Check out the series page for Seoul Blues (2024). It has some of the same actors as Blue Boys, but as completely different characters, in a story and setting that is also very similar to Seoul Blues. I think that even the opening scene for both are very similar, though I am not sure. My point is that I watched some of both, but that that they are so similar that I don't remember when I watched them. I think I might have started with one, and then continued the other. Check a look at it yourself. It can be a bit confusing. To make matters worse, Blue Boys is set in the same universe as Bad Guy (2024) and one of the actors in Seoul Blues in in both. If you haven't seen any of those 3, then try watching the 1st ep for each and then in a few weeks, go back and watch the 2nd episodes for each. Do that and tell me whether you were confused about which was what.
"Seoul Blues," "Blue Boys," and "Bad Guy"... "Blue Boys Part 2?!" And that's in the same universe as "Bad Guy," but not "Seoul Blues," despite both being blue and otherwise the same (also, are they all in Seoul?). Yup, no. I'm sorry, but I lost track of which one I was watching. I think I'll put this down for now, walk away, and maybe wait for "Blue Guys Part 3" or "Bad Seoul Part 2."
BL's are primarily targeted at high school audiences, so we will NEVER leave High School/College (with the occasional…
But they do leave that age group. Their most common professions are doctors or something in advertisement/marketing. Then there's the meta-tropes of writers/artists of fictional BL media. Oh, and after that there are BL settings which serve as an excuse to dress the actors up like gangsters. And now that I think of it, that might be pretty much every BL setting, except those dramas that double as food porn or non-medical procedural dramas (cops/detectives stuff).
This is one of the few cases where I went in with low expectations, but came out disappointed. For the 1st ep, instead of a cat boy, we get cat food. The MC has the emotional range of a corpse, or is perhaps undead. Then again, zombies on The Walking Dead had more life than the MC. The boyfriend was unnecessary. Their breakup had all the significance and impact of doing laundry.
The product advertisements in the episode, despite being numerous, were nicely done. At one point, the boyfriend does a hard sell on some pills or something, but he did so quite naturally.
idk... It looks like this is the 1st drama for most of the "main" actors. I doubt this will be anything like Only Friends, since all of their main actors were veterans. If I were to guess, this would likely come off as being similar to a softcore porn production, which I am not complaining about. It is just that my expectations and standards will be quite different.
I did not expect Dan to hug the shadow creature. Its actions since then have transformed it from some vague prop in a horror drama to an actual character. Nicely done.
Wow!Someone here was saying that "these guys do everything except communicate to each other". I couldn't agree…
yeah, most BL dramas would be much shorter if BL characters had actual communication skills. But this takes it to another level. It's like both Yoh and Mizuki have pathologically bad communication skills. Like, they would need professional help to deal with this situation. Kanami fits right in when she demonstrates that she has trouble talking to herself in her own mind. That's how bad their communication skills are. You know you have bad communication skills if you can't even understand what you are saying -- or actually -- technically you wouldn't know, so yeah. For anyone else that reads this, that wasn't a negative critique of the drama. The characters are just fucked up. Not quite My Beautiful Man level fucked up, except maybe the communication skills part.
I have never read the manga (assuming it exists) but this is the closest I have ever seen a live action drama get to the original manga. At times it was like , that's exactly how it would look in a BL manga. It is really amazing how they pull it off so naturally. There would be an otherwise normal scene and then boom, they're suddenly posing for a manga. I'm not a big fan of a lot of the BL tropes we see in the typical drama, but this made me realize that there are a bunch of tropes I have never seen in any live action BL drama (from any country). Most of these BL dramas just use the "oh, no! I fell and accidentally kissed him (as opposed to head trauma)," repeatedly. I haven't commented on anything else about the drama because that alone makes it interesting.
If you want to see what a BL manga would look like in real life, then watch this series. I just watched episode 4 and they totally nailed it.
Even if everyone else hates his show, it is making me laugh and I like it very much. I love seeing Lee Long as…
I don't hate it, but I just can't follow it. With so much dubbing AND inner monologue, I can't follow the dialogue. I think they also messed up on some of the dubbing, so that something is said, but no lips are moving. The overuse of inner monologues just make this worse.
The drama seems sort of interesting, or possibly cheesy (or both). I can't tell because the dubbing makes it unwatchable.
The language aspect of the show is sort of interesting. It would be nice if they expanded on that, but more realistically, I hope they don't drop the language stuff in the 2nd or 3rd episode.
With all these Asian dramas going international, one would think that they would lean into that more. People would probably be interested in they learn a few words in Thai (or whatever language) from a series like this.
I wonder if Thai people in general are as familiar with Chinese as they are with English...
Does anyone know who the director is? I want to know so that I can avoid them in the future.
The script and plot are interesting, the acting seems fine (at least or even better), but whoever directed the actors just keeps ruining everything. There's a lot cringy silent moments/dramatic pauses that just drag on for a few seconds too long. They're often unnecessary, as in "is something about to happen? Nope, he was just staring at a wall," and, "why won't he stop nodding?" Then there's that kiss scene. Some people probably think that the actors might not have been comfortable with their roles, but it could just as easily have been the director. The actors might have been doing exactly what they were asked to do, in which case they did a good job.
Lately I have noticed in BL dramas that it is really the director and the screenwriter that determine the quality of the drama. If you look back at some of the BL dramas that you watched, check out the director or screenwriter and look at what other dramas they worked on. If it is an experienced director or screenwriter, then you might notice that another familiar drama that you liked. Meanwhile other directors or screenwriters are associated with several bad BL dramas, or they are entirely unknown or inexperienced. Some of the worst BL dramas have the director listed as also being the screenwriter. Stay away from any BL dramas with a "director/screenwriter."
Episode 1: What the fuck did I just watch? The pacing of the plot was like a toddler on meth in a candy shop. It was all over the place, clearly manic, slightly disturbing, and yet somehow still interesting to watch -- but only if viewed from a safe distance. It was a proper mess, but it was someone else's mess, so that sort of makes it okay, I guess... I'm curious as to how the mess will be sorted, but I am not sure if I am sadistic enough to watch the whole thing. The writer seems to have the attention span of a squirrel and a assortment of other rodents as alternate personalities, and despite all that, they were somehow able to keep the plot consistent for an entire hour. And then there's Charn's/Chan's smirk.
Was it good or bad? I don't know! I just don't know...
After seeing the 3rd episode, my only main complaint about the series is that I cannot watch all the episodes now. Though, more seriously, the subs could be a little bit better -- not that they are bad. It's partly noticeable because the subs actually seem to be improving. There are some cultural references that look like they might be interesting, if there was a quick note about it, or a less literal translation. Given the plot, this could be an opportunity to export some Taiwanese culture to international audiences.
I think that even the opening scene for both are very similar, though I am not sure.
My point is that I watched some of both, but that that they are so similar that I don't remember when I watched them. I think I might have started with one, and then continued the other. Check a look at it yourself. It can be a bit confusing.
To make matters worse, Blue Boys is set in the same universe as Bad Guy (2024) and one of the actors in Seoul Blues in in both.
If you haven't seen any of those 3, then try watching the 1st ep for each and then in a few weeks, go back and watch the 2nd episodes for each. Do that and tell me whether you were confused about which was what.
2nd Episode: Wow!
3rd Episode: MOAR!!!
Yup, no. I'm sorry, but I lost track of which one I was watching.
I think I'll put this down for now, walk away, and maybe wait for "Blue Guys Part 3" or "Bad Seoul Part 2."
And now that I think of it, that might be pretty much every BL setting, except those dramas that double as food porn or non-medical procedural dramas (cops/detectives stuff).
The MC has the emotional range of a corpse, or is perhaps undead. Then again, zombies on The Walking Dead had more life than the MC.
The boyfriend was unnecessary. Their breakup had all the significance and impact of doing laundry.
The product advertisements in the episode, despite being numerous, were nicely done. At one point, the boyfriend does a hard sell on some pills or something, but he did so quite naturally.
I doubt this will be anything like Only Friends, since all of their main actors were veterans.
If I were to guess, this would likely come off as being similar to a softcore porn production, which I am not complaining about. It is just that my expectations and standards will be quite different.
Kanami fits right in when she demonstrates that she has trouble talking to herself in her own mind. That's how bad their communication skills are.
You know you have bad communication skills if you can't even understand what you are saying -- or actually -- technically you wouldn't know, so yeah.
For anyone else that reads this, that wasn't a negative critique of the drama. The characters are just fucked up. Not quite My Beautiful Man level fucked up, except maybe the communication skills part.
It is really amazing how they pull it off so naturally. There would be an otherwise normal scene and then boom, they're suddenly posing for a manga.
I'm not a big fan of a lot of the BL tropes we see in the typical drama, but this made me realize that there are a bunch of tropes I have never seen in any live action BL drama (from any country). Most of these BL dramas just use the "oh, no! I fell and accidentally kissed him (as opposed to head trauma)," repeatedly.
I haven't commented on anything else about the drama because that alone makes it interesting.
If you want to see what a BL manga would look like in real life, then watch this series. I just watched episode 4 and they totally nailed it.
The drama seems sort of interesting, or possibly cheesy (or both). I can't tell because the dubbing makes it unwatchable.
With all these Asian dramas going international, one would think that they would lean into that more. People would probably be interested in they learn a few words in Thai (or whatever language) from a series like this.
I wonder if Thai people in general are as familiar with Chinese as they are with English...
The script and plot are interesting, the acting seems fine (at least or even better), but whoever directed the actors just keeps ruining everything.
There's a lot cringy silent moments/dramatic pauses that just drag on for a few seconds too long. They're often unnecessary, as in "is something about to happen? Nope, he was just staring at a wall," and, "why won't he stop nodding?"
Then there's that kiss scene. Some people probably think that the actors might not have been comfortable with their roles, but it could just as easily have been the director. The actors might have been doing exactly what they were asked to do, in which case they did a good job.
Lately I have noticed in BL dramas that it is really the director and the screenwriter that determine the quality of the drama. If you look back at some of the BL dramas that you watched, check out the director or screenwriter and look at what other dramas they worked on. If it is an experienced director or screenwriter, then you might notice that another familiar drama that you liked.
Meanwhile other directors or screenwriters are associated with several bad BL dramas, or they are entirely unknown or inexperienced.
Some of the worst BL dramas have the director listed as also being the screenwriter.
Stay away from any BL dramas with a "director/screenwriter."
The pacing of the plot was like a toddler on meth in a candy shop. It was all over the place, clearly manic, slightly disturbing, and yet somehow still interesting to watch -- but only if viewed from a safe distance. It was a proper mess, but it was someone else's mess, so that sort of makes it okay, I guess... I'm curious as to how the mess will be sorted, but I am not sure if I am sadistic enough to watch the whole thing.
The writer seems to have the attention span of a squirrel and a assortment of other rodents as alternate personalities, and despite all that, they were somehow able to keep the plot consistent for an entire hour.
And then there's Charn's/Chan's smirk.
Was it good or bad? I don't know! I just don't know...
Though, more seriously, the subs could be a little bit better -- not that they are bad. It's partly noticeable because the subs actually seem to be improving.
There are some cultural references that look like they might be interesting, if there was a quick note about it, or a less literal translation. Given the plot, this could be an opportunity to export some Taiwanese culture to international audiences.
https://twitter.com/hubboyslove/status/1675578528329347073