Gav & Cai - Baby, Baby, Baby!!!

Overall: fairly well done but too many side characters. The series is about double the run time of the movie which was both good and bad. There is another scene after the first end credits of the final episode. Watched on Gagaoolala (not available in US, Canada, Japan or Philippines).

Content Warnings: vomiting, homophobia

What I Liked
- season 1 and the movie both start off with Cai gaming so there is a parallel there
- the OST and music
- cute and caring moments like the laundry, apron tying, goggles
- several references to safe sex
- when they were "watching" the movie
- the flashback was pretty funny at the beginning of episode 2
- the actors do a good job with kissing, no dead fish lip presses, also it was realistic with their bedroom scene towards the end of ep 2 although once again Gav feels too pushy
- realistic fights and make ups

Room For Improvement
- as with all season 2s that have a longish break between seasons, I'd like a short recap of season 1
- Cai once again comes across as a bit too uninterested (and Gav pushing/ignoring boundaries) instead of nervous or wanting to keep things private
- too many side characters, I was both confused and bored with Wesley and Terrence
- it's odd that Chill wouldn't know his very good friend was in a relationship, I thought Cai and Gav were posting about each other on social media???
- I wished that the very last scene was not a flashback but a flash forward
- I'm frustrated that the movie just got an international platform 1 full year after it released and neither the movie nor series are available officially in four countries.

Read More

now I want to re-watch the series!

Overall: the behind the scenes was cute, funny and informative - it makes me want to go and re-watch the entire series. I really hope the two leads can be leads again in another BL, they are really supportive of one another which is great to see. (and I'm still holding out hope for a MODC 2, I'll take any ridiculous soap opera plot device)

Content Warnings: none

What I Liked
- how many takes they did for kissing scenes, lol!
- gave some additional information about scenes
- got to see actors joking with one another
- make sure to watch to the very very end

Room For Improvement
- it might have gotten more views/made more interest in the series if they had broken them up and showed them on YouTube after each episode aired

Read More

a more realistic BL featuring an age gap

Overall: I would have given this an 8 but I took off .5 for the choking and .5 for being too choppy (for the free YouTube version). Watched on YouTube.

Content Warnings: sexual assault, rape? (not shown), drugging, manhandling/physical violence

What I Liked
- good supportive ex girlfriend
- discussion around HIV
- he did at least apologize for the physical violence*
- live action series with large age gaps are not that common and this age gap did not bother me (26 and 40)
- the main actors did a good job

Room For Improvement
- *I saw red flags in episode 4 with the physical violence/controlling behavior
- choppy, some series do the shorter free vs. longer paid versions well like KinnPorsche but this and Something In My Room did not do this well and it ends up hurting the plot/flow
- time jump of 5 years, the main character went from despair to living his best life and it was jarring
- the intro was confusing as I was not sure if those were flash forwards or flash backs

Read More

Just watch the 2nd part of Country Boy 2

Overall: This is a sweet and tame BL. I'd give the first part a 7 and the second part a 9 - so average it to 8. I think you could easily skip the first part. Watched on YouTube.

Content Warnings: none

What I Liked
- the theme song but it played over and over again
- a sweet story (the 2nd part)
- finally some clear signs that this is romantic and not a bromance/friend situation at the end of the 2nd part

Room For Improvement
- the whole first part was not enjoyable. The uncle was a jerk for no reason. And it was so odd that Nabdao basically ignored Keptawan until the day before Keptawan left... The first part made me think that they weren't even friends let alone potential boyfriends.

Read More

Short & Sweet

Overall: a 20 minute movie about a mom visiting her son who is hiding something from her. Make sure to watch carefully during the closing credits until the very end. Watched on Gagaoolala.

Content Warnings: none

What I Liked
- I thought it was funny how the mom started cleaning right when she arrived as I totally relate to this
- that the mom was not stupid

Room For Improvement
- it might have been neat for the mom to realize things when she went to the coffee shop but not say anything, just smile and drink her beverage or lay in wait to see who showed up after she left, but I was okay with how it played out (watch all of the closing credits!)

Read More

Road trip story with four guys

Overall: Three friends (and one potential hook up) go on a road trip. I'm grading this on a curve as it's from 2008, low budget and addressed a couple important topics. Watched on gagaoolala.

Content warnings: homophobia (internal & external), a transphobic comment

What I Liked
- that they addressed the topics of HIV, jobs/poverty and homophobia
- the intro song which is played throughout was fun to listen to
- favorite line "change is the most permanent thing in this world"

Room For Improvement
- it appears that Michael got closure but the way he went about it was bad
- I think they could have cut some scenes out or made them shorter and then developed the characters and their relationships with one another more
- the subs had some errors/I didn't understand a few things
- the night scenes were too dark and it was difficult to see

Read More

Plot is a vehicle for NSFW scenes

Overall: An interesting premise, but it ends up feeling like just a way to show explicit NSFW scenes. Watched on gagaoolala. It's only an hour and 10 minutes so it's not a huge time investment if you like watching steamy scenes. 

Content warnings: there are very five sexually explicit scenes, 1 dub con

What I Liked
- I liked the sister and wish we could have seen more development of her/their relationship
- the overall premise is interesting, it just needed to be delved into more instead of NSFW scenes
- the color grading, how in the past it was more grey scale. It can be difficult for me to tell when flashbacks happen, but it was very clear in this short(er) movie. 
- that ending scene seems pretty unrealistic but I quite liked it

Room For Improvement
- I wish there was more development/explanation of what was happening with the protagonist's romantic relationship. We mostly get ghosting/ignoring and then just a little at the end. There is an apology, but for what? What happened between them?
- odd, why is the protagonist sleeping in the living room of his parents' house - aren't there at least two bedrooms?
- odd, why wouldn't the protagonist push for the name of the movie where he is named after a character? He just drops it, I'd want to know the movie if it were me...

Read More

A treasure hunt story with zero adventure

Overall: I was expecting either a Lord of the Flies situation or a bunch of guys going at it but didn't really get either. If you want a Lord of the Flies darker vibe maybe try Dangerous Drugs of Sex, The Shortest Distance trilogy or Double Mints. And if you want steamy scenes, look somewhere else like: My Rosy Life - His Rosy Passion, Sweet Curse, The Day Began Yesterday...

Content Warnings: 1 fight, 1 instance of blackmail/manipulation, a couple of very brief full frontal shots mostly dimly lit, mention of something that happened off screen

What I Liked
- ummmm, a bunch of shirtless guys on a beach with some nice tattoos
- the base idea of finding treasure is fun (but this is definitely not The Goonies)
- I actually liked the note at the beginning that said all the actors were over the age of 18 and participated voluntarily

Room For Improvement
- it was odd that they started the story with the group of five. They should have started off with Archie telling the story. When it flashed to his boyfriend in the present, I had no idea what was going on.
- many instances of things that make no sense/are unrealistic. Why does a group going on an adventure bring five plates, spoons, a guitar but no water/little food? How on earth would they have built that structure - with what tools/rope? Archie saying he got them food and they were starving when a previous scene showed them happily eating cooked fish is another example.
- they also shared 1 brain cell. Burning your shirt to do something that you can just wait to do in the morning makes no sense.
- the subtitle towards the end should have been "off" not "on" and that seems really extreme. Also odd that they didn't show that part, Archie just stated it.

Read More

Enjoyable movie about living organ donation

Overall: an enjoyable movie that tackles a realistic and not frequently told story of organ donation. It switches between two characters (the female doctor & the male wedding planner), with the two characters interacting with one another several times. It is apparently based on a true story.

Content Warnings: homophobia combined with a slap, graphic side character death

What I Liked
- a unique story, I don't think I've ever seen something about living organ donation
- I enjoyed both characters' plots
- happy to see a strong, professional female character with a caring and supportive fiance
- I really liked the wedding planner's mom and her questions: since when did you have this boyfriend, how come I didn't know, for how long, where does he work, what does he look like, how come you didn't bring him home for me to see?

Room For Improvement
- the m/m relationship was very lowkey, I didn't need NSFW but just a tad more to show that they are in a relationship
- I was surprised that the doctor never talked about concerns about pregnancy after a living organ donation. In my super brief research, it looks like there is a slightly elevated risk/there is a need to wait to become pregnant after donating. I would expect a doctor who wants to have children to think/discuss this.
- not really thrilled with the "solution" from the one story, seems kind of shady/grisly, though I'm sure this does happen

Read More

Confusing, low budget BL

Content Warnings: attempted suicide (maybe? like most things in this series, I'm not sure about it)

Overall: I slogged through this series so I could write a review since there were none. I had originally dropped this after the first episode. This was a very confusing, messy, unrealistic plot but the last 2 episodes were better than the first 3.

What I Liked
- the music was decent to good
- the scenic shots were nice
- episodes 4 & 5 have a better production value, still could use mics though

Room For Improvement
- the plot was a disaster, some of it kind of gets explained in episodes 4 or 5, but not all of it is explained and that's too late, also what guest house has only 1 bed?
- the point where Marcus, Yuhan & Drake are together for the first time made zero sense as Marcus was totally angry at the wrong person at that point
- in ep 1 many characters were introduced in quick succession and then it switched between them so I was unsure of who was who
- there was actually more chemistry/relationship development between 2 guys who did not end up together which is so odd
- very low budget, the image loses focus, no tripod, no mics, poor lighting, background noise, wind sounds, etc, also strange pacing or spending time on insignificant things
- I never wondered why we don't get close up shots of people's feet in movies/series until I saw several of those in this one and thought 'yeah, that's gross to look at'
- very novice actors
- fake kiss due to camera angle

Read More

not enough runtime for the plot/characters

Overall: this was the victim of the same pitfall as many Korean BLs, 2 hours was not enough time to adequately develop the number of characters/plots that they had. 8 episodes 15 minutes each. Aired on iQIYI and GagaOOLala (Taiwan/SEA countries).

Content Warnings: drugging?, non con touching, manipulation

What I Liked
- ost/their dance/singing numbers
- touched on gay for pay/fanservice
- their visuals

Room For Improvement
- starting with a flashback didn't hook me
- too many characters/plots that weren't developed enough, I didn't really understand the villains "plans", plot was rushed and choppy at times
- cliche plot points like being drunk and forgetting a kiss
- nonsense things (i.e. a deep rooted fear being cured by the power of love)
- too many near kisses (including the one at the end)
- a cold/confident guy paired up with a warm/reluctant guy isn't my favorite dynamic
- confusing release that was announced last minute, all 8 episodes were out for some subscribers/countries on iQIYI, some had 1 or 2 episodes available, Gaga will have 3 episodes a week later
- the odd background music

Read More

First Impression: Blue Canvas of Youthful Days

Overall: although I'm bracing myself for angst later on, the first four episodes were very well done. 12 episodes about 30 minutes each. Originally the first 4 episodes aired August 8th on iQIYI. On October 26th it began airing (not in Japan or Korea) on GagaOOLala https://www.gagaoolala.com/en/videos/4856/blue-canvas-of-youthful-days-2024-e01 ; YouTube (not in Japan or Korea) https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLTB73Ibi_X3HZZP24Z0cwpC1PhZUYKI1Q and Viki https://www.viki.com/tv/40802c-blue-canvas-of-youthful-days?locale=en

Content Warnings: there are several, I'll put them under a spoiler comment

What I Liked
- characters and their dynamics
- sweet moments
- a hard of hearing character (though some things related to this didn't make sense to me)
- clear premise

Room For Improvement
- some nonsense plot things
- not sure the ages of two characters
- a character should have first asked/talked to another character about what he wanted
- not a fan of a flash forward and then going back to the past to start a series
- too much blur effect in scenes

Read More

it's not funny, it's offensive

Overall: this was a remake of a 2015 series (on YouTube unsubbed). It felt like it was stuck in the past (or even farther back than 2015) with its colorism, body shaming, effeminate male/trans women stereotypes and sexual assault played as comedy. 16 episodes about 35 minutes each. Aired on WeTV.

Content Warnings: colorism, trans women/effeminate men stereotypes, body shaming, bullying, cyberbullying, sexual assault played as comedy, sexual harassment, sex shaming, transphobia, held against will, non con picture/video taking and sharing

What I Liked
- Jet/New until the end of episode 6 which is what made me drop the series even though I wanted to give this a complete watch/review
- one of the teachers (the one who didn't sexually harass/assault a fellow teacher and didn't bully a student)
- it was good attempt with the message about being able to wear a uniform to match your gender identity, but then that character wore something out of a Japanese manga, would have been much more powerful if that character had worn the Thai school uniform for women
- episode 2 had good sex ed with using condoms correctly

Room For Improvement
- sexual assault played as comedy, it went on for so long and was not funny
- the two teachers who bullied a student and sexually harassed a fellow teacher
- the stereotypical male guys had love interests while the effeminate male characters were constantly fighting with each other and bullying a trans student
- way too much catfighting and bullying
- too many characters (there are 21 on the poster) and I couldn't figure out their names/who they all were
- comedy sound effects
- cliche overheard something and didn't talk

Read More

enjoyed volumes 1 & 2

Overall: I liked the first two volumes but the third is way too messy for me. 20 episodes about 10-20 minutes each. Airing on CityBoy Log YouTube Channel. Volume 1 playlist https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLZ__edMZliXv2-pPOpBjz6_WOXOarSNhn&si=VWoqMbuFa6eZgH0F

Content Warning: kind of dub/non con kiss (someone was pretending to sleep but the other person didn't know they were awake)

What I Liked
- cute/sweet moments
- visuals
- production value/editing for a vlog style series

Room For Improvement
- that they dodged answering if it was scripted or not for awhile (it was scripted)
- volume 3 took a negative/serious turn
- the non/dub con kiss
- at times I was confused as to who was dating who/liked who

Read More

On Hold - Coffee Melody

Overall: the series is very slow and the cliche plot point at the start of ep 7 has made me put this on hold. I'll wait until it finishes airing and maybe pick it up again then. Watched on Viki.

Content Warnings: non con picture taking, gaslighting (from music boss)

What I Liked
- I appreciate an aggressive/obvious flirt
- cute moments like with the cake
- the rainbow poster in the background when the band is practicing
- Duean Yi's family
- (neutral) it has comedy sound effects

Room For Improvement
- wasn't hooked in the first scene
- the fangirling thing
- slow, I watched at 2-3x speed
- cliche plot point at the beginning of episode 7
- I didn't mind the cartoon flowers but I didn't like the cartoon music notes from the piano
- choppiness between some scenes
- random characters like those tween wannabe pop stars
- odd yellow/purple lighting in his room
- that jerk music boss

Read More