Maggi64

I haven't read the manhwa so I am just riding with the show itself, and very satisfied. I am glad I did not read the source material, cuz that may have set me up for different expectations. Also, it's unusual for Asian shows to differ from the source material. Western shows take all kinds of liberties, but the Asians shows are sometimes word for word dialogue lifted from the text. So I can see how people who'd read Cherry Blossom and seen other Asian shows based on manhwas would have expected a more literal adaptation.

What epilogue? Do you mean in the novel, not the show?

I haven't finished the novel cuz it' s not fully translated yet, but it almost is and thus far all that's missing are the hardcore sex scenes. So unless the directors choose to write a new narrative for a new season, I don't see how it could be based on the book.

Agree with all your examples. Basically all the Thai 45 minute 14 episodes are filler and nonsense (and product placement). But Boarding House is not a good example because it does not have filler. It's just a cute, goofy little show. It doesn't set out to be much more than that. In other words, it set modest goals for itself and achieves them -- because it did achieve cuteness and goofiness. I actually think this one suffers from absurd brevity, not overlength and filler. Episodes are only about 12-15 minutes long. It's absurd to ask viewers to wait 7 days for 12 minutes of a story.

People are saying they are disappointed only because it has a somber air and hence takes more patience to settle into its vibe. Semantic Error, to the contrary, was crackling with energy and thus more easy to jump into. But with Cherry Blossoms, you need to let the show settle into your thinking. Once it does, you'll find yourself thinking about long after the episode ends. In short, it resonates, which is the sign of a quality work of art. I suggest people sit with it at least for 3 episodes, because that's when it begins to linger in your mind.

When your opponent writes an insult about you on the blackboard your instinct is to erase it. But the brilliant strategy is to leave it, thereby forcing your opponent to erase it himself lest he get penalized by the teacher who'll see it. Such a smart tactic!

I can't recall the chapter but it comes up twice. The 2nd time it comes up around chapter 12 when they are discussing how to have sex and Sangwoo asks how JangJian did it last time he was with a man. JangJian tells him he was a top, and the other guy a bottom. No surprise there, eh?

In the novel he tells Sang Woo that he had sex with a man before in France. So the director probably wanted to get that in there somehow. These asian shows are remarkably similar to the source material. American ones change a lot.

I include spoiler tags just cuz I don't want to hear crap from others, but I never find it to be important myself. I just do it to be polite. Otherwise, I actually ask people what happens in a show or a book because I understand that what makes a work of art quality is about so much more than that. I am an English Professor and I and my students already know the plots of nearly all the novels I assign because they are all classics. But we get great satisfaction from them anyway.

At any rate, I shall continue to use the spoiler tag to be polite, while also continuing to not care if others fail to use it.

I don't get this convo at all, since it's a romance and, hence, we know a kiss would be included. It's implicit. It's not like spoiling say, a mystery who-done-it by telling us who the culprit is. We already know who's gonna kiss in this show. And there were only 2 episodes left, of 20 minutes each, so what the heck was left to spoil?

Moreover, when show is good, the dramatic tension is in the journey toward the destination, not the destination itself. Consider how we all know that Romeo and Juliet will die, but watch the play anyway. We watch because so many great things happen leading up to that point. I think that reducing a work of art to a matter of "spoiler" rather cheapens it. This show is so much more than a matter of a 10 second kiss. Right?

In all fairness, the preview made it clear they would kiss and then the actors told us in an interview that the kiss would happen in episode 7. So we all knew it was coming in this episode.

It's impossible to comment on even one thing from episode 7 without making it a spoiler. That's how good every single plot point was. This show does not waste one second of air time.

Seems to me that the Thais conceive of this the way we do the term "fiance" in so far as it's more serious and yes, as you say, more official. That makes sense.

You're My Sky does not have any straight/hetero story lines. It's 3 boy on boy relationships. Like I said, 2 of the side couples are good and one is dull. You'll like the side couples, cuz you and I agree on everything so far! :)

What is YMS? Everyone here uses abbreviations and I never know what they are, lol.

What the hell does Annabelle Doll mean? At first I assumed it meant goody-two-shoes. But Hira Lin used it this week in the context of the opposite -- ie, someone who is willful and does not follow orders. So what does it mean?

I could live w/o the sound effects, though it is a matter of taste.

BTW, a good Thai that does not have them is "You're My Sky." The omission of those sound effects alone elevates the show to a more serious level. It also has terrific cinematography. Oh, and a hot romance wherein a guy falls in love with his girlfriend's brother, and the brother is just as hot for him. Talk about conflict!

They are one of the side couples, but ended up stealing the show. They are the only couple anyone repeats on YouTube or asks about in interviews. The main couple, alas, is dull as dust. This happens a lot with side couples stealing a show. This show has 3 couples and, frankly, both side couples are waaaay better than the main couple. Since you and I have the same taste, you will probably like it. And you'll probably agree that the side couples are better. One side couple is adorable and the other side couple is hot.

I also thought that the omission of physical contact was a cop-out in Cherry Magic. Indeed, it was not only omitted, but consciously omitted because the director went out of his way to give a hint of a kiss in the closing scene when they guys lean in and the doors close. When something is that pointedly omitted, I must assume that one of the actors had it in his contract to not do male on male kissing.

Funny, but I once watched a gay romance with a hetero man who said, "Thank god there was no kissing." I thought, exactly, gay romances that omit kissing are showing that they are afraid of viewers like you. Ugh.

Nevertheless, Cherry Magic was a charming show. They managed to get away with it in ways many of those crappy Thai shows can't. The Thai shows need kissing scenes to compensate cuz they have such poor writing. And those sound effects that all the Thai shows have! Boink, bong, zing, shooz, dweep, pow, etc. They make the shows feel like a cartoon. Ugh.

The best way to reply to this overall is that the Asians simply do not give a shit what we Western Women think about their supposed "rape" scenes. We watch for free on YouTube, and don't pay for streaming. We don't buy DVD's. And then we don't buy product tie-ins, which is where all the money is. We just complain a lot.

Thus, the Asian shows have continued with the rough sex scenes since 2016, when Addicted came out. In China, specifically, they are invested in getting an LGBT show made at all, and not in making it politically correct and palatable for Western viewers.

BlurryBeat,

Yes, I have heard of sex before a relationship. But not planning an extensive, difficult long distance relationship to a foreign country for over a year. I have never heard of this. Nor have you.