Season of Love in Shimane - Finale
A very long post incoming.
Pan - "Next season lets keep travelling together." - is there going to be a season 3? If there is going to be one, I will definitely be watching.
Anyway, lets get into it:
 | "And I swear by the moon and the stars in the skies I'll be there I swear like the shadow that's by your side I'll be there For better or worse, 'til death do us part I'll love you with every beat of my heart And I swear"
When it comes to intimacy this series delivered in such a way that I was not expecting. I expected the explicit sex scenes, but the affection, love and emotions portrayed are palpable and a pleasant surprise. |
This series was an unexpected gem. Majority of us went into this series expecting a similar story like in season 1 with explicit sex scenes, but they certainly had us doing a retake of expectations.
A very serious experience was leaned into and explored; that is the Thai couple culture. In the series P and Pan have to deal with being in love while Pan is in an official ship. I had previously stated that I will be voicing my views on the couple culture in this finale review. Firstly, let me just say that this is just me voicing my viewpoint and I am not discrediting the practice and I am not encouraging others to rail against it.
I am personally not for the couple culture as it restricts actors/artistes in such a way that creativity and freedom are stifled. It creates a toxic environment among fans where actors are held to fans' desires and expectations at a dangerous degree where we have even seen spouses of actors being bullied. In the series we see P and Pan having to hide their relationship for fear of how fans will react. There is also the great issue that arises when couples are forced to split due to whatever reasons and fans resort to lambasting one of the actors in placing blame. Then there is the issue where fans try to limit actors to each other and when the actors speak out for their creative freedoms and express their desire to step out from the couple pairing they are attacked. For example the MewGulf situation that took place a few years ago and the sore situation in the GMMTV camp (iykyk). Oftentimes production companies do little to protect actors from the bullying done by fans when ships are under scrutiny, even having actors come out and apologise as if they are nothing but slaves to the expectations of fans. Let me not even mention the delusional fans who are convinced that couples are real and will resort to questionable behaviour online to defend their delusions and convince others of them. Then there is the issue of burden carrying when one actor is not as skilled as their partner.
The BL industry does acknowledge these negatives of the couple culture by highlighting the different issues in series such as this one, City of Stars and Be Mine SuperStar (you can check me on this series, I do not remember much about the events). Now, is this hypocritical awareness, Mhmm 🤔
However, with everything there are negatives and positives. There are positives of the couple culture, for example it is more impactful to market a series through the marketing of a couple. The idea of a couple is very attractive to people because humans are social creatures who crave interaction, romantic or otherwise, so seeing two humans playing up being a romantic unit through interactions is attractive - romance sells. Fans know what to expect from a series in terms of chemistry and intimacy based on the couple staring in it, a couple attracts a dedicated fan base allowing for products associated with them to be easily sold, for example GMMTV has started to market plushies that are identified with individual couples - giving each established couple a mascot. In the series P and PJ present themselves as a couple because of the amount of traction and income they get. All of this allows for a brand to be built that can now be advertised overseas bringing more traction to the couple and their works and by extension the BL industry. For example, The Heart Killers tour in Brazil that is taking place. The effects of globalisation on BL is a whole other post, so let me not go off on a tangent. However, the overriding view I have is that this is just a golden cage.
I appreciate seeing actors like Pond who do not commit to a couple. He has still managed to attain success. I also think that with him acting solo more attention is given to his amazing acting capabilities instead of fans focusing on whether he and his partner are in a real relationship overlooking the art and instead craving the fan service.
Going back to the series itself, the production in my opinion was good. The camera shots were clean, properly showcasing the scenery, culture and food of the travel destinations. The food showcased in the finale is very appealing to me.
P and Pan displayed amazing chemistry and intimacy, the likes of which I do not see often on screen. If they do end up in another series together I would watch them (see, I am being easily sold on a couple lol).
I wish the second couple got more screen time in the finale; it was a disservice to their story.
Anyway, enough of my yapping, let me rate the series:
Production - 2/2 Writing - 1.5/2 Intimacy - 2/2 Acting - 1.5/2 Music - 1/1 Special 10 scene - 0/1 Final rating score = 8/10
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