This Week in BL - When Bad Gossip Happens to Good BL
Being a highly subjective assessment of one tiny corner of the interwebs. Organized by which ones (in each category) I’m enjoying the most.
The Eclipse (Fri YT) Ep 2 of 15 - This is a great show and the leads are killer! Their conflict contrasted to moments of empathy contrasted to flirtation and then hints of genuine affection is nuanced and beautifully performed. I expected no less from this pair, but I’m delighted to see that they’re executing so well. This show has the sophistication and balance of something like Gifted, Not Me or Bad Buddy, which basically means this is the best we can expect from GMMTV. NeoLewis are also doing a better job than I expected. They aren’t my favorite pair. However Neo unexpectedly excels in a serious part. Finally, an actually deserved and appropriate pratfall moment. Very nice.
Vice Versa (Sat on YT) Ep 6 of 12 - Living together = fake out. Curse you GMMTV! Look, here’s the thing, flaws and all I pretty much spend this entire show smiling. I don’t mind being manipulated when we are all having so much fun with it. Is Tun/Puen super suss. Oh yes. Do I care? NOPE. *bats eyes in Jimmy nation*
21 Days Theory (Sun YT ) Ep 2 of 4? - X is def flirting in the “pulling pig tails” fashion. Also wooing his bf2b’s mum is very smart. (Why is BF2B not a 3rd gen Kpop group? I ask you.) Meanwhile Q & his friends are the new candidates for the “only one brain cell between them” club. Like Tine’s crew in 2g all over again.
X is older than Q. X uses pom/khun & rao +kap which is stiff, adult, and somewhat formal (and pom is age backwards for him and Q). Pom is oddly servile coming from an older kid.
Q jumps around a lot in response to this adult speech from a phi: pom/khun but also rao/nai + (a reluctant) kap, but never phi. (I don’t think I’ve ever heard a high school BL use nai this much.)
There was a conversation about formal speech and the end of ep 2. Q was telling X that he could use guu/mueng rather than rao|pom/khun. Q had been sort of attempting to match X’s formality by using nai as a more formal version of phi, and was struggling because, I think, it’s too grown up sounding. X declined guu/mueng, he finds them too rude to apply to someone he likes. X then offered to call Q just by his name (avoiding having to choose entirely), but I think Q finds that too intimate. But phi is still not discussed and Q goes back to rao/nai at the end. So honestly I’m really not sure what the hell is happening.
I rewatched all their interactions through 3 times and I’m still mostly mystified.
My Only 12% (Fri iQIYI) Ep 2 of 15 - Cake and Eiw’s relationship reminds me of a high school version of the friendship that’s central to the movie Big Eden. There’s a part of me that wants that to be where this narrative is going too. I’m not gonna say more, because everybody should watch Big Eden. Yes, it’s ultimately happy. However, if this narrative does choose to go with a more mature approach, then this show will ultimately be sad, as a BL. Regardless, SantaEarth are doing a really killer job with this set up. They couldn’t have chosen a better pair. Cake calling a Eiw a sheep when Eiw’s name essentially sounds to me like ewe is hilarious. I don’t think they’re being that clever, though.
Coffee Melody (Mon Viki) Ep 5 of 10 - I do love how tough Jean is - flame on, indeed. Plus his boyfriend 2B has magical pink hair. (Are they secretly a marvel superhero team?) This was another ep of a show where I didn’t care that the leads were apart, because that just meant more side dishes. It’s not bad, this show, it’s not good either, tho.
Love Mechanics (Sun WeTV) Ep 9 of 10 - Random new faen fatal in the 11th hour is annoying. And the boxing match is a dumb plot device. But the theme around food, family, affection, and acceptance was great. Mark is so good at flirting and Vee is so confused when that skill is targeting him. Someone give YinWar a better BL. Please?
Love in the Air (Thurs iQIYI) Ep 1 of 13 - Mame’s creature has indeed whipped me into a verbal frenzy. So yeah, that’s another dumpster fire trash watch happening. Come with me if you wanna BURN and smell bad. Good times. So what’s this show like? Terrible. Also entertaining and engaging and kinda hot. Like all good dumpster fires.
Unforgotten Night (Weds on GaGa) Ep 9 of 12 - I don’t have very much to say about this episode. I guess they are cute boyfriends? But do we want cute boyfriends from our mafia daddy? I ask you? TRASH WATCH IS HERE!
Check Out (Sat IQIYI) Ep 11 of 12 - Jumping back to high heat like we in 2021 ep 0 I see. Fine. Also: chalk one up for an uke bj (usually bjs are seme penance) thats 3 i think: Gen Y 2 (sort of, PokeTongue always strike me as verse), SCOY, and now Check Please Out.
My Secret Love (Sat YT) Ep 12fin - This drama suddenly got sensible and interesting in the finale after the time jump, and the reason for the split turned out to be a decent one. But frankly, that was just frustrating. Because I got a glimpse that this could’ve actually been, if not a GREAT show, at least a passable one. But they saved this for the last 2 eps? That’s just annoying. Another wedding makes me feel like this trope is becoming ubiquitous in Thai BL. Who knew Grey Rainbow would end up with us here? In the end, I can't really recommend this. There's much better Thai BL these days, and tons of it. DON’T BOTHER 6/10 Full review on MDL.
180 Degree Longitude Passes Through Us (Mon GaGa) Ep 1 of 8 - As others said this is a queer family drama not a BL. It’s fine but I don't like the lead character. He's a brat in the wrong way. Especially at 20 years old. It’s also a bit slow moving and oddly paced. I’m DNFing for now. Maybe I’ll watch it when it’s completed.
I gotta say iQIYI is really taking a stab at cornering this market and I’m not sure how I feel about it.
Ongoing Series - Not Thai
Minato Shouji Coin Laundry (Japan Weds GaGa) Ep 8 of 12 - So it finally came, the episode where Minato has to break Shin’s heart. It was more delicately handled than I thought it would be, and that did surprise me. It was wistfully sad rather than gut wrenching. I still loved it, of course. SQUEE WATCH ALONG
Takara-kun and Amagi-kun (Japan Thurs GaGa & Viki) 1 of 8 - GaGa’s subs are more poetic but Viki’s are more comprehensible, so I’m doing... BOTH. It’s cute. Amagi is an ADORABLE sunshine bean nugget but I’m not sold and his confession came out of nowhere. It’s maybe too high school? (GASP, did I just actually type that?) I did really like that we switched perspectives to Takara so soon in the series. Now we know their tortured pining is mutual. I like that, even if it means the whole rest of the show will be about miscommunication. “I like him so much that it feels stupid” is a killer line (GaGa’s version). Taraka is a seme who is scared of his own semeness. That said, this show is from the Mr. Unlucky and Senpai studio featuring Jpop idols, so I’m not expecting much. But I do love a high school setting and JBL has been killing it lately.
Papa & Daddy 2 (Mon GaGa) Ep 3 of 8 - I hate hate HATE the grandparents bloodline = have another child plot. It’s really upsetting to me in a visceral way. I didn’t even realize I had a trigger around this kind of bullshit. However, the gender plot-line is interesting. And, to no one’s surprise, I continue to have terrible 2nd lead syndrome.
Want to See You (Vietnam YT) Ep 13 - What happened? Did I miss it? Was last week the ending? Are they on hiatus? Is it a crowd funding tactic? Why tf MDL can’t list VBL is increasingly annoying.
GaGa stepped up and will broadcast War of Y, if any of you want more PAIN in your lives.
GMMTV dropped Zero Photography to their YouTube, it’s a GL advert special featuring InkPa from Bad Buddy. It was cute and sweet. But that’s it.
Apparently Jimmy (of JimmyTommy) has withdrawn from Middleman's Love and so they need to recast both leads. Bed Friends seems unaffected.
There are quite a few pairs that Cheewin could hand this too. Anyone wanna take bets? Who would we fantasy cast from his line up? (Cheewin uses his pairs in Y-Destiny, War of Y). Middleman’s Love requires and YOUNGER seme and an older but nerdy (or capable of being nerdy) uke for an office set romance about an intern pursuing his boss. So I think BillySeng and MaxNat are NOT right for this. Other options? Toru & First, KimCop (of course), BoomPeak if you wanted to dip into the well (and if they were up for it), PerthLay if they need bigger names.
More bad news, Korean BL Oh My Assistant probubly DOA. Read this.
Next Week Looks Like This:
Starting: Thai BLs What If & Work from Heart.
Ending: Love Mechanics and Check Out the series (thank fuck).
Still to come in August? About Youth (Taiwan), Ghost Host, Ghost House (Thai), Ai Long Nhai (Thai). I’m gathering data for September releases now, so if you have any you’re excited about, leave a comment.
I’m streamlining my systems to better keep track of BLs as they are announced and put into production, yes, there is a NEW spreadsheet as part of the DOOM (currently with 96 entries). Look, I never said this was easy. But now I can answer peeps when they ask me about upcoming stuff.
This week’s best moments?
Yeah I know it was a sad bit, but that’s why I liked it. Vice Versa needed a bit of a low point. But also...
How to catch a live husband 101.
Truth in BL, 21 Days Theory.
Epic eye rolling in Love in the Air. Also, accurate picture of me the whole time I was watching the first ep.
The shoe tie! A pretty rare trope in BL actually. Common in Kdramas. Of course, I like it because it’s always fun to see a seme kneel.
This was SO FUNNY. This is what the GMMTV boys excel at: snappy dialogue and great friendship groups. (The Eclipse)
I LOVE A boy who crush-sniffs another boy’s shirt.
The pining is strong with this one. (Takara & Amagi)
But then when he’s THAT CUTE, what can ya do?
current earworm? P1Harmony’s Doom Du Doom
