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  • Location: Denmark
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RainaSummers2002

Denmark

RainaSummers2002

Denmark
Completed
Call It What You Want
39 people found this review helpful
May 7, 2021
6 of 6 episodes seen
Completed 2
Overall 7.5
Story 7.0
Acting/Cast 8.5
Music 6.0
Rewatch Value 6.0
This review may contain spoilers

A Thai BL that wasn't problematic?

Michael's acting was phenomenal. He really portrayed Bas's character so well. The others were also good. Michael's acting just felt particularly real, so the others didn't stand out as much in comparison. Bas's story was simply heartbreaking. I felt awful for him. Tee was a despicable man. He broke Bas and deeply traumatized him. It made me want to cry. It must have been hard for him to keep it all to himself.

I really hoped to see more of Bas and Marco together. I assume there is going to be another season, though, for two reasons. First, the way it ended insinuated things weren't over. Second, there were scenes in the trailers for the series that didn't show up in the actual series. Scenes where Bas and Marco were more than friends. In this series, they didn't really bond until the final episode. So, they, of course, weren't at a point where they would be making out. I look forward to seeing more of them. They have such amazing potential.

I honestly didn't care that much about James. He was fine, I guess. I liked when he put those ignorant employees in their place, though. I mean, he straight-up fired one of them for being homophobic, as he should. Ait didn't bother me much, but he was a little annoying at times. Like in the final episode. He seriously thought being jealous of James and Marco when Bas was pouring his heart out was appropriate. That felt off to me. Also, he asked James whether he actually loved him. I don't think you should have to ask that. That seems like you have such little trust in your partner. He should stop doubting James all the time. James never showed any indication of having an interest in anyone else than Ait.

So, about the plot. I love the idea of "exposing" the BL industry, and they definitely took a much more serious approach than Lovely Writer. It was almost a bit too heavy for me, but it was probably also realistic. Either way, there is for sure so much shit going on behind the scenes. Not in all instances, but some, and it's so sad to think about. We need to remember BL actors are also people, so we should treat them as such. No forcing them to go on insane diets, no forcing them to get surgery, no robbing them of their freedom. Basically, let them have their basic human rights. Also, no fanservice unless they're completely comfortable with it. Let's not get too invested in relationships that most likely aren't real. It can be very damaging.

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Completed
Lovely Writer Special Episode
28 people found this review helpful
Jun 9, 2021
1 of 1 episodes seen
Completed 4
Overall 6.5
Story 6.0
Acting/Cast 8.5
Music 5.5
Rewatch Value 5.0
This review may contain spoilers

Cute but not a must-watch.

It was a little random, I guess is the best way to describe it. There was horror, pranking, heartbreak, abuse, and cuteness. It was a lot to fathom in less than two hours.

The straight couple getting married. How surprising. Did anyone ask for that? Sorry if that sounds rude, but seriously? Is it that difficult to let us have a cute gay wedding? They made it seem like gay couples are completely different from straight couples. When it comes to weddings, I wouldn't say there is much difference, though. It's hard for me to explain, but basically, it felt like Nubsib and Gene had to be together longer to actually know whether they were right for each other, whereas the straight couple could jump right into it.

Aoey and Mhok's brief appearances arose even more questions. Both of them seemed miserable. Aoey had a boyfriend? It didn't seem as if he was actually in love with whoever he spoke to, though. Mhok obviously wasn't over Aoey. I didn't get why they had to bring it up to leave it the same as before.

What was the purpose of Book and his boyfriend? Was it simply to give Nubisb and Gene an excuse to make up? Poor Book, honestly. He had just been abused and dumped by his boyfriend, and then Gene and Nubsib just acted all cutesy in front of him. Also, we never saw him again after that. It felt rather unnecessary.

Despite all of that, Gene and Nubsib were still incredibly adorable together. Well, mostly. Both of them acted wrong. Neither should have lied to the other. It was worrying that they had been together for two years and still weren't able to communicate. It took all of that silliness for them to realize how to treat each other? I just felt Gene especially took it too far. I understand that he must have felt a little betrayed by Nubsib, but threatening to kill yourself or someone else is too much. That wasn't getting revenge. It was just hurtful. He was lucky Nubsib had already figured it out because otherwise, he might have actually ruined their relationship.

Anyway, I'm happy they ended up even more in love. I didn't need this special episode, especially considering that it's paid content. That said, I also didn't feel like I wasted my time. Kao and Up have amazing chemistry, and that is the biggest reason to watch this.

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Completed
Tonhon Chonlatee
29 people found this review helpful
Jan 23, 2021
10 of 10 episodes seen
Completed 5
Overall 3.0
Story 2.0
Acting/Cast 6.0
Music 3.5
Rewatch Value 1.0
This review may contain spoilers

Trash, just trash.

There were so many stereotypes, and it was incredibly heteronormative. It was like watching a BL from about five years ago, where people were a lot less educated than they are now.

Chonlatee:

He wasn't as innocent as they made him seem. He was fine until he kissed a sleeping Tonhon. That was not okay. He also used Na. Even if Na said he didn't mind, Chon shouldn't have agreed. It was tiresome to watch Chon be so blindly in love with Ton. He was openly discriminating against the LGBTQ+ community. How is that attractive?

Ton:

Ton was just so incredibly insecure. It doesn't matter whether your parents are homophobic or not. You can still have your own opinion. Ton chose to be like that. No one forced him. The number of times I've heard the "It's okay, we're both men" in an attempt to make something not gay, Jesus fucking christ. That implies that it's okay because, well, men can't like other men, apparently. Also, it was so unrealistic how quickly he went from being against everything gay to loving Chon openly. That doesn't just happen. When he kissed Amp to prove his masculinity to his so-called friends, he lost all likeability. He was already together with Chon at that point. Also, to my disappointment, despite Na and Ton talking about the possibility of Ton being bi, Ton still went on to say to Chon that he still liked women and that he had never liked any other men except for Chon. Which basically was to say that Ton was only gay for Chon. WTF. There is no such thing. He was either bi or pan. You can NOT be selectively straight or gay.

Na:

I liked Na. At first, he might have seemed like a bit of an ass, but he redeemed himself completely. He was willing to love Chon openly right from the beginning. Even after everything they put him through, he was still there for Chon and Ton. I always enjoy bi representation. I'm glad Na got his happy ending. He deserved it.

Ai & Ni:

Their characters were almost unnecessary, in my opinion. It was so weird how the camera panned away every time they were going to kiss. As if this series was meant for literal children. Also, what gay person would be okay with living with someone that discriminates against gays all the time? They tried to make homophobia funny, I guess? Ai and Ni also forced both Ton and Chon to come out. I don't think a real gay person would force another gay person to come out.

Miriam:

She served no real purpose other than always having to fix other's idiotic choices. She was also the typical annoying BL fan that seemed to fetishize gay relationships more than actually support them.

Pang:

She was a good friend. I don't have much else to say about her.

Chon's mother:

She was one of the better characters. She was there for Chon no matter what. But she also wasn't unreasonable. She told Chon when he did something wrong, like kissing Ton when he was asleep. She lost me in episode ten, though.

Baipai:

She was okay until she outed Ai and Ni to her homophobic dad and then acted as if she was doing the right thing?

Nueng:

He was disgusting. I don't know why GMM always feels the need to have a character that tries to rape someone and then gets away with it. They hardly even acknowledged it.

Amp:

More trash. The typical jealous ex-girlfriend. Amp was just even more thick-headed than the ones before her. Probably one of the worst characters of all time. All of these ex-girlfriends in BL's make women seem crazy and obsessive. Oh, and she was also homophobic, of course.

Ton's dad:

One of the most homophobic and misogynistic characters ever. All he wanted was grandchildren. He treated his daughter like an object, a thing that only existed to give him an heir. He was completely against Ton and Chon being together until Ton's mom suggested surrogacy. Then all was fine, apparently. Also, it was Ton's dad who chose the surrogacy mother, not Ton nor Chon. They didn't even ask Ton and Chon what they wanted. It didn't matter to them, obviously. He chose Miriam, whom he earlier on disrespected because she had been a call-girl. Miriam clarified that she was still a virgin, which made Ton's dad fine with it. Disrespecting someone because of their work is disgusting. There is nothing wrong with being a call-girl or a prostitute. It's the ones that utilize these services who are in the wrong. But yeah, they didn't even really ask Miriam. They just declared her as the chosen one. In the end, everything was about pleasing Ton's unreasonable dad.

Another thing was the Wifey thing. In a same-sex relationship, there is no such thing as a husband and a wife. That's literally the whole point. There is a husband and a husband or a wife and a wife. Unless someone in the relationship says they want to be referred to as such, it shouldn't be a thing. I don't think I have ever felt so disrespected and disappointed by a BL as a woman and a member of the LGBTQ+ community. A whole other story was how many times Ton took off his shirt. I get uncomfortable when shirts are continuously taken off. It was just unnecessary to sexualize him so much.

God forbid they make another season.

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Completed
Sweet Boy
18 people found this review helpful
May 3, 2021
Completed 0
Overall 5.0
Story 4.0
Acting/Cast 6.0
Music 4.0
Rewatch Value 3.0
This review may contain spoilers

Plenty of students but no sweet boy's to be found.

At first, we were made to believe that Nack would get together with Petch. He then turned out to be an asshole. Petch just wanted some fun, meaning he wanted to try it with a guy when he already had a girlfriend. Then when Nack rejected him, he became so bitter and went for Pong instead. Pong was just a bully. I didn't get why he was so obsessed with bothering Nack.

Then we finally had some positivity incoming. Toy. He seemed to like Nack and gave a lot of mixed messages. Well, they weren't even mixed. He seemed like he was into Nack first, actually. But alas, he disappointed me. To me, it seemed like he couldn't accept that he liked Nack, or more so that Nack was a guy.

Nack's mother was terrible. Religion should not be something you use to be a hateful person. She was just homophobic. No excuses were necessary. As if your child being gay would be the end of the world, but you know, it was for Nack's happiness that she split them apart. Right?

The ending was just so disappointing. They made it seem like Nack was happy in the end. In reality, he had probably just learned to live with his unhappiness. They kept preaching that "Time heals everything" and such, which isn't always the case.

There were too many shots of young boy's crotches for comfort. It was weird.

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Completed
HIStory4: Close to You
69 people found this review helpful
May 16, 2021
20 of 20 episodes seen
Completed 9
Overall 5.0
Story 3.5
Acting/Cast 7.0
Music 5.0
Rewatch Value 3.5
This review may contain spoilers

All the BL cliches in one series.

The entire premise of this series was awful and plain wrong. Li Cheng really used his friend to get with a girl. He could have just been nice to her. That probably would have worked better. I'm also tired of the fetishization of gay couples. It's not funny. Mei Fang and all the other "shippers" were making me uncomfortable. Also, why did Mu Ren and Li Cheng have to prove to their colleagues that they were dating? They had nothing to prove. It felt odd. It wasn't any of their business. Anyway, the wedding was cute, I guess, but to be honest, I never liked Bo Xiang and Zhi Gang together. They had a very toxic relationship. They might have improved, but I still won't ever think they were good together.

Mu Ren & Li Cheng:

Li Cheng was way too pushy. He sexually harassed Mu Ren multiple times. He also tried to almost force his feelings upon him. It just didn't sit right with me. Li Cheng also really said, "It's not that I like guys. I just like him." Huh? I didn't know I was watching an old-school Thai BL. Is it that difficult to have a bi/pan character in a BL? Another thing was the focus on who was top and who was bottom. Get over yourself. It doesn't matter. You're not any less masculine because you're bottoming. The part where Mu Ren got drugged was questionable. I'm not sure I liked the idea of Li Cheng finding out in that specific moment that he was attracted to Mu Ren. I mean, Mu Ren was suffering. That's not hot. That disgusting rapist colleague should have gone to jail the first time he harassed someone. I still think it was wrong of Mu Ren to take revenge by having the colleague harassed, though. There was no need to be as disgusting as him. Also, why did Yong Jie call Li Cheng and made it seem like Mu Ren was cheating? Then when Li cheng showed up, he refused to let Mu Ren explain. He dragged Mu Ren home and "claimed" him. I find the whole you're-only-mine thing quite toxic. Of course, they were cute at times. They had great chemistry. I only wish it wasn't this series they starred in.

Yong Jie & Xing Si:

Yong Jie planned to get Xing Si drunk, and then he raped him. His mom even knew about it. He also had the audacity to film it and show Xing Si's dad. I still have no idea what the purpose of that was. The worst part was them trying to redeem his horrible actions. No, I refuse to feel bad for him. I'm tired of BL's romanticizing rape. Yong Jie, was in general, a manipulative person. He was honestly quite scary. Xing Si was the cutest and deserved so much better. I don't understand why he forgave him. Them being "family" also made things so much weirder. Whatever. I just wanted Xing Si to be happy. I was surprised that Xing Si's dad turned out to be better than Yong Jie and Yong Jie's mom. That was the only part about the family drama I enjoyed.

It was about as bad as TharnType, but at least none of them were abusive. I find it so hard to believe that this is part of the HIStory series.

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Completed
Close Friend
15 people found this review helpful
May 27, 2021
6 of 6 episodes seen
Completed 3
Overall 5.0
Story 4.0
Acting/Cast 6.5
Music 6.0
Rewatch Value 3.5
This review may contain spoilers

Popular couples who were given mediocre plots.

(Ep. 1) Pierce & Typhoon:

Why? This was just sad. I can't say that the ending was happy because of what Typhoon said. "Can you act like we're still in love?" What does that even mean? Pierce didn't even answer. They just kissed, and then it was over. Just seconds before that, Pierce suggested that they should break up. Keep in mind that he said that on their anniversary. He didn't even apologize for diminishing Typhoon because of his age. Also, I didn't expect Ohm and Fluke to have such a lackluster and sort of bad kiss. They kissed just fine in Until We Meet Again. I thought Marc was going to like Pierce, but I'm pretty sure he didn't. Honestly, I just found the whole episode confusing. They really didn't seem like they were equally in love with each other, and I thought both characters were kind of annoying. They were quite childish and said hurtful things to each other. Pierce also called Typhoon his brother, so that sucked. The part at the end where Typhoon showed up at Pierce's workplace felt odd. The dialogue was just off. Typhoon said, "You said you don't like to drink. Is this what grown-ups do at work? Is this Marc?" Marc answered, "That's right.", then Typhoon said, "I'm your fan." These were all sentences that came right after each other with almost no intervals. Then afterward, he just left. It was so awkwardly written. I physically cringed. The acting was still fine, though. It wasn't really Fluke's fault. In conclusion, I really don't understand why this was made.

(Ep. 2) Moo Joom & Xin:

I don't know what to say. We're really out here romanticizing bestiality, huh? Moo Joom was a cat throughout the whole thing. Xin didn't see him as a human at any point. Therefore I'm not really sure what this qualifies as. It definitely wasn't BL, though. Who made this? Why would anyone ever think this was a good idea? It was just weird. None of it made sense. Most of the things Moo Joom did when he was shown as a human, a cat wouldn't be able to do. Nor would a cat do those things even if it could. Cat's don't fall in love with their owners. I'm just discombobulated. I also felt kind of bad for Vee. She seemed nice. I didn't think I'd ever want a BL to end with one of the characters ending with a girl, but I'd prefer it here. For sure. It was simply a waste of potential. First and Ja could be such a cute BL couple. Instead, they gave us this. I'm starting to doubt they'll ever have an on-screen kiss with each other. They also won't ever play as a normal behaving couple, I guess.

(Ep. 3) Mini & Titan:

This was way better than the first two episodes. It was cute and not super uncomfortable. Max and Nat have great chemistry. Mini and Titan were definitely into each other, but we didn't get to see them as more than friends crushing on each other in this. They might have ended up together. We don't know. The plot was fine. What can you really do with fifteen minutes, though? I don't know what else to say, which in this instance, is a good thing.

(Ep. 4) XiaoPing & Peam:

When it comes to Yoon and Talay, I really haven't been able to see the chemistry between them yet. Romantically that is. Of course, that is just how I feel. But because of that, the overall experience wasn't that great. To me, it was too unrealistic that Peam would be into XiaoPing after just breaking up with his girlfriend. It made no sense. I did think certain parts of the story were cute, though. Like their t-shirts, XiaoPing's confession, Talay, Talay, and well, Talay. He never fails to make me smile whenever he is on screen. Anyway, it definitely wasn't the most interesting plot. It was just okay.

(Ep. 5) Night & Mehkin:

I don't really have much to say about this. It was the best one in my opinion. It was so wholesome and cute. I might be a little biased because I love Tommy and Jimmy as a pairing. The nineties thing was a sweet excuse for them to have to interact through letters. I enjoyed it and wanted more. If only we knew whether they became more than friends. This one definitely had the potential to be a full-length series.

(Ep. 6) Ray & Jedi:

How do I explain this one? Copter and Kimmon are great together, and it was nice to see Copter's character be the pursuer for once. He was a cutie as always. The actual story was not for me, though. The VR thing was, to put it mildly, odd. How were we supposed to know if any of it was true? I also can't help but cringe when it's about a fan and a celebrity. It's usually bound to get sad. The kiss was also out of place. In conclusion, this wasn't a great episode to end with.

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Completed
Lovely Writer
18 people found this review helpful
May 12, 2021
12 of 12 episodes seen
Completed 0
Overall 7.0
Story 7.5
Acting/Cast 7.5
Music 6.0
Rewatch Value 6.0
This review may contain spoilers

It didn't live up to the expectations.

I have to say the series was incredibly incoherent. It kept going from comical to very serious. There was a scene of Tum full-on pooping, but then there was also a super angsty coming out to homophobic parents scene. In episode nine, they made this weird montage of the entirety of Gene and Nubsib's families crying. It went on for way too long. The episodes were either really interesting or pretty boring. It was just such a gamble.

Considering this BL was supposed to call out toxic shippers, it wasn't really until episode eleven that came into play. I was so excited about the whole exposing the BL universe. Sadly, I wasn't sure if they were mocking or encouraging the exact thing they were against. An example would be the first episode where they over-sexualized a guy who was auditioning. To me, it didn't feel ironic. Nubsib was also seen many times without a shirt on. It just felt a little hypocritical. Honestly, they really focused a lot on Nubsib's looks. As if it was his only trait.

Anyway, about episode eleven. Is it that hard to distinguish between reality and acting? Some people really think they have a say in other's business. How dare they? Both the company and the fans. Tum's sister was just afwul. She really was selfish and only thought about money. Of course, Nubsib would choose Gene over his career, as he should. Nothing mattered more than Gene. She seriously had the audacity to say, "Do you have to terminate your contract, just for a boyfriend?" Yes. Yes, he did. All I can say is I was disappointed by the cliche cursed episode eleven where the couple breaks up. Is there no other way to make a series interesting?

So, Gene's friends. Could we even really call them that? Why would you ever question or assume someone's sexuality, especially to their face? Why do you care? The entire conversation was gross. None of his friends said anything substantial. Everything they said seemed as if they were making fun of him. At least Gene stood up for himself. That's what I liked the most about him. He rarely would let someone degrade or control him.

My favorite thing about this series was the portrayal of consent. Nubsib was so considerate, and he didn't waver even once. When Gene was drunk, he didn't even consider doing anything to Gene he might regret or forget the next day. Thank you, Nubsib.

A thing I found peculiar was the episode about them as kids. It was shot so wrong. I really don't want to sound weird, but I truly felt like they were romantically shooting some of their scenes. That scene where Gene protected Nubsib is a great example. Keep in mind that at that time, they were five years apart. So Gene was around eleven, and Nubsib was around six. I guess they clarified later on that it was only Nubsib who had feelings for Gene. I mean, Gene said some things that indicated he didn't feel the same. But then why did they have to include the fact that Gene's dad thought they were too close to be just friends? They weren't doing anything out of the ordinary. That episode made me feel weird.

Up, Nu and Bruce were really good in their roles. The others were by no means bad. Kao sometimes felt a bit stiff, but maybe that was just his character.

Lastly, the ending. I honestly wasn't satisfied. It was pretty boring. They didn't clarify the things that I was curious about. For example, what happened to Aoey and Saymork? What was the deal with Jap and Nueng? Instead, they gave us this weird roleplay situation that went on for too long. Also, Gene reminiscing on their childhood. So basically flashbacks. It just seemed so dragged out, as if they had run out of ideas. I don't know what the scene after the credits was supposed to mean. I was just confused.

Gene & Nubsib:

Sure Gene was quite a moody person. I definitely thought people were too hard on his characters, though. He was just very introverted and valued privacy. I can relate to that a lot. I can't even count the number of times someone thought I was ignoring them and being rude when I was just shy. So it saddened me to see people going in on him for that. Maybe Gene did take it the extra mile sometimes, but he was still a kindhearted person. I had hoped he would put his guard down a little around Nubsib, especially after they started dating. It was a little tiresome that Gene constantly avoided Nubsib's attempts to be intimate with him although they were together. It wasn't like he didn't want to be intimate with Nubsib. They just seemed to think he had to be grumpy almost all the time. When Gene wasn't grumpy, though, he was the cutest thing. I just wanted to see more of that side of him. Gene utterly disappointed me in episode eleven. Deciding what Nusib should do about his career/future is not caring about him. Caring would be letting HIM decide. Nubsib begged him to stay, and he still let other people influence their relationship. Nubsib was a little creepy at first. I can admit that. He totally came through throughout the series, though. Like I wrote earlier, he really treasured Gene. He treated him so well. I also somewhat could understand why he withheld the truth from Gene. Gene probably would have treated him as just a brother if he knew. My only real complaint about Nubsib was those times when he, instead of explaining to diffuse a situation, would stare and say nothing. It made no sense. It was as if he purposefully wanted to make the situation worse. Anyway, they had great chemistry. They weren't awkward. They're probably one of the BL couples with the most amount of kisses, good ones at that. Their sexy scenes weren't cringey or uncomfortable to watch either. I also liked how they were there to comfort and reassure each other. Nubsib never fooled around when it came to his feelings for Gene. I greatly appreciated that.

Aoey & Saymork:

There were no excuses for Aoey's behavior. The man was evil, selfish, and manipulative. No matter what he had gone through, he still made his own decisions. Sure, his dad was homophobic, his mom was an enabler, and his sister didn't care bout him either. Still, you don't have to be a product of your environment. His whole scheme to get together with Gene was fucked up. Just the amount of manipulation that went into that was insane. He gave me such serial killer vibes. That scene where he lured Gene out to the bar made me genuinely scared for Gene's wellbeing. He essentially harassed Gene in that same scene. Afterward, he even pretended to have drugged Nubsib. What the fuck? Why would you joke about that? The live stream he did to explain the situation regarding Nubsib and Gene was so calculated. He made himself look good and like a victim. Sure, he apologized later, but did he really not know what he was doing? Aoey and Saymork's relationship seemed complicated. They kissed at the family dinner, and then we didn't see them much together after that. That was until the scene at the bar. Aoey kept complaining that no one cared about him. What he really meant was that the people he wanted to care about him didn't, or at least not to the extent he wanted. Saymork cared about him, but that wasn't good enough for him. Saymork was quite vague in expressing his feelings, to be fair. Also, he definitely shouldn't have colluded with Aoey's sister. I also felt like they didn't give Aoey a proper ending. It didn't seem finished.

Tum & Tiffy:

Ah yes, the seemingly mandatory straight couple in some BL's. Honestly, at first, I didn't mind their presence. Tiffy progressively got worse and worse, though. Tiffy told Tum about her previous experiences with love. Essentially saying that she was pansexual. Then she went on to reject Tum because she was convinced he was gay. We love LGBTQ+ members who think it's okay to decide other's sexual attractions. No seriously. Why did she think that? He had finally built up the courage to tell her how he felt, just to be slapped in the face with such an offensive remark. She really told him to stop playing with her feelings when he never did. That made Tiffy completely unlikeable to me. He kept on trying to tell her he wasn't kidding, and she would not budge. For some reason, what convinced her was Tum's rap about how he felt about her. God, I felt such second-hand embarrassment. I didn't understand why Tiffy blamed Tum for what happened with Nubsib and Gene. Honestly, her behavior was nasty. She broke up with Tum without hesitation. Well, at least they got back together in the end. Tum did deserve better, though.

Gene's parents:

I got these weird vibes from Gene's mom. She was seemingly kind, but some of the things she said were off. She kept defending Gene's dad when he was completely out of line. I don't appreciate when the wives protect their homophobic husbands. That is enabling. In the whole family dinner thing, she had a part in it too. She and Nubsib's s mom were being very ignorant. The things they said weren't helping. It was comparable to Gene's outing with his friends. Gene's dad, I could slightly sympathize with. Having internalized homophobia is hard, but how dare he take it out on his son. He should've known better. At least he came to his senses. I didn't like him asking Gene if he truly loved Nubsib, though. Who allowed him to doubt Gene's love? You could say that he was just worried about Gene, but I have personally never witnessed someone questioning straight love like that.

Nubsib's parents:

They were the worst. I have never understood the whole reputation thing. Is it really more important than your child's happiness? One person in your family being gay would ruin your entire business? That's... sad. Then there was the scene where Nubsib's parents discussed how to handle the situation. For some reason, they added this ominous music. I almost thought they were going to get rid of him or something. But no, they were planning to apply for a parents-of-the-year award for doing the bare minimum. By that, I mean they were planning to not precisely accept but allow Nubsib his happiness, and they were really proud of it too. I can't deal with people who look so proud of themselves because they allow someone to be gay/not straight. As if your opinion matters.

Hin:

I didn't understand his part in all of this. He just came and went. Sometimes we wouldn't see him for multiple episodes, and frankly, that made me forget about him. His entire reason for existing was to become an author. Throughout the series, he kept asking everyone to read his work. Gene always had to help him out. I did feel slightly bad for him. He seemed to be going through a lot. I was happy to see him succeed, though. Other than that, he was also showing interest in Nubsib. I genuinely couldn't tell whether he was kidding or not. I mean, he still showed interest even after Gene started dating Nubsib. I wanted him to get someone too.

Bua:

She was gross. She constantly forced Gene to write NSFW scenes, as if that's what makes a good BL. She also kept disregarding Hin's work no matter how hard he tried, for no reason. It would take her literally a few minutes to read a bit of his work. She was just very entitled. She couldn't even apologize to Gene by herself.

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Completed
Gen Y
14 people found this review helpful
Jan 27, 2021
12 of 12 episodes seen
Completed 0
Overall 6.0
Story 6.0
Acting/Cast 6.5
Music 5.0
Rewatch Value 5.0
This review may contain spoilers

A solid BL until it wasn't.

So, one couple at a time.

Kit & Mark:

I felt that Mark was too pushy and demanding. In his defense, Kit was constantly hiding how he truly felt. It couldn't have been easy for Mark. I can admire him for not giving up. They did have many sweet moments, despite the long chase. I am happy Mark stopped when he and Kit were getting it on because Kit was drunk after all and not in the right state of mind. I didn't appreciate how Mark tried to make Kit believe they had done something, though. This series was about Mark and Kit, but they quickly became rather insignificant to the story. I found that odd.

Tong & Pok:

Their relationship was quite toxic. What saved them was their to-die-for chemistry. In my opinion, they had the best chemistry out of all the couples, and they were barely even a couple. I didn't enjoy the scene in the last episode where Pok was forcing himself on Tong. No, he didn't rape him, nor did he kiss his lips, but he did kiss his neck and such. Overall, they didn't have a very healthy relationship. I thought it was obvious that they were in love. Unfortunately, they were horrible at communicating with each other and showing that love.

Jack & Koh:

Their endless fighting over Wayu was ridiculous, honestly. I kept expecting them to stop and realize they should get together instead. That didn't happen in this season, though. They had so much potential.

Padbok & Sab:

We didn't get to see much of them in this season, but from the promotional videos, and such, I believe they are supposed to become a couple, just not now. They were only really shown together right at the start, and then they disappeared. I would like to see more of them.

Wayu, Thanu, Phai, and Sandee need to have their own individual section.

Wayu:

They made him such a crybaby in this. In the first half of the series, he was crying nonstop. I didn't dislike him as much as other people did, however. The part about Pha was so dreadful. I didn't care that much, quite frankly. Maybe Wayu should have just sorted out his feelings before falling for someone new. I mean, that was sort of hard when Mark kept pushing him into moving on, I guess.

Thanu:

The man was boring. He had zero personality until the very last episode, and even then, his character was still very vague. His way of handling things was stupid. Ignoring Wayu for his own good, you said? You said you didn't want to hurt him? He had just gotten ditched by his boyfriend, and then you proceeded to think ignoring him wouldn't hurt him? Not just that, but you also made all of his friends help you ignore him. This man got me heated multiple times over his inability to know how to act properly. He also did Phai so wrong. Why couldn't he just have decided what he wanted, or more accurately, who he wanted? His feelings made no sense. All of a sudden, he liked Wayu when there had been no indication of that prior? He just left me with so many questions.

Phai:

He was an angel. The best character, I would say. He knew he had lost, so he sacrificed his own happiness and let them be happy in peace. He never tried to get in between them. Phai deserved way better than Thanu, anyway. Hopefully, he gets someone in the next season.

Sandee:

I didn't quite get him. I thought he liked Phai, but what he did in the last episode would make no sense if that was the case. Maybe he did like him, and I misunderstood his intentions completely. I don't know. I also didn't get why he was so interested in other people's business. He should have just minded his own business.

As a bonus, Pha:

I won't say much else than fuck him. I did NOT care about him, not even one bit. No matter what his reason was for leaving Wayu like that, I still won't care. Bringing him back was unnecessary.

Negatives:

The series as a whole was a little messy. There were just too many characters. I thought we had gotten past the whole everyone is gay/bi/pan. Although a world like that would be beautiful, it's just not realistic, not that this series ever claimed to be realistic, but still.

There were a lot of repeated scenes and long pauses. I assume they found it hard to fill out hour longs episodes. Perhaps they should have just shortened them a bit instead. I'd rather have shorter good quality episodes.

Also, the amount of almost kisses Thanu and Wayu had, my God. I don't know how they managed to butcher Thanu and Wayu's chemistry so badly. In real life, Dun and Bas have great chemistry. What happened? I'm going to blame that stupid love triangle situation.

I really hope the next season is better organized.

Positives:

Bas, Copter, and Kim have improved their acting a lot since I last saw them. I didn't feel as forced.

Sab. Just Sab.

The kisses were surprisingly not awkward.

There was no, I'm-only-gay-for-you bullshit.

I think that's it, sadly.

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Completed
The Cornered Mouse Dreams of Cheese
9 people found this review helpful
May 4, 2021
Completed 0
Overall 6.0
Story 5.5
Acting/Cast 7.5
Music 5.0
Rewatch Value 5.0
This review may contain spoilers

Cheating and stalking, but I'm intrigued.

I had such mixed feelings about this. I despise infidelity. It's is so overdone in BL's. You also continuously worry that they will cheat again.

I mean, Otomo was just the worst. He cheated on his wife because he apparently couldn't refuse. As if it was the other woman's fault he cheated. Ehm, no. He made that choice. His wife wasn't great either, but at least she didn't lie till the very end as he did. Then he completely disregarded the other woman's feelings and ghosted her until he needed her again. Then there was the whole thing with Natsuo. Even if he didn't actually sleep with her, he was planning on it. Lastly, there was poor Okamura. He took that one way too far. He only got together with her because he no longer had Imagase. She was the nicest of all the women, and I hated how he just cast her aside when the possibility of getting back together with Imagase arose.

About Imagase, he seemed borderline obsessed with Otomo at some points. He blackmailed Otomo into kissing him/getting sexual with him at the beginning of the movie. Otomo did treat him horribly many times, but I honestly didn't feel that bad for Imagase. He should have let go of Otomo when he found out that he was indeed a cheater. Otomo never cheated on Imagase. He did, however, cheat on others with Imagase. So maybe they did deserve each other to some degree.

I'm just so very tired of the "straight guy" being in denial. The scene with Natsou showed just how insecure Otomo was. Choosing Imagase (a man) over Natsou (a woman) didn't necessarily make him gay. He obviously enjoyed sleeping with women, so at most, he'd be bi or pan, right? Whatever he was, it definitely wasn't straight. He did go to a gay bar at one point, but I wish there had been more indication of him coming to terms with his sexuality. He never told anyone about Imagase being a man.

I think he needed to be at peace with himself. That was at least what I took away from the ending. For once, he was the one waiting for Imagase. Beforehand Imagase was the one always seeking him. We could assume Otomo loved Imagase, considering he actually left Okimura when Imagase told him to. It was probably also his first time truly loving and needing someone, which was why he was willing to do it.

The last scene of Imagase made me slightly more sympathetic. He looked so broken. And that scene of Otomo sitting in the chair Imagase always sat in, waiting for him to come back, was so beautiful in a way.

Although it was a rollercoaster of emotions, I did enjoy it. We don't know how their story ended, but I honestly would feel fine with either outcome.

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A Tale of Thousand Stars
5 people found this review helpful
Apr 25, 2021
10 of 10 episodes seen
Completed 0
Overall 8.0
Story 8.5
Acting/Cast 8.0
Music 7.5
Rewatch Value 7.0
This review may contain spoilers

They almost had it.

For me, mostly everything was fine until the last three episodes. It became so nonsensical and incomprehensible. I got extremely frustrated by the way the villagers, especially Phupha, treated Tian. All the pressure was on Tian to tell the villagers what had happened to Torfun. That shouldn't have been his job. The villagers were, just in general, quite shitty towards Tian. Yes, some of his actions led to unfortunate events, but his intentions were always pure.

Also, Phupha, who was supposed to be so in love with Tian, completely turned his back on him when there was the slightest inconvenience. So what if they were from different backgrounds? That's usually the plot for straight dramas or something. Tian's dad even seemed to know of them being more than friends, so what was the big deal? It just seemed like a way to drag it out.

Another thing was Phupha telling Tian to follow his heart and live for himself and not his parents, but by sending Tian away, he forced Tian to do the exact opposite. Tian didn't want to leave. He was happy. Alas, Phupha still shipped him off. He acted exactly like Tian's parents would have. I really didn't appreciate ​that. It was so hypocritical and selfish of him.

I just wasn't a fan of Phupha in general. It took him way too long to admit that he liked Tian. He waited TWO years. The whole emotional separation right at the end served no purpose. It was just frustrating. I ended up thinking Tian sort of deserved better.

Many other things bothered me, but I'd rather get into the positives now. The acting was pretty great, especially Mix was good. Mix and Earth have amazing chemistry. I did also think the plot was innovative and nice most of the time. I enjoyed Tian's process of understanding and accepting his sexuality. None of that I'm-only-gay-for-you bullshit. I loved Tian's character development. He was still a bit petty in one of the later episodes, but he improved a fair amount.

Basically, this is not a masterpiece, but it is the best and least problematic BL that has come out of GMM, in my opinion.

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Men with Sword
3 people found this review helpful
May 13, 2021
30 of 30 episodes seen
Completed 0
Overall 5.0
Story 5.0
Acting/Cast 5.0
Music 4.5
Rewatch Value 4.0
This review may contain spoilers

Men with missing logic.

Meh. The acting was mediocre. The story was pretty boring. There was so much talking. I ended up skipping a lot of scenes. Almost all the characters I liked the most died. It's pretty unusual for a series to keep on killing off main characters. It felt unsatisfying. We were left with the most cunning and cold people, except for my favorite character Zhi Ming. He was the only comedic relief. And boy, did I need it. My favorite couple, though, was Jian Bin and Qi Zhi Kan. I would say they were the only real couple. They were obviously important to each other. They both stayed loyal till the end. Zhi Ming was into A-Li, and Meng Zhang seemed to be into Zhong Kun Yi. I believe it was one-sided in both instances, though. Zhi Ming was so into A-Li. A-Li was cold towards Zhi Ming almost the entire way through, though. He did manage to get him to smile a couple of times, but that was about it. Zhong Kun Yi just seemed to not care about Meng Zhang that much. I mean, he didn't even bat an eye when he was ill. Gong Sun Qian and Ling Guang were never that close, so I wouldn't consider them a possible couple. There was also so much repetition of the same issues. It became a little tedious. There weren't enough romantic moments for this to be worth it, in my opinion.

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He Who Is Without Sin
4 people found this review helpful
Apr 26, 2021
Completed 0
Overall 7.0
Story 8.0
Acting/Cast 8.5
Music 6.0
Rewatch Value 5.0
This review may contain spoilers

The ugly truth.

This was honestly quite well done. It was a good movie. Elijah was amazing. His acting was completely believable.

I was confused as to why Martin was telling two different stories about what happened that night. I assumed the trauma caused him to be either misremembering, defensive or both, about what occurred. He downplayed what had happened because his molester was a celebrity and because he was embarrassed. He kept blaming himself, saying that Lawrence probably thought he was sending him signals and that maybe he enjoyed it. Which obviously wasn't true. He was just deeply traumatized to the point of breaking down.

There was absolutely nothing romantic or sweet about this. It was an adult taking advantage of a minor. Lawrence abused his power and knowledge of him being Martin's idol. They truly managed to get the message across. I was deeply affected and made uncomfortable by Lawrence's behavior.

In conclusion, Lawrence was a disgusting criminal who should have gone to prison. Unfortunately, we didn't get to see what happened afterward. We only saw how it severely affected Martin.

All that said, I liked that it showed that anyone is capable of doing such horrible things. That includes celebrities. This is why we shouldn't idolize people.

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Completed
Love at 7-11
2 people found this review helpful
May 12, 2021
8 of 8 episodes seen
Completed 0
Overall 6.5
Story 6.5
Acting/Cast 6.5
Music 5.0
Rewatch Value 6.0
This review may contain spoilers

Greatly overlooked.

I would say this is a hidden gem. Sure it had its flaws, and the plot wasn't anything new, but it was charming and dealt well with those typical BL tropes we're all tired of seeing. Although the budget was low, this was better than many of the high-budget BL's. The acting wasn't bad or cringey. The actors seemed comfortable with each other. Gawin and Cho had great chemistry. Their kiss was one of the best I've seen in a while, at least in a Thai BL. I didn't understand Cho's mom. It was fine that her son had a boyfriend, but if it were anyone else, it wouldn't be fine? Huh?

Tin and Toss were also cute. I always love seeing couples in BL's who have or take care of a child together. It was just adorable. I can't say that their kisses were that great, though. Anyway, I loved Tin's talk with his friend. He definitely needed the support, and his friend provided him with that. His friend explained it very well in a non-offensive way. He spoke incredibly wisely. Most of the time in these BL's, if you ask a supposedly straight guy what he thinks of two guys being together, he'll either be disgusted or say he doesn't care. Tin's friend gave him actual advice. It was lovely to see. Toss was a bit pushy with Tin sometimes. He stood his ground when his awful "wife" came back, though. He told her outright that he was in love with Tin and made sure Tin also knew that.

In general, most of the problems that arose were quickly dealt with and weren't too bothersome. Both San and Vee accepted defeat and didn't get too much in between Cho and Gawin. One thing that really bothered me was the stereotypical predatory gay character. I'm so tired of their presence in pretty much every Thai BL ever. It's not funny. It's harassment.

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May 3, 2021
1 of 1 episodes seen
Completed 0
Overall 4.0
Story 3.0
Acting/Cast 6.0
Music 4.0
Rewatch Value 2.5
This review may contain spoilers

Let's call it what it is, a cash grab.

Meh. At this point, I'm very uninterested in Tharn and Type's story. This special episode didn't really add much to the story anyway. Sure, they got married and all that, but there were so many flashbacks that just felt unnecessary.

I also didn't care for their chemistry that much either. It was nothing compared to the first season. It was very cheesy. Almost every time Tharn opened his mouth, I knew he was going to say something cringey.

Techno took up too much time. He just dragged certain scenes out.

There was no development with any of the other couples. Klui and Seo were pretty much at the same spot as they were back in season one. Nothing came out of their relationship. Seo admitted to Phugun that he did, in fact, like Klui, but Klui was never told. We can only assume that Klui didn't feel the same, I guess. Leo and Fiat only appeared for like two minutes. Their segment was purely there to advertise for those mints or whatever they were. Champ and Khunpol weren't even really a couple yet, from what I could gather. Cirrus and Phugun were cute, but they didn't add much.

What bothered me the most was the whole wife thing. Why just why? Tharn was a gay man. Gay men don't like women, so why would he continuously call Type his wife as if he was a woman? They were HUSBANDS.

The worst part was the ridiculous price you had to pay for an hour and twenty minutes of boring dragged-out scenes that could have been just the twenty minutes.

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Completed
Brothers
2 people found this review helpful
May 2, 2021
13 of 13 episodes seen
Completed 0
Overall 4.0
Story 4.0
Acting/Cast 5.5
Music 5.0
Rewatch Value 2.0
This review may contain spoilers

It added nothing new to the BL genre, but it was wholesome.

The acting was neither amazing nor bad. Some were better than others. Folk had significantly improved since he last acted, though. The kisses were lackluster, and I almost could have done without them. There was a lot of cheesy and cringey dialogue. Prab was laying it on thick. It did sometimes get to the point where I thought it was too much. Some scenes were too long and borderline awkward. That creepy shirtless sequence at the start was unnecessary and weird. They were all so young. It made me highly uncomfortable.

There were too many couples, which is a common mistake in BL's. When there are that many couples, they don't all get the development they need. It ends up feeling unsatisfying, especially when your favorite couple isn't the main couple. Personally, in this series, I liked Khun-Kaow and Q-Long better than Prab-Chol. Q and Long didn't get the screen time they deserved. I really wanted more of them. Also, you end up not being invested enough in every couple when you have to remember the details of all of them. It was just overwhelming. It took me quite a while to figure out who was getting together with who.

Maping and the teachers were a big no-no. I was pretty happy with the way it turned out. But still, not just one, but two teachers, liked a student. That was so wrong, and I wanted there to be more consequences for them abusing their authority.

This story honestly had so many plot holes. Many moments seemed as if they came out of nowhere. That could be due to the cutting of scenes. I'm not sure which scenes exactly were cut. But I do know they cut the confession scene in episode twelve. It made the flow of everything completely messed up. Not only did they first post the uncut episodes on YouTube close to the end of the cut versions on LINE TV were ending, but they also didn't provide subtitles for international fans. So there is no way to know what they said unless some kind soul will translate them. Why make a BL and then cut out the very scenes that make it a BL? I don't understand.

I was mostly fine with the whole step-brother thing, but Prab and Chol acted too much like actual brothers. I almost expected them to never get romantic with each other. The chase was way too exhausting and almost boring. Chol spent too much time denying his feelings and hurt Prab in the process. All that said, they did have some of the best communication I've seen in these Thai BL's. Plus, we did get a lot of wholesome and cute moments.

Nick, Tri, and the twins were all characters I felt pretty bad for. I feel like Nick and Tri's feelings were especially taken advantage of. Prab and Chol really didn't consider their feelings enough. Both of the twins being into Tri was a little odd, I think.

Chol's dad was just such a hypocritical, selfish jerk. When he gave Prab and Chol ultimatums to prove their love to him, I lost all hope of ever liking him. How dare he get in between their love for each other? Why would they have to prove anything? It is so gross how some people expect or even demand more from people just because they're not straight. A parent should know better. He also tried multiple times to force Chol into not pursuing his dream career. Who cares whether he's a doctor or a photographer as long as he's happy.

To end this, I'd like to say that I feel like them making a second season seems silly. They really could have concluded and resolved everything in this season. They just decided to throw in pointless scenes instead of ones that actually could have progressed and kept the story interesting. I hope the next season is better and less nonsensical.

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