Revenged Love is about a young man whose girlfriend leaves him for a rich dude – and so the shafted little guy decides the best revenge would be to seduce her new boyfriend. He enlists the help of his gay bestie and fully commits to his scheme.
The plot was refreshingly different and took us through several plot arcs. There was obvious and meaningful character growth of all four main characters. It felt natural and real (within the context of this wild storyline), with a wide variety of sets, indoor and outdoor filming locations, and a solid pace throughout the 24 episode runtime. It was gorgeous without being overly cinematic. There were tons of side characters and tons of extras and it felt like everything was happening in the real world, not a closed set. I was never for a second bored.
I only have one complaint.
I finished watching the show this weekend and couldn’t help but mourn the loss of our main character’s libido in the second half of the series (why did this show get more PG after they’d had sex?). Sure, there were allusions to it, some very, very quick cuts, some fades, some implied naughtiness. But OMG, you filmed this outside of China so you could give us a live action version of one of the horniest characters ever written: Chi Cheng! A man whose love for snakes is only surpassed by his desire for ass, a man whose libido is so overwhelming he actually takes medication to calm his feral hormones down. The censors were not coming from you, Revenged Love, so why hold back? I’m not saying I needed full NC17 scenes in the second half of the show, but at the very least we could have had some hardcore, passionate make out scenes and more of the ass grabbing, aggressive boyfriend we’d come to love.
Alright, I’ve got one more tiny complaint and that’s it – I promise! Let me say as much as I enjoyed both actors playing the second couple, I think we can all agree it was clear one of them did not enjoy kissing men. Let’s be honest, that boy’s lips were firmly sealed.
Despite my minor complaints, this was still one of the best BL dramas I have seen in ages and I highly recommend it to everyone. I loved everything else about this show and have been active in the fandoms gushing and chatting about it all summer.
If ya’ll did not know, Revenged Love is based on the novel Counter Attack 柴鸡蛋 by Chai Ji Dan 柴鸡蛋, the same author who wrote Addicted and Advance Bravely. Addicted was the first Asian BL novel I read and I ate it up, but it was tame in comparison to Counter Attack which I read directly after. The source material has fast paced short chapters; yes, it’s sometimes extremely cringe, but it’s also brave enough to casually toss in taboos and insane behavior left and right, it’s very very sexy, and best of all it had me laughing out loud with all the jokes and witty banter. It was a memorable reading experience. The drama Revenged Love is a serviceable live action version. I’m actually quite proud of how much they kept in, while simultaneously being a tad disappointed at what was missing. Oh, the curse of book adaptations, am I right?
And don’t get me wrong – it was still very, very sexy even if it didn’t include the many intimate scenes in the book. The show still managed to be titillating and exciting. In particular Tian Xuning’s performance as Chi Cheng, slinking through every scene like panther who has locked in on their prey but first wants to play with it for a while. Ya’ll, the flirting and seduction scenes between these two were so hot! That man’s pursuit of Wu Suo Wei (and Wu Suo Wei’s pursuit of Chi Cheng followed by his hasty retreats) were soooo intoxicating to watch. They may not have given us much to work with as far as sex scenes are concerned, but for at least 60 percent of this drama it was clear there was only one thing on Chi Cheng’s mind and it was delicious to watch this deep voiced (thank you voice actor Shun Zi!) dom corner his man.
I would say the success of this show is entirely due to the tight script (a good script seems to be hard to come by in the BL industry) and its vivid trope-defying characters. The author of the original novel wrote the screenplay and was heavily involved in the show’s production – and you can tell she worked hard to bring her vision to the screen.
The actors knew who their characters were and nailed their roles. The dialogue felt natural, the line delivery was perfection, and the quirky scoffs, sexy purrs, frustrated sighs, alarmed squeals, and jittery rambling were all true to human behavior. Everyone was allowed to be many shades of gray. They made mistakes, they lied to each other and themselves, they were insecure and they were confident. They were emotionally varied, with pros and cons. None of that dull binary green flag / red flag business, these characters were human.
You will laugh, you might even cry, but most of all you will fall in love with these boys falling in love with each other. I hope we continue to get more uncensored adaptations of Chinese BL novels and webtoons in the future, because there are soooo many quality stories just begging to be brought to life.
If you haven’t watched Revenged Love yet – get on over to Viki or GagaOOLala or just go the Youtube page of the show.
Revenged Love – Overall Rating: 10/10 – Snakes, Sluts, and a Hot Polycule.
Alright, BL lovers! ABO Desire has won me over to the Omegaverse world via a slinky demon shark and a long suffering sensual secretary and I need to get everyone on board this crazy train with me!
Okay, so I’ve heard about the Omegaverse genre before – the term has been sprinkled around the fandoms for a few years now. I got a rough idea of what it was watching Pit Babe, but most people were commenting it was an Omegaverse-Light adaptation. It’s not like the Omegaverse genre is a secret, but what can I say? I’m pretty lazy sometimes and hadn’t bothered to learn more.
I knew it was basically some sort of science-fiction/fantasy concept with men getting pregnant, roughly based on the idea of alpha wolves – the top dog theory that has recently been disproved but still remains widely known (there are no alpha or beta wolves in the wild but rather families. The terminology of wolf hierarchy and pecking order was formed studying wolves in captivity). Regardless of whether or not this alpha wolf idea holds water, it’s still a fun concept to explore via fiction – which is what the Omegaverse is all about.
It’s kind of like vampires – in that other than the basics (fangs, drinking blood) how every creator approaches the genre may be slightly different from others.
In the drama ABO Desire, the Omegaverse world is the product of a global viral outbreak.
A few years back a highly contagious virus caused the death or mutations of all human beings on the planet. Those with AB blood were completely wiped out. Those with B blood were the largest group of survivors, but the virus mutated them to be nearly infertile, with only a 10 percent chance of conception. Those with A and O blood types were also nearly wiped out by the virus, with the few survivors being the most drastically mutated. They became intersex (more or less). Those with A blood became stronger and more virile, developing pheromones that act almost like supernatural powers, bending people to their will. Those with O blood became the most fertile (both girls and boys) going through mating cycles (they go into heat, basically).
Traditional gender identification was abandoned and replaced to reflect the new human condition. Those with A blood type became known as Alphas. O blood types became known as Omegas. And B blood types became known as Betas.
If this storyline is giving you a knee-jerk reaction, it’s okay. Just humor me a minute.
The Omegaverse is no less cringe than any transformation story. In the old mythologies it was snake headed ladies turning men to stone or it was rapist deities turning into bulls or swans. Curses, magic, rewards, or punishments could alter the human body. Inanimate objects could create life. Animals could transform into humans and vice versa. In almost all folklore you will find transformation stories. And everyone loves vampire and werewolf stories. Transformation stories rule.
So if you’re honest, it’s not the transformation aspect that is making you uncomfortable. It’s probably the idea of dudes getting pregnant.
But how does it work? you may be asking. The answer is… who cares? Just embrace the weird science of biological fluidity in this fantastical premise and have fun. We don’t tie ourselves into knots wondering how, scientifically, a wolf bite could turn a human into a shapeshifter or how a virgin could be biologically impregnated by a mystical god and still be a virgin. Just go with the fantasy flow. They may attempt to explain it in this series (or other Omegaverse stories, I don’t know), but so far it’s just one of those wonky things that is what it is because the author wrote it that way, like how a plague wiped out people by blood type. I don’t think a medical diagram of some Omegaverse reproductive organs is gonna make it any more or less believable, though I’m sure some fans and authors have certainly gone to great pains to create such things if you are interested.
The first three episode of ABO Desire have aired and honestly… it’s crack. I am devastated only a few episodes of this are airing each week while simultaneously being pleased I will still be watching this into October.
It’s a surprisingly fun show with a wild premise and an even crazier storyline taking place within that premise.
So let’s talk about it!
The main pairing is a successful CEO Alpha guy who’s desperately trying to get his hands on some critical research to develop the cure for a new type of cancer (which his father is currently dying of). He’s the only legitimate son and the family heir.
Now, before I go further… let’s take a step back and think about how the premise of the story is going to change the general narration of that tidbit of plot. Usually if a dude has a bunch of illegitimate children, it’s kind of frowned upon by society. But in this society, it’s almost the duty of Alphas to run around getting people pregnant, to ensure the survival of the human race. The old rules don’t apply anymore (I told you this story idea is really fun to play around in). Much like his daddy, our CEO Alpha is also a notorious player who goes through lovers every season or so, never getting too attached.
Now, you probably have an idea of what an Alpha Man is supposed to look like – especially if you were raised on Western media and unfamiliar with Omegaverse narratives. You are probably imagining some massive muscled type. Arnold Schwarzenegger as Conan the Barbarian. Perhaps Chris Hemsworth as Thor. That beefy dude who played in The Witcher. Something like that, right? And probably not this dainty, pale, handsome Chinese man who looks like a lesbian.
Ain’t no rules in the wild world of Omegaverse!
Your Alphas can be porcelain dolls or hulking titans, depending on the author. And lest we forget, they can also be girls. I actually really enjoy that there isn’t any striking physical differences between the A, B, and O types. Makes it more fun to speculate.
Anyhoo, this pretty man Alpha is being targeted by a mysterious demon shark character who we are introduced to in the opening sequence. He’s gorgeous and slinky and his agenda is to seduce this dainty Alpha CEO. We don’t know why yet, as he’s obviously extremely wealthy and powerful himself so that isn’t the reason. We just know he’s picked out this particular CEO and has gone to great pains to figure out what kind of person he’s attracted to so that he can model himself after that type of person and seduce him.
We also know he’s an Enigma – which is some special super rare mutation that’s the most powerful of all types and can get an Alpha pregnant. So maybe he’s just looking for a baby-daddy and it’s as simple as that. Time will tell.
Introducing Hua Yong – the antagonist of this show (who is also the protagonist). Master Manipulator. Absolute Queen of Deception. Stalker Princess of Power.
I am already obsessed with this gorgeous Enigma demon shark.
The plotline of the noble, poor innocent winning over the player rich boy is so cliche and overdone. However – the plotline of a demon shark PRETENDING to be a noble, poor innocent to win over a player rich boy is GOLD.
It’s so fun to watch this Alpha player get played.
This very lesbian-coded CEO has absolutely no idea he’s totally out of control of this situation and it’s hysterical! He’s getting all his buttons pushed and is all flustered and horny and pissed off and enamored and we’re all smugly watching knowing he’s being conned. I can’t quite feel sorry for him, either, which makes it even more fun to root for the villain.
And shark boy is truly terrifying – I have a feeling there isn’t much he’s not capable of doing to get what he wants.
The casting director deserves an award. Eliot Huang was born to play demon shark Hua Yong! He’s nailing this dual role of the burdened sweet virgin and the devious seductress to perfection.
Demon shark is so evil!
He’s even stolen his backstory (including his tragically ill sister who has been hospitalized for who knows how long) from another character in the drama.
Which leads me to the second pair of leads.
There’s another Alpha CEO who is running a company in competition with our main lead. Just like our other CEO, he’s rich, young, fussy, and aloof – but for some reason this Alpha dude hates Omegas. Absolutely can’t stand them and refuses to be anywhere near them.
Which is a problem for his faithful secretary and long-time acquaintance, Secretary Gao Tu.
Poor Secretary Gao has been hiding the fact that he’s an Omega for years and years, taking suppressant drugs and risking his life to stay… dare I say… closeted. I’m a sucker for self destructive, suffer in silence types, so naturally I just want to eat him up.
This is the pitiful creature our demon shark stole his backstory from. Secretary Gao is the actual guy who has a sister in the hospital and is drowning in debt and unrelenting bills and living in squalor… the real Cinderella waiting for a prince to rescue him.
He’s such a sensual disaster of a man. I mean look at this poster!
He’s all wet and soft and handsome and submissive. Why there isn’t a line of men and women outside his door waiting to plant him into a mattress I will never understand. At least someone will get on him eventually…
It’s going to be satisfying to have our Omega-hating CEO fall hard for this pretty, pathetic kitten-in-the-rain Secretary Gao. Hopefully. I mean, it’s only been three episodes, this show may crash and burn, who knows.
I’ve started reading the novel “Desire” (垂涎) by Nong Jian (弄简) and this is a very faithful adaptation so far. Clearly everyone involved respects the vision of the source material. I’m trying not to read too far ahead cause I don’t want to lose my anticipation for the upcoming episodes.
From the web novel cover it looks like somehow they’re going to pull a happy ending out of this insane story too. I’m enjoying speculating how this hardcore emotional and sexual manipulation is going to turn into genuine romance. Could you ever trust someone like demon shark once you know what he’s capable of? I dunno, maybe trust is overrated. People believe in all kinds of irrational things without a hint of evidence so it makes sense affairs of the heart would be the same.
Hua Yong may be an orchid to everyone in the book, but he’s a demon shark to me.
I hope he murders some people. Something beyond the pale so there’s no easy way to say “ooo but he had his reasons.” Cause there’s something very appealing about presenting a villainous character as the genuine love interest you’re supposed to root for. It isn’t done very often. I hope they don’t make any excuses for him. I hope he’s just a manipulative crazy bastard because he can be. Honestly, the more villainous he is the more I’m going to enjoy the story – including the subsequent romance.
We can have sweet romance with Secretary Gao and his petty CEO – but let’s leave the main couple in toxic hell together please.
This show is playing on several different streaming app platforms and of course the usual pirate ship bays. Maybe this post convinced you to give the Omegaverse live-action drama a try. It feels like history is being made with this one.
(I’ll rate it once it’s over – but right now it’s 10/10 for me)
All those kisses aren’t even spoilers, really. All that was just the first episode!
It was so spicy!
Love in the Air hooked me from the very beginning. I was COMPELLED by the flirty self-assurance of ponytail boy’s moves on an adorably dim rich boy and their undeniable chemistry.
I’d never seen this actor or his big eyed costar before. But they looked great together and I was eager to see more.
I am addicted to their faces
I’d just let my subscription to IQIYI lapse and was gonna hold out until Season 2 of KinnPorsche but apparently no… the “Son of Vegas” won me over.
Snaps to whomever is selecting their BL dramas on that app, too, cause they sure as hell know how to keep their tender hooks in us. Two billion heterosexual shows that I’ll never watch but I forked out the 10-ish bucks a month for the VIP IQIYI subscription again solely to watch one show about rich gay kids.
My socials were sprinkled with the show for the first ep… and there was quite a buzz about it.
Whatever else had been distracting us was quickly pushed aside as Love in the Air became the main course for the next few months. The BL fandom was on board to witness the insane chemistry of two actors that have no problem convincing us they are head over heels in love and can’t keep their hands to themselves.
But of course, we didn’t just get one couple.
Love in the Air said let’s double that and give our audience two high-intensity couples!
Boss & Noeul playing Payu & Rain – Peat & Fort playing Sky & Prapai
If you enjoy watching people staring at each other lovingly, making out excessively, and then pouncing on each other like horny but respectful wild animals – then this is your show. It earned its NC-17 rating.
Plot?
It has one. I’m pretty sure.
I dunno, I was hella distracted by all the tender touching and audible moaning.
Listen, there’s motorcycle races and architecture classes and a few scenes of the older guys at work… but really it’s just a romance, so the majority of the show is laser focused on watching the couples get together.
It’s all about the banter, the wooing, the seducing, the push and pull, the playful courtships, the insecurities, the eager hands, and the thrilling excitement of physical attraction and first loves.
Rating: 10/10. A Masterclass on Kissing.
I wouldn’t dig too deeply into it if you haven’t seen it yet.
I mean, I’m not sure it would matter… I’ve always been a fan of spoilers, but I will admit it was fun to wait week to week to discover what new sexy shenanigans the boys would get up to in the next episode. If you want to be breathlessly surprised, just go watch it. Love in the Air is on more than one app and streaming sites, so you should have zero problem finding this gem of a bl.
But if you’ve already seen it and just want to reminiscence or enjoy getting spoilery details… feel free to join me on this stupidly unnecessary deep dive into a rather simple show (it is NOT going to be deep, I promise, but it will be media heavy).
Now into the Spoiler Zone… where I just share a crap ton of gifs, pics, memes, and more from the fandom while rambling about the episodes.
***Please Note: This review is extremely media heavy (lots of gifs & images) so give your device a minute to load. P.S. All images can be enlarged if you click on them.
KinnPorsche is a Thai BL, aka a “boys love” series, created specifically with the fandom of BL in mind.
It’s a story about a mafia boss recruiting a new bodyguard and their subsequent romance as they navigate the criminal underworld, attempt to unravel the complicated web of their families, and find excuses to take each others clothes off.
The one scene we all remember from the original trailer
And like millions of others around the globe, I am currently obsessed with it.
Listen, I don’t know how to phrase this accurately – but this show gave me everything I wanted. As a fan of dramas. As a gay lady. As a content creator and consumer. KinnPorsche said, “Here, have Everything.” Including things I didn’t even know I wanted (which I will explain later).
Is it for you? It might be.
This fanmade music video is better than any trailer for the show. Check it out to see if you want to check it out.
I have loved a lot of dumb shows in my lifetime, but rarely has a series actually loved the audience back as much as this show.
The fandom was feral while this was airing. The euphoric high of waiting week to week, sharing gifs, theorizing, gushing and groaning and getting goosebumps together going over the last episode as anticipation grew to a frantic frenzy for the next. Ya’ll. Seriously. Summer of 2022 was sizzling.
If you have not noticed the fandom freakout over this series – and also somehow managed to avoid major spoilers or couple moments or Youtube & TikTok videos, Tumblr posts, Twitter threads, and so on… then wow. Congratulations! You may yet enjoy a pure viewing experience of this masterpiece.
If you have noticed it all and thought… what in the world is all this horny mess and should I check this out? Then yes, you should also watch it and wait with impatience for all of the scenes you have already seen to unfold before your eyes.
(images from Tumblr @moerusai – one of the supreme leaders of the Kinnporsche empire / fandom)
If you are coming from watching Korean Dramas or perhaps never watched an Asian drama at all – there are a few things you should know.
Without spoilers – please keep these things in mind:
The plot is a minor inconvenience. By that I mean do not go into this show expecting a deep dive into machinations of the Thai mafia, serious character studies, profound explorations of morals or psychology or anything else that usually sneaks its way into mafia-centric media. Don’t get me wrong, there is mafia-ish stuff happening. But don’t dig too deep into it. If you aren’t coming into this show exclusively to have fun watching gorgeous men get together while wearing suits and wielding guns, then check your tickets cause you may have purchased them in error.
The Action Sequences remind me of action TV from America the 1980-1990s. Meaning, they are not the highly cut, crazy angle, so-fast-you-nearly-miss-it, typical American style action-sequencing of today’s shows. They’re more on level and in real time. Still impressive to the modern eye but don’t expect John Wick, ya dig? Oh, and occasionally there are “tango-action” sequences… where the characters literally roll onto each other or into each others arms or whatever… and yeah, it’s ridiculous but it’s also sexy and fun and reminds you this isn’t The Godfather, this is a gay romance.
The Genre Shifts Constantly but should not be too jarring to anyone familiar with Asian dramas, which frequently jump from comedy to melodrama to romance to action and back all in one episode. There will be hot sensual scenes followed by slapstick, cheeky comedy… and mafia shootouts followed by bodyguards sitting around gossiping… serious plot moments followed by drunken dancing at a bar. And that’s just the nature of the beast with this show.
Most importantly, you should know IT’S SUPER GAY and in no way ashamed of it or apologetic about it or even that concerned with your opinions of the subject. This is not a show about coming out, gay self acceptance, or homophobia. This show takes place in a strange alternate dimension where very few women have speaking roles and nearly every man is gay or bisexual. This is peak BL, people.
KinnPorsche has become a global phenomenon and I would recommend it to everyone just so you aren’t being left out. What do you have to lose? The two male leads are exceptionally attractive, have unbelievable chemistry together, and there are plenty of enjoyable “mafia” moments inbetween all kinds of goofy shenanigans and kissing. KinnPorsche is both PG and NC-17 and you will have fun bouncing between the two.
In the world of this drama, some people are born color blind. It is inexplicable color blindness, having nothing to do with traditional color blindness that involves genetics and cells in the eye’s retina. These unique people are called Monos. They see only in shades of gray.
Monos can be triggered into seeing color, however, if they find a person known as a Probe. Also incredibly rare, these individuals can activate (for lack of a better word) the eyes of Monos. The Monos then experience a color rush – as their eyes change to see color. It’s an overwhelming experience, causing fainting and blackouts. The Monos only experience color in the presence of their paired Probe.
Needless to say, this change in world view is very disorienting and compelling to the Monos. The experience causes obsessive tendencies and can even result in violence. The Monos desire to be always in the presence of the Probe leads many to stalking, kidnapping, and assault. There have even been cases of Monos eating their Probe partners.
So when our cute young Mono unexpectedly discovers his cute young Probe, all he wants to do is run away before the madness takes him. And all his Probe wants to do is flirt and invade his personal space, red flags of warning be damned. He strings along his color-rushed Mono, dolling out small doses of overwhelming color in carefully crafted (and surprisingly thoughtful) experiences. He drapes himself around this fainting, confused cutie and drags him into closets to see rainbows. Even when it’s obvious the experience is having an unsettling effect on the Mono, our slinkly Probe keeps pushing him along. Cause if you can see the world in color… why would you ever go back? Isn’t it worth the gamble of madness? Isn’t it worth turning your life upside down for? Isn’t it… the perfect metaphor for discovering you’re gay?
To say the premise of this series about all the colors of the rainbow is dark is the understatement of the year. It’s deliciously dark. My only complaint about this show is that it didn’t lean in harder to its obvious tonal values. It wanted to be both dark while also cuter than a basket of kittens… which is impossible to pull off under this plot line. I mean, we are told the color rush experience triggers cannibalism in the first episode. You can’t toss out information like that and not have it color, so to speak, the budding relationship.
Honestly, the entire show was just middle of the road for me – the actors, the locations, the cinematography, the side story (which was non existent but could have been awesome), and the romance. Not bad but not good either. Just a solid “eh.” BUT – the plotline elevated this show into a higher status by being so intriguing that every episode felt exciting. The “what if…?” and the “oh god, is he…?” and the “OH MY GOD, IS THAT-?” that you’ll be asking yourself throughout the run time were massively engaging. Ultimately a bit of a let down, too, but enough to propel you forward at an enjoyable speed through this shows short run time.
I’ve got more to say – but it skirts into spoilers, so let’s just drop a quick rating before we get into more. Though it really only deserved a 6 or 7, I’m gonna drop it in the top tier cause I doubt I’ll ever stop thinking about the BL story that tempted me with flesh eating insanity.
Overall Rating: 8/10 – You’ll See Colors and Cannibals Everywhere.
I loved this drama. It was a 10/10 for me. It had all the hallmarks of a good melodrama – plenty of angst and anguish. Child abuse, dark secrets, shadowed mansions, homoerotic antagonism, BDSM, murder, mayhem, and more. There’s plenty of twists and turns in this drama, keeping the excitement running full speed and the tension high. It’s over the top and a great escape from the norm when you want something different.
Overall, it’s a story about one man trying to determine what kind of person another man is. This evaluation is a difficult and ongoing process – because the man in question does not behave or react in typical ways.
He’s contradictory.
He’s secretive.
He’s extremely clever and ruthless.
He’s manipulative and brazen.
One minute he’s nurturing and the next minute he’s throwing punches.
Mercurial is an understatement.
Determining whether or not he is a “good” buy or a “bad” guy is the ultimate challenge – which is intriguing as both the men in question are judges. It is literally their job to figure people out.
It is also a nice metaphor for figuring out your sexuality when it doesn’t fit neatly into the standard package (the bisexuals in the audience will get this message right away) – there’s a lot of second guessing, a lot of flip flopping sides, a lot of confusion and emotions, and depending on your circumstances a lot of internal resistance, guilt, anger, and shame that you may have to process before you come to acceptance of your unique self.
What is good and bad, right and wrong? What are the rules and who made them? Justice is tricky shit, after all. About as tricky as realizing there is no “normal.”
There’s so much to talk about with this show that I had to narrow it down to keep this review from turning into a novel. But I think I can manage it… maybe. This review is going to be focus on 2 major plot points – the Justice, aka the politics of the drama – and the Queer-Coding, aka, the characters.
There’s gonna be spoilers mixed in with what follows… so go ahead and watch the show. Come back when you’re ready to discuss.
Where Your Eyes Linger is the first openly gay romance where the two lead characters fall in love. Can we call this a drama? It’s really not even as long as a traditional film, let alone in the league of sprawling K-dramas. It was released online, so technically it’s a web series, but whatever. We’ll take the 8 episodes (only 10 minutes long each) and be happy we got it – because when they start handing out appetizers surely it means they’ll be serving up a main course of gay loving soon!
The plot in a nutshell is basically this. There’s a rich boy who’s dad is some mega CEO tycoon but also clearly mafia. Rich boy has a best friend, who is also his guardian and protector, and adopted (I guess, we didn’t really get much of a backstory here, though honestly it would be cool to know – this mini short could easily turn into a full blown drama in the hands of gifted writers) boy who relies on the charity of the mafia family for survival. The boys live together and go to school together and work out together and fall in love together and that’s about it. Two very handsome young men pining over each other with increasing intensity. There isn’t much to the story beyond this, so I won’t really spoil the ending except to say neither of them die. That’s saying a lot, as the Kill Your Gays trope has been around for a long time and it’s often easier to have one character sobbing on a grave than deal with the backlash of angry homophobs upset that gay people might be happy.
The two leads have believable chemistry, which was a plus. The side characters are minor, to say the least, but we really weren’t given time for anything else. The whole show feels a lot like a play, set on a few key locations, generally no more than two or three people in the room at any time. It had just enough conflict to make it satisfying, just enough dialogue to set up the structure of the story, and heaping spoonfulls of very PG but also very joyously-overt gay flirting and repressed longing.
It was a short but sweet addition to Pride Month. Is it perfect? Far from it. Did it end up seeming more like porn for girls? Definitely, but I’m not in the mood to do a deep dive essay on the problematic nature of female objectification of gay men through boys love media right now. Was it a bit of a rip off of Tight Rope and about a dozen other Yakuza themed BL manga? Okay, yes, but let’s not split hairs in the genre. Did I kinda love this very short gay love story? Yeah… I kinda adored it. I was texting my best friend during the entire screening. “Oh my god, the waitress lady just asked which of them is the top. Straight people are so freakin’ rude” and “Oh my god, they’re wrestling with enthusiasm, this is definitely code for sex” and “Oh my god, he’s washing his freaking hair. This is the most orgasmic sudsy nonsense I’ve ever seen, it’s gotta be code for a blowjob” and “Oh my god, now he’s begging him to snuggle in the bed, cause of course they share a bed cause how positively heterosexual of them, hahahahahaha” and “Oh my god, why is forbidden love so ridiculously addictive?” and “Oh my god, I think we might actually get a kiss in this show. Like, mouth to mouth!” and “OH MY GOD!!!!”
Anyways, it was cute and there’s no reason everyone can’t give up 80 minutes of their day to watch it.
subtitledreams 