[baijingting]

Heo Nam Jun 허남준 as Cha Se Gye MY ROYAL NEMESIS 멋진신세계 (2026)

[deokmis]

My Royal Nemesis [dir. Han Tae-seob]

[decalcominia]

as much as I enjoy lover boy segye, dansim is also such a lover girl like omg wdym she drew the same plum blossoms the prince had drawn right before her death

[lattekims]

How about you?

ソウルメイト | SOUL MATE (2026) episode 2: Can We Save Our Souls? Isomura Hayato as Narutaki Ryu & Ok Taecyeon as Hwang Johan

[mistbornthief]

Moments from Soul Mate I've been rotating in my mind all weekend, with no sign of stopping any time soon:

"From the moment I saw him, I knew I wanted him to live" "I wanted my last sight before I die to include him" "If you're here, I want to live longer" lines of dialogue that make ME wanna die actually

Johan opening his phone and seeing both his sister and Ryu desperately reaching out and asking if he was okay, and him choosing to call Ryu back first

The only real physically intimate moments of the show being Ryu hugging Johan and Sumiko when they're upset to comfort them and how he clearly has a go to of letting them bury their heads in his shoulder

(because Ryu is a loving person and I love him and I think his character is being slept on and that makes me sad)

The concept of a surprise drop in visit to Japan BRUHHHH

Johan's nervous back and forth glancing when Ryu is looking at his sketch

"Is that too long or too short?" "Too long" & Johan's happy face after

This shot

(I just lowkey love a lot of the cinematography of this show)

"You're the one person I didn't want to see me like this"

Entire mud conversation, really

All the times Ryu was doing something else and when Johan called he immediately abandoned it

"Next time, give me a heads up" "Next time?" "Yeah, next time"

Johan's face when he turned around for one last look and saw Ryu standing there watching him leave (and Ryu holding back tears but Johan couldn't see it)

and Ryu not waving back because the entire scene he's unable to say goodbye, even til the end

Ryu and Johan's excitement both times Johan hit the baseball id bet my life that that was real reactions from Ok Taecyeon and Hayato Isomura

Ryu teasing Johan and Johan's affectionate annoyance

Ryu, Johan, and Sumiko all going to the daycare and Ryu and Johan saying they also want to be Kanau's guardians like shoot me dead that's some of the sweetest shit I've ever seen

Johan watching Ryu and Ryu's dad fish with heart eyes

Ryu watching Arata jump while Sumiko is watching the video is obvi devastating but an insanely good shot

That moment where Johan is getting discharged and walking down the mountain alone, and Ryu is walking up a mountain and it looks like he's surprising Johan, i fell for that fakeout hook line and sinker

Ryu laughing at Johan turning away to drink when they're with Ryu's parents after their previous conversation

Johan taking Ryu along when he claimed his freedom, and Ryu tackling the Shithead before he could hit Johan, and Johan's face, and Ryu grabbing Johan by the hand and them running out together

This show so clearly showing Johan's absence in Ryu's life. Also the chair had "fruit chair" on it which made me laugh

Ryu hanging the sketch Johan did of him in their apartment WDYMMMMMMMM (Sumiko clocking that was so funny)

All the layers of Johan calling his meeting Ryu a miracle, not just bc of how unlikely it was to happen but because of how lifsaving it was for the both of them

"You have a kid?" "Yeah I do"

Ryu finding Johan's notebook when I tell you I cried at just the shot of it being there---

"Next time it's your turn to visit me in Korea" "That's true" and then Ryu having already purchased his flight when they're talking after Johan's discharged

Ryu having effectively the rest of his life planned out and then finding out Johan was sick and immediately abandoning every single thing to go be with him

Johan constantly drawing Ryu and scolding him for moving during it

THE LAST LINES OF DIALOGUE OF THE ENTIRE SHOW BEING THEM SAYING I LOVE YOU TO EACH OTHER IN EACH OTHER'S LANGUAGE I AM GOING TO CHEW GLASS

[lattekims]

ソウルメイト | SOUL MATE (2026) episode 2: Can We Save Our Souls? Isomura Hayato as Narutaki Ryu & Ok Taecyeon as Hwang Johan

[easterndelights]

ソウルメイト Soul Mate (2026)

If I had told him about my illness... knowing Ryu, he probably would have insisted on taking care of me. But you know, that wasn't the happiness I wanted for him.

[tskumoyuuma]

soul mate really showed one of the deepest queer love stories of the year and yet because they didnt kiss people are calling it "half assed bl". cant have fucking anything

[easterndelights]

ソウルメイト Soul Mate (2026)

[mistbornthief]

[guoldu]

Absolutely not the story I thought we were getting, but as I sit here weeping the morning after watching just at the mere thought of them, one I was grateful to watch nonetheless.

The story posits a soulmate as the person who can repair the cracks left in your heart, even if they aren't able to hide the seams. Soul Mate asks questions that align with the philosophy of kintsugi, of mushin. Will you accept what has and will happen, what will you make of it, does that make it any less beautiful. The director pours it all into moments of stillness and reflection, calm moments of joy that other shows might elevate, in all the ways the characters and the people they meet whisper their endurance and love to the world around them. The audience has to want to see them, and if you choose not to, you might come away thinking this is a tragedy because it does not end in the way anyone might have held expectations to.

This is a queer, gay romance story told across span of time and i cant believe it even has to be said but apparently the text is only available for those who can read. Is it a "BL"? At this point, I assume the common definition of BL is different than my own (not taking discussion on this), because I presumed that we were defining Boys Love by the existence of 2 boys/men in love, happy or not.

I don't wanna include anything more because, a) I'm still processing it all and b) I don't wanna spoil anything. So if you're looking for a queer story that hurts like hell but isn't there to cause you pain either, that asks questions moreso than it outright gives answers, one that isn't overly stiff on metaphor but reads like poetry- watch Soul Mate.

[baek-sanho]

Uncle Johan & baby Kanau ソウルメイト ┃ SOUL MATE (2026) ┃ EP. 6 & 7

[lattekims]

The moment I stepped into the ring, I tried not to look at the crowd. I had a feeling that everything was about to begin.

ソウルメイト | SOUL MATE (2026) episode 1: The Gravity of Fate + faceless shots

[florenzismind]

I'm aware of the fact that Twitter is a hell site, but quite frankly, I'm already exhausted with people calling Soul Mate a "bromance", "queerbaiting" or even just "queer coded".

There is nothing "coded" there. This show is explicitly queer and it Does Not hide the fact that it is.

The relationship between Ryu and Johan never reads platonic and I'm absolutely baffled by the sheer ignorance and inability of people to understand queerness and queer relationships without it being explicitly defined or "shown" through physical intimacy. (Heed the upcoming spoilers!)

The show starts with Ryu's best friend coming out and confessing to him. Ryu can't answer and freezes (he can't really confront how he himself may feel or not feel), and their teammates essentially out Arata. The entire situation becomes so dire that Ryu flees the country.

The first scene in Berlin is Ryu overhearing an argument between a religious, homophobic father and his gay son. Ryu then later Confesses In A Church Booth that he can't confront the fact that he is liked (by Arata). And that he feels guilty about it.

Later, the show reveals that the teenager who burned down the church was the same guy with the homophobic, religious dad. Johan confesses that he saw himself in that teenager and he is The Same. (Which he also confessed to Ryu by the way. That they’re the same.)

We see that Johan has a safe space growing up in a gay bar; he talks about Ryu so much that the bar owner hugs Ryu the moment he sees him.

The entire fight at the gay bar is homophobic assholes destroying Johan's safe space, hurting his "queer confidant" (for lack of a better word), after we saw Johan moments earlier talking to Ryu about seeing each other again. They then threatened Johan at his own home to the point he flees into the darkness to feel safe again.

Their entire relationship is mirrored by Sumiko and Seiichi’s relationship. When Seiichi dies, she screams at Ryu: "At least you have Johan, I don't have Seiichi anymore.”

Ryu and Johan's last big fight before Johan moved out mirrored their conversation about the painting (painting means having the one person you cherish and want to be happy forever). Johan says he finally found such a person. Ryu reads this as Johan finding a lover (which Ryu is so baffled by and Can't Contemplate). Johan later says that he wanted Ryu to have a different happiness, which is why he lied and ran away (meaning, he found that person in Ryu).

Johan's entire speech at the end of the show is him finding his soulmate and his salvation. He says the only person he wants to be with at the end of his life is Ryu. The show ends with them saying "I love you" in their native languages.

And these are just a few instances at the top of my head.

I find it extremely insulting to label this show anything but queer and people not wanting to check it out because "it's not a BL anyway" is so....frustrating.

I understand that some people don't want to see queer people struggling or a "bad" ending for queer people (though I'd argue that this show doesn't explicitly “hold a bad ending” for their queer characters....like Very Straight Seiichi dies before he gets to meet his own child.)

I can even understand that some people don't want to see queer people who never quite dare to define and/or untangle their feelings and/or relationships. But I do think it's quite sad that people feel like queer stories like this are not deserving or worth watching.

I don't think this show is perfect, and I, myself, don't really enjoy characters dying (or in this case getting sick) that have already suffered enough.

But I think their (love) story is still very special because it showed kind people who were trying to find themselves in this not-so-gentle world, and they found some peace and safety in each other. Maybe they could've found even more if they ever dared.

Regardless of that, they saved each other in a very special way, and the show is very clear about that. It was a miracle they found each other, Johan said.

There was a time (or still is to be honest) when writers and showrunners dismissed any queer reading from the audience about their characters.

It's sad that it's the audience now who dismisses and cheapens it.

[decalcominia]

perfect crown started with me feeling sad for jeongwoo and is now gonna end with me wanting to kill that guy. great character building.

[fake-married-my-dead-fiance]

He's shaking and crying over the thought of losing her

This is the best

[ivanneska]

So, are we all in agreement that Akira deserves a hug, and that Kanda deserves some jail time?