If you are familiar with the classic movie, “WEST SIDE STORY”, or even its updated remake, then this, I like to describe, is the gay Japanese version of that classic without, of course, the musical/dancing score. I may be reading too much into this production, but the film appears to pay homage to that archetype through its many parallels in theme, setting, design, and overall atmosphere.
All posts by PPBongi
“Mujhe Rang De Season Two” Series Review (Ep.1 to 7)
Unquestionably, the brilliance of this second season lies with its screenplay. This is by far one of the best scripted series I have ever seen. It is a remarkably brilliant piece of prose that flows like a cascade down a magnificent waterfall. It is descriptive, expressive, and cogent. The words deluge from the characters in a string of beautiful fluency that leaves you breathless with its picturesque description of their actions. And herein lies, ironically, the weakness of this series. It is all words.
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“Hermoso Season Two” Series Review (Ep.1 to 13)
Undoubtedly, I shall be kicked out of the BL critics club, but I loved this series! I know there are a ton of negative reviews/comments about this series and, admittedly, despite the myriad of legitimate issues it does have, I still think this is one of the better series to take a look at. Why? Because it has heart, and it disregards the traditional path of telling a BL cliché story. It takes a direction I did not expect it to take. With an ending, I am sure, perhaps no one else except me respects. I loved and enjoyed the unconventional and heteroclite conclusion. It made logical sense. Allow me to explain my rationale.
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“The Gaze” Series Review (Ep.1 to 10)
This is yet another one of those enticing BL series that initially pulls you in but then does nothing, and I do mean nothing, with the story. It drones on and on around the same topic. Toxicity. Yet, has the audacity to sugar-coat it with tear-jerking moments pretending to be examples of arcs to love.
“Checkered Shirt Season Two” Series Review (Ep.1 to 8)
Frankly, this is a hard series to describe. Enjoying Season One for its creativeness and freshness, this took that original story to a whole new level. In my review of the initial narrative, I said that the box had been opened and wondered how it would be closed. Well, close it they did. But how they choreographed the closure is where the flaws surface. The story begins to fold onto itself prematurely. Subsequently, it did not flow very well throughout, mainly due to the way the series was edited. The story became too choppy and felt more like we were watching snippets or snapshots of scenes rather than a flow to a story. Simply put, it just did not connect well or consistently.
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“Wooju Bakery” Series Review (Ep.1 to 8)
“Freedom is irrelevant. Self-determination is irrelevant. You must adapt to service us. Resistance is futile.” – Borg Quote from Star Trek
“Hello Love!” Series Review (Ep.1 to 5)
There are not many BLs emanating from Cambodia and certainly recently only sporadically. And that is too bad. Much like Vietnam, they tend to tell comprehensive narratives of love from a perspective of a solid beginning, an intensively creative middle, and a romantic end. In addition to telling a chronology in a simply ordinary manner, for which the storytelling creates the feeling that anyone’s life can end up being a fairytale romance. They are stories about ordinary people meeting their love in unexpected everyday ways as well. These moments highlight the allure of chance encounters in love, quietly drawing us in and making us believe that everyone has the potential to be loved.
“Koi Naam Na Do” Series Review (Ep.1 to 7)
“I have been and – and always shall be – your friend.” – ‘Quote from Star Trek
“Let Me In Your Heart” Series Review (Ep.1 to 10)
Here again is another BL that I desperately wanted to like. And oh, did it have some fine moments in it. Perhaps it might STILL not be registering, without hard proof, of course (because it is difficult to obtain accurate numbers), that the majority of the BL audience may not be Thai or, at the very least, might be very evenly distributed. While the story certainly does not have to appeal to the non-Thai audience, nonetheless, that fact must be taken into consideration. So, the understanding that a large part of the audience might not know the nuances, intricacies, or subtlety of something so unique like Likay. I reviewed this series from a perspective that I know nothing about Likay Thai dance. For me, this was discernably unique, beautiful, exotic, mesmerizing, colorful, and captivating.
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“Mujhe Rang De” (An Unusual Beginning) Series Review (Ep.1 to 7)
Loosely translated, the title of this series means ‘Color me’ and that is an apt description of this mosaic enterprise as it is a mixture of human drama along with a vibrancy of artistic expression. I hesitate to label it as a BL because it is clearly not; yet it is a love story. The protagonists are adult gay men navigating societal norms and challenges that stem from enduring repressive attitudes regarding acceptable sexual behavior in their contemporary world. This is a story of two men who fall in love while facing societal judgments about their relationship. For theirs is a society that is hardly ‘open’ to having two men fall in love and even more intolerant of them staying together. The story is honest, blunt, and full of pain. Oh, their pain is insidiously underwhelming, which makes it perhaps even more acute. What would or could overcome the pain? Love.
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The BL Xpress 