BradBluddy16

Apologies for misreading. I believe that your “fangirls” comment was born out of frustration at an industry that doesn’t value you highly in its demographics. I think I get your perspective. It is like me finding “23.5” moving slower than molasses; neither experiencing “fin” from the sexual tension of the relationships, or being drawn in by the sexual appeal of the actors. Even the male side couple setup was underplayed by (slightly) overweight actors, designed presumably to not distract the “fangirls” and gays from the centrality of the main couples.
But 6.5/10 for Only Boo? We are getting into “What the Duck” territory. I would give 23.5 an 8/10 for effort (and importance).
Especially as queer people, I think we should be lifting this genre up.
It is slightly miraculous that it exists at all.

Also, as a gay man, I would caution you on your use of the word “fangirls”. Criticism of rom-com conventions often, but not always, come from a misogynistic place. Your negative use of the word “fangirls” also raises a yellow flag for me. I can meet you halfway and say Only Boo isn’t for you, but I do not condone misogyny in any shape or form. Please be mindful.

For us, admittedly biased, Boo-defenders who linger here, the occasional negative comment always comes as a surprise. This scrappy little series started with little Gmmtv support, a lousy time slot, and only one, faithful sponsor (shout out Oishi tea), and knocked the rest of the companies’ more promoted shows out of the park.
But, on closer look, it feels like your criticisms are directed at classic, rom-com BL itself, certainly a genre not to everyone’s tastes. Rather than defend the many virtues of Only Boo, I might suggest you look to the more progressive end of the BL universe to find something more to your liking.

I can definitely see where you are coming from: another well-worn BL trope we can all see coming from “mars”, designed purely to get you in your feels. The only variation here is to start the breakup/time-jump an episode early, and no one will see it
coming 😁. But there is something so special about this lovable, underdog of a show …. to your point, don’t come here if you are looking for innovation (although, I don’t know if we have ever seen a character as unabashedly flirty as Moo) Come here to get up into all your feels, and to know what My Love Mix Up could have been.

I feel your pain…nine episodes of pure joy followed by two plus episodes of pain and heartache, do create emotional whiplash, but I would argue that neither the plot nor the writing died out. Despite the two weeks of suffering most of us experienced watching Only Boo live, in retrospect the added tension only deepened the drama, and knocked the series into the next tier. Keen enters his Adele era with “Station 0”, and finds the same emotional depths in his acting. Nobody “enjoyed” Moo breaking down, nor that single tear at the piano…but it only made the ending sweeter, the drama deeper, and the story more resonant. We were all overjoyed to get sunshine-Moo back, but the experience wouldn’t have been nearly as cathartic if he had never gone away.

I get the sense that, in the earlier episodes GMMTV didn’t quite know what they had (only Oishe Honey Lemon knew for sure) and didn’t trust their young actors to carry the story, and were a little too liberal with the tropes and sound effects. But it also feels like at some point everyone involved realized they had something special, and let the drama and actors breathe more. My suggestion: trudge through the fluff and you’ll find the beating heart of something truly remarkable. Keen does most of the heavy lifting, but everyone else does their best to keep pace. 10 out of 10 for me.

And for anyone questioning Sea’s acting chops, check out how many conflicting internal emotions he puts across in those four words…

Favourite Kang flirt deflection technique: “you talk to much…”

Fourth squared