jpny01

The acting isn't much worse than other Thai BLs, but we've seen every element of this show in every other Thai BL and it's so old and tiresome that it's harder to excuse the juvenile story and awkward acting. Or at least that's my theory. :)

This show is terrible - I'm struggling to get through the episode. It's not poorly acted, directed, filmed, or anything else, it's just such a tired pile of BL cliches that it's nearly unwatchable. So far there's been no accidental kiss, but I still have 10 minutes to go. Can everyone in the Thai production industry be forced to watch Philipine BLs and learn that you can have stories that are not all exactly the same? Good God. All we need is for one of the OTP to have an evil girlfriend and we've checked all the boxes.

That's good new for you then, because 100% of BLs are friends to lovers.

Agreed! I will certainy go back to Gameboys later and watch it through. Sometimes when you start to feel negative about something you enter a loop - for me I was put off by the COVID casualty which I found manipulative and contrary to how COVID is commonly spread (my job is related to this so it's a sore point). I think the social consciousness of the series has more importance in your ratings than mine (and GB does get an A+. HS doesn't really touch on social issues, but it at least avoids any social sins).

I'll try again at some later date and see if I appreciate it more - I watched it to where I did for the same reason you did - it's so popular that I thought I must be missing something, or that something is wrong with me, but I don't think so. The show does have an excellent social consciousness, which is often woefully lacking in BL, and that might be an element in people's reaction. There are no toxic female characters, no lack of consent issues, realistic portrayal of class issues, etc. But that's not why I watch BL - I need to be engaged by the story and characters, and I wasn't here.

GB is also enemies to lovers, and sustained it longer. That's actually one of the things I found tiring, Just when I thought they were over Gav being pouty and calling Cai baybeeee! and Cai responding by insulting him, they reverted to doing that, I imagine because they stretched the show past it's original planned run of episodes and had to fill the time - that's never a good idea. It would have been better to leave it at 8 and write a sequel. I'm not really looking forward to the HS movie unless they had always planned on it as I'm afraid it will just be fanservice and exploit the success of the series for $.

The reason you're only getting hate from HS fans is because you like GB better - I'm getting it from GB fans because I like HS better. That's what I'm not understanding. Who cares if you or I like one or the other better? It doesn't invalidate their preference, and to me seems an unhealthy level of engagement with a work of fiction, much like when people insist the actors are actually in a relationship. I did read your review and I appreciate it - that's why I asked this question of you, because you don't seem biased.

I'm not sure this counts as "enemies to lovers" as it was one misunderstanding resolved in the first episode and they had an immediate connection - it was Mico's emotional walls and anxiety about his grade that kept the distance rather than Xavier being an asshole in that first scene. I'm a little surprised by your rating of the acting - Tony's performance was brilliantly understated, and if anything I thought he was a little flat in the first episode and the finale - but amazing in 4-7. JC to me delivered one of the best performances I've ever seen in a BL.

I'm not getting why everyone loves Gameboys so much - maybe you can help me understand the visceral connection people have to it and the odd competition fans of GB have with HS - I actually had someone accuse me of not likeing GB because I like HS, which is bizarre to me - I just thought the writing was much better on HS, and GB didn't speak to me - maybe because I'm older than the average viewer. I never thought I was only allowed to like one or the other, it just ended up that way.

Huh? What does that have to do with it? I also like In Between and tons of other BLs - is there some competition between HS and GB that I'm unaware of? If there is, it's stupid and I couldn't care less. I like Hello Stranger, I don't like Gameboys. I like The Shipper, I don't like WhyRU. I loved the first half of 2Gether, I didn't like the second half, and thought Still 2Gether was "meh". The idea that being a fan of one show means you have to dislike another makes no sense - that's weird tribalism.

I think Ace in the gym was surprising because BLs generally only have a main character show interest in one other character. The guy in the gym was purely about sexual attraction, and although Ace didn't pursue anything, he clearly noticed that guy's package and didn't mind his attention. What was surprising is that Ace behaved like an actual gay man, rather than a 12-year old Victorian-era virgin like most other BL characters.

No, I have never made a decision that makes no sense. I have made lots of stupid and terrible decisions, but they all make sense within the context of who I am and where I was in life. If a character's decision doesn't make sense solely as a plot point rather than driven by their character, then it's bad writing and takes you out of the story. For example, if Pearl is a Fujoshi who supports Gav, why did she completely sabotage him by introducing herself to Cairo as Gav's girlfriend? That was out of character and just done to put an obstacle in the OTP's way and to provide a cliffhanger. There are so many things like that in here that I just stopped caring.

If Jesus is a character in a story and casts someone into Hell for cutting in front of him in line, that makes no sense. If he sends all his money to a Nigerian prince he got an email from, that's a stupid decision, but it's believable and makes sense.

I think if Gameboys had stuck to it's original 8 episodes instead of being stretched to 13, it would have been far superior - there wasn't enough content for 13 episodes, and so it dragged, became repetitive, and was stuffed full of artificial obstacles. I know that a lot of people just want to watch a show where boys behave cutely together, but I need more than that. I was super-excited by the first episode, but then it just bogged down.

Lol, yes. They shouldn't rush it, but they better not wait until the last scene of the last episode, either. And if they end with a high-five I'll lose it.

I'm from the US. There are effeminate gays who do that here too, but not ALL of them, and I'm sure not all do in the Philippines either. Plus, that's not all there is to their personalities, whereas there is nothing else in these characters. My problem with Ken is not that he has a crush on Ace, it's that he was all over him while he was tending to his wounded brother, which should have been 1,000 times more important to him than sexually harassing someone - and sexual harassment doesn't require touching, it can be persistant unwanted advances, or even inappropriate conversation (although in the workplace, not in private). Also, he should show a little respect for his brother's friends. Flamboyantly expressing how attractive you think someone is is one thing, and doing it non-stop to that person is another.

Anyway, what I'm saying is, a character can be this way, but there has to be more depth to them or it becomes a harmful sterotype. Take Jennie in The Shipper - she was a bit like this, but she was also the Angel of Death, cared about and helped the main character, and was central to the plot. What purpose does the grill character who scared all the birds in Manila serve? If a queer character exists only to be a joke, it's exploiting homophobia, not making an integral character funny.

I noticed the gym - I'm old and out of shape and I can handle way, way more weight than that - it was ridiculous. Ace should easily be able to handle several hundred pounds. Ace's dialog in the cooking scene seemed strange, but i just assumed there were translation issues in the subtitles.

I took it that Ace wanted to help with the grill so he could be with Sky. But rich people know how to peel shrimp - that was silly.

I liked the improv - like when Aki couldn't untie the box and when Miko was blocking view of the grill with the fan - that was cute and funny.

I wish all of the show could be like the scenes at Sky's house & with his parents - I really loved all that. I loved quite a bit of the rest of it much less. Ace was really wonderful and sensitive with Kim, and I liked that Ace is just plain gay (as we saw at the gym) and we're not getting any of the "I'm not gay, I only like X" BS. But I continue to have serious problems with the portrayal of queer characters - screeching when Ace is around, sexually harassing straight guys, etc. If they could just stop doing that, it would elevate this show several notches.

Every queer character screeches at the top of their lungs non-stop whenever Ace is anywhere nearby, Jelai continously sexually harasses Jam, Ken was hanging all over Ace, who was trying to tend to Ken's unconscious and bleeding brother... all the queer characters are ridiculous and pathetic. Why can't any of them be serious or have substance? It's OK for an effeminate character to be funny or outrageous, but not relentlessly fawning and pathetic.

The way Moira spoke to Sky's mother was mandatory instant breakup and it's hard to have any respect for Sky after that scene. They way she spoke to his brother was enough - I'd break up with someone for talking to a service person like that.

I do look forward to the show, but it's not very good. If you take it for what it is, it's entertaining and engaging enough, but I'm having trouble getting past the offensive stereotypes. All the other flaws I can forgive, because I can feel the passion behind the project.

I'm not sure if the chemistry is particularly subtle, at least not in this episode - I was feeling it. I liked the improv parts, like when Ace couldn't open the box or why Sky was blocking Ace's view of the grill with the fan.

It was the best episode, but the bar is not set particularly high. The show is entertaining enough, but I end up fast-forwarding through a lot of it - the queer characters are all grotesque and cringy stereotypes and it makes me angry.

I enjoyed it, but the treatment of queer characters is so offensive that I spend too much time angry to fully appreciate the better aspects. Jelai criticising Marianne for flirting was like Hitler criticising someone for anti-Semitism, not to mention being part of a pattern of sexual harassment, but at least he's insanely inappropriate with both sexes. Aki was OK like you said - he's good at being sweet and polite - the kind of guy you want to bring home to your mother. But it's a bit abrupt a turnaround, even with the near-death experience. Also, I don't begrudge them ad revenue, but Jesus H. Christ, an ad every 2 minutes (not even exaggerating for the sake of drama)? And for me it was the same ad every single time, so I was approaching seppuku-level frustration by the end of the episode.