Captivating

This series steals your attention right off the bat. They got into it before we could even learn their names. While I'm not a big intimacy fan, I can see why Max and Tul are so heavily loved in this industry. They are not afraid to really get into their roles. they are so comfortable around each other, and because of that, they create a beautiful love story. I LOVE friends to lovers, so it wasn't hard to start enjoying their plot at all. They had amazing chemistry and their story was so well-thought-out and executed. I didn't love the vengeful girlfriend bit, but I usually fog that part out of my brain anyways. Yihwa was an amazing sidekick and acted like such a loyal friend. I was actually rooting for her and Fai the entire time, but whatever.

Can't believe the story added in some nasty ass doctor that preyed over Farm instead of having him get with Phu. He was RIGHT THERE, it could've been so easy. I hated their storyline, right off the bat. I had a bad feeling about the doctor and I was right, He was dirty and perverted and try to trick Farm into doing things even when he didn't want to. He was a terrible person and an even worse boyfriend. I was always so uncomfortable each time they came up on the screen.

What was the point of a Phu and the teacher? Another plotline that was purposeless and not enjoyable to watch. I skipped most of their scenes. One, because it was uninteresting, and two, because a teacher should NEVER have a relationship with a student, it's just too taboo for me, I really can't help but hate it with a passion. That's why the overall score is at an 8. Scratch the teacher and doctor plot. throw Phu and Farm together, and you have yourself an amazing series.

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And This is Where it Should Die

This series is already way overdone, and even if they tried doing a decent third season, they completely obliterated it with less-than-mediocre acting, and an extremely dumb plot. It goes to show that this series should've never been made, and should've died along with the second round of cast members. Here's to hoping it is the last and final round of torture that Motive Village puts us and these innocent actors in!

Let's Dive In.

Motive village introduces a new main couple to the storyline, Looknam and Tatch, to kind of disrupt the repeated storyline of the other three. They're exactly like Ming and Kit's dynamic, with Looknam mimicking Kit by being the stern uke, and Tatch mimicking Ming as the charming and in-love seme. Except, with this couple, there is literally no explanation, no reason, and zero clarification of what Tatch sees in Looknam, and vice-versa. They go from hating each other, to then randomly acting so in love. Their story is ridiculous, going off of the typical "moon contest", which is fine, but there's no actual conflict between them, Like none. They go back to back bickering about nothing, then to falling in love over nothing, to ending up together with nothing reasonable for the cause. The chemistry felt off-balanced. It was giving, "we are here for a bag, see how in love we act". The only things they had was decent kissing and NC scenes. A bit awkward but not bad enough to stop watching.

The other three couples felt very out of place. They try so hard to be like the old characters in the other series, but it's completely off and I got secondhand embarrassment cause you can see how blatantly awkward it is with the cast. They also had no plot to lean on, it was pretty much just random jealousy, frivolous conflicts, and too much unnecessary commentary.

I kept watching bc for some reason my inability to drop a series mid-way through kicked in and I was determined to finish. By episode 6 I skipped a lot, I speed through a lot, and I slept through some too. This cast was probably some of the worst acting I've seen in a while. They're all rookies, so I'll give them some leeway, but Looknam was the only decent one.

Ratings:

Story: 4/10 - There wasn't any real conflict. by about the 7-8th episode, it becomes more so just very 'eh' NC scenes playing on bc they themselves realized there is no plot. I'm being generous with the 4.

Acting: 6/10 - again, being generous with the score. Looknam was their best, but everyone else was terrible. Not a lick of acting skills, just pretty men in front of the camera. At least they all looked good shirtless. There's my reasoning for the 6/10.

Music: 5/10 - It's not distracting for the most part, but the fact that they would play this loud ass music during the NC scenes was annoying. I want to hear them enjoying themselves, not distracting ballad music.

Recommendation Value: 2/10 - There's no reason to watch this unless you're a fan of the 2 Moons franchise. Otherwise, this was a waste of a watch, so please save yourself the time.

This better be the last of this tedious and destroyed series. Motive village needs to burn to the ground, but this series needs to rot in hell. I hope for the actor's sake, they're getting treated better than the others in the past. If we're to see them again, they'll have to be in a different series. And maybe an acting class or two. Otherwise, I hope they can find their passion in a different career.

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Bad Buddy Shows That GMMTV Can Do Better

From the beginning of my watch to now, I think there is a completely different view on this series than I originally had. In the beginning, when this was first announced at the GMMTV 2021 lineup, this was on the very bottom of my list. It looked like a typical Uni BL that, of course, I was going to watch, but I wasn't going to think anything of it. But from then to now, I feel like that has changed for sure. Bad Buddy was again, a very successful and pleasing BL that a lot of people can find entertainment in. However, Bad Buddy did have its little slice of irreverence and irksome characters.

Let's Dive In.

Production was decent, just the same old it always is. The rooftop was very nice though, and probably the best to come out of production. I did like the montages of them going to each other's door and hanging items. Pat sneaking in with his blanket was by far my favorite. Way too many ad placements. Usual for GMMTV, but I've seen smaller companies do way less at advertising (Have you ever watched Arm Share? or Earth-Mix Space? I can't remember the exact variety show, but they literally spent 15 minutes talking about KFC... I don't recommend any of their variety shows unless you want to sit through them speaking forever on an ad you could care less about). I know this is how they get their money, but damn, there has to be something else than this. It's literally GMMTV, one of the biggest companies for BL, they have to be making enough bank to cut at least a few ads, geez. Other than that everything was decent.

Onto the plot. Nothing special. which is why I give this show a lot of credit. While the series was nothing new, original, or impressive, it made its way to being something great because of the actors and their amazing performances. This show wouldn't have worked had it been with any other actors, especially Ohm and Nanon. The plot was as basic as it could get, but with these two, they turned it into something more than that.

Anyways, back onto the actual plot. I give it a 50/50. In terms of Pat and Pran, I loved it. In terms of some of the scenes presented, they were irrelevant and dumb. for instance, the shooting and police situation. Dumb. Very dumb. And so out-of-the-ordinary for the series. it was a serious "what-the-f**k" moment for sure. There were plenty of different ways they could've had Pran run into Pat's parents. Many. I'm not a fan of filler, but with this series, it worked really well, especially for when Ohm and Nanon were kind of doing their own thing and just making the series feel more realistic.

The situation with the parents was okay until it just became annoying. Pran's mom was upset with Pat's dad about the scholarship thing, but they both live in the exact same style of house, in the same neighborhood, in the same town, so it wasn't like he was doing much better than her family. Again, that part made sense until it didn't. I also would've liked it if, by the end, Pat and Pran's parents would've eventually gotten over the feud entirely and allowed their children to be happy. For them to be grown adults and still have to hide their relationship has to be aggravating (especially after 5 years).

Moving onto the characters. I loved Pran and Pat. Ohm and Nanon did a phenomenal job at playing these characters. Their chemistry was through the roof, which is so surprising for me, cause at the beginning I was on the bandwagon that it wasn't going to be good at all. But Ohm could make chemistry with a tree if he wanted to, so I shouldn't have thought for a second it wouldn't be good. They both brought about some awesome performances, and Pran and Pat were pretty much perfect in this series, with enough flaws for me to enjoy them even more. Although, the last few episodes were feeling very much fanservice-y and not telling a story at all. A little less of that, and I think I would've enjoyed them even more.

Ink and Pa were just the cherries on top. I don't think this series did enough with the two of them. Granted, we did get a GL couple, but they were barely on screen. Had they been treated like the other side BL couples, we would've gotten a much more drawn-out indication of their relationship. I'm satisfied with what we got, but I wish we would've gotten more.

With the few times we did get to see Drake's character, I enjoyed him (when he wasn't being a bully). Korn was really silly and extroverted, and Drake played that character wonderfully. He had barely any screentime on this show, with the exception of the last few episodes. I will continue to advocate for Drake and the reason why he deserves another series of his own (but that's for another discussion). Wai was by far my least favorite character. Maybe not because of him personally, but maybe how the writer's disregarded how he outed Pat and Pran to the entire school. A huge situation that was just dusted off (I don't even think it was brought up at all). I think this series did a good job at being progressive (making fun of the 'I'm only gay for you' trope), but in a situation like this, it was serious and deserved to at least be discussed. Then Wai just bothered me with the entirety of the episodes that he was mad at Pran. Mad because Pat didn't tell him? A really weird excuse for him to have a surge of rage. It took Pat getting almost shot for him to be like, "Okay, I'm fine with your guy's relationship"..? They tried to redeem him in the end, but by then, I was just not feeling it. Jimmy is adorable and did a really good job, but his character is a nuisance. The rest of the cast did really well. I also want to give kudos to Pran's mom and her amazing scene with Pat's dad. Beautiful.

Rating:

Story: 8.5 - Nothing new, nothing special. But because of the acting, the plot/story felt fresh and enjoyable. Some irrelevant plots, and annoying circumstances, but other than that, I was entertained.

Acting: 9.5 - Phenomenal. Everyone did an amazing job. Ohm and Nanon made this series work for a plethora of reasons, but their performances were one of the larger ones.

OST: 6 - I don't remember much of the music, and quite honestly, I skipped over the parts of them singing, cause I just wasn't feeling it. But since it wasn't anything noticeably annoying or distracting, I'll give it a 6.

Rewatch Value: 1 - I have more series to watch. This series was nice, but I have no need to rewatch anything. Maybe come back for certain parts, but probably not even then.

I'm nit-picky with GMMTV series because I expect more from them than anything. They have the money, the actors, the resources, and the power to do so. While Bad Buddy was indeed one of GMMTV's best BL series, I know we can still reach further, and do better. I want to see something different than the typical uni BL. Sadly, it seems like the only series to gain popularity out of GMMTV are the uni BLs, so they're never going away, but I'm on the side of wanting something more than this. More than a bunch of engineer dudes falling in love. Especially, again, from GMMTV. Of course, I recommend this show, especially for viewers just getting into BL.

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babe, wtf..

This series has to be one of the oddest ones in quite a while. After Trapped and MODC, my expectations were through the roof, but sadly, I was left heartbroken and disappointed. Close to You was full of odd subjects, distasteful relationships, and terrible concepts.

Let's Dive In.

Let's start off with the decent pairing: Teng Teng and Li cheng. I wasn't at all pleased with how they had to use an overly-obsessive bl fangirl as the benefactor in their relationship. Mei Fang and her friend(s) left me uncomfortable the entire time. Imagine you just trying to live your life, and some girl won't stop thirsting over you and your co-worker. But I wasn't very happy with Li cheng's behavior either; pretending to be gay and harassing a fellow friend is not in the slightest bit okay. Instead, he could've just tried starting off as a good friend to Mei fang and gaining her trust in the future. Teng Teng was just used as bait the entire time, and most of it was without his consent. It's also a bit weird how in a time of vulnerability, Li cheng was able to fall for Teng Teng. I just couldn't understand how he wasn't able to fall for him at any other time until then. The use of the cliche bl saying, "I don't like men, I only like him" was used again, and quite frankly, it left a sour taste in my mouth. bisexuality and pansexuality exist, do the creators and screenwriters not know this? It was agitating and disappointing. But moving forward, when they were together, they did bring about many cute moments. What I did like about them was their relationship in the beginning and towards the end, and how comfortable they were together. There were times when they each had me laughing cause their comedy was golden. I also really liked how they styled Teng Teng. He was always in something that was such a statement, and I loved it. As much as I didn't even appreciate them that much, they were at least 10 times more decent than Yong Jie and Xing Si and were the saving grace of this series. Speaking of them, let's touch on their relationship next.

Let's talk about Xing Si. He was my favorite character, and for good reasons too. He was a great friend to Teng Teng and Li Cheng, he had such a bright and bubbly personality, and was openly gay and dealing with the conflict of telling his father. He was the only character that had a very detailed personality. I thought that it was beautiful the way his character was going until they introduced us to the toxic stepbrother. Now, there have been many stepcest/incest series that I've seen, but I think this one has been the most disgusting and hardest to watch. I wasn't even mad about the whole step-brothers situation (even though it was rightfully wrong), it was just the portrayal of the step-brother that left me feeling uneasy.

Let me just say this; Yong Jie is not okay in the slightest. I don't want to self-diagnose anybody, but I am. I'm almost positive that Yong Jie suffers from a high-functioning borderline personality disorder or some type of high-functioning autism. One, he grows an unhealthy obsession with his older brother. Mostly due to the trauma he faced as a child, Xing Si showed that he cared, and because of that Yong Jie took that and clung to it. Two, he is openly honest and truthful about everything. He tells his mom about his plans without showing signs of feeling bad about it, the same goes for when he told Xing Si and his father afterward. He's open about how he feels for Xing Si and the way he feels about others. As I said, this is not me trying to label him, but Yong Jie didn't need a boyfriend, he needed some help. He is obviously not mentally stable, nor is he emotionally okay. I wish that his mental illness could've been spoken about instead of never being brought up cause it's so clear that there is some turmoil within himself. The entire plan he had undermined was absolutely sickening, and it was even worst that the mother knew and did nothing about it. His behavior is so unforgiving, but because Yong Jie is so good at manipulating people (psychopath maybe?), his brother and the ones around him forgive him. Xing Si I believe is suffering from Stockholm syndrome, cause it seemed to be that he would actually let his brother down, but instead, he feels empathetic and that takes over his feelings in which he then makes himself believe that he loves his step-brother back. The dad's reaction is so understanding, and I completely agreed with him. I actually was hoping that he wouldn't end up being okay with their relationship, but of course, this is BL, so everything has to end happily anyways.

Overall, this was a very disappointing series, especially since it was a part of the HIStory franchise. All the actors did a fantabulous job, Teng Teng and Xing Si being my favorite portrayals. The production was all decent and the music was okay too. The only thing I wished more than anything was that Yong Jie's mental illness was looked at, the BL fangirls were non-existent, and for the HIStory franchise to stop romanticizing r*pe, incest, and toxic relationships. I wouldn't recommend this series at all. I'd only say to watch it in order to continue watching the franchise cause at least they have produced other content that is WAY better (MODC and CTL (but crossing the line has an incest relationship too, so at the end of the day, everything has its problems.))

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Short and Cute

As soon as I played episode one, I could tell that this series felt completely different than other Thai BLs, and not necessarily in a bad way, but not good either. This series was obviously not given a big budget (or even a freaking budget at that), so all of the camera work looks like it was taken off of an iPhone (which was how Gameboys was, but it was like a 13 year old filmed it and forgot to bring their selfie stick). By the end, I couldn't tell if I'd gotten used to it, or if it had gotten better, but either way, I gave this series a shot, and I actually enjoyed it. While the production value takes it down by a lot, the acting and story help to bring it back up.

Let's Dive In.

This is a friends-to-lovers trope which just automatically makes me love it even more. While there were some very apparent problems in their relationship, for the most part, I really loved it. Both actors are attractive, which helps. Tan was my favorite character by far. He was super eccentric and vivacious that carried over to Sine and helped to take him out of his introverted and shy personality. Their ending was precious and cute. I didn't pay much attention to the other characters in the show, seeing as they were pretty small.

Overall, it was a quick and fun watch, and I really enjoyed it. If you're wanted to see it, I would say to not take it too seriously, and just really watch for the benefit of watching a BL.

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For the CutiePie Lovers ONLY

This was seriously for the Cutiepie die-hard fans and them only. Because there was pretty much no story, but there were plenty of people kissing and getting naked so you have that.

Let's Dive In.

I didn't start watching this with any high expectations or anything (because I wasn't very impressed with the first season either) but just the little expectation I had was let down. For one, I was hoping for more between Diao and Yi, which we get very little of. I'd say the only real couple that had okay development was Nuer and Syn (and a really patient nc scene that was top-notch content).

My feelings for Nuea and Kilen were half and half last season, and I think it's the same here, but maybe a bit more hate. Their dynamic feels like a father and son dynamic, and I absolutely hate it. Kuea gets treated like a kid who can't take care of himself and Kilen is just the rich daddy who gets him what he wants and kisses him at night. And no, this doesn't scream 'sugar daddy' it screams 'he's acting like my real daddy'.

All the NC scenes are as good as they were last season (although, I will say that Kuea and Kilen's NC scene after their wedding was kind of anticlimactic). This sequel was really just some fanservice and spa ad placement. I'm the kind of person that likes some plot even with a raunchy series and only 4 episodes. But this is good if that's all you're coming to watch for -- skinship and no plot.

Some perks I did like: we saw Perth (Jay) and I love him so freaking much. I really hope he gets his own series one of these days. Foei!! I love him, he's THE best character in this entire series. If he wasn't in this sequel, I honestly don't know what I would do (the thighs on that man?? oh my god?). Again, they had beautiful settings and locations like last season, with an incredible budget. Same with the cinematography. I love that Japanese-feel you get when watching.

Rating:

Story: 4.5/10 - pretty empty. It's a lot of wedding junk and a few sentimental conversations. I'm purposefully giving it a lower score just cause I wanted more Yi and Nuea.

Acting: 8/10 - it's good. Zee's character comes off blander in this series, but that's not him, that's the directing.

Music: 5/10 - It wasn't distracting, but I didn't pay it any attention.

Recommendation Value: 2.5/10 - Really only watch this because you LOVED cutiepie, otherwise, it's nothing special.

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Proficient K-BL That Get's it Half Right

CBAW is an unexpectedly decent K-BL, and it could even be labeled better than that. I've noticed with K-BLs to keep my expectations below surface level so by doing so, I won't lose any hope I had. Even with CBAW, I read the manga (my first one ever) and I still watched the live adaptation and thought it was on point from its book form (kinda). CBAW took me only a day to watch, it piqued my interest, and kept hold of it throughout the episodes.

Let's Dive In.

Cherry Blossoms After Winter is a live adaptation of the manga following the same name. The basic synopsis is that Haebom lost his parents, so his mom's best friend takes him in as her own where he would live with Taesung, his best friend who indicates that he doesn't want Haebom to be his brother. Years passed and they're now seniors in high school navigating their strange feelings for one another. It's obviously a lot easier to tell a story full of detail in a book than it is in a dama, but in my honest opinion, I believe they did an impressive job at following along with the manga, even having the same lines said from the book. Add that on top of perfectly casted actors and you've got yourself an A+ K-BL.

What needed some work: I'm the type of person who usually doesn't read original work before watching the live adaptation, however, I wanted to give it a go here, and now I've unlocked a new hobby (great, something else to take up the time I don't have). But for the people watching without having read the manga, there are a few things that would seem very off and weren't given enough time for a thorough explanation. Like why Haebom just lets these bullies abuse him (and why they just vanish all of a sudden), or why Taesung is so standoffish and the reason Haebom thought he hated him. There are some other smaller implications, but those were the larger ones that needed more of a story behind them. If I wouldn't have read the manga, I would be partially confused throughout the series. Just a few fixer-uppers would've done the job.

I had to get used to the cinematography of this series that I've never (at least can't remember) seen in any other K-BL, let alone any BL. For a while, it looked like I was watching a vlog on Youtube and it kept throwing me off my wagon. Some of the scenes shot are a little shaky, I'm sure that's how they wanted to interpret the moment being shown, but if it's not fluent throughout the series, then those small moments when they do happen, it's a huge eye-catcher, and a bit of a bothersome. While the sets and the scenery were absolutely breathtaking, the color-grading and editing could use a lot of work. There were so many scenes that just got cut off in the midst, and it happens quite often, causing a stir of annoyance. There were a few very subtle ad placements that I appreciated for their subtleness, but by now, I can tell an ad from an actual motivated action.

Onto what I loved: The casting for CBAW was probably as accurate as I could imagine. Jinuk did an incredible job as Haebom, playing almost perfectly into his shyness, bubbliness, and everything in-between. I just wanted to pack him in my pocket and protect him for the rest of his life. Hui did an excellent job as well playing into Taesung's character. I'm also glad they decided to not make his character as stoic as the one in the manga, and this Taesung actually has some personality. Yonghee is hands down the best-casted character, and Gun did a fantastic job. Everyone else was really good too, even down to the guest roles.

The plot is handled very well and follows the exact same story. Obviously, some things are different (like Haebom working in a flower shop, or the friends all going on a camping trip) but their implications helped to move the plot along, and they were good anyways. Again, the story is about as accurate as they could've gotten it to the book, and it was fun catching all these different moments that I remembered from my read. The time jumps can be easily missed for someone not truthfully watching, but I think even those were done pretty well. The writers do a superb job at connecting the feelings and emotions of the characters in the story, which boosted its ability to give me the feels for everyone involved.

The chemistry wasn't as strong as it could've been between the main leads, but they still were able to give us a real relationship that wasn't full of forced touching and kissing. From the cuddles scenes all the way up to their more intimate scenes, both actors did a great job at making it look natural. I felt more of a connection closer to the end, but in the midst, it felt a bit lacking.

Not very important, but the height difference gets to me. Taesung was a whole ass head taller than Haebom. When he bent down to hug or even when Taebom reached up to hug, it was a-fucking-dorable. God, I can't explain to you how much height differences mean to me.

Ratings:

Story: 8 - Loved the story, also loved how accurate it was to the book. All the characters were genuine, everything flowed nicely, and I wasn't dissatisfied with any of it. I'll take off one star for some of the jumpy cuts and another for some of the weaker storylines.

Acting - 9.5 - Superb acting. everyone did an excellent job, but Jinuk was the best. Gun also put on a very strong performance that outshined the others.

Music - 5 - didn't pay much attention to it, meaning it wasn't distracting. Good.

Rewatch Value: 1 - Could come back and watch certain scenes.

Definitely recommend this K-BL. It's super cute, and if the story doesn't do it for you, the height difference will.

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Great Beginning, Terrible Ending

Writing this review is a little hard for me. I really enjoyed this show, but everything callapsed by the end. with my love for Pod, Mike, and Toptap, it's hard to even be able to comprehend that this was the content they gave us. What started off as a masterpiece became a sorrowful excuse of a BL.

Let's Dive In.

Let's start off with the pros of this series. Ai and Ni were the sunshine throughout this series. Mike and Toptap have this comedic energy that only the two of them can create when they're together. There wasn't a single part in the show that I wasn't laughing, they're what kept me watching. They both did an excellent job in this, and I hope that we can see them with their own series. The only thing I can say that bugged me a bit is that we never see them kiss? Every time they would go for a kiss, it would cut, or they would pretend to. It's a GMMTV produced show, so there was no reason to try and hide their kisses (also it's 2021). Miriam was a great addition to the show. She was supportive and caring, and she also had her comedic moments. I wished she was a little less BL-obsessed, but that's my only argument with her. For the most part, this trio was amazing, and I hope to see them again very soon. I loved the character development of Na, He was a snobby kid, but by the end, he improved and even got his own boyfriend to spoil. I'm a sucker for lifelong crush tropes. Tonhon and Chonlatee liking each other but neither knew about it was super lovely and precious. Getting to go back and see the way Ton felt during certain scenes was a really nice touch, and it made me feel differently about him. The dirty humor in this series was spot on, from them pretending to be the two dudes from The Untamed, to them just being themselves. Whoever wrote the script deserves a pat on the back (sort of). Everybody deserves a mom like Chon's mom. Her epic explosion on Ton's dad was the best thing that I have ever seen in my life.

Onto the cons. Tonhon really annoyed me. He was openly homophobic for quite some time (seemingly weird since he had a crush on Chon for quite a while). He was so homophobic that his own roommates didn't even want to admit that they were seeing each other. As I said, it's 2021, there was no need for him to be so homophobic, he could've easily just been a cool dude completely fine with his roommates dating. There was no need for Amp, and definitely no need for Nueng. We are over the petty ex-girlfriend plot, please GMMTV, bring something different to the table. Along with Neung, the bathroom scene with him and Chon was ineffectual. There was no meaning behind it other than Nueng thinking Chon was cute, which he could've just said instead of sexually assaulting while Chon was intoxicated. As much as I love Gunsmile, his character was a nuisance to the show, along with the gay guy that messes with Chon at the restaurant. It puts a bad look on gay people, more especially feminine gay people. The "getting Chon a prostitute" part was so uncomfortable for me. Ton is just straight up not a good person at all. Some part of me thought that Na should've ended up with Chon. At least he tried to do everything for Chon while Ton gave him nothing. Talking about Chon, there was no point in having him kiss Ton without his consent. Of course, Ton was going to freak out that he wakes up and you're making out with him, I would be too. Another case of BL romanticizing these types of things when none of it is romantic, I would've much rather seen a consensual first kiss, even if we had to wait till the very last episode. Speaking of the last episode, what the actual fuck was that? I have never felt so grippingly mad at a plot in my life. This show would've been a solid ten had that ending not happen the way it did. Ton's dad becomes fine with him dating Chon as long as he still has a kid, in which Miriam decided to be their surrogate. What the actual fuck? Number one, that baby was not made out of love, they were made out of greed and power. Two, that dad should be ashamed of himself if that's what it takes for him to accept his gay son. The plot ruined the entire show for me, by the last few minutes of the episode, I was ready to never watch this series again, and I still haven't.

Overall, this was sadly a miss. I would recommend the first 7 episodes which were humorous, fun, and entertaining. By episode 8, everything just goes downhill. All the acting is great, by far my favorite being Mike and Toptap, but Khaotung did an excellent job as well. If we are to get a second season (I honestly think it was fine where it left off), I hope we can clean up that ending, and throw away the father.

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Better than Exspected

Not that I thought this was going to be terrible, but my first go-around at trying to watch this didn't end very nicely (I dropped it after, like, the first 5 minutes in), but in all truthfulness, I was going through the worst case of BL-block during that time, so now, it's all better. I decided to give this one another try, and I was NOT left disappointed !

Let's Dive In.

Initially, the name of the BL series threw me off a bit. I assumed it'd be extremely smutty (which, it is, but not in the sense that I was assuming) with very little plot, but I stand corrected! I loved the direction they were in the entire time with Uea's character, even if it was a little traumatic. Do I think it's a bit much to have three different people as*****d Uea? A little bit. The first two are understandable, but the boss coming in and immediately wanting Uea was so... odd? Obviously, Uea's a very attractive man, but you also had King and Jade and the rest, so why was he immediately drawn to Uea and nobody else? It was to stir shit in the office and among Uea and King, but it all felt a little redundant. Not saying this can't happen in real life, but for it to happen as much as it did in this series, I don't know, they could've thought about utilizing something else other than making Uea more traumatized.

Actually, speaking of Uea being traumatized, that mother was probably the worst character I've seen on TV. She's obviously too full of herself and too much in love with the step-dad to see all of the wrongdoing going on around her, and I'm ecstatic that they didn't try to give her some redemption arc; she's just a terrible person and Uea learned to distant himself from her. Perfect. But I need him to save his sister, pronto. Like go back into that house and have her move in with you, I beg.

Onto the romance, I was pleasantly surprised. I love a slow burn, nothing new there, so I thought I'd struggle to find any joy in their relationship since sex was first before anything. However, they were still able to create this tension that wasn't sexual outside of their FWB relationship. It was really nice. The NC scenes were, dare I say, maybe a little much? Just for my taste though! They were still very well-shot, and very well-executed with James and Net actually looking like they want to be together, which out of everything, is the most important part. I also loved the way they talked about consent, getting tested, and letting each other know how they felt after sex. When they finally get together, it feels organic and not rushed. A really awesome job they did.

I know a lot of people talked bad about Middleman's Love, which is why I was going to put it off, but I really liked Jade's personality in this, so I'll definitely have to, at least, give it a try!

Ratings:

Story: 7.5/10 - I loved that they made Uea's character have depth, and this series wasn't just about sex. I think some parts are rather unnecessary, but overall, I was satisfied.

Acting: 8/10 - I won't give this higher than an 8, only because James, in scenes where he was supposed to be distraught, couldn't shed a tear. Outside of that though, they did a fine job in their roles, everyone did.

Music: 7/10 - I really liked the theme song!

Recommendation value: 7.5/10 - If heavy NC scenes are your thing, then this is the series for you. But also, it has tough subjects that not everyone can be mentally okay enough to see, so watch out for that. Otherwise, I think this is a really good series to binge!

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Eh....

Not one of my favorites that I've seen from Japan, but I'd be lying if I said I didn't enjoy this series even a tinsy little bit. My Personal Weatherman brings about a toxic tale of poorly executed love and its downfalls.

Let's Dive In.

One reason this series doesn't do it for me is because the leads kept going in a circle and achieved no real resolution, nor did they ever give themselves time to be open and honest with one another. I saw another comment where someone said this couple doesn't do talking and instead they're the masters at paying attention to each other's subtle messages, and once seeing it from that view, I understood them a bit better, but I'm the type of person that's always second guessing what someone is thinking or saying or feeling about me, so I would've loved it if at some point in the series they had a sit-down and open conversation on their feelings towards one another.

And circling back to the no real resolution -- Well, they don't. They'll continue to go in a cycle of Yoh feeling like his life means nothing and Mizsuki will continue being jealous any time Yoh hangs out with his friends and will continue being shut off about his feelings. This also goes for Yoh who wants Mizuki to show some sign of want and need, except he only ever communicated this when drunk. And the way Mizuki manhandled Yoh just wasn't my cup of tea. But besides that, the actors had great chemistry and great intimacy.

I liked the best friend of Yoh, I think she was a great addition to the story and I liked all the added Manga effects whenever we saw her or whenever she was around Mizuki.

Ratings:

Story: 7.5/10 - It's very intriguing to see their dynamic, and I kept wondering how they're going to inevitably fix it, but nothing is fixed, and they're still obviously going to have problems in the future. but nonetheless, this was a short and easy watch with me finishing in one sitting. I liked the best friend and her husband a lot.

Ating: 9/10 - Good! Nothing inherently bad or inherently good, but it works for this series. Kouhei's (Mizuki) acting stood out the best with having the fake persona around others and his real one around only Yoh.

Music: 7/10 - Didn't pay it much mind, but I liked how the music wasn't overbearing during their intimate scenes and we really got to see and hear everything going on.

Recommendation Value: 5/10 - Not something I'd recommend to the regular ole' BL fan. It's very twisted and very dark, reminding me of my hatred of My Beautiful Man, but at least this one isn't as bad. But I have a plethora of other JBLs that hit the mark, so sadly, this one is a no-go.

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Wowza

Wowza. This series had me feeling things that I haven't felt in a long time from a J-BL or just a BL in general. Were there plenty of plot holes, some rough character development, and some editing errors? Of course. But my love for everything, especially the story, makes those little problems seem frivolous. Tokyo in April is ... the best-told story of friends to lovers that I've seen J-BL come out with.

Let's Dive In.

This might look like a simplistic friends-to-lovers story from the gist of the synopsis, but when watching -- wow, it truly was so complex in details and factors. One of my favorite things about this series was the delicate touch to specificities and the complexity of the flow of the story and the way it's told. Through each episode, something new is brought to light about Ren or Kazuma, or their coworkers. It was planned so accordingly and just led to bigger and better reactions from me.

Now, my all-time favorite trope is friends to lovers, so it was no surprise that I wouldn't have liked this to some certain extent, but like omg, when they dive into Kazuma and Ren's backstory, I might've gotten teary-eyed more than a few times. The revelation of the intimacy that they went through at their age was not something I saw coming at all. But the intensity of it all was almost too much for me to bear, so I know two young and curious boys going through something as serious as sex can't be an easy pill to swallow. Especially the aftermath of it all -- Kazuma getting sick, Ren faulting himself for what they did, him being sent off to France, Kazuma to America. Urgh, just the pure intensity of it all was enough for me to love it. Even outside of their adult relationship, I could feel the genuine love they had for one another as kids. Now, as adults, their romance is a lot more obvious to see and interpret. And did I mention that these actors did a phenomenal job? I felt the chemistry very head-on and it was a mixture of awkwardness, a large tinge of something sexual, and just a great connection.

The only problem I really had trouble with was Kazuma's mom. Her reaction to them doing something so serious as children is understandable, but to continue your hatred of a grown adult that you know your son loves is idiotic. Then turning around and being like "No it's fine ya'll can love each other" is crazy. You're the reason Ren ran away the second time and caused your son more hurt, so it's just absolutely crazy.

I wanted more of a backstory from Hide and Ryunosuke. Hide seemed so full of dread when seeing Kazuma again, and it's never really revealed why. Is it because he was the one who told Ren that Katzuma was back in America and alive? If that's it, then it doesn't feel like that big of a deal. Also, why would Ren prescribe to Kazuma to never talk to him for that very minor reason? It's not the exact same for Ryunosuke, cause it's obvious he has feelings for Ren when he explains that they've tried having sex before, but maybe just something more in-depth as to what he does outside of being Ren's wingman.

The editing was kind of funky. Not terrible, but sometimes they lingered too long on certain scenes when you could tell the momentum from it was over. Along with that, I hate when at the beginning of each episode, they give us a recap of what happened last episode, just very irrelevant. But that also could be because I binge-watched this (also finished it all in like the spam of a few hours lol).

Overall, I really really liked this. I know that it was adapted from a manga and a lot of people had complaints about what they did differently from the manga and the live-adaption. However, I never read the manga, so this review is purely based on my satisfaction with the live-action.

Ratings;

Story: 8/10 - So good. Even the office jargon was important to the plot. Everything flowed well and had me seated and ready to hear all of it. The best part was the flashbacks to their complicated childhood friendship. Some work could've been done to improve the overall behavior of some of the choices they chose to make.

Acting: 9.5/10 - So so so so so so so good. The best is probably coming from the actors playing the lead's younger selves. Omg, they did so well, to tell a story as intense as theirs was and do it was so much poignancy. Chef's kiss. Along with that, the actual leads did really well too. The side characters told the stories they needed to tell and drove the plot to where it needed to be.

Music 6/10: I didn't pay much attention to it.

Recommendation Value: 8/10 - This is very deep, so I wouldn't recommend it to just anyone. Definitely someone ready to hear something as deep as this story was. But other than that, I highly recommend, so nicely told, has such a wonderful story, and is super entertaining.

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Great Until it Wasn't

Only Friends has a great beginning, but I can't lie that the incline to it being great crashed somewhere and just started getting rather tedious to watch. And don't get me wrong -- the plot, the acting, the romances -- everything worked like it was supposed to, except, still something just didn't work towards the end of this for me.

Let's Dive In.

Jojo knew what he was doing with this series, specifically with these pairings too. Putting a bunch of hot people in one frame and having them get into some heated mess -- okay yes, of course, I'm seated. I absolutely adore the concept of this BL, which I don't even know if I would label it a BL. This felt more like a genuine queer messy-gay series with no specific yes on a pairing and everybody was just kissing and sucking and fucking one another. It was about friendship and love and betrayal and hatred and loss and it worked perfectly with these actors. They put on a brilliant performance, and I can't wait to see what's lined up for them in the future from here on out.

Now, onto specific characters/pairings: I'll be honest, I would've loved a RayMew endgame. Of course, Ray and Sand worked well together too, but I'm a sucker for friends to lovers and we can't pretend like the moments that we did get between them weren't so fucking cute. Anyways, passed my wrecked ship, I'll start with Top and Mew. I absolutely hate that they ended up together. I really wish that Mew would've moved on, which might be my own bias because I can't imagine staying with someone that cheated on me, and even worse, cheated on me with my best friend. Also, yes, Boston is like a terrible human being, but if Mew can't find it in himself to forgive his friend but forgive his partner when they were both in the wrong, then Mew is being a bit of a hypocrite -- is he not? But skipping past before Top cheated with Boston, I was all aboard the Top Mew train. But initially Top only got with Mew to fill Boston's bet that he couldn't be the person Mew loses his virginity to, so now that I'm remembering that, I actually still didn't really like this pairing much. And I get it, he realized he actually did have feelings for Mew, but the intentions were still there. In reality, I give their relationship 5 months until they end for good.

Onto Sand and Ray, the only couple that I'm okay with. I liked Ray's character development a lot, which is why I can actually see this relationship lasting. They had a lot of ups and downs and honestly, the only real one I can recall is Ray still having feelings for Mew. I think they also complement each other so well that it just works. The rich with the poor, the spontaneous with the calculated, the party animal with the quiet musician, the boy who yearns for someone to love them with the boy who yearns to be loved. It was all so good. Again, I think Ray and Mew would've worked better for me, but I can see why this pairing does too, so I'm not mad about it at all.

Moving onto Nick and Boston -- thank god they didn't end up together. I hated seeing Nick just up and give Boston chance after chance, especially after they actually get together and Boston screws up again. He's just an all-around terrible person, who needed no redemption arc but was still given one (slightly). But again, Neo is so charming, so handsome, so perfect, so I can see why Nick would *shrugs in understanding*. But Nick deciding to work on himself to find the key to loving himself was a perfect ending for his character. Poor dude passed up Gumpa, so he really must've been hurting.

Mond being in this was so random and yet everything I needed and more. Dude is so pretty, so perfect, so everything. I couldn't even be mad that he was put in to add conflict at the last minute, because gosh, I mean just look at him. And the glasses too?? I'm no better than any of these characters tbh.

So what I think went wrong with this series: For me, there were a few times in which this just dragged on. Seeing Mark be hurt over and over again, Ray and Sand going back and forth, Top and Mew playing a game of cat and mouse -- and then it goes on for episodes and episodes. By the end, I was watching this at 2 times the speed. This is me being completely nit-picky and everyone else can disagree with me and that's fine, but how come we never see Ray/Sand and Top/Mew NC scenes as intensely as we saw Boston/any-boy-within-a-two-feet-radius-and-Mark? Maybe because they wanted to put an emphasis on Boston being sex crazy, but it felt weird to incorporate something for one character but not the others.

Ratings:

Story: 8/10 - Overall, it was good. Kind of repetitive and a little bit draggy, but it still worked well and was on theme throughout.

Acting: 9/10 - I got to see Mond and Force shirtless (which has nothing to do with their acting, but they sure did show me a good performance so..). Anyways though, and for real, everyone did a phenomenal job. Again, I'll have to give most of the kudos to Khaotung who just hits it out of the park each and every time. But Mark also stood out and so did Neo too.

Music: 8.5/10: Like usual, I didn't pay much attention, but I would like the sudden shock on my face when I heard an English song playing. I don't know, it just shocks me sometimes. Also, the theme song is so very good.

Recommendation Value: 7.5/10: Watch this because the actors are gorgeous and they are kissing at least 1/2 of each episode -- and the plot is wonderful. I give it a low score because I think this would've actually worked out better had I binge-watched it. I just saw all the hype and had to watch, but having seen what I've seen, I could've definitely waited to binge-watch it.

Also, Mix coming in at the end almost felt like they were building up to a potential 2nd season?? I mean, just imagine it. And you know if Mix is there I'm also there. We shall see once the final GMMTV 2024 line-up comes out!

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Good, Not Great

There's so much that I could say about this series, but to sum up the majority of my feelings, this wasn't that bad. But it wasn't remarkable either. The romances were kind of all wacky, with rushed endings with barely any of their conflict resolved or developed. But again, it was cute, it was entertaining enough, and Lee Ye Hwan, including Park Chang Hoon were a sight for sore eyes, so that's always a plus.

Let's Dive In.

Okay, so I honestly wouldn't call this a remake cause it doesn't feel like one at all. I would say it's loosely inspired by the original Thai version with the same name, but if comparing it to the original, then a lot of things were taken out, added in, and just completely forgotten about. There were more than a few times that I was confused about who was interpreting Safiah/Zon and Fighter/Tutor. Finally got it by like episode 3/4, but that's why I say this isn't necessarily a remake because they changed up quite a few things that made the original couples who they were. For example, Fighter and Tutor were the ones with the script reading make-out session, except in this one, the pairing impersonating Safiah/Zon's storyline were the ones who had that similar scene. So I was confused for a while. Now if you haven't watched the original, then it's fine, because this shows its own story without the need to watch anything beforehand, however, for me, it's hard trying not to compare what's the same and what's different.

Leewon and Ji-Oh's relationship was probably my favorite. I liked the way everything was playing out until the end when we got conflict for the sake of conflict for it then to have no resolution and the characters are just okay again. And like in the original, Leewon's sister writing a bl novel for her brother is so weird, I just can't comprehend why a sister would want to write about her brother in that way.

Sunwoo and Yookyeom's relationship was really cute, but again, really all over the place with its conflict. Like them having a fight at the bus stop and then Sunwoo showing up at his house unannounced and kissing him. Huh? Okay. But that's alright because but leads are handsome, with Changhoon catching my attention almost immediately.

Ratings:

Story: 7/10 - Good, but not great. A bit rushed and some plot points don't make a whole lot of sense.

Acting: 8.5/10 - great! If not better than that! I think they all played their roles neatly and with little problems.

Music: 6/10 - Didn't pay attention to it which means it's not distracting.

Recommendation value: 7/10 - Eh, it's okay. But it's cute and didn't take that long to watch so go for it. Also, they have so very more-than-decent kissing scenes, which is always a plus.

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Didn't Hate it As Much as I was Expecting To

Okay, so me and this series had a bit of a tiff during the earlier episodes, with me contemplating more than I would've liked to on dropping it or not. However, I decided against it, only because this series is short, and I found myself actually not hating it that much. But that doesn't mean this series gets the upper hand though, cause I wasn't really drawn into the story until like midway between episode 5 -- and when you only have 8 episodes, that's not a good thing.

Let's Dive In.

The first episode was like watching paint dry. The setup, the introduction to the characters, the dialogue -- all of it was terribly uninteresting. So I set this aside for a few days and then tried again, got to episode 3, and then got bored again, set it aside another couple of days, and then tried again. Fell asleep halfway through episode 4. So finally, today, I had set a goal that I would finish this series whether it killed me or not. And I did. And I actually didn't hate it.

Bu episode 5, the plot picks up a bit and so does the romance. Well, not necessarily the romance, but we see their backstory more, and like I always say, I'm a sucker for friends to lovers. So by then, I'm at least entertained by the setup of our main characters and how they came to know each other. Another aspect I liked was the intricate lacing of Woojae's story following along with the plot that occurred. At the end, I was kind of hoping he'd turn his hetero story into a homo story, but that's me nit-picking.

The chemistry is very dull between the two actors. They're both great-looking people, so they look perfect with one another, except, nothing goes past that. The kisses are bad and even more awkward with the drawn-out scenes of their lips literally just touching. Nothing says we're in love like two dead fish smooching.

Ratings:

Story: 5.5/10 - Lots of it is boring. Don't even ask me about the side characters because *shrugs*. I watched most of this at 2x speed, and honestly half awake. It starts to pick up by the end, but it should've grasped my attention way before that.

Acting: 7/10 - It's okay. The actors don't really get to show their true skills because the script is boring and doesn't delve into any real emotions besides stoic and happy.

Music: 6/10 - Wasn't distracting. Good.

Recommendation Value: 3/10 - nah. It picks up, but it's still not worth the watch when there's a plethora of series that gain your interest in the first episode. But it's not totally a miss just because Mister International Korea is in this and I'm shallow.

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Tedious Journey

Cutting straight to the chase, this series is so boring to get through. One of the reasons for that is because a good junk of the story focuses more on Jungwoo's scandal than the actual romance of it all. Which would be fine if the story were engaging, but I found myself having fallen asleep twice, watching it 2x speed, and not even caring if I missed some dialogue. Hell, by the last three episodes, it was a generous skim-through until it was over.

Let's Dive In.

Happy Ending Romance is a very tedious watch. The first two episodes are dedicated to Taeyoung wandering around trying to find Jungwoo, who's too busy pouting around his over-protective boyfriend Junghyun. And whilst happening, I'm sipping my matcha latte wondering when I'll get into this shit. Some parts were engaging, but not enough to gain my interest.

On top of it being a boring watch, I caught myself coming back to MDL to read the description because half the time I had no idea what was going on. And the twist being that Jungwoo was Junghyun's ghostwriter? Was I supposed to gasp? I mean, the entire story centers around Jungwoo not being able to write under his name due to past situations, so of course he's ghostwriting.

I thought about dropping this too many times for my liking. The only reason I didn't was because it was only 30-minute episodes, so why not just finish it? But if you have to think about dropping at all, then it's probably not worth the watch.

Onto some things I did like, like Taeyoung and Woojoo's friendship, Junghyun's wardrobe -- Taeyoung's actor. I mean, that man is gorgeous, the way he smiles and the way his eyes smile too, I mean, he's perfect. Kisses weren't all that bad, of course, I've seen better, but at least they didn't shy away from giving us as many kisses as we could hope for.

Ratings:

Story: 5.5/10 - incredibly dull, incredibly boring. Some parts interesting, but most parts not. I liked Jungwoo's story up until a certain point when they drag on it too much. Taeyoung and Woojoo's friendship is fun to watch, along with watching Taeyoung cause he's beautiful.

Acting: 8/10 - Acting good. Jongwoo (Taeyoung) did the best, with Tucheol (Woojoo) second. Everyone else was decent. The acting was probably this series' strongest aspect. I wouldn't mind seeing this group of actors again.

Music: 6/10 - Wasn't distracting. Good.

Recommendation Value: 4/10 - I'd recommend this for Jongwoo (Taeyoung) only. Like damn, he really is a sight to behold. Other than that, there are other K-BL's out there (Cough cough, Love Tractor) that I would recommend more.

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