jpny01

There's still one more episode - it's not much time to sew everything up, but it's not like most BLs don't rush to a conclusion.

That was sweet. A little carried away at times, because the writer is female and isn't aware that boys only choke down their vomit and grudgingly tolerate all the saccharine to try to get laid. Shane's confession was more true to reality.

This is one of the few times that I actually like the main couple best, although I'm curious to see how Per & Tar develop.

This is a BL that does what it does well - the writing is thought out, with realistic action & reaction, the dialog is good, and there are no stupid cliches. Of all four pairs, only Kim & Mon fit into the oppressive seme-uke model, and even there it's a light touch and works well.

The writing on that was decent, especially in the first half, but all the flashbacks got a bit tiresome - I think they should have combined some of them and had a few less.

I guess the biggest problem for me is that I don't really buy them as a couple - I don't feel anything. I think maybe SOTUS worked better because it was so chaste and tame that they didn't have to sell any passion. Here I thought Krist did a good job playing an asshole, but there's something about Singto that never comes off as authentic to me.

The age-based graph has been consistent - the only change is 13-17 went up a little. It would average to about an 8.6, which is very high. IMDb always has much higher scores for everything than anywhere else,

There just aren't many (or any) sites that are reliable when it comes to ratings.

I there any evidence? Even if there are people who do that, there are way too many voters for them to be able to skew the tally. Also, there are people that deliberately give series high scores if they think people are giving low scores, which I think is much more common.

No there aren't. It's the MDL algorithm - if you click on the graph synbol in the top right, in the line just under the title, you can see the vote by ager group. The real vote puts the score at around 8.5. Whyb would anyone intentionally rate something bad? Whenever a score doesn't match what peoplle think it should be, they always go there first, when it's more likely that people simply don't like the same things they do. I'm the opposite - I can't believe how high the scores are for some awful series (I'm not referring to this one - I haven't watched it yet).

I don't get Max & Nat - but then a lot of the perpetual couples get stale. I think it's because when they're cast for the first time, they're auditioning for roles that suit them, whereas later they're just stuck together whether it makes sense or not. Plus, most things are more exciting the first time.

Raise your hand if you were surpised Jun got hit in the face by a ball at the sporting event. Nobody will raise their hand, because it as 100% likely. What was even the point of that? It didn't add anything new to their dynamic - it just made us sit through 15 minutes of getting ready to go to the factory, going to the factory, arriving at the factory, attending the game at the factory, then going home with no character or plot development.

It's a good thing that Oat is so cute that I can't look away. He's also a really good actor, unlike anyone else in this mess.

It was probably that way in a novel or manga or something and they felt they needed to mutilate the actor's looks to copy that. He looks 1,000 times better with his hair down.

Oops, this is about Ep 5 - somehow I got behind.

Oh, for God's sake - ukes cna't even eat seafood ithout injuring themselves. That dinner scene was tedious.

Actually, the whole series is getting tedious. It's just going around in circles. Sorn is too big an asshole for me to care about their relationship - I keep waning Jun to get with any other man that enters the scene - the retaurant guy will do nicely.

I watched it. I thought "It can't be worse, can it?" It can. I do appreciate the multiple gratuitous showers, but I'm streggling to understand why anyone would write this, and even more confusing, why anyone would film it.

The actual rating is about a 7, judging by the vote by age.

That was dull, but I do like that they don't let that one guy ever wear a shirt.

I assume the subtitles were a tad inaccurate when the monk's blessing was "The Age of Tuberculosis". I would be alarmed if a monk said that to me. Or this conversation:

"China Taiwanese people, he is a tourist and then a photographer. The Prime Minister. He said "Mae, take him for a picture. Go take a picture of the lifestyle and the wooden house for the king. Oh, die, die, die. I hope you won't ask me again. Talk to him, know about where?"

Anyway, the subtitles are terrible.

Holy cow, Ep.1 was torture to watch - nothing happened! It was just talking about nonsense, then moving to a diferent room to talk about nonsense, then 15 minutes of rules on using the bathroom. The worst writers waste story time on personal peeves. I guess she must have messy housemates.

The boys are unusually attractive, but that's all I can say on the positive front. In this case it's just not enough.

I agree. I think Poon is good too - I wish it were him with Jay. And Sant's chemistry is better with Captain, it seems to me.

I think your responses are a bit reductive.

(1) He didn't say that. He was speaking to the tendency for people to respond with criticism with "like it for what it is!" or "if you don't like it, don't watch it!" Objecting to something is not the same as not watching it.

(2) That is not what the point was. The point is that JBL characters are thoroughly straight-coded, meaning they are not allowed any non-masculine traits (other than ridiculous hair). Even in cultures where "gay" is not a label, it is understood that there are people who prefer their own sex and often display characteristics of the opposite sex. "Gay" is a more exclusive and specific label, but it's not that different from the way most cultures look at it. Before the modern era, almost all cultures had non-companionate marriage, where nobody expected people to fall in love and get married. People tried to pair compatible people, but romantic love was generally sought outside the marriage, so a label like "gay" wasn't needed - but that doesn't mean there weren't gay people - you just had to suck it up and do your marital duty.

(3) That is of course a matter of opinion, and I'm sure some people do find pleasure in the same thing over, and over, and over, and over. But there's a point where you're fetishizing and applying negative or harmful stereotypes. For example, as you must know, among male-male pairs, there is not always a top and bottom, and if there is, the top is not always taller, stronger, more capable, smarter, and the only one of the pair that can descend stairs with out tripping. But be honest: isn't it refreshing when a BL doesn't follow the same old plot in the same old setting?

(4) Then you are very unusual. Most people find it normal and even necessary for two people in a romance to have physical contact, attraction, and kissing, if not sex. But that is not the issue - the issue is, do Japanese m/f romances avoid physical love to the extent that BL does? They do not. Why? Because of societal and institutional homophobia that limits what can be portrayed without being shunted into a niche category that lowers profitability.

(5) That is also not the point that was made. True, the PROTAGONISTS are never ugly, and there's nothing unusual about that - romantic pairs of all types in all cultures rarely feature anyone ugly. The point is that openly gay characters are not protagonists, and are almost never appealing either physically or in personality, but are rather either predatory or solely exist for comic relief, which is offensive and homophobic.

(6) Again, not the point made. Straight-coded could be defined as male/male characters who are written, acted, or framed in ways that reflect heterosexual norms—especially in terms of behavior, gender roles, or how their relationship is portrayed—so much so that their romantic or sexual connection can be interpreted as “not really gay.”

Why is it like this? Homophobia/censorship, maximizing the audience by not alienating heteronormative viewers, most of which are women, many of whom want intense male relationships but do not want overt queerness, hence no kissing.

Wait, there's a nerdish lawyer with a hot body? Why didn't anyone tell me about this?

And blood everywhere. I didn't really like Love Stage, but it did have a realistic accidental kiss, lost teeth and all.

It's lazy writing, not storytelling. Sixth Sense had a fantastically setup premise that led to a twist that seemed obvious once you knew it. That's a far cry from coincdentally hearing things. It's not organic development of characters and their relationships, it's pushing a plot forward by convenient coincidence.

I'll watch that when I get home. But this isn't a novel - it's live action, and they have deliberately put them in intimate situations, like accidentally kissing and being squeezed together when hiding and there was just zero heat.

There's a difference between having a romantic relationship and having an attraction.

Poon has gotten really handsome lately. I always thought of him as a comic actor, but he's been gettiong my heart rate up.

This series is not good, but it has Mark in it. The ads are getting oppressive.