This anthology is like the first warm summer breeze that sweeps over you after a long cold winter. It is refreshing, gentle, and so enveloping that it makes you feel good all over. This anthology is composed of 4 unrelated love stories told so delicately that you might miss the intensity that lies underneath each of their love stories. Overall, these stories are nimbly told with no overused drama, no destructive love triangles, or cheating plots. It is solid stories with excellent acting in each. All four-love tales are different in terms of poignancy and message. Some are meant to be quite powerful while others are presented as examples of slices-of-life contextures. Each saga is composed of two episodes of about 10 minutes in length each, which makes for easy viewing.
All posts by PPBongi
“The Boy Next World” Series Review (Ep.1 to 10)
Undoubtedly, this would have worked much better as a fantasy. Instead, they tried to fool us into thinking it is and then wildly twisting the plot into making it fit into our ‘reality’ only to fail miserably on all fronts. This series is a complete mess, regrettably.
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“Stand by Me” Series Review (Ep.1 to 20)
“We knew exactly who we were and where we were going. It was grand” – Quote from Stand By Me (1986)
“Secrets Happen On The Litchi Island” Series Review (Ep.1 to 7+ Extras)
“Why did you bring me here to watch the sunrise? Because beautiful things are worth sharing.” – Quote from Secrets Happen On The Litchi Island
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“Fight for Love” Series Review (Ep.1 to 7)
This is yet again another winning BL from Vietnam. It is so definitive in its outcome and perhaps you can see it ending in the same way I did. Satisfying. The whole story unfolds right before you in a magnificent panoramic sweep. Funny. Sad. Poignant. Ordinary. But always entertaining. Always. And so relatable. Almost everything in this story, one can relate to or perhaps have even experienced in some form or another. They can take the ordinariness of living and make it seem extraordinary. Making the issues we face on a daily basis and seeing the traumas we have experienced come to life helps us get the picture of how that impacted our own persona. Perhaps we may not seem important, but our issues certainly are, and we get to see that through them. They visualize our experiences to make them real, impactful, and powerful. At the very least truncate the sum total to see how it does affect us. That has always been the beauty of Vietname BLs. It makes the ordinary seem prominent. And they validate our feelings, failings, and foibles along the way. In a sense, we find we are pretty much the same as everyone else.
“Taps” Movie Review
While you watch this breathtakingly evocative short film, it will be easy to see yourself in it. Those of us who struggle with the everyday maintenance of a relationship, perhaps more so with an individual of the same gender, understand that facing a slice-of-life right-of-passage we know is coming, but we do not want to face it, this elegy is even more prodigious. Particularly difficult for us, as we have no anchor, no cornerstone, to keep the relationship together except the allegiance to one another. That is especially true for the two protagonists in this story. Rohan (Ullas Samrat) is leaving for a yearlong sabbatical, which means leaving his beloved Akshay (Rohit Mehra) alone in India.
“I Found Love at 7-11” Series Review
This series actually has a number of different headings, but I liked this one the most. You have to search to find this gem as it is not ‘officially’ translated into English, so I am thankful for the individual who did so. Otherwise, I would never have been able to watch this. I became intrigued by the title, and it honestly did not disappoint me. It is a slice-of-life narrative with surprisingly good acting and fairly good story lines that are really cutting edge. This is an obviously low budget series, but these actors put their heart and soul into this creation. It took a rather mundane story and turned into a feel-good series. It was like wrapping yourself in a warm blanket on a cold night kind of feeling.
“Ossan’s Love Thailand” Series Review (Ep.1 to 12)
The saying that ‘imitation is the sincerest form of flattery’ is not always true. This series proved that. I shall come right out and say it. This is one of the worst BLs I have ever seen and one of the worst supposed remakes I have ever seen as well. To put it bluntly, this version was fatuous. Everything about it is. The production. The acting. The story. The plot. Hardly any of it even resembles the originality of the Japanese version. That had humanity. It had heart. Most importantly, it had authenticity sprinkled with humor, grace, and tons of human emotions. I can categorically tell you that the original Japanese version of Ossan’s Love was a masterpiece. This is simply a farce. Before you start clutching your pearls and calling me names, let me explain my reasons.
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“Teenager Judge” Series Review (Ep. 1 to 20)
Unfortunately, this series, for me, missed the mark. Perhaps it makes sense only to the population for which it was intended to serve directly, namely the Vietnamese population.
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“Best Friend” Series Review (Ep.1 to 4)
This is a stunning and beautiful short BL that while soft in its approach speaks volumes in the message. Paing Kha (Khay Han) has lived with his best friend Tun Ko (Shin Ye Htut) for many years. To say they are close would be an understatement. There is a fervid attachment between them that goes deeper than friendship but is not quite sensual. Much like a hand to a glove. They seem on the surface to be connected to the same tree of life.
The BL Xpress 