Kate

I don't know. I still believe Tutor and Fighter story is well written, directed and acted. But it;s because they spend so much time on them. If they cut some scenes short of them to make room for other couples, their story would be bad too. The problem is: it doesn't even feel like one drama. Whatever is going on with Tutor and Fighter is so different in tone, directing, editing than the comedy and over the top production (all the sound effect... damn) of Zon/Saifah and the rest of characters.

I still enjoy it a lot. Not gonna lie, only Tutor/Fighter story makes any sense. But that's what happens when you try to fit too many stories into one show. They simply don't have enough run time to show all the stuff they have.

I read the comment and I was like: ugh my feelings are hurt coz I love Why R U... but also, it;s true it's a clusterf*ck in terms of editing. The only couple that is handled well there is Tutor and Fighter, the pacing for the rest is jumpy and ridiculous at times. So I cannot be mad lol
The made a smart decision with 2gether to have only one main couple. if one doesn't have 50+ episode to build the relationship for 5+ couple, they should even try.
Cannot wait for tomorrow's episode. I;m smiling even thinking about it :)

Hi guys, I'm back with almost daily over analyzing Fighter's character and his dynamics with Tutor. Yey lol

What I want to talk about today is, what I shall call "Fighter's searching eyes". So what does it mean exactly? Let's look at Tutor: Tutor's gaze is fixed. when he looks Fighter in they eyes - he actually looks him in the eyes. His own are not moving a bit. And what about Fighter tho: moves his eyes from different parts of Tutor face, never resting on any for too long. Simply his gaze looks extremely nervous and unsure, unfocused. You know when you are overwhelmed by emotions you start trembling? That's what his eyes do.

And this happens only when it's about Tutor. Best example: when Fighter fights the dude Tutor owns money. When he looks at the guy his gaze is confident, strong and fixed. When it's shifts to Tutor: shaky, nervous. Even in episode 5, where Fighter is the one initiating the kiss, his gaze is everything but confident. This is perfect example of the "searching eyes". He is looking at every part of Tutor's face, when Tutor himself is looking straight into his eyes.

What's more, it's not only searching for something in Tutor, but it's also indication of his internal confusion and searching for the answer inside his own emotions and thoughts. In his solo scenes, when it's presented to viewers that he thinks about tutor we have exactly the same thing: his eyes go left, right like crazy. Never focused, never still, always searching.

What's important, this dynamic changed relatively in a short time. When we get the flashbacks to either orientation times or the "5 months earlier" it's Fighter who has his eyes fixed on Tutor and is far more confident. Tutor is the one avoiding looking Fighter straight in the eyes and looks more nervous. How would I understand that? Fighter was back then truly clueless. He was confident coz he truly treated it just as teasing and funny mind games. He was not scared nor confused about his emotions coz he was oblivious to them. Tutor was back then not as sure of Fighter feelings for him so when Fighter got closer, he did panic. He was not sure how he should react since he didn't know what Fighter was thinking. And the whole dynamic shifted with that "do you like boys" and kiss that followed. Coz Fighter was called out on his actions and feelings and he could not pretend like there isn't anything going on anymore. So he became unsure.

ALSO can we talk about how Fighter hit Tutor with "I don't want anymore to misunderstand" some time after the bday kiss, and it's exactly what Tutor said to Fighter few months earlier when Fighter was teasing him? Coz I find it so amazing. In the past the "misunderstanding" would hurt Tutor, since he had feelings for Fighter, but Fighter would just play if off as teasing his junior. If Tutor showed any reaction to it, he could just be laughed at as guy who has crush on his senior. Now, Tutor knows what he wants, is sure of his feelings and thinks Fighter really likes him back so he cares less about the misunderstanding, coz for him it would not be one. But Fighter is still searching and questioning and if people would know about the kiss, he would have to make a decision he is not ready to make. If people would question him on why he kissed Tutor he would have to either say he teased him and made fun of him, which would end whatever they have. Or admit he might have feelings for him, and oh boi, way too early for it.

Also, now that I think about it, it's been two years of building tension between them, I'm not surprised they are going so fast compared to Zon and Saifah lol

hahaha that was me when I was watching. They chill down a bit in 5th and 6th ep. You will love them, believe me hahaha

I was asking the same questions tbh. But truth to be told, the rating that we get when the drama airs means close to nothing. Majority of people rates drama only after they finish watching it, so the few people who do it earlier or rate the dropped drama will not represent the final rating for sure. Even tho the rating for 2gether right now is really low (compared to other BLs), once the drama finish airing, it will get much higher for sure.

especially with Zon and Saifah. If anything I would be more willing to believe Tutor and Fighter might have bitter-sweet ending since there is more angst and drama there. Zon and Saifah are way too cute, chill and funny for such a dramatic turn at the end...

"Came for the list ability, stayed for the community" I feel like this perfectly sums up why I love MDL so much. It even shows in this introduction to you guys. You are open to share your experience and maybe inspire other to try and write something themselves! It was extremely interesting read. Seeing how everyone has a little bit different perspective on writing, picking topics and working on them shows that there is no wrong way of doing it and the most important thing is to just try.

I want to thank you all for the hard work you are putting in the articles, which make this website even more interesting and amazing. We all truly appreciate the determination you have for making the best content possible and the heart you put into it!

PS: XingBack, you got me on: I listen to music and open 100 tabs looking for gifs. hahahahaa

okay true, fair enough. I saw some comments that were overdramatic about this drama for sure and it was 100% not as bad as some people claim. Like, some has extremely high standards if this was the worse thing they have were seen.

I don't know hahaha I was far more critical with TT hahaha but I also feel like TT fandom is way more protective over the show, so many people were simply too scared to criticize it in the first place hahaha

this^ There is a huge difference between criticism and baseless hate. I'm happy that majority of people were rather civil with how they expressed their dissatisfaction. But even one comment similar to what you described is too much.

I'm fine with angst, even A LOT of it, as long as I get my happy ending.

maybe MAYBE (trying to be positive here), when Zon finds out his sister did not change the novel he will break it off with Saifah, coz he will think his feelings are like that just coz of the novel, but then he will actually miss Saifah and figure out that nah, it's his true feelings, he is happy with Saifah and wants to be with him and we get that happy ending?

I hope so. There is truly no reason for this drama to have such a low rating. It already went up a little bit, but the fact it's not in the usual 8.2-8.8 that BL dramas get as their air is weird. Dark Blue Kiss was quite a slow and not in your face drama, especially in terms of romance (no usual BL make out sessions etc, that fans like) and it had higher rating as it aired.
Anyway, it's a nice show so I just found the rating surprising, that's it :)

oh, that's what I always do, Finish writing mine before reading others :)
But yes, I agree with you. It was just 100% not my type of directing, but many people loved it so that's what really matters :D

Thanks for the in depth review :) Was awesome to read it. We actually agree on many aspects, just put a different value on them :D
Anyway, I'm happy you enjoyed this drama so much :)

I'm quite confused by the dislikes for this show. It's nothing revolutionary that people can get angry about, they don't talk about any problematic or sensitive topics. They are no more nor less stereotypical compared to other BL. Like... they follow the well known formula without really trying anything new, so why this show is disliked by so many people is truly confusing. Like, all the BL dramas have some people who dislike them, but usually there is a more specific reason for it in their eyes: really bad characters, questionable plot lines, messy directing or pacing. But here... it's just your normal BL drama... so why the dissatisfaction so strong here?
I never saw such a low rating for a BL drama when it barely started airing. Usually it's extremely high at the start.

YES! I feel like with Tutor, the pauses are more intentional for the character, it;s his time to "decide", think about the consequences of "what if you push forward a bit more" and with Fighter is not intentional, it;s him not being able to get back to realisty basically, it;s him not being aware whatever happened or was about to happened ended. Technically both are "just" pauses and in good majority of bl's it would be impossible to distinguish between them, there isn't enough thought put into the process of acting and filming them. Here tho, it's so clear and amazing. What I appreciate is that they take their time, and that's why these pauses can happen. The couch scene was a long scene. They didn't just push forward with make out session, they wanted to tell viewers more and these strategically placed stops and pauses were awesome.
Anyway, the moment with Fighter that I rewatched like 20 times (literally only these 2 seconds) is after the hand kiss when Tutor almost kisses him but at the last moment he backs off, but Fighter is still waiting. That was awesome.

I know I'm all over the comment section already guy, I'm sorry lol But I think I know what I truly like about Zee's performance and Fighters character a lot: how he lingers in the moment right after Tutor backs off. It's these one or two seconds when he is still in the moment when the world started to move forward that get me every time.

Sure there is. Me saying their comment was not unreasonable was simply a precaution, since we did comment under theirs. It would not be strange for others to assume the "unreasonable" was meant for the op's comment :) Better safe than sorry.
Tried to find some of your comments under 2gether (since I myself kind of like it) but then the whole discussion on women in BL happened and I saw "internalised misogyny" mentions and ran as fas as possible.