#reviewtingbl

[reviewting]

Word of Honor

“Wen…Wen Kexing” answered The Chief of Ghost Valley while casually fanning himself with a gigantic traditional hand fan. T-t-that is one of my favourite scene from the series. Also this one:

Thank you for coming to my TED talk, you may now walk out of here. JUST KIDDING! Please stay because I want to scream at you for not telling me about this series sooner I always say this and I always end up blaming myself. Anyway, go log into your Netflix account and start watching this amazing series or else...

Score

Storyline : ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ ⭐️ (9/10)

Plot : ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ ⭐️⭐️ (09/10)

Pace : ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ (8/10)

Acting : ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ (10/10)

Rewatch value : ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ (10/10)

Storyline

The story is about Zhou Zishu (ZZ), a leader of an assassin organisation who wants to retire from his evil job. There is one thing stopping him, though. The organisation does not allow any of their members to retire. In reality, I think the rule is good because they are so evil they don't deserve a good life (but then I changed my mind at the end so wth). If they really really want to retire, the only thing they can do is to embed nails inside their body at 7 acupuncture points to repress their martial art abilities. But of course there is going to be a catch, after the embedding of the nails, the person can only live for 3 years. Only then they can leave the castle. So, being a brave human that he is (well, he has nothing to lose really because he has no one in the world left to care for), ZZ asked for those 7 nails to be embedded in his body and then he goes on his merry way. You thought it ends after that? Yiu thought wrooong! There are complications, ZZ is going to die slowly. He will lose his 5 senses very very slowly before he eventually will succumb to death. Basically, he's going to be sick and it will get worse until he drops dead. Because of that, he decided to be a homeless and went to have an adventure to spend his remaining time.

During his adventure, ZZ meets a lot of people. some of them are nice, some of them are not. He still needs to fight people sometimes and that takes a toll to his own body. Well, because he's not supposed to use his martial art skills with the while dying. So basically, ZZ is a walking deadman. One day he meets this one guy, very randomly. This random guy introduced himself as Wen Kexing (WX). To ZZ’s surprise and annoyance, this guy follows ZZ everywhere because WX was in love with ZZ at first sight could sense that ZZ is lying to him about his identity, so WX swears that he will find out about ZZ identity himself. At some point WX finds out about the 7 nails inside ZZ body and he gets very distraught, so he set a goal for himself to try his best to safe the man his loves ZZ. So their adventure starts from there. They also adopted a couple of children find young friends along the way and help trained them to be better at martial art. Oh yeah, I almost forget to mention that the cultivation world (where ZZ and WX live) was in state of chaos, so people outside the castle were fighting each other to get a secret key. This key, many believed, could lead to an armoury that holds the answers to all the secrets and questions in the world. So, during their adventure, both ZZ and WX get themselves trapped in between the civil war. Mostly because WX have this brilliant idea that he can safe ZZ and prevent him from dying if they both can get this secret key (to open the armoury and then look for a sacred book there). Poor ZZ, he just wants to retire and lives his life as a normal human being but the universe said no. Well, WX is kind of his universe and he also said no to dying, so poor ZZ.

Characters

Wen Kexing is my most favourite character. He's super stylist, you have to see his outfits on every episode, so beautiful. He's also dramatic and clingy, so adorable. Can you believe that this man who acts like a worried puppy in front of ZZ is actually The Chief of Ghost Valley? Let me repeat, THE CHIEF! Well, what is a Ghost Valley? It is a far and remote place where evil people and all people who are considered dead to the world live. He is a menace to his employees, but he is a sweetheart to the people he cares about. So f-ing adorable.

Zhou Zishu, I don’t think he ever expected to be able to feel alive again and wanting to life again. However, after meeting WX, I think, he changes his mind. Reluctantly at first, but then he realises that he still has the ability to care about and for someone else. It's so beautiful. He also is fully aware that he was an evil person and how he need to repent himself for all of his wrongdoings. He is a man of a few words and very chill compared to his partner, WX.

Gu Xiang and Wei Ning are two other people who I love and adore so much. I love them so much it hurts me physically. I believe in love again after watching them, they support and love each other regardless of who they were supposed to be.

Cheng ling, I am actually proud of him. There are some moments that I was very disappointed by him but I understand where is is coming from and what he went through. Finding out about your teacher's secret and it has something to do with your own family is going to be hard for ALL people. Regardless, I like him, I like seeing what he turned out to be at the end.

Last but not least is Ye Bai Yi. I love this old man, I love how weird he is and I love how blunt and frontal he could get sometimes. His "I don't fucking care about all these shits because I am tired of y'all" persona is so interesting. I thought he was one of the bad guy at some point. Everything is peak comedy with him. Also, he eats snow, who does that?

Where to watch

Netflix

Viki

Prime video

For the bonus episode: Youtube, Viki

[reviewting]

The Untamed

C-c-can we talk about this poster first because HAWT DAYUM, they are so attractive. I have no idea why I didn’t watch this series sooner? I didn’t know about its existence until 2020 and finally decided to watch it in 2022. Did I just waste 3 years of my life sitting around and watch trash dramas? YES AND I REGRET EVERY SINGLE DECISION THAT I HAVE MADE.

Score

Storyline          : ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ (8/10)

Plot                  : ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ ⭐️⭐️ (09/10)

Pace                : ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ (8/10)

Acting              : ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ (10/10)

Rewatch value : ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ (9/10)

Let me sit for a bit and cry. I finished the show last night and I still can't stop thinking about it. This series was adapted from a BL novel. LADIES AND GENTLEMAN, THIS SERIES IS BASED ON A BOYS LOVE NOVEL!! But of course, because of China's restriction on LGBT+ content in their media, the production got clever and found the best solution for it...THEY MADE IT BROMANCE. But of course who are they kidding here? No friends would gaze longingly at each other like Lan Zhang and Wei Wuxian. I mean, it's pretty easy to read their love for each other. Despite my initial irritation after learning about the restrictions, I have to give it to all the casts for their great performance. UGH I just love them!!

Storyline

The story is about Wei Wuxian (WWX), he's the adopted son of a Clan Leader. He is a young, powerful, cultivator with authority problems. Despite his rebellious nature, many people love and adore him, except this one guy, Lan Wanji (LWJ). LWJ thinks they're rivals. Knowing LWJ thinks of him as a rival made WWX likes to tease him even more because LWJ is just so easy to be teased.

Moreover, WWX is very close to his adopted brother and sister (they're like triplets). One day, the triplets’ parents were killed in a civil war that was happening in their cultivation world (the war that was instigated by an evil clan, Wen Clan). Swore to protect his brother and sister, WWX made an ultimate sacrifice that left him without power. In order to replace the power that he lost, he had to do something and found a very unconventional way (it's borderline scary) to made do with his powerlessness which is a demonic cultivation.

Many people disapprove of his method even when he doesn't really bother or harm anyone. To the point where LWJ (who swore that he doesn't care about WWX), feels concerned and becomes very protective. Because of this unconventional way to cultivate, a lot of people become more suspicious towards him and started to make up stories. People also blame him for everything that's going wrong in the cultivation world (I guess it's very easy to just blamed things on the scary guy).

However, when everyone turn their back on WWX, his rival, LWJ, was actually the only one who stands up for him and the first to offers help. Then shit hits the fan, causing the death of WWX. Sixteen years later, though, WWX reincarnated into someone else's body. WWX and LWJ are reunited once again and a new adventure ensued.

Characters

Can we talk about WWX? I love his smiles, he only smiles very sweetly at his brother, sister, and LWJ. I just love him, I love his relationship with his sister Yanli. So so adorable, he's like 5 every time Yanli is nearby. He's very funny, considerate, and brave too. The only thing I want from him was to tell the truth to his brother so all these drama don't have to happen (but I mean if there's no drama then the series would not be here).

LWJ is a very quiet person, there are times where I think this guy has the patience of a rock because no matter how many people antagonise him, he stays calm. Except when it comes to WWX, somehow that guy knows how to push his buttons. The conversation that they had after their reunion was very touching, I love that scene so much. He doesn't say much but you can see that he cares about WWX from all his actions.

I have mix feelings about Jiang Chen, WWX brother. I love him throughout the episodes but I just can't stand him after WWX reincarnation. I mean, it changed again at the last episode but I still can't believe all the things that he did. Like, wow, your love is so fucking cheap man. He was always volatile as kid but I never thought that he would be like that even after raising a kid of his own.

the villain is actually fucking genius, I feel so sorry for all the things that made him evil but at the same times I just want him dead. How can you do all those things just for power? I mean I know many people have done evil things for less but dayum. I just want to ask him why? Why WWX? Like whyyyy? I mean he answered that question at the end of the series but I still don't understand whyyyyyy.

I love Yanli and Zixuan's story. It was so annoying but was so cute. You can see the love just by looking at their non-verbal interaction. Zixuan really knows how to create such a unnecessary drama, he's acting like a child LOL.

Wen Ning and Wen Qing, I just love them. They are so precious. I want more of them to be completely honest with you. AAAAAA.

There are so many characters and they have their own stories and their stories are so touching. Even the villains got their own backstory that made us more sympathetic to them. I love them all, I love the casts as well :') this series truly exceeded my expectations.

Where to watch

Netflix

WeTV

[reviewting]

Bad Buddy

Without preamble, I’m going to say that this is by far one of the best Thai series that I have ever watched (and tbh I have watched so many of them). Don’t be fooled by the happy-go-lucky poster. By the time you guys read this, I’ll have you know that this review has been sitting in my draft for weeks. I just finished watching episode 5. Saying that I have to grab my jaw from touching the floor is an understatement. I’ve watched many Thai BLs but the ones that I like can only be counted by one hand. I’ll say this and I will not say this again, HATE TO LOVE TROPE ATE ALL THE TROPHIES.

Update:

Just finished rewatching episode 12 because I was so tired by the time I came home last night and I was not focused enough to follow the story. All in all, I can say that the series has one of the best endings for bl (I have watched so many bls and left disappointed so many times too). This time, the ending left a smile on my face, not a frown or confusion on my face.

Score

Storyline : ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ (7/10)

Plot : ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ (9/10)

Pace : ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ (8/10)

Acting : ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ (10/10)

Rewatch value : ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ (10/10)

Storyline

I would say that this is a retelling of Romeo and Juliet or Romeo and Julio (if you want to be more specific). Two rival families taught each of their offsprings to hate each other. They have to compete, be rivals, and fight each other since they were little. The pettiness went above and beyond because one of the parents transferred their child to another school just to make sure the two children won’t be friends. Basically, the parents are toxic and they want their children to be toxic too. However, of course the universe says “F U LET ME MAKE MY OWN STORY” by making Pran and Pat be friends (in secret) and later become lovers. But of course the story won’t be smooth sailing like this recap, of course there’s going to be some high level of violence, pettiness, and drama along the way. You should watch it! If you’re like me (I swear by waiting for a series to finish before watching them in one sitting) you have to wait for a couple of months. But I was nosy and I have zero patience, so I am torturing myself by watching the series when it’s still on going (I will never repeat this mistake again).

Characters

Pat and Pran are polar opposite. Pat is messy, loud, and energetic. Pran, on the other hand, is neat, moody (melancholy type), and calm. Ohm plays Pat and Nanon plays Pran. By watching Ohm and Nanon's interviews, these two characters aren’t so different from their real-life personalities. They are also close friends in real life, so the chemistry was already built way before the making of the series.

I haven’t gotten halfway through the episodes so I won’t know other characters other than Wai and Korn. These two are just ready to fight wherever whenever. They’re also quite perceptive since they notice that there are something between Pat and Pran. I hope they won’t be obstacles between the lovers.

I have yet to know more about Pa (Pat’s sister) and the parents. I will update you again once I finish the series.

Update:

Korn is just the best. He's a friend that you would want to keep close with you all the time. I have a dilemma about Wai, I understand where he's coming from and why he did what he did. However, I just can't forgive him 100%, I understand him but I can't accept the fact that he actually went through with his plot. Just too cruel for my liking.

Let me tell you something, Pa and Ink are just AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH CUTE. I love them, they have a little (to none) screen time but they're just the sweetest and I really want to see a spin-off series with them as the main characters. Very compatible and zero drama.

The parents...ah the parents. I'm glad with whatever Pat and Pran chose in the end. They seem happy with their decision and I'm, being a proud mama (they don't know that I've adopted both of them), support them 100%.

I CAN'T RECOMMEND YOU ENOUGH TO WATCH THIS SERIES. I WANT TO SHOUT IT OUT ON THE TOP OF A CLIFF. I WANT TO SHOUT IT OUT IN THE LOBBY OF MY FACULTY BUILDING HAHAHA.

Where to watch

WeTV (somehow I can't watch it here)

Youtube

[reviewting]

Lovely Writer

Thai BL/Y series is not something uncommon for me. I have watched more than a dozen of them but I can only recommend a couple of them. They're usually laced with toxicity (no hates only facts) and I would disrespect myself for recommending something that didn't pass my own quality control.

Score

Storyline          : ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ (8/10)

Plot                  : ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ (10/10)

Pace                : ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ (9/10)

Acting              : ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ (9/10)

Rewatch value : ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ (9/10)

Storyline

The story is about this BL writer, Gene, who got his novel being made into a series. Despite the novel being successful, he actually wants to write mystery novels instead. He then meets and falls in love with a new actor, Nubsib, who was castes as the main character in his series. This is more than a love story, though. There are so many things that happen in the series that tells us about the dark side of the BL industry.

The love story between Gene and Nubsib is the main story with two other side love stories that are also worth watching. They were also tackling gender norms and sexual harassment issues, emphasising consensual relationships, giving examples on healthy communication between everyone, dealing with coming out, bonding with family and friends, reminiscing childhood memories, severing ties with family when necessary and so many great things that should've been portrayed in many bl series. In shorts, this series was a burn to the BL industry and to obsessive fans out there.

Characters

I love Gene. He's introverted and awkward but that's what makes him so lovely. He's mature, wise, and just a nice person to be friends with. Gene is played by Up and he's a very talented and capable actor. I love how organic his acting is. Even when I don't speak their language, I can tell by his voice and expression that his acting was very natural. I love how healthy his relationship with Nubsib is. They communicate almost everything and there was no unnecessary miscommunication.

I also love Nubsib. Kao's acting is not as seamless as Up but he has done a great job portraying Sib. Nubsib studied abroad and had a life before meeting Gene, which made me so happy because that is what usually happens in real life. I also adored how Nubsib stood up for himself, Gene, and their love towards the end of the series (it was a rollercoaster of events).

I hope many more people will watch this amazing series and take something good out of it. This is the first Thai series that didn't make me cringe in the middle of watching it.

Where to watch

Youtube (freebie)

WeTV

Recommendations

[reviewting]

Gaya Sa Pelikula

My first time watching Filipino anything, it was an adventure. Their language has some words that are similar to my native tongue, which is Indonesian. There are times when my brain decided to ditched the subtitle because their intonations and words are too similar to Indonesian. Because of that, I had to repeat some scenes more than once.

Score

Storyline            : ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ (8/10)

Plot                    : ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ (10/10)

Pace                  : ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ (10/10)

Acting                : ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ (10/10)

Rewatch value  : ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ (10/10)

Storyline

The story is about this guy, Karl, who just moved out of his parent's house to attend uni in a different city. It was a break before any semester starts, so he has a lot of time to apply for works (he’s a ghostwriter). Long story short, his landlord and the landlord’s brother had an argument that resulted in a lie. The lie is that Karl and the landlord’s brother, Vlad, are in a relationship. Vlad paid Karl to keep quiet about their fake relationship and paid Karl to stay at his place. Then, that is where the story begins (the story itself is quite simple, but the plot made it all so so perfect).

Ugh, I can’t find words to describe how amazing this was. I need longer episodes thoooo! The casts are excellent, the storyline was so well written, and the vibe was immaculate. They gave every single attention to details and boooy, it was worth it. They made and told one of the best love stories out there. For those of you who are looking for a feel-good vibe, I’d advise you to watch this even though the ending is a bittersweet one. I kinda love the ending actually, it’s very rational. You can relate to so many things said in this series. It was that good!

Characters

Love the characters! Love every single one of them, I love how the side characters also shape the whole story. Like, you know those movies or series that throw in some side characters that don't really do anything except exist. I love Vlad to death, he’s so chill, he’s so open, and he’s just so mature. I love Karl, I understand his feelings and I understand his struggles. Vlad’s sister? I couldn't relate more to a character. Even the neighbour that I thought would become an “accessory” made the story flows together in harmony. I cried and I laughed with this movie. I cannot recommend you enough to watch this.

Where to watch?

Youtube (freebie)

Netflix

Recommendations