Happy Modern Day Romeo & Juliet

Overall: they did many things right but there were still some flaws/things I wish had been different. (minor spoilers below)

Content Warnings: fights, slap (not between m/m ship)

What I Liked
- Ohm and Nanon's acting, amazing, great chemistry well done kiss scenes
- the tropes that were subverted such as cute food sharing, the "gay for you" trope
- the protagonists actually communicated with each other, they apologize to one another, care for each other, the great examples of consent, really a wonderful relationship to watch
- there is a mix of seriousness with humor (Pat's flirt skills were top notch)
- we got the backstory/set up right away, it was clear when there were flashbacks
- the director's cameo
- avoiding a super cliched/stupid ending
- some pretty well done product placements

Room For Improvement
- I think there were maybe too many flashbacks/songs in the final episode, I wanted a good scene with each of the parents.
- Wai's redemption arc was so stupid. He should have been groveling but Pran apologizes to him?? He does the bare minimum for being a decent human and all is forgiven, I disliked this whole episode. For me, what Wai did is pretty close to unforgivable.
- the four parents lied to their children and put them thru so much distress. They owe Pat and Pran huge apologies and none of them apologized to their children. Also, they appear to know their children are in a romantic relationship at the end but then don't tell them so they have to keep sneaking around, wth???!!! Grow up (to the parents, especially Pat's dad, go an apologize to Pran's mom)
- there is never a reason to slap your child, never a reason to slap anyone unless in self defense
- the plot/editing was pretty choppy from episode to episode a few times. I thought 'did I miss something when we were in a different location possibly different day?'
- time passing wasn't clear and felt rushed. I remember once I saw a "Sophomore Year" at the beginning of an episode, weren't they Freshmen, so a year plus had passed? This should have been 2 seasons or more, 1 in high school and 1-2 in college/beyond. 
- they were fixated on the husband and wife terms which seemed unnecessary, can't two guys be husband and husband???
- that Pat's sister was doing Pat's laundry, do your own laundry
- technical issues or delayed subs with the YouTube premiere (I'm super excited that it's on YouTube, but at this point GMMTV should have the staff/knowledge how to make a glitch-free premiere with the English subs on)
- the title "Bad Buddy", something with Rival like "Next Door Rival" would have been a better title

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unexpectedly dark for a lighthearted romcom

Overall: I was okay with this as a 'turn your brain off' romcom, but then there was an extremely dark plot line (also zero consequences for a trash character?!?) and the plot ran around in circles (definitely could have been 8 episodes instead of 12). I'm rating this more harshly because GMMTV has the money and experience to make an excellent series. Unfortunately, I was left disappointed with this one. Aired on GMMTV's YouTube channel.

Content Warnings: past rape for 3 years involving a child/step parent, past suicide, mental health struggles, non con/dub con touching, homophobia, fight/beaten up, non con picture taking/posting, unwanted public outing

What I Liked
- good friendship dynamics (and that they raised the difficulty of the boss/employee romantic dynamic)
- Yacht with his blue hair
- the established couple is adorable (but they didn't get enough screen time nor a plot)
- addressing mental health struggles (except that Cher should not have talked about Jack without Jack's prior approval and they also made it seem like everyone was happy that Jack stopped taking medication when in reality as I understand it medication is something to be taken as a management strategy, it's not a long term cure)
- a supportive ex
- neutral, comedy sound effects

Room For Improvement
- this was oddly very dark, I think they still could have had some serious parts (focusing on the mental health struggles as an example), but it almost felt disrespectful to have the rest be a light romcom, I'm not sure how to explain this but I didn't like the combo of extremely serious plot with silly plot
- lack of consequences for a trash character and instant forgiveness for the mom
- Thup, there are things that even if your loved one says you should keep secret that you don't keep secret and tell the authorities/school personnel and what was going on was one of those things. Thup wasn't a young child, he should have been around 12 to 15 when this was happening and then afterwards to let rumors circulate about Cher, he did not seek justice for his sibling and he had the gall to blame Cher....ugh
- paper thin plot that went around in circles
- cliche poor communication with fully grown adults, Cher's totally stupid "plan" in episode 11
- consent problems: there were some things they did really well but there was also poor consent including Cher ignoring Gun's physical boundaries in the beginning, Gun locking Cher in his car, "if you don't let me touch you I'll kiss you instead"
- I realize they were going for comedy, but many jokes didn't make me laugh
- Gun letting Cher be jealous for his own entertainment instead of clearing up the miscommunication
- nonsense things (we won't get into the hr headache this would be in reality), Cher is never shown to be doing anything with his ASMR channel, we barely see him gaming
- the cringey title

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totally wrecked Zeke/Fifth (watch ep 1, 2 and 13)

Overall: I liked Zeke and Fifth in My Story because they were flirty and sweet. In this season the writer totally ruined their characters and relationship. I was actively rooting for them to NOT end up together. Our Story is the third in the trilogy (season 1 is My Day which is not needed to watch to understand Our Story, season 2 is My Story which shows the beginning of Zeke/Fifth as a couple and is helpful to watch but not totally necessary) 13 episodes about 37 minutes each (taking out the built in commercials at the end). Aired on Oxin Films YouTube channel.

Notes: I watched most episodes but skipped a few because I wanted to poke my eyeballs out, I kept up with comments/what happened overall though. I suggest watching episode 1, 2, episode 9 part 3 at 7 minutes (nsfw scene), episode 10 part 3 at 10 minutes (nsfw scene) and episode 13

Content Warnings: attempted suicide, past suicide, parental abuse, intimate partner abuse, homophobia, non con picture taking/sharing, alcoholism, depression, sexism, gaslighting, manhandling

What I Liked
- Zeke and Fifth were cute/sweet/flirty (ep 1 and 2)
- GL rep (though the pacing was odd/not enough screentime)
- it was too frequent but the innuendo jokes were fun
- Xion Lim (director) played an assistant as Easy Ferrer (writer) as the other assistant
- Zeke's supportive mom (though she was a bit too involved at times)
- opening song and ending credit song

Room For Improvement
- the writing destroyed Zeke & Fifth both as individual characters and as a couple, Zeke said how he was hurt that he was called toxic while he screamed at his boyfriend was terrible writing, Fifth's actions make zero sense to me, so many characters did total nonsense things
- abuse was handled really poorly, Fifth said "he {dad] beat us" and the response was "that means you still matter to him", like WTF?!? and then later Jelai says his ex-boyfriend who was abusing him is awesome and Jelai apologizes to his abuser?!? what year are we in?!? akldfjkslajkdljaidla!!!!!!!
- way too many couples (6 couples/love triangles) and I somehow didn't like any of them
- exposition dump/voice over to start the series
- so many nonsense/unrealistic plot things (I'm not even going to try to write them all out) example 1: that a significant other didn't know of a life threatening food allergy until 6 months of dating, example 2: that a hospital didn't have any A+ (30% of the population has this blood type) or O negative (universal donor) blood?!? they should have had Zeke have AB negative blood because a 5 second internet search showed that number of people with: O positive: 35%, O negative (universal donor): 13%, A positive: 30%, A negative: 8%, B positive: 8%, B negative: 2%, AB positive (universal recipient): 2%, AB negative: 1%
- the comedy sound effects
- toilet humor
- super dramatic thing happened at the end of episode 11 and then the majority of episode 12 we have no idea what is going on, just random side character plots happening?!?
- in the final episode, did Zeke ever apologize for all the awful things he did?!? why was just Fifth apologizing?!?!!!!!!

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Check Out This Special Episode

Content Warnings: non con/dub con*

Overall: Looks like it sets up the series which will air in 2022 (which I will definitely Check Out lol)

What I Liked:
- the actors have good chemistry which makes sense as they were in Skinship together (fyi there's like no skinship in Skinship)
- the story of people meeting at a resort/hotel is not new, but I think it played fairly well, they had some cute moments

Room For Improvement:
- enough with the creepy stalker women, that hotel worker was so unprofessional and she should be reprimanded for being unprofessional/harassment 
- *I didn't like how Daonuea was definitely drunk but Nine looked like he wasn't when they had their bed scene, that gets into the non-con territory as people can't consent when they are very drunk. I wish they either both weren't drunk (preferred) or they both were very drunk.
- leaving your partner is such an a**hole move, people should be there in the morning even if it's awkward
- at least there was a reason Nine had to shower at Daonuea's room but what was the reason they had to shower together at the same time? Is there limited hot water or something? (I liked them showering together, just wish there had been a logical reason for it)
- am I the only one who doesn't like characters in romance genres smoking?

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deliciously sweet (please watch so we get the sequel :)

Overall: this is a gentle slice of life food-themed movie. Runtime is 90 minutes with a funny post credit scene. Aired on GagaOOLala.

Notes: see my comment with a spoiler as to a tag that I think this series/description is missing.
They have already filmed the sequel https://natalie.mu/eiga/news/527213

What I Liked
- delicious looking food
- cute/sweet moments
- funny moments
- cleared up problems that cropped up relatively quickly/easily

Room For Improvement
- how Aki didn't know that about Haru (around 46 minutes)
- I think this relationship/what they don't do would be pretty unrealistic in real life but I didn't deduct points because it's fiction

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good character growth

Overall: I liked seeing two flawed characters (and yes Shin is flawed as well as he pushes and ignores Minato's boundaries multiple times) and Minato's character growth. Watched on Gagaoolala.

Content Warnings: non con touching/kissing, manhandling, internalized homophobia, non con photo taking, a high school senior (17 then 18) and a 28 year old (this aspect did not bother me personally)

What I Liked
- cute intro and closing credits/songs (watch the final episode closely as they are different!)
- that they actually communicated with one another, talked about their thoughts and feelings
- the food shirts that Minato wore
- how scenes towards the end of the final episode mirrored scenes in earlier episodes
- acting
- production value (cinematography, music)

Room For Improvement
- the pacing was a bit too slow with the whole teacher near conversation multiple times, that should have happened sooner
- I actually wished Shin had had some character growth and the ending had gone a slightly different direction
- I liked the sister and friend, couldn't care less for that depressing lump and did not enjoy the side couple
- continuity error with sheet placement
- the technique at the very end needed improvement but I'll give them a break as it might have been both of their first times

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What a gem - great chemistry with an established m/m couple

Overall: I gave this a 9.5/10 because it's from 2009 and it still holds up well twelve years later. Watched on gagaoolala.

Content Warnings: none

What I Liked (very minor spoilers)
- features an established couple
- the kissing/intimate scene was on fire, everyone else needs to take notes - none of this dead fish lip stuff
- that Min Soo doesn't apologize for who he is or who he loves, but is apologizing for the way it was communicated
- there is no ghosting or forced separation due to what a parent wants
- shows a bit about military service which I rarely see in Korean rom coms
- (neutral) the intro song and song towards the end were fine

Room For Improvement
- the discussion with the mom and her chest was weird
- I didn't really understand a scene with Seok Yi waiting outside towards the end, I didn't think Min Soo's mom and him lived in the same city..
- dry crying during the the drinking scene

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Quirky short musical with cute guys

Overall: This is one of the few artsy/quirky short films that I actually really enjoyed.

Content Warnings: very mild violence (and you may never eat candy the same way again :P )

What I Liked
- the music, round of applause to whoever wrote the songs and the singing was good
- unique plot, definitely haven't seen this before
- the outfits matched their candy counterparts well
- apparently I really like tattoos, even when it's the word "digestive" lol
- I liked that even in the darker scenes there was light on the actors' faces, too frequently I can't see anything

Room For Improvement
- I didn't at first like the first song the guy wearing black sang, but I think it was a style thing
- the animation when showing people looked a bit amateurish
- a small continuity error with the white band being ripped, but then not being ripped in a wide shot

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cute but rushed

Overall: this was cute but they tried to cover too much plot and it felt jumpy/rushed. 8 episodes total, about 20 minutes per episode. Aired on GagaOOLala and Viki.

Content Warnings: none

What I Liked
- that opening scene isn't super common in fiction (but very common in real life)
- funny moments
- the characterizations/opposite personalities
- the friendships especially Han Ji Yu and Ji Hoon, that's the friend who tells you honestly that you got a bad haircut lol
- need a spin off with the friend and the new character introduced at the end

Room For Improvement
- they needed to narrow the plot because scenes would quickly jump from 1 to another and it felt rushed overall, they didn't clearly explain some parts
- I thought that scene at the end of episode 1 was a preview for next week but it was actually an extra scene in the first episode. The second episode had it as well with an extended scene before the next week's preview. This was a bit confusing.
- having a conversation while someone is on the toilet
- too many falls
- the dead fish lip presses

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short sweet/bittersweet romance, need a season 2

Overall: this could have easily been a 9.5 or 10 from me except how they handled the ending (information in my comment under a spoiler, I'll bump it up to 9.5 if they have a season 2 and explain things more clearly). Aired on YouTube. Watch the extra scene after the credits.

Content Warnings: threatened violence, past pet death, stalking, mental health struggles, kick

What I Liked
- cute and funny moments
- some subverted tropes*
- Jung Woo's very realistic reaction to the situation
- the actors did an amazing job
- excellent production value (feels very Kdrama with blurred backgrounds, close ups), the music was very well done
- cameo from Long Time No See actor

Room For Improvement
- the explanation for how it all happened is in a separate video and it would have been better to incorporate it into the series itself
- they spent some of their valuable screen time in unnecessary plot threads like the blind date
- *the ending was a letdown and I'll say more in my comment under a spoiler

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slow moving countryside Thai BL (minor spoilers)

Overall: this is a spin off to Star In My Mind and you don't need to watch Star In My Mind first. I enjoyed the countryside setting but it moved too slowly and the 7th episode nonsense/non logical writing and then more cliches in the finale bumped it down to a 7. Watched on YouTube.

Content Warnings: manipulation, stalking, animal blood/death off screen

What I Liked
- I laughed a few times
- cute moments including some oldie but goody tropes like 'there's something in your hair' and 'protect mode.'
- countryside setting
- episode 6 poor communication was cleared up right away
- Prince's mom
- neutral (it has comedy sound effects)

Room For Improvement
- I wish they had had the flashback/explanation in part 3 of episode 1 at the very start. It was odd when last week was a cliffhanger and then they are just in a small village...
- sloooowwww pacing
- not into the reluctant pursuee trope
- nonsense/non logical things (especially in ep 7, only 2 cars? all of Fah's 3 cell phones suddenly don't work? not how you diagnose that, etc)
- more cliche stuff in the finale, making decisions about someone else instead of talking to them and asking what they want, lack of apology, no communication about something that could actually cause friction in their relationship
- annoying that Fah was dictating his younger brother's relationship regarding physical affection, speaking of,
- the G rated Kluen/Daonuea scenes added nothing, they felt more middle school couple than university couple
- side characters didn't really do much
- useless love triangles
- not a fan of the intro drawing style

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enjoyable romance series

Overall: it was enjoyable but a few things make it not a 10/10 for me

Content Warnings: fixation on being thin, past bullying

What I Liked
- that the leads had nice skinship not just 1 kiss right at the end
- they did have some good communication and conversations (until they didn't but at least there wasn't a long time gap)
- funny parts like how they were in the same group all of the time
- cute parts like holding hands
- I appreciate that they both apologized for mistakes made
- avoided the drunken kiss dub con scenario
- avoided dead fish lip press
- the hint of f/f romance
- production value

Room For Improvement
- I didn't get why either one fell for the other one, especially Daun for Siwon who was super prickly
- some choppy parts, how did Siwon get Daun's number? For the bookstore if Siwon had just given 1 line because I was so confused at what he was doing until he explained it all later.
- the last episode especially I was pretty confused about what was real/not real
- I don't understand why the male friend expressed a romantic interest in the female artist, they could have just omitted that part and focused on the GL part

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promising premise and beginning, disappointed with the execution

Overall: I enjoyed the unique premise but had major issues with the plot. Aired on GagaOOLala & Viki.

Content Warnings: violence/blood (in the first scene), murder, trauma, grief, attempted kidnapping, non con kiss (sleeping)

What I Liked
- the premise was unique and rarely seen in BL
- production value
- retelling of the first episode from a different perspective

Room For Improvement
- I wish that Jae Woo and Ji Woon's parents were friends and Jae Woo had just moved into the same city, because... it felt odd befriending a kid like that/having a 10 year old sleep over in a dorm room, it was a bit squicky to me and speaking of...
- Jae Woo was very childlike and stupid for a 25 year old, it made the relationship dynamic even more strange
- their total lack of communication about something suuuppppppeeeerrrr important, like come on
- nonsense things besides the initial premise, a 10 year old regularly walks around at night alone when there is violence in the area? money? ID? same outfit every day?
- why do they like each other, love at first sight? but it was initially an uncle/nephew like relationship, when/why did it change?
- the non con kiss and also this line "I'm going to do something I know you don't like" (and he kisses him, wth?)
- what in the sisyphean hell was that ending?

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slice of life highschool BL (need a Tanaka/Katori spin off)

Overall: this is a slice of life series that floats on vibes rather than plot. Aired on Gagaoolala/Viki (depends on your country)

Content Warnings: manhandling

What I Liked
- Amagi being honest during the gardening
- the perspective shift in episode 1
- their conversation in episode 3 was wonderful*
- supportive friend, specifically Katori (I need him to be a lead in a BL, nerdy guy with player guy - sign me up)
- that they held hands a few times, cute moments
- the OST
- production value

Room For Improvement
- the multiple time skips back and forth in the first episode made it feel choppy, also in episode 4 and 5
- each episode feels more like a contained story rather than there being an overarching plot
- finally explained in episode 4 why Takara liked Amagi, wish this had been shown sooner
- there were times they were somewhere and suddenly the next scene is elsewhere
- not a fan of the dynamic of a low affect/unusual affect guy and the happy go lucky guy with low self esteem
- *unhappy with the very ending as Amagi gave a clear signal of not wanting to do that
- their haircuts and blurry face/lips (but I didn't take off points for this)

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realistic and well done

Overall: if the premise/summary isn't your thing, I encourage you to watch at least thru episode 4 because this story is like an onion with layers. 8 episodes total about 45 minutes each, 2 aired per week on GMMTV's YouTube Channel (also Disney+Hotstar in some countries).

Content Warnings: manhandling, homophobia, death, grief

What I Liked
- Li Ming and Heart were the cutest cinnamon rolls
- Wen was direct and communicated what he wants
- felt realistic which matches the setting/story (i.e. the actors faces have visible sweat and aren't airbrushed/filtered to oblivion)
- touched on power/class differences, poverty, marriage inequality/legal inequality
- step parent shown to be caring and supportive
- Gaipa's mom
- hints about future plot elements
- realistic response with Li Ming and his mom
- avoided a cliche plot point towards the end, characters had good communication
- production value* (music, cinematography - that long take/no cut shot at the beginning of episode 1 part 1 was cool)

Room For Improvement
- several scenes were a little too dim* and the camera is too shaky sometimes
- not a fan of some of the music choices, at one point there was an accordion
- how Uncle Jim himself and other characters talk about him being old when the actor Earth is 28 (and most definitely does not look old)
- each episode appears to skip a month however because we don't see montages or dates it doesn't always feel like that much time has passed
- wish it had been Gaipa that initiated things after the time jump
- I understand them not subtitling what Heart was saying in the beginning to show how Li Ming didn't understand but it was frustrating when they continued to not subtitle everything he was saying later on
- it was not Jim's place to tell the mom about Li Ming, it should have been Li Ming's choice
- I don't agree that "deaf people are the loneliest people" which is a line a character said
- good that actual consequences were shown for drunk driving
- the series title "Moonlight Chicken"

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