conflicted on this series

Overall: I'm fairly conflicted on the series as there are parts I really liked and parts I really did not like. Just know going in that this isn't a light and fluffy series (although it does have some of those moments) I'll bump it up to 7.5 if it gets an official international release.

Content Warnings: physical and emotional abuse, punches, manhandling, homophobia, attempted murder, murder, trauma, grief, mental illness, past character deaths, manipulation, body shaming, bullying, stalking, drugging, violence, voyeurism

What I Liked
- addressing serious issues like homophobia, there are some truly excellent conversations that occur
- I think the series is almost a cautionary tale of what happens when you don't accept your children for who they are, Nut was such a sweetie but then continued the cycle of abuse that he endured
- I was into the soap opera feel, I actually wanted more twists (Nueng isn't actually dead dun dun dun, Sib and his brother switched spots dun dun dun)
- I think the actors did a good job
- the cute/fluffy moments
- Gen's parents were great
- although the furniture animation was creepy, the talking furniture grew on me (and finally we found the Mrs. Left Slipper!!!)
- Song's dad character growth/apology
- the GL at the very end, though I wish it would have started sooner

Room For Improvement
- no amount of past trauma excuses Nut's behavior and few apologies don't make everything alright. Nut does the following: screams at his mom and Tofu several times, runs Tofu down, punches Tofu on more than 1 occasion, pulls both his mom and Tofu by the arm, kicks Tofu, kicks Tofu out of the house, treats Tofu like a servant, embarrasses Tofu in front of Nut's friend and friend's parents, drives like a maniac and makes Tofu throw up, uses Tofu to get back at his mom. Nut needs to go to therapy and anger management classes asap and not be in any romantic relationship. Oh, and Nut also sabotages his friend Gen's kind of relationship - because Nut wasn't a big enough a**hole already. In the final episode it says he is seeing a doctor for "emotional fatigue" is that a code word for "anger management problems", he was still yelling to the end and I didn't see character growth from him in this area.
- the side couple also annoyed me. It took Gen waaaayyyy too long to open up to Song.
- I was confused when they switched to the other plot line with Tarn in the beginning, I thought it was the script that Nut had written
- multiple cliche evil women who refuse to leave men alone who clearly don't love them
- several characters making truly dumb decisions
- it was odd that Nut and Tofu didn't actually have much physical affection shown once they were together, there were countless near kisses, I'd have been fine with occasional pecks on the cheek
- sudden/odd teacher redemption arc (did her son come out as gay and she changed her opinion from a few weeks/months ago?? ) This was too sudden/unexplained for me
- the mom made it sound like she caused her own mental illness and was blaming herself
- lack of consequences for several characters who did terrible things
- I don't know that I liked Nut's mom telling him everything, it felt like she was doing it to ease her guilty conscious instead of being helpful for Nut
- the whole ending with Tofu feels icky, I wasn't blindsided like another well known series, but he can see/hear everything and Nut doesn't know that...
- I was bored sometimes and mostly watched it at a faster speed

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cringiest series with the best subtitles (need a Daisy/Touch spinoff)

Overall: this series has some of the cringiest moments (especially the beginning episodes) that I've ever seen in any genre. There were aspects that I disliked, but it also had several amazing things. Watched on YouTube.

Content Warnings: stalking, taking photos/video without permission, dub con touching/kissing (drunk), non con kiss between m/f, cyber bullying, body shaming, attempted suicide?, violence in a dream sequence

What I Liked
- this series has the BEST subtitles, we were given additional information about references non-Thai audiences likely would not know about
- the friend groups, especially Toh's, they really supported and loved one another
- Daisy/Intouch, I'm sad we didn't get more scenes with them, they could have left off that pointless new character towards the end and developed Daisy/Intouch more
- acting, as much as I dislike some of the characters' behaviors, the actors did an amazing job. I don' t know how some of them didn't die of embarrassment while filming. I cried when Som cried and I believe those were real tears/crying instead of the frequent fake tears that I see
- the stylists, some of these characters look soooo different in real life you wouldn't even know they were the same person
- how Toh and Nuea are horny for one another, I appreciate that there isn't just 1 kiss at the end in this series
- the GL though it was not shown that much
- the funny moments, I laughed several times throughout the series
- the poignant moments, characters have some really good conversations
- Toh's parents
- I was happy that they revisited the bathtub scene with Toh and Nuea a second time and Nuea said "of course" because the first time it seemed that Nuea was setting up Toh to fail
- good production value

Room For Improvement
- serial killer stalking level: taking a can out of the trash, vacuum sealing things, an entire wall of photos, projector image, sticker on his phone, pillow, life size standee and then actively stalking him. This is played as comedy and the characters do address it later but it was not my thing.
- not enough screentime with Daisy/Intouch, crucial moments seemed to happen off screen and we really needed more scenes with these two
- Nuea kind of plays games (as does his dad) which is also not my thing
- that dream scene with the dad at the wedding was disturbing and unnecessary
- the cliche evil woman wannabe girlfriend
- Jao was too reluctant, there is a difference between nervous and unwilling and he was on the unwilling side. Even in the last episode he scrunched up his face preparing for a kiss which is uncomfortable to watch.
- the stereotypical trans women at the food stall
- some bad consent examples, saying that kissing is better when drunk, giving a hand job when the other person is drunk
- the theme song was nice but they played it over and over and over again

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a travel ad with very explicit scenes (watch suggestions)

Overall: this had very slow pacing and then some of the most explicit NSFW scenes that I have ever seen from Thailand. Note that this has nothing to do with the Taiwanese BL Kiseki Dear To Me, also there isn't a chapter 1 (there was supposed to be but an actor left the company). There will apparently be a special episode with 1 of the couples. Aired on Viu (need to VPN to Thailand) and GagaOOLala. Later re-aired on 9NAA's YouTube channel (cut free to watch, uncut for channel members). The production company 9NAA also made: Venus In The Sky, Check Out, Skinship and I Am Your King.

Watch Suggestions (unless you like a lot of eating, drinking, taking pictures and singing/guitar playing)
- read the synopsis
- skip episode 1
- episode 2 watch 8-12, 16-24, 28-31 and 33:30 to the end
- episode 3 watch 19-25, 40:25-45:40, 50 minutes to the end
- skip episode 4 (unless you want to learn about Japanese bathhouses which is in the 2nd half)
- episode 5 watch 22-24:30 (very NSFW) and 27:50-31 (very NSFW)
- episode 6 watch 22-24 and 27-30:30, could also watch the last few minutes

What I Liked
- centered on 4 characters with an easy to understand premise
- twins as lead characters
- the scene where a character splashed water on his face and pretended to be happy/smile
- the actors did a good job with their explicit scenes, they used some tongue which was realistic

Room For Improvement
- slow pacing, a lot of time spent hugging trees, singing, drinking, eating and taking pictures
- an actor said that they were totally naked in their NSFW scenes which made me worry about how comfortable they were (and apparently the director said he'd go naked to make them comfortable but that sounded more like a threat than being helpful), however, we saw a cord around 1 actor's waist, I'd rather they let the actors wear underwear and use creative angles/shots because the viewer's imagination could fill in the rest; update, the cord might be something religious (let me know if anyone knows more about this)
- wanted them to move from the stairs to a bedroom and I wanted to know what the character was going to say
- toilet humor/scenes
- in episode 3 I wish they hadn't shown a character as extremely drunk before what happened
- they didn't take out the chapter 2 from the title when chapter 1 might never air or if it does it would air after chapter 2

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enjoyable KBL

Overall: this is a nice KBL, though I would have rated it significantly higher if they had done 1 plot tweak in episode 5. 8 episodes about 25 minutes each. Aired on iQIYI.

Content Warnings: manhandling, blackmail, harassment

What I Liked
- cute and sweet moments
- I enjoyed a rarely seen plot thread of dealing with/getting over a certain something
- ongoing physical affection
- production value

Room For Improvement
- how I wish in episode 5 Ba Ram had only talked about his feelings regarding the teacher, because the lack of a certain response (I'm keeping this spoiler free) made zero sense to me and created cliche drama for the next episode+
- related to the previous point, in episode 7 Han Tae is unrealistically dense, he doesn't know why Ba Ram took back something he said...it's extremely obvious
- dead fish lip press (the dream one was much better but it was a dream)
- cliche near kiss in episode 8 when he was sober enough to carry him mere seconds before
- lack of plot resolution, the anti fans went where??? is there going to be a season 2?

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could have been amazing

Overall: this had a slice of life vibe with two realistically flawed life long friends. Unfortunately, it fell into the trap of many KBLs before it, too broad of a plot and not enough runtime. 8 episodes about 20 minutes each, aired on iQIYI and GagaOOLala (depending on your country).

Content Warnings: hit/slap

What I Liked
- acting/chemistry
- sweet moments
- few funny moments like arguing over who pays
- realistic home lives and stress
- showed students studying for entrance exams
- avoided a cliche plot point towards the end but it was weird they didn't show the confrontation at all

Room For Improvement
- this is one of the few romances where I did not want the leads to end up together, did he kiss him only because he wanted to keep him in his life? Did he actually romantically love him at all? I wish they had had a conversation about this. Instead they are suddenly dating for 62 then 100 days. And that ending reminded me of 2gether...
- like many KBL, this suffered from a lack of runtime, scenes jumped from one to another and the flashbacks didn't help, some scenes were too short and were not well connected
- that awful camera blocked kiss
- needed to differentiate flashbacks more, they really should have gotten rid of them and just told the story in a linear fashion
- the cliche wannabe girlfriend but also that he gave her very mixed signals though he even says he rejected her (he didn't really...), later on he says that's how he is (so kind of a jerk), which is fine but now I'm nervous he'll be a jerk to his boyfriend in the future because they didn't show any character growth
- wanted the star struck to be explained sooner than episode 4

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Overall: Despite it's flaws like plot holes, I thoroughly enjoyed this series and its emphasis on social justice. I could see a season 2 or movie to explain several unanswered questions. Watched on YouTube.

Content Warnings: violence, fight scenes, restraint and kidnapping, past trauma, dub con kiss (drunk, sleeping), non con touch (sleeping)

What I Liked:
- the consent in episode 9 part 1 was amazing, I loved the check ins; related is the realistic way that there wasn't just 1 kiss with a certain couple but continued displays of physical affection (hugs, cheek kisses, sniff kisses, etc)
- addressing several social justice issues that are issues everywhere in the world
- the realistic visuals (i.e. no excessive make up, filters, blurring)
- a trans character is not portrayed as an overly comedic character
- the beautiful music
- the acting and chemistry
- the action/mystery plot
- there was some funny moments including Sean being sassy
- good production value and character styling

Room For Improvement:
- non logical/odd things, plot holes, loose ends, stupid decisions, I'm not going to get into all of them but it reminds me of Manner of Death
- the pacing felt too slow at the beginning and then very rushed at the end
- lack of smart plot twists, the ones presented I guessed a mile away (except for the G)
- they should have reduced characters (side eye to Sean's female "friend) and then fleshed out other characters like Gumpa and another couple that has a criminally low amount of screen time especially in the beginning
- the punch at the end was unnecessary in my opinion
- the lighting in some scenes was too dark and it was difficult to see what was happening and the camerawork was too shaky at times

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could have been so much better

Overall: the cringey/cliched plot and those non funny managers ruined the series. 12 episodes 45 minutes each, aired on Viki (in U.S.) and iQIYI.

Content Warnings: non con/dub con, non con kiss, stalking, harassment, manipulation, blackmail, non con picture taking, violence/injury

What I Liked
- how Ja and First played different characters than they have in the past, I like to see actors not getting typecasted
- what was shown in the flashback to give a little bit of a reason for Punn's thoughts/actions
- the side couple's nsfw scene and the morning after (second scene was also well done but hated the circumstances)
- kissing/nsfw (but I was also horrified by the guys doing it in the onsen, other people bathe there!)
- Punn & Ashi sweet interactions
- Punn's realistic first day working
- I was really hating the brother but he did come thru in episode 5 and siblings can be pretty awful at times so that is realistic
- the soap opera scenes were fun*
- supportive family, mom had good advice about communicating clearly and making opportunities
- those huge, fluffy dogs
- actual consequences for characters who did bad things

Room For Improvement
- Punn feels too childlike/immature (stalking, that bizarre confession) to be in a romantic relationship
- the lightning speed relationship pacing in episode 7
- dialogue was unrealistic/contrived, the episode 11 drama was also contrived, Punn's anger would have made so much more sense if the writing happened before they got together instead of after
- *scenes could have been cut shorter for better pacing, as an example that very first scene should have been shorter and it would have been punchier, this did not need to be 12 episodes
- zero interest in the managers fighting and disappointed to see another stereotypical trans woman character
- the side couple's second steamy scene was overshadowed by the circumstances of it, disappointed to still see this in 2023 (and not a fan of the harassment vs reluctant pursuee dynamic), the writers should have cut the managers/love triangle and given the side couple actual dialogue
- not well integrated product placement
- unrealistic stuff, why would a superfan be late to a fan event? why would a non out movie star be dancing in public? who would confess in front of two other people like that in ep 5???
- so much of the final episode was spent on dragging out the drama with the lead couple, and focusing on the other characters

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goodish for what it was

Overall: this had only 14 minutes of total run time with a fairly confusing plot. However, I gave it a rating boost as they were open to feedback and it looked like a very indie production (plus they might have to deal with censorship rules). PPeach YouTube playlist https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PL8QwMuXkPNuYrJwq3_Gh6rw4HxMkGaIZy&si=OQx5ByyeKA5DG8D9 (episodes 4-9 need channel Membership for $2.99USD (yellow peach or higher))

Content Warnings: kidnapping/held against will, violence, manipulation

What I Liked
- clear premise at the beginning
- tension
- production value for what I assume was a very indie production
- listened to feedback such as adding subtitles in more languages, re-dubbed some episodes

Room For Improvement
- the episodes are extremely short, would have preferred a 15 minute short movie
- continuity error at the beginning of episode 2 with wearing a different outfit
- perhaps a translation error but he isn't a bodyguard he's a housekeeper
- confused about what the reveal in episode 4 meant, were they related? why were the guys trying to hurt him or where there 2 different set of guys wearing black?
- amnesia trope
- their relationship progression seemed very sudden, particularly with that ending, needed more build up to that and showing why they liked each other

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unnecessarily slow/too many flashbacks

Overall: all of these stories could have been told in half (or less) of their time and they needed to air two episodes per week instead of spreading the series out over 6 months. Some episodes had way too many flashbacks as well. Aired on iQIYI and re-aired on YouTube.

You Are My Soul Mate eps 7 & 8, 8
A standard Thai BL. Had some stupid poor communication but decent kissing.

Lucky Love eps 9 & 10, 7.5
Standard enemies to lovers. Wanted the new partner to be less aggressive with someone who just got out of an abusive relationship. Content warnings: intimate partner violence, sexual assault, punches/fight, vomiting

Fake Love eps 15 & 16, 7.5
Start at 38:30 in episode 15 and then watch all of episode 16. Standard aggressive pursuer/reluctant pursuee with some nonsense plot things. Content warnings: blackmail, stalking, vomiting, manhandling, non con touching, fight off screen, blood

Marry Go Round eps 3 & 4, 7.5
Nice to have an established couple but we needed more of them and less of the invasive fujoshi character. This is a crack comedy that didn't make me laugh. Note there is an ending scene after the initial credits. Content warnings: homophobia

The Camp Fire eps 11 & 12, 7.5
Slow pacing with some jump scares throughout (you could start at 30 minutes in episode 11 and miss basically nothing). I'm not sure how to feel about the end. Same actors as Love Stage (Thai version). Content warnings: brief scary images/jump scares, death off screen/death/blood (it's complicated)

Right Time, Right Love eps 5 & 6, 7
Bad that his friend asked him to talk it out with his abuser. They really needed a time skip to give some healing time between starting a new relationship. Content warnings: past intimate partner violence, manhandling, mental health struggles

Pisces of Me eps 17 & 18, 7
The incorrect subtitles made this more confusing than it needed to be (ie should have been "our mom" instead of "my mom"). The two guys are fraternal twins, I didn't get incest from the plot. Start ep 17 at 47 minutes and then start ep 18 at 35 minutes. Content warnings: non con kissing, blackmail, fight, a little blood/small injury

1626 eps 19 & 20, 6.5
Way too many flashbacks/forwards. Not a BL unless they were saying "I love you" in morse code.

I Wish You Love eps 23 & 24, 6.5
A guy gets a magical mirror and tracks down the guy who he sees in it, start ep 23 at 25 minutes. No idea why 2 people can't contact each other for years (social media, common friends, going to old addresses, etc) but I set that aside. Confusing way to start the second part. Wish they had made the ending more clear but I can guess what happened. Content warnings: illness, death (implied)

Refund Love eps 21 & 22, 6.5
Flashbacks made up 75% of the plot. Skip all of ep 21 and just watch ep 22. Did like that there was some GL but needed to have more sweet moments/relationship development and less constant flashbacks.

Casanova Begins eps 1 & 2, 6.5
Very confused with who was who and their relationships. Good attempt to try something different but the exposition dump and some nonsense things didn't hook me. Content warnings: death, attempted suicide, manhandling

Friends Forever eps 13 & 14, 6
This is not a romance story but a morality tale. I would have rated this higher if they had tightened the story up and removed the never-ending flashbacks. For the good, a character got actual consequences for his terrible actions. Content warnings: murder, intimate partner violence, coach/university student, drugging, manhandling

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a sweet commercial

Overall: this is basically a 7 minute commercial, but it's cute and a nice way to spend 7 minutes. Aired on Thai Mini Series YouTube Channel and their Tik Tok channel.

Content Warning: non con picture taking

What I Liked
- sweet/flirty moments
- that there was a decent "plan"

Room For Improvement
- wish they had released this as one 7 minute video on YouTube
- episode 6 had a Korean subtitle instead of English, apparently it was "hope we're on the same page"
- the ending felt incomplete
- wish they added all episodes to their YouTube playlist and/or added cards for the next episode (after it was available) to make it easier to watch them all (or combined them into 1 video as I mentioned)

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Well that took a turn....

Overall: I'd rate the first part (until 8min 25sec, just end it there, trust me) an 8. It felt a bit contrived but the NSFW was done well and steamy (no fake kissing there). But the 2nd part just took such an unfortunate turn. Also I think a better summary is "a security guard meets a bartender and things go down south" (or was he actually a police officer? I don't know the uniforms...). Watched on Gagaoolala.

Content Warnings: stealing, trespassing, violence, murder?

What I Liked
- the first 8min and 25sec

What I Disliked
- everything past 8min and 25sec, this all seemed so unnecessary and done for shock value

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Poly & Ace Representation!

Overall: Though there are areas they could improve on, I'm giving this a 9 because it has poly and ace representation which is rare. I really wish this was a whole series and we were able to see how their relationship started and what happens after this short film because 18 minutes was definitely not long enough. Also, the filmmaker received $638 USD to make this film as part of a Matchbox competition and I'm extra impressed with that budget. Purchased for $3.88 USD and watched on Vimeo.

Content Warnings: none

What I Liked:
- they did give some information about asexuality, especially Minho's conversation with his friend (though the acting seemed a bit wooden there)
- I liked the times that they had good communication*
- the reference to Long Time No See (it was the movie that they were watching, I've watched it so many times I recognized it just by the sound lol)
- production value is good considering they had almost no budget

Room For Improvement:
- I didn't really like that quote at the beginning which makes it seem that polyamory is almost here. It's here and it's been here since the dawn of time.
- it was an odd way to start. I don't like when people take pictures of sleeping people and I wasn't sure how the two knew each other. 
- *on the couch at the beginning, do the other two not know what Minho likes/dislikes/boundaries??? Why haven't they had conversations about this? Also, that conversation in the bar seemed odd. Wouldn't the two of them discussed it beforehand? (though I did like the follow up conversation they had later).

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Movie version is better than the series version

Overall: The 80 minute movie version focuses on Bank & Golf instead of the many characters in the bloated 270 minute 9 episode series (I dropped the series due to numerous random characters and not understanding or caring what was going on). This is set 5 years later from the movie My Bromance (2014) where I hated the ending but the retcon in this is so stupid. Watched on YouTube.

Content Warnings: none

What I Liked:
- acting from Fluke & Fluke
- Golf did apologize several times and Golf's dad apologized once to Golf
- Golf saying that he wants Bank to be happy even if that means Golf and Bank aren't together
- Golf & Bank's appropriate couple shirts towards the ends and also their sweet moments

Room For Improvement:
- that is the stupidest/non logical retcon I've ever seen. Why would Golf or Bank's friends ever agree to that? Golf could have at least had amnesia (after the brain operation) and the parents shipped him abroad and then made up the lie that he died.
- Bank is so calm when he learns the very shocking news that the love of his life is not dead and his loved ones lied to him for 5 years, I thought he would drop the phone at least
- Bank's lack of yelling, breaking some dishes, really anything at people who lied to him for 5 years!!!
- the love triangle was totally unnecessary and per usual, I didn't like it
- dismal set design, the bookcase/cupboard by the stairs didn't have anything it it, it looked like the house was not lived in
- the hardcoded subtitles went missing in a few parts

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A rarely told relationship story

Overall: Though I would have preferred they went about it another way, I was so happy with the way this ended (and it's practically never seen) hence the 8.5 rating. And if you like kissing with tongue, then you will be in heaven. Watched on gagaoolala.

Content warnings: there are four very sexually explicit scenes - they are all consensual, 1 non con choking

What I Liked
- features an established m/m couple
- when Otoya's dad says Otoya is not a normal man because he's gay, Otoya tells his dad to not say discriminatory things like that
- the bartender's wisdom/lines towards the end
- a sequel to this would be amazing

Room For Improvement
- it's only 1 hour long so things are a bit choppy/jumpy/fast moving. I think they could have maybe removed a character/s and focused more on the central three.
- didn't like the physical violence

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A Short Horror BL Movie

Content Warnings: it's in the horror genre so there are a few jump scares/gory make up (as someone who doesn't like horror I found it okay to watch but not right before going to sleep)

Overall: not my favorite short from Strongberry, but an interesting entry in the horror genre

What I Liked
- tried to do something different and incorporate the horror genre
- the acting and production value was fine
- a very nice nsfw scene
- cameo from the actor in Some More

Room For Improvement
- it was rushed/choppy especially with the ending, definitely could have used a longer run time

(fyi you can purchase this on their Vimeo channel)

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