-Aprillen-

We don't even know if Mich is going to sub the specials. Ichihachi has said they might if the raws are available, but we don't know for sure .

I did find okay versions of the specials on YouTube. But I'm still holding out hope for Irozuku or Ichihachi to do them.

I can only recommend the usual steps -- clear cookies and history etc, restart your browser, open the links again, and see if you can turn on the subs.

I like that it almost felt as if we were watching Kurodachi in real time, since it took place during the same time of year as it was aired!

The Irozukusub for episode 12 is up!

Good luck! It's true that all the people hanging out in this comment section are biased because we're die-hard fans, but we're die-hard fans *for a reason*.

Yes, and that's because it's a BL fetish to "turn the straight boys gay", which is (a) creepy and (b) a completely different thing from realising that you are bisexual, or even that you've been gay all along, but were so deep in the closet that you couldn't even admit it to yourself. I do think there's a place for the latter instance in BL, but it shouldn't be played as the first. And yes, I also think that we need sweet, straight-up romance where we don't have to go through all the identity struggles and the homophobia once again, but just get to see more-or-less normalized love and acceptance and a happy ending. Because romance is at heart a fantasy.

Not normally my type of drama, but I will watch it for Saint!

Thank you for asking and for sharing this! She did play it safe a little, but I think her good intentions really shone through. I do understand her wish to not alienate the BL fandom, but also not just cater to it 100%, since (and I say this as a BL fan) there's a lot of issues with the BL/yaoi/danmei genre. CM is not really an LGBTQ+ drama, but it's also significantly different from other BL in that it actively tries to avoid common BL issues that are problematic for the LGBTQ+ community, and that was obviously intentional.

Maybe you can edit it to Tsuge going "Thump!" XD
I tried to add a Kurodachi moment for episode 2, but it doesn't look like it got added: When Kurosawa cooks breakfast for Adachi (and already knows how he likes his tamagoyaki).

I noticed that there are two "do you know what that means?"

Does anyone have any info about subbed versions of the special episodes? I'M DYING HERE

I don't think you'll be disappointed!

Thanks for clarifying that! I haven't read the manga, so I was only going by things I'd seen people say about it.

"Gay for you" is such a tiring trope. Call it what it is: bisexual.

It's of course perfectly conceivable to be a closet bisexual and have to go through that awakening, and it's also possible to be more predominantly on one end of the scale than the other, but you can't be in love with a person of the same sex and still credibly claim to be straight. (*Mostly* hetero, perhaps, but not straight.)

Yes, I agree. There is some really good BL that has come out of the Philippines lately, but some of them seem to rely more on the "provocative" and titillating aspects of same-sex love than on plot, writing and acting, and that's sad. I don't actually mind intimate scenes if they are well and tastefully done, and part of the character and relationship development, but I can get uncomfortable when they seem gratuitous.

I've edited and added to my comment above to make it more clear.

Oh, I'm definitely glad I waited until episode 12 was out! But I've seen comments about people being angry and disappointed, and that's not how I felt at all.

I'm grey ace (and probably grey aro too), and this is definitely how I read Adachi.

The thing is that a lot of "uke" characters in BL are played as if they were grey ace, but in fact are just written as if they were "pure girls", according to the prevailing heteronomative moralism, where the "pursued" party is allosexual and attracted to the "pursuer", but has to fend off advances in order to not appear as "easy", until the "pursuer" proves themselves "worthy" (or just makes them lose all control due to the incredible sexual attraction) -- which is a trope that I really dislike. (Forced kissing/necking/sex is a result of this very mindset -- if the intimacy is "forced", the "pursued" party doesn't have to feel guilty about having "given it up". But this romanticization of dub-con or even non-con is of course super problematic, which is one reason why I hate this trope.)

But Adachi isn't played this way at all. He is played as true grey ace, someone who is fine without sex or romance, even if he feels lonely and would like to have it some day, and also as someone who is very shy and introverted and easily overwhelmed, and his scenes of panic aren't the stereotypical "gay panic" at all -- they are *intimacy* panic, which is super relatable for a grey ace and introvert and neurodiverse person like me.

I think the people who are disappointed and angry with the ending are probably allosexual people who interpret Adachi according to the usual yaoi/danmei/BL stereotype, and get disappointed when events don't play out that way. Especially since the manga seems to have that trope. I'm very happy that they decided to go down a different route with the drama series.

I thought it was perfect. Very much in keeping with the drama as a whole. In fact, I don't really get why some people are upset -- in my opinion, those people had unrealistic expectations. Cherry Magic is what it is, and it stayed true to its own self all the way.

And in a kind of teasing way that fits Kurosawa very well, too -- "I don't care that you know about Adachi belonging to me, but the rest of it is only for me and him."