BL Compilations

Short follow up to The Novelist

Overall: This is an 11 minute continuation of the story from The Novelist (aka Pornographer). Watched on Viki.

Content Warnings: none

What I Liked: (very minor spoilers)
- some sweet moments like the head on the shoulder at the end
- communication about the letters
- that kiss is no dead fish lip press haha
- the car seemed to match the pale pink of the cherry blossoms
- the ending song
- (neutral) they used the same music that is in The Novelist which is either a nice call back or recycling to save money...

Room For Improvement:
- the kick from the sister was unnecessary
- the intro music doesn't match the vibe of the show

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Gentle slice of life story with an edge

(minor spoilers)
Content Warnings: dealing with trauma/grief, suicide that happens off screen in the past

I would describe this as a slice of life story, on the slower moving (I watched it on 1.5 speed)/gentle side but with a sharp edge related to dealing with grief and past regrets. FYI that there is also an animated series and and animated movie, all with the same title (all based on the manga Given)

What I Liked
The main thing that I really like is the moral of how words hurt and even if we apologize that might not fix things. Those words that may have been spoken in anger, not well thought out or even believed in, can be very dangerous and we need to think carefully before we speak. Hope there's a season 2 to delve more into what happens after this and also more about the two other bandmates.

Room For Improvement
- At the end, I really liked the hug and would have been totally happy if it ended at that. Mafuyu is obviously dealing with grief. If there was a kiss, I wanted Mafuyu to initiate it.
- The two kisses, yeah we got the dead fish lips recipient, bleh. The 1st was a surprise so okay, but the second was a no from me.

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lackluster vertical series

Overall: note that this is not a BL series, there is a small BL part to it. I was annoyed by all of the lead characters at various points. 50 short episodes. 1-5 for free on the Shortime app. The rest you can watch for free by watching ads. My referral link is https://playground.shortime.en/invite/NKNIWI (all letters) and it should get you a bonus.

Content Warnings: intimate partner abuse/violence (including choking), manipulation, mental health struggles, likely more that I'm forgetting

What I Liked
- the gay couple, though there was very little of them
- character growth with the lead guy

Room For Improvement
- all of the lead characters were annoying at various points
- it seemed the abuser and the professor would have some consequences, but I wanted to see him in jail which I realize is unrealistic but at least in fictional media jail time for an abuser would be nice to see
- the stupid jingle at the end of each episode including some that were very serious
- "comedy" sound effects
- odd camera work

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hot and cold

Overall: needed to focus more on the lead pair and their relationship development. Aired on Shortime app. Episodes 1-5 are free https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=94xidyP8QrQ 65 total episodes a couple minutes each. My referral code is oetm5LkjoTOX (all letters except the number 5) and it should get you a bonus.

Content Warnings: homophobia, manipulation, hit, violence, non con kiss, past murder, murder, manhandling, trauma/mental health struggles, drugging, kidnapping, unwanted public outing

What I Liked
- premise
- a few cute moments
- perceptive co-worker
- boss was intelligent in episode 50

Room For Improvement
- the nonsense of he stood while a car approached and then the car didn't brake when it could clearly see him???
- episode 13 back hug was odd, the boss was hot and cold
- the non kiss when the other guy was sleeping
- told the plot thru voice overs
- stereotypical villains

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interesting premise

Overall: I enjoyed the premise but the execution was lacking. First 5 episodes free on Shortime, 59 episodes total about 2 hrs total runtime. My referral link is https://playground.shortime.en/invite/NKNIWI (all letters) and it should get you a bonus.

Content Warnings: manhandling, punch, intimate partner violence and abuse, slap, dub con

What I Liked
- premise
- visuals

Room For Improvement
- too much of a nice guy getting dumped on
- evil women cliche and too much time spent on it
- love rival
- gay for you trope
- that they didn't show something right at the very end
- unless I missed it, he never talked to his dad after the initial "I'll take care of it" scene

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there are two different endings for this one

Overall: I took into consideration that this was made in 2016 and from China. No official platform. There are two endings and you can probably guess how each will end. Note the movie and my review might have triggering content.

Content Warnings: intimate partner violence, choking, beginning sexual assault (touching), violence, blood, manipulation, slap, non con kiss turned consensual, homophobia

What I Liked
- there were actual apologies that a character meant, he had character growth and I believe they will live happily
- domestic bliss montage
- bed scene

Room For Improvement
- that slap was not needed
- love triangle
- don't understand what was with the fiancee thing

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servant/master dynamic, there is a second part

Overall: this review takes into consideration it aired in 2016 and is from China. It is also called "Uncontrolled Love". Available on iQIYI https://www.iq.com/play/uncontrolled-love-secret-of-the-valet-2016-19rrlkp87k?lang=en_us Note the movie and my review might have triggering content.

Content Warnings: non con touching, homophobia, (towards the end: beaten up/held against will, blood, attempted gang rape (not with the MLs), choking, self harm)

What I Liked
- acting
- coherent story
- music

Room For Improvement
- cliche wannabe girlfriend/wife
- the ML is controlling/abusive towards the other ML; however, I think he does have character growth in the second part

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the darker of the two parts

Overall: I tried to take into account that this was made in China in 2016. Note, this second part and my review has things that might be triggering.

Content Warnings: death, attempted murder, attempted suicide, rape (multiple times), kidnapping/held against will, choking, torture, non con recording, punches, injury, homophobia (internal and external)

What I Liked
- a character did obsessed well
- a character was public about things (though he should have consulted the other guy first before doing that)

Room For Improvement
- was likely meant to be the fictional bodice ripper type premise where "the mouth says no but the body says yes" however, the torture and repeated rape were not fun to watch. I did not want them together romantically.
- this thing went full soap opera including the nonsense of what happened in a swimming pool he could stand up in
- the wife and kid are barely mentioned and brushed aside
- cliffhanger ending without a resolution

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pretty good special episodes

Overall: two short (11 and 14 minute) episodes that later aired on GagaOOLala as a continuation of their story
https://www.gagaoolala.com/en/videos/6233/school-trip-joined-a-group-im-not-close-to-2025-e11
https://www.gagaoolala.com/en/videos/6234/school-trip-joined-a-group-im-not-close-to-2025-e12

What I Liked
- sweet moments
- them talking in episode 2
- Watarai didn't answer the question about a girlfriend in episode 2
- colors in episode 2 (blue and orange)

Room For Improvement
- Watarai came across as a bit pushy/creepy with locking the door and ignoring the ask to wait (ignored in the second episode as well)
- unmatched kissing in the first special

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