Maggi64

Good point, people seek each other out based on habits and mutual interests. However, I think she's talking more about shows like KinnPorsche, which I like, but is silly insofar as all 3 brothers (Kinn, Kim and Tankhun) are gay in one family. Their 2 cousins, the brothers Vegas and Macau, are gay in the other family. Then the 2 brothers Porsche and Porschay are gay in that family. And let's not forget Pete and Big, who are, yep, gay. The only hetero couple on that show is Elizabeth and Sebastian.

Yep, Taiwan is very progressive on gay rights in general. They are the only country in Asia with gay marriage. But Japan is pushing for it strongly and I am convinced they'll come next.

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ACE ACTING

These 2 guys are putting in excellent performances. Within the first 15 minutes I understood Nozue to be a man with a warm disposition, and a relaxed resignation toward life. And why this made him both appealing, and kind of sad. Likewise, I knew that Togawa was a tenacious man with piercing insight into other people, as well as a willingness to openly voice those insights -- and in that clipped tone, no less!

When you say ojisan , do you mean older guys? As in, not high school or college kids like all the Thai BLs?

And I 100% agree that it's better than when everyone and their dog is gay, LOL.

Read my reply to the other woman above, because I said pretty much what you just said when I wrote:
"In the writer's defense, this is a K-BL, and homophobia is still pretty harsh in Korea so it makes sense to avoid flat-out gay characters. The Japanese and Taiwanese are far more progressive about sexual orientation and, accordingly, Japanese and Taiwanese BL's are more likely to feature openly gay characters."

Nope, I rewatched Season One this week. It does not say anywhere that either one is gay. The screenwriter tacitly avoided this by saying, "I don't think you have ever been in a relationship." and "Ok, you really have been in a relationship." It never said whether it was a gay or straight relationship.

As for bisexuality, yea, it exists. But, again, not to the absurd degree that we see in BLs. In BL's, bisexuality exceeds portrayals of homosexuality 10 to 1.

In the writer's defense, this is a K-BL, and homophobia is still pretty harsh in Korea so it makes sense to avoid flat-out gay characters. The Japanese and Taiwanese are far more progressive about sexual orientation and, accordingly, Japanese and Taiwanese BL's are more likely to feature openly gay characters.

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Here We Go Again: "I'm Really Straight, Just Gay for You."


I'm tired of BL's that insist on giving the men ex-girlfriends because it creates the same old trope of, "I am really straight, just gay for you." If we're to judge by BL's, then 97% of the world's men who are in male-on-male relationships are in only one male-on-male relationship their whole lives. Thank god for "Kinn/Porsche," "We Best Love" and seasons 1, 2 and3 of "HIStory," which dared to make at least one of the guys in the male-on-male relationship openly, proudly gay. Yep, I said the evil g-word. GAY! Can men in these freaking BL's please just be gay? At least more than 3% of the time?

Exactly. This is unoriginal and playing on fans' who like a show to be nostalgic of the first one. Also, like season one, it relies on big coincidences to propel plot. In season 2, they both the know the commercial's director. In season 1, Seo Joon uses the bathroom at a restaurant of a man he just happens to meet again that night, in house that happens to belong to his manager, while he's hiding from a reporter who just happens to live on the manager's street, and the reporter just happens to frequent Ji Woo's restaurant. It's lazy writing to just toss in coincidences instead of having things happen organically, and arising from characters' behaviors and personalities.

LOL. I know. But straight fish exist!

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QUESTION:

Are Elizabeth & Sebastian the only hetero couple on this show?
Cuz I just discovered that Big is gay too, making all the following guys gay:

Kinn
Tankhun
Kim
Porsche
Porschay
Vegas
Macau
Pete
Big

Wow, I hadn't realized this. Thx for the explanation. Now I want to inherit a house more than ever! LOL.

Good point. If he inherited his parent's house that would explain a lot. Of course, there are still utilities and taxes to pay for a house, even if you inherit it. And he's still got the overhead for the restaurant to pay. Moreover, since the Village Chief said the restaurant is always empty, he's got no income to pay utilities for either his house or his restaurant. But like I said in my original post , it's ok if it is not entirely realistic, because I am enjoying the show anyway. In fact, the only reason I even commented on the economics of the restaurant industry is that I used to manage a restaurant. Otherwise, it's a minor detail and doesn't matter.

Thank you for your reply! :)

Wow, thank you so much for explaining all this! I had wondered if Han Gi Chan and Jang Eui Soo did not get along because I read it somewhere online. So I had always thought this was the reason there was no sequel. But your explanation that their agency kept them apart makes much more sense. Their agents likely did not want them associating because they feared it would make fans ship them, and the agents hated such a gay association.

Christ, it reminds me of how the Chinese authorities would not let the 2 leads of "Addiction" be together in public for fear of gay associations by their merely standing together on stage. I read that they appeared at one promo event and Chinese police actually rushed to the stage to remove them. Ugh.

Homophobia is not as rampant in Korea as it is in China, but it's still pretty bad -- despite the popularity of K-BL's. I read that most of the money and ratings for K-BL's come from the more tolerant Asian countries like Japan, Taiwan, Hong Kong and Thailand. Plus, a lot comes from Western audiences, such as the Europeans and Americans (I am American).

In other words, the Koreans are expanding their BL's but that does not necessarily mean that their society has become more tolerant. It just means that the Korean entertainment industry has figured out that BL's are profitable. On the bright side, I'm sure enough ordinary Koreans are watching all these new K-BL's that it will slowly change perceptions. You know, the way Hollywood movies with positive gay portrayals in the 90's helped change American perceptions of gay people.

At any rate, thank you for this info! I was always curious about why "WYEL" did not have a sequel and now I know.

Thank you for finally solving the mystery of why there was never a sequel to WYEL! Even if it's not your fav BL, you gotta agree that it was odd for there to be no sequel when it was such a massive, surprise hit. I mean, it was Korea's 1st BL, so it set the trend for Korea to begin making BL's thereon.

It's interesting that their agencies were against a sequel (and probably against an open mouthed kiss too), because now that K-BL's are so massively successful, both actors from WYEL have appeared in a subsequent BL and did open mouth kissing scenes. Their agencies must have finally figured out that BL's are the way to go if you want your actor to get international fame.

The problem is that both their subsequent BL's were not very good. The one guy did "My Sweet Dear" and the other one did "Ocean Likes Me." Oddly enough, both played chefs.

At any rate, I had wondered if there was not a sequel to WYEL because the actors did not get along. So thank you for telling me that it was actually about their agencies.

I think that Da Un fell for Si Won the night he saw Si Won drunk and being so foolish, but also, oh-so-very vulnerable. He was attracted to Si Won's vulnerability. Remember the next day when he saw Si Won on campus looking ashamed and running away, and how that made Da Un break out in a smile? He thought it was cute of Si Won to run away like that. From thereon, he was a goner for Si Won. At least that's how I saw it.

I think the bigger problem with the show was that we knew so little about Da Un's childhood and inner feelings, whereas we knew everything about Si Won's. There were signs of Da Un's parents being distant and never home, but I wanted to know more. In the director's defense, I think this was the product of insufficient time. It was very short, like so many of these K-BL's. That's why I am so glad that the final scene hinted at a sequel. Remember the DBW on the musician's guitar? I took that to mean we're gonna get a sequel where they show DBW's and the guitar player's romance, which was in the manga. I also assume that if there's a sequel it will give us more about Da Un's life and character motivations.

As for "Where Your Eyes Linger," it was a very basic, simple plot, but the leads had such terrific chemistry and unspoken sexual tension that it compensated for it. If you read peoples' comments about that show, most refer to the sexual tension as the thing that appealed to them. That's why it sucked that the show copped out at the very end with that overly tame closed mouth kiss. Alas, it was Korea's first BL, so I suppose the director was fearful to show a passionate, open mouthed boy-on-boy kiss. I assume that it was only after WYEL became such a surprise hit that K-BL's began to be more brave about showing passionate kisses. I mean, look at how far we've come with "Blueming," and that amazing love scene at the hotel! The emotion, the cinematography, the sexual passion -- it was all so on point. I am sure we can agree about that :)

Actually, no, "coincidences galore" do not happen in every show's screenplay, nor every novel. At least not if it's a good screenplay or novel. I work in publishing and can tell you that we commonly reject manuscripts because the action is propelled by a multitude of coincidences.

The mark of a fine plot is that it unfolds organically, from things that could plausibly happen and from things that are generated by the characters' behavior and/or circumstances. When writers cannot do this, and instead pile on coincidences, it is regarded as a cheap and easy way out of figuring out one's plot.

Again, I let this go to enjoy the show. But I certainly do not regard "To My Star" as the director's finest work. Rather, I think that "Blueming" is her masterpiece. Consider that there is not one single coincidence in "Blueming." Instead, the action is propelled by the behaviors of Si Woon and Da Un. That is good writing. The same could be said of "Where Your Eyes Linger." All the action is propelled by things that are a result of Kang Gook and Tadjeu's behaviors and personalities. No coincidences. That this director's 2nd best written BL.

I am sure I differ in opinion with many on this, but "To My Star" is my least liked of this director's 3 BL's. I simply could not help but to notice how poorly written it was due to the over reliance on multiple coincidences, among other things. To be clear, I still enjoyed it. It's just that I do not think it's her best work.

That helps. Thank you so much!

I doubt that it's a plot point, and simply an unrealistic thing by people in the entertainment industry who know little about the restaurant industry.

While I liked season one, remember, it was full of unrealistic things. Take, for instance, the absurd amount of coincidences. It's not just that Seo Joon just happened to go to the same restaurant to use a bathroom where the chef worked who just happens to become his new roommate. There is also the reporter, who just happens to live down the street from the chef and also just happens to patronize his restaurant, and also just happens to be chasing the actor who just happens to be working at the restaurant and living at the house near hers. Christ, the coincidences were piling up so fast that I had to laugh.

Sorry, but realism is not this show's strong suit. I decided to let it all go and enjoy the show anyway. But if you are arguing for realism as a condition for enjoying the show, well, let's just say that such an argument is already lost.

Holy shit, that means the actor playing Ji Woo was only 21 when they filmed that! He looked so much older.