Lesbian friendships at the forefront of this little show

Soo not Sue is back with another delightful show. I love the fact that even though there is a romantic storyline, this show is about people. It is about friends, it is about women who are together because they are lesbians, not romantically, but because community is important. This is about the place, Dickinson’s Room (love a good lesbian reference in the name of a place), and the people in it above all else.

The main relationship is between Seol and her aunt Jung-won. They have always been close, but Jung-won never told Seol about the fact that she was gay and that she had left her job to open a women-only café/bar. Where Seol is bubbly, Jung-won is introverted and quiet. They are not that different in age, but they have very different outlooks on being out, being open, being in the public eye as a woman who loves women.
This show is about showing that neither way is better than the other, that sometimes, you might need to adjust, to be calmer or to be more open.

It’s also about how society and Korean society in particular acts towards wlw. Thanks to the several different lesbian characters, Soo not Sue shows us that there is not one way to be a lesbian in Korea today. That you can be an influencer and be a lesbian, but that you will be prevented from getting jobs by some homophobic people. That you can be out, but that some people are still too afraid for that and that it's okay and you should respect that. That places where you can be yourself exist, but that they’re often hidden away and you need to walk around the block three times before you see it.

It is about the friendship that is made between queer women (and the jokes that if you spend enough time in lesbian spaces, you will be meeting your exes a lot), about how lesbian relationships can be as toxic as straight ones and you really should dump once and for all your ex that keeps asking you to come back together before dumping you again. It is about the fact that friendship is so important and all too often in media, it is put aside in favour of pure romance.

She Makes My Heart Flutter shows us the reverse. A story about queer friendship and family with a healthy dose of a very cute romance on the side.

The cinematography and the production quality in general is tip top, as we have come to expect from Soo Not Sue and Korea in general. The actors did a good job with their characters, even those secondary ones that felt a bit more like stereotypes.

It is a short show, bit quite a bit longer than others when compared to other indie lesbian shows on YouTube. Contrary to some of the short K-BL we have seen in the past few years, this show manages its time quite well and even though I would have appreciated more time to develop the characters and their stories, it didn't feel too lacking because it knew to limit its stories to what fitted in its timeframe.

I had a really good time watching this show and I will be both rewatching it and recommending it to people. Sometimes in those reviews I recommend people watch it with the caveat that it is not very good, but beggars can’t be choosers and we should support wlw shows and short films to show there is interest. But no such caveat here, She Makes My Heart Flutter is good show with a good story, a good message, very high production value and at only 5x13 min, it is a quick watch.

Can someone with a lot of money give Soo Not Sue money to produce a long form drama with lesbians? Please and thank you.

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A cheesy well produced GL historical drama, an hour well spent!

I am always searching for good GL shows to watch because as much as like BL shows, as a lesbian I want more content that caters to me. A lot of the dramas with lesbian/sapphic characters and relationships is awfully serious and/or tragic which is fine, but sometimes I just want something that is cheesy and ridiculous. Let me tell you that this was exactly that! And it feels really, really nice to find that content.
With a runtime of about 1h, this drama won't take too long to watch, but manages to create a story that got me emotional in the last few episodes because I had started to care about the characters.

The first few episodes of the show are quite humorous and full of clichés of the genre with a character (Xiaoqian), very excitable and decidedly cute, travelling to the past and meeting Muyun, the stern and serious character, and then said character travelling to the modern world and discovering said modern world with every moment that you would expect (special mention for her meeting Xiaoqian's cat). The story then starts to become stronger and denser with the introduction of the character of Hongyan. I don't want to reveal too much, but this arc which culminates in the last few episodes is what made the drama go from a cheesy romcom to a feeling of "dang, this is actually quite good".
They manage to pack enough backstory and background world information in an hour to make a somewhat coherent story and world that works within the limited time.

The actresses do a good job at portraying their characters and the archetype they each represent whether the peppy happy Xiaoqian, the serious Muyun whose shell was broken by Xiaoqian, or the broken Hongyan. They managed to sell me those characters which I wasn't convinced would happen when I first started watching the show. Wang Laoji (Muyun) and Peng Jingxian (Hongyan) in particular do a good job. Wang Xiaoyu manages to sell the character of Xiaoqian well enough, which can be hard (it's like being able to sell the character of the Prince in Cinderella without making it too cheesy or a caricature).

There is clearly 0 budget, but with that limited budget, they got some nice costumes, some nice music, and created a coherent whole in terms of photography and cinematography. It is very in line with this type of historical Chinese drama from what I am picking up from my watching (the slow motion in fights, the close-ups, the looks, etc.) and it works well. The editing isn't done really well, but the story flows well enough that it is not too much of a bother. If you don't have too high of expectations for it, you'll be fine.

I don't know that I would necessarily rewatch it on my own, but if a friend wanted to watch it and asked me to watch it with them, I would for sure rewatch it without an issue.

In conclusion, it delivers on what it promises and gives me exactly what I wanted. A cheesy and slightly ridiculous, but well produced within a limited budget show with a nice story and pretty girls who fall in love. What more could I ask? (A lot more, but for tonight, this is just right.)

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A very soft teenage story about two boys about to graduate

STRONGBERRY is once again back with the good, good queer short films and I, for one, love to see it. This time, we meet two very sweet best friends in the moments just before graduation with all of the things left unsaid that they really want to say before they have to take their first steps in the adult world. The story is simple, perfect for the format and it did not feel like something was missing. It takes very universal topics and conversations (what will happen after we graduate, wanting to tell your best friend you love him and being afraid to say it) and uses its time very well to explore them. It felt very real and very earnest. Haven't we all wanted to say something, especially when it comes to love, and always thought "oh I have time", until you arrive at the fork in the road and you have to decide what to do because it is the last moment to say what you have to say to the other person before you each take your own path? This is a good exploration of just this and I would take a longer show of this, but I am also very appreciative of people who know how to pick the best format for stories and the best stories for the format. This short film made me say "aww, sweeties" aloud and also made me smile my biggest smile because cuties! Bless teenagers!

The actors did a really good job in portraying those two teenagers, they were very believable, and honestly gave me flashbacks.
The production, as for all of Strongberry's short films, is very strong with some nice shots, sound, and music. It really is a pleasure to watch.

If you are looking for the next video to watch during your break, I can only recommend that you watch Strongberry's Pride gift for this year, and check out the very soft and very good "Hold me". It delivers on its premise and promise and gives exactly what I want from a short film.

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A short Chinese GL with potential if only it could have been longer

Thank you once more to Douqi for the splendid work done subtitling this show and making it available internationally. I watched this show with the 52 minutes full version that puts all of the episodes together. As far as I know this is the version with the uncensored first half, but be aware if you go watch the series on Kuaishou that it is an even more censored version.

Anyway, let's get into it. This show, like pretty much all of Chinese GL, is made of very short episodes. This sadly affects the story. The story of this show with Pei Shuangyi transmigrating into the manhua she's currently reading as a young ingenue who accidentally and unknowingly befriends the ruler of the city she's in, Xiao Yi is nothing new. The vibe, especially at the beginning (as much with the pacing as with the relationship between the two), feels very similar to Legend of Yunxian, but more as a pseudo-historical than a xianxia drama.
In addition to just the relationship between the two women, the show tries to integrate a classic of historical drama with a power hungry court member who wants to overthrow the leader. It tries very hard and in the last third almost succeeds. But the first half of the story especially has issues with time jumps and the like that require a big suspension of disbelief. To put it another way (and it is a problem with the structure of the show and its limited time and budget), the story beats are presented, but there is not much meat to it. Character A doesn't know how to do something so character B helps her. We have half a scene of teaching and the scene after Character A is suddenly the best at it. There is a list of plot points to go through and we go through them without much development or transition.
That being said, if you take this story for what it is and are willing to put the work and forgive them for those issues, it is a pretty ambitious story and they do manage, especially in the climax at the end, to give us something interesting.

I quite like all of the actors who did a good job with what they were given. The directing was very classic, but worked for what they were doing. The costumes are overall pretty good (althoughsome really didn't work for me like Xiao Yi's light purple gown that looked too much like a cheap costume) and work for the setting. They manage to film on actual sets meant for historical dramas which helped with the believability of it all. The use of the music was also well done, it added to the story and they even managed to have a flashback that made sense for the story and didn't feel unnecessary or like it was taking too much space.

I know I say that almost every time I review one of those shows, but it really makes me want to see what the team could do with more time and budget (and less censorship, but that's another issue).
At only 52 min total, it is the length of a regular drama episode, but you get a whole show. If you want to watch a short historical GL and you don't mind watching a show that feels like it should have been at least twice as long (and everything that involves), then I had a good time watching this show and you probably will have too.

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A really nice xianxia GL that shows that you don't need a large budget to make it work

I've been saying since Legend of Yunze Special that their productions keep getting better with each new show. The funding looks to be larger, the costumes better and better (although that's to be expected), and the stories get more coherent. I enjoyed Legend of Yunze season 1 because I could see the potential even if it felt weak on other points. This season 2 is even better than the Special and I can see the potential finally getting somewhere.

But let's do it in the right order, shall we. On the technical side, we can see that the scale of the story, but also of the sets has increased. The ambition is clearly higher than for the previous season and it shows. There are some really nice moments in terms of cinematography (notably in that confrontation scene in the last episode which was doing interesting things in terms of colour and light). The costumes are better and better and so are the hairstyles. Some of them are truly a pleasure for the eyes, especially, I have to say, the demon ones of Zhaoyun. I commented in my review of Legend of Yunqian that they clearly had zero budget, but it's not the case anymore and while I don't think their budget is very large, they are clearly doing things right in terms of allocating it. This feels more like some low budget professional short (mid-length) films.

The story is much more coherent. I think part of it comes from the fact that they have a better grasp of the character, as well as because we, as viewers, already knew them, but even past that, I didn't have a moment when I was wondering what was going on or where that came from or thought "okay, that really came like a hair on the soup" (to literally translate a French phrase (meaning "came out of nowhere")). Not everything is perfect of course, but it is coherent. It feels epic on a larger scale than before and I felt much more into the characters and their relationships (both the main as well as the secondary ones) this time. We get some backstory for the different characters, we get some well-rounded-ish side characters.

Wang Laoji and Peng Jingxian once again do a good job as Zhaoyun and A-Ze. They're credible in their role and sell the story. Not all of the actors playing side characters are as good, but overall, everyone does a good enough job that I can suspend my disbelief and enjoy the ride.

All in all, this stands on its own without needing the caveat of "we don't get a lot of GL so we make do with what we get". It is real xianxia that I would recommend if you want to support an indie group of creators with ideas and ambitions that keeps on growing with every new project. It has demons and sects and choosing your paths even when it isn't the one that was given to you from birth and everyone else is telling you that you shouldn't be here. It is about people choosing each other again and again because that's just what's right. It is far from perfect, but it made me go "dang that's a good story and I want to know what comes next" several times. And that's personally enough for me. It delights me to no end that I can recommend a GL show, even a censored one, as good without a very large caveat. If you like xianxia and GL shows, beautiful costumes and characters who are all in for each other even when the world isn't, if you want to support indie creators who are trying and constantly improving, then this is a great show for you. Plus, it is short enough that the time commitment isn't too high. I, for one, cannot wait to see what comes next (and also more wuxia and xianxia GL, please and thank you).

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A wlw anthology series with some cuteness, some smooth moves, and some realistic women

This series is an anthology series produced by Chinese dating app for wlw Rela (which has since changed name to "The L"). I don't know what it is with queer dating apps and short dramas, but I love it (there are also a few Filipino dramas I have watched produced by mlm dating apps). As it is an anthology series, each episode is independent and follows two different women. There are 14 different stories (one of the stories is divided between two episodes), each following one or two women that happen to have the Rela app on their phone.

There is a wide variety of women and a wide variety of stories that encompass a lot of different types of wlw couples and stories. There are meeting up stories, long distance relationships, the "I am in love with my straight best friend" story, a "my girlfriend had an accident and lost all memory of me" story, etc. A lot of different types of stories, each between 2 an 6 minutes. Some are more well-done that others, but all are enjoyable. Some are extremely cute and made me feel all fluffy inside. There are also a wide range of women presented from the most femme ones to the most butch ones (which you really don't see as much in wlw stories, I'd never seen women that butch in stories before), some students, some white collar workers, some bartenders, some musicians, etc. It's really thrilling to see such a wide range of experiences being represented on screen. There's also no homophobia. There can some heartache sometimes, but no story is fully sad and the majority have a full very cute happy ending.
Some of those women have some smooth, smooth moves. Like dang, teach me your ways jiejie because I need that level of skills. Shoot your shot and dare to dream!

You can see that there's not a lot of budget, but that's to be expected from those kinds of shows and it is really nicely filmed still. The audio quality is also good most of the time (there are section where it is hard to hear, but they are not that many and the subs are there) and the production values are quite good. I wouldn't necessarily rewatch the whole series, but some of those short films are nice enough that I could see myself rewatching them if I need some soft content and some smooth moves.

In conclusion, this anthology series only takes around 1h15 to watch and I would highly recommend you do if you need that sweet, sweet wlw content because there is something for everyone and it feels So Very Nice to see such a diversity of women, of gender expressions, and of relationships being shown on screen.

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A wlw Chinese short film that will make you want more.

When will we finally get longer wlw historical Chinese fiction? I love those short films, but I dream of more. But we have to do with what we have and what we have right here is a very short, 4 min, short film with some known faces like Shengwei who you must have seen if you've ever fallen into the rabbit hole of wlw historical Chinese short films.

I am weak for good red and white colour coordinated outfits and this short film gives us that along with a taste of a larger story and a developing relationship between a stern general who wants to appear unaffected by this amnesiac young woman who stirs feelings inside of her and said amnesiac young woman (we do love a good trope in this house). There is so much potential, so much story that could be developed if only we had more than 4 minutes. There is even a cliffhanger at the end (which I hope will get resolved in a later short film or even better a longer show so we can get some backstory).

The costumes, as per usual in those short films, are visually appealing. The contrast in colours between the different characters works well and does a lot of the heavy lifting to help deepen the undeveloped story. I also wish they did not have to resort to contrived plot points to show some intimacy between the women, but such is the lot of queer mainland Chinese productions.

A solid watch if you're looking for your next historical Chinese short film of the wlw variety, it will make you yearn for more.

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A well produced short GL Wuxia that will make you want for more

This review is going to be quite short because I do not want for it to take longer to read than the story it talks about and when the tag says short film, it is not lying. This short film is 4 minutes long and is halfway between the music video, the trailer, and the short film.

It tells the story of those two women, their fights and love story in fragments. It is only showing us snippets of a larger story. It is quite effective at showing us this story in the 4 minutes they have even if we are left wanting for more (if anyone feels like writing fanfiction about this story, please do it and then come back here to tell me more). It follows a pretty standard story structure which makes it easier to follow.

The costumes are very pretty and the two actresses manage to sell the story quite well. The fact that they seem to be actually together in real life (the short film was posted on their youtube channel where they publish vlogs) does help with the believability of their attraction to each other (although it is not always the case).
The production values within the constraint of time are quite good and they also did a nice job with the music.
They left me wanting for more and there are things that I would have liked to know more about with the story or to do slightly better in terms of voice-overs and such, but given that it only lasts 4 minutes, it is pretty decent.
It does not seem likely that they would produce a full length story, but I do hope they try their hands at some other short film in the future.

If you have 4 minutes to spare and want to watch a well produced GL Wuxia short film, I can only recommend watching Red Devil and Heroine Su. Let's support the GL projects that are being produced, no matter how small and hope for more of them to come out in the future!

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A wonderful moving heartfelt queer coming-of-age story <3

Do you ever watch something that moves you, that shakes you, and leaves a mark? The appropriate word is “qui vous chamboule”, but there is no English translation for the word “chambouler”. There is no translation for this feeling of being deeply touched by something that stays with you and shakes you to your core. This is the feeling that I am left with after having watched I Told Sunset About You.

We had been recommended ITSAY many times before finally taking the plunge. We had been warned of its quality, we had been warned that it would emotionally devastate us, we had been warned that it would be worth it. All three things were correct. This show stands on its own among the best shows I have ever seen. It is so far beyond the traditional clichés of BL dramas that I am not even sure it should be qualified as one.

I have rarely seen such thoughts put into the directing and the cinematography in a tv show anywhere. They make use of negative space on screen, the colour choices are always meaningful, every single shot is well made. The accompanying documentary (which I highly recommend you watch after finishing the show and which brought my appreciation for the work done by the cast and crew to a whole new level and it was already very high) shows even more the quality of the craft. Some of the scenes are highly effective because of the way they are shot, and any other filming angle would not have worked as well. The director was not afraid to make us stay in a moment with the characters way longer than was comfortable specifically because this moment was meant to be uncomfortable. The end of episode 3 is a masterful example of that. The gorgeous final scene is another example of both the talent and skills of the cast and crew and the amazing luck that they seem to have had. I am simply in awe of the work that was done and could not keep myself from marvelling out loud at the cinematography and directing even as I was watching the show.

The acting was also absolutely stunning from the youngest members of the crew (Khun who plays Bas is only 17 and I will be following his career) to the two main actors, Billkin and PP, and the other side characters. I already appreciated Nat who plays Teh’s brother’s Hoon, but watching the documentary also added him to the list of people whose career I want to follow (a trend for pretty much every actor in this show) and Smile who plays Tarn and manages to give such a depth to a character that could have easily (and often is in other dramas) been vilified. I am in awe of all of them. PP and Billkin are both absolutely amazing as Oh-aew and Teh. They ooze chemistry and they play off each other so well. The depth of character they both bring to those characters, the turmoil that is present inside of both of them constantly, the micro expressions, the looks, the way they deliver lines, the everything! I could honestly go on forever about some of the choices they all made at different points in the story, but that would be going into way too much detail and spoil the entire thing, but boy, will I be going elsewhere to read analyses of these.

And the music! The music! The Music! Three songs were recorded for this show in different versions sang by the two main actors and those were then strategically placed at different moments of the drama to add even more layers to an already layered story. Some moments which had already brought me to tears made me shed even more tears because a particular version of one of the songs started playing. Even the general OST is very well done and appropriate for the different moments. They made very good use of the music (and of the silences) in this show and the music itself was just so good. I will be listening to the OST on its own in the future because it is just that good.

And finally, the story. I left the story for last because I am not sure I have the words to talk about it. Everything I mentioned before comes together to support the story and what a scenario it has. This drama essentially gives us 5 films by the duration of each episode. They pack so many emotions. The writers said in an interview that for the emotional scenes, they purposely chose the dialogues so that they would make us cry and boy, have they succeeded. I was crying from the first episode. They managed to get me attached to those characters from the first moment. The kids we first see, best friends about to become rival, and the teenagers we then meet, the rivals to friends to lovers and so much more in between. The themes explored in this show are explored throughout the entirety of the drama from the expectations that our parents have from us (and sometimes that we think our parents have for us, but which are almost entirely our own. I know that really resonated with me and special mention to all of the parents in this show whose actors did a great job) to the discovery of our feelings for others, the confusion surrounding it, the discovery of our sexuality, the internalised homophobia we can feel, the discovery of what we want from life, from others, the pressure to succeed, the stress associated with it, the fear of what others might think about our choices, about who we are, the fear that is so present that you do not even dare to think about it for fear of making it real, the hurt we cause others because we are lost, because we do not want to face our feelings and our fears, because we act without thinking because we think it is the only way.

When I reviewed “Gaya sa Pelikula”, I said that it was making me think about issues I still had surrounding my identity and who I am and what I want today. For “I Told Sunset About You”, I see myself as a teenager in high school at 16 or 17, I see myself in Teh, in his obliviousness, in his fear, in his repression, in so much. There is something about seeing a character being terrified of what he wants and the way the story uses the device of studying for the exam to explore feelings and how characters use it as an excuse too. I will not go into too many details about moments in the story, but the choices made to tell this story, the use of gazes, of colours, of silences, of things said and unsaid (especially unsaid for Teh and his path to being able to use his voice without repressing it because of fear), I would not have enough space to tell everything I want to say. As I said, I relate a lot to Teh, but the other characters also get space to have their stories told. Oh-aew is starting from a different point to Teh, but is no less afraid and stressed about his future. We get discussions on what he wants and his slow realisation of it, like that of Teh, but with significantly more emotional maturity (they all have way more emotional maturity than Teh), the contrast of his character, way more sure of himself and observant than Teh but still so vulnerable, so young.

Both Bas, Oh-aew’s friend, and Tarn, Teh’s friend and the girl he likes at the beginning of the show, who could have got the short end of the stick (as is usually the case for this type of characters) got so much depth from the script and the actors. They got a progression in the story, they grew, they made choices, they were not simply just tools for the main two characters (and it is even addressed in the show, we love to see it). They deserve the world and I sincerely hope they will get it. Hoon, Teh’s brother gets to play in several key scenes, but there is one scene in particular in the last episode that is one of my favourite scenes in the whole show that moved this character from one I quite liked to one I loved. They really exploited both brothers’ relationship and how it affected Teh throughout the show and it is refreshing to see such a well-done relationship.

I am in awe of so many things, of the dialogues, of the moments without dialogues when they let the actors use their eyes and their body to convey emotions and messages, the use of Chinese, of props, the reminders, the objects used once in one way and then reused in completely different way to geta completely different emotions out of us (something that the crew said they did on purpose). Special mention for the use of Instagram in the show which I never seen used so effectively and in a way that made sense for the characters and the stories, but also managed to tell us so much about them (episode 4, if you know, you know).

I could continue for pages and pages, but this has already started to become too long. I am honestly in awe of everything in this show. The actors are fantastic (and did I mention PP and Billkin’s chemistry because it is off the charts!). The story is so well crafted, making us laugh and cry, smile and scream, wonder and worry. The directing is stunning. The job by the crew is wonderful (I once again cannot recommend you enough to watch the documentary that accompanies the series (that underwater scene!!)). The music will make you cry and you will start listening to it on repeat. Everything in this show was wonderfully made. Everyone involved gave their best and it really, really shows! I want this show to make a mark. I want everyone to watch this show. I want it to win awards and be shared abroad. I want to buy posters to put on my wall and DVD to put on my shelf. I want to rewatch it again and again to see all of the things I have missed, all of the symbolism that is peppered throughout the show. I am not sure I would be able to do it straight away because this show is so much and some of the story arcs and scenes left me emotionally devastated, but oh how worth it it was. I cannot recommend you enough this show. Please watch and support it!

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Older sapphic women deserves their stories to be shown on screen

I have been excited about Gagaoolala as a platform since I discovered it in 2020 when it wasn't even really available internationally and you needed a local number. Since then, they have opened internationally and I keep saying I should get a VIP account, but I am a PhD student and time not something I have in enough quantity to justify the cost. Which is why I was very happy when I got reminded about the fact that Gaga is making part of his catalogue free to watch every week. Encore Martha was part of the free release for this week and I could sit down for the less than 30 min it takes to watch it.
I have been trying to watch more queer Taiwanese productions recently and I am always on the lookout for good sapphic short films so it truly felt like the stars had aligned when I heard about it.

Starting with the story itself and as stated in the summary, this story is about two older women which is rare enough to be mentioned. I do love stories about teenagers and young adults as much as the next person, as someone in their late 20s, I do like seeing myself represented on screen. But representation, especially when it comes to queer representation needs to show everyone, including older people, both so that everyone can see themselves represented on screen, but also so that younger people can see a potential for their future (I'd say that it is also important for straight people to see it, but let's be real, this is an original production from Gagaoolala, the vast vast vast majority of the viewers are going to be queer). By only having young queer adults on screen, it can be difficult to project yourself in the future. But having characters of a different generation can also enable different themes to be explored. The path to acceptance in our societies is still long, even here in Sweden where it is very normalised. It was even more so 30 years ago when the main characters in this short film left each other as 20-somethings young women because society and families were not as accepting.

This story is about reconnecting after what feels like a lifetime ago and asking yourself once more "What is it that I want? Am I allowed to want this?" The same questions and the same fear that plagued this relationship 30 years ago are back, but society has changed, the adult children of today are not the grandparents of yesterday. Also special mention to the fact that one of the two main characters is a butch lesbian, we stan.
In a way because it is so short (it is after all the format) and while it does answer enough question to feel satisfying, it still feels like something is missing, like something more is needed (when can we get a drama with older sapphic women with flashbacks and enough episodes to fully develop their story??). Still it manages to ask a lot of good questions on self-acceptance, what we want out of life, our relationship to our families.

On the production side, the cinematography, the editing, and the general directing is very good (as expected from that kind of productions from Taiwan) and the theme song is both nice to listen to and meaningful for the story. The actresses are furthermore very good and really sell the story, which is good as the format means their acting is essential to developing what cannot be developed in the script and story itself.

All in all, I am very glad I took that half an hour to watch Encore Martha and I would encourage you to do the same.

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A very gay short drama if you want a fun time

Our favourite group of women has just finished releasing their latest series and I am always here for it! This time, after the xianxia of season 2 of Legend of Yunze and The Vampire (which while modern, still had a SFF angle), we're back fully into the modern world with A Practical Guide to Being a Superstar's Assistant. This one is even shorter than The Vampire with a runtime of only 13 minutes.

Because of this very short runtime, the potential for development of the characters and their backstory is very limited, we're more in the short film territory than truly a drama. Still we can see who are characters are pretty quickly in the first episode, the über fan who gets the chance of a lifetime to be her favourite star's assistant and said star who is subject to all sorts of rumour but keeping her head high. The drama and its story are more like a series of scenes, presented as "lessons" for an assistant wannabe (keep your heart in check if you've got a massive crush on your boss as an example). It feels a bit too disjointed and I preferred the second half of the show to the first.

Wang Laoji and Shengwei are still delightful in their role and still ooze chemistry. Sheng Wei is perfect in the role of the superstar and looks honestly gorgeous in those dresses (not that it has anything to do with the story or its quality, she just looks very good and I am very gay). Wang Laoji is, for once, not playing the more, let's say, domineering character, which is nice for a change. But she still gets a scene where she kicks some asses, we like it. I also want to mention the little girl who appears in the last couple of episodes who is delightful and almost steals the show!

The production quality is higher than their first production which is always nice, even if the lack of budget could be felt regularly.

All in all, it is an interesting little drama that has just finished releasing. I do wish it had more time and more budget and less censorship (oh what we could have!), but if you have 13 min and go into it to have a good and fun little time with some women who are totally not gay for each other, what do you mean?! then go and watch A Practical Guide to Being a Superstar's Assistant.

And as always, thank you to douqi for her work with subtitling it, I am very grateful!

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A very sweet and well shot short film

This is such a cute little film. There is not much in terms of story, but there is enough to make it a very good short film. Min Ah has a crush on Ji Yeong who is just graduating a year ahead of her. They meet in a park and she gives her gift. Will she manage to tell her she likes her and how will Ji Yeong react?

I have watched a fair few lesbian short films in the past few months (and reviewed a few of those), but I think this might be my favourite and the one that feels the most natural. It feels very real in its depiction of teenage girls and first love without being either over-the-top or underwhelming, and without being cringe either. I could see myself or some of my friends acting the same way at their age.

The music is simple and works well without being anything extraordinary and the acting works just well. Both actresses do a good job at making believable teenagers and I was thoroughly believing them as best friends and crushes.
Finally, the cinematography and editing was really nice. It was dynamic, it changed depending on the moment of the story and the way the characters were feeling and what they were trying to say. There were some nice and aesthetic shots too that added to the story rather than distracting from it.

All in all, a very nice and sweet short film that I would thoroughly recommend to anyone searching for their next short film and at only 7 min, it is a quick watch!

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A very cute short film

Youtube has a lot of lesbian short films and I am absolutely here for it. It seems that quite a few of those also happen to be promotional content. I am enjoying the fact that that promotional content also gives me more f/f content. In this case, this short film seems to have been produced for a company that makes mattresses.
The film is very short and there is not so much story, but like the topper mattress that it is advertising, it is very soft and perfect to relax.

The story is very simple and is perfectly encapsulated in the summary. Nu tries to figure out if her friend who is always at her place has a crush on her. The story is very simple, but it is not aiming to do more than what it promised.
The production is quite good, whether the colouring, the camera work, or the music. Everything fits just right.

It is quite short, it has nothing extraordinary about it, but if you have 9 minutes in front of you and want to watch two cute girls interact in some very wholesome content, wait no more and watch this short film.

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A very cute and real queer web-drama

I am living for smaller indie production which have very limited budget, but a lot of heart. "Afraid of" is exactly that kind of production. With 3 episodes of between 5 and 8 minutes, it has the feeling of a three student short films with a coherence between them.

The music and sound design brings a peaceful feeling to the entire drama and watching it feels like the perfect moment to be with a cup of tea on a comfy armchair. The entire drama from the actors performance (nothing extraordinary, but they deliver on the expectation for a student short film/drama (note: I do not know if it is a student production, that is just my feeling with it, that of a production by students studying film in their last year or similar) to the story feels very cute. The directing and camera work, the production value in general is pretty good and makes for a very agreeable experience.

Assuredly the strength of this short web-drama is the story. It is very limited and self-contained, but done in a way appropriate for a series of a short films that gave me the information I needed without overwhelming me or leaving me wanting because I was confused.
It manages to talk about the vision of homosexuality in Korea, the experience of a closeted person, the wish to be yourself while living in fear with the red thread of a potential romantic experience that starts this whole drama. Will Hyunah get over her fear? Will anything happen with Minju?
It is a story about accepting yourself, about a 'baby lesbian' as one of the characters says (from a conversation in episode 2 that might be my favourite part of the whole drama, intergenerational queer solidarity (which is more about experience as a queer person than age) is the most important thing and any piece of fiction which includes it is sure to win my heart). It is a story that is full of heart and some of the moments made me squee. It manages to make us root for Hyunah very quickly and the end made me wish for everything good for her!

I do not know if I would watch it on repeat, but I would assuredly watch it one or a couple of more times if I were to show it to friends and it would be fine and agreeable to watch still even if I do not think I would catch many things I did not see on my first watch.

This film delivers on what it promises, it is cute, it is true, it is full of heart. If you want a queer short web-drama, I can only recommend "Afraid of". It is available on Youtube with English subtitles.

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A GL short (maybe too short) film with a lot of potential and nice fights

I am always looking for GL content in my life so when I saw this short film recommended on a rec list on tumblr, I knew I had to check it out. When I saw that it was wuxia as well, I was overjoyed because I do love wuxia.

This is a 15 min film and sadly like a lot of GL content out there (Especially wuxia GL content), it is really short. It is hard to have a full story that is developed when it is so short. I keep watching and yearning for more. This film knows its tropes and it manages to scratch the surface of a worldbuilding that could be very interesting had it been given a bit more space. We have the young heroine who is slightly naïve, but wants to fight and learn, but is being pushed down by the men in her family and sect, who decides to follow them and meets this mysterious badass lady who is secretly the demon cult leader and came to fight against the men and their sects at the martial arts conference, only to be followed everywhere by this young woman who won’t let go and admires her and wants to learn from her. It is a classics among classics and it could bring a different point of view, but it is so short. I want to know more about the characters, about what happened to Xiqao between the flashbacks and the present, I want more time for their relationship to develop (it is very light on the GL content because like the rest, it does not have time to be truly developed).
Still, it has some nice fights, it has a lot of potential, and some really nice shots at times. I am really curious about the rest of the director’s work.

I do not have a lot to say about the acting, it wasn’t amazing, but it also wasn’t distractingly bad. If you’ve watched Legend of Yuqian, I would put it at the same level.

I am not sure, I would necessarily rewatch it, but I am glad I did watch it and I would recommend it to everyone who wants more GL wuxia content in their life (I know I do). Let’s support the director and actors who give us those short films and let us hope for longer works soon!

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