Charbonnel

Ahh, fair enough, I don’t mind the portrayal of polygamy, although admittedly I have yet to see any positive real world instances of it, so I was sceptical of it as a topic. I did think it was addressed well in the show and it wasn’t exactly what I envisioned beforehand. I get it if it isn’t your cup to tea though, have a nice day :)

Have you seen 3 Will Be free? That’s one that has some nice representation and tackles it well, with sexuality being a theme, as you understand how it changes the dynamics between the leads. One of the MLs is directly questioned as to wether he likes girls or guys, and says something along the lines of why not both? (Not really spoiler since it’s pretty early on)
Another good example of this that you’re probably seen is HIStory 3 Trapped, as it also gets discussed - and for ONCE in the world of BL, no one says “do you like guys OR girls”, it’s treated completely normally when it does come up in conversation.

I do agree though, it can get really irritating that in shows with LGBT, it’s rare to see any representation of bi or pan people, hence it being impressive to me when it’s done well.

Was it Until We Meet Again levels of crying then? I’m planning on starting this, and I’ll probably skip most crying scenes - UMWA had too much crying for me, and Theory of Love was getting that way...

It’s a surprise after the popularity of Watashitachi wa Douka Shiteiru that this has so few watchers - it does sound interesting but I’m somewhat doubtful I’ll end up watching it because it looks unlikely that it will get subs. If it does get subs though, I’ll definitely check it out.

I’m about to start ep7, but can’t get over what’s happened... I do hear that it goes well by the end but I’m a bit torn rn.

This drama is spectacular though, no skipping through required, my only (minor) gripe is the flashbacks, but flashbacks aside the writing, casting, and acting are something else! It’s a nice thing with Japanese dramas that I don’t find myself skipping through all of the obvious and inevitable moments - a thing I regularly do with Kdramas these days. Japanese dramas don’t use filler and don’t follow a formula, so I find myself interested in every word because it isn’t predictable, plus shorter shows mean the commitment is less daunting.

EDIT : I just finished it and it pulled through! I loved the entire show, every moment was worth it, and I loved all the characters; this show was something else in the best possible way!

I’d recommend if you like romance, but equally if you’re into psychological, or if really you’re interested in Japanese sweets, as this show blends the themes very well and can be appreciated from just about any angle - if you’re here for romance alone, it’s good, or if you’re here for the psychological / mystery, it’s still worth it. The writers nailed the balance (as well as the drama as a whole), as did the cast!

Loved this article! I’m currently watching Watashitachi wa douka shiteiru and I’m loving the focus on a traditional Japanese art, it’s a really nice blend because of how it’s set in modern day, but is filled with tradition - both in terms of the sweet making and lifestyle. I think I’ll have a look at the others you’ve listed here, because I really like the unique Japanese theme here, it’s something you don’t get outside of Japanese dramas.

Well, it definitely looks like this is happening - I’m seeing them all over my ig, and by this point I’m excited because it means that the HIStory series isn’t over yet. I still remember after MODC, feeling very cut by the ending and then feeling even worse to hear the news that it was the last HIStory series because of writers leaving the network.

I hope that in spite of all our mixed feelings that this gets good views and reception because it’s our one shot at getting HIStory back, as from season 1 to season 3 the improvements with each season just kept getting better, longer episodes, more of them, better writing with each season, if this does well enough we might be lucky to get a new HIStory show, maybe HIStory 4 or 5. Also, this is happening because of the popularity of the show ‘internationally’, meaning that they’ve noticed us, so it does mean something for us international fans to be here showing our support! :)

Love the article! Thinking I’ll go watch Devil Beside You soon. My very first drama was a Taiwanese drama, before I was on MDL I watched Dark Blue and Moonlight. Although I’ve been a fan of Taiwanese BL since I started watching dramas, I didn’t realise how much more they had to offer until this year, and now I’m hunting through Taiwan’s dramas looking for more.

I branched out into the rest of Taiwanese dramas this summer (caused by watching Lost Romance), and now I really appreciate their style of writing and can’t get enough, I like both their more serious dramas and their comedy so far! Before We Get Married, Bromance, and Lost Romance are among my favourite non-BL titles from Taiwan, they all have solid characters, pacing, and acting; I prefer the style of writing offered here over that of other countries’ dramas, as it isn’t necessarily fast like a Kdrama or Cdrama, and it’s also very different to Thai dramas’ writing style. I enjoy the uniqueness of the writing that often emerges from Taiwan, and it can definitely be a much needed breath of fresh air.

The episodes are only around 32-33 minutes tops when you take out the intro and ending - the ending is the longest I’ve ever some across... also, the shortness of the show aside, it doesn’t really feel like much has actually happened - there hasn’t been any significant writing in terms of character development. I’m still watching because I might as well see how it pans out, but really it is a sort of cute show that doesn’t feel like it has much going for it (my personal opinion). Also, not a massive thing, but the writers did well in some places, where it may be one of those typical BL scenes, and then one of the characters goes and says exactly what much of the audience is thinking, I did get a laugh from those.

I’m not being critical, nor am I saying all BL shows need to have significant character development / plot, but this feels pale in comparison to most of what I’ve seen in the past 18 months - TharnType, 2gether, Why R U (although covid did change the later episodes a lot)...

Thanks! I’ll check it out :)

Is this worth watching for Lee Jae Wook? I’m dying to see him in more dramas, but also a bit fed up with cliché Kdrama rom-coms... if it’s worth watching, how cliché is it?

Great article! My first few dramas (~10) were from Taiwan, Thailand, Japan, and China. After this I happened across Strong Woman Do Bong Soon and my Kdrama journey began. Of the recommendations, I have seen Weightlifting Fairy and Coffee Prince, although I’d say they’re all great recommendations, most of which I have seen some of or plan to watch.

For newcomers, I’d definitely like to say that there’s probably at least a few Kdramas out there for you, because there’s definitely some gems in just about every genre. I’d also recommend with most Kdramas that you stick around until the end of episode 3 before dropping, as they tend to have slower starts than other countries.

Lastly, this is a funny point, but with Kdramas, they synopsis / plot may not look interesting on MDL, but this doesn’t mean the drama isn’t for you - I have made this mistake a few times and then realised how good the drama I missed was. For example, Search : WWW is about women in the IT industry, and I had zero interest from the synopsis until I came across a clip, watched the whole drama and realised what I’d been missing out on. This often happens with dramas that have very well written characters and relationships between various characters.

I totally agree, noticing Adam Uni subs everywhere without credit and with advertising - it’s unfair to take the work they put into fansubs and make money from something that was not intended for that purpose, when often the people who make these good fansubs ask for nothing and don’t earn from it. Not to mention that too much attention can get them taken down, not just the stolen fansubs, but also the originals - hence people asking not to put links where everyone can see it.

Although some networks are very kind to BL fans, as I’ve noticed most Thai BL airs on YouTube and gets official subtitles 1-2 days after upload, and often more languages are added later. Although this applies almost exclusively to Thai BL dramas, other countries’ BL is not usually so kind. As far as YouTube goes with non-BL dramas, there’s one Korean network that has everything uploaded officially with subs, and some Chinese dramas that have official with subtitles on YouTube, I have yet to see any Taiwanese or Japanese stuff there officially though.

Well the good news is that at the very least we can expect Max and Tul to do well because they’ve filmed together a lot before and seem to be pretty good friends offscreen, I’m confident about their performance in this.

Looking forward to this a lot, and with a bit of luck, the suspense/crime writing will be really good and a fresh tone on the Thai BL scene which is usually on the rom-com side of things and full of stereotypical tropes (not firing shots, just how it is - and I’ve seen quite a few Thai BL).

Credit to this show for being brave enough to try having the travel between worlds as a major thing, as usually it’s that the lead will travel to other world, stay there a while and then when returning to the real world, that being permanent.
However, it’s a shame that the writer(s) didn’t come up with a logical (consistent) method for all this, because I’m having to put this on hold due to the issue of the writing being very inconsistent, I’m not confused, it’s just all a bit too random for me. So after seeing episode 12, putting this on hold and don’t know if I’ll come back to it. It’s a shame that I felt more invested from episodes 1-8, but afterwards all the small issues in writing grew and it became a bit too messy for me by the time I got to episode 12.

When looking for the songs in Lost Romance, I came across his music, he’s a great singer and some of his music is really good. Also love his acting :)

Just finished, let the rewatch commence! (I won’t skip evil family scenes this time!)

TL;DR - I loved it, would definitely recommend, and also if you think the first episode is bad, try to hang in until FL ends up in novel world, it gets better.

I loved it, always left me feeling good, I’m a bit sad it’s over, we need more dramas like this! At first, I wasn’t at all interested in the real world, but towards the end I really began to appreciate it more. I started this after The Romance of Tiger and Rose (TROTR) because I wanted to see another “FL gets trapped in novel world” type drama, so it was more of a rebound at first.

After a disappointing first episode, I decided to at least keep watching until FL ended up in the novel world, and this then went from a drama to fill the gap that I’d been left with by TROTR to being a show I agonised over while waiting for the next episode, laughing and tearing up (sometimes from laughter), and really this has to be one of my favourite dramas of all time, not because it’s perfect, but because of its unique feel and it’s story, which I personally loved in spite of its lack of reasoning (some people complained about why does FL like ML, but it didn’t bother me, feelings don’t always need reason).

This has also been a refuge for me because of my Kdrama slump that I’ve been going through since May/June, because I’ve fallen out of love with Korean romance and/or comedy dramas which made up a decent amount of what I watch, so having this to keep coming back to has helped me a lot. I would definitely recommend to anyone who is feeling stuck in the kdrama rom-com department, or just in a slump in general.

Also, regarding Jisoo’s illegal job, in all honesty I understood why he was doing it, and on the topic of prostitution, it’s very unsafe for those involved purely because it’s illegal, and therefore hard to ensure safety - if it is legal it can be policed. I had absolutely no issue with what he was doing at the start given his situation, and didn’t think it was that bad morally, as those girls would be risking their lives elsewhere regardless of if he existed or not, so I didn’t take it as a bad thing.

I also found myself liking Minhee, in spite of her choices, because of her humanity - she did what she was doing because of wanting to feel cared for, yes, I think she went about it the wrong way, but the writers did well because they made a character like her come across as human, and personally I could relate to Minhee and Jisoo the most.

The feeling I’m left with after watching the last episode feels very similar to how I felt at the end of Strangers from Hell, in spite of (completely) different plots, the two share an atmosphere that I can’t get enough of.

Absolutely loved it, ended up binging when I really didn’t plan to. I found myself rooting for several characters that I wouldn’t expect, and it actually provoked thought for me. It felt a little bit short with only ten episodes, but there isn’t any filler, and it wasn’t rushed, so in the end it fits the shorter length - also the same length as Strangers from Hell, in a way, the two shows feel a bit like they’re really long movies rather than a show, the way they both lend themselves to marathoning and leave you with a funny feeling when it’s all over.

Also, seeing a recent increase in Kdramas like this in recent years gives me hope that we’ll get to see more like this, last year’s Strangers from Hell, this year’s Extracurricular, Flower of Evil, and in a way, Itaewon Class. Looking forward to more!

I’m still laughing at the very last scene! Loved this drama, especially Zifeng, Yanuo, Xiaobing, and their families, I wasn’t as much a fan of Nana, but the rest of the drama was great. Although there were some cliches, they were done well and didn’t leave me cringing. I also appreciate how the theme of trust was done, rather than your typical relationship where misunderstandings cause breakups/fights between close friends, it was touching at times with how the trust between several characters was in many ways what drove the later portions of the show.

I also appreciated that our cross dressing FL could actually pass for male, no typically feminine makeup, no obvious feminine appearance, and they also did a great job choosing someone with a deeper voice. I’ve seen a few dramas with cross dressing, and the only other one that did it this well that I’ve seen is Coffee Prince.