Área do Amor 2 (2022)

O romance engatou... mas o roteiro não largou o freio de mão

Na segunda temporada, a promessa era clara: aprofundar os personagens, evoluir o romance, dar carne a essa sopa rala emocional. E até tenta, coitada. Mas Love Area Part 2 tropeça na própria hesitação e vira uma sucessão de cenas que mais parecem replays sentimentais da temporada anterior, só que com mais gente atrapalhando.

Valen e Kaitoon agora estão no estágio "não estamos mais negando o sentimento, mas também não sabemos o que fazer com ele". E aí a série se perde em tramas paralelas desnecessárias, novos personagens com menos carisma que um pão francês dormido, e conflitos que surgem do nada só para ocupar tempo de tela.

O casal principal até tem seus momentos doces, mas eles são diluídos entre diálogos longos, indecisões eternas e uma direção que parece ter medo de deixar alguém sorrir de verdade. O clímax emocional é tão anticlimático que você se pergunta se perdeu algum episódio no meio (spoiler: não perdeu, ele só não foi escrito).

Tecnicamente, a produção até melhora um pouco, mais cenas externas, um toque de ambição aqui e ali, mas nada salva a sensação constante de que a série está tentando esticar uma história que não tinha tanto fio assim.

E claro, os erros de continuidade continuam firmes e fortes, como um easter egg para os olhos treinados: luz do dia que vira noite entre frases, objetos que mudam de posição sozinhos, personagens que aparecem com um figurino e somem com outro. E o destaque inegável: o cabelo de Valen, agora tingido com um spray escolar cor fantasia, que parece ter sido aplicado por uma criança cosplayer em treinamento. A cor muda de cena para cena com vida própria, um personagem à parte. Tanta personalidade que merecia um crédito na abertura.

Esse BL é o tipo de romance que você torce para dar certo só para poder parar de assistir em paz.

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Is this a series made to cure BL addiction?

It is already common enough for BLs to suffer from the problem of character overload, but at least sometimes the part for the main couple is done well or there is enough cuteness and sweetness in the side couples to make us overlook the flaws. In Love Area Part 2, however, the part for the main couple (actually the other parts as well) is botched up so badly that it has got to be the work of some evil genius. It definitely takes talent to be able to screw things up this badly with the material started in Part 1.

I recall Part 1 being quite bearable despite its flaws like random digressions to side stories that lack development. But at least we see in Part 1 the conflict between Valen and Kaitoon at the start and how their relationship changes over time, and the promise of a romance between them at the end. Part 1 seems to be going somewhere. I was hoping that Part 2 would avoid the flaws of Part 1. However, the flaws are accumulated and magnified instead.

In Part 2, there are even more barely related characters; love triangles become squares or some other polygon. The worst part of the story is the "development" of the relationship between Valen and Kaitoon. They become a couple and enjoy some sweet moments, but there really isn't much of a story to speak of here. Perhaps to add spice to the thing that isn't much of a story, the evil genius lurking around decided that the love triangle with Valen, Kaitoon and Non (someone with a crush on Kaitoon) should be turned into some bizarre love polygon. So while Valen is in love with Kaitoon and getting jealous of Non for childish reasons, he inexplicably also gives some girl flowers, behaving like a shy teen with a crush. (Huh?)

But of course that is not enough "conflict" for the evil genius hiding in the production team. There must be a misunderstanding between Valen and Kaitoon that leads to a break-up before the series ends, right? This is predictable fare except that the evil genius makes Valen's behavior totally illogical. Valen sees Kaitoon's group mate (Sean) being a third party in King and Pete's relationship (King is Valen's friend) and somehow assumes that Kaitoon is in cahoots with his group mate to give Pete a chance to cheat on King. (HUH?)

Speaking of King and Pete, Pete's behavior is about as absurd as it can possibly get. First, his jealousy when he sees King with another guy is practically at psychopathic levels, suggesting an unhealthy obsessiveness. Next, his claim that he has suddenly disappeared and left King suddenly (Part 1) because of his struggles with depression is exposed to be bogus. Even by the end of the series, the reason he has simply disappeared is unknown, just like his reasons for suddenly wanting to make up with King again. Yes, he has been in a relationship with another guy during the disappearance, but is this other guy the reason for his disappearance? Couldn't he have simply broken up with King if he had fallen in love with someone else? And if he is such a jerk, why does he seem genuinely sorry for what he has done?

And, trust me, there is more in all the main characters' behaviors in Episode 7 that will leave you stupefied--if you don't fall asleep watching scenes that look like some advertisement for a tour or the work of a travel vlogger. (They are actually visually appealing but not exactly interesting.) I don't have the ability to describe the mess without using a few hundred words more, and I'm just too lazy to do it.

There is also the addition of at least two more love triangles just so that the scenes can jump purposelessly from one love polygon to another and alienate viewers. The introduction of June, Bill and Sonya into the series appears to be devoid of purpose. (And also: more illogical behavior thrown in.) Then there is also a (straight) love triangle involving Valen's sister that gets added in without development or resolution because -- why not? We are trying to make the series as bad as possible, right? And maybe there can even be a Part 3, right?

By Episode 7, it is clear that even if Episode 8 (the final episode) salvages things a little, it cannot make up for the experience of watching Episodes 1 - 7, which is by turns boring and infuriating. Indeed, Episode provides a bit of a closure. I bet the evil genius behind the mess was disappointed that he could not continue having fun. Do Valen and Kaitoon make up? I would love to give a spoiler, but I can't really tell. It is not because we have an open ending. It's just that I can't be sure if the "ending" is just another daydreaming/imagination scene (like Kaitoon and Non's at the end of Episode 7).

It's sad that Part 2 destroys: (i) the King/Pete pairing when there is potential for a much more moving story for them, and (ii) the character development of Valen in Part 1. It's also saddening that things don't end well for Non, who is a likable person and possibly the only sensibly portrayed character of any importance. Maybe Love Area is secretly The Tragedy of Non. While heartbroken King has friends who care (and even a possible new love interest) and June has someone to cry to, our poor Non does not even seem to have a friend around to console him.

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