basically commercials with some cute moments

Overall: I don't mind product placement, but in this case there was more product placement than plot. Three episodes about 12 minutes each. Aired on DFJ Entertainment's YouTube channel https://youtu.be/16s4HBeSKUE?si=5wguaKQ0sgnG6ocl

What I Liked
- lap sit and walking fingers up his arm
- the cat
- having subtitles in multiple languages

Room For Improvement
- mostly product placement
- think they should have left the boyfriend out of the series, did the main character learned/grown so a future relationship would even be successful?
- ending was disappointing with them cutting away like that

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some cute parts (watch suggestions)

Overall: cliched conflicts weighed down the otherwise cute plot. 10 episodes about 25 minutes each. Aired on GagaOOLala & Viki. The production company also made: Stay By My Side, You Are Mine and Anti Reset (airing in 2024).

Watch Suggestions (unless you enjoy slow pacing and cliched drama)
- watch ep 1 & 2
- skip ep 3
- watch ep 4
- skip ep 5
- could skip ep 6, there is a cameo from the You Are Mine leads and a cute sick/caring scene around 12 minutes but stop at 16 minutes to avoid useless family drama
- skip ep 7 & 8
- watch ep 9 (can also start at 8 minutes and watch thru to the end) and episode 10

Content Warnings: homophobic remark, dub/non con kissing, vomiting

What I Liked
- cute moments
- facial hair (and it looks really good) on a lead
- supportive/wingman friend
- two side characters (though zero screen time in episode 5-8 and only a little bit before then)
- cameo of You Are Mine actors in ep 6 and 10
- that Liu Li stood up to the mom

Room For Improvement
- the whole drunk cliche
- the waiter's rude comment would have made more sense if there were a bunch of people in the restaurant and some were leaving because they couldn't find a place to sit, also the animal sanctuary could have used a few extras as well
- in episode 5 the dub/non con kissing was uncomfortable to watch as was the freeze kiss in ep 4
- instead of introducing that character in ep 6 they could have developed the sassy waiter and the upbeat friend (who basically vanished from the series)
- camerawork sometimes moved too much/had odd angles
- slow pacing
- two grown men fought like middle schoolers over another man as if he was property and not a person, tried to be comedic but failed
- noble idiocy

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A Slooooowwww Realistic(ish) Drama

Content warnings: none I can think of

Overall: A slower paced (too slow in my opinion) series dealing with a realistic problem.

What I Liked
- A more realistic reason for the drama
- Supportive siblings
- Lack of evil girlfriend/ex-girlfriend/stalker "fan"
- Focused on 1 couple* instead of a billion (slight exaggeration) couples

Room For Improvement
- 4 year gap: I really dislike time gaps where 1 person makes a unilateral decision and the other person is miserable for years and years supposedly for their own good, ugh.
- Number of flashbacks/flashforwards: it takes me out of the story and this had quite a few of time hops especially via flashbacks. The whole 7th episode was a flashback, it felt like filler.
- Lack of doctor/patient confidentiality: I think the sister could have talked to Nut about Phob instead of his doctor
- *Not being clear about the brother & Tar's relationship until episode 6: just a few romantic moments would have made this clear earlier. I would have liked their relationship to be more developed.
- Pacing felt too slow to me: I watched this on at least 1.5 (or more) speed and I think it would have been better as 6 episodes, maybe even 5.
- The ending: was okay, I generally don't like cliffhangers and I don't think it had the impact it should have had because of the lack of a developed romantic relationship. I would watch a 2nd season though.

I skipped ahead from ep 5 to the end because I was worried and fyi it is not a tragic ending. 
Watch past the credits of each episode as there are side stories/interviews with the cast/director. 
I think I'm being a bit generous with 7.5 as I really had to push myself to finish all 8 episodes.

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adventures in sex & love (need season 2!)

Overall: this is a sex positive series that focused on the sex and love lives of 3 main characters. I gave it a rating boost to 10 because it discussed several lesser talked about topics in a realistic way. Know that this is not a tragic series, although there are some sad parts, it celebrates love, life and friendship. 10 episodes about 30 minutes each. Aired on GagagOOLala https://www.gagaoolala.com/en/videos/4915/the-nipple-talk-2024

Content Warnings: gaslighting, discrimination, cyberbullying, slap, manhandling, non con kiss

What I Like
- the friend group and how they supported each other, even if they messed up they had good intentions and apologized
- realistic scenarios, depicted several topics that aren't shown very often in media
- MAMA* and the styling
- a character had a spine and knew what he wanted/what his deal breakers were
- showed the difference between open relationships and cheating
- good foreshadowing with the flowers
- character growth
- supportive sibling
- sweet/caring moments
- depictions of intimacy
- production value (especially enjoyed the music)

Room For Improvement
- not a fan of voice overs
- *I wish MAMA was actually the 4th main character and he had his own plot line instead of just an advisor and showing his brief steamy flashbacks
- the cliffhanger ending for 1 protagonist
- (neutral) on the friend letting her go with him when she was extremely drunk

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could have been amazing

Overall: after almost 6 months and no official international release, I was beyond excited to finally be able to watch this (see the MDL comments). Unfortunately, the characters changed and the plot let me down. About 1 hour long.

What I Liked
- some sweet moments
- flashbacks to the series (except for the rap because that was still extremely cringey)

Room For Improvement
- if you had a few minutes or a few hours with the love of your life for perhaps one final time, what would you do? Play a virtual reality game? Check your phone and ignore them over lunch? Do a dance and post it to social media? I was extremely disappointed in the plot of this special. In the first few minutes we should have gotten how much they loved/missed each other and a minimum of a passionate kiss.
- cliche interrupted kiss
- dead fish lip press
- nonsense stuff, ie. why would Jom try to wake himself up from something so amazing, why would he turn something on he should know would scare Yai, where was Yai (also by himself) while Jom was preparing that surprise
- the tonal shift around 40 minutes didn't make sense when Jom seemed so glib up to that point
- still no official international release (I'll add .5 if they ever get one), they could have put this on Vimeo to buy or rent, sold it to a streaming service/s etc

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enjoyed it more than the series

Overall: it was a decent special, although I wanted a few changes. 26 minute special aired on GagaOOLala https://www.gagaoolala.com/en/videos/4252/vip-only-2023-e11 and Viki https://www.viki.com/tv/40086c-vip-only My review of the series is here: https://mydramalist.com/profile/blcompilations/reviews/318961

What I Liked
- sweet moments
- that they explained why the beard was gone in a realistic way
- the characters from You Are Mine

Room For Improvement
- the one lead felt childish/petulant
- one piggyback is fine but 2 was too many
- talking/being concerned about who is the husband and who is the wife
- lip press for an established couple (and then the montage showed more lip presses

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hilarious, poignant and heartwarming

Overall: Ossan's Love Returns was my favorite in the franchise. The writers managed to balance several different genres (comedy, fluff, angst, mystery) well and we had character growth. 9 episodes about 45 minutes each. Aired on GagaOOLala (along with the rest of the franchise except Ossan's Love Hong Kong) and Viki.

Content Warnings: past death/murder, past violence, grief, non con kiss

What I Liked
- how Haruta and Maki had their flaws but they communicated with one another, apologized when they messed up and continued to love and care for each other, there was some excellent character growth
- clever ways they integrated the episode name
- sweet moments
- funny moments (I laughed so many times)
- realistic parts (like the bed head)
- ongoing physical interest/affection
- Moonlight Chicken (Earth/Mix) cameo
- how they integrated rainbows into the episodes

Room For Improvement
- the non con kiss with the new characters
- perpetuating the stereotype of a mother in law who is mean/exacting to a spouse
- wish we had a bit more time/resolution with several of the characters instead of a mad dash at the end
- if characters aren't comfortable doing something like at the end of episode 9, then the production should cast other actors

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appreciate that they tried something different

Overall: though I liked that they tried something different (i.e. darker plot with flawed characters, violence, etc), it was just too slow paced for me. I watched ep 1-3 and 8-10 on YouTube.

Content Warnings: murders, attempted murder, attempted suicide?, suicide, graphic violence, gore/blood, held against will, manipulation, manhandling

What I Liked
- different approach with a darker tone
- like how Art didn't just stand there in episode 3 and actually did something
- realistic/well done NSFW scenes (that scene in episode 8 was amazing with the awkwardness and communication)
- acting
- supportive brother
- ep 8 that humor with the chicken was funny
- cinematography*

Room For Improvement
- I wanted scenes cut shorter or omitted and for it overall to be faster paced, an example is how the scene at the beginning didn't hook me into the series
- the pre explanation of how getting hit in the head causes you to lose oxygen and then lose your memory did not make sense, it should have been how blunt force trauma can cause memory loss
- trying to make comedy around the suicide attempt did not work for me at all in episode 1
- I realize the premise is fictional but I wish they would have gone with something that could cause an end of the world situation like nuclear war/fallout, major natural disaster or global pandemic. Countries track asteroids that are thousands of miles away from Earth, and how would an asteroid knock the moon into Earth? How does 80% of the Thai population fit into a bunker? Being in a bunker wouldn't matter anyway if the moon somehow smashed into the Earth.
- the very ending of the final episode was disappointing, it makes everything else before feel unearned
- *a night scene in ep 2 was too dim and I could barely see anything, might have been more night scenes that needed some lighting

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Paint With a Jerk

Overall: We have the enemies to lovers trope along with the fastidious/uptight guy and the messy/carefree guy. I watched the first 6 episodes and then reactions to the rest

Content Warnings: sexual harassment, non con touching/posing, a punch, throwing an item at another person

What I Liked:
- I did laugh out loud at a few parts, mainly Phab who is #bestboy
- fun flirting and also burns in return
- I thought the actors did a good job with a bad script
- overall production value was pretty good except a couple of camera shots that I didn't like

Room For Improvement:
- the main issue is that I can't empathize with a jerk character who is a jerk and the reason is not shown, there is slow or no character growth until right at the end and then they are happily ever after with their former tormentor. Episode 6 and the preview for episode 7 made me drop this for now. Calling someone "stupid" and saying "you f*cking suck" and then throwing and hitting them with an object, nope (and before that, wth were those alarms/dumb schedule)
- the relationship between Maze and Nueng was so bizarre, when there was a perfectly reasonable explanation (and they should have been clear at the beginning to show why Maze has closed himself off so much)
- the cliche 'I don't remember anything last night although I totally remember what happened'
- that hotel manager plot was bizarre and not needed, also he didn't really have any consequences
- the basically blackmailing him, totally not realistic contract, someone can't just say they are your manager and take 40%
- was not feeling the side couple, wish Green had played Nueng
- I think I was not really understanding some of the plot at the beginning, what exactly Maze was doing
- that firefighter carry inside the art studio was odd
- the punch was also odd, I think they could have choreographed it right before but then one of them messed up the choreo. I would have liked that reason more than the reason they gave.
- taking pictures and posting to social media without approval, nope
- I'm not into the stereotypical/cliche scheming trans woman character

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misstep by misstep (watch ep 1, 2 and 10)

Overall: there was a solid premise here and I would like to see Man again but the writing/editing was lacking. I watched episodes 1-4, 10 and read through comments about episodes. Aired on YouTube, GagaOOLala and WeTV (depending on your country). Same production company as Lovely Writer.

Content Warnings: vomiting, harassment, sexism, non con picture/video taking, likely more

What I Liked
- the supportive friend group, talking about making your own destiny
- Pat pushing back on older people automatically deserving respect because of their age
- Pat almost punching that other dude who was harassing Pat
- a couple funny parts
- nice to see an established couple and Chot was great, that phone conversation in episode 10 was amazing, would have been even better as an in person conversation
- talking about getting a vasectomy is rarely mentioned and much appreciated
- NSFW scenes/kissing in episode 10 was fairly well done
- (neutral) has comedy sound effects (I really dislike the gulping noise that they use)

Room For Improvement
- the timeline/time skips, I dislike time jumps and the timeline here was pretty confusing, I think this took place over 5 years
- choppy parts (they get ready for a fancy event but then we never see them at the event? suddenly they are in a car?)
- the pacing was too slow, there are many scenes that could have been cut or shortened (toilet humor to start with),
- what do two attractive men see in Pat? I was hoping for some character growth but found it very lacking. He drinks too much in front of his boss and then does it again later? He is shocked by Jeng's declaration? He cries when confronting Jeng in episode 10? He cries several times at work, he argues with a client due to personal feelings, etc.
- Jeng bothered me at times as well, he doesn't get to tell another adult to stop drinking (and then bring him to a bar directly afterwards???), he was a bad boss, I was hoping to see some growth but he disciplined a subordinate in front of another subordinate, then somehow it appears that person was not moved to another team? And why on earth did Pat have to apologize to his harasser, he shouldn't have apologized even if he hit the dude. From an earlier episode, I thought Jeng would see he got those pictures and then apologize to Pat but that never happened. Jeng refuses to talk to Pat in episode 10 and goes back to sleep. Jeng had a decent plan in episode 10 but then months go by and he didn't implement it and instead did something that would make things even more of an HR headache...
- the side couple wasn't introduced well (I was never sure what their jobs were) and I wish Jen didn't have an (apparently nice) boyfriend because it made impossible for me to root for their relationship, also they took up too much time in episode 3, then randomly one of them has a new boyfriend???
- in episode 5 Pat (a character in a fictional BL series) says "bl couples profit off the identity of the LGBTQ community", I mean, they probably do but the queer community also benefits from bl series existing, many bl series are romcoms with happily ever afters instead of the normal tragic ending we get and maybe seeing two men end up happily together can change people's minds a little, it at least gives more exposure. And maybe it wasn't the creators intention but putting Zee and Nunew as the other couple insinuates that they are profiting off the LGBTQ community (when first of all they might even be part of that community for all I know) and I've heard they are major supporters of LGBTQ rights
- nonsense things, Jeng manages a restaurant and is a marketing manager?

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Content Warnings: violence, tragedy (not between m/m)

Watch it for Pitch/Bank if you want, but unfortunately the potential was definitely not reached.

What I Liked
- a nice concept of a bodyguard/protectee
- humor mixed with action
- some cute fluff moments
- Pitch/Bank as the side couple
- Sky's dad's acting
- production value seemed fine

Room For Improvement
- that sponge bath was too invasive
- Gun's sad/angry acting, this was just painful to watch and it's partially the director's fault
- many plot holes/non-logical things such as: why wouldn't Sky's mother pre-donate her own blood (especially when she was pregnant as there can be complications), why couldn't Sky donate to her (granted he couldn't do as much as he was a child but still...), why wouldn't Sky pre-donate his blood since it's so rare, why would you put one of the only blood donors in an extremely dangerous job, why did the writers have them be in the art department when Sun can't draw and that's easily found out by the university, why did Pitch get a personality transplant, how did Pitch/Bank become boyfriends
- how Sky used those two women which I was worried about from the beginning, they should have cut out their characters and focused more on Pitch/Bank
- lack of character growth from Sky especially
- I absolutely hate time gaps and this was no exception, the ending felt very rushed

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soap opera-y vertical micro BL series

Overall: it was decently entertaining and I liked one of the MLs. Aired on the app ShortMax.

App Info - this series takes about a week to watch for free. Episodes 1-7 are free and then I could watch 5 episodes with ads. The daily check in, watching 6 more ads got me about 4 more episodes a day (so 9 episodes each day and 62 paid episodes). Some of the other apps only take 2-3 days but it wasn't as bad as Please Teach Me which took me 13 days to watch for free.

Content Warnings: attempted murder, past suicide, trauma, kidnapping, violence, drugging, slaps, non con touching, manhandling, non con photo taking/posting, choke, manipulation

What I Liked
- a main character stood up for himself/decided to get what he wanted
- good kissing
- caring moments

Room For Improvement
- the cliche wannabe fiancee character
- did both teacher/student and boss/employee tropes
- voice overs
- bad crying
- 3 kidnappings in 2 hours runtime, 1 guy was slapped by 5 different people

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