binniesbubbles

yeah okay fair, I get that lol. I guess I've just been fairly selective with my KBLs bc sometimes the production value as well as the acting are... well, not up to par with, say, Thailand's BLs

wait hold on, I agree with Thai on Number 1 and Chinese moving up in the ranking, but maybe I missed a few Taiwanese dramas with good kisses cause none of them were memorable to me, yet some Korean ones are.. do you have any recs for Taiwanese dramas with legendary kisses hahaha

evillll but your description is so freaking funny I cant stop giggling

OKAY WOW THAT ENDING OF EP 2 MADE ME SWOON SO HARD!! It was cinematically also just epiccccc

I knew I wasn't crazy and the art was so obviously AI. Definitely put a damper on my joyful GL parade, but the story and acting are insanely good anyway, love the production value in this one

she's representing a good 90% of us lollll

girl was down bad alreadyyyyy

shades is SO damn good omg it had me addicted and I'm still looking forward to season two

I swearrrr pls let this NOT turn into doomed Yuri T-T

This gave me a good giggle

come here twin T~T

That OST will haunt me forever, it's so beautiful and eerie

No one talk to me, I am about to drown in my own tears.

The emotional scenes here were both so light and believable -- the acting is superb -- and the sad scenes of grief were so heavy, it's gutting. Chengyang's video letter to Lan Jie at the end of ep. 5 had me crying bc it's how the dramas from this studio make me feel every time I watch them. Chengyang's statement feels like something I would've liked to have written about their work and it's a testimony to just how good this drama really is. It's so raw and genuine and beautiful.

Seeing as this drama was produced by the same studio that created Secrets that Happened on Litchi Island, I expected this drama to be an artwork and did not let me down in the slightest. The story telling and the cinematography, everything from the acting down to the complete soundtrack is masterfully crafted and just BEAUTIFUL.

Well, I guess then we had different expectations for the show. You see, I kind of imagined this show would be like the dramas The Glory or The Penthouse. Those were huge successes, yet they had minimal contrast as well. Like I said before: different expectations for the show; you thought it was unnecessary, while I expected it. Two different things :)

You keep accusing me of missing your point and then proceeded to write exactly what I spelled out in different words: Nalin addressed how having that mentor-mentee relationship was probably a bad idea and that's how the show pointed out that IT WAS IN FACT the wrong teaching approach and doesn't turn a blind eye to it. If you don't think that that means the show cares to address issues such as inappropriate relationships then idek. Plus: I'm sorry but by mentioning Som, did you really just compare adult content work to an emotional attachment between teacher and student?? If I may add: I personally didn't find your example of blowing smoke in Belle's face seductive, but rather provoking, since Nalin is clearly trying to disprove Belle's point of Nalin being like all the other teachers. Nalin tried to show Belle her boundaries. But that one is up to interpretation, I guess. I saw it as provocation.

We just have completely different viewpoints on the matter of whether or not it was justified/ needed that the show dared to show these things. I already made my standpoint clear: Yes, I think it was important that we got to see this strange relationship bc we need to confront ourselves with these things and the show should -- in the form of Nalin admitting that what she did was wrong -- address that it WAS wrong for her to do all that. Because imo we need to see even the ugly things, so if a series decided to show that, that'd be okay with me, as long as they make it clear that what happened was not alright. If you want a sweet and conventional little love story with no inappropriate themes at all, then maybe you shouldn't have chosen a show that advertised their daring approach.... anyhow, we expected different things from the show.

That's about it. You didn't want to see that relationship, while I thought it's an important lesson as well as social and psychological issue that deserves to be addressed in the media.
I'm gonna leave this conversation bc I feel like we will both just end up annoyed with each other. I can tell by your "oh wise one" that you're miffed over my response. Still, I'm trying to stay polite here and keep this a friendly discussion bc I think that's only right :)

I think the relationship between Nalin and Belle is definitely special, since they care about each other but since there's that power dynamic of teacher-student it's pretty much a no-go. I think the show still wants to push BelleEarn and Nalin with her ex, which I'm personally a big fan of and very excited about how it will turn out! The adultery part is not that cute, but it's Shades, so it's expected to get messy hahah

Ohh I keep having this conversation where one person is indeed very heated about the whole Nalin situation. Some people apparently ship Nalin and Belle. Personally I'm still thinking we'll get BelleEarn for s2 as shown, but apparently there's a whole debate on Nalin's morals.

First of all, I never claimed to be a writer, but even if I weren't (which is only partly true since I had to write a novel to get my diploma) it wouldn't make my statement less valuable. Second, I think storytelling can have many different approaches and I think the show is very daring and decided to show what a student-teacher-relationship can look like in a situation where the teacher is closer in age to the students and is trying to give up the strategies of an authoritative pedagogy. Which is probably what you deemed as inappropriate since Nalin tried to be on a more friendly level. My guess is, that bc specifically in Belle's case, since she's always struggled with parental or authority figures, she never really could categorise how she felt about Nalin, since Nalin didn't resemble other authority figures she'd met in the past. When those factors come into play, it makes it harder for Belle to understand her own feelings towards her teacher. Isn't that what's bothering you? That power dynamic? That's precisely bc the show dared to show an unconventional teacher, but imo that isn't enough to label it as inappropriate since that power dynamic was later on addressed by Nalin herself. Neither do I think they're encouraging pedophilic tendencies solely because of that. But I guess you and I see that differently.

I personally see a show that depicts human beings that make errors and are far from perfect but not criminal. If fans decide to ship that, that's on them. Therefore I think viewers' discretion is still relevant. If you see that differently then that's that. I just wanted to state my personal viewpoint. If our opinions don't align with others' on this website then I think it's still important to be polite with each other. I guess that's where some of us don't see eye to eye. That's all. I'm tired of discussing this further. I hope you can enjoy the rest of the show, though :)