etoks21

I wish MDL would adjust the site permissions so you can only rate a series when it has completed airing all episodes.

Thanks, I will check that out. However, I have this strong memory of him in a lead role. He has a distinctively beautiful face and as soon as I saw him, my brain went into overdrive trying to recall where I recognized him from. Oh well, maybe my brain is shot.

OK, good enough. Sorry for the overreaction.

oops, I was referring to someone else's comment by mistake. However, I stand by my first paragraph regarding your issue with the term "butt sex," which you DID make a statement about. Telling people how to describe ass sex or butt sex or anal sex to your preferences seems rather "humorless" to me.

oops...I was low-grade shipping Taishin and the businessman from the bus. lol

Wow, Iwase Yoji is an incredibly handsome young man. I know I've seen him in another show, but it's none of those on his MDL bio. Can anyone help me out?

This is low-key not too bad. Second airing JBL I'm watching right now, which is rare. I continue to find it shocking how many crappy Thai BLs get made every week. Christ. Hoping for new ones from Taiwan and Korea soon.

lol Why, specifically, an 8.2?

Best JBL I've seen in quite some time.
Great casting, chemistry, direction, and acting.
The portrayal of hearing loss feels authentic without making the character pitiful/pathetic.
Loved the zombie movie! :D
I only wish Taichi's balloon pants would go away.
Nice to see an older-generation, established actor like Denden taking a strong supporting role in a BL!

As per usual, moronic MDLers rating a show while it's still airing. I wish MDL would configure the site to allow rating only after a series finishes airing. How hard can that be?

I don't care what you think is weird about my phrasing. "Butt sex" is different from a handjob or a blowjob, and is exactly what took place in the hotel. Later on we got a blowjob, which is different from a handjob or butt sex. See how that works? Would you have preferred I used the coarser term "fucking?" Would that be OK with you?

The kid's customer is sexy af. I'd want to date him too. Maybe they will.

Great mood piece. Conveys a great deal without much time or money.

Ignore the usual, ridiculous MDL rating. This is a 9/10.

Butt sex in the opening scene and a blowjob in the restroom are both pretty "fully displayed" emotions/feelings/acts. This didn't seem very subtle to me. I liked it very much, but it doesn't tip-toe around gay sex and feelings.

Could you explain how a BL can be a BL, or Boys Love, production and have "no gay element?" I'm intrigued, as two boys, or young men in love or banging or both, is by definition pretty damn gay. Are you applying your own, very specific definition of "LGBTQ+" or "gay" as if it's universal, in making this comment?

Again, guys in love or having sex is universally "gay." I would argue you can have a gay film or series that is not a BL, but every BL is gay.

Whatever it is, it's sick as fuck. Imagine, the idea that killing yourself in response to a FALSE accusation is considered an honorable act. What this means is that almost anybody is capable of driving you to your own death by making an entirely bogus accusation against you. It makes zero sense. Why would you give up life itself when you can PROVE your innocence?

And of course, over here the thinking is that life and those who love you are much more important than any crime or other misjudgement you may have committed. Americans love a redemption story. We love when people who have done socially unacceptable things atone for their failing and make a new start as a better person, especially if they achieve great and good things afterwards.

Suicide is generally seen as a cowardly act here; a means of escaping your problems and bringing down a lifetime of grief and trauma on those who love you. I don't see it that way, however. To me, looking into the giant, black, unknown maw of death and choosing to walk into it is extremely courageous, depending on the circumstances.

Awful. Dorky, low-budget, and implausible. The hot athletic dude and the pudgy nerd? Only in the mind of the screenwriter.

It's been six months since LSK took his life. Korea is overdue for another celeb/actor/idol suicide. I'm sure you already know Korea also has the highest suicide rate in the developed world, by far, across all segments of society. Its shame-based, hyper saving-face-is-all-that-matters, old-fashioned cultural values are in direct conflict with its status as a highly industrialized, high-tech, modern kpop/cinema/entertainment industry that is highly sexualized, just as much as in America. SEX/FUN vs. SHAME is a recipe for disaster.

The weirdest, most incoherent cultural hangup I see in Korea is the insane taboo against drugs, even ones as mild as marijuana. Meanwhile, Korea has the highest rate of alcoholism and alcohol abuse in the developed world also. Alcohol is, guess what? A DRUG!!! But you can get shit-faced every night of the week and puke in the alleys of Gangnam and it's no problem.

Our American celebrities tend to overdose (accidentally...?) doing drugs rather than outright killing themselves. Michael Jackson was so messed up in the head and full of self-loathing he was using propofol, a powerful, short-acting anesthetic to get to sleep and that's what killed him. It concerns me that a lot of young Korean celebs who have not died (yet) have been caught using propofol also. That is not shit to mess around with.

The title alone should get this a 9/10. :)

I hope that evil skank gets a nasty case of genital herpes.

Worth it to me for the cute chemistry between the MLs. Their acting is not the worst I've seen. It is very low budget, and the rather plain girl who plays the femme fatale is badly cast.

However, like other low-budget/poorly written/directed/marginal acting BLs that somehow move me, it has a great big heart where the big budget might have been. The shower scene is funny/goofy/romantic all at once, and the last ten minutes make having endured the first 20 worth it. Of course, without the first 20 minutes, the last 10 wouldn't have been the payoff.

It would be fun to see a short sequel to this.
I'm going to rate this as compared only to other shows with extremely low budgets:
8.5/10

Jung Woo Sung is just as effective in this film, though HJM has the meatier role. You will not immediately recognize HJM given what they did with his hair. :)

JWS is the actor I first loved in "Beasts Clawing at Straws." I began to seek out his films and there hasn't been one I didn't like. He has gone from being a young hunk beefcake star to now taking on very mature, main roles and his acting is always spot-on.

This is the best, most excruciatingly powerful, non-combat war film I have ever seen. I was in knots from start to finish; the tension builds and builds and then...well, see for yourself.
Absolutely magnificent direction/acting/staging/OST/everything from top to bottom.
Korea outdoes Hollywood yet again.
Hwang Jung Min and Jung Woo Sung are magnificent opposing forces of nature.

Good god, 10/10
(As is most often the case, the MDL rating is wildly off the mark. Ignore it.)

Highly recommended!

Goodness. It's been years since I watched the dumpster fire that is the original version of this series. I mostly remember frustration at the quality of the acting and chemistry completely undermined by the insultingly stupid, implausible, and dumb supposed complications we were asked to buy as an explanation for the long separation between these two. That still isn't entirely taken care of here, but this version is a hundred times more coherent and thus, enjoyable than the original. If you find this version first, don't bother watching the original. The director/writers totally fucked that one up.

Sam Lin especially, shines for me in this role. He is masculine, but also sensitive, and he's not afraid to open himself wide for the camera, no emotions held back. The supporting cast is excellent.

If anyone can explain for me how Shou Yi's affective disorder preventing him from emotionally connecting to people was magically cured, I would appreciate it.

The heat between the leads is real, but it's compromised by the lack of letting us see that on the screen, beyond a few very spicy smooches. For the MDL prude crowd, no, that does not mean we needed to see nasty, "explicit" sex scenes, but there should at least have been serious indications that there HAD BEEN or was ABOUT TO BE some hot sex between these two. Some clothes coming off before fade out, the two of them in bed with bare shoulders afterward, or moving about the house in bathrobes...whatever, to indicate the fire all that smoke was coming from.

I down-rated the original to 4/10 I think, based soley on the absurdity of the separation premise. This time around I'm giving this an 8.5/10. That's how much better this is than the original.

Highly recommended.

Yes. Yes, I can. Calm down, grow up, and get a life.