SpikedBoba

I came into it with trash expectations because I've seen the Japanese live-action, which was a complete butchering in my opinion, and have been pleasantly surprised. I left a longer comment on my thoughts above, but there are successes and failures in this as someone who's coming into it very familiar with and having loved the manga in my teens. Overall, it's the best live-action for sure, and I think some of the main things they've done right have overshadowed some of the things they've done wrong imo. Kaownah and Turbo as Ryo and Izumi are adorable and the best representative pairing we've had of them IRL. And the actors for Jet/Shogo (literal heartthrob no joke) and Tee/Rei are great too. It starts off slow but I think picks up more in later episodes, mainly once Ryo comes to terms with his feelings for Anda/Izumi. I have to mention that Anda/Izumi and Ryo's first date scene with Jet/Shogo and his bandmates trying to ruin it was hilarious and a highlight for me. The way Ryo cares for and takes care of Anda as the series progresses is pretty accurate too and there's a lot of tender feeling there, and of course, their most recent love scenes have been really well portrayed and acted. I'd say go in with zero expectations and you may end up surprised!

This is like 50 million x better than the J live-action (certainly the best I've seen) but is any live-action version ever going to be able to accurately represent the manga? I feel like no. The manga is just too out there both in the comedy and the story itself for it to work in a live-action I think. And truly there are just some aspects that shouldn't be brought to life to be fair haha. I've liked the creative license they've taken even if the pacing is slow and the scriptwriting for this is not great (though I'm sure the lack of official subtitles makes it difficult to know what the reality of that is).

I will say that I do love the difference in the direction they've taken with what really shouldn't fit into any version, and that's with the consent issues the manga has. I think Anda and Ryo (and Kaownah and Turbo who play them) have a very sweet and budding love in contrast to the much more developed relationship Jet has with Tee, they're just in very different places. I personally think they both have great chemistry. Ryo and Anda are not only young, neither one of them has been in a relationship before let alone explored their sexuality so it's nice to see them do that in a very open and communicative way. And Ryo is just very sweet with Anda who, like in the manga, has been incredibly sheltered and spoiled his whole life so definitely skews younger in his actions and demeanor. I think it would be hard to watch this and really understand the personality quirks and reasons behind certain actions without having read the manga honestly. Which is definitely a failure on behalf of the writing/production team because context is important, but I do see how it might be difficult because like I said, the manga is kind of out there haha. Anyway, the fact that they showed Anda say, literally right in the middle of a heated hook-up, that he wasn't ready and Ryo stopped: A+++. I wish more shows showed that no matter how far along you've gotten into an intimate moment it's never too late to say you're not ready and your partner needs to respect that with zero recriminations.

Overall this isn't anything groundbreaking, I'm definitely biased due to my nostalgia for the manga (childhood faux pas I guess), but it's not terrible or offensive. I think the most offensive part to me was Ryo's behavior in the beginning tbh. The rest just sort of flows like a soft fluffy romance, not to everyone's taste for sure and I can only handle so much of that myself but it's a good one to try for those who prefer those types of series. And if it wasn't clear I LOVE Kaownah and Turbo as Ryo and Izumi, absolutely hands-down the best pairing they've had for them.

I actually laughed out loud at the trailer which is a good sign for me. Hopefully, this is well done because my interest is definitely pricked. This new angle of the content creation addiction and the conflict of real life vs internet fakery has me really intrigued, they could really do something with this ESPECIALLY considering the aspects of how shipping translates into online circles. Also, I mean you can't deny, super cuties in the cast haha.

EDIT: is it just me or does the description above not match at all with what we saw in the new trailer? From comments below it seems the story completely changed from what was originally planned, so I'm assuming the description we have isn't accurate anymore?

Episode 6 is just a horrific worsening I'm sorry to say. Yeah, I actually appreciate U's character a lot, even if I wish he would put a more definitive end to the toxic games Chin wants to play. He was upfront and honest about his feelings and told Chin right away that while he respected that Chin just wanted them to remain "friends" (total gross cop-out by Chin btw) he wasn't interested in the "friendship" they had and didn't want that if Chin didn't like him or was going to pursue Tisa and wanted them to have a normal friendship. Chin has completely ignored what this person he supposedly cares about has asked and instead prefers to keep hurting him because having U on the side is what HE wants and HE'S getting pleasure out of it. He has zero care for what U wants or thinks. We've had a few over the years but it's been a while since we've had a character this selfish and self-centered. What he does in episode 6 is just asshole to the extreme to me and then he has the audacity to get mad at Pat for standing up for U and being there for him?....the amount of dislike I have for Chin at this point is wild.

I have also appreciated BB's "take no more bs" attitude haha though I feel like the whole Zol and Zeemai thing is so far another overused trope of having to change yourself to get your love interest to notice you. I wish he'd just done it for himself, not for some guy that's leading him around by the nose. Zol has kind of annoying hot and cold tendencies that bother me too, like are you interested or not? If you're not stop leading this person on, if you are stop treating them like you couldn't care less about their feelings. Jed and Unwa are sweet but because the rest of the series is so chaotic feel like they kind of get lost in the mix.

Maybe I've just watched way too many series (totally valid lol) but at this point, the same old storylines and character flaws are tired and old. They're especially hard to watch when there has been a lot of improvement in the quality and depth of storytelling, character development, and relationship building that have been showcased in more recent BL. The series that aren't keeping up with the times just become glaringly atrocious in comparison when maybe five or ten years ago they might have gotten away with it (unfortunately). Like if you're going to make Chin an asshole, ok cool, but actually go there and give his character depth and meaning, and have him actually experience realistic consequences. This surface-level bs has got to go.

He's was certainly flirtatious and touchy in front of their friend's group prior to Tisa being a factor. Once he established a relationship with her he became even more grubby by only trying to catch U out when they were alone. Not to mention that, from my perspective, behaving territorial in public does denote that there is a romantic interest there. He's never seemed particularly concerned with what Pat thinks of his jealousy issues, which doesn't really scream "insecure, hiding in the closet" to me. He's also been quite confident of his seduction of U, and almost angry when U displays he can think for himself and isn't actually tethered to him. What normal friends situation would call for someone to behave in any way how Chin behaves? None that I've ever heard of unless it's a friends' with benefits situation which U did not willingly enter into. U was led to believe Chin had legitimate feelings for him, was told otherwise and prepared to move, and Chin is doing his damndest to make sure he doesn't even though he's already in a relationship. He's definitely on my shit-list of horrible male leads who deserve the complete opposite of a happy ending that's all I know hah.

Ugh. I can't watch this. Not only is the pacing criminally slow, I dislike So too much to see this to its inevitable conclusion. Sidenote but I don't think I've ever dropped this many series in such a short amount of time. I guess that goes to show that more to choose from means more selectivity. I'm honestly curious how and why the initial novels behind some of these even got picked up. Do the teams behind them just do such a piss-poor job I can't fathom why anyone would be interested in the subject matter? This is probably the third or fourth series where it's been so painful to watch each episode you'd rather go watch paint dry than force yourself to stick with it. Unfortunate considering the time, effort, and money that go into them.

Um...are we supposed to like Chin and want him and U to get together? Because...nah. It's one thing to be insecure in your sexuality. It's entirely another to be complicit in deliberately hurting and manipulating someone due to your own selfish nature. Let's be real, Chin doesn't care about U. At all. He's the classic 'eat my cake and have it to' narcissist who wants U to continue to be at his disposal while he romances his girlfriend. He's not insecure with dating a guy, that much was clear with how publicly and heavily he flirted with U in the beginning until he had him right where he wanted him. The scene where he humiliates U and says he actually likes Tisa, like that's the most obvious conclusion anyone would come to after someone kissed them multiple times and acted for all intents and purposes like they were together, was like a slap in the face. As a viewer I was thrown for a loop and not in a good way, I sincerely thought he was joking. Yeah, not joking. He's just a gross user. This last episode solidified how awful he is and I really wish U would leave. He's tried very hard to set boundaries that Chin doesn't respect at all (again, read selfish asshole) and once again he's dupped into believing Chin might actually care and is left alone and hurting. It's hard to watch. I'm so glad Pat stepped in and was there for U when he really needed someone. I know Pat and U won't end up together but they should. I'm so done with this overused trope of the ass who treats his love interest like dirt getting what he wants in the end. It's such a horrible message to send. Wait it out no matter how much you get hurt in the process and your love interest will magically change into prince charming because they're just clueless and really do love you. Ugh. I wish they would show that actually your behavior has consequences and continuously hurting people means you lose them. If Pat and U actually do end up together it will mark a much-needed shift in the way these relationships are portrayed.

Overall the series itself is pretty meh. Typical fluff piece with poor writing and direction, though I will say I can completely appreciate how much they've highlighted and given shine to the gay femme male characters in this show. Usually, they're used as the butt of jokes in BL or they don't ever get love interests and in this case, every single one is not only the main character of their love story, they're in demand rockstars haha. The humor is really off the cuff and fun too, more dry, dirty, and ironic than I was expecting which is refreshing. I just wish everything else had been elevated and this could have been a pretty stellar series.

I'm just sad it's over T_T definitely on my list of all-time favorites. The casting, the writing, the production...everything was top-notch.

It was pretty vague but he's apparently continuing his flirtation with Ice with Pete's random blessing and moving on.

Let's get into the nitty-gritty...this series was completely pointless, poorly written, asinine and nonsensical plot construction, ridiculous conflict points, zero character development, drama for the sake of drama due to lack of creative conflict building, the list is endless.

The story the LEAST worth watching is the main lead's. Valen and Kaitoon need to just let it go. We *almost* got a plausible ending until they ruined it in the last three seconds. Some people just shouldn't be together. Just move on, stop hurting yourselves, find a new love interest please for the love of God. Valen is 100% on the list of the worst written male leads in BL history, hands down. At least he recognized some of his faults (selfish and self-centered), but he completely glosses over and ignores the rest. The fact that he is still incapable of facing up to his own actions and having mature conversations just shows what a spoiled child he is. His history with Pan is a perfect example: he drags her into things by being incapable of being honest about his feelings for Kaitoon and being honest about who the roses are for, he leads her on, asks her to be his girlfriend out of spite due to his belief that Kaitoon has moved on (even though HE broke up with HIM), and when he comes to the realization that "oops I'm a complete asshole who's deluded every conflict between me and this person I supposedly love" he petulantly drops her without any explanation. He's such an emotional user and abuser and has a complete inability to take any form of responsibility over the consequences of his own bad behavior. Considering his relationship with Kaitoon starts and ends over the exact same failing, just...what is the point? What. is. the. point???

I won't even get into King and Pete's relationship because it doesn't make any kind of logical sense. I sincerely hope there is not a season 3, the last thing we need is the trauma of Valen and Kaitoon for a third season. BUT I would take a spinoff that focuses purely on Pete and Sean, sorry not sorry. Let's pivot to the two people who can act and had the most fascinating (if wacked) storyline in the whole project. I was more intrigued and invested in their five seconds of shadowy storyline and chemistry than I was in the entire two seasons of the series. I want to know more! What happened with them? How did they meet? How did they get together, was Pete still with King? Why did they break up? Why did Pete go through those insane lengths to get back with King only to end up with Sean again? Inquiring minds would like to know. If a different writing team would like to tackle their story I would watch it, just saying. I wouldn't even mind if you sprinkled in King and his new little bubby for added context and flavor but honestly, who cares about anyone else?

I have to mention it because it's just truly too sad if I don't, but Nont's storyline is almost comically tragic. The amount of time they spent showing this poor soul being ignored, forgotten, pining, alone....a martyr, literally that was his role the whole two seasons. I'm going to go out on a limb and say he has probably the most pathetic character arc ever written in a BL. All his scenes were either him being ghosted or staring forlornly at Kaitoon's door, not even joking. They could have given the man something, come on, with all the crazy, convoluted plot that was written there was not one interesting nugget for Nont? Like I said, tragic.

TL:DR: Mess. Didn't need a season 2 and personally, wasn't worth the frustration but at the very least we got Pete and Sean. Just google their cuts and save yourself the headache.

One of my favorite series airing right now! They've done such a good job so far!

Hm, interesting, I don't know, my childhood friendships were pretty formative and certainly the close bond I shared with my very best friend almost from the time we were in diapers incredibly so. I still flashback to those memories and think of them fondly, and we reminisce a lot actually lol anything can trigger a memory especially when we're in our childhood homes. In the case of the series, I think the flashbacks are more to give contextual points for why the characters are so close to each other or have a connection to each other. Not necessarily a romantic one that early in their lives but certainly a close bond. If my best friend and I had fallen in love and gotten together I could see how poignant those first years might be in remembrance because we had lived through so much of our lives together, a lot of ups and downs. And while we've obviously grown and changed a lot as we've matured, we're still reflections of our younger selves for sure haha our parents actually still joke about it. I guess it just depends on how much suspension of disbelief is needed from a fictional perspective, but I do think if you've had a close childhood friend that turned into a lover it could make sense? I kind of see it like they're telling us, these two people have this history together so the bonds are deeper, or different than they would be if they met as strangers and the flashbacks are just building blocks to give understanding for who they were and why they have a connection. I could totally be misreading things though lol

Oh man, I'm already in deep with this one. I was devastated to find out it wasn't two episodes a week AFTER watching the first episode. Watching Haebeom get bullied was like a punch to the gut, the actor who played him did the emotion of those scenes so much justice, it was heartbreaking.

Hm. I feel like I'm the most interested in the underlying motivations of the Enchante's and how the show is going to resolve things. At this point in time, unless they completely changed the ending, things don't make sense knowing the truth about who Enchante is. And if I'm honest, as cute as Theo and Akk are, their story is kind of meh. I'm hoping they'll spice things up with the other characters otherwise I'm not sure how they'll carry this through ten episodes.

I feel like Mon is severely depressed, at least I hope that's what this series is trying to convey because otherwise, I don't know what else to say. If that's the case, I'm glad they're showing what that can be like for someone, even if I wish they'd give viewers more understanding of what's going on with him. I get we're supposed to slowly be introduced to why Mon is the way he is, but the way the series has been written so far is really strange. The pacing is glacial even for a slow build. This reminds me of how I felt when I first watched Physical Therapy (and then proceeded to drop), it's this odd feeling like the writers are somehow expecting you to know what's going on but you really have no idea and they aren't helping things with bad writing, poor casting choices, and zero contextual information. I can see that they're trying to mimic the tone of really well-done series but are severely missing the mark.

And maybe it's just me but I don't like Soh at all. He kind of creeps me out. I don't know what it is about him. He doesn't fit with the rest of the cast. I also am not really understanding what his deal is. I'm getting that he's this older guy who put off going to school and is starting late, however, there's a bit of an ick factor in the way he followed Mon not only to school but also to living with him, and now is displaying these odd - don't want to say obsessive but it's getting there - invasive qualities. It's bizarre and so far they don't fit in my mind as a couple, which is unfortunate as I'm positive they're meant to be end-game. It isn't just that their chemistry is sub-zero, but that's a huge part of the issue even if they're supposed to just be getting to know one another. There should at least be SOMETHING there. I'm actually kind of hoping I don't like Saint better because rooting for a second lead you want to be main is excruciating.

Also...I need someone to tell me I'm crazy but...was there romantic tension between Todd and Black or am I hallucinating? The emotions between the two of them are intense and complicated for sure. When Todd went back to lay on the bed when they were talking and Black got up I gasped because I could have sworn they were going there with the plot...I know in the book it's Black and Gram but what kind of a fucked up, crazy plot twist would it be if Todd and Black were somehow romantically involved before things went to shit between them. I could even see it being like a hook-up situation for Black where Todd caught deeper emotions and now teeters between wanting to punish Black for not feeling the same but also can't let go entirely. From a logical standpoint, I get Todd's reasoning even if it's flawed. I do think he believes that his thirst for power comes from a place of wanting to "help" Black but, like Black said, power corrupts and the people who thirst for power are usually the exact opposite of the type of people who should actually hold power. I don't know, especially because of this whole confusing Black, Gram, Eugene triangle where it seems they're pivoting the story to Gram actually having feelings for Eugene...what if...just...what if...

About Todd...

We can all telepathically hold hands and sob together lol

Riveted. Completely sucked in. THIS is how you do a slow build. I swear the whole episode I was just a ball of tension as I watched things play out because I was so invested in the outcome. And there's still so much to come! I was just sitting there muttering to myself that White needed to just tell Sean the truth, so much so my sister asked who I was talking to from the next room lmao. Though I will say I think the actual way we got the reveal was not only entertaining, it held the right sort of dramatic tension right up until the satisfying release.

And the substance! I get that substance isn't for everybody but you honestly can't just always fill your head with mindless fluff. Right now we're in the middle of the world continuing to crumble because of the same patriarchal, white supremacist, colonialist, capitalist power structures that continue to erode and putrify progress. People NEED to engage with this dialogue. If this somehow gets even one more person to think critically and realize how fucked up things are societally that's a win. If it gets even one more person to fight against systems of power that oppress and are specifically built to benefit only certain kinds of people who already live at the top, that's a win. All over the world we're battling and facing the same issues and once again we're at a critical moment in history where things are coming to a head. I'm so appreciative of the thinking that went into the writing for this series. May we all live to see the right kind of change happen in this world.

What to even say...I mean...wow. This series is like epic levels of pointlessness. Like...what the fuck? What even was that? I mean I feel like I've seen my fair share of completely asinine plot construction but to take two seasons to build up into a storyline that literally went nowhere with the most ridiculous conflict points, it's almost funny at this point. Especially when you consider they're clearly intimating that this will get a season 3. This didn't need a second season, let alone a third! I swear if Kaitoon ends up anywhere near Valen at the end this drama should officially be billed as a tragedy. Nobody should have that low of a valuation of their own self-worth. You'd have to be a bloody masochist to attempt to build a relationship with someone so completely self-involved and delusional, not to mention unstable, possessive, and aggressive. Valen has all the hallmarks of an abuser in every category, mental, emotional, and physical.

And don't even get me started on King and Peat's trainwreck, how did that make ANY kind of logical sense? I should have known we were losing it when they made Peat out to be this villainous stray dog snatcher. What was the point of Peat even coming back? Why go through all that nonsensical trouble? Like can we just drop this whole trauma of a series and pivot to the two people who can actually act in this whole project and get Peat and Sean's story? I was more fascinated by their five minutes of shadowy storyline and chemistry than I've been the entire 8 episodes of this series. Honestly, who cares about anyone else?

And OMG Non (?!?!?!) did he really just spend two seasons being a complete martyr? That has to be one of the saddest, most pathetic storylines for a character ever written, hands down and it's not even over (!!!) lmao not the man he's practically groveling to get to love him, recreating a date he had with his volatile ex...I just can't. Please put him out of his misery, stop torturing this poor soul. Wait, and the lost shoe catalyst...like I'm cackling but I should be in tears at how ridiculous this actually is. Ok, I think my rant is over, but I just had to get it out. If there's one thing that drives me insane it's when plots go in pointless circles and you just feel like you've wasted hours of your life to be right back where you first started with the characters: no development, nonsense plot construction, drama for the sake of drama...you can't root for anyone because they've all got serious issues, it's just a mess. I was already iffy about this after season 1 and I should have just dropped it then, I wish I had tbh. So frustrating to watch. No season 3 for me but good luck to whoever sticks with it.