B X J Forever (2021)

UNREASONABLE!

My headline says it all! What a disappointment.

Finally having a chance to be with your long time crush and not grabbing it just because of a cliche reason of his father hindering you? Then solving that issue towards the end yet you still don't want to be him?

Ben knew what happened to Jim while he was gone. He was disowned by his father and lived a miserable life after finding out that he is also in love with Jim. As if he was not moved a little to think that he was the one who displayed his feelings first. His eyes always looked like he's about to cry but his actions contradicts it. As if he leads us on wanting to get back with Jim but Jim ends up listening to Ben and Roy exchanging I love you's.

My heart breaks for Val. Unlike some comments here, he did not take advantage of Jim. His intentions were pure. He even told Jim not to rush things between them. Then he just let go of him like that when he knew he can't replace Ben in his heart.

The ending was the most unreasonable part. It sums up how the story was messed up and non sense. Ben and Jim finally had a chance to talk and catch up with all the things they went through. Ben even said he loves Jim and will always carry him in his heart and mind. But takes it back saying they can't be together that time. IDK what does he mean by not meant to be together at that moment even if they still love each other and all issues were solved. What makes it more fucked up is that after that heart to heart talk, Jim goes back to the party, holds hands with Roy, act intimately with each other and smile like no one is hurting. I CANNOT! I REALLY CANNOT!

My only consolation is the side actors and their stories. I personally think Olan and Yana, Dante and Flo and The "Orgy" couple were cute and adorable. EJ Jallorina has always been a good actor, but I found the acting of his partner Miko off in this series. (He made a better job in his previous BL tho.)

My verdict goes with majority of the commentaries here. A BIG NO. MESSED UP. UNJUSTIFIABLE. UNREASONABLE. NON SENSE.

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It’s a train wreck!

There’s a lot of confusing things happening in this season and I just couldn’t tie it up with season 1.

In the first episode we got an explanation why we all thought the finale kiss in season 1 was fake. It turned out it was only Jim’s imagination.

And then they put different dates in every episodes which only confused me more. The chronology is just messed up. There’s 2015, 2013, and we all know season 1 happened in 2020.

And there’s a lot of nuisance scenes like the one where Jim, Olan, Yana and Flo lit candles and left flowers by the roadside. I thought Ben had an accident, had an amnesia and now living in the countryside with Roy. Majority of the new characters has no relation to the story at all. They were immaterial to the plot.

I decided to give season 2 a shot because it’s already on Netflix but to be honest, I think I just wasted my time. The story is not cohesive. The scenes don’t make sense. The editing is a mess, it’s like they just patched different scenes together. There’s so many backstories that don’t tie up with season one.

It’s a train wreck!

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A welcome surprise

"B X J Forever" is not necessarily a light drama, and it definitely diverges from the tone of "Ben X Jim". What I liked about "B X J Forever" is that it discusses deeper subject matter while maintaining a sort of reserved optimism. Ben and Jim aren't the only main characters, as the narrative focuses on a dysfunctional group of friends and acquaintances at a gay café who are trying to figure out how to work well together. This is a big breath of fresh air after watching other shows that romanticise the concept of LGBT "community". The narrative also follows each character as they figure out how to break out of their shells, and it handles its depiction of the process of self-discovery very well.

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MAKE IT MAKE SENSE!

Well, let’s address the elephant in the room. Ben and Jim season two was a train wreck, with several potholes that never were addressed along with things that happened that made no sense. Why was it called Ben and Jim forever? There was no need to use the title as clickbait, should have just called it Ben x Jim until Ben met Roy. We could have at least seen real growth and character development for both as they went their separate ways and found a new love or did something amazing with their lives like really fighting for the Right of the LGBTQ+ community. One could have been in a political position to make some changes since you are making up a story. The stories of the other couples and their plight had good potential for good storylines which made this show tolerable to watch. Ben nor Jim was barely in the show. The suffering of Jim was so painful to watch while Ben came off as a selfish narcissistic manipulative person. Jim suffered so long for what? If you wanted to make this story more realistic than when Jim first met Ben again in the coffee shop and Ben wasn’t dead and acted as if Jim was a non-factor Jim should have beaten his ass cause he has spent all his money, all his time looking for someone that he thought was missing perhaps dead and he gave him the cold shoulder like that so let's make it make sense! Why did Jim have to be so composed? Jim was living in the storage room for Hell’s sake! The man lost everything, and Ben gets a happy ending…

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A huge upgrade from season 1

I really enjoyed watching this season. Season 1 finale was a frustrating mess, but if you ignore the events of that episode, this season is very enjoyable. It's much different from the first season as there is less fluff and cuteness – instead it's much more character driven and delves into what it feels like to lose your previous life and just life in general. Season 2 introduces several new characters which add a lot to the show.
Things I loved:
1. Jerome Ponce as Jim was amazing. His portrayal of how pain changes a person was just spot on.
2. There are some really amazing lines about letting go of past burdens and healing. The dialogue in general is very good.
3. This season addresses the SOGIE bill in Philippines which I found to be really important with regards to LGBTQIA+ rights.
4. Beautiful soundtrack.
5. Some of the shooting locations were absolutely gorgeous.
6. It deals with gender reassignment issues in a wonderful manner.
7. The ending sets things up wonderfully for season 3 (I hope there's one!). It shows that people that are hurting can't just jump into relationships and it's very realistic. It also gives a lot of hope for the characters.
8. Much higher production value compared to S1 – better lighting, sound and camera work.
9. Cute side couples.

Things I disliked:
1. Flo's hospital scenes were a bit weird, most likely due to the budget, but still, doing random stuff next to a stranger would be so awkward.
2. This season contains several scenes with flashbacks of Ben and Jim, several years into the past. I think those would have been better suited in season 1 and felt out of place. Especially considering the characters would be like 10-14 year old, so it was so weird to use adult actors.

Please give this season a chance – if you enjoy human storylines and not just BL content, you will like it! I wasn't that excited about watching this season, but I was very pleasantly surprised by how good this was.

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Story that makes NO sense

Season 1 was a simple love story between 2 guys.
However my God, season 2 is so confusing.
I don't know why and what had happened to Ben.
Why did he pretended to stage his own death and hide from Jim and friends?
I thought Ben really loves Jim and that's why he made a video confession about his parents that did something to Jim's mother which I still don't know what they did.

Season 2 - the story seems to be more complex with more characters added into this season.

I am watching chapter 6 half way and I don't think I'm going to continue watching. I switching back to my Thai BL series.

To the scriptwriter, keep stories like this simple.
I don't enjoyed season 2. I hate that Jim character is weak. Sorry...

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Title doesn't fit the show, please change it to "Dump Ben forever xoxo"

After watching the first season and then this one, I can't help but to write a review.

What's bad:
1. Ben is clearly the worst part of this series. He is confused all the time and seemed to have been involved with most of the men in the show and almost seemed to want to sleep with more men. For whatever reason his character was written pretty bad and he became a totally different person that you would definitely hate and yet everyone in the show loves him.
2. Unnecessary side characters - Francia + Bogs are not needed in the show at all
3. Ending is open-ended. I am really wishing that they stop at this season. If they make another one, just kill Ben completely.

What's good:
1. The actor that played Jim was extremely good portraying emotions, he's definitely the reason how I was able to completely watch the show
2. The lines in the show will pull your heart strings except for the ones coming from Ben
3. The side characters specifically Flo + Dante and Yana + Olan. Their chemistry is awesome and I want to see more of them. Val is also pretty good with awesome lines. Roy is also great depicting an actual person. The orgy couple are also pretty funny without even trying.
4. Cinematography is great in a lot of the shots.

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Well that was bad...

Honestly the storyline was so confusing I didn't really understand anything. You have to wait
many episodes for the meeting of the main couple lol Hated the ending also. It was very bad. Like very bad. I was hoping for Ben and Jim to get back together but at the end it didn't happen. I think I just wasted my time watching this season. It wasn't worth it. I don't know what to say else I just didn't like this season. I hoped for a happy ending but there wasn't any. Somebody bring justice for my man Jim. He deserved better. Ben you are dumb af and I've never hated a main character like I hated you bro. I'm very disappointed.

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An Astonishing and Poignant Series One of the Best

I have read many of the negative reviews of this series but I could not more vehemently disagree with their analysis of this series. Sure, Season 1 was not powerful and frankly I thought it was banal and full of tropes. I had no intention of watching Season 2 but for reasons unknown to me, I became drawn to it. To say I was thunderstruck would be limiting. From the immediate opening, I realized I had misunderstood Season 1 at its inception. I did not fully grasp the intensity of Ben and Jim's relationship. While their love was foreordained, it never became inborn. It was only imagined and hungered for, lending itself to profound regrets and painful reflections. The depth of despair and pain both of these guys went through is brought forward with complete conviction to each of their characters. . It shows so profoundly how individuals respond to that loss uniquely, sometimes stupidly, almost always irrationally, and for those of us looking in, wrongly. I was profoundly moved by their performances and this story of pain. It really is a Must See. I know each of us has different takes on what we view, but this one hit home when it comes to the portrayal of love that has been lost. Do not skip this one.
If you are interested in reading more on my thought about this brilliant series, please go to BLBliss.com.

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I didn't mind whatever happened.

STORY:
It might be "right love, wrong time" situation for these two because while they are pretty good together, as a generalization, even when they seem to not be together everything felt fine. In first season I felt Ben deserved better, in second I felt that way about Jim. Flashbacks were cute. The ending to me was fine. To be fair, by the end of the series, almost any non-tragic ending was acceptable to me.

For the main couple, it's a story of healing, and for side characters it's about romance and acceptance. The second leads were good, in short though- one seemed like a healthy person to be with and the other, well less healthy. And the whole confusing mess one of the besties fell into, initially felt chaotic and disorganized but come to think of it that whole confusion was what the writer/director meant to portray! Overall, there were a bunch of tiny subplots for all characters and everything tied up in a neat bow.

ACTING, was good, similar to the first season.

I did grow more fond of their OST this time around.

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Lots of Inconsistencies

First, the title is misleading.
Second, Season 1 tells about the value of standing up for the Truth, and Ben shows it by reuniting with Jim. But in Season 2, Ben continues to speak of this Truth but in fact he lives in lies, hurt people who loves him, making decisions without taking into consideration their feelings (like making decision for Jim when people in a relationship should not be doing it alone but together)
Third, Ben is manipulative in Season 2 unlike in Season 1. He cannot make a decisive decision.

In totality, I hate the story. I just kept watching this series to prove to myself that the producer and script writer are out to manipulate the viewers. They made us love Season 1 to entice us to watch Season 2.

The only saving grace to this is Jerome Ponce's acting. Superb!

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Not as i expected

The storyline is messed up. Not a good sequel to watch. Seriously they took 5 episode to meet each other after so called "missing"?. The ending also was messed up.
I knew from the mess ending, there would be another season for this shit. I hope they will assign the storyline better in the next season.
However, i really like the improvement in the acting of the main cast, especially Jim. His emotion in the season was the best among all. The tears was all look real.
Do not wasting your time by watching this season. Save your time by reading summary and ready for season 3.

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