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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wanted more Ocean's 11 vibe, (has a side m/m couple)

Overall: I came for the side m/m couple (Captain/Fei) but I enjoyed the other aspects of the series at the beginning. However, things dragged on and I'd say it was okay overall. Watched on WeTV vpn set to Thailand (it has English subtitles).

Content Warnings: attempted murder, manipulation, stalking, blackmail, non con kissing, slap, punch, almost attempted suicide

What I Liked
- good plot set up
- when they worked with one another/implementing their plan
- the mystery aspect
- it has Inspector Yummy (aka Inspector M from Manner of Death) as a lead
- there were a couple of parts where I laughed like the bodyguards checking for temperatures instead of weapons
- overall production value
- the ending song which you can find here https://youtu.be/5OmquP_orZw

Room For Improvement
- it got slow and I wanted more Ocean's 11 with some twists
- didn't feel chemistry with the lead m/f couple
- I didn't feel the chemistry/reasons why the m/m couple loved one another, they needed more screen time
- watching multiple women get lied to over and over and over again
- though I liked how the side m/f relationship ended it seemed kind of odd in the series
- that they tried for comedy with the facial hair of that older guy during a really serious moment in episode 1
- the humor in the final episode hospital scene was not good

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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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slow pacing with unbelievable characters (watch suggestions)

Overall: one character was unbelievably naive and then the other was oddly cruel in episode 7. 10 episodes about 25 minutes each. Aired on GagaOOLala https://www.gagaoolala.com/en/videos/4529/takaras-treasure-2024 except Japan, South Korea, Hong Kong, Thailand and Philippines

Watch Suggestions
- watch episode 1
- watch episode 2 beginning to 2 min, 4:30-5, 15-16:35, 17:30 to the end
- watch episode 3 at 4:30-6
- start episode 4 at 8 minutes
- watch episode 5 at 17:40 to the end
- start episode 6 at 8 minutes
- watch episode 7 at 4-8:20 and 14:40-15:35
- skip episode 8
- watch episode 9
- episode 10 was oddly anticlimactic, you could just watch at 22:40 to the end

Content Warnings: see the comment under a spoiler for 2 of them, stalking

What I Liked
- that it didn't start with a flash forward or back
- meet-cute subverted trope
- I did laugh at the terrible hiding skill in episode 4
- episode 9 was good

Room For Improvement
- Taishin was unbelievably naive (he still asked that question in episode 10, what on earth) and Takara was oddly cruel for not telling Taishin the truth in episode 7
- a glacial pace with their relationship
- odd how very similar behaviors were categorized differently
- nonsense stuff: how they carried tents, sleeping bags, lanterns, food, etc in those small backpacks

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not the action I was hoping for

Overall: this 1 hour and 25 minutes follow up was fine, but it was very detective/action heavy and less character focused. Now available to watch on Idol Factory's YouTube channel. The first part of five is here https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WfuX7Ln_m9U&ab_channel=IDOLFACTORYOFFICIAL (currently they don't have a YouTube Playlist)

Content Warnings: deaths, grief, violence/fights, blood, kidnapping

What I Liked
- 1 steamy scene was pretty well done though it could have been a bit longer
- element of fantasy though it felt underdeveloped
- they did explain 1 nonsense plot element that happened in the series which I appreciated
- addressed workplace gender discrimination

Room For Improvement
- main characters did not have any character growth, one was still lying and the other was being overly possessive
- many nonsense law enforcement things that took me out of the story
- odd goofy humor/comedy sound effects combined with a very serious plot
- presence of the little girl was not for me
- production needed to shorten up the time that they released it in Thailand/not international friendly streaming option (May 26th) to when they released it on YouTube (June 27th). At least it was only a day or two after it was for paid channel members that they released it for free on YouTube. The too long of a gap happened with the final episode as well, it would be okay if they just shortened the time between releases i.e. live in person event/thaiticketmajor online streaming May 26th, 1 week later YouTube channel members, 4 days after that free on YouTube

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glad we got our follow up

Overall: Stay By My Side ended on a cliffhanger so I'm glad we had this special but I did want a few changes. Aired on Viki & GagaOOLala.

What I Liked
- chemistry/kisses
- sweet moments
- gave us a conclusion we needed
- callbacks to the series

Room For Improvement
- disappointed that they used the same plot device as the series instead of direct communication shortly after the thing that happened at the end of the series
- some wonky camerawork
- added in additional characters and tried to do too much, would have liked to see them narrow the focus more

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only 10 minutes of the 20 minute short film

Overall: the production has made the odd decision to release only 10 minutes of the 20 minute short film. They have a fundraising project here https://www.zeczec.com/projects/Prayinlove_BL where people can pay and see the fully 20 minute short film in July. However, they also want to raise funds for the whole series. I think that they should have released a really engaging short film in its entirety for free and used that to fundraise for the series. They also needed to use an international friendly platform (I didn't see an option to change the language on their current site) and include internationally friendly rewards instead of physical goods that no doubt require a lot more money to ship internationally.

The 10 minute short film is here https://youtu.be/JhYUeHrlABw?si=6JDp9miOUEmpVJBc and it was okay. For a BL movie/series, they needed a better start than a guy surrounded by women flirting with him though.

I do think productions could do crowdfunding for BLs, but if they aren't with well known actors in BL or a sequel to something really popular then they need to have a really amazing trailer/hook, be realistic about how much they can raise with crowdfunding and be international fan friendly with reward levels and crowdfunding platform. I recently participated in a BL manhua kickstarter that exceeded its goal by a lot, so the money is out there if the project is done well.

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goodish indie short movie

Overall: a decent way to spend 30 minutes. Aired on Wayufilm's YouTube channel https://youtu.be/zFifCdlf9e0?si=SlYCdQQSoMRJF4kV

Content Warnings: homophobia, vomiting, slap

What I Liked
- centered on the two leads with just 2 other characters
- sweet moments*
- good production value for an indie short movie

Room For Improvement
- *I wish their getting to know you/falling in love wasn't done in montages, they could have cut/reduced other scenes (including the time jump) and actually had these scenes with dialogue
- I didn't take off points but I don't think a homophobic parent would have queer movie posters on the wall of their workplace (pretty sure that set is the production's office, however, they could have removed the posters or covered them up)
- because it was a time jump it felt like a very fast/unrealistic turn around for the dad
- using alcohol as a catalyst to their spending time/relationship

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fun crack comedy short series

Overall: this is a fun webseries. Each episode is about 7 minutes long followed by behind the scenes stuff. Watched the cut version at https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLalG2smk62xH9vj-eSvdz7UHexMlChZcf&si=9ek2Td5UmgHkHZVo (not sure what is in the uncut version but I suspect they actually show something in episode 10, looks like the least expensive membership gets you the uncut episodes)

Content Warnings: kick

What I Liked
- comedy
- cute moments
- (neutral) comedy sound effects

Room For Improvement
- ep 1 sitting on the toilet
- didn't understand the insistence that a guy who had feelings for a guy is straight, that is the definition of not straight (maybe this was translated incorrectly/I misunderstood though)
- something that almost happened in episode 10 of the cut version (maybe was shown in the uncut version)

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enjoyed the movie version more than the series version

Overall: this is a condensed version of the series which was 12 episodes about 40 minutes each = 480 minutes. The movie version is 125 minutes long and I liked it more than the series version because it cut out boring side couple stuff and stuck with the focus of Ai and Nhai. You can read my full review of the series here https://mydramalist.com/profile/blcompilations/reviews/233757/ I'm going to point out some differences.

What I Liked
- left out the cute rooftop/coupon scene and there might have been other cute scenes they left out as well
- better ending with the stargazing instead of that random store/shoe tying scene
- had transitions between scenes to help make it feel more cohesive/time had passed (though it can feel a bit choppy)

Room For Improvement: if I had edited this I would have changed a few additional things and then I would have rated it an 8.5
- in the flashback (which I would have shortened) cut out the dads being awful to Ai, the dads lied to him and he has a right to be angry/confused
- added back some of their cute scenes

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very gentle BL/BL adjacent

Overall: I believe this was put on by a BL fan group to promote their store. If they had made things a bit more clear, I would have rated this higher. I would almost call this BL adjacent. Three short episodes on YouTube https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLiXQTcPRrd9SmsXxJ7-8AIwMI3PPKzQNW

Content Warnings: none

What I Liked
- sweet and cute moments
- working in a BL store is a different setting than we've seen in live action series
- it was interesting that the store owners wanted workers to call customers non gendered pronouns though I think it could have been integrated in a bit better

Room For Improvement
- I wanted the mutual attraction to be made more clear, the one guy might have just looked up to him and not in a romantic way, the plot felt incomplete

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Overall: this could have been a 9 or higher if they had made things more clear.

What I Liked
- the sci fi/future aesthetics
- the actors did a good job
- making viewers think about differences between gender, sex and sexual orientation, I find this graphic useful https://au.reachout.com/articles/the-difference-between-gender-sex-and-sexuality

Room For Improvement
- things were just a little too open/not clearly stated, for example, Yi An asks Zhou Yang Kai if he'd like Yi An to be a woman but Zhou Yang Kai doesn't actually respond clearly either way. The ending is fairly open as well, I guess we can infer Yi An's choice but showing Yi An making the selection would have been good so viewers were clear about the decision.

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loved Zeke & Fifth (hope we get an official cut of their scenes)

Overall: I loved the sweet/flirty dynamic and natural chemistry/relationship with Zeke & Fifth. I really hope the writers don't add in some stupid cheating/miscommunication trope in their next series. I want to see these two deal with conflict (mostly external), communicate, and grow together, plus fluff and well done NSFW scenes :) My Story is the sequel to My Day minus one of the protagonists. Aired on Oxin Films YouTube channel, 10 of episodes about 45 minutes each.

Content Warnings: bullying, trans women/effeminate male stereotypes, manhandling, slap, held against will, beaten up, abusive ex and something major at the end of ep 9

What I Liked
- Zeke and Fifth had an enjoyable and realistic dynamic, their flirty banter was great and also both being interested in skinship/sex
- chuckled a few times like it's not 2 inches, it's 8 inches (however the innuendo should not overpower the plot which it does several times)
- cute moments like the cuddling
- calling out toxic masculinity regarding Drake (unfortunately then they were lovey dovey shortly afterwards with no shown character growth from Drake)
- supportive parents and friends
- discussing how sun block is important to protect from the sun not because you don't want your skin darker

Room For Improvement
- the mentality of one take was good enough, sometimes it was cute but it definitely felt low budget
- stereotypes with trans women and effeminate male characters, this is really disappointing to see, the maid outfit, the hypersexualization, the clown humor, I didn't laugh at any of this "humor" and it was featured a lot
- I skipped the main characters' scenes and wasn't really sure why, they just didn't hold my attention
- in episode 1 there was just 1 line and not responding to emails to explain the breakup, wish they gave a better/more fully developed explanation (update, in episode 5 we almost had too much explanation/time spent on it)
- thin plot, I love Chuk Chuk but this is the main plot for 2+ episodes???? if they couldn't come up with an engaging/fleshed out plot then better to have a shorter series such as 6 episodes and make those episodes really awesome
- some relationships moved super fast in the final episode
- choppiness, Fifth had all of a sudden left the house and was walking on the street? a character was in one country in the last episode and then suddenly in a different country?
- non realistic/logical things, Zeke had to be the photographer but then he modeled, so who was the photographer/it obviously wasn't important that he was the photographer
- educators asking students about their sexual positions, no thanks
- the amount of actual commercials (episode 1 starts 4min20s or past the intro at 7min)

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