Liltsu

I dont know if this series will be actual "bromance" or not, but some people are incorrectly using the word on here.

Bromance refers to bonds in series/films in which the two characters involved dont have any romantic feelings for each other and even have other love interests, it's just that the two are close friends and might be a bit touchy-feely with each other. A bromance is NOT when characters clearly have romantic feelings for each other but don't have an onscreen kiss/sex scene. People need to remember that romance can exist outside of those things.

For example, I've seen a lot of people label Word of Honor, Advance Bravely and The Untamed as "bromance" when they're not. Not only does the original source material canonically exist as "bl"/romance, the series themselves clearly imply, hint at, and develop their relationships even if in very subtle ways. These series/films need to be marketed as "bromance" to bypass censorship, but the producers/writers often try to be faithful to the original material and convey the actual romance that the story is. You can clearly tell when something is bromance like the one in Strong Girl Do Bong Soon and the "bromance" (STRONG QUOTATIONS) of Word of honor.

Remember, censorship is the main factor here, especially for how the characters can't explicitly call each other a couple or profess their love directly. But even without censorship, romantic relationships can exist without sex/kisses/skinship, again it’s the feelings of the characters and the intentions of the writer/director that are key in determining this. So, this series could very well be a bl series regardless of if it needs to abide by censorship or not, we just have to wait and see.

Sorry for the longer post, but I found it frustrating to always see the word being misused. Thank you to anyone who actually read this lol <3

I have few I’m getting through including a bl called Tokyo in April, a kdrama of the name King the Land, and another bl series of the name Be My Favorite :>

The eighth sense was interesting in the way that it both tackled queerness and mental health that are both still considered to be taboo in their respective country. I was particularly impressed by how natural the actors were, and contrary to popular opinion, I enjoyed the editing. The reason I was fond of the editing is that it sets a precedent for creativity for k-bls. It’s experimental, and plays around with the audience’s expectations. Not to say that it was flawless, I will admit that there were some aspects that could have been improved on. However, I loved the little but impactful details that the editing brought into the viewer’s experience, that I haven’t really seen other Korean BLs try, as they mostly try to stick to a very formal, clean format.

One example of what I liked in The eighth sense’s editing, was how in some scenes, they keep the camera on one character who is speaking, and in doing so, intentionally omitting the reaction of the character listening to what is being said. When this happens, the lack of insight into how exactly the other character is reacting or feeling (something which would normally deduce from their facial expressions) creates a stronger emotional reaction in the viewer. It’s a cool technique to convey the idea that what the character (who is not shown on the screen) is feeling is indescribable. I find it really unique and endearing.

Another aspect of the editing that I personally like, which everyone seems to detest, is how we cut from scene to scene immediately, which can feel very abrupt. To this, I say, I like that it is so abrupt, and I believe it is intentional. In fact, the abruptness to me reflects the emotional journey the characters are on. Especially from Jaewon’s point of view. It feels disruptive because Jaewon feels that it is: the scene where he and Jihyun making love being followed by the accident, is meant to show how from the characters’ point of view, the moment they reached a climax in their happiness and time together, it seems to immediately have come to a halt. Like Jaewon says, he feels that he ‘jumped the gun’ too soon. That’s why it’s intriguing that they decided to jump to a month later after the accident, starting off with a scene of the club members discussing the cancellation of their club, instead of showing the main characters. For Jaewon he probably felt so out of it, and so the time skip represents how this month for both jaewon and jihyun felt like it just went by, almost as if, consciously, they werent really there during that space of time, mentally.


Idk if you guys agree with me haha but just wanted to share my thoughts <3

I totally agree with you there, and I feel that Korean BLs in general or BLs from other countries with a similar situation should be appreciated more given their restrictions. However, I would like to add that I still think the way Korean BLs are released/cut is really quite frustrating, especially now. What I mean is, even if the total content amounts to something like 120 minutes or even less, it’s such a bad decision to release one episode of 10 minutes a week. I feel they should then either make it a film or release all the episodes in one go like with Blueming. It really kills the immersion to have to wait eight weeks to finish such a short series, and worse, to have only like 14 minutes (including opening and ending) a week. It was still fine in like 2019/2020 when korean BL series were just starting out, and experimenting. But now, in 2023, I feel there are more practical options. For instance, with Happy Merry Ending, the story, acting and production all seem really top notch but the way they’re releasing the episodes take away from those elements in my opinion.

Thx!

How many hours left until it airs?

Guys, Eunji is emotionally manipulating Jaewon when he is now at his most vulnerable.

Jihyun's near death experience seemed to have caused Jaewon a relapse due to the trauma of losing his brother, which is why he seems to be stuck in a frozen state. Barely responding. Staring into space. Clearly unfocused, in a state of passiveness. It's a coping mechanism: to shut himself off almost completely, hanging by a thread in the meantime, any trigger can cause him to go over the edge (ex: hitting taehyung in the classroom for all eyes to see, reckless actions of the like).

Eunji knows this, and uses it for her sole benefit (morally dubious to say the least). Jihyun knows, and vocalises this: "youre confusing him on purpose". If anything, the kiss(es) between Eunji and Jaewon are only further adding trauma onto Jaewon, because whilst he is internalising everything, in a state of regression, someone is physically trespassing on his physical space. This subsequently impacts heavily on his mental and emotional state. It's an invasive gesture, and sinister in nature ,because Eunji knows that she is only making Jaewon repress more: troubling his senses, muddling his emotions and mind.

So if anything, whilst jihyun's reaction to the kiss in the spoiler hurts (a lot), i actually almost feel worse for jaewon because it feels like he's being run over, drowned, when he is in need of help the most.

Idk if anyone else agrees with me on this! Also this series just keeps getting more enthralling (and heart-rending) each ep.

Made this jaewon x jihyun edit bc im already impatient for the next eps to drop :
https://www.tiktok.com/@bilily.bts/video/7224229214742990106

Thank you to anyone who read this whole rant 💀

I totally agree, tmi but I remember watching the international trailer and sent an audio to my best friend explaining to her how I thought the exact same things you mentioned, and once the first two episodes came out, I was certainly not disappointed. This series has a realness to it that I have not seen much in Korean bl dramas up until now, I feel like it is really portraying a more authentic queer experience (not that other k-BLs don’t however, but I sense that they tend to have a certain filter).

A gem that is really pushing k-BLs forward, I hope big producers in South Korea will take note of this series (and its potential success), so that we could one day have full-length queer kdramas, full of unique story ideas and possibilities.

Thx I’ll go watch it <3

What’s your otp couple? I might check it out hehe

Thank you for your answer! I definitely agree with you, and in fact, I am kind of expecting at least some of those scenes to be entirely cut or majorly reduced time-wise for sure (staying a bit cynical so as to not get my hopes up). I also have to say, I wonder if the change of gender in hyx also greatly helped in having the drama pass censorship. Given that mo ran is convinced for a good chunk of the novel, at least from what I have read so far, that he is in love with shi mei (whose gender was changed to a woman), then maybe the fact that it appears to be a straight romance on the surface, with chu wanning simply being a tyrannical rival and mentor to mo ran (but secretly someone he admires or maybe even cares for ‘platonically’), then it wouldn’t need to be censored as much, because the assumption would really be that mo ran is romantically attached to shi mei and shi mei only (or even how the fact alone that he likes a woman makes him ‘straight’, since there is prominent amount of bi-erasure in both western and eastern media).

My only concern would be that they take the censorship too far and actually try to make idk mo ran and shi mei canon for instance, or that they never clarify explicitly that his feelings for shi mei weren’t real, making it seem as though his relationship with chu wanning only improves in terms of master-disciples or as rivals, but that he would still romantically be with shi Mei. I havent read the rest of the novel though, so I am not sure how improbable that kind of thing would be, but i can’t trust censorship lol. I’m traumatised enough already by some of the older anime where they did this kind of thing lmao. But in case none of the above happens, and by some luck that the series even tries to develop the romance between chu wanning and mo ran on the screen, then that would be quite ground-breaking, even if it is very subtle haha. Excited to see how they will pull it off if it does eventually air, at some point.

Thank you for your answer :D That changes a lot if it has already passed censorship, indeed. So exciting if it really could air this year. Especially since I am holding back on continuing to read, at the moment, because i know it’ll take some time for the other official books to come out, and I’m the impatient type lol.

I also apologise if I made it seem in my previous comment as though I was putting down hyx in comparison to tgcf, especially about the complexity of the world and its narrative. I am aware of the themes that run through hyx, and can sense from the first volume that there is a lot to unpack, and that the story has a lot of depth. I was thinking more so from the perspective that, based on what I have heard, and what I have read of hyx, it seems much more of a risk to let it air, even as censors have approved it compared to tgcf, bc of how a lot of the elements in volume 1 that I’ve read, circle the narrative around the complexity of chu wanning and mo ran’s love-hate relationship (not to mention other things like the necrophilia etc).

Bypassing the events in the story so far due to censorship is quite a lot more difficult than for tgcf I feel, where the narrative doesn’t require an extremely obvious focus on hualian: in the novel, hua cheng is 90 percent of the time just accompanying xie lian, and seems suspicious to everyone else. So in terms of censorship, it’s quite easy to adapt in comparison, bc there is not much to change: on the surface, hua cheng would just appear to be a ghost king at first, who might possibly have evil intentions, and then we’d find out that he was saved by XIe lian as a child, and was a soldier to his kingdom. So, once again, on the surface, one could easily assume and convince censors that hua cheng simply admires XIe lian and therefore wants to stick by him, just like any loyal soldier to his general or prince. A similar case is Wen Ke Xing in WOH. Whereas, I feel it’s more difficult to pull that off with hyx. Idk, would you agree?

Either way, I’m glad to hear then that as it has passed censorship, the team behind the drama have done a great job. Can’t wait! I hope you’re right about it airing in mid-may!!

I’ve just started reading 2ha after binge-reading svsss and tgcf. ik there is little likelihood of either Immortality or Eternal faith coming out any time soon, but does anyone want to theorise on whether there is a chance Eternal Faith might be released this year if Immortality does not? Because from what I’ve read so far of 2ha (nearly finished volume 1), it’s hard to imagine the censors actually approving, even if they try to edit it a ton, until the censorship laws become more lax or change. But as a comparison, the tgcf novel can super easily be adapted into a drama as a ‘platonic’ bond on the surface because there is so much importance placed on the world building and the pasts of the characters. So idk if anyone want to muse on this with me, realistically when would either drama drop(2ha/eternal faith) given the current circumstances (whatever estimate it might be)?

Cant get enough of Tul's expression when he saw Waan's face for the first time after realising that was his internet friend:


https://vm.tiktok.com/ZMFtjaLLK/


I feel invested in them lol

Physician Kwon doesn’t care about the Queen, he only cares about his goal, which is to take the throne. If the queen was not queen, I’m sure he would not wish any harm upon her, but because she’s close to revealing his identity, which would both foil his plan of becoming king as well as put his life in danger (and everyone else he loves), then he must oppose the queen in order for things to go as smoothly as possible on his side. If he needs to kill the queen in order to achieve what he wants, he will, or anyone else who is in the way for that matter (such as the late CP). It doesn’t matter if the queen is a good person or not, though of course, he probably takes no actual pleasure in bringing harm to her or her family, but there are bigger things for him at stake. Hope that clarifies :)

She’s transgender :) it’s even said explicitly by Consort Hwang who describes her as “a woman in a male body” or a “woman at heart”

The trailer was so good and they fit their given roles so well!!

Had to make an edit cause im so excited:

https://vm.tiktok.com/ZMFHVQd1k/

thank you so much for your efforts!

thank you,! yes it did seem like it was an unusual thing from that studio so I assumed there was an issue of that sort indeed, that's good to know that they're trying to fix it <3