but you’ve probably figured it out by now—it’s a dangai (censored BL) based on a danmei (chinese BL novel) by priest called 默读 mo du (silent reading, sometimes a light in the night). the novel is divided into five parts, each one investigating a different complicated (and interlocking) crime case, and the main characters, police captain luo wenzhou (29) and CEO fei du (22) absolutely detest each other. or anyway they are very invested in pretending that they do.
to tell you any more would to be wreck the incredibly delicate plot reveals that priest has set up, approximately one per book. the novel is all about pulling apart those layers, about uncovering secrets and making confessions. we’ve all been very relieved by how closely the drama is adhering to its source material, with the obvious exception of the gay love story, which survives on the fervent simmering gazes of its male leads and their incriminating line delivery (in the fine longstanding tradition of any other dangai that makes it to the screen).
the only problem most of us have right now with jitd is how to see it; you can, however, stream it directly from wowow with japanese subs, and watch with a copy of mo du open in another screen. various teams are working on translating it but those groups are pretty firmly closed, with good reason. i imagine, though, that as with the spirealm, either an international streamer will pick it up once wowow has finished airing it, or we’ll all just start sharing it like crazy people.
which we definitely are not. everyone who loves mo du and jitd is extremely ordinary and regular and not compelled in the least by a) horrific crime narratives, b) literally the worst trauma i’ve ever read in print, and c) definitely the most tempestuous, fiery, bonkers, gorgeous, adoring, lascivious, flags-of-every-color romance ever written, for my money. and i happen to be a literature professor who has read the plays of shakespeare, including the weird ones like king john and two noble kinsmen. i know there are many people out there who read mo du and just go, huh that sure was a novel, whatever, and move on with their lives. for me it’s up there with tolstoy’s resurrection, knausgård's my struggle, infinite jest, and jane eyre. and that’s all i have to say about that.
