jpny01

Social issues are preachy and tiresome when it's characters standing around talking about them. If it's integral to the plot, great. I'll take anything over uber-rich engineering students at this point.

There's nothing wrong with having disabilities, so I don't see anything at anyone's expense. Are you saying you think people with disbilities are lesser or something? That's kind of patronizing.

It's a little ridiculouos though, for grown adults to be having this problem and not even discussing it. And like I said, how is it hard to ask Leo for a hug, but easy to masturbate in Leo's bed?

They don't really bother to check what the song is - there have also been Christmas carols used as background music. Most likely they just search for free music online. Someone heard the tune, thought it was catchy, it was probably labeled in German so they couldn't read it, and they just used it.

I do know - I was just being funny. I thought the first two stanzas weren't used - the second is also a bit problemmatic, from a "me too" perspective. They should have just dumped the whole thing and switched to Beethoven's Ode to Joy.

I liked the first episode, then it took a dive off a cliff. The first episode is worth it just for Din's shower scene.

OK. I want to be more positive, but there are a couple of problems that are hard to overlook. I can get past the total lack of acting ability, the dull story, the unintentionally comical fight scenes, the low budget & related incredibly intrusive product placement, the incomprehensible stupidity and incompetence of the gangsters, Din's minor superpower (the ability to have or not have a ponytail from scene to scene) and even grandma being so happy her only male descendant is banging a guy (or being banged by a guy, or both. Since the pair never even touched each other, it's hard to tell).

But I can't get past the trans-shaming - even in the middle of the climactic life-or-death struggle, she's a pathetic joke character and takes time to sexually harass the police.

The other thing that's hard to get past is there is absolutely no BL in this whatsoever, unless you count brief handholding and a kiss on the cheek, but only while pretending to be together.

The cast is really attractive (even the director is a hottie), but there needed to be more shower scenes - if you're going to hire people for their looks instead acting ability, let's see some skin.

I appreciate the attention to social issues, I'm beyond grateful that this isn't about ridiculously weathy engineering students,

The grandmother was fantastic - I almost wonder if they got the actor playing Din's real grandmother and tricked her into thinking he'd left her - she was that convincing.

I don't think the episode was bad, and I would have appreciated it more if it had been in the middle of the series where it could have informed the plot and helped us understand Yu Zhen. Throwing it in the end, when we wanted to see YZ and Shi Lei as a couple was irritating, and they could at least have made it up to us by having Hank take his shirt off or something.

It's hard not to be angry after watching the latest episode - I'm angry at myself for wasting so much time on this series. So the big confession we've been waiting for was done OVER THE PHONE? It wasn't even split-screen so we could see them both. Who wrote this?!? What made anyone think that watching people on the phone and texting for an hour would be compelling watching? And look who he DID talk to in person!

And BL is starting to get paralyzed by the inexplicable need that every director seems to have to just have characters standing around staring at each other endlessly without saying anything. Why bother hiring actors? Just get mannequins - you can pose them however you want, and they won't complain if you don't feed them. And they won't get heat stroke if you make them wear sweaters in a tropical country where it's never below 30 degrees.

I'm not sure I've ever dropped a show this close to the end, but I don't really care what happens to any of the characters anymore.

It has cute moments, but I think it's not great. As it goes on it gets more and more frustrating.

I feel like I might have been dating myself with that reference, but I'm glad at least one person could enjoy it.

The only Ep 2 available with subtitles looks like it's been cut by 15 minutes. Well, if I remember this exists in January, I guess I can watch the international release.

OK, Ep 1. The director and editor need to go to directing and editing school. Two examples: was it necessary to have THAT long a scene of Kaitoon trying to reach the customers? How compelling is it to watch someone making phone calls to a dead number for 10 minutes? Also, when he left Non's room, what was the point of showing Non pack up the medical supplies and put them away? Did that serve any purpose to the story? This is full of things like that.

Pak who plays Kaitoon did not disappoint - he is really charming and endearing, and I can already tell he's going to be carrying this series.

New trope to add to Trope Bingo: Why does everyone always look at their phone when the alarm goes off, go wide-eyed and say "Oh no! I'm late!" Why don't you just set the alarm for a time early enough that you're not late?

I'm trying to decide which is the better cure-all - being dabbed by a damp towel, or the magic Q-tip. At least this one didn't look like it was covered with ear wax like usual.

Anyway, the writing was a bit lackluster, but the main character of the show is a solid actor, not to mention very easy to look at, and I wasn't groaning due to an overload of tropes - really just one, which is a minor miracle.

Thai BL is certainly in a rut. They really need to get some good writers. And maybe directors. I've been having to watch EP 1 on 2x. Who thought that four-hour scene with him sitting around trying to call the customer over and over would be fun viewing for us? The actor is certainly cute, and he can do well with good direction, like in the strange last four eps of Cupid Coach, but whatever he has is wasted on this. At least he's not an engineer.

To be fair about the dialogue, it's possible there are translation problems, or expressions that don't translate well.

I guess the pauses didn't seem that bad after Be Loved in House where there were 20 minute stretches of people staring at each other trying to say something. But yes, that's a particular problem in BL - I remember screaming with frustration during Lovely Writer.

If this series is aiming for realism, I don't think you can just handwave away any reference to sexuality, especially a story set in 2002. There's no sign of either of them going through any sort of process or realization - just straight from zero to relationship. That's certainly very BL, but BLs are fantasy - this isn't.

I could buy Nut being shy in public if he's not dealt with his sexuality, but then we need to be told (or shown) that, because it doesn't appear to be an issue for him.

Well, at least they didn't do the "two attractive gay boys who are in love with each other and sleeping in the same bed but never touching each other" thing.

It would be interesting to see the story from Da On's perspective - they should do a special episode.

OK, I'll buy that. It should be easy for me - I've been both DO and TK. Unfortunately it was so long ago that I can't remember specifics - and I was DO and TK with the same guy. (I figured myself out, he didn't. And still hasn't.)

The best moment for me was how DaOn lost focus on his effort at distraction. Hysterical.

That's interesting. I think it might be harder for boys to separate attraction from liking someone, but I think you're right that there's some one-sidedness - but he hasn't really gotten anything his way at all here - he was asking for a discussion, and DO wouldn't even give him that. Even "I don't know how I feel and I'm not ready to discuss it - please give me time" would have been enough. Instead, he got more robot stare. (Although the actor is good at portraying the repression and sadness behind the stare).

That seemed more like best friends to me, but it was cute and well-done.