Maggi64

I think Gu Ha, ie, Johnny Huang, may have looked older than he truly was because he works out so much and that burns all the fat -- including the fat in a person's face. Most people in their early 20's still have some "baby fat" in their faces, which makes them look young.

I'm 55 so I know about the things plastic surgeons do to make us look younger, and one is called "fillers" which they pump into parts of the face to give that youthful fullness. I've only gotten it a couple of times, but if you look at Madonna (who's 64), she gets so much filler that her face looks like a balloon, lol. But Johnny Huang's face, even young, lacked fullness and looked very sharp and angular, which is why I thought he was older.

Thank you. I hadn't expected you to reply so politely. Most people, instead, get defensive when I'm sarcastic (as I was with my definition of the UN). So I appreciate this. :)

For the first time ever I did not mind the old Slip-And-Catch (SAC), because the bit with the chips that followed was so funny! Now that's what I call an original SAC!

I only had one tiny, and altogether irrelevant spoiler, but just removed it cuz I don't want to offend the Spoiler Nazis. Incidentally, you kids need to start reading professional movie reviews in newspapers and magazines, because they always reveal a movie's set up and certain scenes so as to critique whether they were well done or not. The detail I had revealed would appear in a professional review without a second thought. In fact, it had appeared in the synopses right here on MDL.

Also, what do you mean about the United Nations? Nothing I said was about designing policy to ensure better relations among all the nations of the world. Or did you not know that this is the function of the UN?

Funny you think it maintains the same seme-uke model, because I thought for sure they were going to make the more assertive Ren the seme. But other than Ren being more assertive at work and about asking for sex, both of them strike me as masculine. It's not like most BL's where one guy is super buff and the other is boyish and always dressed in sweaters to make him appear even more soft and passive. In this show, both are masculine.

Other than the seme/uke thing, however, I agree with you. This was a great episode that moved things forward.

*Hugging

*Talking tenderly in bed to your lover

*Spoon feeding your lover ice cream

*Watching movies together on the weekend

*Cooking pizza together and playfully feeding it to each other

*Touching your lover's face while he sleeps

*Drying your lover's hair


Looks like they've passed the "friends with benefits" stage, whatever Ren tells himself.

THOUGHTS ON EP's 1 & 2

*It's off to a pretty good start with sound production values, solid direction, good screenplay and decent acting -- especially the support case.

* As for acting, the weakest actor is the kid playing Wi Bi. He's a bit stiff. The strongest actor is the guy playing Su Yu's dad. He evokes a sweet, earnest, devotion to his son. Moreover, he's done a good job of creating a character who's kind to others in a cute, clumsy kind of way.

*We all know it's based on the novel Addicted, so I can't help comparing it. It's too early to tell if the boys will replicate the red-hot chemistry the guys had in Addicted, but so far I haven't seen it in their scenes together. However, I will be patient and give the chemistry time to develop.

*Both shows have a scene of a student singing in the middle of class. Does a high school student in China really stand up in class to sing a solo? This cracked me up in both shows.

*It also cracked me up how each boy in Stay With Me was introduced with a slow motion walk and sexy music to indicate that the viewer was about to meet a very good looking actor.

*I don't need a confession or kissing scene for it to be a BL. I regard the censored adaptations of Precise Shot and Advance Bravely to be BL's because the guys in those shows were obviously in love. If the boys in this show evoke the same kind of love for each other then I'll regard this as a BL too, even if the producers have to call it a "bromance" to fool censors.

You're right that Addicted was better than this. But I'm gonna stick around for at least a couple more episodes to see how it goes. So far, it's pretty decent.

Well, then I guess the man playing Tae Sung takes the prize for craziest casting cuz he was definitely 30 playing a high school kid in Cherry Blossoms After Winter. His MDL bio says he's 31 right now. At any rate, the kids in this show look young and age appropriate, and that was my point. To me, Gu Ha always looked too old in that role.

Yes, and he was 26 at the time in 2016. At least that's what I'd read in some of the media promos about the show. As I said, I thought he was charismatic and hot, but he also looked too old for the role, whatever his real age was. Timmy Xu (Bai Luo Yin) was 22 at the time. But the craziest BL casting was Cherry Blossoms After Winter cuz the lead in that, Tae Sung, was 30 when they made that last year. His bio says he's 31 right now. But he looked young in the show cuz the K-BL's use those crazy camera screens and tons of pinkish make up to give the characters all this youthful glow.

How could you see no similarities? It's the exact same set up with 2 boys who have absent mothers. The rich boy's mother is dead, and the poor boy's mother remarried a rich man -- who just happens to be the rich boy's father. The rich man's son transfers from a private school to the same public school as the poor son. Then they meet and the whole same plot from "Addicted" is replayed. It's EXACTLY the same.

I like that the leads are age appropriate to play high school boys. While the actor who played Gu Ha in the other version of this, "Addicted," was hot and charismatic, he was way too old for the role at 26 the time. The boys in this look to be early 20's.

It's odd that there is no market for this in America because, as you know, it's HUGE in Asia. But I think the Americans look down on it as too fluffy, and they prefer more political oriented LGBT movies. I also like LGBT movies. It's just that even when it comes to that, I like the Asian LGBT movies better. For instance, I love the Korean movie Night Flight, and the new Japanese movie Egoist. I highly recommend both.

None of my friends watch Asian movies or Asian BL and LGBT, so Iove having this forum to chat about movies. Especially BL, because my American friends do not even know what that is. They've never heard of it! lol.

Got it about the teacher, thank you.

No, I don't write BL. I have thought about it, but I only speak English and I don't think there is a market for it in America. Do you know anything about this? Are you American?

Funny, I was just about to ask you what will happen in Season 2 based on the manga's 2nd volume, but you beat me to it and already answered right here. Your comment explains why the teacher is back for the 2nd season. I still don't care for the actor playing the teacher, nor for the actor playing his brother, as their low brand energy is reminiscent of funeral directors. But, hey, at least I now know why the teacher has reappeared for Season 2. It seems the whole plot for Season 2 is going to be fueled by Akira's past with this teacher.

Totally agree. In fact, I kept waiting for them to say it was due to a head injury but they never did. I thought it was a small failing that they were never more specific about this.

As a writer myself, I actually admire how Japan's live action adaptations are so faithful to source material. It's proof of how much they respect writers in general. But that's about the writing, not the cartoon visuals in mangas. Because what works visually in a manga does not always translate visually to live action (eg, over exaggerated facial expressions).

At any rate, my complaint was not that I think they should change things from the manga. Rather, I was saying that I don't find the character of Akira all that compelling to begin with. I had wondered if his character might change in Season 2, but that's because I have not read the manga. But you have read the manga and cleared this up for me. Thanks.

I skimmed it actually. The translation was horrid and so was the narrative. But "My Beautiful Man" was terrific and also has a highly polished translation, so I read that one in seriousness.

For those wondering how Ryuto died, I think it was from the head injury he sustained at the beginning of the movie. That is, when he hit his head while picking up change at the store. It had hurt him so badly that he even asked Kasuke to cease speaking for a moment so he could collect himself. Then it was swollen afterward and he kept saying how badly it continued to hurt. This prolonged plot point would not have been there unless it was supposed to be the reason for his death later on.

Hence, I believe it indicated that had suffered a brain hematoma (ie, when blood from an injury becomes trapped within the skull and puts pressure on the brain). People often do not know they have a hematoma until the blood vessels burst and they die -- which was likely what happened to Ryuta. After all, some medical professionals list the mortality rate from a hematoma at 90%.

Some have asked a question about how/why the climactic plot point occurred. I've answered in the spoiler below.