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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It was okay, kind of meh...

A very medium series, here are my pros and cons:

PROS

1) OFF'S ASS. I would love to see him in a speedo. Dang, I'll bet he could open a jar of pickles with that thing.

2) FOOD. Most of it looked really good!

3) SHORT. It was a fluffy, sweet series that didn't overstay its welcome.

CONS

1) OFFGUN "CHEMISTRY." Sorry, what chemistry? They've always given me good friend vibes and there was nothing here to make me feel differently. And Gun REALLY can't kiss. (Or won't.)

2) THEME SONG. Hated it with a passion! That baby crush song made me want to remove my own appendix with a knife and fork every time I heard it. The MC was in their thirties, for goodness' sake. "Baby crush?" Eww. They're not 12.

3) FIRE'S MOM. What a bitch. I wanted to slap her and didn't buy her complete 180 at the last minute. I thought she was an evil, bad seed who needed to be taken out with the trash.

4) WASTED OPPORTUNITY. You've got Dome Jawarat in the cast, who just happens to be one of THE best singers in Thailand, and his vocal talents were not utilized (even for the OST)? Shame.

A pleasant but forgettable series. It's a 6.0 from me.

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Some trainwrecks do have some redeeming features, I guess...

I think just about everyone agrees that Our Story was a huge disappointment. And it was. Zeke and Fifth were adorable in My Story, in fact they saved that series to a large degree. As for Our Story, here are my pros and cons:

PROS

SOME OF THE ACTORS. I will give props to Fifth, Kevin (yes Kevin, he played his annoying character very well), Joel, and Sean (the only real likeable character of the series) for playing their roles effectively.

MUSIC. I've always liked the catchy theme song. One of the best features of the series.

LORRAINE/IRIS. We didn't get enough of them, and their road to getting together was not developed well. But they were sweet, and kudos to Oxin for introducing a nice GL couple.

STORY. Okay, don't shun me for this. Was the story a trainwreck? Absolutely. Did it often make no sense? Yep. So why would I list this as a "pro?" Because, unlike so many BLs I've watched this year, there actually was a story. It may not have been the story that most of us wanted to see, but there was a story. A weird ass story at times, but it was there.

NC SCENES. Filipino BLs rarely disappoint when it comes to this aspect.

MATT'S MELTDOWN. Matt's freakout when his underwear sniffing video surfaced was the highlight of the entire series for me!

CONS

ZEKE. Hells bells, he turned out to be a creep. Like many of you, I really lost all interest in FiZeke as a sustainable couple, halfway through the series. They really turned him into a cheating creep. He never apologized for his misdeeds: Fifth did all the apologizing. I was in favor of Zeke reuniting with Kevin and having the two of them get lost.

KIM/PARK/SEAN TRIANGLE. First of all, I found Kim to be unappealing from Day 1. Girl, you ain't all that, you're no great shakes as a businesswoman, and your ass kissing got old yesterday, okay? Sean was so nice and didn't deserve being played. (And whatever happened to Sean? He just disappeared.) Park was as big of a hemorrhoid as Kim, so I guess they deserve each other. Barf.

JELAI/JEROME. Wth? So Jelai, who I guess we're "supposed" to like, decides to cheat on his "boyfriend" (his "baby boy," whoever THAT is!) with Jerome, who seems nice until he goes postal and his head spins around three times. And Jelai ends the relationship by telling Jerome what a good person he (Jerome) is. Sure honey... if you like hanging out with psychos. Their entire relationship was just eww.

TOO MANY CHARACTERS. It was just too convoluted. It took me most of the series to figure out who they all were. At least half of them could have been eliminated... that in itself may have improved this mess.

CHRISTMAS MUSIC. This started in October. OCTOBER. And it continued in every episode after that. There was no talk of Christmas until the end of the series. A complete miss and, frankly, annoying.

But -- somehow -- I still watched. I guess we all did... but why? I think it was because, despite the disappointments and craziness, there was something entertaining about this complete trainwreck that kept us watching. Like slowing down for a car accident.

I'm giving it a 6.0/10.

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Nothing dangerous about THIS romance

Dangerous Romance has been, for me, the biggest disappointment for BLs this year. Here are my pros and cons:

PROS

FIRST TWO EPISODES. The bullying was brutal, but the drama was intense. Based on the first two episodes, I felt that I might be giving this series a 10. (Sigh.)

GRANDMA. The best character on any series, ever.

PIMFAH. Loved her.

SAILOM. I liked him as a character, especially in the first part of the series.

GUY/NAVA. Hawt and sexy. They could have their own gay porn channel.

MAX/AUTO. They obviously became close friends. I could have shipped them as a couple.

SAIFAH'S BODY. Please pass me a fan.

CONS

STORY. First 2 eps were compelling. Kang did a complete (and inexplicable), 180 starting in Ep 3. He became so sickeningly sweet, we might as well have been watching Barney and Friends. Kang never apologized for his early psycho behavior, and we could have skipped Eps 3 through 9 without missing anything.

KANG/SAILOM. No chemistry. I mean ZERO. Should have become friends and that's it. I can't imagine the two of them having sex, or least being any good at it.

KANG'S DAD. I thought he would at least be some kind of sinister character, but he was just a wimp. That lame ass excuse for not expecting anything from Kang was ridiculous. And then we were supposed to LIKE him? I hope he steps on a pebble every time he's barefoot.

KANG'S GUNSHOT WOUND. So in Ep 11, Kang was shot, although you'd never know it. In his arm? In his back? There was no screaming out in pain, he just hugged Sailom with a smile on his face. And how could the gunman not have killed Kang? He was less than two feet away.

THE WIND/WINDMILL THING. I suppose it was cute, once. But Kang KEPT bringing it up, to the point where we all wanted to barf. (And it's dumb anyway... a windmill does need wind, but wind does not need a windmill.)

Despite my low rating, I did enjoy parts of this series. I gave it a fairly high rewatch value, because I actually did rewatch quite a lot of it. But it did not deliver what was initially advertised. What could have been a brilliant series just fizzled.

it's a 5.0 from me.

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I liked it!

Despite some of the negative comments here, I'm giving this one a 10. And anyone that's followed my critiques and ratings knows that 10s are very rare for me! Here are my pros and cons:

PROS

STORY. I found the story compelling, and different from the majority of BLs out there. I found myself genuinely anticipating each week's episode, and that's something I haven't felt from a BL in quite a while.

ACTING. There were only three regular actors in the series, and I especially liked Ellis Gage as Joshua. The other two were more than creditable.

MUSIC. I really liked the OST theme song.

ENDING. After the drama of Episode 6, I expected a happy ending (as is customary in Thai BLs), where somehow everything gets wrapped up in a nice ribbon and they all live happily ever after. Very glad they didn't go that route. Joshua already being married was a real plot twist! Andre was of course very immature, but I liked how the two of them separated but kept the lines of communication open. So, while it wasn't a customary "happy ending," it was a realistic one, combined with hope for the future. Kudos to the writers.

CONS

RELATIONSHIP. I guess you could call it an "enemies to lovers" trope, except that Joshua was the only unfriendly one at first. I didn't mind the slow burn, but found it odd that Joshua was feeling that Andre might be cheating on him (he wasn't)... especially when the two of them never really got past the friends stage. They never slept together or even kissed and, frankly, that's pretty much unheard of when dealing with two gay men in their late twenties.

But I'm sticking with my 10.0 rating. Hoping to see these two in other projects.

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Well...

This was a crazy ride because, while I'll admit to having a soft spot for some of the recurring characters from My Day (and, of course, My Day brought us some much needed entertainment during the quarantine period), this was quite messy in many ways. Here are my pros and cons:

PROS

TRANS CHARACTER STORYLINE. I do appreciate that they gave Ms. Becky a love interest and an actual storyline, as opposed to treating trans characters as simply an embarrassing attempt at comic relief.

ZEKE/FIFTH. Well, what's not to like? Two attractive young guys that had no problems showing off their hot bodies and getting into some steamy scenes. Can someone hand me a fan, please? And their acting was quite acceptable as well.

THEME SONG. I liked it in My Day, and I continued to like it here. Catchy tune, and fun.

WIN. Teejay is handsome and I think he tried his best, with what he was given as a script, and to play off of.

CONS

CHUKCHUK. Don't get me wrong, I love dogs. But when they started that "Chukchuk is missing" crap (AGAIN!), I was ready to punch a baby in the face.

SKY/WIN. It felt VERY forced. I realize that Miko Gallardo is one of the producers, and he was steaming hot in My Day. But he seemed very uncomfortable here. It's obvious that he's put on some real weight since My Day (where he was in underwear model shape). No, I'm not fat shaming. I only mention it because he seemed very awkward in the shirtless scenes. Teejay tried really hard, but there was just no chemistry and they had little screen time as a couple, and the proposal at the end seemed... weird.

DAD DYING. Unnecessary drama, at least from what I could see. Although... it did give Miko (Sky) a chance to show off some tearful acting chops we may have not known that he had.

MS. BECKY. I know... I said I appreciated her love interest storyline, and I do (especially with a younger, sexy guy... go Becky!).
But... she's an aging adult, and her reaction to Marco's having had an ex-girlfriend was REALLY high school. Most adults would take the high road and have an adult conversation with their lover to find out what was up. Silly. And, while she claimed to be so worried about Chukchuk, it became clear she would have had that mutt euthanized in a second for a photo op. (Why did she still have Ace's beloved dog to begin with?)

JELAI. Okay, he's portrayed as the aging and not particularly attractive, over-the-top effeminate comic character. That isn't my biggest complaint. It's that they turned him into a pervy creep, asking his students Zeke and Fifth who was the bottom. That's the last thing the LGBTQ+ community needs. Barf.

PRIM'S EX. Whatever happened to him? We dealt with Mr. Jealous for several episodes, and then he was just... gone. Hello?

PRIM/SKY THING. I have no idea why they introduced that. Not that women don't fall for gay men... it happens. But the whole premise came off as unnecessary filler.

I didn't hate it, but I can't call it a success, either. My Day got a 7.0 from me... I'm giving My Story a 6.0, and that's mainly because Zeke/Fifth provided enough hotness to keep my rating from being pulled several points lower.

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Low budget, great quality

The Day I Loved You is, in my opinion, the best BL to come out of the Philippines since Gameboys. Here are my pros and cons:

PROS

UNUSUAL STORY. Kudos to the writers and producers for tackling the story of a devastating illness with respect, along with warmth and just the right amount of humor. To my knowledge, ALS has not been the subject of a BL before. Bravo!

TOMMY, TOMMY, TOMMY. He gave a tour-de-force portrayal as the ailing Nikko. The guy is very talented. Raynold Tan as Eli held his own pretty well, especially with such a strong acting partner.

BREVITY. I love how this series packed so much into such short episodes. Other BLs (many with dragged out, looooong episodes that seem never ending) should take note. This is how it's done, folks.

CONS

JUSTIN AND NIKKO'S MOM. The actor who plays Justin has about as much charisma and acting chops as a wooden spoon, and the actress who played Nikko's mom wasn't much better.

PROM. Not a deal breaker, but I would have preferred to see Nikko attend the REAL prom.

Were there some areas to pick at? Sure. So why am I giving it a 10? (Especially when I rarely give them.)

Because this is one of the very few BLs I've seen in the last couple of years where I found myself counting the days/hours to see the next episode. And, for me, that counts for a lot.

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Enjoyable.

This was a nice watch for me. Here are my pros and cons:

PROS

STORY. I found it interesting and sometimes compelling, especially all the drama of Tae Hyun's back story. Da Yeol struck me as cold at first, but I appreciated his character development as the series progressed.

BREVITY. Especially now, with so many BLs being produced (including a lot of weak ones), I do appreciate a series that can get the story told without resorting to 12+ looooong episodes. Kudos to the producers.

CONS

DEVELOPMENT. There were some "huh?" moments for me: the "villain" (the guy with long hair who was bullying Da Yeol) confused me. I would have liked more from him, as I was never quite sure why he was as much of a jerk as he was. Maybe he was just a homophobe. Or maybe he himself liked one of them. Who knows? And the character of Tae Hyun's aunt (who blamed him for his sister's death!) could have been explored in deeper detail.

ENDING. The last episode was disappointing for me, but not because of a lack of a kiss (ear peck aside). What was up with "two years later," and what happened during those two years? Then we get a reconnection as a day-long date which was cute, but never developed in any meaningful way. The ending baffled me: was this another two years later? We suddenly -- with no explanation -- see Da Yeol in a military uniform, with Tae Hyun extending flowers to him from a distance. Huh?

At certain points during this series I thought I might be giving a rare 10 as a rating, because I really liked a lot of it and enjoyed the chemistry between the leads. At the end of the day, I'm giving it an 8.5.

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Overall, this was really nice

I've been a big Earth/Mix since A Tale of a Thousand Stars, which is one of my all time favorite BLs. Moonlight Chicken was an interesting series, here are my pros and cons:

PROS

REALISM. Moonlight Chicken touched on some real-life topics in a refreshingly realistic way: deafness, semi-poverty, unrequited love, unexpected death in the family, the pain of a breakup, the fear of entering into a new relationship after having been burned, difficulties with parenting... these were all dealt with realistically and sensitively.

GAY CHARACTERS. Thank you!

ACTING. Everyone delivered. Fourth and Gemini were adorable, Earth/Mix/First were professional as expected, and Khaotung was heartbreaking in what I feel is, so far, his best performance in a series. The supporting characters were excellent as well.

CINEMATOGRAPHY. Beautifully filmed.

CONS

BORING AT TIMES. For me, some of it was uninteresting. I felt less invested in JimWen as a couple than LimingHeart, only because JimWen weren't all that fascinating as people, IMO. They just came across as very ordinary and -- dare I say -- not really noteworthy as main characters in a series.

ALAN/GAIPA. I was REALLY disappointed that the producers/screenwriters put AlanGaipa together at the end. Why? Because the story was so realistic up to that point. It felt (to me) like the writers felt obligated to put First and Khao together to satisfy their shippers. Alan just happens to be the same banker that Jim has, Wen's ex... and then, in a move that only be described as extremely tacky and insensitive, he shows up at grief-stricken Gaipa's mom's funeral to discuss business.... and Gaipa falls for him. It was unrealistic and totally took me out of the story which, up to that point, had been well written and thought out. I really wish the producers would have left that alone.

It's an 8.0 from me, which would would have been higher without the AlanGaipa intervention.

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One of the better Thai BLs I've seen in more than a year!

Despite all the negative comments I read here on MDL, I really liked this one and am going to miss it. Here are my pros and cons:

PROS

STORY. Yes, that's right. Sure, there were some moments that suspended belief, but what Thai BL doesn't have those? For the most part, I found this compelling. And, contrary to so many BLs, it actually HAD a story (yes, I'm looking at you, Bad Buddy). Even better, everything was wrapped up in the end, and with no cliffhangers.

ACTING. I really had no issues with the acting. Nat was great as the villain, as was Perth as his conflicted son. Phuwin played his lead role respectably, with some really good moments here and there. Pond was pretty good, as was Chimon (in a part that gave him little to do). And Pawin was delicious as the conniving and underhanded Phum.

OST SONGS. Phuwin has a beautiful voice and I loved his OST. Pond singing was surprisingly pleasant and I enjoyed his OST, played in the ending credits. (As for the rest of the music... what was up with all those misplaced Christmas carols? And that hideous cowboy song??)

CHEMISTRY. Palm was so adorably sweet and protective with Neung. And they weren't afraid to kiss with some passion.

CONS

"ELDERLY" PEOPLE. That dance class for the elderly! The oldest person I saw looked to be maybe 45. What's the life expectancy in Thailand, 48?

"JUST SHOOT ME!" It was either Episode 10 or 11 (I forgot) where three or four of the characters (separately) got themselves in a situation where they felt compelled to scream out "Shoot me! Go ahead, shoot me!" A bit silly.

THE NOTES AND LEAVING. It was annoying enough with Neung did it. It was downright ridiculous when Palm returned the favor in the finale.

Still, none of those were dealbreakers for me. I'm giving it a 9.0.

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I actually liked it. However...

Okay, I guess I'm the odd man out. Despite its many flaws, I enjoyed it. Here are my pros and cons:

PROS

DIFFERENT. They actually went there, exploring BDSM with young guys. It happens, folks. And, while many viewers were horrified by the young ages of the actors, let's remember that BurgerKing was just a cute little non-story, and SaintHida just involved a crush of one kid on his non-blood related stepbrother. It was all quite vanilla, there was nothing sordid involved with any of them. The BDSM triangle involved only the older actors, and even that wasn't particularly explicit.

ACTING. Okay, they weren't all good. But some were. The two nasty girlfriends did a great job, Art was a welcome addition, the veteran actors were good, and the boys did pretty well for being rookies. The awful trans teacher made us all hate her, so kudos to her!

CONS

STORY. That was the most convoluted mess I've seen in a long time. None of the couples had any connection with each other, other than being friends on some level, I guess. And who died?

ENDING. Big points off for ending with a "To be continued." We all know that many promises of a Season 2 never happen in BL (My Engineer, etc.), and it's unlikely that this series will get the 1 million supporters to make it happen. And we're left with nothing but questions. Unacceptable and shame on the producers.

I'm giving it a 6.5.

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Three Little Wigs

I started out liking this but my enthusiasm fizzled as the series went along. Here are my pros and cons:

PROS

CHOMPU. I appreciated the feature of a disabled character, and that Nan sincerely fell for her.

THEME SONG. I thought it was catchy and I liked the background ensemble singers.

SERIOUS ISSUES. Especially the Name story.

CONS

WIGS. Wth? Seriously. It was a battle of the wigs and the wigs won. Their evil plan is to take over the entire BL industry and star in their own series. Seriously, the wigs were beyond stupid.

CHAMP. Sorry honey, you're just boring. Way too much time devoted to him, and his sister was weird. She turned her own wedding into a funeral service for her grandfather.

TOO MANY CHARACTERS. There were so many characters that it was impossible to "know" any of them. I suppose we got to know Name more than anyone else.

5.5 from me.

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A present day "Twilight Zone"

As a fan of old time sci-fi series such as "The Twilight Zone" and "The Outer Limits," I appreciated what Aan Anusorn attempted to bring to the BL genre here. These are my pros and cons:

PROS

ACTING. Of course, I was excited to see Art back after a long hiatus. From the very start, he proved himself a worthy veteran actor, far beyond what we normally see in BL. Michael brought his usual professionalism and talent as well. Best (as Golf) was a welcome and pleasant surprise, as were those in supporting roles. Strong cast all around!

UNUSUAL PLOT. As mentioned above, this reminded me of an extended version of a "Twilight Zone" episode. Is the plot realistic? Of course not, but neither were most of the stories of that classic television series. It was an interesting premise.

SIMULATED SEX. Yes, indeed! And it was hawt.

CINEMATOGRAPHY. Beautifully shot.

CONS

VIOLENCE. Why were the killers going around assassinating people, with just days before the end of the world? For sport?

THE END OF THE WORLD. Hard to believe that everyone would be so calm -- as opposed to freaking out -- knowing that the world was ending in a matter of days. And I had to chuckle at the amount of times I heard "for the rest of my life." Yeah, 48 hours or less.

GOLF'S TURN AROUND. He went from psychotic to perfect in like... 2 days, with no explanation.

ENDING. Art's dream? I don't necessarily need a Season 2, but I would like some answers. Or maybe it's better to just leave it to our imaginations.

It's a 7.5 from me.

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Interesting concept, but...

War of Y is a story of behind the scenes drama in the BL industry, following in the line of Lovely Writer, Call it What You Want and Call it What You Want 2. Here are my pros and cons:

PROS

WELL KNOWN ACTORS. This series featured some longtime BL favorites: Talay, Billy, Seng... and more.

INTERESTING PLOT TWISTS. I appreciated that the series wasn't entirely predictable, and liked that some of the "victim" characters turned out to be the most devious of all!

CONS

MOTIVE. So it's a series, based on real-life incidents, exposing much of the crap that goes on the BL set. Well, this too is a BL. So what are we supposed to learn here? Should we stop watching BL because it is, in actuality, a completely toxic industry? What was behind the scenes like on the War of Y set itself? Squeaky clean? Or more of what they are claiming to "expose?" I will say this: if War of Y serves to help eliminate fanservice once and for all, I'm all for it. It's soooooo creepy. But War of Y's couples are currently indulging in fanservice of their own... so what's the point, really?

TOO LONG. Four stories was too much. By the fourth one I was bored, and Achi was just a giant turd. I would have liked to see him suffer more, I think he got off pretty much unscathed. At least he and Most didn't ride off into the sunset together, the way Pan and Nott did in the first episode (puh-leeze... I give that relationship about three months at best).

A lot of viewers think this was pretty great, and everyone is entitled to an opinion. For me it was kind of medium. Interesting some of the time, but I never found myself eagerly awaiting each week's episode, the way I do my favorites.

It's a 6.5 from me.

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Beyond bad

Falhanruk is the story of two college-age boywhores who have drunk random sex with one another in the bathroom of a bar. They go back and forth in a toxic relationship where one of them constantly slaps the other in the face. At the end, the slapee confesses that he likes it and the two of them turn into Walt Disney characters as they ride off into the sunset on the Bangkok Transit System. The End. Here are my pros and cons:

PROS

MUSIC. The theme song perhaps the best thing about the series.

REALISM. Well... the truth is that most young gay boys ARE horndogs and indulge in lots of meaningless sex. That part of the series was believable.

PING CRYING. Although it got really old watching Ping in tears, I will say that he was good at turning on the waterworks. I got the feeling that the producers/directors had the actor cry as much as possible... only because he COULD.

CONS

STORY. There was a story. It was bad.

SHER THE SLAPPER. I wanted to bust through the screen and slap him myself. You know you did, too.

PINK. You're annoying, honey. And far too old to be buying into the whole "shipping" thing. Find a lover or, at least, buy a vibrator.

This was just really terrible. I'm giving it a 3.0, and the only reason it's that high is because of Ping's real tears.

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