Nah, it just means we have dramatically different tastes in BLs.I'm curious to know the 12 on my list that you…
Here it goes: Blueming - I saw it 4 times because every time the memory of this drama was completely wiped from my mind. This has never happened to me before: I still do not remember what it was about! Even reading the synopsis does not help thus many rewatches... ITSAY & IPYTM Tae was a character I could not stand and the ugly crying did not help. I liked the second season better than the first but I hated the ending. Unknown - the kid falling for the father figure who is completely unresponsive until resignation sets in and he just surrenders. There was so much toxic behaviour from the young man which was borderline bullying. Love Is A Poison - I remember finding it overbearing but that's the extent of my memory of it. Maybe I should rewatch it? Our Youth - would have been good with better casting: one actor was convincing only as a teen, the other only as an adult. That grated too much and I could not focus on the plot. Old Fashioned Cupcake - cute concept but with zero chemistry. The epilogue episode Apple pie, has more intensity in a few looks than the whole series. 12, 13, 14 & 18 I dropped during the first episode. See Your Love - I liked the deaf representation. Isn't this the drama where the rich boy keeps getting himself in trouble accidentally on purpose once per episode in order to be saved by the deaf love interest? After three episodes of repetitive plot, I'd had enough. My Love Mix Up -I tried watching this 5 times until I finally forced myself to finish to see what the fuss was about. The problem I had with it was too many manga/anime codes in a live action series. Gelboys - interesting concept with the nail polish subculture. Bit too raw for my taste.
As you can see I am very superficial!lol More often than not I drop dramas because I'm not in the right mood so if something happens in them which does not agree with my current mood, I drop them easily.
But I agree with you about older Thai BLs: the recent ones are just vapid soft porn for teen girls! Not to mention Taiwanese BLs. I remember watching some early BLs (mostly short films!) which were made on a shoestring budget, some very odd (Love Poison 2019 Thai) but I enjoyed watching them so much more than most of the recent (2-3 years)polished ones which I easily drop nowadays as soon as something completely illogical/idiotic happens causing abysmal plot holes. That is, when there is a plot to speak of.
On the other hand 5,9, 11 & 15 would take top spots on my list of best BLs. Especially His. People do not appreciate this film enough. I saw it only once, about 4 years ago and still, every time I see the poster I get goosebumps.
As you say it is a question of taste which is very subjective. Which is also something those teen girls know nothing about. lol
If I say that 12 of the BLs on this list could feature on my BLs-I-Hated list, would it mean I have bad taste? And if so, what do I need to do to improve it? What should I look for in a BL?
I am on episode 5 and this is definitely NOT a Korean production. Everything is Korean but they used the Thai BL production manual. And even though the actors have weak to inexistent chemistry, they go at it as if they were working for MAME! There are more kisses in one episode here than in all Korean BLS put together! I am impressed by these actors! Kudos!
More often than not, the first thing I really notice in these dramas is the music. And here there are a lot of strangely familiar tunes playing in the background. I did not realize what they were until my brain started to sing along...The Wheels On The Bus?!?!? A nursery rhyme?!?!? Just like Christmas tunes sometimes used in K dramas completely out of context i.e. not Christmas or snow... And then there are some funny innuendos like passing the baseball bat between each other or reading a book called KINK.....;-)
Completely agree with you. I have just finished another rewatch and I still cannot find fault with it. The actors are extraordinary: every time I watch it I look them up hoping they have blossoming careers they deserve and am sad because their projects are few and far apart. They are making vertical dramas now: what a waste of talent!
I'll admit, I had a lot to rant about, once again I apologise for the excessive ranting.As far as the stalking…
Please do not apologize for excessive ranting: I love it! It is a tribute to your skilled writing that you managed to hold my attention beyond two first paragraphs while talking about a drama I haven't seen. I usually love reading long (and ranty) reviews of dramas I have seen. Rarely those I haven't.
I am with you on stalking and pushy behaviour and I do not like characters who do not accept it when their love interest says NO! There is a line between seduction and stalking that writers often do not see, mistaking one for the other.
I haven't seen this drama and probably never will.
I love reading negative reviews so that's why I clicked on yours and started reading it but at the same moment that I noticed the length and was about to give up, something in your review made me think of another series I had the exactly same feelings about.
All the stalking, pushiness, care of the passive partner etc. etc. you talk about as bad and in a negative way, is what I thought about Unknown which I hated. I know you liked that one and I do not know if they compare but your review made me think that they do in a certain way.
Anyhow, I love ranty reviews like yours and I hope to see more of them. I need to check your reviews section....
How low is MDL going to stoop with these misleading articles?
But the problem goes much deeper: producers using internet to milk the actors' good looks (and maybe talent but I am not sure...) dry in order to get clicks and make money. They have all lost sense of propriety, personal space and dignity. Money is what is important. If you give the fans a glimpse of a star, they'll try to take the sky by hounding actors wherever they may be: on the internet or in real life.
When I see the huge numbers of posts on feeds about c dramas: most of them are just the fans salivating over how hot the actors are and insinuating what they'd love to do to them. Extremely toxic and unhealthy behaviour mostly sanctioned by agents and producers.
Until a couple of years ago we had the same phenomenon with Thai BL actors though that seems to have calmed down a lot probably just due to the sheer amount of BLs coming out of Thailand, with too many different pairings. Too many for just a few to take the front of the stage. Not like 5 years ago when the same problems arose: toxic fans demanding outrageous attention and proximity to the actors, conflating fact and fiction (do you remember the fans going overboard about Ohm and Nanon pairing break up?).
And then when the actors fight back they are forced to apologize! What a sick world we live in!
4
6
1
The "French" article published only on the newspaper's additional internet site not on paper. Actually originally written by the Korean media ALT K-Selectionmedia. The writer seems to be Korean. Someone translated it in French. The quality of these articles are akin to those of LilyAlice.
Blueming - I saw it 4 times because every time the memory of this drama was completely wiped from my mind. This has never happened to me before: I still do not remember what it was about! Even reading the synopsis does not help thus many rewatches...
ITSAY & IPYTM Tae was a character I could not stand and the ugly crying did not help. I liked the second season better than the first but I hated the ending.
Unknown - the kid falling for the father figure who is completely unresponsive until resignation sets in and he just surrenders. There was so much toxic behaviour from the young man which was borderline bullying.
Love Is A Poison - I remember finding it overbearing but that's the extent of my memory of it. Maybe I should rewatch it?
Our Youth - would have been good with better casting: one actor was convincing only as a teen, the other only as an adult. That grated too much and I could not focus on the plot.
Old Fashioned Cupcake - cute concept but with zero chemistry. The epilogue episode Apple pie, has more intensity in a few looks than the whole series.
12, 13, 14 & 18 I dropped during the first episode.
See Your Love - I liked the deaf representation. Isn't this the drama where the rich boy keeps getting himself in trouble accidentally on purpose once per episode in order to be saved by the deaf love interest? After three episodes of repetitive plot, I'd had enough.
My Love Mix Up -I tried watching this 5 times until I finally forced myself to finish to see what the fuss was about. The problem I had with it was too many manga/anime codes in a live action series.
Gelboys - interesting concept with the nail polish subculture. Bit too raw for my taste.
As you can see I am very superficial!lol More often than not I drop dramas because I'm not in the right mood so if something happens in them which does not agree with my current mood, I drop them easily.
But I agree with you about older Thai BLs: the recent ones are just vapid soft porn for teen girls! Not to mention Taiwanese BLs. I remember watching some early BLs (mostly short films!) which were made on a shoestring budget, some very odd (Love Poison 2019 Thai) but I enjoyed watching them so much more than most of the recent (2-3 years)polished ones which I easily drop nowadays as soon as something completely illogical/idiotic happens causing abysmal plot holes. That is, when there is a plot to speak of.
On the other hand 5,9, 11 & 15 would take top spots on my list of best BLs. Especially His. People do not appreciate this film enough. I saw it only once, about 4 years ago and still, every time I see the poster I get goosebumps.
As you say it is a question of taste which is very subjective. Which is also something those teen girls know nothing about. lol
And then there are some funny innuendos like passing the baseball bat between each other or reading a book called KINK.....;-)
I am with you on stalking and pushy behaviour and I do not like characters who do not accept it when their love interest says NO! There is a line between seduction and stalking that writers often do not see, mistaking one for the other.
I love reading negative reviews so that's why I clicked on yours and started reading it but at the same moment that I noticed the length and was about to give up, something in your review made me think of another series I had the exactly same feelings about.
All the stalking, pushiness, care of the passive partner etc. etc. you talk about as bad and in a negative way, is what I thought about Unknown which I hated. I know you liked that one and I do not know if they compare but your review made me think that they do in a certain way.
Anyhow, I love ranty reviews like yours and I hope to see more of them. I need to check your reviews section....
But the problem goes much deeper: producers using internet to milk the actors' good looks (and maybe talent but I am not sure...) dry in order to get clicks and make money. They have all lost sense of propriety, personal space and dignity. Money is what is important. If you give the fans a glimpse of a star, they'll try to take the sky by hounding actors wherever they may be: on the internet or in real life.
When I see the huge numbers of posts on feeds about c dramas: most of them are just the fans salivating over how hot the actors are and insinuating what they'd love to do to them. Extremely toxic and unhealthy behaviour mostly sanctioned by agents and producers.
Until a couple of years ago we had the same phenomenon with Thai BL actors though that seems to have calmed down a lot probably just due to the sheer amount of BLs coming out of Thailand, with too many different pairings. Too many for just a few to take the front of the stage. Not like 5 years ago when the same problems arose: toxic fans demanding outrageous attention and proximity to the actors, conflating fact and fiction (do you remember the fans going overboard about Ohm and Nanon pairing break up?).
And then when the actors fight back they are forced to apologize! What a sick world we live in!