Forgotten Plumbing - mafia, BDSM, only not really

Adapted from the y-novel Mafia's Bad Love, (originally featured both a gay poly triad and a GL sub plot). Stared Yoon (YYY, Paint With Love, My Ride) as a mafia Dom and Ton (Y-Destiny) as the accountant sub. Kim has a one night stand with a random stranger who becomes obsessed with him. Pretty soon into it I began to think this show should be called Forgotten Kink rather than Unforgotten Night. There isn't any. Mostly there's faucets left on and shower heads used for tie points (don't DO that). But honestly it was just bad. There is a moral to this show but I’m not sure what it is. Don’t combine your BDSM-but-not-really BL pulp with plumbing? In the end, this dumpster fire was extinguished by a garden hose and all we were left with was leaky pipes and the smell of damp trash. The only kinks were in the hose.

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age gap romance, pining since childhood

A high school student pursues the man of his dreams who happens to run a laundromat in this classic age gap BL. This drama has a 10 year age gap so if that wigs you out, don't watch it. I happen to LOVE age gap romances.

Minato’s Laundromat is so steeped in yaoi tropes and archetypes, not to mention a typical romance arc, that it will be an overload for some, but those of who love this genre for its DNA will adore it. It made me very happy because it did everything I want a BL to do, and there’s not much more I ask of a show than this. It’s the closest Japan has come to perfect live action yaoi since Seven Days.

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friends to lovers, coming of age, high school setting, introvert/extrovert

This is a beautiful piece of cinema well acted, about two boys who are opposite personalities and grew up together. Gifted and serious Sakura (Kura Yuki from His the series) and outgoing eccentric manic pixie dream boy, Yuma. It features multiple confessions in multiple languages (and ways) and is basically a slice of life but pitch perfect look at coming into identity as a teenager. It directly talks about liminality and occupying transitional spaces (which I talk about in this post about age gap).

It is very pretty and this is the kind of atmospheric elegantly performed BL that only really comes from Japan (complete with dead fish kisses - what you though Korea invented them? oh no). The undy scene made me hoot with laughter. There are only 4 episodes and one of them is mostly six people sitting around a campfire telling ghost stories that could (and should) have been cut, making about 1/4 or is unnecessary.

I liked it but I felt like I was “supposed to like it” more than I did, ultimately I was left feeling like I had seen it all before. So for me it was lovely but slightly unmemorable.

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messy disaster bi, out gay boy, cheating, drama llamas

Delayed from 2021 this is a reboot, retcon, retelling, expansion of the original short miniseries En of Love - Love Mechanics (VeeMark) from Wabi Sabi featuring the most popular and enduring pair to come from that series, YinWar. (They also stared in high school sad BL mini series: The Best Story.) Prom (Nuea also from En of Love series) and a few other familiar faces returned plus some of the same characters portrayed by new actors. Directed by Lit (SOTUS).

Our favorite messy cheeky drama-llama boys were back in spades. And initially I enjoyed it more than I should (and more than it deserved). This whole series is basically a diatribe against cheating, with the sweet out gay boy reaping all the punishment a disaster bi can enact. I don’t like any of these tropes or implications, and yet I couldn’t stop watching. YinWar are geniuses at chemistry and good actors, and their new high heat stuff is excellent. When they are together as a couple, VeeMark are a GREAT couple, like FighterTutor level, only slightly less sappy. But the rest of time is just chaos. It’s hard not to get mad at the messy, whether it be characters, story, or script, but when it’s performed this well, it’s occasionally fun to wallow in the agony.

I really loved the class conflict introduced near the end and what it says about the characters and their families. Why did it only came into play in the last few episodes? Honestly, it could’ve been the plot for the whole drama and it would’ve been so much more absorbing if they had dwelled in the Heirs sphere, rather than the chaotic messy bi-slut cheating space.

In the end? YinWar win the Great Chemistry in Bad Thai BL Wars of 2022 (TM), even over BounPrem. YinWar were great, and they were great in this, but the story was not good, and not improved by being given more time to hang itself. I like the shorter En of Love version better (yes I think they can and should be compared) and I’m was left simply hoping YinWar get more work in the future, they can clearly handle anything that’s chucked at them.

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Tropes: jock/nerd, enemies to lovers, friends to lovers, reunion romance, secret romance, LTR

Y-novel adaptation originally slated as Secret Admirer (teaser) about an “ordinary guy still in love with the older boy he lived next door to during university,” starring Earth Teerapat (Wayo in 2 Moons 2) opposite Fluk (seasoned but not done BL). Plot entirely changed from novel to an absurdist: boys are forced by their university to be a BL couple for promo - although this conceit did give the show license to lampoon BL tropes (which I kinda enjoyed). But the show was VERY awkward with poor chemistry across the board.

Lead couple had a tom/jerry vibe with the uke too stiff and serious and the seme a prankster immature idiot - one of my least favorite dynamics (it always seems mean-spirited). They reminded me of My Boy (which I DNFd) X BonDuen from My Engineer (who I dislike).

Other pairs include BearBomb, TimMai, and ParkLee (LTR whom use ter with each other - cute). The domesticity with the side couples was somewhat engaging, and the medium heat sex scenes were descent, but that’s it. The main couple is a little better after the time jump, mostly because Mek in now understandably arrogant. I guess.

I ended up fast forwarding everything that didn’t have the Tim storyline in it because I am a shallow shallow person. I also kept thinking that the actor playing Tim would’ve made a great Dr Pha in 2 Moons.

The worst thing about this show (aside from leads chemistry) was that the chemistry of the friendship groups felt off too. Normally, Thailand can handle friendship groups well. But these 2 different groups? I didn’t believe they were friends at all.

This drama suddenly got sensible and interesting in the finale after the time jump, and the reason for the split turned out to be a decent one. But frankly, that was just frustrating. Because I got a glimpse that this could’ve actually been, if not a GREAT show, at least a passable one. But they saved this for the last 2 eps? That’s just annoying. Another wedding makes me feel like this trope is becoming ubiquitous in Thai BL. Who knew Grey Rainbow would end up with us here?

In the end I can't really recommend this. There's much better Thai BL these days, and tons of it.

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office romance, object of my affection, boss/employee

Adapted from a manga for the same name, it has a similar creepy worship stalking vibe Secret Crush On You. Look, I admit it, this dynamic (super awkward pining uke, rockstar seme) is one of my least favorites - high cringe factor meets navel gazing obsessive. Japan’s weird hang-up around physical expressions of affection in BL which I expect in their slapstick high school stuff, feels cowardly here. They don't leave out end kisses in their het office romances, time to stop desexualizing the gays, too. For a plot about courage, it’s a bummer that the narrative itself didn’t have any. I can’t imagine ever watching this show again or remembering its existence. When Japan drops the balls they drop all the way to the bottom of the well.

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rural setting, country mouse/city mouse, rich/pour, enemies to lovers

Adapted from a y-novel by Peachhplease, directed by New starring Mek (the Kiss series, het male lead and has been with GMMTV forever) this was his first BL (he shouldn’t have) opposite a fresh face Mark, support cast included Arm (Friend Zone 2) and Mike in (Tonhon Chonlatee).

This was a cheap 1000 Stars kock off about a doctor who goes rural and falls in love with the volunteer teacher. I guess this should be added to my short list of BL‘s that are told from the seme’s perspective?

Linguistically: these two are formal with each other using pom/khun. Also If you want to hear frozen register spoken, that’s what Prince’s maa speaks to tease Fah.

How did this show managed to be boring, corny, AND cheesy? There was a really dumb manufactured miscommunication-based parting and while they mutually pined well, the kiss at the end was extremely poor quality for Thailand. Tut tut - you have one job to do.

To put it simply, this show was dull. I don’t know exactly how to write a review of this as “boring” isn’t in my rating system but, it is a BIG SIN for me, so I guess 5/10?

Watch only if you have nothing better to do.

I think the Star & Sky shows would have been VASTLY improved by cutting each set back to 6 eps each and then cross cutting between the two couples like the Why R U? or Dark Blue Kiss approach with 12 eps total. Just call the whole thing Star & Sky. Each couple would have been less boring and frustrating if focus were split, and the pacing would have been a lot better too.

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Tropes: time loop, age gap, medical drama, fated mates

Tin, a doctor, gets stuck in a time loop where he must stop a college kid from dying and expose a sinister back-market organ trade, in order to escape the loop. I am NOT a fan of time-loop narratives (I think I’m the only person on the planet who actively hates Groundhog Day) but I DO like a strong premise and the way they unfolded the plot was more like a mystery. In this Triage worked better for me than the actual mystery did in sister-show Manner of the Death. It was smart, I liked that. Also Fiat blond is v cute.

One of the greatest things about Triage was that all of the characters were complex but not necessarily likable, more pleasingly flawed. TinTol gave a great mutual kiss. (Look some of us have been waiting 5 years for it!) And the twist around who has to fix the timeline was elegant. Jinta = The ultimate BL Shipper: turns back time so his boys can be cannon. Also teaching Tol a lesson in forgiveness and communication.This is a CLEVER show.

Where Triage falls down, for me, like Manner of Death, is going to be in rewatchability. Once the element of surprise is removed, there isn’t enough romance holding this show together to make me want to rewatch it. But I think the story is a lot stronger for having not been all that romantic. It’s just, I happen to be a romantic at heart.

Ultimately, I liked Triage a lot, I thought the plot was good if a little redundant and occasionally exhausting. The pairs were all well done, low heat but with decent chemistry and the support characters were great. Still, this felt less BL than it does gay time-slip suspense. If anything, the romance arc detracted and distracted from the main plot. But I’m in BL for the romance, and the rewatchability, and Triage had very little of either, so I’m giving a lower than expected score, knowing this is going on many people’s best of the year lists. And I can totally understand why.

RECOMMENDED WITH RESERVATIONS

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an extremely uneven historical bromance, soap opera, fake identity, hidden secrets, cross dressing

from WATCHA (Light On Me) historical web drama starring idol Youngjae of B.A.P. Adaptation is based on the webtoon Spring of Crush by Noh Myung Hee. Plot: Hye Seong lives disguised as a woman because he seeks to flee the country, until one day a Geum Seong discovers his secret and falls in love with him.

It started out very Korean historical comedy, much more so than the historical KBLs we’ve had so far (Tinted with You, Nobleman Ryu’s Wedding). It is, unfortunately, also largely over acted, there is a lot of scenery chewing going on. The cross dressing is definitely played for laughs and there is a Cindefella elemen. Bad wig warning. There’s a lot of voice over thoughts, people explaining what is going on to the viewer (we KNOW), and also talking to themselves as exposition. None of this is good. It’s a big cast and high production values for such a crappy script: quite the soap opera, everything but identical twins was trotted out: amnesia, secret identity, lost noble heritage.

This story reminds me a little of those girl disguised as a boy host club shows we got from Japan for a while – same kind of comedy that is a little beyond my ken. At ep 7 it finally got good as the boys developed a genuine friendship. The snake thing was odd though. To be fair there’s a lot of odd in the show.

“Knives and money are gender neutral.” is my ne fav quote.

It had a largely suitably tragic ending (including an Untamed call back) for all the bad characters and some of the good ones. Of course I liked the psychopath second lead best - apparently my second lead syndrome extends to COMPLETELY INSANE.

In the end, this drama was all over the place with uneven acting, narrative, and focus (sometimes it wanted to be a slapstick comedy, sometimes a depressing drama) which meant no one, actors or viewers, took anyone or anything seriously.... AND it’s a bromance. I was left wondering is SalHyung is now code for “they were roommates” in Kdrama historicals but otherwise largely apathetic and unimpressed. Korea, we now know you can do better. Watch Tinted With You or Nobleman Ryu’s Wedding instead: 3/10 not recommended, I don’t know what I’m watching, and neither does it.

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bodyguard, mafia, cohabitation, BDSM, he’s a monster but he’s my monster

Adapted from a Y-novel and with real rough beginnings in terms of switching production houses, funding, and distribution which showed in a shaky point of view, weak script, and poorly distributed of couple weight and pacing. By about 3 episodes in I just got pissed off at this show, it was largely inconsistent in all ways which I think is all production issues. It should have been better. It should at least have been as good as everyone else seemed to think.

However at 50% car porn 50% actual porn I was game. (That said I got no chemistry from KimChay - I think it was a BIG mistake to switch out Gameplay, and had real issues with several of KinnPorsche’s sex scenes.) The fight sequences were excellent and Kinn’s eyebrows are like seriously aggressive caterpillars - I was half afraid they’re going to strike out on their own, take up the rainbow flag and join the march in Not Me. There’s also a lot of Fighter-inspired shirts (Why R U?) in this show. I suppose mafia DOES have a long tradition of chest forward narrative.

VegasPete were in one drama; KimChay were in another; KinnPorsche were in each of those randomly but then sometimes in their own extremely slapstick cheese-fest alt-reality + Tankhun. There were clearly 2 directors with 2 distinct and conflicting points of view, who apparently never had a single conversation with each other. Was this show good? Nope. Was it absorbing as fuck? Sure. Was it well acted, absolutely. Were the sex scenes great? Yes. We the fight scenes awesome? Actually yeah (special props to Jeff for the hand-to-hand stuff). Did I enjoy the kinky bits? Certainly. But all that said: the VegasPete universe of KP was the only universe I really enjoyed and would like to revisit, and I only got that 1/5 of the time. Mathematics is working against this one, for me personally. So I guess I, at least, am still waiting for the perfect mafia BL. I think it might be up to Japan at this juncture. As a result of fan fervor meets my own hearty indifference, I don’t really know how to judge this show but I have to go with my heart, and KP didn’t win it. No full review, enough people have weighed in on this one, you don’t need my thoughts too.

RECOMMENDED WITH RESERVATIONS

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office romance, age gap, employee/boss, food is the love language, coming of age late in life

This show had me from the moment they broke the egg yolk with the chopsticks in the opening credits for episode one. It’s about a younger man with a long cherished crush on his boss (ten years older and going through a mid life crisis) who decides to save and seduce said man with pancakes. It’s wholesome, comforting, sexy, and a very necessary narrative about still having hope, interests, and openness to affection at any age. It’s coming of age/queerness packaged in a subtle critique of expectations around masculinity and love and loneliness... and it’s beautiful.

It utilizes hand-held and super close camerawork, long shots, dirty framing, and marvelous acting (stagecraft) from everyone. The directing style it subtle but very precise and tailored dirty framing (AKA lots of objects and other people’s bodies interrupting shots.) Notice the frame is only direct and uncluttered when they are eating or being extremely intimate with each other?

This show manages to make things that shouldn't be sexy so very sexy (like Togawa’s hamster cheeks - boy just wants to gorge himself, and not on food). It's truly art.

But there is so much more going on here.

Japan has a long tradition of using food, both the preparation and consumption, as an allegory for intimacy... ALL KINDS of intimacy (give Tampopo a shot, it’s a remarkable movie). And in this show the discovery of desserts, and the enjoyment of the experience of indulging, is explicitly both sexual seduction and emotional tethering. This is not just an exploration of youth for Nozue it is an exploration of desire and identity.

On the other hand, the want drips off of Togawa at all times, like true starvation. It’s epic levels of pining we are looking at and not just love but pure lust. It’s actually quite remarkable to see this done with Japan’s signature reserve, because the through line of the filming style and food allegory dictates they will simply have to show physical intimacy at soem point. But not of the explicit kind we get in the darker BLs from Japan (although they could easily go there), but of a truly sexualized romantic passionate kind that we don’t normally get from Japan in their softer BLs.

You see, there comes a point, when the food allegory has gone as far as it can, and Nozue recognizes that in episode 3, even as he doesn’t recognize Togawa’s desire. Because for him the desire has been made manifest though the medium of desserts... and now that sensation has been satisfied, he feels like that’s good enough.

But when Nozue shuts down the eating intimacy, Togawa was always destined to break open into into sexual need, just the way the egg yolk is broken open in the credits.
What is truly genius about this show is that when this finally happens at the end of episode 4, the camera switches to one long hand held shot. This kind of stage-craft reliant shooting is the ultimate form of filming intimacy - it is the camera’s form of trust:

The directer is trusting the cameraperson not to waiver,
the camera is trusting the actors to pull through for the entirety of the shot (no forgetting your lines on a long take, no missing your marks, no slipping out of character),
the actors are trusting the crew to capture it in that one moment when they give it their all.
This is the kind of theatrically-based close work is as near to sexual intimacy as actors and crew can get.

Thus the shooting style is, itself, a reflection of Togawa’s needs, of Nozue’s shock and realization and crumbling, of the levels of trust between them that are fracturing and reforming. It’s absolutely brilliant.

All that said I did find the final episode bit of a let down. Narratively it reverted back to pretty standard light Japanese live action yaoi, of the style I talk about here. I did expect a little bit more intimacy from this specific narrative even with Japan at the helm, at least showing the two of them cuddling in bed together or something very domestic if not kissing. I’m not surprised or upset that they returned to status quo, and this is still an amazing comforting unexpected gem of a show, but it’s not the 10/10 I thought it was going to be at the end of 4.

Still, solid and watchable and

DEFINITELY RECOMMENDED

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Grumpy/Sunshine, Hurt/Comfort, Opposites Attract, Forced Proximity, Breakup/Reunion

To My Star the original had to grow on me, eventually becoming one of my favorites of all time. To My Star 2 was not that show for me.

It’s brilliant, don’t get me wrong. The acting is excellent, really quite flawless. But sometimes too realistic for this genre (and me, one of the last hold outs who can’t take ITSAY), in that I felt their (especially SeoJoon’s) pain too much. Even though I identified strongly with JiWoo. If you have any kind of empathy for the complexities of desperate personalities trying to make a relationship work this show will hurt to watch. If you fall too far into feeling like either JiWoo (me) SeoJoon (lots of other people) you will fall into disliking one of the main characters (probubly JiWoo). And it is really difficult to watch a couple you loved seeing get together, seriously breaking up, in a realistically cutting way, lashing out and hurting each other an everything, and then whole heartedly struggling to come back together again.

The directing is really good, but the characters motivations are sometimes intentional obfuscated and the flashbacks felt manipulative. Well done, but I did feel a little jerked around, and like I was meant to wallow and dwell in the pain a little too much. Like all Kdramas of this type, the weight is given to the maudlin not the happiness. Although the use of doorways as transitions to the past/future was really well done. Like the original, the narrative is messy and sometimes difficult to follow.

So should you watch it?

If you like angst, wallowing, and realistic relationship struggles in your BL, watch this. If you prefer fluffy comforting BL, avoid like the plague. For me the pay out was not sufficient to the pain. I enjoyed the performances, directing, and chemistry - the leads’ comfort with each other is unprecedented in Korean BL, but that’s not enough for me to rise above the pain of the narrative.

RECOMMENDED WITH SERIOUS RESERVATIONS

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an unassuming little friends to lovers cheese fest

Main Tropes: friends to lovers, LTR, office romance, (himbo) sunshine/tsundere, found family, himbo

From the creators of Be Loved In House, co-produced by Taiwanese and Japanese media, starring Shi Cheng Hao (HIStory3: Make Our Days Count). Some crossover cast and familiar faces, tons of cameos from See You After Quarantine, Be Loved In House: I Do and HIStory 3. Hot bartender + jaded nerdy single dad side couple.

This is a solid safe little BL.

Jung and Fu have been codependent besties for 20 years but every decade or so Jung gets rip-roaring drunk and kisses the bejesus out of Fu. This leads to... confusion. Very much a sunshine himbo vs pining tsundere pairing. Nice to have Taiwan back in the game and I do love their style. Is queer classy a thing, like the opposite of camp but still VERY cheesy? Kinda the antidote to SCOY, should you need such a thing. Which I DO.

Lots of domesticity and boyfriends being cute boyfriends, occasional dumb drama, but gay boys and chaos bis? What can ya do?

Both couples are really good but that’s not uncommon with Taiwan (although for me the chemistry felt slightly off). The pacing of this series is good with some waffling, but the beats of the narrative are really unusual, making it HARD to predict.

There was a couple dreaded unnecessary break ups and I remained confused over the use of the baseball field. But all in all, I’m satisfied. It’s not groundbreaking but it is a solid sweet unassuming little show.

RECOMMENDED

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opposites attract, accidental relationship, cohabitation

Mr Chronically Unlucky (another adorable chaos muffin) and Mr Always Lucky end up dating after they meet at uni orientation. It’s JAPAN yet they kissed in the first episode. What freaky alt-reality did I enter into? That’s all they kiss tho, over which I was a touch disappointed (I know). Still I spent far too much of my time with this show biting my knuckles and squealing “THEY’RE SO CUTE!” Amusing story: I paused mid the most tooth-achingly adorable first date in the entire universe and Viki was like “something missing?” and I was like “MY HEART YOU BASTARDS” It is very slapstick Japanese style comedic (light) BL reminds me a bit of Kieta Hatsukoi or Cherry Magic. So if you like that style of BL you’ll adore this show.

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