Jero

But Serizawa’s obsessed twt fans are calling us the ones with a superiority complex and writing whole thinkpieces about people shipping Suzuki with someone else 😭 Like touch some grass. not every ship has to pass your canon purity test for people to enjoy it. It's literally just a happy ship

The comments here are hating on Suzuki alone when Serizawa is literally dumber and more of a coward like why would Serizawa give mixed signals to someone with such low self-esteem and then let him come to that conclusion himself

Like, I'd be lying if I say I am feeling the chemistry between Suzuki and Serizawa bc it's been off most of the time and the fact that I'm a sucker of golden retriever and black cat trope

I think the only moment since the first episode where I actually felt that spark was when Serizawa was sick and Suzuki put his forehead against his to check if he had a fever

They shouldve just made this a gay harem bc Suzuki has a bit of chemistry with Matsuno too, the ex-friend who seems to have internalized homophobia

But the chemistry with Takeuchi, I cant deny it anymore. I'm sorry Serizawa's truthers but there's literally that spark even when they're just having a casual conversation like !! I wouldn't even be mad if there were 2 or 3 of them fighting over Suzuki lol

Idk if it's just me but Suzuki has way more chemistry with Takeuchi than Serizawa

Also, the leads are starting to annoy me

P.S. atp, Serizawa is the only one annoying me bc the comment section is so Serizawa-centered 😭 his fans are toxic everywhere when he literally has the bigger fault here

And I can't with people being annoyed by TeeTee acting like you have no idea how hard it is to pull off that kind of character without making it unbearably cringe. I've only really seen this kind of exaggerated/animated acting but still good in some Japanese BLs so I was actually bit impressed that he managed to make Duang feel genuine rather than just annoying

Maybe it's just not everyone's cup of tea, especially if you're used to BLs where the seme has to be super dominant and masc. Having two leads who aren't constantly performing that kind of aggressiveness or masculinity or whatever was honestly pretty refreshing especially for a Thai BL

I went from an 8–8.5 to a 9 bc clearly this decided to stay in my head rent free. It's been days and I'm still thinking about it ngl. The fact that I’m rewatching it right now says it all (tho. I admit that some of those last few episodes did get a little too sweet or saccharine for me though lol)

And I love that it manages to be pretty and emotionally resonant without making everything miserable. Sometimes you can just make something warm, sincere and well-made, and that's enough

The beach episode next wk. The pattern is sooo similar with School Trip. There some little differences tho like how Serizawa struggles to catch feelings with his ex gfs. I actually prefer that over Watarai's since the "being handsome is a problem" thing has already been done in Cherry Magic. The writing and characterization here are honestly stronger than School Trip, but sometimes the chemistry between the leads just... isnt chemistrying

It is getting better

Or an anime adaptation would do too

Or maybe a spin-off story would do AHHHHH. I find myself yearning for this series again every now and then, you know?

Give this a damn prequel while Rio and Sora still have their youthful features

I used to, mostly pre-2021 iirc. Tho, I did try Bad Buddy in the second half of 2022, but that was already after I had pretty much transitioned to Japanese BLs. So this is actually my first Thai BL in like 4 yrs, and I just finished watching it yesterday

As a manga fan, I am so glad I dropped this immediately. I couldn’t even push through the half of the first episode because the acting is cringe and the cast is not giving the characters at all

Qin looks like Min Wook while Duang looks like Kenshin from CYE

Kan and Kodai have way more chemistry, while Yokya Shudan definitely has the better characters. And honestly, a mediocre story can still be elevated by good acting and chemistry

I'm gonna hold your hand when I say this... as someone who read the novel, S2 is probably gonna be bit toxic. Iirc, a big part or arc of it revolves around Watarai's problematic homophobic gf who can't accept his relationship with Hioki bc he's a guy. BUT let's see… maybe the production changed things around for the adaptation bc I'm really hoping they do

And with that Your Summer, My Storm ending, I feel like this is gonna be my best Japanese bl of the yr. School Trip 2 really has to come strong bc the competition is looking crazy

Tbh, I think I would've liked this even more than School Trip if this had been released first and I watched it first. I think a big part of it is Serizawa himself. He's not overly possessive type of main lead and I will always have a soft spot for the golden retriever/sunshine type of lead over the possessive ones (Watarai is kind of annoying sometimes)

Aside the fact that I LOVE that basically the entire friend group are fudanshis lol. I also really like how much the show lets the friendship aspect breathe instead of making everything revolve around the main couple. Don't get me wrong, I also love the friend group in School Trip but I think this show gives its group dynamic a little more room to shine

That said, I still don't think this will beat School Trip in my heart. The watching experience got to me in a very specific way even of all its imperfections. It made me actually feel things, the butterflies, the giggles etc.

But honestly, if this show had come first and I had watched it before School Trip, I genuinely think I might've ended up loving this one more since the two have a pretty similar storyline

The ONLY thing that makes this BL look bad to me is that ugly ass yellow filter 😭 like who approved that color grading PLEASE

P. S. Kimura Kaiki is so f*ck*ng hot

Girl, I fear you completely misunderstood the word fetishization

Critiquing the writing, directing, acting and portrayal of a romance bc the emotional intimacy isnt believable is not automatically that. Wanting a BL to have believable romantic chemistry, tenderness, longing, tension and intimacy ≠ fetishizing gay men. Fetishization is when you reduce queer people and their relationships to an object of sexual fantasy for your own consumption

I literally said "I'm not asking them to make out like porn" so where exactly did you get "I need this to turn me on" like from what?? Nobody said "make the minors do explicit shit". That was never my point. The point was that if the story chooses to portray intimacy, it should actually feel emotionally natural and believable within the relationship. Not just two actors having their third fish kissing scene and suddenly we're supposed to believe this is some deeply intimate romantic moment

And honestly, the way you immediately interpreted this discussion of queer teenagers having intimacy or romantic affection as sexual is kinda weird too. Straight teenage characters can have crushes, romance, kisses, intimacy, and relationship storylines without people automatically assuming that discussing their chemistry means someone wants to sexualize them. So why are queer characters being treated like their romance itself is inherently sexual???

There are two types of toxic BL fans: the ones who think every BL needs sex scenes to be good, and the ones who see any queer intimacy and immediately scream "fetishization". And you're giving the second one girl

I kinda liked this BL at the start, but I'm sorry, the intimate scenes are really not giving. Okay, maybe I could still forgive the awkward first gay s*x experience bc, obviously, first-time nerves are a thing. But we're already on their third kissing scene and they're STILL doing those fish kisses… at some point it becomes harder to read it as intentional awkwardness and more like the actors just aren't comfortable with eo

And before anyone says "they're teenagers". There are literally teenage Japanese BLs that have handled this kind of intimate scenes so much better without making it explicit or pornographic like y'all think. Our Youth did it. Eternal Yesterday did it too. It's not about needing the actors to make out like a porn. I just want to FEEL the longing, the tension, the tenderness, all the emotions behind these scenes

Idk if this is the production being overly conservative, the direction, the actors' choices (well, one is an idol), or maybe whatever rating restrictions they're working under

I love how this BL manages to be so wholesome while still tackling some irl LGBTQ+ struggles. Proof that BLs don't have to be trauma porn to address those issues. This show really hits everything right where it needs to without making things unnecessarily heavy. I also really appreciate that it doesn't go to the other extreme either, where soft BLs usually used to portray queer life as this overly perfect, conflict-free world to the point where it stops feeling believable (a.k.a. Cherry Magic the Movie or most of the pre-2020 TH BLs). I love wholesome BLs, but I still want them to feel grounded in reality

I actually teared up a little at the end of this episode and I kinda have an idea of what's gonna happen next ep, but I love how the show can be a little cliché without feeling TOO cliché, iykwim. I might be too biased here because the whole going-abroad route in BLs or even het shows is a bit cliché and I know it's been done so many times already, but there's something about the way this show has handled everything so far makes me trust that it'll make it work

Everything about this show is just so wholesome and comforting and I'm loving it so much. Easily the best Japanese bl so far from this yr