Meari21

I understand where you're coming from but ancient Japan was one big death game battle. During the feudal era, people practically killed each other for sport and power. This gave birth to the samurai, the military class of feudal Japan who worked for bloodthirsty warlords (daimyo) that fought to usurp each other's territories. The Sengoku period was the bloodiest era in Japan that led to the unification of the country under one shogun. But despite this unification, civil wars still kept erupting until the Boshin War, the war that restored the rule to the Meiji heir. This restoration brought about the downfall of the samurai with the current regime practically killing them off one by one. That is the main story of this drama. The death game aspect is just used as a tool to show how the regime wanted the samurai completely eliminated. I don't think this is any different from what transpired in most of their history. Japan was basically a large battlefield up until the end of the shogunate and the samurai class.

I guess it's the same for people who say it's Rurouni Kenshin or Alice in Borderland. This is far more grounded than RK, the fight choreography, for one, is less stylized. It's more similar to the fighting style in Blade of the Immortal, same feels too. It's set in the same era as RK, though. The difference is RK didn't really show how the samurai were shunned and were practically dying because of the lack of options. Kenshin, who was a retainer for the Choshu clan, was even offered a government position that he turned down, while Shujiro was discarded like a piece of old rag despite leading the charge for the Satsuma clan. He was even allowed to carry a sword around even though katanas were banned.

This era in Japanese history fascinates me. The fall of the last shogunate and restoration of the Meiji empire led to the abolishment of the samurai. Guns replaced swords and the remnants of the samurai were left to starve and fend for themselves. I was wrong, Shujiro worked as a retainer for the Satsuma clan who fought for the Meiji emperor against the shogunate during the Boshin War. Then he and his kind were discarded after the Meiji heir was restored as emperor. Love the conspiracies and political machinations in this. I thought this would be more straightforward. The fights are well-choreographed. A bit stylized but more grounded than other modern samurai films. The all-star cast and high production value makes this a must-watch J-drama. Netflix Japan has been coming out with pretty good dramas lately.

Yes, Btooom! I forgot about that. This is more like that and Battle Royale, not like Squid Game or Alice in Borderland at all. The samurai story is reminiscent of Harakiri and Lone Wolf and Cub. Not sure about this because I haven’t finished the drama yet but I’m guessing Shujiro was part of the Fudai clans that fought the Boshin War under the shogunate. They did mention something about the bakufu in the first episode.

Last Samurai Standing is about a man struggling in a world where samurai are treated as scum and using swords has become illegal so they can’t find work and have trouble surviving. It’s the same with Harakiri which depicts the hardships samurai went through during the Meiji era they had to resort to drastic measures just to stay alive. In the manga of LSS, there are no such games as in AIB. They’re just trying to defeat one opponent after another and take their card so they can advance to the next round. It’s mostly fighting really.

The story about him being a struggling samurai during the Meiji era is very Harakiri. Rurouni Kenshin is about a former assassin fighting enemies from his past. Check out that classic movie starring Nakadai Tatsuya, there’s also a remake of it made by Miike Takashi. Alice in Borderland has some mind boggling games while Battle Royale is just a battle for survival.

They say this is Shogun meets Squid Game but I disagree. It's Harakiri meets Battle Royale.

It's up!

He and Namping look so awkward together. Besides, he has the potential to be a bankable leading man so I hope he doesn't get stuck doing BL.

😄😄😄

Nah, I’ve always disliked this kind of character in BLs ever since I started watching yaoi anime. They might as well be girls with them acting all motherly and damsels in distress that need to be protected. It’s like they just took a rom-com trope and changed the gender of the female protagonist to make it BL.

I actually found this interesting and I did like the story and cultural aspects. Better than most Thai BLs I’ve seen in terms of plot. But I agree that it’s overlong. There’s too much fluff in just one episode. Although I like the actors, their acting could use some work. I also didn’t like Khem acting more and more feminine as the series progressed. They basically turned him into a girl but he was more masculine in the beginning. It has always been a pet peeve of mine when watching BLs because it makes me feel like I’m watching a hetero romance when the other guy looks and acts like a girl. That’s why I liked the second couple more. I enjoyed this drama mainly because of Jet and Charn.

This is a surprisingly nice little drama. I watched it in just one night. Very bingeable. The girl has that Horikita Maki vibe but with the comedic timing of an Ayase Haruka. And Leo is gorgeous as a woman. lol

Cross-players like to cross-dress their favorite male/female anime characters as a hobby. I also have a female friend who dresses, talks, and acts like a guy but is totally straight. You would think she's a butch but she's not. I have also known men in the beauty industry (mostly stylists and makeup artists) who appear to be gay, they wear makeup, and act feminine but have wives and children and are not into men at all. And there's a famous celebrity in my country who is a transgender woman but is not interested in men. They are happily married with their wife. I guess that's what they call non-binary or gender fluid? I'm not very knowledgeable about the terminologies used so pardon me if I got it wrong.

Yes. They know they might get censored if they do that. The bromance CP hints in these dramas also help promote them though. I do remember Neo and Yan An being asked to princess carry each other in one of their promotional stints for Fangs of Fortune. And Neo and Jiarui had to take turns pushing each other on a swing. I thought that was hilarious. 😆 Those were clearly meant to appeal to the BL crowd. Good thing they were presented in a wholesome way that they didn’t get reprimanded for that.

There is no real BL in China though. Even Word of Honor wasn’t. It was marketed as bromance but it was more obvious than others and that’s why to this day I wonder how they escaped the proverbial censorship axe. The bromance CPs they do is to appeal to that specific market. Gong Jun did rise to fame for doing “BL” dramas so his fans are largely from that particular audience. And these CPs are common among bromance themed dramas like The Blood of Youth and Dashing Youth even though they also have romance in them. Dashing Youth for example paired Neo with He Yu and also with Zhi Guang. The Blood of Youth also paired Hong Yi with Xue Yi. It’s just for promotional purposes.

They all know what they’re doing. They know that there’s a market for BL or at least hints of it even in China. They’re definitely one of the “pairings” in this drama. At least the “bromance” in this is not as blatantly obvious as in Word of Honor. 😆

If only BL dramas aren’t banned in China. A girl can dream. 😄

Thank you for your answers. Now I’m excited to check this out. 😊

So how is this new drama of my boy Cheng Yi? I recently cancelled my iQIYI subscription, but if this is better than The Journey of Legend, then I will renew my subscription. lol