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BL Compilations
swimming in the BL vortex
Like bubbles, beautiful but empty
Overall: this short fantasy historical series wasted screen time with a love triangle and close up shots. Watched on Viki.Content Warnings: violence, a punch (not between m/m ship)
What I Liked
- the production value was good including the cgi of the barrier
- the premise was set up fairly well
- I liked the guard and the future guy's characters
- a few funny moments
Room For Improvement
- I didn't feel chemistry between the m/m ship, also dead fish lip kisses
- many examples of non-logic or stupid things (did a queen have more power than a king in that time period???)
- it was not obvious that it was a flashback in the final episode and also made zero sense with what was going to happen with the guard vs. what he was supposed to do
- I disliked the extreme closeups
- some shaky camerawork
- I don't think most people would react at 7min 30sec if they were to come upon a scene like that in episode 1
- don't really like the title "Tinted With You." Tinted is a verb, it just seems odd in the title.
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Funny and sweet (we need season 2)
Overall: This high school BL has a mixture of realistic, sweet, cringey and funny moments. I have not read the manga so I can't comment on similarities/differences there. Watched on Viki (My Love Mix-Up)Content Warnings: two slaps not between m/m, homophobia
What I Liked
- subverted tropes, surprising moments (I won't go into details and ruin things but I rarely get pleasantly surprised watching BL and I was when watching this)
- Ida being honest and considerate, thinking about things seriously
- the look on the high schoolers faces when the military guy talks to them is priceless and universal
- supportive friends on both Ida's and Aoki's side, also that Ida's friends weren't stupid
- communication (yes there was also miscommunication, but there were several instances of good communication)
- characters apologizing for mistakes made
- I'm totally fine with the ending but we need a season 2 to see the continuation
- even some really minor side characters were fun to watch
Room For Improvement
- (neutral) Aoki is very energetic/exaggerated which I've noticed in quite a few manga adaptations, luckily the other protagonist is chill so it balances it out. Aoki does have some pretty funny moments.
- the slaps were not needed
- "gay for you" adjacent
- that first volleyball teacher side plot, though I was happy how he handled it
- I almost vomited when that tutor/student teacher asked things those invasive personal questions, no teacher is asking their student those questions
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Kabe Sa Doujin Sakka no Neko Yashiki-kun wa Shouninyokkyou wo Kojiraseteiru
9 mensen vonden deze beoordeling nuttig
good production value and acting, but not a fan of the main character
Overall: the production value and acting was great but I actively disliked Mamoru's character and might be judging more harshly than normal as I was in this type of relationship (low self esteem/affect/morose and happy go lucky) and it was terrible. Aired on Viki.Content Warnings: manhandling, non con photo taking/posting, unwanted outing, homophobia, punch
What I Liked
- funny moments like after Mamoru and his friend/fan ate
- the editing/animation references its manga origin
- Mamoru was set up well
- Issei's backstory for the constant smiling
- Mamoru's female friend/fan
- production value*
Room For Improvement
- really terrible communication especially from Mamoru, but Issei definitely should have talked to Mamoru before he said what he said on the stage
- never saw a reason for Mamoru's moroseness (and drawing nsfw stuff in high school and being (understandably) made fun of for it does not count), and there was a lack of character growth
- non reason in episode 7 and then sudden switch in episode 8
- the false idea that love can cure mental health struggles (been there, tried that, it was awful)
- Issei was at the end of the line, then vanished but later had the book???
- stereotypical character at the convention
-*too much spinning camera work end
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Lost its way
Overall: I had some issues with the beginning episodes but things really went downhill at episode 8 with a cliche plot point at the end of episode 7. Watched on Gagaoolala.Content Warnings: suicidal ideation?, non con/dub con drunk surprise kisses, two punches, slap, comments about weight
What I Liked
- the crack comedy moments like the ukulele randomly appearing during their road trip
- there was an apology for the drunk/surprise kiss which was nice
- they stopped their friend from driving his motorcycle while drunk
- Saint (I hope the actor gets a lead in another production soon)
- some good spitting truth lines like "if you don't respect my decision, then don't be my friend" and "whether you win or lose doesn't matter, as long as you are doing something that you love"
- (neutral) it has some comedy sound effects
Room For Improvement
- overall the plot felt disjointed. Characters would appear and then disappear. As I predicted, 14 guys were just too many (and how did we not have a second m/m ship that developed???) The basketball was a thing, then it vanished, then it returned. The random play for one full episode.
- Soh's nonsense lying, then nonsense getting Mon back and a (once again) pointless love triangle where I wanted the second lead to end up with the ML
- neither Soh nor Mon could give reasons why they liked each other
- Amy liking the basketball coach, ummm no
- Mickey being really immature for that whole episode totally sank his ship
- odd things, it was weird Mon started out with that sucker in his mouth and then had it his whole trip? (we learn more about the sucker in a later episode but it was odd not knowing the reasoning for it). Who sleeps at a dining table and wouldn't go to sleep on the couch?
- the one friend basically said he was going to stay with his girlfriend because he loved her even if that meant he couldn't hang out with his friends
- choppy, it went from "tell me how you got here" to Mon being at college then jumped back to the apartment with Soh and his friend
- slow pacing, I watched most of it at double or more speed
- the finale was disappointing (there is an after credits scene, but we don't know if it's a dream or not)
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unique premise with engaging characters
Overall: I was hooked with the characters' dynamics and the unique world building, but it needed a few more episodes to more fully flesh out the plot. 8 episodes about 40 minutes each. Aired on iQIYI and GagaOOLala (country dependent).Content Warnings: there are several including some major ones, see my review comment for a list under a spoiler tag
What I Liked
- realistic parts, didn't shy away from things like homophobia
- that Myung Ha wanted Yeo Woon to be happy before the penalty was known
- world building (though some parts were rushed)
- sweet moments
- funny moments (that snack shop scene)
- the side character classmate
- being forthright in episode 5
- ongoing physical affection
Room For Improvement
- although the episodes were longer than normal Korean BL, there were many plot threads and some felt underdeveloped/rushed i.e. they didn't clearly explain why a character's personality did a 180, also they kept talking about modeling but didn't explain it until episode 6 and I thought there was a subtitle error (and they also had 2 other characters model and 2 characters' names were similar, which added to my confusion), overall this needed to be a 16 episode kdrama length and then would have been 10/10 (or reduce the number of side plots/characters)
- was a bit confused on who the villains all were at the beginning/their relationships to the characters
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Sahara-sensei to Toki-kun
15 mensen vonden deze beoordeling nuttig
Deze recentie kan spoilers bevatten
didn't feel the chemistry
Overall: although I like each lead character individually, the high school student/teacher dynamic was squicky and I thought Nekoto and Sahara worked better together. I haven't read the source material and am reviewing it on its own merits. 8 episodes about 25 minutes each. Aired on GagaOOLala and iQIYI.Content Warnings: fights, high school teacher/student relationship
What I Liked
- we rarely see a "delinquent" character, he was adorable
- crack comedy (it had the overacting vibe but it worked for me because it didn't have constant comedy sound effects)
- that chase scene in ep 1 was fun
- how a nerd character was good at sports
- styling (except 2 characters were styled younger in the present and older in the past which was strange)
- production value
Room For Improvement
- the writers really got me rooting for Nekoto, they seemed much better matched especially with how everyone (including Toki) continually emphasized that Toki was not an adult, there was a lot of screen time with Nekoto even in the final episode
- high school student/teacher dynamic (the accidental kiss, no shirt/head in Toki's lap, confession) all while Sahara was still Toki's teacher (which has an inherent power imbalance with grades, it is immoral/unethical and in most places illegal as it should be) and then the kiss at the end while Toki was still in high school was squicky, I think they could have mitigated this by having it take place in university (and Sahara not be Toki's teacher, or only for a semester and then they start their relationship later)
- Toki smacked Sahara on the back even though he knew he had a back injury (also reinforced Toki's immaturity)
- the side couple basically vanished
Age Notes: it was difficult to figure out the ages of the characters but in the final episode Toki mentioned that he was in his second year when most of the series took place and by looking at Japan's high school structure (3 years 15-18), Toki would have been 16/17 and then 17/18 at the end when they kissed (still at the high school). In the flashback, it said Toki was in 4th grade. Calculating backwards, he would have been 9 or 10 and Sahara mentioned the incident when he was in high school, let's say he was 16/17 so they'd have about a 7 year age gap. For most of the series in the present, they were 16/17 and 23/24 and then at the very end 17/18 and 24/25.
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beginning was slow, ending was rushed (watch suggestions)
Overall: the initial premise was good but the execution was lacking. 12 episodes about 15 minutes each. Aired on Viki and GagaOOLala (country dependent).Watch Suggestions: (if you want to see the lead interactions and avoid a bunch of drama)
- read the synopsis
- watch episodes 6, 7 and 8
- skip episodes 9 & 10
- watch ep 11 5:35 to the end
- watch ep 12 13:30 to the end (or can watch all of it for a ton of drama that was quickly resolved)
Content Warnings: coercion/blackmail, non con picture/video taking and sharing, slap, 2 more but I'm keeping this spoiler free, one involves an animal
What I Liked
- the beginning was funny and I laughed at 1 fight scene
- visuals
- a few sweet moments
- production value*
Room For Improvement
- the leads don't really start interacting until episode 6 and halfway thru is waaayyyy too late, they had a few seconds in episode 2 and then towards the end of ep 5 but by then I was shipping the one lead with 2 other characters, I didn't really care about all the other stuff that they put in, there just wasn't enough time to do the romance well and with the additions of a love rival, family drama, work struggles etc.
- 6 antagonists was too many for just 3 hours of run time, also most/all antagonists did not have adequate consequences for their actions
- it is totally realistic that someone understands more in a language than what they can speak; however, it was not realistic that every single Korean character could understand Thai in the first few episodes, he should have spoken a few words in Korean to side characters but had his assistant, manager and dad understand Thai, also why was he wearing the translation device when they established that he understands Korean??? (also a character used the translation device to understand him but then later didn't and magically knew Thai, and that taping was live but no one translated into Korean what was said in Thai, how would the audience know what the character said?)
- *it was choppy at times, episode 1 ends with talking to a director and then the beginning of episode 2 is a character in a totally different place/time, two guys in a van talk to a character and then suddenly he is driving a motorcycle, in episode 7 it's complete daylight then the next second it's total darkness, etc.
- comedy sound effects, silly background music
- convenient writing (with the phones in ep 8), someone is injured then magically healed, cliche of overhearing something but ghosting/not communicating
- ending was extremely rushed, things were said but earlier never shown, everything tied sloppily with a bow
- with the series title, they should have had the setting be a cat cafe
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skip episodes 3 and 5
Overall: nothing really happened in this series and when something did happen it felt extremely contrived. You can skip episode 3 (a whole bunch of stupid jealousy) and 5 (a whole bunch of counseling sessions with all combos of characters). This is set in the Love Mechanics universe with mostly new actors. 6 episodes about 45 minutes each. Aired on GagaOOLala and YouTube.Content Warnings: dub/non con kiss, homophobia
What I Liked
- the supportive friends (but had waaaayyyy too much screen time)
- a few cute moments
- Ana's mom and dad
- mentioned how expensive medicine is
- they do allude to them having sex but don't show anything
- that Fuse stands by Ana and they talk in the car in episode 4 about what happened and stands up for their relationship again
- neutral, there are comedy sound effects
FYI the title Future might come from the character's name, Anakhot, which means "future" in Thai.
Room For Improvement
- the plot is bogged down by not needed conversations/texts with Ana and Fuse's parents and friends, in the final episode out of 40 minutes there was a 4 minute scene towards the beginning and a 4 minute scene at the end with just the two of them (and even at the end it wasn't just the two of them exactly), so only 8 minutes of 40 minutes was spent on the protagonists with each other?!!!!! The plot in these 6 episodes could have easily been cut down to 2 episodes.
- Ana is set up to be very shy and then there is a (pointless) 1 year time jump and suddenly he is extremely forthright/flirty???
- a bunch of characters were introduced really quickly but I figured out the main couple at least
- nonsense plot and dialogue, who on earth would say 'you have to be my wife/bottom' to a near stranger, do they like each other, why??? completely ridiculous (and not in the fun way) jealousy
- the protagonists seem too immature to be in a relationship with anyone
- that bizarre conversation with that guy at the end came out of nowhere, and why does it matter if someone has had many partners or has many partners, what century are we living in
- loud and constant music
- crying without tears
- many subtitle errors that negatively affected understanding what was being said, I wish Gaga had cleaned up the subtitles I assume they were given by the production company
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enjoyed the first 4 episodes
Overall: I was really enjoying the chemistry in the first 4 episodes but the last 2 didn't work for me. 6 episodes about 35 minutes each. Aired on WeTV https://wetv.vip/en/play/x9f8tbtrynespbk-Memory%20in%20the%20letter%20(Uncut%20Ver.)/x0048wdyxbh-EP1%3A%20Memory%20in%20the%20letter%20(Uncut%20Ver.) A spoiler comment with additional thoughts.Content Warnings: punch/parental abuse, stalking
What I Liked
- unique premise
- mystery aspect
- sweet moments
- chemistry
Room For Improvement
- though I'm normally not a fan of montages to show time passing, I think they needed one because it seemed a bit rushed for what happened at the end of episode 1 to happen
- love rival (this kept me from fully investing in the couple)
- Christmas music
- the dad's redemption arc was poorly done
- never explained exactly what happened to the mom, was it an accident, how did that happen???
- unrealistic things i.e. lugging something up to the roof and leaning on it without worrying about it tipping over, something taking only 5 years which for that kind of case would be a person with much more training/experience, no one really concerned over something, etc.
- awkward kiss in episode 6
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happy for now? (watch suggestions)
Overall: the first episode and a half were so amazing in the first 4 episodes. But annoying plot points and the cliffhanger/terrible ending ruined the series for me. I was happy when I heard there would be 4 more episodes but they again did annoying plot points. I feel that this couple will break up after a few weeks or months which greatly impacted my enjoyment of the series. Aired on SUKFILM's YouTube channel https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLYfaogVGCvwTczUW4K1YELu_cWQfUQ21a&si=Ae7a-g86tOGEtGNN I'm watching the cut/non-member version which has less kissing (and I heard an epilogue at the end of episode 8). Here is my review of the first 4 episodes https://mydramalist.com/profile/blcompilations/reviews/354841Watch Suggestions
- start episode 5 at 7 minutes
- stop episode 6 at 3:20 (unless you want another overused plot point)
- skip episode 7
- watch episode 8 at 13:30 to the end
What I Liked
- the main leads when they were cute together
- acting
- kissing
- music
Room For Improvement
- due to a lack of trust and communication skills, I predict the characters break up in a few weeks or months which is not what I'm looking for in romance series
- did not need over half of episode 5 to be filled with a cliche female character
- did not want to see the character they introduced in episode 6, should have focused the time on developing the leads' relationship
- why was everyone extremely into 1 character? it felt unrealistic
- there was no reason to do what they did in episode 7 and apparently the ending scene was a dream which was not clear at all, but even him dreaming left a sour taste in my mouth
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skip episodes 3 and 4
Overall: the first two episodes were cute and promising but it went downhill in the 3rd and 4th episodes and it just couldn't recover. They combined 5 of the TikTok episodes into each longer YouTube episode. Aired 7 episodes about 30 minutes each on the Puregold YouTube channel (from what I gather Puregold is a grocery store chain in the Philippines)Content Warnings: non con video recording and posting, past death
What I Liked
- a few central characters
- the dad (initially)
- that they explained the word Plantito towards the beginning (a guy who likes plants/gardening)
- cockroach scene
- eventually explained about Mico's sister
- Mico's abs
Room For Improvement
- they needed to show why Mico and Charlie liked one another, more bonding moments and less Bianca time
- before my rant, I need to say that video recording someone against their will and publicly posting it could get a survivor of intimate partner violence killed
- disliked several characters in eps 3 and 4, I was enjoying Charlie's dad but then his answer to Charlie's illegal actions was 'don't worry if you get sued I'll get you a good lawyer' like WTH?!? Charlie was obsessed with making money but we didn't have any real indication that they are poor until episode 6 so he came across as very self-centered/materialistic. Bianca gave awful advice but Charlie was a grown adult and could make his own decisions. And after being rightfully yelled at, Charlie didn't even do what was instructed (he hid them instead of deleting them which are not the same thing). Then he wallowed in self pity. He didn't seem sad about missing a chance to date Mico, more that he wouldn't be popular/make money with his vlog
- kind of a dig with the comment that his neighbor seemed too big to be a trans man in episode 1
- hiring Charlie as a social media manager made zero sense
- rushed ending
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watch this short masterpiece (on GagaOOLala)
Beautiful, realistic, brilliant. I don't even have words to say how well done this short film is but I'll try without spoiling anything. This story and characters felt extremely realistic and relatable, these are people I could meet in real life. All three/four of the actors did an amazing job, it was especially great to see Huang Chun Chih again (lead in HIStory 3: Make Our Days Count). This is an exemplar of how to do a short film well. You have a narrow plot/idea that you want to convey with only a few characters/locations.My only complaint is that it's too short and we need a whole series or a full length movie to really delve into the glimpses that we got here. Watched on GagaOOLala.
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a cute short movie
Overall: a writer is told his poem? script? isn't honest and his friend tries to help himContent Warnings: internalized homophobia
What I Liked
- there was some nice piano music
- come cute moments
Room For Improvement
- it isn't clear what their relationship is at the beginning, I guessed that they were platonic friends but that could have been made more clear
- I wasn't sure if everything we saw actually happened, or if some of it was in his imagination
- some of the lighting was too dark
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A short story about confessing to a crush
Overall: a short (10 minutes) story about a webtoon writer and his crush. You can watch it on gagaoolala.Content Warnings: none
What I Liked
- Yoo-seong's shirt "keep cool, don't run..."
- the chicken costume was cute
- I liked the boss's character
Room For Improvement
- we aren't given any background on how or why Yoo-seong developed the crush on Tae-woo
- it's an open ending, sometimes I don't mind them but normally I wish there was more resolution. We really have no idea how things turn out at the end of this.
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Cute 15 min film
Overall: short & sweet. Able to watch on GagaOOLala for free https://www.gagaoolala.com/en/videos/3498/delivery-boy-2019 and also officially on YouTube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CL6MbI2dHzwContent Warnings: none
What I Liked
- fun jokes/lines such as, I'll bring the glue to put together your broken heart
- the symmetry of Eric wearing the jacket at the end that Chun Ho wore at the beginning
- loved the song he danced to towards the beginning
- his friend Jasper is amazing and that last shot is hilarious
Room For Improvement
- it would have been fun if Eric actually spoke the language and heard what the Chun Ho said when the bag of oranges fell (and we find that out later on)
- some improbable moments/lines
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