This show was a warm blanket on the coldest day. Mostly warm, with many laughs and a few doses of reality that tug at your heart. I enjoyed watching this, only downside is the episode count ~ should have been 24 instead of 16, with some more college/uni & adult life scenes.
Just started the series (on Ep3) and I've repeatedly wondered if a troubled childhood is enough to explain Fan Xiao's level of diabolical... These guys were minding their business, going about their lives then here comes Mr. Chaos & Mayhem 😩
Going from an emotionally charged (but not too heavy) exchange about queer feelings under the weight of their mind's "straight" expectations... to a sexually charged moment where touching/being touched by the same gender body actually zinged... i had whiplash 😂 (in the best way!) I didn't even get to appreciate yearner boy W's slight show of edge... I was still processing their prior communication 😅
Their relationahip has progressed so beautifully despite it being cliché, honestly I wouldn't change a thing! The actors do a fabulous job of portraying the journey from one-sided curiosity, to joint friendly comfort, to one sided attraction, then finally two sided curiosity/interest, slight detour with self-inflicted insecurity/jealousy before finally getting to both emotionally invested and attracted... all with yearning and clear communication along the way... swoon!! 😍
I'll definitely re-watch Eps 8 & 9 before the finale to lock in allll the feels 🥰
We could have just stayed with two awkward Japanese school boys falling in love. That was working. I liked it…
To be fair, the first cross dresser (in police uniform) seemed to own it without any embarrassment, so they portrayed both sides of the coin…but honestly I first thought the show could have done without the unwilling cross dressing scene (though how he was asked to participate was hilarious!). Then I realized it really helped them gain some clarity and acceptance about having a same sex crush.
Plus Hioki is a teen boy, what could he possibly know about womanhood, beyond the idea that society would be more accepting of Watari dating a girl than him? I expect his simplified thinking to conclude that being a girl would make at least one aspect of them dating “easier” and even then, remember he does in fact know that a girl may get pushback if she’s not “the right type” e.g. the pen borrower that was dragged just for accepting Watari’s offer. He was specific about good looking Anna.
Femininity isn’t just a logistical inconvenience when you consider that there are social expectations of how mixed genders should behave even when in close proximity… and Watari’s feelings had the chance to evolve even further because there was no need to be the stoic version of himself when facing anyone he assumes has judged him without knowing him… his guard was already down for Hioki specifically. Now Hioki didn’t know all that so he’s only speaking to their shared experience of the trip.
The muscle measuring was a cute awareness of each other moment, and it’s not contradicting W liking H for W to also like H's physique 😜 C’mon, you gotta admit it was cute!
I guess my point is on a spectrum with political thesis on the left end and gendered shortcuts on the right, the show may lean to the right, but it’s done enough in the story telling to not be accused of being purely gendered shortcuts.
Can I be honest? I can’t sleep without releasing my thoughts, and this is one of those moments that’s been…
Interesting take…made me think a bit…. I know that line is frequently used in BLs, though I’ve always thought it appeals to a subset of queer audiences who shy from exclusive attraction to one gender, rather than straight audiences that often see open options as “too much competition” therefore making the person saying that less desirable. Straight fear of bi is real (depending on the generation).
The line didn’t have the same effect in this dialogue to me… I simplified the moment in my mind by associating it to the cross dressing event where H was clearly uncomfortable, (especially after eye contact with W) and W being attuned to all things H, perhaps wanted to reassure H, AFTER already clarifying that his feelings developed for H the boy.
Adding the moment of physical awareness/attraction of a firmer physique… yea…it didn’t really give safer & broader for straight viewers… more cliche BLs would have gone for soft face touches and possibly a kiss, not a feel up of abs and pecs after discussing weight training… I’m definitely still getting two teenage boys figuring out their queerness…
I can see why you’d react that way to the introduction of the line though, it’s definitely come across as a short cut in other shows.
They are so cringe, embarrassing, naive, dumb, stupid, adorable, so high school and I love them so much, I want…
I started watching the Thai Cherry Magic (previously watched the Japanese version) just because of this comment, wanted more yearning fluff in my life lol
it's a simple high school drama. not every bl-related drama has to be to your standards of sex. if you're looking…
You don't have the authority to categorically define the cohort the show was designed for. That's the bottom line.
I doubt you would have gotten anywhere near this amount of engagement if you just stated why the show is a drag for you, without derogatory statements about the audience that does not agree with your assessment.
If all of this was your intent anyways, then there was no need to be defensive about your statements - congrats on getting the engagement!
If it was not your intent and you genuinely thought your statements were misunderstood, then hopefully my clarification of your positioning/syntax has explained how you can avoid a similar mistake going forward. That's the only reason I tapped in :).
You'll notice from my word choices that I never claimed to be offended, and refused to engage with your inflammatory statements or match your energy, focusing instead on the crux of the issue. Now that it's made clear either way, I can tap out and continue my blissful enjoyment of the show with others of like mind :D
it's a simple high school drama. not every bl-related drama has to be to your standards of sex. if you're looking…
In English, when the preposition "for" is used the way you did, it portrays ownership / exclusivity /representation.
"for teen girls who...." further reduces the audience to your imagined demographic.
You are just factually wrong about that and there's no argumentative or insulting comments you can make to distract from that. It's not an opinion point, and there's no personal version of facts here. The show is not just for the audience you described. Period. Full stop.
Unfortunately, it wasn't immediately clear that you aren't well versed in the english language or syntax. Now it explains why you've repeatedly defended your description of the show makers' audience, to audience members who clearly don't match the description... seemed very odd, but obviously it's just that English is hard, and reading comprehension is sometimes beyond even those that promote it. I know it's complicated and oftentimes confusing. Don't be discouraged, keep trying! At least your brain will stay young by learning something new :)
it's a simple high school drama. not every bl-related drama has to be to your standards of sex. if you're looking…
Not sure if you intended your response to come across as combative, when i simply shared an objective clarification... but i'll ignore the tone and try to shed further light on the issue. You mention reading comprehension quite a bit, so i will point you back to your statement: "why this show is a drag for me: It's a love-fest for teen girls who love to watch two boys pretend to be homo, as long as the homo part isn't at all realistic, and the boys don't do any of that icky homo stuff that real homos do."
The issue isn't whether you are describing all women or all teen girls, but that you are describing all viewers who do not find the show to be a drag by categorically stating and describing that audience. Anyone with reading comprehension skills would be able to identify the subjects and adjectives in your statements. You didn't even add caveats or qualifiers like "mainly teen girls," you just went all out. Thus, you're receiving responses from the offended masses that don't fall into your subjective categories. Personally, I'm neither a teen girl or homophobic, and this show is the furthest thing from a drag to me :)
Re-watched Ep1-7 before Ep8, I realllly enjoy these characters and the entire team's story telling. So effortless and sweet. Can't help but root for them :)
it's a simple high school drama. not every bl-related drama has to be to your standards of sex. if you're looking…
The issue people are taking with your comment is the classification of the audience that don't find it to be a drag: very broadly first as teen girls, before further describing assumed traits of the teen girls.
You may not have made statements about all women, or all teen girls, but contextually, your assumptions would be applied to anyone enjoying the show. Que several offended individuals who are indeed enjoying the show yet don't fit into any of the categories you described.
"why this show is a drag for me: It's a love-fest for teen girls who love to watch two boys pretend to be homo, as long as the homo part isn't at all realistic, and the boys don't do any of that icky homo stuff that real homos do."
I am usually the same, I don't like flashbacks at all, but I LOVED this one here! All the ties get together, we…
Agreed! I've been known to skip flashbacks, but this is more of a re-tell from a different POV than just a flashback. I feel so much more invested in their relationship development now that I've seen the genesis and progression from Watari's POV 🥰
These guys were minding their business, going about their lives then here comes Mr. Chaos & Mayhem 😩
I didn't even get to appreciate yearner boy W's slight show of edge... I was still processing their prior communication 😅
Their relationahip has progressed so beautifully despite it being cliché, honestly I wouldn't change a thing! The actors do a fabulous job of portraying the journey from one-sided curiosity, to joint friendly comfort, to one sided attraction, then finally two sided curiosity/interest, slight detour with self-inflicted insecurity/jealousy before finally getting to both emotionally invested and attracted... all with yearning and clear communication along the way... swoon!! 😍
I'll definitely re-watch Eps 8 & 9 before the finale to lock in allll the feels 🥰
Plus Hioki is a teen boy, what could he possibly know about womanhood, beyond the idea that society would be more accepting of Watari dating a girl than him? I expect his simplified thinking to conclude that being a girl would make at least one aspect of them dating “easier” and even then, remember he does in fact know that a girl may get pushback if she’s not “the right type” e.g. the pen borrower that was dragged just for accepting Watari’s offer. He was specific about good looking Anna.
Femininity isn’t just a logistical inconvenience when you consider that there are social expectations of how mixed genders should behave even when in close proximity… and Watari’s feelings had the chance to evolve even further because there was no need to be the stoic version of himself when facing anyone he assumes has judged him without knowing him… his guard was already down for Hioki specifically. Now Hioki didn’t know all that so he’s only speaking to their shared experience of the trip.
The muscle measuring was a cute awareness of each other moment, and it’s not contradicting W liking H for W to also like H's physique 😜 C’mon, you gotta admit it was cute!
I guess my point is on a spectrum with political thesis on the left end and gendered shortcuts on the right, the show may lean to the right, but it’s done enough in the story telling to not be accused of being purely gendered shortcuts.
I know that line is frequently used in BLs, though I’ve always thought it appeals to a subset of queer audiences who shy from exclusive attraction to one gender, rather than straight audiences that often see open options as “too much competition” therefore making the person saying that less desirable. Straight fear of bi is real (depending on the generation).
The line didn’t have the same effect in this dialogue to me… I simplified the moment in my mind by associating it to the cross dressing event where H was clearly uncomfortable, (especially after eye contact with W) and W being attuned to all things H, perhaps wanted to reassure H, AFTER already clarifying that his feelings developed for H the boy.
Adding the moment of physical awareness/attraction of a firmer physique… yea…it didn’t really give safer & broader for straight viewers… more cliche BLs would have gone for soft face touches and possibly a kiss, not a feel up of abs and pecs after discussing weight training… I’m definitely still getting two teenage boys figuring out their queerness…
I can see why you’d react that way to the introduction of the line though, it’s definitely come across as a short cut in other shows.
I doubt you would have gotten anywhere near this amount of engagement if you just stated why the show is a drag for you, without derogatory statements about the audience that does not agree with your assessment.
If all of this was your intent anyways, then there was no need to be defensive about your statements - congrats on getting the engagement!
If it was not your intent and you genuinely thought your statements were misunderstood, then hopefully my clarification of your positioning/syntax has explained how you can avoid a similar mistake going forward. That's the only reason I tapped in :).
You'll notice from my word choices that I never claimed to be offended, and refused to engage with your inflammatory statements or match your energy, focusing instead on the crux of the issue. Now that it's made clear either way, I can tap out and continue my blissful enjoyment of the show with others of like mind :D
"for teen girls who...." further reduces the audience to your imagined demographic.
You are just factually wrong about that and there's no argumentative or insulting comments you can make to distract from that. It's not an opinion point, and there's no personal version of facts here. The show is not just for the audience you described. Period. Full stop.
Unfortunately, it wasn't immediately clear that you aren't well versed in the english language or syntax. Now it explains why you've repeatedly defended your description of the show makers' audience, to audience members who clearly don't match the description... seemed very odd, but obviously it's just that English is hard, and reading comprehension is sometimes beyond even those that promote it.
I know it's complicated and oftentimes confusing. Don't be discouraged, keep trying!
At least your brain will stay young by learning something new :)
The issue isn't whether you are describing all women or all teen girls, but that you are describing all viewers who do not find the show to be a drag by categorically stating and describing that audience.
Anyone with reading comprehension skills would be able to identify the subjects and adjectives in your statements. You didn't even add caveats or qualifiers like "mainly teen girls," you just went all out. Thus, you're receiving responses from the offended masses that don't fall into your subjective categories.
Personally, I'm neither a teen girl or homophobic, and this show is the furthest thing from a drag to me :)
You may not have made statements about all women, or all teen girls, but contextually, your assumptions would be applied to anyone enjoying the show. Que several offended individuals who are indeed enjoying the show yet don't fit into any of the categories you described.
"why this show is a drag for me: It's a love-fest for teen girls who love to watch two boys pretend to be homo, as long as the homo part isn't at all realistic, and the boys don't do any of that icky homo stuff that real homos do."