Low budget and flawed, but not without entertainment value

So, more than a year after the finale, I stumbled upon this Filipino BL series and binge watched it. There is a LOT to pick at, but somehow it charmed me a little bit. Or maybe I've just been bored by most of the oh-so-predictable Thai BLs that have been churned out like factory products as of late. At any rate, here are my pros and cons.

PROS

THEME SONG. Nicely sung and catchy tune.

BL ACTORS NOT AFRAID TO KISS. Unlike most of the dead fish passionless kissing we get from the guys in Thai and Korean BLs (sorry, but it's true), these guys delivered. I mean, they really went for it! Kudos to the two main couples for that. And the shirtless pre-sex make out scene between Art and Mack was erotically HAWT.

BITCHY GIRLS. Sure, it's a trope that's been used many times. But it's been a while since I've seen an entertaining bitchy girlfriend who thinks she's all that. I'll admit to being entertained by both of them.

ACTING. No one here was going to grab an Academy Award for this, but I thought some of the actors did respectable jobs.

FOOD SCENES. Some of it looked really good! I've got to cook more chicken with adobo.

CONS

DISAPPOINTING TRANS CHARACTERS. Why were they even there? And they were so over-the-top annoying it went way past caricature and into the level of insulting toward trans people in general.

CONVOLUTED STORY. Too many story lines, too many characters. I started getting confused as to who each character was, and what they were even about (or upset about), which leads to me to my biggest complaint of all...

THE TWO FINAL EPISODES. So, after13 episodes featuring more characters than three consecutive seasons of RuPaul's Drag Race, they're suddenly just GONE, save the two main couples. (And even they weren't together in either of the episodes, they each had their own epilogues.)

And I'm sorry, but... who the hell are Anj and Rex? This out-of-the-blue random straight couple took up at least 15 minutes worth of the Art/Mack finale, and... why are we supposed to care about them?

Mack accepted Art's breakup way too easily. And then we get a "two years later" reconciliation... it was just weak.

But with all that, my biggest peeve has to be the Sai/Khel finale. For what possible reason did Khel continuously apologize to Sai... when Khel NEVER DID ANYHING WRONG TO BEGIN WITH! Seriously? Not once could Khel have found the time to explain that he set up a romantic evening for Sai, that was completely misunderstood by some girl who hugged him?

Do Filipinos never talk out problems? Do they just enjoy melodramatic crying over nothing??

No, I don't believe that, I'm pretty sure this was just bad writing.

A bit of a disclaimer: this series was obviously filmed during COVID. And I do remember the Philippines having off and on lockdowns during that time. The airing of the final episodes -- 14 & 15 -- came two months after Episode 13 aired. There was probably an even longer time span than two months, for the filming itself... Art looked quite different than he did during the first 13 episodes. It seemed apparent to me that it was probably all the producers could do to film any kind of ending. So kudos to the team for that... but the finales were, at the very least, odd. It was as though we were watching a completely different series.

But, overall, I kind of enjoyed this low-budget, somewhat trainwrecky series, especially before the finales. It's a 7.0 from me.

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Sure, it's good... but a 10? YES!

Anyone that has read my other reviews may have noticed that I am not particularly generous with 9s and 10s when it comes to ratings. So why a 10 for this one? I will do my best to explain below. Here are my pros and cons:

PROS:

THE MAIN COUPLE. They are as wholesome and endearing as it gets. Nubdao (Mon) is not only beautiful, but shows a real vulnerability as well. Keptawan (Oak) is the real star here. As the uneducated country boy, he plays the part with what, at first, might come across as over-the-top acting, but it ends up working. You can't help but root for him, he totally sold me on his character.

MESSAGES. This short gay love story conveys some important messages. Keptawan shows us that, despite life's slings and arrows, maintaining a positive attitude can get us through just about anything. His mother is a wonderful role model as a supportive parent of a naive, gay son. And Nubdao shows us that love can strike unannounced, when you least expect it. (One of my favorite moments was when Keptawan found Nubdao waiting in his room, and Keptawan's reaction.)

THEME SONG. Can't get enough of it. Mon sings so nicely.

CONS:

BREVITY. The plot line is just fine, but it would have been nice to know more of the background of the characters. What happened to Keptawan's dad? Why does the uncle harbor such hostility toward the mother? Did Nubdao abandon his career to stay with Keptawan? None of these are dealbreakers for me, but it would have nice to know a bit more.

When I watched the first Country Boy, I thought it was sweet but wasn't quite sold on it -- I think I gave it a 7.0 rating -- mainly because it was hinting at romance but delivered more of a bromance. And, since it seemed like that might be it, I was a little disappointed. Don't get me wrong, I don't need skinship and make out/sex sessions to enjoy a BL series. But I was a little confused as to what we were supposed to get out of it, other than a cute story. Thankfully, Country Boy 2 changed all that for me.

At the end of the day, I found myself not only anticipating these episodes much more than I have with some other, more high budget (and longer) popular BL series. And I've already rewatched both episodes a few times and will continue to do so. I'd love it if they come up with Country Boy 3. Can't get enough of these two!

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What did I just watch?

Filipino BLs tend to range from excellent/high quality (Gameboys) to really bad/low budget (Stranger's Kiss). Watching Episode 1 of He's Mine made it pretty clear that it was low budget, but it seemed interesting enough that I decided to stick with it. Here are my pros and cons:

PROS:

EYE CANDY. Yep, I'm that shallow. But the boys were indeed pretty, especially Cairo and Juanmig.

THEME SONG. I really enjoyed the theme song and looked forward to it each episode.

SOME OF THE ACTING. The cast was a mixed bag of really talented actors and... really not talented actors.

CONS:

THE STORY. What exactly WAS the story? What I saw -- mostly -- was two groups of "friends" who spent the entire time yelling and acting really bitchy toward each other. Other than Cairo/Juanmig, I wasn't getting how any of the other "relationships" actually developed. Calix's mom gets the award for Worst Mother in the World. And the finale was such a mess I have NO idea what story they were trying to tell. I suppose I could try rewatching it but... I don't wanna.

NO KISS. Okay, there was kind of one at the very end. But what's the point of creating a BL without kissing between the guys? We don't need simulated sex scenes or long make out sessions, but we do need some affection between the main leads.

PIANO MUSIC. The piano music played over and over and over throughout the entire finale practically made me want to remove my own appendix with a knife and fork.

COLLEEN. The character was awful (how could she have a BFF?), the actress was weak, and every time she said "Watch and learn," I just wanted to smack the girl.

I'm giving it a 5.0.

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Almost perfect, but no

Papa and Daddy was a short, LGBTQ+ series about two gay men with a son conceived through surrogacy. Here are my pros and cons:

PROS

THE STORY. This is a story that needs to be told, and the writers did a great job with this one.

ACTING. No complaints!

REAL LIFE SITUATIONS. I liked the pride parade, the circle of supportive gay friends, the hiding, the coming out... all realistic issues for gay couples with children.

CONS

SLOW PACING. Some of the scenes were a bit draggy and boring.

THE ENDING, THE ENDING, THE ENDING. It's a stupid idea for any series to end a season with a cliffhanger, but especially for a BL/LGBTQ+ series, as Season 2 often has a way of not happening. Turns out Damian has a teenage son and Jerry is just finding out. And the producers have announced that Season 2 will likely not be happening. SHAME ON THEM.

It's the reason my score is as low as it is. Even if they do have a Season 2, ending with a cliffhanger isn't cool. Cliffhangers suck.

What would have been 9.0 from me is now 7.0.

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Wow! I watched James in Great Men Academy, where he played Love, and he was very cute and sweet in that role. But nothing could have prepared me for his brilliant performance here as Boo. This was acting of the highest level... compelling, convincing, believable. As an actor, James is the real deal.

Along with that, I was impressed by the entire cast... not one weak link among them.

This was a no-nonsense depiction of teenage depression. I was particularly impressed that the writers kept it real, without resorting to the typical "and they all lived happily ever after" ending. While the ending was not sad, it was clear that Boo was not "cured," but was improving and remained hopeful.

My only complaint with the story is that I could have done without the Boo/Fern "relationship." I had no problem with Fern as a character, but to have the two of them enter into a pseudo-romantic relationship seemed not only unrealistic, but unnecessary. Along with that, making the Boo the cause of Mon's career-ending injury was overkill. For me, the first 4 episodes were incredibly powerful. After that, the direction the writers took gave the story less impact.

This is not a lighthearted story, but I highly recommend it.

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I just finished binge watching this, and I'm really glad I did.

At the beginning, I wasn't so sure I was going to like it. The girl Love character came off as really whiny and annoying (at least to me). Then there was the wish with the unicorn. Sure, I realized it was a fantasy but--seriously--if you had one wish, for anything you want, wouldn't you choose something like a long, healthy life, or great wealth... something really lasting? Okay, I get it, she was a young girl and crazy about Vier, but still... (I also found it weird that another girl, Rose, would have made the exact same wish just to get with Vier.)

But, of course, if girl Love had made a really sensible choice, we wouldn't have had a story, lol. Anyway, on to the characters:

Boy Love: I thought he was great, especially for not having all that much acting experience. His dance in the dress, in front of Vier and Tangmo, had me smiling a lot!

Tangmo: loved him. For me, the best and most convincing actor in the cast.

Vier: no question, the guy is smoking HOT. I thought he did a good job with the character and played some of the emotional scenes very well. He started off as this perfect, cool guy, but then turned into a villain of sorts. But we got his backstory and found out why he was such a jerk at times.

Girl Love: wasn't crazy about her at first, but I liked her more as the story continued.

Good: he was absolutely adorable. The scene where he discovers that boy Love is his sister (with a spontaneous hug) is so heartwarming.

Sean: he was okay. I've liked Captain in other things and, while he was fine here, there wasn't all that much to his role.

Rose: it was a small part, but the actress played it well.

Nuclear: mostly a smiley and cute supporting actor, but he really stepped it up when he confronted Vier toward the end.

Menn: no complaints, he was fine in his supporting role.

I liked a lot of the bit part actors, including Aunty, Vier's father, the teachers and the twin girls.

What I didn't like so much was the first part of "The Greatest" challenge, with the kidnapped girl. It seemed to drag on and on, and I found it extremely boring.

But I loved the final challenge and the last episode! The story brought forth a number of important emotional topics, which was great. And, except for Sean/Rose (poor thing), I'm really glad that everyone ended happy and staying friends.

Will I rewatch? Maybe (I've already rewatched a few parts). Do I recommend it? Definitely.

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One of the better Summer 2021 offerings

The summer of 2021 has been pretty bleak in terms of BL. I watched about 6 series, most of them major disappointments. Light On Me has been a nice surprise, and so was Golden Blood, although it began better than it ended. Here are my pros and cons:

PROS

BOAT (SUN). Dang. The boy is gorgeous, sexy, can sing and is a decent actor. Some people really do have it all.

PITCH/BANK. A welcome second couple. Adorable.

UNUSUAL STORY. I wasn't always crazy about the direction the writers took with the story, but the action scenes -- while unbelievable -- did bring an element of uniqueness to the series.

CONS

GUN (SKY). Sorry honey, you just don't have the range of skills to play a dramatic character. The constant teeth-gnashing was annoying at first, then aggrevating, then coma-inducing. He's better in comedic moments.

"YOUNG MASTER." So Sun, as Sky's bodyguard, is at school posing as Sky's cousin. Fine. So why does Sun call Sky "Young Master" in front of all the other schoolkids? And not one of them questions it?? Yeah right... we totally believe that.

SKY'S DAD. A member of the Mafia, and yet we're supposed to think of Sky's dad as the "good guy." Umm... he's a murderer, folks. But hey, we like him! Next...

FINAL EPISODE. Six years apart? Sure, it could happen, but how did the directors expect the characters to pull off the maturity factor? Two or three years would have been reasonable. And Sky is now working for his dad... as a gangster? His father must be so proud.

I'm giving it a 7.0, mainly because there were some good moments interspersed throughout the craziness.

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Meh.

So this is a story of a guy who joins his comatose twin brother's thug gang members who take the law into their own hands and get hurt... a lot. Oh, and two gay couples emerge from it because, you know, that's what always happens within dangerous gangs. The End.

Here are my pros and cons:

PROS

FLUKE (Dan). For me, he was the best actor in the show. And... he's GORGEOUS. He can pose naked for me any day.

CONCEPT. It was interesting, especially in the first half of the series.

OST. I liked the theme song.

CONS

GUN AS A GANG MEMBER. I'm sorry, but are we seriously supposed to believe that Gun is a dangerous gang member that could actually hurt anyone? Sure, he's a decent actor, but he's built like a fem twink and has no arm muscles whatsoever. Yeah... I'm sure everyone is REAL scared of him...

STORY. What started out as an interesting concept got tired very quickly. The characters were mostly unlikeable, the whole Tawi thing got boring and, in the end, I couldn't have cared less who got together.

I'm giving it a 6.0.

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Liked it!

A good series doesn't always need multiple episodes. This one got the job done well in just three. Here are my pros and cons:

PROS

WAR AS BEST. Despite him being the most gorgeous guy in the cast (by far), War played the insecure Best really well. And, unlike some other actors, he cried real tears!

FERN. Even though I hated her character (outing someone to their parents is a no-no), I thought the actress played her really effectively.

ENDING. The sad ending didn't bother me because, as this story was told, it was totally realistic.

MUSIC. It was good and War is a decent singer.

CONS

STORY. Overused and outdated. It's 2021, folks. Does homphobia still exist? Yes. Do some parents still freak out when discovering they have a gay child? Of course. But times are changing and evolving. This story was simply: Despite Best and Dew liking each other, Dew's mom finds out and sends him away to break them up. The End. We've heard this story for years, and it's time to stop giving it credence. The world needs to see acceptance from parents.

Still, this was presented decently. I'm giving it an 8.0.

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Well, this was a wild ride!

PROS:
1) MIKO'S EXCELLENT ACTING. Inaki a close second.

2) BEST SEX/KISS SCENES EVER SEEN IN A BL. Enough said.

3) ACTUAL GAY CHARACTERS. At first, I thought Sky and Ace were going the way of "I'm straight, I'm just gay for you." But no... a pleasant surprise! And kudos for introducing a lesbian couple, with Ace's mom and Amanda. Happy that the series served as an advocate for the LGBTQ community.

4) TRANS CHARACTERS GIVEN MORE THAN CAMEOS. It was nice to see the trans characters given actual storylines, rather than the usual few lines that add up to nothing but buffoonery.

5) MUSIC. The music was great... especially hearing a full orchestral soundtrack!

CONS:
1) THE STORY. There were just too many "WTF?" moments. For what? The good moments in My Day made up for a lot of the bad... but this series went from lighthearted to ridiculously silly to telenovela melodrama to serious to musical revue to portraying important messages to suspense mystery... it didn't know what it was. Whatever it was, it was way too much variety for one series.

MOIRA. Moira was such a nasty bitch to Sky and his parents, it makes us wonder how he could have put up with her for even one second. And then her revenge... stealing the dog? Her putting peanuts into Sky's pasta was practically attempted murder... what did she expect to get out of it? Moira should have faced time in jail or, at the very least, she should have been kicked to the curb by everyone. Pisses me off that she got a free pass at the end.

2) THE ACE TIMELINE. So Ace was an ass to everyone, including Sky. Suddenly, and without warning, Ace turns in to the kindest, sweetest, most loving guy in the world. There was no in between.

3) THE DOGS. Okay, I get it... Ace was lonely and lacking love from his parents, so Chukchuk was his special friend. So why did they need to show eight dogs, especially when Chukchuk appeared to be the only one Ace cared about?

My Day was pretty much a trainwreck, but one that was hard to stop watching... kind of like watching a Jerry Springer show and, once you've started, you somehow have to watch to the end. It was fun.

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Love, love, LOVE this series! It's got comedy, drama, silliness, poignancy and heart. Even better, the actors here are REAL actors and play their roles beautifully.

Kei Tanaka steals the show as Haruta, a comic genius with major acting chops. Kotaro Yoshida is spectacular as the "Ossan," totally believable as an older gentleman who has become head-over-heels smitten with a naive and much younger man. One of my favorite moments is the surprise proposal scene in Episode 7: Haruta's reactions are priceless and the whole thing is just great.

My only complaint is that the storyline sometimes moves ahead a bit too quickly, but the pros definitely outweigh the cons in this fantastic series.

I will rewatch this again and again. Can't wait for the sequel!

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This was GREAT!

I was expecting to be disappointed with the supernatural story line (especially after the trainwreck of "My Dream"), but boy, was I pleasantly surprised. This is up there in the 3 favorite Asian series I've seen.

As someone who never bought into the SingtoKrist thing in either of the SOTUS series (although I did like them in Our Skyy), as well as not particularly liking FrameBook in Make it Right 1 & 2, my expectations were low. But I LOVED both Singto and Ohm in this. Their chemistry was undeniable, the acting from the entire cast was on point for the whole series and the storyline was really compelling... I couldn't wait to see what would happen next, from week to week!

My only complaint was in the last episode, where the grandfather admitted to everyone that he intentionally premeditated--and carried out--Mes's murder, for his own selfish reasons of wanting Mes's money... and everyone quickly just forgives him, with no questions asked. I mean, come on! He MURDERED someone and gets away with "sorry I murdered Mes, but since I feel really bad about that, I'll start a charity in his name." ...well, I guess that makes it all okay then! That was my only problem with anything in the entire series, which is why I rated the Story as a 9.0 instead of a 10.

Fantastic series, which I highly recommend!

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Okay... the series started out kind of interesting but, for me, ended up being a big disappointment. The guys were cute: Guide is handsome, Tanai has a killer body, Yim is adorable, Dream has a great smile... but the characters were really boring, the storyline makes very little sense and we get no answers during the entire season. Runway, the lead character, is kind of a sweet, dorky kid but says almost nothing--ever--so we don't really get any idea of who he is or what he wants. He shows no real personality and it's a stretch to think of him as having any kind of romantic or sexual feelings at all.

More than that, there is just too much wasted time. For example, the season finale begins with four or five minutes of Dr. Good alone in his apartment, looking wistful. Cut to three more minutes of Tanai sitting by himself, playing the guitar. After that, more than half of the episode shows Runway, Guide and Yim on their first day at the university, sitting through an introductory meeting where nothing of interest happens. These kind of moments occur far too often throughout the series.

All in all, if you're just looking for something pleasant to watch to kill time, it's okay. Just don't get too invested in the plot, as it doesn't go anywhere.

I did like the theme song, a lot!

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Our Skyy is a gem! It especially appeals to anyone who is a fan of these couples from their previous series, but works just as well for newcomers. This short series--only five episodes--features a different couple in each story.

Because each episode is different, it is tempting to rank them in order of favorites. But I'm not going to do that, as each couple was terrific and, in my opinion, there wasn't a weak link in the whole set. I will say that I was particularly impressed with TeeMork (FrankDrake). Their chemistry is so perfect, their acting so natural, their romance believable. The storyline was great and I felt like was watching a real couple. If they are given another series, I would watch it, definitely.

If you're looking for a feel-good series, this might just be the one for you.

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Exceeded my expectations

As a drooling fanboy of the Japanese version (and still am), I watched this while expecting it to fail. I was wrong. Here are my pros and cons:
This could h
PROS

STORY. The story is, of course, wonderful, which is what made me such a fan of the Japanese version. But, in some ways, the Thai version was better. For one (and this is a BIG one), the MC actually kissed, and several times! That was SO much needed in the Japanese version, as opposed to two wonderful actors who made it seem clear that "we're not actually gay, okay?" Blecch.

ROCK/WHAT'S HER NAME. Sorry, I've already forgotten her name. I realize that the female counterpart in the JP version was asexual, and that's fine. But I appreciated the straight couple here. They were adorable.

EXTRA INFO. I liked that Achi/Karan had real interactions with both of the families, which was missing in the Japanese version.

TAY. He really brought it. I appreciated how he made Karan/Kurosawa an even more deep character than what was shown in the JP version. He even cried.

CONS

ACHI. New did a respectable job here. But I missed the comical Adachi from the Japanese version.

LACK OF COMEDY. More lighthearted moments, please.

After the HUGE success of the Japanese version, this could have been a complete fail. It was not. And, in many ways, it improved on the earlier version. Kudos to Cherry Magic Thailand!

10/10 for me.

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