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Foundational Romance Tropes? Rivals(eh) to Lovers with a sunshine/tsundere pairing
Pi is the ultimate obtuse tsundere uke who never gets redeemed so you have to be okay with an unlikeable protag to enjoy Fish. For me, Pi was unappealing and I couldn’t understand why Mork wanted him so badly. The temptation is to compare this to We Best Love, because it’s such a similar tsundere + pining sunshine pairing. But Shu Yi was given so much more grace by the Taiwanese writers. Pi is a jerk, he’s never depict being kind or genuine with his friends or strangers. He’s a loser sure, but worse, he’s a user. Unfortunately it turns out, so is Mork. Because a seme with an uke like this will keep pushing and pushing until he gets what he wants - a complete override of the uke’s feelings. So Mork comes off as a bully and Pi as utterly unlikeable and in the end what could have been great with these actors and GMMTV’s money was just a big ol’ bummer.GMMTV do we need to have a talk? First you flopped My Gear and Your Gown, then you failed the landing on Tonhon Chonlatee, now this? What’s going on with your writing team? Do you HAVE a writing team?
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sunshine/softie, friends-to-lovers, crush, bisexual identity, out gay, rich/poor
BL grew up with this one - a truly lovely and special little show featuring the extremely rare pairing of sunshine/sunshine AKA the cinnamon roll couple. Mature explorations of relationships using one of the softest, sweetest and most innocent friends to lovers vehicles.Delayed from 2020 from LineTV My Ride has been fraught with production issues but worth the wait. Screenplay by Fluke Teerapat (AKA Wad in SOTUS & Golf in My Bromance) and featuring most green actors, it was a well-paced story with well-drawn characters that shone. Endearing. And I really liked the general earnestness.
Kindly overworked doctor Tawan meets broken-hearted dimpled motorcycle taxi driver Mork in an “other side of the tracks” romance. Also featured a sunshine/tsundere (young/older) doctors side couple, and even a pretty good het relationship side couple with Tawan’s bestie and a local barista.
With great friendship groups, family dynamics, and support cast this show reminded me a bit of Nitiman (in a GOOD way & non-university) only better because the courageous storyline never wavered. We got to watch Mork & Tawan meet and slowly fall in love with each other first as genuine friends, and only later as lovers. It’s quiet, and all the drama feels genuine not manufactured, coming from previous relationships. So we watch these two support each other and build a foundation together, even though they don’t yet realize it themselves.
With older gay rep, in the form of Mork’s uncles (the Gay Advice Dads trope - so vitally queer and so underused in BL), casual references to things like having to care for his alcoholic brother’s child, and coping with being the “other man”, these are grown ups with complicated lives and a adult problems. And yeah, both Mork and Tawan are a little beaten down by the world, but both of them are trying hard and willing to fall in love again, even as they don’t realize it’s happening.
This is a sweet slow burn romance, so all we get are a few tentative kisses at the end, but I still consider it an unexpected gem. With honest queer rep that adds to, but doesn’t impede the story and genuine conversation about the nature of class, wealth, and classism, not to mention communication, honesty, and respect for boundaries, you can’t go wrong with this show. It is, for my money, the best Thai BL pulp we’ve ever gotten.
In other news, I’m a sucker for a single dimple.
HIGHLY RECOMMENDED
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secret identity, reunion romance, queer family, bisexual awakening, sunshine/broken, healing, quest
I didn’t watch this one as it aired because the trailer scared me into thinking it wouldn’t have a happy ending. So I binged it after I was told it was safe.It was not only safe it was absolutely charming. It's 12 eps, 20 min each, for a 4hr total runtime and it’s highly bingable.
Like a lot of Taiwanese BL, DNA features two couples, but it is weighed heavily in favor of the primary one.
It opens with a pair of college kid paranormal investigators, Le & Li, who have a struggling YouTube channel and a dream. Let’s be clear, this is a weak central premise used to provide allegory for the relationships, and it doesn’t work to carry the weight of the initial narrative, but if you can stick with the show, it gets A LOT BETTER.
Pink-haired outgoing and outrageous Li is in an LTR with his boyfriend Gwan (grumpy/sunshine). But the story is all about his friend Le, a sunshine sweetheart with a loving single mother and a side job at a small cafe (with his childhood bestie).
The first episode is pretty much all set up and quite slow, we don’t even meet the love interest until the very last scene. Amber, said love interest, a returning expat, strays into the cafe and gets dragged into Le’s paranormal exploration adventures and also immediately obviously has massive crush - and a mysterious past.
Note: I’m pretty sure this show features some gay reenactments of famous Taiwanese (or even Korean?) het romance drama scenes, but I don’t get the references.
The side dishes are solid and sweet and I wish we had gotten more of their back story but it is the leads who shine and hold this narrative down.
While this is one of those series carried by (ostensibly) the sunshine seme character (Taiwan is always weak in seme/uke) and he does a stand-up job, Erek Lin, who plays Amber, is luminous. Very difficult to take your eyes off him.
Even knowing the twist, which I think it’s pretty predictable from about episode 2 on, I think this is a really enjoyable show. Amber‘s behavior is a lot more understandable if you basically understand his past. It makes him a much more sympathetic character. I don’t know if anybody else knew basically all along what was going to happen, but if you do realize it, I don’t think it will impact your enjoyment - the foreknowledge might actually improve it.
The exact way the twist is handled (medically speaking) is a little disingenuous to a queer narrative (AKA they could have just GONE there) but I didn’t really mind it all that much, because all the characters around Amber act with such integrity. The female bestie (possible femme fetale but NOT) character was actually dealt a really fair hand by the narrative and the actress is superb.
(I have to say, Taiwan, in general, is consistently better about handling female characters in their BL than any other country.)
DNA is full of queer family representation and an unexpected amount of domesticity, plus it’s Taiwan, so the kisses are great. Some of the filming techniques used to get the story’s message across are a touch heavy-handed, and this series definitely drags in places (especially in the first half). I looked up the director to see if he was new, but it turns out he’s well established so I’m gonna blame post production. Although, both Taiwan and China, in general, suffer from bloated romance narratives (IMHO) so this may be a matter of cultural taste.
All that said, the last few eps of DNA really are special and life/love affirming - and the ending is big-grin charming.
Since this is also a queer story arc that other shows have systemically mishandled and made depressing, I’m giving it extra marks for its uniquely upbeat approach in that regard. I don’t want to spoil the twist, but trust me, you should watch this. Also, so far as my calloused unflappable arse could tell, no triggers.
VERY MUCH RECOMMENDED
You should give this little gem a try.
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childhood crush, sunshine/tsundere, unrequited love, secret identity
Delayed from 2019, staring Kaownah & Turbo (Nitiman), adapted from a yaoi manga (and the Japanese live action and anime of the same name) I didn’t expect much from this on. Japan’s version of Love Stage!! wasn’t successful and didn’t highlight the crossdressing element of the original manga & anime. Fortunately, Thailand had the guts to do the original yaoi justice (I am ashamed for doubting them) although they didn’t resolve it in the same spectacular way as the anime.Stymied by lack of international distribution this BL surprised me with its charm. The acting was good, the leads were appealing, support cast on point, and the production values high. It’s gave me Lovely Writer vibes (although with a lot more Japanese slapstick and way fewer egregious sound effects).
It followed the original manga story arc relatively closely with some quintessentially Thai changes. We got the nose bleed, the dub con sleeping kiss, and a few other questionable yaoi derived tropes, but all-in-all what Thailand did to mellow the content, mellowed it in mostly the right direction. We also got solid side characters and couples and some pretty high heat levels prettily handled.
Demonstrating the advantages of a Thai long-form adaptation, this version gave us a chance to really watch the two leads become friendly and like each other beyond just a crush and then fall into love. And I believed it, despite their rocky start, in a way I never did with the previous adaptations. Particularly Anda’s character.
One of the things I’ve always appreciated about this story is that the climax is about coming out as a celebrity couple as well as gay. I like the examination of the nature of celebrity versus privacy. And I love that they depicted two couples with two different versions of this choice. P’Jet is such a a great advice giver for Anda and I love the “gay advice auntie” rep. It ended well, different from all prior adaptations and very Thai about it. A solid and enjoyable show.
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soulmates, enemies to lovers, cohabitation, obsession, magical realism
A strangely cute somewhat incomprehensible censored magical realism BL micro series about fated mates who balance each other out and must find the courage to stay together.Firstly, look, it has nothing to do with esports or being a genius or bothers.
Suggested corrected title ?
My Esports Genius Brother Endearingly Gay Boyfriend
What to say about this weird af BL?
It’s actually really cute.
Yifeng is a Zhan-yan who feels nothing at all except when in the presence of a Deluded. Lu Lin is a Deluded, who feels everything too much, overreacts and is a violent drama queen, and societally disenfranchised as a result. However being around Yifeng calms him down.
Obviously the Deluded are queer coded, and so is Lu Lin. The character is set up to be the uke: he is more emotional, wears more feminized clothing, engages in (mostly) uke tropes, and is shorter than Yifeng. But he is also much more aggressive about the relationship, makes the first moves, and is more physically violent. So I believe this BL is actually intentionally subverting seme/uke, which is a first (in my experience) from China.
“How come your name comes first?” ~ oh they KNOW what they're doing
I would call this censored BL and not a bromance. Literally you can see the parts where they were told to delete the touching bits because “too gay.” So there are some very abrupt cuts and truncated scenes, but there is no doubt what-so-ever that these two are gay. There’s even a full on love confession, it’s just that anything remotely sexy can’t be depicted.
Honestly, I still enjoyed it and I think I’ll like it better on a rewatch.
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Zettai BL ni Naru Sekai VS Zettai BL ni Naritakunai Otoko
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“But I’m not worried about my virginity, because I’m just a side character.”
Absolute BL AKA Zettai BL ni Naru Sekai vs Zettai BL ni Naritakunai Otoko AKA A Man Who Defies The World of BLIS HILARIOUS.
No, like, really! It’s great.
It’s Japan making fun of us, but also itself for having started this absolute dumpster fire of joy that is BL. It’s truly a thing of parody gold. Gah, it’s so good.
Basically Mob has figured out he’s a side character (extra AKA mobu) in the BL world (along with his family), so he doesn’t mind being trapped in a BL universe because he figures he’s never going to get his own story. He likes being ignored and isn’t gay. Only then his younger brother (played by Goto Yutaro from Cherry Magic) gets a confession from his BFF. Mob realized that the BL world is trending towards the trope of “the ordinary bottom” and now he’s at risk.
Which of course means he going to turn into a tsundere uke but one that is actually totally aware of what he’s doing.
He must defy the BL world!
So he buys a ton of yaoi and starts researching all the tropes so he can avoid them. But now, he’s reading yaoi all the time. So he’s kinda into it and… You know the drill? It’s one of those. The more he tries to avoid an inevitable future fate the more he does to bring that fate about, even hurry it along. Or does he? Maybe that’s also a play on us and him.
So this show is also joking about fandom’s propensity to fall in love with side characters, even if those characters have very little personality and screen time. Mob is trying so hard not to become the main character, but of course, we are all watching him already BE the main character. Which he also has to be aware of, because he’s talking to us about it.
It’s so meta. This glorious self aware reluctant hero trope. Breaking the 4th wall constantly, almost defiantly.
Honestly the 70s dancing intro song alone made me cry with laughter.
The very last line is a master class in how to lampoon a genre.
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Tropes: secret admirer, food in love, soulmates
Very short BL about a schoolboy who makes magic candy for a series of handsome classmates, questing for a soulmate. Each ep is a new love interest and while the sweets help others, they keep failing to bring him love. Of course h's overlooking someone. The lead was very good and the theme, cooking, and eventually romance were charming, but it is a series of BL vignettes not really a cohesive story, no kisses or anything. Japan doesn’t give us sweet BL this short very often, so it was nice to see them try out the style.Was this review helpful to you?
This review may contain spoilers
university BL, forced proximity, unrequited love, crush, slight love triangle
triggers = outing, bashing, stalkingStars Kim Tae Hwan (My Amazing Boyfriend) and Han Hyeon Jun (Strongberry's Please Tell Me So the one with the cafe and the bicycle that’s on YT).
It’s like Korea mashed together it’s school KBL style (Light on Me, Semantic Error) with it’s “adult BL (To My Star, Ocean Likes Me). Love Class almost felt like it was trying to bridge between the nostalgic yaoi ideologue of Cherry Blossoms After Winter and the messy gritty queerness of Blueming. But this attempted stylistic mash-up made for an inharmonious show.
I am reminded of an L.M. Montgomery quote,
“... having tried to please both sides, [he] succeeded, as is usual and eminently right, in pleasing neither.” (Anne of Avonlea)
It mixed in an aura of authentic queerness that is an anathema to the “sanitized gay bubble” that Korea prefers, add that to the normal KBL overly short run time and a plot driven by an outsider’s drama (female love interest’s stalking narrative) and the central relationship wasn’t treated with enough integrity. In short, they bit off more than they could chew.
A TON happened in 6 short episodes, this show has A LOT of content, and covers a lot of ground. It moved so fast, and with Korea’s signature “you missed it because it happened off screen” it felt scattered - even tho it had a clear linear story structure. It felt as if this were a full 16 45 min episodes being summarized for us in short form as CliffsNotes BL.
From the start I wasn’t really behind the premise. It’s a forced proximity thing, which is fine as a trope, but the class pushing them to be a couple (and then punishing them for it) is overly odd as a conceit. Also I’ve never enjoyed a BL where the lead (Ji Woo) is crushing on a girl 80% the time. That said, I do like it when the seme has a big old crush on a boy. Although Ro-A’s roommate dynamic confused me: are they exes, almost exes, or friends who never got together but probubly should have?
It’s always interesting when there is a clear seme/uke dynamic (as Korea likes in its school-set BLs) but the gay love triangle (such as it is) is around the seme character. By playing about with aggressive gayness, the narrative is calling into question the nature of romantic pursuit and the nature of the seme/uke dynamic. Unfortunately, this particular narrative didn’t have enough screen time to really explore this fascinating angle.
??? - There’s got to be a name for the trope where “I got injured because of you, and now you have to be my servant.“ Although I do love it when the seme is a bit of a brat. It’s like a short form indenture version of whipping boy. Korea is also a big fan of the premises: If a man is hot enough he can turn anyone gay. I'm not convinced on these tropes, old school though they might be.
The rejection in this one was particularly painful. And it’s one of those “but if your bisexual don’t suffer by being perceived as gay and dating me.” I’m going to save you pain in the long run. Which is a pretty core misunderstanding of bisexuality but not uncommon IRL, and kinda expected from a caring seme like Ro-A. We ended on a rapid reunion (classic Kdrama) and bit of a dead fish kiss (also classic Kdrama), but not as bad as it could be.
All in all, this was a fast-moving, bloated, complicated little show with stronger than usual story structure, well-acted if lacking in chemistry, that managed to be very appealing and engaging despite itself. What it lacked in content it more than made up for in pacing. Both bingable and rewatchable.
RECOMMENDED
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rural setting, country mouse/city mouse, rich/pour, enemies to lovers
Adapted from a y-novel by Peachhplease, directed by New starring Mek (the Kiss series, het male lead and has been with GMMTV forever) this was his first BL (he shouldn’t have) opposite a fresh face Mark, support cast included Arm (Friend Zone 2) and Mike in (Tonhon Chonlatee).This was a cheap 1000 Stars kock off about a doctor who goes rural and falls in love with the volunteer teacher. I guess this should be added to my short list of BL‘s that are told from the seme’s perspective?
Linguistically: these two are formal with each other using pom/khun. Also If you want to hear frozen register spoken, that’s what Prince’s maa speaks to tease Fah.
How did this show managed to be boring, corny, AND cheesy? There was a really dumb manufactured miscommunication-based parting and while they mutually pined well, the kiss at the end was extremely poor quality for Thailand. Tut tut - you have one job to do.
To put it simply, this show was dull. I don’t know exactly how to write a review of this as “boring” isn’t in my rating system but, it is a BIG SIN for me, so I guess 5/10?
Watch only if you have nothing better to do.
I think the Star & Sky shows would have been VASTLY improved by cutting each set back to 6 eps each and then cross cutting between the two couples like the Why R U? or Dark Blue Kiss approach with 12 eps total. Just call the whole thing Star & Sky. Each couple would have been less boring and frustrating if focus were split, and the pacing would have been a lot better too.
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fated mates, bodyswap (sort of)
(Korea, Feb-March Viki)AKA First Love For The Third Time based on a BL script that won a competition from Ascendio studio (You Make Me Dance). It starred influencer Jeon Chang Ha and actor Jin Gun. About a popular novelist who remembers his past lives and meets his soulmate who has been reincarnated into the body of a man.
I enjoyed this show in part because it tackled one of the questions I’ve always head with the red thread trope: what if your soulmate reincarnates as a different gender than before? What if he’s out and gay and you’re not? Watching our hero deal with this was fun. A whole new kind of queer crisis.
However, this BL started out a touch mean spirited, but we eventually got a good kiss for a KBL. Then they went from like to love to boyfriends in a red hot minute. When they’re domestic these two are cute together with lots of communication (except the truth). I suppose in BL it takes a man who has lived 3 lifetimes to actually understand that conversation is what’s required to make a relationship work. The informal address discussion was adorable.
The confession/rejection scene was justified if one person remembers reincarnation and the other does not, but it was a bit much with lots of crying and a charming little self parody/mockery moment. The reconciliation and ending was... fine.
All in all the pacing felt rushed throughout this BL, and the romantic arc was underdeveloped. But that’s par for the course with Korea’s short form (they can’t all be Semantic Error), so it didn’t bother me too much. If you don’t mind a heavy does of melodrama in your BL this one has a solid story with a strong concept that’s well acted and produced, making it a classic KBL with better than average chemistry but ultimately a touch forgettable.
RECOMMENDED WITH A FEW RESERVATIONS
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Recommended, and you will probubly love it more than I did
Foundational Romance Tropes: mistaken identity, love triangle, secret crush, friends to lovers, ace/demi repThere’s something about this show that pushes absurdity to its cartoon limit but stays genuine to the high first love school experience. Kieta Hatsukoi ended up being kind of Cherry Magic + Light On Me X Make it Right with good pacing and so many unexpected twists in angst and miscommunication that despite it being classic live action yaoi it felt fresh and new to the BL world, also a touch frustrating. Clearly Japan is back to reminding us WE STARTED IT ALL, SUCKERS!
Aoki is the drama queen to end all drama queens, the meme fairy to end all meme fairies. While Ida is ace spectrum demigod rock we all leaned on to survive Aoki’s madness. And they’re surrounded by truly awesome friends (a hallmark of, and my favorite thing about, high school BL). All the characters were so endearingly awkward, earnestly sweet, and desperate to do the right thing and not hurt each other that the show became utterly lovable while still being teenage angst incarnate. Japan can get pretty over-expressive and childish in their yaoi adaptations and this is no exception - Aoki is SUCH A SPAZ, the biggest chaos-baby drama-llama to ever bizilla his way through a BL. SO EXTRA. I suffered quite a bit of second hand embarrassment that was, occasionally, too much for me. Maybe because Ida is so obviously demi, I could see all along it would just take him more time, it’s annoying that Aoki couldn’t and made no effort to understand Ida. So while I very much enjoyed this BL, it kinda lost me to frustration at the end, even as the final episode left me smiling. I think these aspects will work against it for me in rewatch potential, which is one of my main ways I rate BLs, so... hence my 8/10.
But i honestly think most BL fans will like it more than that.
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Adorable Fluff
The slowest burning prettiest little emotional support supermarket advertisement ever to drop into our feeds. Or even, frankly, to exist at all. We did not deserve Ingredients, but we got it anyway, and it was CHARMING. It came from the retail side and it conquered our mushy pre-packaged hearts. Did anything actually happen in Ingredients? Nope. Do we care? Nope.Ingredients also wins my best trope execution award for "Let Me Sing You My Feelings" for Ep 16. The number of emotions that cross Win’s face in the course of two songs while he watches Tops flirt with someone else is insane. Win keeps singing yet you see him go through an entire identity crisis - realization of love, jealousy, fear, adoration, loss, and more. It’s brilliant. And Jeff’s voice is crazy good. Even if you aren’t a fan of this series, you owe it to yourself to watch this episode.
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university set, high school crush, jock/nerd, long term pining, reunion
Adapted from a y-novel by Peachhplease, starring Joong (2 Moons 2, formerly one half of a VERY popular BL pair J9) + fresh face Dunk, and directed by New in his usual blatant and somewhat mechanical style. The very first episode I said “I think I’m confused by the directing on this show. WAIT A SEC. Is this New phoning it in? (Runs to check.) Why YES yes it is.” So yeah... called it!Back to Joon.
While it was awful nice to see this beautiful golden boy again, I think he was ill served by this role, or maybe he just doesn’t shine as brightly without Nine? Or maybe he needs a stronger directing hand than New’s? Yes I think GMMTV intends for Joong to be their next Singto but from this performance I’m not sold. I thought Dunk out acted him, making Dao a likable and complex character against which Kluen felt rather flat. Although that said at first I really didn’t like Dao.
This is (sort of) a lost love reunion arc (GMMTV bringing back the blue shorts, hello old friends) + freshy hotness contest giving it a 2 Moons vibes. It was fun to see some Wabi Sabi stable playing around at GMMTV, and while it sounds like I’m being harsh I actually did enjoy this show.
I like how honestly they treated all the faen fatals for a change. I like how directly they approached the pain of rejection contrasted to loyalty and holding out hope. I also liked that Kluen was set up to lose if he couldn’t get it together and actually communicate his feelings. It’s a good life lesson. It was frustrating how long it took though. There was a lot of me yelling at the screen: please just TALK to each other.
I don’t like shows that function on this “plot.” Miscommunication for the sake of it (or for the lack of it) is always frustrating for viewers or readers. We feel manipulated.
Also, ultimately, these two were a bit too sappy and Dao was a bit too blushing maiden for such an aggressive uke, but that’s par for the course with GMMTV and Director New. (After all, he’s rumored to be the reason Pharm is that way in UWMA, apparently he’s wasn’t written like that.)
Look, this is one of those shows that I shouldn’t really like after 400 BLs. It’s not at all unique, just some classic Thai uni folderol driven by miscommunication (or just non-communication) and yet... I COULD NOT STOP WATCHING.
Also good kiss. Honestly, 2022 is the year of the BL kiss.
It was interesting to see Thailand tackle a love triangle, but let’s be fair, it really isn’t their forte. Phoon was a plot devise to drive Kluen into confession. Thailand should leave love triangles to Korea, Korea pretty much owns it after all this time. They’ve put a lot of work into it, Thailand, ceed this one to the north, please?
All that said, in the end, the show itself worked for me, fitting solidly into GMMTV’s pantheon and it’s... how do I put this... central lane?
It feels like the Thai pulps are noodling along in in the slow lane, and the outliers like Mame’s shows and Cutie Pie and KinnPorsche are in the fast line. Sometiems we dont’ know where they are going but they are going there QUICKLY. (With shows like SCOY just drunk driving all over the darn place.) Oh I like this metaphor.
I guess what I am saying is GMMTV is like reliable soccer daddy of BL, safe, well maintained station wagon, clipping along but safely. And we all know what we are in for.
Star supplied exactly that.
It didn’t excel, like Bad Buddy, it didn’t disappoint, like My Gear and Your Gown, and it didn’t fly off the tracks like Not Me. It was exactly what I want from GMMTV.
Does that mean I am a touch disappointed?
Sure, because I had my expectations met and I kinda always want them to be exceeded, especially with us all knowing GMMTV can actually do better.
In short, everyone involved with this show seems to have mostly phoned it in, but it was a REALLY nice phone call.
That said?
MORE OF THE SAME PLEASE. I didn’t get into BL for the goddamn novelty of it.
RECOMMENDED
It’s basic BL. But honestly, don’t we all need that plain white t-shirt to wear under our engineering smock... in the end?
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high school crush, chaos muffin, high angst, classic seme/uke, secret relationship
Don’t expect modern BL but do expect classic live action yaoi. Japan played with narrative beats with this one so, it actually launches with a confession scene and secret relationship. The initial meat cutes are told from each boy’s perspective as flashbacks. It’s really flipping good with both of them liking each other, and already in a relationship, yet so nervous about what to do. It’s completely and totally high school first love, flip-flopping agony and joy. It made me so happy but it’s also so teenage crisis management it’s traumatic to live through. This is my favorite kind of Japanese BL, I kept getting a hint of Seven Days and I never mention that show lightly.Amagi, our uke, is an ADORABLE sunshine bean nugget with wildly uncontrollable elbows, one of the weird outsider kids. He’s frantically jerky and clumsy but in a way that doesn’t seem as overblown as Aoki did in Kieta Hatsukoi.
Takara is elegant to the point of deadpan, too cool, one of the popular clique, reserved and inaccessible at first(to us and Amagi). But turns out Japan is doing their version of pining with him. And when Japan does pining it skips right over yearning and into THIRST.
Takara, it turns out, is the one who liked Amagi first, and it’s Takara who will latch on to Amagi’s confession as an excuse to hold on as tightly as possible to his sunshine. Takara’s reason for keeping their relationship secret is that he doesn’t wanna share Amagi, ‘cause he thinks his friends will like Amagi too much and steal his attention - such a seme reason. Takara will (as we learn, as we watch him learn, and as eventually we see Amagi learn) do absolutely anything to keep Amagi. He’ll risk his friendships, his popularity, his status, even go against his own nature and learn to communicate (which includes going against his personality as a sullen teen).
“I like him so much that it feels stupid.”
The show depicts depth of character and balance by switching perspectives and voice overs from Amagi to Takara relatively quickly. We need this as Amagi shows too much emotion and Takara too little. Takara is a classic seme, voicing many of the conceits of the archetype while at the same time being a seme who is scared of his own semeness and therefore forced to learn to communicate. Amagi’s fears are all the fears of first love (and not really queer love, just first time jitters) and Takara’s attempts to mitigate that fear mean trying to understand Amagi better through conversation.
I adore this because part of first love should be learning how to talk to each! The way Takara evolves in this matter is so good and so important to the BL genre I did a whole post about it. I genuinely think this is a BL suitable to show to youngsters and teens, a genuine YA coming of age narrative.
It is Takara’s voiceover that really blew this show away for me. All too often in BL we only get the uke’s perspective and that means, with a difficult uke, it can be hard to understand why the seme likes the uke in the first place (see SCOY). With these two we are never left in any doubt that Takara thinks Amagi is beyond adorable, wants to have him (in all way) and keep him (probably in all ways too). Takara is also a corny, awkward, dork, because coolness and passion are incompatible, and I we him for this. He keeps stepping on land mines with Amagi and not knowing what to do about it. Good thing his default it to actually communicate. GOOD SEME, have a cutie as a treat. And Takara does win, there were more kisses in this high school JBL than I have seen since Seven Days. Sure they are awkward, teenager, dead fish kisses, but for this narrative that totally worked for me.
“He said something cute and I couldn’t help myself“ is so traditional Japanese seme in one sentence I can’t even.
As a couple, and we see them in a relationship for the entire show, these two are sweetly shy, and so painfully high school awkward it’s almost unbearable. The hand holding! The torture of decision making when you can’t read his mind! The. Agony. of. it. All. But I happen to enjoy the way burgeoning desire works with high school characters better than in any of the other settings Japan explores. What I find annoying in an office drama like Senpai is fine here.
Warning though, these two pretty much define cringe. Takara because he is trying desperately to maintain his reserve (and perform perfect seme) while simultaneously being so in love/lust with Amagi in high school where desire is, by definition and practice, uncool. While Amagi is just a tiny basket case with more than a hint of blushing maiden about him. He is all frenetic movements and angles, like he cannot control his limbs or his emotions, both are deeply confusing to him. Watching them stumble around each other and reflectively agonize over every little movement and conversation is an exercise in joy, patience, and terror. It’s all so “teenager” I can hardly stand it.
I gnawed on my knuckles and squealed a lot with this show. Reserved cool kid who must lean to communicate to keep the tiny disaster nugget he’s madly in love with. It is beyond charming: soft and gentle, packed with cuteness and high school angst. Did anything actually happen? No. Was it emotionally tense and paced well enough for me not to notice? Absolutely. Was there plot? Not really. Did I enjoy the hell out of it, anyway? Oh yes.
9/10
TOTALLY RECOMMENDED
GaGa’s subs are more poetic but Viki’s are more comprehensible, so I did (and recommend) both but if you must pick? Viki.
I you liked this show you should watch Seven Days and even Old Fashion Cupcake. Also something like Cherry Magic, My Love Mix Up, and Mr Unlucky might also be enjoyable. For something a little less cringe but with a similar dynamic there’s Korean BLs Cherry Blossoms After Winter and Light on Me. (Also T&A features one of the best wingman since Namgong.
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high school to college, cohabitation, popular boy/nerd, orphan protag
Korea is really borrowing other country’s styles of BL this year. With this one they took on origin Japanese yaoi but gave it their signature softness and precise production style with a STUNNING color palette. I can’t get over the visuals of this show, the beautiful pastels, the sun-saturated over-exposure, the elegant staging. Combine that with manga framing style, some prototypical BL character archetypes, that tiny edge of bullying roughness and out-of-control seme, plus FINALLY a palatable take on the stepbrothers trope (in this case it’s adopted son of best friend) and it was, in a word, classic.Orphaned uke, HaeBom (Ok Jin Uk, trot idol group SUPERFIVE) is small, sweet-natured, and adorable, but also timid and bullied and desperate to be loved. The seme, TaeSung (Kang Hui Thumping Spike), is tall and reserved, depicted pumping iron and sporty and desired by all. In typical yaoi fashion it’s TaeSung who is the passionate one, who has adored HaeBom since childhood, who wants him desperately.
At first I discounted CBAW because it was so quiet (did I learn nothing from Oxygen?) and then I realized it’s just sophisticated and understated - with occasional flashes of *holy gratuitous shower scene, batman!* Don’t misconstrue me, it’s not slow, it’s just subtle. It ended up being both sadder and more whimsical than I was expecting - dream-like and atmospheric, as if the whole thing took place under cold water on a warm spring day. Is there plot or peril? Not really. Do we care? Also, not really.
The chemistry is awkward but I’m learning that awkward is something Korea enjoys putting in its romances. I wonder sometimes if they don’t think awkward = romantic. Regardless, it works for this couple since TaeSung has always known what he wanted (just been in denial and rejection mode) and HaeBom must play catchup. There’s always a power imbalance with this extreme of a seme/uke pairing, but it’s even more so with these two since it encompasses not just the height difference but desire. (I happen to really enjoy power imbalances.) TaeSung was always going to be too much for HaeBom - more demanding, more in love, just more. It is only his adoration of HaeBom that keeps him from becoming too much for everyone. TaeSung knows this, he’s self aware, which is why he holds onto HaeBom with such desperation. HaeBom’s journey is one of learning to accept that he is the the quiet softness that tempers TaeSong’s extremes, and is just as necessary for all he goes unnoticed. When they are just together as a couple, they’re ridiculously cute and visually nostalgic and I grew to really love them as a couple.
Look, I can’t help it, I’m old school and so is this show.
This BL is VERY traditional, almost pastiche. As I watched I could feel that song from Fiddler on the Roof running through my head.
In case you can’t guess, I absolutely loved CBAW, but I can’t separate it from my relationship journey with this medium as a whole. I grew up reading sweet yaoi, and this was THAT YAOI just on my screen. There’s no objectivity with me and CBAW. It’s beautiful and I loved it for what it was and how it made me feel and what it reminded me of. It’s not flawless, but it is a wonderful experience.
HIGHLY RECOMMENDED
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