Hanging Out
2016 Filipino online BL series Hanging Out is one of those fantastic programs you come across by chance, usually from a recommendation online or through word of mouth. I'd certainly never heard of it before seeing it in my YouTube recommendations a few months back, and I'm so glad I did. It's the very first Filipino BL I've seen, and it's such a breath of fresh air after the unadventurous repetitions of Thai BL.
Summary: In one of the funniest 'meets-cute' out of all the BL series I've seen so far, aimless cynic David meets the dashing and charming Adrian at a surprise party that he was never invited to. Despite the awkwardness of the situation, there's an instant connection between the two men, though they are both very tentative and afraid to admit to it. Adrian's friends notice the sexual tension, but their unsubtle gossipy speculation about David might scare off the already jittery new guy. Despite his reservations, David is immediately drawn into Adrian's fun group of friends over the coming weeks, hanging out with some of them for breakfast, going out for a drink or even visiting a brothel. As a result, the blossoming romance starts to take on a different tone, as David gets increasingly overwhelmed by all the attention and possibilities, and Adrian tries to second-guess David's true intentions. Will both boys be able to overcome their hesitations and find love?
Before I say anything else, please let me say this right up-front: do yourself a favour and watch this series. Just. Watch. It. It's really good and loads of fun.
It aims for a 'slice of life' portrayal of its story, so it's a little rough around the edges (just like its magnificently chaotic setting, Manila) but it's very nicely made and, best of all, it's well-written. It tries very hard to avoid the usual gay series clichés of coming out, depression and terminal illness. Instead it uses an almost magical veneer of hipster realism - an Instagram filter perhaps? - to depict the life of two gay twenty-somethings and their wonderful bunch of friends. Episodes are very short, being just 12 minutes long, and there's only 6 of them in total, so everything inessential is stripped out of the story. This leaves no room for anything else except some rapid but basic development of the six central characters and, more importantly, their interactions. You'd be in the majority if you thought that Adrian and David's story would form the bulk of the narrative in such a short series. But the screenplay takes the (initially) very strange tack of giving the central character David almost no time at all with Adrian until the very last episode. Instead, the focus sits squarely on David meeting Adrian's friends at different places around Manila, as they subject him to varying degrees of critical judgement and an assessment of his fitness to be a boyfriend for their much-loved friend. Adrian is only given a few brief moments with David in each episode. It's a great decision that pays off in spades. Episode Two is called The Debriefing for very good reason, as fag hag Misha and distrustful queen Jessie carefully rip David to pieces in the gayest possible way. Kiko is a kindred lost soul who pretends to be a jaded gay man looking for easy sex but David sees the truth and helps him just as any true friend would. But the finest of the 'meeting the friends' episodes comes in Episode Three, when David comes across Adrian's "token straight friend" Fidel passing by in the street with some pals. After a moment's hesitation, David decides to spend the rest of his night with them at a brothel and eating goto for a midnight snack. It's written to perfection, with Fidel being so sympathetic and kind, his friends by contrast are funny and vulgar, and David feeling out of place and yet content to be hanging out with Fidel. In each episode, we feel David's awkwardness and stress increase as he does his best to make a good impression on Adrian's friends. When Adrian makes a sudden appearance in each episode, we sense their feelings and tenderness for each other but also an uneasy wariness that keeps them at a distance. For such a short series, this dynamic manages to create a wonderfully immersive connective thread between characters and a narrative impetus that's better than most other BL series that run for months.
All this tension and nervousness comes to a head in the final episode, where David and Adrian are at last together for an extended period, walking through the streets of Manila to a party for Kiko, and they can finally broach the subject they've been carefully avoiding. The release of tension packs a surprisingly powerful emotional punch, and we have the screenwriters to thank for the genuinely moving ending. All the characters we've grown to love as much as David join together in a joyous party on a garden lawn under the night sky, a wonderful celebration of friendship, life and so much more. It's an unforgettable, beautiful scene, and it will stay with you long after the credits have rolled.
But my favourite element to this series is how it drops small details into the narrative that you'd very easily miss if you weren't paying attention. I won't give too much of them away, the joy is in discovering them for yourself, but I'll mention the most obvious one. Adrian admits to David that he's only used Grindr once, and he had a misguided idea about the app's purpose. He had used it to look for guys to play board games with, as a sort of introduction to a more serious relationship. It's a funny endearing snippet of his back story, and David uses it to adorably romantic effect later in the episode. Kiko gets the very best of these snippet stories, and it's deeply moving to witness it, but, as I said, if you blink, you'll miss it!
The producers and creators have really gone all out on this project, it's very clearly a labour of love from everyone involved, in all aspects of the series. Production values might occasionally stumble, and the limited screen time doesn't allow for tons of character development so it sometimes edges dangerously close to cliché. But it will still win you over with its fun characters, its unusual narrative structure, small Easter Egg details that turn into pearls, and its affectionate sense of humour. And double bonus: the soundtrack is by far the best I've ever heard in a BL series.
Rating: 14 out of 20
Ending: Happy
Best scene: Dancing in the back yard of Misha's house during Kiko's party.
It aims for a 'slice of life' portrayal of its story, so it's a little rough around the edges (just like its magnificently chaotic setting, Manila) but it's very nicely made and, best of all, it's well-written. It tries very hard to avoid the usual gay series clichés of coming out, depression and terminal illness. Instead it uses an almost magical veneer of hipster realism - an Instagram filter perhaps? - to depict the life of two gay twenty-somethings and their wonderful bunch of friends. Episodes are very short, being just 12 minutes long, and there's only 6 of them in total, so everything inessential is stripped out of the story. This leaves no room for anything else except some rapid but basic development of the six central characters and, more importantly, their interactions. You'd be in the majority if you thought that Adrian and David's story would form the bulk of the narrative in such a short series. But the screenplay takes the (initially) very strange tack of giving the central character David almost no time at all with Adrian until the very last episode. Instead, the focus sits squarely on David meeting Adrian's friends at different places around Manila, as they subject him to varying degrees of critical judgement and an assessment of his fitness to be a boyfriend for their much-loved friend. Adrian is only given a few brief moments with David in each episode. It's a great decision that pays off in spades. Episode Two is called The Debriefing for very good reason, as fag hag Misha and distrustful queen Jessie carefully rip David to pieces in the gayest possible way. Kiko is a kindred lost soul who pretends to be a jaded gay man looking for easy sex but David sees the truth and helps him just as any true friend would. But the finest of the 'meeting the friends' episodes comes in Episode Three, when David comes across Adrian's "token straight friend" Fidel passing by in the street with some pals. After a moment's hesitation, David decides to spend the rest of his night with them at a brothel and eating goto for a midnight snack. It's written to perfection, with Fidel being so sympathetic and kind, his friends by contrast are funny and vulgar, and David feeling out of place and yet content to be hanging out with Fidel. In each episode, we feel David's awkwardness and stress increase as he does his best to make a good impression on Adrian's friends. When Adrian makes a sudden appearance in each episode, we sense their feelings and tenderness for each other but also an uneasy wariness that keeps them at a distance. For such a short series, this dynamic manages to create a wonderfully immersive connective thread between characters and a narrative impetus that's better than most other BL series that run for months.
All this tension and nervousness comes to a head in the final episode, where David and Adrian are at last together for an extended period, walking through the streets of Manila to a party for Kiko, and they can finally broach the subject they've been carefully avoiding. The release of tension packs a surprisingly powerful emotional punch, and we have the screenwriters to thank for the genuinely moving ending. All the characters we've grown to love as much as David join together in a joyous party on a garden lawn under the night sky, a wonderful celebration of friendship, life and so much more. It's an unforgettable, beautiful scene, and it will stay with you long after the credits have rolled.
But my favourite element to this series is how it drops small details into the narrative that you'd very easily miss if you weren't paying attention. I won't give too much of them away, the joy is in discovering them for yourself, but I'll mention the most obvious one. Adrian admits to David that he's only used Grindr once, and he had a misguided idea about the app's purpose. He had used it to look for guys to play board games with, as a sort of introduction to a more serious relationship. It's a funny endearing snippet of his back story, and David uses it to adorably romantic effect later in the episode. Kiko gets the very best of these snippet stories, and it's deeply moving to witness it, but, as I said, if you blink, you'll miss it!
The producers and creators have really gone all out on this project, it's very clearly a labour of love from everyone involved, in all aspects of the series. Production values might occasionally stumble, and the limited screen time doesn't allow for tons of character development so it sometimes edges dangerously close to cliché. But it will still win you over with its fun characters, its unusual narrative structure, small Easter Egg details that turn into pearls, and its affectionate sense of humour. And double bonus: the soundtrack is by far the best I've ever heard in a BL series.
Rating: 14 out of 20
Ending: Happy
Best scene: Dancing in the back yard of Misha's house during Kiko's party.
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