I also care. It's relevant. 1) Very few gay actors are out. They face a struggle. They deserve my solidarity. (2) Straight actors talk endlessly about their girlfriends, wives etc. They are able to marry! Their relationships receive huge public approval. Gay actors stay silent and hide. (3) If an actor is gay, then clearly his perspectives playing a gay BL character will be different from those of a straight actor. We never hear about their views. But we hear tons about straight actors' insights. (4) We do not live in a world where "it's all the same". In Thailand, same-sex marriage isn't legal. A gay actor cannot even marry his partner. How could a gay actor in male/male love story NOT be affected by something that basic? Yep. I care.
I am loving this. It deserves its 8.4, the highest rating I think I've seen for any m/m romance, i.e. BL series. I find the two pairings so engrossing because in three cases I am watching the development of actors who already made an impression on me, and in the fourth case I am making the acquaintance of a very special young actor who always commands my full attention.
"Deuan" and "Meen" (Neo and Louis) already charmed me to death in "Fish" - here they appear in sort of similar roles, which undergo so much more development, allowing the actors an opportunity to shine. Then the lovely and remarkable Khaotung - how inspiring to see this young actor centre stage in episode after episode, in a powerful and challenging role which takes him far beyond the incarnations in which he already received our attention. I actively noticed him as Tine's philosophical friend Fong in "2gether" to the degree that I hoped to see him again - a wish that was rapidly fulfilled, as we got both the village chief's sweet son in "Thousand" and the rather silly "Chonlatee" - where he nevertheless did his best in quite a pleasingly atypical lead role, a very un-butch very out gay boy. As Ayan he now plays a rather different leading character, it's a bit of a challenge to recognise the same actor as the one who gave us Chonlatee, Longtae and Fong. Anyhow, I think he's wonderful.
And finally in this foursome we obviously have the (IMHO) mesmerising First. So often the camera dwells on his face, and so often I am enjoying studying the slightest movement of his lower lip or a cheek muscle or an eyelash. But there is nothing to compare with First's eyes. Perhaps because of the unrelated and unfortunate image of the uncle stepping over the precipice, I find I imagine myself leaving the hurlyburly of our troubled world and plunging into the magic of those compelling, huge, dark eyes.
Is it shallow to focus on the magnetism of the actors? I don't think so. I am here for a compelling account of male/male love. Something which hasn't been written about or depicted in any form until very, very recently. I'm not here for a searching analysis of despotism or an engrossing school mystery. There are incongruous inconsistencies in the plotting (especially in the ways that the uncle is remembered) and some very jerky cutting from one scene to another. Etc. I don't care, because the writing is OK, the storyline is ... acceptable, and above all, these 4 actors keep me utterly absorbed at every moment. Plus always a pleasure to re-encounter bad boy mischief-maker "Non" - AJ - from "Dark Blue Kiss".
Amitriptyline?! It hasn't been prescribed as a first-line therapy for depression in at least 30years! It, and…
I have testify that amitriptyline is widely prescribed for depression in the UK right now in 2022. It certainly did not disappear in 1992 or at any other point in the past 30 years. Secondly, it's widely prescribed as a pain-relieving treatment for neuropathy. The NHS (National Health Service) website has a long webpage on "Amitriptyline for Depression" - and another devoted to its application as a painkiller. Sorry, it has not disappeared.
I just want to keep reiterating that The World Remembers group is a very big positive for this series. They are…
Agree agree agree. For me one of many big positives. And indeed, they are the most courageous guys in the series. And at least some of the other boys listen to them and respect them. All good.
girl calm down, you talk as if you actually know them. the show is over, theyre on good terms, you need to turn…
Your original point is valid, and you seem calm enough to me, as well as adult.
As a viewer, I accepted that these men are exactly who they say they are (and not "actors", as some are claiming), and as they seemed to be willing to reveal so much of themselves, their characters, their feelings and dreams AND their hurts and disappointments, I let myself grow fond of all 8 of them.
Jeong Hyun does come across as someone who is indeed lovely to look at (though a bit too preoccupied with his looks - still, make-up is his profession) but also strikingly lovely within as well: warm, considerate, tender, helpful, generous. To be honest, at the outset I thought I might be least interested in him, but by the end he had certainly won my genuine admiration. He really appeared to be in love with Chang Min, so as we were able to share some of their happiness and witness their love, it's natural and grown-up to feel the sadness now too.
And I do. Boo-hoo! How could Chang Min let him go?
I like the picture. Yeah, it makes him look scary. But in "His Man" he is always so clear and honest, yet considerate and attentive. The effect is rather impressive. Commanding. And he's a SOMMELIER. Good heavens! Choosing a wine as guided by him could well be scary.
The glimpses in "His Man" of his professional work reveal an artist of intense creativity, and as a participant in the series he reveals a truly inspiring personality - so open and eloquent, yet also brave and gracious. At one point, his account of suffering brings us - the other 7 men and the viewers round the world - to tears. I wish him every consolation. And every success.
What a star! The life and work of a 21-year-old make-up artist in Korea is very remote from my existence, yet his charm, honesty and kindness had me captivated throughout.
This sweet young guy made quite an impression in "His Man". Not out as gay, and very ambivalent about it, he nevertheless very boldly came out to the whole world via the series. Congratulations and best of luck in everything!
In "His Man" he comes across as a person of great charm and integrity. Very handsome (and it seems he knows it), yet he inspires real respect - as do all the other men. He greatly expanded my understanding of drag artists and their creativity. I guess I've got to go to Korea and see "Sissy" live now ...
Given that this is a series about a composer trying to write a song, that's rather curious music tinkling away there in the background. Occasionally rather intrusive. And occasionally rather incongruous, e.g. the piano improvisation on a real song, the all too identifiable Christmas carol "Angels From the Realms of Glory" which we get in ep 1 (19:00) and again in ep 3. Maybe it's just there as another colourful but meaningless detail thrown in to keep us watching & listening (with something like ... horrified fascination?)
My only complaint is that Thitnuea's hair is a totally different color from shot to shot. I think light pink is…
Your observations are extremely interesting and have helped me to look at these characters rather differently, appreciating features I hadn't paid attention to before, and adding an altogether new filter to my appreciation of the series.
I note that you say attractiveness means nothing to you. I sort of sympathise with "where you're coming from" (I think!) but at the same time I am very alert to beauty. As a gay man, I admire male beauty, and as the years go by, this admiration has never dimmed. To the contrary, my appreciation of male beauty has become richer and more complex and more ... multi-layered and finely nuanced than ever before. Thus I am very alert to things you mention such as a haircut or the colour of a garment because these things - in my view - can be part of a given man or boy's beauty, can add to it (in all sorts of fascinating ways), can detract from it, and can sometimes reveal it.
It's also good to remember that the production team of any series includes many professionals making judgments about lighting, costume, make-up, hair, camera angle, etc - and in BL series at least they are generally in the business of promoting some dimension of male ... attractiveness, maybe beauty - not the same thing, of course. I bet they work hard to create a look, - and must then suffer a lot when they see what the final edited version of a series looks like!
Having difficulties locating a full and coherent version of Episode 2. I think it's 38 minutes in entirety. I find a truncated version of 23 minutes with the correct subtitles, or a seemingly full version 38-minute with totally wrong English subtitles misplaced from somewhere else. Any suggestions that guide me to the real thing, pure and complete, and with those precious subtitles, received with gratitude.
Some more detail: I've determined that there is a Part 1 of Ep 2 of around 18 minutes, which starts with the boys on the steps and ends with their faked accident plot being hatched, Part 2 of episode 2 is slightly longer, around 19/20 minutes, and starts more or less with the faked accident that goes wrong (or goes right for our romantic heroes) and ends with some comic moments in the Mook/Toy story. But I've only found these two parts in Thai - without subtitles of any sort.
I'm seeing complaints about Q's mother. It's quite clear she has zero problem with being gay - she didn't even…
OMG, it is incredibly therapeutic and nourishing to have a nice conversation here on MDL. Hear, hear. It really is 100% good, exactly as you say. And of course, you've likewise said it already (above), but I'm eager to chime in: I agree with you all. Absolutely. Concur, sympathise, assent, and endorse it all. What a good feeling!
I'm seeing complaints about Q's mother. It's quite clear she has zero problem with being gay - she didn't even…
I don't think you were using her. Obviously there was a real warmth and affinity linking the two of you - and for all sorts of reasons, oppressive reasons, you conformed to the conventional boy/girl relationship model presented as the one and only norm. You were teenagers, youngsters - not knowledgeable adults of 2022 who've watched X number of lovely BL series.
When I was that age, I had never come across any account or image which even hinted at the possibility of a boy having "romantic" thoughts about another boy. It was unthinkable, almost - and illegal. And the pressure on young people to date and "go steady with" a boyfriend/girlfriend, by definition of the OPPOSITE sex, was crushing. Yes, in my day it went beyond heteronormative. It was a hideous straitjacket that one was constantly being bundled into - and if you resisted, who knows what lay in store. "Heteronormative" conceals the nightmare element, the horror-film dimension ...
Looking back, you know what gives me great comfort, makes me rejoice? The fact that in spite of the brutally oppressive heteronormative regime of my youth, I as a gay man have maintained two beautiful, meaningful friendships with girls, now mature women, whom I both first met when we were 14 - quite a few years ago. Falling for a boy in a romantic way was not an option then. But a real friendship with a person of the opposite sex, a girl, a friendship which was not some heterosexual pantomime but a real bond of enduring affection between two human beings, was somehow possible, and I am eternally grateful that somehow these two friendships - with two very different women - still play significant roles in my life today in 2022.
I agree with all your points, You are right to address the use of inappropriate terminology.
I myself am uncomfortable with the use of the word 'creepy' all over MDL. It's a sinister, wounding term, inducing a feeling of revulsion. It's a truly horrible word to use with reference to real human beings - who for instance live in a relationship in which there's a notable age difference. Of course, the character Minato has his own valid, respectable reasons to feel uneasy about getting involved with a high school student. But he doesn't think Shin is a little boy. Nobody and nothing is 'creepy' in this story. It is such a wrong word to apply here.
President Macron of France is married to a woman who is 25 years older than he is. They seem to be very happy. I consider them perfectly normal and wholesome. But this website abounds in comments from those who find ALL age gaps between two people 'creepy' - and they go on and on about it, using this disagreeable, cruel adjective again and again. I know that simply because I express this opinion, I'm at risk myself of being called 'creepy'. The way it's used here on MDL is quite simply nasty and prurient,
Some constructive feedback/ criticism This series had so much potential honestly, I loved episode 0 and the chemistry…
Good questions. I guess they're what keeps me watching. Just MAYBE the writers have enough awareness to pose the same questions and will try to answer them in the following episodes. But I fear your awareness is way ahead of theirs, even though they're the creative force, and the story and the characters will therefore remain meaningless, in a mess, unsympathetic, pointless, uninteresting and very "badly portrayed", as you rightly put it - very apt. But who knows, perhaps they'll surprise us. I'll keep on watching. Mainly because I cannot keep my eyes off Boat, I'm afraid. Must be the haircut.
Yep. I care.
"Deuan" and "Meen" (Neo and Louis) already charmed me to death in "Fish" - here they appear in sort of similar roles, which undergo so much more development, allowing the actors an opportunity to shine. Then the lovely and remarkable Khaotung - how inspiring to see this young actor centre stage in episode after episode, in a powerful and challenging role which takes him far beyond the incarnations in which he already received our attention. I actively noticed him as Tine's philosophical friend Fong in "2gether" to the degree that I hoped to see him again - a wish that was rapidly fulfilled, as we got both the village chief's sweet son in "Thousand" and the rather silly "Chonlatee" - where he nevertheless did his best in quite a pleasingly atypical lead role, a very un-butch very out gay boy. As Ayan he now plays a rather different leading character, it's a bit of a challenge to recognise the same actor as the one who gave us Chonlatee, Longtae and Fong. Anyhow, I think he's wonderful.
And finally in this foursome we obviously have the (IMHO) mesmerising First. So often the camera dwells on his face, and so often I am enjoying studying the slightest movement of his lower lip or a cheek muscle or an eyelash. But there is nothing to compare with First's eyes. Perhaps because of the unrelated and unfortunate image of the uncle stepping over the precipice, I find I imagine myself leaving the hurlyburly of our troubled world and plunging into the magic of those compelling, huge, dark eyes.
Is it shallow to focus on the magnetism of the actors? I don't think so. I am here for a compelling account of male/male love. Something which hasn't been written about or depicted in any form until very, very recently. I'm not here for a searching analysis of despotism or an engrossing school mystery. There are incongruous inconsistencies in the plotting (especially in the ways that the uncle is remembered) and some very jerky cutting from one scene to another. Etc. I don't care, because the writing is OK, the storyline is ... acceptable, and above all, these 4 actors keep me utterly absorbed at every moment. Plus always a pleasure to re-encounter bad boy mischief-maker "Non" - AJ - from "Dark Blue Kiss".
As a viewer, I accepted that these men are exactly who they say they are (and not "actors", as some are claiming), and as they seemed to be willing to reveal so much of themselves, their characters, their feelings and dreams AND their hurts and disappointments, I let myself grow fond of all 8 of them.
Jeong Hyun does come across as someone who is indeed lovely to look at (though a bit too preoccupied with his looks - still, make-up is his profession) but also strikingly lovely within as well: warm, considerate, tender, helpful, generous. To be honest, at the outset I thought I might be least interested in him, but by the end he had certainly won my genuine admiration. He really appeared to be in love with Chang Min, so as we were able to share some of their happiness and witness their love, it's natural and grown-up to feel the sadness now too.
And I do. Boo-hoo! How could Chang Min let him go?
I note that you say attractiveness means nothing to you. I sort of sympathise with "where you're coming from" (I think!) but at the same time I am very alert to beauty. As a gay man, I admire male beauty, and as the years go by, this admiration has never dimmed. To the contrary, my appreciation of male beauty has become richer and more complex and more ... multi-layered and finely nuanced than ever before. Thus I am very alert to things you mention such as a haircut or the colour of a garment because these things - in my view - can be part of a given man or boy's beauty, can add to it (in all sorts of fascinating ways), can detract from it, and can sometimes reveal it.
It's also good to remember that the production team of any series includes many professionals making judgments about lighting, costume, make-up, hair, camera angle, etc - and in BL series at least they are generally in the business of promoting some dimension of male ... attractiveness, maybe beauty - not the same thing, of course. I bet they work hard to create a look, - and must then suffer a lot when they see what the final edited version of a series looks like!
Some more detail: I've determined that there is a Part 1 of Ep 2 of around 18 minutes, which starts with the boys on the steps and ends with their faked accident plot being hatched, Part 2 of episode 2 is slightly longer, around 19/20 minutes, and starts more or less with the faked accident that goes wrong (or goes right for our romantic heroes) and ends with some comic moments in the Mook/Toy story. But I've only found these two parts in Thai - without subtitles of any sort.
When I was that age, I had never come across any account or image which even hinted at the possibility of a boy having "romantic" thoughts about another boy. It was unthinkable, almost - and illegal. And the pressure on young people to date and "go steady with" a boyfriend/girlfriend, by definition of the OPPOSITE sex, was crushing. Yes, in my day it went beyond heteronormative. It was a hideous straitjacket that one was constantly being bundled into - and if you resisted, who knows what lay in store. "Heteronormative" conceals the nightmare element, the horror-film dimension ...
Looking back, you know what gives me great comfort, makes me rejoice? The fact that in spite of the brutally oppressive heteronormative regime of my youth, I as a gay man have maintained two beautiful, meaningful friendships with girls, now mature women, whom I both first met when we were 14 - quite a few years ago. Falling for a boy in a romantic way was not an option then. But a real friendship with a person of the opposite sex, a girl, a friendship which was not some heterosexual pantomime but a real bond of enduring affection between two human beings, was somehow possible, and I am eternally grateful that somehow these two friendships - with two very different women - still play significant roles in my life today in 2022.
I myself am uncomfortable with the use of the word 'creepy' all over MDL. It's a sinister, wounding term, inducing a feeling of revulsion. It's a truly horrible word to use with reference to real human beings - who for instance live in a relationship in which there's a notable age difference. Of course, the character Minato has his own valid, respectable reasons to feel uneasy about getting involved with a high school student. But he doesn't think Shin is a little boy. Nobody and nothing is 'creepy' in this story. It is such a wrong word to apply here.
President Macron of France is married to a woman who is 25 years older than he is. They seem to be very happy. I consider them perfectly normal and wholesome. But this website abounds in comments from those who find ALL age gaps between two people 'creepy' - and they go on and on about it, using this disagreeable, cruel adjective again and again. I know that simply because I express this opinion, I'm at risk myself of being called 'creepy'. The way it's used here on MDL is quite simply nasty and prurient,