etoks21

Episode 4:

This is a delightful watch.

The leads continue their extraordinary display of acting skill which, when done as well as they are doing it, doesn't feel like "acting" at all. All of their interactions feel quite genuine, which is why the story is developing into a powerful one. A well-written, acted, produced show will make you forget you're watching a fictional presentation and suck you into the universe of the story. They've done that through 4 episodes now.

Benjamin Tsang as Jiang Tian is blowing my mind with his work here. Tian is one of the most unique and distinctive BL characters I've seen. He withholds so much and shows a poker face most of the time, but with small adjustments of his eyes/mouth//shoulders/head/etc. I feel I know what's going on in his head. It's wonderful. I first saw Tsang in a short film which doesn't seem to be on his bio page. It was low budget and brief, but it was clear then that he's a rare talent.

Liu Dong Qin as Sheng Wang is a powerful opposing force to Tsang's Tian. He shows a lot more emotion but it is never overdone, and mostly quite subtle. Great casting. The two of them together had me misty with feels several times in this episode.

When I first met these two in episode 1, I thought "OK, we have one conventionally handsome but somewhat bland-looking actor and another whose jutting ears, sizeable nose, and tiny mouth still leave him somehow attractive." Now I'm like "Wang gets more gorgeous with every scene, and Tian's ears, nose, and mouth have somehow become incredibly sexy." THAT is the power of charisma and character building.

Tropes all over the place, and I'll never understand the insistence by so many BL directors to include them, but because even the tropes are done in slightly original ways and because everything else is so A+, I don't much care.

Let me respond to your advocational attempts: :)

1. I used to drink a LOT...like, a LOT. No matter how fast you drink one, medium-sized mug of beer on an empty stomach, and no matter how unused you are to drinking alcohol, that one mug of beer is not going to keep you drunk for HOURS and almost make you throw up, then leave you with a hangover.

This isn't a huge thing, I just don't get how things like that make it past a show's director, especially as they edit. Why not have him sneak a couple more beers, chugging them too fast for anyone to stop him? See? I should be a BL blooper-corrector assistant director, right? :)

2. Wow, that is an impressive reach, however desperate. lol Not a chance of it being true, nor was it indicated in the dialogue, but I'll go with it for the sake of harmony on the thread.

I'm enjoying the acting and the rest of this story a great deal. It's not like I'm going to let the bloopers run me off. :D

Lame. My first paragraph insults only the BL watchers to which it specifically refers, the ones who make up stuff...etc. Don't try to drag everyone else into the category you identify with. Bye.

Wow. Thanks for perfectly summarizing the thought process of a BL watcher who has been programmed to make up stuff that isn't on the screen, ignore stuff that is, and generally fantasize an entirely alternate plot universe for a story that doesn't make sense.

Ho-Tae's mother specifically said..." there is no way, no matter what, that I could ever hate you." She said this after delineating the many ways that he had brought joy into her life. He directly and intentionally blew off what she said as if it meant nothing.

Oh please, EVERY gay man has internalized homophobia. He was 100% aware of his intense love for Ho-Tae. The chance of losing imo's love was non-existent, and Ho-Tae's "playboy ways" were a complete joke as he knew better than anyone, and both of his "girlfriends" had already been dumped.

How does being kicked out by his father justify or explain his treatment of Ho-Tae? EVERYONE knew they were NOT brothers; this was specifically addressed in the dialogue. Quit making stuff up.

LOTS of nice stuff going on here.
I can't decide which of the leads is the better actor, so I'll just say they are equally gifted and affecting.
I spent much of #3 in teariness due to the measured, unhurried, excellent work of the leads.
The moments involving the lemon-honey water.
Wang's deeply moving monologue while sitting on his bed. So real.
Tian's habit of restraining/sublimating his emotions, which are nonetheless apparent in his face, eyes, and body language. Great work.
Love Xi and his "partner." I was surprised he didn't say "husband," since Taiwan has gay marriage now. But we know his dad is a homophobe and in denial, so perhaps that's why that step hasn't been taken yet.
Enjoying the work of Andy Chen and Jed Chung ("Jump the Boy!" "Light!") in their supporting roles. Hard to believe the leads and Jed are all 30 years old. I hope Jed gets his own BL before he gets too old to pass as a college kid. He sure is passing as a high school kid here though. I find myself watching his expressive face and body language as other characters are speaking. He is always very much IN the scene.

I could do without:
Drunk trope stupidity: How was Wang shit-faced on one beer?
Bloopers like Xi the cafe owner telling the students everything was on the house, then later Wang is credited with paying for everyone's tab that Xi already paid for once.
Constant musical cues to tell me how to feel about something being said. I haaaaaaaaaate when a scene takes an emotional turn, the actors are doing a great job, but the director doesn't trust their work and finds it necessary to cue us with tinkling piano out of nowhere, or someone warbling a ballad from the soundtrack album they're selling.
People getting "fevers" because the AC was set low.
People running out for various medicines and treatments following AC incidents and kitchen burns. I thought all BL households had a fully-supplied medical kit in the living room console?

Overall, enjoying this very much though, because the relationship at its core, and the actors enacting it are doing a superior job.

Interesting. I feel suppressed feelings all over the place already in the first three eps.

None of that was explained in this show at all. You are assuming it, but it was not there on the screen. As I've said, BL watchers are SO conditioned to do the work of filling in emotion/plot/motivation/etc. that lazy writing doesn't provide, that they don't even know they're doing it.

Ho-Tae's mother explained to him, in as much detail as she dared, that she didn't mind if he and Athlete were gay for each other. He ignored her. Why did he make that choice? Is he a masochist? Well, yes, it's true, many BL characters ARE masochists, which is the only explanation for behavior like that of the Brain late in this show.

No, it won't. I've seen ULS. Seeing what comes after this does nothing to explain the actions of Brainiac in episodes 5 and 6 of THIS show. If what you say is the way this is to be viewed, then there should have been a huge screen card at the end, saying "BE SURE TO WATCH THE BL DRAMA 'UNINTENTIONAL LOVE STORY. IT WILL ANSWER ALL OF YOUR QUESTIONS AS TO WHY THE SMART GUY DID WHAT HE DID."

I didn't see that screen card. Did you?

As I said though, there is nothing in ULS that explains the lazy trope-ish last two episodes of this series. Why was the Brain so cruel and heartless? They didn't even bother to have him explain, even to himself, WHY he felt it necessary to rip them apart from each other. We're just supposed to know that from all the other BL endings just like it in other shows.

Exactly.

I ended up at 5/10.
Doing so breaks my heart, as until 5 I was in the 9.5 or 10/10 range.

Tons of beautiful, emotional, exquisitely rendered moments, incredible acting/direction, creative camera work and beautiful cinematography, all destroyed in the last one and a half episodes by, bad, super-trope-ick writing that required huge leaps of assumption to fill in the gaps.

"I'm doing this because it's a BL and that's what characters like me do" is NOT a motivation. The cruelest, and most insultingly written part, was Brain doing what he did without telling Athlete ahead of time or explaining why he was doing it. What kind of sadist would do that? Why would an audience forgive it?

episodes 1,2,3,&4 were extraordinary. Second half of 5 and all of 6 destroyed all that went before. Can you put in words WHY Brain left Athlete? I mean without resorting to "well, that's just what happens in BLs?" We got NO hint of how he came around to deciding to do what he did.

I swear, BL fans are so painfully brainwashed into having to fill-in huge gaps in the plots and motivations, that many don't even know they're doing it anymore.

Really? There was ONE hot kiss.

I wept from the end of 5 right on through half of 6.

However, as much as I loved this to that point, and as much I had already accepted that it was amazing despite being a major trope-fest, one after the other, I'm struggling with the whole (SPOILERS!) "I'm disappearing to Seoul to break both our hearts, so both of us can be miserable forever, and even though my mom gave me the green light to go full-on gay with the man I love, and even though I have presented no rationale for what I'm doing, and I will complete school without seeing the man I love for years, then come back, now wealthy to shop beach-front properties and moon over the man I dumped with no reason years ago, and now we just happen to run into each other on the beach" thing.

As enthralled as I was until that near-ending, and ending, that absurd turn kind of spoiled everything for me. Yes, there is an open ending, but the Brain has been so cold in plotting to leave without telling Athlete, then staying away for years with no contact, that I don't think I buy him magically turning sentimental and wanting to get together as a couple after all that. And even if he did, Athlete should punch him in the face and walk away.

I honestly don't know how I will end up regarding this show. The trope above really pisses me off from a writing perspective. It's so lazy, and at least for me, I didn't get a clear understanding of Brainiac's reasoning in doing what he did beyond "well, it's a BL thing so this is the way it goes."

There were so many beautiful moments, in style and directing/camera work choices, but the second half of the last episode may have wrecked it all for me.

The Athlete actor was impressive in the role. I was deeply moved by him and for him. The other guy was good in his role, I guess he had to play it from the script, but it makes no coherent sense outside of BL Cliche World.

Still not ready to rate, but it sure as hell won't be the 9.5/10 or 10/10 I might have given it until about halfway through episode 5. More like a 6.5 or 7.

What a waste. I had already added this to my Best 30 BLs list, just didn't know exactly at what position it would end up. Now it's coming off that list completely. I'm sad.

???

Thank you for both of these replies. It may be a cultural thing. I am American, and my understanding of "emotions" is much closer to how you describe your perception of "sentiments." Here, sentiment often implies a somewhat negative connotation, as in being OVERLY emotional or FALSELY emotional, but not always. This gives me an excuse to seek out the English dictionary definitions of these words and see if maybe I'm off-base here. :)

Hello to Bulgaria from the U.S.!
I'm one hundred percent German by blood and heritage.
Sorry about WW2. :P

"...hater..." lol Gosh, that's so deep and insightful. Thank you!

lol, your mom. :)

Where do you live?
I say all of this, but at the same time, the majority of my favorite film actors and movies are Korean! I adore Yoo and then to watch this be done to him was so upsetting. I hope he is OK.

When it comes to BLs, surprisingly, 11 out of 30 on my Best BLs list are Japanese, although the highest-rated ones on that list are Korean, along with ITSAY and IPYTM out of Thailand. How those two impressive shows came out of Thailand I have no idea.

OF COURSE he will be canceled. In Korea, it's not enough that you serve your punishment time, pay your fines, and whatever else after you've been through something like this, you are expected to live at least a few years low on the radar out of shame (which is what Korean, public morality is based on), and remorse. Never mind that you've paid your debt to society, Koreans want maximum humiliation and suffering rained down on their celebrities.

If you dare to resume a normal, open life upon leaving jail or whatever, the question will be "have you no shame? Who are you to enjoy life again so soon after committing such heinous acts?" And because the public, the press, and the psycho, sadistic "netizens" soak the zeitgeist with this nonsense, production companies are loathe to hire post-scandal celebs even after they've been punished and released. It's horrible.

They will definitely cancel Yoo for at least five years after he is released, and then he'll have to slowly inch his way back into the industry or whoever hires him will be dragged for letting him be a normal person again "too soon."

All of which is why my hope is he gets the hell out of Korea asap after prison and relocates to the U.S., where Hollywood and New York will be more than happy to put him to work in whatever medium he wishes to appear. Yoo is well-known in America through his shows produced by Netflix and other films of his that Netflix carried.

I was stunned that Netflix, an American company, chopped up its own show, "Goodbye Earth," to appease the Korean psycho fans? I watched it to see how much of Yoo they allowed in, which was very little. Netflix destroyed its own series and for what...? Why should Netflix America care that tiny SK is throwing a shit fit over Yoo's presence in the show? Just drop it on K-Netflix and let the rest of the world see all of it. Netflix is not known for stupid decisions, but that was a huge one. The butchered result was a POS.

Yeah, I'm passionate about Yoo and all the great Korean actors/singers/celebs who have been driven to suicide over the years by that poisonous, vindictive culture.

He is extraordinarily talented. I'm heartbroken over his prison term and the way he's been put through the ringer for 18 months leading up to that. I've been holding my breath, fearful he might check out as did Lee Sun Kyun just nine months ago. Yoo is currently #4 on my 30 Best Actors list.

I have not seen Chicago Typewriter, mainly because I don't watch many dramas other than BL. They tend to be so drawn out and full of filler. But if you rec CT, I'll give it a shot.

He is so good in so many films that I'm hard-pressed to name a "best" among them. I have a sentimental fondness for "Punch," though. It not only has Yoo but a cast of great supporting actors and quirky characters. Hilarious and moving.

Veteran, Burning, Default, Antique Bakery, Boys of Tomorrow, The Throne, all are excellent. His range is remarkable.