Reviews

Sanji on board! :D

this was a great episode! <3 but onto spoilers! XD Zoro mihawks fight was nice i love that they left the tiny sword. Kinda wish zoro's flashback was here and not in usopp arc but there would have been no time. for me personally the emotions were not as strong as i felt in the manga and the anime. I think mostly it was because that whole fight happened right after don krieg, and zeff and sanji were also watching this fight, and then zoro cried T_T this was such a big moment. But i think because of time constrants they had to cut a lot out. and it was still good considering how much they had to remove. however for me the problems with don kriegs removal start here, because luffy doesn't have his hero moment here. he doesn't save baratie. zeff doesn't say his iconic line about luffy's inner strength. This while part was the one that had sanji gravitate towards joining the strawhats. Also watching zoro's fight too. Other than that zoro pledging loyalty to luffy, i almost cried T_T but tbh luffy here is so much weaker, that zoro being the only strong one pledging his loyalty to him felt a bit strange but still nice. I didn't like nami blaming luffy for this. though i do understand where they come from. nami holding usopp's hand was super nice. shows some bonding, shows that she cares, and also ties with later parts of the story where nami and usopp constantly panic together XD i like how they showed zeff and sanji cooking together, it showed that they are not really hating each other. Sanji's backstory, honeslty the best one so far, i think because it was coherent. wasn't cut out and sprinkled throughout. A little sad that they decided to make emphasis on him making gourmet food or something instead of throwing away the leftovers. That was such a great arc for sanji, and they could have totally done it. I love that they stuck to the manga version about the leg. The actor playing wee sanji was doing great. But i'll be honest i was so immersed untill he said "you ate your leg" honestly it was terrifying and more impactful than the anime/manga but when he said the phrase it broke my immersion. I do think this was one of those times where they should have gone with the show not tell method. Same with shanks. instead of it's my fault, just crying would have been more impactful for me personally. Here too if he just lost strength in his knees and just fell down of the horrible though, instead of saying about the leg, would have been so much more impactful for me. But nevertheless this backstory was the one i liked the most. And i believe it was because it was shown as a whole. (thank you oda sensei for telling them to keep the backstories as is and not change them T_T), speaking of oda sensei even though i love zoro and nami bonding over drinks but That you Oda sensei for telling them not to include any romance with strawhats! There is completely no need for romance in here! it will only drag them down. Arlong coming here. honestly i wasn't really against arlong being shown early, but the thing is, first of all Luffy fighting arlong here was super unnecessary, this is not a kaidou fight, showing luffy losing easily like that created more problems for me. Second bring the phrase "which one of you is arlong" here is so sad T_T this phrase lost it's meaning and took a different meaning in here. :( in the manga luffy says it in the village helping nami, and there it was sooooooooooo impactful, as it was like i don't care what rumors i have heard, i don't care who you are, you hurt my friend so come out and i'll beat you. That was so impactful. here it wasn't. But at the same time i'm thankful they kept the phrase. But luffy losing here, was strange, because now when he loses, Sanji's desire to join the crew feels strange, and zeff being ok with sanji leaving was also strange. They didn't see zoro fight, the y just saw him deadly injured, they didn't see luffy against don krieg, they just saw how he was beaten by arlong. So him leaving felt a bit odd. i kind of wish they would have kept the whole stuff being like go away sanji your cooking is bad and all, but i understand that they didn't have time. Also the "dogeza". the goodbye and thank you on knees T_T man i cried during that moment, but here him being on top of the ship and looking down on zeff but saying thank you was a bit odd :( even though he acted very well, his voice cracking and all. I guess this was more for a western audience. :( though i'm also one, but i prefer the japanese way XDStill they have done really great if we consider all the limitations they had!luffy saying zoro i need you and zoro pledging loyalty here. Honestly it was moving, but at the same time, i felt sorry for luffy, i was thinking like, yes zoro please protect our precious luffy. While luffy has to be stronger from the very start XD But I LOVE luffy jumping on zoro immediately after zoro waking up XD lol XD that's so luffy XDNami leaving it was very different so it didn't have that shocking impact of "omg she is evil she betrayed them O__O them" feel that the manga had XD it was good in it's own way <3 oh right, mihawk telling garp about luffy. honestly i'm not sure about this. he fought zoro, so he could have told about zoro, but he didn't see anything of luffy, except him having shank's hat. but i guess maybe like haki feeling or something XDmarines, i still think they are taking too much of the precious time but at the same time understand why they are doing it XD coby and helmeppo bonding over drinks? XD it was weird and had vibes that were not really about those two but ok XD i still ship coby with that girl from the manga though. Overall it was a great episode, which ties us in with arlong park! :D but i have to mention how much i love the paintings on baratie walls! and gaimon being in one of those T_T perfection T_T

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ep 11 review

1.After leaving the manor, the two men arrive in the city. Here they witness a scene: a young man from a heavenly sect is in the streets yelling at an unseen silk master, a woman named 'Ping'Er' whom he accuses of ruining his fiancée's wedding gown. Shu Shu gets involved in spite of Xiao Fan's warning not to. He even gives away their identity (what sect they are from). She uses silk threads to bind all three of them without even seeing them (I like her). They manage to escape and we learn that when this guy was a kid, he was ugly, he became a martial arts disciple however before leaving his friend 'Ding Ding' (yup) and him made a promise to marry. Now that he is back, Ping'Er (I bet this is Ding Ding all grown up) refuses to let him see her (I guess he is also good looking now)



2.OMG....so Shu Shu comes up with the brilliant idea that they disguise him as Mr. Jia, a merchant, and his disguise consists of a mustache and purple robes (a toddler could see through this disguise). Meanwhile Shu Shu and Xiao Fan act like thugs to stage a scene where Jia can save the day and gain Ping'er's trust....



3.Well, she sees through this sham. They are arrested. Thrown in jail. Rescued by Shu Shu's grandfather who is a noble...



4.Meanwhile, Xue Qi and Yue are doing their job and looking for the cave. They check out the location and find nothing. She wonders if the intel is wrong but Yue reminds her demons are cunning...



5.We go to Qi (the spy) and Lin Er. They are having a kind of innocent romantic scene. He promises to take her when he leaves the mountain....(I wonder where? ghost kingdom? you should tell the truth and beg forgiveness!)



6.We go to Tian, who is worrying about Xiao Fan. It seems he really thinks of him like a son.



7.It seems Shu Shu's grandpa wants him to compete to be a city leader but Shu Shu doesn't want to (he probably wants him to settle down and pop out a few grand kids). But benefits of being city leader include having access to spiritual vessels and rare plants...hmm....not a bad deal...



8.We learn that the current city leader has been moving people from medicinal areas because of so called ghost sightings (uh huh....this show is now adding random filler)



9.Ok fine it is a blood sucking monster (recall Qi is that) but still, this plot is moving so slowly now!

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Oh My Sexual (2020) Episode 1: Oh My Pandemic!

The directors and producers weren't kidding when they said Oh My Sexual is different. It's not formula, it's not the usual Filipino (Pinoy) boys' love (BL) story. It's a black or dark comedy given a documentary-experimental narrative treatment. Episode 1: Oh My Pandemic! was interesting to say the least. It was set during the pandemic as represented by the news about the Philippine national government's chaotic response to the worsening virus outbreak. Individual anxieties and distresses were highlighted in this episode using black or dark humor. Was it palatable and relatable for the audience? I'm not sure yet. Staying true to the nature of dark comedy, who are the oppressed whose morale is strengthened and who are the oppressors whose morale is undermined in this series? I don't know yet. Acting was generally ok. There were some exaggerations but these are to be expected in dark humor. Audio and video weren't that good. This episode was shot entirely from the homes of the actors through Google Meet. Initially, video quality was at 360p but later on video quality of 1080p high definition (HD) was made available but it was still a bit grainy. And the English subtitles were often times not in sync with the audio. Given all of these, is this series worth my time? I'll give it a few more episodes before I give an answer.

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Disappointing So Far...

I was really excited when this mini-series was announced! 2gether was my gateway drug into the world of BL and will always have a special place in my heart. My expectations for this series was high! However, a part of me felt that I was going to be disappointed, which after watching Episode 1, I unfortunately am. This is what I was worried about; that this mini-series won't be any good... And it wasn't (so far). It felt forced, unnatural and kinda dull to be honest. The charm, the klig, the magic of its predecessor series have disappeared. Even the last several episodes of 2gether were better than the first episode of Still 2gether in my opinion. I'm not a fan of the desaturated look for this series, which is a stark contrast to the vibrant colors of 2gether, though it is understandable as it was filmed and released during the COVID crisis, which may have caused the production to be limited. Or at least, that's what I'm thinking. Hopefully, they didn't just skip the color grading just to rush-release this series. The backtracking by providing answers to Sarawat's actions like why he didn't visit Tine in the hospital, or why he let Pam hug him or why he let Mil take Tine to the hospital, is understandable though kinda tasteless in my opinion. What's done is done. Like what Sarawat said in the first episode, "Let bygones be bygones. We shouldn't bring it up." The writers should just improve from there. There's no point backtracking, which seems like a cheap attempt to save face and cover their tracks, especially when the answers were half-assed. It is directed by Backof, who directed Dark Blue Kiss and my favourite BL (thus far) He's Coming To Me, who is also gay too! However, so far his efforts with this series are lacking. The directing and editing seems a bit too janky and amateurish unfortunately. Probably due to them rushing through production and post-production to get this series out to the public as soon as possible. The story also didn't make any sense. Tine and Sarawat has been in a relationship for a year yet Tine still gets shocked when he sees Sarawat naked or still refuses to let Sarawat touch his pecs. The other relationships also felt forced and I didn't care for them to be honest. The first episode had so much head-patting and awkward fan service but literally no tender, boyfriend-type affection at all. It actually felt like Tine and Sarawat's chemistry/relationship regressed from being friends in 2gether to being roommates. For some reason, they felt colder and more distant towards one another. On a related note, I wonder if there will be a kiss in this series as the high-five in the finale got SO MUCH HATE!

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before anything have to ask, why Ming's…

before anything have to ask, why Ming's younger brother mute?!? this been bugging me for a while now - this kid's so cute. u cant give him a line? seeing him interact without dialogue is getting so weird to watch. what he got a funny voice? u don't need to know how to act, to just say one word. better then him just shaking his head and the endless hugging cause of it, just feels fake. ***********************************************************************************************************************************************ep wise have to say i didn't get Ming and his whole convo with Cairo, it was cute when he was teasing him, until he took him to Calix trying to convince him for another game - like why?!? as is personally i've had enough of Luke's belligerent attitude - who died and made him queen?!? he fighting and being rude with Everyone, it's tiresome - go take a chill pill dude. everyone's hurting, but they don't go around 'looking for a fight' at every turn. and considering how he treated Cairo, why should Cairo keep apologizing? or even try an pay Calix just so Luke can soothed his injured-pride and get a chance to win a game - as is the bet is Stoopid!!! and everyone knowing what it's about, still helping another game to happen?!? weird dumb logic if u ask me. ***********************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************on the other hand i get Calix agreeing - he if anyone does have a reason to have a sourpuss look on his face let alone belligerent attitude and he doesn't - the only one he butt's heads with is Luke and considering his attitude - little wonder. but considering Calix's family i don't blame him. he really doesn't have any other go -*************************************************************************************************************************************************that's why i kinda love Joey - she one hell of a friend, she always trying to make Calix think of himself. and she also always tris to help and do stuff for their group unlike the other friend. she is a worth bff to have. ********************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************side note - who needed to new chick?!? as is at first i though she was Luke's ex who had gotten a make-over. but nope now there's a new chick and she connected to Ming - like WTH?!? as is nothing is going anywhere in this plot i would say whatever if this was just a drama - but this being sold as a BL and there is yet to be even one couple. Cairo hugging Ming doesn't a couple make ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

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