Predictable storyline

Our Dating Sim starts off with an interesting first episode but turns out to be terribly predictable in how it unfolds. The leads have some chemistry but the tension didn’t feel as tense as it should have most of the time.

Perhaps many people will find this thrilling because it’s about the one who got away and returned, making the reunion even sweeter and more satisfying.

But was it just the way I liked? Hmm, not quite. The relationship wasn’t particularly memorable and the story got way too predictable and stale after a while.

There could have been more depth to their characters instead of taking a shortcut with the cliche (and also unrealistic??) “I have always liked you” / "I have been waiting for you to return" narrative.


Full review: https://asianblreviews.wordpress.com/2023/05/17/our-dating-sim-2023-bl-review/

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Everything about this was disappointing :(

I thought I would really enjoy this because 1) It involves sports (I LOVE SPORTS-THEMED SHOWS!) and 2) the rivals-to-lovers trope usually never fails to sizzle. In this series, both aspects managed to fall miserably flat.

Dayeol was a fairly bland character and I seriously struggled to connect to him in the earlier episodes.

The other character, Tae-hyun, was slightly more interesting. I appreciated that underlying his extroverted, playful behaviour is a tragic backstory. This provided more context and complexity to his character, but overall I didn’t really enjoy watching him.

Taehyun was way too much of an emotional trainwreck for me to root for the couple. There was also no satisfying resolution to their conflict, let alone meaningful character development. What a baffling happily-ever-after.

Full review: https://asianblreviews.wordpress.com/2023/04/26/a-shoulder-to-cry-on-2023-bl/

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Lives up to its expectations

In the second installment, it becomes clear why the show is titled “Glory”. Everyone chases glory in their own way and all the characters are led down a path of destruction in their pursuit of it.

There’s no judgement on whether particular interpretations of ‘glory’ are good or bad – the point that this show makes is that all glories must come at a cost.

Here's the thing: If you thought part 1 had absurd moments and events that were timed almost too conveniently, part 2 is the same. It's unclear how some parts of the revenge plot unfolded the way it did because there was a huge element of luck and coincidence in so many events.

If you're looking for an elaborate, heist-style revenge scheme, this doesn't really scratch the itch. But the colourful characters and constant drama is enough to compel.

I also wish more time (or a new season?!?!?!) was devoted to Dong-eun helping Yeojong with his revenge.

Overall, this was a good revenge story with decent pacing and interesting characters.

Full review: https://asianblreviews.wordpress.com/2023/04/20/the-glory-s2-2023-review/

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Seriously regrettable waste of a promising storyline

Gosh, how I have missed HIStory, Taiwan’s most reliable BL series. But this one only disappointed with a plot that spun out of control. Towards the end, I spent most of the episodes praying for the end to come swiftly.

This season of HIStory has a mix of both predictable and original romance storylines. The story about the manager and the new guy is a typical BL narrative while Johnny and Haiyi’s story was filled with more surprises and unpredictability.

The time travel plot is certainly a creative one, but wasn’t as well-executed as I expected.

All in all, the show has several conflicts/tensions stretched out across 20 episodes. Some episodes (the earlier ones, especially) are better than others. Unfortunately, the relationships go downhill in the second half of the show with a lame, poorly-written conflict. It’s supposed to make sense at the end but ehhhhh… I’m not sure it changes my review.

Full review here: https://asianblreviews.wordpress.com/2023/03/17/history-5-2022-love-in-the-future-review/

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No truly meaningful points being made

TKTAK features a classic trope: Dorky guy falls in love with the popular guy in class. Turns out, popular guy secretly likes dorky guy as well.

The conflict for this series centres around how this seemingly odd pair strives to maintain a distance in school even though they’re dating. And naturally – as the couple faces social pressures from school cliques, Amagi constantly worries that Takara will abandon him.

Unfortunately, TKTAK dips its feet into the messy tribulations of adolescent romance without having any truly meaningful points to make about young love. Overall, I wish there was more depth to their relationship and more time spent on building the story to a satisfying conclusion.

But maybe it’s not supposed to reflect the range of emotions that come with real life. Maybe it’s supposed to be a romanticised snapshot of two youngsters in love, who in that moment believe that when tomorrow comes, they will love each other the same.

Full review: https://asianblreviews.wordpress.com/2023/03/13/takara-kun-to-amagi-kun-review/

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Several tropes rolled into 1 rather formulaic show

Roommates of Poongduck 304 features several classic tropes rolled in one. Rich man meets poor man, rich man annoys poor man, they fall in love. Roommates turned lovers. An office romance involving a boss and his subordinate.

South Korean Bls often suffer from terrible pacing and at times, poorly-executed edits and transitions. ROP304 is situated slightly above the 50th percentile for South Korean BLs, but overall failed to mesmerise me in the first few episodes. Their chemistry only improves exponentially after they start dating (seriously prepare yourself for sticky sweet love-drunk moments), but I wish this came through earlier.

The conflict was an interesting and somewhat meaningful one – it explores the strain that is placed on the love interest of public figures. Sadly, few BLs have been able to explore the tensions in a way that is comprehensive and meaningful - ROP304 was no exception.

My full review: https://asianblreviews.wordpress.com/2023/02/19/roommates-of-poongduck-304-bl/

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Lives up to its promise but struggles to surpass expectations

I’ve been following BounPrem for a few years now and Between Us is by far the best story they’ve been in.

If you haven’t managed to catch UWMA (you totally should, btw) and are wondering whether you have to watch it to understand Between Us, I have mixed feelings about this.

The developments between Win and Team are much more rewarding when you consider what the audience already knows (or rather, doesn’t know) from UWMA. This sequel is intended as an expansion pack of UWMA, essentially filling the gaps of how Win and Team’s story started and evolved. And wow, it really provided a surprising glimpse into their relationship.

Perhaps it’s the length of the series (two whole seasons + fluffy side stories in Between Us Special), but I thought Win and Team lost steam after starting out pretty strong in the first half.

The good news is, one of the side couples (Tul and Waan) actually caught my attention. I became increasingly invested in this couple over time, and by the final few episodes, I was way more interested in them than WinTeam.

All in all, Between Us is a perfectly good show with emotional depth, character development and excellent romance. It lives up to its promise as a sequel to UWMA, BUT, struggles to surpass expectations. Perhaps with all the anticipation that has been built over time.

My full review: https://asianblreviews.wordpress.com/2023/02/02/between-us-2022-review-bl/

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Straight outta Wattpad

Kudos to South Korea for always having innovative plots that tend to involve time travel or supernatural occurrences. 

This time, it’s a cursed soul looking for a specific person, and desperately trying to fall in love with them because if he doesn’t, they will end up dying. Just like in all their previous lives.

If not for this plot, the behaviour of the director would actually have been reallllyyyyy creepy and unacceptable. Imagine taking your employee out for dinner on his first night and telling him, “We need to date” / “If you don’t date me, you may die.” 

Frankly, the whole thing gives me the heebie-jeebies and all this could have easily been a HR/police case in the real world… But I’ll cut this story some slack because it’s clearly straight out from Wattpad.

Let's be clear: I don’t have anything against Wattpad-esque shows. Sometimes, a cringey, back-you-up-against-a-wall-and-tell-you-they-won’t-hold-back-any-longer show is exactly what you need. DWBMD is big on these tropes, but thin on the actual love story. It was puzzling how Yudam and Dongbaek fell in love rather quickly, and I couldn’t vibe with their chemistry that much.

The plot, while seemingly promising at first, fell flat on the execution. It was super confusing at some parts and took about 6-7 episodes (OUT OF 10, MIND YOU), for the show to start revealing the backstory of what’s going on. And by the end, I was still left with some unanswered questions.

Full review here: https://asianblreviews.wordpress.com/2023/01/14/director-who-buys-me-dinner-2022-bl-review/

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Started off really weird, got better, but still didn't hit the mark

Big Dragon starts off with a wild, wild night. It’s ratchet, ridiculous and actually makes no sense, and in fact, the first two episodes are extremely problematic.

At the beginning, Yai and Mangkorn's behaviour is insufferable and unlikeable. Let’s be honest, eye candy aside, there’s really no excuse for their toxic behaviour. But it does get better. Somewhat. (You'll be glad to know that there is some character development for Yai, who becomes significantly less bratty towards the end.)

Compared to many other BLs, this entire series is only 8-episodes long. You’ll have to excuse the lack of depth behind each character’s backstory because there really wasn't much they could do with the time they had.  In general, the story arc felt a little rushed – it’s unrealistic how their animosity turned into friendship (and something more) so quickly, and any affection towards each other felt unexplained. 

But at the end of it all, I’m not sure what I’m supposed to feel about this show or its main characters.

Cramming all the backstories and a foe-turned-friends-turned-lovers romance into 8 episodes is surely a bad idea.

Full review on asianblreviews.wordpress.com

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Main leads are super trashy, I stayed for Ping and Tap instead

Fahlan, the first male lead, is a walking red flag - he has no qualms gaslighting his lovers and exhibits alarmingly toxic behaviour when it comes to pursuing others. In the initial stage, it’s unclear if he really has feelings for Sherbet or just wants to win the game of pursuit.

The other male lead, Sherbet, is not any better as he’s drunk half the time. His personality is intended to be sassy, but comes off as arrogant and unlikeable. Both of them are constantly being surrounded by people but their hearts are empty, even if their beds aren’t.

At some point, I decided to fast forward the boring bits (read: all their lame misunderstandings) because their chemistry was nothing to shout about. For all its trashiness, the only reason why I stayed until the end was because of a side couple.

I’m a sucker for the friends-turned-lovers storylines so Ping and Tap. Ping thinks that his love for Tap is unrequited, and Tap does take awhile to come around. The process of how they came to acknowledge and act on their feelings for each other – starting from the small gestures and then progressing into more obvious behaviour – was really quite sweet.

Full review: https://asianblreviews.wordpress.com/2022/11/30/fahlanruk-2022-review-bl/

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An original story with remarkable surprises

Through the interwoven stories of Mieko, Makki, as well as an older Eiji, More Than Words makes the point that all relationships have to evolve with time.

The story takes a particularly interesting turn when Mieko decides to become a surrogate mother for Makki and Eiji’s kid. To the 3 of them, this is the only way they know how to move forward. It’s a way for Makki and Eiji to exist in society, and a way for Mieko to cement her indispensable significance in their lives.

And as the characters are placed under the ultimate test, their fraying relationship teases out the worst tendencies of human nature. I don’t want to spoil what happens in the end so you’ll have to watch it to find out, but the twists and turns that the story takes is remarkable.

The storyline is creative, emotionally wrecking and sometimes, deeply uncomfortable to watch.

More Than Words is a slow burn that you must be prepared to sit through patiently. There are moments where the show just involves 2 people having a conversation while eating a meal. It feels realistic and mundane, which adds to the charm of the show, but can get a little dull if you’re looking for more stimuli.

All in all, it's a truly original story.

Full review: https://asianblreviews.wordpress.com/2022/10/31/more-than-words-2022-review-bl/

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What a gem

I wasn’t expecting to see Earth Pirapat in a Singapore series, let alone a series where he speaks Mandarin, but well, what a gem this turned out to be!!

Earth plays Tae, a Thai swimmer whose mum disapproves of his dreams. His dialogue features a combination of Mandarin, English, and a smattering of Thai, which is really quite amazing if you ask me – I cannot imagine how stressful it must be to deliver lines in (what I assume to be) a completely foreign language.

Compared to the other characters, Earth doesn’t have as many lines in the show, but serious airtime is dedicated to his story. So if you’re a fan of Earth (and swimming), yes, you might want to check this show out.

Plotwise, Victory Lap doesn’t have anything particularly well-developed or complex to offer. But unlike some other series which are all over the place, Victory Lap has decent storytelling and pacing. The story is also driven by its characters - each of the swim club members come with their own problems (and secrets) and I would have liked for the series to be longer so that there’s room to explore everybody’s backstory.

What you can expect from this show: A wholesome swim club story, some comic relief and romance, lots of camaraderie and friendship. 

My full review: https://asianblreviews.wordpress.com/2022/10/16/victory-lap-2020-review-earth-pirapat/

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An elaborate ad for Oishi Honey Lemon but did I watch it still? YES

Thailand will never stop finding the most creative ways to sell stuff and Magic Of Zero is proof.

Will tacky product placements and extended shots of celebs drinking refreshing 0% sugar bottled drinks stop me from lapping up content anyway? It’s LoveMilk, Dew and EarthMix, so don’t be silly. I’m watching it anyway.

This anthology is a reboot of some of the most popular GMMTV couples and basically gives you another chance to watch them be sickeningly cute together. What's not to love right?

But enough about the gay couples for now. I want to talk about Dew and Tu's storyline. I don't want to spoil anything for anybody but seriously, go watch it. I didn't even like them THAT much in F4 but this story was really cute.

Their episode featured a highly unusual plot that turned out to be a refreshing break from the usual GMMTV stuff. I would totally watch an entire series based on this story.

Also, in this episode, you get to see Dew’s character acting silly and cracking jokes. Totally different from his cool, moody self as Ren, so if you want to see Dew being a total CHILD, this episode should do the trick.

My full review here: https://asianblreviews.wordpress.com/2022/09/28/magic-of-zero-2022-review-an-ad-i-would-gladly-sit-through-any-day/

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Laugh out loud funny moments when you least expect it

While Mama Gogo initially appears to be a Thai edition of Magic Mike, this show is so much more than muscle and empty gyrating. What Annie’s crew sells is in short supply in the modern world: A connection to something deeper.

Amidst the roaring crowd and flurry of dollar bills, Mama Gogo makes the point that desire is complex, going beyond just a handsome face and a nice body. It’s about undivided attention and the ability to make others feel seen.

And that’s exactly what Chen (played by Lee Thanat) – my favourite character in the show – demonstrates even without shedding his shirt. I was worried that the debtor-collector relationship between him and Annie was going to be cringey and problematic but their relationship progressed in a really sweet (and surprisingly, not at all weird) way. Chen was the one who saw through Annie for who she is – a single mother struggling to do the best she can.

Earth’s character, Kampan, is supposed to be an antagonist in the show, but he’s not a typical villain. In fact, I have difficulty wrapping my head around his character. If I had to describe him, he’s like a real-life Ken (yeah, like Barbie’s Ken) but with a bit more depth and agency – sometimes, he comes off like a robot with a pre-downloaded personality struggling to masquerade as a human being. Not quite sure what to feel about his character but it’s certainly not Earth’s best performance.

Full review here: https://asianblreviews.wordpress.com/2022/08/30/mama-gogo-2022-review/

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I wanted to see more of the side couple (TimMai!!)

My Secret Love, while a decently produced production, is unfortunately not going to be anywhere near the best BLs out there.

Some gripes I have:

The acting is not great (their crying is exaggerated and facial expressions sometimes out of control), the storyline is not fantastic (seriously? 2 college boys being literally blackmailed into producing BL content is problematic ngl), and some bits are kinda lame (college kids going around pranking people for content is so juvenile, and also, HOW IS IT POSSIBLE people land in a kiss after falling down?).

Do I recommend that you still watch it anyway? Yes, with some caveats:

1) You’re looking for a show that you can just sit and consume mindlessly without thinking too much into or pondering about the deeper questions in life. 2) You’re in between shows and you need a ‘filler’– doesn’t need to be 8/10 level (or even a 7.5), but please, no utter trash either – to tide you over until your next episode. 3)You enjoy slightly meta BL shows about BL.

Okay the third is pushing it slightly. But us BL fans have been spoiled by all the high-quality productions out there (and with more to come!), so run-of-the-mill BLs are no longer going to cut it. So this is, in a way, a happy problem. A very, very happy problem.

Full review: https://asianblreviews.wordpress.com/2022/08/26/my-secret-love-2022-review/

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