#waterboyy

[dramalets]

2024 Watch List pt3

Takura-kun & Amagi-kun - This has lots of the Japanese traits that I don’t always love but I did find myself warmed by it. It’s basically two boys being teenage and idiotic whilst learning how to love and be loved. I really liked the two besties in this. 3/5 (13/3/24)

Although I love you, and you? - Apparently this is wildly different from the manga so people were hating on it but, with zero knowledge of the manga, I have to say I enjoyed it. Very silly but had a nice emotional depth to it and Sakae & Soga made for interesting leads. Also loved the little found family of friends and bar regulars. 3 ½/5 (15/3/24)

One Room Angel - This could really only be Japanese. Beautiful, bittersweet and healing this does come with a lot of trigger warnings but if you can stomach it’s darker elements it’s really worth the journey. 4/5 (26/3/24)

Love is science (BL cut) - Just about an hour on YouTube this was delightful. Undoubtedly would not have enjoyed all the different het storylines but these two should have been a show on their own. Just lush. (No rate because it’s a cut. 28/3/24)

Senpai this can’t be love - Errm. Elements I really liked, and I don’t think it’s anywhere near as bad as some make it out to be, but it did have a very naff ending and they deserved a better kiss. These two were cute but probably not one I’ll reach to rewatch. 3/5 (30/3/24)

WaterBoyy - I really only watched this because I’m a dumbass with completionist tendencies. It’s a show? The story and script are absolutely insane. There is so much het nonsense, which I entirely skipped, weird dated language and extremely 2017 dubcon. I can give a lot of old shows a pass for being of their time but this is bad even by 2017 standards. I’ll give it a half point for being moderately well acted. But that’s it. 1/2 (1/4/24)

Our Dating Sim - Very cute. Packed a surprising amount of story into a short time frame. Also delivered some nice kisses. 3/5 (2/4/24)

Jun & Jun - Enjoyed most of this. Episodes 5 & 6 felt a little redundant. Great kisses, much higher heat than standard for a K BL. Would have loved more from the manager & idol pairing, they had an interesting history and I’d like to have seen them a little more developed. I could understand why no man could resist Lee Jun’s face, a 100% cutie. 3/5 (3/4/24)

Love is better the second time around - Much to love about this one. The acting all round was stunning, Aloha as Senpai’s bitchy assistant was hilarious and I need him in a main BL role again soon, the leads were able to tell whole stories in subtle facial expressions. I think the end was satisfying but I did feel like it could have used 8 episodes instead of 6. 4/5 (10/4/24)

Unknown - Quite the surprise. I’m a little hesitant with the pseudo incest, brother lover whatever the hell you want to call it trope. But this was done beautifully well. A mild melodrama with slice of life and found family at its core this is wholly worth your time and I loved it a lot. 5/5 (20/4/24)

We Best Love (1) - I definitely did enjoy this but it also didn’t overly wow me. Shu Yi is my perfect brand of arrogant stupidity wrapped up in a pissed off little cat package so he was an easy and delightful sell for me. Also obsessed with the cousin doctor. Sam Lin and Yu have extremely good chemistry and I’m excited to watch the second series. 3 ½/5 (29/4/24)

Two Worlds - This was silly and pulpy from the get go and stayed that way. The holes have holes in this and the ending was very expected but, having said all this, I still very much enjoyed myself. Wandee knows that mindless pulp & MaxNat are a great combo and truly it is. Would make an easy, delicious spam. 3/5 (16/5/24)

Boys be brave - This felt more Japanese than Korean in some parts? Lots of character examination and broken boys being stubborn. (100% more so in the secondary pairing which really never got explored enough for my tastes.) Overall I found this very enjoyable and it didn’t entirely fluff its ending up. 3 ½/5 (16/5/24)

23.5 - I don’t think this is without its issues but the things it did well I feel it did really well. The teens in this were authentically stupid and all their problems were also accurately teen. Ignore reviews telling you the writing is bad, it isn’t, it’s just extremely specifically teen. None of the problems the girls have are relatable for adults honestly but if you’re someone who never outgrew your teen angst or is just able to remember that period well you’ll enjoy this. Milk & Love were superb as was the entire cast. I’d love more light GL stories like this one and less melodrama and sadness. 3 ½/5 (24/5/24)

[prettysweetprettysweet]

Earth Pirapat and New Thitipoom in Water Boyy (2017)

[zhaozi]

[gunsatthaphan]

"so you're single?"

[krubicons]

↳ earth pirapat ♡ gmmtv actor ⸺ * icons

( ** like or reblog if you save or use ♡

[tess-from-neverland]

When Jojo Siad that he picked Mond because he told him he hadn't kissed any boy in a series yet, I was like I know bitch, I watched Waterboyy and shipped Kluay and Achi, do you think I forgot?

[colourme-feral]

Replacing the usual weekly shared locations are locations that I've found during my scans of shows during my summer break,

Y-Destiny and Vice Versa (location)

Y-Destiny, Water Boyy, Between Us and Vice Versa (location)

Meow Ears Up, The Player, Y-Destiny, Moonlight Chicken, Make a Wish Official Pilot and Bad Buddy

Meow Ears Up and Lovely Writer

SOTUS, Club Sapan Fine 2, Fish Upon the Sky, Bad Buddy, Secret Crush on You and Theory of Love

[negrowhat]

Also looking at the credits I realize now that we will be seeing Carbon Monoxide again and I fear I may like him the 2nd time around.

[enchan-new]

Yacht on GMMTV shows

Waterboyy ep 9 as Bully dir. New Siwaj, Andy Rachyd, Cheewin Thanamin

My Gear and Your Gown ep 11 as Nickie dir. New Siwaj

Star and Sky: Star in My Mind ep 2 dir. New Siwaj

A Boss and a Babe ep 1 dir. New Siwaj

[clairedaring]

TYTAN - Your Call (อยู่ที่เธอ) [OFFICIAL MV]

[lost-my-sanity1]

he was born to be a babygirl

[respectthepetty]

The way Boeing just showed up in the last 3 episodes and started MASSIVE amounts of shit jfc, he's in everyone's business and I hate it that he's not in MY business 😭😭 anyways I love him and he's an unhinged god that's all I wanted to say thank you

Anon, let me honest here. I wanted Fluke Gawin to play Boeing. Half of Tumblr was rooting for Mix. Yet we got Mond, and everyone rejoiced.

And you wanna know why?

Because it's Mond.

I just don't love Boeing. I love Boeing because he is played by Mond.

When episode ten ended, I thought, "who could have played Boeing like this?" Yes, the character is written this way, but what actor would have made me *this* happy to watch Boeing do all he did in forty minutes?

Mond.

Because he is shipless. If Mix would have kissed Book's character, folks would have been in their feelings. If Fluke Gawin would have asked First's character to get back with him next week, people would have cheered for First to leave Khaotung because DANYOK! Mond ain't kissed no homies yet, so even those of us in our GramYok feels want them to kiss, but we aren't opposed to Mond stopping there.

Because we want him to kiss all the homies. Mond has always been *so* close to the homies who kiss (Waterboyy, Kiss Me Again, Not Me, P.S. I Hate You),

Yet is never really one of those homies, so there is an unreasonable amount of people invested in this man kissing a homie.

Or eight homies.

Oh, and Mond plays morally fucked up very well.

So well, in fact, that he has you feeling bad for his crazy ass.

And the reason you feel bad is because you were cheering for him knowing darn well he was choosing violence every single day, but he made you not care! *fun fact - his character's name is Badz here

So, yeah. It's Mond. Khaotung makes everyone cry around him. Gun makes everyone shippable with him. And Mond makes unhinged god work for him.

Does that power lie in his big brown eyes? His beautiful plump lips? His earth shattering abs? I have no clue, but as six people wrote in the tags for my last post - #I NEED (HIS CHARACTERS) IN A WAY THAT IS CONCERNING TO FEMINISM

This man got me all the way fucked up.

And I like it.

[gunsatthaphan]

Mond really needs to do more BL work I just assumed he was one of the actors that didn't want to do bl because he has been at gmmtv for so long and hasn't or hasn't since Waterboy I think Not Me not included because he was het in that but he was so good as Boeing, came in kissed 4 of the main characters then left

he's either had an epiphany or his bills are piling up dfjkhgf he really was the last person I expected to show up in this. Same goes for Drake and Title though who I also thought were done with bl but here we are. Jojo brings all the (retired) boys to the bl yard dfjkg. also him reviving the whole mondfirst situation was A Choice lol he saw the queerbaiting in NM and said not on my watch lmao. what an icon.

but also my full respect to my boy Mond, he really showed up out of nowhere and made out with these people like he's never done anything else in his life lmao extremely respectable. very excited to see him in My Golden Blood ✌🏻

xxx

[ranchthoughts]

The GMMTV Kissing Multiverse, an Update

EDITED: Hey everyone - update posted here! Follow along with all updates at the tag here

Hello everyone! Thank you all for your help with the GMMTV Kissing Multiverse project so far. I thought I would give an update.

The first draft is here.

Rules

Must be lip to lip contact

Must be shown on screen in a GMMTV tv series (no kisses from ads, promotional content, etc.)

Poll Update

I enlisted all of your help deciding if the WaiKorn sorta kiss from the Bad Buddy x ATOTS Our Skyy 2 episodes actually involved lip touching and if the HeartLiMing kiss from Moonlight Chicken should be included.

The results are in: you voted that Jimmy and Drake's lips do NOT touch, therefore their kiss will be NOT be counted in this project. The HeartLiMing poll resulted in an exact tie (!!!) so I am here to be the tie breaker - upon careful review, if we don't see the lips touch, the kiss doesn't count (I think that will be easier for decision-making in the long run). Therefore, the HeartLiMing kiss will NOT be counted in this project. Thanks everyone for participating!

Breakdown by Show

So far, I have looked at 47 individual shows (in brackets is the short-form I've been using):

A Boss and a Babe (ABAAB): Book/Force, Fluke Pusit/Ohm Thipakorn

An Eye for an Eye (AEDAE): Dao Phimthong/Ohm

A Tale of a Thousand Stars (ATOTS): Earth/Mix

Bad Buddy (BB): Nanon/Ohm

Be My Favourite (BMF): Gawin/Krist

'Cause You're My Boy (CYMB): Drake/Frank

Cupid's Last Wish (CLW): Earth/Mix

Dark Blue Kiss (DBK): New/Tay, Gawin/Pod

Dirty Laundry (DL): Film/Nanon

Double Savage (DS): Film/Ohm, Film/Perth

Enchante: Book/Force

Enigma: Prim/Namtan, Prim/Win

F4: Bright/Tu

Friendzone: AJ/Plustor, Nat/Singto, Plustor/Singto, Aye/Apple

Fish Upon the Sky (FUTS): Phuwin/Pond, Louis/Neo

He's Coming to Me (HCTM): Ohm/Singto, Ohm/Gigie

Hidden Agenda (HA): Dunk/Joong

Mama Gogo (MMGG): Drake/Ciize, Joss/Gigie, Lee/Cris

Midnight Museum (MM): Bright/Pat Chayani, Nanon/View

Moonlight Chicken (MLC): Earth/Mix, Earth/Papang, First/Mix

My Dear Loser (MDL): Namtan/Sing

My School President (MSP): Fourth/Gemini, Satang/Winny

Never Let Me Go (NLMG): Chimon/Phuwin, Phuwin/Pond

Not Me (NM): Film/Gun, Film/Mond, First/Gawin, Gun/Off

Only Friends (OF): so far... Drake/Neo, Neo/Mark Pakin, Book/Force [only counting the ones we have seen so far - so this is going to change!!]

P.S. I Hate You (PS IHY): Guy Sivakorn/Papang, Jan/Lee, Jan/Pearwah

Star in my Mind (SIMM): Dunk/Joong, Dunk/Pepper

Sky in your Heart (SIYH): Mek/Mark Jiruntanin

Slam Dunk: Drake/Sing

SOTUS: Krist/Singto

The Eclipse (Eclipse): First/Khaotung, Louis/Neo

The Gifted (Gifted): Namtan/Lee

The Jungle (Jungle): Krist/Lee, Krist/Lookjun, Lee/Mook, Lookjun/Off, Mild/Nanon, Nanon/Punpun

The Player (Player): Chimon/Namtan

The Shipper (Shipper): First/Ohm, First/Prigkhing

Theory of Love (TOL): Gun/Off, Gun/Boom, Nok/Off

Turn Left Turn Right (TLTR): Nanon/Puimek

Tonhon Chonlatee (Tonhon): Khaotung/Pod

UMG: Nanon/Namtam

Vice Versa (VV): Jimmy/Sea

Warp Effect (Warp): Ciize/Sing, Fluke Pusit/Gigie, Fluke Pusit/Thor, Gigie/Guy Sivakorn, Jan/Silvy, Mark Pakin/Best, New/Fah, New/Fluke Pusit, New/Gigie, New/Silvy

Waterboyy: Earth/New

2gether: Bright/Win

Still 2gether: Bright/Win, Mike/Toptap

3 Will Be Free (3WBF): Joss/Tay, Joss/Mild, Mild/Tay

55:15 Never Too Late (55:15): Arm/View, Khaotung/Pawin

10 Year Ticket (10 YT): Ohm/Tu

Breakdown by actor

I currently have 66 actors whose kisses I have recorded (a moment of thought for Aou, Gunsmile, and White who are listed on my spreadsheet but don't actually have any kisses listed yet).

Men

AJ: Plustor (Friendzone)

Arm: View (55:15)

Book: Force (ABAAB, Enchante, OF)

Bright: Tu (F4), Pat Chayani (MM), Win (2gether)

Chimon: Phuwin (NLMG), Namtan (Player)

Drake: Frank (CYMB), Ciize (MMGG), Neo (OF)

Dunk: Joong (HA, SIMM), Pepper (SIMM)

Earth: Mix (ATOTS, CLW, MLC), Papang (MLC), New (Waterboyy)

First: Mix (MLC), Gawin (NM), Khaotung (Eclipse), Ohm (Shipper), Prigkhing (Shipper)

Fluke Gawin: Krist (BMF), Pod (DBK), First (NM)

Fluke Pusit: Ohm Thipakorn (ABAAB), Thor (Warp), Gigie (Warp), New (Warp)

Force: Book (ABAAB, Enchante, OF)

Fourth: Gemini (MSP)

Gemini: Fourth (MSP)

Gun: Film (NM), Off (NM, TOL), Boom (TOL)

Guy Sivakorn: Papang (P.S. IHY), Gigie (Warp)

Jimmy: Sea (VV)

Joong: Dunk (HA, SIMM)

Joss: Gigie (MMGG), Mild (3WBF), Tay (3WBF)

Khaotung: First (Eclipse), Pod (Tonhon), Pawin (55:15)

Krist: Gawin (BMF), Singto (SOTUS), Lee (Jungle), Lookjun (Jungle)

Lee: Cris (MMGG), Jan (P.S. IHY), Namtan (Gifted), Krist (Jungle), Mook (Jungle)

Louis: Neo (FUTS, Eclipse)

Mark Pakin: Neo (OF), Best (Warp)

Mark Jiruntanin: Mek (SIYH)

Mek: Mark Jiruntanin (SIYH)

Mike: Toptap (2gether)

Mix: Earth (ATOTS, CLW, MLC), First (MLC)

Nanon: Ohm (BB), Film (DL), View (MM), Mild (Jungle), Punpun (Jungle), Puimek (TLTR), Namtan (UMG)

Neo: Louis (FUTS, Eclipse), Drake (OF), Mark Pakin (OF)

New: Tay (DBK), Fah (Warp), Fluke Pusit (Warp), Gigie (Warp), Silvy (Warp)

Off: Gun (NM, TOL), Lookjun (Jungle), Nok (TOL)

Ohm Thipakorn: Fluke Pusit (ABAAB)

Ohm: Dao Phimthong (AEFAE), Nanon (BB), Film (DS), Singto (HCTM), Gigie (HCTM), First (Shipper), Tu (10 YT)

Papang: Earth (MLC), Guy Sivakorn (P.S. IHY)

Pawin: Khaotung (55:15)

Pepper: Dunk (SIMM)

Phuwin: Pond (FUTS, NLMG), Chimon (NLMG)

Pod: Gawin (DBK), Khaotung (Tonhon)

Pond: Phuwin (FUTS, NLMG)

Satang: Winny (MSP)

Sea: Jimmy (VV)

Sing: Namtan (MDL), Drake (Slam Dunk), Ciize (Warp)

Singto: Nat (Friendzone), Plustor (Friendzone), Ohm (HCTM), Krist (SOTUS)

Tay: New (DBK), Joss (3WBF), Mild (3WBF)

Thor: Fluke Pusit (Warp)

Toptap: Mike (2gether)

Win: Prim (Enigma), Bright (2gether)

Winny: Satang (MSP)

Women

Aye: Apple (Friendzone)

Best: Mark Pakin (Warp)

Ciize: Drake (MMGG), Sing (Warp)

Cris: Lee (MMGG)

Fah: New (Warp)

Film: Nanon (DL), Ohm (DS), Perth (DS), Gun (NM), Mond (NM)

Gigie: Ohm (HCTM), Joss (MMGG), Fluke Pusit (Warp), Guy Sivakorn (Warp), New (Warp)

Jan: Lee (P.S. IHY), Pearwah (P.S. IHY), Silvy (Warp)

Lookjun: Off (Jungle), Krist (Jungle)

Mild: Nanon (Jungle), Joss (3WBF), Tay (3WBF)

Mook: Lee (Jungle)

Namtan: Prim (Enigma), Sing (MDL), Lee (Gifted), Chimon (Player), Nanon (UMG)

Prigkhing: First (Shipper)

Prim: Namtan (Enigma), Win (Enigma)

Silvy: Jan (Warp), New (Warp)

Tu: Bright (F4), Ohm (10 YT)

View: Nanon (MM), Arm (55:15)

Figures and Discussion Section

Our leaders as of now for "most different pairs kissing in one show" are:

Warp Effect (10 pairs)

The Jungle (5 pairs)

Friendzone and Not Me (4 pairs)

Only Friends (3 pairs [so far 👀])

Mama Gogo, Moonlight Chicken, P.S. I Hate You, and 3 Will Be Free (3 pairs)

2. Jojo has an... outsized impact on the number of kissing pairs. He directed 5 of the top 9 shows with the most different kissing pairs - and roughly 17% of all the shows analyzed - but his shows contain about 30% of kisses present in the data set (note: I am just looking at kissing pair iterations here not at unique kissing pairs, e.g., Phuwin/Pond are a pair in two shows (once in a Jojo show and once in a non-Jojo show), so they are counted twice. Otherwise I would have to think about in what show/under which director a kissing pair first originated, how many different shows/directors they've kissed under... this section is mostly a quick exercise in showing how Jojo has a lot of different kissers in his shows so I'm not trying to be that statistically accurate.)

The median number of "different kissing pairs per show" of a Jojo show is 3.38, compared to a median of only 1.69 "different kissing pairs per show" in non-Jojo shows.

3. There were more same gender kissing pairs than mixed gender kissing pairs, though not by much. This may also reflect the data set used (I know I am more familiar with QLs than het GMMTV shows)

4. Our leaders for actors with the "most kissing partners" so far are:

Nanon (7 people)

Ohm (6 people)

First, Lee, New, Film, Gigie, and Namtan (5 people each)

Krist, and Fluke Pusit (4 people)

Bright, Drake, Earth, Fluke Gawin, Gun, Joss, Khaotung, Neo, Off, Sing, Tay, Jan, and Mild (3 people each)

Bonus! Which of the GMMTV boys has kissed the most men?

First and Singto are tied for the win (4 each)

Then Earth, Fluke Gawin, Khaotung, Krist, Neo, and Ohm (3 each)

Then Drake, Dunk, Fluke Pusit, Gun, Mix, New, Papang, Phuwin, and Tay (2 each)

Thanks to all those who contributed!!: @airenyah, @alsoran, @bengiyo, @burnmyself, @catboykacchan, @catsundmaus, @chickenstrangers, @crowie, @dribs-and-drabbles, @jeonghanurl, @kpinhiding, @lurkingshan, @maibpenrai, @nieves-de-sugui, @non-binarypal7, @sollucets, @userneos, @tiistirtipii, @waitmyturtles, @williamrikers, @zeesqueere

and @blmpff asked to be tagged in updates!

[colourme-feral]

Shared + spotted in: (Split into 2 posts: Part 1 here)

IRL: Baan Bellawin, 219 1 Sukhumvit 4 Alley, Khlong Toei, Bangkok 10110, Thailand

This post would not be possible without all the input of @virtualtadpole, who found the name of the apartment complex and discussed locations with me!

There are actually two apartment blocks, which have been used in Thai qls.

Apartment block #1: This is the apartment block you probably are familiar, but the units used seem to be different based on details, such as the white box on the door, the colour of the balcony ledge, colour of the floor, etc. The shows identified are, A Boss and a Babe (and Our Skyy 2 x A Boss and a Babe), Boyband the Series, Not Me, Only Friends, Return Man, Star in My Mind, Water Boyy (I will still identify these as a shared location, since they appear to have been shot in the same apartment block.)

A Boss and a Babe (and Our Skyy 2 x A Boss and a Babe)

Boyband the Series

Not Me

Only Friends

Return Man

Star in My Mind

Waterboyy

Apartment block #2: Across from its more recognised sibling is a second block, which has been used less frequently. Shows identified are, Y-Destiny, 2gether

Credit: https://www.dailynews.co.th/news/323594/

Part 1

[absolutebl]

This Week in BL - Cameos & Familiar Faces

Entirely subjective yadda yadda. Organized by favs in each category. No numbered lists anymore, tumblr be buggn'.

End of Aug Start Sept 2023

Ongoing Series - Thai

Laws of Attraction (Sat iQIYI) 8fin - Oh the DRAMA. Why does the insane ex (my true love) remind me of the cartel leader from Romancing the Stone? Even the sides got HEA! It was fucking great!!!!! Charn remains a bonkers spoiled evil murderous brat with a cruel smile beloved by his one true paladin. Also: post it love note trope! Been a long while my old friend. NO SINGING!!!!! I do love that wedding jacket frock coat cape thing Charn wore. 

In conclusion: This is a great gay suspense thriller with several solid couples, fun plot, killer characters, queer rep, and a happy ending. Charn may be my favorite lead character of 2023. However, this show is not entirely BL, more on the fringe, like Manner of Death. Add that to several "singing incidents" and pairs being a little weak in the chemistry arena, and this lands safely in 9/10 territory. It’s tons of fun tho: HIGHLY RECOMMENDED. 

I Feel You Linger in the Air (Sat grey) ep 3 of 12 - This show is getting more and more lakorn each ep. Apparently the straights are having a class divide arranged marriage crisis. Who cares? Our boy is ALWAYS in trouble. Crazy that he has to save the people who betrayed him in a previous life - but I guess he chose revenge! That's unexpected.

Had to switch to grey and couldn’t find a working rip. It was frustrating and I wouldn’t have bothered except I like this show so much. Still, it means no screen caps because the rez is naff.

Dangerous Romance (Fri YT) ep 3 of 12 - Uh oh. Kang wants to save Sailom and be his hero. The fact that K’s Pa puts no pressure on him whatsoever, makes me wonder if K's Ma committed suicide or something? It’s definitely the opposite parental dynamic we normally see in BL. I have to say, the pacing is great in the show. And the acting is on point. It’s really great. 

Hidden Agenda (Sun YT) ep 8 of 12 - these two just kiss well. I mean not "rip your clothes off Taiwan-style," but sweet young boyfriends-esk. Joke wants to be claimed so bad. It’s great. I enjoyed this ep, unfortunately it looks like we have a manufactured angst drama drop in the next episode. Is this a 10 episode arc? I thought it was 12. It’s odd to have doom happening next episode already.

Only Friends (Sat YT) ep 4 of 10 - Back story time! Ray and Mew are HARD to watch. Incestuous friend group gay is the worst. Omg I got such QAF vibes from this ep. Nick Boston Sand chats = very throw back 90s gay soaps. 

Location game moment: Top's hotel room is also Chan’s apartment in Laws Of Attraction. 

Naughty Babe (Sat YT) ep 1 of 8 - Ooo. Est is back! Hi handsome. Head of security suits you. Please lead out the new Waterboyy remake? You’re perfect for the role. (If it must happen.) Yi’s Pa is GREAT. Please give daddy a nice boy? Could that be our secondary couple for this series? 

Meanwhile, with the leads (sorry I was distracted by daddy) we got us an arranged marriage, run away bride, and an amnesia trope. Put in a secret baby and it's squarely 1980's Harlequin. Will there be Vikings? Sex herbs? Pirates? Dub con?

Be Mine Super Star (Mon Viki) ep 9 of 12 - Again with lovely sex scenes, it’s just the plot stringing them together is frayed. Also don’t fuck in an onsen. Both yech and ouch.

That goes for all y’all.  

Wedding Plan (Wed YT & iQIYI) ep 7fin - Trash watch here! Honestly this was an okay ending, I’m not mad at it. If you can tolerate Mame and liars (kinda the same thing) you’ll be fine with this show.

Summation: An innocent wedding planner falls haplessly and hopelessly in love with a groom who relentlessly pursued him, even though he’s about to marry someone else. A somewhat lackluster mame offering with less of the usual stellar chemistry, but all of the usual lies and manipulation. 7/10

Love in Translation (Sat iQIYI) ep 3 of 10 - I skip everything to do with Tammy and it’s fine. There’s only about 20 minutes of fine but that’s more than enough. On the bright side. So far. No singing.

My Universe (Sun iQIYI) ep 2 of 24 eps - Cassanova Begins Part 2. Aw. It was sad. Another variation on the “my ghost boyfriend” trope (usually sad). 2/10 I don't do sad BL.

Next up is Merry Go Round featuring the pair from Destiny Seeker (we likey) who want to marry each other, but end up fake engaged to the same woman. Beard squared? Looks silly.

Crazy Handsome Rich (Sun Gaga) ep 1 of 10 - There are 2 things I like about this. I bet you can guess what they are.

Lee Long Shi

The whipping boy trope

There wasn’t enough of either in this first ep. ALSO the captions, sound effects, and voice over are truly next level bad. Utterly atrocious.

The 2 leads fucking around in the end credits was the funniest part of the whole show. 

Ongoing Series - Not Thai

Jun & Jun (Korea Thur Viki) ep 7 of 8 - I am confused and frustrated about what the communication delay is between the two Juns. It feels artificial and narratively manufactured. But since this is a short form KBL and I know it will be resolved quickly, I’m not as annoyed as I would be if this were Thai BL. Still it feels audience manipulative. I also feel sorry for Simon. BUT it looks like it’ll be a sweet boyfriends final episode.

Stay By My Side (Taiwan Fri Gaga) ep 10fin - Omg they’re so cute!!! Taiwan the purveyors of ultimate sappy gay domesticity. I am going to miss having these to nonsencing all over my dash.

This show was an interesting take on the "ghost boyfriend" trope. About a boy who is tormented by hearing the dead, except when he is around one other boy - desperation+proximity = love. Unfortunately, the story was erratic and waffled about. While the leads turned in solid performances and the sappy domesticity was off the charts, it never really had the strength of the narrative convictions such a strong concept should have supplied. Highly rewatchable and enjoyable for that sappy domesticity but not a whole lot more. Still I always give extra credit for the diabetes-inducing sugar content and rewatch capacity. 8/10 

Kisseki: Dear to Me (Taiwan Tues Viki & iQIYI) eps 3 of 13(?) - I love the punching thing - there is a lot of violent flirting in this show. I’m not mad about it. Ugh, poor thing has real abandonment issues. And now trust issues. I see why we’re getting 12-14 eps. This gonna be MESSY.

Meanwhile, does EVERYONE have a guest cameo? Not that I’m complaining. Hi BLIHID boys! Now I need to rewatch that show. 

Love Class Season 2 (Korea Fri Viki) eps 7-8 of 10 - Oh my God the next morning w/ couple 2 was so darn cute. They are all such terrible flirts with each other. Honestly, this show makes me laugh more than any other BL currently airing. I’m not sure it is meant to be as funny as I find it. While couple 3 (the mature characters) is by far my favorite, I actually think they don’t work with the other two pairs, they feel superfluous to the show. I like the show better because they’re in it, but it feels like two different BL‘s stuck together. KBL certainly can’t handle more than two couple threads at the same time. 

Why R U? (Korea Wed iQIYI) eps 3-4 of 8 - Ugh. I am such a sucker for the FighterTutor dynamic. Why so good? Uh oh. Real kiss! KBL you're spoiling us. But, isn’t sad-seme-hyung dating some chick? Argh. Poor Sunwoo. This show is even worse at repping Fighter's character sympathetically. Who knew that was possible?

My Personal Weatherman AKA Taikan Yoho (Japan Sat Gaga) ep 3 of 8 - The date episode! Even Japan is doing it now. And these two who have been living/fucking together for ages still dance around each other like junior high kids. I gotta say, I watch this one twice because Vicki has different subs from Gaga. I feel like it’s easier to understand if I watch two different translations of the same script. But it’s still quite a taciturn piece. 

Minato's Laundromat Season 2 AKA Minato Shouji Coin Laundry Season 2 (Japan Thu Gaga) ep 8 of 12 - Sides are great. It was mostly a cute ep with tiny bits of Progress and a proper Confession. I miss Shin’s siblings. And then… the much loathed amnesia trope. Really?

Everyone say it with me: Must you, Japan? 

Stay Still (Hong Kong Tues YouTube) ep 5fin - It ended happier than I was expecting. Optimistic for one couple, and most likely optimistic for the other.

Summation: What to say about this offering from Hong Kong? It’s different, a mix of early CBL, Taiwanese shorts, and Pinoy visuals. It felt like the story was 2 independent shorts that had been lengthen and then stuck together, and I wish they'd been approached as separate and tighter entities. Nevertheless, this was a complex little piece,  interesting in a sweaty grungy way, with a certain aura of queer authenticity that made it simultaneously tense, unpredictable, and refreshing. I’m not sure I would necessarily call it BL, but any county’s early foray into the genre usually starts out this way, so perhaps nascent BL? Worth watching, especially if you enjoy stuff from the Philippines and Taiwan. 7/10

In case you missed it

Dinosaur Love ended its run but the final 2 eps are behind a paywall. Word on the street is they aren't good anyway (shocker) so I'm marking it as DNF and moving on with my life. If I can find em grey I'll watch 'em merely so I can give it a rating, but I can't imagine it will get more than 5/10. Seriously, do not bother.

Next Week Looks Like This:

Coming September

9/15 You Are Mine (Taiwan Gaga) Secretary has to deal with grumpy boss.

9/15 Bump Up Business AKA Bump Up Project (Korea movie) suspected cinema release? I don't know much about what's going on. Last status update. Love story between a trainee who is about to debut and a celebrity from the same agency. Kpop boy group OnlyOneOf has signed up to star in this idol-based BL (based on a webtoon). They’ve been auditioning for this since Libido IMHO. You can watch me chronicle their BL MV series in this post. It’s from Idol Romance who will do sad but can do good kisses (Wish You, Nobleman Ryu, Once Again, Kissable Lips, Poongduck 304, Tasty Florida, Tinted With You).

9/26 I Cannot Reach You AKA I Can't Reach You AKA Kimi ni wa Todokanai (Japan ????) - Adapted from the manga, childhood best friends: The cool, smart one who’s good at everything, and his average, dorky friend who struggles. Always by the other’s side, but not together in the way they truly want to be. No matter how hard they try, their hearts cannot reach each other.

9/27 Absolute Zero (Thai iQIYI) - from 2021, Studio Wabi Sabi and New Siwaj finally bring us this “time loop to prevent tragedy” romance. We don’t always get HEAs from them, so I'm on my guard.

9/? Venus in the Sky (Thai iQIYI) 10 eps

9/? Mr Cinderella 2 (Vietnam YouTube?)

2023 forthcoming BL master post (see comments, some are inaccurate, NOT KEPT UPDATED).

THIS WEEK’S BEST MOMENTS

Hidden Agenda hitting us up with a hug + lap + kiss. Very nice.

I think these two might be GMMTV's best cuddlers.

Boys, I think your JoongDunk is showing.

(Last week)