Maggi64

My major complaint with this film is not the topic of incest. Of course not, because the tags, synopsis and even the title itself all cued me into the fact that this was the topic. Hence, watching it and then complaining about the incest would be illogical. Besides, that topic was handled delicately. No, my problem was that so many wildly implausible plot points were included.

To begin, the parents had 2 kids of the opposite sex, aged 17-18 (thus, each with the raging hormones commensurate with that age), sleeping, dressing, undressing and cohabitating in the SAME bedroom. No sane parent on earth would do this unless they were abjectly impoverished and had a tiny house with no extra rooms. However, this was an upper middle class family with 2 successful, working parents, so there was no sane reason for the teenage brother and sister to share the same bedroom. In the absence of a sane reason, it struck me as a contrived situation simply there to move along plot points more easily. This was so obvious that it made it difficult for me to suspend disbelief and get into the movie.

It was also utterly unrealistic that 2 of the schoolmates knew the boy twin was romantically in love with his sister when he behaved as cold as ice to his sister in order to hide that precise fact. We even hear the male schoolmate saying to the girl twin, “Your brother is cold to you, isn’t he?” Nevertheless, we next hear this boy classmate, just as a female schoolmate, saying to the boy twin, "You like your sister don't you?" Now, the verb “to like” in Japanese (sukido), actually means “to love.” So just how did those schoolmates know the boy twin was in love with his sister?

No, the coldness was not some kind of a clue, because many sibs are cold to each other for reasons beyond hiding incest. How, then, did the classmates know? Answer: in the real world they would not have. They were only mind-readers in this film because it presented a convenience for the screenwriter to, again, move along plot points for when these 2 schoolmates catch the twins in the act later on.

Worse still, when the 2 schoolmates do discover the twins are engaged in incest, they are bizarrely casual about it. In fact, the boy classmate has a crush on the girl twin and, as such, he's more concerned about the boy twin being a rival than about the incest. Likewise, the girl classmate has a crush on the boy twin, and she's also more concerned about the girl twin being a rival than the incest.

Ok, consider that I just said "incest." Incest! I am not a prude about such things (else I would not have watched the film to begin with), but incest is one of The Greatest Taboos Known to Man in virtually every civilization on earth, going as far back as when history was first recorded . It's even taboo for cousins, let alone siblings, and the intermarriage of cousins in Royal Families is why hemophilia grew rampant in pre 19th Century Royal Families. Hence, it's absolutely bonkers unrealistic to propose that these 2 classmates are not freaked the fuck out by discovering that their crushes are engaged in incest. Sure, it serves the screenwriter's purposes for the story, but it certainly does not serve to pull the viewer in because we all know that this is sheer horseshit.

I was only 15 minutes into the movie when the shared bedroom and mind-reading friends were all established, making me aware of the screenwriter behind the scenes writing this movie from the get-go, and it got worse as it went on. Again, it's impossible to suspend disbelief and accept characters and plot as real when one can see the Wizard Behind the Curtain pushing all the buttons that make the characters and plot move as they do. Characters and plot should move forward based on reasons organic to real life, as well as organic to personal contexts within the story (eg, when 2 teenage sibs are portrayed in an upper middle class family context, there would be a large enough house for separate bedrooms for them). Many in the comments below mentioned how the boy twin was an asshole. Maybe so. But by the time he began being an asshole, I had long ceased to be invested in this movie based on all the implausibilities, so I simply did not care.

For viewers who are able to let all this go, I will say that the movie was mildly ok. The performances of the leads, as well as the supporting cast, were all strong. Moreover, the topic of incest was handled with care, rather than exploiting it for cheap sexual titillation. I assure you, there was nothing cheap in how the sexual attraction between the siblings was treated here. Indeed, it was more about the intense emotional bond between them as twins, than about sex. As far as that goes, I've seen/read other stories about the overly intense symbiosis between twins even when they were the same gender (eg, David Cronenberg's "Dead Ringers"). The relationship between twins seems to appeal to certain storytellers. If this sort of narrative appeals to you then, yes, you may like this film. Alas, I did not.

Ah, ok, that explains a lot. I was wondering how a manga could be popular with an incest plot point. But according to your explanation, it's not technically incest. Thanks.

Nobody else in this thread put their revelatory comments under a spoiler, so neither did I. I'll do so now but, hey, I can't do anything about the other revelatory comments that are above my own.

May I say, you rock! Because that was a better analysis than any that I've found elsewhere online, including ones from professional critics. Thank you.

LOL, I didn't even think of that, but you're right!

Even if they had other celebrations, it's still odd to celebrate it at all with 3 underlings they barely know, and no friends/family present. I suspect the casting director just didn't want to pay a couple of extras to play friends/family. But, hey, I get that the whole dinner plot point was designed to get the 2 leads in the kitchen together and, hence, show them growing closer. On that score, it succeeded, so no complaints.

Nice episode. But I couldn't help wondering why the couple celebrating their 25th Anniversary didn't also have some friends and family with them at the dinner. Why would they want to celebrate such an important day with only 3 subordinates from their company? The casting director should've hired at least 3-4 more actors for this scene to play the couple's friends and family. I know it's a minor quibble, but I got stuck on it.

Well put. I know a guy on MDL who calls Thai BL's "TOOT" -- ie, Turds Out Of Thailand. Of course, there are some exceptions. But let's face it, Thailand is mass producing BL's off a factory assembly line and, thus, they are largely TOOT, lol.

But the Japanese, as you've observed, put more time, thought and care into the production of their BL's. They certainly have better actors, just as both the J-BL's you mentioned do. I would only add that there's a 3rd J-BL that features adult men growing closer via food. That would be one of my faves: "Old Fashioned Cupcake." And this J-BL was also expertly directed with terrific actors. Go Japan!

Yes, gay feature films like No Regret went all out with the sex scenes. But I read up on that movie and learned that it was also a Big Deal when it came out. Now, I don't know about the censorship laws in Korea as points in fact but, like you, I've watched a number of K-BL's as well as Korean Indy gay features and Indy gay shorts. The K-BL's are always more chaste than the gay Indys. Thus, I must assume that K-BL's are abiding by some censorship code that allows them to stream if they don't go too far.

Remember, K-BLs are released on different platforms than those Indy LGBT films that go to the artsy Film Festival route. I'm guessing K-BL's need to cool it if they want wider streaming rights.

Also remember that the first K-BL "Where Your Eyes Linger" was only 3 years ago and had a kiss so chaste it was barely there. So the K-BL's have come a long way with the kissing scenes, but not yet with sex scenes. Although, as I'd said, some K-BL's (eg, Blueming, TES, etc) do a nice job of implying that the leads just had a nice romp. This show did an exceedingly bad job of it.

I don't mind the Rookie's schtick, and rather like the actor's energy. But that's a matter of personal taste, so there's not much to discuss on that note. However, there are other flaws in this show that are a matter of poor direction/writing that can be discussed. For instance, characters usually turn the light back on to indicate that they don't want their lover to be shy, and want to see their naked bodies while having sex. But when they awoke fully clothed I thought, wait, what naked bodies? I considered that maybe all they did was kiss and the Rookie wanted the light on to see the Boss's face while kissing. Ok, that would've worked.

Alas, no, cuz the next scene has the Rookie say with a nod-and-a-wink that they "made ramen last night." Huh? They awoke fully clothed on an un-tussled bed. Is "making ramen" now Korean Code for magic sex wherein a penis can penetrate slacks and boxer shorts without there being any holes in the fabric?

I know these K-BL's have to be more careful than the J-BL's in indicating that gay sex just happened, but dang, there are ways of doing it. Hell, if this director was going to rip off the stage blocking from Blueming, then she should've also ripped off how that show indicated sex in ways the censors would approve (eg, the boys in that show awoke with one of them shirtless and both of them under the covers of a messed up bed). This show, however, appeased homophobic censors to an absurd degree.

LOL, I forgot how they kept showing it in flashback! It's a shame the show doesn't have a better director because I think the actors are competent, and the guy playing the rookie has some charisma. I think he'd do exceptionally well if he had a better script and better director to guide him.

Why? Well, because Americans and Europeans watch Korean shows too. In fact, the Netflix Korean show Squid Game was largely a hit with Americans.

Perhaps it is common to shoot lovers in silhouette, but beyond that, the similarities of this scene and Blueming cannot be attributed to the standard staging for love scenes. I mean, the scenes in Love Mate and Blueming even share the exact same blocking of the steps the actors took took while traversing the set. The 2 boys in each show also dropped their bags at the
exact same point after entering the room. Indeed, the entire staging of that scene was copied to the tee, which goes way beyond standard staging of love scenes.

Of course, I am not surprised that a director/writer who'd fill one mere episode with 3 slip-and-catches would also rip off the stage blocking from another BL.

lol. I was aware of the similarities because I just re-watched Blueming this month. Trust me, it's as if the director of Love Mate stole the Blueming director's notes for how to stage that whole love scene.

Wow, the love scene ripped off Blueming in every respect. One, the guys entered a dark room as they walked backward while actively kissing. Two, they both dropped their bags while still engaged in kissing and we could hear the thump of the bags on the ground. Three, the scene was shot in silhouette. Four, there was a blue lit, large curtain in the background of their silhouettes. The difference? Well, Blueming EARNED the emotional investment of the audience by developing both the characters and their relationship before the love scene happened, so we really felt it.

With this show, meanwhile, we just felt, "Ho hum, here's the requisite kissing scene that the screenwriter tossed in because we've reached the mid-mark of the show. Now for the requisite conflict to fill up the final eps before the resolution that finds them happy at the end." Ultimately, the show is packed full of BL tropes (eg, slip-and-catches), while following a tiresome plot formula, and even ripping off another K-BL that did none of the former and was, thus, truly great.

All said, however, these are flaws of the director and writer. The actors themselves brought their game and 100% went for it in that kissing scene.

I know what you're saying and agree. But the refund thing just popped into my head cuz some people truly do this so I thought it was funny, lol.

But why didn't he remove it when he was at home getting dressed? You see, people often keep tags to return the clothes after wearing them once to a special event. I'm sure this was not the case here, and I was just joking. But it was still funny to me. :)

Ok, so here's what we all really want to know: why did the boss keep the sales tags on his new jacket? Is he planning on getting a refund for it after the date? LOL

Anyone else think of our boys from "Addicted" giving each other the same gloves for Christmas when the boys here gave each other the same scarf? Humm..... Should I be embarrassed that I watch so many BL's that I can cross reference scenes from all of them? lol

OMG, we truly are soul sisters from across the Atlantic, because that is one of my fave novels too! I read it first at 13 and thought Heathcliff was so dreamy. Then I read it again as a 30 year old and noticed that the dude was actually a bit of a freak in his adoration of Catherine in the way he just needed to POSESS her.

Hell, he didn't just slap her in a couple of scenes (and she slapped him in ten times as many scenes -- talk about a "toxic" couple, lol), but what he did to Isabella after marrying her for revenge on her brother Edgar was flat out abusive. Then there's that scene of him digging up Catherine's corpse to hug it after they'd buried her! Imagine how this crowd would respond to such a novel nowadays. I bet they put a "trigger warning" in the syllabus before reading it. Ugh.