FreshKicks

True. I guess I should be used to it by now.

So, for those of us very sorry to see this end, the only thing I'll mention from the finale (I fast-tracked it) is that they give us a quick tease on the two upcoming series featuring Mark's friends Fuse and Kamphan.

And Kamphan will be paired with Vee's brother Yu!

In "Love Mechanics", Fuse and Kamphan talk a lot about going out to meet girls, so both series should be interesting!

I love this series to death and so far I've found that I can randomly fire up individual episodes and watch them again with complete enjoyment.

That said, Episode 9 is the exception. I like Mark's visit to Vee's house and the post-boxing bliss between the two boys, but even then they include dumb stuff like Vee holding an umbrella for Mark as they arrive at the pool together.

And what kind of national champion boxer has such an obvious weakness that college kids with no boxing experience can pick up on it and exploit it?

Can anyone who's complaining that this setup has nothing new please elaborate? Is it because you know who will end up together in the end?

Even an alt-universe series like "Vice Versa" gets dismissed the same way. Is it just fashionable cynicism? I need to get schooled so that I can re-calibrate my Bullshit Detector.

GMMTV was nice to consider the fans by releasing an official BL Cut, but a year or so ago there was another cut on YouTube that's 4+ hours -- an unabridged edition -- in beautiful HD with English subs. I don't know if it's still out there but it's worth looking for.

To my dying day this will be my all-time favorite "enemies to lovers" storyline. Stellar supporting cast from top talent from the GMMTV studio and just fantastic performances.

Sandee, June, and Thada forever!!

I could have written that last paragraph about myself verbatim!

Two signs of progress in Thai BL: more authentic kisses (although the one in this episode is *not* an example 😉) and the ditching of the "I'm not gay, I'm just gay for you" bullshit.

Episode 10 ... holy shit.

That kid Pie can really act. In this episode he's like the James Dean of Thai BL ... tormented by love, pushed to the limit of what he can stand. Just amazing.

I really love the Jed character too. What a standup guy, a man's man who happens to have a girly boyfriend haha.

Even as early as the second episode it was clear this series had lots of potential. The Chin-U love story brought out the best in everyone involved, including the screenwriter and director.

I hope we'll see more from this team and that it will be easier for interfans to enjoy it.

If you VPN into Asia (I used a Taiwan server) you can watch it on the WeTV website. No subs, but at least the video quality is tops.

What's funny to me is that Ohm and Nanon have about a minute of screen time together in this series and even then they barely interact, but they're the basis for so much of the criticism. I guess that's what it means to stan a couple of actors.

I can understand the criticism of Jimmy's acting, but I don't think it disqualifies him from taking a lead role.

Something that's been eyeopening for me lately is rewatching the first version of "Love Mechanics" after seeing several episodes of the new one. Yin's acting as Vee in the first series was good but it lacked a certain spark, while in the new series we can see that same actor turning in a great performance. It's all the more apparent because it's the same role both times.

I trust that Jimmy will show the same growth as he gets more work. Meanwhile, I'm finding this series to be an enjoyable watch on a Saturday afternoon -- easy on the eyes with a cute story with no villains.

I guess I'm one of the weirdos who is really enjoying this.

I didn't mean to be sarcastic, I was trying to be funny and clearly failed. I added a smiley.

I agree that nobody's minds will be changed at this point. It's become tribal. I think that's part of the reason the labeling of people has begun.

I can understand the fans who love a series wanting to continue sharing the joy, and I'd wonder why anybody who didn't like it would bother to stick around just to argue. What's the point? For people like me the TMS franchise is dead and it's time to move on.

finally someone understands my comment!

It's pure cringe to watch an adult like Yanase making moves on a guy who has the emotional comportment of a 12yo. Why would someone who is socially adjusted find a guy like Kaneda attractive? Who finds that endearing? Not me.

Yes, many of us in the sewing circle are just as concerned.

Well, maybe I'm stretching the premise when it comes to KinnPorsche, but when it turned out that Porsche's mom was Kinn's dad's adopted sister it disappointed me the same way the "childhood meeting" gimmick usually does.

This series is a work of artistic expression, and like with all art, people respond to it differently. What one person sees as a masterpiece might strike another as kitsch.

I agree that the directing and acting for this series were top notch. I just feel that the script was way too indulgent and did not make sense given the characters we met in Season One.

(On the other hand, if Season Two of "Bleuming" is angsty I'll think it is more acceptable, because we get a proper glimpse at the darkness in both lead characters during Season One.)

I would probably have liked this more if it had been based on brand new characters who hadn't been established in the earlier season. My biggest complaint is that it reinvents Ji Woo for the sake of some flashy histrionics and then cops out with a fluffy ending out of nowhere.

Really, though, I didn't come over here to spoil the party -- I came by after I thought I saw an issue with the way MDL had recorded my rating of it. I needed to check what I saw here on the page when I clicked on "Completed".

My point there is that I honestly don't care about this series anymore. I commented because I thought I should point out that the "haters" have mostly vacated the premises, so why are all the "lovers" so obsessed with them? You can now rearrange the furniture, hang your own posters on the wall, and have your friends over without anyone here to spoil the vibe. :)

... and Minato's Laundromat, and they used it in KinnPorsche.

I don't think the preoccupation with the "brief encounter" trope is limited to fujoshis. Having watched a lot of Asian dramas with a m/f focus I can say that there's generally a big attraction to stories where the main couple had some sort of decisive encounter in their past, usually as children or teenagers, and became obsessed over it while also (illogically) forgetting what the other person looked like.

I've started to wonder if it taps into some kind of belief system about karma and destiny.

The Mangkorn-Ashing side story had as much substance as a wet Kleenex but still carried the day.

This is one to move on from, fast.

People attach a label to someone who disagrees with them when they want to dismiss their opinion without having to refute it on the merits. It happens in politics and it happens on MDL.

In my case you couldn't be farther off the mark.

Why do so many supporters of this series wish to dismiss the people who don't support it as crybabies and intellectual inferiors? I can "handle" flawed characters and don't require a storybook prince as a lead character, just as I don't assume you require every BL character to be an asshole.