I'm British and I HATE sad endings too, especially BL sad endings - I always expect more from Thai BL dramas as,…
No it's fine I really do waffle - drives my family mad and it's why we have a fam chat group because there's just no way I can do it then! LOL!
HS isn't much different now though, to be fair, ANY kid that's 'different' (whether from sexuality, look or other reason) is fair game - rather than being picked on because they're gay.
Yupple, we're fine - I made that word up; it's a happy yup! Hope you and yours are the same. Take care my friend, take care - the world needs more nice people like you. :)
Technically it's not release until 27th of this month. However, a few months ago China made a raft of new 'modesty…
Yeah, not bad - it's my usual yearly round of specialists, but I'm in remission of various illnesses so I'm in for just the usual Dracula blood draining for tests and lots of lectures. lol! Easy year for me! I hope you and your boyfriend are doing well and you're not working too hard, sometimes we forget to look after ourselves when we get busy....well, I know *I* do. :) Take care!
Okay so, firstly, as mum to a 20 year old ARMY daughter I MUST shout out to a fellow ARMY. Clearly the BTS love is strong here because of the BT21 little touches - I saw Van and was immediately "OOH, Van! - BT21....do I see an ARMY here?" then at the end I saw RJ, Koya and Cooky and thought "yeah, definite ARMY." So shout out to a fellow ARMY on my daughter's behalf (though she's got me into the boys music too and they are lovely boys - dorkable, humble and supportive, of each other and ARMY. To me they're like adopted sons. lol!)
As to the dramas - I agree with a lot of what you said; I do think there's some things that are so wrong. She Was Pretty was a case in point - I know that Ji Seong Jun (played by the always good Park Seo Joon) was just coincidentally suddenly nicer to Kim Hye Jin (portrayed by Hwang Jung Eum) AFTER she underwent her mokeover to make herself more 'MOST'.....but to me it sent entirely the wrong message anyway - mistaken or not....you MUST be beautiful and look and behave like everyone else to be 'included' and loved. (Only after her makeover did all the staff start being genuinely nicer to her despite her being just as good at her job before).
I know Seong Jun was the right guy, her childhood sweetheart and all that, and yes it did get better with him and I did like him at the end....but I so wanted her to end up with Kim Shin Hyeok, her 'Editor Kim', (played by Choi Shi Won) because HE fell in love with her BEFORE the makeover and ADORED her BECAUSE she was an accident prone dork. He genuinely did NOT care about her looks, her clothes, her clumsiness - if anything he loved her BECAUSE of it. In fact he was GENUINELY upset and offended when she decided to 'blend in' and just join the herd and I was right there protesting with him.
HE loved her regardless and I do wonder if Seong Jun would REALLY have chosen her without the makeover and despite his protestations of 'not caring' about her looks and 'not judging' her on them. Editor Kim would've, but I was never completely sold on Seong Jun. Sure he went to great pains to remind us all he fell for her as herself this time, and not just his childhood sweetheart - but it was really AFTER her makeover and no one will convince me different on that. It really jarred with me and spoiled the drama a bit. I loved it, hell I even splurged and bought the (subtitled) dvd - but yeah that is still a prickly point.
Genderswaps/soulswaps drive me MAD - they've been done to death and yet still keep being lobbed out with alarming regularity - I never understand how the genderswap female pretending to be male happens with such dramas as Bromance, where the woman CLEARLY has boobs and, even if bound, they are THERE and yet they're hugged, squeezed and generally held very tightly and thisclose proximity to the male characters and NO ONE notices.....I facepalm EVERY time. lol! Also with soulswaps wouldn't SOMEONE be at least a teeny bit alarmed when your usually demure daughter starts strutting around like a testosterone fuelled teenage boy and acting like they're on drugs or their usually bratty/jerk teenage son (usual modus operandi) starts suddenly dressing properly and precisely and acting like a demure giggly teenage girl overdosing on Kpop idol swoon pills? But no - it seems most families just accept these sudden, inexplicable and nonsensical changes in their offspring/siblings/friends as nothing out of the ordinary. Again facepalms abound for me....
Really great article and I really enjoyed reading it. Well done ARMY!
god then you HAVE to watch Boku dake ga inai machi (erased) if you havent already. he was brilliant in that
Ah see I could cope with that - it's a nicer transition from Irie-kun.....whereas the last one I saw him in he was VERY animated and laughed and smiled a lot....completely creeped me out! XD But he's SUCH a great actor...it's nice we're seeing more his work now.
Do you know what happened to the actress who played Kotoko?
god then you HAVE to watch Boku dake ga inai machi (erased) if you havent already. he was brilliant in that
He's in that? No not watched it yet....now off to do so! XD I must admit though if he's animated and smiley I get really creeped out! lol! He is a really good actor though.
Oh holy mother of chocolate! This is like all the stars of Ugly duckling, SOTUS, Love Sick and a couple of other Thai teen dramas have all got together to do a drama!! XD Definitely got to watch it though!
I saw the trailer for this on youtube and it looks brilliant - so I am definitely up for this, especially as it has Wang Jiro in it.....I've liked him since 'It Started With a Kiss' - he's certainly shown his acting skills since then. :)
I'm already shipping the couple even though it's only the first episode and I probably shouldn't ship a stalker…
I agree with you - but in both our defence the young girl is actually HAPPIER with him than her own family, who are abusive and cruel.....so I think this is a slightly different scenario to the usual. ;)
Sadly, Joo Ji-hoon turned down the offer. But, "Descendants of the Sun" star Jin Goo has been cast as the lead…
Aww that's a shame, I love his acting....however Jin Goo is really good too, I've watched a few things he's been in (though my favourite was DotS) so I will still watch. But thank you so much for the info... :)
In this order ---- MY LITTLE MONSTER (not on this list, but my most anticipated as it was my first anime and then I went on to read as much of the manga as I could find....lol!); Gintama 2 (Oguri Shun.....my bias breaker); Sachiiro no One Room (LOVED the manga and can't wait for this); Hibiki (both my bias breaker Oguri Shun AND Kitagawa Keiko from the wonderful Nagareboshi are both in it, so watching it is a no brainer); Meteor Garden (latest version and so one I MUST watch it - I haven't missed a version yet!); Love Rerun (Yuki Furakawa - will he be scarily animated or thankfully still irie Naoki cold and calm?); You, I Love (just want to see this, not seen the manga and does anyone know if it had an anime? It's just this would be the sort of anime I love); Stepmother and Daughter's Blues (because Takenouchi Yutaka who was so wonderful in Nagareboshi)
I've seen some of Yareta Kamo Iinkai - it was DREADFUL. Even by the barking mad offerings that we all know and love coming out of Japan this was truly TERRIBLE.....
I'm British and I HATE sad endings too, especially BL sad endings - I always expect more from Thai BL dramas as,…
As per my other reply - please forgive the delay. Many personal things happened. I hope you and your boyfriend are both well though and RL isn't being too harsh on you. :)
Oh Gii made me fuming in that movie - I could understand (kind of) him wanting to protect Takumi but, as Arata said, it was too obvious and therefore pointless.
However, what was harder for me is Gii being cold and distant even behind closed doors. THAT I did NOT understand at all.... sure in front of people, if he really had to play the 'hero' then fine. But behind closed doors, TELL Takumi what you're doing and why and be nice and loving to him THEN. Instead of protecting him, his ridiculous 'protection' actually made things a hell of a lot worse. I found his reasoning flawed and cruel. I think he had quite obvious double standards, because I really believe there's no way he would've allowed Takumi to blank HIM like that as a protection.
I was a victim of rape so struggled to feel sorry for his brother to begin with - but when it became clear he died trying to find his brother and say sorry, that he had serious mental health issues I did start to change my view quite a lot. I did wonder at the end of the last movie where they showed him and Gii walking away from the gravesite hand in hand and Gii saying he'd come with him every year even if Takumi was with his parents....I'm not sure I could be so forgiving to the parents; I can't imagine being blamed if I was the victim of a family member's abuse. Whilst I changed my view of Takumi's brother, I didn't of his parents - if anything it worsened.
I agree about age - my daughter is 20 and yet has the maturity of someone twice her age (sometimes she's more mature than even me. Shh! Don't tell her I said that! lol!) So I wouldn't be too surprised with her ending up with a partner partner older than her - I did, my husband is 5 years older than me and my aunt was 16 years younger than my uncle when they married. I think it's down to the couple themselves and so long as LOVE is involved and not lust (like the guys you're talking about who're chasing 19 year olds even though they're in their 30s) I think it's up to the individuals.
I want to go to Japan and she wants to go to South Korea - if it's a few years from now then I'd be happy to bring her partner too if she's met someone then. She came out as pan at 18. Me and her dad told her that it was fine as it gave her more opportunities to meet her soulmate - so long as whoever is her One loves her as much as I love her dad and she loves them as much as he loves me, me and him will literally happy dance round our kitchen. lol!
I like straight romance dramas a lot, but my favourites are BL because for the most part the stories can be deeper and much more fulfilling - for me anyway, the struggles are much more real and the happiness at the couple overcoming obstacles (that also feel more believable) usually reduces me to tears that I rarely get with straight romances.
Your man sounds like a real keeper, I wish you so both so much love and happiness. :)
Technically it's not release until 27th of this month. However, a few months ago China made a raft of new 'modesty…
Sorry for not replying, RL is super mental right now - unexpectedly, but there you go. I agree with all you've said. Being humans is the one thing we share and we should remember. We are on a path and are at crossroads - one path leads to more hate and the other leads to more unity. I know which one I hope we take.
With people like the brave BL artists, directors and producers who are making a small stand it shows we may already be choosing the better path. :)
This movie isn't an original, it is a remake of the American 2012 social film with the same name.
Luvely22 - I'd never heard of it and to go look it up.....the Korean remake was a TON better and so it makes me even more nervous for the US remake now.
YouDirtyWater - That's China for you.....ALL their gay dramas end like this.
As I explained either here or on another Chinese BL MDL page - this is China's behaviour towards LGBT. I speak to quite a few Chinese LGBT and they tell me and others how horrible it is in China for them - many are trying to leave. China's discrimination and bigotry to the LGBT community is seen clearly by the world through their portrayal of the LGBT in entertainment and daily life. We ALL know how the stars of Addicted were treated when the webdrama was BANNED; we also are fully aware of other BL dramas that were BANNED by the censors for no other reason than the romance was GAY. So before you hurl abuse at me for stating FACT, I suggest you take issue with your bigoted government.
People stand me very well thanks - I have friends, wonderful husband who I love more than my own life, a much beloved lesbian cousin and a very loved and doted on Pan daughter' the rest of my unconventional family are all doing well.
For me I treat everyone with kindness, I believe the old adage - treat others as you'd want them to treat you...but when I see discrimination, bigotry and hate being pedalled as 'normal' and acceptable and seeing a section of society almost criminalised for doing nothing more than LOVING someone then I WILL stand AGAINST it. Like I said - your country needs to look to itself as to why it's not liked; the only countries who treat their LGBT community worse than China is Russia and North Korea. Not really something to be proud of for China is it?
Oh my god! Really?! You think just cause it a Chinese film it's going to be a sad ending?! I find that horribly…
When it comes to Chinese BL then yes I do have 'low, low standards' - they usually have sad/tragic endings; it's not offensive when it's true. I do have pretty low standards when it comes to China's track record with LGBT and I talk to LGBT Chinese so I know what goes on - why would they lie?
Whilst other countries have sad endings, etc they don't do it for ALL their LGBT, etc like China does. Thank God Taiwan is far more forward thinking and accepting than China - they allow gay marriage AND their LGBT dramas usually have happy ending. In fact, the only country with ALMOST as bad a reputation towards their LGBT community is South Korea. The only ones WORSE are Russia and North Korea.
So sorry you're offended because that wasn't my intention - but you need to take issue with your government and your censors who make the stupid rules...... not people who dislike their discrimination and bigotry and call your country out on it.
Let's not forget we were all privy to what went on with Addicted (aka Heroin) and the cast and how appallingly they were treated when the drama was BANNED and banned only for being a gay drama. Actually, it was like so many other Chinese BL dramas that end up banned.
HS isn't much different now though, to be fair, ANY kid that's 'different' (whether from sexuality, look or other reason) is fair game - rather than being picked on because they're gay.
Yupple, we're fine - I made that word up; it's a happy yup! Hope you and yours are the same. Take care my friend, take care - the world needs more nice people like you. :)
As to the dramas - I agree with a lot of what you said; I do think there's some things that are so wrong. She Was Pretty was a case in point - I know that Ji Seong Jun (played by the always good Park Seo Joon) was just coincidentally suddenly nicer to Kim Hye Jin (portrayed by
Hwang Jung Eum) AFTER she underwent her mokeover to make herself more 'MOST'.....but to me it sent entirely the wrong message anyway - mistaken or not....you MUST be beautiful and look and behave like everyone else to be 'included' and loved. (Only after her makeover did all the staff start being genuinely nicer to her despite her being just as good at her job before).
I know Seong Jun was the right guy, her childhood sweetheart and all that, and yes it did get better with him and I did like him at the end....but I so wanted her to end up with Kim Shin Hyeok, her 'Editor Kim', (played by Choi Shi Won) because HE fell in love with her BEFORE the makeover and ADORED her BECAUSE she was an accident prone dork. He genuinely did NOT care about her looks, her clothes, her clumsiness - if anything he loved her BECAUSE of it. In fact he was GENUINELY upset and offended when she decided to 'blend in' and just join the herd and I was right there protesting with him.
HE loved her regardless and I do wonder if Seong Jun would REALLY have chosen her without the makeover and despite his protestations of 'not caring' about her looks and 'not judging' her on them. Editor Kim would've, but I was never completely sold on Seong Jun. Sure he went to great pains to remind us all he fell for her as herself this time, and not just his childhood sweetheart - but it was really AFTER her makeover and no one will convince me different on that. It really jarred with me and spoiled the drama a bit. I loved it, hell I even splurged and bought the (subtitled) dvd - but yeah that is still a prickly point.
Genderswaps/soulswaps drive me MAD - they've been done to death and yet still keep being lobbed out with alarming regularity - I never understand how the genderswap female pretending to be male happens with such dramas as Bromance, where the woman CLEARLY has boobs and, even if bound, they are THERE and yet they're hugged, squeezed and generally held very tightly and thisclose proximity to the male characters and NO ONE notices.....I facepalm EVERY time. lol! Also with soulswaps wouldn't SOMEONE be at least a teeny bit alarmed when your usually demure daughter starts strutting around like a testosterone fuelled teenage boy and acting like they're on drugs or their usually bratty/jerk teenage son (usual modus operandi) starts suddenly dressing properly and precisely and acting like a demure giggly teenage girl overdosing on Kpop idol swoon pills? But no - it seems most families just accept these sudden, inexplicable and nonsensical changes in their offspring/siblings/friends as nothing out of the ordinary. Again facepalms abound for me....
Really great article and I really enjoyed reading it. Well done ARMY!
Do you know what happened to the actress who played Kotoko?
For those wanting the trailers I saw - here's the links,......
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hd3pEryze_M
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0XCw8FQvvFg
https://kisskh.at/23806-my-little-monster
MY LITTLE MONSTER (not on this list, but my most anticipated as it was my first anime and then I went on to read as much of the manga as I could find....lol!);
Gintama 2 (Oguri Shun.....my bias breaker);
Sachiiro no One Room (LOVED the manga and can't wait for this);
Hibiki (both my bias breaker Oguri Shun AND Kitagawa Keiko from the wonderful Nagareboshi are both in it, so watching it is a no brainer);
Meteor Garden (latest version and so one I MUST watch it - I haven't missed a version yet!);
Love Rerun (Yuki Furakawa - will he be scarily animated or thankfully still irie Naoki cold and calm?);
You, I Love (just want to see this, not seen the manga and does anyone know if it had an anime?
It's just this would be the sort of anime I love);
Stepmother and Daughter's Blues (because Takenouchi Yutaka who was so wonderful in Nagareboshi)
I've seen some of Yareta Kamo Iinkai - it was DREADFUL. Even by the barking mad offerings that we all know and love coming out of Japan this was truly TERRIBLE.....
Oh Gii made me fuming in that movie - I could understand (kind of) him wanting to protect Takumi but, as Arata said, it was too obvious and therefore pointless.
However, what was harder for me is Gii being cold and distant even behind closed doors. THAT I did NOT understand at all.... sure in front of people, if he really had to play the 'hero' then fine. But behind closed doors, TELL Takumi what you're doing and why and be nice and loving to him THEN. Instead of protecting him, his ridiculous 'protection' actually made things a hell of a lot worse. I found his reasoning flawed and cruel. I think he had quite obvious double standards, because I really believe there's no way he would've allowed Takumi to blank HIM like that as a protection.
I was a victim of rape so struggled to feel sorry for his brother to begin with - but when it became clear he died trying to find his brother and say sorry, that he had serious mental health issues I did start to change my view quite a lot. I did wonder at the end of the last movie where they showed him and Gii walking away from the gravesite hand in hand and Gii saying he'd come with him every year even if Takumi was with his parents....I'm not sure I could be so forgiving to the parents; I can't imagine being blamed if I was the victim of a family member's abuse. Whilst I changed my view of Takumi's brother, I didn't of his parents - if anything it worsened.
I agree about age - my daughter is 20 and yet has the maturity of someone twice her age (sometimes she's more mature than even me. Shh! Don't tell her I said that! lol!) So I wouldn't be too surprised with her ending up with a partner partner older than her - I did, my husband is 5 years older than me and my aunt was 16 years younger than my uncle when they married. I think it's down to the couple themselves and so long as LOVE is involved and not lust (like the guys you're talking about who're chasing 19 year olds even though they're in their 30s) I think it's up to the individuals.
I want to go to Japan and she wants to go to South Korea - if it's a few years from now then I'd be happy to bring her partner too if she's met someone then. She came out as pan at 18. Me and her dad told her that it was fine as it gave her more opportunities to meet her soulmate - so long as whoever is her One loves her as much as I love her dad and she loves them as much as he loves me, me and him will literally happy dance round our kitchen. lol!
I like straight romance dramas a lot, but my favourites are BL because for the most part the stories can be deeper and much more fulfilling - for me anyway, the struggles are much more real and the happiness at the couple overcoming obstacles (that also feel more believable) usually reduces me to tears that I rarely get with straight romances.
Your man sounds like a real keeper, I wish you so both so much love and happiness. :)
With people like the brave BL artists, directors and producers who are making a small stand it shows we may already be choosing the better path. :)
People stand me very well thanks - I have friends, wonderful husband who I love more than my own life, a much beloved lesbian cousin and a very loved and doted on Pan daughter' the rest of my unconventional family are all doing well.
For me I treat everyone with kindness, I believe the old adage - treat others as you'd want them to treat you...but when I see discrimination, bigotry and hate being pedalled as 'normal' and acceptable and seeing a section of society almost criminalised for doing nothing more than LOVING someone then I WILL stand AGAINST it. Like I said - your country needs to look to itself as to why it's not liked; the only countries who treat their LGBT community worse than China is Russia and North Korea. Not really something to be proud of for China is it?
Whilst other countries have sad endings, etc they don't do it for ALL their LGBT, etc like China does. Thank God Taiwan is far more forward thinking and accepting than China - they allow gay marriage AND their LGBT dramas usually have happy ending. In fact, the only country with ALMOST as bad a reputation towards their LGBT community is South Korea. The only ones WORSE are Russia and North Korea.
So sorry you're offended because that wasn't my intention - but you need to take issue with your government and your censors who make the stupid rules...... not people who dislike their discrimination and bigotry and call your country out on it.
Let's not forget we were all privy to what went on with Addicted (aka Heroin) and the cast and how appallingly they were treated when the drama was BANNED and banned only for being a gay drama. Actually, it was like so many other Chinese BL dramas that end up banned.