Keep an open mind because TOKI will surely win you over.

Sahara Sensei to Toki-kun is a BL story about a third-year student in High School falling in love with the new teacher who have been helping him with his stuff. I don’t think I was able to fully showcased what this story is about and I do think that they are treading on a very steep hill on this one. Why? I want to talk about the obvious first. This is a love story between a teacher and a student so there is already a power dynamic that is a bit imbalance and this is always a tricky situation. Sahara is the teacher and Toki is the student. I will say so many good things about Toki later but I want to address the biggest red flag in the story which is the age gap and the imbalance in the power dynamic. The way that they handled the story is Toki is the one who fell in love with Sahara first and he is very much honest about it. He is the kind of person who is very in tune with his emotions and you can easily see that he is the one who initiated this relationship but you can clearly see how the writers set the boundaries here by making sure that the relationship is not sexualized. Yes, they have the more romantic scenes but they are not overly sexualized or is not suggestive of any kind. Sahara is very careful too and waited for Toki. He fell in love with him but I think it is safe to say that there is not forceful thing that happen. I don’t think that he actively pursued him or did things that would lead to him misunderstanding things. I am not trying to justify anything here but I just want to say that I don’t think that there is anything predatory about the relationship. At the same time, I don’t want this part of the story to overshadow the fact that TOKI IS ONE OF THE BEST CHARACTERS THAT I HAVE SEEN because he is that kind of person who is like the perfect definition of kindness and I seriously think that we need more people like him who is loyal to his friends because if you will try to fully understand what this show did is that it is really Toki’s story as he experiences falling in love for the very first time. There is ana immediate attraction for him and he really wanted to pursue the person who only saw him as a student. I don’t think that is a predatory factor to it and I am welcome to more discussion about it because there might be things that I am not seeing here. Toki is such a good person and I personally wanted to have someone like him in my life as he oozes with so much confidence but he is not tacky, he is honest but not hurtful, he is vulnerable but not weak, and he may not be the smartest but he is surely one of the kindest. I seriously think that if we get to see more people like him in this, the world will seriously be a good world to live in. He is not perfect but he is pure. I love that about him. He has this emotional connection with Sahara and I do like how it started all from his perspective because he can easily be misunderstood but he is super kind. He is also a very loyal friend. I love that he was able to start amazing friendships with Rise, Shinji, and Takuya. Their friendship is also highlighted in the story without even forcing the story. They are there but they have their own storylines that are actually very good too. I love the writing in this show and how they are giving all the characters a chance to shine without moving away from the main storyline. It is so cool and so smart. It is really commendable. I do like to see more of the relationship of Sahara and Toki. I think they can still explore the age gap storyline better. I think there is still more to explore there that they were not able to touch upon before or better explored. There is so much more room for this show to explore and I really do hope that this is just not one season show because I would love to see more of Toki. He is the highlight of this show and he really owned it. Also, shoutout to Hachimura Rintaro who played Toki because he was amazing in this show. He really pulled it all together. The aesthetic is also good. I love how vivid the colors are and how they used to put more light in the sweet moments. It is a good highlight to what is happening. I am not mad at this show but I want more.

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Tokyo in April Is.. Beautiful

Tokyo in April is.. is a Japanese BL series that is about Kazuma and Ren who have been friends for a very long time now but they have been separated when they had sex for the very first time with each other. I am not sure if I was able to relay that information correctly but they had sex but things turned awry so Ren developed fear of hurting Kazuma so much but little did he know is that even though he thought that Kazuma is not in love with him, Kazuma looked at him and wanted to really be with him. This is why when they met again, Kazuma easily agreed to be friends with benefits with Ren even though he just really wanted to be with him forever. This is an intense BL story and I think that they did not get enough credit with this one because it tackled very dark themes that needs to be talked about more often than not. The relationship of Ren and Kazuma is complicated and it is a bit darker than usual because there are themes like suicide, sexual assault, and more involved but what I love about this is that they handled it in a different way. They did not make light of it or disregard it immediately but what they is to show how important it is to have someone that you can rely on in moments that you need them. Their relationship is mostly shown in amazing montage of them staying at home being so sweet to each other. The chemistry of these two is pretty good. I love the scenes where they were just being sweet with each other. These scenes are the best parts of the show because it is giving the characters a good time to breath and be sweet with each other but, at the same time, it is giving the audience a chance to have moments with them and just invest with the relationship that we are seeing. This made us root for them so much more which I love so much. I love Ren and Kazuma and I seriously wanted them to be end game because of this. This is why when the story started to tackle the themes that we have, I was already invested with the relationship and wanted them to be together. I really do. The scene where Kazuma learned what really happened to Ren and the way that he responded to it somehow gave me so much hope that Ren will now have someone who will be there for him and will love him no matter what. It is just a beautiful moment. I am not sure why but it felt so romantic to see Kazuma finally fight for Ren after everything that Ren had to go through, he now has someone who he can rely on and loves him no matter what. This is why I fell in love with what ending. It is such a strong ending to a simply beautiful story.

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Love for Love’s Sake is about a man who was put into this virtual world where he had some task to do for this young man but what it is really is about is for him to finally found happiness that he had been long clamoring for. This is why South Korean BLs are so fucking good. They have the amazing characters and I tell that with every Korean BLs that I watch but this is true. The main character here is a guy named Tae Myung-ha played by Lee Taevin. I was seriously surprised with this casting because Lee Taevin is someone that we have watched in a big South Korean show. He had a good part in it so seeing him do a BL that is usually not been done is pretty exciting for me. I watched some of his work and he is good. This is why I seriously think that they have chosen him for the lead part in this show. I am glad that they did because most of the characters struggles are all internal and another thing that I love about this character is that his journey towards happiness is not through other people but it is from him letting himself open himself up to other people. This is such a huge part of the story because he had been separated with his mother and she did not own up to him when he tried meeting with her. She rejected her and that broke him to pieces. It is such a sad part of the story but the execution is pretty good. It highlighted why this character is the way that he is. He started playing this game like an actual game that he is someone who is playing him so he needs to make him happy and be close with for love’s sake and I think that is where the title came from but he slowly opened himself up to being fully immerse with his character and his relationship with Cha Yeon-woo that I was personally inspired to see their relationship really flourish under the circumstance that they are in. He is finally letting himself be happy and that is what mattered the most. I love the scene that he had with the grown version of himself. He found his true happiness in this virtual world that completely felt so real. This may sound a bit problematic but I think it is more metaphorical than that. I am seriously in love with the idea that they went here because it really felt like a character-driven story. This is just Myung-ha. We also have his main lover in the story. He is Cha Yeo Woon. He is a character that runs and is very popular. He is the character that Myung-ha is supposed to take care of and make him happy. He is a school athlete who is realtively popular because he is good at he does and he looks good doing it. He is handsome and he is athletic. He is also hot but Cha Joo Wan who played him is actually a good actor too. He is not as good as Lee Taevin here but with more experience he will be a really good lead. He had a more dramatic role and had a very good character development. He got more and more mature as the story continued and that is always a good thing especially in cases like this. He also gives the most romantic scenes here. He is this golden retriever who just wants to make Myung-ha happy and he is trying his best to please him and I love that about the story. It raises the bar so high especially with how their relationship bloom into something more meaningful than I initially expected. I really like that. The best thing about their relationship is the chemistry of the two actors. We also have an amazing second lead with Chun Sang won. He is played by Oh Min Su. He may not be the best actor in the cast but he looks the hottest of everyone. I am seriously in love with Oh Min Su while watching the show. He is such a fine human being and he really showed genuine emotions toward Myung-ha that I started to adore. He is so honest with him and the friendly rivalry between him and Yeo Woon makes me want to be Myung-ha immediately. This is a really good show with a lot of it is thanks to the amazing writing and the incredible lead performance by Lee Taevin.

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When I watched the movie, I seriously told myself that I wanted a TV series or anymore projects with Adrian Lindayag and Keann Johnson to be together so seeing this show for the longest of time just made me the happiest kid. I just want to say that, this may not be in a more mainstream platform and is in an online content, I am very happy to see a major network in the Philippines showing a BL series to the masses. I think we need more of these. I know that there are several of these projects already but they are still very few so I am so excited to see this and I hope that there are more kids out there that are going to watch this and will feel that their love is valid and it is okay to fall in love with the person that you want to share your life with. Okay, I am getting a bit too emotional here but HEY! Love makes me emotional especially when it is done well and respectfully. The story of Dominic and Lucas continues as they embark into a world where being in love as both men is still frowned upon. Yes, Philippines is a country that still judges people who are different. We say that we accept them but, as a gay man in this country, I feel tolerated and not accepted. They are still both students in a Catholic school. FUCK YEAH! I am from a Catholic school as well so I know how difficult it is still to be in a relationship. They are okay with you being gay as long as you are not in love with someone else. It is horrendous. I know that there are more people and schools trying to be inclusive but I like that this show is tackling these issues while giving us something that we can really consider as romantic. This kind of writing is exponentially so much better and deserves so much more respect of. I am serious when I say that this show is moving mountains with the way it is handling inclusivity, homophobia, coming out, religion, and tolerance. The friends of Lucas are indifferent now to him because he is seeing a guy and Lucas was kept on being labeled in different ways. The sad thing about this is that Lucas is still trying to understand who he is as a person and he is in his first same-sex relationship. This is so much hard for him but he is lucky to have that support from his mother. You can say whatever you want to say but he is so lucky to have that kind of respect and love from her. I seriously mean that not a lot of people actually experience that. We have seen this in the story of Dominic. He may seem to be the more feminine one but that is only okay as long as he is smart and is not acting upon it. We have seen how her mother treated her after that beautiful kiss in the prom. Yes, they have shown two gay characters attending prom together. Well, two pair of same-sex couples. Yes, for inclusivity and equality. Unfortunately, this turned out to be the final problem that they will have to face because they are experiencing backlash from the people around them. This is just representative of the world that we are living in. I am such a cynic but the reality of these moments ring so close to home for me. I think what this show provides is something that is way more important than what we see nowadays. It is giving the old generation hope that they were not afforded and is giving the younger generation a chance to live their lives the way that they are supposed to. The ending was a bit different but it did not feel tragic. I like that the ending highlighted their love for each other without forcing them to be separated. This is the kind of representation that we need more of and is something that we should celebrate more often. It is such a beautiful story and it is working really well. The chemistry between the two leads and the way that it explored more themes than the first movie makes this series so much better. Also, I want to highlight how amazing of an actor Iyah Mina is. She is marvelous and she may only have a supporting role here but the sincerity is remarkable. All in all, Love Beneath The Stars provide us a love story that is meant to shared to everyone so that it could be a reminder that true love exists in all genders.

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