PPBongi
California, USA
Profoundly Moving Sometimes while Mundane Overall
This was a hard series for me to get through. Let me just say upfront that it is one of the best acted Thai BL series to come along in a long time. And they actually tackled some interesting real-life situations not in the usual manner but with some realistic approaches. Yet, the story all seemed so ordinary to me and I just did not buy the relationship between the two leading actors. In order for me to accept it, it has to look real and feel real but I just did not see that. However, who really 'stole' this series are the incredible supporting roles. These actors and actresses were unbelievably good and did a way more convincing job than than the main characters. I cannot say enough about how good these people were. Please do not misunderstand; no one did a bad job in acting. I just did not buy the relationship. If it were not for the supporting characters, this series would have been rather dull. I loved them a lot and they carried this series. There is also such a glaring flaw in logic in this story that is just not handled well at all. It will hit you in the face when you realize what it is. It simply made no sense. If you want to read my full review of this series (where I name specific individuals and how they 'stole' this series, go to BLBliss.com.Was this review helpful to you?
A Wonderful Non-BLthat is BL
I do not care what anyone else wrote about this series, but it is a very good love story. No, not in the BL sense of the word, but it brought love into the forefront of this amazingly good narrative about mental illness and compassion. It is quite a beautiful journey in which there parts that made me cry and at other times, made me bust out laughing. It is one of the most human stories out there and show how deeply you can love someone in other ways besides physically. I know that sounds odd but it is a deeply intense series and I for one appreciated its message of companionship, friendship, understanding, and yes love. I hope people watch it,But can understand why they would not The production is just awful. Disjointed and poor editing. PLEASE, PLEASE do something about translating these series into English with some sophistication. It was just awful. In one case, they had a translation that was not for that episode. I get that these series are not perhaps made for English speaking countries, but if you want to widen the audience, do SOMETHING about making the translations better. These series and actors are so good but it is cheapened by bad translations. I for one deeply appreciate the efforts that are being done in this genre. God, knows, the USA will not likely ever get on board of doing these kinds of series. (Ok, Love Victor, as one exception).
If you want to read my full review of this outstanding series, please go to BLBliss.com
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Phenomenal and Profound Work of Art
I watched this series quite serendipitously and was so moved by its message and acting that I can not stop thinking about it. It is soulful, profoundly sad, and a masterpiece of acting. The singing by Jeff Satur is excellent and is also profoundly moving. This is not your typical BL series and I know that it might not appeal to a lot of fans but this series is ACTING at its finest with a story that is as interpretative as you want it to be. YOU draw your own conclusions. You experience its emotions on your own. While short in duration (about 45 minutes in total), it will leave you questioning what happened before, during, and after.I am trying to write in greater detail the review of this series on my website but need time to process its complete impact on me. Please go to see it at BLBliss.com. I shall post it soon.
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A Classic
I transported myself back to that time and found the film to be remarkable. This story is deeply, deeply moving. Funny at times. A coming-of-age essay also. It is also profoundly sad reaching the core of one’s inner being. It grabs you and shakes you and tells you clearly that your life will never be the same and a small hole will exist where the heart is. But you still go on. The acting in this series is profoundly moving and is elevated by the supporting characters as well. While this movie may now be ‘older’, it is still relevant today as we all know that families can not and will not accept gay relationships or even recognize love between two persons of the same sex.Was this review helpful to you?
A Complete Miss
I desperately, and I mean desperately, wanted to like this ‘reality’ show about 10 gay guys from Hong Kong getting together for what was posted as a gay dating show. The production company seemed at least to me to be pushing issues where there were none and also contriving things that were not. Their interference either in the dating process or the control of the conversations was inappropriate, leading, and judgmental. This show also did not allow for the possibility that maybe just maybe none of them would want to date anyone on the show. If you are ‘selling’ gayness, then show it. Show these guys are real people not in some contrived or make-believe world that to some degree was unrelatable with an emphasis on what is wrong with them. They had a lot to say even if they did not say it. How? By being in it. That spoke volumes.That is what you should have shown. You can read my full review at BLBliss.com.
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First Note of Love But Flat Story
Conceptually, this series ‘sounds’ like a winner. A budding singing duo composed of two likeable brothers. Tragically, one of them dies on the way to a concert site. The other one becomes lost in his own malaise for 5 years. All of that sounds like a great connection story but the sequence of events for them were choppy and insufferably boring. Their relationship looked and felt creepy to me. Even though both were adults, it still felt off. Honestly, I never bought their relationship. Honestly, I was unmoved by this series. I felt little from it. A few good scenes to be sure but nothing sustainable. There was way too much reliance on flashbacks.Was this review helpful to you?
Club Friday Hot Love Issue: Domestic Incident
1 people found this review helpful
Great Story; Lousy Connection
I was thunderstruck by the theme of this series. It is one story in an anthology labeled Club Friday. Its content is one I have never seen before and certainly involves a very controversial topic. If they had been more adult about its fruition and handled it like a ruminative production, this would and could have been up there as the Best BL for 2024. However, in my opinion, they lacked the courage to push the envelope here to make it more consequential. While the story is of great significance, I just wish it would have gone deeper, uglier, rawer, darker, and more profoundly emotional – as real life would have been. Nonetheless, I applaud this series for telling and bringing to the forefront a unique story. Kudos for a subject matter rarely if ever posited. The stepdad obviously did not want to be in this series. Would not kiss.Was this review helpful to you?
Grab You Then Loses You
This series was astonishingly hooking at the beginning. I was completely mesmerized by its fascinating story and intriguing premise. And I love period pieces and stories that reflect the culture, customs, and religions of other societies. To want to live so for someday he could reunite with his reincarnated love was just magical and so romantic. And I believed it. I wanted this story to be true. Perhaps that is the sentimentalist in me. I became starry-eyed and wanted to see true love be never ending. While this series is entertaining, it lost its magic when it got so deep into its own story. The convoluted twists and turns were simply too much and throughout it became harder and harder to find the characters likeable. Overall, this series is mildly entertaining. It certainly started out strong but then as it progressed, it seemed to flounder in what exactly it wanted to say and how to say it. I never quite bought the love story.Was this review helpful to you?
Never Reached A Pinnacle; Awful Ending
This is a series that got so close to the mountain top but just fell short of reaching its summit. That is too bad as the story itself was original and creative and very likeable. But it all crumbled at its denouement. My own suspect was that they did not want to make it too gay for reasons that elude me. This series had so much potential. The relationship between the disabled and ‘normal’ worlds was captured with good accuracy. You had a protagonist that found his calling from this experience in wanting to devote his professional life to helping others. We see that individuals with a disability can and often do use their disability for the wrong reasons or use it as an excuse for inappropriate behavior. This series would have been an outstanding one if it had taken it to a greater intense level in which we were shown that an actual and genuine real love relationship could occur.Was this review helpful to you?
Just another 'Basketball' BL
While parts of it are well crafted, well written, and even occasionally well-acted, all that gets lost in the completely mundane storyline replete with the usual trite, cliché set-ups and standard screenplay. It is just another one in a long-line of other ‘basketball’ BLs that are similar. This one, seriously, had nothing even creative or original about it. As usual, it writes itself. It is simply another 'basketball' BL and not a very good one at that. The minor characters of Shogun and Que made this series, and I do not think I have ever stated that about supporting characters in a series before. If it were not for these two very interesting and dynamic characters, this series would have been an abysmal failure. Overall, there was just nothing here to sustain my interest or even be entertaining. These two gave it life and a connection to empathy.You can read my full review of this series at BLBliss.com.
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A Visual Guide For Dating
One would have to be completely dead inside to not get a warm cozy feeling from watching this film. It is a joy to behold and drink in. And it is so astonishingly relatable because it is happening to ordinary people under very ordinary situations. It is a pure story of love with its only requirement being someone courageous enough to make the first move. Honestly, one does not need to read manuals, books, or listen to experts on how to find love; all one needs to do is watch this movie. It gives you a step-by-step visual presentation of what to do. This is a complete joy to watch!Was this review helpful to you?
Tried Too Hard
Sometimes the characters went deep while at other times, they were clones of other BL stories. While the overall story is a rather interesting one, its execution was just plain awful in places. The story creates too many side issues to prove that these two young men are worthy of our attention. Yes, they are, on the whole, good guys, and one does not need to constantly and continuously provide evidence that they are. They are morally decent guys who occasionally have fallen down, pick themselves up, brush themselves off, and move on. This series is a good series. It is just not great.Was this review helpful to you?
A Meditative Intensity Story
I could not sleep early on a Saturday morning, and this movie’s review came up in YouTube out of nowhere. So, on a whim, I decided to watch it. Before you know it, I had finished it and had become so engrossed in its plot and story, I found myself caring about these characters with a certain sense of affection. I found myself teary eyed and gently sobbing for them. It is an intensely gut-wrenching film that is deeper than it is given credit for. I was shocked and dismayed at how poor the reviews were for this movie. I do not understand. I loved it. To be sure, it does not move mountains, but it is not meant to do so. It is a story about two misfit loners who happen to find each other in exactly the right space at exactly the right moment in their lives that connected them in a feeling of fruition. They found each other’s cherished one.Was this review helpful to you?
Nearly Perfect Propose
This series is a phenomenally gentle story of two individuals who by happenstance meet as boys in childhood with one becoming his savior and then 10 or so years later, they meet again where in the end the other becomes his savior. The story goes full circle. This is an exceptionally well-acted series, given its short duration. So much had to be accomplished and shown in such a short period of time. Even the supporting performances were so spot on. However, who really steals this series are the two young boys who play the younger versions. Surprisingly, for a Japanese BL, they did a good job of showing a connection and were unafraid to kiss with a certain commitment. It seemed honest, genuine, and realistic.Was this review helpful to you?
An Incoherent Mess
My sympathy goes out to those who started this series way back in August 2023 when it first began. I know myself too well to realize that a series of this magnitude and depth would not have held my attention for very long as it is an anthology of 12 short stories of two episodes each. I would have forgotten the plots to most of the substories. As it was, even with binge watching this and taking copious notes, there is not much here to capture your attention for very long, and most of these stories become forgettable soon after they are seen. With only two episodes per story, you got very little plot, no character development, and even less understandable conclusions of what the stories were about. Some were comedies, although I found none of them funny at all. Silly yes, but not funny. Some were metaphysical or occult which were incomprehensibly difficult to navigate the point to the story. Most were just drab and dull. Others were just amateurish confusing messes.Was this review helpful to you?
