J100

I liked your phrasing.: "TV series have turned into commercials with living dolls."

There is no connection between your friend’s story- I am not talking about people who play with others and then marry someone they did not abuse; (and even in those cases I have serious doubts that they do not repeat their abusive behavior). In the current case in the series, he abuses him and uses him as a tool for revenge. This exists in many Asian series, but usually the revenge is directed personally at the target, not at someone else- a person completely unrelated to the situation. Especially when Toh repeatedly asks him not to lie and not to hurt him-he not only does not apologize for his actions or express any remorse or reflection (there is no scene in which he feels any guilt), he also continues along the same path.

Yes, that is what I meant; I only wrote physical abuse.

So far, two episodes in, and honestly I was pleasantly surprised. It is not something that makes me want to binge watch, but there are some genuinely hilarious scenes. I really like that kind of self aware humor.

I tend not to like characters who abuse others to the extreme and are then forgiven, because I do not believe in real change. I do not think someone who reaches that level of blatant abuse (Jimmy)deserves a second chance. Unfortunately, this is a series, and somehow this kind of resolution is accepted in Thai Bl.

It is quite possible that in American gay series, for example, this would never be acceptable, one of the few and rare advantages of American productions in that sense.

Thailand, on the other hand, still seems to struggle with this. It happened there in the early days as well with physical abuse. It took several good years before they stopped portraying brutal acts in coercive relationships and similar scenarios. Now it has shifted more toward psychological abuse, but it is still there.

Overall, it is realistic. It is not that these things do not happen in real life. There are people who are willing to forgive, willing to accept such behavior, and remain silent. There is no doubt about that. But in reality, that person never truly turns into a peaceful non abusive individual overnight.

Kad’s probably the best actor the Thai bl has had so far… very convincing.

I think they actually suffer from that. I still remember from before they became so popular, they made series about the demanding production companies, how the actors run from place to place trying to please them, can’t keep up, and end up collapsing. There was a whole wave of productions that exposed what goes on behind the scenes. Basically, I like imperfection, or perfection when it’s infused with some kind of value. So it’s also a question of what perfection even means. If someone wears makeup 24/7, that’s too perfect; but if a woman gets up without makeup, that actually feels more perfect to me because there’s a touch of truth in it. She doesn’t have to have full dark circles, but you get what I mean :).

I don’t like historical series. I’ve maybe watched two in my entire life, and the only one I truly loved, at a high level, was Jumong. At the time it was something extraordinary in terms of production, very beautiful, and I really loved it.

Every now and then they have gems, and at the moment it leans more toward the BL genre, because there still are no major corporations there demanding everything on their terms, so sometimes something watchable comes out. It’s rare, though.

A fairly standard plot, but very charming; considering the limited budget, the production is quite good.

Thank you

Thank you very much, is this a legal website?

“K-drama hater” is an exaggeration. I definitely have criticism, I used to watch a lot of Korean series. Over time, it deteriorated and turned into something else; it is not just my personal impression. Research shows that cultural shifts have affected the industry, and there is pressure operating on it.
From my experience, there is also a cultural tendency to seek comfort in what works, and if something succeeds for one person, it simply gets repeated. This appears in many areas, not only in the drama industry. For example, many people dress the same way; now in winter, everyone wears black, black coats, and if it is a long coat, everyone wears a long coat. This has positive and negative sides. There are many good things in their culture. But in these specific dramas, there is no imagination; there is ability, but no desire.

Thank you

The Japanese are the masters of romance, several levels above everyone else.

That is true, but there are a few important points here.

First of all, he is lost and also feels inferior, and this is clearly evident. She is in the same situation. She is not really succeeding in her studies, she was evicted from her apartment, she cannot find a new one, and she does not know how to manage life as an adult. For example, she has not checked her mail for months, she does not really understand the teacher, but she also does not really ask what he meant. In other words, she is a lost girl.

So she has not really found herself either, and they find each other and encourage one another. She pushes him to try to move himself forward.

I do not know the age of the character he is portraying, but it is clear that if he is around her age, it is still reasonable that he might eventually find himself. We also do not know the background he comes from.

And one last thing: this is Japan, not America. The Japanese are in a very different position from Americans in terms of economy and employment.

A cute series, mainly because of the male lead, but still the SK style irritates me. The kitschy background music, the kitschy aesthetics of running in the rain trope, the excessive exaggeration in everything, the repetitiveness, the lack of creativity, even the cinematography

My feeling is that the Japanese are always very professional and work along a kind of minimalist axis, from which they develop ideas that may repeat themselves, but even when they do, it is never boring. It is always slightly different. With Korean series, however, it always comes back to the same formula.

The actress is absolutely stunning, but again, she is not convincing in her acting. It does not feel like she is struggling. There is always the economic angle, another strong recurring SK formula: financial hardship, the inability to carry the burden, and somehow the woman always ends up as a helpless figure in need of rescue. There is nothing inherently wrong with that, but again, it is something that repeats itself across all their series.

The two leads do have chemistry, thanks to the male lead, perhaps because he knows how to adapt to challenging scenes, where the female character is not particularly likable. She is very quick to get carried away by a stranger simply because he is nice, while he, on the other hand, is curious but not excessive. He manages to convey that balance.

This also highlights the cultural differences between them. It is genuinely a bit strange and does not sit entirely well.

Overall, it is still a cute series, and hopefully it will not deteriorate.

Episode 5 disappointed me a bit because I waited for it and probably had expectations, since up to now everything was fine. What bothers me in this episode is that Fah completely lacks a backbone. His behavior feels inhuman. Yes, it’s a fantasy entertainment series, but here it was already excessive. Earlier he was angry, and suddenly he isn’t angry at all and has no expectations whatsoever.

Strange but charming, I love it.

It started out cute for a low-budget production, and then it just became really weird.