My Friendship 2: Before the Rainbow (2022)

Beautiful and powerful

This story is so authentic that it hurled me back to that age in a way that I haven't felt in a long time. This is what you can get when you put together good writing, directing, and acting.

In an hour a more complete story was told than you get in most 12-episode series - testament to the power of the image, and how a facial expression can convey more than 20 minutes of voiceover or exposition.

Oak is better in this than anything he's done before, conveying an innocent loneliness, insecurity, and longing in a way that you usually don't see as he's tended to be in more comical roles. Mon is shattering, and I was amazed at his first-rate performance in the last scene. That was very difficult material to pull off, and would have been dull with an off-the-shelf actor, but it's clear he put a lot of work and thought into the scene and received able guidance from the director, for whom this is clearly a very personal story.

Highly recommended.

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Just Brilliant in its Simplicity

While it may not be necessary to watch 1 before 2, it might make more sense since 2 is the prequel to 1. However, I watched 2 before the first series and for me, it was not necessarily the smoothest of transitions. But the story is simple, basic, yet conveys a sense of life as it really exists. One comes to terms with who he is and the other does not. There are only two characters in these series and so the whole story is shouldered on the strength and conviction of these two young men. Mon and Oak are the powerhouse couple in BL today but are not recognized as so. Just brilliant acting.
See my full review at BLBliss.com.

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