Maggi64

Thanks for this! You dedicated it to the right person too, because I loathe any BL out of Thailand. I used to at least test them out for an episode or two, and then drop them. Nowadays, however, if see the Thai alphabet on the promo, then I move right past it. There was a Thai feature film I very much liked called "Frozen Flower" about 2 gay monks that was lovely (check it out), but that was not a BL.

Tim adores "I Told Sunset About You" and likes to point out that it didn't roll off GMMTV's factory assembly line and was independently produced. He's right that the quality is higher than GMMTV products, but I disliked that big faced kid too much to abide the show overall. Which means that there is not a single Thai BL series I would recommend.

I must confess that I watched "Kinn/Porsche," but I was also embarrassed for myself, and only hung on cuz I've got a thing for the guy Bible, who played Vegas. He's wicked smart, did mechanical engineering, and is shown reading Arthur C. Clarkes' "Childhood's End" in English (you just know that didn't come via set-design, and that he plucked it from his home bookshelf). But as much as I like Bible, I still couldn't endure more than 15 minutes of his subsequent BL series.

In fact, I haven't watched another Thai BL since Kinn/Porsche 3 years ago, and Bible is the only Thai actor's whose name I know. You cited some Thai actors in your review, such as Earth and Mix, but I have no idea who they are. I regret not knowing because I missed the crux of your jokes but, otherwise, I'm proud to not know. Hell, I already keep my BL habit a secret from friends.

I will happily share that I like gay oriented Asian films such as GONIN and Silent Spark, but I'd be so ashamed if anyone knew I was a fan of these cheaply manufactured, fluffy Asian shows called "BL's" that are designed for 16 year old girls. None of my friends even heard of the Asian genre "BL." Hummmm.... I actually would not be embarrassed to say I watched "The Pornographer," "Old Fashioned Cupcake" and "My Beautiful Man" (note how all 3 are Japanese!), but I would not admit to being a fan of the BL genre overall.

The upshot to all this is that I already KNEW a Thai remake of Ossan's would suck, it was just a matter of how badly it would suck. Would it suck in the same generic way most Thai BL's do? Wherein producers go to a local high school, drag a couple of cute boys out of homeroom, plop them on a set and point to teleprompter where they read lines written that morning by a 25 yr old from GMMTV's stable of amateur, female writers? Or would it suck in that off-the-charts way wherein one doesn't even need to kick it up a notch to achieve parody, because the show was already (unwittingly), conceived as parody. A parody of itself. I'm guessing that's what you got with the Thai remake of Ossan's, huh?

As for the original Japanese "Ossan's Love" it was charming. I adore the actor playing the old guy. He was funny as hell in an ensemble bromance called "Surely Someday" that you would also enjoy (see my review on my page). Now, I had no idea until your review that Ossan's was such a hit in Japan that they showed the wedding episode in a public square. Wow!

It's rare for any show/movie/book to become a national phenomena these days -- however good it is -- because there are too many options for consumers, and too many splintered niche audiences. Churches rang wedding bells when Samuel Richardson released the chapter of "Pamela" finally getting married. Even in the 1970's, a story could become a national phenomena, as we saw with "Roots." Since this never happens anymore, it really says something that it happened with a gay love story -- and in Japan!

So, tell me B, should I watch 15 min of this Thai version just to appreciate your jokes better? How delicious that the only reason to watch a show is in order to get the jokes being made at its expense.

Lastly, do you have any good Asian films to recommend for me? I recommended 2 feature films for you (ie, the Taiwanese gay love story "Silent Spark" and the Japanese comedy "Surely Someday"). I think I know your taste well enough from your lists to presume you'd enjoy both.

Also, can you explain the meaning of the following terms?

From Column N:
2. Kabedon, because... door banging is sexy?
-- What does "Kabedon" mean?
3. Free Space
-- What do you mean by "Free Space"?

From Column G:
3. “Ikemen ne.”
-- What does "Ikemen ne" mean?
4. “Hendayo!" (usually after the first non-kiss)
-- What does "Hendayo" mean?

I think she means the line stating, "jpny01, the final word and authority on all things BL." lol

Thank you!!!!!!!! I despaired of all these 10 ratings and the word "Masterpiece." I also laughed out loud at many parts of your review, especially the smart kid's pop-eyed look of surprise akin to the girl from The Ring. That drove me bonkers, and made it impossible to suspend disbelief and accept the reality of his character. I simply saw an amateur actor over-emoting with expressions that made no sense for the scene.

For example, when the smart kid sees the bad boy at the water fountain at the beginning, he popped his eyes as if in fear and panic. What, did he just spot Michael Meyers from Halloween? Why the look of abject terror? And how could the director not have told him to tone down the eye-pop and then reshoot the scene? Is the director so inobservant that she didn't even notice it? Or the budget so tight they cannot reshoot?

There were lots of scenes that a seasoned director would've reshot, such as flawed continuity with the Bad Boy's wounds (eg, he had a massive facial wound in one scene, which shrunk tenfold in the subsequent scene that was supposed to be the same evening). I'm assuming BL's are so low-budget that they don't employ film editors. At least, not good film editors, because I see flaws like this All The Time. It's simply standard fare for BL Land. Indeed, this series was actually decent compared to others in the genre. You see, I judge BL's against other BL's, rather than against all series/films in general. This means that I rate BL's on an easier curve. For instance, if I give a feature film a 6, it would be an 8 in BL Land.

Now for a personal question: based on your writing style, wit, observations, and evident higher education, I am guessing you are B. Is this you B? And you changed your name and avatar again?

If so, I've got a good recommendation for you called "Silent Spark." It's on BoysLove Factory, but it's not a BL. Rather, it's a feature film starring genuine actors with extensive film bios (ie, no amateur teeny-bopper idols). They are also adults (one is 30 and the other is 42). It's about 2 low-level gangsters who were lovers in prison, then struggle with it when they're on the outside and back with their old gang and the boss. The younger one is infatuated with the older one and wants to hook up again badly, while the older one is cagey and fearful, and rebuffs him.

There's only 1 kiss, but it's a real kiss from real actors, not the angled fake kisses we get from teeny-bopper idols in so many BLs. Moreover, there's scorching heat in the atmosphere as the tension builds toward that kiss. I especially loved how the environment was realistically gritty for low level gangsters in dead-end lives (eg, they eat greasy, fried food at fluorescent lit shitholes, and live in squalid little apartments, unlike most BL "gangsters" who live in chic apartments or expensive dorm rooms with college student boyfriends). I turned Tim onto this movie yesterday and he loved it as well. It's only 1 hour 13 minutes, so you can catch it real quick. If you do, shoot me a line to let me know what you thought.

The director deftly reveals the depth of Puo's infatuation with Jimmy in small, painfully realistic ways. Most of us can relate to Puo's excitement on learning that he's finally going to see someone he's in love with, and whom he has not seen for a long time. He was so nervous about seeing his crush, Jimmy, that he rushed out to get a haircut and buy Jimmy a gift. When he arrived at the gangster's office to finally see Jimmy, he was so nervous that he even double checked his hair in his motorcycle mirror.

Then there's a terrific bit wherein Puo's friend asked him to go play majong, and he said no, because he didn't know how to play. But once his friend said he'd seen Jimmy there the other night, Puo suddenly goes to that majong place. Man, I was always "coincidentally" showing up at places once I'd learned that my crush would be there. And like Puo, I'd be awkward and worried my crush knew I'd come specifically to see him. I've also been in Jimmy's shoes, wherein I'd pretend not to notice a crush when, in fact, I'd been hyper aware of his presence.

It's a testament to the actors' ability that they revealed ardent love without once saying the words "like" or "love" to each other. Nor did they tell anyone else in the movie that they were in love with someone. They kept it entirely to themselves. Nevertheless, the viewer sensed ardent love because the actors conveyed it with their facial expressions and with their eyes. In other words, the director and the actors assumed their audience was intelligent enough to catch subtle signs.

As usual, one must ignore MDL's low rating. This movie is not merely good, it's excellent. The leads are both polished actors with extensive film biographies. And despite the director being fairly new, he's clearly talented -- the signs of which we see in how he carefully orchestrates even the tiniest acts to reveal character. See some examples under spoiler tag below.

I loved how it turned certain expectations on their head. For instance, when Shiba charges into that warehouse to rescue Haruto from the gangsters, you think, "Ok, he's going to beat up the bad guys to rescue his beloved." Nope. He ends up getting beaten up himself instead.

It reminded me of my least favorite scene from "My Beautiful Man" Season 3, when Hira charges into that warehouse to rescue his own beloved from a bad guy. Now, I could believe Hira as having an explosive temper, since it worked when he went gonzo on the classmate in Season 1, but the way it was choreographed in Season 3 felt cliched.

What's cool about "Love Is Poison" is that it's aware of the BL cliches and has fun with them.

Thank you, because that's how I'm going to view it now. Since it is fiction, I've decided to "suspend disbelief" and simply go with the story. The screenwriter clearly intended the audience to interpret Puo's act as a way of reuniting with Jimmy, so I shall interpret it this way. Once I do this, the ending not only works, but it's actually pretty cool. It shows how the world in which Puo lives is so brutal and devoid of options that if love is all there is, well, he'd even go to prison to get it.

You could tell he was in love with Jimmy the whole movie. You could also tell Jimmy was hyper-aware of Puo's presence, even if he refused to look at or speak to him in public. But that kiss scene in the warehouse really nailed Jimmy's feelings. I rewound it to see Jimmy's expression again because it spoke volumes. The actor had a tragic expression of sorrow and regret that was just devastating.

You had said in the middle of your review that, "in a weird twisted way perhaps there was hope for them after all." I assume you mean the fact that Puo turned himself in at the end so that he can go to the same prison as Jimmy. Indeed, Puo seemed so psyched about a reunion with his lover, that when he was shown handcuffed after turning himself in, he smiled adorably.

However, I'd always heard that the criminal justice system takes great pains to separate accomplices. It's to prevent them from planning other crimes together. Do you know about prison policies like this?

You need to post this as a review. It's cogent, and insightful. And so far there are no reviews for this movie, which is odd because it's so good.

It's also significant that, unlike most BL's, this was based on a novel by an award winning writer who's written non-BL novels. She's simply a good writer who is interested in unusual relationships. The Japanese, in general, are good at depicting weird relationships. That's probably why My Beautiful Man was a massive hit in Japan (and got 3 seasons), despite only getting a 7.8 rating on MDL, which is mostly Westerners.

That's my fave too! I was annoyed that it only got a 7.8 on MDL, but I think Hira was just too weird, and Kiyo (seemingly) too arrogant for most tastes. Funny, because the mix of a stuttering weirdo with an arrogant class king is precisely what made the show so unique and compelling for me.

BL's in general do tend to get higher ratings than shows aimed at the general public. But there's nothing wrong with this. To the contrary, it makes perfect sense, as any shows that are created for a small, specifically defined, niche market will attract a more devoted viewership than shows created for a large market with diffuse, and varying tastes. In other words, something created for a niche market has a loyal, preset fanbase, so of course the ratings will skew higher.

This means that a viewer such as yourself must mentally deduct a point when comparing a BL to another series on MDL. However, that does not mean that the fans who give BL's high ratings are "fetishists." It simply means that they are a devoted fanbase. Think about sci-fans who are devoted to all the Star Trek and Star Wars sequels. I enjoyed those movies, but since I am not part of the devoted sci-fi fanbase, I would not rate those movies as highly as sci-fi fans do.

I am behind on watching this and planned on picking it back up this week but wondered if it would be another one of those BL's that starts off wonderfully, and then falls apart in the second half (eg, the BL about the deaf teen that turned into a Bromance in the 2nd half). I'm glad you loved it because I trust your opinion, so now I can be psyched about watching the second half of the series.

Your list includes 26 victims from Korea, which is shocking enough. But imagine how high the number would be if you included all of East Asia, because there is an inordinate amount of Celeb Suicide in Japan, Taiwan and Hong Kong as well. The East Asian entertainment industry, in general, micromanages and overworks its talent.
Then there's the East Asian stigmatization of things such as divorce, unwed pregnancy, homosexuality and addiction -- all things we accept in the West. Talent agencies don't even allow clients to date, so forget unwed pregnancy or addiction.

Wow, that was powerful. Thank you so much for recommending it.

As for your questions, I've got no answer to #2 because that plot point makes little sense. Now, I can see why Abang would want to sacrifice himself for his brother, and how one of his motives was not simply love, but also the fact that Adik now knows where his father is and can, therefore, get his ID and have a better life. But as you said, if Abang loves Adik this deeply, why let Adik go through life thinking he's guilty, and that his brother was executed for him? I think the screenwriter could've addressed this better in what was, otherwise, a seamless script.

As for question #1, well, I am not sure, but I suspect Adik might have already tried to tell the lawyer that he was the one who killed the social worker, but that this was not enough to reopen the case and appeal. As the lawyer said, one cannot appeal without evidence of Abang's innocence, which was lacking. All they had was evidence of his guilt (eg, Abang confessed and his DNA was under the social worker's fingernails). Of course, if these were rich guys with high class lawyers then, sure, they'd hire private investigators to hustle up evidence and duly get their appeal. But these are 2 impoverished illegals, and since cops simply want to close case files asap, hanging one warm body of a poor illegal is as good as another warm body.

Remember, cops often knowingly arrest wrong people just to close case files. There's a famous case where the Texas police attributed 600 unsolved murders to a "serial killer" who had actually only killed 2 people. The guy "confessed" to the other 600 murders in order to have his execution commuted to a life sentence, get a TV in his cell and eat nicer meals. The cops gave him all the files so he'd know what to say about each murder and, conveniently, they failed to tape his confessions. They simply wanted to close their case files. There would be even more incentive to close a case file for some impoverished illegal in Malaysia, so why complicate it with it with what this younger brother has to say? I gather that Adik either knew this, or was told this by the lawyer when she explained why an appeal was impossible.

Naturally, this is all just theorizing on my part. But it's something, whereas I have no answer to your other question. Perhaps someone else can offer a viable theory (?)

Ok, and now for that scene of Abang and Adek dancing slowly in each other's arms while staring directly into each other's eyes for a long, unflinching, sustained amount of time. Homoerotic? Yesssss! So much so that I am surprised no critics have mentioned that scene, and I've read a lot of reviews for this movie. The director inter-cut that scene with the scene of Abang watching his girlfriend get into a car to leave, as if to say, "Nobody will remain in his life until the very end except for Adik." In short, Adik was the deepest, truest love in his life.

I found this on tubitv and will watch it right now. But I cannot find another movie in the same vein that you had praised called "Drifting." You had praised it when you were still Frothy Mix and gave it a 9.5 as well. I cannot even find it with ads.

I gave it the same rating. The problem is that the filmmaker wasted time on things like a boy brushing his teeth for a minute and a half. Then there's another minute of a fish in the frame -- and only a fish -- being fried. And then, good lord, we get the boy brushing his teeth again. Yea, yea, it's a parallel moment. We get it. But that's 4 minutes already wasted on banalities such as teeth brushing and fish frying in what is a 14 minute film, leaving a mere 10 minutes to tell an actual story.

We also get that the director is shooting for cinema verite. But a film in the French School of Realism would be 120 minutes long, not 14 minutes. Wasting time on banalities is typical for student films, which this was. It was chosen for some festivals, but it's a typical student film just the same. I wish film professors would tell students that it's been 75 years since Cinema Verite was groundbreaking, such that shooting long, banal moments at this point is simply cliched.

It was also only 2nd scene in 6 eps wherein Minase smiled -- with the other being the popsicle scene. In fact, Haruki even commented in the popsicle scene that he'd "finally made him smile."

Hirukawa asked, "It can't be possible with two men, right?" as a way of testing Minase to see if he's accepting of the idea of two men, or grossed out by it. Asking such tentative questions at the start of a romance is quite typical.

As per your statement that, "Erotically sucking ice cream out of someone’s bare hands is definitely going to be awkward if the other party tells you later on, he doesn’t like you that way." Umm, the mere fact that Minase let him suck his hand was a pretty strong way of telling Hirukawa that he DOES like him that way.

Lastly, smelling Minase was an erotically charged moment whereby Hirukawa got close enough for the Minase to feel his breath on his neck. To say such gestures are "presumptuous" is tantamount to saying that it's presumptuous to touch and flirt in the early stages of a romance. If one doesn't do this, then how would the relationship ever progress to the physical stage at all?

I get it if you simply don't like this character, because that's a matter of taste. Otherwise, the acts we've witnessed in this show are pretty standard for 2 people inching slowly toward one another.