MareAzurre

I never understood why this drama got high ratings here. I guess the leads have a strong fan base as it happens. I find it hyper melodramatic with no purpose, very very slow with very few endearing moments. I thought the acting of the leads was poor. To keep the melodrama they resource to display 1 or 2 facial expressions. I guess some people love this kind of hyper melodrama, not me. I persevere to the end, but it made for a painful viewing.

The only way to explain the high rating of this drama is because Hyung Sik/other actors fan bases. We have seen it with other dramas in MDL, all the fans vote and the drama gets high scores. Hyung Sik is a sound actor that I like and follow but this series does not deserve an 8. The humor is so lame. It is cringy at moments. Other people are pointing out the shortcomings of this series too (see below) so I am not the only one feeling disappointed overall. I keep watching because I am still waiting that something deserves the high rating, but how this can have the same score as Marry My Husband or higher than Knight Flower? 🙄

Song Ha Yoon! - his CP in Marry my husband, they look perfect together

I was quite impressed by Wandering too. It is "Just Friends" (2009) it was an independent production and raised lots of eyebrows as it was from the very first gay films in Korea. https://mydramalist.com/2544-just-friends

Personal Weatherman- I still don't know how they pull that one off. The actors did incredible with such poor material and have had more contracts for photoshoots in magazines and contracts abroad than my Beautiful Man CP.

I love the novel! It is written by an award-winning writer. Super high-quality writing. I savored every phrase. yes, I recall he acknowledges himself as gay in the novel but I don't recall it in the live version though Kiyoi quite proudly announced that he is dating a man, and also in series 1 he asked Hira if he likes boys, and was quite puzzled by his reply. I like the actors too how much they embrace these characters and how proud they are about them, even now. I know I am a moving countries but the lead of Korean Taxi Driver who is a top actor there, started in a gay movie and he is so proud about this performance he often mentions it and he is still best friends with his CP. What a contrast with Keito Mashida (Cherry Magic)! I also did not watch the film because of this.

Something that I would like to mention and I do not know you, but it does make me uncomfortable is one of the CP actors in Cherry Magic was forbidden by contract to kiss the other actor because he was a man. However, he is not forbidden to kiss female actors. Another actor Inukai (his surname escape now) he is one of the kings of BLs have done 4 already, he had never kissed his male counterparts. Fortunately, in his last BL he does kiss his partner briefly. It was a big celebration in social media!

There are other humble efforts as well in those in which there are no gays mentioned. Takara kun and Amagi kun, Takara tells his friends I envisage a world in which I can be happy with the person I love, some gay bloggers on social media understood it as him wishing for a Japan free from prejudice.

Yes and it is super but except for Cherry Magic the others don't come close to the success of My Beautiful Man and My Personal Weatherman that have broken records of BLs watching, so still there is a great deal of "absenteeism".

Agree and I am celebrating this, however, the two most watched BLs in Japan in the last year: My Beautiful Man (it has 3 installments starting 2 years ago) and My Personal Weatherman, with the highest rating ever in different platforms for the genre are muted about it. Actually in all fairness, Kiyoi quite proudly said my lover is a man, but the word gay is never mentioned.

I watched it, yes, I like it too. I have mixed feelings because I am not sure if the other boy was not still within the territory I am not gay but I am gay for you.

Yes, they are the kings of the Yaoi genre, and I have watched what you mentioned and everything else that I could have access to. However, there have been academic studies (yes at that level, and I could send you some suggestions if you are interested) that proved that the majority of Japanese BLs and even more the yaoi genre as a whole -that include other medium e.g. manga- it is quite divorced of the reality of being gay, the majority do not call themselves gay and the Japanese gay community feels quite alienated of what it is portrayed in our screen. The main reason is that the Yaoi genre was created more than 50 years ago in Japan by straight women for straight women some of whom were/are homophobic. They entertain two boys loving each other but load the reality of being gay. I am so relief that both within Japan and certainly the international audiences have now different values and most of us are either LGBTQ+ activists or allies and if not are simply people who acknowledge that two boys loving each other are gay (or pansexual or bisexual) Thank you for mentioning the phrase "I am not gay, just gay for you" I think that phrase represents quite well what is wrong with the BL world.

You must not miss the villain couple's scenes. It makes ep 12 worthy!

I also enjoyed it but I am reading lots of negative comments below hence why I posted this.

I totally agree with you, and also the delusional criminal-like fiancée is beyond cartoonish, I simply don't believe in what this character wants to portray at all. The acting is also a far cry from Ha Yoon (Sumin), which makes her even more redundant.

I know people are disappointed with ep 12 but K-dramas are full of absurd, cliché, and over-the-top plotlines! I have read the web novel and the live drama is an improvement to the novel at all levels. Particularly, in the live drama, the villain couple is smarter, funnier, and have a bit of tenderness towards each other. I hope it continues like this for them. I will be thoroughly disappointed if they remove their villain charm from them and make them a copy of the web novel.

Yes!! they are terrible but together!

Ep 12 I have to confess I love Sumin and Min Hwan, they are evil but they are riveting in their evilness! The scene in which Sumin stood up to her mother-in-law was so satisfying, and when she defended MinHwan using the same mother-in-law's patriarchal language, was hilarious. I wish they remain together. Maybe I am delulu but I think they have feelings for each other in their own twisted way. It looks like they are going to be upgrading their bad deeds courtesy of that crazy, arrogant, delusional, ex-fiancée. She is properly hideous so that may be too much even for me who likes them that much.

thank you for your comment. I am the contrary, I avoid this kind of storyline, a shame because I am sure the acting is excellent.

Thank you for the recommendation, you are really selling this to me. I did not watch it because I don't like "gender bender" storylines. I like everything else: hetero, BL, LGBTQ+ storylines but not those gender benders