Maggi64

Oh, I saw that girl who said any 29 yr old guy attracted to an 18 year old is a "psychopath." In fact, I replied rather at length to you following one of her comments. It is further below where she accused you of "fantasizing about fucking minors." Christ.

Wait, what magic towel sponge bath? Do you mean when Shin was smelling the freshly laundered sheet that fell on Akira? But that was a bedsheet not a towel. I can't recall any sponge bath except the one for Ep 1, and that wasn't particularly sexy. Or do you mean a scene from the manga?

I'll repeat what I'd said to someone else in this thread, which is that I think you might be missing out on a good show by dropping it at Ep 1. If you continue to watch, then you shall see that it's actually the 18 year old who pursues the 29 year old. Meanwhile, the 29 year old puts up a strong -- strong! -- resistance.

The show has not ended yet, but based on how carefully the writers have been avoiding a hook up between the 18 year old and the 29 year old, I suspect there's going to be a time jump, such that the 18 year old finishes college before the 29 year old will date him. College would be 4 years later, such that Shin would then be 23 and Akira would be 32 year old, which is an age combo most people are ok with.

To be clear, I am also ok with the age combo of an 18 year old and a 29 year old. I regard it as ethically, morally and legally legit. But if you are not ok with it, I think you should continue to watch the show because the main character is also not ok with it. Indeed, his resistance to dating the 18 year old is the ENTIRE foundation of the plot. The plot follows the 29 yr old's refusal to succumb to the advances of the 18 yr old because he thinks 18 is too young for him. The irony is that people who are upset by the age gap in the show are dropping it when the main character shares your exact views on this matter.

I just want to chime in from the Peanut Gallery, as you called it, because I think you might be missing out on a good show by dropping it at Ep 1. If you continue to watch, then you shall see that it's the 18 year old who pursues the 29 year old. Meanwhile, the 29 year old puts up a strong -- strong! -- resistance. The show has not ended yet, but based on how carefully the writers have been avoiding a hook up between the 18 year old and the 29 year old, I suspect there's going to be a time jump, such that the 18 year old finishes college before the 29 year old will date him. College would be 4 years later, making Shin 23 year old and Akira 32 years old, which is an age combo most people are perfectly ok with.

I was not going to enter this fray because I make it policy to ignore anyone who uses the term "toxic," such as people have done in this thread. It's such a tiresome, uncreative word choice that usually says more about the speaker than the subject at hand (ie, it tells us that the speaker is a puritan overreacting to a subject that's likely quite harmless) But I am sorry Tim, I had to enter the fray at this point because that girl just accused You, Yourself, of being a pedophile when she wrote:

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"Just admit it, you have been fantasizing about fucking minors yourself and that's why you got triggered over people saying it's gross and wrong, right?"

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Let's forget that she used the term "triggered" which is just as much a bete noir for me as the term "toxic" (and for all the same reasons), but she's assuming you must have a personal investment in something in order to argue its merits. Well, I am a 55 year old hetero female with no interest in teenage boys, and yet I can still argue the case that a relationship between an 18 year old guy and a 29 year old guy is ethically, morally and legally legit.

After all, one need not have a personal investment in a particular phenomena (eg, the phenomena of teens dating older men), in order to have strong opinions about it. Indeed, having strong opinions about things outside of our personal realm is the sign of a sound, intellectual mind. It's only stupid people who require personal experience before they can grasp a situation. Intelligent people, conversely, are capable of understanding a phenomena in the abstract.

At any rate, I am amused that she called you a pedophile and you did not threaten to report her to MDL. As you know, that is the default response of most of these people when someone insults them. And they report insults that are far -- far! -- less offensive than what she'd said about you "fantasizing about fucking minors."

Lastly, few of these people grasp the true meaning of the term "pedophile," which is an attraction to prepubescent children who lack any adult sexual characteristics, such as facial hair and an Adam's apple for boys; breasts and menstruation for girls; and pubic hair for both boys and girls. In fact, it is precisely the absence of pubic hair, facial hair and breasts that attracts the pedophile. Now, let us consider that the average age of onset puberty is 11, and we'll see how absurd it is for people to apply the term "pedophile" to a 29 year old's attraction toward an 18 year.

Worse, when the person making this case was informed that "pedophile" was the wrong term, she tried to walk it back by instead using the term "ephebophilia" -- a term coined in antiquity and having an utterly positive connotation (eg, Plato's assertion that a relationship between a wiser, older man and a teenage boy is the ideal). If she wants to use a term with a negative connotation, she'd best stick with the legal diagnosis, "sex with a minor." That better serves her point than tossing about the term "ephebophilia" as if it were, like "pedophilia," a psychiatric diagnosis, which it is not (eg, the DSM IV includes pedophilia as a diagnostic category, but does not include ephebophilia). In short, pedophilia and ephebophilia are not, contextually, comparable terms. Meanwhile, this commenter is treating them in the same context, as if "ephebophilia" means "pedophilia," but with just a couple of years tacked onto the kid.

At any rate, I could go on all day with what's wrong about the thinking in this thread, but I'll cut to the chase. Here it is: sexual puritans have no business watching BL's. Because when BL creators pander to their hysteria by making BL's less "toxic," and less "triggering" they're also making BL's blander. Consider how it's the BL's with the most uniqueness and most vision (eg, "The Pornographer," "My Beautiful Man") that are most often called "toxic" and "triggering." Hell, at this point if I hear one accuse a show of being toxic or triggering, I think, "Oh, ok, so that means this is actually going to be a good show."

As ever Tim, I agree with you down the line. Oh, and as an aside, can you imagine how the sexual puritans accusing this show of "pedophilia" would react to that movie "Soldier's Story?" I am not sure if that's the exact title, but it's the film about the 13 year old Dutch boy who's in love with a twenty-something American G.I.

The screenwriters had to have made up their own ending if the manga is still unfinished. After all, the show was shot in advance and is already wrapped up, so it's not like the writers are sitting around waiting for the manga's last chapter so as to complete the show. At any rate, it's very odd that they chose to make a show wherein the source material is still a work-in-progress. I wonder why? Is it that the manga is super popular and the wanted to capitalize on its current popularity? Do you know if it's a popular manga in Japan?

Holy shit, I had to read that comment twice to glean that she was being serious. Truly, the 1st time I read it I assumed she was being sarcastic about puritans who actually think a cute, fluffy little show like this is, "The vanguard of a political movement to destroy the moral and legal codes that protect teenagers from sexual predation."

I was even ready to reply that I found her sarcasm really cool and funny. Until, that is, I reread it and realized she was serious. Oy vay!

I tend to write long comments, but that does not mean it necessarily takes me a long time to do so. I can compose long comments quite quickly because I am a 55 year old college English professor as well as a writer by trade. Hell, I don't just write for a living, but I enjoy writing as well. Thus, I have a lot of fun writing long comments in these threads. I trust that those who don't like longer comments will simply scroll past them (ie, no harm done). Meanwhile, I hope that those who do read them will find my ideas to be interesting, as well as presented in a prose style that flows smoothly and is easy to read. In short, don't hate on we long-comment writers! LOL.

Agreed, but it's more than drab screenwriting. It's also matter of poor casting with that Teacher/Tutor Brother Duo. Neither has any sex appeal WHATSOEVER.

Now, I realize that their characters are not intended to be hot and sexy. The teacher, for instance, is supposed to be an airhead. Meanwhile, his little brother is supposed to be an Aspergers type and, hence, emotionally aloof with people while obsessive with inanimate things (eg, architecture). But good actors could imbue an airhead and an Aspies guy with far more compelling spirit than these 2 actors do.

I've seen many portrayals of Aspies types where an excellent actor managed to present the Aspies' aloofness while somehow, simultaneously, projecting a kind of charisma. Likewise, a better actor could've imbued the teacher's character with a lot more oomph. As it stands, both characters are so utterly and irredeemably drab, that it defies belief for 2 young, vibrant, sexy charismatic guys like Akira and Asuka to be attracted to them. I don't find anything about this to be believable. Indeed, when I ask myself why Asuka and Akira would like that teacher/tutor duo, all I can surmise is the following: They like the duo because the screenplay told them to do. In short, it feels artificial and as if they're just reading the lines.

It's a shame too because, as you observed, the show started off with so much oomph! It isn't just that Akira, Shin and Asuka are all physically adorable, but the actors also know how to bring energy and charisma to their performances. But damn, even they cannot make their scenes with the the teacher/tutor duo compelling. Those scenes all fall flat. Especially the Aspie tutor's scenes. He is so drab that he even managed to suck the charm out of Asuka in their scenes together. And that's saying something, because Asuka is pure charm itself!

Yes, I have noticed that K-dramas are pretty silly and formulaic. They put out so many because Korea's famous for these formulaic dramas, just as Thailand is famous for its formulaic BL's. In short, each country churns these things out a dozen a month because people like them. Now, I do not like them, but others do. K-dramas are so famous in Japan that there's even a scene in "The Man Who Defied the World of BL" where Mob's mother is watching K-drama and sobbing her eyes out.

The joke was that she's sobbing cuz those Kdramas are so melodramatic. Mob also observes that the man in those shows is always hot, while the woman is only average. In fact, K dramas have this whole sub genre called "noona" where the woman is older than the guy. In America, we call them "cougars" or MILF (ie, Mother I'd Like to
Fuck) lol.

So ok, Korea and Thailand each manufacture some silly shows. I agree with you there. But where I REALLY agree with you is how Japan's BL's and film aesthetic in general, is awesome. The Japanese are my favorite of all the Asian countries. Not just their BL's (which can be fearless like in "The Pornographer" and "The Dangers of Drugs and Sex") but ALL their movies.

Funny, how the Japanese can have this terrifically perverse, unique aesthetic and daring subject matter while, at the same time, they favor silly, childish shit like "Senpai" and "Mr Unlucky Has No Choice But to Kiss." Um, he actually did NOT kiss in that show. Did you notice the irony of giving the show that title when the boys never actually kissed? There was a light closed mouth, super quick peck in Ep 1 and that's it.

Meanwhile, the guys in "The Pornographer" are ramming their tongues down each others' throat. And I'm loving it! LOL.

Taiwan's have slipped and are no longer good like We Best Love1 or HIStory, but dang, they still are not as bad as the Thais. The Thais manufacture about 100 a year off a factory assembly line. And I am not exaggerating, they literally put out 5-10 BL's a month. And the Thai acting is even worse than it is in this one, "About Youth."

The Koreans right now are killing it for BL's (Semantic Error and Blueming, etc), and the Japanese still put out some good stuff this year (My Beautiful Man and Old Fashioned Cupcake).

I know it's unpopular here to sympathize with the King, but his lover let the Queen's brother, a proven traitor, go free. The King should've executed his lover for that alone, since he'd already executed a whole room full of traitors who'd collaborated with that brother. In this context, when his lover betrayed him yet again, castration was letting him off easier. Overall, I thought the movie did a nice job of showing that the King was so besotted by love that he just kept letting his lover off the hook, until the betrayals were just too much. Of course, the movie developed sympathy for the lover and the Queen too, which is why it's such a good movie. It made you sympathize with all of them.

Agreed. He's the best looking one on the show. In fact, I assumed he'd be the lead when I first saw him at the beginning of the show. But then all the girls went chasing the other guy, who's also cute, but in bland way.

Fifteen minutes into Ep 1 and already there's a "Slip-And-Catch" for the 2 boys to look longingly at each other.

I just watched "The Last Ride" (Korean) because it was on your list of "Best Non Gay Asians Films" I read that it was based on "The Last Wish (Chinese) but both seem to have the same basic plot as "My Friend Is Still Alive", except that in "The Last Ride" the dying boy gets to have full-on sex, which made me like it more. But here's my question: aren't all 3 of these the same story?

You are so on point with everything you said. I may be a hetero female, but even I am driven bonkers by how women write gay sex scenes. Sure, it's gonna hurt a little going in the first time, but then you get over it and it's only sore a little while. And yes, the longer the duration of sex the better, so why do the characters always finish so fast in these sex scenes? I noticed that too. It should be the same for women so you're right that these women write sex scenes where men just about prematurely ejaculate as if it's good, lol

At any rate, I wish more men wrote BL's. As far as I know, KinnPorsche is the only one with a male author.

lol, perfectly put. It felt like it was spat out by a computer. And may I say, I am always pleased to hear from a man when discussing BL's on this site. So many of the fans are women, just as so many of the BL's are written by women. I wish more were written by men. One thing the female authors really get wrong is anal sex. In the novel "Addicted" the author actual has Bye lu Yin in so much pain from anal sex that he's in bed for a week with daily doctor's house calls. The novel "Semantic Error" also exaggerated the pain of anal sex. In the show "Lovely Writer" we see the seme the morning after assuming his uke is in so much pain that he can't walk, so he actually picks him up to carry him to the bathroom.

It's not just that these women have no clue about gay anal sex, I have to assume they'd never had anal sex themselves. I am a woman and can tell you that it's not the frigging painful. I mean, women get no pleasure from it cuz we have no prostrate, but sheesh, it's not like it was agony. It's a little sore afterward, but you can go about your business just fine. You won't be bedridden for a week, need a doctor, nor to be carried to the bathroom! Ugh. There should be a rule that women cannot write a BL unless they've had anal sex themselves, lol.

At any rate, it's nice to hear from a man on this site.

Yep, they go from fluffy with closed mouth kisses or no kisses, right to "The Pornographer" where the guys are ramming their tongues down each others' throats, lol.

I never read the manga for Blueming, I just heard from a lot of people that they changed it a lot. I said the show was changed "for the better" because I think it's alright to have creative license with adaptations as long as the live action succeeds on its own merit -- which I think Blueming did.

But I am reading the novel of Semantic Error right now (I have not finished cuz the translator is only 1/ 2 done), and the show seems to be very faithful to it. It's a novel, so it's longer than manga, meaning they show had to cut some things out, but otherwise the narrative line and character's attitudes and behaviors are the same. It's a good novel, by the way, and I can't wait for the translator to finish it!