Is there truth to the soulmates trope?

This BL takes to task the fated mates trope and what it means to have love chained intimately to predestination. This show is about how faith in destiny before choice diminishes the authenticity of emotion, relationships, and connection.

This is a high concept to examine through the lens of a BL.

By activating + examining the soulmates trope this show is challenging a foundation of romance: the idea that there is one person meant to be your one romantic partner all your life. This means that we, as viewers, spend much of the show worried about it having a happy ending, and that’s the source of both its brilliance and tension: would the narrative have the strength to truly challenge its own romantic core?

But, ultimately, all this elevated complexity was executed in a somewhat shaky and clumsy manner with the narrative derailing into some serious pacing issues and characters manipulated by miscommunication.

However, with good chemistry and decent acting all around, plus some excellent high heat and representation of consent and a few other rare tropes, this one has to (like it’s sibling show My Ride) earn a high rating for me. I LIKE high concept. I like that we got something rare for BL. I enjoyed it even as it made me think, so despite its flaws.

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cohabitation, crush, love triangle

(Korea, Feb-March 2022 Viki)

At first I wasn’t wowed by this show but then I realized this is just a very Thai style BL being executed with Korea’s signature pristine style and shorter length, so I was experiencing a disconnect. At the beginning, it also felt like Korea was attempting to grace us with the dubious pleasure of a BL sitcom (fortunately, no laugh track) and that just doesn’t work for me. Even the premise screamed sitcom: Spoiled rich kid in financial straights has to manage a boarding house full of quirky characters including: bratty cousin, wacko writer, and the new hot jock (love interest). There’s also an adorable bestie with a crush (of course, my favorite). It’s not as slapstick as I was expecting but more a comedy of errors, for me, in the wrong way - I suffer from terrible 2nd hand embarrassment.

And then, suddenly, half way through, it drastically improved. I’m not a fan of uke as pursuer, so for me this happened when the seme started to soften - bonus DIMPLES! Plus an actual date and research! In fact, the second half did everything right.

The 2nd lead’s confession was actually to his love rival (about what a sweetie their mutual crush is, which made the seme then like his uke even more) - an interesting twist on the love triangle. Then when our hottie finally confesses to his boy, it was killer: great communication and expressed desire and interest. Very mature for the characters, and for KBL, and I liked it a lot. Their first kiss is a bit dead fishy but it turns out that was for a reason. So that when their feelings finally become mutual at the end, then it’s a mutual kiss as well. It was VERY well done, because we can compare the two kisses, and so their physical synergy becomes a representation of the acceptance of their own feelings. The final ep was a bit sad since Korea really enjoys slapping us with 2nd lead syndrome but I enjoyed that the narrative was decent in its treatment of all three characters. (I was reminded of True Beauty, in a good way.) I will probably do a rewatch, now that I have faith in the ending.

All in all, this show ended up being A LOT better than I expected. It was uneven in its attempt to reconcile early sitcom style with a serious love triangle and genuine romance but the quality of the performances and the kind and honest treatment of the characters make it definitely worth watching.

RECOMMENDED

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workplace romance, sunshine/tsundere, rivals to lovers

Fantastic chef, but a bit of a stick in the mud, is challenged when the owner of his restaurant brings in a new hot shot chef into his kitchen. She pits the two against each other (even though she’s already decided the original chef is out). The new bad boy is pretty darn flirty. There is an impressive courtship, but the characters are a little underdeveloped. The tsundere softening journey is well done, and the tension given but the foundational rivals crisis (one having to lie to the other) is a good simple plot arc for a K-BL, but ultimately this show was still a little thin and some of the scenes seemed out of order. Still I enjoyed it and I look forward to the movie rewatch.

RECOMMENDED

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A Stepbrothers BL romance + multiple side dishes

Super rough going and uneven just like similar 2020 High School offerings Thank God It’s Friday or So Much In Love. Line seems to keep churning these BL Pulps out in some futile effort to recreate the questionable magic of Make it Right.

In trying to be edgy, Brothers was just super awkward. The pacing was way off, story arcs convoluted and fragmented or nonexistent, and post production particularly poor through the later half.

The older couple, KhunKaow, was the only good pairing and I liked them so much I considered rewatching for their arc, but that meant I’d have to rewatch the whole thing and I couldn’t STAND the idea.

So yeah, it’s bad. The actors deserved better and so did the audience. Line should be thoroughly ashamed of itself

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One of my favorite 2021 BLs

Foundational Romance Tropes? reunion + long term pining + sunshine/tsundere pairing

The story line is compressed and watered down because each season is so short. The couple’s breakup, occurring between the two seasons, is only in flashbacks. But the acting and production values are top notch, and in the end the performances are so good they entirely sweep away a flawed plot and thin narrative arc. It’s rare for me to like a show DESPITE the story, We Best Love stands with To My Star as one of the few. The full circle pool kiss was adorable and this series is officially a favorite.

All told this series is GREAT, theyactors are wonderful, and the chemistry is killer with all three pairs. I was particularly pleased to get Shu Yi and his dad talking Japanese. I love it when Taiwan makes use of bilingual actors (see Because of You) almost as much as them flexing their marriage equality muscles (which they also did in this series).

* A word on Sam Lin. His acting is INSANE. Season 2 ep 2 was so good I actually just sat and stared a blank screen for ten minutes after it was over, processing. I don’t think BL ever has or ever will again produce a drunken heartbreak like that. All future episode 11s ~ eat your hearts out. Oh wait, no, I forgot, we have no hearts left to eat, Sam Lin got there first.

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Timeslip, paranormal romance, JittiRain strikes again

Adapted from a JittiRain y-novel (author of 2gether & Vice Versa) this was a “rewrite the past to fix the future” PNR.

It featured a wooden Krist and revelatory Gawin (I was never a fan until this show), some good rep of things like queer struggles with rights to partner’s medical and life decisions, but awkward chemistry. It certainly wasn’t as bad as I expected.

With Jittirain, one of her main characters is going to be a manipulative liar or extremely unlikeable or both. In this case: unlikeable.

As a result I didn’t particularly enjoy this show, but with Gawin’s performance and some appealing side characters, like Max, I also didn’t hate it.

A rollercoaster of content & characterization packaged in a meh narrative sausage casing left me feeling unmoved but fine. It was fine. I was fine with it.

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office romance, object of my affection, boss/employee

Adapted from a manga for the same name, it has a similar creepy worship stalking vibe Secret Crush On You. Look, I admit it, this dynamic (super awkward pining uke, rockstar seme) is one of my least favorites - high cringe factor meets navel gazing obsessive. Japan’s weird hang-up around physical expressions of affection in BL which I expect in their slapstick high school stuff, feels cowardly here. They don't leave out end kisses in their het office romances, time to stop desexualizing the gays, too. For a plot about courage, it’s a bummer that the narrative itself didn’t have any. I can’t imagine ever watching this show again or remembering its existence. When Japan drops the balls they drop all the way to the bottom of the well.

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opposites attract, accidental relationship, cohabitation

Mr Chronically Unlucky (another adorable chaos muffin) and Mr Always Lucky end up dating after they meet at uni orientation. It’s JAPAN yet they kissed in the first episode. What freaky alt-reality did I enter into? That’s all they kiss tho, over which I was a touch disappointed (I know). Still I spent far too much of my time with this show biting my knuckles and squealing “THEY’RE SO CUTE!” Amusing story: I paused mid the most tooth-achingly adorable first date in the entire universe and Viki was like “something missing?” and I was like “MY HEART YOU BASTARDS” It is very slapstick Japanese style comedic (light) BL reminds me a bit of Kieta Hatsukoi or Cherry Magic. So if you like that style of BL you’ll adore this show.

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enemies to lovers, fake relationship, one sided crush

I had a hard time finding this one so initially I dropped it as a DNF, then it turned up with fan subs so I decided to try it again. (I have found I often prefer fan subs for the Thai stuff.)

Frankly it’s better then we have a right to expect from this sort of Thai BL pulp, especially if you can make it through ep 4. I like the northerner vs Bangkok and how the different characters handle the classism of it. The side couples once we get up north are super cute. There’s even an out gay character. The actor playing IG is great at pining. Only Ruk didn’t really do it for me, too tsundere without purpose or reason. And he’s the main character so the drama rather sags because he can’t take the weight of it. It reminded me of Hometown Embrace or Friend Forever, only, frankly, better. Ep 8 where the friends cover for Rak by all kissing each other was very funny.

Still we are in serious pulp territory with ALL THE TROPES including “the homophobe faints.” Objectively it’s not very good and the terrible singing in every single episode made me dock a whole point. Sing your feeling is one of my least favorite BL tropes.

RECOMMENDED ONLY IF YOU’RE WILLING TO PUT WITH SINGING AND ALL THE PRODUCTION ISSUES OF A THAI PULP

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office romance love triangle comedy

This is a remake of the Japanese original and while I found the cast in this one superior, for me it didn’t correct for any of the pacing or squick factor flaws of the central romance of that original. There were new side characters and new depth given to original side characters which I did like and Tin is a little bit more endearing. Tin was still touch adverse and overly freaked out about everything, the old dude was still a creepy office predator, and the break up and engagement timeslip still felt uncalled for and jarring. I must conclude that this franchise is not for me.

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slice of life, struggles, other side of the tracks romance, great side dishes

I enjoyed this complicated little show, even though it’s spectacularly messy gay with lots of shrapnel and authentic pain (normally not my style).

I thought EarthMix turned in their most compelling performance to date, yes better than Thousand Stars.

But it was GeminiFourth who stole my heart. What a wonderful side romance that was!

That said, the most interesting central relationship was that of Jim & Li Ming, their father-son angst mixed with evident affection made me tear up. This was more slice of life than it was BL, but it ended happily so I’m not mad at it.

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Forgotten Plumbing - mafia, BDSM, only not really

Adapted from the y-novel Mafia's Bad Love, (originally featured both a gay poly triad and a GL sub plot). Stared Yoon (YYY, Paint With Love, My Ride) as a mafia Dom and Ton (Y-Destiny) as the accountant sub. Kim has a one night stand with a random stranger who becomes obsessed with him. Pretty soon into it I began to think this show should be called Forgotten Kink rather than Unforgotten Night. There isn't any. Mostly there's faucets left on and shower heads used for tie points (don't DO that). But honestly it was just bad. There is a moral to this show but I’m not sure what it is. Don’t combine your BDSM-but-not-really BL pulp with plumbing? In the end, this dumpster fire was extinguished by a garden hose and all we were left with was leaky pipes and the smell of damp trash. The only kinks were in the hose.

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friends to lovers, coming of age, high school setting, introvert/extrovert

This is a beautiful piece of cinema well acted, about two boys who are opposite personalities and grew up together. Gifted and serious Sakura (Kura Yuki from His the series) and outgoing eccentric manic pixie dream boy, Yuma. It features multiple confessions in multiple languages (and ways) and is basically a slice of life but pitch perfect look at coming into identity as a teenager. It directly talks about liminality and occupying transitional spaces (which I talk about in this post about age gap).

It is very pretty and this is the kind of atmospheric elegantly performed BL that only really comes from Japan (complete with dead fish kisses - what you though Korea invented them? oh no). The undy scene made me hoot with laughter. There are only 4 episodes and one of them is mostly six people sitting around a campfire telling ghost stories that could (and should) have been cut, making about 1/4 or is unnecessary.

I liked it but I felt like I was “supposed to like it” more than I did, ultimately I was left feeling like I had seen it all before. So for me it was lovely but slightly unmemorable.

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