It is very rare that I watch a Chinese movie that's not a historical and even more rare that I watch a Chinese BL. Why? Well, they always wound up ripping my heart out and leaving me angry I'd fallen for that mess again. I mean, it's been a couple of years (I think) and I'm still salty about ADVANCE BRAVELY.

Anyway, this movie came across my feed on youtube and I wasn't going to watch because of the above reason but they got me with Li Quing Ke. He was adorable and I was clicking on it before I even knew what was happening.

I'm so glad I did. This was an amazing premise which I got behind quickly. The storyline can get a little confusing in some parts but I watched this more than once and it gets easier with each view.

I adore Bai and fell so hard for Song, I don't even know what to do with myself.

There was a softness about this movie, a purity in the love between the characters that surprised me. I mean, Chinese BL movies and dramas tend to lean toward the heartbreaking side--the kind of heartbreak a person could never recover from. Usually, these would lead to everyone dying or someone denying their homosexuality to marry a woman--the endings are usually harsh enough to ruin you.

This ending was peaceful and beautiful and loving - and I cried for an entire different reason. This movie deserves more love that it has gotten.

Read More

Well, no one died-so there's that

I don't even know what is going on with GMM. They find these amazing dramas and between them, the directors and the writers they use, they mess everything up. I was so excited for this drama. The first couple of episodes were good and then it went down hill.

I love Bright and Win, but I'm going to say I don't love them together. There was very little chemistry between them. We know in real life they have chemistry, the get along. We've seen the behind the scenes footage and the photoshoots. What I wanted was for some of that to make its way into the show.

Each time I decided to drop the show, they hit me with small, moments to give me hope, then back to the sadness of a drama going off the trails. Like that sweet moment they had after the fight where Tine took care of Wat after the ambush-- 2 seconds later, Tine leaves his friend, who is hurt, to walk home alone. I mean, who does that?

They wasted the whole Mike/Type storyline. There was so much potential there. We know Mike can act...he is one of the actors who basically saved Theory of love for me so what the hell was this?

Lets not even get started with Frank and Drake because nobody got time for that mess.

I was so disappointed. Its like GMM isn't even trying anymore and that's frustrates the hell out of me. I feel like they don't want to do BL anymore and is trying irritate the fans into not watching.

Ugh... Just ugh

Read More

Where do I even begin?

The acting was great. I love love love Nie Yuan and I soldiered through this just for him. But it's not for international fans or fans who don't speak the language. I have no issues with subtitles, but if you're going to sub something, do it properly. Whoever subbed this, only did the dialogue, so you miss out on the clues and stuff because the camera would zoom in on words and they just didn't bother subbing that.

I feel like i only got a part of what's happening and because this was a hot mess for me. I still don't get the reasoning behind the killer.

Bixin character is the worse TV cop I've ever seen and after a half of the episodes she was just too stupid to live. First of all she looked too young to have the rank she had. Secondly, she was careless, taking chances no sane cop would. She talks too much for a 'veteran' cop. It's like whatever came to her head came out her mouth.

And this is supposed to have romance in it. I see it but I really don't understand what China has against intimacy.

I am so disappointed in this... maybe if someone subbed it properly I will go back and watch and see how I feel about it. But as it stands right now, I don't get the high ranks it's getting

Read More

Best BL of 2020

I can't tell you how many times this came through my youtube suggestions for me to watch and I refused to click on it. The truth is, I accidentally clicked on it, got comfortable during the ad and was too lazy to get up and change it. I'm so happy I was lazy that day. I then spent the rest of the day, binge watching to catch up, then freaking out every time I had to wait for a new episode.

Let's get this out of the way. If you're looking for a show with heavy skinship, this is not it. The characters didn't meet face to face until almost the end of the series. They didn't hug or touch until the VERY end. So you might be asking why I love this series so much. Well, I'll explain.

What GAMEBOYS have is a well written story, cast who are genuinely friends and wanted to make an amazing drama and beautiful music. It is obvious by the way they act, they way they seem to carry each other, the way each actor portrays the character their given with such elegance and talent.

You guys know me and I'm big on the chemistry. Not necessarily the skinship (which can be nice if done well), to me, the characters don't have to kiss, ever or even touch. I'm big on the way characters look at each other, they way they talk to each other, they way they act around each other. Kokoy (Gav) and Elijah (Cai) were the definition of chemistry. Even though the characters didn't mean due to the pandemic, there was a way they talked to each other and the expressions on their faces that showed Cai and Gav slowly falling in love--well showed Gav falling deeper in love with his crush Cai. The sweetness he handled Cai with, the soft way he says "baby" and the way Gav was strong, even when he knew there was nothing he could do for Cai but be there on that screen.

The scene where Cai was in pain about his father showed the talent in Kokoy because his character seemed so helpless and afraid and angry because he couldn't just run to Cai and hold him and make everything better.

GAMEBOYS is leaps and bounds ahead of all the BLs released this year (Even with Manner of Death coming). There's an emotional aspect to this one that no other BL has ever managed to put forth.

Great job Philippines on writing this and putting it out in the world.

I have to mention the secondary characters - the friendship between these guys was beautiful. Specifically Pearl. We have to talk about the courage and the strength in her. Everyone needs a Pearl in their lives. Usually when the female friends in these BL are weak, whinny little fools and that has caused me to drop a number of dramas (not just BL). Let's say, Pearl and I didn't start out on the right foot because I wanted to strangle her when she appeared. Sorry, knee jerk reaction from all the other secondary female characters turning into snakes. But Pearl is the girl everyone deserves. She's strong, outspoken, supportive, gorgeous, funny - I adore her as a secondary character.

All in all, this BL has everything (maybe not to you if all your into is skinship). But I enjoy a great story wrapped around emotion and characters who seem as if they genuinely want to be around each other.

The best BL of 2020 so far for me and I doubt anything else this year will top it.

Read More

Nothing happened. NOTHING!

I put a spoiler warning on this because MDL would lose their minds otherwise. But I don't really see the point. Let me save you from losing about 4 hours and tell you what happened in season 2 of THE MOMENT SINCE - NOTHING. That's right. Nothing happened.

This ENTIRE season was five episodes of montages with the SAME song over and over and over and over! Why did they waste film and time and money making this 5 episodes? They could have saved themselves a lot of time and money and danger (due to COVID) and made this into a half an hour long movie.

Let's break it down.

I gave it the number of stars I did because of Copter. If it wasn't for him, I'd drop this to a 1.5.

The only thing that made me happy about this is Copter and he was in this entire thing for legit 2 seconds plus a little moment in ep 5 with Boston.

There was no story. Nothing to latch on to. There were two kisses but I could have done without them. And there are those who said this happened because the episodes are short and I call BS on that. One of the BEST BL's I've ever seen is a student short movie on Youtube called ONE LAST ORDER - It's an entire movie done in about 15 minutes and it has everything. Sure, the characters didn't kiss or touch or even hug but the chemistry was LIT, the acting was amazing, the music was on point and the storyline was all the things.

The eps being short is no excuse for this mess.

Let's talk about the kisses. I could have done without them. This entire season was garbage to begin with, the kisses did NOT help. I can watch an entire drama without that sort of thing. Sure, it makes it sexier, but not really necessary to show love. But these two GROWN men (one's a doctor and one's a bartender so they are grown-ass men), still sniffs each other's cheeks then run and are afraid to show any kind of emotional connection to each other for anyone to see.

And don't come at me about being shy and a virgin and blah blah blah - being shy is one thing. Acting like a 12 year old who just felt what its like to hold hands, is unacceptable.

At the end of S2, they still haven't come out and say "we're together." They have a sweet little speech (which in the grand scheme of the entire thing means nothing) and I'm left feeling as if they aren't in a relationship but just hanging out with each other on vacation. After this mess, I'm less salty about the whole highfive-gate crap in 2gether the series.

What in the actual hell is happening to LINE? They were at the FOREFRONT of BL content, now all we get are these water down garbage they're trying to pass off as BL? If they were going to wreck this, they shouldn't have made season two. They were blinded by the success of season one and rushed s2 two which you can't really call a season 2.

This was garbage. Don't waste your time. Want something with plot - and I can't believe I'm saying this because anyone who follows me on here knows how desperately I disliked 2gether for that whole high five crab - go watch 2gether. At least you'll get a story out of this.

This was just a 5 ep long music video that isn't even that good of a music video.

UGh.

Read More

This drama had a great premise. And the fact it has a BL secondary storyline was amazing. But sweet baby Jesus!

Okay, let's begin with what I loved about it.

The music was amazing. They used a few of my favorite English songs which was cool. The other songs used were catchy and very pleasing.

The BL storyline was sweet - I wish there was more thought put into it and it had a little bit more substance but it was cute and I really enjoyed it for what it was.

The siblings to the main female were the best things about this entire series. They were loving and funny and kind and you don't see that much in these dramas anymore.

The secondary characters were amazing except for the main female's best friend.

Now what I didn't like.

Why was this drama 32 episodes? They could have done this mess in 16 eps --hell, they could have done it in 10. So there's that.

There was NOTHING to like about the main female. She tried making her tough but she was juvenile, and petty and irritating as all hell. She took zero blame for the mess she caused and it didn't feel like she had a brain in her head.

The male lead - meh.

The love triangle - why? Why was that even a thing in this drama? I don't get why every one of these dramas need a love triangle. it's foolish and when done badly, ruins a good premise.

If you want a sweet BL secondary storyline with some awesome secondary characters, then watch this. Don't expect much from the lead female but irritation and a snore for the main male.

Read More

Come Thru Philippines!

When HELLO STRANGER came up in my feed, I rolled my eyes. I legit rolled my eyes. I was thinking, here we go again, another unsatisfying 2gether garbage. I was just done with BL and was digging for other dramas. But I was bored one day and clicked on episode one.

Best decision I've made. This little drama is so good. The acting was incredible for a drama that was filmed in the middle of a pandemic where people had to be socially isolated.

Even though there was no skinship, I believe HELLO STRANGER is one of the most intimate dramas I've seen in a while.

Let me explain.

Everything was portrayed by the way Xavier looks at Mico and the other way around. It's the simple movements of their heads, the tone of their voices. Even in the pauses, when neither of them says nothing at all, when they're staring at each other through those cameras and you can see the helplessness in both their eyes. It was beautiful.

There was one little bit at the end that had me scratching my head and the bit about Xavier's girlfriend that has me feeling like there's a story line that's a little unfinished.

The friendship in this story was amazing. We all need a friend like Jun. Kookai and Seph got my on last nerves toward the end there--more so Kookai. I mean, if you can't say, "You're my boyfriend" to the guy you supposedly have a thing for then maybe you're not mature enough to be in a relationship.

The ending gave me a very happy feeling even though I was sitting over here sobbing like a fool. But all in all it was a wonderful little story. I truly wish it was longer but sometimes, longer is not necessarily better.

Highly recommended.

Read More

Sometimes when I see people on here asking for new seasons of shows, I'll think of this and be tempted to write "NO! DON'T DO IT!" Sure, new season is always fun to think about until they make it and completely ruin the previous seasons.

When I first watched Bad Romance, I wasn't too impressed and the only two characters I was overly in love with were Korn and Knock and the friends. But it it was good.

Fast foward to Together With Me and I was not only in love with Korn and Knock, but I fell for Phu, Fai and Farm.

Fast forward to Together With Me: Next Chapter and I have one question - Why? Why do this?

This entire season was a hot mess. Everyone cheated on everyone-I'm not kidding this whole thing was just one big season of the Jerry Springer show. Farm became a massive man-whore, Yihwa lost her backbone and Cho is left kind of reeling. I don't know if they switched writers, or they were trying to shock people or what the deal was, but this entire season was a hot mess.

The chemistry between MaxTul was still there. There can never be any doubt about that. I adore these two together and on their own.

The story line was chaotic, pretentious and cringie. Because of course of men love each other they have to cheat on each other.

And what happened to the strong, Yihwa? What happened to the girl who went after Plerng for messing with her best friend? Where's the Yihwa who wasn't perfect but knew right from wrong?

As for Farm and Bright - don't get me started. I mean, okay, fine. I get it. Bright was a jerk to Farm, but how did it make sense for Farm to start sleeping with everything with a pulse and poor sweet Rit didn't even know what hit him.

Not get me wrong - people cheat on their spouses. It happens all the time. But lord have mercy - this entire thing was just too much.

I think the writers got lazy. They either got tired of writing these characters or something went terribly wrong because this whole thing ruined Together With Me.

Read More

I read through a few of the reviews on this drama before binge watching it and I realize quite a few of the people who reviewed this drama didn't watch the entire thing. They have questions that were answered - mainly who killed Susan and stole Rugal tech. I'm not sure they could have made it any clearer - so the people who had that question obviously didn't watch all the way or they fast-forwarded through eps.

THIS IS WHY YOU PROBABLY SHOULDN'T GO BY REVIEWS ONLY IN YOUR DECISION TO WATCH A SHOW OR NOT WATCH - just sayin'

Anyway -

RUGAL isn't your typical K-Drama. It has no romance (except for Ki Beom and his wife). It's not your simple love story or mystery so I think people underestimate it.

Someone complained there was too much action - I don't think there is ever such a thing. But let me address that for a second. This drama has been tagged as an action drama. The type of show it is, requires a high level of action. The RUGAL team are technologically altered. What's the point of being enhanced if you can't use the enhancements? The actions sequences are necessary.

The premise was gritty but good. The story flows right and the plot twists were surprising. There was one twist I saw coming but the rest of them had me shook.

I love a good bromance and this drama has that. The group grew together, which was important to me. I loved the way during fight scenes where Tae Woong doesn't even have to turn around to know Ki Beum has his back. It was a beautiful thing. The bromance wasn't instant - it took some building for the two to get along but it was so worth it.

Gwang Chul was the most adorable thing - he is badass but so sweet. Half the time I want to hug him and put him in my pocket and love on him.

Min Na was kick ass. She was a strong woman who takes no prisoners. The one thing I didn't like was she got knocked around a little which was later explained because apparently she wasn't as enhanced like the others. Maybe that was the reason but she managed to get grabbed by the badguys a few times which probably makes no sense. Will rewatch it later and pay closer attention. But I liked her.

The acting was amazing. My heart broke for Ki Beum to lose the love of his life not once but twice. That's something to kill a man. The pain in his face - I cried so hard.

All in all, for an action series, this was amazing. The music I could have done without though. Most of the songs sound like the opening song from a nineteen nineties anime intro.

Read More

I almost skipped this because of how bad the first series was. Tossara was a hot mess. This second series though was much better. I think if they had more time to let the story unfold, it would have been much much better. The acting as good, and what they could show us from the storyline was commendable.It was easy enough to follow. There are times when I wanted to shake both characters. But now that all the eps are out, you can sit down and watch it in one go. It isn't super amazing but after Tossara, this is good. I was super happy they didn't go rapie with it. That's one of my line why I would drop a drama. With more time, they could have done really well.

Read More

I usually only watch BL. But I was looking for recommendations of something with a good story and a lot of people recommended this one. I began watching and it hooked me from the very first five minutes. Usually, I would leave the drama until i twas finished--when it's not BL--then binge watch. But I couldn't help myself.

I got caught up in the first three episodes that had aired then counted down the days to the next episode every week. The storyline was amazing. Having a baby being born at the same time someone was dying, was genius. The emotion behind that had be sobbing. I know it seemed harsh and it was a hard thing to watch, but it still played out very well.

Then the life Tonmai had to live, with everyone lying to him about who he was and what happened that night and why it happened - that broke my heart

His need to feel loved and to celebrate his birthday, someone we all take for granted...and his father! OMG! I wanted to run that man over with a car.

Yes, I'm aware its a drama but they say if the character/writer can bring out strong emotions in you then they've done their jobs.

Push did a great job and he was so beautiful - another reason I kept going back week after week.

This drama was beautiful and emotional and beautiful. I was on an emotional roller coaster constantly and I loved it. I laughed and cry and yelled at my screen.

I've rewatched this drama numerous times and it's still as breath-taking as the first time I watched it.

Read More

Seriously, you have to watch this!

I started watching this because of Tong (he played Tharn's brother in TharnType). I've been saying from TT that he deserves his own series. Even though this drama is only 6 episodes, it is so worth the watch. I waited until the end to binge it and omg!

The chemistry between Tong/Fluke was everything! They play Paper/Tong Fah the main couple. There is something so beautiful watching them together even during the characters' struggles to get their footing. There was almost something angelic about their connection that kept me there and enjoy and watching and crying.

Then there is the secondary couple Jeno/Chris played by Mawin/Run. There was just such a purity about the way Chris has loved Jeno and realizes that Jeno doesn't need to be loved the way Chris wants to love him but the way Jeno deserves to be loved. OMG that conversation in the library???? DEFINITION OF A HEALTHY RELATIONSHIP! So proud!

The third couple, I could have done without and given that screen time to the other two. M/Near played by Nine/Games. Their disagreement wasn't the most and the reaction to it was out of proportion. I didn't agree it needed to be as big a deal as they made it out to be.

This series was beautiful and well written.
Why didn't I give it 10/10 - the bullying. Okay, so I know bullying happens but I'm just fed up with it in these series. I've watched about four BLs so far this year and it's a constant thing. I'm happy they seem to have gotten away from the r*apie disasters but this isn't a good troupe either. And it was A LOT! Like, whew.

Other than that and the overacting by the fujoshi - I really enjoyed this drama - you should totally check it out.

Read More

Okay, I'm not going to lie. When I heard they were making this BL I couldn't WAIT! I loved Off/Gun in that other BL - Honey Puppy Love (I think) where they played Rome/Pick. They saved that show for me. And I thought, yes, this ship is going to sail again.

Where should I even begin with how bad this was.

Kai (Played by Off) is a MASSIVE jerk (and I'm using jerk because if I used the word I really want to use, I'll get banned from this side). The things he did to Third were UNFORGIVABLE. It got so bad, myself and a few others were hoping this ended sadly. We wanted it to end with Third deciding to leave to work on himself and Kai either dead or in therapy. Kai used Third for everything - to break up with his girlfriend, to work out his homosexual tendencies....It was heartbreaking (and not in a omg that is written so well and I love it but it's so sad way) no, this show literally was cringie AF and shouldn't have been aired like that.

Third (played by Gun) spent the ENTIRE series crying over this jerk who treated him like a second thought--lower than a second thought. The relationship between the two of them was beyond toxic and I was beginning to be scared for the people watching the show.

I don't think these two should have wound up together. They're both horrible together and just horrible people.

That kind of relationship his not healthy and I really worry that young folks are watching this show thinking that mess is normal!

The only saving grace and BARELY was the characters Too and Aun (played by White and Earth) as well as Bone (played by Mike) and even Bone I wanted to grab him by the shoulders and shake him. The only reason I continued watching the show, was because of Aun and Too.

I was so disappointed. This show was so bad, people on Youtube hasn't gone through and made cuts of Too and Aun. I think they just don't care.

Listen, go watch something else. You'll waste your time on this one. I mean, sure, it had its moment, but in the end, the only characters I was rooting for were Too, Aun and Bone.

Read More

This could have gone so wrong...

For a while now, Netflix kept suggesting this drama to me because I'd watched THE K2. And each time, I ignored it watched something else. I mean, who wants to watch a priest fight crime? This guy was no father Brown after all.

Finally, I gave in and watched.

Oh wow, funny and a delight.

The story could have gone downhill fast, let's admit that. Especially if they'd written a priest out there kicking butts without a reason. The writers wound a great tale, a great background for Father Michael (Kim), they gave him a reason to be who he is and a goal, a mission to accomplish.

Sure, the background story broke my heart but it was well thought out.

The comedy in this drama isn't for everyone. And at times there are some exaggerations, but I've seen worse (Ossan's Love *cough*).

The secondary characters added to this made for an amazing ensemble of characters with personalities that are worth the watch. They add spice to the Fiery Priest, giving an all round great watch. If nothing else, the rapping detective alone is worth the watch.

The Fiery Priest was funny, dramatic, heartfelt and action packed--I love martial arts in anything so I enjoyed that part of it immensely.

Recommended.

Read More

This drama has my highest rating so far on MDL.

Let's begin with the premise. Reincarnation has been something written about all the time. But, I've never seen it done with such care as in UWMA. This was the first drama I'd ever read the book then watched the series and was blown away by everything.

Casting Ohm and Fluke as Dean and Pharm was genius. Not only were they beautiful together, the chemistry was wonderful to watch.

There was a moment between Dean and Pharm that I didn't appreciate. In episode 10 when Pharm got angry at Dean for trying to be tender with him. Maybe it's because I'm not Thai, that I don't understand it. To me, Pharm was acting as if Dean was doing something inappropriate. They were together in private, so I wasn't sure why Pharm freaked out then. That bothered me because it made no sense.

Boun and Prem - I wanted more of them. There was a chemistry between the two of them that deserved their time to shine and I am still holding out hope for a season dedicated to them--or just a few special episodes. From the very first episode, I knew those two should be together. The way Win (Boun) looked at Team (Prem) did it for me. It's the way he had this little gleam in his eyes that told me those two would be killer together. What little we did get of the two of them was pure and beautiful.

Nine and Earth were fantastic as Korn and In. I was really happy to see Earth in a role other than Tar but could we please have one where he gets the guy and NOT die? Please?

Manaow is the friend we all have but don't deserve. She's funny and supportive and tells it like it is. We all need a Manaow in our lives and Sammy slayed that role. I'd like to see her in a role where she's the lead now, please.

Overall, this drama was well written. The acting was beautiful, almost poetic. It was so good, I almost believe in true love again...maybe if they make us a season 2 I'd definitely believe in love again. Just sayin lol

And one more time for old time sake - P'Deaaaaaaaaaan!

Read More