solipsism5

I really find this story appalling. It is not well written, if anyone was confused about that. It is not a deep psychological exploration of people’s motives for breaking-up but rather a fake screenplay, written without thought or proper context, made to create artificial drama. The characters aren’t real, the restaurant isn’t real, and the scenarios aren’t real. This is not realism – it’s just nothing, just a big zero.

Taking the character of Ji Woo, he acts like a savage asshole, asking his lover to have sex with him, but pushing him away the next day, indicating that their sex was meaningless, and always had been. He takes not one minute to reflect on what he has done to Seo Joon for 1 year but suddenly finds some hidden remorse by the end of episode 8 – where did that even come from? He is written as a good guy for certain situations, like with the daughter and mother from the village, and as a terrible monster the rest of the time. He’s totally impassive looking when people are confessing to him, when people are yelling at him, when people pouring out their hearts to him, like someone that is virtually autistic, but can suddenly cry at the end like a normal person. He’s just not well constructed – his emotions are tied to the screenwriters idea of the moment, her whim for how she needs him to be for each individual scene.

I don’t buy any of this. I only like Seo Joon, and I can forgive his obsessiveness because he sees Ji Woo still loves him. I just don’t buy that he waits a year to go after him. Having been in a strong committed relationship, this is not how human beings behave. It’s just all sloppy screenwriting conveying the meandering, thoughtless impulses of a screenwriter that spends no time in researching anything. If you want a concrete example of that, just look at the restaurant, Ti Aspetto. I was once a restaurant manager, so I know enough about this. How did Ji Woo even finance that place with its beautiful interior? His parent were broke and were looking to take out a loan on the day before they died. He had to buy expensive ingredients every day, and made no effort to market his restaurant, and opens it up in a community that hated him. The day he finally gets business, he wouldn’t even be able to keep up with it, serving food, cooking it, cleaning the dishes, and cashing customers out. It’s just as impossible as everything else in this sloppy screenplay.

The screenwriter doesn’t even know her audience. I certainly don’t come to BL’s for this kind of content, but it better be darn near perfect for me to accept it. I was watching a gay drama called Firebird which is set in the Soviet era with a bunch of secret police running around everywhere, and where homosexual behavior was punished with years in hard labor camps. I knew what I was going to watch, and, you know what, I really loved it. It was done extremely well. But for To My Star, I wasn’t expecting this content at all. It took me completely by surprise, especially given Season 1. Also, for the first time in my life, they’ve taken a character I loved, Ji Woo, and turned him into someone I find repulsive – I mean this hasn’t happened in hundreds of dramas I’ve watched over the years. She didn’t even do it on purpose, but out of sheer ineptitude.

I have nothing else I’m expecting out of this. I was hoping for some explanation this episode, at least a fig leaf of an explanation, but Ji Woo’s thought processes have no meaning for me. Any reconciliation will just be very forced at this point, and should not happen. I’m guessing it will happen, though, because this screenplay is so consistently bad, that I find that for her to make another bad decision almost inevitable. For those who liked this drama for any reason, whatsoever, I don’t really understand your reasons, but it was one of the worst BL’s I’ve ever watched. It just led me on for weeks promising something better, and wasted my time. I’m just rewriting Season 2 in my head, so I can always enjoy Season 1 which was one of my favorite BL’s of all time.

One minor point that also bothers me about this show, the restaurant Ti Aspetto, is just so weird. It just would be super expensive to keep that restaurant going for all that time buying expensive ingredients every day and with no customers. As the segment with the pleasantly plump restaurant reviewer also highlighted, the menu is not meant for the local inhabitants, and is probably outside their price range. And the name was also very unfamiliar so did not lend itself to any adequate marketing. Ji Woo also has no wait staff which is understandable since he really can't afford any, but that forces him to be the server. Unfortunately, he has the personality of a wet toad [in his role as a server], and would make any dining experience unpleasant. So the restaurant is just a front for something else, I guess, but it would cost him a fortune to maintain this front. I hope there is a good explanation for this by the time this drama is over. Right now, it is just another jarring mystery in a BL full of plot-holes.

I like your idea about Ji Woo protecting Seo Joon, but the only issue is that they are still sleeping together so how would that protect Seo Joon against someone that is black-mailing him?

I still don't like this whole scenario because I don't watch BL's for a lot of angst - I watch other kind of dramas for that. But given that we are stuck with this plot, I do hope they resolve it somehow. I'm still rooting for the relationship, even if it doesn't seem like it from what I've said. As you and others have said, they need a season 3 to fix this properly. I think it is a steep climb to mend this relationship in 4 short episodes. I am also missing all my cute moments with them, and how do they squeeze those in while fixing this mess?

I was just making an analogy to his manipulation being akin to rape. What he's doing is somewhere between a rape and being manipulative. I just wanted to convey that his actions are really, really terrible and I don't think we disagree about virtually any point you've made here. Seo Joon is definitely not taking the most mature course of action when he attempts to reinsert himself into Ji Woo's life, either. I'm not exonerating him, but I do believe Ji Woo's action are on another level of immorality. I think we might slightly disagree about your last point - I do think if Ji Woo felt lonely in the relationship he should have given Seo Joon some clue that he was being overwhelmed by his excessive displays of affection, but I also feel that he was given sincere love by Seo Joon and if he couldn't feel that he must be a stone. I think we saw enough scenes of Ji Woo actually "reveling" in that affection. Since he is not a good actor, I think he was sincerely interacting with Seo Joon. It's the fault of the directors and screenwriters not showing how he was miserable in the relationship that makes this so jarring. Just show us one scene where he is miserable while still with Seo Joon, like a scene of him softly crying in a corner, and that would be enough.

I am genuinely hurt by how Ji Woo was written this season, because I actually loved his character. I do get really invested in characters in fictional dramas. If anyone had attacked Ji Woo in season 1 I would have been upset and pissed off. In this season, however, the writers have done something remarkable. They have turned a character I loved into someone I loathe. I've never seen this done before. It took some talent to accomplish this. It would be like taking Frodo from Lord of the Rings, and turning him into a Gollum-like character in the sequel. They just took this too far, and Seo Joon did not have that many faults that Ji Woo and he couldn't have worked it out.

I was thinking the other day that a plot where there is conflict between their dual need for attention being the center of focus in their artistic careers could have led to some interesting scenarios, and would have been a more interesting take on season 2. At least it would have avoided the destruction of whatever I liked in season 1.

Is it possible Ji Woo is doing this to somehow protect Seo Joon? I don't know if that's the endgame of this plot, but I still think it's taking too long to reveal this plot thread, and I agree with you that this was not well thought out. And I can't figure out why he has to be so cruel to achieve this objective, especially playing all these mind games.

Thanks! I appreciate the kind remarks. I"m from the US and I'm from an Asian background. I do some writing - mostly science fiction.

I don't blame anyone for liking this show - obviously everyone has the right to choose what they enjoy, and my preferences have certainly changed over time. Yet, I can't say that I am enjoying To My Star. I am hoping that something can be salvaged of the wonderful show that I loved in Season 1. I loved Ji Woo's character in Season 1 and he might have been one of my favorite characters in any BL - he had this wonderful grounded, serious, and very sincere feeling to him and seemed preferable to the flighty, narcissistic Seo Joon. That character is totally gone and was replaced with a secretive, vindictive, surly, sadistic Ji Woo whom I like about the least of any character in the dozens of BL's I've watched. In other words, he went from the best to the worst.

Episode after episode I hoped he would improve but this never happened. I agree that he still loves Seo Joon and is lying about it. There is no excuse for this. I understand the pain he's causing himself but it is nothing compared to the pain he is inflicting on Seo Joon, starting with the one year ghosting. When Seo Joon first looks for him, Ji Woo invokes a harsh right to privacy for which I have no sympathy. You lose that right when you become virtually a married couple - you are no longer strangers that are allowed to completely ignore each other. You now have a responsibility to your partner, and can't just treat them like they don't exist, unless you have no conscience, and who likes a character that takes on the mantle of an emotionless thug?

I know he gives him those tortured looks of love every once in a while, but it is total weakness to never express his true emotions, and get over his self-absorbed, surly, self-satisfied desire to have everything the way he wants it in the relationship.

I know the episodes were only 25 minutes or so in length but they seemed to drag on for hours, because they were filled with a miasma of malaise, and I was sleepwalking through a lot of these episodes until I got to the scene where they kiss after discovering the girl. It felt like such an incredible relief, and a release from this horrible depressing storyline. He finally did something sweet for Seo Joon, and says something like, "How can I not love someone like you who is so sincere, and so full of love for me?" But this was just the precursor to the most cutting scene that followed a few minutes later. He basically says I'll let you have sex with me, but it's just going to be something like we're fuck buddies - I won't say friends with benefits because of Ji Woo's incredible coldness. If Ji Woo was thinking of how he could hurt his lover the most, in the most vicious and painful way, he could hardly have come up with a better strategy. When you are lovers, the sexual act is almost a spiritual communion, and should never be thought of as just an animal-like release of bodily fluids. Just as Ji Woo cuts off Seo Joon from his innermost thoughts, he cuts him off from any real physical intimacy as well. And it would have been better if he had just never even initiated any sex, because redefining the sexual act the way he did, was much worse than never having done it at all - it was analagous to a rape. It's a sort of mind-fuck rape.

I do blame Seo Joon because he knows Ji Woo still loves him but it's like being in love with your rapist at this point, and makes you feel both sorry for him yet a little nauseated as well. Then there are more miserable scenes to follow and I was again falling asleep watching this. But I was suddenly awakened at the beginning of episode six when Ji Woo pushes Seo Joon away as he tries to hug him, and tells Seo Joon he doesn't like him. Ji Woo tells him he was more lonely when they were together than when he was single. It feels, again, like he is thinking of the most cutting remark possible - no way in hell does any human being that is given as much love as Seo Joon gave Ji Woo, feel more lonely. I won't believe it. Ji Woo just seems like a miserable loner, and he was given an explosion of love from Seo Joon and I can't believe that he could feel more lonely while that was going on. Maybe the screenwriters want to write that feeling into existence but they did not really create the scenario that would have created it. Yes, I understand that Ji Woo had to accommodate Seo Joon's Hollywood lifestyle, but it seemed that he was given plenty of attention.

At this point I have no idea how this story can be salvaged. It is just too warped a relationship to be mended in 4 episodes. Ji Woo would need years of therapy, and should crawl on his hands and knees for years, begging Seo Joon for forgiveness for this to be fixed. Seo Joon would still have to have the tolerance of Mother Theresa to take him back. I know we are waiting for an unbelievable ending that will resolve all Ji Woo's issues, and make him the hero of the story [exaggerating], but I am just hoping for at least some movement towards mending this relationship. I think most of us would have to be satisfied with just that, but this is a very strange BL that makes you feel such a horrible amount of pain. I feel like this is as fun as watching Schindler's List, but without the redemptive qualities.

I know other people have said this before but these two seasons don't go together. There is no continuity. If anyone has seen Kinematics and its sequel, The Ambiguous Focus, these two seasons of To My Star seem like that, but this doesn't have the depth of that pairing. This feels more like an accidental collision. You could have a happy BL to start and follow it with a gut-wrenching drama, but there still has to be some connection, and I just don't see it here.

That's like in the majority of BL's. This one is just much worse than normal - it's on another level.

I'm going to finish this just so I can figure out what their explanation of Ji Woo's behavior is. But it really can not be explained, except in a sort of fantasy context. As I've said before no one leaves their lover like Ji Woo did unless they are mentally ill. I'm not saying that to be mean, but it is just a fact. Even Seo Joon waits way too long to go after his lover, especially considering how deeply in love he is with Ji Woo (even one month is too long, in my opinion). The explanation as to why Ji Woo leaves Seo Joon can only be fantastical, and unrealistic, but BL's are fantasy-based so maybe that is ok. The only strange thing is that BL's incorporate the fantasy element to achieve something bubbly, and uplifting whereas this fantasy element seems depressing, monochromatic, and ennervating. I don't usually come to watch BL's for this kind of content, but I'm willing to entertain this show as some kind of novelty. There is some good acting and cinematography, so it's not without merit.

So given we have an unrealistic explanation of why two people might separate, can you get into the mystery of what is going on here with the villagers, the mysterious death of Ji Woo's parents, and the weird attempts by Seo Joon to woo back his boyfriend (I should have said woo back Ji Woo :D )? I guess that's all very interesting, but it isn't what I normally watch BL's for. If you want something like this watch a gay drama like Firebird, but this is just weird for a BL.

Just one other comment about this before next week. Every BL that has tried to create a one year or longer separation of the main characters has always failed. This is because this is just not compatible with human nature. Having been in a long-term relationship, you would become frantic if your partner was gone for even one night and you can't reach them. I don't know how these people go for a year without their partner. There is no possible explanation unless they were tied up in a room by someone that had kidnapped them or some other similar scenario. These weird reasons people give in BL's for why they separated are just ridiculous. The only reason this is being done is because the writing is weak, and the writers can't think of anything else to create drama for a second season. Can we please attempt to write about the trials a couple might face during the relationship, instead of wasting time on these stupid, inexplicable separations?

On a positive note, the actors are doing a great job with a script that makes no sense. I've seen King Kang Min in a KDrama playing a buffoonish character that is just the opposite of his role in this drama showing some commendable versatility. Son Woo Hyun is doing a wonderful job playing a character fighting maniacally to reestablish the relationship with his lover, while trying to restrain himself enough to give him the space he needs [ or giving in to his totally unreasonable demands].

Honestly, this is exhausting to watch. I can't understand Ji Woo, but there is no way he's in the right. All he can say is that he's a jerk, and don't come near me, but he should have done that a long, long time ago. Maybe he suffers from some terrible trauma that makes him a sociopath after his parents died - but that is never explained. If he was lonely while in the relationship just open your mouth just once and say it - this is perhaps the most definitive example of the miscommunication trope I have ever seen. This is not mysterious - it is just stupid. Ji Woo is a nice guy, supposedly, and he must know how hurtful and damaging his actions are. And why the hell did he kiss him while looking for the girl? He should never have done that if he can't follow up. This is not clever and intelligent writing if anyone is confused about what is going on - this is just stupid writing that is just all jumbled up to make you think there is something profound going on here. If Seo Joon ever takes this jerk back it should be preceded by a massive spanking, but he won't, most likely, because this is just terrible writing. Seo Joon will just forgive everything as if nothing ever happened because this is just a clueless group of screenwriters.

The thousandth variation of the same BL, but I don't mind - I like variations, and they always have their own slightly unique distinguishing feature. I can't say this show is brilliant, but it is passable, and entertaining enough for me. Perhaps the best feature of this series is the cast, but I'm not talking about their acting abilities. I'm thinking to myself, that Mek is totally cringe-worthy but he's just so handsome -I guess I'll pretend I didn't notice all that baby-like behavior. In some series the badness becomes too intrusive, but it's ok here. I thought the trans character's comedic timing was perfect, and might have been the best part of the first episode.

Well, it wasn't horrible, but nearly so. At least the last episode tied up the loose ends in the plot. I was thinking Lin had to have a total transformation as a character to try to wed Korn, but they cleared that up, but that was a stupid way to get her brother to confess his feelings. I guess the wedding served more to draw out the mom and all her scheming more than Win. This series just wasted too much time on repetitive and meaningless "adventures", and spent far too little time on character development. It shouldn't have waited till the last episode to finally become a BL. It's at least mediocre, though, as a BL and that should be enough for most of us, though I would have preferred a lot more romantic interaction - that made even much weaker BL's more enjoyable than this one. I can only say I really enjoyed part of episode 10 and the rest felt more like filler.

I kind of like this. I represent the moderate wing of the BL party. The far right or the far left – I forget which – have been attacking me, saying that I called this BL a masterpiece. I’ve never said any such thing. Stop putting words in my mouth. Yeesh! As a leader of the moderate wing, I am giving you the right to like this barely good series, along with endless variations of the same mediocre BL that you might watch over the next 100 years, without being attacked and hunted down by the hordes of angry commenters on this board and any future board. I’ll help to defend you with impenetrable word salads like this one – Star In My Mind represents a study in cathexis, and related post-Freudian set theories, and provides a fascinating exploration of autochthonous Thai primitivism with antediluvian storylines. Hopefully this will put some of these predators off your scent, so you can make your escape. You need to be able to enjoy these crappy BL’s in peace. See you soon, at the next nearly identical BL (probably Sky in My Heart)!

This is delightful. I love the comedy and the acting. It's very unrealistic just like Cherry Magic, but if you suspend your disbelief, this is fantastic. I think Fukuhara's using his friend that's lucky can easily be understood by Shino as being not entirely selfish, like the thugs that were trying to use him. Fukuhara was sympathetic enough to Shino to have him forgive his initial deception. Even if I don't normally condone this kind of thing, Fukuhara seems so harmless that I never think his actions are too morally repugnant.

Is this even a BL? It probably is, but the question hasn't really been answered yet, and we are on the second to last episode. If it was just a bromance (and I'm still guessing it will be a BL by the end), it's a bromance that has one partner treating the other one like crap for 90 percent of the show. Win has made the transition from being insufferable to being just irritating in this episode, but you have to think to yourself, 'so what?': I've already spent 90 percent of the show not even thinking of them as friends. I think the whole show is structurally flawed because we spent the vast majority of the show on Scooby-Doo - like adventures collecting holy water at various temples (and kind of boring adventures at that), without spending hardly any time developing the relationship of the ML's. They would need at least 3-4 more episodes to make up for this, but they are ending next episode. I'm just thinking this series is just irredeemable at this point. I'm kind of irritated that I wasted so much time on this. If I wanted to watch this kind of show I would have watched some other genre where they would do it a lot better than this. I think we came to watch a BL, and the producers almost forgot to produce one.

I actually like this series. I just need a little romance in a BL to be satisfied with it -this is far better than a series like Enchante where there is just virtually nothing till the very end. The plot was very simple but wasn't non-sensical - again like Enchante, or so many other BL's. As far as emotional impact, I did feel the pain of Dunk's character very strongly because I went through something similar, and Dunk did convey the very strong pain of having to go months and years without being able to connect with the person he most loved in the world. GMMTV productions are high quality with good acting, cinematography and music scores, so they can be quite satisfying even with a simple narrative like this one. I agree that the misunderstandings are rather trite, but they do happen in real life. Even if they were excessive in this drama, it didn't sink the general tone of the series. In some series the misunderstandings are so bad that you think one of the leads must be a sociopath. I genuinely could feel the love between the main leads, and I like that we have one and half episodes of them as a regular couple - it shouldn't be all about the chase. I like to see the touching interactions between two people that are in love more than the developmental portion of the relationship where they don't know what they want with each other.

I still love Han Gi Chan and wish him the best, and I did enjoy some of this because of him. I'm sure Tommy's career will be fine, but maybe he should just stick to music.

Ubertrashy, ultrabad, bottom 5 worst BL's ever made, yuck!

This series will set Korean BL's back by ten years, ruin the careers of Tommy and Ho Gi Chan, - ok, I exaggerate,...but just a little.

Could Tommy at least pick up the phone and call Han Gi Chan's character once in a year? The ending is just idiotic. The kiss was never earned, and the love feels totally unreal.