed something he loved on purpose, slapped the 17 year old and treated him like crap for a lot of the series
- are they biological brothers? step brothers? (hoping it's step brothers, update, I was never clear what they were)
- character shows up in episode 17 to do an exposition dump

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a soap opera (side BL couple)

Overall: I saw this on a BL list and decided to watch it although it doesn't have English subtitles. I watched the first 2 episodes and the last episode. Unfortunately the sweet established m/m couple breaks up in the final episode (at least they both seem to move on/be happy) but that made me not want to go back and watch all of the episodes especially because I didn't understand most of what they were saying. Watched (not subtitled) on YouTube https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLh45VQur4AvofKLgui5nvD9m96BiIlu8V

Content Warnings: murder/death, held against will, attempted kidnapping, intimate partner abuse, violence, blood (likely more)

M/M couple scenes (from episodes that I watched)
- episode 1 part 5 4:15-end
- episode 2 beginning-2 min
- (they broke up at the beginning of episode 32)

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vibrant family drama

Overall: if you want to watch the romance, then you could start the series at episode 8 and miss very little. It focuses more on coming of age/family dynamics. 10 episodes about 23 minutes each. Aired on GagaOOLala https://www.gagaoolala.com/en/videos/8296/your-summer-my-storm-2026-e01 (not available in Japan or Korea), Viki https://www.viki.com/tv/41634c-your-summer-my-storm and TVer for Japan.

Content Warning: high schooler/university character (did not bother me, and they kept it very pg), homophobia

What I Liked
- fluffy dog
- quirky vibe
- family dynamics, supportive mom and sister
- "let's figure it out together"
- I was okay with how that ended

Room For Improvement
- an aspect regarding the sister, thought things were finally revealed in episode 6
- romance didn't hook me

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second half was better

Overall: the second half was better with less forced comedy. This is based on a book of the same title which I haven't read and am reviewing the series based on its own merits. 12 episodes about 1 hour long each. Aired on iQIYI https://www.iq.com/play/love-upon-a-time-episode-1-21xrp4m8-0blk?lang=en_us

Content Warnings: murders, attempted murder, punch, blood, manipulation, harassment, manhandling, discrimination, homophobia, transphobia, bullying, beaten up/fight, held against will

Watch Suggestions (to focus more on the romance and take out most content warnings)
- episode 3 watch beginning-10:30, 28-36
- episode 4 watch 14-27:30, 40-54
- episode 5 watch 8-23, 24-25
- episode 6 watch 12-20:30, 24-26:45, 31:30-36, 49-1hr2m35s, 1hr 6-1hr 7m
- episode 7 watch beginning-16:30
- episode 8 watch 1hr 3min-end
- episode 9 watch beginning-5, 8-13:25, 20:40-34:35
- episode 10 watch 37:05-53
- episode 11 watch 41-52:05
- episode 12 watch 9:05-end (skip 1hr 16-1hr 18m 30s)

What I Liked
- the premise/setting
- sweet moments
- the side couple
- I chuckled a couple times*
- supportive servants
- plan in episode 11
- solid ending

Room For Improvement
- the trans woman/non binary character as comedy stereotype
- *comedy sound effects did not make things funny and not all of the humor worked for me

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First Impression: The Last Oath

Overall: excited for the first BL in this genre even though zombies aren't my thing (note watch suggestions to take out the content warnings). 24 episodes about 22 minutes each. Airing on GagaOOLala https://www.gagaoolala.com/en/videos/8911/the-last-oath-2026-e01 ; Viki viki.com/tv/41704c-the-last-oath ; YouTube https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLfUm_MMNB-YA

Content Warnings: deaths, murders, blood, gore

Watch Suggestions (to take out most content warnings)
- episode 1 watch 7:35-11:40, 13-18:15, 19-end
- episode 2 watch beginning to 20:25

What I Liked
- unique premise/setting
- tension

Room For Improvement
- some nonsense stuff like CPR restarting his heart?, entering the front yard in a brand new shirt, the front gate being unlocked, the back area is vast or unsecured???, food in the open that had been lying around for months, etc.

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lost its way (watch suggestions)

Overall: the lakorn started lakorning, but lost the focus regarding the main pair's romance. 10 episodes about 50 minutes each. I haven't read the books and am reviewing the series based on its own merits. Airing on iQIYI https://www.iq.com/play/love-destiny-episode-1-1ykiuvfo6os?lang=en_us

Content Warnings: death/murders, attempted murders, blood, fights/punch/violence, animal fighting, torture, held against wll/non con touching turned conensual

Watch Suggestions (to focus on the romance and take out most content warnings)
- episode 1 watch 6:40-17:35, 39-end
- episode 2 watch 14-15:45, 22-25, 31:30-34
- episode 3 watch 33-35:30, 40:45-49
- episode 4 watch 14-43:55, 49:15-end
- episode 5 watch 21-23, 35-43:430, 47-56:20
- episode 6 watch beg-26, 41-end
- episode 7 beg-4:10, 10:15-13, 24-27:35, 31:45-40
- episode 8 watch 20-39:40, 42:40-45:50
- episode 9 watch 15:30-30

What I Liked
- historical setting
- realistic doctor stress/burnout
- visuals

Room For Improvement
- comedy did not work for me
- in episode 3 there was a serious accusation that jumped into a fun cooking show
- the poet/queen storyline
- the scenes in the present after the initial end credits pulled me out of the historical aspect
- too many near kisses

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