Short & Sweet

Overall: a 20 minute movie about a mom visiting her son who is hiding something from her. Make sure to watch carefully during the closing credits until the very end. Watched on Gagaoolala.

Content Warnings: none

What I Liked
- I thought it was funny how the mom started cleaning right when she arrived as I totally relate to this
- that the mom was not stupid

Room For Improvement
- it might have been neat for the mom to realize things when she went to the coffee shop but not say anything, just smile and drink her beverage or lay in wait to see who showed up after she left, but I was okay with how it played out (watch all of the closing credits!)

Citeste mai mult

Road trip story with four guys

Overall: Three friends (and one potential hook up) go on a road trip. I'm grading this on a curve as it's from 2008, low budget and addressed a couple important topics. Watched on gagaoolala.

Content warnings: homophobia (internal & external), a transphobic comment

What I Liked
- that they addressed the topics of HIV, jobs/poverty and homophobia
- the intro song which is played throughout was fun to listen to
- favorite line "change is the most permanent thing in this world"

Room For Improvement
- it appears that Michael got closure but the way he went about it was bad
- I think they could have cut some scenes out or made them shorter and then developed the characters and their relationships with one another more
- the subs had some errors/I didn't understand a few things
- the night scenes were too dark and it was difficult to see

Citeste mai mult

Plot is a vehicle for NSFW scenes

Overall: An interesting premise, but it ends up feeling like just a way to show explicit NSFW scenes. Watched on gagaoolala. It's only an hour and 10 minutes so it's not a huge time investment if you like watching steamy scenes. 

Content warnings: there are very five sexually explicit scenes, 1 dub con

What I Liked
- I liked the sister and wish we could have seen more development of her/their relationship
- the overall premise is interesting, it just needed to be delved into more instead of NSFW scenes
- the color grading, how in the past it was more grey scale. It can be difficult for me to tell when flashbacks happen, but it was very clear in this short(er) movie. 
- that ending scene seems pretty unrealistic but I quite liked it

Room For Improvement
- I wish there was more development/explanation of what was happening with the protagonist's romantic relationship. We mostly get ghosting/ignoring and then just a little at the end. There is an apology, but for what? What happened between them?
- odd, why is the protagonist sleeping in the living room of his parents' house - aren't there at least two bedrooms?
- odd, why wouldn't the protagonist push for the name of the movie where he is named after a character? He just drops it, I'd want to know the movie if it were me...

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A treasure hunt story with zero adventure

Overall: I was expecting either a Lord of the Flies situation or a bunch of guys going at it but didn't really get either. If you want a Lord of the Flies darker vibe maybe try Dangerous Drugs of Sex, The Shortest Distance trilogy or Double Mints. And if you want steamy scenes, look somewhere else like: My Rosy Life - His Rosy Passion, Sweet Curse, The Day Began Yesterday...

Content Warnings: 1 fight, 1 instance of blackmail/manipulation, a couple of very brief full frontal shots mostly dimly lit, mention of something that happened off screen

What I Liked
- ummmm, a bunch of shirtless guys on a beach with some nice tattoos
- the base idea of finding treasure is fun (but this is definitely not The Goonies)
- I actually liked the note at the beginning that said all the actors were over the age of 18 and participated voluntarily

Room For Improvement
- it was odd that they started the story with the group of five. They should have started off with Archie telling the story. When it flashed to his boyfriend in the present, I had no idea what was going on.
- many instances of things that make no sense/are unrealistic. Why does a group going on an adventure bring five plates, spoons, a guitar but no water/little food? How on earth would they have built that structure - with what tools/rope? Archie saying he got them food and they were starving when a previous scene showed them happily eating cooked fish is another example.
- they also shared 1 brain cell. Burning your shirt to do something that you can just wait to do in the morning makes no sense.
- the subtitle towards the end should have been "off" not "on" and that seems really extreme. Also odd that they didn't show that part, Archie just stated it.

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A family centered story

Overall: this centers on Artemisia, a woman with a queer son, a daughter studying/living abroad who then returns with a surprise and a bigoted, penny-pinching mother

Content Warnings: the grandma is very bigoted but it is not shown in a positive way

What I Liked
- the m/m had an actual realistic conversation about thoughts on planning a trip together and whether or not to come out
- the kiddo is super cute
- showing challenges and working through them (Artemisia)
- the mom hanging up that underwear to dry was hilarious

Room For Improvement
- the boyfriend coming over unannounced felt like an ambush and was forcing the son to do something he wasn't yet ready for
- the ending feels a bit abrupt or too open ended, though you can infer what is happening with the son and his boyfriend and I liked the tai chi (I think that's what it is)

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Confusing, low budget BL

Content Warnings: attempted suicide (maybe? like most things in this series, I'm not sure about it)

Overall: I slogged through this series so I could write a review since there were none. I had originally dropped this after the first episode. This was a very confusing, messy, unrealistic plot but the last 2 episodes were better than the first 3.

What I Liked
- the music was decent to good
- the scenic shots were nice
- episodes 4 & 5 have a better production value, still could use mics though

Room For Improvement
- the plot was a disaster, some of it kind of gets explained in episodes 4 or 5, but not all of it is explained and that's too late, also what guest house has only 1 bed?
- the point where Marcus, Yuhan & Drake are together for the first time made zero sense as Marcus was totally angry at the wrong person at that point
- in ep 1 many characters were introduced in quick succession and then it switched between them so I was unsure of who was who
- there was actually more chemistry/relationship development between 2 guys who did not end up together which is so odd
- very low budget, the image loses focus, no tripod, no mics, poor lighting, background noise, wind sounds, etc, also strange pacing or spending time on insignificant things
- I never wondered why we don't get close up shots of people's feet in movies/series until I saw several of those in this one and thought 'yeah, that's gross to look at'
- very novice actors
- fake kiss due to camera angle

Citeste mai mult

not enough runtime for the plot/characters

Overall: this was the victim of the same pitfall as many Korean BLs, 2 hours was not enough time to adequately develop the number of characters/plots that they had. 8 episodes 15 minutes each. Aired on iQIYI and GagaOOLala (Taiwan/SEA countries).

Content Warnings: drugging?, non con touching, manipulation

What I Liked
- ost/their dance/singing numbers
- touched on gay for pay/fanservice
- their visuals

Room For Improvement
- starting with a flashback didn't hook me
- too many characters/plots that weren't developed enough, I didn't really understand the villains "plans", plot was rushed and choppy at times
- cliche plot points like being drunk and forgetting a kiss
- nonsense things (i.e. a deep rooted fear being cured by the power of love)
- too many near kisses (including the one at the end)
- a cold/confident guy paired up with a warm/reluctant guy isn't my favorite dynamic
- confusing release that was announced last minute, all 8 episodes were out for some subscribers/countries on iQIYI, some had 1 or 2 episodes available, Gaga will have 3 episodes a week later
- the odd background music

Citeste mai mult

Actual communication & character growth!

Content Warnings: bullying, maybe that super bizarre meet cute, 
(minor spoilers)

I watched the first 5 episodes but since I'm not a fan of love triangles (rectangles? pentagons?) or slow burn romances, I decided to wait until it was finished and binge the rest if reviews were good. And I'm so glad that I watched the rest (albeit on 1.5 speed).

What I Liked
- hold onto your hats because...characters actually communicate with each other, whaaaaa???? Not perfectly, but there is a bunch of effort and it's so nice to see characters looking for clarification and communication. 
- characters actually apologize for mistakes they made and try to learn/grow from them
- attention to detail with the production/production value. I can tell thought was put into things (such as a character is mentioned to have red ears and his ears are actually red).
- Shi Woon is the best boy, I liked many characters but Shi Woon is a goofball who isn't stupid, more of this please
- the parallel with the cat
- finally a supportive and kind teacher who isn't flirting or hooking up with a student
- some great lines including "steal what, Tae Kyung is not mine just like Da On isn't yours"

Room For Improvement
- that absolutely awful meet cute with the you know what and referring to his butt, no way. The writers must have thought this was funny but it was totally not funny and awful to watch. 
- I know it's based on a game but I wish they would have made the names more unique from each other, because I kept getting confused about which person was being talked about
- It can be slooooooowwww, like those 2 minute lingering glances after a catch and fall, talking slowly, walking slowly
- once again we have the female character who make a terrible decision but at least this one has character growth
- the 2 kisses, especially the 2nd. I give them 1 shocked kiss but when 1 person doesn't move their lips/pucker and the other is making an effort, it looks so awkward. I blame the director/lack of workshopping. Looking at the BTS, neither actor had done an on screen kiss. The actors should have been given some direction/information in a smaller group setting before going to film it.
- the last episode left many things unanswered and felt rushed but perhaps there will be a season 2

Speaking of, I'm looking forward to a season 2 or a spinoff (but don't make me get rid of one of the things on my What I Liked list).

Citeste mai mult

GMMTV ensemble romcom

Overall: this is a very standard Thai romcom which is good or bad depending on your taste. 16 episodes about 45 minutes each. Airing on iQIYI exclusively for U.S., Canada and Thailand; on GMMTVs YouTube channel for everywhere else. The director's more recent BL works include: Absolute Zero, A Boss & a Babe, Between Us and My Only 12%.

Content Warnings: hit, vomiting, manhandling, manipulation

What I Liked
- seeing many GMMTV actors again
- whale spout hairstyle
- took a taxi when drinking
- the friend groups
- sweet moments
- (neutral) this has a lot of comedy sound effects

Room For Improvement
- voice over exposition dump/main character intro
- episode 1 was all set up and there was some slow pacing, slow pacing continued
- a bunch of characters were introduced at once
- nonsense "plans"
- art students transporting important paintings without any carrying cases

Citeste mai mult

enjoyed volumes 1 & 2

Overall: I liked the first two volumes but the third is way too messy for me. 20 episodes about 10-20 minutes each. Airing on CityBoy Log YouTube Channel. Volume 1 playlist https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLZ__edMZliXv2-pPOpBjz6_WOXOarSNhn&si=VWoqMbuFa6eZgH0F

Content Warning: kind of dub/non con kiss (someone was pretending to sleep but the other person didn't know they were awake)

What I Liked
- cute/sweet moments
- visuals
- production value/editing for a vlog style series

Room For Improvement
- that they dodged answering if it was scripted or not for awhile (it was scripted)
- volume 3 took a negative/serious turn
- the non/dub con kiss
- at times I was confused as to who was dating who/liked who

Citeste mai mult

On Hold - Coffee Melody

Overall: the series is very slow and the cliche plot point at the start of ep 7 has made me put this on hold. I'll wait until it finishes airing and maybe pick it up again then. Watched on Viki.

Content Warnings: non con picture taking, gaslighting (from music boss)

What I Liked
- I appreciate an aggressive/obvious flirt
- cute moments like with the cake
- the rainbow poster in the background when the band is practicing
- Duean Yi's family
- (neutral) it has comedy sound effects

Room For Improvement
- wasn't hooked in the first scene
- the fangirling thing
- slow, I watched at 2-3x speed
- cliche plot point at the beginning of episode 7
- I didn't mind the cartoon flowers but I didn't like the cartoon music notes from the piano
- choppiness between some scenes
- random characters like those tween wannabe pop stars
- odd yellow/purple lighting in his room
- that jerk music boss

Citeste mai mult

(Kind Of) Innocent

Overall: I'm reviewing this 5 minute short as separate from the original short & the series. Watched on Gagaoolala.

Content Warnings: strobe/flash lighting

What I Liked
- the music, editing, color grading made it feel like a music video/art film which I think it what they were going for
- that the voice over had some decent communication in it
- the bdsm & costume aspects of it

Room For Improvement
- pretty sure the couple times I laughed out loud was not the effect they were going for
- it was surprisingly PG-13, thought it was going to be a bit steamier (because nothing says sexy like a teddy bear sitting at that table, I realize it was supposed to represent the 1 personality...but still...)
- they could have done whipped cream and licking/sucking it off, blown out a massage candle and dripped hot wax on a guys back or abs, many ways to make this less innocent

Citeste mai mult

mostly chaotic fun

Overall: though I enjoyed the chaotic fun parts, they needed to reduce the episode count to really make it chaotic awesomeness. 12 episodes about 45 minutes each. Airing on WeTV (episode 1 is free and the other episodes will be free but might go back to paid later on) https://wetv.vip/en/album/89w1vvkv6zpo6wf and GagaOOLala everywhere except Japan, (episode 1 is free) https://www.gagaoolala.com/en/videos/4297/knock-knock-boys-2024-e01

Content Warnings: non con touching/voyeurism, dub/non con kiss, non con video taking/sharing, unwanted public outing

What I Liked
- finally we have a character who is inexperienced and also very interested in romance/sex
- that the roommates didn't laugh at a character but they laughed that he made up a story in episode 1, they are being supportive
- showing instead of telling i.e. they showed a character was rich and naive instead of just saying it right away
- laughed several times
- characters established as queer, pansexuality was explained
- good dreams
- sweet moments
- glad they talked about consent but not sure why they needed actual toys at the club meeting (and fyi petroleum jelly degrades toys)
- calling out invasion of privacy and posting pictures online (hope we see actual consequences though)
- production value (some nice camera shots like with the wall in episode 6)

Room For Improvement
- how they start the episode with a flash forward and then move to the present so the episode doesn't pick up where it left off from the previous week
- a character told his female friend something that he had no right to tell her
- I couldn't root for a character to be in a romantic relationship until they clear up what happened in the past, they mostly clear it up but wanted this information sooner
- seemed like Almond missed his first class that a character was late too previously, but perhaps it was a different class with the same professor
- not a fan of what Almond was doing at the end of episode 2 and then again later
- too many near kisses
- toilet humor
- drunk driving after a party
- Peak and Jane could have easily explained things to Thanwa, definitely 'because the writer said so' stuff

Citeste mai mult

has its moments (watch suggestions)

Overall: with a few changes this could have been a super entertaining comedy. As presented, I'm still enjoying chemistry and I have chuckled a few times. 8 episodes about 50 minutes each. Airing on WeTV https://wetv.vip/en/play/m9ytee03pftoltl-OMG%20Vampire%20(Uncut%20Ver.) There is sometimes an additional product placement scene at the end and this review is of the uncut version (which was the only listing originally on MDL), not sure there even is a cut version. Very Great also made Physical Therapy and Crazy Handsome Rich

Content Warnings: death, blood, manipulation, vomiting, harassment, non con touching, dub/non con kissing, stalking, breaking & entering, held against will, beaten up/fights

Watch Suggestions (takes out most of the love triangles, focuses on cute moments & skinship)
- watch episodes 1 & 2 (or read the synopsis and watch the beginning of episode 1)
- watch episode 3 from the beginning to 17:30
- watch episode 4, 9:40 to 10:40, 25:30-26:15, 36:45-39:50, 43-51:50
- watch episode 5, 7:10-16:30, 32-36:20, 42 to the end

What I Liked
- the over the top campy humor made me chuckle a few times (Thaiwilight City)
- beginning scene got my attention
- good kissing
- lack of voice dubbing
- supportive friends
- supportive moms

Room For Improvement
- many world building exposition dumps
- juggled too many plots/relationships for 8 episodes
- nonsense/'because the writer said so' stuff i.e. problem is population increase but then same sex relationships are worse somehow???, why wouldn't he just sleep for 200 years? I guess he was nervous about something happening in 6 years but given his age seemed unlikely, super improbable that would happen to the 4 of them at the exact same time
- Dance of the Sugarplum Fairy music, same music from their past series
- episode 2 when characters argued about who would be the groom
- Poom's "plan" and the non/dub con
- not a fan of 2 men fighting over a woman in het series and definitely not in BL series
- odd that Patrick went from intrigued to very reluctant to head over heels

Citeste mai mult

a little better as it went on (watch suggestions)

Overall: unless you enjoy over the top humor with a ton of comedy sound effects follow my watch suggestions. 8 episodes about 45 minutes each. Aired on Mandee Channel's YouTube (cut), GagaOOLala (cut), iQIYI (uncut) and Viki (I assume cut). Mandee Channel/Domundi also produced Naughty Babe, Bed Friend, Cutie Pie and Why R U.

Watch Suggestion (watch the cut version & play at a faster speed unless noted)
- skip episodes 1, 2 & 3 (though shirtless Mai in ep 3 is nice)
- watch ep 4
- watch ep 5 to 48min/standing on the podium
- watch the uncut version of ep 6 15-18 minutes which includes a brief kiss with the side couple (this scene was totally removed from the cut versions for some bizarre reason)
- watch the uncut version of ep 7, can start at 27 minutes with Gus/Tong or to skip over something sad that happened in the past and start at 37 minutes and end at 43 minutes, then you can watch thru to the end with Mai/Jade or skip to 1hr 4min to see their final scene
- watch the uncut version of ep 8 which has a lot of sweet moments and NSFW scenes with Mai & Jade

Content Warnings: hits played as comedy, vomiting (in uncut ep 2), molestation off screen, past death/grief

What I Liked
- enjoyed some of Uea/King's moments (like in episode 5)
- Mai's flirting (wished they had shown why he liked Jade earlier than ep 5)
- Jade's and Mai's supportive family
- cute moments
- how Jade did have agency in episode 8 and initiated things
- good consent/communication in episode 8
- that it has a wide release on 4 different platforms

Room For Improvement
- the three minutes of cringey animation didn't hook me
- Jade's exaggerated/yelling was irritating especially in the beginning episodes
- cringey editing, voice overs and comedy sound effects that didn't make anything funny
- the side couple was oddly hot and cold (note, apparently the cut version removed several of their scenes which is contributing to their confusing interactions with each other)
- not happy with the Uea/King reluctant/violent dynamic, how King was jealous/retaliatory at Uea in ep 6 for just talking to another guy
- slow pacing/repetitive, in episode 6 as an example Mai had almost a duplicate conversation with his mom
- bad decisions with what they cut, I was happy they cut the vomiting scene in episode 2 but why on earth cut an entire scene including a kiss with the side couple in episode 6??? I normally would expect a cut version to reduce a NSFW scene but there wasn't anything to cut up to episode 7 (and then they did cut the NSFW scenes in ep 7 and 8)
- the NSFW scenes were kind of choppy, one of them oddly stopped and then re-started

Citeste mai mult