What's wrong? Nothing... I just cry at everything.

From the trailer (and the first episode), I expected not to like this, but it exceeded my expectations. Here are my pros and cons:

PROS

SANTA. Hell yes... he's all I want for Christmas. This boy's got it all: looks, charisma, charm, talent. Fanning myself just thinking about him.

SOME FAMILIAR FACES. Nice to see Prem in a different kind of role, and great to see Peak (Fuse from the Make It Right series) after a hiatus.

CONS

EARTH. We get it, he's good at crying. But the directors decided that he had to cry at EVERYTHING. And the Eiw character was so ridiculously weak and helpless it just became annoying. He might as well have worn a shirt saying "Bully Me." Cake, what do you see in this guy?

MOM'S CAUSE OF DEATH. Sure, complications from second hand smoke can be real, but the explanation the doctor gave for Mom's condition was ridiculous. For one, there would be no way of knowing the exact cause of the cancer. If the writers were on a mission to bring the dangers of second hand smoke to light, then good for them. But it was still a very weak plot.

It's a 6.5 from me.

Read More

I liked it more than some viewers, but...

Like many of you, I looked forward to OMSN because I enjoyed Ohm/Fluke in Until We Meet Again. While I'm not sorry to have watched this series, it was frustrating from time to time. Here are my pros and cons:

PROS

FLUKE (& OHM). Despite a very weak script, Fluke still managed to prove that his acting is on a far superior level to most BL actors. It just is. As for Ohm, I was pleased to see a lot of growth in his range of acting, especially in the later episodes.

CINEMATOGRAPHY. There were a number of locations, both indoor and outdoor, which I found aesthetically pleasing.

PETERPAN. His role as Payoo was rather dull and static, but he sure is pretty to look at.

OLDER ACTORS. The actors in mature roles played their parts professionally.

CONS

STORY, STORY, STORY. Okay, I was willing to overlook that Sun relied solely on apples to combat his severe medical heart condition. (I just thought of him as a Christian Scientist who doesn't believe in taking medicine. And maybe the apples DID help.) And I accepted the really bad faking of playing musical instruments. I won't go into all the abysmal problems with the story itself, it would take far too long (and you can read all about them in the discussion boards). There were some interesting ideas but, far too often, they just got dropped. It was as if the scriptwriters began filming with only about 3 episodes finished, and then scrambled to write something as the series went along. Really bad.

LENGTH. It was six episodes too long. WHY?? (Until We Meet Again suffered from the same treatment, even though it was a much better series.) Unless each episode is riveting and significantly advances the plot (which was not the case here), it just pisses viewers off.

KIM'S UNDERWATER MEDITATION SESSIONS. His ability to hold his breath underwater put every synchronized swimmer in the world to shame. Don't try this at home, kids.

THE RAIN CHARACTER. I know I'm really in the minority, but I did not like Rain at all. I found his character boring, spineless, and totally lacking in charisma. He led Shun on to make Payoo jealous and then just dumped Shun with no real explanation. A big yawn from me. I would rather have seen Payoo end up with Shun. Rain can go become a Buddhist monk for the rest of his life.

This could have been really good. Unfortunately, the writers and directors dropped the ball.

It's a 5.0 from me.

Read More

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.

Read More

Worth the watch

As I have enjoyed and supported Wayufilm Productions in the past, I looked forward to this one, featuring Klong in a lead role. Here are my pros and cons:

PROS

KLONG. What a fine actor. He has quite the range.

ATYPICAL BL. Not even a BL and, despite the story being about a male hustler, there are no sex scenes. But the story got its message across without them. I liked it.

THE HOSTESS AT THE BAR. She was an interesting character, I liked her. Her take on how she felt she provided security and stability to sex workers seemed somehow... genuine.

MAX AND PRINCE. Their relationship was heartbreaking but, at the same time, we could understand where both of them were coming from.

CONS

MISCAST. As much as I liked Klong here, it was a little hard for me to believe that he would have that many people (of both sexes) salivating after him for hours every day and night, to the point of offering him more money than most people make. While I appreciate "different strokes for different folks," I didn't buy Klong as being that level of a high class rentboy. (Mon, another Wayufilm actor, might have pulled it off.) And even the horniest of hot, beefy porn stars can't go for hours on end.

HOW MANY DRINKS? So according to Max, he would sometimes consume 50 to 60 drinks a night. Umm... no. He would have ended up dead (or at least in the hospital) long before 50.

ENDING. A bit abrupt. Did they really have to kill him off? I mean sure, it could happen. But it struck me more as a way to get to the end of the story and portray Prince, ironically, as following in his brother's footsteps.

Overall, I liked it. 8.0 from me.

Read More

Was it good? Sort of...

It was fun to see Ink/Pa (from Bad Buddy) and Korn/Win (from Cupid's Last Wish) again. Here are my pros and cons:

PROS

GL. So refreshing to see Girls Love getting some air time. And they are cute together.

EARTH/MIX. They turned me into a fan after 1000 Stars (which is now one of my favorite BLs ever). They work so well together and I would marry either one of them... or maybe both, I would be up for a poly relationship. Guys, call me.

CUTE EPISODES. Each episode had an oh-so-sweet quality that, at least for me, was just a little bit more cute than cringe. (But just on the border of crossing over.) Let's just call it light and fluffy.

CONS

EPISODE 1. I didn't really get the time travel thing. Nor the "no pictures" thing.

EPISODE 2. I'll admit to not knowing these actors before this. They were okay, I didn't really feel much chemistry. But I wasn't buying the whole "triggered by anything round" spiel. I mean, if Maki freaked out just looking at someone's glasses, why didn't she freak out when eating out of a round bowl or off of a round plate? And then she turned into crazy alien Catwoman after looking at the moon. Huh?

EPISODE 3. What was with all the fat inferences toward Mix (Win)? I haven't noticed a weight gain. And it really didn't need the body swapping (yet again). To make matters worse, it was confusing to know who was who half the time. Oh, this is Korn as Win now... or wait, it's Korn as Korn. No wait, it's Win as Korn. I didn't always get it... and I didn't even want to get it. My brain is tired. Two Tylenol, please. Oh screw it, just give me a bottle of whiskey.

The actors did their best with what they were given. I doubt I will rewatch, but it was a no-stress way to pass the time. It's a 6.5 from me.

Read More

Yes, it's a slice of real LGBTQ+ life

While I had my issues with Season 1 (and as a gay, male, and avid BL viewer), for me Season 2 is one of the best BLs of the year. Here are my pros and cons:

PROS

THE FLAWED CHARACTERS. We can all like or not like certain characters, but they were real. There were none of the BL tropes: "I'm really straight, I'm just gay for you," jealous and interfering ex-girlfriend, romanticizing rape, enemies to lovers, etc. (Are you listening, Thai BLs?) I like that the characters were just as flawed as we all are in real life.

GAY RELATIONSHIP DEPICTION. Not all gay relationships are alike and, for the most part, this was a damn good one. Were there problems? Yep. Were there unresolved issues? Absolutely. Do we think it's going to be sunshine and roses for Damian and Jerry from here on in? Probably not. In other words, a real relationship. I think they've developed a great family and look to be great for one another. After all, happily ever after -- while a warm and fuzzy notion -- is fiction. Most of us have exes that pop back into our lives, and there's always going to be jealousy over someone flirting with one partner or the other. In my opinion, Damian and Jerry handled it as well as any couple could have.

THE SECONDARY LGBTQ+ CHARACTERS. Lesbians, trans, femme and straight acting gays... all of them represented as everyday, feeling people, as opposed to provide a comedic or weird aspect to the story. And the little boy who preferred wearing dresses was handled beautifully. Kudos.

CONS

JIMMY'S ENGLISH. I learned to love Jimmy, he was such a cool kid and great with Kai. But I'm sorry... there is no way that anyone was buying that he was an American with English as his native language.

I suppose I could go back and pick at some more things but, for me, the pros far outweigh any cons. I'm satisfied.

It's a rare 10/10 from me.

Read More

Cute and wholesome

Wholesome. That's the word. I binge watched this and enjoyed it. Here are my pros and cons:

PROS

UNCOMPLICATED. After being disappointed with so many (mostly Thai) BL series this year -- with wacky and incomprehensible storylines -- this South Korean BL was refreshing in its simplicity. I like you, you like me, let's get together. Nice.

NICE FRIENDS. I enjoyed that the friends were supportive of their relationship, and there wasn't a big deal made of "ooooohh, you're gaaayy" [except for the villain, but he was disposed of quickly].

NO "I'M ACTUALLY STRAIGHT, I'M JUST GAY FOR YOU." Thank you for that. Thai BLs, please take notice. There was no past girlfriend that was trying to hold on to her man. And Taesung made it clear that he had no interest in girls and never did.

SHORT EPISODES. No wasted time. If anything, they could have shortened the series by one or two episodes.

CONS

SECOND HALF LESS GOOD. I really loved the series up until university. It wasn't bad afterward, just a bit less interesting.

NOT ENOUGH BACKGROUND DETAILS. They tried to give us the backstory, I guess. Would have liked to know more about Haebom's parents, how Taesung managed to go for THAT many years ignoring Haebom... I wouldn't have minded knowing more about the bully as well.

Overall, it was enjoyable and I liked the chemistry between the main couple.

8.0 from me.

Read More

Love Earth/Mix, but this is no Tale of a Thousand Stars

I was reluctant to watch Cupid's Last Wish, because Earth/Mix set such a high standard with ATOTS. This series was nowhere near as good, but there was still a lot to enjoy. Here are my pros and cons:

PROS

MIX AND PMS. The best part of the series for me! Mix (as Win, in the body of Lin) did a first-rate job of behaving like a woman with PMS. I mean, really remarkable and hilarious. Give the boy all the awards!

JAN ACTING LIKE WIN. She did a great job.

WHITE'S HAIR. I've always liked White, and it's a shame that he's recently been demoted to only supporting role parts. (I have my theory as to why, but I'd rather not write it here. If anyone wants to know my thoughts, I'll be happy to share in a private message.) Anyway... I really liked his shaggy hairstyle in this series.

CONS

THE WHOLE WIN/LIN THING. It's not the body swapping thing that bothered me (fantasy-fiction can work just fine), it's the idea that Korn (who is gay) is staring at Lin's face and body during all their adventures together. Yeah, yeah... I know the whole "love has no gender" spiel. Not buying that Korn is going to be physically attracted to Lin's appearance and wanting to make out with her, not until Win had regained his actual body. Sure, one can rationalize (the writers certainly did) by saying "but he knew it was Win." Meh.

WIN'S MOM. (In the final episode) the dialogue went something like this: Win: "Why do you want me to hate Korn?" Mom: "Because honey, your mom's a big ol' homophobe." (Proceeds to start crying and hitting herself, causing Lin and Win to comfort her immediately.) Mom: "It was all my fault! You almost died because of me!" That's right Mom, you almost DID cause your own children's deaths. So you absolutely SHOULD be beating yourself up over it. Grrrrr. Suffer bitch, suffer.

THE MONEY-GRUBBING AUNT AND UNCLE. Or were they cousins? No matter, they were terrible people. But what happened to them? They were great villains, then they just disappeared, then they came back at the end, suddenly softened and almost wimpy. I was disappointed.

KORN'S GOING ALONG WITH THE ENGAGEMENT. Wtf was that all about? Sure, he was in love with Win, but seemed willing to marry Lin just because her mom wanted it. I understand that respecting parents is very important in Asia, but -- come on -- it's 2022, and arranged marriages are a thing of the past... aren't they?

Despite some fairly big flaws, I still found much of it enjoyable. It's a 7.0 from me.

Read More

One of a number of mediocre Thai BLs this year

2022 looks to be the Year of Mediocre Thai BLs. That said, Star and Sky: Star In My Mind fits right in. Here are my pros and cons:

PROS

CUTE BOYS. That's all.

SHORT. Thank goodness, they got everything done in 8 episodes. Although it could have been done within a 90-minute movie.

MAITEE. I liked him. And I would date him.

CONS

DUNK. What was the casting director thinking? They give Dunk a character who cries in just about every episode, and he can't act. (It's been awhile since I've seen an actor that stiff.) He never shed any real tears, he just got a silly, pained expression on his face that looked more like he was having problems passing a bowel movement.

BOOOOORING. Even watching this at 2x speed, it managed to drag on incessantly, and there wasn't much of a cohesive story.

LACK OF CHEMISTRY. There was no chemistry between the main leads, and that kiss in the last episode was about as dead fish as a kiss can be.

But not the worst thing I've seen. 4.5 from me.

Read More

A fun series in the midst of a disappointing season

I hesitated before watching this series, as I thought it might be kind of... stupid. And in some ways it was, but a good kind of stupid! Here are my pros and cons:

PROS

FUN. Yep, this series was fun for me. I looked forward to it every week.

LUKE. Fanning myself here, Luke is just about as perfect specimen of a man as I could ever ask for.

CHARACTERS. I didn't dislike any of the characters. Special shoutouts to the actors playing Lucy, Decha, and PlaToo. I appreciated the representation of drag and trans characters.

ACTION SCENES. I thought they were very well done.

CONS

"PATTY." Luke, I love you hon, but no self-respecting drag queen would be caught dead with long sideburns and unshaved legs/armpits. Did the directors just choose to keep him "manly" looking for the sake of the straight couple thing? No matter, it didn't work. Lose the body hair, gurl!

NADIA. About as convincing playing a trans woman as Luke was playing a drag queen.

TOO MANY EPISODES. It started out advertising (I think) 12 episodes, then it went up to 14 and on and on until they finally ended with 22. Could have and should have wrapped up sooner, there were a lot of unnecessary and dull scenes that did nothing to advance the plot.

Still, I'm giving this a 9.0 because I just really liked it. This series was a bright spot amidst some really disappointing series (cough*Cutie Pie*cough) (cough*Star in My Mind*cough).

Read More

One of the worst BLs out there

This was a complete trainwreck, I can't remember feeling so happy to be finished with a series. Here are my pros and cons:

PROS

FILMING. The series was indeed beautifully filmed.

HIA/DIAO SEX SCENES. Total soft porn. Hawt.

CONS

STORY. While I appreciated the families' acceptance and support of same-sex marriage, the idea of arranged marriage of any kind is so antiquated and frankly... gross. Besides that, there wasn't all that much to the story, and much of what was there made little to no sense.

KUEA. Was he ever NOT crying? Okay, that's an overstatement, but his constant whining (mostly about nothing) made me want to remove my own appendix with a knife and fork. He was too immature to be in a relationship of any kind. What Lian saw in him was beyond me.

THE THIRD COUPLE. They got a total of maybe three minutes of screen time for the entire series. Why were they even there?

I could go on, but I don't wanna.

It's a 3.5 from me.

Read More

Loved it!

I stumbled upon Secret Crush on You quite by accident, and I'm so happy I did. Here are my pros and cons:

PROS

ATTENTION TO IMPORTANT ISSUES. Bullying, transgender identity, fat shaming, homophobia (and more) were addressed satisfactorily in this series.

LIKEABLE CHARACTERS. I found myself liking every single one of the characters, other than the bullies.

CONS

TOH'S MEMENTOS. Nothing says "I love you" like cutting the entire head off of a roast pig to save as a keepsake... in a Ziploc bag.

WRAPPING UP STORY LINES. Not dealbreakers, but I would have liked to see more of Daisy/Touch, Jao actually meeting Sky's mother, and Prao/Peach getting publicly shamed.

I had fun watching this series and looked forward to it each week.

Read More

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!

Read More

Surprisingly adorable!

I say "surprisingly" because, at least at first, it looked to be another same old typical and forgettable BL from South Korea. (I have really enjoyed some SK BLs but, it seems to me that, a number of them have been just kind of okay.) After a few episodes, I was hooked and did a binge watch! Here are my pros and cons:

PROS

CHEMISTRY. As the series progressed, so did the chemistry between the main couple: they were damn hot together. While I sometimes get a little turned off by too much sex as opposed to a decent story, this was one case where I would have appreciated a good sexy bed scene!

LENGTH. I really liked that they told this story in just 8 episodes, 23 minutes each. It was engaging, succinct and no dragging on of unnecessary scenes and episodes. Kudos to the writers.

CONS

DEX. Okay, I admit I'd never heard of it, but it looks to really exist as a Scientific & Technical Consulting service in France. But it was just casually mentioned near the end. As a viewer, I had no idea what it was and why it was supposed to be important. Nor did I have any sense that it was some big dream of Jae's to go there and be part of it. Was it?

THE "GIRLFRIEND." She ended up being cool at the end but -- honey -- if there was ever a case of "he's just not that into you," this was it.

But I'm picking. Overall, this had an engaging, feel-good vibe to it.

8.5 from me.

Read More

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.

Read More