Honglou Meng

I didn't make that connection! But given that the series is set in the 90s, it makes sense!

Mishima's love for the gym-bear is one of my favourite things about the show.

Japan is finally doing some interesting stuff this year. Let's hope they keep it going till the finale. I don't want to suffer through another disappointment again!

What I find infuriating about comments like these is that, (a) the labels are both anachronistic and reductive, in that they try to box two complicated characters, in a complex cultural setting, 30 years in the past, in a label that is modern, more clearly defined, and, at least for the moment, largely confined to the West, and (b) we are only two episodes in, and don't know the depths or motivations or inner lives of these characters. One or both of them may well turn out to be trans, but there is no definitive indication so far to suggest that of either, in the sense we understand the word today. It is the same tendency one finds in reading literary works through Freudian lens, which merely destroys the beauty of both.

Anyway, I have already left a comment below on the question of gender in the series. This time, it is actually worthwhile paying attention to the (Japanese) pronouns, because things are not what they seem... In fact, Mishima never uses the female version of 'I' (atashi, atakushi etc.), only the male ones (watashi, boku, ore). Kirino, on the other hand, is desperate to use atashi, and only uses it when Mishima says kimi ('you', used with both men and women), and, lastly, unless I'm mistaken, Mishima does not use omae ('you') with Kirino, which only men use with men.

All of which is to say, Mishima does not appear to think of himself as a woman. Kirino well might.

Complex, right?

I dare not reply to the commenters above, because I don't want to be tarred and feathered -- which, in other circumstances, I might like. :)

Did you finish it?

I highly recommend people profit from FreshKicks' hard work and generosity, and watch the Chin-Yu cut. Thailand doesn't make lovely BLs like these anymore, and I spent a good day in its company.

Thanks FK! ❤️

Where people are related by marriage or adoption, but not (immediately) by blood.

Completely fair.

What can I say? Some people seem to prefer edging! ;)

As I said in my reply to YinjaW above today, I really need to move on from this show, for it's come to the point where to think of it leaves a metallic taste in my mouth.

But the manner in which they handled the plot with Tian's father was profoundly disturbing. The worst thing is, I sort of saw it coming, as I did the fact that it would end with -- well, not with a cliffhanger so much as a damp squib. Nothing, however, could have prepared me for the ridiculousness of the last 4 episodes.

I am not in the habit of telling what artists *should* have done. I believe in granting all artists the complete creative freedom to do what they want to do, and to do it how they see fit. However, I do arrogate to myself the right to praise or criticise it, as an audience member to whom it is intended. I have discussed below, at length, esp. in my exchanges with John Master, why I find the show, towards the end, so disturbing. You are more than welcome to read through them. By extension, it should also be clear, I hope, how I think such a plotline could be sensitively handled.

The director's background and intentions are not relevant to my discussion -- because what counts is the final product. But insofar as we do consider his background, he seems to want to keep his gay couples apart, judging by the ending of Your Name Engraved Herein, at which point in time, gay rights have progressed in Taiwan. Again, it is his prerogative to do so. And, such an ending might well be justified on the basis of past trauma, and psychological sequelae. But the ending gave no justification for the final separation, which to me suggests strongly that gay couples, after all they have been through, still cannot be happy together in the writer's world, and the director's world.

I'm glad you found the series and its depiction of gay life relatable. I have no wish to detract from that, and I'm sorry if it seemed like I had. My objection stems more from the proclamations issued by straight people in this forum -- the pandering to whom, as you rightly point out, is a huge problem -- who seem to think it a "realistic" depiction of gay life, in Taiwan, in the 1990s. I don't find it so, nor do my friends who hail from Taipei. In any event, my comment about *most* gay men finding this troubling is a reflection of the deep divide many of us see in these comment pages between the lavish praise accorded to series which have a problem with intimacy between gay men, as opposed to those that do depict the realities of LGBT life, which get far lower scores. The word *most* was perhaps ill-advised, and at least, I should have been careful to say that the adverb only applies to the comments I see below. Nevertheless, the divide is obvious.

Lastly, as you will see in my discussions below with other people, our claim is not that the show is homophobic. This is an important point. Rather, the problem is that it leans heavily on internalised homophobia to further the plot, without ever addressing it head-on. While this may well be rectified in the future, it also takes on faith that a second season will come, which is by no means guaranteed. Leaving it unresolved, therefore, is bad faith on the part of the creators, and a breach of audience's trust.

I'll leave it at that. I need to move on from the upsetting taste this show left in my mouth (and those of others). Your comment was carefully thought out and argued, so I felt it only right to respond.

Jesus Christ, what is it with Taiwan and pseudo-incest? This is *at least* the third production this year with the same theme. Not that I'm complaining: but I can't remember the last time it was done well.

Right? I was a bit concerned by how Isumi was increasingly coded as the "wife" throughout the series, but that flourish saved it.

Oh my god, where does he say *any* of that? And if his comments are long, why read and reply to any of them in the first place?

I have given a plausible answer for your question in my response to The Fairy Prince. But your point about the MDL ratings, and the insane amount of projection on the part of the audience, is very, very true.

Someone persuaded me, at length, to give Spirealm a go. The premise was interesting enough, and so I did. But man, the heat between the two leads -- neither of whom can act -- could barely approach the temperature of the last ice age. I couldn't get past the fourth or fifth episode. No wonder the woolly mammoths went extinct.

I actually watched the first five episodes of this, and rather enjoyed it -- which will surprise anyone who knows me. But I have no illusions that watching this will in any way lift any restrictions in China. (Nor, I think, do the writers, producers & directors of these shows.) After all, the market bends around the Chinese government, even when it comes to Apple and Google, not the other way around.

I see these shows as desperate struggles for self-expression -- something I can understand from having been born in a country where homosexuality was illegal until recently -- and for that reason, I'm willing to accept these shows on their own terms. There was an Indian film called Fire in the 1990s, which is tame by today's standards, depicting a lesbian romance. A brilliant film. It resulted in riots. Not to compare it to a less-than-mediocre series: but desire will simmer up even in the most repressive society, and well... good on them for doing what they can.

But on wanting the censors to have a cock shoved up their arses, I'm with you. And there is no harm in quitting Chinese bromances for good, given that they still have a large enough custom anyway, and our boycotting it won't make an ounce of difference. This show, though, was the last straw for me.

Japan has always been bipolar, though. They'll have insipid stuff like this and the Seven Days diptych (never have I wanted to slap two men more in my life), and then they'll have Dangerous Drugs of Sex and Happy of the End.

But yes, this is stagnation, and I do wish they'd move on to other, bolder things. But seeing the ratings for this, Mitsuya-sensei, and the worst offender of all, Kinou Nani Tabeta, evidently there's more of a market for this than the likes of Taikan Yoho!

Fair enough! :) My point, rather, was that those who can afford to do so should subscribe to GagaOOLala, if they love BL, and want more BLs to be made. But I appreciate that not everyone can.

I didn't know about the censorship on Viki! How fascinating! And awful. I hear iQiyi is worse, and I refuse to subscribe to either.

On MDL: it's worse than hypocritical. I've mentioned this elsewhere, and will keep doing so again. But MDL has an official policy, I have confirmed from several sources, of not promoting any LGBT content anywhere on the site. Not on the front page, not on any editorial or article. People have tried time and time again to submit articles, only to be summarily rejected. This, despite the fact that, after KDrama, BL is the largest driver of traffic to the website. Note also that LBGT/BL is not a listed genre here, unlike even Viki and iQiyi.

I've been begging people to write to admins and pressure them into changing their policies. But when a petition was created several months back, it got barely a few hundred signatures, so, I'm still rather miffed by it.

Hahaha, no, it makes you want to pull your eyes out, so you don't have to watch it anymore.

When you finish HOTE, read my review, and see if you agree with it! I'd love to know what you thought of it.

Well, I know a fair bit of Japanese, and its literature, and I can tell you they help me understand nothing. Also, I've already forgotten most of the show -- including the bit about the trinkets -- which does not bode well! 😂

Just saw your edited comment. Well, apparently MDL has a policy on this. For Japanese shows, if the title is in native Japanese (Kanji with Hiragana), then, you put it in romanised form (Romaji) -- like Shigatsu no Tokyo wa. (Then you can give a translation, but apparently MDL is fussy even about that.)

If the title of the Japanese show itself is English, written in Katakana, then you just give the English title. But then, this produces oddities like Takara no Vidro. Vidro is a Portuguese word, which is Biidoro in Japanese. Why not Takara's Vidro, or Takara no Biidoro, or even the Portuguese, O Vidro do Takara? The language nerd in me is very angry. If only they had called it Takara's Marbles -- then we can appropriately say that Takara must have lost his marbles if he's dating Taishin. :)

I have made it a rule of thumb that a rating on MDL of 8 or above means the show is not for me; a rating of below 7 means it will interest me, and if it reaches 6, I might consider it a masterpiece. Between 7 and 8, it's usually a toss-up.

:)