The Closeted BL Fan

I'm sorry but I get confused when I see you guys commenting that all we want to see is fluff. Everyone knows that a good story has trials and challenges. We never expected to tune into To My Star season 2 to see only rainbows and roses. The complaint is that the direction the writers decided to take the characters clashes with everything that happened in season one. We left the two leads on the start of a happy relationship right after they had to overcome a lot of heartache. I think we have a right to be upset when tuning in to see how their relationship will progress in season two only to find that Ji Woo left Seo Jun a note that basically said "Peace Out!" and then went into hiding in the countryside. It's like the writers gave a giant middle finger to the progress the two of them made in season one.

Nah, I was never expecting fluff. But I was at least expecting them to still be in a relationship.

I will be tuning into ep 3 and 4 to see how it will go. Then I will decide if I want to continue the season or not.

My heart leapt into my mouth when that little girl called Ji woo her dad. I swear to God I was about to fling my laptop through the window.

I'm a big boy, I understand grown up stuff. Life can often get brutal for a lot of us and God knows there are many shows out there that deliver that reality to us. But To My Star was never that kind of show, BLs in general aren't really like that. BLs, at their core, are fantasy shows that provide the audience with a form of escapism from everyday life. That is why BLs have become so successful, because of that fact. Strip away the fantasy element of BLs and what you are left with is just a plain old regular LGBTQ show. As fans we cheer for these characters and their relationships, and we cry with them as challenges come their way. That is the beauty of BLs. So forgive us if we have to complain that the season 2 of a show has deviated greatly from season one, almost as if it's not even the same show. As fans we can tell what the natural progression of a BL couple feels like and when the producers have chosen to shortchange us.

My argument is that the writers didn't have to write the story like that. At the end of season one we left the two leads starting on the journey of their relationship, we didn't leave them 5 or 10 years into their relationship. So I think it's understandable when we tune in for episode 1 of season 2 and become upset when we find out that the leads aren't together anymore. That is not the promise season one left us with. That is why I said season one was undone by the writers, they didn't have to take these characters down this depressing path. The two BL shows with the best season twos, in my opinion, are Lovesick and SOTUS. I don't know if you have seen them. Everything that happened in the season two for those shows felt natural to the characters and the story. The writers and producers respected their audiences and the time they invested in watching season one. They picked up the story flawlessly from season one and didn't give it a giant middle finger. That note and going into hiding is a giant middle finger to season one of To My Star. The characters had to work hard emotionally to be in the happy place we left them at the end of season one. But now, at the start of season two, the leads are in no better position than when they first met. All that progress from season one, gone just like that? Nah, it didn't have to be that way.

You explained perfectly what I am saying. The two leads are flawed characters and their relationship was far from perfect. That is a lot of material right there to use to tell us a story in season two. But the path that the writers decided to take the story down feels very unnecessary and cheap to me. It is clear, especially from the flashbacks, that the leads have way more love for each other than the depressing situation the writers have chosen to put them in. With a love like that you fight for your relationship, you fight to make it work. Season two could have been about all of the ups and downs that come with that fight. But instead the writers are like f**k it, let's break them up! And let's not show the reason why until much later in the series when it will be a big reveal. The audience will love that, right? Oh and throw a woman in the midst to amp up the drama and make it seem like the leads will drift apart even more, the audience will definitely love that!

I don't understand why writers may believe it's fun to have their audience sit through tragedies of the heart. To My Star season one was a near flawless BL series, storywise. And Season two could have and should have been the two leads navigating their way through their vastly different lives and somehow discovering common ground through which their relationship could blossom. But instead the writers, in their wisdom, thought that it would be great to have their audience sit and watch those two beloved characters drift apart. Basically undoing all the progress of Season 1 with a note and a seemingly irrational decision to disappear from your loved one because they have a few annoyances.

Yes, I know the story probably will resolve itself and the two leads will be back together at the end once they rediscover their love for each other. But the story didn't have to be this way is what I am arguing. Their situation didn't have to be so sad, their relationship didn't have to open up with such sadness. Yes, their relationship had it's issues but this season could have been the two of them working on those issues together. But the writers, however, chose a much more depressing way of telling the story and I am not a fan of it. Plus a girl is now thrown in the midst of the two of them, adding to even more heartache for viewers to sit through. I don't think it's fair and it's almost disrespectful to the season one audience.

I am going to take a look at episodes 3 and 4 next week to see how the writers really intend on handling this story. If they don't improve it's overall tone and give us a positive outlook of the story, I think I might just drop the season and pretend that only season one exists.

I have already seen this show. It's like every plot point for all the previous BLs have joined forces to make this series. Everything that has happened in this show, so far, has been done many times before. When is the actual series going to start? I really like the OST though.

I agree with you. A lot of people act as if every new BL is supposed to be a ground breaking event, and that is a lot of pressure to put production companies under. Shows like What Zabb Man aren't meant to be the next best thing in the BL industry and that's ok. They are there for your viewing pleasure and to contribute to BL content, so that there is not just one type of BL to watch. How lucky we are now to have so much content for BLs.

That is exactly my thought. In April there were so many BLs to watch I could have hardly keep up. Now all of the shows are ending and I feel like I am saying goodbye to close friends.

Wow, I absolutely love your breakdown of the show thus far, it's very detailed. From since the second episode I suspected the show would have gone the route of Kluen also being secretly in love with Daonuea way back in high school but Daonuea was never aware of it because Kluen is not good at expressing his feelings (hence why Daonuea thought he rejected his confession). The writers of the show went a little too much off the rails with the script for episode 6 though. They added too much unnecessary drama and the character of Daonuea suffered because of it. He was basically a giant baby in this episode.

Here is my commentary for your five points:

1. According to all the BLs I've watched over the past 5-6 years, suddenly confessing your feelings (crush) for someone who doesn't really know you is apparently not so strange in their culture. It almost seems like a common occurrence. But Kluen being the kind of person he is (he probably already liked Daonuea at that time) panicked internally and didn't know what to do in that moment, so he removed himself from the situation. The show revealed to us that Daonuea has always been doing things for Kluen in secret (he was submitting a painting assignment on behalf of Kluen) and Kluen most likely realized all that Daonuea had been doing for him and that's how he probably fell for him.

2. You have to remember that most of the things we as the audience understand about Kluen was shown to us. But Daonuea is not aware of any of it. He isn't exposed to that side of Kluen as yet. He still sees Kluen as cold and heartless. But the way the writers scripted it made Daonuea come across as very childish, it probably wasn't their intention though. Maybe the direction given to the actor took it there. The kiss, on the other hand, was very much in character for Kluen, in my opinion. Remember this is a character that doesn't know how to express his feelings properly, so the best thing he could have think of to show Daonuea he was serious about him was to kiss him. Most likely the particular direction given to the actor by the director is what made the kiss seem so out of place.

3. Remember it was established in episode 5 that Daonuea cannot flat out reject anyone because he doesn't want them to feel the same hurt he felt when Kluen supposedly rejected him. It is that same 'flaw' that made Daonuea accept Phoon's request to be his boyfriend for a day. Daonuea did resist the request at first but after Phoon became all emotional about it Daonuea couldn't reject him. Hence, one of Daonuea's character flaw.

4. I actually agree with you on this point. But not because we can understand where Kluen is coming from means Daonuea also has to understand where Kluen is coming from. That is what makes him a flawed character and throughout the course of the story he will either overcome or succumb to the flaw. But it is the writer and the director's job to make that journey interesting to watch on screen. I don't think they quite nailed it in episode 6.

5. The people that are critical of Kluen for not communicating, clearly don't understand the story they are watching. Not communicating and not expressing his feelings is obviously the flaw that Kluen has to overcome as the story progresses. But he is trying to correct himself, Daonuea is just too stuck with the idea of Kluen being a cold and heartless guy that he isn't really conscious of the effort Kluen is making. But when we see it playout on screen it isn't coming across that way clearly, it just looks like a bunch of unnecessary drama. And that is why I blame the writers and director for episode 6 because the actors are doing a great job so far with the scripts they are given.

I 100% agree with you. This episode made Daonuea seem extremely childish. He throws a tantrum and cries when things aren't going as he wants them to go. It was a bit frustrating to see him deteriorate to such a character.

Most of us were taken aback by the ridiculousness of the laugh track, at first. But once you overcome that hurdle you realize the actual show is really good. The first episode is the most awkward episode, in my opinion, because you have to get accustomed to the style of the show. But by the end of episode two you get very much hooked on the story. And by episode 10 you are hardly even aware that the laugh track still exists in the show.

I love and appreciate all that you have done to ensure we, international fans, get to watch this great show with subtitles. Thank you so much.

Sometimes I think it serves us, international fans, right. Because some of us can be quite nasty towards these shows. We take our western attitudes and try to apply it to these shows as if the way we believe something to be is absolutely correct. Maybe great shows like this one not catering much to an international fanbase might humble us and make us realize that these shows could do just fine without our intrusiveness. Maybe we might be a bit more respectful to the shows that welcome us, international fans, with open arms. Just maybe.

Gulf is a good actor yes but an actor could only do so much. If the script and the director doesn't shape the abusive A-hole to have redeeming qualities that makes him likeable to an audience, the actor will have no choice but to play him as written. Remember an actor is clay and it's the writers and directors that shape the actor into what they want him/her to be. Gulf was lucky to have a script and director that shaped Type into a likeable character.

Yes this is very much true, myself included. Type wasn't the best person in the world but his love for Tharn was absolute. That is what drew people to their relationship in the first place. The characters of Tharn and Type presented a very interesting dynamic when they are existing together and it was exciting to watch them work out how they are going to be in a relationship with each other. Type had issues and the show was all about Type addressing those issues in order to be a better person for Tharn.

From what I saw, Book appears to be someone who can deliver a great performance when given the right script. There are moments in Enchante where you could see that he is a much better actor than the script is allowing him to be. But the director and writer/s decided on a much more subdued direction for the character of Theo and hence why Book looked so constrained on screen. It's the direction he was given for Theo's character.

Well, I did some thinking and I can't seem to come up with a more unlikable Lead BL character than Theo. As I said before, that dude is basically a psychopath. And it's unfortunate that the actor Book will have such a stain on his career. It's not his fault, I think he did his best to bring Theo to life but the screenwriter/s probably didn't realize what a terrible lead character they were creating. I don't understand how they can expect an audience to root for Theo, he has no real redeeming qualities. We can't agree with anything the character has done and when an explanation is given for why he has done those things you can't help but shout BULLSHIT at the screen.