jpny01

Yes, the contrast is rather stark. Nite I is cute, but Nite II is way more charming and a much better actor. It might have been the way Nite I was directed, but his behavior was stiff and hard to connect with except just before he left, apparently to never return.

Yes, most likely. The Que actor's girlfriend is probably asking him why that guy's foot is where it is.

You lack imagination. Nite I should get 1,2,3,4,5,6,7, and Nite II should get 1,2,3,4,5,6,7. XD

The older episodes averaged 37 minutes, the last few 34, so shorter, but not by much.

The Nite II actor is Pak Chavitpong Pusomjitsakul:

https://kisskh.at/people/51987-pak-chavitpong-pusomjitsakul

https://www.instagram.com/pakchawittt_fcperu/?hl=en

https://www.facebook.com/pakchawittt

He'll also be in My Ride. They're probably thankful they had him around to step in.

The first episode was the worst, and I think it got much better after that. The pacing never really speeds up, but the product placement is mostly tourism-related, so you can fast-forward through all the walking around and looking at attractions if it bores you - some of it is actually quite beautiful. The plot does move and I think it has a lot of charm and qualities you don't see very often, like a main character who is unabashedly gay and a strong female lead, an absence of formulaic tropes, and people behaving rationally and actually discussing conflicts instead of letting the plot rely on implausible failures of communication.

The production does appear to have been severely affected by COVID, so it does take an abrupt but interesting turn about two-thirds of the way through.

I personally really enjoy it, but it's not for everyone.

I totally understand why you feel that way, but for purposes of science, I was researching whether or not Tae's body had changed since the beginning of the series, and the length of the episodes is fairly similar - they range between 34-37 minutes. They should probably just make them three-parters, because splitting into four can make them seem shorter, especially in eps where the last part is particularly short like this ep.

It looks clear that something interrupted the production and they had to re-tool it - the time of year is different and Tae's hair is blond and much longer now than it was at the beginning. COVID seems to get in the way of a lot of things.

Really? I'm sort of having the opposite reaction as Nite II is so much better an actor than Nite I. Now that it focuses entirely on him and Tae some of the clunky qualities of past episodes are obviated. Namwhat was depressed because Que dumped her in a really awful way, but as a strong character she moved past it, especially when she discovered he was gay. It was important to the plot, because Que was secretly seeing Bhu, who was Tae's original crush.

I think the production got interrupted by COVID - you can see Tae is visibly older and has totally different hair now. They probably couldn't get a lot of the actors to be in the latter part of the show due to health concerns. But to me Tae is a lot more than cute, so it's enough to keep me going. Nite II is awfully cute too.

The plot seems to drag sometimes because they tried to integrate the product placement to make it seamless. It is, but the product placement is all for resorts and tourist attractions, so it involves a lot of people wandering around pointing out things, like ceramics, hotel amenities, temples, and perfume.

I think he seems stalker-ish because they've seriously violated the formula - a major character showing up like this at the end of a series is almost always a villain, but if we were following the formula it would be Nite I's ex-gf.

Nite II is aggressive but has never really pushed Tae into anything and seems to be completely honest and forthright, albeit a (large) tad corny. He doesn't insert himself in an insidious way, he announces his intentions, which I think is supposed to tell us he's genuine.

On the other hand, he could be a jealous gnome about to push Tae off a cliff - not sure why that story was discussed.

I undertook the painful task of rewatching all the shirtless Tae scenes from Ep 1 and Ep 10 over and over again (for science), and I can see no difference in his body shape - he was fairly muscular from the beginning. His hair is blond now and about 3 inches longer, plus it appears to be a different time of year as the weather is much nicer, so it's clear time has passed in the filming. Bhu's hair is longer too and he's put on a bit of weight. Tae does certainly get hotter with each episode, but I think it's the clothing and attitude - he was wearing conservative button-down shirts in earlier eps, now he's in more sexier outfits (including no outfit, which is my personal favorite). He's also gone from being confused (by having a god show up) and pursuing someone unavailable to being a strong silent-type who someone else is pursuing, so that probably increases his appeal. He looks more manly without the schoolboy bangs hairstyle, too.

It is starting to seem strange.

I think the no-kiss might just be there so it doesn't look like Tae is too "easy". Tee doesn't strike me as a big star with leverage - if he had a problem with kissing, he'd probably be asked "Do you ever want to work again?" He doesn't seem to be all that shy in this regard.

I'd be curious to see a mini-doc about the making of this to see what happened - it feels a little like Why RU - the abandonment of everything but Fighter/Tutor and exiling them to a resort where they hung out for five episodes with no plot movement.

My theory is similar to yours, but I'd need to know when they filmed this - was it a year ago and they were interrupted by COVID? It seems likely given the totally different hair for Tae. Maybe Nite I's parents wouldn't let him out after lockdown. Tee's age is listed as 20 and so is X, but Nite I did seem a big younger. Nite II is not in any of the marketing materials - and weirdly there's a photo with everyone wearing weird suits that has a completely different guy that we haven't seen. Maybe there was a lot of conflict in the casting department or something.

In any case, they should have just cast Nite II from the start, because he's 100 times more charming than Nite I, 1,000 times better an actor, he's and cuter too.

I feel like I miss things due to the language barrier, although I've learned to pick up how respectfully people address each other with the khun and p' things, lol. Apparently Thai humor involves a lot of wordplay (so maybe in that case the language barrier is a good thing, because puns make me groan), and there Namwhan made a comment in an early episode that Nite spoke with a strange accent - I don't don't know if he's a foreigner, or it's just the speech impediment caused by his braces...

This was a better episode than some of the past ones. The production quality is still poor - inexcusably poor - but the acting is some of the best you'll ever see in a BL.

There are still editing problems. The prayer scene was long, but in this case it was appropriate - Damon's uncle was having them say a Rosary, which for anyone who didn't grow up Catholic involves reciting 53 Hail Marys interspersed with 6 Lord's Prayers and a few other things - I haven't done it in decades but I still remember, if that tells you anything, so the repetition is a plot point, and I love that the script seems to indicate that even divine beings regard it as ridiculous judging by Angelo's teasing during it, and Damon's ability to recite while unconscious, which was all adorable.

The scene of Angelo trying to resist kissing Damon (or trying to make himself kiss Damon?) was excruciatingly long and looks like the editor just took the dailies of all fifty takes of the scene and left them in the final edit. Way, way too long.

But the acting is so good that it makes me sad to think that with a competent production this could have been the most epic BL of all time. Even with the horrible pacing, abysmal sound, incompetent cinematography, directing, and editing, even with the occasionally trite and preachy dialogue, the acting is so good that I'm generally in tears all the way through this. Enzo is excellent, but Kaleb Ong is a revelation - It's really hard to believe he's acting, he's so authentic and powerful. I feel every ounce of his despair and love. Kaleb has great legs - I didn't notice that until he had them wrapped around Angelo (that sounded sexual but it's not - it's super-cute).

I'm a little mystified at Damon's illness - judging by the phones this is set today, but nobody that's not mired in poverty dies of HIV like this anymore, and he's clearly getting proper medical care. I think they should have set this 20-30 years ago and it would make more sense.

Possibly unpopular opinion: I think there are way too many trans characters in Filipino BL - really all BL. The reason I feel that way is not because I don't think they deserve representation, but because they're used as filler and often unfunny and offensive comic relief, and to have them just... there minimizes the real suffering of their existence without giving them important roles and agency. The only exception I can think of at the moment is in Stranger's Kiss, where a trans character plays a crucial and meaty role. In other words, let's integrate them into the stories more and have less tokenism.

Did they have sex, or just sleep together? If they were trying to convey sex, it was too vague - neither were naked when they woke up - Andre even had a shirt on.

It was slightly abrupt, but my interpretation was that Andre has never associated with anyone outside his social class except servants, and no that we've seen he feels exiled and unloved, he was lashing out at a person who was a tad cheeky for a servant. Now that he's had a moment to see that Kai is hot as f#$%... I mean, a real person with undergoing real suffering, he's become able to see him for him, rather than his social status, and a bond was formed. I didn't think I'd ever buy it or get over what a huge dick Andre was, but I've been won over.

The acting and technical aspects of the episode were good, and I think this series is badly underrated.

OK, that was much better - I'm so glad I wasn't lectured this episode. The depiction of a certain dramatic scene went on too long and was a bit weird - like I'm not sure violently shaking someone is the natural instinct.

The two mains have really good chemistry - I'm almost surprised. Ian Rosapapan is incredibly sexy, and when they're near each other, I feel the heat. Andre's change was a bit abrupt, but it didn't bother me - I think he was always nice underneath, he's just been too insulated from a class perspective and he feels exiled and unloved, so he was lashing out at people who didn't deserve it. Once exposed to Kai (and his hot body) and saw that he's a real and normal person, a connection was created and he became able to empathize.

They made Andre so awful at the beginning that I thought they'd made a big mistake and I'd never warm up to him, but they pulled it off.

This series is seriously underrated. The acting is good, the writing (when they can move away from the preachiness) is solid, it's technically competent, and the main couple works well.

Did they ever mention Zhen Xuan? And why does Zhen Xuan think Shou Yi is in love with Shi De? It seems pretty clear to me. I'm not saying I think I can't be wrong, but it feels like everyone is in denial because they're cousins - which doesn't seem relevant to me. If you're into your cousin, you're into your cousin, Cousins marry all the time, and here there's not even any genetic danger. There's not much anyway unless it's a full sibling.

What's wrong with being into your cousin?

True. Me among them xD. But that's OK because it gives us a chance to discuss things we can't with most people in our lives. I often have my mind changed by people here - sometimes I miss things or misinterpret them, and other people's perspectives fill in the gaps. There's a built-in tendency for misunderstanding things because most of us are reading subtitles, which often incompletely or incorrectly depict what is actually being said.

On the other hand, if you can't tell that the Mu Ren/Li Cheng storyline is a totally non-serious live-action manga, fluency in Mandarin or even telepathic powers are not likely to help you.

He was in the wrong until a mature adult beat him up when he was trying to apologize. Now he's less in the wrong.

Apologies aren't necessarily about admission of wrongdoing, they're an attempt at restoring harmony. Have you ever apologized to a parent or significant other even though you don't really think you did anything wrong? Or maybe that you don't feel you did anything wrong but you regret that whatever it was upset them? That's an insincere apology, but it's for good reasons, just like answering "No" to "Does this dress make me look fat?" might be a lie, but it's well-intentioned and almost always the correct answer to give.

So I don't see how his desire to apologize is ridiculous - and he never once even considered lying about his role in anything. Sociopaths have zero relationship with the truth - they just say whatever they think serves their interests. This is a troubled young man who needs to be approached with compassion, not beaten up for petty and childish revenge.

Obviously it was wrong for Yong Jie to hit Mu Ren (although he has a very punchable face), but it was way more wrong for Li Cheng to beat him, and equally wrong for Mu Ren to revel in it. To me, they're way more in the wrong and repugnant as people.

Yes, I agree with that - it's a lot more endemic to the "comedy" storyline, which is not terribly subtle or hard to understand to begin with.