Mad About The Boys

So much of this could have been avoided if Lu Qing had just told Fan what he was doing and why. FFS.

Meanwhile Fan was the ukeiest uke to ever uke (and that's saying something) and his family didn't get their just desserts. Yeah yeah, Ping got his fingers burnt but Lu Qing bailed him out and they were all allowed to go home and live happily ever after (for a given value of happily while, of course, I would have much rather they'd all been reduced to penury). Spoiled bully of a wife got off scot free despite being a complete bitch AND in love with her half-brother. Everyone else just took a bath on the market. I honestly think it probably worked better to watch this as it aired - on a binge watch the cumulative effect of Fan's inability to stand up for himself over and over again plus everyone else being absolutely awful tainted it somewhat.

Still, at least we got our first gay wedding out of China, although I did pause to google when same sex partnerships were recognised in Spain because I'm neurospicy and little details like that annoy me, and it wasn't until 3 years after their reunion. It would have been so easy to make that 1999 instead of 1996. grrr.

A note on the subs: Viki is increasingly using AI generated subs which is an issue. It's not as if they were paying the volunteer subbers anyway ffs and they're not even letting them check what the AI has translated or add any cultural notes/explanations of idioms etc. I'm actually considering cancelling my sub and just sticking to iQiyi and Gaga.

I know everything's going to turn out OK but at the moment

The look on his face - that little smile when Naoya said this was an order? Beautiful.

The evil people were properly and irredeemably evil - no shades of grey here - and while death was literally too good for them, they did at least pay for their crimes (can we have a special where they round up all the other rapist sponsors and punish them as well please? Pretty please?).

And hello there Evil Twink, you are an elusive beast in the world of BL - with the (dis)honorable exception of our little Meng Yao of course.

Ooh I hated Sunny - Fuaiz plays him so well at the tender age of 20 (probably 19 at time of filming). Obvs he was also the poor, tragic Tonkla in 4 Minutes so I'd quite like him to have a lovely boyfriend and a happy ending in his next show please and thank you.

And finally, I really notice when a production is properly scored rather than just shoving in whatever incidental music they can grab for free (looking at you Wabi Sabi and GMMtv). It makes a massive difference not just to the tone and beats of the drama, but I also don't have the sudden 'wtf, isn't this XXX's tragic love theme from YYY??' suddenly interfering with my brain and throwing me out of the show.

Anyway, good job boys. May your next drama also feature Minlee's teeny, tiny, sexy waist both in and out of fabulous NC scenes.

Also, how can Hisaki be surprised that Okumi gets aroused when he's being straddled by his toy boy who's sucking his fingers? I mean, I know he's naive but c'mon.

I did wonder wtf was going on with the umbrella Zhen Xin insisted his assistant bring to the premiere then I realised it was the one Zhang Zhun had given up when he was a stuntman and awww'd all over again because it was Xin's proof that he'd noticed him and felt a connection from all those years before (yes it's unrealistic but give me a break - this is a Chinese BL and I'm allowed to feel all the things, just be grateful they're not flying on swords).

The post-credit stingers all the way through were good (and relevant to the plot so if you missed them go back and watch) and the sudden Madam Qin/Director kiss made me laugh. Did we need the final, final one? Nope but I didn't hate it so it's all good.

Honestly, Japan, South Korea and now China have all been outscoring Thailand for me this year but I am very behind on Thai BL so there's probably some gems I haven't caught yet. Still, China! And with excellent NC scenes. Colour me amazed.

In other, unsurprising, news the father is still a massive asshole and I cannot wait for his well-deserved smackdown. And the ex-schoolmate/lackey also needs to pay for his dismissal of 'four eyes' (who is undoubtedly earning 100 times his salary btw) and attempted bullying of our baby boy.

*he is, however, another son who's been fucked up by that absolute disgrace of a 'father'. And he's unforgivably rude to his girlfriend/wife or whoever that was that he was with.

Ju Taeseon was a fabulous tsundere seme while Lee Chaeha got bullied by lots of horrible people (including, let's be honest, Taeseon) but managed to be resilient and strong as well as a vulnerable cutie in need of protection. Can Ju Taeseon get the entire Fine Collection dept fired? Pretty please? I mean, he managed to get the uncle investigated and banged up so I'm sure there's something he can do.

BTW "Instead of being happy alone I'd rather be miserable with you." is a TERRIBLE life choice. I loved it.

Then to talk shit about his mother to business acquaintances?

I suspect the second wife and the half brother are behind Naoya's sabotage and I cannot WAIT for Takaaki to destroy them all With prejudice. Arghh.

I liked their quiet moments - walking together to sober Zen up after his night drinking with the secretaries, the gentle lovemaking, the domesticity.