short and cute tourism promo with BL actors

Overall: 12 BL actors showcased parts of Thailand thru 6 short episodes. Each episode was about 8 minutes. Aired 2 per week on YouTube https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PL6jUaCqlEcp3ROAMOSYvXJ2ij5mxjCkzy&si=zEc7KOdeB5fTzvI4 Note: several of the episodes were not clearly BL but open to interpretation

What I Liked
- it was a cute short story/tourism commercial
- favorite story was probably ep 2 with Mai & Win
- so happy to see Frank without a wig
- happy they aired 2 per week and it was free to watch on YouTube

Room For Improvement
- they needed to subtitle the locations that the characters were at, although the information does appear in the video description
- each episode was very short and several were open endings

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par for the course (happy for the better trans rep!)

Overall: I think it's my favorite series overall from Oxin Films. 8 episodes about 15 min each. Aired on Oxin Films YouTube channel.

Content Warnings: intimate partner violence off screen, non con recording, blackmail, manhandling, violence/torture, kidnapping, parental abuse, homophobia, slaps

What I Liked
- started with showing instead of telling that she isn't interested in the wedding (asking him to make all the decisions, saying she is busy, (although later there is an exposition dump)
- finally a trans female character who is not a stereotype
- GL representation
- laughed a few times
- honest discussion between Shao and Louise (though they need even more communication), discussion about virginity
- good NSFW scenes (though I wish they left in some of the original sounds instead of covering it all with music)
- supportive moms and siblings/friends
- the lack of a super severe piracy warning (it's not going to stop people who pirate stuff)

Room For Improvement
- there are too many characters for a short runtime, wish they had cut characters/narrowed the plot a bit more, that stuff with the brother and that violence was not needed at all
- the final episode made no sense especially Briggs' action (or lack there of), why couldn't the dad be the source of drama, lack of wrapping up/fully explaining plot lines
- Shao placed such importance on his first time so I was very disappointed with how that happened (and also totally unrealistic to be that coherent after being that drunk which is why I didn't label it as dub or non con)
- the innuendo jokes go on a bit too long/too many of them
- wish they had made Louise slightly more likable sooner
- the brother asking about his sex position was bad
- gender is fluid should not be equated with preferred sex position
- characters just randomly show up at the right time at the right place with zero explanation

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Gav & Cai - Baby, Baby, Baby!!!

Overall: fairly well done but too many side characters. The series is about double the run time of the movie which was both good and bad. There is another scene after the first end credits of the final episode. Watched on Gagaoolala (not available in US, Canada, Japan or Philippines).

Content Warnings: vomiting, homophobia

What I Liked
- season 1 and the movie both start off with Cai gaming so there is a parallel there
- the OST and music
- cute and caring moments like the laundry, apron tying, goggles
- several references to safe sex
- when they were "watching" the movie
- the flashback was pretty funny at the beginning of episode 2
- the actors do a good job with kissing, no dead fish lip presses, also it was realistic with their bedroom scene towards the end of ep 2 although once again Gav feels too pushy
- realistic fights and make ups

Room For Improvement
- as with all season 2s that have a longish break between seasons, I'd like a short recap of season 1
- Cai once again comes across as a bit too uninterested (and Gav pushing/ignoring boundaries) instead of nervous or wanting to keep things private
- too many side characters, I was both confused and bored with Wesley and Terrence
- it's odd that Chill wouldn't know his very good friend was in a relationship, I thought Cai and Gav were posting about each other on social media???
- I wished that the very last scene was not a flashback but a flash forward
- I'm frustrated that the movie just got an international platform 1 full year after it released and neither the movie nor series are available officially in four countries.

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First Impression: Wandee Goodday

Overall: looks to be a spicier romcom and I'm here for it. 12 episodes about 45 minutes each. Airing on GMMTV's YouTube channel.

What I Liked
- intro got my attention, though not a fan of flash forwards/backs in general to start a series
- did laugh a few times
- asexual representation
- established couple (hope they have more screen time)
- Wandee isn't a total pushover

Room For Improvement
- the slapstick comedy sound effects detracted from the humor a few times
- the very fictional so drunk a person is passed out and then a few minutes later appears not drunk at all
- friend leaving him extremely drunk, he should have said he had a hospital emergency and called a taxi which Wandee then didn't get into

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slice of life with some angst

Overall: I thought it was a fairly well done slice of life short indie series but it could have used some improvements. Two parts, 27 minutes total. Aired on Mind Trio's YouTube channel https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLHWvrNIJL6cWsd5_gigdAGHlGQAC4UYCU

Content Warning: punch

What I Liked
- a realistic confession and running away
- a few cute moments
- production value

Room For Improvement
- voice over exposition dumps
- flashbacks in such a short series
- at first I was confused that there were 3 characters, having a scene with all 3 of them would have been helpful before they had separate scenes
- timeline/how much time passed was confusing, also that extra scene at the end of the 2nd part, was that a flashback or did it take place after the series events?, because it doesn't seem like a lot of time passing and Time seems very fickle with his love
- the punch was not needed
- wish they had just focused it on 2 characters

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mixed feelings

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

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

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

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

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Terrible Ending In My Room

Overall: I watched the first 3 and half episodes and the last episode (cut version). Very disappointed at the ending.

Content Warnings: kind of attempted self harm/suicide - it's complicated, character death, horror, watching someone without their permission

What I Liked
- there was some stunning cinematography for example in the beginning with the light behind the characters, nice color scheming, music contributes to the mood
- the intro drawing/animation sequence
- the kiss in the final episode was well done

Room For Improvement
- in the cut version, there is zero explanation why Phob didn't turn into an evil ghost?!?
- Phob was too gutless to say goodbye to Phat (but then they did say goodbye, I have no idea why/how that came about)
- time skip and 50ish year old Phat says he married a woman but it didn't work out, he's dying of cancer and his mom died...then Phat and Phob reunite after Phat's death
- free version cuts out parts and it felt choppy in many places

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mostly a good mess

Overall: the trailer promised a bunch of flawed guys in messy relationships and it mostly delivered but some things didn't work for me. Aired 12 episodes about 45 minutes each on GMMTVs YouTube Channel

Content Warnings: manhandling, vomiting, manipulation, non con touching, non con recording/sharing, voyeurism, past attempted suicide, alcoholism, punches, drug usage, queerphobia

What I Liked
- they introduced the characters well, I could tell who they were and their relationships to one another
- some good showing not telling, just the way a character looks at another character tells me a lot about their feelings
- the different characters/relationship dynamics
- realistically flawed characters
- NSFW was well done
- GL established pair (however they had very little screen time and it felt like token representation instead of fleshed out characters/interesting plot)
- sweet moments
- how the ending credits change
- a character has two moms
- bixsexual representation
- ep 9 Sand and Nick were adorable
- showing a character going to therapy
- Yo & Plug's relationship and talking about the importance of trust
- production value

Room For Improvement
- Chueam just saying it was no big deal when Atom could have ruined a person's life and put him in jail was terrible character/plot writing (and unrealistic, I think most people would be super pissed at their sibling for that), and then there was a weak apology in the final episode
- Atom lying about non con also fuels the idea of survivors lying when in reality lying about this is very rare
- the flawed characters didn't bother me, but there wasn't enough growth for them to be in relationships, they all need therapy and to be solo for awhile
- Top, his redemption arc was not good, he ignored Mew's boundaries, was pretty manipulative and selfish, and the non con touching was awful
- Mew, seeing an optimistic character become jaded is something I don't enjoy watching, and I don't enjoy people who play games
- Ray, the writers needed to have him have a bit more character growth sooner and also not just say the right things but do the right things, he'd take a step forward and then a step back again, it's realistic to have setbacks but trying to cram everything in at the very end wasn't good
- Boeing, his character was not needed (although he was super hot), they should have spent more time on the other characters learning/growing (or not and then realistically ruining their relationships)
- the endings were really predictable and wish GMMTV had been a bit more risky
- showed monogamy as good and polyamory as bad
- there were a few jumpy parts, for example characters were cuddling at night and the next scene was during the day in a bookstore
- not a fan of the outfit/styling choices for many characters
- sometimes music didn't fit the mood like a serious part would have this upbeat music

(info) in ep 1 I was a bit confused by the colored wristbands to denote relationship status, apparently this is a real thing (which I think is an awesome idea)

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quirky series that felt like it took me 1000 years to watch

Overall: I was excited for this quirky romcom but it was extremely slow at times and had odd tonal shifts. It's from the same director/screenwriter as I Will Knock You and they had similar aesthetics. 12 episodes about 40 minutes each. Aired on GagaOOLala (not in Thailand, Brunei, Cambodia, Laos, Indonesia, Malaysia, Myanmar, South Korea, Japan, Hong Kong, Macau) & WeTV (vpn to Thailand).

Content Warnings: attempted suicide, murders, blood, violence, self harm, stalking, trespassing

What I Liked
- cute moments
- supportive friend group and sister
- eclectic wardrobe (sweaters/shirts) and accessories (umbrellas)
- the cat
- ep 5, good he didn't kiss Yoh when sleeping
- ep 9 around 31 minutes
- Shin
- (neutral), the comedy sound effects are there but not as egregious as in other series

Room For Improvement
- very slow pacing for most of the series, I was frequently bored with the eating, dancing, talking about pork blood soup, etc
- Yoh did all that terrible stuff to Pun and even though Pun said he was fine it made me really dislike Yoh, Yoh was too dumb/mean for me to like him and Pun was also unbelievable stupid/unaware for someone who has lived for that long (Pun is explained in episode 12)
- the tonal shifts from fluffy/campy to violent/serious (such as the beginning of episode 2 which I did not find funny) did not work for me
- inconsistent/convenient world building, information in episode 8/9 did not mesh with the exposition dump in episode 2 (some of it made sense in episode 12 but that was too long)
- not sure why they tried to do the tease at the beginning as the title, summary and trailer all gave a plot point away
- there were some fast cuts in the beginning and I wasn't sure if there was a time jump or not until the scene went on
- exposition dump in most of episode 12 and revealed information much too late
- one dimensional villain character
- felt like a middle school romance

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heartwarming slice of life/romance series

Overall: I enjoyed this friends/roommates turned into romantic partner stories, though it could have used slightly faster pacing. 8 episodes about 25 minutes each. Airing on GagaOOLala https://www.gagaoolala.com/en/videos/4215/living-with-him-2024-e01

What I Liked
- caring/sweet moments
- clear flashbacks and enjoyed seeing them when they were young
- ex girlfriend wasn't a cliche, non-cliche female characters
- a character was a bit naive but he did figure things out and communicated
- supportive family members, dynamics felt realistic
- Haruna was such a good wingman and friend
- overall realistic with trying to maintain boundaries but also being jealous
- production value

Room For Improvement
- not a fan of starting a series with a voice over exposition dump
- episode 2 had a too long recap of episode 1 at the beginning
- some slow pacing
- Ryota did annoy me a bit but I tried to keep in mind that he had low self-esteem and is likely struggling with internalized homophobia and/or heteronormativity
- cliche almost told something and got interrupted, the running scene

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Thai romcom

Overall: this is the epitome of a Thai romcom. 12 episodes about 45 minutes each. Airing on GMMTV's YouTube channel, playlist https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLszepnkojZI72NwYDLdpMM17t-B-9BvTB&si=1Jdv5bf4kpg-sShr

Content Warnings: held against will, harassment, past death

What I Liked
- clear premise
- a few central characters
- cute moments
- the friendship
- Kang's supportive mom and that Moo's mom is smart and sees thru him

Room For Improvement
- wish Kang had shown Moo some interest instead of showing distaste and then turning his back to show the viewer that he enjoyed Moo's flirting for the first 5 episodes
- after a clear rejection in an episode, I wanted Kang to be the one to approach Moo but unfortunately it was once again Moo
- comedy sound effects are a bit excessive for me
- starting with a flash forward

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darker slice of life short series

Overall: I would categorize this as a slice of life/coming of age series rather than a BL, it is definitely worth watching and I hope they make a second season. Aired on YouTube and Facebook.

Content Warnings: please look at my comment as some are spoilers

What I Liked
- interesting premise, nice twists
- Tang had a realistic reaction with throwing a sheet over the mirror
- backstory given for why Tang acts how he does
- that it showed a darker side of an aggressive pursuit
- cute moments

Room For Improvement
- wanted more of Neo's backstory
- some timeline confusion but it makes sense by the end
- the subtitles have errors but I didn't take off for this nor the obvious product placement

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First Impression: OMG Vampire

Overall: I was pleasantly surprised by the campy first episode. 8 episodes about 50 minutes each. Airing on WeTV https://wetv.vip/en/play/m9ytee03pftoltl-OMG%20Vampire%20(Uncut%20Ver.) Very Great also made Physical Therapy and Crazy Handsome Rich

Content Warnings: death, blood, manipulation

What I Liked
- the over the top campy humor did make me chuckle a few times (Thaiwilight City)
- beginning scene got my attention
- good kissing
- lack of voice dubbing

Room For Improvement
- that was the most world building exposition dumps I think I've seen in my life but they did make the world building clear at least
- convenient world building, the problem is population increase but then same sex relationships are worse somehow???
- why wouldn't he just sleep for 200 years? I guess he was nervous about something happening in 6 years but given his age seemed unlikely
- super improbable that would happen to the 4 of them at the exact same time
- Dance of the Sugarplum Fairy music

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3rd Time Is Not The Charm

Overall: I debated even starting this because of the production company (google Motive Village controversy and you can learn about it). But I wanted to support the actors.

Content Warnings: flashback to non/dub con sex (drunk)

What I Liked
- the Forth/Beam kiss was decent
- (neutral) animations

Room For Improvement
- the reboot (season 2 aka season 1 plus extra plot line) ended on a major cliffhanger so I expected this to pick up where it left off but instead we have 2 new characters as the leads with a totally different plot
- the 6 of them sitting around and re-creating their stories was an exposition dump
- there are 3 established couples that didn't really do anything and don't have chemistry/they don't feel like established couples, i.e. an established couple who had a dead fish lip press kiss
- two seemingly straight guys starting as rivals who will eventually fall into the 'gay for you' trope
- production value (odd camerawork, goofy background music that didn't fit)
- effeminate guys stereotyped as boy obsessed/shrill
- boring, they even put a flashback in 27 min to earlier in that same episode
- a stupid competition
- what a weird thing for a person in an established relationship to do when someone asks for his phone number
- no official international release

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hilarious, poignant and heartwarming

Overall: Ossan's Love Returns was my favorite in the franchise. The writers managed to balance several different genres (comedy, fluff, angst, mystery) well and we had character growth. 9 episodes about 45 minutes each. Aired on GagaOOLala (along with the rest of the franchise except Ossan's Love Hong Kong) and Viki.

Content Warnings: past death/murder, past violence, grief, non con kiss

What I Liked
- how Haruta and Maki had their flaws but they communicated with one another, apologized when they messed up and continued to love and care for each other, there was some excellent character growth
- clever ways they integrated the episode name
- sweet moments
- funny moments (I laughed so many times)
- realistic parts (like the bed head)
- ongoing physical interest/affection
- Moonlight Chicken (Earth/Mix) cameo
- how they integrated rainbows into the episodes

Room For Improvement
- the non con kiss with the new characters
- perpetuating the stereotype of a mother in law who is mean/exacting to a spouse
- wish we had a bit more time/resolution with several of the characters instead of a mad dash at the end
- if characters aren't comfortable doing something like at the end of episode 9, then the production should cast other actors

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