Sometimes, what we need is to repeat things before we fully understand them

Now, this is how you do a decent love story. The Blue Skies at Your Feet is not the best love story out there but it is a really good watch. One of the things that I look for in a love story is a good chemistry and that is what they have here. I really did enjoy the story of Miyu and Shuya. Well, it is basically a romance version of Groundhog day where we kept on repeating the same day that Shuya died but what made the movie so good are the characters. Why? Because they are so good. The romance aspect of the movie is just the same as any new love stories out there. It is about a young love face adversity but what it did so well is to make us slowly invested with the relationship by putting them in a fictional setup where they had to repeat things and the same results kept on happening. These moments established not just the story or the climax of the film but it brought the audience to fully invest with the relationship. We are invested in the relationship that we are not a part of becauae we are slowly falling for the characters. We are slowly seeing who these characters are within this relationship and outside the relationship.
My favorite scene, and not surprisingly, is the final loop that she was in. The reason why I thought of that loop as the strongest is because we finally get to see Miyu fully commit to how she feels. This is a more mature version of the character. This is, in a sense, when she learned that what she really needed to do is to fully be honest with herself and be vocal about it. She also trusted him more in that scene and we even got a really romantic moment. I live for these moments and to see it there is just everything that one could hope for. This may not be breaking barriers or anything but I like the idea and the concept. Plus the execution is pretty good. This would surely be targeting the right audience and the performances by its cast is really good. I just really want to commend that too because they really nailed it with the sweetness and the more dramatic scenes. I really enjoyed watching this movie and I don't mind watching it again.

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Cherry Blossoms After Winter is the story of Kang Hui's Jo Tae Sung and Ok Jin Uk’s Seo Haebom. The story is simple. We have a guy who have fallen in love with the person that he grew up. They are not the best of friends but what happened next are just scenes after scenes of really sweet moments that will surely make you fall in love with these two. There are so many things to be thankful and their chemistry is one of them. It is insane to the point that I am just smiling weirdly at my screen because that feeling of being in love with someone is just what you would feel with these two. The performances are pretty strong as well. They both had good connection to their characters that one can just really fall for their characters. They are so good together. I actually like when they are being excessively sweet to each other when they are at home. I feel that they are just being natural. I like the moments when they were at home because these are moments that seemed most natural to their characters as they are familiar to staying at home. Then, we got that super cute scene in the bed which is probably the best bed scene that I got to watch. They are so cute seeing in different sleeping position and how Tae Sung is just wanting to hug him constantly. It is so cute that my heart is just in its happiest state. I love it so much. I think the best thing about Korean BL is that they will surprise you with how mindful they are of the details. This may not be the best in terms of production and cinematography but they surely stepped up their game with the story. They avoided a lot of cliches by attacking the situation in a more realistic viewpoint which is important. The characters really moved with the story and we got to see them in different times of their lives. This is why the ending is so rewarding. It feels like a reward to everyone who supported and have watched them. It is a beautiful testament to true love and the lines that were thrown were as sweet as the cakes that they were eating. The supporting characters at pretty interesting but the focused are always on the main characters. This is a decent show with a decent storyline and a decent cast. It had sweet moments and the actors did an amazing job in breathing life to their characters. As an audience member, it is important for me to fall in love with who these characters are because I want to be invested with them and if I will not know who they are, it will be hard for me. Luckily, this is something that they were able to do really well from the very beginning until the very end. It may not be the best out there but it is worth watching and worth the wait. It knew where to put the characters and they were such big parts of the story. We also got the chance to meet them well. It is a job well done. I want more.

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Must Watch

Triage is a BL that I did not really watch a trailer for but the first episode of the show is an amazing introduction to what the show is about. Triage is like a BL version of Happy Death Day and the Groundhog Day. The first episode is where we got to see what will happen but there is whole mystery as to what is really happening and what he needs to do. He just knows that he needs to be able to save Tol but he is unsure what it is that he needs to do. Now, I did not expect this and I was just expecting a show where Doctors will be lovey-dovey so seeing that we are going to see more of a serious storyline balanced with a really cute love story is more than satisfying for me. Basically, the story is about a doctor who is put into this time loop after a patient of his died. He, initially, did not want to save him because he smelled alcohol in him and we are introduced to what happened to him in the past where his sister was in an accident with another driver who is under the influence of alcohol. He, then, got into a loop that soon led to him trying to understand the person more. As mentioned earlier, I know nothing about this show when I decided to watch it but what really surprised me most about it is how well-made this is. It is literally one of the best BLs I got to watch mainly because of the concept and how they were able to weave all of the stories of the characters and build on them to create this surprisingly enjoyable piece of work. This is hard to do considering that they are following this loop. There is no tomorrow but what they did is to give the characters interesting storylines still that they were able to close flawlessly at the end. Usually, I tend to hate BL endings with how they are forcing emotional connection but this one is different. It is logical despite having a fantasy theme to it. I really commend the writers of this show. It is not an easy thing to do but they were able to successfully do it. I think it is important to really highlight this aspect of the show because this is not an easy thing to do. Tae and Tee plays Tin and Tol, respectively, and they brought these characters to life in the best possible ways. I am not forced to like them because they are already likable and their performances are more than enough to make me fall harder with them. Tae had to manage most of the episodes since he is the focal character who is working in the loop. He is the one with the memories of all of Tol’s death and he is the one to fall in love first with Tol. This is why I was a bit hesitant with Tee’s Tol but the last few episodes came in and we shifted perspective from Tin to Tol and Tee ate it up. He was a really good actor and I am super surprised with how well he was performing in this series because he manages to handle different emotions of the character while leading him to grow to be a much better character that is multi-faceted and well-rounded. I liked his portrayal so much because they are both eating it up and giving us what is needed from them. I would love to watch more shows from them but I would not want a second season for this show. They were able to wrap it all up with a beautiful bow at the end that really works well with all the active characters that we have. Sing and Gap are also a really good secondary couple. We had hints of them at the beginning and they were just suddenly together in the last loop but I am not even disappointed because they had so much good chemistry that it felt fine and natural. The story also talked about illegal harvesting of organs that is and should be illegal. It tackles a really dark story that they may not have fully handled well but given what they did, I think it is still good. I think what I love about this show that I am raving about it so much is that they are so damn respectful of the storyline and the characters as if they are actual people that I would love to meet. There is character development. There are cliches but this is not even as important as the main story. The moments that Tol and Tin are trying to make each other remember that they are actually in love are the best scenes of the series because the chemistry works so damn well. I think this is may be because they work together a lot and that these characters are simple enough to understand but complex enough to build an entertaining and serious story. It works also because the actors are really good. They have started showing us different storylines but they made sure that everything still made sense. I think that the writer and the director had a really tough job but they created a masterpiece here. Lastly, let us not forget that Manner of Death cameo of Tan and Bun. I mean, I will watch anything with Max and Tul.

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Come on, Jun & Jun is a BL story from South Korea that will just make you so happy because everything about it is just light and pure love. I would usually slam them from having such storylines but the execution is what they always have a good route with. The story of Jun & Jun are two childhood friends reuniting in their adult years. Choi Jun is now the general manager of a company owned by their family and Lee Jun is a failed K-Pop Idol who is now an intern in the company where Choi Jun is the general manager. They met again but things felt different and it was later revealed that they somehow liked each other and my main concern in this show is that the love story felt a bit slow. Yes, I do think that focusing on the individual lives of these characters is a good thing but what it lacked are moments to really solidify that chemistry. It is there but we could have used more moments of them together. This is considering that there are two hot men pining for Lee Jun as well. Luckily, those two hot men ended up together in a way that did not shock me but it felt like a weird cop out from the writers. I feel like the chemistry there is a bit random considering that they are supposed to be in love with this guy and they ended up together instead. So, yes, there are some parts of the story that are not well thought of based on my opinion but I have to say that the ending gave us everything that they lacked like we got an insane amount of kissing scenes from Choi Jun and Lee Jun. By the way, they are portrayed by Ki Hyun Woo and Yang Jun Mo, respectively. I like their chemistry and I really do hope that they had more scenes together. I would also like a shirtless scene from Ki Hyun-woo. That would be highly appreciated. Before I sound bad, I really did like this show mainly because of the attractive cast. I like a confident top and that is what Choi Jun is giving. I very much like that and the chemistry when they are together just works well. I just wish that they had more good scenes together. The show would benefit from that. I am sure of that. This could easily be longer considering that they focused too much on the product that they are developing that did not even feel relevant to the story. Anyways, I still enjoyed watching this show and I think that is what matters most to me.

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21 Days Theory is a special miniseries in Thailand. It is a BL story about two guys in their high school years as they enter a bet that soon became them falling in love with each other. It is something that we have seen so much of already but what I think is the strength of this BL is that they only have four episodes so they did not have to add so many details in the story that will just confuse the viewers. My usual problems with Thai BL is that they are adding to many things in the story that it can easily get confusing but 21 Days Theory did not have that because it is representing a BL story in a much shorter period. There are three love teams here but the main character is of the same sex while the other two are of the opposite sex. They did not have to overly complicate the love stories due to the runtime which became their strongest suite here. They are not actually bad because of it. Instead, they just used it to show the theory and worked on the main relationship instead. Luckily, it worked. I like where they went with the story and I like that they are just giving us a cute and innocent couple. It is always nice to see that. Q and X are actually very fun to look at. Yes, the acting is not the greatest in the entire cast but I think it is enough to really watch them all and enjoy the experience.

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A good show is a good show.

Ototo no Otto or My Brother’s Husband is one of those really rare gems that you might fully know what you are going into but watching it is so much refreshing because it portrays gay people realistically. This is why we need to represent people in the most realistic possible way. There is a lot to unpack in this 3-episode series and that is amazing. The things that I want to talk about is the way that it handled grief and homophobia in Japan. These things are important but I want to start with the character of Kana because let’s be real here. Kana represents the young generation that is not yet polluted by the societal prejudices that we teach kids. I think what is important to note here is how the kids are actually more open to the idea of love and this is reflected on what Yuki said that people should be married not because of their gender but because of love. This is a beautiful sentiment and I wish that a lot more kids are like Kana and Yuki. Kana is such a kind soul. She is probably the best character in this show because of how she handles basically everything. She is so mature for her age so seeing some glimpse of the kid that she is makes my heart feel so full. Personally, I would love more people to be like her because this is what we forget when we turn to adults. We forget to be the better person who always try to understand other people and to always be open. I just really wish that by seeing this show, more and more people learn to tap into that inner child of theirs and find a way to be kinder to everyone around them. This would make the world so much better. Speaking of which, the story is about Yaichi whose twin brother died and his husband from Canada is going to meet them. The important thing to note here is that he is a good host and accepted Mike as his guest. He is processing the death of his brother while he is trying to fully understand what the situation means to him. There is a lot for him and one of the things that struck me is his homophobic tendencies at the beginning of the show. He is not rude and all but he was really homophobic with his thoughts. I have seen how common this is in the side characters as well who are meeting Mike. There is a certain level of silence that they will make you feel unwanted by them because of you being gay. There is no violence but instead there is silence. This, for me, is a harder way to handle because what can you do about It? I don’t know. This is why choosing to have his thoughts be transparent to us is important because we got to see him question himself as well. One of the things that shouted super homophobic is when he thought that Mike would also like him because he is a man and Mike is gay. This is super homophobic. Luckily, the writing is impeccable in this show. We got to slowly see his thought process change as he is exposed to Mike. He got to be more comfortable and realize a lot of things that he had never thought of before. I think these things are always important to do because we got to present him as a character but the development of this character is immense from how he is talking to Mike up to how he is handling his brother’s death. There is so much to unpack in this show but they are doing it so beautifully that we are reminded of how important giving people time to accept us. We cannot just ask someone to accept us immediately. It takes time to refocus one’s ideologies especially if this is something that they were taught. There are homophobic characters here but the show never judged them because the show is not about judging people. It is about understanding them and learning that these differences does not make you or them a lesser individual but instead it just makes you unique. This story was handled so well that the ending just felt like a great big warm hug that one can just feel. The attention to details and the writing is impeccable. It is unique yet it felt very familiar.

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I am quite proud with GMMTV right now because they are really showing surprisingly good BLs now and they are doing it in a very fast pace. My Ride is not an exception. I know that you may not totally like this or get this one but I really dig the story. It is a simple story of two broken hearts finding solace in ecah other in this really funny BL. They also have an older couple living together as lovers. This is what struck me the most because we do not see it as often. We have an older couple who is a side character that made it work and showed us that it is possible. The relationship that they have was at center in certain moments but they are mindful of how they will characterize both of them. They may always fight but what I love about this is that they are treated just like any other couple. The story handled sexuality in a more logical sense. We already have an out gay lead character in Tawan and a man who is still trying to figure out who he is in terms of who he wants to love. I know that the story is simple but the execution is a success. - The relationship of Tawan and Mork my kind of meet cute. It is simple and we got to see their characters develop a bond as friends that would turn into lovers. There is this certain level of familiarity between the two of them that happened naturally that I wanted to put emphasis on. The days are also a bit blurry since Tawan is like working continuously in certain episodes that some days pass by so that is a bit unreliable. I do not mind that because I think it just make sense that it is how they are towards each other. I like the concept of their relationship too. There is something so charming about Mork. He may not be rich but what I have felt all throughout the series is how much of a good man he is. He is this sweet guy to a lot of people around him and he is surely the definition of boyfriend material. Those dimples are everything. I think the humility of the character of Mork is what I have missed in BLs. We see it every now and then but he is at front and center. He is not the super-rich top. In fact, he is trying his best to live every single day. He was not able to finish his studies but he is trying to earn his own money to help his family. He is now showering Tawan with gifts but he is understanding of him being a doctor and he is supportive of what he does. This is something that Por was not able to show Tawan. I can get that but he is also a doctor and they are working in the same hospital. I kind of wished that he was more considerate but Tawan is lucky to have Mork as well. The show did not end with something but just Tawan and Mork together in the province trying their best to live every day. There is something beautiful with how it ended so peaceful. Mork struggled with his sexuality as he tries to rationalize what he feels for Tawan who is already openly gay. This is where his uncles have been such a huge part and friends. There is a good set of side couples in the show and a heterosexual couple. The story of Toy and Boss is more on the cliched type of BL with someone uptight and the other one can be obnoxious. It is sweet. There are a lot of really good things and funny things in their story. It does not have much air time but I think they are a good couple. I would not mind watching a series for them. Nadia and Mayom had a more interesting story. One is a woman who is searching for the one and the other one is really shy. I think they could have had a really good love story at the beginning if they just tried to listen to each other. This would have been lot shorter for them. Luckily, they have good chemistry. I don't think a lot of people will enjoy it as much as I did but I would really recommend it still for the chemistry and comedic moments. It is one good show to watch. It is not perfect and there may be things that they can do better but I will commend them for giving a decent story with a lot of charming characters. I think the strength of the show is in its more comedic moments. There are a lot of really funny moments from the side of Mork. His circle of supporting characters are the funniest. I want to give a special shoutout to Feung who is the funniest character in the show. His mastery of physical comedy and timing is what elevated his character for me that I really enjoy watching him play it out really well. Dej and Cheep are also really funny from the way that they bicker. I want to highlight what they said about being honest with each other to make sure that the relationship would work. I think that is something that should have been highlighted more. It is good. It is worth rememberig, The simplicity of the show is what I really liked and enjoyed about it. It felt like I am watching a simple and good love story. It is so decent and pure that I find it cute.

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Love for Love’s Sake is about a man who was put into this virtual world where he had some task to do for this young man but what it is really is about is for him to finally found happiness that he had been long clamoring for. This is why South Korean BLs are so fucking good. They have the amazing characters and I tell that with every Korean BLs that I watch but this is true. The main character here is a guy named Tae Myung-ha played by Lee Taevin. I was seriously surprised with this casting because Lee Taevin is someone that we have watched in a big South Korean show. He had a good part in it so seeing him do a BL that is usually not been done is pretty exciting for me. I watched some of his work and he is good. This is why I seriously think that they have chosen him for the lead part in this show. I am glad that they did because most of the characters struggles are all internal and another thing that I love about this character is that his journey towards happiness is not through other people but it is from him letting himself open himself up to other people. This is such a huge part of the story because he had been separated with his mother and she did not own up to him when he tried meeting with her. She rejected her and that broke him to pieces. It is such a sad part of the story but the execution is pretty good. It highlighted why this character is the way that he is. He started playing this game like an actual game that he is someone who is playing him so he needs to make him happy and be close with for love’s sake and I think that is where the title came from but he slowly opened himself up to being fully immerse with his character and his relationship with Cha Yeon-woo that I was personally inspired to see their relationship really flourish under the circumstance that they are in. He is finally letting himself be happy and that is what mattered the most. I love the scene that he had with the grown version of himself. He found his true happiness in this virtual world that completely felt so real. This may sound a bit problematic but I think it is more metaphorical than that. I am seriously in love with the idea that they went here because it really felt like a character-driven story. This is just Myung-ha. We also have his main lover in the story. He is Cha Yeo Woon. He is a character that runs and is very popular. He is the character that Myung-ha is supposed to take care of and make him happy. He is a school athlete who is realtively popular because he is good at he does and he looks good doing it. He is handsome and he is athletic. He is also hot but Cha Joo Wan who played him is actually a good actor too. He is not as good as Lee Taevin here but with more experience he will be a really good lead. He had a more dramatic role and had a very good character development. He got more and more mature as the story continued and that is always a good thing especially in cases like this. He also gives the most romantic scenes here. He is this golden retriever who just wants to make Myung-ha happy and he is trying his best to please him and I love that about the story. It raises the bar so high especially with how their relationship bloom into something more meaningful than I initially expected. I really like that. The best thing about their relationship is the chemistry of the two actors. We also have an amazing second lead with Chun Sang won. He is played by Oh Min Su. He may not be the best actor in the cast but he looks the hottest of everyone. I am seriously in love with Oh Min Su while watching the show. He is such a fine human being and he really showed genuine emotions toward Myung-ha that I started to adore. He is so honest with him and the friendly rivalry between him and Yeo Woon makes me want to be Myung-ha immediately. This is a really good show with a lot of it is thanks to the amazing writing and the incredible lead performance by Lee Taevin.

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When I watched the movie, I seriously told myself that I wanted a TV series or anymore projects with Adrian Lindayag and Keann Johnson to be together so seeing this show for the longest of time just made me the happiest kid. I just want to say that, this may not be in a more mainstream platform and is in an online content, I am very happy to see a major network in the Philippines showing a BL series to the masses. I think we need more of these. I know that there are several of these projects already but they are still very few so I am so excited to see this and I hope that there are more kids out there that are going to watch this and will feel that their love is valid and it is okay to fall in love with the person that you want to share your life with. Okay, I am getting a bit too emotional here but HEY! Love makes me emotional especially when it is done well and respectfully. The story of Dominic and Lucas continues as they embark into a world where being in love as both men is still frowned upon. Yes, Philippines is a country that still judges people who are different. We say that we accept them but, as a gay man in this country, I feel tolerated and not accepted. They are still both students in a Catholic school. FUCK YEAH! I am from a Catholic school as well so I know how difficult it is still to be in a relationship. They are okay with you being gay as long as you are not in love with someone else. It is horrendous. I know that there are more people and schools trying to be inclusive but I like that this show is tackling these issues while giving us something that we can really consider as romantic. This kind of writing is exponentially so much better and deserves so much more respect of. I am serious when I say that this show is moving mountains with the way it is handling inclusivity, homophobia, coming out, religion, and tolerance. The friends of Lucas are indifferent now to him because he is seeing a guy and Lucas was kept on being labeled in different ways. The sad thing about this is that Lucas is still trying to understand who he is as a person and he is in his first same-sex relationship. This is so much hard for him but he is lucky to have that support from his mother. You can say whatever you want to say but he is so lucky to have that kind of respect and love from her. I seriously mean that not a lot of people actually experience that. We have seen this in the story of Dominic. He may seem to be the more feminine one but that is only okay as long as he is smart and is not acting upon it. We have seen how her mother treated her after that beautiful kiss in the prom. Yes, they have shown two gay characters attending prom together. Well, two pair of same-sex couples. Yes, for inclusivity and equality. Unfortunately, this turned out to be the final problem that they will have to face because they are experiencing backlash from the people around them. This is just representative of the world that we are living in. I am such a cynic but the reality of these moments ring so close to home for me. I think what this show provides is something that is way more important than what we see nowadays. It is giving the old generation hope that they were not afforded and is giving the younger generation a chance to live their lives the way that they are supposed to. The ending was a bit different but it did not feel tragic. I like that the ending highlighted their love for each other without forcing them to be separated. This is the kind of representation that we need more of and is something that we should celebrate more often. It is such a beautiful story and it is working really well. The chemistry between the two leads and the way that it explored more themes than the first movie makes this series so much better. Also, I want to highlight how amazing of an actor Iyah Mina is. She is marvelous and she may only have a supporting role here but the sincerity is remarkable. All in all, Love Beneath The Stars provide us a love story that is meant to shared to everyone so that it could be a reminder that true love exists in all genders.

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