Gameboys came out of nowhere, no promotions at all. Being the first Filipino BL, and being disappointed so far with how LGBTQIA+ is being portrayed in the mainstream media in the Philippines, I have low expectation when I watched ep1 tbh. There's really no BL that I like that's airing at that time so I thought why not try it. My first impression is it's just another kilig-centered BL. I continued watching it because I was curious how far the series can go as it was taken from the actors' respective houses only. I mean, what kind of plot can you do with that kind of setting, right? But then, Ash Malanum, the genius writer behind Gameboys, proved me wrong. Ep 4 is their turning point after that, it keeps getting better and better. I don't even know how he can packed all those scenes in a 20-30 minutes ep without overdoing it.

One of the things that I can use in describing this series is that it is a "Revolutionary BL". It might be an exaggeration for some but not for someone whose been watching BL since 2017 (?) from Taiwan, Thailand, China, Korea, and Japan and has seen all toxic tropes you can imagine. They don't only deliver KILIG to the viewers but also tackled several societal issues that many BLs failed to handle properly.

I also relate to the characters on a personal level a lot. The characters has depth and layers (AGAIN, ASH!). They don't feel fictional characters to me.

Elijah, Kokoy, Adrianna, Kyle and all supporting characters and Direk Ivan Andrew Payawal really did a great job. All scenes were made as realistic as possible and the fact that the actors are not seeing each other while acting and still can give a stellar performance in portraying their roles is astronomical. They don't only need to act but has to set up the camera, design the room with the instruction of their production designer, Nestor Abrogena through zoom, adjust the lighting etc.

This series holds a special place in my heart. Ep 8 is a personal favorite. I remember crying my heart out with just one scene from that ep. I paused to calm down and then continued the scene just to cry again. That conversation with his mother really brought so many emotions to me. I wanted something like that. I believe everyone wants something like that, regardless if it's about your gender or not, we all wanted to experience that.

Thank you Gameboys for letting me feel validated. My personality, my feelings, my insights, my thoughts are all validated by this show and that means so much to me.

See you soon, babes! Can't wait for Season 2, Gameboys The Movie and Pearl Next Door!