and of course the new guy is after Champ (not that he was after Jun in the novel 🤭)
Yeah, it makes no sense. I'm not even sure I understand why those two can't get together. It's not as if the company has an HR Department, or that the people in this show understand boundaries all that well...
1. Consent. "Can I?" 2. Always lock the bedroom door. 3. Maybe don't let your brother walk-in, stand there unabashed, and ask if you're making babies. 🙄
Every single word.Also, Yeom Min Hyeok has the sex appeal of a hermit crab while Choi Jae Hyeok is the epitome…
I'd prefer Jae Hyeok to *do* things too. But if he were to *do* anything, I'd rather it were me. :)
On your last paragraph: I agree. I had sort of toned down my criticisms of the show, lest people come for me. But I found the sex scene ludicrous -- what's with the porn track? -- and the coming around and out of Ji Won far from convincing.
Could the same show feel both revolutionary and incredibly silly at the same time? Yes. This series is the proof.
Why is it revolutionary? For the first time in a KBL, we have a character who explicitly identifies as 'gay' or 'bi'. For the first time in a KBL, we have proper kisses, over multiple episodes, and the cast and crew seem unafraid to portray physical intimacy between men. Why, there is even something of a sex scene, though I wouldn't go so far as to call it NC. (Of course, the kisses in Semantic Error and Blueming were brilliant, as was the love scene in The Eighth Sense, and, if we go back 10 years, we had shows like Long Time No See. But these are the exceptions that prove how rare it is to see gay intimacy in KBL.)
Why is it silly? Well, it's a veritable tropefest: from popular athletes to failed athletes, from a helpless uke (who cuts himself opening a plastic bag, no less!) to a penultimate-episode breakup, it had it all. To me, the writing and the pacing both felt off. The stakes that the characters are supposed to be up against simply didn't materialise as emotionally realised. I wasn't moved or worried by the break-up, because one could see from a mile away that they would get back together within the first two minutes of the next episode, which is what happened. Ji Won wasn't convincing as an ex-gymast, least of all as one who enjoyed immense popularity, which diminished the possibility of suspending disbelief. We at least see Jeong U scoring a goal or two. We never see Ji Won being a gymnast -- not even in flashbacks -- presumably because the actor hadn't the physicality for it. (Again, not an insult so much as an observation.) I genuinely don't see what's so magnetic about Ji Won, as the character is drawn and portrayed. I can't imagine a real life Jeong U falling for him. (Perhaps others can.)
Had it not been for its bold willingness to break the general conservatism of KBLs, I might not have kept watching. But then, I'm in love with Choi Jae Hyeok, and I'd be happy to just watch him do nothing all day long. So there is that...
my first korean bl in a while. personally ever since semantic error finished i havent been able to find any good…
This has some good things about it, some bad, and in one thing at least, it is quietly revolutionary. But it is nowhere in the same league as Semantic Error. SE is as good as KBL gets.
A sex scene in a KBL? Our little boy's growing up!
Thank the Lord for showing us Jeong U's body. He should be preserved in a wax museum and worshipped. On the other hand, Ji Won's body is not at all what you would expect in a gymnast -- which is not an insult to the actor so much as an observation -- but we knew that. Which I suppose explains the awkward angles and the lens flares throughout the scene.
But hey, at least it wasn't plank sex, where Jeong U was working out more of his core than his lust! Their bodies touched. I'll take it!
Also, where did they find the music for the NC scene? It was like 70s porn meets airport lounge. I burst out laughing.
just randomly noticed something and I genuinely don't understandplease why is this rated 18+?????? lmfao like…
I'd put it down to homophobia. In the US, they rated Red White & Royal Blue -- which is as innocent as it gets -- an R, the same rating they gave to Django Unchained. Because, you know, gay sex is as provocative as racist murders... It is a pretty universal phenomenon.
10 
4 
3 
1 
1. Consent. "Can I?"
2. Always lock the bedroom door.
3. Maybe don't let your brother walk-in, stand there unabashed, and ask if you're making babies. 🙄
This old song-and-dance again. It is the 11th episode, I suppose. Only, because it's Chai, I really don't care.
This is anti-gay propaganda, people.
On your last paragraph: I agree. I had sort of toned down my criticisms of the show, lest people come for me. But I found the sex scene ludicrous -- what's with the porn track? -- and the coming around and out of Ji Won far from convincing.
Also, I love hermit crabs. So, watch out! :)
Why is it revolutionary?
For the first time in a KBL, we have a character who explicitly identifies as 'gay' or 'bi'.
For the first time in a KBL, we have proper kisses, over multiple episodes, and the cast and crew seem unafraid to portray physical intimacy between men. Why, there is even something of a sex scene, though I wouldn't go so far as to call it NC.
(Of course, the kisses in Semantic Error and Blueming were brilliant, as was the love scene in The Eighth Sense, and, if we go back 10 years, we had shows like Long Time No See. But these are the exceptions that prove how rare it is to see gay intimacy in KBL.)
Why is it silly?
Well, it's a veritable tropefest: from popular athletes to failed athletes, from a helpless uke (who cuts himself opening a plastic bag, no less!) to a penultimate-episode breakup, it had it all.
To me, the writing and the pacing both felt off. The stakes that the characters are supposed to be up against simply didn't materialise as emotionally realised. I wasn't moved or worried by the break-up, because one could see from a mile away that they would get back together within the first two minutes of the next episode, which is what happened.
Ji Won wasn't convincing as an ex-gymast, least of all as one who enjoyed immense popularity, which diminished the possibility of suspending disbelief. We at least see Jeong U scoring a goal or two. We never see Ji Won being a gymnast -- not even in flashbacks -- presumably because the actor hadn't the physicality for it. (Again, not an insult so much as an observation.)
I genuinely don't see what's so magnetic about Ji Won, as the character is drawn and portrayed. I can't imagine a real life Jeong U falling for him. (Perhaps others can.)
Had it not been for its bold willingness to break the general conservatism of KBLs, I might not have kept watching. But then, I'm in love with Choi Jae Hyeok, and I'd be happy to just watch him do nothing all day long. So there is that...
Thank the Lord for showing us Jeong U's body. He should be preserved in a wax museum and worshipped. On the other hand, Ji Won's body is not at all what you would expect in a gymnast -- which is not an insult to the actor so much as an observation -- but we knew that. Which I suppose explains the awkward angles and the lens flares throughout the scene.
But hey, at least it wasn't plank sex, where Jeong U was working out more of his core than his lust! Their bodies touched. I'll take it!
Also, where did they find the music for the NC scene? It was like 70s porn meets airport lounge. I burst out laughing.