cute vertical short series

Overall: this was a slice of life micro series with a satisfying ending. Watched for free on Shortime (took about 3 days). 31 episodes less than 2 minutes each. Shortime (app info below) also has Please Teach Me, The Secrets of Male Students and Buddy Boy.

Content Warnings: non con picture taking, mention of past abuse

What I Liked
- cute moments
- chuckled a few times
- perspective switch
- non cliche female character

Room For Improvement
- more moments after they clearly communicated with each other

Shortimes App Information - Each episode costs 20 popcorn, 4 episodes are free and 27 need to be unlocked, need 540 popcorn to watch the whole series, you can't skip locked episodes and they will re-lock

My Watch For Free Plan (updated Jan 2025)
(on the popcorn rewards page) check in = 5 (increases over 7 days up to 25)
(on the popcorn rewards page, go to the very bottom of the page) = 110, watch all 10 ads each day, have to wait 30 seconds in between ads
(on the popcorn rewards page) turn on notifications = 30 (1 time bonus)
1 friend referral code = 20 (1 time bonus) My invite code is NKNIWI (those are all capital letters, that's the capital letter i)
(I did create a login because otherwise you only get 1 Always Win box instead of 3 per day)
3 random popcorn from the daily Always Win box = 35 (I'd normally get 5-15, around 30 in total)
watch 5 episodes each day with ads
- there are other 1 time bonuses like following on social media so you might be able to finish in 2 days instead of 3 if you did more of the bonuses

Day 1 watch 1-4 (free), 5-16; Day 2 watch 17-28; Day 3 watch 29-30

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a quirky dystopian series (side BL couple)

Overall: bright colors, comedy and a dating game somehow blend well with a dystopian world and sinister underpinnings. 6 episodes about 1 hour each. Aired on Netflix https://www.netflix.com/title/81517158

Content Warnings: death off screen, held against will, manipulation, likely more I'm forgetting

BL Scenes
episode 2: 52-54 (set up)
episode 4: 14:15-19:25, 34:15-34:45, 37:45-40, 49-55:30
episode 5: beginning-1
episode 6: 57-1hr2, 1hr9:15-1hr10:45

What I Liked
- het, GL & BL representation
- it made me laugh a few times
- tension/chemistry
- family relationships
- commentary on freedom/rights

Room For Improvement
- the ending was good but it teased a 2nd season which hasn't been announced

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short & sweet

Overall: this was really well done for an indie production, hope we see more series from them. 3 episodes about 15 minutes each. Aired on 1Camera Studio YoutTube channel https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLF0HYZ-k2RyDMdysEo5OhQNMn9BaPl-B6&si=N372KF0mLKkUpE6M

What I Liked
- centered on the 2 male leads
- supportive female friend (non cliched character) and male friend
- illustrations for the intro
- funny how the friend instantly shifted his attention in episode 1
- good communication in the final episode
- nice way to end the series

Room For Improvement
- voice over exposition dump
- not clearly explained in the flashback why he didn't see him
- I didn't really take off points because this was their first series attempt and I'm sure had little to no budget but somethings they could improve on production wise would be microphones rubbing against clothes, needed more light on their faces in the last scene (even night scenes need light on the actors' faces)

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not the action I was hoping for

Overall: this 1 hour and 25 minutes follow up was fine, but it was very detective/action heavy and less character focused. Now available to watch on Idol Factory's YouTube channel. The first part of five is here https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WfuX7Ln_m9U&ab_channel=IDOLFACTORYOFFICIAL (currently they don't have a YouTube Playlist)

Content Warnings: deaths, grief, violence/fights, blood, kidnapping

What I Liked
- 1 steamy scene was pretty well done though it could have been a bit longer
- element of fantasy though it felt underdeveloped
- they did explain 1 nonsense plot element that happened in the series which I appreciated
- addressed workplace gender discrimination

Room For Improvement
- main characters did not have any character growth, one was still lying and the other was being overly possessive
- many nonsense law enforcement things that took me out of the story
- odd goofy humor/comedy sound effects combined with a very serious plot
- presence of the little girl was not for me
- production needed to shorten up the time that they released it in Thailand/not international friendly streaming option (May 26th) to when they released it on YouTube (June 27th). At least it was only a day or two after it was for paid channel members that they released it for free on YouTube. The too long of a gap happened with the final episode as well, it would be okay if they just shortened the time between releases i.e. live in person event/thaiticketmajor online streaming May 26th, 1 week later YouTube channel members, 4 days after that free on YouTube

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glad we got our follow up

Overall: Stay By My Side ended on a cliffhanger so I'm glad we had this special but I did want a few changes. Aired on Viki & GagaOOLala.

What I Liked
- chemistry/kisses
- sweet moments
- gave us a conclusion we needed
- callbacks to the series

Room For Improvement
- disappointed that they used the same plot device as the series instead of direct communication shortly after the thing that happened at the end of the series
- some wonky camerawork
- added in additional characters and tried to do too much, would have liked to see them narrow the focus more

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only 10 minutes of the 20 minute short film

Overall: the production has made the odd decision to release only 10 minutes of the 20 minute short film. They have a fundraising project here https://www.zeczec.com/projects/Prayinlove_BL where people can pay and see the fully 20 minute short film in July. However, they also want to raise funds for the whole series. I think that they should have released a really engaging short film in its entirety for free and used that to fundraise for the series. They also needed to use an international friendly platform (I didn't see an option to change the language on their current site) and include internationally friendly rewards instead of physical goods that no doubt require a lot more money to ship internationally.

The 10 minute short film is here https://youtu.be/JhYUeHrlABw?si=6JDp9miOUEmpVJBc and it was okay. For a BL movie/series, they needed a better start than a guy surrounded by women flirting with him though.

I do think productions could do crowdfunding for BLs, but if they aren't with well known actors in BL or a sequel to something really popular then they need to have a really amazing trailer/hook, be realistic about how much they can raise with crowdfunding and be international fan friendly with reward levels and crowdfunding platform. I recently participated in a BL manhua kickstarter that exceeded its goal by a lot, so the money is out there if the project is done well.

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fashion industry romance with a side m/m couple

Overall: I enjoyed the fashion industry setting, but it became very soap opera like in parts and dragged at times. 10 episodes broken into 2 parts for 50 minutes per episode total. Aired on WeTV https://wetv.vip/en/play/honrgjq1uhtv8gn-Intern%20In%20My%20Heart

Information for the age gap: first met when he was 8 and she was 21ish, in the present he is 20 and she is 33, based on how this played out I didn't include it as a content warning
Content Warnings: near suicide, non con touching, bullying, non con picture taking/sharing

BL Relevant Scenes
1a 9:45-11
2b 17:15-end
3a 5:15-6 & 19:30-21
4a 14-16:30
4b 6:30-7:40 & 14:10-15
5a 12:30-14:15 & 18-20
5b beginning-2:15 & 13-18:10
6a 5-6:10, 8:40-10 & 18-19:30
6b 8:50-10:30, & 12:10-13:40
8a 21:30-23 & 32-end
8b beginning to 3 & 8-13:30
9a beginning-6:30, 8:20-12, 20:30-23:30, 26-end
9b 21-26
10b 18-18:40 & 20-21

What I Liked
- sweet moments
- friendships (though he shouldn't have touched the guy when the guy didn't want him to)
- character growth

Room For Improvement
- exposition dump
- comedy sound effects
- cliche see something and don't clarify what it is
- stupid decisions/unrealistic actions

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goodish indie short movie

Overall: a decent way to spend 30 minutes. Aired on Wayufilm's YouTube channel https://youtu.be/zFifCdlf9e0?si=SlYCdQQSoMRJF4kV

Content Warnings: homophobia, vomiting, slap

What I Liked
- centered on the two leads with just 2 other characters
- sweet moments*
- good production value for an indie short movie

Room For Improvement
- *I wish their getting to know you/falling in love wasn't done in montages, they could have cut/reduced other scenes (including the time jump) and actually had these scenes with dialogue
- I didn't take off points but I don't think a homophobic parent would have queer movie posters on the wall of their workplace (pretty sure that set is the production's office, however, they could have removed the posters or covered them up)
- because it was a time jump it felt like a very fast/unrealistic turn around for the dad
- using alcohol as a catalyst to their spending time/relationship

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fun crack comedy short series

Overall: this is a fun webseries. Each episode is about 7 minutes long followed by behind the scenes stuff. Watched the cut version at https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLalG2smk62xH9vj-eSvdz7UHexMlChZcf&si=9ek2Td5UmgHkHZVo (not sure what is in the uncut version but I suspect they actually show something in episode 10, looks like the least expensive membership gets you the uncut episodes)

Content Warnings: kick

What I Liked
- comedy
- cute moments
- (neutral) comedy sound effects

Room For Improvement
- ep 1 sitting on the toilet
- didn't understand the insistence that a guy who had feelings for a guy is straight, that is the definition of not straight (maybe this was translated incorrectly/I misunderstood though)
- something that almost happened in episode 10 of the cut version (maybe was shown in the uncut version)

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enjoyed the movie version more than the series version

Overall: this is a condensed version of the series which was 12 episodes about 40 minutes each = 480 minutes. The movie version is 125 minutes long and I liked it more than the series version because it cut out boring side couple stuff and stuck with the focus of Ai and Nhai. You can read my full review of the series here https://mydramalist.com/profile/blcompilations/reviews/233757/ I'm going to point out some differences.

What I Liked
- left out the cute rooftop/coupon scene and there might have been other cute scenes they left out as well
- better ending with the stargazing instead of that random store/shoe tying scene
- had transitions between scenes to help make it feel more cohesive/time had passed (though it can feel a bit choppy)

Room For Improvement: if I had edited this I would have changed a few additional things and then I would have rated it an 8.5
- in the flashback (which I would have shortened) cut out the dads being awful to Ai, the dads lied to him and he has a right to be angry/confused
- added back some of their cute scenes

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very gentle BL/BL adjacent

Overall: I believe this was put on by a BL fan group to promote their store. If they had made things a bit more clear, I would have rated this higher. I would almost call this BL adjacent. Three short episodes on YouTube https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLiXQTcPRrd9SmsXxJ7-8AIwMI3PPKzQNW

Content Warnings: none

What I Liked
- sweet and cute moments
- working in a BL store is a different setting than we've seen in live action series
- it was interesting that the store owners wanted workers to call customers non gendered pronouns though I think it could have been integrated in a bit better

Room For Improvement
- I wanted the mutual attraction to be made more clear, the one guy might have just looked up to him and not in a romantic way, the plot felt incomplete

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Overall: this could have been a 9 or higher if they had made things more clear.

What I Liked
- the sci fi/future aesthetics
- the actors did a good job
- making viewers think about differences between gender, sex and sexual orientation, I find this graphic useful https://au.reachout.com/articles/the-difference-between-gender-sex-and-sexuality

Room For Improvement
- things were just a little too open/not clearly stated, for example, Yi An asks Zhou Yang Kai if he'd like Yi An to be a woman but Zhou Yang Kai doesn't actually respond clearly either way. The ending is fairly open as well, I guess we can infer Yi An's choice but showing Yi An making the selection would have been good so viewers were clear about the decision.

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loved Zeke & Fifth (hope we get an official cut of their scenes)

Overall: I loved the sweet/flirty dynamic and natural chemistry/relationship with Zeke & Fifth. I really hope the writers don't add in some stupid cheating/miscommunication trope in their next series. I want to see these two deal with conflict (mostly external), communicate, and grow together, plus fluff and well done NSFW scenes :) My Story is the sequel to My Day minus one of the protagonists. Aired on Oxin Films YouTube channel, 10 of episodes about 45 minutes each.

Content Warnings: bullying, trans women/effeminate male stereotypes, manhandling, slap, held against will, beaten up, abusive ex and something major at the end of ep 9

What I Liked
- Zeke and Fifth had an enjoyable and realistic dynamic, their flirty banter was great and also both being interested in skinship/sex
- chuckled a few times like it's not 2 inches, it's 8 inches (however the innuendo should not overpower the plot which it does several times)
- cute moments like the cuddling
- calling out toxic masculinity regarding Drake (unfortunately then they were lovey dovey shortly afterwards with no shown character growth from Drake)
- supportive parents and friends
- discussing how sun block is important to protect from the sun not because you don't want your skin darker

Room For Improvement
- the mentality of one take was good enough, sometimes it was cute but it definitely felt low budget
- stereotypes with trans women and effeminate male characters, this is really disappointing to see, the maid outfit, the hypersexualization, the clown humor, I didn't laugh at any of this "humor" and it was featured a lot
- I skipped the main characters' scenes and wasn't really sure why, they just didn't hold my attention
- in episode 1 there was just 1 line and not responding to emails to explain the breakup, wish they gave a better/more fully developed explanation (update, in episode 5 we almost had too much explanation/time spent on it)
- thin plot, I love Chuk Chuk but this is the main plot for 2+ episodes???? if they couldn't come up with an engaging/fleshed out plot then better to have a shorter series such as 6 episodes and make those episodes really awesome
- some relationships moved super fast in the final episode
- choppiness, Fifth had all of a sudden left the house and was walking on the street? a character was in one country in the last episode and then suddenly in a different country?
- non realistic/logical things, Zeke had to be the photographer but then he modeled, so who was the photographer/it obviously wasn't important that he was the photographer
- educators asking students about their sexual positions, no thanks
- the amount of actual commercials (episode 1 starts 4min20s or past the intro at 7min)

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