PPBongi
California, USA
One of the Best!
Cute, charming, and sensual. If I wrote 10 pages of accolades for this series, it would frankly not be enough. This is a beautiful and stunning, heartfelt, and warm BL series. It was a joy to watch and was a soft easy series to absorb with tremendously good acting. This is one of the finest acted BL series out there and one of the best dealing with the current pandemic. I have not seen anything of this romantic caliber since 2GETHER. These guys are simply beautiful together and have a magic together. Their chemistry as a couple is almost overwhelming. These two guys MAKES this series in a non-assuming way where they slowly draw you into their relationship. . It is extremely rare for a series to display such a deep connection between two people in a very short period of time. A simple basic love story where it is focused on success, not failure. I absolutely loved this series. I shall post my full review of this beautiful series on my blog site shortly so please review that there, if inclined. It will be at ppbongi.medium.com.Was this review helpful to you?
What Was Its Point?
This is a prime example of how to turn a bad series into an even worse one by not knowing what your direction is. And we can see it slipping away because of the lack of perspective. If this series had some sort of direction, it could have been good. If they were going for comedy, they failed miserably. If they were going for some sort of mystery, it also bombed. However, in my opinion and why I think this series worked a little is that they (I think, or I hope) were going for a ‘tongue-and-cheek’ approach to humor. But never went far enough with what they were doing to make that work.Was this review helpful to you?
Profoundly Sad Tale
This is a difficult series to review. It is NOT entertaining and at times gets tripped up in its own minutia. There is no real love in this series. It is more pretend or school-boy fantasies of love. The main protagonist is unlikeable. The reason for my anxiety about this series is because of its glorification of abuse for the sake of love. No one is worthy of love who is abusive and to make matters worse, this series paints a picture that the victim is the one who is wrong. I know what it was trying to say but for me, it failed and I wept at all the overt and covert signs of emotional, physical and psychological abuse dispensed like candy in this series. Production is excellent and by no means am I implying the the actors/actress were bad. They were not and in fact there is some very good acting in this series. Its the message and how it was presented that is bothersome.I could not re-watch this series again.
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.
Was this review helpful to you?
On My Must See List!
This is an astonishingly funny yet poignant series completed a number of years ago that is just awesome. Funny, cute, and filled with real human characters that are relatable, charming, and individuals i would want as friends. It is a story of friendship and of life and how in life there are always challenges to relationships that must be resolved by ending them. The timing of the humor is shear perfection and the whole series just has a certain 'lived in' feeling about it that is so relatable. I loved this series a lotIf you want to see my full review, read it at BLBliss.com.
Was this review helpful to you?
Too Formulaic
It had such potential but ended up being so formulaic and boring. There are some good parts to it but it drags on endlessly, I do not think this is a spoiler but they tried to make out one of the main characters as an 'ugly duckling', Oh please! He could not be ugly even if you wrapped him in a burlap sack and rolled him in mud! Why do they have to take up endless episodes to develop relationships? There are so much more to stories. These actors are good; they just do not have the material to work with. If you want to read my complete review, go to BLBliss.com.Was this review helpful to you?
Was this review helpful to you?
It tells an LGBTQIA+ Story Brilliantly
The beauty of series like these, especially coming from the Philippines, is that they not only evoke a story with intensity, they bind it with a background history as to why. In other words, it explains how things are the way they are. More importantly, you get to feel that why and also be entertained. That is what gives them uniqueness and depth. For those of us who are not Filipino/Filipina, the characters are generally over-the-top with singularity and distinctiveness. So, we see clearly what has come about. It is far from formulaic. One of the best for this year!Was this review helpful to you?
A Wonderful Story of Loneliness
What I am astonished is how others see series. As of late, South Korean BLs can be a ‘hit or miss’. Some are profoundly impactful while others are full of trite and mundane storylines. I found this to be simply brilliant while others found its ending cliché. For me, that was the most endearing part of this series. I have lived a long time and as trite as that behavior was portrayed, I have seen and witnessed this behavior in my life more times than I can count to many of my gay friends. It is called ‘jealousy’ and it is indeed a very ugly emotions that makes both males and females do awful, damaging and destructive things to others. And unfortunately, I do not think that emotion will ever diminish. This is a wonderful story, really. It is a story of loneliness but told with such compassion and tenderness.Was this review helpful to you?
A soulful BL and GL
The discourse about whether this series is a BL or not is asinine. Of course it is. Male-male love does not have to be consummated to be a BL; it merely has to be perceived. At its core, this series is that. Most assuredly, it is a love story of unrequited love. In addition, this series is certainly a GL. More overt but never fully realized.The story is a deeply reflective, pensive at times, coming-of-age narration of four inquisitive high schoolers. Each is hiding an inner secret not atypical of individuals of their age. But for all, it seems crushing and perhaps overwhelming. That is the burden of youth they must carry - until their next quest.
Was this review helpful to you?
An Exceptional & Phenomenal Series!
It is contradictory, oxymoronic, yet completely genuine in its absurdity. If you seek answers to questions from and about this series, you will not find them. Is this a Theater of the Absurd performance? Perhaps so. All I know is that it is brilliant, a mastery of cinematic artistry, and one of the finest acted series I have seen this year. In order to appreciate this series, you must suspend your idealized notions about BLs and all comforts about conformity or logic, and simply go with what is presented to you. This is a remarkably fervent series to watch. The acting goes deep emotionally without ever explaining why, however. Everything about this series is pure artistry. This is an exceptional BL series with no answers and no real point. It is what it is. You will get it, or you will not. One of the best series in 2024. Completely under the radar but should not be.Was this review helpful to you?
Standard Thai BL
Admittedly, this series is perfectly named. It did seem to continue to go on and on endlessly. It was like being adrift in a rudderless boat floating in an ocean of tropes, clichés, banalities, stereotypes, and platitudes. Sooner or later, you would bump into one of them on your way to wherever it was you were supposed to be going. Unfortunately, this series went nowhere because it had nowhere to go to. Honestly, you have seen this story hundreds of times if you are an avid BL watcher. If not, you will no doubt run across its plot again because it is standard. It is another high school love story between two best friends. I know that many will no doubt like this series, but I found this series wantoned for its shallowness, use of endlessly tropey and cliché storylines, supporting characters that were superfluously infantile and not funny, the main characters never got to be a couple until the last episode and by that point it was too late, and a supposed secondary couple that was never fully developed into anything meaningful. I also found it quite sad that these two guys, who are otherwise solid and successful, could not bring themselves to communicate with each other. That for me is simply not a subject matter I can find funny.Was this review helpful to you?
Magnificent! A real gem
Magnificent! This was the first word that came into my mind after watching this short charming and beautifully done BL. It is obviously patterned off the South Korean model and it works! I simply do not understand the negative criticisms of this series. It is well acted, storytelling is engaging, and it is such a delicate love story that I think people mistook that delicacy for lameness. To be brutally honest, the only people who see it that way are not gay or those who have forgotten what it was like to struggle with acceptance. The intensity of its credence for each of us who had to face that is wildly different individually. Each persons’ journey is unique and soulful. This is a classic BL with such soft, gentle whispers that it almost glides under the radar unnoticed. But this is a beautifully done and very touching series that because of its delicacy, is mischaracterized. There is some fine acting here capturing all the various emotions of coming out, of being jilted, and suffering from an unrequited love. You can read my full review of this wonderful series at BLBliss.com.Was this review helpful to you?
A Masterpiece and One Of The Best! Magnum Opus!
Undoubtedly, this is one of those series that will either be loved or panned, mainly because of the esoteric and metaphysical nature of its theme and its presentation as a Greek tragedy. It is allegorical with metaphorical representations of life presented in temperaments of profound introspection surrounded by an almost overwhelming sense of loss, guilt, and shame. It tackles all the hidden and unexplored and often times buried emotions of humans we do not want to face or find impossible to bear. It strips away for us to see and quite literally experience and feel. We see it through the eyes of a protagonist and an antagonist at the same time; with each character being both. This series is a thought-provoking, intellectually stimulating elegy that uses the language of words to embody love. If you want to see lust, or romps in a bed, or contrived love scenes, or soft rituals of love, this is not for you. If you want to see a deep, meditative, and, at times, profoundly poignant perspective of human nature augmented by the process of finding what the meaning of love is all about, then this is for you. There is nothing ‘cute’ about this transmigration at all. It is deeply solipsistic, pensive, and intensely mystifying. There is also nothing ‘clear’ about this series. It is symbolic with symbolisms of all kinds bombarding you. At times they overwhelm you. Everything has meaning. Even the smallest of details. Blink and you might miss it. You have to decipher their meanings. Much happens mostly through words but also through deep reflections in expressions of the faces, manners, and body language of the main two characters, as well as all the other characters in this series.The rest of my review of this phenomenal series is posted at BLBliss.com.
Was this review helpful to you?
Great Synergy but Weak Individually
Perplexing. I really do not know how else to describe this series. It is indecisive yet oddly compelling to watch. The two main leads are strangely engaging together, yet individually, blend into the woodwork as part of the background furniture. This is completely a story of synergy. Honestly, this is a rather low-key drama that is underplayed and relies more on the screenplay than acting. It is surprisingly well written, which is expected as it is a story about a novelist. This is an entertaining story to be sure. Nothing deep but well written. Ironically the side couple provided way more interesting dynamics. This is easy watching.Was this review helpful to you?
