This was a sweet story that feels like a summer love story, although it takes place in spring. The acting was overall quite good, although Shun's shyness came off as a little stiff sometimes. I loved how the story didn't just focus on the guys falling in love, but also on the parents who watched over their children and protegés in a non-toxic manner, and the girls who fell for the guys while also being their friends and supporters. No one-sided portrayals at all, every character felt well-rounded and real. There's no villains in this story, only imperfect humans.
The setting in Enoshima was interesting! I always enjoy when a story incorporates the setting.
If you're looking for a slow-paced but well-told LGBTQ story that doesn't rely on shock effect, sound effects or overacting, this is a good one!
I'm glad I decided to watch this show! It's a true gem. If you like sports anime and/or stories about friendship, struggle and acceptance, definitely give this a try.
I loved that the actors actually seem to have learned to play volleyball! The matches and training is well made, and the story as a whole was well-told, acted and filmed.
There's subtextual LGBTQ undertones within the main relationships in the story, though the focus mostly rests on the friendship part of these relationships so viewers less used to decoding subtext might overlook the LGBTQ part completely.
I recently rewatched this after completing Ingredients that features the same main characters and I liked it even more the second time. The story and direction could have benefited from a little more polish, but as a mini series it's very watchable as is! I'd love to see similar low budget indie projects explore small but poignant topics and flawed characters as He She It did. Recommended!
This drama/commercial was such a positive surprise! I loved this story and it's characters way more than I was expecting from a series of commercials.
I wasn't really expecting anything, but I was intrigued by the idea of a love story centered around food. What I found was a lovely slow-burn romance between two creative people who've fallen in love with each other through their mutual love of good food, but not yet spoken the words out loud and keep dancing around the subject while enjoying each other's presence. I also enjoyed how the main characters' respective backstory, plans for the future etc, was introduced gradually, like Top's family circumstances.
The chemistry between the lead actors is really sweet,. The episodes are short but use the time well, and the low-budget feel actually make the story feel grounded and realistic. The dialogue frequently dips into syrupy cringey lines, but since this can be interpreted as the two guys using sincerity-masked-as-jokes in order to figure out how the other truly feels about them, it still works within the narrative.
I'd love to see more low-budget sincere stories like this! Using a long-term narrative in a series of commercials isn't new, but this is the best and most coherent example I've yet to come across.
Thank you! Eureka is truly exceptional film! :)I admit that I have not read/saw 20th Century Boys, so all the…
While I haven't watched the movies yet, the manga is one of my absolute favourites! It's long, but following it as it was written was quite a ride! Highly recommended. :)
Thank you for an excellent look at how the subway attack influenced Japanese cinema, and for reminding me of the excellent movie Eureka. I've watched this movie at least two or three times at the cinema. I hadn't however connected it to the subway attack before, so thank you for that interpretation. Food for thought!
As you mentioned Aum's propaganda animations in your article, have you also considered (and/or watched/read yourself) the excellent manga 20th Century Boys or the three movies based on the story? I think this manga and movies wouldn't have existed if not for Aum and the subway attack.
This was the funniest episode yet! I was laughing out loud so many times, and I'm already counting down the time until the next episode. It's so nice to see a romantic comedy BL that's actually funny!
The toothbrushing scene, the popcorn, the plan, omg the plan what were they even thinking...
Duane has to face the facts: 1. his plans suck and 2. he's falling for Meen :D
I'm a little skeptic towards the shippers, but they kind of fit the tone of this story a lot better than in other BL stories where similar characters have shown up. I guess I'll see what happens with their part of the story.
At first I though, "How can this be a story from the same author that wrote 2Gether and Theory of Love (both of which I enjoyed initially but felt lost steam as the story went on)? But then I read a comment below that explained that the showrunners of Fish in the Sky spiced the story up a bit with more comedy, and I'm so grateful for that! It's become the perfect way to end the work week for me.
Casual reminder to fellow fans here not to put book spoilers without clicking the "spoiler" checkbox. It's super simple and lets the rest of us participate in the discussion with less risk of being spoiled.
this season feels like they wanted to keep the story going but didn't really know what to do with it.
Definitely! It went the way many 2nd seasons do after a surprise hit. It's a "OMG we didn't plan for the sequel somebody come up with a plan now we film tomorrow gotta ride the wave of popularity" – kind of sequel, unfortunately...
This show feels LGBTQ more than BL, which I appreciate. I was moved by the story and it brought out memories of old crushes when I was about the same age as the characters in the story.
The cinematography is so beautiful, and the pacing and editing looks more like a beautiful movie than the average tv-series. The acting was terrific, with the main actors, Teh's older brother, the mom and Tarn being especially memorable.
There's such a strong sense of identity in this whole production, and I hope you all give it a try. All episodes are amazing, but episode 3 in particular had me completely spellbound!
It such a pity if your point of view with this scene only like that, let me share this when Sam (shide) talking…
I agree with your reply wholeheartedly – I've seen so many, many people here and elsewhere who clearly don't seem to understand this distinction: that many of us who criticise the scene are talking about how it comes across to us, not how the production team/writers etc intended it to be seen.
Author's intent is one thing, the audience's interpretation is another – and while intent is important, interpretation is ultimately how the book/show/etc will be received and remembered.
On the same topic, I saw facepalm-inducing posts about the novelisation claiming that the scene in the novel "proved" that it wasn't rape(y) because of SY's thoughts during the scene. But the novel and the tv drama isn't even the same! They're just (presumably) based on the same script.
The acting in Episode 2 is fine, but the living room GSD/SY scene shows clear non-consent, IMO. Upon re-watching,…
I'm also older than most viewers from what I've seen, and I do enjoy dark stories a lot. But this scene felt wrong when I was watching it for the first time, like something wasn't right. I've thought about it and discussed it here a lot, and my conclusion is that my problem is that the intents of the scene and how it comes across to me (and many others) doesn't match. It's not intended to be interpreted by us viewers as rapey, but in reality, the scene does use a lot of visual language and cues from how such a horrific situation would play out if it had been. So because the scene looks rapey, but the story/drama keeps acting like it's just a sad but still romantic scene, we experience a weird dissonance that –at least to me – created even more uncomfortable feelings than if the drama had just embraced that it was toeing the line of non-con.
I can think of a lot of ways to make this scene feel more in line with how the team wanted us to interpret it, like less GSD manhandling SY, show us SY kind of being torn between going and staying, have SY on top instead of GSD and as E_Maya pointed out below, have GSD just put his finger on SY's lips. Etc etc.
I kind of think that the team just really loved GSD's interpretation of the scene – it was definitely his stellar acting that stole people's hearts – so they kept it and didn't think about how it might come across differently depending on the viewers expectations and/or interpretation.
The acting in Episode 2 is fine, but the living room GSD/SY scene shows clear non-consent, IMO. Upon re-watching,…
The discourse here and elsewhere about that particular scene was awful! A lot of us were actually incredibly uncomfortable with it and discussed it in detail for weeks here. Others loved that scene and some of those went to extremes in order to defend the scene by calling those of us critical of it "babies", told us to "go watch disney+ instead", and so on. It was quite uncomfortable to see people going into a frenzy simply because other people questioned why that super rapey scene had romantic music and never got mentioned in following episodes.
Agreed that GSD putting his hand over SY's moth was awful and super creepy! I didn't feel comfortable seeing them being lovey-dovey together after that.
To be honest, GSD was skirting the lines of unacceptable behaviour in S1 as well, but I could accept it because it was his last attempt at winning SY's heart after failing multiple times with other means. But in s2, he crossed the line for me.
Maybe it was just a bad translation, but when the intrusion was discovered at work, did management really tell…
Good point! That ridiculous point didn't even register on my radar when it happened, but you're absolutely right. One of many, many illogical moments of this mess of a season.
Okay, I lately thought about it. SamYu and the rest of the cast are sweethearts. I want to see more of them. But…
I feel you, although I'm still a bit on the fence... I didn't enjoy season 2 after the sofa scene and onwards. All the lost opportunities for interesting storytelling still hurt a bit. I kind of still care about the characters, so if they get a really well-written third season I'd be all over that. But I'm not holding my breath for that to happen after this mess...
What were you expecting? An Oscar-worthy production?
The kitten allegory is perfect! Mork sees Pi's potential, but he's not blind to the fact that he's not become a sweet, purring kitten _yet_. He can endure a few scratches, because he knows it'll be worth it in the end. He'll be a good boyfriend for Pi, I'm sure! :)
The setting in Enoshima was interesting! I always enjoy when a story incorporates the setting.
If you're looking for a slow-paced but well-told LGBTQ story that doesn't rely on shock effect, sound effects or overacting, this is a good one!
I loved that the actors actually seem to have learned to play volleyball! The matches and training is well made, and the story as a whole was well-told, acted and filmed.
There's subtextual LGBTQ undertones within the main relationships in the story, though the focus mostly rests on the friendship part of these relationships so viewers less used to decoding subtext might overlook the LGBTQ part completely.
I wasn't really expecting anything, but I was intrigued by the idea of a love story centered around food. What I found was a lovely slow-burn romance between two creative people who've fallen in love with each other through their mutual love of good food, but not yet spoken the words out loud and keep dancing around the subject while enjoying each other's presence. I also enjoyed how the main characters' respective backstory, plans for the future etc, was introduced gradually, like Top's family circumstances.
The chemistry between the lead actors is really sweet,. The episodes are short but use the time well, and the low-budget feel actually make the story feel grounded and realistic. The dialogue frequently dips into syrupy cringey lines, but since this can be interpreted as the two guys using sincerity-masked-as-jokes in order to figure out how the other truly feels about them, it still works within the narrative.
I'd love to see more low-budget sincere stories like this! Using a long-term narrative in a series of commercials isn't new, but this is the best and most coherent example I've yet to come across.
Recommended!
As you mentioned Aum's propaganda animations in your article, have you also considered (and/or watched/read yourself) the excellent manga 20th Century Boys or the three movies based on the story? I think this manga and movies wouldn't have existed if not for Aum and the subway attack.
First movie: https://kisskh.at/535-20th-century-boys-1-beginning-of-the-end
The toothbrushing scene, the popcorn, the plan, omg the plan what were they even thinking...
Duane has to face the facts:
1. his plans suck and
2. he's falling for Meen
:D
I'm a little skeptic towards the shippers, but they kind of fit the tone of this story a lot better than in other BL stories where similar characters have shown up. I guess I'll see what happens with their part of the story.
At first I though, "How can this be a story from the same author that wrote 2Gether and Theory of Love (both of which I enjoyed initially but felt lost steam as the story went on)? But then I read a comment below that explained that the showrunners of Fish in the Sky spiced the story up a bit with more comedy, and I'm so grateful for that! It's become the perfect way to end the work week for me.
The cinematography is so beautiful, and the pacing and editing looks more like a beautiful movie than the average tv-series. The acting was terrific, with the main actors, Teh's older brother, the mom and Tarn being especially memorable.
There's such a strong sense of identity in this whole production, and I hope you all give it a try. All episodes are amazing, but episode 3 in particular had me completely spellbound!
Highly recommended!
Author's intent is one thing, the audience's interpretation is another – and while intent is important, interpretation is ultimately how the book/show/etc will be received and remembered.
On the same topic, I saw facepalm-inducing posts about the novelisation claiming that the scene in the novel "proved" that it wasn't rape(y) because of SY's thoughts during the scene. But the novel and the tv drama isn't even the same! They're just (presumably) based on the same script.
I can think of a lot of ways to make this scene feel more in line with how the team wanted us to interpret it, like less GSD manhandling SY, show us SY kind of being torn between going and staying, have SY on top instead of GSD and as E_Maya pointed out below, have GSD just put his finger on SY's lips. Etc etc.
I kind of think that the team just really loved GSD's interpretation of the scene – it was definitely his stellar acting that stole people's hearts – so they kept it and didn't think about how it might come across differently depending on the viewers expectations and/or interpretation.
Agreed that GSD putting his hand over SY's moth was awful and super creepy! I didn't feel comfortable seeing them being lovey-dovey together after that.
To be honest, GSD was skirting the lines of unacceptable behaviour in S1 as well, but I could accept it because it was his last attempt at winning SY's heart after failing multiple times with other means. But in s2, he crossed the line for me.