jpny01

Oh, sorry - I misunderstood what you said before.

That's a good point.

Check out in Ep 4 how passive Ren is - he's more masculine than some ukes, but he's very thin, much smaller than Kazuma, the hair drying. I don't think it's an egregious example, because he's not useless and he's more assertive at work, but I don't think BL writers are able to look at two men together as two people of the same gender - there is a big gap and they don't ever switch, with the lone exception of Bad Buddy, but I supposed if you have 6 episodes where nothing happens but sex, you need to mix it up somehow.

There's nothinhg wrong with being thin, but just once I'd like to see an uke who's more masuculine and athletic than the seme. You could probably make that argument in Love Mechanics, but War is quite a bit shorter than Yin.

I thought exactly the same thing you did, because in 99% of series that would be the case. But this is a much better-written story, other than that stupid hair-crying cliche, but I can deal with one cliche per episode. Ren is a much more complex character and the story is darker than I'm used to, so I'm looking forward to the rest of it.

My goodness. I barely got through Ep 1, and even more barely got through Ep 2. Ep 3 perked me up and Ep 4 was on fire. That was spectacular acting and a much darker story than it seemed at first.

I don't think I've seen a BL in a long time with such fully-realized and complex characters, and although it still maintains the tiresome seme-uke model, it's not formulaic, although the infantilizing hair-drying scene made me sigh wearily. But only one weary sigh from me in an episode is a minor miracle.

This is just a fantastic series. Anyone having trouble getting through the first two episodes, I totally get it - but I think you'll be glad you stuck with it if you do.

I wasn't entirely sure what you are saying - but BL has to be the least sexualized form of drama I've ever seen. This particular one has more than usual, although I think it's tasteful and important to the plot and not just thrown in.

I tihnk teenagers are much less advanced than in my time when it comes to sex - I'm kind of amazed at how few people seem to be doing it or are comfortable with it.

By Ep 4 it really takes off. This is something different and amazing.

I'm pretty sure that was a woman.

Did you write this before Ep 4? Kozuma has been searching for Ren nonstop since they were teens. I don't think it's a coincidence.

I understand where you're coming from and I felt the same way. It takes off in Ep 3 with some pretty serious stuff and Ep 4 is amazing.

He didn't run away, he was exiled by his father. I'm not sure what's cute about this - it's a very dark drama both in themes and the way it's filmed (beautifully). There's a lot of pain, tragedy, and trauma.

I agree with you on everything except the inner monologues. It's much more effective and maultilayered if we're shown how the character feels through acting, and it's clear both these guys are more than capable of doing that. I think it's a leftover of being adapted from a textual medium where it's necessary. But in general it's a good screenplay, and inner monologues weren't used so much that it bothered me unduly.

Yes. That's about 85 F.

They also hinted that Minato suffers from depression - that would be interesting to delve into, if they can make it realistic. Well, somewhat realistic. In romances, love can erase trauma that in real life requires years of treatment and/or medication.

It looks like Minato's intimacy issues may be the central conflict - that's fine, and if that's the case, then his avoidance of getting physical with Shin make sense and can work.

It's not the intimacy issues that are the real problem for me, it's the way Minato expresses them, with cartoonish overreactions.

There's a downside to how faithful Japanese productions are to the source material. A person's reaction in a manga will be exaggerated because it has to be or you won't be able to tell what he's feeling. But in live action you can severely tone that down because you're watching a real human being who can be more subtle and still be clear.

It also results in a lot of terrible hair, because extremes make it easier to differentiate characters, which isn't necessary in live action.

I don't think that's the criticism - the objection is that it would be boring if S2 treads in the same circle over and over as S1 did. I liked S1, but it did get frustrating with its lack of movement at times.

I don't think it's a slice of life drama - there are character arcs. This one is apparently about Minato's inability to express affection and what seems to be a depression. I was disappointed by the premier, but it did set up this season's conflicts, so I think it has room to go somewhere.

But the problems their facing don't really resonate if they've never gotten anywhere in the first place - if they're not to the point of even really kissing, let along having sex, which is a bit bizarre for a 29-year old - and yes, I know it's possible for a 29-year old to be that way, but it's so extremely unlikely that it needs an explanation - you can't just have it be like that. It's like if a character suddenly had magical powers for no apparent reason - if that happened, you would need to know why or it would be very distracting and hard to move past.

They may very well cover that, so a bit of patience is warranted, but Minato doesn't react to physical affection like a normal person who isn't ready for it - avoiding it and coming up with reasonable excuses - he acts like Shin is planning to murder him. It's cartoonish and if every little thing is punctuated by a huge overreaction, then it takes away from moments that really do need a reaction. Minato reacted the same way to a kiss on the cheek as he did to Shin wanting to move in with him - the first is really nothing, the second is shocking and would make me react like that, too.

Minato's reactions are all so exaggerated that it gets boring - I was having trouble staying awake. So a 29-year old man finds it absolutely shocking that his boyfriend of 3 months would kiss him on the cheek? Seriously, that's a Victorian-era 12-year old virgin.

The problem is that because he reacts to everything Shin does like he's made out of polonium that when the story does actually merit as strong response, like Shin wanting to move in with him, it's really no different than his reaction when Shin asked him if he liked him.

But all that aside, all the progress between them has been erased, and we're treading in the same circle endlessly.

Minato is not mature enough for a relationship, and he needs a few years of psychological treatment for his issues before he should even consider inflicting himself on someone.

What difference does it make if it's a relationship with a woman or a man? There are some differences, but the principles of a relationship are similar no matter who you date.

Look at it from Shin's perspective too, not just Minato's. If you've been in a relationship for 3 months and one wants physical intimacy and the other treats his bf like a radioactive zombie out to eat his brains, something is wrong. Relationships can't work without communication, and they clearly have never discussed this very serious disconnect. Shin isn't even sure Minato likes him. That's a terrible relationship.

But putting all that aside, the real problem is that all the progress from S1 has been thrown out and we're just treading in circles. If there's no character development, what's the point of the story? This feels like a cash grab exploiting the audience of S1.

What difference does it make if it's a relationship with a woman or a man? There are some differences, but the principles of a relationship are similar no matter who you date.

Look at it from Shin's perspective too, not just Minato's. If you've been in a relationship for 3 months and one wants physical intimacy and the other treats his bf like a radioactive zombie out to eat his brains, something is wrong. Relationships can't work without communication, and they clearly have never discussed this very serious disconnect. Shin isn't even sure Minato likes him. That's a terrible relationship.

But putting all that aside, the real problem is that all the progress from S1 has been thrown out and we're just treading in circles. If there's no character development, what's the point of the story? This feels like a cash grab exploiting the audience of S1.

You are way overthinking this if you think the author knows anything about corporate ethics and governance of public companies. I was surprised in this episode to learn that Jeng is a publicly traded company - there's been no sign of that until now. It appeared to be a family enterprise until now. Jeng's father should be in prison for deliberately sabotaging the company for personal reasons.

Maybe it's a premium WeTV thing - that's not available for this series in the USA where I am.