VerukaMtl

Yes!! I was thinking the same thing this morning! I am very, very late to this party but thought it was well worth my (short) time, though at some points I wondered if Mob's views were straddling the line of homophobia (thinking that his brother would be "contaminated," etc.) but I haven't watched many Japanese BLs to know if this is common or not.

I have faith that it will stay sharp until the end...but I have nothing to base that on. 😂 I guess we'll keep our fingers crossed since we will stay on the ride until the end!

100% with you!! Sometimes I'm cringing at things they say or do that *I* have said or done...though with less dramatic consequences. 😉 I have to say that in most of the series I've seen, even the ones I'd rate highly, there's always a weak portrayal or a story line I would rush through if I could, but not with this series - SO GOOD! 🤩🤩

😄 Of course, if they were, we wouldn't have this AMAZING drama! Who wants to watch people who have everything together all the time and never have any issues? 😉😀

True! But really, how mature and grown up are any of them? 😉😂

Exactly! Though maybe First is one of those people who are not musically inclined in the least. 😂

I feel like what I've read about Thailand is that once they discovered they could make a ton of money from BL, they went ALL IN. Now, that doesn't explain the fever pitch of the fans, but maybe it's all a circle: the production companies give them fan service so the fans become rabid for it, rinse and repeat.

When I first heard about the pairings that would continue into other series/roles, I thought it was odd, but then I thought back to the classic Hollywood pairings like Bogart and Bacall, and Astaire and Rodgers, etc. and realized that no, it's not that odd, it's just something we see less of today. Plus in the case of BL, the companies may as well make use of established chemistry and the actors may as well do scenes with someone they are purportedly comfortable with.

Love your pizza analogy, well put! 👏😀

Hmm, interesting theory! Oh...now I've reread and I'd somehow combined both of your scenarios into one. Yeah, after we found out that Ray was an alcoholic, I'd always assumed that Sand smashes one of the plum wine jars as they are fighting about Ray's drinking, and now that we see Ray is *supposed* to be going to rehab, I wonder if the fight is because he left/never goes to rehab and Sand is furious with him.

Can't they just have him hold it and nothing more? 😂 And the fact that his love interest in the show *is* the musician makes it that much funnier!

Thanks, and yeah, that's what I meant, and now that I think about it, because it's BL and they are trying to make the fans happy, the fan service is like the exact opposite of the Hollywood studios finding "beards" for their leading men who were gay in real life, encouraging them to be seen with or even marry actresses/other women while these Thai studios (and maybe in other countries, idk because I mostly just watch Thai BL) go the other way and do photo shoots and fan stuff and those crazy shows where they encourage the pairs to be seen as *maybe* being actual couples...all for the money, I guess.

That's true, a lot of them seem to get their start as singers, or they still sing/are part of a band even while acting. Though, in OF, I find it very funny that Sand is supposed to be the musician but he can't even strum a guitar on tune. 😂

Their system reminds of the studio system that used to exist in the US decades ago when stars were contracted to a single studio and seemed to have to do whatever the studio wanted.

I completely agree. The first time I saw footage from the KP traveling arena show, I was floored. I mean, props to the actors for learning the choreography and all that (very different from acting in front of cameras) but oh boy, not something I as a North American am used to! I guess maybe they have to tell themselves it's part of the job.

That all makes a lot of sense, thanks!

And that's where some of the toxic fan behavior comes from, I think, is not being able to separate what they see on screen from how they want the actors to be IRL. Good actors are supposed to convince us they are in love/lust with each other...even if they hate each other! 😄

Ha! I haven't seen too many behind-the-scenes footage but if it's anything like the KP video, I can understand that! 😀

Right! I hear you, and maybe it would be the same for me, and I'm sure we've all heard about actors/actresses IRL who fall for each other on set, but to me one quality an actor should probably have, in order not to constantly fall for their on-screen partners, is to be able to separate those feelings.

I'm right there next to you. 😄

I assume everyone here has watched KinnPorsche, so maybe you all have seen a video of Mile and Apo doing an acting exercise to become physically comfortable with your acting partner. There must be a term for it but I'm afraid I can't think of it. Basically their heads were very close to each other and they were stroking each other's skin/cheeks, in silence I think. Of course it *looked* very erotic and I guess that's the point to get the actors to a stage where they can be physically intimate with each other. I think the rest of us viewers imagine that two actors are just thrown together and told to act, but there's more to the craft than that.

YES! Their scenes are always highlights!

I feel like Sand and Nick need their own spin-off series where they just shoot the shit and have "boy talk"! The two actors have so much amazing friend chemistry!

I mostly agree with you about Nick's speech to Boston (except his shitty timing 😂) but idk, Nick is still blinded by love (though haven't we all been?) and his whole "you don't need to change" was a bit...hard to swallow. I get that Boston probably *won't* change, but here's hoping he realizes that he had something special with Nick and that they have a second chance. (Boston has been my fave since the start so even though I think he isn't the best person, I still want a happy ending for him.)

And omg, the way he SMILED when he was in the bar with Dan! I'm not sure we've seen him smile like that with Boston.