silly and short series

Overall: this is a short romcom filled with cliches, but it made me laugh so I rated it an 8. Aired on Rookie Thailand's YouTube channel and their TikTok.

Content Warnings: none

What I Liked
- it made me laugh a few times (including the drunk dancing)
- (neutral) comedy sound effects

Room For Improvement
- the organizing guy was unprofessional in the beginning, but he made amends
- this thing was full of cliches but it really didn't bother me that much
- that didn't really feel like an ending, wish they had more fully developed/concluded the story

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Make this a whole series, pretty please?

Overall: In about 15 minutes, Strongberry again delivers a well written & acted story (you can watch it on YouTube)
Content Warnings: none

What I Liked
- the actors, they did a great job and have good chemistry (except the first kiss* in part 2, I give them a pass on the kiss in part 1 because it might have been the characters' first kiss)
- the background music was nice
- a short and sweet story
- I liked how the camerawork moved a bit more when they were walking but it wasn't too shaky

Room For Improvement/Questions
- the scene towards the end of part 2 was a too dimly lit for me
- I don't like how he called his boyfriend a pervert, I realize that he is joking, but it feels like an undercurrent of homophobia or looking down on when someone wants to be physical in a relationship...and I didn't like the cheater line either - maybe this is a translation thing
- doesn't the other guy have to serve in the military as well? Why wouldn't they have joined at the same time, now they'll have 4 years apart right? Or does he have a medical exemption? I'm confused by this.
- *that first kiss in part 2...I don't think anyone kisses a significant other like this, at least both people would pucker their lips a bit. Since they are in public, it could have been a cheek kiss instead.

I really hope Strongberry continues to make more and longer things. I bet if they did a Kickstarter for this to be a whole series or a sequel for Long Time No See, people would contribute. Right now they have YouTube channel membership. Wishing them all the best!!!

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disappointed with the writing (start at ep 7)

Overall: I was hoping for continued character growth from Minato and Shin but unfortunately the first 6 episodes went back to square one but also circled around and around the very tired poor communication cliche. It pains me to rate this under an 8 but a 29 year old is somehow more immature than a 5 year old. 12 episodes about 25 minutes each. Aired on GagaOOLala except for Japan, South Korea or Taiwan. This is my review of the first season https://mydramalist.com/profile/blcompilations/reviews/217311/

Watch advice: start at episode 7, end at episode 9 towards the end when Shu is on the stairs, maybe pick it up in episode 11 though Minato frustrates me again in that episode (Shu/Asuka have a cute interaction around 8 minutes), definitely pick it up in episode 12 around 9 minutes with the letter.

Content Warnings: manipulation, 18 year old and 29 year old (they way the story unfolds the age gap does not bother me), Shin is a bit aggressive maybe dub con though they are in an established relationship

What I Liked
- good recap at the beginning
- cute intro/OST
- callbacks to the first season
- some sweet/funny moments
- Shin seeks communication and listed reasons of why he likes Minato
- Asuka and Shu grew on me more and more as the series went on and how they talked with each other and figured out what their partner wanted/needed and tried to meet those needs
- production value

Room For Improvement
- disappointed how Minato constantly refuses verbal or physical affection, was hoping to see that he was working on this/had become more comfortable after 3 months, wish they had made him still nervous in front of other people but affectionate when it was just the two of them and then this season he worked on PDA (public displays of affection), in season 1 I excused Minato's behavior due to internal/external homophobia and societal pressure but in season 2 it really seems that he's not ready to be in a romantic relationship with a man (or really anyone due to his awful communication skills and unwillingness to work on what his partner wants in a relationship), even at the very end they show Minato as being reluctant or joking with Shin related to physical/verbal affection
- the cliche plot points, it felt like a poorly written fanfic story, I did some research and it is almost medically impossible for that to happen to Shin in the way that they portrayed it as happening, totally lazy writing

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dark and messy soap opera style series with cute side m/m couple

Overall: this isn't the type of plot (dark/murder mystery) that I enjoy, but I think they did a good job with it. Wish the side m/m couple would have had more screen time. Watched on YouTube.

Content Warnings: pretty much every single one, this could be really triggering for people so please take care if you watch the whole thing

Timings for the side m/m couple (in case you'd like to just see their scenes, I think I got most of them). The best are episode 5 part 4 and episode 6 part 1.
ep 2 4/4, 3m30s
ep 3 2/4, 1:30
ep 5 3/4, 4
ep 5 4/4, beginning
ep 6 1/4, 9
ep 8 3/4, beginning
ep 14 2/4, 4
ep 16 3/4, 13 and 16
ep 17 2/4, 1m10s
ep 18 4/4 4m30s

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want the actors in something with a better script

Overall: I really want to rate this higher (and I think I'm being gracious with a 7), but the writing/plot is nonsensical and jumpy. Watched on Viki.

Content Warnings: none

What I Liked
- the OST/music
- the kiss
- a few cute moments
- Tommy's outfits

Room For Improvement
- the plot was really lacking, there were too many characters and plot threads that didn't tie together. Scenes sometimes jumped randomly and did not feel well connected to one another. Episode 7 had a major event that happened off screen?! Cliche plot point in the 7th episode, bleh! A 1 year time jump in the final episode?!
- did not feel chemistry between the leads or a good development of their romantic relationship
- really dumb rescue breathing, he didn't check to see if he wasn't breathing (i.e. was rescue breathing required???) or a pulse first, this seemed like a stupid plot device and there are many other fun ways that the two could have met
- the worst business plan ever, Ba Da makes really awful/stupid decisions all the way to the end of the series
- I like more realistic make up, but the actors needed some eyeliner and lip color, they looked ill
- too many drone shots

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poorly done slice of life

Overall: I would advise starting it at ep 5 34 minutes and you'll avoid a whole bunch of random child characters. This is from the same production company that made: Ai Long Nhai, Coffee Melody, With Love and Second Chance. 10 episodes about 40 minutes long aired on GagaOOLala and iQIYI.

Content Warnings: past death/grief, blood, bullying, hit/kick/punch, transphobia mentioned, intimate partner violence, drug addiction

What I Liked
- Khana and Pao (who had almost no screen time)
- how Barbie called out those bullies in ep 1
- good discussion of how if you are queer you are held to a higher perfection standard, you have to represent all queer people and can't make mistakes/learn like non-queer people*
- supportive friends
- Tin told his mom off

Room For Improvement
- boring, nothing really happened, scenes dragged on for too long they felt randomly thrown together at times
- Tin is maybe supposed to be in university but acts like he's in middle school, comes across as whiny and immature and he didn't know what a boner was???
- too many characters including children, lack of development with main characters specifically Kana and Pao
- *the trope of a hypersexual trans woman
- not into the Park/Tin dynamic, the cold/angry/reluctant guy hitting the peppy/persistent/harassing character, in ep 2 also Park randomly was flirty at one point which was an odd shift, Park later had a personality transplant in the second half of the series and was super flirty which was better
- comedy sound effects didn't make things funny, I didn't laugh once
- ep 1 started with a voice over/exposition dump
- why doesn't anyone called an ambulance, they just stand around shouting and that cpr technique was terrible

Question - what does Tin Tem Jai mean,? Tin is a character's name, internet searching says 'tem' is 'to do' or 'to make' and 'jai' is 'heart'.

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unique premise let down by writing

Overall: this could have been a 10/10 with solid writing but the writers wrecked the plot and the four main characters in episode 10 except Tien. 12 episodes 45 minutes each. Note: La Pluie means The Rain in French. Airing on iQIYI .

Content Warnings: punches

What I Liked
- a unique premise
- sweet moments
- couple funny parts
- pretty good consent with stopping in the middle, but realistic offering to do something else (except did not like the "can't hold back" in ep 10)
- how the brothers have opposite personalities and how Tien gave some solid advice, Tien was my favorite character (best line "talking to you is a waste of a good mood")
- Tai's dad
- supportive friends
- NSFW/kissing were decent
- GL (but introduced too late/underdeveloped)

Room For Improvement
- episode 10 ruined most main characters, they all somehow became more immature than Tien
- cliche plot points (the ex girlfriend and Nara had way too much screen time, how characters just happened to be at the right place at the right time and see misleading things and then storm off, etc)
- an exposition dump for most of the world building and then convenient/poorly done world building later on
- though episode 2 was nice from Patts perspective, it re-told too much of episode 1
- sound stuff (music during a serious part was comedy like, no noise at the bar in episode 3, awful gulp noise)
- episode 4 discovery was very anti climactic
- too many flashbacks
- unrealistic things (why is Tai always wearing sweaters in very hot Thailand?, he couldn't have walked very far, it took a whole night for a car to reach them? neighbors never ran into each other?)
- how they characterized the mom as it more of her fault (who was the breadwinner and likely trying to get 4 kids thru school without crippling debt) as the flawed one and the dad didn't have any flaws
- Tai was too immature to be in a relationship, I understand that even adults can be traumatized with their parents divorcing but walking out of a certain something was the nail in the coffin for his character's ability to be in a relationship
- what Lomfon did could be seen as manipulative and embarrassing instead of romantic, which he had talked to Tien beforehand instead of afterwards
- crying without tears
- I took a half point off my review for the nonsense at the end with Lomfon and Tien

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what a special episode should be

Overall: we had 27 minutes of new content that was a progression of their story and fluff which is exactly what I was looking for in a special episode. Available on GagaOOLala & Viki (country dependent).

What I Liked
- sweet/fluff moments
- intimacy/physical affection
- styling
- continuation of their story

Room For Improvement
- the 2 cringey fall, catch and awkward holds
- some of the camerawork felt low budget/shaky
- needed the production to include the 2 characters at the end into the special's intro sequence to refresh viewers' memories, per the review comment they are the cousin/colleague and the driver from the series, I'm likely not the only person who had no idea who they were so their appearance felt random

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Thai romcom

Overall: this is the epitome of a Thai romcom. 12 episodes about 45 minutes each. Aired on GMMTV's YouTube channel, playlist https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLszepnkojZI72NwYDLdpMM17t-B-9BvTB&si=1Jdv5bf4kpg-sShr

Content Warnings: held against will, harassment, past death, non con video taking/sharing/unwanted public outing, manipulation

What I Liked
- clear premise
- a few central characters
- cute moments
- supportive friends
- Kang's supportive mom and that Moo's mom was smart and saw thru him (not a fan of how Moo's mom later though)
- briefly addressed a downside of shipping culture

Room For Improvement
- wish Kang had shown Moo some interest instead of showing distaste and then turning his back to show the viewer that he enjoyed Moo's flirting for the first 5 episodes
- after a clear rejection in an episode, I wanted Kang to be the one to approach Moo but unfortunately it was once again Moo
- comedy sound effects were excessive and detracted from the comedy
- cliche/not needed angst towards the end (to avoid this you can stop watching at episode 10 part 2, 10 minutes and start it again at episode 12 part 2 at 4 minutes
- a CEO suddenly changed his mind felt like 'because the writer said so'
- the time jump and then a voice over exposition dump at the end of the series
- could have condensed the series for faster pacing

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well done realistic movie

Overall: two realistically flawed characters and friends work to figure out what they want in their lives. Watched on GagaOOLala https://www.gagaoolala.com/en/videos/3082/made-on-rooftop-2020

Content Warnings: hit with a broom, grief

What I Liked
- character growth from the two main characters
- Sunja was awesome, favorite lines "get your shit together" and "you are pretty but you need to do more than just talk"
- how Min Ho was direct and sought to communicate (though didn't appreciate some of his comments in the Live)
- their friendship felt realistic, they both got annoyed with and supported each other
- cute moments
- funny moments (I snorted at the beans)
- production value
- the symbolism of the plants on the rooftop

Room For Improvement
- the beginning was unnecessarily confusing because of showing the present, flashback and then present again without clear time jumps
- he didn't know the password? but maybe that shows how their communication/relationship wasn't the best
- wanted a little more communication around what Bong Shik revealed, it didn't need to be preachy but many people are mis or uninformed and I think it was a missed opportunity (i.e. he could explain what he was taking and what the risks would be)
- I needed a bit more closure/less open ending with 1 couple

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swam in circles

Overall: this is a kind of sequel/retelling of Until We Meet Again with a shift in the main couple focus from Dean/Pharm to Win/Team. People will enjoy Between Us more if they've seen Until We Meet Again first. Note that when Team says 'brother' it means his cousin, not his biological brother. Aired on Wabi Sabi's YouTube membership channel and iQIYI.

Content Warnings: non con touching/kissing, manhandling, slap, past death, grief/trauma, homophobia (another huge content warning in a comment under a spoiler)

What I Liked
- seeing some familiar faces/characters from the first series reprise their roles
- new and extended scenes of Win and Team (return of the broccoli!)
- Win checking on Team's intoxication level
- sweet moments
- some funny moments
- the discussion about homophobia
- Win's older brother/gaming couple
- friendship between Pharm, Manow and Team
- Win and his siblings' relationships (especially Win and his younger brother)
- how Win didn't push Team to tell him about his past

Room For Improvement
- my main issue was that they went around and around, this story could have been told in 6 episodes instead of 12
- 5 couples was too many couples
- I don't understand Win's character, if they had given some background about a bad breakup or something then his actions would make sense, but they haven't shown us as an audience and so he just seems really hot and cold
- Team was oddly reluctant at times and also oddly hot and cold (mostly cold), how was Team more reluctant than Pharm (Pharm!!!) in the final episode?!?
- terrible communication between Team and Win
- for people who did not see UWMA I think this would be a bit confusing, I did want to see when Team, Pharm and Manow first met because all of a sudden they are talking as friends
- Win feels more of a jerk (what on earth was that dialogue during the hurt/care scene in ep 1) and Team is more vulnerable/less sassy and I didn't like the change
- the non con part before they went to the hotel room in ep 1
- Win's shifting hair roots (didn't take off review points for this though)
- camera blocking shots in the kissing scene in ep 1
- the conversation between Bee and Prince in ep 9 was odd, university students in Thailand don't know about bi/pan as a possibility?
- using almost the exact same music (even background music) from UWMA one of which goes with a really tragic scene in UWMA

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amazing chemistry/dynamic (need Tod & Boy as main leads again!) but with lackluster writing

Overall: Pluem and Kevin have some of the best chemistry/physical affection of any m/m couple that I've ever seen. Unfortunately the writing was not great otherwise this could have been a 10/10. Also don't be nervous about the title of the series (see my comment spoiler). Aired on GagaOOLala and YouTube.

Content Warnings: kind of something off screen, keeping this spoiler free, you can look in my comments

What I Liked
- Kevin and Pluem have some of the best physical affection that I have ever seen (hand holding/rubbing, side hugs, sniff kisses, etc)
- consent examples
- that Kevin is actually interested in ghosts/wants to see them
- mystery element/premise
- funny moments
- sweet fluffy moments
- production value

Room For Improvement
- the writing was the main weakness: confusing world building, plot threads that weren't fully explained, plot holes, too many characters (a random character kind of thrown in), a character did something super cliche (and out of character) in ep 7 and beginning of 8, I'd suggest just skipping to 14 minutes in ep 8
- the commercial breaks were kept in GagaOOLala (but I didn't deduct for this)

Citeste mai mult

cute follow up

Overall: this takes place directly after episode 12 with the focus on the main couple. Watched on Gagaoolala, also on Viki.

Content Warnings: none

What I Liked
- cute moments (the jealousy, kissing, outfits, hairstyle, cuddle, etc)
- interesting concept for a special episode
- neutral on the season 1 flashbacks, it was maybe helpful to remind people of a couple of key moments but also kind of felt like filler

Room For Improvement
- I'm kind of confused with what the phone did because then doesn't that mean the 2nd hop would have changed their future?

Citeste mai mult

Standard Korean BL Series

Overall: the general comments below applies to a whole bunch of Korean BL. I'd say overall it's fine, but suffers from the same issues as other series. Watched on Viki (minor spoilers)

Content Warnings: murders (off screen), suicide, dub con kiss (sleeping)

What I Liked
- good production value
- the flashbacks were obvious
- I thought Yeon Seok's personality (with his confidence/big ego) was funny in the beginning
- the cat magical creature pretty much declares she is asexual, I appreciate the representation and I wish this character was more fully developed
- that both Sin Bi and Ha Yeon called Yeon Seok for being a jerk because he was a jerk

Room For Improvement
- choppy/rushed, I didn't really understand/buy into the sudden shift with Yeon Seok's feelings
- cliche poor communication at the end and Ha Yeon being angry at Yeon Seok when Yeon Seok is doing exactly what Ha Yeon asked him to do (eyeroll)
- pointless love triangle, that screen time could have gone to developing the m/m romance and/or fleshing out the cat goddess character
- the kissing was okay but not great
- why did Ha Yeon get killed the second time, we just never know???

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Plot Rushed

Overall: They tried to make the plot too complex for a short runtime and I don't even think I'd call this BL. Because they did a 'Yoo Han is kidnapped' plot, Yeon Woo is not available to pair with anyone else romantically. Watched on Viki.

Content Warnings: bullying, side character deaths, fight scenes

What I Liked:
- good production value
- good acting

Room For Improvement
- very confusing/rushed/overly complicated plot - there's a secret bar, tea, pills, vantablack, fake candy factory, grayscale, probe surgery, a bunch of new characters introduced
- I really enjoyed season 1s vibe that was kind of dangerous/obsessive, this does not have that same vibe
- that kiss was mostly camera angle tricks and it was in a dream
- what idiot characters take drinks or pills from very shady characters, at least one could have faked taking the pill
- odd/non logical things such as: Yeon Woo just happens to leave around his very important notebook, also his aunt leaves something really important in a place that Yeon Woo can easily find (when has keeping secrets ever worked out well btw), if telling her bullies about her brother would stop her from being bullied why wouldn't she do that?, she suddenly dies (I'm sure there's a plot twist in that but it felt so random), the grandpa would know the truth wouldn't he tell the classmate? better to say nothing at all then a totally unhelpful "run away", the brother knew his sister was being bullied wouldn't he intervene?, no way the mom's headband would look brand new after years in the water, what exactly even happened with the mom? why would they do that elaborate candy factory thing when they could just go and kidnap monos?

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