AnotherSeason

It's been a while since any media has overwhelmed my senses this much. Listened to the OST on repeat yesterday. It deserves awards just for the ride. Crossing my fingers that when it's viewed in it's entirety, it will be a ko. Other shows just can't touch it. It's mature storytelling.

Best comment ever! These bad faith arguments.

Honestly, I think he fears how she will respond more than the parents. I am hoping the show will be thoughtful with these two female characters. I think it did great with the females in Ta and Tr's lives even with the tragedies.

Right. They don't know much about each other.

Still, we don't know much about N as we do K. K knows more than we do about N and seem to know more than his girlfriend atm. We got a reveal of Ta's inner life at ep 4 just before his reveal to Tr (nd we got the fuller reveal alongside Tr. I think we will get more of N's in a similar way as his is revealed to K. I may be wrong how we will get to know about N, but right now, I think we know less about him than both K and D.
It's an interesting execution but I think it 's a good construct in the 8 episoode format.

We equally don't know why he's staying with her. His character and motives are ambigious at the moment. I think K knows more about N than D and we do.

I agree with the Wattpad assesment but, if we think about, most tv shows anywhere these days are just mediocre at best. What I appreciate about Shine is the creators are elevating the story and clearly care about the project. It is generating a lot of chatter here (international audience) so the marketing team clearly know what it's doing.

The show presents a moral dilemena that can push people to become more entrenched in their beliefs for better or for worse. I think it takes a complex level of moral reasoning to first, engage with an issue we don't agree with, and then, to hold two seemingly opposing ideas at the same time (enjoy the love story and view the cheating as wrong). So, while I can understand the aversion and discomfort, the moral gatekeeping of others is...

I get so frustrated by the CHEATING conversation that I am dropping this long winded comment to add some nuance.

One issue with the conversation about cheating is that monogamy was legalized in 1935 in Thailand and the show takes place late 60's/70. That's 35 years of implementing a new social order based on new monogamous marriages. Polygamy would have been concurrently practiced and not have been seen widely as morally wrong. It takes generatons for this kind of change in social order to permeate even with songs,movies, books (soft powersof the state) re-enforcing it.

I think a part of this issue is the idea of the OTP that is idealized in romantic stories (this is like the existence of santa clause -- a figment of our collective imagination and commercially exploited) that the current audience squee including myself. I think it distorts our perceptions of real relationships in general and our perception of the broader themes the show tries to offer. Within any moral context, K/N didn't have to act on their affections for each other. Though they potentially could find other romantic partners, they would be hard to come by in their circumstance as well.

But... the idea that there is some grave violation by pursuing each other is not necessarily historically or morally sound(re cheating). We are viewing from our current context of monogamy being legally and morally binding in the places we live and it's a very narrow perspective -- though I admit is a reasonably forseeable view knowing how this is tied to our own self-identiy as moral beings and, frankly, our moral superiority over others. Both seem to drive the overall conversation.

I don't believe this show promotes cheating in any way as some claim but it can be percieved as such if we think through the story for it's entertainment value only. I do think the consequences for those who cheat in these story are grave (the writers inevitably punish the protagonist who cheats) and I am curious to see how the show will balance this with the deserved HE in recent BL/Gay/Queer stories. Personally, I think the show is trying to highlight the inner life and beauty of relationships/people in their circumstance and who faced dangers within their own society for their existence.

We seem to forget that the first violation to a relationship in the show is to K's relationship with Win which fatally ended by K's now wife's father with this marriage forced on him. The story strategically doesn't amplify this above the life between K and N and the present social context but it is there to be considered as a part of the narrative... and is... a consideration for K's actions and their consequences. I have very little going on N at the moment on whether he's in a genuine relationship with K or if he is using him.

On the women, I do not automatically feel bad for them. I hardly know anything about these women as yet -- their views on what is going on (except that K's wife appears lonely and wants to have a baby... I don't think this is a consequence of K's current relationship with N) and how they plan to respond.

If it's morally wrong that they are being dishonest to their partners then I would have to concede that it's dishonest for them to be in their relationship in the first place and to exist as people who cannot be honest about who they are.

Edit 1: for clarity

Edit 2: I adore the nature of K/N's attraction to one another. It is not purely physical as I think some are misunderstanding it to be. It starts out intellectually/artistically. As someone who is always attracted to others intially on this level, I so appreciate it being shown on screen. It rarely is. And then, the attraction is expressed through physical intimacy as a consummation of the courtship and I get it wholeheartedly. Now, making a relationship work is another story and takes more than romance. Can their individual circumstances (moral and ethical) and the social forces around them allow them to successfully build a relationship? I question this.

Here's the thing. I've never once seen an asian drama that promoted cheating and so I don't find the criticism or knee jerk moral panic valid. Without fail, every show I've seen that shows cheating among the leads, the individual(s) are punished in some way by society, by the family, or personally.

This show is more than about cheating and we can look past the aversion to one aspect and explore the themes presented.

understood.

I agree. It was not my point though. I can subjectively enjoy a show that is objectively lacking. Eg. Go Princess Go. The show was so bad on so many levels but I thoroughly enjoyed it for what it was. The storytelling was sharp enough to get the kdrama remake Mr Queen.

i always thought of that as love and that platonic and romantic described two expressions of love or attraction. but...i was intrigued by the idea of courting (basis ofromance) a friendship when you used platonic romance.
i always thought that platonic =/= romance. platonic as a bond at the level of confidant/companion only and romance as a bond at the level of a confidant/companion with the implications for sexual intimacy whether or not it's expresssed physically and especially is the courtship or pursuit stage of an intended exclusive unit (doesn't necessarily mean HE).

Towering. The war of words courtship is peak.

Waa! They are all so beautiful. And Son does doting so well.

What is 'platonic romance'?

The lens is focused on the new intimacy for the moment. The relationship will mature out of that most likely into rocky territory. I would say also tha the distrust has been there from the beginning.

Do you have a source for "I think they said for Shine that they wouldn’t follow a BL road."
Was in a couple of comments last week with a few people where I pointed out that this show didn't feel like a bl and that I wouldn't classify it as one. People were coming at me for it thinking I was somehow shading the genre. If the creatives had the intention to not make it a BL, it definitely came across to me.

Fair enough about the langauge and age. It's more about the sentiment though. Still stand on my point.

Make sure to check out the tags first. It's classic chinese BL.

That I get. I just don't get the it's the best show i've ever seen vibe from these two episodes. It's a bit ridiculous.
Edit: leaves me wanting to compare it to love is more than a word (2016). twelve episodes better executed and better acted.

HOW is this being called a masterpiece and so good? The episodes were basicilly info dump. The affect leaves much to be desired. Y'all can roast me for this. I will die on this hill.