Maggi64

When Ritsu showed the actress Masumi's pix she said, "I'm surprised, because he's so plain." I felt sorry for the actor Seto Toshiki because the script actually had other characters saying that he was unattractive. That had to have hurt!

It's highly significant that she had to add 2 bonus chapters to make it clear that the guys were in a romantic relationship. I imagine a number of readers were, like me, scratching their heads and wondering, "How is this a BL? These guys are more like BFF's than lovers." In other words, she likely added the 2 bonus chapters in response to readers' complaints that the romance in the main manhwa wasn't strong enough on its own.

In Ep 1 Ritsu said he was the CEO of some company. But then in Ep 6 he said he'd been in some shows with the actress who killed herself. So which is he, a CEO businessman or an actor?

Thank you, because I was looking for "Unintentional Love Story." Do you know if "Our Dating Sim" is based on a manhwa? Because I am enjoying that show and would love to read the manhwa version if there is one.

Wait, when you say "2 side stories" do you mean the 2 bonus chapters? Because I have not read those. But if you say they kiss in the bonus chapters then I'll take your word for it. Although, as you also said, it's likely that the show will not include the bonus chapters and will only follow the main manhwa (especially since the main manhwa is already long at 28 chapters even without the bonus chapters). And the 28 chapter main manhwa has no physical intimacy at all, not even a measly kiss.

Moreover, it's odd that even in the bonus chapters Taehyn has to tell his boyfriend that he wants to have sex because they haven't had it yet. Those guys are in their mid 20's, and have their own apartments by time the manhwa ends, so they should've already been boinking fulltime, just as any real gay couple would do. It's only in "BL Fluffy Land" that men in love do not have sex. In "Cherry Blossoms After Winter" Taesung and Haeboom lived together at college for 2 years before they had sex. I laughed and thought, yep, a woman wrote this. No man -- gay or straight -- would expect us to believe that lovers could share the same bed for 2 years without having sex.

Exactly. Except I'd go further and say that not only are they not being brave to be in a BL, but it's the exact opposite and they are just two more low tier idols exploiting the BL wave to advance their careers while waiting to hit mainstream.

Korea figured out how profitable BL's were 3 years ago when "Where Your Eyes Linger" became a hit. Ever since then they've been cranking out over a dozen BL's a year. It's still not like Thailand's BL factory, which cranks out 50+ a year, but it's nonetheless clear to entertainment agencies that BLs are a great way for semi-celebs to get attention. Which is fine, except that a number of these actors won't do a gay kiss that might upset the fans they'll get later on if/when they hit mainstream.

For instance, the boys in ASTCO are not especially "brave" cuz (as we know from the manhwa), the story is a bromance, not a romance. There's no kiss, let alone the sort of sex scenes we just saw in "End of the World With You." Now the EOTWWY actors truly were brave, because those sex scenes were explicit!

You know, I was wondering what was up with a subplot in the BL Shiny Smile wherein a member of the boyband was accused by a former classmate of bullying him in high school. The idol was proven innocent, but still had to bow and beg forgiveness just like you said. I guess this crap is pervasive if even the BL's are portraying it happening.

Ok, so the bullying is said to have happened before they become famous. When an old classmate comes forward to make such an accusation do they have to back it up by having other classmates also attest to having seen it? Because I would not believe just one person who may have had an ax to grind. The ex girlfriend of the guy playing Gu Ha in "Addicted" said he "abused" her, but I did not believe any of it because nobody else substantiated the accusations. I mean, come on, ex lovers always have an ax to grind.

As for agencies cancelling the idols, that's because those damned agencies own those kids to begin with. In Hollywood, a star makes their own career and an agent just works for them, so the agent never gains that much power over the celeb. But in the Asia, the agency takes some unknown kids, puts them in a dorm, trains them, packages them, and then promotes them. Thus, they have total power over those kids. I'm always struck by how MDL bios list the idol's agency by name. Trust me, you would NEVER read a bio of Tom Cruise or Taylor Swift that listed who their talent agency was. Because their agencies do not have that kind of power over them.

I neither abandoned nor omitted any of my original words. I simply added a reply directly under my original post where I conceded that another commenter had made a good point about getting the mother treatment for depression. That is called a concession . It's a common rhetorical device in the construction of any logical argument . See how that works?

Why would I re-type it for you word for word? You already proved that you were incapable of understanding the meaning when it was in condensed form. Hence, I slowed down the 2nd time to explain it to you in clearer terms. At any rate, I take it that you finally comprehended the meaning. If so, good girl.

I agree that these signs were there (I especially liked how he recalled some toss off comment Masumi made 12 years ago about how if it were ever the end of the world, he'd be hanging out in a library reading). But the OP also makes a salient point about not enough time being given to Ritsu and Masumi once the redemption arc was underway.

I thought that once Ritsu apologized at the end of Ep 5 we'd see more of him and Masumi establishing a new footing in their relationship. Instead, we got a flashback scene to the deceased actress we'd never met before and in whom, therefore, we'd invested little emotion. I didn't mind the show giving time to the trans sister, and Miracle Boy, but at only 8 eps of 20 min a pop, there was no time for that actress and her doomed lesbian love affair too. I would've preferred more exploration of Ritsu and Masumi.

I know. It drives me bonkers when somebody comes out swinging who has clearly not read the thread.

BTW, since you know me, I must say that I am always hard on people with addictions and mental illness who reproduce because I made a conscious decision NOT to reproduce based on those very things. I'll sit in AA meetings hearing some woman talk about Social Services taking her kids away for the umpteenth time and want to dump the coffee on her while screaming, "This is why people like us should not have children! No children unless you are willing to work twice as hard to do it right!" Funny, but people who don't have addictions and depression are far more forgiving than I am on this score. That's why I felt such an aversion toward the mom on this show while the others felt more sympathy. It's that old thing about being harder on the members of your own club.

Yep, I have seen Misaeng. Hell, I have seen countless K-dramas and films where there is rampant slapping and bullying. I did not want to be unfair to an entire country and make assumptions based on films and dramas but, as I said earlier, when something shows up constantly in films and dramas, it must indicate something cultural. As for bullying, that exists with kids across the globe. But what I've noticed in Asian dramas and films is that they are only just beginning to take it seriously and create school committees and enact laws to counter it. They seem to be about 20 years behind in this but, hey, at least it's finally happening.

BTW, what do you mean when you said "news of idols bullying others"? I do not follow idols in the media. But I watch a lot of BL's so I see idols in these shows. Occasionally, there will be an idol who crosses over to serious film as well, such as Yim Si Wan, and I'll pay attention. Otherwise, I don't know the stories about them and never heard anything about idols bullying anyone. What's that about?

Holy Shit. I am actually glad to be hearing this because it makes me feel better about knowing I can't go to Korea. You see, I am an English Professor who retired a couple of years ago and I've been thinking of going to East Asia to teach English part time -- just for fun. Well, I investigated options in Taiwan, Japan and Korea. Korea is so conservative that they will not grant a Visa to someone who's had even just one DUI.

Now, I don't know if you've read this entire thread, but I have revealed elsewhere that I have bipolar and alcoholism. I have 10 years sober, but I am also 56, so there was lots of boozing before I quit and that means, yep, I had gotten a DUI (it was 25 years ago). It's crazy that despite an Ivy League degree and decades of teaching experience, I can never teach English in Korea because of one DUI from 25 years ago. However, the more I learn about Korea from people like you and others, the more I figure it's for the best. Indeed, I think Japan might be the country most suitable for somebody like me -- ie, a single, childless, independent woman who's lived in NYC for over half her life.

I have never been to Korea but I have been watching almost exclusively Asian Cinema for 3 years, much of it Korean, and notice that teachers are always slapping students and bosses slap subordinates. At first I thought, "Oh, this is just a movie, so it is not realistic." But I see it All The Time in movies, so it must indicate at least some small sense of reality. Can you tell me if it's a cultural thing for Koreans to lightly smack people around? I know it's a cultural thing for Italians to gesticulate widely and talk with their hands, so who knows.

You know, the way you just described the hickey scene DOES sound like 2 boys wanting to get jiggy, which is why I thought that scene was so hot when I first saw Ep 1. I would go back to rewatch it if I liked this show better. But now that I know how downhill it's going to go based on the manhwa, it's not worth it re-watching.

I also agree that the whole scene with the Health Class was absurd. Yes, there are some nuance differences between like and love, but the interesting thing is that those differences are biggest in Japanese, Taiwanese and Chinese. The Korean language is actually the ONLY Asian language that uses "love" in a similar context that we do. So, then, what was the point of that scene? Why, to introduce a conflict. Some writer was desperate to hustle up an conflict to keep their characters crackling. Only the conflict was bullshit, so there was no crackling.

Oh, and speaking of 13 year olds on MDL, I just got into it with a group for daring to say that I disliked the mother for not getting treatment for depression over losing her biological child, thereby abandoning a child who already felt less-loved because he was not biological. They all attacked me for not being sensitive to issues of depression. I did not want to come out swinging my BiPolar Card, but eventually Tim, I could not resist. I simply had to shut down the twits by saying that I suffered from this shit and therefore know that you are responsible to those around you to get treatment. The only defense the mom had was that freaking S. Korea has such a taboo against admitting you're depressed. There's a reason they rank #1 for Suicide in the World.

I even wrote this, but few were reading. They get so excited when they sniff a chance to get self-righteous that they pounce right out of the gate without reading any other comments in a thread.

Perhaps I did come out harshly. I think it's because I myself suffer from bipolar and alcoholism (10 years sober!) and we who have something are always less patient with members of our own group.

I also get impatient when I see people not getting treatment because everyone around me constantly says "I am happy to help you, but only if you help yourself." So there's this constant message that I am responsible to the people around me to maintain my mental health. I am 56 years old and, trust me, loved ones get less and less patient with this shit as we age. Hence, I am freaking vigilant about going to AA and taking my anti-depressants. In the case of the character in this show, I think the best defense is that Korea still stigmatizes depression.

Incidentally, I never had children because of my bipolar and addictions. I am not saying that people with mental illness and addictions shouldn't have kids, as I know many wonderful parents in my AA group. It's just that I, personally, felt it would be disastrous for someone with my level of depression to try to raise a child (instead, I have tons of great nieces and nephews! lol). So when I see people with my same illness reproduce, I am sorry, but I hold them accountable for getting treatment for the sake of their children.

Please read an entire thread before you come out attacking. Otherwise your own comments shall be sorely out of place.

As for my age, I am a 56 yr old recovering alcoholic with 10 years sober, who also suffers from Bipolar. I have been hospitalized 6 times in my life for catatonic depressions where I can't eat or get out of bed for days. I'll go over a week without a shower unless someone comes over, drags me to a psych ward, and throws my ass into a shower there. It happens in the late winter, on a cycle (depressed in the winter, manic in the summer). In fact, I just pulled through the hell zone last week (late March). I take Trazedone, Seraquel, and Wellbutrin. So I know all about depression.

This is why I also know that while my loved ones owe it to me to help, I equally owe it to them to help myself. This means staying sober, going to AA and seeing my doctor to continue anti-depressants. If anything, I interpret your remark to be typical of someone very young who thinks an illness immediately lets one off the hook. It does not. People are happy to let me off the hook, but only if I prove that I am also willing to help myself by going to AA and taking my meds.

Ok, back to the mother in this show. The best defense for her is that she lives in S. Korea where it's still taboo to seek treatment for mental health. Their mental health system is very behind that of the West because people still regard depression and addiction as moral failures. Hence, many fail to seek treatment out of shame. I never feel ashamed telling people I have bipolar and alcoholism, because they are physical illnesses and having them is not my fault. However, as I've said before, not treating them IS my fault. But it's very hard to get treatment in S. Korea -- which is why it ranks #1 in the World for Suicide.

What the hell is either stupid or funny? I said the mother abandoned her adopted child because she was depressed over miscarrying a biological child, and that this would have compounded the adopted son's sense of being unloved because he was not biologically related. The show has made it achingly clear that this was the PRECISE fear from which the child suffered. If you missed that, then you, poor thing, are the stupid one.

Moreover, I proceeded to make an additional comment conceding that the people around the mother should've gotten her help. Because all of the adults failed that child. If you did not glean this from reading my comments then you lack basic reading comprehension. Meaning once again that you, poor thing, are the stupid one.

Wow, that story is very revealing about the cultural mindset. I have been reading a lot this week about Yoo Ah In's arrest on drug charges and I am sickened by how the Koreans are treating addiction as if it's an moral failure instead of a disease needing treatment. They summarily fired him from all future projects and endorsements and are savaging him all over online. The Washington Post did a story on how the attitude toward addiction in the West is so different.

Consider how we all rooted for Robert Downey Jr. when he got out of jail on drug charges. Hollywood did not fire him from projects but did the opposite and gave him more roles than ever. His career flourished and he now has 21 years sober! Meanwhile, Korea has a record with over 30 idols who've killed themselves in the past decade alone. They don't seek help for depression or addiction because they are not even allowed to say they suffer from those things in the first place. As I had said above, I am a fan of Asian culture in general, but NOT when it comes to their attitude toward mental health and addiction.