Skip to main content

Chained To My Bully Stepbrother (AI Vertical BL Drama)

By Golu
This is the second vertical AI BL drama I've sat through, and honestly I went in knowing better. I had it on while I was doing cardio at the gym, and what struck me was just how much the plot echoed the last one I watched. Same step brother romance angle, same mystery girlfriend showing up near the end, same extra guy pining after one of the leads. Genuinely the only thing going for it was the runtime, the whole thing wrapped up in forty five minutes flat.  The setup kicks off with Finn moving schools because his mom just married into money. He finds out his new step brother Aiden goes to the same place, and he's warned to keep his distance from him. Their first run in at school is rocky, just like you'd expect, but there's this odd pull between them neither can shake off. Finn keeps telling himself not to read into it because Aiden's straight and openly homophobic. Things shift when some kids start bullying Finn and the student council president, Ryan, steps in to ...
Post a Comment

Quando A Gente Ama (Portuguese Series) [When People Love]

By Golu
This six part Brazilian series feels very amateurish, almost like a student's school project. Even though the episodes are just 25 minutes each, they just feel so dragged on, because really not much is happening. It is full of cliches, some very basic acting and some very poor direction. If this was indeed a school project, I am willing to be lenient; but if someone thought of it as something serious, they are in for a rude shock.

Ben, a young teenager from the countryside has just arrived in to city for college after receiving scholarship. In his apartment, he meets Edu, whom he mistakes to be his roommate. Every time Edu wants to tell him his reality, Ben just doesn't let them speak. On the first night itself they kiss and have a short passionate affair, till Edu's secret is revealed. He is actually the ex-tenant of the flat and is being evicted. Ben is heart broken and asks Edu to leave immediately. Enter Samuel, his actual roommate, who it turns out is Edu's sister's younger brother. When Samuel sees that Edu is sleeping in the park on a bench, he brings him home, unknown to Ben and Edu's past. Ben is not willing to forgive Edu but at the same time he also feels an attraction to the bisexual Samuel. Eventually when his anger does down, now he is conflicted between choosing between two boys. Things get worse, when his conservative mother finds out. How Bend deals with all these situations is what the show is about.

From synopsis it may feel that there is a whole lot going on in the show, but trust me, it drags in various places. Things are just too convenient in the ay they happen. Edu's ex-girlfriend's random appearance in their lives, makes the whole proceedings even more convoluted. How did she even find they apartment if they had broken up three years ago? The boys falling in romance happens out of nowhere. Just about anyone just enters and leaves the apartment at their will. No explanation is given to Ben getting attracted to Samuel. Maybe they are all just horny teenagers, but they actually do nothing beyond kissing. Talking of kissing, many kissing scenes are just thrown in for whatever reason, even when they didn't make sense. Also kissing has never felt so boring as it has in this show. The direction is terrible. The actors probably did their best but they all look very rehearsed and mechanical. They just didn't have any chemistry. Edu's back story is interesting but has absolutely no relevance to the whole plot. Other new boy is thrown in as Samuel's possible love interest and then towards the end of the show, almost everyone leaves the city. It was just bizarre and all over the place. I am starting to appreciate the little quirks of Asian BL shows and how they have improved over a period of time. Let's hope next time Brazil gives us a much better show. Some of the gay films from this country have been great, so we can surely hope. (3/10)
Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Phor Lae Lukchai (Thai) [Father & Son]

By Golu
I think the budget of this film was probably too small, but for that, the film definitely offers a different and unique storyline without over dramatizing anything. Yes, some scenes were a bit amateurish but in the bigger scheme of things, that can be overlooked. The film is both beautiful and sad in its own unique way. Aek is a gay dad, whose partner died right around the time their son Nueng was born through surrogacy in a road accident. The relationship between father and son is unpleasant and unstable. We are not really told why, but it seems the father has been unsuccessful in caring and loving his son because of his partner's death. Aek continues to hook up wit hookers. Also, Nueng is constantly bullied by everyone around him for having a gay dad. He has no friends, except Nat, a neighborhood boy, who also happens to be Nueng's boyfriend. In a sudden turn of events Nat is found murdered along with another boy naked. Saddened by the events, Nueng jumps from roof and k...
1 comment
Read more

Sei no Gekiyaku (Japanese) [Dangerous Drugs of Sex]

By Golu
Every person has their own unique way of dealing with loss. This film is as much a psychological thriller as it is a soft porn BDSM portrayal of two young men that makes the film overall horrifying as well as humane. It is really hard to describe the genre of this film in one word. Its important not that the film has some really disturbing scenes so if you go into seeing this film, please proceed with caution. Although any sexual non-consensual activity is not ok, this film has its won strange way of showing that suicide is not the only solution to all life's problems. Makoto is a regular office goer, who just finds out that his girlfriend is probably cheating on him. ON top of it, his parents sudden death coming back from a trip that he forced them to take, he gets completely dejected and decides to commit suicide. Unknown to him, he is saved by mysterious man Yoda Ryoji, and he wakes up finding himself tied up in leather and belts in a very BDSM setting. This mysterious saver soo...
3 comments
Read more

The Shortest Distance is Round 3: Fallen Flowers

By Golu
Continuing with the weird trilogy of "The Shortest Distance", I am so glad that finally I am done with part 3 and won't have to deal with this again in future. Thankfully, as of now the makers have not announced any further parts; which will save all of us on this earth from the embarrassment of watching this in near future. After the first 10 minutes are used in sort of recapping bits of first two parts, the story moves forward. Haruto is now starting to have feelings for Ruka, the mysterious pole dancer from second part. In a fit of rage, Ruka ends up killing the goat man and to save him and Haruto, Shibahara asks them to go underground. Meanwhile Shibahara continues the search for Seiya (the guy who had cut off Haruto's penis). It turns out Seiya is now also taking care of the original club owner from part 1. Both of them were released after they had informed Shibahara of Aoyama's secret location. Shibahara tortures Seiya's boyfriend leading to Seiya killin...
5 comments
Read more