jpny01

I wrote a positive review, so maybe contrast it with a negative one to decide if you want to watch it if you'd like.

Yes. COVID interrupted filming and when it resumed, it looks like not everyone was available. The ending does make sense, and there's a new character who almost everyone really liked.

The actor is a college student - he was probably unavailable for the continued shooting. I'm not sure it was completely predictable, even before the continuity break. If you didn't know who the couple was at first, that's already practially revolutionary. Generally you know before the credit are over, and five minutes in you could sketch out the plot with 95% accuracy, And the way people reacted to things maturely was surprising. "If you had told me, I wouldn't have burdened anyone with unwanted attention."

I'm afraid I don't know if it's based on a novel.

That's exactly what I gave it. I looked forward to it every week and it made me happy.

For me what worked was Tae, who I would watch standing in a field for hours on end.

But the production was apparently interrupted by COVID, and since they case a lot of college students, many of them may not have been available. Also, I believe the last section was filmed during the height of restrictions, so they had to severely limit the number of actors on set.

I have to give them some credit for muscling through, but it could certainly have been better.

The original run was 10 episodes, which they had to extend by two or the revised ending would not have worked at all.

If you're in a room with someone you trusted who was suddenly being aggressive with you who is bigger and stronger, there's reason to feel fear, and because people are inhently good except sociopaths, guilt is an effect tool of coersion. If you're a teen or young woman, this is all different that it is for middle-aged gay men.

I hooked up with a guy once who I tried to put off politely but he outsmarted me, and he was fairly attractive and an acquaintance of a relative, so I did it. The sex was terrible. I think he learned how to have sex from porn or something. Finally he fell asleep, little damage done. Then he woke up a couple of hours later. It would have been a lot of effort to get rid of him so my inner monologue was "Well, this might as well happen." So yes, I let someone have his way with me out of laziness, whereas when I was 18 I would have been traumatized by the whole experience. Sex and love are special when you're young. Love is always special and sex is great too, but there's not a lot of importance attached to the individual act. When you've had sex 10 times, each one is pretty special. After 10,000 times, it's "turn off the light when you're done."

That was bleak and exaggerated for the sake of dramatic flair, but you know what I mean.

But he was crying because he thought he had coerced Yong Jie though his authority position when he tried to kiss Yong Jie - remember that was the first overtly sexual thing that happened.

When Xing Si found out Yong Jie had planned the whole thing, he was angry, even slapped him more than once, rejected him, and sent him away.

Yong Jie didn't have to tell Xing Si the truth - he could have just said he's always been in love with Xing Si and what happened is what he's wanted for years. Instead he was totally honest with him like he always is - so he's not a sociopath, he's a disturbed, probably mentally ill, but basically good person.

Remember, he needs to engineer the situation so that he takes the blame for the relationship or (he believes) his step-father will never accept the relationship. The problem is, he's deciding what's best for everyone when these are not his decisions to make. After the beach scene, it's unmistakable that he's correct that Xing Si is also in love with him and won't act on it because of the authority relationship, but Xing Si's reasons for not acting on it are likely many and rational (e.g. their parents will never accept it [although he'd be 50% wrong on that count], if they got together and it didn't work, it could destroy the family, the age difference, the authority relationship, etc.)

Watch the beach scene again, this time looking for Xing Si's sexual attraction for Yong Jie rather than assuming it's not there (that's not a criticism). The scene starts with a bottle in a phallic position in the sand in the foreground which is not accidental. There is no mistaking the erotic nature of what Yong Jie is doing - think about a time when a relative of friend was putting sun screen on you - was is a slow caress like that, or a rapid spread lasting a few seconds? Not to mention the nipple brush. Would you shut your eyes and think about how good it felt, or would you turn around and say "what the f@#$ are you doing?" Xing Si is obviously (to me) fighting what he's feeling.

I actually really like that interpretation, and I think you're right about the power dynamic - I hadn't thought of it that way. But the driver for Xing Si's behavor is his perception that he's in the authority position.

I also think your other prediction is correct, and I think it's another well-intentioned and horribly misguided reason for doing what he did. This guy really plans things out - this was a 10-year plan!

I'm actually in complete agreement with you except on one point. The Canadian law is ridiculous, and if it were to strictly implemented globally, the human race would die out. I would agree that when alcohol is involved, it's better to get a "yes" than an absence of "no", but consent can be nonverbal - I would say it almost always is. And I'm aslo fine with awkwardly inserting that into shows meant for children - better to get a "yes" at least until you have the experience to interpret non-verbal cues with some acuity.

But that is an oppressive standard, and people who commit rape are bad people, not good people who were induced by alcohol to be bad, and they will rape regardless of what the law is. And unless you get a written "Yes", it's "he said, she said", so this accomplishes nothing but to ruin romance for good people.

While extremely drunk, I once slept with a man where there was a mutual attraction but who was in a relationship. I knew it was wrong while I was doing it, and there's no chance I would have done it while sober, but if he had said "no" or even was not really into it, there is zero chance I would have tried to force it. One might say if I did one thing wrong, how can I say I wouldn't do another? Because of scale. Raping someone is a monstrous act of violence and just a step below murder. To me, the guy in the relationship is the person who did something terrible, I was only a selfish asshole.

But by the definition a lot of people are throwing around here, I'm a rapist. If you have the incomplete story, it doesn't sound to good for me.

The additional details are that I had met the guy that night, we were mutually attracted when sober, he was not drunk, I only went to his room because a friend(-ish) I was not attracted to wouldn't leave me alone (he wanted sex) and I needed a place to sleep. I got into bed with with the guy, he initiated sex, and it happend. Then I don't sound so bad. In fact he sounds closer to being a rapist. But this is again where we get into complicated consent. I'm pretty sure he would not have forced me if I said no or physically resisted, or was blacked out, I wanted to have sex with him, and I immediately went along with it because he was cute. Is that still not consent? I think I consented. I wouldn't have done it when sober, but I knew exactly what was happening, and it was something I had wanted while sober. There can be a lot of disagreement, but in the end the decider is me. Likewise, the decider is XS.

There is a difference between doing something you regret and being raped. You don't always know where the line is in advance, but you almost certainly know it when you reach it (unless you're a minor, which is why sex with minors is illegal). Every situation is different, and every situation has to be looked at individually. Proclaiming that consent can't be given when drunk is too broad. That consent can't be given when incapacitated is objective and inarguable.

Anyway, I think YJ did something terrible - and they have not romanticized it (although they certainly sexualized it!). We saw that when XS slapped him, rejected him, and refused to listen to his explanation. I'm hoping they don't just shrug and say "Bad boy. Don't do that again. Let's get married." A lot of work needs to be done before the audience can accept them as a couple. Maybe even a time jump to after a few years of therapy for YJ.

To me, YJ did this out of a misguided desire to give XS what XS wants - because XS doesn't think YJ wants the same thing, and he doesn't think YJ can consent because of the power differential - he tells us that himself. You know, using initials is actually more work than just using their names.

That it's also what Yong Jie wants is certainly material, because you're more likely to delude yourself with dubious justifications for what you want to do. If next episdode we discover that Xing Si has no desire for Yong Jie at all, then I'll jump camps, but until I see the full story, I can't call it rape.

What happened to your friend is terrible, but it has nothing to do with this situation.

I'm trying to understand how it's possible not to see that XJ is sexually attracted to YJ. It was possible before this ep., but not anymore. Please go to 16:35 (it's not an explicit scene), first, note the bottle in the sand. That's not accidental, and it's not the first symbolic image within their scenes. Do you really not see that the scene is erotically charged, and the conflict in XS?

Also you don't even have to have visual acuity - he says to his friends he's afraid he coerced his brother - why would he say that if he had no desire? Have you ever wanted to f#$% a sibling when drunk? It doesn't make you a different person, it lowers your inhibitions.

YJ asked XS if he recognized him, and he smiled and said 'You're Yong Jie." He did'nt even open his eyes first, so you can't tell me he doesn't know full well who it is. And then after after YJ tells him he's deeply in love with him - and it was expressed in unambiguous romantic terms - XS says it's mutual. So if he had suddenly forgotten the person he just recognized moments before, then who is he telling us he's deeply in love with? Unless it's his stepfather, there aren't any candidates.

I woudn't confess my romantic love to my brother with a smile, because I would be traumatized and probably slap him. Well, eventually traumatized - I'd be confused at first because he's 100% straight.

However, if someone I was in love with just told me he's also in love with me, you can bet I'd smile when I confess I love him too.

Why would brothers share a bed if there are rooms with two beds available? That would be beyond weird.

A lot of people have strange impressions of what it's like to be drunk. Maybe it's because too much media use it as a plot device to excuse actions or for humor. You do not suddenly manifest desires that aren't already there. New stimuli can enter the picture when you're drunk (like if you're at a bar), and you might then find someone attractive that you wouldn't when sober, but If my brother wandered in, I wouldn't suddenly desire him, and if he tried something I would resist. Several times I've had to physically resist men I was not attracted to coming onto me while I was extremely drunk - If XS had no desire for YJ, it woudn't just appear suddenly.

That's why you never go to a party and get sloppy drunk without your sig other. And why you never get drunk when you know you're going to be in a bed with someone you're sexually attracted to if you don't want sex to happen.

Remeber that YJ had only given him chaste kisses on the forehead and cheeks - it was XS that initiated overtly sexual activity by grabbing YJ to kiss on the lips - and that's why he was afraid he had coerced YJ into sex.

Repeatedly asking and guilt-tripping is coercive and is at least sexual assault. He leveraged their friendship, the weather, distance home, etc. to get his way - she may have been in a vulnerable place in her life, or there could be other mitigating factors. You also have to consider that many women have to fear that a man might get violent. We should probably avoid an assessment of real-life situations.

Your last point is not a fact, and that you think it is a fact says more about you than it does about anything else. Every situation is different and has to evaluated individually. Almost every single legal system in the world disagrees with you.

I'm not blaming the victim, because there is no victim. If XS were impared, I would agree with you. He wasn't. And YJ didn't want him impaired, because then he would be guilty of rape, but more importantly (to him), XS wouldn't remember the sex and so the whole exercise would have been pointless, and I don't think he spent 10 years planning this just to rape XS. He could just have slipped a rape drug in his drink and taken whatever he wanted.

That's true for YJ, but XS is struggling with this, I believe because of the (step) sibling relationship. And while YJ may nor think of this as an incest situation, the world at large will, to an extent. But note the YJ was past the age when the incest aversion develops when XJ came into his life.

I think the relationship is meant to be transgressive, but functionally it's not really incest. YJ's mother would have freaked the f#$% out if they were real brothers or if she thought the relationship was harmful. She has kept it secret - just tellng XS or her husband would put an end to it. If they didn't have the bond of 10 years of intimate love, what YJ did would not be an obstacle they could get past, and they may not anyway.

Please not that the below is a reasoned argument and that I am not typing this in anger.

Yes, YJ did deliberately plan it and carry it out. If I slap you in the face, I've committed assault and battery, but I haven't murdered you. My problem with these discussions is that it's always all or nothing. Either 1) there's absolutely explit verbalized consent, or 2) it was rape.

YJ can have done something wrong without it being labelled rape. The entire premise of YJ's plan and - his premise is 100% correct, which we can acknowledge without approving of where he took it - was that XS wants him to but will not act upon it, so he needed to lower his inhbitions so that XS WOULD do something he WANTED to do but felt he SHOULD not. (All caps because there're no italics here.)

XS says explicitly the next morning that he's afraid YJ sensed XS wanted him, and so did it because of their authority relationship, i.e. YJ was coerced by XS's power in the relationship, which, incidentally, is the method with which I and a very large proportion of people who have been sexually assaulted or raped.

So he's admitting he wants YJ. But many people here have been in complete denial about this, I presume because it makes them uncomfortable, or that believing that that's not true conveniently shaves some grey off the situation, but I don't really know.

I have not once said YJ is innocent - he is patently NOT innocent, what he did was incredibly wrong. I have said that what he did was not rape because XS was inebiated, not impared, which is an abolutely critical destinction - one made explicitly by almost every state on the planet and in international accords to protect women's rights.

So let's look at the definition impared and see which boxes are checked for XS

Inability to understand, know, think: No
Inability to respond or communicate coherently: No
Inability to remember experiences: No
Inability to resist (physical or verbal): No.

So no symptoms of imparement.

Intoxication is more subjective, and we can obviously only judge by visual clues (for example reduction of pain is not something we can see).

Blood Alcohol Content (BAC) up tp 0.2% - 4-5 drinks in a one hour period:

Loss of motor functions - unknown, but I'll say yes. It doesn't have to be loss of all motor functions.
Boisterousness - No
Over-expressed (loudly) emotion: No
Nausea & vomiting: No.
Slurred speech: No.
Erectile dysfunction: No (received oral sex)
Gross motor skill impairment: No (grabbed YJ around the neck and pulled him in for a kiss).

XS doesn't even qualify for this level.

I see no basis for calling this a rape. This was a devious, manipulative, incredibly long-term planned seduction. He has horrendously betrayed XS's trust, and his behavior to me indicates he's mentally disturbed with an impared understanding of right and wrong.

If YJ wanted to rape XS, it would have been much easier than spending 10 years earning all that money, learning bartending, etc. He could have just slipped him a rape drug and there we are.

But that would have defeated his purpose - which was to lower XS's inhibitions to allow him to let free his love of YJ. He was careful to make him drunk enough to lower his inhibitions, but not drunk enough to be impaired and not remember what they did. XS even checked onscreen to make sure YL was not impared.

Yes, I'm so excited for that! I thought Tee's acting improved over the course of this, and Nut is highly experienced.

Remember that Nite said Que Bhu wasn't Tae's soulmate, and he would have known if he himself was - so it makes sense if someone else was, although they obviously hadn't planned it that way. What they should have done is give Tee a haircut and dye his hair back to black and filmed a scene where Nite II has some business with Namwhan and inserted it early on (and gives Tae a look), and that would have tied it all in nicely instead of being so random.

Thank you so much!

I'm not watching it. Or I'll wait until it's on somewhere... else. I' believe in supporting series but not if they're going to be dicks about it. I'm not excited enough about this to be bothered, and I kind of hope it's a big failure so nobody does something this stupid again. Do they honestly think it's not going to be pirated? They've made it more likely, not less, and they've likely stripped away many or most people's inhibitions against watching illegally.

There's something to be said for the contrast - it was interesting to see Tae as the pursuer with Nite I and the pursued with Nite II.

I'm sure they meant Nite I to be the endgame, but this worked fine.

I totally get it. COVID apparently interrupted the production and not all the actors were available when they resumed. They did the best they could with it, but it's hard to switch gears like that and satisfy everyone. I like Nite II better than Nite I, so I was fine with the ending, and I was mostly watching because I think Tae is super-attractive so it worked for me.

Thanks - I always love learning more context. It would be incredibly rude my American standards, so it's hard to connect to. It would probably cause some people to commit suicide or violent acts as well.