jpny01

Well, that happened. I liked it, but if you're expecting a continuation of the story, you will probably be disappointed. If you wanted to see Blake Chang's body in skimpy BDSM gear, you will not be disappointed.

It's my fault - I'll indicate that my comment was satire.

Thank you - that's really good to know. About your last sentence, this is a BL, so that goes without saying. :)

I wouldn't call it " a bit dramatic" so much as "totally ridiculous (on purpose)". Several people objected to that scene as "sexual harassment", when it's just mild flirting.

I was parodying someone calling that scene "sexual harassment."

I wasn't serious - someone called a scene where someone tied someone else's apron "sexual harassment."

I was ridiculing people who were calling that sexual harassment. If tying an apron is sexual harassment, then everthing is sexual harassment.

That nobody could tell I was joking tells us a lot about how things have become - you took it literally because it's so believable that someone would say that.

What he was doing in that scene was called "flirting", but that distinction has somehow disappeared lately. There were people who called Leon's consensual courting of Pob "creepy" and "stalkerish" - won't the human race die out if nobody makes the first move?

TBH, I'm disappointed so far. I love the cast, but is the whole series going to be gang wars? I had trouble getting through this - it's really repetitive and I was hoping for a more comedic series.

It's hard for actors to shine when all they're doing is punching each other and running through alleys. Maybe this ep was just to set the scene and it gets better. I'm just worred the "keep it secret" thing will get old, and the writing isn't very sharp - actually it's kind of dull, which didn't appear to be the case from he trailer. It looks like this series is going to lean heavily on the charisma of the actors, and at least there is plenty of that. Nanon has gotten really attractive, and Ohm... yikes.

Anyway, I think maybe this is aimed at a younger audience than me. Or maybe my problem is that when I look forward to shows I develop expectations that are too high.

They work in a busy retauarant and eventually an employee would need to go get something there?

Don't you think he was more likeable in Ep 3? I thought they went overboard making him a dick in the first 2 eps, but I thought it was just right in Ep 3.

Can someone give me a brief summary of what everyone is talking about? All I see is comments complaining about people complaininng about this series, and no actual complaints about the series.

Anyway, it's not great, but only because it's a little generic. But it's very well-excuted and pleasant to watch, and Jung Woo is a lot more likeable in Ep 3. The makeup is so much better than in many of these series where you can actully see white base caked on their faces - this was skillfully blended and not distracting. The music is fine, the camerawork is good, the editing is good - what's not to like?

Although I was traumatized by the rape scene - you know, the one where he adjusted his apron.

That was satire. Adjusting the apron was "mild flirting". We're losing distinctions and any form of forwardness is being condemned as trangressive. It's not. Being an adult means being able to see shades of grey. Every situation has to be looked at individually - blanket judgments are not useful - rather, they're harmful.

I'm at a loss. Nothing made me cringe even a teeny bit, and I cringe easily. Well, I can't stand that triple-take shot they do whenever anything important happens, but every BL does that, so it doesn't count.

There are people that would prefer the romantic climax being holding hands. Any sign of male sexuality is too scary. I'm trying to imagine in what universe anyone would complain about shirtless Jang Eui Soo and I just can't. Maybe if I was from a planet where everyone was hairy multi-tenacled slug creaturs that finds a smooth hard body disgusting or something, but I'd still do him.

The term is "see their breath". :)

I'm glad it's a good way! Your plan might work, IF Bad Buddy is good. It can't be bad by definition if Ohm is in it, but it could still be bad with a shiny muscular hunky bright & sweet-smiling mitigating factor. If you decide not to watch this, I would recommend the whole Leon/Pob story - it's quite nice.

Aww, thanks. You made my day better too.

I've seen Ossan's Love, but not What Did You Eat, which I haven't heard ot - it looks great and i'm looking forward to it - thanks!

I have watchdd them - but I would argue that none of those are BL and are straight up LGBTQ+ dramas. The line between BL and LGBTQ+ is blurred, and that's a discussion that could be debated for pages and pages - but I would say many or most of these qualities::
1) rooted in Yaoi and usually based on a manga or in the Thai case, a novel.
2) written by and aimed at women,
3) the characters are not gay or LGBTQ+ - they are straight, and neither has ever been with or ever will be with another man.
4) element of fantasy
5) loaded with BL tropes like people tripping and being caught & staring at each other
6) characters are idealized beautiful boys with a touch of androgyny (almost universally for the uke - semes are getting more masculine and muscular)
7) seme/uke dynamic, with the uke always shorter, less masculine, and with longer hair, and usually younger (although often the same age)
8) minimized and unappealing female characters (thank God this one is rapidly diminishing - Japan is way in the lead in this catagory, e.g. Hashimoto),
9) "gay" "equality", i..e. male characters are free to bond romantically - and barriers to this are internal, e,g. "but I'm a guy!" it's rarely that they'll be beaten and bullied for it, and friends treat it as normal. In other words, insitutional homophobia is ignored.
10) Sex is minimized and treated like it's a huge thing, usually with the uke behaving like a 12-year old Victorian virgin, even though the characters are high school and college-age boys, and consent is often dubious (again, this is diminishing.)
11) Characters are high school or college kids, even when there is no point to this.

Kieta Hatsukoi had all of these except 8). It's true that there are occassionally exceptions to 11), but they are usually matters of emphasis. For example, Bite Me is not a school drama, but all the ukes are students, although that serves no plot purpose and could have been dispensed with. Likewise, Given was about musicians, but was still in a school setting and could fairly easily have avoided that. Cherry Magic was almost a miracle, with the main characters explicity in their 30s, altough the actors were uncharacteristically younger than their characters to compensate. I think only Machina Keita had hit 30, and not when he was cast.

I'm so over the school setting it's hard to even put into worlds. Japanese BLs are generally better executed in every regard, and the uniforms are a lot cuter - those plaid slacks with the white sneakers kill me. Much better than blue shorts with white socks and black dress shoes. Someone in the Thai Ministry of Education is a sadist. Some of the K-uniforms are cute too.

I don't mind there being villains sometimes. but it can't always be a vengeful ex-gf. It's misogynist, and every once in a while it would be nice if there were some gay characters instead of straight boys that turn gay because caught someone that tripped and they stared at each other for 15 minutes.

I will say that the trip and catch in this was totally perfect - first of all, it fit into the plot beautifully, and second, they already liked each other - it didn't cause it.

Anyway, that was a long-winded way of saying, "I agree with you - I like this series!"

I guess one of the boys in YYY was actually an alien, but that series was so crazy it's hard to be sure. Anyway, I'll put up with the "standard plot" if it's for a quality production like this. One of my favorites is still A Man Who Defies the World of BL - nobody is as good at dry comedy in BL as the Japanese.