#bl blurb

With 2025 over, I wanted to do my final blurb since I never checked in after the October update. I’ll do a follow-up post on this one to complete my full review of BL for 2025. For now, let’s talk about the few shows I’m watching, the finales of shows from the fall, a last-minute GMMTV pickup, and the dismal end to a bad year from Japan.

Off is the Only Thing Holding Burnout Syndrome Together (6/10)

Genuinely, one of the most disappointing things of the year is having to report disappointment in Gun Atthaphan. I am a Gun Atthaphan Simp First and a Human Being Second, and I’ve been so dismayed by how stagnant Gun’s acting feels in these past few years. In this show, Jira shows little drive as a character, and so his relationships with Koh and Pheem feel empty of narrative purpose. They want us to believe he’s a starving artist, but he mostly comes off as a brat. Moreover, the genuine lack of chemistry Gun has with Dew is not helping the cause. We’ve had four episodes of wheel-spinning in this dynamic, and it’s so boring! Each episode has ridden on one solid performance from Off. As with every would-be toxic romance from GMMTV, they constantly undercut it by making rich people sympathetic, and quickly steamrolling over any edges with sappy pouting. It’s a loss.

Reloved Has Devolved Into Irredeemable Melodrama (5/10)

When this started, I was really excited about the potential of the adult second chance after a college breakup. I also really liked seeing James Rusameekae in a role as an intense-but-dedicated boss in an advertising company. James is a favorite, and I had a lot of fun with the constant chanting of “BEYOND PERFECT: HOUSE OF PERFECTION!” in every episode. I thought the flashbacks to college were a good choice for the production so the viewers looking for familiar BL beats had something to enjoy. 

Unfortunately, the plot around the initial breakup and ghosting gets more egregious and unforgiveable the deeper we go into this show. The show also enjoys implying the worst outcomes for everyone’s behavior. At this point, I am sitting with Akin ghosting his boyfriend because he was jealous, only to then take on the role of surrogate parent to a kid he thinks might be his ex’s? He’s also now mad that Than got emotional comfort from someone else after Akin rejected him for the umpteenth time? It’s never good when a show has me rooting against the couple. I’m also finding the side couple more than a little ridiculous. They have a lot of sex, but if I was the type to fast forward shows I would genuinely skip their scenes. 

Japan Began 2026 with “Fuck or Die” in Isekai Office Worker: The Other World's Books Depend on the Bean Counter (1/12)

Besties, I am not making this up. You’ve got a fairly typical isekai here. A self-described “corporate slave” gets pulled into a fantasy world when he sees a teenage girl being pulled into a portal. On the other side, the monarchical state apologizes for kidnapping him as well, but promises to feed and house him. Protag-kun is a workaholic and asks for a job, so they put him in their accounting department. There, he gets addicted to fantasy energy drinks while his modern fiscal senses push him to conduct a full-scale audit on the kingdom. He warns the teenager about the shady lies of the kingdom, and eventually poisons himself from the energy drinks. We left the first episode with the hot, purple-eyed military leader coming to assist Protag-kun. 

When I looked up the blurb for this show, I learned that Protag-kun has to have sex with the military guy or he will die…because magic. I couldn’t help but laugh. China is back with all of its worst tendencies, and Japan was like, “I guess that means we can bring back ‘fuck or die’ in 2026 from a series published in 2018.” I am still interested in seeing where this one goes, but I can’t help but laugh at the weird place BL is in right now. 

Completed Since October

Let’s move on to the shows I finished since October. 

Love Sea Japan Lacked Some Spark

I can’t say that I enjoyed the Japanese version of Love Sea. For a story in which the sex tells so much of the story, I dont’ think the leads sexual development fit the arc very well. The actors were enthusiastic, but it sometimes read to me like they were trying very hard to play up their earnestness. It may also be a cost issue, but I also felt like the Japanese Mahassamut analogue didn’t feel as connected to his home island. That being said, I did enjoy the ladies in this version more. I guess we’ll call it a wash? 

Final Verdict: 7, Recommended With Reservations. I think shows like this are important for advancing the cause regarding the depictions of sex in BL. I like that many of MAME’s stories feature people having sex for fun and not just as a way to express love or control over someone. 

Rearrange Fumbled Its Finale

Like many of the Thai shows, I find that they’re quite shy about sad endings. I don’t want to begrudge a queer fantasy story that wants to save the gay boy from death, but I am always fairly uncomfortable with stories that imply you somehow failed in your first go around when someone died from a medical crisis. It just feels a bit cruel to me (with the understanding that I have my own trauma around this). I don’t think the show delivered on the themes I thought it was setting up originally, and so I was left feeling more than a little disappointed. 

Final Verdict: 7, Recommended With Reservations. I think there is some value in meditating on some of the themes about making the most of your time with people you care about, but I think the required happy ending muddles a lot of that. 

Love in the Moonlight Betrayed Pin

I am a Make It Right apologist, and I will always support Peak Peemapol in BL, but I cannot in good faith pretend like this show actually delivered on his queer narrative. I genuinely struggled with Sasin’s unbelievable levels of stupidity. He lacked survival instincts in a way that I just cannot fathom. Moreover, this show ends up redeeming the Bad Dad when he should have died. I am also going to be forever salty about how this show disrespected Pin in the final arc. Her concerns about her personal and financial security were valid, and the show was more concerned with making sure we knew that Saenkaew was still rich when this was over than making sure that Pin was taken care of. We’re apparently supposed to see this BL pair again, so hopefully their next attempt is better.

Final Verdict: 6, Just Watch To Sir With Love Instead. It’s from the same team that made this show, and basically executes the same story but way better. 

The Journey To Killing You Played Weird Games With Sex

I wanted to like this show a lot more than I did, but I didn’t like how the show started off with complicated sexual themes, but then reduced itself to a rather simple love situation. The people yearn for a compelling crime BL. There was good potential in the succession battle here, but like many other shows this year this one refused to let its criminals be genuinely bad when it came time for the romance. 

Final Verdict: 7, Recommended With Reservations. I just think it’s hard to have a show begin with sexual assault then not really do much with those themes. The show has some excellent aesthetics, but the narrative and themes are weak. 

Khemjira Has A Beautiful Cast With Excellent Chemistry, But Quite a Bit of Misogyny

I am quoted pushing back on expectations from viewers hoping for compelling and deep female narratives in BL, as I don’t think that’s one of the primary goals of the boys kissing boys genre. However, I do not think that means BL shows get a free pass at misogyny in their stories. Khemjira has genuine concern for the male friendships and romances, and cares a lot about the cultural contexts of its plot beats. However, almost every plot beat they added from the source material relies on truly tired stories about violence against women in ways that I did not find compelling, and which I don’t think added depth to the conflict with the ghost at the heart of this story. I also just think this show is way too long; one episode is a full two hours. Still, I enjoyed the themes around spirituality, and it’s one of my better experiences with reincarnation romances I’ve had in a while. 

Final Verdict: 8, Recommended for the Sex Scenes. Genuinely, this series has some of my favorite lovemaking scenes from the year. If not for Heated Rivalry, this would be the show I talked about the most for the types of acts they choreographed. Additionally, I was genuinely compelled by both romances after things finally got moving for the leads. In terms of cast chemistry, Khemjira is probably the best of the year. 

Takumi-kun Series was Horrible

Final Verdict: 5, Do Not Watch. For years we have warned you not to watch this. That recommendation stands. It’s a bloated mess with ugly handling of intense themes.

A Man Who Defies the World of BL Final Betrayed Mob

In yet more disappointing news, the BL parody show about a guy who dodges BL flags was forced into a horrible BL flag at the end. This slapped-together final season reintroduced almost every old character with minimal coherence, quickly ended multi-season storylines, and then blandly dumped Mob into a BL flag as if it were the rote expectation. Truly, I am baffled about how the show that spent literal years joking about how vapid many BL tropes are failed to bring compelling human connection to Mob finally falling for someone. What a dubious end to this project. 

Final Verdict: 6, Not Recommended. This show of all shows letting us down in 2025 is so telling about the state of the genre. 

Punks Triangle Was Alright, Mostly

The funniest part of this show was having a fashion student not recognize the model he was obsessed with for years. Like most BL, I couldn’t take it seriously on the fashion front, but I was able to have some fun with the ideas about dating someone with dual identities. Why I can’t say I fully enjoyed this mostly comes down to this shows intensely horny energy that it was completely unable to release. So many moments in this show speak to a real desire to depict a sexual relationship between the leads that perhaps broadcasting rules prevented. Unfortunately, I just find it quite frustrating when horny works get sanitized on TV. 

Final Verdict: 7.5, Recommended With Reservations. The show wants to be hornier than it is, and the plot requires you to accept some silly things. 

At 25:00 in Akasaka Season 2 Completely Failed

In heartbreaking news, I must report that 25 ji let us down pretty badly. The ongoing problem with BL is that the types of stories it is focused on are all about people getting together, and not people staying together. In what started as an interesting look at two public figures navigating queerness and dating devolved into Shirasaki benign a jealous, bad partner. By the end of the series I could no longer root for their relationship, and felt like he really let Hayama down multiple times across the season. 

Final Verdict: 6, Not Recommended. There is some decent sex in the first episode or two, and some good queer moments in the beginning. There just isn’t a lot of good worth sticking around for. As with every other season 2 this year, this one betrays the themes it established in its previous season.

School Trip: Joined A Group I’m Not Close To Was One of the Most Alien BL Experiences I’ve Had in a While

One of the biggest hurdles with trying to get queer cinephiles into BL is often the extreme unreality of BL itself. In School Trip, we had two actors who have previously worked in BL play characters younger than their last outings, and play into the weird kinds of spaces that shows in the BL bubble often like to exist. I genuinely struggle with shows that imply the existence of homophobia without that being a part of the world, and Watarai’s aggressiveness never got the kinds of responses from Hioki that I think it warranted. This show also ended up being far too chaste for how desperately horny it insisted its lead was. 

Final Verdict: 6.5, Recommended Only for Chaste BL Fans. I originally hoped this show would be closer to something like I Cannot Reach You, but I cannot insult ICRY by pretending this show comes even close to how compelling the dynamics were in that show. This show will be my poster child for why it’s so hard to get gay people who like gay media to watch BL.

Therapy Game Should Have Let Minato Be a Demon Twink

Repeating myself again, but damn if it isn’t another show that promised more complex dynamics only to devolve into sappiness. I had hoped for complicated developmental cycle for Shizuma coming into his own queerness, especially with it starting off with dubious sex. As usual, though, the sex didn’t actually happen, and they went with Minato being far more fragile than I wanted from what started off as such a powerful twink. I guess I’ll just settle for being glad I saw Sato Ryuga  and Konishi Eito again, but this one left me feeling extremely mild. I was hoping for the kinds of desperation for a twink energy you can find in The Picture of Dorian Gray.

Final Verdict: 7, Recommended with Reservations. I think this one is fine, since there are some decent gay ideas in this one, and they at least have sex. However, it’s not an all-timer.

Love Begins in the World of If Should Have Been The Show of the Year

Of all the shows on this list, this one is probably the second biggest disappointment for me. Daigo Kotaro was probably my favorite performer of the year as Kano, and I really loved the way the show used the parallel world concepts. The themes around how we treat people informs the world we live in, and rejection of the “perfect” Ogami in favor of the one that respected Kano like an equal was actually so great. Unfortunately, they rushed the relationship at the end, and then made some truly dubious decisions around the sex. 

Final Verdict: 6, Recommended with Reservations. The cinematography, music, and performances in this show are actually so good, but I have to take off major points for absolutely collapsing at the very end. I had hoped this show would join Perfect Propose and Old Fashion Cupcake as one of my work burnout shows, but alas it is another sad dud from this year.

ThamePo was…Boring

I’ve stopped watching GMMTV shows live because they too often fall apart around the middle, and then it’s a month and a half of being annoyed once a week. I also find the stan energy around GMMTV shows to be a bit tiring. I will say that I am quite glad I didn’t watch this show live, because it felt like this show actively wanted me to dislike LYKN. Few of the decisions made by the management of this company felt grounded in reality, this show really thought it was a good idea to tell us that members of its premiere boy band cannot sing, it once again tried to say something compelling about idol privacy while sidestepping homophobia, and as such Po being a gay man felt like it didn’t really matter. Moreover, I just completely struggle with the idea that a gay man whose close friend is a superfan would think it would be okay at all the date any member of the band she was obsessed with. 

Final Verdict: 6.5, Recommended for Visuals? I am not that taken with William and Est, but I can see why people might have been. This show’s primary appeal seemed to rest of the fact that both of the leads liked to pout a lot, but I really struggled with the serious lack of meaningful stakes in this show. I want more people to watch BL, and it’s a bit frustrating when some of our best looking shows fail to take their plots and themes seriously.

Mandate Was Compelling, But Not Really a Romance

Like @waitmyturtles I really enjoyed Mandate. However, it is not a romance. It is a political drama with queerness inside of it. I was eager to check out this show because I like Ben Benyapol (Step by Step) a lot, and I’m glad we were able to watch this one. With so much of BL existing in a fictional world that often worships rich people, it was refreshing to experience a Thai drama with a real chip on its shoulder about the world itself. Mandate does not exist in the saccharine space of BL, and has real ideals about the Thai government and its politics. The commentary about the way power corrupts, and how so much of politics relies on hype before turning into backroom deals and public sniping at each other. 

Final Verdict: 9, Highly Recommended. This is one of the best things I’ve seen from Thailand in a while, and it’s a worthy watch to sit with for cultural reasons. 

Heated Rivalry Is The Show of the Year

On a positive note, I can happily say that I thoroughly enjoyed Heated Rivalry. It was refreshing to see a show built on sincerity with full commitment to its story and themes. It was also a real relief to experience a show that wasn’t being precious about sex. Moreover, the queerness wasn't an afterthought to the dynamics between all of the characters. 

While I have some qualms with the writing and pacing, it's been a lot of fun seeing people new to m/m romance presented this way in live action reacting to it. I've also appreciated BL fans being so consistent in the comments and reactions about how this show is GOOD but it is not NEW. It's important to me that we not treat this show like a unicorn when there have been over 1000 pieces of m/m media like it in the last two decades. 

Final Verdict: 9, Highly Recommended. I cannot stress enough how familiar all of the storytelling beats are in Heated Rivalry, but after a year where most projects seemed ambivalent towards narrative and thematic cohesion, I must praise a show for actually delivering on the story it set up. Moreover, I love the bittersweet place they ended the first season. I'm genuinely looking forward to seeing what happens to western fujos after this. 

Dropped Shows

Here are all the other shows that didn't make the cut:

The Wicked Game (5/10) - I love Daou and Offraod. I traveled all the way across the country to see them. It saddens me that while their characters continue to age and mature, their projects continue to decline in writing quality. 

Kill to Love (8/12) - I felt little reason to finish after the major death in this episode. 

Conclusion 

This has been a rather dull season of BL for me, in a year that has been a real dud. I did not expect for one of my favorite projects of the year to come from Canada of all places, and it's kind of lame that I don't think there are many projects from this year that we can recommend to Heated Rivalry fans. This is also the first year I've experienced in a long time where nothing good in live action came from Japan. I really hope next year is better. 

I was mostly planning to check in again after the current Japanese shows ended, but after three out of four sex scenes left me wanting this week, I want to write down my ideas. I maintain that bed scenes, like action scenes, need to tell us more about the characters. Many sex scenes serve as a release of tension or confirmation of existing feelings. As usual, MAME seems to understand this, and others should probably take notes. 

Call Me By No Name is Doing Nothing For Me (5/8)

I have just about given up on this show. I don’t get Megumi’s whole deal, why she’s so in love with Kohata, or Kohata’s reticence. I was really hoping that an intimate scene would open up some space for vulnerability and truth with them to give us some answers about why these two weirdos are drawn to each other, but that’s not what we got. I was hoping that when we saw these two go at it we’d learn how much Megumi has felt for women before, or how she responded to Kohata’s experience. Instead, I’m left feeling cold by the whole affair, and generally baffled by the conflicting themes around going somewhere she did cutesy girl nights before, and ordering the cute food. This one is a chop.

Impression of Youth is Wasting My Time (5/9)

I have my own squicks as a former teacher with stories where a teacher messes around with their student. However, I don’t see the point of doing a teacher-student story if we’re not going to explore any of the lines being crossed here. We also didn’t get a good arc about the student helping the teacher properly reconnect with a feeling, or discover something, that helped him get back to his art. We simply had him start painting on the beach again, the kid confessed, and then they fucked with awkward kissing. I was a bit let down by the brother’s fast encouragement of the whole thing. It felt like they were reaching for the same energy we had in Call Me By Your Name (2017) with Oliver and Elio, but it’s missing the component where Oliver knew what he was doing the whole time for me. The overall alignment feels off, and I’m getting so little emotion from this show as a result. On top of all that, they showed us the kid’s boxers before implying he was nude in the shower! Ridiculous! 

When It Rains It Pours is Being Shy About Sex in a Show About Cheating (5/7)

This is the biggest offender of the week for me. This show is all about how the leads cannot have sex from the people they love, and find someone they can commiserate with in each other. When the dam finally breaks and they both need the release in each other, I was so dismayed that the show tried to gloss over as much of the sex as possible. It’s so fucking annoying for me when the shows about sex get precious about it and won’t show it. I was thankful that they tried to capture all the emotions happening around the weekend they spent together, but I think we lost a lot in not having Hagiwara blow Sei, because you just know that man has a people pleasing streak that would require him to give pleasure back. The lack of sex also means that there is no gap time between the infidelity and the discovery. We don’t give enough time for the shift in their relationship to breathe before the crisis (@respectthepetty). I’ve lamented before about Japanese shows only showing toxic or breakup sex, and so it’s damned annoying that they’re doing that in the cheating show because they probably want these guys to be together by the end. I was really hoping Mood Indigo would have some company finally (especially after Love in the Air Koi), but I clearly need to stay patient. Cannot overstate how lame it is for the show about two guys cheating because their partners won’t fuck them being shy about the sex effectively sides with the partners who won’t fuck them. Finally, I am not over them getting the insertion angle wrong while making points about it!!

Your Sky Could Have Been A Good Follow-Up on 2gether

I’ve been sitting on this one for a bit because I don’t know what I want to say about this one. I was really into it in the beginning, but it felt like this show didn’t really know what it wanted to do after resolving the issues with Oh. I personally liked the dad being confronted by his wife and father about the way his homophobia was hurting his son, but I didn’t really enjoy it as a Very Special Episode. I would have also liked to see Teerak’s newfound assertiveness in this period beyond is refusal to cave. I think this show also deeply underutilized its own supporting characters, especially the side couples. Still, I thought Thomas was probably the most beautiful newest BL boy we’ve gotten, and I liked the way he and Kong worked together. I also really enjoyed Teerak being allowed to want sex, ask for it, and take charge of it. That’s so important for a cute character. Letting us know that Teerak has also become protective of the private moments he has with Fah, and is growing into his desire for Fah really is a great way to finish a show.

Final Verdict: 7, Recommended With Reservations. I find it hard to give this a stronger recommendation. I just think the show ends up being overall inessential from how much of it ends up being fluff that doesn’t connect much to each other. The biggest things I liked were Fah and Teerak, especially in the early episodes, and I liked the family dynamics. Still, I feel like this show didn’t know what to do without Tine’s internalized homophobia, and what to do with Fah’s ex that was mentioned. There’s just too much hanging off this to recommend it as a strong drama. Everyone is very pretty, and the performances are earnest. It’s a show that means well, even if it’s a bit indulgent. 

The Boy Next World Understands that Phu Has a Dick (5/10)

MAME, as usual, understands the assignment. There’s no way that their first encounter is going to be Cir showing up to stick is dick in Phu’s ass. He’s been obsessed with this boy for years in a way that prioritizes Phu’s wellbeing. It was absolutely correct to payoff that Cir keeps making Phu hard by having Cir take care of him, let us see that Phu enjoyed it. Like @babyangelsky I think it’s important that we let go of the notion that cute characters cannot want and enjoy sex. We got so much from this. We know that Cir likes to give pleasure, and that he’s not going to ask for it from Phu. We also know that Phu cares about Cir, too, because he asked about his time in the bathroom (Cir clearly jerked off and rinsed his mouth, y’all). What’s so excellent about putting a sex scene at this point is it means we’ll see their sex change after Phu learns that Cir has been stalking him for years. MAME is consistently the best storyteller at using the kisses and sex to help inform the arc of the relationship. Most importantly, she gets what the angles are supposed to be.

Ossan’s Love Thailand Is…Fine (5/12)

I’m not really into this one much right now, despite what I think is a pretty solid performance from Krit Shahkrit. I understand the choice to go back to making Kongdech a widower, but I don’t think giving him a daughter who initially opposed the romance added much to this for me. I’m hoping activating Thor’s character next week will add some energy to this for me, because I’m feeling a bit flat with it at this point. I’m glad they’re letting Earth and Mix continue to play adult characters, but it doesn’t feel like they knew what they wanted to do with office romance dynamics here.

Gelboys is a Welcome Return from Boss Kuno (1/7)

Started this today and I am seated. I really love how much it feels like we get to actually be inside of Bangkok. I love that we opened with an ad for the Bangkok rail system as a mechanism for freedom. I love how filming on iphones has enhanced the naturalistic feeling of the production. I also love how we completed the major arc of the het angst of Make It Right in the first like five minutes. Incredible stuff. I’m so excited to see the mess Fou4Mod is going to make of everything, and I’m excited to see Chian dickmatize that boy. Curious to see how much this feels like a bubble show. Shout out to Boss for showing us a naked teen at the start of this show to scare off the pearl clutchers.

RED BLUE is EVERYTHING (6/8)

This is not BL, but it’s got enough BL boys rolling on the floor and sweating on top of each other that I’m saying here loudly that I LOVE IT. Kimura Keito is fantastic in this, and I loved his fight with Okura Takato in episode 6. I almost didn’t recognize my boy from his role as Amane in If It’s With You with the change in his hair. I did not know I needed a wrestling show with BL boys…who am I kidding? We’ve been asking for this every year. This is hitting all the notes I want from a sports shonen show. It’s fantastic.

Please Use the Sex Well in Romance

I think there’s a real place for clean romance in the BL genre. Some of our favorites don’t involve sex being a major component of their romance narrative, but that often requires significantly more drama and better storytelling and plots. What I cannot abide is when I find myself bargaining about how a show that wants to talk about sex every episode seemingly doesn’t want to deal with sex. Romances about sex that don’t use the sex well in their stories are as bad as comedies with terrible jokes, or action flicks with no suspense and satisfying fight sequences.

I finished Blue Canvas of Youthful Days today, and I don’t like where we left off with this show. Let’s get into that, and then check in on some of the other shows I’m watching.

Blue Canvas of Youthful Days Didn’t Give the Audience Catharsis

I don’t begrudge the show going for a happy ending, given how so many other BLs from their home country end with sudden traumatic turns. However, I don’t feel like we got catharsis from the ending at all. I struggle to full articulate my frustration here, but I think I just really wanted an ending akin to Weekend (2011) or Gameboys 2 (2022).

I think these two were in a position where they were unable to be together now, and I think they should have ended on a separation. When Cairo and Gav had to separate at the end of Gameboys, it was the correct choice. They were still building their lives, and Gav wasn’t doing well on his on. Similarly, Blue Canvas established a scenario whereby Qi Lu did not have the power to stop his father from harming Qin Xiao. Likewise, Qin Xiao couldn’t keep the local gang from beating Qi Lu.

I would have preferred they have the boys confront that they were hiding things from each other, and how they both failed to protect each other from the horrors. I am disappointed that we didn’t get a poignant goodbye from them as they accept that they can’t be together right now. I wouldn’t have minded so much a blurb at the end of the show with the pitch for a season 2 that they didn’t get to film (though @thisonelikesaliens commentary makes even what they wrote dour). We didn’t confront the issue with the dad at all, and we didn’t deal with Qin Xiao losing all he’d worked for.

Genuinely, I would have been okay with them getting a tag at the end of the show with them seeing each other on the street again and sharing a meaningful look. However, we never saw them face the music of their double noble idiocy, and that sucks. It especially sucks because we had Let Free The Curse of Taekwondo this year, and so we saw the consequences of this. We could have had these two railing against the world and promising to see each other again. The tag at the end of the reuse of the fantasy sequence feels tacked on and unearned. That kinda sucks more.

Final Verdict: 8, Recommended With Reservations. I really liked most of this show, and I think they wrote some phenomenal characters until the finale here. Like @lurkingshan I ended up not pleased with this ending. I am disappointed in the lack of resolution about the withholding, and I think they needed to face the separation and goodbye. However, I really liked the cast, and I respect the team that worked so hard to get this to us.

On to the rest of the show, presented in no particular order…starting with the worst. I’ll put in parentheses what episode number I’m on as of this post.

Haunted Hearts is Boring (5/7)

Magic, mah friend! Your show is boring. I do not know why these boys won’t kiss, and at this point I feel like I don’t care anymore. They’re introducing yet another ghost next week and I just am so disinvested. I try so hard every time to support Oxin Films and Regal Entertainment, but they make it so fucking hard. Holy shit. There’s only so far the boys being cute can carry a thin concept like this.

City of Stars is Better Than I Expected (2/12)

I am catching up on this show. The acting isn’t great, but I’m really enjoying a lot of what’s happening here. I will report back when I finish.

See Your Love is Fun But Kinda Weird (7/13)

The visuals are great in this show, and the leads are filling in the aesthetic gap left behind by Jimmy and Tommy in a way that really works for me. There’s been way too many pratfalls in the last two episodes. We are at 1.5 pratfalls per episode at this point. The side couple is absolutely ridiculous. I’m having fun.

Caged Again is Becoming a Favorite (4/10)

Junior is the best protagonist of the year. I’m obsessed with this penguin boy. I love the way this show uses its supernatural elements to drive its storytelling forward, even if I think the plot got a little silly in episode 4. The friend group dynamics are so fun, and I haven’t enjoyed a group of Thai boys this much since Knock Knock, Boys! (no surprise, two of them are in this show, too).

Your Sky is a Weekly Delight (3/12)

The 2gether rewrite show is great, and I will be reading no commentary to the contrary. These boys are so great, and they are one of the best couples of the year. This show is doing fake dating in a way that’s just so excellent, because it’s real dating! The boys are genuinely trying to get know each other so they can pretend to be a better fake couple. This is so close to being excellent meta commentary about dating in the digital age, and how so much of dating for the current generation is about how others perceive the validity of your relationship. It’s actually so fun to watch a show where the characters are doing all the things you’re supposed to do when you’re trying to build something with someone, but one of them doesn’t fully understand what they’ve gotten into. This show is great, and I love it.

Love in the Air: Koi no Yokan is so Slick (5/10)

If there’s one thing a Japanese drama is going to get right it’s trauma! This show delivered on Kai’s horrors in a way that was so visceral that I needed to pause and catch a breath. I remain obsessed with the casting of Nagatsuma Reo as Kai, because he’s taller than Suzuki Asahi sometimes. I really love that they didn’t give us the BL height difference trope, and I like that they didn’t style Kai in a way to make him look more feminine. There’s a egalitarian physical balance between Fuma and Kai that I find extremely refreshing, considering the massive class, wealth, and suffering gap between the two characters. It’s no surprise that we’ve had a dearth of gifs of their sex scene, considering it doesn’t play to the kind of asymmetric aesthetics that folks seem enjoy in their pairings.

As always, the Rei and Kai friendship remains one of the best parts of this story, and I like the way this version of Sky talks to this version of Rain about the queer stuff. He feels like he’s being careful with his friend, and not just ghosting him on important conversations about his friend’s sexual awakening (one of my major gripes with the original Thai adaptation).

Our Youth is Taking Over My Brain (4/11)

I have not moved on from the “Infect me” line, and I am still obsessed with the plausible deniability of the “no homo” that Hirukawa relies upon as he continues to pursue Minase. Now that Minase has reached his breaking point, I’m so looking forward to seeing where we go next. We’re due for a major separation, and I’m ready for a Japanese BL to not fuck up a second chance romance attempt this time. Perhaps adapting Korean work could the solution?

Spare Me Your Mercy is a Welcome Return to the Sammon Feeling I Enjoy (1/10)

I just really love when Sammon shows feel like the mystery matters more than the romance, and this feels like it’s in the correct space. I loved the initial setup, and the potential for there to be multiple murderers. I really hope that they start killing younger people in this show, because they said there were only 40 palliative care patients, and we downed three of them in the first episode. I’m so happy to see JJ again, and Tor looks great. I am looking forward to the weekly watch and theorizing with this show. Most importantly, I’m looking forward to the complex meditation on euthanasia, which this story feels like it’s taking seriously.

Love is Like a Poison Finally has Given Us a BL Battle Couple Again (11/12)

We haven’t had a BL battle couple in what feels like forever. I love that this show continues to reward us for believing in Haruto and Shiba. Haruto’s dad is the absolute worst, and I really want him to lose. I love Shiba, and I love that the show continues to give him some of the visual tropes of a legal drama (like the pan up near the end). I’m in love with this show, and it’s going to be one of my favorites of the year, I’m sure.

Fragrance You Inherit Hurts Me Because Everyone is Doing The Right Thing (4/8)

This show is actually so painful sometimes, because no one is doing anything wrong. Everyone is being as emotionally honest as they can be with everyone they speak to about all of the things that are going on. There’s absolutely nothing wrong with Sakura choosing to let go of her lingering crush on Mone now that they’re both moms and their kids are dating. Besides, we presume that Mone is still married! The conversation with On-chan makes me think that Mone misunderstood the relationship Sakura had with him in college (My man is ace but not aro! We love to see it).

I just really love that everyone is trying to do right by everyone around them, and I think all of the things that remain unspoken in this show have been withheld for completely valid reasons. There are no villains in this story, and that makes it even harder to watch really kind people treat each other politely in every scene. I’m just feeling a quiet scream in me the entire time I watch a good son by a thoughtful gift for his loving mother with the help of his supportive and lovely girlfriend, as he prepares a surprise from the old friend who clearly still cares about her friend and the unrequited/unexpressed feelings between them. This show is incredible. Go watch it right now. Thank you again to @isaksbestpillow.

Conclusion

It’s been quite a while since I wrote one of these. I’ve been watching a lot less, but I wanted to jump back in and meditate on the state of pining in BL, and also comment on how things haven’t felt this sparse in BL since maybe 2019 for me. 

I’ve noticed in some of the shows I’ll discuss below that piners are no longer universally lauded for the purity or sanctity of their one-sided crushes or obsessions, and instead have been confronted or challenged by the narrative. This is a fascinating (and honestly necessarily) evolution for the genre. Let’s get into it, in no particular order…starting with the worst.

Something’s Not Right is Appropriately Named

Adapted from the same source material as Blueming (2022), this show follows stressed piner Do Ba Woo and his crush on his childhood friend Ji Hoon. Ba Woo is at his wit’s end with the vivacious Ji Hoon and wants to end their friendship. Ji Hoon, responding as any man would to their best friend suddenly wanting to sever ties, ignores this and wonders what might be wrong. 

Meanwhile, interloper Jung Ha Min discovers Ba Woo’s diary and misunderstands it as a novel. He pesters Ba Woo into finishing the novel so he can use it for a webtoon, and encourages Ba Woo to ask Ji Hoon out for a week. When Ji Hoon surprisingly agrees, Ba Woo goes on to torment this confused man for a week with hot and cold behavior, rejecting Ji Hoon’s own confessions, and facing no realization about his own role in his misery before the story retcons the drama by saying Ji Hoon was withholding his own feelings the whole time.

Final Verdict: 4, Not Recommended. Friends, this show is a mess that also apparently erased its original supporting cast (@lurkingshan and @ahxiang). It fails to understand that Ba Woo is the problem here in that he’s constantly confusing Ji Hoon and treating him cruelly. It fails as a romance for me because I didn’t even want the guys to be friends by the end, and spent most of the show baffled by the apparent determination to make Ba Woo vibe with Ha Min. I also deeply-resent the show retconning Ji Hoon in the final episode by having him have also been nursing an older crush. At no point does Ba Woo grow from any of the events he’s encountered to reckon with the fact that he’s the one causing all of their problems. This was an unusually frustrating viewing experience that I do not recommend. 

While I do think this show wanted to tackle the intensity of unrequited feelings, I don’t think it did right by Ji Hoon at all. This show completely misses the mark on saying or doing anything interesting with one-sided pining and its impacts on both and related parties. Ba Woo was a rude, misanthropic friend, and this show was more concerned with Jung Ha Min developing his own unrequited crush than the believability of the romantic connection between its leads. ONE CHOP.

Business as Usual Should Have Remembered that Our Dating Sim Exists

I’ve been thinking about how elegantly Our Dating Sim incorporated the game development work into the second chance romance after finishing Business as Usual. Business worsens the conflict by having the guys be actively dating and FUCKING as our mad piner, Kim Min Joon, severs ties with Jin Hwan over a misunderstanding. Min Joon essentially stagnates for  eight years before Jin Hwan joins the same company. Jin Hwan is clearly still interested in Min Joon, and we eventually learn that Min Joon badly misunderstood a call he overheard and ghosted his boyfriend for no valid reason. 

My primary difficulty with this show is that it doesn’t want to spend time on the work Min Joon needs to do to earn its wedding epilogue. We recently finished the Theory of Love Romcom Rewatch, and this is something I’ve been thinking about a lot in the wake of dealing with Third again (probably helped by the uncanny resemblance between Chae Jong Hyeok and Gun Atthaphan). Compare this to Our Dating Sim, in which Lee Wan came face-to-face with the separation anxiety Shin Ki Tae developed after being ghosted, Min Joon mostly faces one tough conversation with a mutual friend that inspires Min Joon to do a dramatic run to the airport to say that, despite their differences, he wants to commit. I didn’t buy it.

Final Verdict: 5, Rewatch Our Dating Sim instead. I will grant this show that it did seem to understand that Min Joon was the major problem here, but it doesn’t know what he needs to do to make things right between them. I also want to give this show credit for letting the men have sex even though they hadn’t solved all of the problems between them. However, they failed to use their dating advice book conceit to help with the arc of the relationship at all, nor did they address the way Min Joon’s avoidant behavior led to him also being a bad supervisor. I generally struggle with second chance romances like this where the wrong party doesn’t go on a growth arc and face the reality that they hurt the person they loved. TWO CHOPS.

Gelboys Finally Gave Me Another Thai BL Built Around Internal Drama

I’ve been sitting on what I want to say about Gelboys for quite a while now due to my frustrations with the fast happy ending for both couples. While I don’t think that was wholly earned, I do want to praise this show for making the boys’ affection/obsession with each other the primary source of drama and driver of the narrative. Too often, I find that Thai BL relies on external sources of tension or romantic obstacles rather than face the fundamental personality issues that make the relationship difficult or impossible. 

In Gelboys, we have a quartet of boys who like someone in the group in a way that the other can’t or refuses to reciprocate. Fou4Mod wants someone (notably Chian) to choose him fully. Chian wants to be with Bua, and wants to use Fou4Mod to make Bua jealous. Baabin wants to be with Fou4Mod, but won’t confess. Bua eventually wants to be with Baabin, but Baabin won’t let go of his crush on Fou4Mod. They all end up making each other miserable. 

Friends, the misery of this show was delectable in a way that felt fresh after this creative team’s last major BL outing of I Told Sunset About You. It was interesting to see them completely avoid the conversation around sexuality in this show in favor of a focus on trains and youth freedom to play at malls to focus on how young people use internet tools to torment themselves and each other. I remember vividly the social moors of the MySpace top 8 friends feature, and I was obsessed with the way the kids used the Close Friends feature of Instagram to carefully show off information to their crushes. I was also deeply mortified by Chian asking ChatGPT for relationship advice, and Fou4Mod using a generative AI to make a fake makeout video. The digital landscape is dark!

On the pining front, each of these boys is such an asshole about the boy they’re pining over. Chian wants Bua, and is cruel to Fou4Mod for it. Baabin essentially ends his own friendship with Fou4Mod rather than confess properly. Bua finally pursued Baabin properly, and is the only one to properly apologize for the pain he inflicted on another over the course of this. This show was plain about how withholding feelings and using people’s feelings against them led to such cruel outcomes. Unfortunately, it rushed a happy ending that soured my taste at the end. 

Final Verdict: 9, Highly Recommended. This show is for those people who want to see what youth urban romance feels like in the modern era. There are so many ideas about how consumption plays into dating and flirting, particularly around the way the boys chose to have their nails painted (or not painted). It was really something special to have a show where what the characters wanted was the source of all of their issues, rather than an interloper inflicting contrived drama on the pair. In a year where I can’t seem to finish a Thai BL, this is a bright spot. 

Heesu in Class 2 Understood Unrequited Love

Heesu in Class 2 explores the impacts of two queer boys having unrequited crushes, and why these boys have avoided confessing. Of all the shows about boys I watched in recent months, this one felt the most queer to me. This was such a visceral experience for many readers who were able to appreciate the role of Heesu’s sisters (@soypim), the way admissions like Heesu’s will forever change your dynamic (@nabi-unveiled), the ways this show grappled with one-sided love (@wanderlust-in-my-soul), and how shows like this remind us why we seek out queer media (@watchingblsnowandforever).

While we had disagreement about whether this show’s divergence from the source material was worthy, I still think we got a great drama out of this AND I think viewers who want to see Heesu and Seungwon’s dating era should read the webtoon; I don’t think it’s a one or the other situation here. The webtoon is well-intentioned, and I think it’s a worthwhile read for people curious about how a simple narrative can be expanded into a full drama.

Final Verdict: 10, Don’t Miss This One. More than anything, I want to praise everyone involved with making this show. I loved the way they navigated turning this webtoon into a gay kdrama, and I hope the delays in releasing this don’t spell an end for this type of approach from Korea. I especially want to praise Ahn Ji Ho for his stellar performance as Hee Su. I loved this show immensely, and it’s currently my favorite of the year. This show is going to feel different from what romance viewers of BL content are used to, but it’s a really special show that tells you what it’s about and then delivers on it.

Fragrance of the First Flower Season 2

I am so glad we were able to return to these two after so many years. I’ve been struggling with the global state of GL, and this is the only bright spot I had this year. I loved seeing these two try again after their breakup. Yi Ming was able to divorce her husband, but she’s still working through so much to figure out if she can have a proper relationship with Ting Ting. I also loved the way this show used its second lead as a way to further Ting Ting’s steadfast devotion to her relationship while still respecting the feelings of a friend. Some of the boys above could have used that lesson. 

Final Verdict: 9, Highly Recommended. Seriously, just go watch it. We don’t get enough good lesbian shows, and this one cares a lot about lesbian realities while still managing to be kind to the characters and the viewers. 

Fellow Travelers Has Me Back in America (6/8)

I wasn’t kidding after Heesu when I said it might be time for me to stop identifying so much with BL and return to my roots. This show follows the lives of four queer characters and their families starting in the McCarthy era of government employment into the AIDS crisis of the 1980s. It explores the validity of queer love and the difficult realities about pursuing them across more than 30 years. Anchored by absolutely stellar performances from the entire cast, it is my biggest queer obsession right now. 

I originally avoided Fellow Travelers because it was a Showtime exclusive and, while I love Matt Bomer and Jonathan Bailey, I wasn’t in the mood for white gays surviving the McCarthy era. Unfortunately for this show, the fans making fan content about this show failed to highlight that there’s an interesting Black couple in this show that are also exploring issues around race and gender in queer relationships. I also didn’t know that the series takes place in the 1980s as well.

What I have found so compelling about this show is how much information we have about where everyone is. We know who is alive in the AIDS crisis of the 80s. We know who chooses to marry into heteronormativity and who doesn’t. We learn who knows about who. This makes our time in the past far more compelling because now you’re paying attention to how people end up where they are not if they’ll even survive. I just finished an episode involving the son of a gay man and I am compelled to continue.

2 Husbands 1 Wife is Actually a Poly Show (5/10)

Featuring Asaka Kodai of Cherry Magic’s Tsuge, this show explores an attempt at a three-person marriage involving Yanaguchi Mia, Satomura Shinpei, and Mitsuda Takuzo. Mia, an office worker, wants to marry Shinpei, a dancer. However, Shinpei doesn’t think the two of them are big enough adults to make a marriage work, and so he proposes adding a third person to help them. After attending the funeral for Takuzo’s (and at one time Mia’s) rabbit, Shinpei proposes they approach Takuzo (who is Mia’s ex) to be part of their trio. Initially hesitant, the three are going closer during their trial period. 

What’s so compelling for me about this one is how seriously the show is taking the potential around sex, public appearances, affection and jealousy within the trio, and family management. As of episode 5 and the preview for 6, we’re even exploring Mia having to reckon with the fact that the two husbands will inevitably have a relationship with each other as well, following the fact that Shinpei was clear to Takuzo that they will be husbands as far as he’s concerned. This show has managed to accomplish so much in its 20-minute episodes, and I find myself eager to watch it on Thursday evenings on my nicest TV.

Top Form is as Sappy as Its Source Material (8/11)

I haven’t written about this one, mostly because I remember watching Dakaiichi years ago. While I have my own qualms about the changes the Thai show has made, especially when it comes to the timeline, I honestly think I’m just not enjoying the sappiness of the project this time around. That is not the fault of this show, which is actually accurately capturing how sappy Dakaiichi was. I was also turned off by their decision to basically adapt the assault storyline exactly as the original. Mostly, I’ve struggled with the sex for love politics of the Thai version in a way that I think has weakened the original Japanese narrative. It’s a personal issue I’m having, and I think if you’re curious about the show, you should check it out.

Dropped Shows

Look, I just can’t do it anymore. If the show doesn’t hit, I’m letting it go. GMMTV is the biggest loser here. Since the last blurb I’ve dropped:

My Golden Blood (1/12) - It’s not sexy enough, and the chemistry is deeply lacking.

Ossan’s Love Thailand (8/12) - It started to offend me, so I dropped it.

Break Up Service (3/12) - Off is good. The show is not.

Sweet Tooth, Good Dentist (1/12) - How could they do this to Mark Pakin?

The Bangkok Boy (1/12) - I want an action BL. This isn’t hitting.

The Boy Next World (9/10) - Things went stupid, so it got dropped.

Boys In Love (1/12) - This kind of saccharine isn’t hitting for me right now.

The Age of Pining is Over. Now is the Time For Earnestness

The biggest thing I’m thinking about right now is how many shows engaged with the negative side of unrequited pining this year. As a Known Piner, I am all for this. All piners must understand that they must face the mortifying ordeal of being known if they want to experience the benefits of being loved. It’s also important that we grapple with how withholding our feelings from the people we love leads to confusion, resentment, and possessiveness. I’m thankful that in Heesu in Class 2 we got to see all the contexts of why queer people would withhold those feelings and how it hurts everyone, and I’m glad Gelboys was willing to be so visceral about the ways young people love and hurt each other in the digital age. I’m curious what comes out of the other side of this if we start to see something more earnest. Perhaps we’ll get something as heartfelt and beautiful as When Life Gives You Tangerines.

New year, new blurb. Time to reflect on a few shows finishing, talk about some new shows, and see where we're at in January.

Haunted Hearts Sucked

Final Verdict: 5.5, Not Recommended. Y'all don't need to watch this weird mess of a show. Despite joking about "devirginizing" its lead multiple times, it was so chaste in the end. It also did some weird world shenanigans I was not feeling. The leads are supposed to be in another Oxin Films project soon, so we'll see if they're better there.

Caged Again Flopped

Final Verdict: 6, Recommended Only For Jay Sorathon. This one really hurts me, because I genuinely loved the first half of this show. Jay Sorathon as Junior was one of the most refreshing experiences I've had in a while. This young actor is charming in a way that felt different, and I found myself enjoying every scene he was in because he could deliver what he was asked to do. However, the show generally failed to do much with most of its themes, and I think it was a real waste of Nokia and Jaonine as a pair. There were interesting themes about how Junior and Sun wanted different things out of their relationship that didn't get resolved, so all of their skinship felt disconnected from the big themes they were teasing out.

I am sad that I cannot really recommend this as a complete viewing experience, but I do not want that to detract from how much I enjoyed the entire cast's chemistry. I just cannot pretend that this show didn't peak at the gif used above before floundering completely.

An Apology to City of Stars

Final Verdict: 8, Recommended. I skipped this show originally because I was overloaded and unmoved by the first episode. However, this show was actually one of the most consistent narratives we've had about the consequences of fan culture, sponsorship, and commercialization of queer actors we've had this year. Unlike Only Boo!, this show inflicted real consequences on Feuang for coming out to the point that he essentially had to change careers (which happens to real actors all the time, going back as far or further than William Haines).

The leads also kept having sex after getting together! A novel experience! I loved that Krom had almost no swag, and Feuang fell for him entire on family photos and his mom gushing over him. He really won as a tech worker. Watch this if you're interested in seeing a show with clear ideas about the entertainment industry and are willing to deal with some weak acting.

Our Youth Left Me A Bit Wanting

Final Verdict 8: Recommended With Reservations. I wrote my write up for this already, and will say here that I like parts of this show a lot even though I wasn't fully satisfied by the viewing experience.

See Your Love Got All The Important Things Right

Final Verdict: 8, Recommended for the Mains. I will admit that I didn't much care for the side couple, but I loved Shaopeng and Sean's relationship. I loved that this wasn't a story about fixing someone's hearing so they could be in a romance. I also love that one of our final scenes in Shaopeng's dad telling Sean's dad to go fuck himself. The leads reminded me of Jimmy and Tommy from Why R U and I loved their work together.

Love in the Air Koi Was a Genuine Delight

Final Verdict: 9, Highly Recommended. I liked it a lot. I think new and old fans will be able to enjoy it. I have high hopes about cross-cultural adaptations as a result.

Love is Like a Poison Was Spectacular

Final Verdict: 9.5, Highly Recommended. I had so much fun with this show. I love that this show blended multiple genres together, and I loved that Shiba was always in a legal drama. By blending this together this way, the show supports the idea that the different ways we love and see the world are not incompatible in relationships. Shiba and Haruto are one of the best couples we had this past year, because they each made the other better, and they each add something to their relationship. Also, this show was actively horny the entire time. Run, do not walk, to support this show (if you can) on Netflix.

Fragrance You Inherit Was The One of the Kindest Shows I've Ever Seen

Final Verdict: 9.5, Highly Recommended. Thanks to the constant efforts of @isaksbestpillow we were able to enjoy this incredible show. @twig-tea already wrote a great review. I will be thinking about Sakura and Touki for years. I will just add that I really loved that Hoshii was just a goofy dude that loved the women in his home. He respected both of them, and was just so happy to be included in their shenanigans. I cannot overstate how much the episode where we met him properly kicked this show into overdrive for me. I loved that he was a good dad and husband and that it was clear his wife and daughter felt safe and happy around him. I loved that this show was about kind people doing their best.

Okay, on to the currently airing stuff.

Your Sky is Faltering, but I Still Like It (8/12)

Look, I am just not keen on the Oh redemption arc. I'm also feeling the show dragging its feet at this point. I also am not sure what the relationship between the various sides are contributing to this story. That being said, I continue to enjoy the chemistry between the leads, and I am looking forward to seeing their dating era. This show has been riding the line on the bubble, and I am curious to see where it lands.

Ossan's Love Thailand (1/12)

I've grown to love Ossan's Love over the last year, and so I was cautiously optimistic about this adaptation. I don't think the humor is as tight or zippy as I would expect, and I think the branded pair component is hurting some of the initial setup. I also feel like the shower scene shifted in a way that doesn't entirely work. In addition, making Kongdetch a widower slows down his dramatic development. I'll check in again next month.

Call Me By No Name Started Weird (1/8)

gif by @my-rose-tinted-glasses

This show got off to a moody and somewhat intriguing start. I am looking forward to our little gamer's interactions with this possibly-fey creature for the coming weeks. It's difficult when the show starts coy.

When It Rains It Pours Has an Uphill Battle (1/7)

I am personally interested in the journey this show wants to go on as what will more than likely be a double cheating narrative. I like that the show started with boy guys in relationships they feel a bit frustrated with due to a lack of intimacy that is being actively ignored by their respective partners. I'm also intrigued because both partners seem like they're overall committed to our leads. This one started off in a mild note, so I'm curious how it holds audience attention. Still, both leads had sad masturbation scenes, one explicitly remembering when his partner used to fuck him, so it has my attention.

Well, it’s over friends. We now enter a period where we don’t expect to see any Japanese BL for at least a month, and I will have little BL to watch as a result. Let’s unpack how our last two shows kinda sucked, cross our fingers for the remaining shows, and lament even more shows I’ve dropped.

When It Rains It Pours Let Me Down

I’ve been thinking about how to write about how much I disliked the final episode of this show for over a week, and all I can say at this point is that the show felt like it couldn’t pick a lane between book canon and its own ideas. In episode 6, I loved the breakup scene between Kaori and Hagiwara. We’ve had hetero couples break up in shows like Ossan’s Love (2018) and Me, My Husband, and My Husband’s Boyfriend (2023) as a mutual thing, and I really loved Kaori owning her role in the failure of their relationship. I really hope she unpacks her revulsion to male bodies, but I really loved that she appreicated that Hagiwara never spoke ill of her. 

The show didn’t extend similar grace to Fujisawa, who it couldn’t decide if he was a sympathetic aromantic-asexual, devoted friend and roommate or an abusive boyfriend withholding sex and keeping Sei from interacting with other people in his life. Moreover, the continued preciousness around not showing the emotional movements during sex itself led to audience uncertainty about whether he raped Sei or not. After reuniting with Sei, we learn that Fujisawa has been guilty about his presumed role in the death of Sei’s parents, and it’s why he can never have sex with Sei or be properly happy with him. I was completely unmoved by this, and though it was an extremely lame way to end a show about people cheating and finding something that seems meaningful with someone new. 

Final Verdict: 6, Too Muddled to Recommend. I can’t pretend that this is a fully coherent show. There are things I really enjoyed in this, especially the final conversation with Kaori, and Hagiwara’s pouty mouth. When this show began, I had high hopes that it would stand alongside something like Mood Indigo in dealing with complicated feelings within relationships that can’t work. However, the choice to not commit to sex in a show about two guys who really wanted it, and putting emotional development behind the fade to black sex it didn’t want to show, deeply undercut the final half of this show. Moreover, I just do not appreciate what they failed to accomplish with the Fujisawa character. It’s gonna be a chop from me.

Call Me By No Name Was Pretty But Also Failed

This particular show feels so incomplete, despite having some really compelling set design. I can’t believe this show thought a perspective shift in the final episode to tell us things we already knew was the way to finish this story. We never understood Megumi’s savior complex, or why she was so obsessed with Kotoha. More importantly, I do not feel like this show accomplished a useful comparison between the way people diminish the sincerity of lesbian relationships by placing them alongside woman-on-woman sexual assaults. 

Final Verdict: 4, Not Recommended. I don’t think I like anything I think this show was trying to say, and I found the romance of this completely uncompelling. I don’t think the sexual assault in this story is worth any sort of useful takeaway. I was mostly bored or offended by this show. A dubious place to be. 

Gelboys Used A POV Shift Well (3/7)

I was so relieved this week when we got a break from Fou4Mod’s primary POV. Chian’s energy is less frenetic, and it was useful to see how he is experiencing much of what Fou4Mod is with Bua. Still, I can’t get over all of these boys turning each other into fuckbois, and I was not expecting to relive the high stakes tension of the MySpace Top 8 friends era with the IG close friends stories. I find myself feeling only mild sympathy for Chian getting ignored by Bua whenever he shows off his thirst when he hurt Fou4Mod the way he did. He should know how Fou4Mod feels, so it feels especially shitty. This is still the most beautifully shot show I’m watching, and I find myself genuinely compelled by the use of naturalism in this show. I’m excited about hopefully getting a Baabin POV this week. 

The Boy Next World Was Actually Sci-Fi After All! (8/10)

I’m quite surprised that the alternate universe schtick was actually real, but I’m having fun with the reveal. I love the idea that Cir is a man forever cursed to get his ass in gear and start a romance with Phu by seeing another version of his life around Phu. Having the stalker Cir finally make things real with Phu because he saw a universe in which he went for it in high school, only to have him later show that world to a Cir who never even noticed him, was compelling. I’m still trying to figure out why the other Cir was so pissy with him, except that he was maybe jealous that someone else touched Phu. I’m curious to see where we go, since everyone else thins Cir hit and quit on Phu, but Phu seemed to take the loss of his Cir in stride. We’ve gotta unpack the big lie, so that means we have at least one “we love each other for real now” sex scene left. MAME often does her best at that point. 

Fragrance of the First Flower is Back! (4/12)

I’m so glad we’re getting this after Fragrance You Inherit (2024), because I needed some compelling lesbian angst. Fragrance of the First Flower is back for a second season, and the drama remains compelling. Yi Min has divorced her husband, and they’re trying to make coparenting with separate habitation work. Ting Ting is trying to make things work with her band. The two have reconnected and are dating again (and now living together!!), but there are no easy answers. I love that this show is exploring the difficulties of coming after after heterosexual marriage that produced a child with special needs. The problems are not simple, and the handling so far has been really enjoyable. I’m seated. 

Impression of Youth is Unbearable (8/9, DNF)

I cannot finish this show. This show isn’t taking any of its relationships seriously, and I am so annoyed by everything happening. I already struggle with student-teacher stories, and this one has done nothing worth reporting on. It’s dropped.

Ossan’s Love Thailand Can Kick Rocks (8/12, DNF)

I cannot finish this show. I was already pissed in episode 7 when they sent Kongdech to a Catholic shrine to help him get over his gay thoughts, and literally had Heng take on the role of the devil. Now, in episode 8, they had Kongdech get possessed by a ghost that would only move on if it got to forcibly kiss an employee? No thanks. I cannot separate my feelings about Kurosawa, and that man would NEVER force himself on one of his subordinates. Moreover, while I generally don’t mind when the East uses Western religions as mythological tools in their stories, Catholicism is way too tied up in my own internalized homophobia for me to accept Kongdech going that route for peace in this story. On top of that, they keep using key scenes from the original while altering the context, so things stop making sense. I’m deeply unimpressed and will not be finishing this. 

Are We On a Break?