Unpopularopinionbydemand

Easily One of the Best Asian LGBTQ+ Series of 2022

This one knocked my socks off for sure cause I expected nothing and came out so overwhelmed that I sat in silence for a good half hour mesmerized by what I just watched. I decided to go into this one straight out the gate, no reviews, no comments, I read a snippet of the synopsis but went in with a clear mind so that I can enjoy this series for what it would bring. And damn, did it come through. DNA Says Love You is not just a gem, it's a treasure chest full of them. It was everything I needed and more.

Let's Dive In.

I call DNA Say Love You an Asian LGBTQ+ series instead of a BL (Which it still is but on a way more important scale) because instead of being entirely about two guys following in love, it covers topics that most series have zero guts to do. Being the only country with legalized same-sex marriage, maybe they're the only one with the courage to pursue such a story. Le and Yu He work at a local cafe where they've grown up their entire lives. Every day they are waiting on their childhood best friend, Wen-Wen to come back from studying abroad. However, a mysterious guy named Amber shows up and dives into their lives while also exploring the long-term gay relationship of Li and Gwan.

One thing that makes this series so mesmerizing and perfect, yet such a shocker when you come to the realization of it, is that Amber use to be Wen-Wen. I was not expecting it at all, but then when episode 4 came around, it hit me like a truck and I stayed up another 2-3 hours to finish the rest, I couldn't stop watching. It was so thrilling and interesting, and they handled it with the utmost delicate and tactical care. They were able to tell the story of a gay intersex/trans-male like nothing else I've ever seen. His story was so heartbreaking that it was hard not to want to reach through the screen and give him a hug. But he's strong enough to be his true self and go back to the place that made him feel that way. But what I appreciate the most is that Le's crush on Wen-Wen was different from his crush on Amber. We see him fall for Amber in every interaction between the two of them, and he even explains in the end he didn't fall in love with Wen-Wen, he fell in love with Amber. And I was a wreck after that. Their chemistry was off the fucking charts. I was getting butterflies by episode two. They were able to keep such endearing contact with one another, physically and emotionally, that it tears you apart inside. By the end, you're screaming with joy because they're happy and in love, and it's the sweetest thing you'll ever see.

I really enjoyed Li and Gwan's story. The only thing that's not believable is how fast Li gives up on their 4-year long relationship after a simple misunderstanding. He didn't give Gwan time to respond and instead runs away and gets everybody involved in finding him. Of course, a beautiful moment on the rocks at night, but with anything being a misunderstanding or miscommunication, it becomes annoying. However, they do touch on the topic of being open and communicative and most series tend to skip over it, so I will give them that. But overall, I enjoyed watching them. They were sweet and fun and domestic. Lin Wei Jie also is just a fascinating actor and I hope to see him again.

Yu He is a darling character. I loved her to death. I also love the fact that she didn't let her ignored feelings from Le overtake what she knew him and Amber had. Instead, she becomes a supportive best friend of both of them and I adore her for that. The only thing I would've liked to be a bit more clear was that Le and Yu He weren't siblings. It might've just been me, or maybe I wasn't paying great attention to that part, but I believed up until the last few episodes that they were brother and sister. She gave looks every now and then, but I thought she might've been curious about Amber. Also, it might be an honorific thing I didn't quite understand because she called his mom mom too. Either way, it wasn't too much of a bothersome, just a better clarification.

Everyone deserves a mom like Le's mom. He was so worried about disappointing her, but she came out supportive and bright and I was a mess for that one too.

Rating:

Story: 9.5 - I loved it so much. It was perfect to the T and kept me engaged the entire time. It never once fell off track or became filler, everything that we see was important to the plot and to the characters. it all moved steadily and I like that we see a lot of Amber and Le together and that they handled such an important topic with grace.

Acting; 9 - Everyone did a fantastic job. Erek (Amber) stood out the most, with Li's actor right behind. But everyone did amazing, even the kids.

Music - 8 - Went well with the scenes. I mostly noticed it during Li and Gwan's story, and it was good.

Rewatch value: 5 - as much as I loved this, with everything in me, I could probably never gain the nerves to watch it again. I was a mess, and a mess for a while while the sun started coming up.

I highly recommend this series. It has now become my favorite BL from Taiwan and I'm still debating if this is my number one of all BLs or if ATOTS still holds that position. if anything, this one will be on my top list for sure.

Read More

I Tried

I really tried with this series, like really tried. Of course, I was excited to start this knowing that Eui Soo would get to shine again. I had seen some comments and it seemed that everyone had mixed opinions. I went into this anyways with high expectations cause it's Eui Soo, and of course, I trust to trust him. (I've got to stop doing that). But, sadly, and for the umpteenth time in BL, I was let down. My Sweet Dear was a beautiful setting with the most uninteresting plot and gorgeous leads.

Let's Dive In.

I was so conflicted on whether I should state that I completed this series or dropped it. But, it's a little bit of both? I'll go ahead and say I completed it, but I'm just putting it out there that I only made it to episode 6, and did some skipping and watch like the first 5 minutes of episode 8. I'm being so literal when I say that I fell asleep every single episode. Crap moved at such a slow pace that it felt like we were stuck in molasses or something. For the first 4 episodes, nothing goes anywhere, literally, nothing happens. I usually give the first episode a chance, since I usually don't like first episodes, but even after that, I'm just mouth-drooling bored.

I'm not even gonna lie, I really don't remember anything. I was so uninterested that my pet peeve of missing dialogue flew out of the window. I could care less what they were saying or what they were trying to accomplish. I got bits and pieces out of the slits of my eyelids while they began to close. From what I can remember, Eui Soo's character is some new guy in town that is trying to run the other lead out of business, but through something, they end up working together and falling in love? I'm sorry, I really didn't have the mental capacity to keep up with (or even care at that matter) with the plot. Eui Soo's good looks could only go so far (and man, what that dude is just so beautiful).

If this were a girl/guy story, I think it could've worked better. In my honest opinion, I don't believe this was the right role for Chan Hyung. His supposed "in-love" with Jung Woo is so unbelievable and pretty non-existent. He just doesn't pass that vibe. He tries, but it doesn't work, which isn't his fault, this was just not the role for him.

Overall, There's not much I can say because I was either half asleep or just started not caring. I can't believe I'm giving this series such a low rating, but I truly could not get into this series for the life of me. If I'm 6 episodes into the 8 that it has and still can not find any appeal, there's a problem. I feel so bad for not liking this more than I feel like I should've, but god, it was just so boring. there was no chemistry, and to be completely honest, I didn't love Eui Soo's character (besides his ridiculously beautiful stature and windswept hair).

Ratings:

Story: 6 (I feel like this is pushing it. I want to go for more of a 5, and maybe slightly less since I don't remember much of anything at all, but I'm giving 3 stars alone for just me not paying attention all the way, and the three others go towards the slight cheesy tropes that I can't help but love).

Acting: 7.5 (This feels kind of low, but I kind of was too bored to really pay attention to the acting. I didn't like Chan Hyung all that much, but Eui Soo was decent. I'm giving the majority of the stars to the supporting characters cause I thought they were good, and kind of gave me some sense of relief. Another star goes to Eui Soo's smile alone).

Music: 3.5 (Wasn't distracting, but wasn't noticeably good either).

Rewatch Value: 1 (I set all my RV to 1 cause I need to keep watching, not rewatching, but there isn't a slight chance that I'll ever even come back to this series. Maybe if I feel bad for not actually finishing it, but honestly, I won't).

Read More

The Potential This Series Had...

Another BL that used the chef/cooking plot, and was honestly executed very well. I was so ecstatic to see that Mark was going to be in this -- a series that was finally going to show off his acting abilities (in which it did! Phenemonally!) This series had so much potential to be up there with the Greats, but unfortunately, it turns for the worst by episode 8. Bite Me is a cinematically beautiful series that was following along with a perfect storyline until it decided to ruin itself.

Let's Dive In.

Firstly production. Had the plot been half as decent as the food shots, then this series would be the best BL to date. I mean, it's food p*rn on steroids. Mesmerizing shots, gorgeous colors, and left my mouth watering each and every time. Along with that, the cinematography was absolutely remarkable. The colors, the scenery, the framing, the lighting; it was wonderful. I would place this series in the same bubble as ATOTS and ITSAY in terms of production, it was just that good. The only thing I care to complain about is the excessive ad placements. In episode 2 or 3 alone, there's at least 3-4 ad placement in the span of 5 minutes. It's ludicrous. Even the delivery service is an ad placement, it's just way too much.

Onto the plot. I know a lot of people had a problem with the ridiculously slow pace of this series, but I think that was the best part for me. Sure, some scenes ran on too long, and there were a bunch of filler shots, but the slow burn of Aek and Aue built up so much chemistry between the two. I'm a sucker for slow-burn relationships. To see the small things like longing stares, and developing feelings, and the tiny moments when you see a character falling in love is the part that makes a series for me, and boy did they have a bunch. I think what they did best at was building up that tension. at some point in the series, the tensity becomes so much that you start to see that sexual tension between them. Too bad the execution was terrible. Kind of like Sun and Sky from Golden Blood, the screenwriters do such a good job at constructing these relationships, only for them to ruin them in the execution.

We all sit at the edge of our seats for something to finally happen between Aek and Aue, only for it to turn sour. It was so out of character for Aue to kiss Aek without consent. It was out of character for Aek to act so defensively the way he did. It was a cheap route for the screenwriters to take. Of course we needed Aek running in the rain and tripping and hurting his arm, for him to then go to the ER with a stranger he met days ago. So unbelievably out of character that it took me out of the story. I was upset from that point on. Instead of what did happen, I would've made Aek more nervous than defensive. I would've built upon that feeling of him being unsure of where things were headed but in a more calming manner so that when Aue does admit how he feels, they could've kissed consensually, and maybe Aek would've just left cause he's more confused and not sure how to handle his newfound feelings. I don't know, anything else than what did happen. From that point on, their relationship feels like a joke. They don't talk about what happened, kind of just pretend like it didn't, and then get a cutesy ending with a sorry kiss. Actually, the little use of physical intimacy usually doesn't bother me, but for this series, in particular, it was needed. So the final kiss is so underwhelming that I wanted to throw my phone. At least in ATOTS, we get an incredible finale kiss and see their relationship grow. In my personal opinion. this series shouldn't have been named "Bite Me", it insinuates that it was going to be high heat, but there's none to be found. Instead, it should've had a name like ITSAY to be somewhat aesthetic.

Onto the supporting characters. Aek's friend group had no chemistry. It was kind of awkward and like they were trying too hard at convincing us they were friends and not a bunch of actors (although Gameplay did good, even with his one-dimensional character). The employees at the restaurant were decent. I didn't care for Chompoo or her relationship with Lek. I was okay with Nuna, and her story was okay. Prem and Vich had zero chemistry. their relationship was so left-field that it was laughable. The only cute scene was the couple of moments in the last episode and that's it. The only supporting character that I loved was Nuan. Their scenes were enjoyable. Her conversation with Aek left me feeling somber, especially when he admits his feelings for Aue and she supports it.

The acting was pretty well done. The only actor I really had a problem with was Vich's actor. He was bland and awkward. Prem's wasn't that good either. Mark's acting felt so much more authentic here than in LBC. I think he did a really good job, some moments could've been better but overall, I loved watching him (other than the fact that he sometimes talked really freaking slow, but that could've been a character choice). Zung was good as well, I liked the longing look he gave and his mature presence. Allegedly, he didn't want to be in a BL but gave in. Why give a role to someone that doesn't want it? There are plenty of other people out there that would've happily accepted the role. Don't give it to someone who obviously has a problem with BL and playing a gay character. Most noticeably why we probably didn't get that physical intimacy that was needed.

Overall, this series was so good until it wasn't. I'm so sad that this wasn't the series that I so wanted it to be. I want to see Mark in more projects, I love him so much. Zung can stay very far away from any other BLs series as he pleases, we have no room for actors only wanting to grab attention and money from this industry.

Read More

I Loved This Until I Didn't

Burnout Syndrome follows the same, formulaic sequence that all GMMTV series have: I love it (episode 1-5), okay, something is dipping (6-8) what am I watching for (9-10). Burnout Syndrome felt like this series that could be GMMTV's anomaly, and yet, it unfortunately was not. Some of the best performances I have seen out of all of these established actors, so it sucks that the story cannot say the same thing.

Let's Dive In.

Let's get one thing straight; this is the best work I've seen out of Off and Gun. I was worried with Off's portrayal as the lonely and stoic Koh, but we see the very intricate details he placed into his character, and by the end, we see a dramatic disposition turned truly beautiful from him. Gun is Gun. Gun could literally never do anything bad. His performance as Jira is heartbreaking and poignant and I loved it dearly. Dew as a new comer (for me) surprised the hell out of me. I did not think I was going to go into this loving him and his character as much as I did. I was expecting him to be treated as a throw-off second love interest, and instead, they might've told his story the best.

The problem? This series ends with zero morals. Jira throughout this series rejects and criticizes Koh's utilization of AI. Even after his art is used like some lab rat for Koh's new technology, he still ends up with him. What. the. fuck. So what is the moral of the story? Deal with it? Deal with what's going on? Oh well?

If BL Thailand didn't have some stringent rules of pairings and couples, Jira and Pheem would've ended up together, no questions asked. While Pheem has his own list of problems, he's agitated with how much he cares for Jira, and is even more upset with himself that he let himself get so attached. He tries his best at helping Jira, and nothing works, less because of Jira, and more because Koh is the walking, living, breathing devil.

This worked so well because it felt so different than another other series, cinematography-wise, pacing, the story, the way intimacy through nudity and art is shown. And then they completely fumbled the ball in the end, which is just such a let down.

If I was rating the first half of this, I would've told you 10s across the board. I cannot believe that I didn't end up loving this like I was so sure that I would.

Rating:

Story: 7.5/10 - Excellent story, a new, intimate story we haven't seen out of GMMTV yet, but they completely ruined it by the end. The audio was also some of the worst that I've heard it be in a while.

Acting: 9/10 - Every one does beautiful, even Emi, even AJ.

Music: 6/10 - Didn't pay much attention to it.

Recommendation Value: 7/10 - I think the first half of this deserves every audience it can get. The second half, I have no words.

Read More

Big and Park, My Loves !

Anything with Big and Park in it, I will watch, regardless of quite literally anything. I was hyped when I saw they were coming back to me in this silly little rom-com turned mystery, and while my excitement was nothing compared to Monster Next Door, I still really enjoyed this.

Let's Dive In.

Big and Park bring us a fun story about universe traveling and mind-reading. Phopthorn gets hit by a car and wakes up in the hospital in the body of his universe- equivalent self, Apo, who is completely the opposite of him. There, he meets Suryia, the man he is meant to marry and the man that will ultimately help him in his journey of becoming Apo and getting their families to believe it is really him. This is a really silly, fun story. The beginning episodes are all setups to getting Phopthorn to becoming Apo, and it's gold.

Unfortunately, some way through, this becomes pretty dull for me. Once they start trying to dive into who hit Apo and what exactly happened, I'm less intrigued. I also would've loved this to be slightly more slow-burn, but I'm not too mad at what we got. Same with Suryia's family dynamic, it's good until it's not. His mom is comically evil and then we're meant to feel bad for her in the end, but I don't. The dad becomes evil along the way after he excuses Apo of changing his son. Either way, I don't care for either of them at all.

This was probably the best utilization of mind-reading that I've seen in a BL. I like that there's a tangible object that can intervene into their mind-reading and how essential it is to the plot. It's not just there as a cool thing the men in Suryia's family can do, but it's actually there for a reason.

Big and Park strike out of the park again with their chemistry. I think I felt it more in Monster Next Door, but these two play complete opposite to their characters in this, and it's noticeable. There's no one doing it like them right now, dynamic-wise, size-wise. They are the perfect combo, and I love them so very much.

I'm not entirely sold on the side couple. I don't hate them, I grow on them eventually, but they're okay.

There are some scenes were they blackout and then put the spotlight on the character that Suryia is reading the mind of. They only do it a couple of times, but it's really unique, I wish they did it more often.

There is something that is missing from this series. I can't pinpoint it, but there was something that didn't click with me, especially the closer we get to the end. However, I think this still was decent, and I got to see Big top Park like a dog with a bone, I am satisfied!

Ratings:

Story: 8/10 - Beginning was stellar. Fell off a little at the end. BigPark are great in this. Side couple is meh.

Acting: 9/10 - Big's had mostly just one facial expression which was kind of annoying, but it's not so bad. Park did good playing both roles.

Music: 6/10 - I don't remember so it wasn't distracting. Good.

Recommendation Value: 8/10 - This is cute, go for it. It's also a very fun plot that we haven't really seen this year, and it's told decently. Plus, Big is shirtless just the right amount of times.

Read More

It's Fine

It's a fine series. Lots of beautiful men that are shirtless half the time fucking around and being beautiful, so, this series works perfectly.

Let's Dive In.

Knock Out comes from the same company as I Feel You Linger in The Air, so I automatically knew that the budget would be budgeting. And I wasn't wrong. The production value of this series is number one on the charts for me. Also along with the cinematography which I appreciated changed moods depending on the setting. Bravo!

As for the rest of the series: eh. I'm a slow-burn girlie to the core, and this was so good up until episode 5 and then everything just happens in a flash between both couples. Then the yearning stopped and it was just a bunch of kissing and fucking for no reason, but of course they had to add it. I don't care for either couple much, but I do love seeing Guide shirtless and in heat, my goodness, that man is gorgeous.

Didn't care about the stakes of the series. Basically skipped all the shit with Thun's dad and the bad people and blah, blah, blah. The fighting was good though, even the boxing, everything was believable.

Overall, just an okay series. I think this is more for people that like action-packed series, but lots of stuff was going on that I didn't really care about, so a lot of skimming and skipping was happening too.

Ratings:

Story: 5/10 - eh. it was okay. Romance were okay. Story was okay. Guide was Perfect.

Acting: 8.5/10 - Good. Nothing overly amazing, but good.

Music: 5/10 - didn't pay attention to it.

Recommendation Value: 6.6/10 - Shirtless men, so yeah, of course I will recommend this, Story-wise, probably not.

Read More

Thai BL's HeartStopper

So, SO many mixed emotions about this series. I want to say that my overall feeling about Boys in Love is that it's an average show with great depictions of actual teenagers going through normal teenage problems, but enviably, it falls into the usual GMMTV spiral of a series; Amazing, then good, then okay, then, when will this be over?

Let's Dive In.

Boys in Love was number two on my list of my most anticipated GMMTV series when the line up came out. A bunch a teenagers falling in love for the first time + their incredibly adorable teachers finding love too? I was hooked. I started this as soon as it aired and it became my norm to watch on Sunday nights.

I want to start off with this: this series doesn't take itself too seriously, and that's perfectly fine. This is a very lighthearted and just an easy watch, especially if everything else you watch is hard-hitting and dramatic, this can ease that pain immediately. But that doesn't stop me from critiquing it like usual, as I do tend to have harsher judgment on GMMTV series cause they have the money to do better, always.

Like most BLs, this show starts of amazing. No notes, everything is chef's kisses and rainbows. Until something shifts and it gets to be extremely tedious to get through. Instead of the usual formula of BLs, BIL was more episodic than anything I've seen. Each episode brought on a new problem in which it was then solved by the end and a new conflict arose in the next, and that went on and on. Not bad in hindsight, but the writers didn't know what else to have conflict over cause KitShane and KimMon's conflict always repeated itself in each episode. With Kit and Shane, it was mostly about how comfortable Shane was with being with Kit or how he was trying to find himself within the college world. With Kim and Mon, it was usually lots of communication problems and self-pity. These problems would've been so fine to have as the conflict throughout the series, but when the problem is resolved in the same episode it happens, so you can see how redundant it is to bring up that same conflict again in the next episode and then in the next episode after that. Yes, these are teenagers so maybe there's some truth to their madness, but oh my gosh, how annoying to continue to repeat the same problems.

Looking further into the couples, I never thought that by the end of this, my favorite couple would be Kit and Shane, but those two stole the show (their show yes, but main couples don't usually get as much love from me as the sides do). There were too many episode to count how many moments they had that were too precious for me to handle. They were the sweetest. They had a few rough patches, but the way in which they resolved them was so healthy that it really shocked me at times, truly. Shane as a character is like the cherry on top of this series for me. He is so complex on the inside with very little details that he slowly allowing to be shown on the outside, and it's everything. Kit is a ray of sunshine. He is a lot more comfortable in their relationship before Kit gets there, and he guides him through that process with such tenderness that I was a puddle of goo after their scenes. Utterly shocked at how fast their relationship progressed, as we had received a kiss in episode 2 and a relationship by like episode 4 or 5. I liked that the majority of the series was us seeing them as a couple going through typical teenage love problems and being perfect for one another by the end. My KitShane, I will miss you.

Now moving onto the biggest disappointment of this series; Kim and Mon. I can't believe that the closer we got to the end, the more I wanted them to just break up. Kim is extremely insecure in a lot of aspects, but most importantly, insecure about how much Mon likes him. Kim goes through hoops to impress Mon, then more imaginary hoops to keep him. When there was conflict, most of it was resolved by Mon speaking and Kim nodding. They say in one episode that they promise to have better communication with one another, and then, in the next, there is miscommunication which is entirely Kim's fault, but Mon will take the fall. I can tell you this for sure, Kim and Mon do not make it in college. Mon will get busy with classes and his life and won't have enough time to reassure Kim every three seconds that everything is fine. I absolutely hate that my feelings for this couple has changed since the beginning, because they were one of the reasons I started this series in the first place. Aston's dimples, me wanting to see Chokun again since MLMU, the library scene, all of it was so perfectly set up, like a little present left on my doorstep. I can't believe I open the gift and end up hating it. Also, Mon's mom was a menace. I hate that they never dive into that aspect of their son and mother relationship, I hate that they give her some kind of redemption arc when all she did was try and break them apart. I hate that they make her some supportive ally when she was calling Kim, "just a friend to Mon".

I loved Per and Tar. I was in-between on whether I would've liked them to explore a relationship with one another or just stay friends, but I think it's so much more complicated than that. They were everything to me, I loved that they had moments of just pure love and then in the next, I was laughing my ass off. I wouldn't mind even for a split second to have a second season but one that followed them more closely as they go to college together.

Moving onto the second most biggest disappointment: Tan and Nut. They start off so strong. We get everything you could've asked from a teacher relationship, but once they get together, the forget to give them screen-time. We see them go on dates, flirt in the office, even move in together, and still... no kiss. Whatever, honestly, I feel like this was a test series to see if an audience would be interested in an older BL pairing, so I'm hopeful that this means Pappang and Podd get their own series in 2026 (single dad trope pretty please).

Rating:

Story: 7.5/10 - Some of the episodes are so tedious to sit through, like the sport's day episode, just skip that entire episode, my goodness. But some episode were amazing, like the episode with the house party, with Kit trying to stay the night at Shane's, with Kim following Mon around when he discovers that Mon's ex is a girl. Some of the romantic development is a little heartbreaking, but you know what, whatever.

Acting: 9/10 - Nothing bad in this department. Everyone did great.

Music: 6/10 - Distracted me a little cause some of the songs sound so disney-esque that it took me out of the episode.

Recommendation Value: 8/10 - even with all I have to complain about, this series is cute. If you watched Heartstopper and enjoyed that, then you'll really like this. I think that's where a lot of the creative expressions come from is that show. But its adorable, no dead-fish kisses (surprisingly), and Aston's dimples.

Read More

I'm not going to say anything differently that hasn't already been said about this beautiful, brilliant little masterpiece out of South Korea, but like always, I will be adding in my two cents. Let Free the Curse of Taekwondo was so much more than that of a BL genre. Instead, it taught us a valuable lesson of persevering, standing up for one's self, it's okay not to be perfect, letting go of the past, and moving on towards a better future. It taught a lot of others things as well, but I feel like that was what the majority of the series wanted us to learn.

Let's Dive In.

I have pretty good experience with Hwang Da Seul's series in the past, and which she is great at doing hurt and love and lust and any other feeling that'll make you emotional. She handled this BL with grace and care and love, and it's very noticeable throughout. The first thing that I can point out that I loved is the cinematography. The colors, the gradient, the lights and the darks. So stinking pretty, right off the bat. Then we're introducing to Dohoe, brooding and miserable, compared to the bright light and ball of energy that is Juyeong. Opposites attract trope? Yeah. I'm seated. They both had their own version of trauma, one that Juyeong was immediately trying to protect Dohoe from, with his of trauma taking the back burner. Once they grow older, it's so evident how much hurt Dohoe experienced from that place growing up. You can feel so much anger and regret when he has to go back to the house, it's insane actually.

I think one aspect that annoyed me quite a lot was the back and forth between the leads as grown ups. They broke up and got back together like two times within a span of just an episode. Also, there's some disconnect to them as adults, mostly because of Juyeong still being the same and Dohoe having this like "I'm a grown up" act. But even after all of that is resolved, I still didn't feel much for them. They remind me of the couple that will enviably break up again, but for good. I also like the subtle shift of their lives compared to when they were children. Dohoe driving expensive cars and living in an upscale apartment with a good job while Juyeong is a taekwondo instructor, living in a small apartment who has to drive around in a van. I also don't really understand why Juyeong becomes close to Dohoe's dad and even is heartbroken when he dies. I think maybe because that was still a piece of Dohoe, and by being with his dad, he felt that he could be close to Dohoe; maybe also he was a sorry old man that didn't know how to take care of himself in anyway. Either way, that kind of threw me off too.

This series had so many plot twist, and with each one, my jaw was on the floor. Dohoe lying about going to college, Juyeong finding out about it and feeling guilty, Dohoe being the one to call the police, Hyeonho knowing the truth but still keeping his secret. Crazy, crazy stuff.

Rating:

Story: 8.5/10 - very intriguing. The romance was just the cherry on top, but the story was so interesting and just got better and better.

Acting: 9/10 - so, so, so good!

Music: 7/10 - didn't pay attention to it, but I did realize that most of the songs were in english!

Recommendation Value: 8/10 - definitely recommend! It's kind of sad, so I don't think this is the series for everybody, but the romance is adorable, and also Lee Sun looks great shirtless.

Read More

We Are... Bored After the 11th Episode

I actually really enjoyed this a lot, initially. The set up of the characters, their dynamics, the start of their relationships, I really really enjoyed it. However, once you get past the 11th episode, with some little hidden gems in the latter, this series falls completely on its face. We Are is a fantastic, extremely long romcom about everyone on campus being gay.

Let's Dive In.

Again, the build-up of all the relationships was definitely my favorite part. Once they all get together (besides one couple) they just kind of fall off completely for me. But before I get into each couple, I'll talk about some other production things. One, the filter on this is actually ridiculous. They all looked so pasty, and not a, "we want to look pale," more like a, "We are the color of white paint." Oh gosh, it was so bad. At times, I had to lower my brightest so that they looked somewhat of a natural skin tone. We get these hidden shots sometimes of their natural, gorgeous skin, and I needed more of that.

This is 16 episodes long, and it just didn't need to be 16 episodes long. The last two episodes are of them going on trips back to back, and had Tan and Fang not had what they've been serving this entire series, I would've skipped it. There's so much dead space that the characters are quite literally doing nothing besides kissing and teasing one another. This could've easily concluded in episode 12 or 13.

Anyways, onto the couples, and I'll start with my favorite, Tan and Fang. They were everything to me. The stoic uke and bubbly seme, literally my favorite trope ever, I absolutely loved it down to pieces. Aou, hand down, played the best out of all the characters. His personality doesn't waver, he continues being supportive and protective and clingy, and I loved him. Their kiss scenes and everything in between were perfect. There wasn't even a second when I didn't want to see them on my screen. Moving onto Q and Toey, Their initial build-up is the best part of their relationship, especially Q coming to terms with his feelings for Toey, and how they navigate those feelings together They don't necessarily lose me, they just get a little stagnant after a while, and then I'm not so obsessed with them anymore. However, they also have that same bubble seme, stoic uke trope, so I did enjoy them enough.

Okay, and to no one's surprise, if you've seen my reviews for another PondPhuwin series, they were my least favorite established couple. First, they take way too long to get together, and this is coming from somebody who absolutely adores slow burns. I think they get together in episode 12? Maybe 13? It takes a minute, and it's an absolute horror. They kiss at least a bajillion times before then. and at some point, I was screaming at my computer every time Peem looked so surprised and appalled when Phum kissed him. Like, dude, this is your like 15th kiss, please stop playing with me. Again, the thing about Pond and Phuwin is that they have no problem with the physical aspect of their romance, but when they're not kissing, they just don't click. I don't know what's not clicking about this couple for me, but quite literally, I still, after every series I've seen them in, can't get into them. They still look like best friends told to kiss. But either way, Peem kissing Phum when he does for the first time felt completely out of place, and I'm still not sure why or what about Peem makes Phum just fall head over heels. At least with the other couples, there's a backstory to their connections, with them, there's nothing but a small, frivolous tussle in the beginning.

Anyway, they slightly tease another couple, but they get a pretty sorrowful ending. Then, the twin and some other guy have a moment, and then that's it. overall, a lot of this goes well, and a lot of this goes not-so-good. But, I think I enjoyed watching this series more than I didn't like watching it, so it's getting a 7 out of me.

Ratings;

Story: 7.5/10: At some point, it gets pretty boring and draggy, but for the most part, I didn't mind it.

Acting: 8/10: Aou plays the best of all the characters, with Santang coming in second place. Everyone did a pretty good job, but again, and like always, Pond has this way of acting that I'm still not a fan of.

Music: 6/10: Didn't pay it much attention, to be honest. Also, so much singing...why?

Recommendation Value: 7/10: It's good, I liked it, then I didn't like it as much. Tan and Fang are why I'd recommend this to anyone, the other couples, ehh.

Read More

Eh....

Not one of my favorites that I've seen from Japan, but I'd be lying if I said I didn't enjoy this series even a tinsy little bit. My Personal Weatherman brings about a toxic tale of poorly executed love and its downfalls.

Let's Dive In.

One reason this series doesn't do it for me is because the leads kept going in a circle and achieved no real resolution, nor did they ever give themselves time to be open and honest with one another. I saw another comment where someone said this couple doesn't do talking and instead they're the masters at paying attention to each other's subtle messages, and once seeing it from that view, I understood them a bit better, but I'm the type of person that's always second guessing what someone is thinking or saying or feeling about me, so I would've loved it if at some point in the series they had a sit-down and open conversation on their feelings towards one another.

And circling back to the no real resolution -- Well, they don't. They'll continue to go in a cycle of Yoh feeling like his life means nothing and Mizsuki will continue being jealous any time Yoh hangs out with his friends and will continue being shut off about his feelings. This also goes for Yoh who wants Mizuki to show some sign of want and need, except he only ever communicated this when drunk. And the way Mizuki manhandled Yoh just wasn't my cup of tea. But besides that, the actors had great chemistry and great intimacy.

I liked the best friend of Yoh, I think she was a great addition to the story and I liked all the added Manga effects whenever we saw her or whenever she was around Mizuki.

Ratings:

Story: 7.5/10 - It's very intriguing to see their dynamic, and I kept wondering how they're going to inevitably fix it, but nothing is fixed, and they're still obviously going to have problems in the future. but nonetheless, this was a short and easy watch with me finishing in one sitting. I liked the best friend and her husband a lot.

Ating: 9/10 - Good! Nothing inherently bad or inherently good, but it works for this series. Kouhei's (Mizuki) acting stood out the best with having the fake persona around others and his real one around only Yoh.

Music: 7/10 - Didn't pay it much mind, but I liked how the music wasn't overbearing during their intimate scenes and we really got to see and hear everything going on.

Recommendation Value: 5/10 - Not something I'd recommend to the regular ole' BL fan. It's very twisted and very dark, reminding me of my hatred of My Beautiful Man, but at least this one isn't as bad. But I have a plethora of other JBLs that hit the mark, so sadly, this one is a no-go.

Read More

Decent Enough

There's nothing wrong with this really down-to-earth, happy-go-lucky series about love life and laughter. I think in general it did its job, kept me entertained and for the most part not bored, but it also had a lot of just nothing to it.

Let's Dive In.

Bon Appetit is the romance story of the overworked office employee and his old college mate who happens to move into the apartment beside his -- and cooks. I thought it to be pretty weird that he moved into the room beside his old crush purposefully, but for fictional purposes, I'll look over this. Anyway, most of the story takes place with Doyoon and his very annoying co-workers so I skipped all the scenes with them in it after like episode 1. And since they take up most of the screen time, I will say that I can't give this the most proper score, but also know that it was just a bunch of office jargon and going back and forth about nothing that was going to move the plot along.

Onto the romance: I thought it was pretty cute. I like that we didn't dwell much on the fact that Yoonsoo was gay or that Doyoon suddenly just started liking guys. It just happened and there wasn't any sad backstory or dark plot to pair with it. They were just gay and in love. Perfect. I honestly could've done without Sangwoo's character cause it just felt like a large waste of time.

Loved Seobin's guest role! It was so nice to see him again!

Ratings:

Story: 6/10 - the office jargon was so fucking boring that I skipped literally all of it. And since more than half of the story takes place at the office, this is the best score I can give. Other than that, I liked the romance and Seobin's role.

Acting: 8/10 - Good! Pretty mediocre, but nothing bad about that, it just doesn't really stand out like the acting in other series.

Music: 6/10 - Wasn't distracting.

Recommendation value: 7/10 - Sure, if you want another k-BL to watch, and both actors do get shirtless eventually and that's nice too. Otherwise, this might be okay to skip seeing as I'll probably forget I watched it in like a week.

Read More

So freaking Cute

I went into this not knowing the plot, not knowing the characters' names, and not even understanding at all absolutely anything about the series. And boy, was I pleasantly surprised. An original story, one I've never heard of, played by two beautiful men and told in the best way. I loved it!

Let's Dive In.

So, I for one have never seen are watched anything dealing with an amnesia storyline. I think it's an interesting syndrome and personally, one that I've always feared. Imagine just one day waking up and not remembering the most important parts of your life. Scary. So off the bat, I'm very intrigued with everything going on.

I'm glad they showed us their past relationship interloping with their in-present experience. Watching Fumiya hold back and not love on Ritsu like he would've liked to was hard, but he's the reason for that, so I guess I don't feel too bad. Fumiya definitely shouldn't have kept such a big secret from Ritsu when he was trying his hardest to remember the most important parts of his life, which was definitely Fumiya. I wished he would've told him as soon as he got out of the hospital, and tried to somewhat rebuild what they used to have until Ritsu got his memories back and then it could've been happily ever after. But then again, where's the conflict in that?

Their romance was cute but I think their connection was better before they became a couple. After that, It loses some of its spark, but it's still good, just not the best. Decent kiss scenes, very soft and sensual NC scenes, it was all nicely done.

Ratings:

Story: 9/10 - Such a fun story! So original and so new, so super fun to watch. I loved the main characters, even though their relationship wasn't as strong as I would've liked it to be.

Acting: 9.5/10 - Great! The emotions out of the leads were amazing. I hope to see them again for sure.

Music: 6/10 - I don't remember it so, it wasn't distracting.

Recommendation value: 7.5/10 - A high recommendation! Super fun to watch, the story flows pretty nicely (especially for a series with only 6 episodes) and I really enjoyed myself. So definitely give this one a watch.

Read More

Earth and Mix Do It Again!

While ATOTS is still my by far favorite MixEarth series, they seriously delivered here. They both pulled through with the acting and their ability to be hopelessly in love with one another. This was my most anticipated series in 2022 when it was announced. It didn't come through all the way, but for what I got, I'm more than satisfied.

Let's Dive In.

This was some of Earth and Mix's most complex story yet, focusing on the collateral damage of past relationships and how age and growth play into it. Jim and Wen are some very complex characters that both actors portrayed beautifully. Their relationship doesn't completely hit me in the heart like I wanted it to, but it was still entertaining. I think one reason is that they drag on them being in a relationship and not being in a relationship and it feels very cat and mouse like. Also, they try to push Earth to be 40 years old and since his age plays no factor in anything that's happened in the past or present, it doesn't make sense why he needs to be that age. He could've been his same age and the story would've played out the exact same. Either way, I liked them a lot, especially in the end when they're looking at their future home and building their business together.

Moving onto Heart and Li Ming who are the real reason why I loved this series. Gemini and Fourth do it again, they manage to lock me in a chokehold and I can't ever get out (not that I want to either). They were so perfect in this series -- so gentle with one another and being such an important part of each other's lives. Li Ming is so incredibly patient with Heart, learning the language, being comfortable with other forms of communication -- it's literally so perfect. They felt pretty similar to Tinn and Gun from MSP, which I'm okay with, but it would've also been nice to see a slight difference in their dynamic. However, from MSP to this series, Fourth's acting has improved greatly. He performs the more dramatic moments very nicely. Without any lines, Gemini has to lean on his other skills, and while they aren't as strong as Fourth's performance, he still does an excellent job. I'll be nit-picky here and say the only thing I hated was that they faked their kiss in episode 6 which is very uncalled for, and not something I saw coming in a GMMTV series.

Khaotung. What more can I say? Even with him playing a less-than-important role here, he still hits it out of the park. Just the pure emotion of being excited to tell Jim about his crush to then being let down, and you can see it all in his expression, his eyes. God, this dude is so perfect, like it's surreal. The same goes for First, he does a great job in this. I kind of wished they would've introduced his character in the first episode since the first two episodes were kind of a drag, but his entry was still very clever and very intriguing. I would honestly like to see how things end with those two, so maybe a special episode? or a spinoff?

Ratings:

Story: 8.5/10 - it drags in the first two episodes and then starts getting interesting after that. I would've liked it better had First's character been introduced in the first episode. Other than that, the story is very good and very intriguing.

Acting: 9/10 - Everyone did a phenomenal job, but who really makes the top of my list is Khaotung. That man can act his ass off, my goodness.

Music; 6/10 - didn't pay much attention to it other than the song Kaipa plays for his mom at her funeral.

Recommendation Value: 8/10 - very intriguing, very interesting, and I highly recommend it.

Read More

More Cohesive Than Season 1

Going into this, I was a little taken back that they only decided to continue the story of 2 out of the 6 couples they told in season 1. But by doing so, the plot was held together nicely, and they developed a decent story that followed along an easier path. Close Friend Season 2 has definitely outshone its prior season, and I'm quite pleased to say I'm looking forward to season 3.

Let's Dive In.

They took the story of Piece/Typhoon and Jedi/Ray and combined the two, where both of their stories overlap with one another. Phoon and Ray have been friends for a while, with Phoon helping Ray with his obsession with Jedi and being a good friend that gives him great advice. And Pierce is the songwriter who writes music for Jedi. So throughout, they all have interactions with one another while simultaneously dealing with their own conflicts. In the end, it all gets better.

Their choice of only continuing the lives of only two of their couples was a great idea. It worked because the storyline isn't jumbled up, and theirs no time for filler or unnecessary situations, and it all flows steadily on a thoroughly planned out plot. Even though I would LOVE to see more of Jimmy and Tommy's story (the 1990s couple) I was still please with what we did get. Max and Nat's story wasn't all that memorable, so it probably would be difficult to fit them in somehow. Lay and Yoon's story was decent, but nothing I craved to see more of. And of course, the cat story HAD to go. Anyways, the choices in this department worked out perfectly, and I enjoyed what I got to watch.

I remembered not liking Peirce and Typhoon's story all that much last season, but they redeemed themselves here. Pierce has that incredible fear of coming out to his parents, and Phoon is patient, but since they've been dating for so long, it's getting old for him. Phoon also gets a job at the same company as Pierce which causes some office turmoil, but I like that this part of their conflict was resolved pretty quickly and didn't linger on much more than needed. Eventually, Peirce comes out to his parents, and everything is wonderful and rainbows. I'm satisfied with what we got, but their story could've definitely been a lot stronger.

Jedi and Ray were why this works so well for me. I'm not usually a big fan of the idol/normal person stories that follow the same plot: the public finds out about idol's boyfriend, idol is told to break up with boyfriend but he refuses, idol then goes public with his boyfriend, it all works out because they both gain more fame from it. It's very much so blah blah blah, but, because it was Kimmon and Copter, it just worked. Copter is fucking adorable in this with his little pouts, panics, and whatnot. Once again, their dynamic is spot on. Chemistry is strong, and I can't wait to watch their other projects together.

Something I don't normally speak on, but I liked that the actors had on barely-there makeup, and we actually see their skin and they look imperfect because that's how everyone looks. It's a very different change in the usually caked-on, filter-heavy shit that's usually plastered onto the faces of these actors. Good job!

I sometimes take time to watch the BTS of series, but this show gave us the honor to watch it by putting it into the outro of each episode, and it was a delight to watch. It shows you that these actors are close in real life and just had fun playing their roles. It makes the story feel more real in a sense.

Ratings:

Story: 8.5 - Decent. A lot better than their stories in season 1. It follows a straight path from point A to point B and doesn't have anything unnecessary happen. Jedi and Ray's story is a lot more endearing than Peirce and Phoons's, but still, a very good job.

Acting: 9 - Good! Everyone did decently, and nothing was off! Some hiccups here and there, but overall, it was fine.

Music: 8 - I enjoyed the intro song a lot. Also, the songs Jedi sings weren't that bad either.

Rewatch value: 4.5 - Ehh, probably not. Not because it was bad, but just because it wasn't so good that I just need to rewatch it.

In the last few minutes, they bring in the adorable Bas and his partner Dun (from Gen Y) and show us that they've been living in Korea as Bas' character lives out his dream until they find out about Jedi and Ray and decide to move back to Thailand. I'm kind of excited to see how season 3 will take place, knowing these two will be added into the chaos. Overall, a decent watch, I recommend it, and you don't have to watch season 1 to be able to watch this.

Read More

Credible Piece of K-BL

I won't spend much time on this since there are plenty of other reviews, but I do have a few things to say. It's nice to see for once a K-BL that has a decent run-time. No quick romances, no rushed plots, and some very nice character development. While this was just another ordinary college love story, Semantic Error did one heck of a job at getting it right.

Let's Dive In.

Semantic Error is a Korean college-based love story about a stoic uke and his bubbly seme (a dynamic I always love). They end up meeting on not-so-good terms, but through some trials and tribulations, their relationship starts to bloom. The plot is as basic as it can get; throw in a little enemies to lovers, and you've got yourself the formula for a simple BL drama. However, with a great cast and a crew that had a good clue about what they were doing, SE came out to be way better than I expected. With something that gains a lot of hype, I tend not to be able to watch it for what it is, and instead for what others want me to see it as. While I really did like SE, it was very far from perfect.

For one, I'm not a huge fan of enemies to lovers, so the first few episodes were quite annoying with Jae Young going around and intruding into Sang Woo's personal space after he's explained multiple times to leave him alone. Same can kind of go with Sang Woo with his tendency to be just a little too stoic at times, and dismissing Jae Young's feelings about not being able to go on his trip. Once we hit the middle mark, things start to get better. Their build-up was fantastic. My favorite part of a BL is watching their feelings for one another blossom, which this series does a perfect job at. However, there was a nonconsent kiss that was thrown in, and it's so left-field. You would never guess that something like that would happen when the plot was running so gracefully, but as soon as that happen, I was pretty much confused. Jae Young would've been so willing to kiss Sang Woo if he were awake, why do it when he's asleep? The ending was pretty good, and I wouldn't have expected anything different.

One thing that for sure caught my eye was the beautiful height difference. I'm so weak for that shit. So when Sang Woo gets on his tiptoes to kiss Jae Young, yep, that was the moment.

Ratings:

Story: 7.5 - as basic as it could get, but it still was entertaining and enjoyable. With a good cast and a decent script, this simplicity and overused story arc worked. The main pairing also had a really good build-up that was the highlight of my watch.

Acting: 8.5 - Everyone's acting was really good. I think there were times when Jae Chan (Sang Woo) should've put on a stronger performance, or not just have one facial expression for the first four episodes, but that might've been more of a director's choice. Everyone else was decent, including the supporting characters.

Music: 6 - Again, I don't really pay attention to that type of stuff, but it wasn't disturbing to the series, so I'll give it a 6.

Rewatch value: 1 - I did really like it, but this is very far from my taste of rewatching material.

I do recommend this BL for anyone just entering the BL scene. It was pretty lighthearted for the most part, it could be funny at times when it wanted to be, and if the simple plot doesn't do it for you, then the beauty of the leads will.

Read More