jpny01

I think it goes without saying that we're expressing subjective opinions "Call it like it is" is an expression.

I can see your point - it's true, women are overwhelmingly the victims of human trafficking and it does kind of suck to have the sex ring run by a woman. Also, Rung is devious and manipulative, whereas the men just take what they want. Thinking about it, there is a some misogyny there, too.

I'm curious to see how it resolves - sometimes Asian dramasdon't really have people pay for their crimes if they say they're sorry for what they've done. You know, "Sorry for my premeditated first degree murder for purely selfish reasons." "Well, if you're sorry, then that's OK. Let's go get lunch."

When you say "Perth", I assume that's Pued? If it is, no need to respond - if it's someone else, let me know!

I went back and rewatched at and you're right - I confused Rung's crying with Jane's gasping when I first watched it. Thanks - that makes a lot more sense now.

That was in reference to your important point that because they don't want to show a main female characterbeing sexually active and enjoying it that they use rape storylines to launch romances, as if that's more acceptable morally somehow - and I was saying that if a producer doesn't want to show people enjoying a physical relationship, then maybe they should be producing something other than romance stories.

Ohhh, I see what you're saying. Yes, I agree completely.

The Philippines have been far more willing to try new things, even if some of them are disasters. I'd rather watch a trainwreck like "My Day" than "Your Gear & My Gown", which manages in just the title alone to embody everything that's stale with Thai BL.

I think maybe it's the very success of Thai BL during a long period of virtual monopoly that led them down a path to formulaic mass production.

No doubt the there is Filipino garbage being produce in equal quantities - but they are more likely to have an LGBTQ+ sensibility that is lacking in Thai BL, which is largely written by women for women.

There's certainly nothing wrong with that, but it's likely that this is why the Filipino approach has a particular appeal for me. I also feel like the Philippines generally reaches greater heights because they hire experienced actors for key roles instead of relying as Thai series do on absoute amateurs who they cast based on their look and how straight-acting they are, and write screenplays intended for a visual medium rather than adapt mediocre novels written by a limited stable of authors.

Note that the best Thai BL of all time, and maybe the best BL of any place and all time is Thai, was written as a screenplay for a visual medium with an LGBTQ+ sensibility and cast experienced actors, one of whom is not at all straight-acting, and neither were classically and fashionably attractive (although I would take Billkin over ANYONE). Hopefully there's a lesson in there for Thai production companies, but I doubt it because ITSAY looks like it was really expensive. I'd be curious to compare the per-episode cost between ITSAY and a mediocre mainstream production like Oxygen, and to see how their earnings compare.

ITSAY was not a particularly original concept, and contained a number of tropes, like enemies-to-lovers, the student thing and a girlfriend being in the way - but it was so exquisitely done that this didn't matter. Yes, it was enemies-to-lovers, but not because they tripped and fell so that their faces were too close together and they stared at each other for an awkwardly long time until they turned gay. It was an organically set up situation than made 100% sense in the context of the characters and was fully character driven, not situationally (like tripping and falling so that their faces are too close... you get my meaning).

I was just asking if Por has a teleportation device or something. I guess he could just have precognative powers or maybe several clones of himself, but he's sure good at showing up at just the right time and place to drive the plot. Also, would Pued just watch Jane being murdered and film it instead of saving her? Yes, because our heroes needed a weapon to use against Rung and so the writers threw it in and even left it in the very room they were sitting in. I loved this show at first, but it's becoming a mess. It's still better than 95% of what's out there, but it set a high bar with the opening episodes and hasn't really lived up to its promise.

You know, you are really good at distilling things into concise, easy to digest language. You should be a writer or professional reviewer. The above sums up my feelings exactly with about 10% of the wording it would take me.

This is a ten-ep show stretched to 14 - and while I get that they want to stray from the novel to keep up the suspense, I didn't and never will read the novel, and I think it's more important for the plot and characterization to make sense.

I keep holding my breath whenever Oat is in a scene, because I'm expecting him to be an evil mastermind. But it would be hilarious if Sorawit is the REAL boss of the forces of evil. "Hah, HA!! I was using you all along!" [Shoots Tat in the head]

It could change faster, though. If you can't accept that people are entitled to enjoy phyiscal aspects of love with each other, then you shouldn't be making romances, BL or otherwise. They do what you describe in BLs too, still.

I'm not sure I understand. You're saying we shouldn't blame Rung for exploiting Jane's love for her to pimp her out, and then murder her when she won't play along? I think we can throw some blame on Rung here. Pued is worse, because he not only participated, but he stood there and filmed Rung murdering Jane instead of saving her, which he could have done easily. And all the men are so evil they're not really characters anymore, they're cartoons. At least Rung has some depth (and a great actress playing her).

I didn't get the sense of jealousy - I think she did it to protect herself and her power. Rung called Pued to come comfort Jane in the abortion scene - I don't think she would have done that if she were jealous. But I agree that Rung is the worst. It doesn't really matter if it was jealousy or power - she's just plain awful.

I get your point, and I agree it's good when a show can add some depth to the fluff (although fluff is good too!), but here I think it's gone overboard. To be a commentary on social injustice there needs to be realism, not a bunch of cartoonishly evil people and a broad brush painting everyone in power as corrupt and evil. It's gotten to the point of being exploitative rather than shining a spotlight. Social injustice is caused by poverty and desperation, not by all wealthy people being psychopaths. It would have been nice to see a more nuanced exploration of the social issues that they're just using as plot points.

For example, I am aware that as a member of the upper-middle class, the drivers of my prosperity are likely causing suffering somewhere. Am evil? How do I fix it? Can I? Should I, if it means doing so would let down people who depend on me for financial support?

A criminal enterprise will have to involve a large number of ordinary people that are participating in evil without being evil - what are the conditions and levers that motivate their complicity? It requires our ability to view fellow human beings as "other" and is a key factor in much of what's wrong with the world, including homophobic oppression - but even that is also caused by misguided but well-meaning behavior, like your parents being upset you're gay because they're afraid your life will be more difficult. If the parents in a show are just evil homophobes, they're a plot device, not an exploration of an issue.

Sigh. I loved this series when it started and I'd been looking forward to it for months. The first half of met or exceeded my expectations, but these last two episodes have been part of a prolonged downward trend, altough the directing and cinematography were back in top form this ep and the acting was particularly good.

I'm judging this to a high standard because it's a quality work and we have to pay to see it, and I'm not sure what happened - I guess it's that the plot is becoming more and more sloppy and nonsensical. I respect that they wanted to move away from the novel to maintain suspense, but it still has to make sense. The plot and script were really tight and compelling in the earlier episodes - I wish that had continued.

For example, why did Pued do what he did in his ep with his phone rather than what he could very easily have done? It made no sense - it's just a plot device that's not driven by consistent characterization. They needed our heroes to have a weapon to use against Rung, so they inserted one, and it was right there in the room with them, so it wasn't earned in any way.

Also, flashbacks can play an important role, but there needs to be some present day action occassionally too - we're almost at the end and the main characters have done almost nothing lately, and we're rehashing everything over and over and over - some shorthand would be useful. I ended up watching most of this on 2x speed. If they need to fill time, can't it be with Sorawit & Tat? Or a hot male nurse giving Inspector M a sponge bath? What was the point of the kids going for the money and everything that happened? It didn't advance the plot at all - are they just creating peril to try to keep up the tension? (BTW Putter/Sorawat is an amazing actor - he was in this for 5 seconds and still managed to be stellar as always. I will watch anything with him in it.) And does Por have teleportation device?

The social commentary is getting really heavy-handed. While it's good that they don't romanticize criminality and they make abuse of power and exploitation disgusting, not EVERY person with power is depraved and evil - are they drawing attention to corruption or trying to start a class war? Even an evil man is not going to alienate henchmen with guns by raping their girlfriends - you won't have many henchmen left (or remain alive) if you behave that way. We needed to see Pued's motivation for going along with this, otherwise it just seems like making people awful to make them awful. That's why it was nice when we had the good judge to balance everyone else being evil.

I think maybe the issue is tht this should have been 10 episodes and was stretched to 14 for commercial reasons. Maybe Zoloft paid for this ep and so they wanted it to be a dismal as possible to encourage use of their product.

(TBH I kind of liked that they did a product placement for antidepressants - that would never happen in the USA. Or if it did there would be two minutes of disclaimers following. Tan would have walked in and said, "Hey Jane, I'm glad you're getting help, but please be aware that ZOLOFT may cause serious symptoms, including irritability, heart failure, acne, anal bleeding, severe anal bleeding, ennui, prickly sensations in the earlobes, develoment of amphibian traits, an unearned sense of entitlement, muscle cramps, rejection by family pets, loss of interest in BL, bouts of innapropriate laughter, or molting." That sounds exaggerated, but drug commericals here are really like that. The anal/severe anal bleeding is from an actual commercial [for a weight loss drug]. Is there really any compensating advantage to medication that causes severe anal bleeding?)

I'm not sure how it's a slap in the face of women - Rung is horrible, but she's no worse than the 10 or 12 male villains in the series. Is she worse than the police chief, congressman, or judge? I don't think Pued is whitewashed - he not only sold his girlfriend, he also decided it was more important to film her being hung instead of going out there to save her? At least Rung has agency - that's not always the case with female characters.

Completely agree as well. I said that before and got gang-piled, but I think we need to call it like it is. This was a filler episode, with the same scenes replayed over and over. I think this was a 10 ep series that got stretched out for commercial reasons.

LOL - I agree with your critiques, but this is a bit harsh. I think it deserves at least a 2. My problems with it manyfold. First, if I were dating someone who spoke to my mother like that, or anyone in my family, that would be IT. I've ended a date because he was rude to a waiter, let alone my mother.

Second, although I liked the over-the-top evil of Sky's gf, way, way too much time was spent on her and her scenes tended to be endless, not that endlessness was unique to her scenes.

Third, I am done with shows that include a predatory effeminate gay character - the fem-shaming is inexcusable homophobia, not to mention implicitly misogynist. Jelai sexually harassed that one guy all the way through the series, and while his brother is laying right there bleeding to death, all Sky's brother can do is fawn all over Ace.

I'm skipping the points you already went into depth about, but the plot was so bizarre and incoherent that I remember thinking "Ace's father is a bit mean, but he's 100% right. What kind of an idiot puts interns in charge of a major corporation?"

I have to give the two leads point for committing when it came to the love scenes, but they lacked the impact they should have had due to the imcompetent plotting and lack of meaningful buildup. While I appreciated how hard-core (by BL standards) the sex was, it felt like a weird form a fan-service.

What the series needed to do (besides getting a better editor) is abandon all restraint and go full-on camp. There was no point to having a man play the maid - if you're going to do that, she should be an outrageous drag-queen. The evil gf needed to cackle with malicious glee and concoct way more bizarre revenge plans than leveraging peanut allergies or abducting pets. Dad should have been a supervillain, not look like a bike-gang member that they threw a suit on. That would have made the ridiculous plot palatable. The clothing should have been more riduclous - Aki Torres is so hot that he looked good in everything he wore, which didn't push it enough. Etc.

If you think this is the worst BL ever, I'm guessing you haven't watched Boyband Love, lol. In any case, I'm really happy the Philippines has emerged as a BL powerhouse, but there's a weird nationalism at play that is getting irritating with its sensitivity. In their first year they've already produced several of the best BLs of all time - but defending garbage just encourages more garbage to be made. I'd prefer to have a tenth the number of BLs coming out if it can all be top-rate.

This is one of my all-time favorites too, and it's a pity it was largely rejected by fans because Singto is not allowed to be with anyone but Krist even though he has 1,000 times more chemistry with Ohm, although that's not saying much as Ohm would have searing chemistry if paired with a fencepost.

I first watched this when it came out, and I was completely blown away by the main characters identifying as gay rather than "not gay, only love X" - it felt like a cool breeze on an oppressively humid day after all the other BLs there had ever been to that point.

While on some level I liked the ending, it also diminished the story a bit, which more or less had a bittersweet ending built into it. They could have fast-forwarded to an inevitable reunion at the end of Ohm's life and maintained a happy ending.

And the lack of punishment for grandpa was really difficult to swallow. If he had just had a moment of moral ambivalence when he came across Singto on the floor, maybe. But it was premeditated murder, not negligent homicide. Your commenter below excuses it because grandpa was old and regretted his first-degree murder of his own nephew. That's not the point of justice. Justice is portrayed as a blindfolded woman holding a scale - that symbolism is important. You don't get a free pass because you're sorry for a mistake that you made (if premeditated murder can be called a mistake) that you only atoned for when you were caught.

Anyway, for those two factors I have to detract a star from where you put it and only give it 100 out of 10.

I disagree with you on this one, at least on the macro level. Fiat and his story line were certainly the highlight of the series (that boy has something special - I suspect he's not further along due to height discrimination. The "top" leads are usually tall and excuciatingly dull. I've noticed that height appears to be much more important to women than men - I suspect that plays into this.)

But the main pair were so unappealing and lacking in chemistry and their plot so inexplicable that I could barely sit through it. Are you giving it such a high rating because the book was good? It's possible Pai was so dull, irritating, and one-dimensional because of directing, but the same person was directing Fiat, and at this distance, do you remember anything else about the series other than him?

I liked The Shipper, but reading your review I sort of agree with you that there was no narrative necessity to kill Kim , which I admit in retrospect never sat well with me- but I don't agree that this made the story regressive and unenlightened. Killing the gays in the 50s was a moral judgment that was part of an overall virulent homophobia - that isn't the case here at all. The m/m relationship was portrayed as a very high form of love that transcended death, not something sinful that had to be punished. A 50's show would certainly not had the teaser at the end, either, unless it was to show the gay wandering in hell rather than the opposite.

As to the question of whether or not this is a BL, I would say yes, it is, in a meta sort of way. The m/m pairing was front and center to the plot, and the fact that they truly loved each other makes it BL, even if one of them was inhabited by the spirit of a woman for most of the series.

But it was also a critique of BL culture and how shipping can become an obsession divorced from reality and taken to extremes, like when fans ship the actual actors and react with hostility when they do anything to indicate they are straight and/or not actually together with their co-actor, and this is taken to the extreme of the shipper actually inhabiting the body of one of the pair and trying to force her ship together.

The destructiveness of this behavior is directly underscored by her being so obsessed with her ship that she was missing out on one of the hottest boys alive right beside her and interested in her, and also her setting in motion the chain of events that caused her ship's destruction. Maybe Kim's death was to symbolize this.

I still don't think it was necessary, because Pan ending up with Ohm was enough to make the point, but I don't think it's the same as MODC's horrible ending, and at least the narrative and the characters in The Shipper is coherent and consistent, unlike 2gether, which started out in such a promising way, then descended into a mish-mash of every negative overused trope they could possibly have stuffed into the second half of the series.

Anyway, thanks for the thought-provoking review.

To answer your "survey question", the thing I most remember about the shipper is being strangely turned on by the kinkiness of Ohm's physical attraction to his own brother. If there's one scene I remember most, it's Ohm's expression of of exhausted despair when Kim climbed into his bed because his A/C was broken. Sorry my answer is so prurient, but being truthful and all.

Totally agree about FL being replaced with a guy. There's not really a point to mixing genres - BL fans are here for BL, and the FL character lacks any qualities that make her compelling. If they'd cast a trans actress for the role, or someone over-the-top bitchy it might have worked better. Why not Jennie as the sister? It would have been refreshing to see a couple with a younger man and an older woman for once.