will start with the one i liked, Xavier and…

will start with the one i liked, Xavier and not cause he's hot - which he is - but i love the light and carefree personality - he doesn't take himself or anything seriously and i appreciate it. it's for sure better then Mico, who like his "professional look" comes of pompous and full of himself - not only towards Xavier (who he thinks is beneath him, cause he "stupid") but even with his group of friends, he's standoffish, condescending and not really warm or friendly - not fun to be around. so i don't get why Kookai has fallen for him - guess the saying "love is blind.." fits in this case -******************************************************** mentioning Kookai, what a gorgeous girl - those eyebrows q(≧▽≦q) , and ironically the dude that has a crush on her, Seph - weirdly resembles her（＞人＜；）but he for sure better then Mico - who is all about Mico (gay, straight not the issue - this a bad personality trait) anyone with eye's knows what's what, and if Mico was a true friend (and Not a self-centered ass) he would tell her (one on one) that nothing will/can come from their relationship - But friendship, instead of ignoring sh*t and hoping it will go away **************************************************************************************************************** ****************************************************************************************************************************************mentioning b*tches, Xavier's gf as bad as Mico - the way she treated him - he nothing more then a trophy to her. think even he knows he worth nothing but his looks and standing in society - i.e the socially accepted popular varsity player that she can hang on the hand off - as if that success rub's off on her, cause she his gf. but does she really care for him as a person? didn't look or feel like it

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A Promising Pinoy BL Series

Just finished watching Episode 1 of this series. All I can say is - Ang galing! (It's great)I honestly did not expect that the quality of this web series to be like a full-blown movie. I mean the script, cinematography, clothes, production values and music were quite good. The main cast were quite good looking and act really well. I hate to admit it, but other Pinoy (Filipino) BL movies so far pales in comparison.

This early on, I think the characters of Mico (JC) and Xavier (Tony) are balanced. Mico is the nerdy but cute type but can only cook fried foods and instant noodles (I can so relate to this on a personal level. haha). On the other hand, Xavier is the typical handsome jock who is bad in studies but can cook chicken "tinola' (stew). Together, their on-screen chemistry is actually brimming with so much potential.

Surprised to see the name of Olivia M. Lamasan in the credits as an Executive Producer and part of the Creative Department in this series. I think that contributed greatly to having a web series like this one which I believe is on par (or even more) compared to other famous Thai BL series. Hope they maintain this quality to the last episode.

To all those who haven't watched this series - "arat na!" (let's go!)

P.S. The song "Kahit na Anong Sabihin ng Iba" (Whatever Others Say) sang by Seth Fedelin kinda reminded me of the band Orange and Lemons. hmm.

P.P.S. Thanks to this series which featured poem "Sa Kasintahang Nilimot Na" (To the Forgotten Lover) by Benilda Santos. I googled it and the poetry was so touching. :-D

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Hello Stranger (2020) Episode 1: Hello, Enemy!

It's difficult not to compare Hello Stranger with Gameboys because there were just too many similarities between the two Filipino (Pinoy) boys' love (BL) series. Unfortunately for Hello Stranger, Gameboys is way better in almost all aspects. But if I'll try to assess Hello Stranger based on its own merits and not compare it with Gameboys, I'd say Hello Stranger had a very good premiere. For this post, I'd still compare it with Gameboys and even Sakristan. The plot/storyline was already laid bare on this episode. It had a simpler plot/storyline than Gameboys or Sakristan. I would have wanted some kind of build-up with some cliffhangers and surprises (like Gameboys) but alas, the main conflicts in the story were already laid out in this premiere. The screenplay was generally ok with only few cringy lines -- certainly better than Sakristan. Everyone in the cast, from the lead to the support cast can act -- maybe not as good as Elijah Canlas and Kokoy de Santos of Gameboys, but they're all good actors. They're definitely better than Clifford Pusing and Henry Villanueva of Sakristan. I especially liked Mean Espinosa who portrayed Prof. Kristine "Tina" Moran (and the voice of Mico's mother) in this episode. All the male actors -- Tony Labrusca, JC Alcantara, Patrick Quiroz, and Miguel Almendras, are distractingly handsome. Tony and JC need to work on their chemistry though. They also need to work on being more relatable. I have a problem with the stereotypical portrayal of women in the characters of Kookay and Crystal in this episode. It's as if their whole existence revolves around boys and they're just too preoccupied with looking beautiful. But this is just the first episode so I'm hopeful that they'll be able to develop all the characters. Compared with other Pinoy BL series, I'd assume Hello Stranger has the biggest budget. Just compare the credits. Hello Stranger has a lot more people working for its production. And this showed in terms of the quality of the production design which was at least at par with Gameboys. Cinematography was also good but editing needs improvement. There were some lag time during the video calls. There were also scenes that needed some background music. But I like the OST "Kahit na Anong Sabihin ng Iba" performed by Seth Fedelin. Featuring the Filipino poem "Sa Kasintahang Nilimot Na" by Benilda Santos was also a nice touch. I hope they feature Filipino poetry every episode. Overall, I think Hello Stranger had a very decent premiere and I'm hopeful that it improves in the next episodes.

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