#also got two volumes of a bl

[nyxypoo]

guess whose at the library again...

[kyouka-supremacy]

(˶ᵔ ᵕ ᵔ˶)

[paintingpuff]

I'm late to the aro positivity party but thought I could shout out a manga I read this year, I Want to be a Wall!

It's about an aroace woman (who is really into BL) and a gay man being arranged into a marriage and how they navigate that, growing closer and kind of becoming a QPR.

The stuff that really got to me was the discussion of the woman's experience with her asexuality (and aromanticism though that isn't explicitly labeled), how it connects to her media tastes and the way people have hurt her in the past. It was all absolutely heartbreaking.

A fun detail I also like is how the pair act out romantic tropes (Gift of Magi style misunderstanding, paranoia about "cheating,"), but they are all done through a platonic context.

(Ex. Even though they're not in romantic love, he still feels upset at the idea of losing their bond, or her getting hurt by someone he doesn't know.)

There's not too many chapters of it out, unfortunately (only like two volumes), but the ones I read are very enjoyable and I'd love to put this on other people's radar!

(btw, I got this manga rec from this video, and there's more in it!)

Asexual Manga and their Powerful Visibility

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=urXrwYmMdgA

[ineffable-opinions]

BL “Censorship” & Commercialization

Content: 1. ubiquitous censorship - special focus on Japanese BL 2. commercial viability of live action BL & generalizations 3. solutions - special focus on state support of Thai BL 4. [update state-supported production of Love in the Big City series]

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Censorship is a sensitive topic. I have tried my best. Please feel free to comment and critique.

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History of Korean BL is one of censorship and commercialization and Korean fu-people has struggled against both. There have been different victors at different points in time. Aljosa Puzar’s "BL"(Boy Love), "GL"(Girl Love) and Female Communities of Practice and Affect in South Korea chronicles that struggle. (Highly recommended.)

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I have tried to problematize BL commercialization before. But that was in the context of fu-culture and the commodity fetishism associated with the consumption of BL, particularly in live action form which is probably its most capitalist rendition for many many reasons.

Here I would like to look at it from another angle: censorship. This is a continuation of my earlier post (Why so many shonen ai live-action?) motivated by the live action adaptation of ‘조폭인 내가 고등학생이 되었습니다’ (I, A Gangster, Became a High School Student) by 호롤 (Ho Rol).

The live action has jumped genres switching from BL to 판타스틱 휴먼 드라마 (lit. fantasy human drama). This switch got it tagged as ‘Censored Adaptation of Same-sex Original Work’ on My Drama List. I personally don’t like that tag. Almost all BL adaptation is a censored adaptation, with notable exceptions like Sei no Gekiyaku. But no one uses that tag for, say, 25 Ji, Akasaka de (2024) which censored all sexual content, especially from the volume 1 of the manga which was critical to the story and the couple’s development in the original manga series’ and its multiple adaptations’ popularity. Sukiyanen Kedo Do Yaro ka (2024) went as far as removing the more sexual second couple from the live action adaptation all together, yet it does not get a "censored" tag.

An interesting question that the controversy surrounding High School Return of a Gangster (2024) has sparked is that of BL media’s commercial viability, especially in live action form. Here’s what producers told the Korean newspaper, Hankook Ilbo, about the genre-jumping:

"BL 장르는 제작비 투자나 리쿱(제작비 회수)에 한계가 있는 게 사실이다. 그러다 보니 처음부터 이 작품은 브로맨스로 해보고 싶었다"

“The BL genre is limited in terms of investment in production costs and recoup (recovery of production costs). So, from the beginning, we planned it as a bromance (beulomaenseu).”

The author of this article cites examples of works that enjoyed success on OTT platforms, namely Watcha’s Semantic Error and TVing's Unintentional Love Story (2023). However, the article also highlights the fact that BL continues to be a niche genre and live action adaptations don’t guarantee success.

이성택 (Lee Seong Taek), the director of High School Return of a Gangster, previously directed the BL Love Class (2022). The producer 넘버쓰리픽쳐스 (Number Three Pictures Co., Ltd.) have BL works like Unintentional Love Story under its belt.

'Unintentional Love Story' Director Jang Eui-soon (장의순) | source

If the producer of one of the two most popular live action BL is admitting to it, then it is not easy to dismiss the issue of commercial viability of live action BL.

Very famous BL publishing houses (starting with JUNE) and hosting platforms with relatively lower expenses have struggled. Some of them are no more. It is also difficult for authors to survive merely on earnings from publishing houses and hosting platforms, especially when those platforms are not very rich. So, it is not difficult to imagine that live action production houses also struggle to survive.

Take GMMTV for example. They are probably one of the most successful BL producers. According to their managing director, BL content (series) is not a profitable business in itself. They rely on khujin (branded pairs) of actors to bring in advertisement revenue, merchandize sales, and pull crowds to concerts and fan-meets. It is not enough for actors to just act. They are expected to sing, dance and perform. Meanwhile, GMMTV is forced to keep working with these actor pairs and stick to templates that suit them. While it works for now, it remains to be seen how long the business model can last.

Now there is also investment from Mainland China that has migrated to other BL producers following dangai ban. But those who invest already burned themselves pretty bad with all the money they poured in during the short-lived but explosive dangai boom. It is sunk cost at this point. Another crack down could be the death knell for Chinese investments in BL. 

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More generally, it is likely that commercial viability of a live action BL project hinges on the following:

#1 Target demographic

Like all other BL content, live action too is primarily targeted at fu-people (BL audience) – both queer and non-queer. The target demography is further sub-divided based on the type of BL and purchasing power.

Sweeter ones are supposed to appeal to all ages and that’s the area Thailand and GMMTV in particular are focused on. Most of Japanese BL series are sweet. Korea too produces sweet BL. However, they are unlikely to bring in explosive success the way odo BL (those following royal road narrative progression – wherein characters face significant challenges, interpersonal or otherwise, to reach happy ending).

Older and, perhaps more hard-core fans, are likely to support jado works (BL that follow the evil path where neither happy ending nor resolution to challenges are guaranteed) with surprising frequency. This might be partly due to the erotic content in jado works.

Purchasing power of BL fans vary widely. There are those who are

“sending gifts to their actors in Thailand, sending food trucks to their shooting locations, putting up billboard advertisements and doing charity events [as well as] ordering merchandise in bulk.”

They also travel to BL producing nations [on fan pilgrimages] and attend fan meetings, concerts and other events regularly.

(Source: The Print)

The other group of BL fans who are probably younger and/or can’t afford to show support in the above-mentioned ways. BL commercially benefits from being appealing to those with higher purchasing power.

#2 Popularity of original work in case of adaptation  

Popular BL novels, manhwa, etc. bring in a set of fans who are interested in the live action. Longer and more-acclaimed works are likely to ensure success of the live action given decent making and reasonable changes during adaptation. Semantic Error is a case in point. However, missteps during adaptation can have the opposite effect.

#3 Cost of production

It is difficult to get investment in the first place, especially with how niche the genre is. Moreover, higher cost of production sets the bar for success higher too.

On the other hand, high production quality and better cast and crew (likely more expensive too) makes the viewing more pleasurable and increases the likelihood of success.

There are other factors which influence the success of BL producers. The most popular BL live action from China, Addicted, was produced by the author, Chai JiDan, with a tiny budget. Its dangai family drama remake, Stay with Me, also has an interesting producer.

Source | Mame with her Japanese fans

Orawan Vichayawannakul’s MeMindY is another BL author led production company that has enjoyed considerable success.

OP Pictures’ entry into BL genre has also been successful.

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Solutions

#1 Let’s start with the worst

BL as money laundering vehicle. It is probably the most obvious, sort of win-win until it isn’t. Sustainability depends how much skin the ruling class have in the game.

#2 State sponsorship

(or better yet, tax payer supported BL production)

State sponsorship is what Thailand has perfected.

source | 2023 seminar on "Beyond Borders: Exploring the Global Appeal and Diversity of Thailand's Boys' Love Contents" by 9 companies from Thailand organized by Department of International Trade Promotion under Thailand’s Ministry of Trade.

The eleven speakers, including an official from the Office of Commercial Affairs, Royal Thai Embassy in Japan, vigorously pitched partnerships with Japanese content companies [at the above-mentioned seminar.]

Also, several of the companies pitching at the seminar, such as Star Hunter Entertainment […] were plumping for BL not as a niche product but rather a core element of their corporate strategy.

Halo Productions representative Tewarat Supunnium [trumpeted] the vertical integration of his company, from talent representation to contents distribution.

source

Thai BL has been big hits in China, South Korea, Japan, India, Indonesia, the Philippines, and beyond, which has motivated Thailand’s government to ‘deploy Boys Love as its latest soft power weapon to promote the country on the global stage’. In an article published in The Nation, BL director, Bundit Sintanaparadee, explains how that affects production.

He pointed out that the international popularity of Thai shows can boost tourism and generate interest in the featured locations – a vital aspect of soft power. The government can facilitate this process by providing support and streamlining the bureaucratic obstacles to filming in attractive locations like Bangkok’s Chinatown district of Yaowarat.

Filming in iconic places such as Yaowarat can be costly and complicated due to the need to coordinate with multiple government agencies and pay location fees. Bundit said the government could simplify the process to benefit not just filmmakers but also tourist revenue in the locations.

Bundit also cautioned against a top-down approach to soft power, where the government dictates what represents Thailand on the world stage. He emphasises the need for industry professionals to have their say.

source

In a 2022 article, Bangkok Post explores the impact of BL on Thailand’s economy ‘as export products that can draw lucrative revenue streams and foster business opportunities in other areas, including tourism.’

[According to government estimates from 2021,] Thailand's Y content market was worth more than 1 billion baht... In June that year, the Department of International Trade Promotion held an online Y content business matching event to boost the industry, with the participation of 10 Thai content creators. More than 360 million baht was generated from the purchase of the Thai content, with the top three buyers coming from Japan, Taiwan and Vietnam.

Noppharnach Chaiyahwimhon, GMMTV's senior director of content production, said [that the] business ecosystem linked to Y Series in Thailand shows a growth of 30-40% per year. [He also said that] Y Series can also be a boon for other businesses, such as films, artist management and merchandise. [He mentioned] Y Series from Thailand [getting] translated into several languages [and one of their Y Series having received theatrical adaptation in South Korea.]

[According to] Kanokporn Prachayaset, chief commercial officer and country manager of WeTV Thailand, … Y Series from Thailand is one of the most popular content genres on its platform. [Half of all the BL content on the platform was Thai.] WeTV [was] sourcing Y Series from Asia as well as having its own WeTV original shows by working with various local production houses, such as GMMTV, TV Thunder, Dee Hup House, M Choice Studio and All This Entertainment. [She also highlighted the contribution of the fan base, which is] active in organising activities and campaigns for their idols.

Seksan Sripraiwan, director of the Tourism Authority of Thailand's (TAT) Tokyo office, said the TAT and the Royal Thai Embassy have actively promoted the country by using Thai entertainment [and that] Thai BL content is considered one of the most popular recent cultural exports to Japan. Japan's market for Thai BL is around 1 million viewers, of which 20,000-30,000 are heavily active on social media sites for renowned BL actors, led by Bright-Win and Krist-Singto. He said Japanese tour operators already offered tailor-made tour packages which contain elements related to BL TV series, such as shooting locations like universities, cafes, Wat Arun or the Amphawa floating market.

Kanokkittika Kritwutikon, director of the TAT Chengdu office, said Thai BL TV shows have gained popularity in China, such as the coming-of-age series "I Told Sunset About You", which helped drive tourists to Phuket, the main location of the story.

"Most Chinese BL fans are millennial females who can offer long-term support for their favourite actors," Mrs Kanokkittika said. [Recognizing the 3 million strong queer population of Chongqing,] she said the LGBT segment could be categorised as luxury travellers as they are high-income earners, live in key cities, and want to spend more for travel experiences.

source

Earlier this year Ministry of Commerce have partnered with Be On Cloud and Idol Factory to promote ‘Thai products, services, tourism, and culture by incorporating them seamlessly into’ their new series “Shine” and “Pin Phak” aka “The Loyal Pin” respectively.

“This will help create around 2 billion in value for Thailand’s economy,” said Commerce Minister Phumtham.

Deputy Prime Minister and Commerce Minister Phumtham Wechayachai and two actresses, Becky and Freen, witness the signing ceremony between the Ministry of Commerce and Idol Factory Co., Ltd. on February 28, 2024....

According to the Department of International Trade Promotion, the Thai movie and series sector and related industries will generate 8,000 million baht in exports by 2023. In 2024, it will likely reach 10,000 million baht, particularly in the Y-movie and Y-series, which are expected to expand in value from 1,000 million baht to 2,000 million baht as a result of the Ministry of Commerce’s proactive cooperation with the private sector.

source

The Thai government’s efforts are paying off.

Oramon Sapthaweetham, director-general of the Department of Business Development, revealed that the Boys’ Love series had helped revitalise the film production industry, generating substantial profits and extending economic benefits to allied sectors, such as advertising, leveraging actors as influencers, event organisation, and tourism. 

"Over the past 10 years, Thailand has produced over 177 Boys’ Love [series], continuously gaining popularity and expanding its customer base, eventually leading to exports to international markets," Oramon added.

The film production industry in Thailand is witnessing substantial growth. In the first four months of 2024, 56 new businesses were registered, marking a 12% increase from 2023. The total registered capital also saw a significant rise of 146.44% to 195.18 million baht. In 2023, the industry grew by 20% with 137 businesses and a capital of 258 million baht. The total revenue in 2022 was 12.895 billion baht, indicating a continuous growth trend.

source

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#3 Diversification

Ok, so this is based on my limited knowledge and imagination. Feel free to skip.

There are two production companies that I have ever been interested in - Bhavana Studios and Mammootty Kampany. Both of them have produced experimental Malayalam movies while managing to remain commercially successful. While is partially attributable to these companies being brands, I think their overall strategy of diversification have worked in their favour.

Mammootty Kampany could produce art-house movie Nanpakal Nerathu Mayakkam for award circuits and with no expectation of commercial performance by banking on their other production Kannur Squad which was action entertainer sure to bring in the big bucks. Their queer family drama Kaathal – The Core and neo-noir psychological thriller Rorschach did exceptionally well in the box office as well as garnered critical acclaim. Bhavana Studios has similar track record of their commercially successful projects kind of cross subsidizing their experimental and unique projects and lifting the heat off in case of flops.

Having production companies which are aspirational in their approach to BL while having the economics sorted out help where government support is not forth coming.

Censorship as No-thing

When sometime is truly censored, we wouldn’t know. Unless we ask. Here’s what Jooyin Saejang learned from asking.

Conclusion

I have a strong preference for live action adaptations that are willing to go the last mile in terms of sexual content, social critiques and addressing real-life issues. That’s the reason why the header image for this BL side blog is from Moothon (2019).

But realistically this isn’t always possible. And I prefer having more production companies offering variety. I don’t want them to sink under the weight of BL that didn’t do well commercially and me being left at the mercy of media conglomerates with seemingly bottomless funds and monopsony over BL authors, original works and the culture that creates them.

Also, there is queer content from Korean that is neither mainstream nor from fu-culture. Support those. Unfortunately, Cheers by Cheers 짠!하면 알 수 있어 has been removed from their YouTube channel which is now called Cheer Up. While the series is gone, there are interviews with English subtitles.

Love in the Big City

Love in the Big City, the series and the movie are based on Park Sang-young's novel of the same name that was published in 2019. In Korea, it sold over 100,000 copies. Ever since, it has been translated into 15 languages, including English. The English translation by Anton Hur was published in 2021. The book has been longlisted for the International Booker Prize in 2022 and the Dublin Literary Award in 2023.

The movie secured an investor early on. The film was produced by Showbox and Tale Farming (고래와유기농). Michigan Venture Capital, a key investor, was responsible for 2 billion won out of the net production cost of about 6 billion won. Plus M Entertainment, a subsidiary of the JoongAng Group took care of its distribution. (source)

State-sponsorship for Korean BL !

The series, on the other hand, faced difficulty attracting investment as well as had trouble finding OTT platforms willing to air the show. It was co-produced by MerryChristmas, a subsidiary of WYSIWYG Studio' a KOSDAQ-listed company, along with Big Stone Studio. Mbrella Films provided production services in Thailand. They have received the state-support through Korea Creative Content Agency under Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism amounting to 3 billion won as production costs support aimed at strengthening the global competitiveness of K-content through OTT.

Finally, TVING, a platform that has aired multiple BL projects previously (such as Unintentional Love Story, Jazz for Two, To My Star 2, The Eighth Sense and High School Return of a Gangster), aired the series in South Korea and the streaming platform Rakuten Viki promoted it as a BL.

An iconic scene from bonus chapter 2 of The New Employee aka The New Recruit manhwa adaptation (web novel written by Moscareto and illustrated by Zec) ahead that didn't make it into the live action adaptation.

Gong comes home to find su in a sexy position at the doorway, fingering himself according to gong's instructions over phone.

[destroy-some-evil]

So... I'm watching Until We Meet Again while waiting for more episodes of The Sign (because I need more reincarnated soulmates please and thank you).

And I can tell the narrative says this:

But my theory presupposes that maybe:

Look I get it - the narrative really wants us to buy that Korn is the "strong silent" type and Dean, as his reincarnation, is similar in attitude but a way better Dom because he learned from his past life and became better at caring for his loved ones. Meanwhile, Intouch was the "adorable cinnamon bun" in the past who couldn't cook and occasionally pushed Korn's boundaries, and now as Pharm, who can cook (character development!), is basically the perfect sub to Dean's Dom (yes, I read @lutawolf's post about the soft D/s moments in the series and clicked subscribe -what off it). I get that's the story they are showing. Also, I like the story it's been fun to watch and I'm looking forward to the last two episodes.

But - but what if

Korn who basically was forced to be the strong silent type because he was the eldest and not allowed to be soft with how his dad raised him. He just wanted read literature volume 4 or what ever but circumstances and society expected different of him. I don't know there is something sweet to think that in his next life he gets to be that soft boy who likes cooking. Who still takes care of those around but he doesn't have to force himself to be the visibly strong one all the time. Both Korn and Pharm were both the ones who were initially afraid of what it meant to love this person in front of them.

Meanwhile, Intouch, who just wanted to care for Korn, makes that the core of who he is in his next life. He's not as carefree as he once was, but he still loves to be in the water. (All In's suggestions for vacations related to water. The beach vacation they took and the raft one they never got to do.) He still loves teasing his boyfriend and he still makes it his life goal to make him happy. Also, he can now at least follow directions for cooking but it's not something expected of him. And on a more serious note, he's more able to protect Pharm than Intouch was able to protect Korn. Korn probably would have never allowed Intouch to protect him because he had to be the one in charge; even if, maybe, he didn't want to be. Also, both Intouch and Dean are the ones who see their other half and go, "yes, that's him. He's the one I'm going be with for the rest of my life." No hesitation, just plans for how he's going put a ring on it. (I also have a headcannon that Dean was the one to suggest the red thread faculty tours. His fellow classmates tease that Dean's thread is already picked out for Pharm. And in the past Intouch is the one to tie the red thread on Korn.)

I also get that visually the show wanted to associate that Intouch and Pharm look similar and that Korn and Dean look similar because that makes it easy.

But you know what stupid romantic is this post about the Japanese legend that you have the face of the person you loved the most in your previous life (okay so the post applying that legend to Avatar the Last Airbender but it's still stupid romantic).

Apply that to these two and tell me it's not sweet and romantic to think that they get reborn into the same families they were originally in and that they are surrounded by people who loved them in both their lives and now those people have grown and learned to support them AND they have the face of the person who they loved most in their past life.

Yes, I'm late to the party (I only found found out about how to get easy access to Thai BLs in October 2023 - thank you @talistheintrovert) but I have thoughts. Also this was fun.

[ticklygiggles]

Lovelynim's tickletober Day 2: Accident

Ichikawa Giichi x Kikuchihara Jin

A/N: Day two! Big thanks to lovely @ppystkposts for requesting these two 😍 I'm so happy this manga got an anime because it's SO GOOD! I hope you enjoy it, cutie MWAH 💕

So far, in the story of my life...

"This time I really messed up!" Jin groaned in despair, looking at the mess on the floor.

This is what he got for taking things without permission. You shouldn't assume that your partner's things belong to you... especially when you know that there are things that don't really belong to them. Like that exquisite limited edition manga he just ruined!

Jin thought it would be a good idea, a very innocent good idea, to borrow the second volume of the bl manga that Giichi had lent him last night. He sat comfortably on the floor with his back leaning on Giichi's bed, the manga in one hand and a can of soda that Rei had given him in the other. Who would have thought that he would fall asleep for who knows how long and that when he woke up he would find that not only had the manga fallen from his hand, but also the soda can and the liquid had fallen on the book, completely damaging it.

Jin didn't even try to dry it, the soda had literally fallen on the manga like a fountain, no matter how hard he tried, he couldn't fix it with absolutely anything.

Giichi was going to kill him. Worse yet, he was going to break up with him! He could hear him already: 'Didn't I tell you clearly that these mangas belong to my little sister?! Couldn't you just wait for me to arrive?!'

"Oh no. Oh no. Oh no- eek!"

"Hi. I'm ba-"

"I am so sorry!" Jin yelled lifting the still dripping book up for Giichi to look at it. "I am so so so sorry! I swear it was an accident! I was dr-drinking some soda and then I fell asleep and- and it was all Rei's fault because he gave it to me! Agh, of course it wasn't his fault, I just-"

"Please tell me that's not a limited edition one."

"... I'm so sorry."

Jin flinched when he heard Giichi sighing heavily, looking up at him he saw him throwing his backpack to the side and rubbing his temples as he closed the door behind him.

"I'm so sorry! I'll- I'll get a new one! No matter what I'll definitely get it!"

"Do you even know what 'limited edition' means?"

Jin flinched. Of course he knew... it meant it was limited as in you can't get it anywhere else. He groaned, finally letting the dirty manga fall on the floor.

"I- I promise I'll get it! Punish me, Ichikawa Giichi, but please don't break up with me!" Jin clasped his hands together in prayer, his eyes nearly filled with tears. "Please!"

Giichi sighed again and he nodded. "Fine." Jin flinched when Giichi suddenly fell on his knees in front of him. "Just know that I'll punish you until I think it's enough."

Something fluttered in Jin's chest, his cheeks flushing. No! Why was he getting excited over a punishment?! He nodded, gulping and closing his eyes.

"You also need to clean up this mess."

"I-I will, I prom- ahahaha!" Ridiculous, bubbly giggles erupted from his lips when Giichi suddenly grabbed his sides and squeezed them, tickling him. Jin squirmed, widening his eyes for one second before he shut them tightly again. "W-Wahahahait! Not thihihis!"

He tried to hold his laughter, gritting his teeth and whining, but it was impossible. He has always been terribly ticklish and he hated the day Giichi had found about it during one of their intimate times. He had simply brushed his spine a bit too lightly, and Jin was a giggly mess in seconds.

He should've known Giichi would choose this punishment.

"Quiet down. You're being too loud."

"It tihihihickles! H-How cahahan Ihihi- ahahah! N-No, nohohot thehehere!" Jin was almost sure he heard Giichi chuckling, but with his loud, high-pitched laughter, he couldn't really tell.

Giichi's fingers moved up and down Jin's torso at maddening speed, preventing Jin from getting too used to one spot before jumping to the other. Jin fell back onto the floor and Giichi easily straddled him, finding that horribly ticklish spot on the back of Jin's ribs, very close to his spine. Jin squealed overwhelmingly loudly as he threw his head back and arched his body up, trying to escape Giichi's fingers, but he couldn't, and it was entirely his fault for ruining something that wasn't even his.

He deserved this... but he was still too ticklish and couldn't help but squirm and laugh uncontrollably, blushing up to his ears and feeling tears of laughter running down the sides of his face.

"You're already crying? I'm barely starting, you know?"

Ah, he would definitely never take anything without permission ever again.

BONUS SCENE

"You know...," Giichi said after he finished wrecking Jin. The poor third year was gasping and twitching after enduring the tickling of his life. "That really wasn't the limited edition one. It just has a different cover, that's all."

Jin blinked a couple of times before he lifted his face to look at Giichi, oh that little shit was smirking down at him. "You-! Then why did you- AHAHAHA! Nohoho! N-No, plehehease!"

"Because you shouldn't even grab my stuff without my permission. Serves you right."

Serves him right, indeed.

[talk-danmei-to-me]

Ranking my Autumn of Danmei: Results

A.k.a Another poll where my answers are completely different

Tumblr Ranking

1. Svsss/Scum Villain Self Saving System

2. Qjj/Ballad of Sword and Wine

3. Yuwu/Remnants of Filth

4. Bing an Ben/Case File Compendium

5. To Rule in a Turbulent World

My Ranking

1. Yuwu/Remnants of Filth

2. Qjj/Ballad of Sword and Wine

3. Bing an Ben/Case File Compendium

4. To Rule in a Turbulent World

5. Svsss/Scum Villain Self Saving System

Fangirling beneath the read more

1. Yuwu/Remnants of Filth

This will have come as no surprise to my followers. I adore Meatbun’s style of storytelling and vol 5 was SO GOOD! Ximang deserve the world and vol 5 was delivering. Yuwu also has some of the best dedication to angst I’ve experienced in a danmei.

2. Qjj/Ballad of Sword and Wine

I read the first vol straight off the back of 4 volumes of Yuwu and I think the book hangover coloured my view of it. After vol 5 of Yuwu I had more craving for military Danmei and omg did vol 2 deliver! Obsessed with Cezhou and the level of courtly politicking and intrigue is way up there with early game of thrones. Y’know when game of thrones was good. Also kind of Captive Prince vibes. I can see this one climbing significantly with each volume that releasing because it’s just so my jam!

3. Bing an Ben/Case File Compendium

Meatbun at her most unhinged and I am here for it! Literally for fans of bl as a genre there’s something so nostalgic about it. It’s channelling every toxic yaoi scanlation I’ve read. So good. He Yu and Xie Qingcheng are your new favourite straight men.

4. To Rule in a Turbulent World

I got so into this when I first started, it’s offering a bit of courtly drama and the protagonist is hilarious. Outrageous to give us that level of smut in chapter 3 as well. And we have another farm arc in danmei… one might start to suspect farming is a trope 😉 where I’m up to has got a little bit too wholesome though, but the writing style has me preordering every Fei Tian Ye Xiang book Seven Seas has licensed.

5. Svsss/Scum Villain Self Saving System

Full disclosure I dropped it 3/4 of the way through vol 1 but I’ve included it because of the amount of suggestions/reccs for it I’ve had since becoming a danmei blog.

The fandom makes me want to like this so much because it feels huge compared to series I’m actually ride or die for. Personally, I just don’t find it funny and I struggle with the transmigration/system aspects of it. It just makes the world feel fake (because it is) and investing is really hard. Luo Binghe was the only thing I vibed with.

I think part of the problem is that I branched out into other danmei instead of finishing all of mxtx’s works and mxtx just isn’t my favourite.

That’s not a slight on mxtx by the way, obviously she’s significant in the western danmei boom and getting the series I am insanely invested in licensed and I had a good time whilst reading tgcf and mdzs.

But for me I think it’s like how I first got into bl through Sekaiichi Hatsukoi (for others it was probably Junjou Romantica the analogy still works). Like I have a lot of love for it, but I wouldn’t class it as my favourite bl although the yaoi hands and pointy chins are 👌

Anyways, back to svsss and danmei… I’m in two minds now whether I should read or skip Misvil OR if reading Misvil will allow me to power through to complete svsss by conning me into reading transmigration since it’s supposed to be quite gritty.

[the-golden-comet]

✨Writeblr Interview✨

Thank you for tagging me @nczaversnick , @phynewrites , @mrbexwrites , and @foyle-writes-things ! Appreciate the heck out of y’all 💛✨

Short stories, novels, or poems?

Novels for sure, to read and to write! ✨

What genre do you prefer reading?

Same ones as I write—BL Romantasies, high fantasies, low fantasies, adult fiction, Slice of Life, Enemies to Lovers, Slow Burn, Hurt/Comfort, Angst/Fluff/Smut 💫✨

Are you a planner or a write as I go kind of person?

Little of column A, little of column B. I think a healthy balance between the two makes for some great planned (and unplanned) adventures! 💛✨

What music do you listen to while writing?

So funny thing….I don’t listen to music when I write. But, my favorite writing white noise is gameplay of Texas Chainsaw Massacre, Dead by Daylight, or Friday the 13th without commentary, played at a very low volume. Something about a revving chainsaw sparks my motivation to write (or maybe it’s fear? 🤔)

Favorite books/movies?

Anything Disney +mutuals’s stories ✨

Any current WIPs?

So far finishing up YWIMC before I move on to something big….👀✨I have a lot of stories on the back-burner and am focusing on one at a time 💛

If someone were to make a cartoon out of you what would your standard outfit be?

Very comfortable gray-knit turtleneck or hoodie, comfy pants, stylin’ shoes, and my bag of holding (numerous things. Backpack I carry around that has all my daily necessities ✨)

Create a character description of yourself:

Okay picture Link from The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword. Got it? Okay. Make him gay. Give him some cartilage piercings. Maybe a few eye bags due to the insomnia. There you go. ✨

Oh also make him chaotic good. Because the world needs more kindness, and I will give the world more kindness. The world does not have a choice in the matter. 🌏💫✨

Do you like incorporating actual people you know into your writing?

Considering what I write? Absolutely not.

Are you kill happy with your characters?

Depends on the character and the narrative. I like happy endings, but sometimes a character must die. 🤷‍♂️

Coffee or Tea while writing?

While I write? Water. While I wake up? Coffee. While I get ready for bed? Tea.

Slow or fast writer?

Fast writer, slow motivator. Once I get on a groove I can usually go on 5-6 hour writing binges at a time. I just have to get there first with all of my projects….🫠✨

Where/who/what do you draw inspiration from?

Myself mainly, and my friends and mutuals secondly. I’ve been writing for myself since I started making fanfictions as a teenager, so I’ll never NOT make stories for myself. Gaining a supportive community on writeblr has given me an extra boost of motivation, because now I feel like I’m writing for myself AND for my friends and mutuals ✨

If you were in a fantasy world, what would you be?

The person that somehow finds themself in harrowing situations only to stumble my way out of the problem through sheer coincidence and bullshit. Or a bard. Probably a bard. Maybe both of these things 🤔✨

Most fav book cliche:

Two dumb idiots (/positive) go on an epic quest and learn about each other in the meanwhile. (See: The Emperor’s New Groove)

Least favorite cliche:

One-trick pony characters that lack depth, or exist just to check off a box.

Favorite scene to write?

Anything involving the two main protags.

Reason for writing?

My own personal enjoyment, and to share my crazy mind with the world for entertainment and create joy and inspiration to a community of genius minds (You. I’m talking about you. Yeah, YOU. Keep writing, keep inspiring, and keep on keeping on) 💖✨

Thank you again! I’m going to tag (no pressure): @tragedycoded , @wyked-ao3 , @gioiaalbanoart , @sableglass , @words-after-midnight , @saturnine-saturneight , @marlowethelibrarian , @davycoquette , @lychhiker-writes , @glasshouses-and-stones , @aintgonnatakethis , @honeybewrites , @drchenquill , @theink-stainedfolk , @the-letterbox-archives , @ominous-feychild , @mysticstarlightduck , @finickyfelix , @autism-purgatory , @moltenwrites , @rivenantiqnerd , @thecomfywriter , @somethingclevermahogony , @authorcoledipalo , @houseplantblank , +open tag ✨

[chronicoverthinker]

So uhm since people are talking about my tiktok I’m actually kinda upset about two things :

1-them saying that I’m accusing mokmoklen of queerbaiting when I’ve literally put a GIANT red disclaimer saying that I am in no way accusing the author since the story it’s still ongoing and I was just going to make a rundown of what the author has done recently that has made many upset with the recent chapter

2-that after reading my 30 slides all they’ve got was me saying that the queerbaiting is because Yoshiki’s ancestor is a woman WHICH IS NOT THE CASE AT ALL.

What has actually upset many , me included with hikarugashindaupdates as well who’s a dear friend of mine , is how mokmoklen has been backtracking from the original idea of the story and is now trying to erase all the subtext and implications of their feelings for one another.

When the story first started it was advertised as BL and horror , and the kind of dynamic she wanted to develop for Yoshiki and Hikaru was way different compared to what we got now (I talked about this in detail in my video so if you wanna know more look it up).

Around the beginning of volume 3 a shift happened. It first started with mokmoklen deciding to remove the BL tag , which tbh at that time still didn’t seem like that big of a deal. Especially to me , I’ve always felt like the story didn’t need to specifically be categorized as BL for Yoshiki and Hikaru’s feelings to shine through.

But then she started to make clear how “Hikaru” CANT whatsoever feel or understand human love.

Now this is where the first problems start , because in the first volumes you can clearly see that THIS is not the case AT ALL.

And it’s not proven only by his overall behavior in the story , but also from the art she used to post.

To be fair I wouldn’t even been mad about Yoshiki’s ancestor being a woman if you told me in volume 1 , because to me it was clear that Yoshiki and Hikaru loved each other.

And fundamentally speaking , since the story is still ongoing , I know that Yoshiki’s ancestor being a woman doesn’t really take anything from the possibility of Yoshiki and “Hikaru” still ending up together. But what truly upsets me about this it’s the intentions and the meaning behind this choice.

Plus the fact that mokmoklen made it clear that now Yoshiki doesn’t feel anything for “Hikaru”. It also worries me how she still hasn’t made Yoshiki open up about his feelings for the real Hikaru either. It’s as if what was so clear to us in the first volume is now being precluded to us for whatever reason.

Hikaru and Yoshiki’s love for each other and their homosexuality is one of the main points that makes them who their are and why they act in certain ways. Their struggles to accept their orientations in a closeted and homophobic village are what makes them such layered and complex characters.

And I literally concluded by saying that I do NOT believe that if this ever turns out to be queerbaiting she ever intended for any of this to happen since the beginning. Something is going on in her life because she has delated most of her BL works on her private accounts

[respectthepetty]

Not a Review: Manner of Death - Manga Version

I got the manga versions of Manner of Death that were released in 2023, and y'all . . .

This is wild bananas! Bun has an older brother and ex-boyfriend in Bangkok even though he is in the closet and dating women as a cover. Tan is younger, has a sick mother, and he thought Jane died by suicide because she was sad he was gay. Bodies are dropping dead left and right until the very end. Sorn and That aren't even side crumbs because they are just a crumb, as in one single crumb and nothing else. Oh, and the inspector is married, to a woman.

Pretty sure it follows the novel closely, so congratulations to Screenwriter Title, who was also behind He's Coming to Me, Dark Blue Kiss, Love Stage, and Low Frequency, for condensing the novel and making the series into a BL because looking at (a version of) the source material, Title really balanced this bad boy out for the show.

Combined, the two volumes are over 500 pages, which, once again, even though they aren't the original novel, probably are close to it, and there is constantly something happening on every single page. If this is how the novel was, trimming it down to a fourteen-episode series took skill. I loved Manner of Death, but people had issue with some of the plot holes in the series. However, compared to these versions of the original novel, the show is very focused and balanced.

These two volumes are enjoyable. I'm glad I have them to add to my small manga collection of BL favorites with Old Fashion Cupcake and Our Dining Table, but this journey is a lot. Seriously, Bun walks out to the balcony after having sex with Tan on the very last page since they got engaged in New York after reconciling two pages before, and a body falls from the sky. The End.

I know Tan proposed to Bun by pretending they were being taken hostage with guns pointed at their heads in the series, but . . . it wasn't a dead body jumping out of nowhere, you know?

Now I see how Dead Friend Forever aligns with Sammon's style, which is a non-ending ending where something ends, then starts again. That also happened in Make a Wish. And I ain't mad at it! It's just a lot, all at once, constantly. But it helps me appreciation the show more. I got two gay men who never felt bad about being gay and scoffed with the inspector even suggested they were straight. I got murder-mystery and romance. And I got a settled ending with Tan and Bun married.

Oh, and I got that kiss in the very beginning.

So this isn't a review. It's an appreciation post.

Because Manner of Death, the series, is solid.

[stoopid-turtle]

Consuming Candies Pt 2: DD ❤️ GG and GG ❤️ DD

ALL FAKE. I'M MAKING SHIT UP FOR FUN. DON'T BELIEVE ME.

Intro post for this series

Once I convinced myself that DD and GG are some variety of gay, the rest is honestly not hard to conceive of. Two gay guys filming a BL adaption on a set that was open to same-sex relationships who got on really well...it's not hard to believe they'd "get together".

3. DD and GG had "a thing" around the time of the TU production. This could include the time period during filming and through the promo period. Actual timelines and details of the nature of the relationship are secondary.

If an actor and an actress hit it off as well as DD and GG did, it'd be easy for people to see that they were an item. For some reason, people struggle more to see that with two men (okay, I know the reasons, but I'm not getting into that here).

By the time I'd established 1 and 2, I'd seen enough bts and other footage to buy in to 3, as well, but here's the list of moments/candies that just nail it for me. It would be impossible for me to list out all the moments that simply scream "They're in a relationship!!!" because there's, just, a lot. So here's the short list, again, in order of most inarguable to more open to interpretation.

a) Old cow eats young grass.

That's it. That's the clip. There is no het explanation for that. I guess you could maybe claim DD was referring to GG liking younger women, but that doesn't flow with the rest of the conversation they're having. Especially with GG's comment about paying for new brake pads,

They did the gay together. More than just casually. They were an item at this time. Hands down. Case closed.

(Again, I'll get to the argument that this is all fabricated fanservice at another point)

b) The bts of DD getting into costume where he's quizzing the costume-jiejie about what GG said about him in an interview.

This is straight-up, cliche, 'shows up in freaking romance novels' behavior when you have a crush. Nobody's that concerned about what their friend is saying about them in interviews. You only care that much when you're trying to get a feel as to their feelings for you.

Also, the costume-jiejie is hilarious about it. Asking him about his response in an interview and then teasing him about not remembering what GG said about DD. She clearly has served as a sounding board for DD about his crush before, and she's amused and encouraging and teasing, all at the same time. Hats off, costume-jiejie.

c) Happy Camp moments: jealous!GG and the necklace.

I don't usually put much stock in the jealous GG/DD stories, but the instance with GG going grimdark as DD wriggled through the hole with another guy is just...again, I'm struggling to think of a context that would make sense that isn't "they are together and GG is jealous".

(I don't find jealousy cute, tbh, so I'm not jazzed about the moment. I don't know what was going on between them that led to that, but I'm glad they seemed to clear it up).

This leads to the other Happy Camp moment, seen only in fancams. The ox-head necklace that DD had been wearing scratched up his neck during the game. GG's stunned reaction to DD's injuries and his concern, plus clearly telling DD to take it off...none of this makes sense unless GG gave DD the jewelry.

Like, okay. I have a necklace my bff gave me, and I wear it a lot. It's really meaningful and sentimental. But if it were scratching up my neck, I'd take it off. If she were there while it was scratching up my neck, she'd joke about it and agree that I should take it off. She wouldn't look distraught.

My wife, on the other hand...

c) DDU's 11th anniversary episode

There's no way to describe this episode except that it really felt as if DD was having his new partner meet his fam. The fact that DDU stopped throwing women at DD after that speaks volumes.

From a), it's clear that their relationship was pretty serious (and extended after the end of filming), and having GG meet DD's DDU brothers is another indication of where their relationship was at. That's not a trivial thing.

d) GG's lack of chill during promo interviews.

I get the vibe that if they were in a relationship, GG was a lot more scared/nervous about it than DD was. He also had less experience with interviews and such. There are numerous moments where GG misunderstands, overreacts, or just acts weirdly during interviews that are hard to explain away.

- The "It's been a year" video, where DD points out that the camera is recording and GG balks at whatever he'd been saying. Cue the nervous laughter and whispered conversation between them. - The backwards pants interview question. - An interviewer asking him if being in a relationship means the end of his career (right after asking about his marriage plans--a question that made dd mad). - His weird denial of DD's waterfall story

In each case, something startles GG into a panicked silence. Then DD usually intervenes and so then GG has some nervous laughter.

Plainly, there's something he's afraid of being revealed in interviews. So much that he's seeing danger, even when it doesn't exist. Given the nature of the questions, we can see that the "thing" he's afraid of is

- him being in a relationship - something involving DD and him and a waterfall - and accidentally wearing someone else's clothes.

All involve DD. In all, DD is the one who relieves the panic and calms him down while smoothing over the interview.

It's not a leap to guess that he's in a relationship with DD that he's afraid people will find out. Sure, he'd want to hide a het relationship too, that makes sense. But then there's the pants question and the waterfall question. And the only way GG and DD's reaction to the question of whether being in a relationship would be the end of GG's career is if...GG and DD were in a relationship.

e) Hot pot.

Okay, this is where I start sounding crazy if I discuss this without prefacing with everything above ^^^. But the fact that their tastes in hot pot shifted over time to more align with each other is significant. I've read about the regional differences and how DD's sudden taste for spiciness could only really be attributable to GG, who's from an area with spicy hot pot.

This resonates with me, especially, because I was a hella picky eater when I met my wife. Like, embarrassingly picky. But then I met my wife, and she cooks and is a foodie and eventually, my palate just expanded. Now I'm a freaking foodie (and a vegetarian, like her), and our eating habits are pretty closely aligned.

Merging is real in longterm relationships. It looks like this. In my case, my wife demystified food for me with her cooking and likewise, it seems as if GG taught DD how to handle spicy stuff.

This wouldn't be significant on its own, but in conjunction with everything else *waves hands*...well, it's convincing to me.

In summary, it is blindingly obvious to me that they were a committed couple at some point after TU filmed and aired (when that commitment started is unclear, but I'm not gonna get into that here). Even after 227, it's clear that they're romantically together. I'm 100% convinced of this. Since I started drafting this, I've come across older mentions of (now gone) bts that just...there's no doubt. They weren't hiding it on set. They were just out there, exhausting everybody around them with their chaotic flirting/mating dances. It's insane and I love it.

4. DD and GG are still together.

Me: So I've been watching behind the scenes for The Untamed, and I think the two actors maybe had a thing? There's just...a lot going on there. My wife: Sounds gay. Me: I mean, some people seem convinced that they're still together because of shoes or something. That gets real out-there. But I definitely wouldn't be surprised if they had a thing during filming. My wife: (who only watched the show) I could see it. They had that chemistry.

(2 weeks later)

Me: Honey, I swear I sound crazy but I'm not. These two guys were totally together and I think they might still be together. My wife: Because of shoes? Me: I SWEAR I'M NOT CRAZY, HONEY, JUST BELIEVE ME My wife: Yes, dear. Their shoes make them gay. Me: *sobs*

When I first started dipping into things, I felt a great sadness watching older videos of them, because I'd heard that they weren't allowed to interact in public, that they probably didn't even talk to each other anymore, etc etc. YouTube's full of this, and the fans who say they're still together look, well, crazy.

It's easy to conclude they're not together anymore given that so much early evidence of their relationship is based on videos/audios. The bts, joint interviews, fan meetings, etc. We were spoiled with up-front and personal visuals of their dynamic. It's not a surprise that in the absence of that, most people just assume they don't talk or interact much anymore.

Not to mention, wandering in some years later, you get a massive dopamine hit with the bts and the promos and then there's a drop when you try to look for more recent stuff. When we could see it, their relationship seemed to alive. So real. So undeniable. But in the absence of that, the immediate instinct is to assume that lack of visibility = lack of existence.

But we have only ever seen a small slice of their lives, most of which has been selectively shown to us by them or by production companies. Both DD and GG have full lives when we're not around to see them. They each have their own career trajectories. They have vastly different hobbies and both of them have their own friend groups. We only get a glimpse of all of that, but that doesn't mean that's all there is. Especially now, when they're sharing fewer personal posts and China is cracking down on the entertainment industry.

No doubt, we only know the tiniest, most tailored portion of their personal lives these days. But back in 2019-2021, they were clearly together. Their relationship was clearly serious. They joke about shared financial decisions, get introduced to each other's on-screen and off-screen family, visit each other's set. Both of them seemed in it for the long haul.

Given that, I don't see why we should assume they have broken up just because we're years later and we don't get the joy of seeing them together anymore.

Don't get me wrong, I don't think a break-up is impossible. Couples break up. Even couples that have been together for a while. Even couples who adore each other and try to make things work. It happens.

But there's no reason to assume that they're broken up just because we haven't seen them together recently.

I do have a couple "reasons", but this evidence won't convince anybody who doesn't believe they were ever a couple. It's only when you accept that, yeah, these 2 BL actors are actually gay and in a long-term relationship, that this seems reasonable.

a) The bone necklace.

I'm pretty well certain that the ox-head necklace was a gift from GG. The timing of the bone necklace's appearance, plus DD's attachment to it (similar to his attachment to the ox-head necklace), makes it a decent guess that the bone necklace was also a gift from GG.

We can kinda guess at the meaning. I've only seen one clip where GG has called DD gouzaizai, so I don't know if that's an actual "thing" between them. (though it's not outside the realm of possibility that they are influenced by bjyx fandom).

In any case, the bone necklace is still around. Still being worn. That's notable to me.

b) They could end this ship if they wanted to.

They have both had other pairings shut down. The fandom wars between turtles and solos is intense and causes disruption, something neither of them need. The solo fanbases are huge and it'd be a no-brainer to jettison the CPFs if you want to cut down on the type of fandom upset that gets unwanted government attention.

But they haven't.

They could have the supertopics shut down. DD could avoid being anywhere near the number 3. They could both dive into a bush rather than be around the color yellow or a turtle. DD could take a video of himself melting down the bone necklace or giving it to a pretty woman. They could starve the fandom.

But they haven't.

They keep around their gay CP, despite not publicly interacting with each other in years. They take down articles about them breaking up, pull down hot searches about them with actresses, and continue to feed the fandom with candy.

Most recently, GG went to work late on the days DD was out sick. That's not even an intentionally thrown candy. That's just us noticing a couple taking care of each other. If they weren't together, then GG, whose team certainly knows about DD being sick, could have avoided doing anything that would make it seem like he was involved with DD during that time.

But he didn't. Either their teams don't care about turtles, which seems difficult to believe given the conflicts that have arisen within the fandoms, or the teams (notably, gg and dd) want to keep turtles around. At this point, years past the point the show is out, years past the time the two have even been seen together, there's no rational business reason to hold on to the turtles.

That's not neutral. They're not keeping turtles engaged for economic reasons. They're not keeping turtles engaged just for shits and grins (the joke has run a little long for that). They're keeping turtles around because they're getting something of value from having us around.

Honestly, I think having a huge contingent of cpf cheerleaders is probably comforting when they aren't allowed to express their feelings for each other publicly. It's probably weird and sometimes probably intrusive, like most stuff with fans, but they still have millions of people who embrace them as a couple when they live in a country that is hostile to their relationship. Who in that situation wouldn't want to keep that?

In sum, I had to get past the "too good to be true" hurdle. The automatic dismissal of BL fangirl fantasies. I mean, BLs often market to those fantasies, so a healthy dose of skepticism seems reasonable. I don't honestly blame people for dismissing it when they only have a passing familiarity with the whole thing.

It took a lot for me to see past that, and to see that this is the one case (that I'm aware of) where the fantasy is real. I think it's notable that this "fantasy" doesn't actually look like the fanservice fantasy often served up in BLs. I mean, ggdd have their moments, but they're also snippy, jealous, possessive, lewd, awkward, and just plain weird sometimes. They're real and that's messy and that makes it even more real.

In the next part of this little series, I'll talk more about the fanservice question, plus fanfic, and The Timeline. That post requires more editing, so it probably won't go out until next week.

Just remember it's all fake and nothing I say is true.

[trashexplorer]

BLCD Review: Ikigami & Donor

Title: Ikigami to Donor (イキガミとドナー)

Author/Artist: Yamanaka Hiko

Shop: CD + Manga

Release Date: 2021/12/03

Cast: 

Nakajima Yoshiki x Saitou Souma

Yamashita Seiichirou + Kawanishi Kengo

Kobayashi Chiaki

Yashiro Taku

Komada Wataru

Hayashi Miho

Shiozaki Tomohiro

Higa Ryosuke

Abe Ryouma

Torashima Takaaki

Oota Kensuke

Nakashima Takuya

Fujita Mami

Miyama Mari

Souya Kazuki

Synopsis: 

"Your blood and flesh, all of it is mine." An ikigami and a healer, together their souls support each other, blooming into love...

In the distant future, ordinary teacher Yoshino learns that he is a "donor" for the strongest species, the "ikigami." These warriors are tasked with protecting the country. "The unique ability of a donor is to use their bodily fluids to heal ikigami." Yoshino learns this fact and is shocked. Thus, Yoshino is forced to live with Kidou... At first, he is like a beast, demanding Yoshino's bodily fluids, but slowly, the underlying loneliness begins to show...

"Someday, if I met a donor, could they come to love me? That thought is the only reason I survived..."

Review Proper

I can’t believe Yamanaka Hiko’s been terrorizing me for over twelve years now. OH MY GOD I’M SO OLD. And true to the Yamanaka Hiko brand, this turned out to be another fantasy masterpiece (read His 500 Years of Suffering Romance). This was definitely the type of thing that would do great even without the BL aspect of it. Now, I did have an issue with Kidou being an asshole (he's almost killed Yoshino more than once), so I’m not excusing it. But I do get how and why he turned out to be like that and I'm aware that it's important for his character development. The world-building was great, don't get me wrong, but it's definitely dubcon 2015. I would strongly advise you not to get into it if that's a deal breaker for you.

Anyway, onto the voice work.

Souma used a tone so close to Gucci's that I kept imagining Gucci being Yoshino. Yes, I didn't read the manga while listening to the BLCD. It was like after graduating Karasuno, Gucci went on to become a teacher, then a donor lmao. His Yoshino panics more like Honda-san, however, so my final verdict is that his Yoshino is half-Gucci, half-Honda-san.

This isn't Nakajiki and Souma's first rodeo, but I'm glad to say that their performance/dynamic here is different from Mikeneko and XL Size. I expected Kidou to be a mix of Amano and Anaconbayashi-kun 'cause the former was cocky and the latter was stoic, but Kidou was only 50% of that mix and 50% brooding, suffering, I'll-protect-you top. Am I even making any sense? Again, I listened to the BLCD first, but the sound direction they gave Nakajiki was very different from what I thought he'd sound like after I read the manga. It’s almost like what happened with OnoD’s expressive Hasebe-kun in the Kotonoha BLCD vs the more stoic Hasebe-kun in the manga. 

The voice work of our two leads was 👌. This might just be my fave out of their pairings 'cause the sex isn't over-the-top like XL Size and Mikeneko. I will say that I wasn't completely sold on Yamashita Seiichirou as Shibata-san 'cause I feel like he speaks too slowly, but I'm sure it'll grow on me by the time I listen to their spin-off. KawaKen was fine. My heart broke for him every time Shibata-san rejected him, so it's safe to say he's got Taki-kun down already.

Oh. I did have a slight issue with the sfx too. Why was it so watery??? Lmao. Even r18 otome cds aren't that wet. But it's not so glaring that it'll turn you off.

The BLCD was almost perfectly accurate to the manga. I highly recommend this to those learning mid to higher levels of Japanese. Futekiya has licensed volumes 1 & 2, so please try to support the official release if you can. I'd be lying if I said that I agree with how they translated it so... literally?, but I think it's also important to see how things are translated that way if you're aiming to dip your toes into translation aside from studying the language. For example, they used "Living God" throughout the manga instead of "Ikigami." It's correctly translated, but I personally prefer retaining the original title. You know, like how Viz uses "Kaiju no. 8" instead of "Monster no. 8?"

God knows if I'll ever survive the spinoff that I wanted to work on. I avoided talking about it for a reason lmao. Anyway, if y'all liked this, then please give 500 Years (Ono Yuuki x Suzuki Tatsuhisa) and Shortcake no Ichigo Sawaranaide (Nojima Hirofumi x Takeuchi Ken). These two are android bls and Ikigami to Donor is more guide bl, but they both share a futuristic vibe.

[djeterg19]

There seems to be a contention that Only Friends is not a romance. And indeed it is absolutely not capital R romance. It is a drama with a love story. First, it's important to understand that a romance and a love story are not interchangeable. A capital R romance, per the RWA(an organization that we shall not discuss due to a myriad of reasons that are not important here), that has two main components. First, the main plot centers around individuals falling in love and struggling to make the relationship work. Second, it has an emotionally satisfying and optimistic ending which most aficionados of the genre simplfy to mean it has either a hea(happily ever after) or hfn(happy for now). And well Only Friends is not this. At all.

Now what is a love story? This is a sticking point because some people think all love stories should be considered romances. Isn't love and romance the same thing? No, not when we are discussing literature or movies/tv and genre distinctions. A love story can be part of any drama, or fantasy, or scfi. The romance is not the main focus of the story. It's just one element of the story. Also, the characters tend to be more complicated and flawed and a happy ending is not guaranteed. Often in a love story, the couple will get together early on but external forces(*cough*) separate them and that may or may not prevent them from ending up together since a happy ending is not guaranteed in a love story(any of this sounding familiar?).

Why do I think that TopMew is in a love story that is going to have a happy ending? First, they got together fairly early. Their main conflict was caused by an external force(Boston lying/manipulating Top into cheating). Their breakup was much earlier than in any romance(that waits until the third act which is why there's a dreaded 11th episode breakup/drama in BLs which are capital R romances). I literally wished for a breakup when we got one because that would give the show time to rebuild the relationship. We have four episodes left and there are signs that both are still in love and yearning for each other despite the pain they are in. Mew asking Top why he had to be an asshole is a sign that he still loves Top. That they would still be together without it. The song at the end of episode 8 starts playing as Top is staring down at Mew has the following lyrics play over their scenes:

The season is about to alter, The storm will soon be over

But it's not just the wind that will disappear

It takes you with it, far away from here

What am I doing after this, Is resist that strong wind

No matter how much pain I must take in

I'll wait until you are back by my side

You keep my dreams so much alive

I insist on waiting, I will be here loving

To keep us together, I'll do anything

It cuts away for the montage and comes back to Top and Mew and ends with the following lyrics:

I'll wait until you are back by my side

You keep my dreams so much alive

Now I know many people did not view that as a romantic scene for various reasons but...if it was not intended that way, then Jojo and the team picked the absolutely wrong song with the wrong lyrics if they were not trying to signal there is hope for this relationship to survive. And the music has been so well chosen this series I doubt that there could be such a serious miscommunication in intend with this song. This is the ending shot of the episode:

And that speaks volumes in my opinion.

[mahounomanga]

Kurumi-tic Miracle

In the early days of the genre, it was relatively common for magical girls to have more open-ended power sets. Rather than having one or a few set applications, their magic could do just about anything. Since the turn of the millennium, most magical girls have powers designed for a specific task, such as fighting evil, but today I want to take a look at a character from the early 2000s whose powers can do anything she puts her mind to.

Kurumi-tic Miracle is a 2003 manga by Chitose Yagami. It stars a run-of-the-mill schoolgirl named Kurumi Nanami, who lives with her grandfather in the oddities shop he owns, together with her pet hamster, Momo. One day, while helping clean the shop, Kurumi discovers a mysterious magic stone that affixes itself to her wrist in the form of a bracelet. With this magic bracelet, any wish she makes will instantaneously come true. Initially she uses this power to pursue her crush, Naoki, but as the two gets closer, it becomes clear the magic stone has a bit of a history, and the potential to cause problems.

Kurumi-tic Miracle was serialized in Ciao magazine from the February 2003 issue to the April 2003 issue: a three chapter run. These chapters were compiled into a single tankobon volume on June 21, 2003 by Shogakukan under their Flower Comics imprint, along with a couple of Yagami's older one-shots. A digital re-release, also by Shogakukan, was made available on July 10, 2015. Official translations were released in Indonesian and Chinese, but not English. However, a fan translation by the group Da Gurlz Translationz is available for all five chapters, including both one-shots, and can be found on various unofficial manga sites.

The series was created by Chitose Yagami, a shoujo manga author who debuted in 2001 with Magical Project, a one-shot which was later included in volume 1 of Manga Mitaina Koi Shitai! a.k.a. Fall in Love Like a Comic, one of her more popular works which was even officially printed in English by Viz under their Shojo Beat imprint. Much of Yagami's work contains elements of romantic comedy, middle/high school slice of life, magic and the paranormal, and working in the entertainment industry, be it modeling, music, or manga. She is still active to this day, both professionally and on social media. Her most recent manga, a BL series titled Shoujo Manga no Hero ni naritai no ni Heroine Atsukaisareru Ore., began serialization in 2021 and is still ongoing. None of her works would get career-definingly popular, but Kurumi-tic Miracle was successful enough to land her her first autograph session, so that's cool. It seems she didn't do much adapting of existing work, save for contributing to a shoujo Inazuma Eleven anthology in 2011. That same year, her manga Oresama Kingdom (Kings of My Love) got picked up for a direct to video anime adaptation, running for 14 episodes of 11 minutes apiece until 2013. This was the only manga of hers to get an anime adaptation, and it got a Nintendo DS game too, also in 2011. This was the second video game based on a Chitose Yagami manga, the first being Kiss x Kiss for the GBA in 2004.

Speaking of video games, this came up a lot in my research so I just want to point out that this series is unrelated to the 1997 Playstation game Kurumi Miracle, in which a young witch whose name is also Kurumi goes to an island to hone her magic by helping the local townsfolk.

Because Kurumi-tic Miracle is so short, it's difficult to recap the plot without giving spoilers, so if you'd like to go into the series blind, I advise you to do so before reading the rest of this post.

The manga starts off as a pretty straight forward slice-of-life romcom with magical hijinks, but the more we learn about the love interest Naoki, the clearer it becomes that something is amiss. He has a rather distinctive ring, and he seems very interested in Kurumi's bracelet. It turns out there is another magic stone, and the person who controls it wants them both to himself. The plot reveal is that this person is not Naoki, but his little brother, Satoru, who found the other stone by chance and became corrupted by its' power. He has bequeathed unto Naoki a fraction of that power for the purposes of collecting the other stone.

The magic systems in Kurumi-tic Miracle are really interesting to me. Because the scope of what they can do is so broad, the characters are limited only by their imagination, which gives us a stark contrast in how Kurumi and Satoru use their powers, despite those powers deriving from the same source. Kurumi's magic tends to be cuter, more harmless, and at times downright childish. Satoru's magic is scarier, emblematic of his ruthless attitude, and representative of a genuinely serious threat.

To pad out the tankobon release, two of Chitose Yagami's one-shots were included. The first, 2003's Dokitto Boys X Love (just Boys X Love in the fanslation), is sort of a comedy-of-errors in which a teenage girl accidentally switches bodies with her favorite male idol, and the two have to stick together as she learns his routine. It's not especially groundbreaking, but it's cute. The second is titled Otokomae!? Jajauma Musume, which I thiiink roughly translates to Boyish Selfish Girl. The fanslation uses the title I Love Tomboy. It was originally published in 2001 and according to Weblio was Yagami's second ever manga after Magical Project. It's a romantic comedy in which a tomboy attempts to become more feminine to win over her bully... which sucks. It sucks so bad. This one-shot is infuriatingly gender essentialist and sexist. A lot of effort goes into categorizing what separates girls from boys, all of it very stereotypical, and even though the resolution is that the protagonist is more comfortable being herself, the message is lost in all the steps it takes to get there. She does have some personal struggles with wondering if she's really a boy after all, and there's a plot twist that the elder sister figures who helped her throughout were actually crossdressers the whole time, so I'm sure you could read some queer subtext into this if you wanted to, but that is VERY clearly not what was intended. I hate it.

Taken on its' own, Kurumi-tic Miracle strikes me as a diamond in the rough. Most of the flaws I can point to in the main story could easily be alleviated if it were given more room to breathe. Three chapters just wasn't enough for me to get fully invested in these characters or their world. Despite this, the core concept shines through. This manga had some genuinely intriguing ideas about its' magic systems and how they can be applied for creative problem solving at a time when that modality of magic was becoming increasingly rare, despite the magical girl genre as a whole reaching market saturation at around this time. It's short and cute, even if it's not particularly substantial. It's very of a type, but if this is a type you tend to enjoy, I highly recommend checking it out.

[dribs-and-drabbles]

Observations on ep 10:

(I'm sure that music was used in BBS...)

Redemption!

I've never really understood that arm/handholding thing that bl characters do...I've never questioned it before but the lingering camera shots on Top and Mew here has made me want to now...I think it bothers me. I find it odd from a body language perspective. Is it a cultural thing? I've never done it to someone or had it done to me - any thoughts from anyone else?

Oh and I find hugs where one person leaves their arms hanging are always awkward. If someone didn't put their arms around me I would break that hug so fast. I don't know how these characters stay hugging someone who doesn't hug them back. *shudders*

MOND!!

I've never heard those bass notes before the opening credits music kicks in! I'm sure it's just been silent before... *runs away to check* Oh, they've always been there but it's definitely louder on ep 10 than ep 1 - I've obviously had my volume too low to hear it before now.

"To solve the problem you must first admit there is one". And "I don't want to sing at your funeral". Sand slapping some truths on the table.

Why do I get the feeling that Boeing is a shit-stirrer?!

Now that it's come to mind, I can't stop thinking about Papang and Poppy together. Sorry Mark (and Pepper) but I'm rooting for a different ship now.

*incoherent screaming* I just love Khaotung as an actor!!

Oh Atom 😂 smh

I feel sorry for Boston tbh.

I somehow knew Mew was going to push Top in the pool. It's what I would have done. 😂 (But also, more bbs music).

Ooops, accidentally liking Boeing's photo. We've all been there Mew, we've all been there 😂

Yeah, Boeing wasn't 'stolen' from Sand by Top. He's a minx who likes to flirt and shit-stir and get around.

(Have I seen that stripy vest in MSP?)

Is that jealous Boston activated?! Me thinks they're not talking about phones and phone cases... OMG I love these two.

Boeing: 'be with someone who won't cheat on you'. Uh Mew...that is not Boeing. I wouldn't trust him as far as I could throw him.

ANOTHER KISSING PAIR @ranchthoughts!! (I know you know but I need to shout at you anyway)

THAT'S THE DON'T SAY NO HOUSE @colourme-feral!! The 'holy guacamole' house!

Oh nooooooooo Ray's dad paid Sand to encourage Ray to go to rehab. Now Ray knows and it's going to deter him from going. Noooooooooo.

Oh wow. Oh....... Wow. Just wow. Khaotung and First. I just... WOW. But also, it's Ray's turn to slap some truths in Sand's face.

Oooo I don't trust Mew. I think Boeing got to him.

I do like Mond playing evil though.

Oh, ohhhhhhhhhh Boeing is vindictive. I want to feel sorry for Top but...I need more of their backstory first...and Top's motivations for being with Mew...so, the jury's out for now.

Neo does 'kicked puppy' really well.

Oh Mark is incredible. He does that switch from cocky to vulnerable so well.

Just, *takes a deep breath*, THIS SHOW IS SO FRICKING GOOOOOOOOD *incoherent screaming*

See my other post for an serious in-depth meta essay on this ep.

[rifki16]

At 25:00, in Akasaka Episode Five Review

Photo Credit: At 25:00, in Akasaka Twitter Promotional Account.

A hot and spicy gnocchi meal without any protein, yes just the pasta and the sauce

I stand by my ground that the Live-Action has the right to do whatever it wants with the essence of what Shirasaki and Asami are going to look like, as long as they really stick to the core of what the couple is, I really don’t care how they are going to present the couple in the series. However, you then begin to wonder what exactly are Shirasaki and Asami? No, I’m not talking about them as a couple, but as individuals. I have let the show make Shirasaki this, almost, destitute actor, who never really does huge TV or theater works, and made him to see himself so low that he couldn’t really process what being in love is. Asami is sort of hollow. We don’t really see him in the past five episodes. He’s just there as the sort of a sage to Shirasaki, again, even though that Shirasaki was supposed to be the theater kid one. We don’t really know how he feels about stuffs, he’s just there. I don’t know, I think my tolerance of the way the LA is handling the two characters is running out.

I have three themes which I find very troubling in this episode.

The Wrong Room Incident

I understand that the show wants to be PG. Go at it, I really don’t think that sanitizing a work can harm a work’s core message that harmfully. I think I have written in the pilot episode review that the series seems to delete the gay emphasis of the work and focus more on love in general. You know what, sure, let’s see how it goes.

This is when their insistence of making the show PG gets tricky, though not impossible to achieve, in realizing the momentous wrong room incident.

Let me paint what the manga actually says about the incident, this is the best to my recollection, please correct me if I have some of the details wrong. The wrong-room incident was portrayed in the second volume. It was after the fake series become successful, Shirasaki got his well-deserved fame, and became a star in another drama. Side note, I suppose this is how the Japanese entertainment industry works, after every hit TV series, they will often get a film immediately afterwards, for Japanese BL works I can think of Cherry Magic the LA, My Beautiful Man, even I can argue that Sasaki to Miyano also has the same project evolution.

Anyway, so, in the manga, Shirasaki was elated to work for the fake drama sequel because he could work with Asami again, finally. This relief was very important to Shirasaki as Shirasaki-kun has become addicted to Asami’s pole and as he was not working with Asami, in addition to Asami’s eepy behavior, Shirasaki-kun couldn’t really ride the pole that frequent. Hence, why working for the fake film sequel became that much important. In the set of the fake film sequel to the fake TV drama, the couple was introduced to Kazuma. Kazuma was not that big of a threat at first. He’s hot, many actors are hot. Then, however, the wrong room incident happened.

Shirasaki just took a bath, and he was very woozy from the long trip and the bath. However, he really wanted that pole, yes, he was that addicted to the pole. So, he went out from his room, in his bathrobe, wanting to go to Asami’s room “to rehearse lines” – yes, I know very indicative of many actors BL series, the “I just want to rehearse my lines” subplot as seen in I Became the Main Role of a BL Drama, Dakaichi: I’m Being Harassed by the Sexiest Man of the Year, and Love Stage. Shirasaki accidentally went to Kazuma’s room. Kazuma was of course confused by the sight of Shirasaki and wondered why Shirasaki-kun was looking for Asami. As Asami’s room was next to Kazuma, the three of them have their rooms next to each other, Asami found Shirasaki in Kazuma’s hand. Asami immediately, without skipping a heartbeat, took Shirasaki and brought him to his own room.

Isn’t that badass bro? Let me see this from Shirasaki’s perspective, right? He has his dignity. He wants that pole, so he works for that pole. He really shows to the audience that he’s Asami’s and he’s going to work for what he knows lovers do. That bravery is non-existent, so far, in the LA. Kazuma became a threat to the couple because of the incident, in which, he saw that Shirasaki could make that face, the sensual face of a horknee man, and Kazuma wants it, meaning the spontaneous natural genuine reaction of Shirasaki, all for himself. Well, I don’t want to spoil things further, what he actually wants is to eliminate a love competitor and making sure that Shirasaki falls out of Asami was a good move in achieving that. Asami was also a badass by saying it outright to Kazuma, a budding actor or in other words his competitor, that Shirasaki is his boyfriend. Consequences be damned.

This scene was very important for the series as it allows a chaos agent to mess up the relationship, to test the relationship. Kazumi became a threat naturally, not just because that he’s a prankster or something. Shirasaki and Asami became more solid in their romantic relationship because of the incident as they know now that a threat is among them, or maybe among us. Sorry for the old joke.

How did the Live-Action handle the scene? So, they went to the remote scene. Kazuma was already quite a weird prankster or just someone who doesn’t respect Shirasaki’s boundaries. However, Shirasaki and Asami were not a couple already and so Kazuma’s portrayal as a threat was not really that clear. Kazuma just looked like a sexual harasser to Shirasaki, that’s all. When they got there, Kazuma invited Shirasaki to the onsen because Kazuma-san heard that the onsen in the hotel is great. Shirasaki declined. Shirasaki then texted Asami when he was already in his room that he had declined the invitation and he wanted to come to Asami’s room to do couple things. Sure, whatever. Then, Shirasaki still went to the onsen all by himself. Huh? Why? Wouldn’t he be afraid that Kazuma might be there? Considering that he was the one who invited him there? After soaking himself in the onsen, he wabbled to Asami’s room. Side note, I’ve been to many onsen before, it’s a very common reaction after dipping yourself in onsen.

He mistakenly went to Kazuma’s room. Kazuma and Shirasaki were confused, Kazuma was wondering why Shirasaki was standing before him and Shirasaki was confused why Kazuma was in what he thought Asami’s room. Asami heard all the commotions, got out, stood in the foyer for a while, before immediately snatching Shirasaki and said to Kazuma, “Do you have anything to say?”. What is happening. What?

Asami then let Shirasaki enter Asami’s room, where the weirdest interaction I’ve ever seen so far happened. Asami apologizing, then Shirasaki apologizing for being late, AND THEN Shirasaki asked whether Asami was being mad? I’m lost yall. This whole scene became hollow without the grounded characterizations of Shirasaki and Asami. This is why I think the almost sexual harassment of Kazuma to Shirasaki didn’t really fly as well as how the Manga portrayed it.

They also made Kazuma to potentially have a crush on Shirasaki now. I don’t know I’m so shattered right now.

ASAMI IS STILL CONFUSED AS TO WHETHER HE’S IN LOVE WITH SHIRASAKI OR NOT

I don’t think this is pardonable. I have written quite a lot, and I don’t think that this theme was supposed to be developed in this episode either as this was brought up in the last minutes of the episode. I think they will have plenty of time to develop this in future episodes.

Okay sure, in the manga, Asami was the one who already had a crush on Shirasaki since undergrad years. They can surely change it for the LA. However, it was also even in the pilot episode that Asami wanted to tell Shirasaki that they went all the way back to undergraduate years in university. Shouldn’t that mean that Asami already have romantic feelings for Shirasaki? I mean I was so triggered when this scene came up, and then to see the lines that Asami actually always had a crush on Shirasaki all this time in the teaser for episode six. I don’t know man, this show is messing with how I perceive the manga.

ASAMI IS A SEMI OUT GAY MAN

Bro, this is what I meant by the fact that the series is erasing the gay component of the manga. In the beginning of volume two, chapter one, there was a scene when people were commenting that maybe Asami and Shirasaki are going out, because Shirasaki went to live with Asami. Well, people only knew that Shirasaki lived in the same building as Asami, and people connected the dots. People could make the connection because they knew that Asami is this badass of a gay man, but he’s not that out-out ya know. He teased a male MC in a talk show, he confirmed that he frequented a gay bar. These, well fantasy-based, representations of how an almost out gay actor is what makes it very believable that Asami and Shirasaki are going at it like rabbits. I mean, Asami is very confident in his own body, hence why he’s not shy away from channeling its need to have sex with Shirasaki’s.

I don’t know man, I think the LA is just too sanitized.

Regardless, I think yall should still watch the episode. It’s still quite endearing.