Gameboys Season 2 (2022)

Hanggang sa huli! (Until the end!)

Besides the fact that this was basically an extended version of the movie, we have to consider that it’s quite the opposite of what some other series tried to do in relation to the OG series and its movie. (Looking at you, 2gether: The Movie)

Some people will sure argue that it’s a lazy ploy for the production company, but I’d beg to differ. This series really added more depth to the story. As a fan, I really enjoyed that extended cut of the movie; it still had all the highs and lows from the film, and then some. All of the scenes are somewhat made more intense, in addition to the new scenes that weren't in the movie; it was just a treat to get more depth from their story.

All the feels! Hanggang sa huli! (Until the end)

I’ll attach my original review for the movie since, again, it’s practically Gameboys the Move ++.

~~~~ORIGINAL FILM REVIEW~~~~

This film is indeed a long time coming. Being born from the initial outbreak and lockdown in the Philippines, Gameboys is an inspiring piece of work that reminds us that even through great adversity, love and family are still the most powerful things we have.

The film is a fabulous mix of the camera style we got to love from the original series, while also expanding upon it with scenes where our beloved characters are seen actually together in person. The obvious juxtaposition of the movie from the original series is just amazing to see, while the cinematography and the obvious regard of color theory was just exquisite. Its production is the opposite of disingenuous to its fans, and we loved to see it.

The story is a direct sequel to the events of the original series. We see Cairo and Gavreel, along with Pearl and a few not so surprising characters, go through the brief time the main couple is allowed before Cairo leaves for Bukidnon. And of course, along the way, there has to be some drama. And drama it was. Makes-you-want-to-punch-someone-on-the-face level of drama, but best you check that out on your own. ;)

Highlights include the character developments of Terrence, Wesley, and Achilles. They had such great potential from the original series, and I loved that they were given a chance to elaborate on their somehow complicated relationship. That, among other parts, of course, was straight up proper queer representation. Heteronormative tropes say what? We don’t know her.

Another highlight is the tita Susan character which was so on the nose on the cliché über religious Boomer. I mean, she was clutching a Santo Niño at the start like it was a purse! She is the epitome of what we of the LGBTQIA+ abhor and fight against. Kudos to the actress. I genuinely wanted to throw her off a cliff, and that’s a complete complement in this regard. It’s quite a toxic character, and a reality a lot of people in the community from predominantly Roman Catholic countries like the Philippines have to face so often. My heart goes out to them.

The character is clearly a commentary on how Catholics seem so ready to involve themselves with the affairs of the LGBTQIA+. They seem so ready to give their unsolicited and baseless opinions as if the LGBTQIA+ are a commodity or an object they can just play with and never take seriously. It’s such a curious reality in our world. Like us being gay somehow is about them. Not us. THEM.

The character and her part in the story reminded me of a quote from Into the Woods: “Careful the things you say, children will listen. Careful the things you do, children will see and learn."

Fact of the matter is that children listen and remember the words that you may have thought wouldn’t leave a scar. Words or comments that seem to be so light to you can have a tremendous and lasting effect on others. Words can leave scars, and children do remember. I hope this message resonates with every person who sees the film. We have to be careful with what we say, even to children.

We as LGBTQIA+ stand on the shoulders of those who came before us. We have to fight for our rights. Grinning and bearing the lashing words of the ignorant can only get us so far; we don’t deserve to hide who we are and who we love. A message I hope that resonates with everyone who sees the film is that whether you are a member of the LGBTQIA+ community or otherwise, remember that we are all part of the fight. We have to do our part to battle for our rights. LOVE WINS ALWAYS.

Lastly, of course it won’t be surprising that So, Canlas, and de Santos gave fabulous performances reminding us why we loved Gameboys in the first place. Our boys have come so far from where they started. Cairo and Gavreel have gone through so much during this pandemic, and they do deserve the happiness they fought for. Canlas and de Santos really make us feel the hardships and emotions of being LGBTQIA+. It feels so real. It feels so right. Pearl, on the other hand, ever so charming, is a cherry on top of this Gameboys cake, she deserves all the love, too.

To end this, it was very humbling to be reminded subtly of the adversity COVID has wrought upon the Philippines and the world. Love and family can be the last things we hold after experiencing so much hardship and death. We fight on with those we love and care for with our heads high and continue the good fight. COVID may have ruined a lot of things for us, but it can’t ruin the human spirit.

Gameboys the movie is a solid 10/10 from this fan.
ALL THE KILIG IN THE WORLD!

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I was like baby, baby, baby ohhhhhhhhh

Gameboys Season 2. Easily my most anticipated series of the year. Gameboys S1 is my number 1 and I loved the movie and was looking forward to seeing how s2 would add to that story. I was not disappointed (by Cai and Gav).

Now I personally never cared for Wesley and Terrence so their additions didn't do much for me but Terrence did provide some angst and jealousy and opportunity for Cai to not be a demon twink, so I did appreciate that.

Admittedly, as an interfan, the wait and the vpn's and the difficulty of accessing season 2 was a bummer but each episode I was so happy to be back in Gav's house and the world of Gameboys.

I think season 2 was very strong overall and I can feel my emotions well up if I think about the ending scenes of the season.
TIFC and EliKoy are magic and the lightning in the bottle is still there for me.

The waits might be torturously long but watching Gav and Cai always are the perfect balm.

Gameboys was and still remains my number 1 series.

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great plot that many bl series do lack

im glad i watched this , i didnt watch the movie, i dont know but people said its better to watch this season instead as its the same as the movie ,just more detailed.
and honestly? i bing watched the season 2 in one day which is something i rarely do, so i did enjoy it a lot.
another thing, i rarely enjoy s1 and s2 of a show because i usually find s2 lacking but guess what? not with this one.
the writers of this serie are talented,creative and good at making content, if they make more bls i do want to watch.
even the issues that cai and gav have do make a lot of sense, not some nonsense that i see in some other bls (silly problems)
,so no ,even the issues look real and you can see the point of view of both of them and it show healthy relationships too, no consent issues going on.
the second couple terrence and wesley are so damn cute and hot, i find myself wanting to see more of them
this show could be a little bit cheesy, cringy ,esp when the words baby are so overly used but its a great show with a great plot and great acting, the ost too its perfect,what more to ask?
so , if you didnt watch this serie yet, i highly recommend it to you

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Ahh to be this young and dramatic

What a sweet story of young love meeting real world obstacles. Well worth the shenanigans I had to navigate to be able to track it down and watch it.

Similar to season 1, it took me a bit to get used to how earnest and cheesy this pairing is - it’s a bit much at times! But once you adjust and accept that someone will be calling out “baby!” approximately every 10 seconds, this is a really heartfelt and honest depiction of first love between young characters.

I really enjoyed the opportunity to see these characters build a relationship in person after their virtual Covid romance in the first series, and thought the small bumps and challenges they faced were very natural, rather than feeling contrived. The side stories with the friend group, while sometimes annoying, also felt very true to the age of the characters and the kind of drama you can expect in a small circle where everyone has dated everyone else at one point or another. The acting and chemistry was on point, and the production values were top notch.

I’m hopeful that there will be a final installment, as this had an open-ending that sets up the next segment of the story nicely, should they get the chance to make it. If that happens, I also hope for better distribution so fans can actually watch it!

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Gameboys 2 Much To Handle

So this is basically the Gameboys film but with some clips added in. It pads out Terrence and Wesley's story, adds in some character to Achilles and Pearl. Those were great, there's also some stuff added to Cai and Gav's story which were very much appreciated. I wish though that this had more and it was its own thing. There's too much good chemistry here not to continue on with the story. The extended ending definitely makes me want to see more, but I mean what else is new with this series!? Please release a season 3, we wanna see a wedding lol and I want to see more of our side couple. Pearl and Achilles deserve boo's too! Like TWICE said we want MORE and MORE!!! XD

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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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Franquia encerrada, mas o nome tá gravado na história!

Assim como a primeira temporada e as obras que derivaram dela, com certeza essa nova season entregou muito talento, inovação e dessa vez abordou assuntos delicados. Minha única e exclusiva crítica, é o fato dela ser uma reprise de Gameboys the movie com final adaptado, de resto, tudo maravilhoso.

O roteiro ainda tem foco na pandemia, mas dessa vez num momento de maior flexibilidade. o que possibilitou os amigos se reunirem. A série mostra um pouco da família de Gav, que não tinha sido mostrada na primeira temporada, e esse foi um dos pontos altos, pois sendo ele quem iniciou o relacionamento com Cairo, incentivou Cairo a se assumir, e nunca escondeu do mundo sua orientação sexual, simplesmente a série surpreende me aparecendo com uma tia religiosa, deixando claro seu preconceito com pessoas LGBT, e ainda estendendo esse preconceito ao resto da família de Gav, como se ser gay para eles fosse uma doença. Pior de tudo é ver que ele aceita, mesmo sofrendo. Esse assunto foi abordado de forma muito bem colocada, mostra o sofrimento de Gav por fingir não ser quem é, mostra a crítica que ele faz ao filho hétero da tia, que engravidou uma moça sem casar (lá é um país bem religioso, e a tia só fala na igreja) e não assume o filho, até o momento em que Cairo foi atacado e o amor falou mais alto, pois ele aceitava ser insultado, mas não permitiu que insultassem seu bb. Outro ponto que foi abordado, foram as crises de ansiedade acarretadas por fatores externos, inclusive poderiam ter falado mais sobre isso. Outra situação mostrada, foi a utilização das redes sociais, já que Pearl é famosa na internet, para conseguir ajudar outras pessoas, assim como o perdão entre o trio de garotos amigos de Cairo e Gav, isso sem falar de uma das cenas de amor mais icônicas da história BL, que simplesmente entregou tudo!!! Atuação, consentimento, veracidade, e ainda quebrou o tabu de seme/uke que reina no mundo BL.

Em suma, mais um sucesso absoluto, fechou a franquia com chave de ouro, e deixou seu nome marcado na história do BL. Todos os aspectos técnicos estavam ainda mais impecáveis, atores e personagens super carismáticos e com uma química de milhões, uma história linda que vale a pena ser vista e re-vista, trilhas sonoras apaixonantes. Recomendo muito!!!!

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