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A Man Who Defies the World of BL 2024 (Japanese Series)

By Golu
After a couple of years off, the creators finally dropped a third season of this show, oddly titled with 2024 in it for some reason I genuinely can't figure out. The story basically picks up right where things left off, following our lead Mobu as he keeps trying to survive inside this whole BL universe, just another character desperately trying not to fall for another guy. Season two left us with his relationship with Kikuchi, and this season kicks off right as Kikuchi heads off to university, which means Mobu's single again and honestly couldn't be happier about it. With six episodes, each running about 23 minutes, this is a quick, easy watch. Now that Mobu's back to being single, he's got to stay alert for every signal or trope that could end up pulling him into another relationship with a guy if he's not careful. So across these episodes, we watch him run into two of these signals per episode through the people around him and how they end up falling for each ...
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The Taste of Betel Nut (Chinese)

By Golu
I don't remember seeing a film with absolute minimal dialogues and the story being told just by the characters, by your surroundings, by their interaction and with their eyes. IT sill doesn't warrant a full length feature film, but thankfully the cinematography of the film is quite beautiful. The quietness and visually arresting setting offer a picture of everyday life and young love in China that is rarely seen onscreen.

The story starts with Li, who works with dolphins in an ocean park following a guy and then beats him and his friend mercilessly. We are then shown the story in flashback. We meet Ren Yu, who looks like a Chinese pop star and impersonates him in karaoke to make money. The duo are roommates and lovers. Ren Yu is bisexual and is open to having sex with anyone. As vacation time starts, the duo meet a girl. Three characters are more and more fascinated and drawn to each other, when the one night they try betel nut that brings about sexual revolution and experimentation. Li is probably more involved in love with his roommate but the entry of the girl who is slowly falling more for Ren Yu creates an issue. But one day, a group of thugs assault the girl and Ren, who tries to save her. And then we know who are this people that Li was trying to attack in the beginning.

This film has a very clumsy editing. As mentioned before, the film does not go into dialogue, instead it just uses the images of characters and surroundings for nostalgic or entertainment purposes. There were certain aspects of the film that were not very clear to me. I don't think the two male leads were strictly lovers. They felt like roommates who occasionally got involved in sexual pleasure which was evident when the girl walks in their life, but some scenes made me believe that somehow the quiet shy Li was more involved in their relationship. Not that this is important, because the focus of the film was not the sexual orientation, but a depiction of youth of Chinese culture willing to move casually between tradition and a proudly alternative way of life in a very island setting. The leads look good. I though Li was cute with his supposedly mundane life, which he enjoyed in parts. But having said this, this film could easily have been a short 25 minute film rather than a full length feature film that definitely tests your patience. (4/10)
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