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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Pleasant series, not terrible, not great

While I am fully aware the Bad Buddy made a huge impression on a lot of viewers, for me it was just okay, a nice enough watch but nothing too special. Here are my pros and cons:

PROS:

OHM AND NANON. They are both very good actors, especially in more dramatic roles. They carried the series and were the reason I watched.

INK AND PA. Kudos to Bad Buddy for introducing a real girl couple! Fantastic development.

MUSIC. I enjoyed the soundtrack, and especially Nanon's singing.

CONS:

WEAK STORY. All the physical fighting was something that MIGHT happen in middle school, not in a university. Very juvenile. And did we really need another university setting? I checked my BL list: this is the 45th university-based Thai BL I've watched. Yawn. Pat's friends were jerks in the first half. Pat/Pran went from hate, to Pat liking Ink, and then... with NO buildup whatsoever, they're suddenly lovers. When exactly did Wai and Korn become gay? The last episode was weak, the "four years later" was a copout. And no scene with the parents, seriously? No acceptance (or dismissal)? Just... no.

BORING. Yep, I said it. The kiss came early on in the series. After that, the story itself pretty much fizzled, it was mostly cutesy-pootsy, lovey-dovey moments between the main leads. Pretty much just extended fanservice, no actual story.

I'll probably be tarred and feathered by all the BB uber fans for not giving the series a 10. Sorry, it just wasn't that for me, it was okay but just very ordinary.

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Intense, unpredictable and... fabulous!

What a great end of the year surprise! After Eps 1 and 2, I wasn't really sure what I thought about this series but, for anyone else feeling the same way, my recommendation is to stick with it! Here are my pros and cons:

PROS:

UNUSUAL BUT COMPELLING STORY. Misfit Hira is persecuted by just about everyone at his school. He even has a stuttering problem that is schoolmates cruelly make fun of. Along comes handsome, mysterious, aloof and popular Kiyoi, who attracts everyone (including Hira) and, while he appears to have a soft spot for Hira, Kiyoi treats Hira abominably, hurling insults at him left and right. But, as the story continues, there are plot twists that take us all on a wild ride.

KIYOI'S APPEARANCE. Damn, the guy is stunning and has a killer body!

SYMPATHETIC LEAD CHARACTERS. Without giving too much away, I'll just say that I ended up sympathizing with BOTH Hira and Kiyoi as the series progressed.

A LOT PACKED INTO SIX EPISODES. Many BL series tend to drag on with 12, 14, 16 or more episodes and, along with that, the stories can drag as well. Not here! This one manages to pack in all the feels in just six, 25-minute episodes. Kudos!

CONS:

"TOXIC" BEHAVIOR. Yes, I realize that "toxic" is today's go-to word for describing challenging relationships but, for my taste, they went just a little too heavy on the toxicity. Not a dealbreaker, but it could have been dialed back a bit and packed even more of a punch.

KIYOI'S BACKGROUND STORY. What we got was okay, but I would have liked to know more of Kiyoi's backstory.

Overall, I loved this one. 9.5/10 for me.

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An okay way to pass the time, I guess

With the exception of Light On Me, I haven't seen a BL (or, in this case, a partial BL) series that I've really loved this year since A Tale of a Thousand Stars. But 7 Project was not the worst. Here are my pros and cons:

PROS

LIGHT HEARTED. For the most part, this was a light hearted series, somewhat fluffy. Ep. 1 was probably the most serious, dealing with bullying. But, overall, this was a pleasant enough way to pass the time.

SAMMY. So happy that Wabi Sabi gave Samantha a lead role, rather than the supporting/bit comedic parts she usually gets. We got to see that she has some serious acting chops! (And she looks fabulous.)

BL EPISODES. No, it's not because I'm gay. I honestly liked the BL episodes better than the others. Especially liked Boom/Peak. My favorites - in this order - were Ep. 6, Ep. 1, and Ep. 4. Honorable mention for Ep. 7 (Perth/Fairy).

CONS

MESSAGE? I've written a question mark here, because I'm basing this reaction on my own assumption (which could be wrong). I've read for a while now, that some well-known BL actors have made it clear that they no longer want gay roles... and I'm okay with that. Among these are Perth and Plan, both featured in this series playing straight roles. I felt that this series was to reintroduce these two young men as "the true straight guys that they are." It just seemed a bit contrived, in my opinion. And Plan looked even more awkward kissing a girl than he did when he kissed Mean (I'm thinking Plan is just a lousy kisser).

UNRESOLVED EPISODES. Many of the episodes were left open ended, and not in a good way. Are we really supposed to leave everything up to our imaginations? Sorry, the episodes weren't compelling enough to inspire me to work that hard.

GL EPISODE. Kudos for putting out a GL episode. Too bad it fell flat.

YACHT. Loved him as Pond, and pretty much everything I've seen him do. And he's VERY attractive. Finally he gets a lead role... and all I could think was that he could possibly benefit from some strong antidepressants.

My ratings, from best to worst: 6>1>4>7>3>5>2

Overall, 6.0 from me.

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Interesting, but flawed

Peach of Time arrived on the scene at the end of the summer of 2021, which, at least for me, had aired (mostly) one disappointing BL after another. I was excited after Episode 1, as this appeared to be a series with more quality and on a higher level than previous series. After three or four weeks after excitedly anticipating each episode, my interest began to wane. By the end, my feeling was "okay... might as well tune in to see how this all turns out." Here are my pros and cons:

PROS:

THEME. The supernatural theme is an interesting one which, of course, has been explored in BL before (i.e., He's Coming to Me). This one had a different feel to it... more dramatic.

MUSIC. Really great! Yoon Oh (sorry, I forgot the actor's name) has a great singing voice. (And an alluring speaking voice as well.)

ACTING. The boys were all okay. But big kudos to the actress who played Yoon Oh's mom, she was a real pro and elevated the whole series.

CONS:

STORY. Too many scenes showing Peach publicly conversing with Yoon Oh and/or Mario. Anyone witnessing this would think Peach was batshit crazy (talking to himself), but no one batted an eye. I never fully understood the Mario character... what happened to him at the end? There were some other wtf moments interspersed throughout the series.

That's pretty much it. Pretty sure I'll forget about this one in time. The ending was open-ended, which might suggest a sequel, but I don't feel we really need one. What would it even be about? I suppose it could be more about Mario, but does anyone really care?

7.5/10 for me. It's that high because it started out very well.

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A bright spot during a slow season!

I watched six different BLs during the summer of 2021. Four of them, at least for me, were extremely disappointing, but I watched anyway, due to the lack of content. Two of them were decent: Golden Blood (which was pretty good) and Light On Me, which was great. Here are my pros and cons:

PROS

ACTORS. I really loved all the characters, and the actors played the roles sympathetically and with commitment. All the boys were eye candy. Even the girl who played Sohee (whose character I couldn't stand) played the part spectacularly. Loved Taekyung's quirky personality, possibly modeled on someone with autism (?). Shinwoo was (eventually) so sweet and adorable, Daon, as the other member of the love triangle, managed to be so likeable... and Namgeung was the best friend everybody wishes they had.

STORY. I'll admit, I wasn't sold on the series after Episodes 1 and 2, I felt that Shinwoo was too cold and mean. But I am so glad I kept with it. My favorite BL of the summer!

TWICE A WEEK. I liked the concept of having two episodes per week, it was nice not to have to wait an entire week for a new episode.

HOMOPHBIA ADDRESSED. Of course, a lot of LGBTQ+ shows address homophobia, which is great and so necessary. I liked the way Light One Me handled it, by not ignoring it (like some BLs where practically everyone is gay and homophobia doesn't exist), or veering into full-phledged drama (which can be fine... but this series wasn't the right place for it). Kudos!

CONS (not many!)

SOHEE'S REDEMPTION. I thought it was too fast. The girl had major stalker issues, which evolved into purposely hurting people. And then, just within days, she is cured. Sorry, no. After a year of therapy or, at least, major soul-searching, perhaps. But I'm very happy that she and Namgeung did not end up as a couple, because it looked like that's where the story was heading.

TAEKYUNG AND THE PRINCE CONTEST. He won? How?? Okay, he wore cute clothes. But he gets up there and totally freezes for three minutes and, when he finally does say something, he sounds like he's being held at gunpoint to spew out one sentence. Sorry, not buying it. Were each of the other contestants in a coma?? Or maybe their talent was strangling puppies...

Still, this was a really satisfying watch for me, 9.5.

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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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Well...

During the summer of 2021 the BL offerings were not the greatest. I found myself watching six of them and felt that 1) a couple of them were pretty good, and 2) the others were disappointing but I watched anyway, due to lack of other options. For me, Hometown's Embrace falls into the latter category. Here are my pros and cons:

PROS

CUTE GUYS. We had three main couples and, in my opinion, four of the actors were real eye candy.

MUSIC. It had a kind of "Tale of a Thousand Stars" quality that was pleasant enough.

TRANS CHARACTER AND HER "WIFE." It was at the very end of the last episode, but I appreciated that the writers broke stereotype by having the usual "seme" guy present himself as being the "wife," while the trans ladyboy would be the "husband." It may be rare, but this actually does happen in real life from time to time. Different strokes for different folks!

CONS

STORY. It was all over the place, it was really hard for me to keep track of what was going on, and why certain things were going on. The three couples looked to have established themselves without any real reason as to why. And whatever happened to the poetry writing guy and the ex-girlfriend of Mongwhatshisname?

LACK OF INTIMACY. I'm a gay guy, so I don't particularly need to see kissing and sex in BLs. However... this series was so weak, and the guys were (mostly) so hot, some kissing and skinship would have gone far to save it, in my opinion.

DULL. Much of it was boring. I found it hard to stay focused.

3.5 from me. Definitely not something I plan to ever rewatch.

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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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Flawed, but with some fun moments

A Tale of a Thousand Stars would be a tough act to follow for any series. Fish Upon the Sky was given the challenge. Did it rise to the occasion? Here are my pros and cons:

PROS

ATTENTION TO BULLYING. Always important to bring attention to bullying. While some of the attempts fell a bit flat (see below), kudos to FUTS for addressing this issue.

DUEAN/MEEN. Probably not a popular opinion but, for me, they were more fun and had a better chemistry than the main couple.

COMEDY. I really enjoyed some of the comedic moments: Pi hiding Mork in his bed all night (the nipple tickle and Pi's erotic response was hilarious!), much of Duean's loud, aggressive attitude bordered on unappealingly obnoxious, but the character had a sweet side that, for me, made up for it. I LOVED sexy Meen (in Duean's dream)! And Bam's over the top fawning over Mork was funny.

MIX. It was nice to see Mix in a supporting role, even if the scope of his talent was wasted in it.

EYE CANDY. It was a cute cast, which rarely hurts anything.

CONS

"UGLY" PI. If they really wanted to make an impact, the producers should have uglied Pi up more. They could have made his eyebrows hairier and messier, given him an orthodontic headgear with a big metal piece going around the outside of his mouth, dressed him in uglier clothes, dorkier glasses. As it was, he looked like a cute guy with a fit body who had nice glasses and wore braces. Totally unconvincing.

THE BULLIES. In the finale, are we really supposed to believe that an ENTIRE ROOM of MorkPi shippers are going to see old pics of Pi in glasses and braces and suddenly turn against Pi and bully him? Not one person is going to say "Excuse me? He's adorable even with glasses and braces!" Sorry, not buying that the majority of people at a university would behave that way. Second graders, maybe.

MORK'S PERSISTENCE. Sure, he's handsome. But his unrelentless stalking of Pi was too much and not cool. But hey, he's cute so it's all okay, right? Most people would have gone to the police to issue a restaining order!

KITTY GANG IN SIKH CLOTHING. A controversial move. Some people had no problem with it, others found it offensive. Whatever... the bottom line is that it just wasn't funny.

BAM TURNING INTO A VILLAINESS. Unnecessary and ruined a perfectly good character. Then, we're supposed to believe she got over her "deep love" for Mork minutes later, as soon as another guy hits on her. Yeah... sure.

It's a 6.5 from me.

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Not bad!

I was so disappointed with the way My Extraordinary ended, especially because I had high hopes for it to be a really exceptional drama, and not just another "kill the gays" story based on homophobia. But, because I liked the cast of ME so much, I was happy to give this series a watch. Here are my pros and cons:

PROS

TRANS CHARACTER IN A DECENT MAIN ROLE. So happy that Jenevive, while a mostly comedic character, was given a main story line and, at the same time, a degree of substance and not just another joke character portrayal.

GOOD BALANCE BETWEEN COUPLES. So we had two LGBTQ+ couples and two straight couples. Fine by me. None of them were given short shrift, so good on the writers and directors.

ACTING. Some really good performances! Enzo was great (as usual), so were Nico, John, and Keijee.

THEME SONG. Absolutely LOVED the opening OST. Catchy tune, I was always dancing and singing along.

END SCENE. Loved the ending scene with Romeo and Jenevive. So cute! "Normal" and "happily ever after" relationships featuring a trans character are so rare... a trans character's story is usually "never gonna happen." This is progress.

CONS

INCONSISTENCY WITH STORY. There were issues. 1) Why was Markie such a dick to Clark? Sure, Clark was hitting on Markie, but he didn't do anything wrong. Markie was going along with it -- twice -- but then just insensitively dumped Clark the moment Daniel was in the picture. We were just supposed to ignore that, I guess. 2) The end focused on Miguel's homophobia against Markie and Daniel, but (other than a brief scene in an earlier episode), Miguel's hatred for Romeo and Jenevive as a couple was not addressed. Why just Markie and Daniel? What's Romeo's story? Always gay? We don't know. 3) The forgiveness of Miguel was just too fast. He was such a homophobic asshole through the whole series, then he sheds a few tears and all is forgiven? And mom is "proud" of him, within just a few minutes? No... just no.

JANICE. I'm probably in the minority, but I couldn't stand Janice, with all her "I'm more than just a beautiful face" and "I'm not just some trophy girl" comments. Gurl... you're not exactly Miss Universe, get over yourself. Total turn off. Both Mateo and Moises can do better.

MIGUEL'S STORY. I would have been happier if a little less time was devoted to the Miguel/Jane relationship and more to Miguel's homophobia. As it was, Miguel just came across as an ass who needed a lot of therapy sessions. A couple of sentences about his military dad's influence just didn't cut it.

Still, I enjoyed this. It was nice to see some of these actors again. I'm giving it 8.0 out of 10.

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Overall, painful to watch

I really try to support all BLs, but this was difficult to get through. Here are my pros and cons:

PROS

ACTING, SOMETIMES. Okay, we all know Fluke is an amazing actor. And Ohm is good, too. Jimmy and Tommy have become a beloved veteran couple. There were other fan favorites here as well. I think they did the best they could, given what they were given.

CONS:

THE STORIES. Ep. 1 was really tough to watch, Fluke and Ohm are very capable actors and deserved much better. A depressing episode. Ep. 2 was just stupid. Ep. 3 was kind of cute, I guess. A kiss would have been nice. It's a little strange that this couple has a nine-year age gap between them. Hard to imagine them getting it on in any situation other than anonymously in a sex club. But I digress. Ep. 4 featured a veteran couple with a really weak script. Ep. 5: Jimmy and Tommy were adorable, but the story went nowhere. Ep. 6 was a couple of cute boys acting whiny and toying with each other. Yawn.

I had the feeling the producers were going for an "Our Skyy" dynamic. The only problem: Our Skyy was actually good, endearing, and really well done. Close Friend was just a dud.

Sorry. I will never rewatch this. 4.5 from me. And my rating is only that high because of Episodes 3 and 5, which still weren't really all that great.

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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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Inconsistent but at times effective

It looks like no one has written a review, so I'll put in my two cents. Here are my pros and cons:

PROS:

TRANS CHARACTERS. It was nice to see three trans characters as the leads here, and not relinquished to comedy relief.

ACTING. The acting was pretty good for a low-budget series, definitely better than average.

THE LITTLE KIDS. The little kid version of PaLoMa at the beginning of Ep. 1 was adorable.

ENDING. It was powerful, really well done.

CONS:

STORY. It wasn't a bad story, but it rambled and there many unanswered questions, for instance... what happened to Tonyo and his gang? Were there any consequences?

FAILED ATTEMPT AT COMEDY. For me, the episode where they're all in the gym and fighting for Tonyo's attention was exceptionally cringeworthy.

All in all, an interesting enough diversion. It's 6/10 for me.

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Fanservice, begone!

Overall, I enjoyed Lovely Writer, although I think it could have been even better. Here are my pros and cons:

PROS:

UNIQUE STORY. Along with Call It What You Want, Lovely Writer exposes some of the not-so-nice, behind the scenes events of a BL series. So kudos to LW for bringing this out in the open.

ACTORS. Up and Kao did a good job portraying the main couple, but the real star of the series was Bruce (Aey), who gave a high-powered performance as a young man who needed psychiatric help. Supporting actors played their roles well.

CONS:

AGE OF GENE/NUBSIB. So Gene is supposed to be six years older than Nubsib. Sorry, not buying it. Nubsib actually looks older than Gene (and he is, by three months).

GENE/NUBSIB BACKSTORY. That whole childhood thing was just lame and even a little creepy.

THE END OF THE FINALE. Yuck. All that boring Prince Charming/Romeo & Juliet garbage could have been replaced with something relevant, such as a scene where Nubsib got out of his contract, despite the company wanting him to stay on with Aey. Would have loved to have seen that. And the very end, when we find out it was all fiction, was very disappointing for me.

MOHK. The actor was fine and pretty to look at. But they went nowhere with his character, when it appeared there was some connection with Aey/Mohk. So then, why was he even there to begin with?

TIFFY. She started out as kind of cool, then just turned into the beyotch of the century, the way she treated Tum, with homophobic slurs and all. And, despite Aey being a complete mess, the way Tiffy dumped him as her client was unprofessional.

But, despite weaknesses in the story and character development, I'm giving it 8.5 for dealing with an important topic.

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