BLISS RATING: ★★★★+
Tender and beautiful! This series is superb! I loved it. One of the finest acting BL series I have seen. It is just joyous, funny, poignant, and intensely real. It is a simple story of a student who is paired with a ‘jock’ for a school project to benefit both. The studious, focused and sometimes intense one named Mico, is played brilliantly by JC Alcantra. The jock, Xavier, played outstandingly by Tony Labrusca is outgoing, not serious, and knows how to use his looks. Speaking of which, he is drop dead gorgeous and has an amazing body. They start out, of course, not particularly liking each other (or pretending that to be the case). They begin to draw on each other’s strengths and begin to deal more positively with each other’s weaknesses. There is just enough information about each other that we get to know them without peering too much into their souls. Mico is shaken by these feelings he has for Xavier but he knows that it will be virtually impossible to develop anything because Xavier has a girlfriend, Crystal. She is brilliantly played by Gillian Vicencio. This is a difficult role because she acts as the ‘spoiler’ but in reality, she is deeply in love with Xavier. They do breakup but try to resume their relationship. But she realizes and knows that Xavier was changed for the better, not by her, but by Mico. She intuitively senses that the one person on Xavier’s mind is always Mico since he does nothing but talk about him all the time. It is her decision to let go.
The screenplay is simply brilliant. There are no gimmicks or artificial dramas here. You see the characters flawed but each of them grows not episodically but by slow moving connections. It is the little things that they do for each other that lead to profound changes. Xavier goes through a transformation into loving a man which is all new to him and frankly a bit scary. Mico goes through his own transformation because Xavier has brought out in him that it is all right to be yourself and to open yourself to what you are feeling. The dialogue of Mico telling Xavier how he feels about him is so genuine, warm, sincere, and heartfelt it made me cry. It was so beautiful and passionate in a very soulful way. All with Xavier turned around so he does not see Xavier’s reaction. It was a brilliant directorial move and made the whole scene even more dramatic. The screenplay not only tells a story of love between these two guys but also tells a story of friendship.
I cannot say enough good things about the support staff. Besides Xavier’s girlfriend, there are three other friends of Mico that have outstanding roles and impact on this story. These roles are not just for comic relief or as ‘fillers’ but are genuine and enhance the story. Kookai, playing so well by Vivoree Esclito, is a bubbly slightly off beat female friend of Mico who is pivotal to allowing Mico to realize who he is. Seph, so convincingly played by Patrick Quiroz, is the all-around nice guy who is obviously shy and introspective. Then you have JunJun, played outstandingly by Miguel Almendras. Honestly, he almost steals the series. He is the glue that keeps their group together. These are characters that help move the story, provide stability to Mico, and help Mico to accept who he is and who he loves. I cannot say enough good things about these supportive roles. The director did a great job of giving them meaningful parts to the story and focusing their acting skills in enhancing the story and not just providing comic relief or fillers. These actors and actresses are stunningly handsome and beautiful.
Who really S.T.O.L.E. the series? While both the main actors were great, and I would think that trying to act behind a computer screen would not be easy, I found one other more entertaining. Sure, the role is small, but he almost steals this series. He is astute, honest, fun-loving, and the person everyone turns to for validation and counsel. Miguel plays this part with superb tenderness and a sincerity. He is the perfect friend. (I hope he gets to tell his story in the future. I really liked his part a lot). His conviction to being a ‘friend’ is simply intense and remarkable. He portrays a nice guy. Kudos.
Please do not hate me, but I liked this series more than Gameboys. Both had similar premises in that almost every scene is done virtually (online). But in this case, they did a much better job of showing the raw emotions of the characters and the beautiful split screen shots that made them look like they were actually together. I also felt that JC and Tony assumed their roles and became them. They showed true and genuine emotions and I felt them as they began to touch each other’s emotions. Mico thinks to himself, “some people believe in destiny…some in magic and in miracles. Some lose their grasp on reality because of it. Some just ride along with others’ faith. Well, I’m not one of them”. This story is based on reality and not magic or fantasy. It is simply a beautiful story of love.
Leave a Reply