Maggi64

THANK YOU! I was so fucking annoyed by the comments on MDL and Twitter about My Beautiful Man's "toxicity." I thought, have these people never read classic literature? In "Wuthering Heights" Heathcliff is so obsessed with Cathy, that he digs up her corpse to hug it. Romeo and Juliet are so obsessed with each other that they kill themselves. But these American girls thought Hira's obsession was, as they called it, "problematic." Christ. Some even complained about Togawa's "lack of consent" in Cupcake because he kissed Nozue's cheek as he slept.

They all want bland vanilla like the Thais put out (eg, Bad Buddy). You can absolutely tell that the Thai BL's are catering to Western values. It's also why most are so bad. Likewise, you can tell that the Japanese do not give a shit about our twee, precious values and that's why their BL's are all so good.

BTW, I am thrilled that MBM swept awards this year. I am bummed the novel is not translated in English. Two people started, and both stopped after only 20 or so pages.

Absolutely . One finger sucking between men who'd been yearning in secret is way hotter than a full on sex scene with chains between guys the viewer hasn't been given enough time to care about. I liked the Vegas/Pete stuff, but it felt rushed. Meanwhile, the sexual tension and emotion in that confession scene in Cupcake was EARNED.

Thank you soooo much for explaining this to me. I was just baffled by the attention K/P is getting compared to Cupcake. I am getting a kick out of K/P but it's also rather silly (I mean, every character except Sebastian & Elizabeth is gay), whereas Cupcake has a serious theme on a mid life crisis and stellar acting.

I am actually glad Japan doesn't give a shit about Western viewers, as it would influence them to pander to our obsession with "toxic" characters and "consent" and all that other bullshit that sucks all the drama out of drama. Western viewers complained that My Beautiful Man was "toxic." But I heard it did well in East Asia and I know it's also just greenlighted a sequel. I hope Cupcake does well in Japan as well.

Fudanshi Bartender
8.2 Byo No Hosoku

Both are on BLparadise, but hardly anywhere else. Not even on Viki. Neither is as good as Cupcake, but they're still good. Cupcake is on Viki, but it's not even getting many viewers there, which is nuts. It must be about the lack of promotion.

There are currently 3 new JBL's on Blparadise and none got any promotion, Cupcake included. All are produced by Fuji TV. I could not figure out why this show is not getting any attention (only 800 comments on MDL compared to a 130,000 for KinnPorsche). And it seems that the answer is something to do with Fuji TV. Do they simply not promote their BLs? It's odd, as these shows don't feel low budget. The acting in Cupcake is stellar. Is it just here in the west that Fuji TV shows are not promoted? K/P is getting pushed even in places like Rolling Stone Magazine, but a better show like Cupcake is slipping by unnoticed.

It just became my fav BL, up there with Blueming. And I've seen them ALL. It is the acting. These 2 guys are pros. And the direction and pacing is flawless, not a minute is wasted. Lastly, the theme on a mid-life crisis and 2nd chances is compelling. It has it all.

I don't get why there are so few comments and ratings -- KinnPorsche has 125,000 comments while this only has about 600. There are few viewers on Viki as well. I am baffled.

I know! Nobody says, "I like you so much I could die." If it's dying, then they are in LOVE, not like.

He's such a good actor that you could see in his face how he was smitten with Nozue on day one, when Nozue gave him all that wisdom about loving himself and enjoying life. He'd been a goner since then. I love stories where a hot young guy is not into other hot young guys but, instead, into a gentle, older, wiser man (who also happens to be pretty darn cute himself!)

It already IS my fav BL. Up there with My Beautiful Man and Blueming. MBM is about two fucked up teens who are, somehow, perfect together. Blueming is about 20' somethings and self-love and good mental health. This one is about 30-40 year olds and 2nd chances. They are each about a different phase of life and a different kind of love. Each is short, and each is perfection.

And then he gets even more tongue tied and says, "I have to do that.... that thing." He doesn't even know what thing! lol

LIKE VERSUS LOVE FOR ASIANS

The subtitles of Asian shows always mistake that Asians say "I like you" in the context that Westerners say "I love you." It means the same thing and the difference depends on both the context and the inflexion of the speaker. If we had pro translators instead of fansubbers (whom I appreciate), we'd have known exactly what Togawa meant, which was "I love you," not "I like you." Some shows, such as My Beautiful Man got this right, but most don't.

This episode packed in 10 powerful plot-points, which is about 1 every 2 minutes for its 24 minute duration.

1) We had Nozue acting out and angry cuz he was jealous.

2) We had Togawa getting drunk and petulant cuz it was now his turn to be jealous.

3) We had Nozue reach for Togawa's head, yearning to caress him when Togawa passed out on that bench.

4) We had Togawa shirtless and Nozue flat out say to him, "You have a nice body. Do you work out?" Translation, "Can I lick your abs?"

5) We had the sexual tension of that post-massage staring into each others' eyes.

6) We had Togawa show he'd remembered words Nozue said years ago, clearly having fallen in love with Nozue right there and then on the day Nozue had hired him.

7) We had Nozue say, "You're the only one who makes me glad I'm alive," which translates to, "I am in love with you."

8) We had Togawa plant a kiss and stick his finger in Nozue's mouth.

9) We had the ordinarily reserved Togawa flat-out say, "I love you." No translation needed. Dude finally just put it out there.

10) Finally, we got a preview showing us that it all ends well.


But wait, I don't WANT it to end! Give me more!

LOL, Tim, you fucking nailed it! Thanks for also pointing out that it's not just Seo Joon who's chasing this loser, but two women as well! Why are all these characters chasing a nasty depressive with nothing emotional, spiritual or material to offer? Well, because their script told them to. It's truly bad writing where all the characters' motives and actions defy belief. This show exemplifies bad writing and bad direction with lousy pacing. I mean, nothing has happened for 8 episodes that did not already transpire in the 1st episode. In episode 1, Ji Woo was an asshole who split for no reason, and Seo Joon chased him like a masochist. Fast forward 8 episodes and we're still at this exact same point with the masochist chasing the asshole.

Finally, I must tell you that I laughed out loud at your line, "The only happy ending that would make sense is for cloud-man to voluntarily enter into a high-quality, in-patient, mental health facility where his degree of illness can be treated. For example, electric shock treatments."

Best assessment I have read so far. It's a pretentious, facile script. And the directing is bad too with too many filler scenes and poor pacing. I also worked at restaurants and no way would he be able to handle overhead when he's been empty for a year. He also can't be too talented if he still hasn't figured out the palette of the local clientele. I thought they'd at least muster some big explanation for his asshole behavior. Nope, after 8 eps all we got is that Seo Joon did nothing wrong but he just wasn't into it. That's a show? This is a freaking zero. I am baffled it has an 8 Rating here. People are giving it the rating based on season one. BTW, I also liked Firebird.

Here are our characters:

*an asshole chef
*a masochistic actor
*an obnoxious kid
*an intrusive ex-girlfriend
*a bevy of stereotypical simpleton villagers.

The show has only one character whom we can like. Yep, that's Pil Hyun.

Beautifully put. I am appalled that the director of the wonderful BL's Blueming and Where Your Eyes Linger put out this dreadful show. The writing is bad. The direction and pacing is bad. What the hell happened to her?

Seriously, nothing happened since episode one when we found out that JiWoo is an asshole who left for no reason, and that Seo Joon is a masochist. All the ensuing 8 episodes did was reiterate those two points: JiWoo is an asshole who left for no reason, and Seo Joon is a masochist.

I don't think it's sexual harassment. He only lightly kissed Nazue's cheek while he was sleeping. The guy in Semantic Error kissed the guy full on the mouth while he slept. Also, in the preview for ep 4, Nazue just confessed that Togawa is the only one in the world who makes him happy -- tantamount to saying "I am in love with you" -- and then tried to run away. Nazue simply grabbed him to prevent him from running off. Hell, I'm a hetero woman and I've grabbed other hetero women to prevent them from running off for this reason or that. In short, I fear our definitions of sexual harassment have slid so far down the slippery slope with the Me Too movement, that's it's hard for us to detect genuine harassment. Otherwise, I hope you're enjoying the show. It's my new fav BL. I am so impressed with the acting and the theme about 2nd chances late in life.

Only Thai BL's fund their BL's with product placement. It's an unfortunate fact, but a fact nonetheless. Korea, Japan, Taiwan, Vietnam, and even China's censored BL's are all free of that stuff. Thai BL's, alas, are protracted commercials with some intermittent story tossed in. If you can bear the ads, power to you. But I can't.

I heard there'd be v/p series as there's a v/p book in the works. But who knows.