Worth watching, but not the best BL

I binge-watched this series in two days and must say I enjoyed watching it. The ups and downs of two couples was really interesting to see, but other than that there was nothing new in the story line: the campus setting, hanging out with friends, family dinners, jealousy. I found the cafe setting more interesting showing how the cafe owner/barista's passion towards coffee making, coffee tasting scenes, and going to the country side to buy coffee beans. I also loved the part that shows how two different single parents just unconditionally loved and understood their gay sons, and supported their sons' relationships.

Pete's possesiveness was really annoying. Also Kao's fear and hesitating to simply talk and explain the truth (to Kao, to the school director, to his friends) made me feel like I wanted to slap him and say: come on , Kao, just say it. But obviously these characteristics are what made the story move. Bravo to Tay and New's acting.

I also love the songs at the end of each episode (lyrics included), but the background music on some scenes were a little bit distracting. Some of the music beat doesn't quite match the mood or emotion being portrayed in the scene.

However, overall I like this drama series.

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NIce to see what happened between the scenes

Just like my review of I Told Sunset About You Documentary, I think it was really nice see and how the main as well as supporting leads went through several workshops and how the actual shooting took place.

Although I IPYTM had less challenging scened to take compared to ITSAY (such as the underwater kissing scene, shooting under the heavy rain, or shooting the love scene in a crowded area), it was still nice to see how everything was perfectly crafted to make the story line touch us, the audience. All the actors/actress had to really be able to perform and act out several emotional nuances within the story, which I know is not that easy. One moment the actors had to show how sad or angry they are, and yet at the same time had to subtly express the love within themselves. I particularly like the part where PP had to really hit Billkin with a bouquet, but had difficulties actually doing that. Also after a real emotional scene and the director said "cut", you can just see how their expressions do not go back to "normal". I think this is what acting is all about.

I know this would happen in other films/drama series too, but to see how every scene was carefully and seriously planned and executed in IPYTM (and ITSAY) was really a great thing to see.

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SHANGXIN.....

I only watched I Told Sunset about You and I Promised You the Moon in January 2023, when I found the series were on Netflix. I already knew about these two series, but was not able to find them. So how glad I was to know I could binge-watch all 10 episodes earlier this week. I have read other reviews which compared ITSAY and IPYTM (most favoured the first one), but for me I see IPYTM as a continuation. So these were just likes episodes 6 to 10 of the same series, especially because I watched them all at once.

I used "shangxin" as the title of my review because I find that being sad and heartbroken still seemed to be the dominant feelings of these two boys, despite being in a relationship at the beginning. If episode 1-5 (ITSAY) portrayed the growing pains of young teenage boys, episode 6-10 (IPYTM) definitely shows how people change. Yes, people do change, especially during the first years of university. You have a new network of friends, meet new people who for better or worse, would influence your life. Your dreams may become stronger, or weaker, or may change overall. This is the fact that Teh could not yet accept. He wanted people to remain the same, to be true to their dreams (or what he thinks are their dreams). He could not take it when Oh decided to change his major, and he just didnt get it when Khim, who was like a mentor to him, decided to become a flight attendant. When Khim said "Not everyone has the same condition as you" (these may not be the exact words), this should have been an insightful moment for Teh. But, no, he still thought that people should be true to their initial dreams.

I liked the way the two lead characters were shown to change, although Oh seemed to be more mature than Teh. He knew what he wanted in life, when he failed after his first casting. Although it might still hurt, he just accepted the fact that people said he was not manly enough. He found his passion in advertising now, and achieved in getting a job as he wanted. Teh, on the other hand, became a successful actor, but then came to realize that something was missing in his life. These reflective moments are what make people grow and develop, and I love the way it was shown.

There are three particular scenes I loved in IPYTM. None of them were really emotional ones, but for some reason these were the scenes which touched me most. First, when Teh moved to the dormitory, his mom gave him two lucky charms. The other one was for Oh. This was so sweet. So, yes, you just can't deny that a loving mother's intuition is always strong. She knew about Teh and Oh, and made no issue about that.

The next touching moment for me was the scene was when both Teh and Oh were strolling on the streets of Bangkok at night time, and saw a poster ofTop, an actor Teh idolised, and shared his dream of becoming a great actor and win the Oscar, together with Oh. I really loved the way Billkin and PP playd this scene. The last scene which touched me a lot was the rooftop conversation, after Teh told Oh that his dog Tuty has died. There was no crying or saying "I'm sorry", or flirting, let alone kissing, among the two. There was just a casual conversation asking each other how they both were, what they were doing now, and whether they had new relationships or not. But you can just tell that they both still loved each other and I sensed the "shangxin" feelings of both Teh and Oh. In fact, this was a scene which brought mist to my eyes, even though it was not a sad scene,

Overall I think this is a very well-made BL series. I already rewatched ITSAY last night and I am going to rewatch IPYTM after this.

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Not my kind of drama to watch

I read some reviews before watching this drama, and I think most of them were overrated. I don't think this was a great drama, either because it was overrated or perhaps it just didn't suit my personal taste. The story line was too simple, sometimes predictable, and there wasn't a moment when I became curious to know what was going to happen next. Fortunately, it only had 8 episodes, so I could just bear until the end.

First of all, I didn't quite like the supporting characters. Vlad's sister was so annoying, always assuming things, but never listening to what people have to say. And yet she gets mad when she finds out her assumptions were wrong. Anna was also another character which could be ignored or taken out of the drama. For me, it just did not matter whether Anna was there or not there. Through the early episodes, we also hear a lot about Karl's uncle. The when the uncle appeared, I was so disappointed. I thought he would be a strong and powerful character in this story: the uncle who can become a role model for Karl. But it turned out, he was another supporting character with minor significance. I don't think I can give these three supporting leads high points for their acting. For me, they were so mediocre.

Ian Pangilinan and Paolo Pangilinan did their best acting, but still I feel the characters were not that interesting enough to make me feel emotionally involved. Not once did I feel like laughing or crying, not even curious to ask "what next?", while watching this drama. The building of the romantic relationship also seemed to run so quickly without particular conflicts or drama, except the usual feelings of uncertainty which happens in any kind of relationship.

I liked the music soundtrack though. Many of the songs were great, and were given subtitles in English, so I understood the lyrics in relation to the story, but the visuals sort of spoiled the mood. It could have been made different. Instead of just having the main leads dance, they could have made more dramatic or romantic scenes.

I had already watched Gameboys before watching this, which became one of my favourite BL dramas. I have also seen a few Filipino gay-themed movies before this (way back in the 1990s and 2000s) and many of them were great. But this drama did not particularly touch me in one way or another. If there was a Season 2, I'm not sure I would want to watch it.

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A great production of a BL story

I sort of randomly found this drama on Netflix. I have seen many Thai BL series before, but not one from the Philippines (and later found out this was the first one?).

This may be a story of contemporary young kids all over the worlds, who are often seen as being “addicted” to games and live in a virtual world. But it was done in beautiful way, without being judgemental about virtual interactions.. I may not be familiar with the gaming activities of the young, but this drama sure opened my eyes.

The first few episodes were just light entertainment to me. A young man, Gavriel, falls in love with his gaming rival, Cairo, who happens to be a popular guy, but also hard-to-get. Then there was the ex-girlfriend, Pearl, who is now just friends with Gavriel, who tried to do matchmaking between these two guys. The relationship slowly grew stronger with the usual ups and downs, and then we get to see more deeper matters emerging related to family relationships. Gavriel was orphaned as a kid and still could not get over his loss of his grandmother, while Cairo had a hospitalized father who later on died. Then we get to know about Cairo's guilt and sadness, not only because he lost his father but it all had to do with his sexuality being exposed to his family.

Kokoy de Santos and Elijah Canlas really did a great job in this drama. I read that their appearance was just right in time after the Thai BL 2gether went booming around the world. I would love to see more of them in the future.

What I found really interesting was the way the drama was shown to us. You get to see the actors/actresses interact most of the time through video calls, chat rooms, email, facebook and instagram (although they were given different names). This was so much close to the way we now interact with each other. You see creative videos made, emoticons, smileys and texts throughout the drama, including how one invites another for a virtual party.

One important thing that we cannot ignore is that the whole story took place during the early months of the pandemic and lockdown in the Philippines. That was the underlying theme of this drama. Everyone had to maintain physical distancing and interact online. We can read messages and updates on Covid-19 in the Philippines, every time they open their social media platforms. There were only four scenes in the drama series which took place outdoors (I hope I did the right count).

I browsed through the internet and found out that the film shooting was actually all done online. Most scenes were shot through the actors/actresses’ smartphones and in their own respective homes. Cairo’s brother and father were in fact Elijah’s real brother and father. I could not have imagined before that one would produce a drama series in this manner.

I highly recommend people to watch this drama. A light refreshment, but definitely not superficial. Gameboys clearly illustrates how relationships are built in this era of the Internet, and how the pandemic also reinforces us to interact virtually, and yet by no means are these relationships shallow.

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Exciting to watch, but I would love to see a better story line

This show was very popular and got high ratings, possibly because of the good-looking actors/actresses and the story of young millenials trying their luck to achieve in this cruel, harsh world. It is all about following your dream, with all its ups and downs, the struggles and obstacles you have to pass through. The story line was so intriguing until you reached episode 6, then everything went down. Still interesting to watch, but at the end this was more about a love triangle instead of how you struggle to establish a start-up (compared to Itaewon Class - which I watched after this one- which showed more substance on the struggles of doing your own business).

I remember there was a competition in social media between the "Do-San Team" versus "Ji-Pyeong Team". Both teams were strong in sending messages through twitter, instagram, facebook, but still many could predict that the main lead, Do-San, would win the heart of Seo Dalmi, the female lead. Interestingly, I didn't like her character. The cute, young woman who basically had little to offer but aspired to become a CEO (which she did get). Then all you see in this self-centered character who can only think about competing with her sister, but when things didn't seem to go her way, she teamed up with big sister.

She cant even decide which guy would be the best one for her (well, this is a love triangle drama, so I understand why this had to happen), but she keeps on giving false hopes to BOTH guys. She was the one who broke up the relationship with Do-San, but then took the effort to travel miles away from Seoul to meet Do-san in his hiding place trying to reflect on his life. Was this because of love? No, it was because she needed Do-San to help her win her proposal. Ha-ha. And of course, our dear Do-san would say yes. Dal-mi also sort of already said no to Ji-Pyeong, and yet invited him to come over and spend the holiday at her grandma's house.

Big sister, In-Jae, who seemed like a cold, tough woman at the beginning actually shows more substance in the way she deals with things. Deep-down inside I really wanted her to team up with Ji-Pyeong, or even get romantically involved. She was much more mature than Dalmi, and I think In-Jae and Ji-Pyeoang would make a perfect match

Anyway, if there is one character whom I liked most, that was Halmeoni (grandmother). She may just play a supporting role in the story, but she actually touched the hearts of all main characters: Dalmi, Injae, Do-San and of course Ji-Pyeong whom she treated like her foster son in the early episodes.

I did watch the show until the end. I also did wait in anticipation every week for each episode, but I really wished the story was made better, perhaps with a twist. The ending was so predictable and so cliche: the main leads get married and live happily ever after, and the second lead would calmly accept the fact that he could not win her heart. Oh dear, I just hated that last scene watching them all walk together, as if nothing happened among them in the past.

Apart from the weak story line, the music was good, the cinematography was also visually pleasing.

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Nothing special

I don't regret watching this drama, but there's nothing special that would make me watch it again. Okay, it's a fantasy story. Romance between a god and a human being. But do they have to make an happy ending just for the sake of having a happy ending? I would just prefer that the Water God returned to the heavens, having done his duty in this world, and that would be it. The woman would just have to accept things as it is and move on.

Another thing which I don't quite like is the fact that the woman is a medical doctor, a psychiatrist. The way she treats her patients is just so unprofessional. Watch it for light entertainment. You get to see handsome Nam Joo-Hyuk and beautiful Shin Se-Kyung and Krystal, but nothing special about the drama.

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Light entertainment for me

Nothing special about this BL, but good enough to entertain myself by binge-watching the first 8 episodes, then watching the last four episodes weekly,. It wasnt something I would die for every Sunday, but it was okay. Usually watched it the following day (Monday or Tuesday). Everything was predictable. Parents understood their kids at the end. Grandma was so nice until the last episode. The three friends remained friends forever and each found their partners. Everybody lived happily ever after (at least, that was shown in the last episode).

Of course the food was so apetizing, especially Grandma's cooking, and whatever Prem and Ten cooked at the end. I'm not to keen on the fancy dishes made for the chef competition (or any chef competition with Asian food) which looked too artificial and unappetizing. Would rather have regular Thai street food :-)

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Cute BL story

This is the second Filipino BL which I liked so much. The first one was Gameboys,which I already rewatched a few times. Gaya sa Pelicula and Ben X Jim were just so-so for me. It didn't quite capture my emotions while watching them

The Day I Loved You is a light, high-school romance type of story, with the usual enemies to lovers plot with some love triangles, but with a touching twist. One of the main leads is a Singaporean acting as a foreign student in an international school. It's worth watching and it has only 10 short episodes which I finished watching in one afternoon.

It would be great to have another season, The main leads did a great job in their acting m and I would even love to see more of Tommy Alejandrino, Raynold Tan and Rabin Angeles (the last two being newbies) in other films and drama series, BL or not.

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NICE BUT SLOW-PACED

I have only watched this BL series in 2023, as recommended by a friend. I liked the first few episodes, but as it gets towards the end, it somehow seemed to become a bit boring, or moving in circles that never seemed to end. The scenes of In and Korn in particular could have been edited, instead of making them too long and moving slowly. We already got the message that they committed suicide because their parents disapproved and scenes of their love story seemed to be dragging a lot, that I fast-forwarded these scenes.

Apart from that I like the acting of all actors/actresses, lead as well as supporting ones. As long as the story goes, it is unique. It didn't make the story line creepy, knowing that Pharm and Dean were reincarnations of Korn and In. I can understand the stresses and anxiety that both go through when they have nightmares or flashbacks of their past lives, but do we still need this on the last episode? There were many twists about each other's families (not knowing grandma, not knowing uncle, not knowing cousin), it would be nicer if the last episode was made into a happy family reunion, or reconciliation if you may, of both lead characters, instead of just having the two say they love each other. What about the planned trip to the USA? It would be a much nicer happy ending, showing the two ready to make that trip.

One burning question I have, since I do no know that much about reincarnations, if Dean consciously knows that In is his grandmothers brother, and Pharm consciously feels he is In, wouldn't this seem to be kind of a incestuous relationship? Also if In consciously knows that Korn is his uncle, then falling in love with Dean (who feels that he is Korn) is also sort of incestuous. But anyway, I just took it lightly and thought, oh well this series is for entertainment only, so no need to think deeply about it.

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Nice and romantic, but a little bit dragging towards the end

I haven't seen the original Koreans series, so I will not make any comparison or reference to that. At first, I kind of liked this drama. Flashback of childhood memories usually brings a nice, sweet mood to a series. Here we get to see some glimpse of this big sister/little brother kinda of relationship between Najai and Tofu. I know this is supposed to be a romantic comedy, but I still wished that the relationship between the two remained like that. I somehow didnt like the character of Kan (such a boring personality), but secretly wished that Najai and Kan would finally make it to the end, and let Tofu realize that his feelings towards Najai?jubjang were only sentimental childhood feelings. Ah, I was wrong.

I didn't quite like how the story goes. It seems like it was moving back and forth on the same issue (this is about work, partnerinh with Kiss). Another thing which annoyed me was having two love triangles happening at once surrounding the same couple (Najai and Kan). After episode 10, I skipped many scenes, and quickly moved the progress bar until I reached the end. However I must that the acting was superb. Newwie did his best as Tofu/Arlan_Xm while Pancake did so well portraying Najai with her unique, somewhat self-centered yet likable personalty. Namwaan Kanaporn also acted well as Kiss. Both Najai and Kiss had theie good and bad sides which were well portrayed in this series.

I also like the side stories of Maple and Mesa, as well as Priew dealing with her fling who happened to be her neighbour, but as I wrote earlier, I think the storyline was weak, or too cliche, however much I could still bear to watch it untuk the end

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Just a simple, sweet love story

This was a nice and simple story to watch. No need to think too much. Sometimes sweet, sometimes funny. I did not expect any surprises at the time, It was entertaining enough, but the story itself could have been made more complex. First of all, I did not find the vet really having a hard time adjusting himself to this small town, being such a dedicated professional. Yes, it may be annoying to meet all these nosy town folks (which you will also find in other dramas), but it didn't end up being some kind of disaster. The other guy who seemed to be a rival was also not a strong enough character to cause any conflict in the story. But I do like the acting of the two main leads.

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"CAN I ASK YOU FOR ONE THING: DO NOT DISAPPEAR"

Such a beautiful story.

I only watched this series in January 2023 (together with its sequel I Promised You the Moon). I have seen the title mentioned on Youtube as a must-watch BL series in 2020, and just found it on Netflix earlier this week. I binge-watched all 10 episodes and could only say: wow, what a beautiful story line. You get to see all the struggles and anxiety that young people experience as they grow up, the awkwardness, confusion and strong yearning you feel when you fall in love with someone, and the struggles, and often times denial, you have growing up gay. But what is more beautiful is the way friendship (including animosity and mixed feelings) between the two boys was portrayed, besides romance and a little bit of eroticism.

The cinematography was superb. I loved the Phuket scenery (and still wish to go there), the shophouses, the Chinese temple/shrine and a glimpse of the Chinese-Thai culture in Phuket, scenes at both Teh's and Oh's houses, the Chinese language classroom, the cafes where the boys hang out, and of course the beach and ocean. One of the best scenes I liked was when young Oh was performing martial arts in the play, while young Teh did complementary movements backstage. This was so beautifully done. Love it so much.

There were also some symbolism and beliefs that were well-portrayed. Using your left foot on your first step (never knew about this belief), the scent of coconut and the red hibiscus all has deeper meaning which I can't describe, but loved it anyway.

I also just found out that Billkin and PP were the ones who sang most of the songs in the soundtrack. So cool.

Although sometimes the silence between the two boys can be a bit too long, I still loved the way the two boys interact with each other, even as they fight, they're still cute and you know that deep down inside they love each other. Surprisingly, Oh is the one who is more daring to expose his feelings compared to Teh (also in the sequel, Oh is somewhat more mature than Teh, in terms on how he sees his life moving on).

Other characters were also well-portrayed. The typical, proud Asian mother (hope I am not stereotyping), the loving, caring and understanding brother (also he may seem aloof at times), and Bas, the rival boyfriend who turned out to be such a sweet boy (could not help wondering what would happen to him after this).

Overall, I can only say I loved this series and just rewatched it last night (and am going to rewatch I Promised You the Moon later, after I write a review for that one). I also noticed that most reviews here gave ITSAY a straight 10 overall :-)

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Childhood friends/neighbours reunited

This could have been a nice story of two childhood friends/neighbours, who were reunited during pandemic quarantine in Manila. It started nicely, where you get to know more about Ben, whose family already immigrated to the USA, and Ben was left alone in Manila, but had not achieved much and had to prove to his parents that he was an independent person. Then came news that next-door childhood buddy, Jim, is returning home from Davao.

Ben had a secret crush on Jim since they were teenagers, (and likewise Jim also harboured feelings towards Ben, but you only get to know this in Season 2). I was glad to know that this series only had 7 episodes, so I binged watched it in one day.

It had a cute story line, but could have been made better. Some parts were cliched and some scenes seemed to move too slow and a bit dragging. I liked the music, particularly the lyrics of the theme song was great. It had something to do with what these guys used to as kids: stargazing with their telescope up on a treehouse. I also liked the scenes when Ben was doing his online selling part. Apart from the main characters. I also liked Flo, Ben's supporting best friend, and Olan, the handsome delivery guy who had a crush on Ben.

The things which I didn't quite like were:
1. Peeking into their neighbour's bedrooms, which I think was somewhat rude. Knowing that they were friends, they could just made jokes about peeking at each other, rather than looking like peeping Toms.
2. If there was lots of restrictions during the quarantine, how come they could have a small party at Ben's house? How could Leo appear just like that (late evening, no mask)?
2. Jim's girlfriend was the perfect cliche shown in many Thai BLs: cute girl, who suddenly became possesive, nagging, and bitchy when she discovers that her boyfriends loves another guy. (Yana, however, was more mature in Season 2)
3. the hanging end, where you could neither tell whether this story had a happy or unhappy ending.

I don't regret watching this drama, but there's nothing special that would make me watch it again. If I had to compare it with other Filipino BL series, I still think Gameboys is the best one so far.

ABOUT SEASON 2 (I couldn't find Ben X Jim Forever on the drama list)

I then watched Season 2, Ben X Jim Forever. Oh dear, I don't think I liked this at all. It was too slow, too many side stories going on, and then finally you get to see the accidental meeting between Ben and Jim at the cafe where Jim was working. Many scenes had a slow pace, and despite exciting things happening (such as the political campaign for gay rights) and dramatic moments like Val taking Jim to bathe in the ocean to cleanse himself from the past, but the way these scenes were made did not touch me at all. I can't explain how and why, but it seemed just too dry. Sir Val's character was also a bit ambiguous: was he a nice guy or was he an a**hole,? I couldn't figure out and didn't really care less. The orgy scene where Olan and Yan joined in was something which could have been taken out. A bit too much to put everything in this drama.

Episode 6 of Season 2 was supposed to be dramatic, where Ben and Jim met each other after so many months, but I just couldn't stand the 18 minutes or so of them, including Val and Roy, just staring and gazing at each other, while we listen to a song playing in the background. And the beach party scene in episode 7? Oh dear. Couldn't they just edit it? Why d we have to see all the awkward conversations they all had? Okay, we know that many were feeling uncomfortable, and Flo was trying to change the mood, but this scene was too slow. The only good thing in episode 7 is when we get to hear a more substantial conversation between Ben and Jim. It turned out that Ben had already decided on what he wanted in life. I know I should have felt touched or sad with the ending, but nothing emotional came out of me. If Jim had a gut feeling that Roy was a bad guy, and did some investigation on him, at least they could show us whether Roy turned out to be a really bad guy , or apparently he was a good enough person. I also didn't quite like how their relationship was portrayed. It seemed like there was no chemistry between Teejay and whoever played the role of Roy.

This drama could certainly be made better. It seemed like a waste of time to watch 8 episodes which did not exactly build up to a good climax. I would give this drama a six (6). Not worth watching at all, unless you just want to see the cute actors.

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