jpny01

I didn't feel it at all, and I like Singto. Batting your eyes and giving puppy-dog looks is what 1950s child stars do, not sexy gay men. Despite that, he sill comes on overly and creepily aggressive, like the pizza delivery boy in a porn video, and it comes off as desperate, not confident.

If you're suggesting that success in picking up guys in the gay world has no relationship to body and looks, I think I might have grown up in a different gay universe than you. Even for straight guys it's a huge advantage - a massive proportion of right-swipes by women on Tinder go to a small percentage of the men.

Singto was somewhat believable in the flashback, but the scene where he took Punn to the gay club was embarassing, IMO.

But I'll repeat that I'm still enjoying the show - I'll just have to try to suspend disbelief that anyone would even notice Weir is in the room when Krathing or Punn are around.

From the scenes it looks like there will be some BL - it never really went there in the Korean version, but that was Korea, and also 13 years ago.

Second episode was also strong. I love Pluem - I remember thinking he had "it" in Dear Loser, but now he has a lot more of "it".

I'm still not feeling Singto as Weir - he's too teddy bear to pull off an irresistably sexy man. It might have been better if he was supposed to be irresistably cute instead - he can definitely do that. It doesn't help that they gave him those bangs and he's always standing next to Pluem & Lee.

For me, I already know the story, so there aren't any surprises, so I hope they make some unexpected changes - maybe throw in a little BL?

I totally agree with you - Singto is way too teddy bear to pull off a sexy super-gay. It doesn't help that they gave him that terrible haircut - it makes him look like a boy. Meanwhile, Lee and Pluem are standing next to him making me think dirty thoughts.

Throwing hate? Are you serious? Nobody is perfect for every role, and producers are often cynical and cast famous people in hopes of getting more people to watch. I think you need to learn the difference between expressing an opinion and "hate". It's a bit fragile to react that way to an opinion different than yours.

And the second ep made me feel more strongly that Singto is miscast - his character is supposed to be sexy and alluring with gay superpowers, and he's not at all.

Sorry, That was a bit blasphemous of me, but it would make a good BL. Jesus could trip and Peter could catch him and they'd stare at each other for ten minutes while all around them everyone's water would start turning into wine.

Oh, sorry, I thought you meant the acronym. Ida has a sexy voice - very deep, and also he never says anything frivolous, so he comes off as manly an mature. Jesus would totally be into Ida - he was into manly men - that's why all his apostles were strapping young laborers.

This is a romantic comedy. It's OK to find the characters attractive. They cast the actors that way.

It means "I know, right?"

I actually thought Singto was miscast - I like him, but he did nothing for me in this role. Pluem, on the other hand, put in one of the better performances I've seen in a while - I was totally blown away, and felt everything he felt. I don't think I've ever cried watching someone eating dessert before.

Agree about Krathing - Pluem hit it out of the ballpark.

OK - I've never really gotten the Singto thing. Is it part nostalgia because for many people SOTUS was their first BL? I get that, but to me he was underwhelming in this. I think his character was arrogant and transgressive, not irresistable - and it's ridiculous that Punn hired him after being sexually harassed by a potential subordinate. Also, that haircut they gave him is ridiculous. He looked so good in the first scene with normal hair. Anyway, I'm gay and I would have no problem at all saying no to him.

But Pluem - holy cow, was he good in this. I cried when he did when he had the dessert - and that childlike smile when he had cake after the match was so cute it killed me. I would have no chance of saying no to him, that's for sure. And Lee (Punn) is gorgeous he also did a great job and is a compelling lead. I'm looking forward to Foei being in the story. I wonder if they'll make this more of a BL than the other versions. I vote for Pluem coupled with absolutely anyone.

It will go down - but yes, Singto has his following, for sure.

I agree. The Japanese one is too old and it feels dated, and for once, the Korean version is actually better.

I liked Cupid Coach. I do not like this, and I really like Gameplay. CC wasn't good, but it was entertaining to watch, and it did have its qualities, like having the lead character explicitly gay and the maturity with which the characters handled conflict. And the way the lead character looked with his shirt off.

But this is just dull dull dull. And it looks like we're going to continue with the disturbing sexual harassment next ep. I'm really confused - what is the point of this series, other than product placement.

Does anyone else need a cold shower whenever Ida talks?

I agree with you - this should have been up there near ITSAY - it had everything it needed to get there. It certainly looks beautiful, though. The cinematography was fantastic, and I really liked the music and sound a lot.

I'm certainly no expert - all I was going by was he said he had a lot of makeup on, but I'm probably wrong.

That's one element - in this case it's about the comparison- the straight couplings all occur with smoothness, whereas when the sort-of-gay character wants something, he tries to take it by force. That reinforces the predatory-gay stereotype - we see it more commonly in effeminate characters, who are universally lascivious and rapey - check out the premiere of Love With Benefits for a recent example. It's excruciating to watch.

But what I find more homophobic is that this is supposedly a BL, and the production was more than happy to exploit the BL audience, but more happens between insignificant characters Chompoo and Lek than between the main couple, who have artificial and out-of-character drama keep them from sharing any romantic connection until the last 30 seconds of the show.

There is no outright flirting, and I don't count the endless staring - I think Zung communicated longing, but Mark was a cipher (I think deliberately - or at least I hope so, or he's a bad actor), no hands touching, not even the stupid and overused trip/fall/catch cliche. It simply wasn't a BL, until a few seconds stapled on at the end.

Why not? The source material was BL. If you watch a behind-the-scenes, Zung makes it perfectly clear he had no desire to be in a BL, but he was talked into it - it's hard to avoid the idea that he was only OK with it because he only had to do one chaste kiss.

There was plenty of drama to have been had just in the inherent conflicts in their relationship - age difference, class difference, boss/employee, familial disapproval, the stresses of the competition, etc. But instead we get no romance other than a sexual assault.

My low rating was for ep 8 - after waiting forever for something to happen between Aue and Aek, Aek brutally rejects Aue for no apparent reason, then Aue sexually assaults him, Aek gets violent, and they break up before they ever even got together. I would probably have given it a 7.5-8 before that ep. Then after that the whole thing was swept under the rug like it never happened. That's terrible writing and very disappointing. It's actually kind of homophobic.

I think it's because the show had such great promise and then didn't deliver on it. When you know a show isn't going to be good going in, you may not judge it as harshly. This one for me was an 11/10 after the first episode, but then just became a frustrating and extremely slow mess with people staring at each other taking the place of character & relationship development. The series felt homophobic to me. The straight couple slid comfortably into a cute relationship, but the gays were kept apart artificially, and had some sexual violence thrown in for no apparent reason, because gays are like that, I guess, in some people's minds.