Hello Stranger (2020)

I really enjoyed this little series. As if he wasn't even from the Philippines (except for the teacher). The story is simple, without decorative or unnecessarily delaying frills, covid-CURRENT and MODERN. Sympathetic actors, beautiful opening song (I deducted one point for the Sound because the music in the middle of the fifth and especially the fourth part is very out of tune, fake), excellent editing and processing. The credit for the great impression goes to all the actors, but especially to the two main ones - 20-year-old JC Alcantara (Mico) and 25-year-old Tony Labrusca (Xavier), born in the USA, and above all the creators themselves, who created this cute pandemic series at a minimal cost.

Moc se mi tento menší seriál líbil. Jako kdyby ani nebyl z Filipín (až na učitelku). Příběh jednoduchý, bez okrasných nebo zbytečně zdržujících kudrlinek, covidově SOUČASNÝ a MODERNÍ. Sympatičtí herci, krásná úvodní píseň (jeden bod za Zvuk jsem snížil za to, že v pátém a především čtvrtém díle je uprostřed hudba hodně rozladěná, falešná), výborný střih a zpracování. Zásluhu na skvělém dojmu mají všichni herci, ale především dva hlavní - dvacetiletý JC Alcantara (Mico) a pětadvacetiletý Tony Labrusca (Xavier), narozený v USA a především tvůrci samotní, kteří za minimalistické náklady vytvořili tento roztomilý pandemický seriálek.

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Another Philippine Hit

OMG this one is way to cute !!! another online based Drama and this is based around school and a project --
Loving it so far -- Mains are so cute and sweet - I am only 2 episodes in and waiting for ep. 3 but I am really liking it The Mains - one has a GF and having trouble as they are do this during the Pandemic - he is all excited as he is focusing more on his studies and such -- but his GF seems to blow him off after he apologizes for not being there for her and how excited he was more focused on his studies - I cannot wait for EP. 3 coming Wednesday 830 AM (Philippine time )
and it is freaking awesome watch it !!

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My Favourite Pinoy BL So Far...

The trailer for this series was great! Everything was on point! The editing and transitions were perfect! I rewatched it several times, which is something that I have yet to do with the trailers of other BL series. However, the first episode was quite disappointing. There were a number of moments that were too quiet and could have benefitted from background music like the scenes with the aloof girlfriend who cares only about appearances. The editing was slow. The acting was mediocre. The story was quite simple, predictable and actually too quick in my opinion. Within the span of one episode, Mico and Xavier went from strangers/rivals into friends who remind one another to eat, all without actually meeting one another in person. GameBoys, another pinoy BL that uses video calling, does a better job of showing the relationship between the two leads develop. However, I did enjoy the ending where Mico got flustered when he accidentally liked one of Xavier's IG post and Xavier reached out, asking if he liked him. And Tony Labrusca (Xavier) is hot! Anyways, hopefully, this series will get better in its next episode.

Episode 2 was good! The story and the actions of the characters felt more natural and realistic than the first episode. This series does have a slow pace when it's working so far. It's nice seeing Mico and Xavier's relationship progress as they get to know one another more, learn to build trust with one another and start to break down their walls (unlike GameBoys where Gav immediately wanted to get with Kai). Seeing Mico learn to be empathetic towards Xavier, instead of just worrying about his grades was a nice touch as it showed his inexperience dealing with someone that he likes. Hopefully, he will continue to learn to be a better friend to Xavier. Like a YouTube comment said, "It feels like an indie." I'm excited for the next episode and to see Mico and Xavier's relationship deepen!

Episode 3 was a bit slow as Mico and Xavier's relationship continues to progress. It felt a bit awkward at times, both in terms of the acting and the story. I'm quite sure, along with others, that the last scene is a dream of fantasy of Mico's. There's no way that Xavier confessing to Mico is legit (at least not yet). Or it's Xavier messing with Mico, which could end badly like the opening scene of this series where Mico is seen crying from heartbreak.

Episode 4 was quite good as Mico and Xavier got closer and there were several kilig moments between them. Them virtually sleeping next to one another was so cute! My favourite episode of the series so far! I cannot wait to see them meet one another

Episode 5 was okay. Other than the beginning where Xavier and Mico met and ending where Xavier confessed his feelings for Mico, I was kinda bored throughout this episode, which was a bit slow as there wasn't much progression. As others have stated, there is only 3 episodes left, so I wonder how Xavier crying (which was shown at the start of the series) will be portrayed and if he will have a happy ending.

I actually really enjoyed Episode 6 unlike other viewers. Many people criticized the writers for both Mico's reaction to Xavier's confession and Xavier getting back together with Crystal. However, for me, it made sense. Mico is insecure and believes that Xavier is straight, so when Xavier confessed that the love song that he just performed was for Mico. Mico was shocked. He couldn't believe that his fantasy of having Xavier like him back was coming true. As a result, he deflected by laughing and asking if that was a joke to which Xavier, who is experiencing feelings for a boy for the first time, also laughs due to not wanting to feel embarrassed since he was just rejected. I really hope that there will be a happy ending! Just two more episodes! I'm happy that they're not extending the series like GameBoys, which keeps getting extended to the detriment of the quality of the series.

Episode 7 was kinda cheesy to be honest. The performance that Mico and Xavier put on, which just so happens to also mirror their actual feelings was a bit too on-the-nose. JC's acting is quite good! I was always impressed with this acting chops though he is still relatively a newcomer. However, Tony, who has been in the industry longer, pales in comparison. He is unable to emote and every emotional scene with him felt forced unlike JC, which felt natural. I am looking forward to Mico actually confessing his feelings to Xaiver though I doubt (unfortunately) that they will have a finale kiss or embrace due to COVID.

Episode 8 was very cheesy, especially when Xavier sang for Mico who finished the song when Xavier forgot the lyrics. It was also cute though. I was so disappointed that there wasn't a kiss. I wanted - I was waiting for a kiss after the hug, but we got another hug. *shakes head in disappointment* The new high-five lol. I do wonder though why there wasn't a kiss. Was it because Tony or JC didn't want to kiss? Was it because of Covid? Was it the way that it was written? Anyways, I've heard that there will be a Hello Strangers Movie! I truly hope that there will be a kiss in it!

All in all, I really enjoyed Hello Stranger. It was entertaining, touching, natural and perfectly paced. My favourite pinoy BL series thus far (and that's including GameBoys lol). I'm going to miss coming home every Wednesday to watch another episode of this series :'( Anyways, on a more positive note, I hope to see JC and Tony in more BL roles in the near future!

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It's Okay

Hi! Hello Stranger is a good starter BL for the PH (along with other BLs that are currently airing). I have heard this due to it's high promotions of the company in social media.

STORY: it is a typical enemies-turned-friends type of stories, and while these kinds of stories excites me, I am afraid that they have become stagnant with that. There's no additional, out-of-the box something in the story itself and how it was presented.

ACTING: their acting was okay, but i feel like the acting of the casts do not meet even for a single episode. There is an ep where Xavier is superb and Mico fell flat. There is an ep where Xavier and Mico was good but the friends were flat. And there was an ep where everyone did a good job except for Xavier. I hope that they can be comfortable with each other.

MUSIC: good but nothing special. No original flavor. Though I feel lile the end-credit son represents the whole vibe of the series pretty well.

REWATCH VALUE: I scored it 6.5 because there are times when i say to myself "let's rewatch the past eps" and then another voice inside me keep saying "better not". And there are times when it is actually enjoyable to rewatch. It's not something that you can really enjoy for 6 days while waiting for the next ep (at least for me)

Hello Stranger is a good series! It's still in episode 3 so I hope that they can correct some issues. I wouldnt really change my rating because when I noticed xertain issues, it's hard for me to overlook at those for even the slightest. So this is prolly my rating for this series

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