kreplach

Will they stay true to the original ending? Not pretty. Will they keep the original peripheral characters (which demonstrate how truly awful the leads are)? This is interesting.

Takoi panicked. He's navigating unknown waters and still isn't especially sure of how to deal with, er, challenging situations, like bar regulars teasing him in a homophobic way. A more self-assured person would have just said, "We're friends, so we went together. What's the big deal, you bigoted clowns? It was a nice outing." But he still doesn't know if he's coming or going in this relationship, and he's still a pretty conventional man who cares about what others think of him. They're not in Tokyo but the hinterlands (hah) where attitudes towards homosexuality are totally backward (rather like the US). Yeah, he should have reacted differently, but it was a sort of knee-jerk response rooted in fear. Fortunately, if the scenes from next week are any indication, he will realize what he's lost and try to put it right.

I must be the only person who didn't like OFC because of the dirty old man vibe I got from the ML (it's why I ran away screaming from that Smoky Blue BL). It was also completely bafflling that an attractive younger man would be so besotted by such an awful old geezer. And to compare him to the adorable, lively, charming Watanabe Shu is nuts; he's a youthful 35 while that OFC guy tracks as someone in his mid-'40s. But I suppose there's no accounting for taste.

I sort of liked Love Begins in the World of If even though the premise was preposterous, but I have a huge crush on Nakagawa Daisuke so had to watch.

Unfortunately it still inspires terror rather than...intrigue. I'll wait. I hope the payoff is worth it.

Sometimes former idols can do very well in BLs (Semantic Error springs to mind immediately), but you're right - most of them are loxes.

Yes, the last Thai BL I really enjoyed was their version of Cherry Magic (probably because the Japanese version was overly restrained and Thais aren't afraid of M/M affection and sex). Watched a couple of Junior/Mark dramas afterwards because I loved those guys in CM, but they were all terrible in varying degrees.

Same, OMG. I understand they have to establish a real connection and one of them is still resisting, but AUGGH.

God I love Gen Z people; they're so tough. So let's all start using the N-word whether it applies or not, use fags or fairies or dykes refer to queer people, use the c-word to label women, or call Vietnamese people slopes, or Middle Eastern people towel-heads, etc. So edgy, so rebellious on a Korean drama website.

Great observation, which I totally noticed starting with this episode. It's probably because the character is making himself vulnerable to the person he loves, a romance trope which absolutely kills me. His entire apsect has totally softened since the first episode - he seems sweet and lovelorn, instead of cold and judgey. That has made him much more attractive, and not just to the viewers.

I fell in love with Jung Eun Chae in Pachinko, a role that was a 180 from this one, so I'm predisposed to like her. She's great as a badass cop in this, and she was the reason I started watching. I did love Ahn Bo Hyun in the silly but very cute Spring Fever because he is gifted at playing big beefy lovable lunkheads after all (watched Flex Cop 1 when it first premiered but bailed after about 20 minutes).

Doesn't matter. No one will be looking at her.

Yes, this is driving me nuts too. Been in love with Watanabe Shu since I Became the Main Role of a BL Drama (S1 but especially S2). So cute, and yet so nuts. Enjoying this immensely.

Yes. A lot of it has to do with great casting, and of course good writing and direction. This particular drama was blessed with spectacular chemistry between the leads, and pretty fearless direction. It was surprising and completely enjoyable (except for that fake AI beach - was that really necessary? We'd already gotten a shift into wonderful romance; cheesy greeting card backgrounds were not essential).

It was deliberate, both to cast suspicion on him AND to make him seem like a guy who had a harmless crush on Chaeha. Both served to put a big ole comic balloon over his head announcing "YES - THIS IS THE CRAZY CAST OFF ILLEGITIMATE SON." I didn't mind it. I wanted it to be him. He bugged.

Yeah, just like Park Seo Ham and Park Jae Chan from Semantic Error.

OMG yes. SE was the first thing I thought of, even though the dynamics are different. But running through both is palpable desire. It's funny how so many Kdramas miss this very essential element of love and sex - the "feelings" are usually just...mimed with very little actual passion behind them. I'm talking about het dramas too, which are very often pretty limp.

I wasn't even going to watch this! And yeah, after eps 4 and 7 - pfhfffff. Chemistry onscreen is a rare and beautiful thing.

Totally agree. It's surprisingly adorable and pleasant, helped greatly by the fact that Kim Dong Won is giving major Baby Gong Yoo vibes. This is just what I needed right now.

Not an open ending. Johan will never recover; ALS is incurable.

OK, I'll amend my previous statement: I *have* known a couple of gay men who carried torches for straight men because it was a sort of "love of my life if only he were queer" thing, but not one of them decided to give up on their sexuality and devote themselves to an asexual life in order to be with their "soulmates." They just regretted fate and moved on, like normal people. In a way this narrative in insulting (and seems to be rooted in religion) because it suggests that the only way gay people can live a good life is denying their sexuality and living together like, well, eunuchs. Gross.