Maggi64

I just googled it. One site has Austria and the other has S. Korea. So I don't know which is right. I would've thought it would be Russia or somewhere Skandanavian and bleak and cold.

Yes, apparently, there are director's quotes about it having been a feature length film. I wish it were longer.

Evidently, this is a 2 and a half hour movie cut into 4 parts. I don't get why they didn't just run the whole movie at once. It could be that they thought spacing it out by one week would gain more viewers, but it would have gained word of mouth even if it came out all at once. It's really just that good.

At the 10 min mark of ep 1, Ji Hyun handed Jae Won something. What was that?

I love how the surfing coach asked Ji Hyun if he'd joined because of the pretty girl on the poster. Nope, he joined because of the pretty BOY on the poster!

Yep, Korea and Japan are the best. Korea's keep getting better while Taiwan's keep getting worse. Even the last HIStory sucked.

Thanks, I try to write crisp, clean prose. I am also flattered that you'd want to ram it into me if only I were a man! lol

Exactly. A kiss is a physical expression of the abstract emotion of love. It gives a viewer a visual cue, and dramas are all about visuals, right? Actors who take these roles should know this. I respected the actors in "The End of the World with You" and "The Pornographer" because those actors really committed to their roles. Now, it helped that the same director did both those shows, and he's a gay man. Perhaps we need more gay guys directing BL's, huh?

True, the kisses in the more soapy romances series are overly chaste. But at least they kiss.

Ah, now it makes sense. Thank you for the reply!

Ahh, now Ace makes sense. As for that hickey in the nurses office, I loved that at first, cuz I read it as the boy being so fearless that he messes around with his pal on school premises. Nope. Turns out they were horsing around no differently than a couple of boys giving each other wedgies.

LOL, I love when they say that. As if a simple kiss in a romance were the equivalent of two guys fully exposed and ramming penises into each other. They say that bit about us wanting gay porn to shame us for wanting to see a simple kiss in a romance. I mean, this was supposed to be a ROMANCE for goodness sake.

What's wrong with Tharn/Type? Those 2 behaved like two college age men would behave and kissed and had sex.
Remember, men in their early 20's are boinking like bunnies.

Yep. And the crazy thing about homophobia among the producers, actors, directors is that BL's are soaring in popularity so embracing gay sexuality would actually benefit all their careers. I think a number of idols have figured this out and that's why they now appear in BL's, but they still won't fully commit actually behaving as gay men do. Especially gay men in their 20's!

Yep. So there's nothing wrong with viewers expecting to see a kiss in a romance. Frankly, I wonder why certain people want to shame us for expecting what is utterly standard in hetero romances. I like to see a kissing scene. And I'm not ashamed to say so.

As ever, your comments crack me up. I laughed out loud at the bit about the pool full of bright yellow urine. And pajamas? Why not show them wearing underwear as they did in the swimming scene of The End of the World With You? Now that show was fearless about showing gay male sexuality. And I respected those actors for going there. They committed to their roles.

Kieto may have had a healthy career as a singer, but not as an actor. He's using a BL to break into acting. And the other projects were not necessarily hits. The guy in Cherry Magic, for instance, had a couple of other shows, but none were hits. He became well known for Cherry Magic, yet he would not do a gay kiss.

Now, I will concede that it might not be the actors' fault in all cases. It might be their agents. At first, agencies did not want their clients kissing. But then BL's became so damned popular that the agents did a U-turn on this an now we see all kinds of idols showing up in BL's to break into acting.

That's because you and I agree on everything!

Soup cans, lol. I agree with you down the line. As for Chinese BL's, they work so hard trying to do coded love that it sometimes comes through more strongly than a BL with a kiss. Advanced Bravely had the guys in bed, shirtless, with the smaller one resting his head on the taller, buff one. "His Cat" had Cat Boy telling his beloved that he smelled like the fresh green foilage. "Precise Shot" had the fake brother jealous of people close to the real brother. The director even did a scene with them grappling each others bodies playfully, then stopping to stare into each other's eyes. I thought, wow, how did those crusty old Commies miss that these shows are all about men in love?

Lastly, what does Ace stand for?

Ahh, ok, now I know what you mean. But I think there will be a kiss in that one cuz the potter and the cafe guy have identified themselves as being gay. It's their love interests who are hetero. Also, there was real heat in that scene where the potter backed the guy into a corner to test if he was gay or not. So they'll keep up the heat. Well, that's my theory anyway.