It's a massive wad of BL tropes/cliches, but...really well done. :)
Maybe I was on the rag two months ago, I don't know, but on second watch I enjoyed this very much. Their budgets are limited, but here they made the most of what they have. The acting is very good. I laughed like a hyena when the photographer rolled the drunk up in his bedspread...hahaha, then again when the photog woke up after getting shit faced and stealing a smooch: "Die! Die! Die!" lol I just watched that bit again and lol'd again too. :D
The serious moments were nice/touching. I was moved. Great casting: The photographer is handsome af and a tad older, just as in the plot, and the younger guy got cuter and cuter as the show progressed. I was a bit put off in his early drunk scene, but with every scene after that, he became more and more appealing, just as he did to the photographer. He did a good job of making it seem credible that his character, who thought of himself as straight, could be surprised by his own emotions in that situation. Nicely done.
Great kisses, too, especially for a Korean production. I get frustrated in that regard by a lot of shows out of Korea. That was not the case here. Small caveat: Why lead up to that final moment with believable, natural kisses such as real humans, gay or straight, would do, and then finish by cutting the last one, which should have been the best, most romantic one, short?
Either way, Bravo! Well done. I will be checking back for more Sukfilm product. This one definitely does not "suk." :D
Cutting it some slack for budget limitations and adding a full point to counteract the MDL morons who down-rate good shows: 9.5/10
Hong Kyung is clearly a talented actor and chameleon. I can't believe the handsome dude in these pictures is the same person who played the dumpy-looking nerd in "Weak Hero Class." Good for him.
Wow. I find the actor playing Sonbae to be incredibly handsome/striking. His acting, and that of the guy showing off his biceps, was good. Ian not so much.
Unrealistic dialogue. People don't talk like that IRL.
Oh, and my god, please ease up on the white face powder and lipstick. I kept thinking I was watching Kabuki theater.
Juvenile acting, stock characters, trope situations, annoying lead, and much more. One cutesy cliche after another after another.
One more Turd Out of Thailand by way of Japan.
The more BLs JP puts out, the more the percentage of them that are crap rises. I used to look forward to JP BLs because they were frequently quirky, unusual, dark, and interesting. Now we're getting high school-level writing and acting instead. It's insulting.
I'm watching the shows in this franchise in order for the first time. I have Spring Life: continued left to go. Each time I watch, I like them more than before.
To me, Novelist (Pornographer) Playback feels more like a very well-made drama series than a movie, so I watched and rated it in that frame of mind. There are production issues that lead me to suspect a mid/low budget. Thus, it's not fair to compare it to well-financed feature films.
With exceptions, the acting from the leads is quite good; supporting characters, too. There is a lot of scenery-chewing during the much-appreciated sex scenes, when all the gasping and porn film moaning pulled me out of the film and had me giggling, but the fully-committed making out/kissing between the leads pushed me back in within seconds. :) Glory be! No dead fish/mannequin kisses here, quite the opposite. That kind of smooching is a total turn-on, and I appreciate the actors' enthusiastic efforts. There are very few BL dramas in which the kissing/sex is this committed and believable. This one now tops my list, with the Thai classic, "Together With Me" series, a close second.
As for non-sex scenes, great acting, but I'm often left wondering if Japanese people have two emotional settings: quiet/meek and shrieking/fierce, with no stops in between. If you know the answer to that, please advise. :) Because, if that is true, I will be able to more realistically appreciate JP films and series.
The actress playing Haruko is wonderfully convincing. I have seen her in a couple of films and was always impressed. Haruko's son is extremely cute/handsome. I did one of those little gasp things when I first saw him. I was kind of hoping Kijima would have a full-on fling with him, so that Kuzumi could discover them and freak out, leading to yet another wild confrontation scene, and so that I could live vicariously through Kijima. :D
I laughed near the end when Kijima's sister was yelling all over the house, about six feet from our MC, but then opened the bedroom door to find our MC sound asleep. lol No way they could slumber through that racket. :D
Rated as a BL series: 9/10
On edit: Forgot to mention how much I enjoyed the show's lighthearted, almost comedic approach to sex scenes, which is true of the entire franchise. Now that I think of it, perhaps that is meant to be an echo of the over-the-top sexual behavior and lingo exchanged among characters in Kijima's porn novels. :D
This gets better every time I watch it. I'm not certain why that is so, but it is.
This third time, I found myself quite emotional at the end. There is some scenery-chewing along the way, but there are many more deeply moving and authentic-feeling scenes than not. Both leads are nice to look at, which is interesting, because I remember finding Izuka Kenta a tad too feminine-looking for my tastes the first time around. Not any more. :)
Regarding the order in which to watch the five shows that comprise "Pornographer," it seems to me the following is best:
Mood Indigo Pornographer Pornographer: Spring Life Pornographer: Playback Pornographer: Spring Life Continued
I know Mood Indigo was released second, but it is a prequel to Pornographer, so it makes sense to watch them in the order above. There is nothing about the two that will be compromised by watching in the chronological order of Kijima's life. I wish the show-makers would simply re-title them as Pornographer 1: Mood Indigo Pornographer 2 Pornographer 3: Spring Life Pornographer 4: Playback Pornographer 5: Spring Life Continued
This would eliminate the need for the audience to endlessly be debating the proper order. lol
Who are you responding to? I scrolled comments to the bottom of the first page and saw no rants against this as…
MDLers, of which a majority are young, Western girls who think sex is icky, are always on the lookout for ANY sign of complicated sexual dynamics in a show, ready to go nuclear about it. The words "SEXUAL ASSAULT" slide around on the tips of their viper tongues, 24/7.
In the car scene, it was clear to me that Odajima TOLERATED the sex because at that point he considered it part of his job, though it wasn't clear to me WHY he felt that way. But as I write this, it occurs to me that apparently, sex is part of his job with the biological son of the Big Boss, who died, so he assumes the same is true of his service to Kataoka.
BTW, that early BJ scene with the bio son was absurdly, hilariously, and badly depicted. I laughed. If you're not willing to depict something like that believably, then don't depict it at all.
There is NOTHING romantic about that car scene. Odajima pretended to sleep through it, for god's sake. The Western Little Girls are insane.
idk why Japanese BLs always get low ratings even if they happen to be top tier
JBLs are generally far more complicated and quirky than the pablum that comes out of the Thailand BL Machine. The characters and the quirks fly right over the heads of most MDLers.
idk why Japanese BLs always get low ratings even if they happen to be top tier
I don't give MDL ratings any credibility at all, even though I participate in rating shows, just for the fun of it. Yes, there are many BLs, especially Thai, that are absurdly overrated. But that's because they appeal to the juvenile mindset of the majority of MDL members, who are Western Little Girls. Generally, they like their boys in love to be puppy dogs who live in a cotton candy world full of unicorns and rainbows, where messy stuff like sex and conflict are taboo.
Kinji isn't riding Ren....Ren is the bottom ....Kinji was f****** him....I read the manga Kinji is top and that…
Oh yes, I agree about the allure of odajima's handsome/cute face, especially during the sex scene you mention. He looked like people really do when they turned on AND in love. :)
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1 
It's a massive wad of BL tropes/cliches, but...really well done. :)
Maybe I was on the rag two months ago, I don't know, but on second watch I enjoyed this very much. Their budgets are limited, but here they made the most of what they have. The acting is very good. I laughed like a hyena when the photographer rolled the drunk up in his bedspread...hahaha, then again when the photog woke up after getting shit faced and stealing a smooch: "Die! Die! Die!" lol
I just watched that bit again and lol'd again too. :D
The serious moments were nice/touching. I was moved.
Great casting: The photographer is handsome af and a tad older, just as in the plot, and the younger guy got cuter and cuter as the show progressed. I was a bit put off in his early drunk scene, but with every scene after that, he became more and more appealing, just as he did to the photographer. He did a good job of making it seem credible that his character, who thought of himself as straight, could be surprised by his own emotions in that situation. Nicely done.
Great kisses, too, especially for a Korean production. I get frustrated in that regard by a lot of shows out of Korea. That was not the case here. Small caveat: Why lead up to that final moment with believable, natural kisses such as real humans, gay or straight, would do, and then finish by cutting the last one, which should have been the best, most romantic one, short?
Either way, Bravo! Well done.
I will be checking back for more Sukfilm product. This one definitely does not "suk." :D
Cutting it some slack for budget limitations and adding a full point to counteract the MDL morons who down-rate good shows: 9.5/10
I don't care enough to list the reasons why.
If you like it or haven't watched and are curious, please proceed to draw your own conclusions. :)
Unrealistic dialogue. People don't talk like that IRL.
Oh, and my god, please ease up on the white face powder and lipstick. I kept thinking I was watching Kabuki theater.
5/10
One more Turd Out of Thailand by way of Japan.
The more BLs JP puts out, the more the percentage of them that are crap rises.
I used to look forward to JP BLs because they were frequently quirky, unusual, dark, and interesting. Now we're getting high school-level writing and acting instead.
It's insulting.
Dropped
1/10
Dropped.
1/10
To me, Novelist (Pornographer) Playback feels more like a very well-made drama series than a movie, so I watched and rated it in that frame of mind. There are production issues that lead me to suspect a mid/low budget. Thus, it's not fair to compare it to well-financed feature films.
With exceptions, the acting from the leads is quite good; supporting characters, too. There is a lot of scenery-chewing during the much-appreciated sex scenes, when all the gasping and porn film moaning pulled me out of the film and had me giggling, but the fully-committed making out/kissing between the leads pushed me back in within seconds. :) Glory be! No dead fish/mannequin kisses here, quite the opposite. That kind of smooching is a total turn-on, and I appreciate the actors' enthusiastic efforts. There are very few BL dramas in which the kissing/sex is this committed and believable. This one now tops my list, with the Thai classic, "Together With Me" series, a close second.
As for non-sex scenes, great acting, but I'm often left wondering if Japanese people have two emotional settings: quiet/meek and shrieking/fierce, with no stops in between. If you know the answer to that, please advise. :) Because, if that is true, I will be able to more realistically appreciate JP films and series.
The actress playing Haruko is wonderfully convincing. I have seen her in a couple of films and was always impressed.
Haruko's son is extremely cute/handsome. I did one of those little gasp things when I first saw him.
I was kind of hoping Kijima would have a full-on fling with him, so that Kuzumi could discover them and freak out, leading to yet another wild confrontation scene, and so that I could live vicariously through Kijima. :D
I laughed near the end when Kijima's sister was yelling all over the house, about six feet from our MC, but then opened the bedroom door to find our MC sound asleep. lol No way they could slumber through that racket. :D
Rated as a BL series: 9/10
On edit:
Forgot to mention how much I enjoyed the show's lighthearted, almost comedic approach to sex scenes, which is true of the entire franchise. Now that I think of it, perhaps that is meant to be an echo of the over-the-top sexual behavior and lingo exchanged among characters in Kijima's porn novels. :D
I'm not certain why that is so, but it is.
This third time, I found myself quite emotional at the end.
There is some scenery-chewing along the way, but there are many more deeply moving and authentic-feeling scenes than not.
Both leads are nice to look at, which is interesting, because I remember finding Izuka Kenta a tad too feminine-looking for my tastes the first time around. Not any more. :)
Regarding the order in which to watch the five shows that comprise "Pornographer," it seems to me the following is best:
Mood Indigo
Pornographer
Pornographer: Spring Life
Pornographer: Playback
Pornographer: Spring Life Continued
I know Mood Indigo was released second, but it is a prequel to Pornographer, so it makes sense to watch them in the order above. There is nothing about the two that will be compromised by watching in the chronological order of Kijima's life. I wish the show-makers would simply re-title them as
Pornographer 1: Mood Indigo
Pornographer 2
Pornographer 3: Spring Life
Pornographer 4: Playback
Pornographer 5: Spring Life Continued
This would eliminate the need for the audience to endlessly be debating the proper order. lol
9/10
Just say that you're a sex-phobic prude.
In the car scene, it was clear to me that Odajima TOLERATED the sex because at that point he considered it part of his job, though it wasn't clear to me WHY he felt that way. But as I write this, it occurs to me that apparently, sex is part of his job with the biological son of the Big Boss, who died, so he assumes the same is true of his service to Kataoka.
BTW, that early BJ scene with the bio son was absurdly, hilariously, and badly depicted. I laughed. If you're not willing to depict something like that believably, then don't depict it at all.
There is NOTHING romantic about that car scene. Odajima pretended to sleep through it, for god's sake. The Western Little Girls are insane.
You're emoting plenty of that all on your own.