Kochase

By my measure (I usually go off of emotional potential rather than actual number of physical interaction scenes), very much yes. But I'd echo the other comment's sentiments.

One way I like to measure potential is also just seeing how many CP fics are on Lofter. and there are.... a lot. Like a lot lot. Mostly YanLi, but also quite a bit of AllxLi lol.

I'm convinced that this is basically Chinese netizens' way of venting about the frustrations of life / culture that is Chinese societal expectations lol. No one does psychological / emotional manipulation better than China.... also the entirety of the culture is hierarchy and 'stability' based on calculated duplicity. So everyone is well practiced in these nuances of the human psyche, but they don't have outlets except for in fiction. Hence you'll find way more of these complex scenarios and characters coming out of China compared to other countries.

That one plus Secret Relationships (kdrama) are probably the only BLs currently that serve this level of toxic monstrosity in such a delicious fashion.

Holy hells this is beautifully done. What an unbelievable but also somehow flawlessly realistic journey. The drama may be larger than life, but every moment and decision and reaction was extremely rational and believable in this totally absurd and irrational context.

I loved YSL's character journey. Most BL MCs are clear 'bottoms' (which I do enjoy), and carry an element of helplessness even if they're 'strong in spirit'. Not YSL. I can see him for the domineering figure that stands on his own, and even in his moments of submission it's clear he's put in every last inch of fight possible. He didn't take anything lying down (figuratively lol, literally cough cough).

There is no moment of absurd drama making that you will almost always find in BLs. All of the monstrous drama stems purely from the fucked up motivations of FX's character clashing perfectly YSL's ideals and emotions. It's very rare to find dramas that can do that, where there's little to no reliance on serendipitous plot coincidences or suspense of disbelief to keep the plot entirely moving.

TBH I thought FX's acting was a bit weaker, emotions a bit more stale at times. Initially, I chalked it up to just the characterization of FX, but I do think there were later moments that could have been more emotive but weren't. However, considering it's the actor's first role, that's pretty damn impressive.

lmao actually that exact premise was the second fanfic I encountered on Lofter hahaha

Wow this was surprisingly good. Certainly it echoes a lot of WoH themes, but it does stand on its own due to the great acting and chemistry. Also, if you were a big WKX fan but not a ZZS fan (like me), you might actually enjoy this series quite a bit. One big criticism I had of WoH despite overall liking it was that the characterizations felt lopsided, where WKX dominated in backstory richness and development but ZZS felt very surface level and not well developed. This series is of course a lot simpler in comparison, but the characterization dynamics between the two leads feels better balanced.

Also, I was surprised by how well done the dramatic moments are. Often with these low budget dramas, more serious scenes such as when someone is dying or grievously injured (and even WoH fell prey to this), the acting and way the scenes are shot becomes a bit comical and takes you out of it. But this was scripted and acted super smoothly. There's no weird backwards horizontal falling scenes, no unnecessary slo-mos and 'they're looking a bit too alert and healthy to be dying' moments. Everything was just enough to tug at your heart strings but not overly done to make it unbelievable.

Don't go expecting the plot to be anything super fancy, but if some yummy dynamics are what you're looking for, this will deliver. Superb angst and sweet moments.

NGL I had super low expectations of this but.... it's quite good for the budget actually! Acting was good. Special effects and pacing are as you might expect given the nature of the production, and story is not going to be anything profound, but still a very fun and entertaining watch since the leads did quite well. Definitely gave me major Hello Monster / I Remember You vibes... curious if part of the dynamics inspiration came from there

Yup, pingxie is the OG Chinese BL ship hahahaha. The author has all but sold out to pingxie fangirls anyway, tbh

It's complicated but it's both 1) they should have looked more similar, I believe it was commented by Wenjin in the books or something, and 2) they did leverage disguises

Lol how many people nowadays actually encounter scenarios where their life is in danger AND someone even has an opportunity to step in? It's not at all unusual to feel attracted to someone who helps you (and has a handsome face). Sure, maintaining a relationship is different, but attraction is pretty normal?

He's giving the cold shoulder because he wants to create distance between them. There very much are reasons... like the desire to not intervene with karma and not wanting to be beholden to a past life that isn't necessarily them. Seems pretty reasonable to me. Plus Khem is not dumb and sees the things Peem does for him. He knows it's mostly bark and no bite.

TBH I found the book (or at least translation of it) very.... lacking. Maybe I've been spoiled by complex danmei novels with intricate epic plots, but Khemjira the novel still felt very very simple. The references to Thai culture were fascinating and fun, but it's still a plot+romance story together. I wouldn't say the romance was secondary. It's not primary either, but it's equal. Compared to the danmei novels I normally read... the plot is very straightforward still. That said, it's definitely more involved than the average Thai BL, so I guess it's all based on context. I actually think the live action manages to illustrate the nuanced dynamics better than the novel describes. The novel certainly makes Peem out to be more arbitrarily tsundere rather than understandably conflicted.

Lol I'm glad they went with a female actress for Khemmika instead of... Khem dressed up as a woman. That whole bit of The Sign just killed me (as in I found it too silly and couldn't take it seriously).

Damn I regret starting this.... should have waited till end of October hahahaha.

But pls Thailand, continue to do more slow burn BLs. Those are just up my alley.

I respect them. They had a passion project, they used the resources at their disposal, they saw it through, and they did a pretty good job.

This second half of the story probably won't end up to my tastes (I do have my prefs for the top / bottom dynamics), but wow was it pretty well done for a genre that had a lot of potential to exceedingly cliche and cringe. Definitely exceeded my expectations.

Ok y'all this is quite enticing. I'm normally a huge skeptical omegaverse lover... as in, I enjoy omegaverse as a universe concept, but generally dislike most executions of it because the characters are often written like extreme gender stereotype caricatures just with different labels. (And I hate a useless omega in distress as much as a useless damsel in distress.) So I was prepared for a decent amount of cringe going into this.

But so far... it's pretty good! The more 'cliche' dynamic sits with the second CP rather than main... and even then, it's not too over the top. Definitely an intriguing premise and characters.

Tbh I think the stills / trailer did it a disservice... makes it look like a cliche melodrama. Or maybe that's the point. Definitely excited to continue this though and see where it goes. I kinda regret starting it before it's done airing though lol

Ok the later episodes were better. I feel like the starting episodes were too dramatically written / weirdly cut or paced. But as the plot properly turned more serious, the drama felt more appropriate.

Definitely good for the production budget though!

But side note anyone confused... no they're not blood-related brothers. They're 'sworn' brothers. It's not technically BL (still mainland China after all), but definitely in that ship-potential bromance category.

Lol you don't know how China works do you... they're not going to spell it out for you. All Chinese netizens know to read between the lines. If BL isn't banned, why is there still a massive backlog of highly anticipated dramas still not dropped? And it's censored adaptations even, not even any explicit BLs.

There has not been any BL (in the sense of uncensored adaptation) since Addicted airing in Mainland China. There have been some shorts / verticals, as well as as BLs produced by Chinese production teams that then streamed through international platforms or other countries, but no. Not a single uncensored, proper length BL has streamed on a mainland platform since Addicted. That is what we mean by banned. They are not allowed to air on mainland platforms. (Ofc, Chinese fans find a way around it all, but the fact remains it's not technically allowed)

In general discussions of CBL from a production angle, sure there's been plenty, and this has been a bountiful year. But from a policy angle, mainland does not allow BLs (uncensored adaptations). Now, normally, I'd say it doesn't matter. As long as CBL's keep being produced somehow, who cares about the technicalities of the policies. HOWEVER, it would be extremely concerning if they start punishing the actors, because then it would affect productions of CBLs entirely. Also announcement is nothing. Production is even nothing. Until that stuff drops in our hands, you can't count anything.

Bruh, I was into CBL probably before you even know it existed. Like, 2016 when the first wave came out. CBLs are my FAVORITE among the BLs. I don't know how far it's come? Lulz. My most anticipated drops are all CBLs and it kills me that they're still sitting there not seeing the light of day.

I would LOVE for nothing more than to be absolutely wrong. But I've been through ten years of policy whiplash so I know how this goes. The government does *not* like the influence this brings, so they are constantly finding ways to manage it. China's governance model works differently from Western countries'. You *cant* only rely on official policies. That's not how the culture works. At this point, my hopes are pinned more on a regime change than the NRTA suddenly deciding to permit uncensored BLs.

Do you have reading comprehension issues lol? That's the last thing I want, but you need to keep expectations realistic. And it's rumors and leaked memos... it's not going to be in any official policies yet. Unfortunately, it does concerningly line up with some incidents like how they censored one of the actors from Revenged Love out of a variety show they had filmed. I hope it's not true, but it's definitely a real concern.

Where the heck are you getting your info from? Here's the reddit megathread on the topic: https://www.reddit.com/r/CDrama/comments/1mtax6r/megathread_online_rumours_about_chinas_nrta/

And yeah, I did glance at the NRTA post too. It's basically what folks have summarized. Some good news about restrictions in general, some... seemingly positive, but could still have negative consequence updates around encouraging quality content, but definitely says nothing about BL being un-banned.

Uh... not sure what policies you're referring to, but definitely not to allow BLs for China. The workaround they found (for now) was releasing dramas through other countries / international platforms.

I wouldn't get too excited there. There's rumors that NRTA is preparing a policy that will punish actors who participate in BL dramas going forward.... so the latest workaround where they distribute the drama through a different country might be at risk.

It's still a rumor based on a supposedly leaked memo, but I would not be surprised at all. Revenged Love still caused crazy amount of impact, and the NRTA doesn't like that.

It’s not. Last I heard it’s likely q4