#kuzumi haruhiko

[everlastingwhiteshirt]

mind if i just *turns on the lights*

[twozerozerone]

Thinking about kijima finally calling kuzumi Haruhiko

[scarefox]

Sometimes I feel like, the way people talk about japanese BL, half the BL fandom forgot / doesn't know that "The Pornographer" series exists. But to be fair it kind of was ahead of its time?

It's mature, with flawed, struggling characters, very spicy. One of the best jBLs imo. In terms of plot, cinematography, acting and chemistry. But you need to have a heart for weird, struggling artist characters.

It has 2 seasons and 3 movies / specials.

"Kuzumi Haruhiko is an university student. One day, he causes a bicycle accident. The accident causes novelist Kijima Rio to break his arm. Kuzumi doesn't have insurance or money to pay Kijima for his injury. Kijima then asks Kuzumi to transcribe a story he is writing. Kuzumi is surprised to learn the story is obscene." (Kijima is a porn novelist)

Watch order:

Pornographer: The Novelist (season 1)

Pornographer: Mood Indigo (season 2 prequel, contains spoiler for s1 that's why I rec to watch it after s1, which is also how it aired)

Pornographer: Spring Life (sequel short movie)

Pornographer: Playback (sequel movie)

Pornographer: Continued Spring Life (sequel short epilogue)

It's on GagaOOLala... except for Playback... well that's dumb.

(but yall know where to find stuff)

[jjsanguine]

Salin dreaming that Sun was going to get arse naked before so much as saying hello nice to meet you? Welcome back Kuzumi Haruhiko

[bengiyo]

The Novelist: Playback (2021) Stray Thoughts

We've watched The Novelist, Mood Indigo, and Spring Life. Let's watch these two try to survive long distance.

Yes, please recap for the people who maybe got dragged to a theater for this.

No car BJ? So glad I watched Spring Life already.

Oh, we're getting a bed scene. I forgive them.

Finally, we're talking about insertion and then immediately going to realistic angles. Good job, BL.

I like the way the age gap is playing into how Rio handles his disappointment that Kuzumi frequents sex clubs with his senior.

Oh, I like that we're getting more interactions with Kamuuda.

Rio's sister is always punking him.

"People who are happy have no need for art or literature," is such a cynical read.

Wow, there is a lot of resentment here.

Oh shit, this woman took out his writing hand. That's ironic. I am amused.

Oh my goodness, are we going to make an even younger boy write for him??

Never have I been happier that a boy was illiterate.

No man is immune to Kijima's sexual energy if he turns it on them it seems.

OR WOMAN, IT SEEMS!

Poor Kuzumi. Rio is a hard man to love.

Oh lord he got this boy doing the writing now. Goddammit.

Oh good Kuzumi is here. Please fix this.

I'm so glad Kuzumi caught him with the boy.

HE REALLY SAID THAT HE ACTUALLY HURT HIS HAND THIS TIME!! 🤣

Is this the first time Rio has said his given name?

I love this woman.

Oh, please don't slow zoom onto just Haruhiko to tell me that they're not going to make it.

Oh, I shouldn't have gotten attached to Haruko.

Interesting. I suppose they did foreshadow that Haruko is popular with men.

I'm going wild over the cinematography of Rio's pacing during this fight. Incredible acting from both of them in this long take. Rio can be such a jerk.

Did Rio never recognize the crazy in Haruhiko's eyes? It was the first thing I noticed about him.

Japanese characters are so good at staying still and pretending to sleep when someone looms over them.

I just love Japanese filmmaking. I love trusting actors to act and I love the composition of these shots.

"It's not about being tough. You become tough when someone is important to you." Come through, Haruko!!!

I'm fond of Shizuo.

I'm glad Kuzumi didn't answer his phone and Kijima has to take the leap of going to Tokyo without reassurance.

Kido, you have a daughter. Why ask that question?

Finally a forthright, vulnerable apology and confession from Rio.

I love that these two always kiss like maniacs.

I just love trains.

Families are difficult, but Rio is still loved.

Hands only, baby!!

Y'all awfully vocal for hands only.

The moon is beautiful tonight.

Wow these two have incredible blissed-out faces.

Oh, Rio. I felt that wall breaking. Goddamn Takezai Terunosuke is good.

"Is there really such a life without loneliness?" is a great rebuttal to Rio's cynical view.

Aww, she smiled for her brother.

I'm so glad things ended well for Haruko and Shizuo as well.

Final Verdict: 10, If You Are Male and Queer Please Watch This Franchise Immediately. I'm giving this movie a 10 for the way the entire franchise has been the most satisfying experience I've had in BL in a really long time. I keep begging for realistic approaches to male-male intimacy and relationships, and this franchise hits it constantly. Rio is layers of bullshit hiding an incredible loneliness and sense of worthlessness, and it was so satisfying to see him claw his way out of that because he found someone else who finally connected to him. It's been a really long time since I felt this good about going back to something I skipped over for one reason over another, and I can say confidently that I fully trust @lurkingshan recommendations. If you are gay and feeling a bit displaced in BL, please watch this, and then ping her, me, @harurio @ginnymoonbeam or @waitmyturtles. I promise it will be worth your time.

[waitmyturtles]

CW: MAJOR SPOILER ALERTS FOR THE MOVIE “THE PORNOGRAPHER: PLAYBACK.” LONG POST!

I feel like there’s been something humming in the wind lately around the franchise of The Novelist/The Pornographer. We’ve seen a cameo by the incomparable Izuka Kenta in Candy Color Paradox, Yoshida Munehiro is about to cameo in The End of the World, With You, and The Novelist’s Twitter account has been buzzing with news about new DVDs and theater showings of the last installment of the franchise, The Pornographer: Playback. Miki Koichiro, the screenwriter and director of the franchise, has TWO shows out at the moment, the aforementioned TEOTWWY, as well the sessy-sessy Raise de wa Chanto Shimasu, the three seasons of which I am dying to watch as soon as there’s a solidly bad season of QL sometime in the future (which seems like will never happen in my lifetime, bless all these amazing QLs for coming out every season!). Couple all of this with recent reviews of the OG Novelist and Mood Indigo series by the fabulous @gillianthecat (here) and @respectthepetty (here), and I was happily reminded of good times of watching all of these parts way way back when I first discovered QL/BL in 2019/20. 

When the amazing @lurkingshan commented on a stray thoughts post by @bengiyo that she had seen The Pornographer: Playback, I was VERY intrigued. With HUGE thanks and big ups to @lurkingshan, I watched it over the weekend, and here are my thoughts! I’m going to put up a break to keep y’all from getting spoiled if you want to avoid it.

First off, let’s make sure we know what all the installments are, and that we’ve watched what we’ve needed to get to the movie. We have:

1) 2018 -- The Novelist: the original meeting between student Kuzumi Haruhiko and adult author Kijima Rio

2) 2019 -- Mood Indigo: a prequel depicting the sexual engagements between Kijima Rio and his classmate, Kido Shirou 

3) 2021 -- The Pornographer: Spring Life: a very short vignette set 2 1/2 years after Kuzumi and Kijima first met. They’re now in a long-distance relationship, and Kuzumi visits Kijima in the countryside at Kijima’s sister’s house, where he’s living as he continues to write.

(The first three works are all available on Viki.)

So I was BEYOND THRILLED to get to watch the movie and see all of this wrap up. If most of y’all only watched up to Mood Indigo, you saw Kijima re-meet with Kuzumi. Kuzumi, at that time, was just becoming a successful employee in the advertising business. 

Spring Life hints that things are still going well for Kuzumi, and that he was looking forward to spending a summer break with his long-distance boyfriend. Most notably, the piece ends with Kuzumi jumping from honorifics, by asking Kijima if he (Kuzumi) could call Kijima “Rio-san,” which we know indicates intimacy. Kijima’s like, whatever you’d like, and the smile on Kuzumi’s face takes up the whole screen, it seems.

So then we finally get to The Pornographer: Playback, which begins during the same summer break. Continuing with the theme and mood that I like to call melosexual (the music alone of this franchise is SO INTENSE, let alone the heaty sex scenes), the guys head to a love hotel and do their thang. At the end of the night, as they’re getting dressed, Kijima finds a business card in Kuzumi’s wallet for a hostess club that Kuzumi is forced to go to with work colleagues. 

Without divulging a tremendous amount more about the plot at this moment, the movie is basically structured around the push-and-pull of Kijima’s inability to move authentically closer to people -- not just Kuzumi, but also his sister, who Kijima disappoints repeatedly by backing out of family events. 

Kijima’s essentially paralyzed by fear and insecurity that he is a terrible person -- one that is not worthy of love. His sister is so overwhelmingly angry about it that she essentially kicks him out of the house, and blames their mother for never calling him out on his namby-pamby bullshit (at least, that’s in her eyes). At another point in the movie, he frustrates Kuzumi so much that Kuzumi walks out on the relationship and heads back to Tokyo, a surprising move for the otherwise always-devoted younger companion. 

It takes a serious scolding by a hospitalized and flirtatious owner of a karaoke snack bar (you read that right) for Kijima to get his damn head back on straight and fight for his relationship with Kuzumi. (And, HILARIOUSLY, I was cackling -- in the process of this, Kijima has KIDO -- KIDO OF ALL PEOPLE -- call Kuzumi on Kijima’s behalf, to get Kuzumi to talk to Kijima to reconcile. KIJIMA used KIDO to call KUZUMI. Lord.)

Okay, so what I’m really getting at here is that the movie showed that the whole franchise was missing two KEY elements that the first three parts did not have: comedy and authentic emotional connection. There was actually a little comedy in this! Besides the whole Kido thing (which I’ll get back to in a minute), there were a couple of bumbling moments that were designed to elicit some lightness, mostly with the snack bar owner, a flighty gal with a lovely son who tries to hook up with takes Kijima under her wing.

About the other element: we FINALLY, FINALLY SAW KIJIMA SHOWING SOME EMOTION ABOUT SOMETHING. He really regretted letting things go to shit with Kuzumi. Kuzumi called Kijima out for wasting Kuzumi’s time to leave work in Tokyo and visit the countryside. Kuzumi felt like Kijima wasn’t taking him seriously, and was constantly pulling back. I mean -- Kijima was living away from Kuzumi.... for what, exactly? It’s not ever clearly explained. And Kuzumi got angry and left.

This is a great time to mention the excellent post by @emotionallychargedtowel on pursuer-distancer dyads, because the Kijima-Kuzumi push-and-pull in this movie perfectly defined this dyad dance. When Kuzumi got fed the fuck up and pulled way back -- Kijima finally stepped into his emotion and owned his desire to be with Kuzumi. 

Honestly, in the first three installments of this franchise -- I felt like Kijima really didn’t talk too much. I felt like he was far more defined by his brooding, his letting the winds take him to where he was at any given moment, ragingly sexual and lonely all at once. He simmered -- he was flinty, defensive, and used his sexual energy to dominate and burn the emotional energy all around himself. 

The movie showed a TOTALLY different side of him. To me, the movie showed that his relationship with Kuzumi, long distance as it was, HAD a softening impact on him -- even to the point that Kijima dropped everything he was up to in the countryside to head to Tokyo and fight for the relationship. Kijima needed to be rendered totally alone, one last time, to come to realize that the connection he had with Kuzumi was worth fighting for.

And, yes, in the process of it, he brought back Kido in the mix -- which was also seriously poignant. 

REALLY SERIOUS SPOILER HERE, y’all, especially if you love/hate/gaaahh that awful devil, Kido!

. . . . . .

Kido asks Kijima if they could have ever had the same kind of relationship as Kijima is fighting for with Kuzumi! AAAAAHHHH! AND! AND! KIJIMA SAYS, no way. We’re too similar.

WHICH IS TOTALLY TRUE! They’re both self-indulgent, selfish assholes! I mean, after that insane sex scene in Mood Indigo, Kido just fucking LEFT -- he just LEFT, and GOT MARRIED, and HAD A KID, and was like, peace the fuck out, I can’t actually be my honest queer self with you, Kijima, because I think that’s actually abnormal (oh, Kido, you internally messed up piece of shit, AAAHHH). 

Whereas, as beautifully analyzed in @respectthepetty‘s review, Kuzumi represents honesty and openness -- the kind of traits that Kijima doesn’t have, but is aspiring to, in order to be with Kuzumi. AAAHHH. 

I was seriously like, WHOA, WHAT AM I WATCHING HERE, at that moment. AND, AND? At the end of that scene? Kido wishes Kijima good luck. And says: “You better keep Kuzumi-kun. He’s a valuable asset.” Of course, what a Kido thing to say -- that humans are assets, commodities. But -- he sends Kijima off with good wishes. 

And then.

Kijima reunites with Kuzumi. He called Kuzumi by Kuzumi’s name, Haruhiko. AND -- holy shit, y’all, my mind was blown. He tells Kuzumi that he loves Kuzumi by saying ichiban aishiteru.

I tell you, I was FLOORED. All throughout the movie, I’m like, “dang, Kijima keeps talking and talking, and I just don’t remember him TALKING all that much before in the other three series.”

And then he DROPS the ichiban aishiteru! And I think BOTH me AND Kuzumi are BOTH LIKE, WHAT THE DAMN, DUDE!

I’ve spoiled a LOT, but I won’t say more after this, except to say the following:

The ending was one of the happiest, LOVELIEST endings of a drama/movie I’ve seen in QL. Oh. my. god. Talk about SATISFYING. EVERY. CHECKBOX. MARKED. Takezai Terunosuke and Izuka Kenta were MAGNIFICENT. I had SERIOUS tears. They got in everything -- they got the heat, they got in FAMILY, LOTS OF FAMILY, GORGEOUS shots, FEELINGS. ALL OF IT. 

@bengiyo made an excellent point recently in one of his reviews of TEOTWWY that it seems like Japan lately has only been doing high heat in stories about death. It’s an accurate point: all of the pieces of The Novelist came out well before TEOTWWY and Eternal Yesterday, the two most recent shows about death that had heaty elements. I kind of wonder about something. I wonder if other directors and screenwriters are like.... The Novelist did it the best. We can’t mess with that standard. 

Because -- Takezai’s and Izuka’s acting in those scenes is BEYOND EXCELLENT. It was NECESSARILY EXCELLENT to end this franchise on such a warm, happy, COMPLETE high note. 

Now that I can look back on all four parts of the whole franchise, what Miki Koichiro did for us by way of Kijima was to show the whole-scale growth of a man vis à vis love. This guy, Kijima -- a brilliant writer who was influenced by a sexually provocative teacher, someone who was left inexplicably behind by a tormented, internally homophobic lover/benefactor -- felt he was deserving of nothing. And then he found his something in Kuzumi. He nearly destroyed the relationship, multiple times. And as he fell and slipped while climbing the hill of happiness, he was able to get a stronger and stronger grip each time he tried harder. And he was supported by people around him, including family and random friends, to give him lift. 

This movie was a lot more straightforward than I had honestly expected. I 100% expected more of the melosexualness of the first three parts of the series. Instead, what I got was a WHOLESOME (I can’t believe I’m using that word, but it’s true!), complete, and uplifting story of a man finding his true happiness in his lover, his companion, his chosen family. All of it certainly laced with heat, for sure, but also very deep, very convincing love. 

It was utterly fabulous. It might be too emotional, maybe too family-oriented for some who preferred the dark heat of the previous installments. But Playback, in my eyes, was a perfect closing note for a man who honestly deserved happiness after the work, and the SELF-CHANGE he put in, to get love in the first place. If you are a fan of this whole series, and can get your hands on the movie, I beg you to watch it, even just for one of the best happy endings you’ll ever see in QLs.

[mousieta]

Review: The Novelist Series

The Novelist (2018) Mood Indigo (2019) Pornographer: Spring Life (2021) Pornographer: Playbook (2021) Pornographer: Continued Spring Life (2021) Country: Japan Platform: Various I truly think this series broke something in me, in the good way. I’ve had post-show depression since binging the whole thing and since I did binge it all in one go, I’m going to review the entire series as one. 

There are two orders to watch this show in, by air date or by in-story chronology. To do that latter, you’d start with Mood Indigo then watch the rest in air-date order. While story wise it may make sense to do so, I would argue that it is better to watch them in air-date order, even though that takes you back and then forward in in-story time. I watched Mood Indigo first, but I actually think the series is better watched in order of air-date.

The Novelist (Pornographer) is an erotic melodrama that tells the story of Kijima Rio, a published author of erotic fiction who gets his arm broken when college student  Kuzumi Haruhiko crashes into him with his bike. As Kuzumi cannot financially compensate Kijima and has apparently taken out his means of making a living, he agrees to transcribe for Kijima.

Mood Indigo is a flash-back/prequel to The Novelist exploring Kijima’s path to becoming a ‘pornographer’ and his relationship with Shiro, his editor. The subsequent series then pick up after The Novelist and see the conclusion of all three men’s stories.

The show is intensely erotic, the character’s often viewed through the lens of their sexuality. What the show does incredibly well is showing sex as multi-fasceted and capable of carrying so much more than lust. Sex is as complex and complicated as any other human endeavor, engaged in for a multitude of reasons and imbued with layers of motivations, manipulations and desires. This is, honestly, a thing in dramas that I didn’t even know I was missing so deeply.

Sometimes the de-sexualization of characters in dramas starts to grate a little. There is nothing wrong with romance and exploring it but the coyness and aversion to explicitly showing that our leads sometimes just want to rail the fuck out of one another, or are using sex as a subterfuge, or are confused but over-wrought by desire, feels like a part of the human experience is being missed. Thus, I appreciate Thai drama’s depictions of sex but don’t want it to just be the horny kind, or the romantic kind, because humans are more than just horny and romantic. And this show gives us that with some truly wrenching angst.

The series is truly good on every level, the acting gripping and compelling. Takezai Terunosuke as Rio traces such a believable character arc through his whole chronology. The writing is moving in its compassion for its characters and subject matters, allowing things to be messy and not completely resolved. I have more meta I want to write about it specifically, in particular about the character dynamics between Rio and Shiro because there is so much meat to chew on there, which I love.

I’m glad I finally got around to watching this, am sad I binged it too fast and it is now over and which one of my frens would watch it soon so I could obsess over it.

2022 Drama Reviews Masterlist

[alibrasaesthetics]

The Novelist/Pornographer Episode One Commentary

Izuka Kenta and Terunosuke Takezai

Terunosuke Takezai

Izuka Kenta

Synopsis- Kuzumi Haruhiko is a university student. One day, he causes a bicycle accident. The accident causes novelist Kijima Rio to break his arm. Kuzumi doesn't have insurance or money to pay Kijima for his injury. Kijima then asks Kuzumi to transcribe a story he is writing. Kuzumi is surprised to learn the story is obscene. -Mydramalist

Starring: October Libra Izuka Kenta and April Aries Terunosuke Takezai

This was one of my first BLs. I heard some things about it, but I wanted to check it out for myself. It was much different than Cherry Magic, which was my first BL. But after watching it, I thought, I definitely needed to watch more BLs if they were going to be as intriguing as this was. I thought Cherry Magic was cute, and the tension between the leads was fun, but this was a whole other intensity level that I preferred. This has a serious and commanding tone. The handsome leads definitely made it more enjoyable. They went all out in their performances, which I loved.

Just my thoughts

[huggy-bears]

Night or day: he is most at peace with him.

[l-e-m-a-y-o]

but kijima is a dramatic bitch (affectionate) with a nicotine addiction and kuzumi is all time best boi and i think they belong together, honestly

[thaibl97]

Can we just talk about how crazy good “Pornographer” and “Mood Indigo” were!? Like at woah .. Pornographer reminded me of an BL anime I’ve been watching called “Junjo Romantica” just the the mood and how Kuzumi is a college student and how Kijima is a Writer 😏 anyway I recommend both of them and watch it in the order I mentioned 😂 and just a FYI it’s rated R like really skdhdhdhndbd anyway enjoy my over all rating for both outta 10 is like a 8.5 just because I didn’t like Mood Indigo as much it was a little shitty what Kido did.

[everlastingwhiteshirt]

fuckin dorks <3

[bldraamas]

PORNOGRAPHER / Il Romanziere

Generi: Psicologico , Romantico , Drammatico , Maturo.

Puntate: 6.

Durata: 25 minuti.

Protagonisti: Kuzumi Haruhiko, Kijima Renjiro.

[scarefox]

Ok, I gotta do it. Here is a list of BLs that imo are painfully underrated because they are not your classic BL. I enjoyed them way too much for them to be so underrated. It's a crime actually:

Dear Doctor, I'm Coming for Soul

Dr. Prakan is a well-known surgeon dedicated to saving people’s lives. However, while he is trying to save lives he is constantly visited by the last person he could ever want to see. Death will show up every day trying to take the souls of the people that the doctor is trying to save. They work for completely opposing sides. One must collect the souls of the dead, the other must save lives before they reach that state. Is it possible to fall in love with the one thing you try to avoid, and how can the love story between death and a Doctor last?

(TW: lots of hospital-typical dying and accidents)

The Pornographer (watch order: 1. The Novelist, 2. Mood Indigo, 3. Pornographer - Spring Life, 4. The Novelist: Playback, 5. Pornographer: Continued Spring Life)

Kuzumi Haruhiko is a university student. One day, he causes a bicycle accident. The accident causes novelist Kijima Rio to break his arm. Kuzumi doesn't have insurance or money to pay Kijima for his injury. Kijima then asks Kuzumi to transcribe a story he is writing. Kuzumi is surprised to learn the story is obscene.

Innocent (watch order: 1. Innocent Special, 2. Innocent, 3. (Not That) Innocent)

As a child, Zheng Yu Shi was involved in an accident so traumatic that it led to his development of a second identity. Going by the name of Noah, this second identity has grown up with Yu Shi. Quiet and very reserved with his emotions, Noah has spent years as Yu Shi’s vigilant protector. Living with Dissociative Identity Disorder, Yu Shi is used to having Noah around to take care of him. But when he meets Wu Zheng, things between Noah and Yu Shi begin to change. Aware of Yu Shi’s growing feelings for Wu Zheng, Noah takes over, using his distrust of Wu Zheng as an excuse to keep the two apart. Despite his best efforts, Noah can’t keep Yu Shi and Wu Zheng apart forever. As the relationship between Wu Zheng and Yu Shi grows, Yu Shi begins to realize that his faith in the world is slowly starting to be restored. With Wu Zheng by his side, will Yu Shi find a way to heal from the wounds he’s been carrying for so long?

(TW: child abuse, implied rape in the past)

Eien no Kinou (Eternal Yesterday)

Koichi is cheerful and popular in the class. Mitsuru is talented and not good at socializing. The two high school students are strongly attracted to each other due to their opposite personalities. However, one morning, Koichi is hit by a truck in front of Mitsuru. Koichi got up on the spot and smiled as usual, and although he was indeed "alive", his classmates gradually began to forget about Koichi's existence.

(TW: kind of major character death / undead situation)

Color Rush (S1 !! I still couldn't bring myself to watch S2 cause I love S1 too much to move on, it's one of my comfort shows and Yoo Han is a big part of that but he isn't in S2....)

Monochromatic people (known as 'Mono's) live in a world where they are not able to see colours and therefore view their surroundings through varying shades of grey, black and white. However, every Mono has a fated person (known as 'Probe's) who is able to trigger their grey-scale world into colour, inducing what is termed as a 'Colour Rush'. Yeon Woo is a Mono. He’s aware that other colours do exist but has never experienced them for himself, nor was he interested in doing so. However, Yeon Woo’s life is forever changed when he meets Yoo Han, his Probe, and experiences his first 'Colour Rush'. Terrified that he would be obsessed with Yoo Han because of Yoo Han's ability to make him see colours, Yeon Woo tries to avoid Yoo Han, but why does Yoo Han insist on drawing close to him?

(TW: depressed main, suicide attempt)

Love Tractor

Seon Yul, a temporarily relocated city man, meets Ye Chan, a rural man who adores the countryside. Seon Yul comes to the countryside to experience life knowing nothing about farming and Ye Chan appears before him. As Seon Yul learns to adapt to rural living and engage in farming activities, he becomes increasingly attracted to Ye Chan's sincerity and enthusiasm. Together, the two embark on a chaotic and romantic countryside journey of healing and love.

Nobleman Ryu's Wedding

On a warm spring day during the Joseon Dynasty, the wedding of Ryu Ho Seon and his beautiful bride, Hwa Jin, takes place. But come their wedding night, Ho Seon becomes suspicious of his beloved. And with good reason, for his bride is a man! And now Ho Seon finds himself face-to-face with the bride’s brother, Choi Ki Wan, who explains that Hwa Jin’s loathing of political marriages drove her to disappear before the ceremony even began. Needless to say, Ho Seon quickly tries to annul the marriage, but his ailing mother is opposed to such a move. The pair must now maintain their union, one that can never be revealed to a single soul! When Kim Tae Hyeong, comes to congratulate his friend Ho Seon, he falls for Ki Wan and immediately commences to court him. Now both Ki Wan and Ho Seon find themselves in a difficult position. Caught between honouring his ailing mother’s wishes and the unending flood of love letters for Ki Wan, Ho Seon is only too aware that there is little time to waste. To further complicate matters, Hwa Jin chooses to make her impromptu return at this time. The only way to soothe the pain in everyone’s hearts is to return everyone to their rightful places. But is this easier said than done?

The Miracle of Teddy Bear (bear with me this might sound nuts (haha 2 puns in a row) but this is actually a crime mystery)

Taohu is a giant white teddy bear and has been Nut's object of comfort for ten years. However, he isn’t an ordinary teddy bear, he has the ability to communicate with other objects and items in the house. One day, unbeknownst to Nut, the teddy bear was miraculously turned into a young man, however, that young man can't remember anything about himself. Taohu tried to find his own background, but everything became complicated when he found out that his background was connected to the dark secrets of his owner's family. He had to hurry because his time as a human is running out and he wanted to discover the secrets of his background so much, but he also wanted to be closer to the person he loved the most. Will Taohu be able to find the answers to his questions and reveal all the secrets he wishes to know? And would there be another miracle that may allow him to fulfill his wish?

(TW: mentally ill mother, abusive parent, death, murder attempt)

Something in My Room

Phat just moved into a new rental house with his mother. There, he meets Phob, an amnesiac ghost, and has to help Phob solve the mystery of his death within forty-nine days of Phob's death. Will they succeed?

(TW: horror elements, suicide, cancer, death of a parent)

I Will Knock You

Thi, a college student, had a part-time job as a tutor. One day, one of his students got into trouble with high-school gangsters. Thi went to protect his student and confronted the leader of the gang, Noey. After that day, Thi ran into Noey so many times, he started to learn that although Noey had a badass look, the boy was ridiculously silly. Noey just came up by himself that Thi was running after him. Thi was so done trying to explain that he had zero interest in him, but fate played funny tricks. Thi was contacted to be a tutor for a new student. That student was Noey. They learned more about each other. Noey started to change himself and made a move on Thi.

(TW: cringefail4cringefail ... lol)

My Ride

This is the story of Mork and Tawan, a motorcycle taxi driver and a medical resident in Bangkok hospital. While they might seem to come from different worlds, one day they meet by chance when Tawan hires Mork to take him across town. This first ride leads to another and another, and soon Mork finds that he can't stop thinking about the handsome doctor. Meanwhile, Tawan also feels drawn to Mork, and an unlikely friendship is born. Might it lead to more?

3 Will Be Free (polyamory m/m/f)

Neo is a stripper who is running away from the loan shark Thana and his gang, after having an affair with Thana's wife Vanika. One day, the criminals find him in the bar where he works. In attempting to escape, he ends up bumping into two people who will change his life: Shin, a gay boy, the son of Thana, who is frustrated at being rejected by a friend; and Miw, the manager of a gogo bar who is running away from her past. Accidentally, they end up killing one of the gang members who was chasing Neo, which makes them enemies of the gang. Now all three need to find a solution to escape from this situation together, while at the same time managing the physical and sentimental attraction that arises between them.

(TW: attempted rape)

Bed Friend

When it comes to work and the relationships he maintains with his coworkers, Uea Anol gets along well enough with almost everyone. But there is one very big exception and his name is King Kunakor. Good friends with his best friend Jade, King is the one man at the office that Uea simply cannot stand. A cocky Casanova with a serious reputation, King is everything Uea hates in a man. But when a company outing ends in a drunken hook-up with the one man he can’t stand, Uea begins to see King in an entirely different light.  Initially planning to move on after their one-night fling, Uea and King agree to keep seeing each other on a strictly physical basis. With no strings attached, will these two be able to keep things between them simple and carefree or will their emotions eventually get the better of them?

(TW: attempted rape, homophobia, bad coping, MDL comments are dumb af about this one so don't go there)

Utsukushii Kare (My Beautiful Man)

Seventeen-year-old Hira, who is at the bottom of the class, tries to remain invisible at school, never wanting to open his mouth and expose his stuttering speech to his classmates. He views the world through his camera lens, detached until one day, Kiyoi Sou walks through the classroom door. The impact is instantaneous. Hira finds himself pulled into Kiyoi's gravity, following him everywhere and attending to his every need. Popularity comes easily to beautiful Kiyoi, who is always surrounded by his classmates. He uses his status to get what he wants, ordering around the boy who stares at him with his big eyes and seems to worship him like a god. Hira contents himself to merely exist within Kiyoi's orbit, asking for nothing in return…

(TW: bullying, amok shooting fantasies, MDL comments are dumb af about this one so don't go there)

[jjsanguine]

Kuzumi Haruhiko 🤝 Shiba Ryoma

🤝

Wild imagination

🤝

Stockholm syndrome

🤝

World most jealous

🤝

Probably thought he was straight before this

[bengiyo]

The Novelist (2018) Ep 6 (Finale) Stray Thoughts

Last time, Kijima committed to the asshole bit when Haruhiko confronted him about lying, and they had an intense but uncomfortable sexual encounter. Kijima played himself and panicked after Haruhiko left upset. Later, Haruhiko spoke with Kido about Kijima and then bullied the key out of him. Now he’s running.

Last Episode: The End of Desire and Reason

Love when a show is legible. I suspected immediately that all of this started because Kijima was bored. Knowing that he was battling writer’s block explains why he was so touched by Kuzumi saying he liked his writing.

Oh, whoa, this just went to an especially dark and troubling place.

This man typed that entire letter with T9? Nothing displays the age gap more than that.

I really love the way Japanese cinema appreciates space and the audience’s ability to remember space. Holding the shot looking at the porch as Kuzumi runs back and forth in and out of the frame frantically before collapsing in the middle of the frame is just so excellent. Any other dramatic tradition would have used more than a dozen cuts for this.

I’m glad Kijima hadn’t left yet, because he gets to continue to be mild in response to Kuzumi’s frantic energy.

He really asked for a new novel with total earnestness.

Oh, Kijima is crying now. Takezai Terunosuke is really fantastic.

Kijima’s writer’s block is sometimes hard for me to watch. I was an editor for two years and worked with a lot of writers. Keeping them motivated and breaking them through their own blocks was not always easy, and it could be ugly.

“Can you tell me more about yourself? I want to know you better.” may be one of the most romantic things I’ve seen from Japan in a long time, and that just raised the entire show a full point for me.

Hey, that was actually a really great kiss, no caveats about Japan.

How fascinating. For all the raunchy porn-grade sex we’ve seen in show, we only see the aftermath of their first mutual encounter where they apparently did it six times?? Goddamn. I like the choice to focus on their tenderness.

Oh, I just knew Kijima was going to leave before he woke up. I get it. He has to face himself in his writing alone.

It feels like it’s been years! Omg

Final Verdict: 9, Highly Recommended. I am glad @lurkingshan and @waitmyturtles poked me to finally watch this show. What started out as a twisted exploration of sexual desire peels back to reveal a deeply-lonely man and the low-key unhinged guy who becomes obsessed with him. Their dynamic was a little twisted, and I am absolutely fascinated that there are four more installments for this. As expected, this show couldn’t show us the mutual encounter between these two because it would have been too much for TV. Instead, this show was able to hit us with all sorts of raunchy or improper depictions of sex on screen. That in itself is a not-so-subtle commentary about what can and can’t be shown. This was an absolutely fascinating show that often made me uncomfortable, but compelled me to return to it.