any_anka

Actually, for me the storytelling and generally the narration flow is more pleasant and natural than most Thai BLs I attempted to watch.

I suppose maybe the impression of this sort of choppy-ness and your confusion come from the fact that the story is intertwined with the scenes from the dramas they're filming. There the dialogues sometimes parallel their actual interactions outside of filming, sometimes they also improvise... I guess that could be a bit confusing? Cause one might be wondering "ok, is that a fake dialogue from the drama or their real feelings now" and why are we in ancient China fighting with each other when we were just having an awkward moment doing an Insta stream ;)

As for Akin appearing to hate Jin and then suddenly being lovely-dovey... Erm... not really? If there was a time he actually "hated" Jin, it may be as early as in episode 1. Since then you get to see a guy who is kinda struggling with/in denial about his own attraction, just doesn't wanna admit it.
What makes things (and Akin's feelings) more complicated is the fact that two of them are actual rivals career-wise, at the same time the producers/managers/fans are pushing the idea of a ship on them etc.
But hate Jin? Nah, not at all, he was already getting rather enthralled with him before finally realising he wants him at the end of ep 4 (e.g. the scene when he watched Jin talk about him on a TV talk show and got so into it, he ended up following him on IG - and then following all his posts, mind you ;>).

I'm not familiar with the manga and anime, but just on the basis of the drama: a superstar working his butt off, top of his game as an actor and a mentor to newbies in the industry doesn't appear particularly weak to me. Just saying ;)
Also, just relationship-wise, him initiating a kiss on Jin in ep 4 also shows a level of proactive behaviour, not necessarily that submissive either :>

I am not someone who watches a lot of Thai BLs. When I decide to, they're usually a miss for me for multiple reasons that I don't really wanna get into here because I intend to keep this comment on a positive note ;)
However, I am happy that I decided to check this one out. Four episodes in and I am actually genuinely enjoying myself. In a big part it's due to the acting, especially Boom's portrayal. Because I'm not that familiar with Thai industry, I've never seen him in anything else, but the man can act, can he not?! Both surprised and impressed.

(Smart is also doing a pretty decent job, btw)

So this is it folks, I guess we can stop hoping for season 2 😋

While technically it was not officially cancelled, I really doubt we'll ever get it (and even if we do, I don't know how much of a mess that season 2 could be, considering how messy everything else has been since the conclusion of s1).

Since Patrick Liu seems to be out of the picture already and there seems to be no guarantee that the actors wouldn't change, that pretty much excludes the things that I loved abt this series, which was acting and directing. The premise of the story was nothing special (another version of stepbrothers plot - though they're not really stepbrothers 😋), what was special was how it was portrayed and both the actors and the director played a vital part in it. Well, I suppose maybe something could be salvaged, if the writers were kept the same (those in charge of eps 3 and 5, not episode 9 though - if they're not the same person, that is ;))

Anyway, I guess it's time to officially give up. I waited months for some news and was willing to wait a year, two years for a continuation. Now I officially lost interest.

Personally, I was actually quite pleased with the way the show handled the whole idea of this misunderstanding. I realized from the moment Jin was rubbing his nose and then jumping away with his chair from Kin that he has a cold and expected that this misunderstanding would push Kin to realize his feelings for the boy (with the help of Kin's own imagination and overinterpretation😋. I was happy it wasn't like explicitly in your face. I am tired of shows nowadays spelling out everything to the audience - either by narrating everything happening in the dialogues or by constant flashbacks to what happened 5 minutes ago - so I was happy with the execution here.

Episode 5.
I just feel like the writing was so smooth and there was plenty of imagery to kinda prepare you for sth big to happen. Like the ep started with them talking abt Bernoulli’s Principle and during the duration of it, you'd have these random gusts of wind just happen here and there that kinda foreshadowed sth will happen, but was also a direct reference to that Bernoulli's Principle the show decided to use.
The entire thing was so well-executed, it was lovely!

I'm on ep 7. My gosh, this is just soooooooo frigging good.

It might be a work of fiction, but it's still written by a Japanese person, based on a Japanese novel and set in Japan ;)

And I'll only add that this "cultural trait" is even mirrored in Japanese language, which I'm sure people who ever tried to study it, would agree with me on how indirect it is and how many "noise words" and sentences there are that allows a person to make a sound, but say pretty much nothing ;)

And it's not even that much about being introverted, as it is about being, well, I guess you could call it polite. Concepts of reading the atmosphere or putting the group before yourself etc. are quite strong in Japanese culture.

So it's really not so surprising that characters in a Japanese drama (that are regular people, not some fantastical anime characters ;)) might have problems communicating about what is rather sensitive topics.

Finally, even story-wise, all characters have reasons to NOT talk. Because, let's be real, it's not that easy for a considerate guy to outwardly tell his gf he needs sex and intimacy from her, when she keeps rejecting him (cause wouldn't that be considered pressuring her)? The girl is avoiding the confrontation on purpose because she want to be with him, but is dreading sex with him, so she keeps running away, too. Fujisawa has a secret he keeps from Sei, so ofc he wouldn't want to have honest open conversations either.

Sei and Hagiwara are actually quite good when it comes to communicating with each other, btw.

Which is why they grow so close. The only problem is that Sei is too much conditioned by his toxic relationship with Fujisawa, so he pushes Hagiwara away initially. When he gets closure, he goes after Hagiwara and confesses, so... basically, I don't have a problem with their communication at all ;) Hagiwara was also very direct about his feelings for Sei. And when Sei told him to leave him alone, he simply respected his wishes (as he respected Kaori's wishes before - all in character) :)

Frankly speaking, I don't have much hope (the last good Taiwanese BL I've watched was The On1y One), but will push on with this one for a bit longer :P

The directing is amazing, though. It's the writing of that conversations that sucks. And I am sad to say this, because up till then, I thought this drama was getting better and better with each episode.

What do MDL mean by "episode 8 of 7 airing on..."? Is episode 7 not the final one? Will there be a special?

You are correct abt second season script being ready way way back. I guess people got excited because that pic with the script appeared on the drama's official IG account (I think the first time the official account acknowledged season2 at all, if I'm correct) and was followed by a sentence asking for fans to be patient and don't forget abt JT and SW.

It sort of looked like a teaser for s2, but as for an official announcement - there still is none.

Also, "Ayaka is in love with Hiroko!" is another one that has happy ending. Plus, it's super cute, bubbly and cheerful almost throughout the entire series :)

Both speak Mandarin as their main official language, sometimes referred to as Chinese Mandarin or just Chinese (which imo can be a bit confusing, because another wildly spoken language in China and within Chinese diaspora worldwide is Chinese Cantonese or just Cantonese).

Ofc there are local dialects, but overall, what you hear in dramas and in this one in particular is Mandarin.

The accent will sound a bit different than what people who e.g. watch costume cdramas are used to, but it's the same language, with minor differences in vocab and tones - kinda similar to British and American English.

I would definitely tune in to watch a thriller with these two as protagonists! Even not necessarily something from Sei's point of view. I think a work focusing on events portrayed from Fujisawa's POV, focusing on how his brain worked when he was conducting all his little manipulations...
"It Always Rains After the Sunshine" (I'm bad at naming things too :P)

Ok, I will actually kinda "defend" her now, despite not liking her character much.

I think her trying to date new guys while repeating the same pattern, without ever having an open conversation with them could stem from her herself hoping this time would be different. I think the girl was lying to herself and in some form of a delusion as well. I think one indicator of that was what she told Hagi before breaking up (I'm quoting from memory) "every time I rejected you, I'd tell myself I'd do it the next day, and then the next day" - it wasn't just telling him "tomorrow, honey" to get rid of his advances, I think she was convincing herself that she *can* do it, that she is willing to try harder, willing to change etc. Now, I am not trying to say that the way she behaved was fair to Hagi, but I tend to believe that she was keeping herself in a form of a delusion, too.

The only really dooming thing about Kaori for me is what she told her pregnant friend, as that points out to a complete disregard for Hagi's feelings. But even that, in a way, shows that she tried to sort of convince herself that a situation that was not "normal" (as she saw Hagi was *not* happy with their arrangement) into something totally fine and in a way, a regular thing. Once again, I think she was being delusional for the big part of their relationship, pretending in front of not only Hagi, but also herself that things are ok the way they are.

The girl is a master of running away, either it being her reaction to finding out Hagi cheated, her spending nights outside of their home rather frequently, or... convincing herself that she would have sex with Hagi next day. For a person with such mindset, it's not surprising she would also "run away" from an honest conversation or even admitting that her relationships have pattern, before entering a new one.

Now, is that a mitigating factor in all her behaviours? I guess the opinions would differ.

You summed up everything I think of Fujisawa! From the situation with the TV and Fuji's supposed "kindness" by buying it to his attempt to isolate Sei more with the idea of a move when he started feeling Sei is regaining his freedom.

The only thing I am not so sure and might have a different opinion about is that Fuji is interested in sex but not sex with Sei. I actually agree that Fuji used withholding sex as yet another way to control Sei (he basically shamed Sei for wanting it and Sei was definitely affected - I keep coming back to the scene when he kept very violently washing his hands after masturbating, as for me it was an indicator of that). But I just haven't decided if Fuji is asexual, or is he just straight or not sexually attracted to Sei, or is he attracted to Sei, but suffers from internalized homophobia or MAYBE if he doesn't wanna have sex, because that would be the moment when he is not fully in control.

But I pretty much agree with everything else you wrote about Fuji.

P.S. I'd also add that to me Sei/Fuji dynamic became the most interesting part of this drama. I no longer watch it as a BL, but more like a case study in psychology lol Of course I still cheer for Hagi and Sei to get together and I like both of their characters. I think they have great chemistry and are quite compatible for a long term relationship as well. However "When it rains, it pours" already transcended the usual BL or romance drama in my humble opinion ;)

The way I saw it, Sei acknowledged they had sex. Hagiwara called him a liar after seeing the bruises on his wrist, suggesting that Sei was covering for an assault (because he was putting up a front that all is well and he got what he wanted from Fuji).

The TV situation to me felt super manipulative. Sei had to adhere to tons of rules while living with Fujisawa (including, but not limited to, the lack of TV), but *now* when Fuji sees Sei slowly slipping away (having a semblance of social life again, chatting with other people, sometimes even smiling while doing so) he throws Sei "a bone" to show how good he is to him.

"He trained Sei as a pet. He shows his dominance in all fields. He looks down on Sei, sneers at his financial situation and work."

Yesss. I am happy you mention those, as to me they are way more indicative than that one situation with a pressed toe (albeit that was weird as well) that their relationship is toxic.

I haven't read the novel, but I did see some spoilers here and there. Your comment made me consider my own opinion about Fujisawa and question if I might've been influenced by what I read. And... I don't really think that's the case. The first spoiler I read (I don't know how reliable it was, considering everything that happened in the story ;)) actually stated that the novel was written in a way that the audience would feel sorry for all characters. So if anything, I actually expected some "redemption arc" for Fujisawa. I also considered being influenced by others commenting here, but I remember some people suggesting what Sei and Hagiwara did was not cheating and others claiming that Kaori is abusive, too. I never agreed with these two takes, either. Why I even mention all of it is simply to emphasize that my judgement of Fujisawa is mostly based on what I've seen in the drama, not the novel (or any external factors).

I saw some of your previous comments and I think your interpretation of his character is really kind, as in "wanna see good in every person" type of attitude and I honestly think that's commendable ;) I just find it difficult to show his character the same type of "grace" as you do 😋
I wrote quite extensively in a couple of other comments about Fuji's behaviour, so here I'll just say that to me he felt "off" since episode 1 or 2 already. And then, the moment when it transpired that he didn't relay the message from Sei's friends to him was a somewhat conclusive event for me. If we don't consider him abusive, then I would at least call him toxic. Up until episode 6 there was no violence involved, so I guess whatever he's done up till then wouldn't qualify as any legal transgression. Still, if I had a friend dating someone behaving the way he did even beforhand, I would caution them about such relationship (if I could contact them, that is).