Unpopularopinionbydemand

Can't Do it....

Okay, before I even get into the actual review, let me just say this real quick: Peter Tuinstra, the man you fucking are. If there was one reason to continue to watch this series, it'd be so that I can watch this beautiful specimen walk across my screen and bless the rest of my week. Quite literally, and I mean this so literally; that is the finest man over 50 I've ever seen, ever. Like ever. Okay, anyways, back to the actual review.

So in conclusion, I can not finish this. I got to episode 8, and I think that's where it'll end for me. I told myself not to try and finish anything that I'm feeling myself force my way through, and THK happens to be one of them.

Let's Dive In.

Throughout the entire series, there has been a very large disconnect for me. I don't know if it's the writing, the directing, the acting, I don't know what it is, but there is just a certain something that is so totally off with this series that makes it hard to genuinely enjoy. For instance: in some lines of dialogue, there are these weird pauses. It's like a character will say something and then the reaction or the delivery of dialogue from the other person is delayed. And it happens a lot, and once I noticed it, I couldn't un-notice it, and it bothered me a lot. Eventually, I got use to it, and it got a little better.

The begin is a little tedious to get through up until maybe episode 3-4. I start to really enjoy it, mostly Fadel and Style's relationship, but they get together, and it goes downhill from there. Bison and Kant's story never really piqued my interest. To be honest, from both couples, I had no idea how or why they were falling for one another. It was also extremely obvious Kant and Style were spies. One day, you just happen to see the dude you've hooked up with once everywhere, and then his friend happens to go and fall for your brother and follow him everywhere? Obviously, some logistic just aren't suppose to make sense. But it's aggravatingly annoying how then Fadel's sent a text saying, "yeah they're the spies", Well, no fucking shit. On the plus side, the NC scene and kiss scenes are so nicely done, that I can get why someone would just watch just for that.

Moving on to the nit-pick, right off the bait, episode one, they shoot somebody and it looks like red water is pouring out extremely slowly from a man just shot twice in the chest. Same with all the wounds and blood throughout the series, just so so bad. And this is GMMTV, they can do better, I promise you they can.


But here's my biggest problem of them all: The audio. The audio. The audio. The audio. In episode one alone, the audio was so outrageously bad that I notice it instantly. And of course, when I notice, I can't un-notice. This bad audio is throughout the series. Mumbled, overexposed, too much outside noises, etc. If there's anything I'm more disappointed in, it's the audio. Nothing out of GMMTV should be this bad, good lord.

Ratings:

Story: 7/10 - parts of the story are what keep you engaged, but the problem is the story is just not working for me, at all. But I Peter gets 5 out of the seven stars.

Acting: 8/10 - good. Actually, I'm not even that big of a fan of Dunk and Joong, mostly as a pairing, but I think I enjoyed them the most in this. Of course, Khaotung and First are just brilliant actor and took a tired script and made it work.

Music: 7/10 - Mostly music/songs sung in english. Distracting once I noticed, but didn't hate it.

Recommendation value: 5/10 - Peter. Watch for peter. There's a scene where he is nearly naked sweating in a sauna. Please. Please watch for that.

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Nostalgic, and BAS !

I loved seeing Bas, I feel like I haven't seen him in forever. It was mostly why I watched, and I was pleasantly surprised. This is nothing new, if anything, it takes a trip back to 2018, but I love it for all the nostalgia it brought. Still can't ingore that it's nothing new nor special.

Let's Dive In.

A lot of people have already described this BL as kind of being like a little time-machine to the way BL use to be 6-7 years ago. I got a lot of My Engineer, Love By Chance, 2 Moons vibes ( I swear it's not just Bas, lol). This is an extremely generic Uni BL that is honestly pretty forgettable, but some of the characters are endearing and so are Pond and Maxky when they're shirtless.

Hill and Ter are pretty boring for me. I think I liked them at a certain point, but their story felt all over the place and then a little placid in some parts. Seeing Pond shirtless also didn't hurt.

What really had me seated was Jo and North. I loved their story in the beginning, and then it loses itself a little once they start figuring out their relationship, but eventually picks itself up again. Jo is extremely toxic and their relationship is almost built off of the fear that North has of him if he doesn't do everything right. Either way, Maxky is a beautiful specimen with the prettiest lips, and I liked seeing him shirtless too.

I kinda started skipping after episode 12 or so. Basically skimmed through the rest and still got the gist. They tease this third couple, but they go absolutely no where. Sammy was in this. Looks so very different (I'm not sure if it's in a good or bad way yet...).

Overall, this BL was full of a bunch of irrelevant beautiful characters, and the plots are full of very small, un-consequential conflicts. But it's cute, it's watchable, and lots of shirtless scenes.

Ratings:

Story: 6/10 - I liked Ter's and Hill's story about their pasts. That's kind of it. Great kissing/NC scenes me thinks.

Acting: 8/10 - some are good, others not so much. Pond is definitely one of their best actor, with Earth and Bas up there too. Maxky is good, but he's prettier than his acting unfortunately. Everyone else is just mediocre.

Music: 5/10 - didn't pay attention to it, so it wasn't distracting at least.

Recommendation Value: 4/10 - ehh. It's okay, watch something else. This is also very extremely long for no reason, so skip, skip, skip! But Maxky and Pond are beautiful shirtless, so actually, you should watch this.

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So Much Wasted Potential

I think I will never understand the point of doing a crossover series, and then make it so very mediocre. I mean, there's so much to explore with two different countries coming together, but like most of them, this series did just that: solidifies on the expectations, and then completely ruins it.

Let's Dive In.

This series could've been good, but they waste it on this weird expectation that we're suppose to think it's normal for one character to speak Thai, and the other Korean. Now, let's just say that between the leads, this works, but you're telling me when Jay goes to speak to other Korean people, they understand perfectly what he's saying? No, of course not. I don't know why we couldn't have gotten a Thai actor that speaks Korean, or a Korean actor that speaks Thai. Either way would've worked best than us just having to kind of go with the flow.

But, after a few episodes, you kind of forget about it. Now, looking into the plot, this seemed to be such a cutesy little friends to lovers story. No, it's so much more than that. We then end up in this murder-mystery plot that is so anticlimatiac. It's set up in the beginning of the series, but it doesn't fit at all within the genre of this BL. It's so fun and dainty and cute, and then all of the sudden the characters are running around fending for their life. I can't take any of it seriously.

Moving onto the leads, they do well within their respected roles. As a couple, they falter. Not only do they get together mid-series, but then they do... nothing. We get a couple kisses here and there, a hand-holding scene, and that's pretty much it. It was very underwhelming.

The best thing about this series is that it is a very easy watch. Took me a day to watch all of it which is why I finished it, because why not? Most of the characters are very attractive, especially Jinuk, who I wish has his shirt off more often.

Ratings:

Story: 6/10: if they wanted to do the murder mystery, I wish they would've made this series more grittier. Not a lot of development between the leads, even as a couple. Some parts i did enjoy, so it won't get too bad a grade.

Acting: 8/10 - Good. No one did just an amazing job, everyone did good and it was fine.

Music: 6/10 - I know most music is repetitive, but I just remember the song playing non-stop. Kind of annoying.

Recommendation Value: 2/10 - No. It's okay. And I say that knowing full well Jinuk takes his shirt off and mesmerizes me.

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Slow Burn at It's Core, Boring at It's Surface

I had anticipated Lost in The Woods since it was announced Nammon would be in it (one of my favorite Thai actors) so, when this started airing, I immediately started watching. What I got was half of what I had anticipated, and the rest was ehh, but with how short this series was, including the very few actors in this, I think it worked.

Let's Dive In.

What I had predicted before watching LITW was that it would remind me a lot of ATOTS. I know now, I have to stop expecting and comparing series, or otherwise, I'll end up disappointed. They had their similarities: city boy meets country boy, rural country side, slow burn, but it doesn't quite hit the nail on the head as ATOTS does, which is fine, and my own fault for hoping it would.

LITW is not bad by any means, but it is extremely tedious to get through. Lots of beautiful scenery/nature shots, but I kid you not when I say that that's what half of the episodes are: shots of the gorgeous setting they were in. Which isn't bad, but it gets to a point where it's entirely too repetitive.

I love slow burn, and this series gave me just that. When I say slow, I will now be referring to Fifa and Hem's relationship, cause it's exactly the kind of thing I yearn for. Which is what kept me to watch, but it's hard with a lot of the episodes dragging and giving us, at times, pointless scenes. Ton and Arm do a good job at building the tension between them. I loved the longing stares, the nights spent together, adventures taken. They did leave it very open-ended/ambiguous, which is another reason this series doesn't get much of a reaction out of me. Also, their one and only kiss is sorta non-consensual, and that really kinda sucks. I think with a better ending, and a mutual yearning kiss, this could've been everything.

Nammon's character has some kind of relation with Padme, which felt a little weird, but I can't complain too much since Hem's and Fifa's relationship had some maturity difference, but between Prod and Padme, it felt just really off.

I think what could've made this work better is a bigger cast. I would've loved maybe a few side characters, maybe another solid side couple, and a plot that differentiated from Fifa and Hem's story. Then, I feel like this wouldn't have been so draggy and felt so forceful to get trough.

Ratings:

Story: 6.5/10 - Beautiful shots of their rural country side, but it got to a point where it was too repetitive. Some really boring scenes, like anything to do with Padme or Fifa working and sitting around looking pitiful. Skipped the whole "Hem in the forest looking for bad men" part. Lots of this can be skipped so that you can reach the point faster. Loved LOVED the slow burn, which is where most of this score comes from.

Acting: 8,5/10 - Ton does a great job as the lead. Lots of character development by the end. Arm is good, but he had one facial expression, which kind of diminished his role a little bit. Everyone else did good.

Music: 7/10 - I liked the nature sounds, Not really the music, but I'll count it.

Recommendation Value: 5/10 - I don't see myself really ever recommending this to anyone. It felt like another generic BL in the sea of BLs we've gotten and will get this year. I would recommend it for a slow burn, but the tedious plot leaves me a little iffy.

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Typical Uni BL, But with Actors that Make it Worth Watching

At last, this series has finally come to an end. While it’s one of the longest series I’ve kept up with, it also somehow felt like one of the shortest. Honestly, Perfect10Liners has done such an incredible job of keeping things intriguing throughout all 24 episodes. We’ve been given so much, from decent storylines to unforgettable moments, but most importantly, we’ve been introduced to some truly impeccable couples and wildly entertaining actors who basically just played themselves on screen.

Let’s Dive In.

Perfect10Liner is another one of GMMTV's tries at a long ongoing series, which I don't mind as long as it has this style: multiple couples, constant switch-arounds to their stories, decent character arcs. We Are was good, but it lacked a lot plot-wise, with some couples getting more screen time than others, and this series makes sure not to do that. We get eight episodes with each of the three couples, and it builds onto their relationship whilst starting up the next.

I think production was decent, kind of what we normally see, so nothing new here. The product placements felt, once again (for the umpteenth time in a GMMTV series), very pushy. Other than that, there's not a lot to harp on when it comes to production.

Moving onto the couples, I'll go in order of favorite to least favorite.

Faifa and Wine:
Well, for starters, Junior and Mark were the only reason I decided to watch this while it aired, but I didn’t realize until a little later on that this was an anthology-type series. So, it’s only right (and honest!) that they were my favorite couple. Their chemistry was so good, better than we had even received in Cherry Magic. Wine was working to accept his feelings for men, and Faifa was working on not always having to be liked by everyone and do everything for everyone. Junior is seriously the funniest GMMTV actor. Seriously. He played this role to a T; knew when to be funny and when to be sad. I think Mark has a lot more growing to do in the acting department, but nevertheless, did a good job. When it comes to the side characters within Wine and Faifa’s story, they felt very chaste compared to the others. I think they could’ve utilized them a little more, but I’m not too upset by what we got.

Yotha and Gun:
Wow, wow, wow. Santa and Perth knocked it out of the water for their first series as a couple. I wasn’t expecting much, but they completely took me by surprise. In terms of character growth, I think their couple experienced the most, especially Yotha. Something about seeing a brooding, stoic man fall head-over-heels for someone so opposite always does it for me. Lots of great moments and lots of great chemistry. Absolutely adored Aou and Boom in this. So much toxicity and sexiness, literally cannot wait for them in Only Friends. The only real problem I have is the miscommunication that could’ve easily been resolved in so many different scenarios. More so lazy writing than their problem, but it still affects my overall love for them.

Arc and Arm:
Not least because I didn’t like them, but least because they didn’t shine as bright as the other two. But even still, I loved Book in this, probably one of my favorite roles he’s ever played. I think I saw a comedic side of him that I wasn’t ready for, and he did such a stellar job. Force didn’t do much since he was mostly there to be stoic, but protective. I adored their scenes, and I could watch Force pick up Book a hundred times over again. The best part about this couple, though, was Book’s friendships. I don’t care very much for Poon and Mark, and their relationship felt a little awkward anyway, but when it was Book, Poon, and JJ, I laughed every single time. I’m going to miss them the most.

Overall, this is nothing spectacular, it’s just another uni BL, but with actors that do so well in their roles that it feels a lot bigger than that. I don’t think I would’ve liked this nearly as much had I just binge-watched, so I’m glad I was able to keep up with it.

Ratings:

Story: 7.5/10 – Again, not spectacular. I think a lot of the story is within Yotha and Gun’s storyline, but throughout, there are some good moments. But a lot of this is just fluff and giggles.

Acting: 9/10 – Such good performances, especially from Santa, Junior, Book. Everyone else did well too.

Music: 5/10 – Didn’t pay attention to it. Skipped the singing.

Recommendation Value: 8/10 – It’s hard not to want to recommend this. It’s lighthearted, it’s funny, and it’s super cute. Also, there’s a scene where Book squeezes Force’s bare pecs, if that does it for you.

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So Trippy, So Sickly, and I Liked it!

I swear I have never heard anything about this BL until recently. It must've been swept under the rug, cause as soon as I got to this, I was more then shell-shocked at how well this was produced and executed. It is one of Beyond Cloud's most underrated series, that's for sure. But, I can understand it's low audience, just cause it is a step outside the boundaries of what normal Thai BL watchers might be use to, and that's that this is extremely gory, thrown in with some horror and thriller elements that make it even worse (better). Dead Friend Forever is a lot less BL than it it is gore and horror, and I really liked it!

Let's Dive In.

I think the trickiest thing to keep up with is the abundance of characters, all with their own story and own conflicts. It gets little better to differentiate them after a few episodes, but it takes a second, for sure. But, the main focus is on the mysterious disappearance/death of Barcode's character, Non. Within that plot comes a bunch of other sub plots and lots of complex twist and turns that make the story so intricate. I think my favorite story to learn about was Tee's, what an interesting character, and his actor did such a good job.

This has its moments of draggy-ness, I think the worst was the beginning during their time at the cabin, and trying to figure out what was going on and and all the odd things happening. Once Barcode's character enters, the story definitely gets more interesting.

This was much more than just a BL, and I say that because this is a genuine thriller/horror series that happens to have gay characters. Never is their sexualities touched on, or any of the normal stuff most BLs go through. There was fear, and deaths, and mysteries along with the occasional kiss/NC scene. And while we're on the topic, wow, I was not expecting much, mostly cause they were high schoolers, but geez, they delivered. I wasn't ready to see my baby Barcode's character get groomed in this, nor was I even ready to see him have a kiss scene. but I guess we're here.

Overall, I like this, the production was gorgeous, I loved how naturally tan and pretty everyone was. The horror and fear factor is definitely there, and this served its purpose of trying to deliver that perfectly. I think you have to be particularly interested in the spooky aspects to even want to watch this, but I promise, it's definitely worth it.

Ratings:

Story: 9/10 - spectacular story. So many twist and turns you don't see coming, and it's excellent. The ending is a little predictable, but other than that, I really liked this.

Acting: 9/10 - Everyone knocked it out the park. Actors were very versatile in their performance, going from sweet, to mean, to sad, to an absolute lunatic. I think for me, Ta, JJay, Barcode, and Jet put on the best performances.

Music: 7/10 - I didn't pay attention to it, but Jeff is there, so it's a lil higher than normal.

Recommendation Value: 7.5/10 - I don't think I'd just recommend this to anyone, but I think it's different in terms of what we're use to, so go for it! And also, while Mr. Keng is a discussing pig that grooms Non, he does look beautiful shirtless (I'm shallow, sorry).

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FRANK

I would call this series more so a drama that happens to have BL leads than a BL series with drama. Just kind of how it comes off. Honestly, this was pretty tedious to get through, I did lots of skipping, and a lot of forwarding, and still I managed to understand the majority of what was happening. The Rebound offer a decent plot line, pretty good basketball, and the finest men ever on my screen.

Let's Dive In.

There's a lot to the story, but the major plot point is Zen, who use to be middle school besties/crush with Ryu. Things happen, they get to high school and split, Zen plays for the school and Ryu is this street-basketball bad boy. They eventually meet again, and right around the time that the boys' basketball team gets cut because the seniors were caught doing drugs. Ryu eventually plays with them, more shit ensues, but it ends up being happily ever after.

The only thing that was hard for me to believe is that any of these grown-ass men are high schoolers, which is honestly the reason why this gets a little tedious for me. Just cause they gave them hideous haircuts does not mean they automatically pass as 17-18 year olds (also, yes, Ryu was suppose to be a "bad boy" but he he had way too many tattoos to come off as a teenager).

I really enjoyed some of the relationships we see in this like Lin and Ton and Zen and his grandmother. I think those were probably the only relationships I cared about.

I'll be honest, I started skipping through this after Zen and Ryu's first kiss. Lot of what this is a bunch of miscommunication, misinterpretations, and blah blah blah. They give use another couple which I cared zero for, and the only ones I thought were pretty cute (Shogun and Jedi) were given nothing.

Meen and Ping are cute for this, and they execute it well. Do I necessarily care for the chemistry? Not really, in fact, I find it a little boring, but not bad enough for it to ruin the series.

Moving onto the reason this honestly didn't get dropped: Frank. Frank. Frank. Frank. Frank. I need Frank in my life if you didn't know. When did Frank get so devilishly gorgeous? And then you give me a scene where he's touching himself and basically moaning into my headphones?! I'm deceased. But outside of his incredible looks, I don't think I've seen Frank in a leading role (support but still) in a long time. I think his acting is decent, but it definitely never just clicked for me in this. Thank god he's hot.

Overall, this series just wasn't for me. I do appreciate that everyone looked like they could actually play basketball and that they at least knew what a court looked like. I appreciate the cinematography that looked different than what I'm used to in a Thai-BL, gave me Your My Sky vibes for sure. I also loved that they were all so tan and had such beautiful complexion. Yippee.

Ratings:

Story: 5/10 - not for me. Skipped through most of the drama with Ryu and his guardian (also Nannon, I forgot to mention how fucking sexy he looked too). I did enjoy the stuff with the basketball team and Lin and her father. That's kinda it.

Acting: 8/10 - Decent. Good. No one stood out over anybody, I think everyone did as good as they could. Nothing too bad, nothing too good.

Music: 7.5/10 - My sister watched this before me and loved the OST. I've heard it played in the car many of time, so it is very catchy.

Recommendation Value; 4/10 - Ehh. One star for the actual series, three stars for Frank.

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Japan Does it Best

Japan puts their spin to a Thai BL classic, Love in The Air, and with no surprise, do it much, much better.

Let's Dive in.

When I first heard of this, I was worried. How were they going to be able to intricately make such an already-odd series and put their own taste to it? Well, they did it, and they did it pretty decently.

This series basically took everything I hated about the original and completely squashed it. They were about to tell the same story with the same characters and conflicts, without the need to add in unnecessary characters, or random scenes, or a bunch of tropey stuff. They told the exact same story, concisely and beautifully in just 10 episodes, and I loved it.

Now, with that, I did somewhat-sort of trash watched this with a friend, so I wasn't as observant as I usually am with series, but that's okay. I still think it was great, the character's had more depth, Rei and Kai felt more like friends than Payu and Sky, and the NC scene were hitting in all the right spots.

Overall, I think this was better than the original, but still not the best J-BL. It's okay for what it is, and I appreciate that it was given us.

Ratings:

Story: 7.5/10 - Still the same old plot, still not my favorite, but Japan told the story way better. I loved the chemistry between the leads, and they did a job well done.

Acting: 8.5/10 - LOVE Reo (Kai) he did SUCH a good job. Everyone else did good too, and fortunately, Shoma is just so hot that he get an extra point out of me.

Music: 6/10 - Didn't pay that much attention to it.

Recommendation Value: 7/10 - Ehh. Shoma looks good with his shirt off though.

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Best Earth/Mix Acting, Mid Earth/Mix Show

I remember when Ossan's Love was announced, and I remember thinking "damn, am I gonna like this?" I'm here to say that I actually decently liked this. I think there were a lot of tough points to get through, I think you have to look at this through a completely different lens then what we're use to with these two, but nonetheless, they had another successful series and I can't wait to see them in the next one.

Let's Dive In.

This is coming from the perspective of someone who has not seen the original Ossan's Love (and probably won't), so I won't comment on what was changed or what difference the series' had, as I believe they were both most likely good in their own way. So, starting off, Heng is this young dude whose pretty bad at his job, but accidentally finds out his boss is in love with him. Through a couple of crazy mishaps and lucky guesses, Heng's co-worker Mo, moves in with him and then falls for him too. In the battle of "who gets Hengney?" Mo inevitably wins.

This series is incredibly silly and makes fun of itself numerous times throughout. You really have to throw away what you're use to from Earth and Mix. Usually we get dark, and brooding, and lust, and tragedy, but in this, it is the complete opposite. It was hard to make that transition within the first two episode, but once you get use to the acting (especially Earth's acting) you realize that this is some of Earth and Mix's best performances yet. Acting is hard, being funny and sad is hard, and they master that so well, especially Earth. It just goes to show how versatile these vet actors are, and they nailed this out the park. None of it was cringey, none of it seemed too much or too little, it was just perfect.

Which is why I feel bad also saying that the plot falls short in so many ways. In terms of their best series...TOTS all the way, and honestly, probably forever. But this series plays too many cat and mouse games, and honestly, it gets pretty old. Mo was very indecisive, and because of that, caused a lot of hurt for him and Heng. And some of his reasoning for why he does what he does is just really bad writing. It was like the writers couldn't come up with an authentic reason for Mo to leave or break up with Heng so they made Mo out to act out like a child would in these scenarios. But, nonetheless, Earth and Mix brought the chemistry, and I loved that Mix got to play the initiator in their relationship, the "top" if you will.

Krit, besides being the hottest man over 40, did an amazing job in his role. It was a little hard to feel sympathetic towards a man that basically coerced and used his power as a boss to enter into a relationship with one of his employees, but at times, I did feel for him. I have no idea why they didn't have him and Ten get together, but they would've made an incredible endgame.

I loved all the cameos we got, First and Khaotung, Drake, Fluke, just to name a few. Even one of the original actors from the Ossan's Love made a cameo, which was pretty cool.

Overall, I think this series did best with what it could do, with quite a lot of bumps and hurdle, but for what we got, I'm not upset.

Ratings:

Story: 7.5/10 - worked well in the beginning, not so much towards the end.

Acting: 9.5/10 - Like I said, some of Earth and Mix's best acting performances. I also really loved Meow's character and Cheraim. Krit as a vet actor also did really well.

Music: 8/10 - Okay, so I actually loved the theme song. It was so out-of-the-box to what I'm use to hearing, but I actually really enjoyed it.

Recommendation Value: 7/10 - I don't think I would recommend this series outside of an EarthMix lover. It's not something I think would garner a need to watch, but if you like comedy, and more so a few scenes with a shirtless Earth, then here you go!

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DoauOffroad Gem

I hadn't heard of this series until I was introduced to the lovely Daou and Offroad and just had to watch. I'm glad to announce that I really liked it! Love in Translation brings us the lovely pairing of Daou and Offroad in this simplistic yet vibrant love story full of laughs, great characters, and handsome leads.

Let's Dive In.

I really won't be saying anything differently than what has already been said, but of course, I want to say something about this. First off, I loved that this was just 8 episodes, like the people over this knew not to try and make this longer than need be, and we got a slow-burn, nice flowing love story.

The chemistry, of course, was the best part. Also, led to a really nice in-store NC scene that I didn't know I needed in my life. The side couple was also adorable, and I liked that we had an established couple going through their own problems, but I would've liked a little more physical chemistry between them. I liked that Tammy didn't come in as some conniving ex and instead helped both of them in the end. The other side couples were also very nicely placed, and made the story stand out a little more.

My only gripe is that we go from "this is an adorable little love story" to "main character getting kidnapped and one of them turning into the capturer's slave for three months" It just felt like such a left field move, and I skipped pretty much all of that extra-ness.

Ratings:

Story: 7/10 - Entertaining. Some parts a little boring and some plot decisions made no sense, but overall it was good.

Acting: 9/10 - The acting is good! Even the side characters did really well!

Music: 8/10 - Was not ready t hear the beautiful vocals on Daou, but omg, I'm obsessed.

Recommendation Value: 8.5/10 - really nice, down-to-earth series with good NC scenes and a decent plot. Would recommend!!

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Little K-BL Gem

Wow, was not expecting to like this one as much as I did. A little gem in the pool of BLs we've seen, and I'm glad I finally crossed it off my list. It also helped me get out of a little case of "BL-Block" which I get very often, and I'm grateful to any series that can dig me out of the hole I'm in.

Let's Dive In.

There's nothing particularly unique or unordinary about this series, but i think what made it so good for me was the acting. Top-notch talent, for sure. Especially the two playing the main leads, I loved them dearly. In a weird way, this felt very Thai BL-esque. That might've been just a me thing, but i felt like at some points, the story followed the same kind of plot and tropey-like scenarios that most generic Thai BLs have, whilst still feeling true to itself. The plot never swayed and it didn't feel messy or too complex, but stuck to the main plot line including the side couple.

Talking about the side couple, that had so much depth, and even though their relationship had a conclusion, it was a little anti-climatic with the New Year's hug instead of kiss at the end. Like... just kiss??

The main couple were super cute. I like Kisub's character development, and I really enjoyed their story. They were pretty slow burn, and I enjoy me a slow-burn, so they were everything I could ask for. Also, some relatively nice kissing scenes for a K-BL.

Ratings:

Story: 9/10: enjoyed it throughout, didn't find anything boring or tedious. Side couple could've had a better ending

Acting: 9/10: Really good! It's what made this series so likeable.

Music: 7/10: The songs they played in this were actually really good. Helped fit the vibe really well.

Recommendation Value: 8/10: 100% would recommend. Not the best K-BL series I've seen, but if someone wants lighthearted and fluffy, I'd give them this. Also, Kisub looks way too hot with straightened hair (just thought I throw that in here).

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BL Block Perhaps..?

I think I might be slipping back into my unfortunate BL Block, because I have found zero interest in this BL, which is very rare for me when it comes to a Japanese BL, but good Lord, I don't think I can do it anymore.

Let's Dive In.

I want to also start this off by saying: I genuinely see nothing wrong with anything that this show has to offer. I think the first two-three episodes were my favorite, and then after that, it just bored the fuck out of me. I'm not sure when it went all wrong, but it took me less than two hours to watch the first four episodes, then took me two days to watch the fifth, then a week to watch the sixth until I was forcing myself to sit and watch the rest. I can't do that anymore.

I will say, this series was hyped a lot, honestly a lot more hype than I'm used to hearing when it comes to JBLs, so I had high hopes for this, but inevitably, this is where I'm at with this series.

Ratings:

Story: 6/10 - good until it wasn't. Started boring me to no end. Main characters were cute though,

Acting: 8/10 - really good, great job for Kenshin (Haruki) for real.

Music: 5/10 - didn't pay attention to it.

Recommendation Value: 4/10 - I can understand why people liked this, loved it even, but for some reason, the plot, the mess with the character's dad, the overall ominous feeling just did not do it for me.

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I Don't Know How to Feel...

I remember watching the trailer for this and being like, "Yeah, this is my shit, cheesy uni-love story that will be filled to the brim with cringe and awkwardness... I'm seated!" I weirdly enjoy series like this that take you out of reality to pull you into a story that's literally there to be silly and light-hearted and rather fluffy, and I feel like Your Sky did exactly that. But, even knowing what I was getting myself into with this series, I think, with some very odd twist, I didn't like this at all.

Let's Dive In.

So You Sky, produced by the same people of Cutiepie, have given us this fluffy, cutesy BL series that is literally about a fake relationship turned real. It has everything you can think of: accidental close-proximity, accidental touching, wiping mouths, giving baths, piggyback rides, around-the-waist motorcycle rides, blah blah blah. If I was rating based on the first few episodes, I feel like I would've told you this was the perfect blend of cringe and cuteness. I actually enjoyed Fah and Rak's love story, and I was very impressed by how they handled their first real kiss. but honestly, after that, everything just goes downhill for me.

Let's start off with just analyzing Teerak for a moment. For the majority of the episodes, they treated him like a child. When he started developing feelings for Fah, he literally thought he was having heart problems. What the literal fuck. I can understand wanting a character to have some pureness, some innocent-ness to them, but Rak was treated like he was a 7-year-old in a grown man's body. Which is why their NC scenes don't make sense, and are so hard to watch. I normally have no problem watching NC scenes, but the cut from Rak being this cutesy I-barely-know-how-to-tie-my-shoes to then being this sex-driven grown man was very off-putting. I wanted him to act like how his character would act, I wanted him to be shy and very giggly-like, but instead, he seemed to know how to have sex and how all of it worked. Weird. I feel like in the midst of coming up with Rak's character, the writers were just as discombobulated as we were. If they wanted him to be innocent, they should've went all the way, that's just how I feel.

As much as I love cringey, I think this series took that and ran with it. I said is somewhere on Reddit, and I'll say it here: I wanted this series to give me weird and cringey but all in a good way like Secret Crush on You, but what’s stunting that the most and more than anything, is the acting. Since seeing episodes 11 and even 12, I feel like the acting thing is more false than true, but at the beginning of this shit, the acting was just bombastically bad. Anytime Rak and Fah were suppose to have a "accidental close proximity", it was so robotic and "this is what the director told us to do" instead of feeling natural, which is why it created a certain cringe that I wasn't ready for.

Moving onto the relationships, like I said, I really liked Fah and Rak at the beginning, but could care less for them by the time they get together. I think both actors did the best they could, but Rak was literally just told to be cute, and Fah was told to only smile when looking at Rak. I hated how one-dimensional Fah was, I hate they gave him no other storyline than to be brooding and smile only when looking and mentioning Fah. Thomas is a great looking man, so it makes it a little less annoying.

The side couples honestly did nothing for me. Hia and Real were nice, but Real was a very red-flag character, and they looked over all of his toxic behavior in favor of hurrying up to get him and Hia together. I already didn't really care for them in the beginning, and I still didn't care for them at the end. Although, they did this hot pickup kiss thing, and I loved it.

What kept me on my toes was the relationship they teased with Lee and Klaijai, and then for them to do basically nothing with it. Very annoying, very much so wasted my time.

I liked that Mike is back in the acting scene, although, I will say he felt rather weird in this role only because he's such a vet actor working with these newbies. I hope he can potentially get his own series with this company. I liked Babe, and then I didn't like Babe. I liked that Rak had someone to go to when he needed to talk, but Babe also felt like a nuance in a lot of key points in the series.

Overall, my feeling is that I think I can understand people watching this and liking it if it's for the purpose of not having to think and not having to over-analyze and you literally just watch to watch. If someone is watching this and liking it because they think it's some ground-breaking, show-stopping series with the best actors in the world... we need to have a very serious discussion.

Ratings;

Story: 6.5/10 - There's not really a story. It's minor conflicts handled all in one or two episodes, minus the problem between Rak and Oh. The fluff did fluff, up until it was too much and too cringy. The romance only did it for me a little, but I'm excited to see these two again in The Next Prince.

Acting: 7.5/10 - I think Kong steadily did better for me by the end, but in the beginning, it was seriously hard to watch. The best actors hands down are Save and Auau (Hia and Real), with Babe, Oh, and Dom's actors following next. Also, Rak's parents did a beautiful job as well, especially in episode 11. Thomas was there to be hot, and I'm not mad about it, trust.

Music: 6/10 - Didn't pay much attention to it, but I do remember it repeating "Your sky" and that's it.

Recommendation Value: 8.5/10 - this is so unserious and so fluffy, just watch for those purposes only. Also, Thomas goes shirtless a handful of times if that's what motivates you.

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Not Really BL

I feel like the majority of what I watched was an action-packed thriller, mystery thing that just happened to take place with characters of the same-sex falling in love. Most stories are suppose to be the complete opposite, with it being majority BL, with the action-pack stuff being there for plot purposes, but the romance the overall goal and objective. I didn't get that with 4 minutes though.

Let's Dive In.

So, 4 Minutes in a nutshell is basically about this rich college guy that (SPOILERS!!) in his moments of dying, gets to go back during these traumatic moments and look 4 minutes into the future to fix his mistakes. One of those mistakes happen to be with a gorgeous surgeon, who also has his own life problem's with Great's family business. Then there's also a side couple who is just as rambunctious and cutthroat with all of their own problems as well.

What I got from the majority of the plot is: they put a lot of money and effort into the characters, story, special effects, etc., but by the 6th episode, I was honestly kind of over everything. I feel like this is the type of series you have to pay attention to, and pay attention to every single little detail, down to the time on the clock, to the writing on the wall. I think I'm just not that kind a person, to get super-duper invested in a series where I'm paying that much attention to the small, what-feels-minuscule moments to then have then be flipped, twisted, and reverse. Had I not watched this with a friend, I'd be in utter shambles trying to figure out with the hell was going on. Which brings me to my point of why this doesn't feel like a BL series. Kind of like Manner of Death, kinda sorta Triage, and other series that deal with this time-warp, time-traveling shenanigans; what they all have in common is that the main goal is for them to figure out what's going on, not within their relationship, but within these weird, mystical powers they've gain the ability to have.

Moving onto the plot twist and whatnot; I think things were handle as well as they could be with such a complex plot, but there were definitely ways I wish they would've done things better. For instance, while Great and Tyme were stuck in Great's hallucinations, we were also seeing Korn and Tonkla's story, but still set in the actual reality. Which is where a lot of the plot gets weird, confusing, and obnoxiously aggravating trying to figure out what is real and what is not. I think most people find it fun to theorize and analyze, but for me, I was just wanting answers immediately, just cause that's how I am. Again, if you're not big on paying very VERY good attention, then you will be just as lost as I was. I understood enough to get me through, but I had to read a breakdown of each episode to figure out what actually happened.

Again, since this isn't really a BL, I feel like I never really got attached to any of the couples, including the main. I think they also didn't receive a good initial start-up for us to even really enjoy the time we get with them. It's literally sex and lust immediately, quite literally on their first interactions. I feel like I didn't get "We're in love" vibes from them at all, not even at the end when they are actually happy together. I think with Tonkla, it wasn't about the relationships at all, it was literally about getting revenge for his brother, no matter who he had to sleep with to get there. I think it was genuine with Korn in the beginning, which they had a really intimate, really beautiful first time NC scene that was done so well, but after that, and with the trauma Tonkla had gone through, it just all turns to shit. His relationship with the police officer was just very hot, and that was kind of it.

This series received so much hype, obviously because of the very explicit NC scenes, which man, did they go all the way, and I mean alllllll the way. I think overall it's a good story, but I think it was one of those things where people only hyped the sex and not the story, so the cast and the crew that put forth the effort of actually trying to tell a decent story gets but on the back-burner because hot-men-naked-and-having-sex-very-explicitly was happening. Kinda sad, but that's just the reality of a series like this.

Ratings:

Story: 7.5/10 - I feel like I got lost a couple times, but overall, you can tell what's happening, you can understand how things are working, and I feel like I enjoyed it enough to want to understand it all by the end. The romance didn't romance enough for me, but I still didn't hate it.

Acting: 9/10 - The best aspect about this series. All the actors did such a fantastic job, and it also didn't hurt that they were all fine as hell. I'm actually very surprised (and worried??) that Tonkla's character was played by such a young and upcoming actor, cause he probably did the best out of everyone imo. Which feels a little weird cause I feel like his scene were the most explicit ones, but... okay.

Music: 7/10 - intro music was nice, I love a little instrumental moment. Other than that, didn't pay it any mind.

Recommendation Value: 6./10 - Eh. I think if you're wanting to jump on the bandwagon and watch specifically because they have great NC scenes, than you wouldn't be alone. The plot itself is heavy, it's complex and it's raw, which a lot of people might not be in the mood for, so it's really a BL that you watch when you're in the mood, period.

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Lovely Story

My guy Go Young could never catch a break, my god. I didn't realize how much I was going to absolutely love this series, and like the majority of what I've watched this year, wish that I would've watched it back when it aired. This is much more than just a BL series, is it a groundbreaking, heartbreaking, soul-chattering series about the reality of a gay man's life in Seoul. What a series. I'm so glad this got the recognition it deserved from around the world, and especially in Korea.

Let's Dive In.

I won't make this long, since there are plenty of reviews here, but I do want to add in my few cents. What a lovely series, seriously. Finally, we get a series with an amazing budget and a perfect run-time, enough to make the story complex and intriguing and totally real. I think that was my favorite part, just being able to watch how much effort and money they put in, the settings, locations, the cinematography, the literal everything.

Yoonsu, the man you are. What a brilliant actor. He took this story and ran with it. I couldn't have though of a better actor to play such a character, a character that was trying to find himself while navigating his sorrowful love life.

I don't have much to say because this series was just perfect. I hate that Go Young couldn't catch a break or that with every episode came these big, life-altering or earth shattering reveals: his mom having cancer, his first boyfriend dying, his second boyfriend using him, his third running away to a different country, the discovery that he had HIV, His mom trying to forcing him to a conservation camp. My goodness, and there's more too! The characters, down to even the ones we don't see that often, all played such an important role of carrying this series. The friend group. Go Young's friend group. Man, each time they got together, for whatever reason, I got so emotional. It's just so nice to see that he has people rallying for him and will be with him no matter what.

This is probably the only series that I'd advocate for a second season. I don't usually care for those, but they left the ending open-ended enough for a possible second season, so let's cross our fingers and hope.

Ratings:

Story: 9/10 - Fantastic. I was entertained throughout. I had no problems watching this without needing to fast-forward or skip. This story flowed nicely and I loved it. There were occasional editing or continuity errors, but other than that, I loved it.

Acting: 10/10 - First time I've ever rated the acting 10 out of 10, but it was just that good. I feel like I've seen good acting, but then I see Yoonsu act, and I think that maybe I haven't lol. He was jaw-dropping in this role, just did such a good job. And then on top of that, the supporting characters did a good job too, all of them.

Music: 6/10 - I didn't pay attention to it. Other than the song they danced to in the club lol.

Recommendation Value: 8.5/10 - I wouldn't recommend this right off the bat, just cause it is pretty sad and it is pretty triggering. The two first episodes had me in shambles, and I almost had to put it on hold. But I fought through and finished it and I'm so glad I did. But again, this isn't something I'd recommend everyone to watch, but if you want a real, heart-wrenching, perfect story, then this is the one for you.

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