BL Compilations

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

Read More

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?

Read More

unique premise

Overall: the confusing plot (though intentional) and distrust that the main romance was real made me not invested in this series. Major ending spoiler in the comments. Adapted from the book "Mystique in the Mirror" by Patrick III Rangsimant which I haven't read and this review is based on the series. 8 episodes about 45 minutes each. Aired on iQIYI https://www.iq.com/play/mystique-in-the-mirror-episode-1-13h4cxtv8zg?lang=en_us

Content Warnings: held against will (complicated), non con kiss (complicated), past death, death, grief

What I Liked
- a different premise
- that we couldn't see the ending/it was unpredictable
- fantastic finale

Room For Improvement
- the suspense was more confusing so it didn't keep me hooked
- since I doubted the main romance, I was never fully invested in it
- dubious medical ethics (I'm not a doctor, but some of the medical stuff felt dramalandish)

Read More

grief, healing, love

Overall: it's a sweet story of grief, healing and love with a tinge of danger/mystery. 10 episodes about 45 minutes each. Aired on GMMTV's YouTube channel (not in Thailand, Taiwan, Japan) https://youtu.be/akIaydwc0Mk?si=lWlPxAJ42JNf5G51

Content Warning: attempted murder, blood, past death, grief, manipulation

What I Liked
- the bickering/opposites dynamic
- sweet and caring moments
- mystery element
- working thru grief
- they had some good communication

Room For Improvement
- pacing was a bit slow in parts
- villain was obvious
- ex was unnecessary

Read More

Fah was the best character (watch suggestions)

Overall: the other three characters annoyed me at various times. 10 episodes about 40 minutes each. Aired on Viu and GagaOOLala https://www.gagaoolala.com/en/videos/6115/love-alert-2025 (not available in Thailand, Japan or Korea).

Content Warnings: slap, manhandling, blackmail, non con video recording/picture taking, intimate partner emotional abuse, manipulation, intimate partner physical abuse off screen, manipulation, vomiting

Watch Suggestions (to focus on sweet/steamy)
episode 1 start at 20:15 minutes-38
episode 2 watch 20-21:30, 24:20-26:30, 32:30-32:15, 42-end
episode 3 watch 19-25, 38:30-end
episode 4 watch beginning-7:30, 34:50-38
episode 5 watch 10-11:45, 13:45-15, 25:05-26:05, 37:45-42
skip episode 6
episode 7 watch 10:30-14:35, 34:20-35:50
episode 8 watch 36:20-37:20 side, 45-47:30
episode 9 watch 25:40-28:50
episode 10 watch 22:30-26:15, 30-34:40, 42:30-end

What I Liked
- Fah
- easy to understand premise
- some things were so ridiculous they are funny (like massaging the meat was supposedly sexy lmao)
- visuals
- characters didn't shy away from intimacy
- non cliche love rivals

Room For Improvement
- started with a flash forward and then went back to 3 months before
- writers wrote Jimmy as more than just a jerk, he was abusive so I didn't want him in a relationship with anyone
- the redemption arc of Jimmy becoming an alcoholic, crying all the time and manhandling when he was apologizing was insufficient
- I needed Toh to have a villain era
- music did not fit some scenes
- time spent on love triangles
- odd how the younger brother said the older brother couldn't date (update, as the plot went on I could see where the brother was coming from)
- how the younger brother didn't just tell another character what was happening in episode 4
- Teh hated a character and suddenly was nice to him?!!!
- (neutral) comedy sound effects, they weren't as bad as some other series

Read More

drama filled historical vertical series

Overall: note that my content warnings and the series itself have some pretty heavy scenes. I haven't read the original manhwa of the same name and reviewed this live action series on its own. Aired on the Lezhin Snack app (total run time about 2 hours)

Content Warnings: past (murders, blood spatter shown, homophobia, coercion); current (murders, gang rape? (not sure if it already happened and was happening again or it hadn't happened the first time), dub/non con sex, non con kissing, punches, beginning sexual assault, drugging, kidnapping, blood)

What I Liked
- historical setting
- the ending in the past (see spoiler comment)
- the caring moments that were shown

Room For Improvement
- didn't always feel the chemistry, the one lead felt like a kicked puppy
- needed more time to develop their relationship

Read More

fell flat

Overall: I didn't take off points for the ending, but the way they accomplished it made me feel nothing, it didn't hit like it should have. 44 short episodes, 1-7 are free to watch. Aired on the Shortime app. My invite link (you get a bonus) is https://playground.shortime.app/en/invite/NKNIWI - the code is NKNIWI (those are all capital letters, that's the capital letter i). If you do all of the rewards it will take about 2 days to watch the series for free.

Content Warnings: death, illness, manipulation

What I Liked
- the dream in episode 33
- brother kind of redeemed himself

Room For Improvement
- not enough romantic relationship between them, I think one scene was more of a dream
- showed a side character as the stereotypical handsy/comedy character
- if he grew up with sight and then recently lost it, I think his eyes would track where someone was speaking from
- choppy between 33 and 34
- with the 1 guy having a girlfriend/ex girlfriend it felt like a gay for you trope
- no idea why his eyes would be blue at the end? (I looked it up online and it doesn't make sense)

Read More

better than the series

Overall: the original series was about 200 minutes. They cut stuff out and this is 96 minutes. If I had edited it, I would have made a few changes and given it an 8 but their edited movie version I'm giving 7.5 https://www.gagaoolala.com/en/videos/6179/sweetheart-service-the-movie-2025
Here is my original review, most of which is still true https://mydramalist.com/profile/blcompilations/review/453724

Content Warnings: coercion, punch, stalking mentioned

What I Liked
- they cut out the bloated/slow plot and made it focus more on the MLs which was good

Room For Improvement
- they should have cut even more of the brother being oddly possessive
- they cut out the scene of them getting the key chains, but then showed them several times
- if they had had any footage of scenes with the side couple flirting, they should have included them and tried to develop that relationship more (didn't take off points for this though)

Read More

start at episode 44

Overall: I did not find the actions/approach of the ML romantic. You can start at episode 44 to skip that. 50 episodes about 2 minutes each, 1-5 free on YouTube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2LvtMmuuDqE Aired on the Shortime app, My referral link is https://playground.shortime.en/invite/NKNIWI (all letters) and it should get you a bonus.

Content Warnings: non con kisses, manhandling, non con picture taking/sharing/outing, punch, fight

What I Liked
- supportive sister
- visuals
- tried to clear something up right away
- good kissing (when finally it was mutually wanted)

Room For Improvement
- the non con/ignoring boundaries
- quack noises
- several times jumps
- that a character didn't recognize another character
- love rival
- too many flashbacks
- the "I don't like guys"
- fought over him like he was an object and not a person

Read More

enemies to lovers vertical series

Overall: this is an over the top vertical series and I judged it based on vertical series of a similar style. Aired on iQIYI app, 1-6 free, 50 total episodes around 2 minutes each

Content Warnings: beaten up, non con touching, sort of kidnapping, slaps, non con video recording/sharing/outing, sexual assault, attempted murder, manipulation, drugged, beaten up

What I Liked
- the dad
- apologized for what his family did
- admitted it, didn't try the noble idiot trope
- helped each other
- I did laugh a few times

Room For Improvement
- comedy sound effects
- "I'm supposed to be the top" and doing it when being drugged was involved

Read More

an idol vertical series

Overall: like many vertical series it had some dramatics, but I enjoyed it. 51 short episodes. Aired on iQIYI app.

Content Warnings: manhandling, non con kiss, violence, bullying, manipulation, self harm, blood, blackmail/coercion, attempted murder

Watch Suggestions (to take out most of the content warnings skip episodes 18-19, 26-33 and 42-29)

What I Liked
- visuals
- how the idol changed and really stood up for their relationship
- his younger brother
- nice ending

Room For Improvement
- comedy sound effects
- coughing after the first kiss
- cartoonish villain

Read More

a political series

Overall: this is not a romance series and I tried my best not to judge it by that. Perhaps it's because I wasn't familiar with Thai politics, but seeing a bunch of characters (including those we were supposed to root for) be terrible was not entertaining. My attention frequently drifted. Originally aired on Monomax in Thailand. Later released on GagaOOLala https://www.gagaoolala.com/en/videos/6093/mandate-2025 (available in the U.S., Europe, Southeast Asia (except Thailand) and Taiwan).

Content Warnings: past death, current attempted murder, blood, punches, coercion, manipulation, blackmail, drugging, corruption, drug addition/abuse

(if you want to watch romance watch)
episode 5, 22-35:30
episode 6, 18:15-21, 22-26:45, 36-42
episode 7, 45-52:45
episode 8, 12-16:30

What I Liked
- different premise with the politics
- older characters
- production value

Room For Improvement
- the first few episodes moved quickly and I found the politics confusing
- a character faked something about another character in ep 1
- I don't mind flawed protagonists but I couldn't root for one in particular based on what he did
- noble idiot trope
- cliffhanger ending

Read More