4
10
1
1
short & sweet
Overall: this was really well done for an indie production, hope we see more series from them. 3 episodes about 15 minutes each. Aired on 1Camera Studio YoutTube channel https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLF0HYZ-k2RyDMdysEo5OhQNMn9BaPl-B6&si=N372KF0mLKkUpE6MWhat I Liked
- centered on the 2 male leads
- supportive female friend (non cliched character) and male friend
- illustrations for the intro
- funny how the friend instantly shifted his attention in episode 1
- good communication in the final episode
- nice way to end the series
Room For Improvement
- voice over exposition dump
- not clearly explained in the flashback why he didn't see him
- I didn't really take off points because this was their first series attempt and I'm sure had little to no budget but somethings they could improve on production wise would be microphones rubbing against clothes, needed more light on their faces in the last scene (even night scenes need light on the actors' faces)
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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. 2 years later, WeTV released it officially https://wetv.vip/en/play/7kf6k2sjtuvcekk-I_Feel_You_Linger_In_The_Air_(Special_Episode%3A_Scent_of_Memory)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
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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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seaside romcom
Overall: there were some nice parts in this short seaside romcom which has exaggerated humor from the side characters. Aired on WeTV in 2 parts with 55 minutes of total runtime.What I Liked
- cute moments
- beach/seaside setting
- kind of made sense why they had to room together
Room For Improvement
- they needed to cut out 2 of the 3 supporting characters and use that time more on the leads getting to know each other
- over the top humor and the comedy sound effects weren't funny
- needed just a little bit more at the end
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different personalities blended beautifully in one room
Overall: I never thought I would fall for a sassy angel and a gloomy guy like I did. One Room Angel is based on the manga (same title) by Harada which I haven't read and I reviewed the series on its own. 6 episodes about 24 minutes each. Aired on GagaOOLala except Japan and South Korea, also aired on Viki.Content Warnings: (there are some major content warnings mostly done in flashbacks, I've put them in a comment under a spoiler)
What I Liked
- good balance of seriousness/humor/sweetness
- mystery, we learned more and more about the characters as the series continued
- the mom
- production value
Room For Improvement
- the wings were a bit cheesy but they weren't terrible
- unrealistic that a person would be punched in the face several times and talk normally/not be bloodied or unconscious
- ending was confusing/too open ended
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This review may contain spoilers
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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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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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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a middle school romance with working adults
Overall: my enjoyment waned as the series progressed mainly due to how middle school their relationship felt. I don't mind tame BL series, but it just felt so unrealistic. This is based on a manga which I haven't read and I'm reviewing the drama on its own. It's kind of between 7.5 and 8 for me. Watched on Gagaoolala.Content Warnings: manhandling, non con picture taking
What I Liked
- the interesting opening
- how the episode numbers were cleverly hidden
- sweet moments
- funny moments such as the phone alarm
- the change in perspectives (in the beginning), was happy when we went back to Yanase's perspective at the end
Room For Improvement
- I've become used to the nervous/exaggerated acting, but it bothered me this time
- wasn't really into the very end of episode 1 with the circumstances
- I didn't like a certain creepy something at Kaneda's house but was glad he explained it a bit at the work get together
- episode 5's loud gulping and eating noises
- the cliched plot point at the end of ep 6/beginning of ep 7 and the odd way things were handled afterwards
- too many side characters that didn't add anything
- the ending felt incomplete, and didn't like the ending a la Cherry Magic
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This review may contain spoilers
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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This review may contain spoilers
Confident Guy Goes After Who He Wants....Yessss!
Content Warnings: noneOverall: so refreshing to see a confident guy going after someone who isn't ridiculously reluctant/nervous, hope they can develop this story into a longer series or pair these two up again
What I Liked
- I think they both did a nice job acting and have good chemistry, those smirks and eye movements
- I find confidence to be very attractive and Kong is such a refreshing character
- likewise you can tell that Film is receptive from some of his facial expressions
Room For Improvement
- I'm grading this on a curve because I think it has a very small budget, it would be great if this were a whole series and more fleshed out
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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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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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meandering note of love (watch suggestions)
Overall: it had an interesting start, but the writing didn't focus enough on the relationship development with the 2 couples. 12 episodes about 25 minutes each. Aired on GagaOOLala https://www.gagaoolala.com/en/videos/4605/first-note-of-love-2024-e01 ; Viki https://www.viki.com/videos/1252718v-first-note-of-love-episode-1 and GTV Drama English (1st episode is free, rest require membership) https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLop44oNqUSC9xnGXttLCAEuk10CedGz3w&si=qNRALRx_1z8CBNeo Note: there are sometimes extra scenes after the initial end credits.Content Warnings: past death, grief, mental health struggles, harassment, fight, kind of stalking
Watch Suggestions (to center on the relationships with the 2 couples)
- watch episodes 1-4
- episode 5 watch 7-17:20
- episode 6 watch 2:40-4:15 (flashback), 10:45-12:55, 22:45-end
- episode 7 start at 4 minutes because there were too many recaps/flashbacks at the beginning
- watch episode 8
- watch episode 9 beginning to 4:45
- watch episode 10 4:30-14 and 19:30-end
- watch episode 11 beginning to 5:15 and then 24:30 to the end
- watch episode 12 13:30 to the end (bonus scene after initial end credits)
What I Liked
- clear premise
- a character wasn't a pushover
- excellent makeover
- Mos and Bank cameo
- side m/m couple tension
- multilingual aspect felt realistic
- good that Sea did something in episode 7
Room For Improvement
- too much of the plot was not focused on the leads together, in episode 6 they only had 3 minutes out of 24 minutes and it wasn't until 18:30 that they had a scene together
- too many flashbacks/set in the past stuff
- the NSFW scenes were poorly edited, felt very choppy
- unclear about the timeline/time jump length, I think the characters were 19/29 in the present
- the age gap didn't bother me but the connection when 1 was a child and then having that character in a child-like bowl haircut and making him act like a deer in headlights was odd
- some scenes needed a bit more light on the actors' faces
- the asinine plan in episode 9
Question answered: in the beginning of episode 1 it said the band mates were brothers, someone commented that they were biological brothers (I wasn't sure because sometimes subtitles translate friends into brothers)
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