jpny01

The first one I tolerated because he was supposedly applying a cold compress to prevent swelling (caused by a rubber object designed to bounce and more or less incapable of harming an adult unless fired from a cannon), but the second one - it wasn't even eroticized. It was like they were checking off a box on their trope list.

Just as a note, the plot of the story is that the boys are in a trial relationship for one month to determine if Ai can put up with how annoying Nhai is - at Nhai's insistence because he is very self-aware about how annoying he is.

So it shouldn't be surprising that the story is mostly about how annoying Nhai is and that Nhai is, in fact, annoying.

If he weren't, there would be no story, and the situation would be as convincing as in a story where they take a super-hot guy and put nerdy glasses on him and pretend he's not attractive.

I don't think Ping is that bad - wasn't it more of a whine than a cry? He does a good job of showing attraction and he's really good at being annyoing without being awful. Is Meen any better? He just needs to be cool and patient and look really good with his shirt off - check, check, and check, but is that hard? Well, aside from all the dieting, working out, and skin care.

Did Nhai get hit with a basketball or a fragmentation round from a 155mm howitzer? WTF. And we're reached a new low in uke uselessness - now they can get a fever from a glancing blow from a basketball? Seriously, TWO unrelated damp towel wipes in one episode?

Wait, did Ton say he used to spoon with Nhai in high school?

OK, I have to give this series serious point for this line: "I like you. Not just your legs. I like your whole body." Note the lack of any metion of personality characteristics or intelligence. So at least he's honest that it's just a physical thing.

Not to be crude, but I'd f@$ the sh$% out of him until I got it out of my system and then dump him, so unless he's extraordiary in bed or hung like a horse, I'd give it two weeks.

I did date a guy kind of like him, but he had nice muscles and was a virtuoso violinist and very intelligent, so I could put up with him screaming like a little girl if a moth got in the apartment and his incessant whining about any minor discomfort or inconvenience.

I have a music degree and play cello, so the fake cello was worse for me. I hate myself for watching it to the end as well, but I did it expecting a nuclear-powered love scene between Rain and Payoo, but it was all a lie.

That's a really good point. I always imagine BL writers as middle-aged spinster women who live as recluses in apartments full of cats, but that's probably just Mame.

Gear was being jealous, which can be a real issue. I think he had good reason to be, but Prince is probably so used to his friendship with Sher that he doesn't realize how it would look to Gear. Prince overreacted, but we haven't seen the aftermath and he may get over it.

Think about it this way: Prince's relationship with Sher is likely one of the most imporant in his life, and to him Gear was casting shade on it, which implies Prince has to make a choice. He didn't make a demand, but if you say "I'm sad because you show closeness to him that you don't show to me", you're saying that you, as a newcomer, deserve the same treatment as someone who has put in years of friendship, which is presumptuous.

If he had said "I envy how close you are to Sher - I wish I could have that". then he wouuld be validating somehing important to Prince and not challenging it.

Prince did say that being with Gear makes him happy - but it is too early for me to think he has an obligation to let Gear know where he stands, so I'm not sure what Prince did wrong. Just being a nice guy doesn't give you any special rights over someone.

I will say the fact that it's possible to have a discussion like this is a big positive about the show - characters are behaving like complex people and not just stock BL archetypes.

I totally agree with that. Although Prince & Gear could probably last a few years during school as a one-sided abusive relationship.

I totally agree on both of those - I feel like we're on the same page.

I couldn't get through 5 minutes of the first ep of 2M3 - I think I'll wait on that one.

I'm not sure if the subtitles were accurate for Gear in that last line - it didn't really make sense.

Prince was too harsh, but he may have a really negative past experience with a jealous boyfriend that set him off - jealousy is a big red flag for me, for example.

I have mixed feelings about this show. I think the writing is acually fairly intelligent - I don't love jealousy stories, but here thee jealousy is quite rational, and if anything Sher and Prince have not handled it well whereas Fah and Gear are more relatable - especially Gear, who had good reasons and tried to calmly talk about it.

On the other hand, jealously is a big red flag. People are often jealous because they're not all that trustworthy so they assume everyone else is like them - but they may also be causing jealousy by not communicating their feelings for their partner. If you're not secure about how someone feels about you, you will likely read more into situations like Sher and Prince, which would be hard for a new boyfriend to take.

I liked that Namwhan is not stupid, has more or less figured out Ping and Tap, and while not backing off, she's also not interfering, which is mature and refreshingly non-evil.

Also, Gear tripped, and both had a good reason for tripping and managed to recover without falling. That was a miracle. Although he's a seme so it's not as big a miracle as if would be if it were Prince.

On the other hand, Sher proved that once again, an uke can't stray within a hundred meters of a basketball court without getting injured. Sigh.

Anyway, I think the writing is fairly intelligent, but it's kind of boring. I initially rated this a 5, but it's gradually risen to a 7.

Choco Milk Shake and My Tooth Your Love are really good. But if of the five listed Love in the Air is your favorite, I probably have much different taste than you because I think it's the least good of them.

I thought Prince was a jerk, but not Ping. Ping is in pain, and it wasn't absurd for him to draw away. Tap has consisently expressed interest in Namwhan, and Ping is stuck - he lives with Tap and can't control his feelings for him, so he doesn't have a lot of options.

I do think he should have texted Tap to say "I'm fine, I just need some alone time", but he is basically a kid. If he were thirty, I'd say he's a total ass, but he's maybe nineteen or twenty.

I don't think it's easy to realize your feelings if you're closeted gay - it can be very hard to contextualize. There a difference between love for a close friend and for a love interest, but the difference is smaller for same-sex attraction.

Even Prince's overreaction may have a basis - jealousy is a big red flag for me, even though in the past it's been partially my fault for not clearly communicating my feelings for someone - when a partner doesn't feel secure about your feelings for him, it feeds jealousy.

And I really liked how Namwhan isn't stupid and is getting a sense of what's going on, and didn't react in an evil way - she actually kept out of it, which was correct.

I have to say it's been growing on me - the writing is actually fairly intelligent. But I would wait until it's over and see what everyone thinks. I started out fairly negative but now I'm above neutral.

GagaOOLala.

Sorry I missed this - thank you for commenting, and I enjoyed revisiting this review, which was fun to write. I'm glad you appreciated it.

It's hard to imagine anyone loving any of these - you almost have to hope they've received the treatment they need.

I forgot about That's My Candy, which is definitely worse. I guess for the rest, most of them had at least one element or story that made the series palatable. Like in My Bromance 2, the main storyline was unwatchable, but two of the side stories (Oak/Film & especially Mon/Tar) were quite good. Check Out is a contender for worst, but even that had the wonderful Ep 0 and the post-series episode with IceTee.

TBH, I didn't watch My Boy - the first episode was so bad I dropped it.

I'll bet if you were to rewatch What the Duck (maybe in lieu of a prison term someday?) you'd think it wasn't as bad as you remembered, after watching Check Out and Physical Therapy.