#the young gangster

[respectthepetty]

Upcoming Taiwanese BLs

We are over halfway through 2024, and as usual, I've only had two Taiwanese BLs (Unknown, Anti Reset), so even though I'm sitting on a stack of BLs to watch every single week from other countries, call me Smaug because I need MORE!

Honorary Korean BL: Uncovering the Curse of Taekwondo (2024)

Former friends (and possibly lovers) reunite at a funeral after going their separate ways for over a decade, but, honestly, I don't care about the plot because this comes from Hwang Da Seul who was behind Blueming, To My Star, and Where Your Eyes Linger, so I know it's going to be amazing. There is a movie and a series version, and the movie already premiered at the Bucheon International Fantastic Film Festival in South Korea at the beginning of July. The runtime was 154 minutes, but the series is eight episodes around thirty minutes each and is currently seeking distribution.

First Note of Love (August 2024)

My most beloved, Charles Tu, from my favorite BL HIStory 4: Close to You is finally returning to me in the form of a washed-up singer who stepped away from the spotlight due to a tragic event only to be dragged back in by an up-and-coming composer who is also a longtime fan. It is a joint production with Thailand's Star Hunter Entertainment (the company behind Big Dragon, Love Senior, City of Stars, and Sunset x Vibes) and features a side couple of a Thai singer and a Taiwanese agent. It will involve singing, but I'm already too comfortable in my seat with my snacks to care.

Fragrance of the First Flower Season 2 (2024)

The lone GL holding down this list finished filming late last year and Gagaoolala has been releasing BTS images since filming began, so it'll likely land there once it is released. The series is a continuation of the 2021 first season, which people were not thrilled about because of the ending, so this season should solve some of the angst we were left with by exploring the two women actually coming together to navigate life as a couple.

The Only One (August 2024)

Directed by Liu Kuang Hui, who directed Your Name Engraved Herein, written by the same folks behind The Untamed, and based on Mu Su Li's novel A Certain Someone which is about two boys whose parents are dating and move in together, so the mains go from enemies-to-??? and the only reason for the question marks on a Taiwanese BL is because the word on these BL streets (and his MDL page) is one of the actors works heavily in China, so this might be the reason this one has been was in limbo even though filming finished earlier this year, but the socials are still posting it's coming this year.

See Your Love (Filming Complete)

This co-production with Japan is about a rich man who falls in love with his hearing-impaired caregiver. It finished filming at the end of May and will have those sweet sweet Taiwanese BL cameos from some Be Loved in House: I Do and Plus and Minus folks PLUS it will be the first cameos for the Kiseki: Dear to Me guys since the company that produced their show is the same one for this show.

Impression of Youth (Filming Complete)

Very little is known about the plot of this teacher-student romance, but it comes from the same folks who produced DNA Says Love You and one of the mains, Muji Hsu, was also the lead in 2020's Because of You. Filming finished at the end of May, and the company stated it would be out before the end of the year.

Islanders (late 2024/early 2025)

This is based on a novel, Islands, by Lolita Hu, features some well known Taiwanese actors, and for a bit was under the name Sea of Intimacy. It's being presented as an 'older BL' but the MDL summary is sparse of the BL-plot: Hung, a successful entrepreneur, has three intimate relationships: his wife, his mistress, and his girlfriend. The lives of these individuals in their 20s, 30s, 40s, and 50s are intertwined because of romance, but their story extends beyond that. When Hung faces criticism on social media and loses everything, the way they react tells us how they see the world.

Wishing Upon the Shooting Star & The Young Gangster (2025)

These two deal with completely different plots but are together because of one reason: Ray Jiang. He is the director for these two and was the director for Unknown, My Tooth Your Love, and We Best Love. The companies behind them have stated the series are coming next year, but the guess is Ray's busy schedule is part of the hold up since he has a Netflix series in the works and apparently a film featuring Sam Lin (We Best Love) on the way. The Young Gangster is based on a novel and deals with a research assistant gathering information on the mafia (and we know how the mafia works in BLs), while Shooting Star deals with a man wishing that nobody notices him once he returns to his hometown after being fired. The wish backfires and nobody recognizes him, not even his dad or the boy he confessed to in high school! BL Mafia, Sideways Wishes, and Ray Ray are my favorite types of snacks!

Pray in Love (2025?)

A police officer falls in love with a man only to realize that man is the son of a prominent leader on the day of his arranged wedding in which he was hired as security for the event. The series already released a short film of the basic premise for fundraising efforts and festival rounds. Apparently, filming has started on the series, but there is no concrete confirmation from the production company.

Eternal Butler (2025)

Edited to add thanks to @cankersoregirl! This is a sequel to VBL's Anti Reset and began filming in early July. It focuses on Ever 4 who is sent to be a bodyguard for a young rich man only to encounter a rebellious man.

That Year, 162 Rainfalls (In Production?)

Is this a movie? Is it a series? Is it happening?! Who knows, but last year, it finally got funding and a director attached to it, but the real kicker is Lin Pei Yu is the screenwriter, and she is the writer behind all of my favorite Taiwanese BLs: We Best Love, HIStory 3: Trapped, My Tooth Your Love, Kiseki: Dear to Me, and so much more. Basically, the company struck gold getting her for this story about two archers and best friends. One gets confessed to but admits he actually is in love with his best friend, but before love can happen, the best friend has an accident and falls into a coma. It is based on a novel of the same name, and the plot is way more hefty than this, but I know Lin Pei Yu will make it work!

Four Seasons (Pre, Pre, PRE-Production?)

This is supposed to be four different stories focusing on different seasons, and is rumored to be VBL's next group of shows since the company has stated it wants to continue its formula from last year of releasing slightly connected shows. VBL/Vidol was behind Stay by My Side, VIP Only, You Are Mine, and Anti Reset. Winter is about a scrooge CEO and a florist who is hired to decorate for the CEO's Christmas event. Spring is about two boys meeting on a bus and falling in love over music. Summer is about a market owner and a chef falling in love over food. Autumn is about two former best friends seeing each other ten years after graduating and exploring their hometown together.

Connecting to You (Pre-Production?)

It seems to have gotten funding, but it's been quiet since which isn't surprising because when it comes to Taiwanese BLs, nothing is really heard until filming begins or even after it ends. I still have my hopes high because this is *THE* BL for me as it deals with a man who can see colored threads connecting people and one day runs into a policeman whose thread connects to him. The thread between them begins to change color, from silver-grey to yellow, representing friendship, and even to red, representing love. If I have to sell an organ or two to fund this myself, I. Will. Do. It. I NEED THIS!

And this wouldn't be a Petty Post if I didn't include this final one:

HIStory 15: Freed (GIVE IT TO ME!)

I don't care if this a long shot. I don't care if I seem crazy always asking for this. I. Deserve. It. HIStory 3: Trapped ended with our best mafia boy in prison, and it's time he got out! The HIStory franchise has not had a series since 2022's HIStory 5: Love in the Future, and although there have been rumors that a HERstory story might be next, I think bringing back a popular story would be just as good. I will ask for this every chance I can until I get it, and I plan on living a long life, so I got time!

[notherpuppet]

More of the Role Reversal AU where Charlie and Vaggie mentor Alastor feat. some changes to “Ready For This”

[xiaofengs]

High School Return Of A Gangster (2024)

[urproblematicfav-arsonk]

Vox died in the 50s and Valentino died in the 70s. We don't know how old they were or when exactly during their decades that they died but its possible that their lives briefly overlapped.

Anyway, consider tiny baby Val watching the TV while growing up in the 50s and being absolutely glued to the screen because he was blind ass 6 year old and wanted to be able to see his fav newscaster's face(Vox)

[whumpderella]

High School Return of a Gangster (Episode 06)

[wontaemins]

Yoon Chan-young and Bong Jae-hyun for Marie Claire Korea (May 2024)

[eleveates]

Your face looks much better today. Of course. I kept rubbing an egg and raw meat on my bruise.

HIGH SCHOOL RETURN OF A GANGSTER (2024) – E04

[ss-navi]

[save-the-data]

High School Return of a Gangster | S01E01

Korean Drama - 2024, 8 episodes

~~ Adapted from the web novel "I, a Gangster, Became a High Schooler" (조폭인 내가 고등학생이 되었습니다) by Ho Rol (호롤)

Episodes| Viki | YouTube | Netflix | WeTV | Tencent | Prime | Catalogue

Native Title:  #조폭인 내가 고등학생이 되었습니다

A: "I, a Gangster, Became a High Schooler" (조폭인 내가 고등학생이 되었습니다) by Ho Rol (호롤)

Genres: #Youth 

Tags:  #Reincarnation #Student Male Lead #Bromance #Censored Adaptation of Same-sex Original Work #Adapted from a Novel 

Cast:   #Yoon Chan Young #Bong Jae Hyun #Joo Yoon Chan

[theongp]

They normally dropped honorifics when they're together. "Ha Kyun hyung", "Young Kwang-ah" *melt*, it's so nice to see them so comfortable with each other.

"What words are the best to describe other?"

SHK to KYK: "pretty", "handsome"

Me: *literally dead*

Yup, just Shin Ha Kyun casually called Young Kwang pretty. He's really out there collecting pretty young men like collecting coins huh lol 😏

That made think about a new prompt for their fics: Do Young has a praise kink and gets turned on by Dong Soo called him pretty. There's you go writers~

[schmaltzydoodles]

mischievous littol Ivy sketch

Guess who's hyperfixating on Lackadaisy again

Just wanted to draw a lil Ivy. Ingenue has me appreciating Lackadaisy's animation quality once more. y'all are magic, truly!

Ivy and Viktor's dynamic was so CUTE ACK <3 (willing to bet it's because she reminds him of his daughter-= coUGH what?)

🌸 Steal my art and I'll steal y'alls kneecaps <3 good day and night to you all🌸

[devilart2199-aibi]

Your new Swindle is so handsome!!!

Thank you!!! Hehe :3c It's another weapon for him to use when Swindling people! lol

[superwholockian93]

Seo Doyoung looking at Shin Hakyun's character

"This pathetic scaredy old man has bewitched me mind and soul"

[bruhstation]

I love the inter connections of family bonds between the au's but at the same time my first thought with the "Emily is Italian" was just "Zorran, pal you have gotten your family tree EVERYWHERE what have you been DOING?"

don't worry, he wasn't doing anything stupid. being a divorcee's right hand man for a long time and told to take care of a doe-eyed teenager taught him things.

emily is zorran's great granddaughter and diesel's niece. one of diesel's sisters left italy and married a canadian man, and emily was born. she doesn't know much about her family from her mother's side, nor does diesel know that emily exists. will they ever meet? one can only dream

[noonecaresaboutmyreview]

The Return of High School Gangster - Kdrama Review

Hi everyone! I just finished this very short 8 episodes web drama called The Return of High School Gangster and wanted to share my thoughts.

Before I start, I want to say that I know that this is based on a BL manhwa but as we know about mainstream media in South Korea - the director had to remove the BL elements (not really tho).

I understand that people might want to boycott the drama for removing the BL plotline but I genuinely think that you should give it a chance. The drama doesn't suggest romance but two episodes in, I could tell that it was from a BL plotline. so....

Anyways, this is about Deuk Pal, a Gangster (second in ranking) who died while saving Song Yi Heon, a High School Student who was bullied in school. Song Yi Heon was bullied in school to the point he wanted to off himself. Deuk Pal's body sadly died and somehow his spirit entered the body of Song Yi Heon.

This drama is where it's at if you're in a drama slump. It's short, funny, filled with actions (duh, gangsters) and heartwarming scenes.

Deuk Pal as a character is a caring yet a fierce gangster. I love that the moment he entered Song Yi Heon's body, he immediately vowed to protect Song Yi Heon upon realising the abuse he had endured. Throughout the 8 episodes, his focus was to set things right for Song Yi Heon. Though we know that he is sad that his life ended, he still focused on studying hard, ending the school violence and even protecting his mum so that when Song Yi Heon comes back to his body, he gets a second chance at an easier life. Truly such a selfless character and it is understandable why his loyal underlining boys were so upset when he died.

And in Song Yi Heon's body, he build relationship with his classmates, ensured that his bullies stayed in school and graduate and protected his mum from getting hurt by his dad. He was an adult, in a 19 year old boy's body.

We also meet Choi Se Kyung, a boy that had history with Song Yi Heon (in the manhwa, he was the love interest). Choi Se Kyung is a broken boy with daddy issues yet so caring toward his friends. The chemistry between the two main characters are off the chart. Like I said, 2 episodes in, I had to check if this was BL. His eyes are always looking at Song Yi Heon (Deuk Pal) with care and concern. But he is still sassy and feisty towards those he doesn't like.

Can we please take a minute to appreciate the beauty that is Bong Jae Hyun (Golden Child). I first saw him in Twinkling Watermelon (another recommended drama!). He played the mute brother of the main character. But here, hearing his low soft voice makes me wonder why they muted him in that drama haha! He is such a good actor that I am excited to see how he will grow in the future with different roles.

But my main MVP for this drama is Yoon Chan Young. He was able to embody an ajusshi (he is only 23!) to the point that I could see Lee Seo Jin (the actor that played Deuk Pal) in him. And his voice doesn't sound awkward saying these really deep and mature sayings.

Ok I am rambling. But the most important part that I want to talk about is the ending. SPOILER. Song Yi Heon ended up not wanting to go back to his body and instead gave Deuk Pal a chance to live as him. I thought about it and I think I can get behind that ending.

(This is solely based on drama plotline and not the manhwa.)

Shin Se Kyung and even the repented bully Hong Jae Min really needed a proper adult guidance. With Deuk Pal remaining in Song Yi Heon's body, they will be able to remain friends (same age, not ahjusshi and young adult). He will be able to protect and guide them. And Deuk Pal will be able to live a different life this time. A second chance at life.

And I understand, why can't real Song Yi Heon get a second chance in life? The boy had a hard life, he is depressed enough to off himself. Deuk Pal may have bettered his high school life but Song Yi Heon is still Song Yi Heon. He might not be able to be better in college. Whatever Deuk Pal build is never Song Yi Heon's because they are not the same person.

Being depressed doesn't go away even if your life is all better now. He is afraid of his tomorrow than death, hence he chose death and I respect that. Like he said "He is happy to see at least see a smile on his face."

Overall, I think both Deuk Pal and Song Yi Heon have their own happy ending. And that is what's important.

Rating: 4.75/5

-- Fary

[whumpderella]

High School Return of a Gangster (Episode 3)