want the actors in something with a better script

Overall: I really want to rate this higher (and I think I'm being gracious with a 7), but the writing/plot is nonsensical and jumpy. Watched on Viki.

Content Warnings: none

What I Liked
- the OST/music
- the kiss
- a few cute moments
- Tommy's outfits

Room For Improvement
- the plot was really lacking, there were too many characters and plot threads that didn't tie together. Scenes sometimes jumped randomly and did not feel well connected to one another. Episode 7 had a major event that happened off screen?! Cliche plot point in the 7th episode, bleh! A 1 year time jump in the final episode?!
- did not feel chemistry between the leads or a good development of their romantic relationship
- really dumb rescue breathing, he didn't check to see if he wasn't breathing (i.e. was rescue breathing required???) or a pulse first, this seemed like a stupid plot device and there are many other fun ways that the two could have met
- the worst business plan ever, Ba Da makes really awful/stupid decisions all the way to the end of the series
- I like more realistic make up, but the actors needed some eyeliner and lip color, they looked ill
- too many drone shots

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poorly done slice of life

Overall: I would advise starting it at ep 5 34 minutes and you'll avoid a whole bunch of random child characters. This is from the same production company that made: Ai Long Nhai, Coffee Melody, With Love and Second Chance. 10 episodes about 40 minutes long aired on GagaOOLala and iQIYI.

Content Warnings: past death/grief, blood, bullying, hit/kick/punch, transphobia mentioned, intimate partner violence, drug addiction

What I Liked
- Khana and Pao (who had almost no screen time)
- how Barbie called out those bullies in ep 1
- good discussion of how if you are queer you are held to a higher perfection standard, you have to represent all queer people and can't make mistakes/learn like non-queer people*
- supportive friends
- Tin told his mom off

Room For Improvement
- boring, nothing really happened, scenes dragged on for too long they felt randomly thrown together at times
- Tin is maybe supposed to be in university but acts like he's in middle school, comes across as whiny and immature and he didn't know what a boner was???
- too many characters including children, lack of development with main characters specifically Kana and Pao
- *the trope of a hypersexual trans woman
- not into the Park/Tin dynamic, the cold/angry/reluctant guy hitting the peppy/persistent/harassing character, in ep 2 also Park randomly was flirty at one point which was an odd shift, Park later had a personality transplant in the second half of the series and was super flirty which was better
- comedy sound effects didn't make things funny, I didn't laugh once
- ep 1 started with a voice over/exposition dump
- why doesn't anyone called an ambulance, they just stand around shouting and that cpr technique was terrible

Question - what does Tin Tem Jai mean,? Tin is a character's name, internet searching says 'tem' is 'to do' or 'to make' and 'jai' is 'heart'.

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unique premise let down by writing

Overall: this could have been a 10/10 with solid writing but the writers wrecked the plot and the four main characters in episode 10 except Tien. 12 episodes 45 minutes each. Note: La Pluie means The Rain in French. Airing on iQIYI .

Content Warnings: punches

What I Liked
- a unique premise
- sweet moments
- couple funny parts
- pretty good consent with stopping in the middle, but realistic offering to do something else (except did not like the "can't hold back" in ep 10)
- how the brothers have opposite personalities and how Tien gave some solid advice, Tien was my favorite character (best line "talking to you is a waste of a good mood")
- Tai's dad
- supportive friends
- NSFW/kissing were decent
- GL (but introduced too late/underdeveloped)

Room For Improvement
- episode 10 ruined most main characters, they all somehow became more immature than Tien
- cliche plot points (the ex girlfriend and Nara had way too much screen time, how characters just happened to be at the right place at the right time and see misleading things and then storm off, etc)
- an exposition dump for most of the world building and then convenient/poorly done world building later on
- though episode 2 was nice from Patts perspective, it re-told too much of episode 1
- sound stuff (music during a serious part was comedy like, no noise at the bar in episode 3, awful gulp noise)
- episode 4 discovery was very anti climactic
- too many flashbacks
- unrealistic things (why is Tai always wearing sweaters in very hot Thailand?, he couldn't have walked very far, it took a whole night for a car to reach them? neighbors never ran into each other?)
- how they characterized the mom as it more of her fault (who was the breadwinner and likely trying to get 4 kids thru school without crippling debt) as the flawed one and the dad didn't have any flaws
- Tai was too immature to be in a relationship, I understand that even adults can be traumatized with their parents divorcing but walking out of a certain something was the nail in the coffin for his character's ability to be in a relationship
- what Lomfon did could be seen as manipulative and embarrassing instead of romantic, which he had talked to Tien beforehand instead of afterwards
- crying without tears
- I took a half point off my review for the nonsense at the end with Lomfon and Tien

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what a special episode should be

Overall: we had 27 minutes of new content that was a progression of their story and fluff which is exactly what I was looking for in a special episode. Available on GagaOOLala & Viki (country dependent).

What I Liked
- sweet/fluff moments
- intimacy/physical affection
- styling
- continuation of their story

Room For Improvement
- the 2 cringey fall, catch and awkward holds
- some of the camerawork felt low budget/shaky
- needed the production to include the 2 characters at the end into the special's intro sequence to refresh viewers' memories, per the review comment they are the cousin/colleague and the driver from the series, I'm likely not the only person who had no idea who they were so their appearance felt random

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swam in circles

Overall: this is a kind of sequel/retelling of Until We Meet Again with a shift in the main couple focus from Dean/Pharm to Win/Team. People will enjoy Between Us more if they've seen Until We Meet Again first. Note that when Team says 'brother' it means his cousin, not his biological brother. Aired on Wabi Sabi's YouTube membership channel and iQIYI.

Content Warnings: non con touching/kissing, manhandling, slap, past death, grief/trauma, homophobia (another huge content warning in a comment under a spoiler)

What I Liked
- seeing some familiar faces/characters from the first series reprise their roles
- new and extended scenes of Win and Team (return of the broccoli!)
- Win checking on Team's intoxication level
- sweet moments
- some funny moments
- the discussion about homophobia
- Win's older brother/gaming couple
- friendship between Pharm, Manow and Team
- Win and his siblings' relationships (especially Win and his younger brother)
- how Win didn't push Team to tell him about his past

Room For Improvement
- my main issue was that they went around and around, this story could have been told in 6 episodes instead of 12
- 5 couples was too many couples
- I don't understand Win's character, if they had given some background about a bad breakup or something then his actions would make sense, but they haven't shown us as an audience and so he just seems really hot and cold
- Team was oddly reluctant at times and also oddly hot and cold (mostly cold), how was Team more reluctant than Pharm (Pharm!!!) in the final episode?!?
- terrible communication between Team and Win
- for people who did not see UWMA I think this would be a bit confusing, I did want to see when Team, Pharm and Manow first met because all of a sudden they are talking as friends
- Win feels more of a jerk (what on earth was that dialogue during the hurt/care scene in ep 1) and Team is more vulnerable/less sassy and I didn't like the change
- the non con part before they went to the hotel room in ep 1
- Win's shifting hair roots (didn't take off review points for this though)
- camera blocking shots in the kissing scene in ep 1
- the conversation between Bee and Prince in ep 9 was odd, university students in Thailand don't know about bi/pan as a possibility?
- using almost the exact same music (even background music) from UWMA one of which goes with a really tragic scene in UWMA

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cute follow up

Overall: this takes place directly after episode 12 with the focus on the main couple. Watched on Gagaoolala, also on Viki.

Content Warnings: none

What I Liked
- cute moments (the jealousy, kissing, outfits, hairstyle, cuddle, etc)
- interesting concept for a special episode
- neutral on the season 1 flashbacks, it was maybe helpful to remind people of a couple of key moments but also kind of felt like filler

Room For Improvement
- I'm kind of confused with what the phone did because then doesn't that mean the 2nd hop would have changed their future?

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Standard Korean BL Series

Overall: the general comments below applies to a whole bunch of Korean BL. I'd say overall it's fine, but suffers from the same issues as other series. Watched on Viki (minor spoilers)

Content Warnings: murders (off screen), suicide, dub con kiss (sleeping)

What I Liked
- good production value
- the flashbacks were obvious
- I thought Yeon Seok's personality (with his confidence/big ego) was funny in the beginning
- the cat magical creature pretty much declares she is asexual, I appreciate the representation and I wish this character was more fully developed
- that both Sin Bi and Ha Yeon called Yeon Seok for being a jerk because he was a jerk

Room For Improvement
- choppy/rushed, I didn't really understand/buy into the sudden shift with Yeon Seok's feelings
- cliche poor communication at the end and Ha Yeon being angry at Yeon Seok when Yeon Seok is doing exactly what Ha Yeon asked him to do (eyeroll)
- pointless love triangle, that screen time could have gone to developing the m/m romance and/or fleshing out the cat goddess character
- the kissing was okay but not great
- why did Ha Yeon get killed the second time, we just never know???

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Plot Rushed

Overall: They tried to make the plot too complex for a short runtime and I don't even think I'd call this BL. Because they did a 'Yoo Han is kidnapped' plot, Yeon Woo is not available to pair with anyone else romantically. Watched on Viki.

Content Warnings: bullying, side character deaths, fight scenes

What I Liked:
- good production value
- good acting

Room For Improvement
- very confusing/rushed/overly complicated plot - there's a secret bar, tea, pills, vantablack, fake candy factory, grayscale, probe surgery, a bunch of new characters introduced
- I really enjoyed season 1s vibe that was kind of dangerous/obsessive, this does not have that same vibe
- that kiss was mostly camera angle tricks and it was in a dream
- what idiot characters take drinks or pills from very shady characters, at least one could have faked taking the pill
- odd/non logical things such as: Yeon Woo just happens to leave around his very important notebook, also his aunt leaves something really important in a place that Yeon Woo can easily find (when has keeping secrets ever worked out well btw), if telling her bullies about her brother would stop her from being bullied why wouldn't she do that?, she suddenly dies (I'm sure there's a plot twist in that but it felt so random), the grandpa would know the truth wouldn't he tell the classmate? better to say nothing at all then a totally unhelpful "run away", the brother knew his sister was being bullied wouldn't he intervene?, no way the mom's headband would look brand new after years in the water, what exactly even happened with the mom? why would they do that elaborate candy factory thing when they could just go and kidnap monos?

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so much potential

Overall: this series could have been a 9.5 for me with the amount of potential but the writing didn't deliver. 8 episodes about 25 minutes each, 2 episodes per week. Aired on Viki https://www.viki.com/tv/40439c-boys-be-brave and on GagaOOLala (in Macau, Hong Kong & Taiwan) https://www.gagaoolala.com/en/videos/4231/boys-be-brave-2024-e01

Content Warnings: harassment, punch/fight

Watch Suggestions (I will update tomorrow with a complete list)
episode 7 watch 3:40-5:40, 26:30-27:25
episode 8 watch 7-9 minutes, 24:30-25:25

What I Liked
- the friend relationship
- direct communication when it happened
- funny moments
- switching perspectives
- character growth with main couple
- end of episode 3
- one of the best hugs ever

Room For Improvement
- what we saw at the beginning of episode 5 needed to be shown much sooner so I could have rooted for the main couple's relationship, it felt like the 1 guy was playing games
- needed to get rid of the mostly cliched female character and family drama to focus more on the two couples
- the second couple had wasted screen time, also 1 character was cruel in the past and in the present and the other was content to be a doormat, needed a better explanation in the past and more/faster character growth in the present, then an unsatisfying ending
- 'because the writer said so' stuff, why would a character be so open to a woman he just met when his characterization up to that point has been more closed/prickly, why does a character go from punches/hate to being a simp
- most of episode 7 was wasted on family drama, episode 8 had a ton of wasted screen time too
- beginning of episode 8 was extremely choppy with a multitude of flash backs/forwards, characters in different locations

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standard Thai romcom

Overall: I would call this an old school Thai BL and wish they had changed a few things to make it feel more fresh. 12 episodes about 45 minutes each. Aired on GMMTV's YouTube channel. If I were to re-watch I would start at episode 4, skip 5, 6, and 7, watch 8/2 2 min and the end of ep 8 thru 11, and episode 12 part 4.

Content Warnings: stalking, vomiting, punches, manhandling, manipulation

What I Liked
- the intro animation was unique though it didn't grab my attention
- Joke's dream
- cute/sweet moments
- that they both talked about the importance of boundaries and communication (but then both didn't take this advice at various points)
- an established couple with a realistic problem, wish they had more screentime
- Zo's friends
- the grandma
- kissing/intimacy

Room For Improvement
- Joke's approach/"plan" made no sense to me
- poorly written plot such as the stalking plotline, the Joke backstory in the final episode, the 3rd couple?/friends? introduced almost at the end with no real resolution
- why did Joke like Zo there wasn't even a love at first sight
- very tropey (2 accidental falls in one episode for example)
- pacing was off at times, series could have been fewer episodes
- a "makeover" where they took away his adorable glasses (and in total contradiction, Joke said to stay true to himself)
- talking about owing Joke
- non realistic debate stuff, and then the debate stuff in general
- choppy at times (episode 5 was suddenly the next day)
- (neutral) comedy sound effects

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Ennuyeux

Overall: I would call this a traditional Thai university BL (many tropes, poor communication, cute moments). However, with the evolution of BL, this felt boring to me and I didn't like the character Theo. Watched on YouTube

Content Warnings: manipulation, manhandling, vomiting, dub con kiss (half asleep?), punches, student/teacher relationship?

What I Liked
- Akk's mom & sister were great
- the side characters' French was good (likely native speakers)
- Akk was pretty adorable, especially quickly cleaning up his room and being the Flash
- cute moments like the kitchen spoon fight
- the consent before their kiss in ep 8
- that they were physically affectionate with one another after ep 8

Room For Improvement
- the main issue I have is Theo is pretty unlikable. He gets angry at others for treating him like a child but he has the maturity of a child (which was even shown in the last episode with his parents, there was zero character growth).
- the lead actors have a similar look, they should have styled/colored their hair more differently. I was confused when the story shifted location/perspective because I thought it was Theo at first. And the other leads also need more differentiation (i.e glasses, jewelry, hair color, etc).
- do not write in library books, especially "I'm bored", replacing a book also is a bad idea because it isn't processed and can't be checked out (ie no barcode, spine label, etc)
- Theo spoke Thai until 6th grade likely spoke it for the 7 years when he was abroad (with his parents/grandmother) but the one word he couldn't remember was "lost", this just seems odd
- Theo's French was bad for someone who lived 7 years in the country
- the blur filter on Theo was too much, some shaky camerawork and night scenes were too dim especially in ep 10

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I Don't Know What at the End of the World

Overall: based on the title, production name (Temporary Insanity Productions), 4 couples in 8 episodes, the summary and the trailer, I knew this wasn't going to be some standard fluffy series. However, it was worse than I thought it would be. It has an experimental film feel at times, but just total nonsense.  I watched ep 1, 2, 4, 8 & 9.

Content Warnings: character death, multiple suicide attempts, suicide, gore, very explicit sex scenes (I normally don't list NSFW as a content warning but these were very explicit), incest?, homophobia, a slap not between m/m couple, dub con kissing/touching (asleep)

What I Liked
- the overall production value was good
- most actors seemed to do a good job (some lines were really terrible so maybe that impacted acting)
- the first episode had a nice food sharing scene
- there were kernels of potential interesting stories like the addicts relationship
- the nsfw scene in ep 4 (except for the dub con)
- the single shot was a neat idea in ep 8, they could have that be ep 1 and then shown the fallout based on what happened in subsequent episodes

Room For Improvement
- the timeline/plot is confusing because there are flashbacks (or forwards?) to guys frantically running naked in the dark. Also there are flashbacks (I think) during the story.  And in the last episode no one is running around bloodied or naked so wth?
- The asteroid disaster. I can suspend disbelief that no one knew this asteroid was close (because in real life they track them when they are years away), and also none of the countries had any solutions for moving it or blowing it up, but here is what an asteroid 7 days away is doing.
A. an odd rainbow in the sky
B. downpours of something (rocks)?
C. chickens/birds following a guy a long distance
D. earthquakes
They should have just had random strange things happen without an explanation.
- total randomness, 2 random guys at the very end of the final episode saying that an earthquake meant the end of the world (the Philippines is in the ring of fire so I'm assuming they have earthquakes on a regular basis, why would someone say it's the end of the world?), what was with the sticky notes? what was with the location change/fishbowl and the addicts? a merman at the end?
- the second episode, that guy has sex with his adoptive dad, vomit. Also, hid dad had just tried to kill himself and the other two guys were getting it on while he was recovering a few feet away, wth???!!!
- too much tongue, I'm all for more realistic kissing but do people kiss like that (ep 1)?! I like well done NSFW scenes that make sense with the story but I felt as though I was watching porn. And both explicit scenes with 3 guys felt like it was done for a shock factor. And what was that saliva (or something else) sharing in the final episode. We don't need to see that.
- many scenes felt thrown in just for shock factor and did not enhance the story

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An interesting plot ruined by choppiness/too broad scope

Overall: There was so much potential in this story, but the scope was too broad and the sequencing was jumpy/confusing. It is based on a short film which I also found confusing (it was like an art film).

Content Warnings: non con/dub con*, 2 punches, past trauma (kidnapping, maybe molestation? shown off screen)

What I Liked
- acting is good, the 1 actor switches well, the glasses help distinguish them
- production value is good
- music is nice

Room For Improvement
- *does this mean that Yu Shi has the mental age of a 5 year old? And they had sex together??? Ummm, I'm not a doctor and don't have any friends with this medical condition but that seems ethically wrong.
- a big issue is the choppiness/not knowing what was going on most of the time. Finally in the 3rd episode (of 4 episodes) we get some brief explanations for things (but he was just randomly attacked, when did the 1 month flashback end?) however, it still leaves a lot to be desired. Even at the very end, I wasn't sure what the 1000 day thing was until after they got home and it was more clear.
- I was disappointed at the resolution with Noah
- the doctor was super unethical, I don't think doctors can share medical information with non-relatives/spouses. Also later his boyfriend looks at a patient's chart/notes. I think Noah could have been the one to explain the situation earlier to Wu Zheng.
- the side couple was totally unnecessary, they came out of nowhere in the final episode with a few sentences about the cliched miscommunication and spending years apart
- once again we have a female character just thrown in to cause drama, she was totally not needed to the story, there's enough drama that could come along with dissociative identity disorder
- I dislike punches/slaps between romantic partners or really anyone unless in self-defense

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a thin plot with some cute moments

Overall: this is what I would call a standard or traditional university Thai BL. Despite a thin plot built on poor communication that could have been remedied with a 1 minute conversation, I was prepared to rate this an 8/10. However, the first 3 things in my Room For Improvement section and the fact that this is a large production company and it's not a few years ago knocks this down to a 7/10. Watched on YouTube.

Content Warnings: non con kissing, non con touching, domestic violence discussed (injury shown), punches, non con photos
 
What I Liked
- Daonuea's supportive/joking friends
- it was fun to see Sammy & Yacht
- the cute moments
- the funny moments (fyi the series does have comedy sound effects which are neutral for me)
- Khabkhluen's mom
- an example of good consent "can I kiss your cheek" in the finale
- good that they were physically affectionate, it wasn't just 1 kiss for an established couple

Room For Improvement
- the non con touching and kissing (on more than 1 occasion!) was totally not needed and was disappointing to see
- the very serious (sometimes deadly), common and world wide social problem of intimate partner violence was thrown in for some last minute drama. I was horrified watching that scene and again very disappointed that the writers used this topic in this way. The writers could have easily gone with something else like illness.
- the lack of the next video at the end of a video and the lack of subs for the finale premiere (would not bother me for a small company but this is not a small company)
- the full flashback scene was disappointing. Khabkhluen can't use social media? Can't contact Daonuea's friends to contact Daonuea?
- Khabkhluen's atrocious communication skills. I know very introverted people and they communicate with their romantic interests/partners. It took over 1 year to solve a problem that would have taken a 1 minute conversation to fix.
- there were too many characters and yet we didn't get a side plot or couple...
- why were 4 people attracted to Daonuea???
- Danouea has 1 conversation and sees 1 Instagram post and does a 180, it felt very sudden
- the finale was okay if a bit anticlimactic but that scene at the end was jarring and not needed
- that Daonuea didn't even suggest taking a cab to his possibly drunk brother who was going to drive a car
- I didn't like the intro sequence drawing/animation style, especially the lack of faces

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