TamzinMillemni

In the context of this plot and the fetishization I have noticed in the bl community can be summed up in a similar way that straight men love seeing women participate in ‘girl on girl’ action. They love the thought of it but hate actual lesbians. For straight men like this, their desires must be the focus and the women taking part in these ‘girl on girl’ fantasies must desire the men for whose fantasies these are. In this drama they seem to be shining a light on the types of consumers of this content who fetishize and want men to cosplay ‘gayness’ but don’t want them to actually be gay or get too real about the gay experience. I hope that makes sense. 🙂

I don’t know Japanese but I often pick up on subtext/undertones without knowing why that shift is happening or what the subtext means but I do notice it’s there.

I had the pleasure of finding a subreddit a couple of years ago where this generous person (I forget their name), did an eye opening breakdown of the subtext within My Personal Weatherman. They went over the things I was picking up on but didn’t have the vocabulary or context for. I found similar breakdowns for Takumi-Kun, My Beautiful Man, Eternal Yesterday, More Than Words, I Hear the Sunspot, Candy Color Paradox, Egoist etc.

Native Japanese speakers themselves have often said that Japanese culture is one where a lot of things are not said but understood.

Absolutely 💯 to everything you said. Well said and totally agree. 👏🏽

I cannot wait. Been waiting for this since Season 1 ended.

Thank you for this. I’m not too familiar with the actors, writers and directors in the industry but I am happy to see that this is a story that is drawn from an authentic experience of someone within the industry who has been able to tell their story. I felt that intentionality from the first few episodes. I hope we get to see more Thai lgbtq+ stories from the voices/writers who experienced them. ^^

Don’t worry, your comment came across as you intended it. 🙂 Your analysis highlighted something about Itsuki’s character I hadn’t considered. I can’t wait to see how it all wraps up.

True. Point well made.

Again ya’ll, I’m being reminded that we will never (as non Japanese speakers) appreciate all the subtext that comes with a Japanese drama - especially a JBL. It’s like we only ever understand half of what is being portrayed. Their nuance is top-tier. Oh I wish for the days when we had translators that also provided context. We didn’t know what we had until it was gone. 😔

Love it when a show gets us to get our thinking hats out. 😃

This kind of thing usually irks me too but idk I get the feeling we are catching the Itsuki character at his breaking point. I’m picking up on so much undertones of what their relationship was like resulting in the breakup. I am not making excuses for Itsuki. To me, it’s giving that he’s being mean to be mean in order to force a reckoning with Yuma. I do hope that they address or at the very least give a glimpse into their past relationship because it’s hinting so much at ‘there’s more to this’ that explains the dynamics right now. The worst thing they can do is have that linger in the air and not address it.

I think that’s the crux of it. I don’t think Yuma has ever given his relationship the focus and present-ness that it needed. He’s an idealist and that can be a lonely place to be for the other party when the relationship is not ‘seen’ as it is or has the present-ness of the idealistic partner. I think Itsuki needs Yuma to get his head from out of the clouds and see the real cause and effect and the present-ness of their situation/relationship instead of worrying or focusing on others. I don’t think either are wrong. They’re both selfish but in an understandable way. Their wants are totally understandable. Yuma wants to be accepted by society and Itsuki wants/wanted a relationship with Yuma where their relationship was the focus. That was enough for him.

Absolutely agree. And also I get the feeling that he’s trying to push the issue of their relationship one way or another. It’s almost like he thinks he needs to be scorched earth in order for Yuma to see and accept that it’s over. It’s a very unfortunate side effect but due to Itsuki focusing on furthering the LGBT+ cause he seems to have lost perspective of a real/his real relationship. It’s hard to explain but it’s more than the butting heads of the idealised vs the realistic. It’s like they’re both living in their own version of reality or extreme perspective/experience. Each episode makes more and more sense why they broke up.

Interesting commentary on the fetishization of gay couples vs the need for ‘positive” gay media to push visibility for gay rights. I’m sat for this series.

Pleasantly surprised by this one I stumbled across.

Absolutely love her character. Love the chaotic and batshit craziness she portrays. Her comedic timing is so funny. That whole scene where’s she’s dressed to the nine’s like someone out of a telenovela - she stole the whole scene.

This series definitely doesn’t take itself seriously. A bit of lighthearted fun.

Shoutout to J’Lhee who is a scene stealer. She’s got a similar spark to Manow who’s comedic timing can hold it’s own in a male dominated love story.

These period bls are really taking off. They can be a bit of a hit and miss but this one seems to be off to a good start.

Is this inspired by Your Name Engraved Herein? It reminds me of it somewhat. I’m glad this pair got a role they can show more range in. Gemini does well in these types of roles. I’m pleasantly surprised by the type of story so far. It feels more intentional.

Interesting, it was a slow burn and suddenly became speedy McSpeedy in the last two episodes. 🤔

I agree that media tells us stories and I obviously know it’s fiction but let’s use media literacy here. We live in a world where fiction can influence real life and vice versa so we can’t pretend that what happens in stories don’t influence. My issue with this is not that I can’t watch dark or toxic stories. They are some of my favorite genres. I love stories overall - the more the merrier but when I watch something, I ask myself what is the creator’s voice saying/portraying? There are so many dark toxic couples in stories where the toxicity is mutually consented, mutually destructive. It’s where the creator straddles the line between chaos and toxicity depending on how they want the audience to feel about their characters and their actions, so I must wonder what a creator who would spend two episodes showcasing the physical and psychological breaking of one of their character by another character (who ends up being afraid of him) only to show future dalliance between them feeling like Stockholm syndrome instead of fiery passion/obsession. What is that creator saying with their story if the goal is to make them endgame. What is the creator saying if the abused character looks beaten down and too tired to fight instead of there being any meaningful matching of power and wits. If this was a cautionary tale then, sure. If Yi Chen’s freak matched Lu Feng’s freak then, sure but it’s neither of those. It’s a weird tonal message that doesn’t align with what we’re seeing play out on screen. It’s for the same reason I wouldn’t enjoy watching a story of a man who kidnaps and abuses a woman until he breaks her framed as a love story, but I would enjoy watching a man who kidnaps a woman who finds that her freak matches his freak and they do sadistic things to each other. See the difference.