Maggi64

I'm so glad I read your comment cuz I trust your opinion and thus, now I am gonna give it a 2nd spin. I dropped it around ep 2 or 3. I also get impatient waiting for weekly episodes, so it'll be better now that I can watch a bunch of episodes at once. I needed a new show cuz I've seen them all. Yay!

Yep. The drunken night. I also noted that at his house after SiWon fell asleep drunk, DaWoon suddenly got a serious look on his face -- as if he'd just realized something (ie, he likes this guy). As you noted, SiWon had been vulnerable that night. And DaWon is a sucker for vulnerability.

Consider that scene of SiWon so exposed, shirtless in the bathroom. He is not acting like a shirtless macho asshole as some guys do in those Thai BL's but, rather, his body language is closed in and he's protecting his naked self. That shy vulnerability would've made him attractive to DaWoon.

Lastly, consider how vulnerable SiWon was on that park bench when he confessed to worrying SiWon wouldn't like him anymore cuz he was not cool, used to be fat and, hey, does not even truly like French Avant Gard Film, lol. That admission is what made DaWoon lunge for the hug and say, "I am sleeping over tonight." He was a goner after that!

Yes, need a sequel for DaOn. As for when he started to like SiWon, for me, it wasn't when SiWon visited his photo shooting, or when they got hooked up as partners continually in class. I think it's right after the drunken night. The next day he sees Si Won running away embarrassed (ie, being cute) and DaOn gives that smile that says he's smitten. The next scene shows him calling SiWon to tell him he has his socks. Then there's the bit of his wiping the paint SiWon's ear. It progressed from there. But I watched the show 2x's asking same question as you, and I definitely got all the signals starting the night SiWon was acting so silly and drunk -- and cracking up DaOn.

Agreed that there's no tonal consistency. But you gotta remember, I was disliking it last week cuz I thought the Godfather wannabe scenes were bad. I mean, that opening where Kinn shoots a guy in the forehead is Michael Corleone shooting Terziano in the forehead, but a cartoonish version. It felt fake, so I welcomed zaniness to just upend all of it. However, I can see your point that since it was TRYING to be real with stuff like that, it should maintain its attempt for realism and not switch goals in episode 2 to be farcical.

As for the gay "acting" brother. I honest to god read him as a bipolar nutjob. I thought he dressed like a hetero pimp. Hell, even some Russian gangsters in Brighton Beach wear gold lame shirts and necklaces. But yes, somehow if they make him gay it's a Liberace stereotype. What I am getting from girls who read it is that he's a hetero at the start who later on falls for a man -- you know the old, "I'm really straight but just gay for you."

I really have no idea where this show is going. But I was more able to go with the ride for ep 2 cuz unlike many here, I was not that invested in it last week. At any rate, I'll still tune in for ep 3. Speaking of which, why are people saying there's no show next week? Is it a holiday?

Agree. But where did Taesung tear up and cry?

I've been enjoying it more than the webtoon, which is itself just a series of set pieces strung together -- ie, there's no real narrative cohesion of an overriding plot arc with a beginning, middle, end in the webtoon either. There's a bit about bullying, then that set piece ends. Then there's a bit about the girl after TaeSung, then her bit ends. There's the bit about the creepy guy who steals HaeBom's scarf and then that ends. All these little mini-plots are strung together one after another, and none lasts as a thread all the way thru the webtoon. Frankly, I think they should've changed the show to give it one overriding narrative thread, but the Asians are very faithful to source material.

Alas, the one thing they did decide to change was the emphasis given to that god awful mother. She did not go on and on like this in the webtoon, and her reaction was largely shock rather than horror. In the show, however, that actress spent so much time gasping, trembling, widening her eyes in alarm, and covering her mouth in horror that it was as if she were in a slasher movie and Freddie Kruger was coming at her with a fist full of carving knives. She overacted the whole thing, and the director gave her waaay too much time when the 23 minute show already doesn't have enough time for its 2 leads.

I just wanted to see more of how the 2 boys' relationship progressed from TaeSung acting like a cold stranger to an ardent lover, and from HaeBom being shy around TaeSung to now being in total control of TaeSung. That development was interesting and they should be giving us more of that and less of that freaking mother.

I did not get a Vincenzo vibe from KP either. But your comment seemed to indicate that a number of other people think the 2 shows are somehow similar. Go figure.

thx!

But I don't think he's playing gay (also someone here who read the book said he's not gay). If he were gay, then yea, it's a stereotype. But if he's hetero, then the over-the-top antics are to signal he's a nut. I messaged you on this too. But I essentially said that by assuming a zany tone the show allowed me to discard all my prior questions about things that lacked realism and logic. The tone this week told me not to take it seriously, so who cares if this or that would never happen in real life.

It's odd that the rating dropped this week from a 9.6 to an 8.2 when, in fact, this episode was better. It set the tone in such a way that said, hey, don't take this too seriously. If some things seem unrealistic, it's ok cuz the show's just supposed to be a fun ride.

For instance, at first I was asking why the hell there were over 50 bodyguards when the show's introduced nearly no actual mafia members. I mean, whom, exactly, are they all guarding? But as the show got zanier, I let the question go cuz I figured, oh, it's not supposed to be realistic; it's supposed to be fun.

I thought they looked fake?

BTW, I freaking loved the lunatic brother and how he dressed like Liberace. Best bit was how his bodyguards (ie babysitters), distracted him from shooting Porsche by reminding him that a Beauty Pageant was about to start on TV. That whole character was inspired and made me enjoy episode 2 a lot more than episode 1.

Didn't Vincenzo have a 2-3 episode arc where he had to play gay to ensnare a gay nemesis? Also, is this intentionally a Thai version of Vincenzo, or it just reminds people of Vincenzo?

QUESTIONS

1) Does Porsche already know that his boss digs men? Or does he discover this later? He thought Kinn was kissing the woman in the bathroom, which indicates that he thinks Kinn is hetero.

2) I'm pretty sure Kinn's brother is hetero and just dresses like a Las Vegas Liberace and watches beauty pageants cuz he's nuts, lol. But I want to double check.

I realize shows need funding, but when it's that obvious why not just run a regular ad? The reason ads bug us is that they disrupt the viewing flow. But these product placements in the Thai BL's are so boldly placed that they disrupt viewing anyway. I'd also (personally) prefer to pay for Viki or QIY and not get either ads or product placements. I like the Korean and Japanese shows on Viki for this reason.

As for the show improving, I hope so. I think the guy playing Porsche is pretty good (as I said in my review, he has charisma), and he did a good job with the couple of dramatic scenes he was given. Which is why I hope he gets more scenes where he gets to do some acting and less of all those fight scenes. I mean, you can get a stuntman to do that. Why waste an actor's talent just giving us fights and car chases? At any rate, I'm continuing to watch and hope it gets better.

Lastly, others have been giving it 10's based on only one episode, so I figured, hey, others aren't waiting, why shouldn't I review based on one episode as well? However, I may check back after it's done and edit my review :)

True, and I'm hoping all those car chases were just to give episode one a fast start. I hope it will be more character development after this. The guy playing Porsche is pretty good. He doesn't have to do action scenes and fighting for me to pay attention. I was watching his acting skills in that scene with his little brother. I thought that was more effective than seeing him punch and kick people.

Yo, Tim, good to see you here! As ever, I am in agreement. This show had realism and depth. As for the acting, it's significant that neither of these guys are idols or performers whose focus is singing/dancing . They are strictly actors with acting agencies. And they each gave their characters individualistic traits.

I loved how the guy playing SiWon would dart his eyes up to look at DaWoon a second, then look down, then dart them up again tentatively. He'd be sneaking peeks back and forth like this, checking DaWoon's reaction, to see if he were accepting him. It's the kind of tiny mannerism a good actor creates to convey his character's inner emotions.

DaWoon gave his character that infectious smile every time his beloved, Si Won, did something adorable or, let's face it, even cringey. Hell, the fact that he essentially fell for SiWon after seeing that cringey drunken performance spoke volumes alone! He likes vulnerable, emotionally messy men! Well, so do I! lol

BTW, check out this director's show "Where Your Eyes Linger." It's an older Korean and hence light on skinship, for which it compensates with smoldering glances between the 2 boys. Everyone loves her BL "To My Star" as well, but you said you tried that and dropped it, and while I watched it all, I disliked the actor playing the chef. But the director's got winners with Blueming and WYEL.

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BEST TOSS AWAY LINE

A drunken SiWon sobs to DaWoon, "Because of you my 20's are ruined!"

TaeSung's secret wink at the cafe ..... and HaeBom's shy, little boy giggle in response. Delightful!

IMBD is definitely harsh. I never see anything above a 6 or 7 there. As for Viki, the key is to check to see how many people rated it. They give the number. So if it is, say, a 9.5 out of only 4,000 viewers you can take it with a grain of salt. because it is, as you said, somewhat inflated. If, however, it is a 9.5 out of 55,000 viewers like Semantic Error was, then it's more legit. I forgot to mention this aspect of Viki. I like that they tell us how many people voted, but you need to look for it underneath the rating itself in smaller print.

I want to know how much HaeBom weighs. Look at how he hopped up onto TaeSung with TaeSung holding him as if he were as light as a teddy bear. Most BL's serve up only one kiss in the final episode, but there's a lot of this sort of physical affection in Cherry Blossom -- and I'm loving it!