Maggi64

I love how Togawa secretly kisses Nozue on the cheek while he's sleeping (btw, this isn't a spoiler cuz it was in last week's preview). Some think that's non-consensual kissing, but hey, it was only on the cheek. Consider that San Choo kissed JaeYoung on the mouth when he thought he was asleep in "Semantic Error." And the gay character in "We Best Love" not only kissed his beloved, but confessed his love at that point too. So ok, we don't want to see somebody molest another while they are sleeping, but a sweet, innocent little peck is absolutely ok.

Thank you sooo much! I held off on slamming it for the first couple of episodes because I wanted to be fair to the many fans who love this show based on season one. I thought season one was ok, but not great. But season two is simply bad. Indeed, after 6 episodes of season two I noticed that even dire fans had begun to get fed up. The comments this week are nearly all annoyed at Ji Woo's nastiness and Seo Joon's masochistic groveling. That's when I thought, well, if even fans are hating it then it's time for me to write an honest review. I was still worried that some might be offended, so thank you for your supportive comment.

Btw, I wrote a glorious review praising Old-Fashioned Cupcake, to which I gave a 10. I just want to show that I can write positive reviews too! lol.

I just watched the trailer on Viki and now I am DYING to see the entire show right to the end! Does anyone know if it will be released 2 eps at a time the way they did the first 2 eps? They also released 2 eps at the same time for To My Star today.

If you google it, the movie will come up in 2 parts. The 2nd part is tricky cuz there is a censored version for China with no kissing, where the gay guy dies, as you know how gays must be punished in China's eyes. But then there is another version of part 2 that is called "Happy Ending" where gay men are actually allowed to go on living as a happy couple. Make sure you do the search for "Uncontrolled Love Happy Ending." It's on youtube. Part one is on youtube and IQIY. The IQIY version is very clear, but it does not have part 2 for some reason.

I highly recommend this film. It is sooo romantic. It's about a rich Chinese only child whose parents let him adopt an orphan to be his friend. The orphan is never treated as a real family member, so it's not incestuous. The rich guy regards himself as hetero -- and is even homophobic -- while becoming increasingly attracted to (and confused about), his childhood friend.

Really, Kiyoi flat out said, "Did it ever occur to you that I love you too?" And days later Hira still -- still! -- asks, "Kiyoi, is there someone you love?" lol.
Kiyoi screams, "It's you stupid! How many times do I have to tell you!"

BTW.. I read a cd version of the 2nd installment with them as an established couple, and it's really sweet how Kiyoi is jealous of any girls paying attention to Hira. Kiyoi got Hira some trendy clothes and a haircut for a party, but so many girls were slipping Hira their phone numbers (Hira, naturally, was oblivious), that Kiyoi said, "That's it. I don't want you dressing like that anymore." We saw signs of his jealousy in the show too. Remember that look of death he shot Koyoma when Koyama rubbed Hira's back at the play? I loved that!

BTW, My Beautiful Man, is my fav BL. Blueming comes next. And I can tell already that Cupcakes will round it out as the third. Semantic Error is fourth. And, finally, the fifth is the 2-part movie Uncontrolled Love (with the uncensored part 2 that has the happy ending). So my Top 5 BLs are a mix of Japanese, Korean and Chinese.

You're talking about the kiss while Nozue is asleep right? The same thing happened in Semantic Error and nobody minded. Plus, Togawa only kissed Nozue's cheek, while San Chu kissed Jaegyoung smack on the lips! The guy in We Best Love also kissed his beloved while he thought he was asleep. I actually think these furtive kisses are sweet. Especially because the sleeper is never really asleep! It's how the guy finally realizes that the other is in love with him.

Wow, thank you so much for such a thorough and informative answer. I guess this explains why shows like The Pornographer, which was not a huge hit in USA got not one, but two sequels. My Beautiful Man was also not so big here but is getting a sequel. I know that MBM got high ratings in Japan cuz someone here looked up ratings. I'd love to know how Cupcake is doing in Japan. It is the sort of show that deserves more attention, even while it does not scream for attention the way KinnPorsche does.

So true, but I don't think Nozue knew the reason Togawa was irritable was cuz of the girls. But he should've noticed all those other things! The only BL guy more clueless to signals is Hira, in My Beautiful Man, lol.

The first volume of the manga ends with a kiss. But the sex scene does not come until the second volume. I am assuming we'll just get a kiss in this, not the love scene. But hey, I am happy to get a kiss when so many other BL's cop out on that.

Pete gave a better insight to Vegas vis-a-vis his father in the show than in the book. In the book, he only says that he did not know his dad cuz his dad took off when he was young. But what he says in the show is remarkably insightful. And it instantly won over Vegas

.
Vegas is sexy even when sadistic.

I know, I know, I am going to hell for such a thought.

A DOZEN LOVE SIGNALS THAT TOGAWA GIVES CLUELESS NOZUE

1) He goes out of his way to come to the roof when Nozue is smoking, even though he, himself, does not smoke.

2) He goes out of his way to come to the same street corner when Nozue is out there after work calling his boss to decline the promotion.

3) He drags Nozue to a dessert cafe that day.

4) He continues to invite Nozue to dessert cafes week after week.

5) He shows that he's been thinking about Nozue when he reveals that he not only noticed Nozue's mid life crisis, but is the only one who noticed.

6) When Nozue asks why he noticed he replies, "Because I like you" (he quickly covers that by adding, "I like working with you" but, hey, even that is a come-on)

7) He tells Nozue that exercise will help nicotine withdrawal and then offers to accompany him to the gym (ie, he's offering to spend significant personal time with Nozue).

8) He buys Nozue his very first smoothie because, as he says, he wants Nozue to have new experiences (ie, he's showing he cares).

9) He follows Nozue to the break-room for coffee. While there, moreover, he remembers that Nozue liked some treat a coworker bought back from vacation (ie, he's paying attention to Nozue's preferences), and stands very close while reaching for it.

10) He startles Nozue by asking why he hasn't worn his three piece suit lately (ie, showing that he's not only noticing Nozue's attitude and preferences, but his physical appearance as well).

11) On another day, he flat out tells Nozue that he looks really good in that three piece suit.

12) The coup de grace: he not only hugs Nozue, but even whispers a flirtation in his ear (and it's super freaking sexy!)

DUDE, YOU STILL DON'T KNOW THAT TOGAWA IS IN LOVE WITH YOU?!

A movie is even better, cuz that means it will be monetized and, thus, they will be able to afford a 3rd show. You see, the book is a trilogy with 3 volumes.

I wrote a glorious review for it both here and on Viki. I need to post that review on Reddit's BL threads as well.

I wonder if there's any way we can ameliorate that? Look at a show like KinnPorsche that promoted itself for 3 years before airing and which continues to do so with pieces in even Western magazines such as Rolling Stone. Then, the actors themselves promote the show via social media. I wonder if we can promote it with our social media? The KinnPorsche MDL page has 120,000 comments compared to only 300 or so here. It deserves more attention!

It's nice that people volunteer. The problem, however, is that while we pay for Viki, sometimes a free site like Youtube or BLparadise gets the show with subtitles first. For example, they took forever with Kissable Lips. I wrote to their customer services and complained about how they need to pay subbers so that they cannot continue to use the excuse that we must wait because the subbers are volunteers.

There are only 300 viewer/ratings for this on Viki, compared to 80,000 for Semantic Error and other hit shows. It's crazy that more people are not watching it. Is the problem that it's not being promoted? I worry that when a show does not get viewers, then it means it won't get a sequel.

Hyper literal translations of East Asian languages especially drive me nuts when it comes to the word "like" which East Asians use in the same context that we use "love." A proper translation would consider the context and hence write "love" in the subtitles. Instead, we'll see a mad, passionate declaration of love with the contrastingly tepid subtitle of "I like you." We saw it in Addicted where Gu Ha is so insanely in love that he frigging kidnaps Bai Lu Yin, and yet there he is shouting, "I like you." Huh? Waddya mean "like"? That dudes in LOVE!!!

Omg, the porn ads on "MyReadingManga" are insane. The fact that it's all cartoon porn makes it even weirder. I just got used to it and ignore it by now.

Also, how nice to see you here Ximmich! Looks like you and I have the same taste cuz we also both loved "My Beautiful Man." We got it bad for Japanese BLs with a unique sensibility. I like KinnPorsche, but it's also not especially grown up. It's got pretty obvious plot lines, virtually every character is gay, and they are all so young. It often feels like a bunch of high school kids pretending to be mafia.

Now, "My Beautiful Man" may have featured high school boys, but the themes on obsession (Hira) and poor communication and facades (Kiyoi) were very mature and complex. Likewise, "Cupcake" has a mature, complex theme about how, "Regret can lead to happiness and fuel a life" (Togawa and Nozue each say that same line at different points in the show). It's a powerful theme about making a change in middle age to turn around regret. As a woman over 50, this show speaks to me. The show is now in my Top 3, along with "My Beautiful Man" and "Blueming."

I LOVE how they say, "eh?" in Japan! I thought I was the only one. It's how we say "huh?" Also, it pisses me off that Viki charges and then refuses to pay its subbers. But the subs are far better than Gagaoolala, which are often quite bad.