PaiSkyForever:

Day 29 Challenge: "Underrated BL drama"

I am gonna go with "My Ride". <3 MorkTawan were so freaking cute!!! <3

im happy to know someone else has seen it

also the fact that p'fluke has joined gmmtv now

i'm hoping he gets better projects he's there in the perfect 10liners ig

 axdxex:
Great timing lol I actually planned to pick this one for today's challenge :) Hopefully you like it.

It's so good, I'm really enjoying it so far! ^^

 axdxex:
Day 29 - Underrated BL Drama

Kimi to Nara Ko wo Shite Mite mo.

I also love this series - and your description is perfect. I also like the vivid cinematography (unlike some Japanese productions that go for that dreadful hazy look).

Jinloe has just posted a more convenient contiguous movie version of "Firstly Like You" on their Youtube channel. "Firstly Like You" is the story of Burger and King (Newyear Nawaphat and Jur Vasin), the cutest and by far the best part of "Hit Bite Love" - but without the considerable flaws, BDSM storyline and weird ending of the main series. There are some bumps in the editing, as it wasn't designed as a stand-alone, but for those who like young first love and school BLs, it's sweet and adorable.

 p43425:
The one problem: I don't think there was ever an official international release, so for lack of any legal option, I confess to having watched it on Bilibili.

*except for one big flaw: the abrupt ending

Yeah I had to watch it elsewhere.  Oh, I don't remember the ending details, it's been too long, but I might rewatch at some point.


 angeliviki2022:

Great choice. Such a hidden gem, and definitely underrated. I loved it.

High five!! We got good taste haha


 Emma:
I'm now watching Kimi to Nara Koi wo Shite Mite mo.

I really enjoyed this drama.

Day 29 of April Challenge

Underrated BL Drama


Perhaps because it's not a series, but a film and a short at that, but "Incomplete" (South Korea, 2019) has a score of just 7.1 on MDL, yet I rated 9.5. I'm not sure why others don't see the beauty of this film. The heat of summer oozes from the screen stifling the viewer not unlike the boys who are stifling physically in the humidity, but also under their own emotions. 

When I first watched this film, there came a point where I had to pause it and walk away to take a breather because I thought I knew what was going to happen and my heart was aching; but the film surprised me.

This isn't a high-cost production nevertheless, it does so much more than some series. 

The colorisation is on point as is the cinematography there's no instance where I can find fault in the acting, direction or storyline.
I just cannot fathom why others don't rate it as highly as I do.

Then again, I could say that about a lot of films, and shorts in the BL genre.

 Chun Mo Rionnag:
Perhaps because it's not a series, but a film and a short at that, but "Incomplete" (South Korea, 2019) has a score of just 7.1 on MDL, yet I rated 9.5. I'm not sure why others don't see the beauty of this film.

I enjoyed and appreciated this short film too. The title is fitting. There's only just over a 1000 views which seems very small for MDL. 

Day 29 - Underrated BL  Drama

Dangerous Drugs of Sex

This is not a series but instead a movie which has a 6.9 overall rating here on MDL; I think it is underrated because it is too often judged by its imagery and not by the interpretations of said imagery as well as the actions of the characters.  It is judged and rated based on the shock value that audiences receive when watching. This movie requires a more mentally mature audience who will look behind what is obvious and find the inconspicuous meanings that are hidden under the guise of perversion and disgust that the writers and directors have successfully created that will provoke sharp disgust from the surface audience but provoke deep contemplation from the perceptive audience. The stats on the description page of the movie are indicative of this, as the age group that this movie is most watched by is persons of the ages of 13 - 17. The average teenager, I don't believe, has the mental maturity to appreciate the facts of the movie and analyse the psyche of the characters to draw  more profound conclusions than that of the obvious abhorrent nature of the movie's surface. Perhaps it is because I am a natural deep thinker and because my mind has been trained that way, that I am of this opinion of Dangerous Drugs Of Sex.

Idk if this is the right place to ask but does anyone know a BL series similar to 'Not Me'? 

 DreamDramaCatcher:

Idk if this is the right place to ask but does anyone know a BL series similar to 'Not Me'? 

There aren't really any like Not Me, but ballpark suggestions:

Kinnporsche

HIStory3: Trapped 

Golden Blood

Never let Me Go 

Long Time No See

No Regret (movie)

Love In The Air

 Chun Mo Rionnag:
Underrated BL Drama


Perhaps because it's not a series, but a film and a short at that, but "Incomplete" (South Korea, 2019)

It's on my PTW. Will get to it sooner rather than later. Thanks for letting me know you liked it.

 RiqueXinw:
The stats on the description page of the movie are indicative of this, as the age group that this movie is most watched by is persons of the ages of 13 - 17.

Really? WTH are they doing even watching this film?

I agree with your analysis of why it might be downrated. Again, this is a film which I rated well above the average. 

I also thought this movie was surprisingly good, although definitely not for the faint-hearted (trigger warnings: bondage/captivity, rape, torture, suicide):

 RiqueXinw:
Day 29 - Underrated BL  Drama

Dangerous Drugs of Sex

Those trigger warnings make this sound like nothing but trauma porn. However, the second half takes it in a different direction, with a lot of psychological depth. This movie is serious, not trashy. So I refer back to my "two points" from 28 days ago: 

 p43425:
In the case of "Middleman's Love", the first two episodes were indeed awful, but it got much better, especially Episodes 7 (for Gus/Tong fans) and 8 (for Tutor/Yim fans) of the uncut version (!).  Unless somebody watched the uncut version to the end, their MDL rating doesn't mean much to me - and I suspected that this applies to a minority of the MDL ratings. So point #1:  MDL ratings may be skewed by people that rate the first episode or two, then drop the series.

I've also seen MDL ratings (e.g. for "Hit Bite Love") which I suspect have a lot to do with moral disapproval (very young actors in a steamy BL with taboo themes). Not that "Hit Bite Love" isn't very flawed, but I think that this is an added factor in its terrible average MDL rating. This could, to some extent, also be the case with "Playboyy". So point #2: MDL ratings may be skewed by factors like moral disapproval or "triggers" that usually aren't relevant to me. (PS: Not sayin' I don't have morals, but they're my own, not someone else's.)

In the case of "Dangerous Drugs", my "point #2" (triggers, moral disapproval) may have played a role - especially combined with my "point #1", i.e. people who watched the first bit of "Dangerous Drugs of Sex" (possibly because they were titillated by the words "sex" and "drugs"), quickly got triggered, and then gave it a bad rating without watching enough to understand it. (So yeah, basically what Rique is saying!)

Day 30 Challenge: "BL drama you're currently watching"

I tend to have a number of BLs in progress which I juggle at the same time, so to narrow this down, I'll limit it to the four I'm currently watching that are in current release: "Only Boo!", "1000 Years Old", "Kare no Iru Seikatsu" ("Living With Him"), and "Love Is Like A Cat". The last one has been very disappointing, but I'm totally lovin' the first three - so these are my three nominations.

And the winner is ... *drum roll* ... Wait, wait, is there actually any suspense here? Isn't it obvious that the winner will be "Only Boo!", which is among the most adorably cute pieces of sugar-coated BL fluff ever?

Perth shares stories about his first role in a BL series,  as Ram in My Engineer, plus much more.