This was so disappointing. I loved the first season of Enigma and how it had strong female characters like the ones played by Prim and Piploy. The plot about the pressure of school destroying students was also good. But this one was low-key misogynistic with how it portrayed women screaming and fighting over a dress. It also got really boring with all of the monologues explaining the plot instead of showing us what's going on. It was also mistake to have the whole thing happen in the house because it was the same sets and it got monotonous. The story became more interesting at the last minute with the political angle and I wish they had built a drama around a sorcerer manipulating politicians and the public instead of the mess we got.
The Japanese version fixed this problem in two ways:
SPOILER FOR THE JDRAMA
One, the husband isn't nearly as abusive as he is in the Korean version and two, the best friend is the one who kills the FL instead of the husband. That makes it less awful that the fate gets passed to the friend.
Also the leads in the Japanese version don't do things like financially pressure the husband to try to get him to kill himself or show up at his funeral to gloat over his mother. That behavior from the kdrama leads is straight up villain behavior.
I need some feedback (help :”))I've watched Glass Heart up to episode nine and I'm a little confused (and somewhat…
I don't necessarily think Sho is in love with Naoki but I do think the romance between Akane and Naoki is implausible and pointless. My husband and I were saying that Naoki's behavior screamed neurodivergent: not just the obsession with music but the way he neglects his body (forgets to eat, faints from over exertion), sits on the floor and swaddles himself under layers of fabric (suggests sensory issues). He probably wouldn't enjoy being touched and would have problems with intimacy. I think your conjecture that he may be asexual is a definite possibility.
Machida Keita doesn't hold back when playing emotional scenes so that makes it easy to infer romantic feelings for Naoki but I'm not sure that was intended by the writer.
The series prided itself on political turmoil. But it’s so strange that it mentioned the moon landing and not…
Trin calls Tanwa a hippie so that would be the reference to flower power. Re: Stonewall, it may not have gotten international press at that time. The significance of the uprising wasn't apparent until later.
Honestly the whole narrative doesn’t impress me, especially in this episode (as a Russian the whole USSR plot…
What was it about the USSR storyline that doesn't make sense? From what I remember Victor's father wrote a book about Stalin and then had to leave the USSR to live in Thailand to avoid persecution but now people are encouraging him to publish the book. What is it about that scenario that isn't plausible? As someone in the US I don't understand
ETA: never mind, I scrolled down and read your post. it'll be interested to see other story plays out.
The library scene was so sweet, it felt so natural and real for a couple working out the beginnings of their relationship.…
One of the books Trin was reading is Towards An Understanding of Homosexuality by Daniel Capone, which says that homosexuality could be cured. This is what it says on the book jacket:
"There is hope for the homosexual problem, hope for those condemned to a lifetime of sexual deviance because of some people who feel there is a physical basis for the problem. It is as curable as its underlying causes are reversible, says Dr. Daniel Cappon.
"Here, he explores every facet of the problems of homosexuality and gives a detailed account of his treatment approach.
"This is not a technical book; rather, it is written in simple, easy-to-understand terms starting first with the therapeutic process to determine the type of problem. It then takes up the methods and reasoning used to show whether or not the patient has homosexual problems."
It can be all of that (''political and social history'') and still be a BL :)
My intent wasn't to shade BLs even though I can see why it came across that way. BLs are a subgenre of romance. Shine isn't primarily a romance even though there's romance in it. If you count up the number of minutes devoted to politics vs. the two romances it's probably 80% vs. 20%. That's why I thought it was a shame that the comments here were mostly focused on how hot the lovemaking scene is while the rest of the drama is getting overlooked.
I really love this series but I’m starting to worry not all the characters will be alive at the end. I’m not…
That's why I couldn't enjoy Krailert's and Naran's encounter because either or both of them could die as a result. It seems like Naran is the one in bigger danger because he's also a reporter critical of the regime and Krailert's last lover was disappeared.
It's not a BL. It's political and social history with an embedded critique of the political and social events of today. The love stories between the men raise the stakes because they can literally die because of their love (and someone likely will before the end 💔). It's kind of a shame that people are mostly talking about the scene between Krailert and Naran because for example, all of the books that Trin was reading were about curing homosexuality.
In Shine episode 2 there’s a brief mention that Narun’s editor had to go to Japan. This is a fascinating thread of real life journalists who had to go into exile because of political reporting:
romance not being at the forefront of the story doesn't mean there's no plot. the plot is all of these characters…
One aim of the plot is Apo coming out to himself and accepting his sexuality. The romance with Tawan is secondary to that the way the romance in Marry My Husband Japan was secondary to the FL learning to value herself.
Another aim of the plot is Apo joining the student protests. Right now he's intellectualizing his beliefs, he needs to get into the streets alongside Victor and the other students to literally have skin in the game.
Another aim of the plot is to see whether the relationship between Krailert and Naran leads Krailert to do things to help the reformists or if he'll remain firmly in his very cushy closet and betray his lover.
the term for this kind of plot structure is parallel narratives. it's sort of a slice of life about that era except with a lot more urgency and sky high stakes.
SPOILER FOR THE JDRAMA
One, the husband isn't nearly as abusive as he is in the Korean version and two, the best friend is the one who kills the FL instead of the husband. That makes it less awful that the fate gets passed to the friend.
Also the leads in the Japanese version don't do things like financially pressure the husband to try to get him to kill himself or show up at his funeral to gloat over his mother. That behavior from the kdrama leads is straight up villain behavior.
Machida Keita doesn't hold back when playing emotional scenes so that makes it easy to infer romantic feelings for Naoki but I'm not sure that was intended by the writer.
ETA: never mind, I scrolled down and read your post. it'll be interested to see other story plays out.
"There is hope for the homosexual problem, hope for those condemned to a lifetime of sexual deviance because of some people who feel there is a physical basis for the problem. It is as curable as its underlying causes are reversible, says Dr. Daniel Cappon.
"Here, he explores every facet of the problems of homosexuality and gives a detailed account of his treatment approach.
"This is not a technical book; rather, it is written in simple, easy-to-understand terms starting first with the therapeutic process to determine the type of problem. It then takes up the methods and reasoning used to show whether or not the patient has homosexual problems."
Here's a thread on the book: https://x.com/kath1een_a/status/1954807520549384702
https://x.com/leafykaravika/status/1955576048479068658
Another aim of the plot is Apo joining the student protests. Right now he's intellectualizing his beliefs, he needs to get into the streets alongside Victor and the other students to literally have skin in the game.
Another aim of the plot is to see whether the relationship between Krailert and Naran leads Krailert to do things to help the reformists or if he'll remain firmly in his very cushy closet and betray his lover.
the term for this kind of plot structure is parallel narratives. it's sort of a slice of life about that era except with a lot more urgency and sky high stakes.