ShortCircuit

1. Yes

2. No

3. He's one of the best guys in existence

The first and last and best song... Someday. I'm glad they used it as an outro.

The first episode - the best one IMHO. I just saw the young actor who played KiHo as a kid in Sweet Home S1(he's not credited, but he was one of the friends who got forced into bullying HyunSoo, if I'm not wrong), I'm amazed at his talent, hoping I'll see him again. (ETA OMG he's credited as playing young YoHan in TDJ, I could've never told LOL. Young YoHan was amazing!)The kids gave this drama such an impulse, it could not have gone wrong on the strength of it.

The best part of the drama - the first half, trying to find KiHo. Also, one of the very few true sismances I've ever seen in dramas. I loved that relationship!

It was just the right length too - not too long, not too short. At least three amazing songs (IMHO) - Dream Us, Someday and Night and Day - both versions, the acoustic and Jung Seung Hwan's though I like his version better, he has a nice sweet voice.)

The best wardrobe - Kim Hyo Jin as RanJoo (I ENVY that silhouette so much, LOL).

Best sweetest smile: Chae Jong Hyeop. Best sidekick bro ever: Cha Hak Yeon.

This drama is food for the soul. And there's eyecandy. And finally, finally, no miscommunication - at all. Jung/Kang bros forever!!

I haven't watched all of the dramas in your list (I've watched 6/9), but I can promise you... on those I did watch, the focus is definitely not on the bromance in most of them, though there is bromance (NiF excluded, though it could be argued the bromance is as important as the main plot - I think it is one of the best parts of the story... among its many, many great parts - which makes NiF such a great drama).

I'd also add that 1. bromance is a tag that can be added or removed from a drama by the MDL users, so some of those dramas might (or might not) have had this tag added/removed in the period the editorial was written (AFAIK there is no genre tag for bromance) and 2. male bonding/friendship is a staple of most dramas, so it could also be argued there almost always exists some special relationship between male characters that qualifies as bromance no matter where you look.

You can obviously decide whatever you decide on the list presented, LOL, I mean, there could be a bias in the selection. My bias says that the titles are bromances first and foremost, and that THIS relationship is what helps the plot the most.

At least on those I did watch from the 10-long list (5-ish/10). And then we can all agree to disagree because the world is beautiful tonight and there are so many dramas of all kinds to watch, everybody will find their own bias :)

Yeah, there are bromances in stories that are straight up het romcoms. The thing is, this list includes the dramas that have - as a main relationship - the bromance, not the het romance that everybody seems to be allowed to like, whereas bromances, seemingly, have to always play second violin.

I myself listed a few non-romantic bromance dramas I do really like, and they're not on the list above. Still - they are bromances (mostly) and most of them do not include a het romance in any shape or form. Whenever a het romcom includes bromance, the focus is definitely not on the bromance. Therefore, the title of the editorial doesn't mislead - it's about bromances first and foremost.

And even if some or most of them are based on danmei webnovels, anything more than simple bromance has already been filtered out by censorship.

...and that's why my comment was sarcastic. Because yeah, nobody bats an eye when het romances take over the plot, but no men in any drama should ever hint they actually like each other more than in a bromance way because the world would end (/s again).

PS it's not only in Chinese media either.

Are they still airing it somewhere? Is there a chance for more (official) views? I mean, the year isn't over yet :D

I haven't even watched Stay With Me so I can't comment on that - because I did watch whatever they released of Addicted, and then read most of the first volume of Addicted: Heroin before my drive died and I lost my hoard of books, LOL, and TBH... even with growing up with the rapey yaoi manga ("let's ask your body if your NO is honest or not"-kind, you know, Viewfinder style), that book and that (original) drama didn't really stay well with me. I guess sensibilities change over time, as one grows up and actually understands the world better. I might try SWM though, so many people in here seem to have liked it.

For me it's simple in terms of most dramas though - if it's Chinese, then it's definitely bromance. Some are steamier (I mean, WoH pushed it as far as it could be pushed... then the whole genre got pushed back, HARD) but most are pretty much played in looking at each other and caring and whatnot and can ALWAYS be explained with bromance.

It's hard being a fujoshi these days, LOL.

Anyway - in terms of acceptance in here... this editorial got pushed in the second ranking lists in favour of two-day old news, which TBH is just what I actually expected from MDL. Someone in the mods/admins team in here really, REALLY doesn't like any non-het content, like, at all.

They said something about how they're all BL and you (the author) should think again before posting the article on MDL *shrug*. I don't know what they meant, actually - either that all the dramas were based on BL novels and so the title was misleading (that's the innocent take) or that such editorials have no place on MDL (that's the not-so-innocent take).

Let's be kind and assume they meant the first take.

I'd say it depends on location. Anecdotically, I've always been interested and never actually real-life met anyone else that admits to it, anyway. It only looks like it's going mainstream when you pick and choose the kind of drama you're watching. According to the news, in most of the world everything's actually going backwards - there is too much right-wing takeover everywhere, from Europe to Africa and all over the place, against anything inclusive. We can only hope the kids will grow up as we would like them to be - not afraid to be who they are, and not in danger because of it, either.

And they'll forever remain bromances for the people who don't go look up the novel.

...Now I feel kind of cheated by all those movies based on books (with het romances) that included racy scenes that never made it into the movie either. I guess it's the same take there, too.

Queer as Folk has also been around since forever (considering the new generation drama watchers; for me, it's been half my life, LOL). It's not exactly a new phenomenon - maybe it hasn't been mainstream, true (but it's not, not even now), but there have always been forums, TLs, etc - places where BL-content media were available.

I'm from the dark days before the internet became widespread, BUT when it really took off (around the millennium mark) even for poorer parts of the world, BL content was everywhere, if you knew where to look.

Movies were the most daring (there were lots of non-mainstream BL-topic movies, some good, some only so-so), and yes, no dramas (or none that would be aired over air or on cable, though small Thai productions still happened. Thais never seemed to be prudes about it, LOL).

It's really strange seeing you mention 7-8 years ago (as in, 2015 onwards) when it's been way longer than that for me :D And I even never watched HeartStopper LOL (or read the comics), because I guess I'm past the age of the target audience already :D

I didn't know that! The novel doesn't even hint at anything more than pure bromance. TBH, I like it better that way. The whole struggle is MCS's revenge while keeping it secret from JingYan. It was enough and just - perfect, as it was, IMHO.

I mean, yaoi manga have been around since forever. Even BL/yaoi anime (have you ever watched Gravitation? If not, highly recommended - for the music, too. They didn't cut any corners with music in anime those days, LOL.)

Novels, too - novelupdates has lists of fan TLs going back decades.

So they've been around, just not much in the light until society became more inclusive. LOL, But mangaka who drew yaoi were pretty well known, and it's been a long time.

But it's true that once The Untamed - the drama - watered the romance to acceptable bromance levels, and THEN it became really apparent these were NOT just fluff stories about pretty boys who like each other and that would be all. TU is a deep, raw, damn addicting story... with pretty boys too :D

And then there's SO MANY of them! If one's just that tiny bit off the extreme hetero end of Kinsey's scale, then you bet we're interested!

Thank you! Time for repeat play :D

This is the wikipedia definition: "A bromance is a very close and non-sexual relationship between two or more men. It is an exceptionally tight, affectional, homosocial male bonding relationship exceeding that of usual friendship, and is distinguished from normal friendship by a particularly high level of emotional intimacy."

There is no official romantic relationship between men in Chinese dramas, because of censorship rules. Therefore, all the dramas mentioned are indeed bromances. So what is the problem here?

Did they release the BGM and the Laolan River song yet?

Add to this list:

1. Under the Skin: modern times, actual bromance, no definite hint of ANYthing more, because censorship. The chemistry is off the charts. MLs are cops (one a detective, the other an artist who wanted to work as a police portraitist). Pretty interesting story, and everybody is tasked with TRYING not to love Shen Yi (Tan Jian Ci). You're all going to fail, but I dare you LOL.

2. Nirvana in Fire: costume/historical drama. Also definitely only bromance, no romantic interest, I won't go into details, since those would be spoilers, but that's one of the best dramas ever, and also one of the best bromances ever.

3. Under the Microscope: costume/historical drama. If there's anything more pure and REALLY brotherly than two idiots (well, one of them definitely is an idiot, LOL) who try to put the country back to rights with zero actual power, but armed with geometry theories and unexpected allies in the form of waspish sisters and not-so-loathsome lawyers, then I don't know what it is. Give it a look!

4. Mysterious Lotus Casebook: costume/wuxia drama. If you're tired of simple bromances... what about a THREEWAY bromance? :D Because yes, that's what it is. And all three of them are great. And one of them is being played by Cheng Yi, so there's your push to go watch it :D

And if we could add Chinese-world dramas that are not made on the mainland, but are Chinese-language dramas anyway... then definitely

5. Oh No! Here Comes Trouble! (TW): modern, supernatural comedy/drama. Because of YiYong. YiYong is everything. And obviously his brenemy GuangYan. These two idiots (only one of them is an idiot... err, I feel I've said this elsewhere hahaha!) will make you really happy about watching a drama about creepy things going in the real world to pester a badly-shorn teen who just had the worst day of his life. Make that the worst years of his life, poor kid. (Don't worry, he's dumb but he's also all heart).

And there are more LOL.

PS When I read the title, I thought - if this doesn't mention TU first and foremost... (But it does :D)

So, things that bugged me a lot in S2...

Where did HyunSoo's soft-spoken voice go in the first two eps, before he basically vanished from the drama until the last two-three eps? Part of what made him so likable was his trauma and being such a quiet man. Then he goes and starts practically yelling at MH2 until he gets caught - and even then he still talks way too loud to Dr. Lim.

Then, they catch this immensely important stable MH and instead of putting him on a table and doing to him whatever they did to MH1, they make him fight a huge "red" monster? Because WHY? What does that tell them? If Lim knew how to get a vaccine (and that was still not explained by the end of S2) why didn't he just... make it?! Like the Chinese say in the novels I've read - that's not scientific! :D

TBH I could care less about the soft and nice monsters. The lizard mama they flamed up took way too much screentime - why? - and her baby lizard might've been a nice pet to the MH kid (did she even get a name? I don't remember anyone calling her anything, though I see her named in the cast line) but overall, what was its use? The tree-nesting monsters, ugh, what was THEIR purpose?

So in the end, making the story bigger in space and time also made it looser, if that makes sense. I was kind of expecting it, TBH, but also I was expecting it to be more clear than it was. Why was Mrs Ji acting like that? Is she infected too, and if she's been infected for so long why isn't she a stable MH? Why should we see so much of her daughter's infatuation with the soldier and the soldier's infatuation with EunYoo, and practically nothing happening between EunYoo and HyunSoo (if they're still supposedly each other's romantic interest. IF there's any romantic interest in this kind of drama / webtoon LOL).

I have HAD it with how we should empathise with monsters who do not think but rage and attack on sight (like the tree monsters). NO WE SHOULD NOT. We should empathise with the MHs who realise their own untennable condition and also with the "helper" kind of monsters... but not with the tongue-man or megabuldozer-man or the insect-monster or the half-head monster, WTF! This S2 has used the poor misunderstood monster way too much. I mean, sure I can see why EunYoo likes HyunSoo (I have eyes too, don't I?) and he's been built as a great chara in S1. But what about the rest of them? The cocooning ones? Why do I care?!

Overall, only the final ep is pretty cool (too many soldiers and their uninteresting dramas though) - blue-eyed true HyunSoo monster, SanWook (MH2) revealing he's now actually MH1 (and when did that happen? Or was he MH1 from the very beginning and just pretending not to recognise YiKyung?) and FINALLY EunHyuk waking up. That guy will become King of the MH New Order, LOL, I can bet on it. He was a cool head when a human, he'll be deadly when a MH.

Extra special moments - looooots of shower-taking. Umm. Yeah. Well, they've got to clean up from time to time, who am I to disallow that LOL.

Ep6 seemed picked up directly from Andersen's Snow Queen (or even more closer from Joan Vinge's Snow Queen fantasy based on that fairytale - the little savage Lapon girl who's gathering strange pets takes a sudden liking to the girl (in the fairytale) or the boy (in the novel) and decides she's going to keep them forever. Until eventually she lets them go. And also LOL @the shrooms insert hahaha! I'll have to re-read that novel some time LOL.

And yes, Song Kang is hot (particularly in the final ep.) That won't make me watch My Demon, but might get me to come back to S3. Assuming it comes soon enough LOL.

That's it. (I don't even want to mention the dog disappearing and the whole time skipping thing LOL). Is the webtoon finished though? Just in the case some charas don't live through.

I don't usually watch horror, so this is new territory for me. Deal with this information however you want, LOL.

I happened upon a trailer for the first season, got interested, and basically binge-watched it over two days that happened to be right before S2 dropped, LOL. So my impression of S2 might be coloured by S1.

In one sentence, S1 is better. But then again, there are are elements that make a pretty good story - interesting charas, none of them are saints, very nice group dynamics throughout the story, extremely good music and FX (seriously those were some creepy monsters). I loved S1.

Then S2 changes most of what I liked about S1. There's no more claustrophobia-inducing action, very little intimacy (some of the charas felt like strangers), a lot less nuanced profiling (mostly for the new charas, but even some of the older ones got simplified), the music got orchestral and so-so, the monsters looked pretty much CGI... So yeah.

Overall, though, at least it continued some of the plotlines in the first one, so there's at least that. Will probably watch S3 (having it come in 2024 means it was already filmed, right? And maybe they're working on FX and that thing? Because with a ML going in the army, I can't see this waiting for so long before even starting production and not losing most of its public).

I am pretty sure HaNa would end up with the Crown Prince, and it's a very large age difference, I feel if they want it to go that way, they should really take the time to make such a relationship work.

Or if they aren't, then the drama should find HaNa a believable husband (after all, the three spinsters marrying is the tying thread throughout the story.)