La Méchante Femme

Overall: I was hoping to see a sweet rom com with cute guys and cooking, but after the first few episodes this took an unwanted dark/serious turn. It spent waayyy too much time on an overused cliche instead of developing romantic relationships. Watching on Gagaoolala.

Content Warnings: attempted murder, severely beaten up, slapped, cyberbullying, harassment, body shaming, manhandling, non con kiss (sleeping), non con taking pictures/posting, threatening with a gun

What I Liked
- the intro/title sequence was fun
- I liked Lukchup's and Ram's friend groups
- the cute and funny moments
- the food looked delicious

Room For Improvement
- the cliche evil wannabe girlfriend dragged on waaaayyyyy too long, 10 full minutes of crying in the final episode. She did get some consequences but nearly enough for what she did.
- Lukchup's lack of agency - he couldn't go see Ram in the hospital when he wanted, everyone was constantly meeting and making plans without him, he felt too childlike
 - non logical things like Lukchup and Ram's family having a bunch of money but they didn't think to hire security for Lukchup? Why didn't both Ram and Lukchup run back to the building? Why did they need to collect sooooo much evidence before contacting the police, that's what the police investigation does... The police just have a nice tea while the criminal could be running away and/or destroying evidence??? 
- didn't like the social media fan page of a regular college student and people lining up to take pictures with him, it creeps me out
- the ending where multiple relationships were just shoved together at the last minute. Also the second time jump felt like lazy writing. I wish they had spent the time on the relationships and not on Namning.

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Watch for the main couple

Overall: I was excited by the premise but I'm a bit disappointed in the execution. I have read part of the book and I dislike pretty much every change they made in the live action adaptation. Watched on Gagaoolala.

Content Warnings: slap, blackmail/manipulation, fight scene

What I Liked
- the lead pair is adorable* (and those dimples!)
- actually showing (realistically) that a doctor is busy (though pretty sure you'd die if you didn't sleep in 70 hours)
- Tawan's friend Nadia is really supportive of him but I didn't like her character otherwise (and in the book she was a he)
- there is a (unfortunately very minor) trans woman character who nicely is not a comedic character

Room For Improvement
- *I really wish Tawan would know what the audience knows in episode 3 and then we'd go from there, he didn't know until really late and Mork trying to prevent Tawan from knowing was so bizarre
- multiple fake outs
- the side m/m have no chemistry and I hate the way their relationship started (this couple was not in the book)
- the m/f couple, her actions make zero sense (this was a m/m couple in the book)
- that the uncle just gave money to his pregnant girlfriend (was not in the book)
- had the poor communication/ghosting at the end trope
- I expect better kissing skills for two guys who have both been in relationships before
- too much time spent on some side characters/scenes, like the motorcycle guys at that festival

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Left Behind The Plot

Overall: I think the editor was a knife so that's why it's choppy (excuse my bad joke lol). They really needed to cut down on the characters and tighten up the plot. I wish they had done a love at first sight instead of enemies to lovers and/or eliminated the love triangle because there just wasn't time to fully develop these. Watched on Viki.

Content Warnings: non con touching of his face (he was asleep/basically asleep?)

What I Liked:
- the intro song is upbeat and fun
- the intro itself, glad they kept it short since the episodes are short
- there was some nice chemistry between the designer and new model, would like to see these actors in something with an actual plot
- the supportive dad

Room For Improvement
- missing plot/choppy, what exactly was the contest at the beginning? Why does the designer have blood on his hands? What exactly was the relationship between the old model and the new model? What caused the scene that we saw on the stairs in the flashback? What is the significance of that ring? How did the designer and old model end up living together? Why does the designer ghost the new model in episode 7? Is the new model's mom dead? Did the designer actually not go to New York and then just didn't contact his lover for 1 year???? Ahhhhh!!!!!
- odd things, people don't wait that long to say sorry, who touches a stranger's shirt like that? the short clip after the credits of the first episode but it wasn't a preview? he didn't recognize him from the day before, they looked at each other a long time...
- non realistic things, should have had the designs fall into water because they didn't really look very damaged, it goes from total daytime to night in 1 minute

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a little bit dangerous and a lot romcom cliches

Overall: the trailer promised a grittier/darker series but it's like the directors/screenwriters never talked to each other. The first two episodes were what I was expecting, then it went full romcom (i.e. multiple accidental fall/stares), then some danger towards the end that didn't make sense. 12 episodes about 45 minutes each. Aired on GMMTV's YouTube channel.

Content Warnings: bullying, punches, violence/beaten up, non con kiss, non con video recording, cyberbullying, manhandling, attempted murder, drugging, attempted sexual assault

What I Liked
- that Sailom was book and a bit street smart as well in the beginning
- Sailom's friend group
- Kang's grandma was amazing
- sweet moments
- a couple funny moments
- production value

Room For Improvement
- too many romance tropes like the accidental fall and catch/stare (there were at least 3 in the first 7 episodes)
- odd pacing/plot, enemies part was too short and then rushed into becoming boyfriends
- the writers made Sailom too reluctant once they started dating/too many near kisses, made it feel more like a bromance, several kisses were uncomfortable to watch
- the comedy sound effects should have been left out, they didn't fit well
- Kang did not have a good enough villain origin story (not that any reason makes it okay to physically injure another human being)
- didn't root for the second couple because of the bullying at the beginning
- Kang's character was very inconsistent, I didn't want him in a romantic relationship because I felt like he'd bail again at the first sign of trouble
- Saifah was too stupid, there could have been a really interesting side plot/character there but his character was poorly written
- nonsense/because the writer said so stuff (some examples, that gang boss's "plan" in episode 11 made zero sense, what that police officer said, there was no reason given for Saifah trusting Name so much)
- not sure what was being hinted at with the student/teacher but they mostly disappeared
- some scenes were too dimly lit
- too many flashbacks especially in episode 6 and 11
- jumped to the past/present repeatedly in episode 7 part 1

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a mess (and not the good kind)

Overall: my concerns about the official poster where one character is mooning his classmates, how the company posted about the legal age of consent on their official facebook page and the fact that there are several actors under the age of 18 were a harbinger of things to come. The writers didn't know what they wanted this show to be (sweet romcom, dark mystery, spicy nsfw or realistic/educational), lack of a clear tone along with the other flaws has made me drop this after watching 4 episodes. 6 episodes airing on YouTube (Jinloe Official channel). 

Content Warnings: death, sexual assault, non con touching that turned consensual, non con kiss, blackmail, sex shaming, manipulation, unwanted public outing, note: brothers?/step brothers? eventual romantic relationship?

What I Liked
- the friendship between King and Shokun
- I'm happy that Shokun decided to break up with Ken as this isn't shown that much, but unfortunately he went from the frying pan and into the fire
- a couple funny and cute moments (what was that with the drawing haha)
- parts of NSFW that were more realistic like grinding and using hands and um, mouths in a certain location *cough cough*
- appreciate that they tried some BDSM education but it was preachy and they missed some really fundamental parts*
- King's mom helping King to have safe sex by purchasing supplies and putting them in his backpack (although sending them to school seems...odd)

Room For Improvement
- *a foundation for BDSM is safe, sane and consensual, the writers have ignored the consensual part and made Matteo manipulate/blackmail Shogun into being his play partner, I'm sure they are going to catch feelings and all will be well blegh. Also, how do they not have safe words/signs, that's like 101. Plus I'm annoyed that they used real handcuffs but did not have a tool to cut them apart in the emergency kit Matteo talked about.
- ep 4, I do not want Burger and King to be together. It takes a special breed of a**hole to use a document someone gave you to convince you to like/date them and then burn them with candle wax and use their severe dislike of spicy food to get them not to like you (because I guess saying "I don't like you, please stop" was too difficult). Burger even laughed while he was hurting King. 
- ep 4, Matteo should not have talked about wanting to be dom at that time because Shokun was extremely vulnerable and grateful and would likely say yes, when in a different frame of mind he would have said no
- the constant short shorts and then Burger and King taking their shirts off, I'm not interested in fanservice sexualizing minors
- ep 1, the super serious intro followed by a peppy intro (but it included BDSM supplies) was bizarre, not sure if they think it's funny but the police station scenes are not funny at all to me
- confusing start/choppy because they didn't subtitle the transition slides that I assume said how much time had passed/day of the week, I wasn't sure if those first two scenes in ep 1 were flashbacks or flash forwards
- too many characters/couples for 6 episodes, the brothers/step brothers didn't appear in the first episode and then in episode 3 a different couple was absent, then in episode 4 the brothers/step brothers were again absent
- choppy, they'll have a scene and then suddenly be somewhere else or even it seems there is a time jump, I was confused in episode 2 that it was a flashback. Apparently there is a paid uncut version that is less choppy but I'm reviewing the free version on YouTube.
- shaking the camera when she appeared in episode 2 to insinuate that she is overweight was terrible and again not funny
- I really wish all the actors were at least 18 (more on this below)
- that they made a trans woman an antagonist
- the very obvious product placement
- the nurse saying she'll talk to the school, aren't there health privacy laws in Thailand? I understand needing to talk to the parents if minors are involved, although if someone is bleeding heavily do you still need permission to stop the bleeding?

Character/Actor Ages with NSFW Content
I consider myself a sex positive person and in the real world I'm fine with teens having sex as long as it's consensual and not unethical/illegal (i.e. student/teacher, using manipulation etc). So I don't have a problem with fictional teens engaging in NSFW.

However, I want the actors to be at least 18 for several reasons (this applies to any gender or sexual orientation). I think they are more mature and able to handle the pros and cons of starring in NSFW content. They are less dependent on their parents financially or legally. Here are the actors' ages:
Burger/King: Newyear (15), Vasin (17)
Matteo /Ken/Shokun: Alan (20), BigBoss (18/19), Pure (19)
Heda/Saint: Vic (17), Tae (19) 

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liked it more as it went on

Overall: confusing start and I had some issues with the series but it ended well. 10 episodes with about 25 minutes each. Aired on GagaOOLala and Viki.

Content Warnings: attempted suicide, attempted/near murder, manipulation, blackmail, stalking, non con kiss

What I Liked
- sweet moments (especially ep 9 and 10)
- that the couples had different dynamics/relationships (though I struggled with all of them at different points)
- the misunderstanding with modeling was funny (wish he had actually modeled though)
- cameo from a couple in season 1 of Love Class and also the couple from Private Lessons
- good kissing/intimacy (except for 1 couple who did dead fish lip presses)

Room For Improvement
- that was an extremely heavy way to start a series and then they jumped into a fluffy scene directly afterwards which gave me whiplash
- things were confusing in the beginning, it was not immediately apparent if that first scene was a flashback or a flash forward, I was trying to figure out who was who during episode 1...
- too many characters introduced without properly explaining who they were/their relationship to one another
- spent too much time on other things like how none of the three couples interacted until after 10 of 30 minutes in episode 3
- the non con kiss, totally unnecessary
- I was still confused when the past was revealed, what exactly was the issue with the wrong ID, did it ruin his reputation???
- I struggled with all 3 couples
-- teaching assistant/student - bought him underwear and then blackmailed him into a date, played relationship mind games, cliche plot point of witnessed something the ghosted him (did like the flashback in episode 10 that explained a bit on why the student was interested in the teaching assistant, wish we had known that sooner)
-- barista/jobless friend - barista silently simped forever and then punished his friend who didn't even know why, barista called his friend a slut for singing a fake confession and then did a non con kiss while his friend was passed out, played relationship mind games
-- student/older student - ignored boundaries several times, the student was pretty pushy but then older student just relented for no reason that I could see, they didn't clearly define what their relationship was in the past, ghosted someone for 2 years, dead fish lip presses

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too many side characters/plot

Overall: this fell into the trap of several KBLs before it, too many characters/plot in a very short runtime. Aired two 14 minute episodes per week on GagaOOLala and Viki.

Content Warnings: anxiety struggles/mental health struggles, manipulation, grooming?, under 18/age gap relationship?, stalking, punch

What I Liked
- the wedding venue was gorgeous
- showing anxiety medication being used
- a few cute parts
- there was a little mouth movement in the kisses, liked that they held hands
- that roommate/friend was sweet

Room For Improvement
- the tried to do too much and it came across as confusing, jumpy/choppy, in episode 4 there is a random scene in the daytime and then suddenly the next scene with two different characters is at night with no transition scene, I'm not 100% sure what happened in the past/what their relationship was, I was not invested in the main characters' relationship
- ignoring boundaries repeatedly is not attractive to me
- cliche ghosting/poor communication combined with a time jump
- ep 1 why was the pianist not dressed up, I know it said he was a substitute but it looked like he had time to practice/could have grabbed a suit/dress shoes (he was wearing white sneakers), or they should have added a scene where the wedding coordinator said he had to play in 30 minutes, he said he just had what he was wearing and she said that's fine

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Gentle movie about biological and found family (minor spoilers)

Overall: this reminds me of God's Own Country with its countryside setting and sparse dialogue. Things are subtle (maybe a bit too subtle at times); I wish I could hear a director's commentary as I'm sure I missed many things. Watched on Amazon Prime Video, also on Gagaoolala in some regions.

Content Warnings: homophobia, side character death

What I Liked
- the foreshadowing, double meanings, subtle hints, for example when the grandma was mixing and said to watch it and wait it out, and also that pregnant sheep
- the countryside setting
- production value was good overall
- realistic flawed characters who made mistakes and apologized/tried to change

Room For Improvement
- maybe a few things were a bit too subtle and we could have used a little more dialogue to tell the audience what the characters were thinking
- it was odd when that female friend was yelling around the house that the guys wouldn't have woken up

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came for the m/m romance, stayed for the rest (need a spin off/season 2)

Overall: I heard about the m/m romance (I was worried at the beginning but then really enjoyed), but overall liked this series that looked at love, sex and our complicated relationships with other people. 8 episodes. Aired on Netflix.

Content Warnings: death, grief, past parental abuse, homophobia, beaten up/fight, sexual harassment, non con video recording/sharing, cyberbullying, drugging, body shaming, alcoholism

What I Liked
- mix of comedy with poignant parts, there are some truly breathtaking moments when nothing is said but everything is felt, not even sure how to describe this
- realistic problems (though it's definitely fictional since a family wouldn't have all those issues at the same time)
- some mystery/characters thinking they know everything, but not having the whole perspective/information
- production value (music was excellent, interesting camera shots)

Room For Improvement
- I found myself bored by some of the plots, in particular the younger sister
- the fact that everyone was pretty awful at communication, wanted at least 1 or 2 characters who said what they wanted

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excellent follow up to season 1

Overall: because there is more comedy I actually enjoyed this a bit more than season 1. The special is 1 hour and 15 minutes. GagaOOLala picked this up in September 2023 which is when I watched it (GagaOOLala picked up the whole franchise and the order to watch is: season 1, special, movie, season 2 which is airing October 2023).

What I Liked
- comedy, I burst out laughing several times
- cute moments
- communication progress
- Wataru, yes he's immature but he's honest and his partner enjoys their dynamic so I won't judge them
- tighter pacing than the series

Room For Improvement
- the fake out (I'd rather they show nothing at all than the 'stop right before it happens')

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confusion begins

Overall: although the start of the series was very confusing, I appreciate they tried a different type of plot. Watch after the initial credits for an important final scene. This is part of the My Universe series with 12 couples/stories over 24 episodes total (1 per week so 6 months of airing). Aired on iQIYI.

Content Warnings: death, attempted suicide?, manhandling

What I Liked
- a more unique premise
- good kissing

Room For Improvement
- this was extremely confusing, there was a brief bar scene and then a bunch of characters were introduced with no clue of their relationships to one another/who they all were, 1/3 of the way in we got an exposition dump that clarified a bit but I didn't feel anything for any of the characters
- total nonsense approach/"plan"
- how does someone get electrocuted from having wine spilled/tossed on them, even if they meant had a seizure I don't understand how the wine was a trigger for that
- conversations felt very odd/scripted
- not a fan of putting an extremely important scene after the initial credits
- needed to air 2 episodes per week

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a relic best left in the past (major trigger/content warning below)

Overall: I want the time that I spent watching this back. If you want m/m romance, please go and watch, literally... anything else. This is adapted from a manga/anime which I haven't seen and I'm reviewing it on its own merits/flaws. Watched on GagaOOLala.

Content Warnings: rape (graphic and a long scene), ptsd, manipulation, victim blaming, manhandling, physical violence, second attempted sexual assault

What I Liked
- it looked like they had some actual musicians for some scenes/shots
- some acting was okay
- the conductor did apologize so he wasn't a 100% sociopath, but still a really awful human

Room For Improvement
- most live action dub/non con in BL/Yaoi has some element of the FICTIONAL mouth says no but body says yes, it turns consensual at some point. But nope, this was full on non con from the beginning to the end and it was awful to watch.
- that pos (piece of sh*t) "friend" told him it wasn't that bad, he was only raped once in a crowded restaurant and her drinking doesn't make her any less of a pos
- her indirect kiss was awful
- that conductor said he was sorry and wouldn't do it again and then basically almost rapes him a second time!!!
- how on earth did he all of a sudden think "my beloved"???
- character repeatedly says that he can't love men and he's not gay- that conductor's flashback at the end was terrible, so he had a love a first sight and that gives him the right to rape another person, WTH?!?!
- open/confusing ending, so they don't end up in a romantic relationship? I want them to never see each other again. Actually I want the conductor to spend some time in jail, therapy and have to give financial restitution.

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enjoyed the movie version more than the series

Overall: A slower paced/subtle romance dealing with a realistic problem. I would suggest watching this instead of the series. Watched on Youtube.

Content warnings: none I can think of

What I Liked
- a more realistic reason for the drama
- supportive siblings
- focused on 1 couple
- countryside setting
- the music
- Mean's cameo (he is also the director)

Room For Improvement
- the poor communication still bothers me but they were in high school and Phob was in a stressful situation
- cutting the 350 minutes of run time to 150 minutes of run time was a vast improvement for the very slow pacing, although I still watched it at a faster speed
- they did cut down on the number of flashbacks and flash forwards which was good but still too many flashbacks
- lack of doctor/patient confidentiality
- the ending: still think we could have used a certain something to end the series

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Love Triangle Area, part 1

(mild spoilers)
Overall: it made me laugh a few times despite the dreaded love triangles. It felt incomplete but the second part didn't help. Aired on GagaOOLala. Re-aired in 2024 on Love Area The Series YouTube channel.

Content Warnings: 1 fight scene not between the m/m, mild abduction

What I Liked
- overall production value was good, a few errors with the English subs but not bad
- acting/chemistry was goodish
- the enjoyable OST is by Jeff Satur who also has a small role
- I am a sucker for a bad boy who is trying to be better
- there were a few times that I actually laughed out loud although some may have been unintentionally funny...

Room For Improvement
- ugh, love triangles (there are 2). I really want 1 of the third wheels to give up and find happiness elsewhere (unfortunately I have a nagging feeling this will be drawn out until the end of part 2)
- once again a dumb time gap but this had at least a more realistic reason, still a totally stupid plan though (not a fan of time gaps where 1 person in a serious romantic relationship ghosts/lies to their partner supposedly for their partner's good and then comes back years later and they live happily ever after)
- didn't like the way King (the painter) pressured/guilted Ice (the model) to take his shirt off for the painting
- the actor playing Ice (Freshmen college student) is 14, which is odd and he'd better not be a love interest or someone think he's a love interest
- Kaitoon has the memory of a goldfish or is just really rude for standing up Nont two different times and not answering his phone. I wish he had remembered but his phone had died, didn't have cell reception or notified Nont at least 1 of the times.
- Kaitoon doesn't appear to reciprocate feelings until the very end and I like both characters to at least show interest a bit earlier than that
- wanted the guy pursuing Panggo to stop/ease up (again not a fan of someone repeatedly pursuing another person when the person has expressed disinterest or no interest because that's stalker behavior). I realize this was done for laughs, I thought it was stupid.
- pacing could have moved more quickly
- I really enjoy the OST but it is replayed with various versions (vocals and just instrumental) a little too much.

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