BL Compilations

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

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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

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a darker and confusing plot

Overall: originally aired on ShortReel, later aired on the Shortime app (more info below). My invite link is https://playground.shortime.app/en/invite/NKNIWI - the code is NKNIWI (those are all capital letters, that's the capital letter i) 42 short episodes, 1-6 were free.

Content Warnings: torture, violence, held against will, deaths, manipulation

What I Liked
- actual kisses
- side couple
- visuals

Room For Improvement
- it was choppy and confusing
- the ending was confusing, it seemed that they never saw each other again and then the one guy died and then maybe the other guy died and they may reunite in the afterlife???

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a coming of age story

Overall: it's always a joy to see War acting, wish we had had closure for the ending. Approximately 2 hour runtime. Aired on Rookie Thailand's YouTube channel https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLUTllkCvL25gr75IzPcKrHtH57UmCoQTG&si=9kD-5NmXD3XOXOSA (not in correct watch order)

Content Warnings: non con video recording/sharing, unwanted outing, homophobia

What I Liked
- acting/dynamic
- chuckled a few times
- he apologized in ep 1
- supportive friends

Room For Improvement
- voice over exposition dump to start
- cliche evil wannabe girlfriend
- the mom
- open ending, would have been great to have a special episode

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similar to the series

Overall: a year later and I was hoping I'd have more confidence that they'd be in a happy relationship after they'd worked on their insecurities/issues, but that's not what was presented. 16 minutes (plus 3 of behind the scenes). Aired on Gaga00Lala (not available in the Americas, Europe, Oceanic, Japan and Korea) https://www.gagaoolala.com/en/videos/5263/business-as-usual-2025-e07 ; Viki https://www.viki.com/tv/41031c-business-as-usual ; iQIYI https://www.iq.com/album/business-as-usual-2025-27zq5u8svtd?lang=en_us ; Line TV ; Heavenly & Rakuten Japan. My review of the series is here: https://mydramalist.com/profile/blcompilations/reviews/444218/

What I Liked
- acting
- production value
- the sweet stuff 10 minutes to the end

Room For Improvement
- the one guy is still insecure but now vocal/angry about it. I have little confidence that they will stay together happily. Either they'll be together frequently miserable or they will break up. Needed to have more character growth.
- spent the first 10 minutes with them in a fight, only had 6 minutes of cuteness

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wanted more of this dance based romance story

Overall: I really enjoyed the dance aspect, but with the short run time, I wish they had cut out some of the side plots/characters to make things a bit less rushed. 8 episodes about 13 minutes each. Aired on Viki https://www.viki.com/tv/37669c-you-make-me-dance and later turned into a movie version (don't think there were new scenes, just all episodes put together https://www.viki.com/movies/37685c-you-make-me-dance-movie)  ;  WeTV https://wetv.vip/en/play/h6ut21v6mukfymd-You%20Make%20Me%20Dance and Viu https://www.viu.com/ott/th/en-us/vod/339544/You-Make-Me-Dance

Content Warning: held against will, manhandling

What I Liked
- dynamic/different personalities
- caring moments
- dancing
- intimacy

Room For Improvement
- flashback intro (though it was cute) with the time jump
- I really disliked the mom and wish that call in episode 6 had gone through
- what a character did around 7:30 of the finale instead of telling him the truth
- too many flashbacks
- the CEO character's actions felt unrealistic at the end
- cliche running scene

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a modern day bodice ripper with a fantasy twist

Overall: I rated this a bit higher than I would normally as it aired in 2017 and I believe it's supposed to be viewed as a bodice ripper type story aka the fictional mouth says no, body says yes. Available on YouTube https://youtu.be/OnCD6xSzUP8?si=4PGL8PAcHyHRhvBq and Viki (episode 3 runtime 70 min) https://www.viki.com/tv/35898c-history-1

Content Warnings: death (it's complicated), grief, blood, harassment, held against will, sexual assault/non con touching & kissing, blood, manipulation, choking/neck grab, non con turned consensual

What I Liked
- that he decided to change in the past and there were other things that changed (butterfly effect)
- funny with the gate in ep 1 and "how could he know it was me?" when his name was on the page
- caring/sweet moments
- supportive friend
- side couple though it was very rushed
- non-cliche character that was supportive, albeit maybe could have figured out another plan
- chemistry

Room For Improvement
- in the present/future there's no reason why he couldn't have told him about his stupid "plan"
- wish they had been mutually obsessed, because it was mostly one-sided and it felt like intimate partner abuse especially the lines towards the end
- voice over exposition dump towards the beginning
- flashbacks to recent scenes
- overly dramatic music

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coming of age romance

Since GagaOOLala picked up this movie, I decided to write a review. Watched at https://www.gagaoolala.com/en/videos/5213/does-the-flower-bloom-2018

Content Warnings: past death, internalized homophobia

What I Liked
- Yoichi's supportive group
- struggling with living up to a parent's fame, trying to find your own path in life
- that Yoichi said he wouldn't follow someone who was indecisive and wanted to stay where he was
- the hugs

Room For Improvement
- the love rival, that time could have been better spent elsewhere
- nonsense that they didn't bring a character to the hospital, he could have had appendicitis which is deadly
- dead fish lip presses, didn't always feel the chemistry

Note: I didn't put a content warning even though there's a 19 year age gap. Yoichi was an adult (19) and there was no manipulation/coercion in their relationship

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happy to finally see it officially

Overall: I'm ecstatic that this finally has an official international release on GagaOOLala https://www.gagaoolala.com/en/videos/5208/no-touching-at-all-2014 I gave it a bit of a rating bump because it originally aired in 2014 so I'm trying to judge by those standards instead of today's standards

Content Warnings: manhandling, past bullying, homophobia

What I Liked
- their different personalities
- that Shima had a reason for acting like he did
- the cliche plot was not for a long time
- being smart during that phone call towards the end
- how people grow together

Room For Improvement
- whiff of the gay for you trope
- Shima felt a bit too unrealistic with his level of prickliness
- the ending is fine but I enjoy a more clear ending

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an indie production with representation

Overall: I gave this 40 minute movie an indie and a representation bump. Aired on Wayufilm's YouTube Channel https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iJuzPtHUKMs&vl=en-US (membership has access to steamy scenes).

Content Warnings: past death

What I Liked
- representation of a character in a wheelchair as a romantic lead and also a character with a neurological issue
- caring moments

Room For Improvement
- slow pacing but then the romance needed more development
- odd that a character was smiling/laughing as he talked about how his dad died
- I'm not an expert but I found it odd how he could use the bathroom on his own at night but not get into the bed

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slice of life mini series

Overall: if you want something short and light, then this is a good mini series to watch. It's more BL thru other characters' eyes or situational, I didn't feel major romance vibes from the two leads. For me, it's similar to the Taiwanese series Bro & Me and the South Korean series The Boy Next Door. Aired 24 episodes about 3 minutes each on Romance Realm's YouTube channel https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PL8vrGoxHdgrqbFj-zzBCU79QRm-RiOkqr&si=N25LnJeD4eVEeOGb

What I Liked
- easy to understand premise (they are non-related/same age guys who have to live together due to their parents wishes)
- caring moments
- Chen Wen (who was in the original Addicted series)
- production value
- that they managed to release this, appears to have been filmed 4 years ago

Room For Improvement
- frequent cowboy western music
- the female love interest
- think they could have had more hints that there were romantic feelings between the leads
- I'm not sure about bringing in Autism as for why a character had difficulty interacting with others, I'm not an expert in that area so I can't comment about the accuracy of the depiction

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