#i really love fumiya and who ritsu is now

[heretherebedork]

Fumiya appears to have taken care of Ritsu in their relationship and felt ignored and now he's reminded of how it felt when Ritsu appreciated his efforts but it only reminds him of how much it hurt when that ended and as much as he misses their relationship he's still hurt from how it fell apart and how Ritsu didn't even seem to realize it was falling apart and he said this was a fresh start but he's not taking the fresh start so I wonder what Fumiya really wants versus what he thinks he wants.

[bl-bracket]

So I know this is sort of unrelated to the brackets, but you seem familiar with a lot of bls since you run this blog and have a large following of bl enthusiasts. I think it would be cool if there could also be a way to give people recommendations (you or your audience) so we could be more familiar with all the people in the polls (besides just watching a show blindly).

Oh this sounds like a lovely idea! I've definitely already discovered dramas that I hadn't known about before through this (I mentioned in my response to the question about my favorite BLs but I discovered DNA Says Love You from someone submitting one of the characters from it lol). I've only really been in the BL fandom for about a year and a half, so I have lots more I can learn and would love to hear more about dramas that I might not be as familiar with from y'all too!!!

During the submissions period when we don't have any active polls going on, feel free to send me any recs for dramas and I can publish them here! Could be especially smart if you have some lesser known characters you want to give a better shot at winning! I'll use the tag #show propaganda

I can start by giving a few recs of some of my favorite lesser known dramas! (Though y'all can give recs for well known dramas as well!)

Ghost Host Ghost House (2022): Kevin has come from America to visit his extended family in Thailand and to also do some ghost-hunting for his ghost hunting show online. While he's there, he meets Pluem who works for his family and is also terrified of ghosts. Things get more complicated when it becomes increasingly clear that Kevin's family is hiding something from him. I loved this show so much (binged it all in one night when I couldn't sleep)! The chemistry between Kevin and Pluem is insane and so sweet! The story itself is also great and emotional and really hits you in the feels. The main problem this drama suffers from is being too short. I think it would have greatly benefited from an extra couple episodes to flush out some more of Kevin's character and backstory, but it still is a fun watch!

My Tooth Your Love (2022): Bai Lang is a restaurant owner with a crippling fear of dentists and a bad toothache. He gets dragged by his older sister to the dentist office where one of her juniors from university is the owner/head dentist, Jin Xuan. Bai Lang reluctantly begins to trust Jin Xuan more and the two get closer, but Bai Lang is struggling with a lot more than just a toothache. Despite its silly premise, the show definitely gets a lot more serious and dark at times and definitely made me cry at a few points. Again, the leads have great chemistry and the main thing the story suffers from is its length as some of the B and C plots get lost, but it still gives a satisfying story for the main plot and is definitely worth it!

Jack O' Frost (2023): Salaryman Fumiya and illustrator Ritsu have been dating for some time now but after a fight, the two break up and Ritsu runs out of their apartment. While he's out, he gets into an accident and gets amnesia, completely forgetting who Fumiya is entirely. Fumiya, who regrets breaking up with Ritsu, sees this as a new opportunity to start again and hopefully get the relationship right this time and decides not to tell Ritsu that they had been dating and had broken up. But Ritsu wants to regain his memories and has the growing feeling that something is off about his relationship to Fumiya. This normally isn't my cup of tea (I'm not big on stories about breaking up and all of that) BUT I really liked this one. It's just such a pretty show with such a profound sense of loneliness in it, especially as it hops between flashbacks of Fumiya & Ritsu's relationship when it was going well and when it was falling apart and then cuts to how things are now. The guy who plays Fumiya really hits for me. I know the last episode was a bit of a hit or miss for some people but I liked it (and also it seems like final episodes aren't always the strongest element of the BL industry). This is also not a show to watch if you like happy stories or healthy relationships lol.

[invisiblegarters]

Jack o’ Frost Ep 1

I have been so excited for this ever since I heard about it. I don't know why, but I have a feeling about this one. The last Jdrama I had a feeling like this about was Eternal Yesterday, and we all know how I feel about Eternal Yesterday. 

I really hope this feeling bears out. 

We begin with an ending. Unexpected but also tropey as hell and I am here for it. I love me a good "couple breaks up and then one gets amnesia and doesn't remember" story. Only I think in this case he not only doesn't remember the breakup but he forgets that they were anything to each other at all? Even better, really. 

I like the opening credits. Short and sweet but get the point across. Love Fumiya watching old memories of himself and Ritsu (another Ritsu, hopefully better than the one in The End of the World With You) with complicated feelings. 

This has the actor who played Katori in Takara-kun and Amagi-kun, and I'm so happy he's heading his own drama. He was the best thing about T&A for me personally before Tanaka got his time to shine (and yes, the twelve-year-old in me did get a giggle out of the T&A, shut up).

Oh, haha. I shouldn't laugh but honestly the first time I watched this I thought that Fumiya knew that Ritsu had amnesia because I was distracted when they talked with the doctor, but nope. No, he doesn't. So he thinks that all the awkwardness and the hesitation and the questions like "Is this my home?" and "why are you being so nice to me, roomie?" and "Am I sleeping here with you?" are just…Ritsu either being really petty or feeling out whether they are broken up for real or not. I love how every question that he asks can be taken that way, too. Right up until the pancakes thing. 

It's hilarious but also fairly sad. Fumiya bringing him to their coffee shop to reaffirm the breakup and Ritsu not even knowing that they were in a place where a breakup was necessary. Man. I do get the need to pretend that he knows what's going on, though. 

And it's only Fumiya and things related to Fumiya that he forgot? This is so deliciously tropey and I love it already. And now I get why Fumiya might make the choice not to tell him that they were actually together. 

My guess is that Fumiya stopped feeling appreciated by Ritsu (the comment about his cooking, his surprise that Ritsu is drawing him), and that the birthday was just the final straw. Probably Ritsu didn't know or think that there would be a celebration at home and so didn't show up. I also bet that instead of talk to him about this, Fumiya just got irritated and withdrew. He seems the type. I'm sure we'll get more insight into the way they fell apart (and also maybe the way they fell in love in the first place) as the drama goes on. 

I really hope that the reasons for the breakup were mundane. I love me a good mundane breakup, especially when I have hope that the couple will eventually work their way back to each other. End credits make me think that that’s the direction we’re ultimately heading. 

I hope that this one doesn't have a sad ending, but even if it does I'm still here with bells on. I'm hooked. So glad the first episode was as good as I'd hoped.

I really think I’m going to love this. I hope that’s true, and I hope that this is wildly popular, since I think that it’s the last of the drama shower line up and my biggest hope is that they all did so well that MBS keeps releasing them like this. Because while I haven’t loved every one of these dramas, I have loved the regularity with which they’ve been putting them out. 

[heretherebedork]

Honestly, watching Fumiya and Ritsu in their old relationship and in the new one they're kind of building is... fascinating. Because we see them get together in their cabin the first time, in the same bed, finally confessing and taking the next step and we've seen how they grew together but also how they'd grown apart and started to feel neglected and stopped communicating and now we're seeing a second chance but a second chance that scares Fumiya almost as much as he wants it.

Fumiya loves Ritsu but he is just as scared of losing him again as he is of loving him again. He loved him and they hurt each other and he loves him but he was hurt by him.

And Ritsu might not remember but all Fumiya can do is remember.

He talked about this as a second chance but he fears his second chance. He loves him, so much, but that love does not change the fear of losing him the way he did, of losing Ritsu the same way all over again and leaving an even more painful ache in his chest.

Fumiya is the one who broke up with Ritsu, he was the one who was hurting and who couldn't stay. So even if this is a second chance... he's the one who knows what happened between them. (I rewatched the first argument and I just want to know what happened on Ritsu's birthday that pushed Fumiya to the edge but we've also seen how much Ritsu had dedicated himself to his art and how much he had, at least in Fumiya's point of view, pulled away from him and now he has that old devotion back.)

This is not a show I write a lot about because there's so much that they're slowly, slowly filling in and showing us and introducing a coworker next week is going to be fascinating because I'm hoping we get to hear a bit of Ritsu's point of view back then as well.

Fumiya fell in love with Ritsu and then felt neglected when Ritsu took what he did for granted and now he sees a Ritsu who still thinks of what he does as amazing but he's still unsure and still hurt by how they ended up.

He talks about a blank slate and a new start but I think he doesn't really mean it because he isn't a blank slate. And the more they move in their old spaces and their old times the more Fumiya pulls back and makes space because the more he remembers of how it went, the less certain he seems about actually restarting this relationship.

Is he seeking a new start to their relationship or a new start to their friendship without the romance? I think Fumiya is too hurt by old memories, both the good and the bad, to face Ritsu and restart their romance.

I just don't know how this is gonna end at this point.

[invisiblegarters]

Jack o’ Frost Ep 5

Who’s ready for some mess?

It’s me. I’m always ready for mess.

I feel like I’ve been waiting for Ritsu to either reveal that he has had some bit of memory all along or to find out that he and Fumiya used to date, and now that it’s here I’m on the edge of my seat waiting for the fallout. 

Aw, I feel like little bro is caught between loyalty and worry here. But he’s an awful liar, thank goodness. 

“Do you know what it feels like when something so important is kept from you?” Freaking EXACTLY. This is what I have been saying this whole time. Malicious or not, what Fumiya did was selfish and kind of cruel. Ritsu relied on him for nearly everything, trusted him not to lie, and he repaid him by not giving him the full story and letting him make his own decisions. I have seen the trope where doctors encourage family and friends to let an amnesiac find things out at their own pace, and tbh not having known anyone with it I can’t say if that’s a real thing or not, but no one said that here. Fumiya picked the route that served him best - so while I can sympathize with him and with his panic now that the inevitable fallout is happening, I can’t help but feel like he’s earned it. 

Aw, ex is trying to be a good guy but I kind of dislike him pushing Ritsu into talking with Fumiya. If he doesn’t wat to, he shouldn’t have to. Then again, pretty sure that Ritsu wants to talk to him anyway. But still. He just found out this huge thing about his life and found out that the one person who should have told him about it kept it a secret. He has a right to want to process first. 

Oh, what a lovely little birthday. Until the argument, that is. But it’s very well done. The way that it starts off with Fumiya being passive aggressive and tense and Ritsu being avoidant and then just ramps up. I even like that it’s foreshadowed in the beginning despite the way they both put it aside to focus on birthday fun. 

Entirely unsurprised that Ritsu left. I don’t really think that Fumiya is either. I think he always knew that that would be the case if and when Ritsu found out what he did, even if he refused to acknowledge it. 

I can’t believe I’m saying this, but maybe the very annoying one year time skip that Korea is always pulling would be best for these two. They clearly aren’t going to grow together, but maybe they can apart and then work their way back to a relationship. If they still want to.

Although, i must say I’m not getting unhappy ending vibes from this one anymore.  This show stopped giving me melancholy vibes around episode three It’s more wistful now. The fact that Ritsu walked out the way he did weirdly makes me certain that the ending isn’t going to be super depressing. Oh, they might end apart, there’s still a fairly good chance of that happening, but I genuinely feel like they’ll be in a better place with each other even if they decide not to get back together. 

I suppose we’ll see next week. I’m looking forward to it, but I’m not looking forward to once again having half of my favorite shows be over and done with (after this unless I find something else I really love it’ll just be Bed Friend, Our Dating Sim, and Midnight Museum for me (and the latter probably won’t turn out to be gay at all, even if it is a lot of fun)).

[invisiblegarters]

Jack o' Frost Ep 6 - Finale

Getting around to this a tiny bit late because Midnight Museum has eaten my entire brain, but not as late as I could be (speaking of, MM ends this week so some sort of "here's what I missed when I was obsessing over the story of a maybe-alien and his immortal museum owning boyfriend brother" post will probably be coming. Or two. I don't know I often have too much to say about things).

Anywho.

When last we left off, Ritsu and Fumiya had decided to take some time apart, and that was probably for the best. Frankly Ritsu had every right to be furious, and everyone involved knew it. I don't think that he was pissed, though. At first, yes, but at the end he mostly just seemed sort of sad. Here he was falling in love with this man and it turns out that he'd both already done that and had the full relationship, complete with unhappy ending. Only the one person who should have told him that decided to use his amnesia as a reset button. While I can see the temptation, I also think it's kinda slimy and I wouldn't blame Ritsu for staying away for good.

Oh, the air of melancholy is definitely back. It went missing for a few episodes there.

Okay Fumiya's frustrated yell made me laugh. I get that he probably feels that he's not allowed to go after Ritsu, that he fucked up too much, and well. He did. A lot. But also, not going after Ritsu has been his issue all along. Over and over he decides to leave things to lie rather than try to fight for what he wants, and over and over that has been shown to be the wrong choice. It's Ritsu's decision, ultimately, whether he can learn to forgive Fumiya for what's happened, but I do think that Fumiya should consider letting him know that that's what he wants. Even if ultimately he's rejected. When has keeping his mouth shut worked for him?

HA! It' just doesn't feel like a proper JBL without someone running to their love interest (or chasing their LI around a school, if you're Hira and Kiyoi).

It'll be cute if they come together at the cafe. Like coming full circle.

It's gotta be so weird to take a trip down memory lane when you have a big blank spot in said memory.

Aw, was Ritsu into Fumiya before the cafe? And did he pursue art because of his priase? That's cute. That's very cute. And I mean, I can't say I blame him for wanting to draw Fumiya's face all the time. He's very handsome.

I'm glad he's remembering. While I get the impulse to want to forget all about a relationship when it ends, you'd lose all the good things, too.

Oh the melting effect on the window was nifty.

Um, I don't know. I think hiding a first meeting is a little less a violation than hiding an entire relationship, but that might just be me.

So are they gonna work on their issues here or what? Guys? Those issues that broke you up in the first place?

Okay I'm gonna take Ritsu saying he doesn't want to start over as him saying that they're gonna meet each other halfway as the people they are - the same people that broke up. Because otherwise I'll just work myself into a lather thinking about how saying you're gonna restart doesn't actually do anything without putting in the work to not end up in the same place you were before, and no one wants that.

To be fair I don't really think either of them wanted to break up in the beginning either. I just know that unless we actively try to avoid them, we are often doomed to repeat the same mistakes.

The end was cute, though. Maybe Fumiya is learning to chill a little. And I'll pretend that Ritsu got up afterwards and helped out, rejuvinated.

Final verdict: 8/10. I'm not sure it stuck the landing for me, but I really liked getting to this point. I enjoyed the quiet wistfulness, I loved that this was more adult and that Suzuki Kosuke got a lead role. I also really liked the way it was arranged - the flashbacks into their former relationship bleeding into the way that Fumiya acts with Ritsu, the echoes of how they used to be vs what they are now. I think maybe second chance romances aren't often for me, though, and that might be part of why I'm feeling kind of meh on this here at the end.