This could have been a nice story of two childhood friends/neighbours, who were reunited during pandemic quarantine in Manila. It started nicely, where you get to know more about Ben, whose family already immigrated to the USA, and Ben was left alone in Manila, but had not achieved much and had to prove to his parents that he was an independent person. Then came news that next-door childhood buddy, Jim, is returning home from Davao.

Ben had a secret crush on Jim since they were teenagers, (and likewise Jim also harboured feelings towards Ben, but you only get to know this in Season 2). I was glad to know that this series only had 7 episodes, so I binged watched it in one day.

It had a cute story line, but could have been made better. Some parts were cliched and some scenes seemed to move too slow and a bit dragging. I liked the music, particularly the lyrics of the theme song was great. It had something to do with what these guys used to as kids: stargazing with their telescope up on a treehouse. I also liked the scenes when Ben was doing his online selling part. Apart from the main characters. I also liked Flo, Ben's supporting best friend, and Olan, the handsome delivery guy who had a crush on Ben.

The things which I didn't quite like were:
1. Peeking into their neighbour's bedrooms, which I think was somewhat rude. Knowing that they were friends, they could just made jokes about peeking at each other, rather than looking like peeping Toms.
2. If there was lots of restrictions during the quarantine, how come they could have a small party at Ben's house? How could Leo appear just like that (late evening, no mask)?
2. Jim's girlfriend was the perfect cliche shown in many Thai BLs: cute girl, who suddenly became possesive, nagging, and bitchy when she discovers that her boyfriends loves another guy. (Yana, however, was more mature in Season 2)
3. the hanging end, where you could neither tell whether this story had a happy or unhappy ending.

I don't regret watching this drama, but there's nothing special that would make me watch it again. If I had to compare it with other Filipino BL series, I still think Gameboys is the best one so far.

ABOUT SEASON 2 (I couldn't find Ben X Jim Forever on the drama list)

I then watched Season 2, Ben X Jim Forever. Oh dear, I don't think I liked this at all. It was too slow, too many side stories going on, and then finally you get to see the accidental meeting between Ben and Jim at the cafe where Jim was working. Many scenes had a slow pace, and despite exciting things happening (such as the political campaign for gay rights) and dramatic moments like Val taking Jim to bathe in the ocean to cleanse himself from the past, but the way these scenes were made did not touch me at all. I can't explain how and why, but it seemed just too dry. Sir Val's character was also a bit ambiguous: was he a nice guy or was he an a**hole,? I couldn't figure out and didn't really care less. The orgy scene where Olan and Yan joined in was something which could have been taken out. A bit too much to put everything in this drama.

Episode 6 of Season 2 was supposed to be dramatic, where Ben and Jim met each other after so many months, but I just couldn't stand the 18 minutes or so of them, including Val and Roy, just staring and gazing at each other, while we listen to a song playing in the background. And the beach party scene in episode 7? Oh dear. Couldn't they just edit it? Why d we have to see all the awkward conversations they all had? Okay, we know that many were feeling uncomfortable, and Flo was trying to change the mood, but this scene was too slow. The only good thing in episode 7 is when we get to hear a more substantial conversation between Ben and Jim. It turned out that Ben had already decided on what he wanted in life. I know I should have felt touched or sad with the ending, but nothing emotional came out of me. If Jim had a gut feeling that Roy was a bad guy, and did some investigation on him, at least they could show us whether Roy turned out to be a really bad guy , or apparently he was a good enough person. I also didn't quite like how their relationship was portrayed. It seemed like there was no chemistry between Teejay and whoever played the role of Roy.

This drama could certainly be made better. It seemed like a waste of time to watch 8 episodes which did not exactly build up to a good climax. I would give this drama a six (6). Not worth watching at all, unless you just want to see the cute actors.