A lot of my shows in the last week have had queer angst to some degree or another, which following last week and the general consensus that it has become less important to modern bls made me go, yeah, we are still here. It hasn’t left.
Earlier today, a tumblr post crossed my dash that was about the phenomenon of seeing overt homophobia portraying in media being a thing that happened in “the past” and how 2000s/2010s being too recent to be considered “the past” by most people, but if you go back and look at shows from that time, there is so, so much homophobia. Entire characters were created where the joke was essentially, “he is slightly effeminate in x way.” Because that’s what it was like! Things have changed (in the US) so rapidly over the last decade alone since marriage equality passed that it feels anachronistic in both directions.
One of the interesting things about watching especially Korean and Japanese BLs is feeling a little like I’m looking at something from the past. Very few couples in those shows are openly gay to anyone aside from their close friends or family, and sometimes not even that. There’s a very real sense of danger to the prospect of them coming out. Thai shows I feel like have never had quite as much of this, though there used to be a lot more uncertainty about being out that still appears sometimes (Ossan’s Love does this, which is actually what triggered this whole thought).
Anyway, the point is that it’s interesting to look at as a trend, and in another life I would be writing a paper about it, but instead I’m putting it down here, in my fujo corner.
Currently Watching (on air)
Perfect 10 Liners: I was wrong about Louis, who is instead playing Faifa’s lowkey insane friend, which I think is a fabulous role for him. So now all bets are off on who will play P’Tor, though earlier today Joong tweeted that he is not Tor, which of course has me side-eyeing him since he was at the wrap party (though maybe he just wanted to hang with his JASP.er buddies).
I’m so interested in how this arc is going to be paced, because it seems like Wine at least has already figured out that he’s switched his interest, while Faifa still seems to not quite believe that Wine is for real interested in him. Mark and Junior continue to kill it, especially when it comes to the kissing. Damn!
Ossan’s Love: I am pulling so hard for Boss and Ten to end up together now. Their sidequest this episode was delightful, and their whole vibe is hysterical. Thor was particularly funny in this episode; I’ve loved his incredibly deadpan performance amidst everyone else’s antics.
I mentioned earlier that Ossan’s is one of the reasons I was thinking about queer angst in shows, because the way it’s been handled in this show has been really understated but also interesting. Mo not being out to his parents and dropping it on them by coming home with a boyfriend is iconic tbh, but also reflective of a clear hesitance to tell them unless he was serious about it. The preview for next week also hints at him being afraid of disappointing Heng’s mom. I’m not sure we’ll ever get a full explanation for why he’s so sure that people will disapprove, but honestly it’s enough to simply have it, because it’s so understandable.
Boy Next World: A week behind, but I’ve been finding this show so interesting. The reveal of the never-ending chain of Cirruses introducing his next iteration to Phu was so strangely moving to me—as someone on tumblr said, he loved this one boy so much he shattered spacetime to make sure very version of himself would find him. I have no idea how this show is going to resolve everything—I assume that, like Love Sea, the last episode will be long and then there’ll be a special episode—but I’ve enjoyed the ride so far.
ThamePo: I sat my friend down to force them to watch the first three episodes of this show, and it’s wild to watch again knowing more about the characters and how they change. It occurred to me as I was watching that the events of this show happen over the course of only a couple of months, which is something that’s true of a lot of romance shows but always makes me go all that?? That fast??
Looking back on the earlier episodes after this specific episode, it’s so wonderful to see how much Po has grown since the hesitant and anxious person he was at the beginning. He still has his worries—he wouldn’t have broken up with Thame if that weren’t the case—but he is so much more sure of his own worth, which we see both in his hard rejection of Earn and his decision to actually fix what’s happened with Thame. And I do find it so interesting that while being with Thame is obviously a huge factor toward that change, it’s also his relationship with Jun that pushed him there. What a well-executed love triangle.
Side note, it’s delightful to me that they clearly got a bonus sponsor after the show had started airing, because the post-credits MARS diary was definitely filmed right before Hong dyed his hair pink for the SkyNani fanmeet. It makes me wish they had more spon earlier so we could have had those little postcredits scenes in more episodes. It’s such a delightful glimpse into their dynamic.
Currently Watching (completed)
LoveSick 2024: Once again on the queer angst front, I have reached what seems like the climax of the Aim plot (or at least when it comes to everyone else knowing). I know some people didn’t like that they’d changed her to be a lesbian in this—possibly they thought it was a cop out on the infidelity front for Pun?—but I think it’s been particularly interesting as a foil for what’s going on with Noh and Pun. She breaks my heart, honestly!
See Your Love: I knew this show would be batshit based on the trailer, but nothing could have prepared me for how wild the tone shifts are. The main couple is 100% a romcom thus far while Jonathan the secretly sexy secretary is living in a corporate espionage thriller periodically punctuated by the most incompetent hitman of all time. It’s definitely the most outwardly and deliberately comedic Taiwanese BL I’ve watched.
Finished
Our Youth: This show ended up being really lovely, largely due to the performances. I think my fundamental problem with it is that I’ve seen approximately 500 versions of this same story and so unless there’s something really specific to set it apart, it just won’t hit me as much. I think the thing that worked well for this was their chemistry, especially in the last special episode when they’re supposed to have been together for several years.
BL News:
I just saw that Billy and Babe posted another vlog and they’re mostly naked in one shot already and frankly I think they should not be.
The trailer for My Golden Blood dropped recently and discourse around Joss aside, it looks like an absolute masterclass in camp, especially Mond as a villain. If you’d shown this to me as a fifteen year old, I’d have been over the moon.
Also on the vampire front, a pilot for the Jjay and Fuaiz vampire show dropped, and it’s totally not what I expected. I guess I should have known would be playing a fucked up little guy, that is his wheelhouse, but I stg if this is the third show where Jjay kills Fuaiz…
urs,
hk