Skip to main content

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

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 ...

Alternative Love (Mandarin)

I have realized that gay themed films from China, even though far and in between, are made with certain reservations and rush where stories are pretty ordinary and sometimes they are not brought to proper conclusion. The 70 isa minute film has a very ordinary story, something you have seen a zillion times, yet it leaves a lot to be desired.

School's popular boy You Xie is in a steady relationship with his girlfriend. When a new student Chang Jie joins the class, things change. Because of his interest in music, he and the girlfriend end up becoming friends. You Xie pays no attention to him, but one drunk night the two guys get into a one night stand and You Xie decides to do the right thing. He breaks up with his girlfriend and asks Chang Jie to be his boyfriend. The girl friend can't take this insult and will go to any lengths to bring back her love. But every single trick of hers gets exposed and it is increasingly hard for her to break apart the lovers. She then lets You Xie's sick mother know the truth, which leads to her being hospitalized and You Die hating his ex even more. The film ends here with hints of a possible sequel but I don't think it was ever made (Ot at least I am not aware of).

As I mentioned and you can probably see even by the story thatches film is pretty basic. I do see that the movie was probably trying to show how a college student boldly gets into a homosexual relationship in China, where homosexuality is looked down upon, but the movie skips too many important details, which makes the characters seem unreal. Also the editing was pretty bad. Scenes would be randomly thrown here and there and then you will see the sequence leading to the scene. It made no sense. And it kept repeating. Also, the love between the two leads was so random. Just because they had a drunk one night stand, are they really in love? There was no build up of why a supposedly straight guy You Xie fall for another guy without going through a process of events making him fall for him. You can't just overnight decide this. The characters definitely need more depth than the superficial persona we got to see. I can see why the girlfriend would try everything to get her boyfriend back but the kind of tricks she uses were so not cool and I would never be behind those.

I appreciate its efforts in making the movie about a homosexual couple, since China is, as far as I know, generally homophobic. However, the film is far from doing anything good for the LGBTQ+ people of the country. (4/10)

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

The Tuxedo (Thai Series)

When I saw this series with 8 episodes of about 20-25 minutes each, I thought, good: Finally someone has come to senses and made a show which is not stretched out and they have tried to squeeze in a decent storyline in a good small episode format. But unfortunately, despite a decent premise on hand, the clunky writing, bad screenplay and an extreme tasteless portrayal of mental illness makes this show, not a fun watch. By the time it finishes, you just want to laugh off at the entire absurdity of it all. Aioun is talented tuxedo designer and very much in demand but he has handful of clients and he builds suits only for people who he feels a connection to. One night when his younger brother is about to get mugged, he is helped by a total stranger named Sichol. Since he tears his suit in the fight and has an interview the next day, Aioun gifts him a suit form his design as an expression of thanks. Sichol's interview is for. Personal assistant of a man named Nawee, a wealthy heir to h...

Heartstopper: Season 2 (Web Series) (UK)

Heartstopper Season 1 was a universal hit. You could not have read one bad review or heard from anyone who has seen the show not liking it. It was the kind of series that is easy to love, with sweetness exploding out of every scene without overwhelming you. So naturally, when Netflix greenly Season 2, expectations were naturally high and the same happened with me. I didn't know what to expect, but I had high expectations of this very very sweet teenage love story. And with eagerness and being a little late to the game by a few days, here I am, pouring my t thoughts down having just finished one of the most anticipated shows of the year. The second season also has 10 episodes and has all of our loved ones from the original season. The show continues from where it had left off in Season 1. Charlie and Nick are a couple and only their very close circle of friends know about it. This includes Charlie's best friend Tao and his trans best friend Elle. The center of the show is still ...

Gaya Sa Pelikula (Filipino Series) [Like In The Movies]

Pinoy BL series seem to be catching up to the popularity of the Thai shows. And I must say that they are doing a pretty good job at it. Where Thai series started to get repetitive with so many shows based in a college setting with seemingly similar storylines, Pinoy series are offering the viewers with new and interesting stories and some really good sets and surroundings. This series was 8 episodes of about 25-20 minutes each. Karl, a 19-year old introvert architecture student is in the middle of an identity crisis. Prior to the start of the second semester in college and forced by his parents, he moves into his uncle's condominium unit so that he can learn to be financially independent. Karl takes on odd jobs online to do so. But when one of his major clients suddenly goes MIA, he is left short on funds and without a means to pay for his utilities. An opportunity presents itself when his cocky neighbor Vlad has to hide from his family and proposes to share Karl's space for th...