The premise is an old one but a great one in terms of romance tropes ( is this story adapted from a novel?). Everything looks beautiful - aesthetics are this studios’ strong point, but although I would’ve loved to see a stronger script it was only obvious in very few scenes; the scenes that were the most important were very well executed by the whole team.
Where the protagonist discovers his real roots and that the man who raised him is not indeed not his father, were done really well and I cried every time including the parts that made me smile. They did a very good job stimulating our emotions without reducing them via the usually base, hackneyed methods. This is ideal for any BL opening episode to successfully convince the audience to want to know more about the characters’ stories and not simply to support their faves appearing on-screen.
I also like that we have a confident and competent Uke, I celebrate the absence of an abusive-for-no-reason Seme and that the old dynamic between this CP has been turned around. Incidentally this is the reason people are bored with most CPs in Thai BL: because stale Directors are not giving popular actors good scripts, not because they’re tired of seeing the actors together.
I love that the “father” is acting in the character role traditionally given to a mother figure, and that his fathering is characterised primarily by the most important component of love, which is Care. The father does not impose traditional ideas about gender roles or masculinity on the son, which is the only way you can truly love and raise a child with a healthy, non-distorted, self conception - of any sex or sexuality.
It's just so heartbreaking because the ones who were committed to making the adaptation the best version of itself,…
I’m so impressed with how you laid out your page with your interests impressions by category. I need to know how to do that and put my Reccomendations for different countries in one place.
Hit me up if you need any Reccs on Asian dramas but theme or BLs because I started assembling some categories
It's just so heartbreaking because the ones who were committed to making the adaptation the best version of itself,…
Haa maybe I should do a review here sometime instead of a thesis. I’ve been tweeting about it here and there, but people get very angry when you ask why the people with no restrictions are consistently turning out disappointing, forgettable, meaningless drivel that even its fans watch at 2x speed, while the creators who seemingly face the most hurdles are peerless when it comes to storytelling that’s called life changing, get views in the Billions - not millions, and have viewers instrospecting and re-watching a decade later, they get very annoyed and say we shouldn’t compare.
But I do think the nature of the societies Danmei/Dangai emerge from versus versus the majority of BL producing counties is salient. If we had access to the output of the others socialist Asian countries on MDL we would see the consistencies across the entire spectrum of BL productions.
I’m definitely planning to put a list of Vietnamese, Myanmar, Cambodian and Laosian BL somewhere once I figure out how things work here.
“a low-budget, first-project, basically-put-together-with-glue-and-determination-of-the-crew Cdrama is STILL miles better than a high-budget, well-supported Thai drama.”
This becomes truer with each attempt to re-make the Addicted drama adaptation in environments where neither budget is limited nor “censorship” is acknowledged to be a problem. There’s an entire thesis to be explored as to why this is so - I have thoughts
How did Chian "come to his senses?" He hinted right at the end at how he would soon be up to his old, sadistic…
This the one!
It’s standard operating procedure for how straight men deal with women. After years of stringing along, emotional torture, they turn up out the blue when the woman is at her lowest with flowers and a ring. The woman crying and she accepts this arrangement on a more permanent basis is celebrated through the entire culture as “love” but people with life experience read it as trauma.
The prospective husbands just don’t typically pledge to continue the sadistic neglect in a patently unequal relationship going forward. When you hear people talk about situationships becoming relationships this is the dynamic they’re celebrating.
I used to think a C/F endgame would obviously mean a S2 because the most dangerous conflict has only now started - now I’m not sure if I would want to see it given the philosophy the creators switched to in Ep 7, undoing the critical commentary on masculinity, alienation and late capitalism they seemed to be giving in Ep 1-6.
I loved every episode except the last which seem to be the weakest in terms of narrative coherence and a little bit rushed to get to the finish.
Not sure how they fell down so much at the last hurdle, when the writing had been narrative perfection for 6 episodes straight, but they seemed to do exactly what I feared and dig themselves into the identical pitfalls of the last episode of IPYTM.
Baabin had been in love with F4M for more than two years, certainly before they even met Bua yet at the last minute he completely switches his affections cold-turkey, admitting *tearfully* he didn’t pursue Bua the entire time because F4M didn’t like Bua and he didn’t want to offend his friend? Huh? In what world?
As for poor, desperate Bua, whose emotional neglect I sympathise with, he has never shown Baa any bit of affection, let us nor even talk of love. While Baa, like his best mate F4M was Looking for Someone to Love, Bua has been desperately looking for Anyone who would love HIM - and his social media interests. It is not easy to see how one builds anything but a dysfunctional relationship on that premise.
And once again, just like IPYTM, F4M and Chian reconciling would’ve been fine with me but in order to feel satisfying as a viewer we would’ve had to first of all, witness Chian’s journey to Un-loving Bua, recognising how much he hurt F4M, and starting a process of feeling romantic affection before repairing the hurt and lack of care he showed F4M over a span of years, despite knowing how much he loved him in spite of Chain himself. There was none of that. Instead, even in their last frame Chian warns F4M to expect more of the de-prioritisation and seeming neglect in their future.
And while it made sense that F4M verbalised the trauma that he still suffers from because he cannot trust Chian to handle his heart with enough care and consideration, no trust has been built between them the Entire Time that would allow him to heal and be less insecure. Knowing is an essential part of loving someone, but my God it’s got to be more than knowing what hobbies and activities to put on someone’s nail design and how to give the odd handjob?
This is why the ending felt rushed and the narrative felt trite, in contrast with the previous articulation, just to deliver the most stereotypical ending.
Disappointed that after being heavily invested in their emotional development I did not like either coupling at the end because they made no sense.
This chronic issue that BL directors have of not being able to envision sincere character growth or meaningful conflict resolution, let me just say it gatz to go.
I truly enjoyed reading your analysis. Your analysis made me miss teaching film!
He’s very good. He promised me we can start a discussion group on Asian BL and I’m still waiting
But boy do we need to talk about GelBoys and the way it’s impacting the into fandom (positively) and why it’s a landmark for the Thai industry after a few years of going off-piste
All countries have their faults, China has a problem with censorship, while the U.S has problems with accessibility…
Is it finally cancelled? Okay. I thought it was delayed and not yet given a broadcast date. Thanks for filling me in
It didn't seem like it]s the end just because of the cancelled guy, because other people have done crimes and they just took (a looong) time and replaced their face using AI
All countries have their faults, China has a problem with censorship, while the U.S has problems with accessibility…
Promiscuous 😃 ?
I get you.
Wealthy people elsewhere can get away with the most egregious crimes against the public but not in China. I guess when you’re used to criminals and the corrupt with no morals running the country any kind of justice no matter how basic looks shocking 😀
Here for Jing Bo Ran 😊
PS: Meanwhile if you haven’t seen him yet in his last movie - Regeneration (2024), you’re in for a real treat
News 
24 
Where do I mention Cutie Pie 🤔
Where the protagonist discovers his real roots and that the man who raised him is not indeed not his father, were done really well and I cried every time including the parts that made me smile. They did a very good job stimulating our emotions without reducing them via the usually base, hackneyed methods. This is ideal for any BL opening episode to successfully convince the audience to want to know more about the characters’ stories and not simply to support their faves appearing on-screen.
I also like that we have a confident and competent Uke, I celebrate the absence of an abusive-for-no-reason Seme and that the old dynamic between this CP has been turned around. Incidentally this is the reason people are bored with most CPs in Thai BL: because stale Directors are not giving popular actors good scripts, not because they’re tired of seeing the actors together.
I love that the “father” is acting in the character role traditionally given to a mother figure, and that his fathering is characterised primarily by the most important component of love, which is Care. The father does not impose traditional ideas about gender roles or masculinity on the son, which is the only way you can truly love and raise a child with a healthy, non-distorted, self conception - of any sex or sexuality.
For episode 1 I say Bravo to the entire team!
A proper horror show that people still fighting over. I’m dying 🤣🤣🤣
Hit me up if you need any Reccs on Asian dramas but theme or BLs because I started assembling some categories
But I do think the nature of the societies Danmei/Dangai emerge from versus versus the majority of BL producing counties is salient. If we had access to the output of the others socialist Asian countries on MDL we would see the consistencies across the entire spectrum of BL productions.
I’m definitely planning to put a list of Vietnamese, Myanmar, Cambodian and Laosian BL somewhere once I figure out how things work here.
This becomes truer with each attempt to re-make the Addicted drama adaptation in environments where neither budget is limited nor “censorship” is acknowledged to be a problem. There’s an entire thesis to be explored as to why this is so - I have thoughts
It’s standard operating procedure for how straight men deal with women. After years of stringing along, emotional torture, they turn up out the blue when the woman is at her lowest with flowers and a ring. The woman crying and she accepts this arrangement on a more permanent basis is celebrated through the entire culture as “love” but people with life experience read it as trauma.
The prospective husbands just don’t typically pledge to continue the sadistic neglect in a patently unequal relationship going forward. When you hear people talk about situationships becoming relationships this is the dynamic they’re celebrating.
I used to think a C/F endgame would obviously mean a S2 because the most dangerous conflict has only now started - now I’m not sure if I would want to see it given the philosophy the creators switched to in Ep 7, undoing the critical commentary on masculinity, alienation and late capitalism they seemed to be giving in Ep 1-6.
Not sure how they fell down so much at the last hurdle, when the writing had been narrative perfection for 6 episodes straight, but they seemed to do exactly what I feared and dig themselves into the identical pitfalls of the last episode of IPYTM.
Baabin had been in love with F4M for more than two years, certainly before they even met Bua yet at the last minute he completely switches his affections cold-turkey, admitting *tearfully* he didn’t pursue Bua the entire time because F4M didn’t like Bua and he didn’t want to offend his friend? Huh? In what world?
As for poor, desperate Bua, whose emotional neglect I sympathise with, he has never shown Baa any bit of affection, let us nor even talk of love. While Baa, like his best mate F4M was Looking for Someone to Love, Bua has been desperately looking for Anyone who would love HIM - and his social media interests. It is not easy to see how one builds anything but a dysfunctional relationship on that premise.
And once again, just like IPYTM, F4M and Chian reconciling would’ve been fine with me but in order to feel satisfying as a viewer we would’ve had to first of all, witness Chian’s journey to Un-loving Bua, recognising how much he hurt F4M, and starting a process of feeling romantic affection before repairing the hurt and lack of care he showed F4M over a span of years, despite knowing how much he loved him in spite of Chain himself. There was none of that. Instead, even in their last frame Chian warns F4M to expect more of the de-prioritisation and seeming neglect in their future.
And while it made sense that F4M verbalised the trauma that he still suffers from because he cannot trust Chian to handle his heart with enough care and consideration, no trust has been built between them the Entire Time that would allow him to heal and be less insecure. Knowing is an essential part of loving someone, but my God it’s got to be more than knowing what hobbies and activities to put on someone’s nail design and how to give the odd handjob?
This is why the ending felt rushed and the narrative felt trite, in contrast with the previous articulation, just to deliver the most stereotypical ending.
Disappointed that after being heavily invested in their emotional development I did not like either coupling at the end because they made no sense.
This chronic issue that BL directors have of not being able to envision sincere character growth or meaningful conflict resolution, let me just say it gatz to go.
But boy do we need to talk about GelBoys and the way it’s impacting the into fandom (positively) and why it’s a landmark for the Thai industry after a few years of going off-piste
It didn't seem like it]s the end just because of the cancelled guy, because other people have done crimes and they just took (a looong) time and replaced their face using AI
I get you.
Wealthy people elsewhere can get away with the most egregious crimes against the public but not in China. I guess when you’re used to criminals and the corrupt with no morals running the country any kind of justice no matter how basic looks shocking 😀
Here for Jing Bo Ran 😊
PS: Meanwhile if you haven’t seen him yet in his last movie - Regeneration (2024), you’re in for a real treat