#BEST JBL OF 2024...FOR ME...SO FAR

[bl-bam-beyond]

PERFECT PROPOSE (2024, JAPAN)

Episode 6: The Finale

Post 2 of 2

Hiro (KANEKO SHUNYA) finally got his man. Or was it Kai (NOMURA KOTA) that got his man?

Well no matter how it's looked at Hiro realized that Kai has made his life so much better. And putting gender aside he chose happiness and love over that damn job.

@pose4photoml @lutawolf @bengiyo @kingofthereblog-boysloveed @thewayofsubtext

[absolutebl]

This Week in BL - It's the Dog Days of BL Again

Organized, in each category, with ones I'm enjoying most at the top.

May 2024 Final Week

Ongoing Series - Thai

Wandee Godday (Sat YT) ep 5 of 12 - The side couple is so damn pouty and adorable. So far as Yak and Dee are concerned, I love that they kept up with the cosplay stuff and didn’t just drop it as a one off. I'm just genuinely enjoying seeing how much fun they have together and watching them accidentally falling in love with each other and trying not to.

Linguistic corner!

I don’t normally watch any BTS stuff, but for reasons known only to my serotonin-seeking brain, I’ve been watching a few for this show. And I MUST talk about the way Great speaks Thai. It’s so different from all of the other Good GMMTV Boys. He’s way more casual. Not rude, but definitely not as formal or as polite as any of the actors around him. It’s difficult to describe but just LISTEN to the way he hops registers and pronouns pretty consistently. Sometimes in the same sentence. He even softens his polite particles. I've never heard an actor do that out of character. It’s fascinating. I wonder if it has to do with the fact that he is older (then most of his costars) and comes outta the Bangkok club scene, and was older when he joined GMMTV. Frankly, it’s the closest I’ve ever seen on TV to the way people actually talked in Bangkok. 

My Stand-In (Thai Fri iQIYI) ep 6 of 12 eps - honestly these two shows are neck and neck for my favorites running right now and Wandee got the edge because it left me smiling, but yesterday, Stand-In would have come out on top. Such a great show. It’s so sinister. So not romantic. Which makes me feel like... it's not really a BL. And, yet, I DO NOT CARE. Because I’m enjoying its little evil soul so much. “Poor Joe” is pretty much all that goes through my head the whole time I'm watching, and I'm enjoying poking at that pain.

We Are (Weds iQIYI) ep 9 of 16 - I love all of the 3rd wheels. Kluen is kinda great. And I’m not just saying that 'cause I have a crush on Title, it’s because Kluen is so open and genuine. (Unless they fuck up his character.) I even enjoyed the backstory for Fang and Tan. Honestly, the friendship group is the reason to watch this show, they’re great and funny, and make everything enjoyable. It’s a soap opera, like Only Friends, but gentle with its characters and us watchers. Which is what I really want from my BL. I don’t want all of this Friend Zone backstabbing bullpuckie. 

Knock Knock Boys (Thurs Gaga) eps 1-2 of 12 - I like it, frankly more than I expected to. It’s a bit slow moving, but the characters are interesting and the dynamic of everybody living in the same house together is fun. I haven’t seen this style of housemates centered Thai BL in years. I identify FAR too closely with the crass-talking bug-killing pansexual. On a completely different note, I really hope Best and Seng have an NC scene together. Last week I would never have said that, but now I think they have good chemistry. Am I crazy?

Only Boo! (Sun YouTube) ep 8 of 12 - They are sickeningly sweet boyfriends, and Moo is such a brat and so demanding. It’s charming. There was even a little bit of dancing together which I’m sure made @heretherebedork happy. Dancing okay but NO SINGING. 

Ongoing Series - Not Thai

At 25:00 in Akasaka AKA 25 Ji Akasaka de (Japan Thurs Gaga) ep 7 of 10 - Asami's past was cool to see. I enjoyed that his character finally got fleshed out and given some solidity. However, it felt like it came a little too late. Even though I know this is the way Japan tends to roll with BL timing. I wanted to like him sooner then this. Now I'm not really that invested.

Living With Him AKA Kare no Iru Seikatsu (Japan Thurs Gaga) ep 8 fin - It was an extremely good and very satisfying ending for a JBL, which we cannot expect, so I'm disposed to dole out top marks for that. Also we definitely have a new contender for Namgoong award for best wingman. (Japan's favorite: the bespectacled variant.)

Summation:

Kindly Ryota goes to uni and ends up rooming with his former childhood bestie, Kazuhito. Kazuhito doesn’t have a girlfriend for, as it turns out, cute roommate reasons. Same director as Old Fashion Cupcake, the framing is gorgeous and it is a stylish piece. As a friends to lovers cohabitation narrative this was a classic 2000s sweet yaoi. I enjoy that kind of tradition out of Japan even if it (and the characters) come off as a little slow as a result. Still, it's nice to get a traditional BL out of Japan that is satisfying, not slapstick, AND did not hurt us. 8/10 recommended

Blossom Campus (Korea Thurs Gaga & iQIYI) ep 5-6fin - gonna have to wait until next week, for mysterious hotel wifi reasons.

It's airing but...

You Made My Day (Thai YT) ep 1 of 5 - mini series staring the I Will Knock You couple Tar & Bom, started but I couldn't find it. I also didn't try very hard.

The Time of Fever AKA Unintentional Love Story 2 (Korea movie) trailer released to Korean theaters 5/25. HoTae & DongHee, side couple from Unintentional Love Story are back! Same actors, same character names. I love them. I NEED TO SEE THIS. How?

OMG Vampire (Thai Sun ????) ep 2 of 10 - yeah I can't find it. Comments from last week suggest this is not my thing anyway, but Lee Long Shi very much IS my thing, so... maybe I'll put it on hold for a bit and y'all can let me know.

In case you missed

VBL (Taiwan) is released 'Special Episode' epilogues to their 4 2023 series on Gagaoolala, Viki & Viu - watch each on the respective shows' page: You Are Mine, VIP Only, Stay By My Side, Anti Reset.

My Biker 2 (Thai movie trailer) suposedly released somewhere, search me.

The Time of Huannan (Taiwan movie) went to theaters, not sure if we will get this, and it may not be BL.

And here's a 2023 that I missed and finally watched:

After Sundown AKA Saengrawi

ZeeNunew vehicle from 2023, recut into a movie on YouTube. It's from Mandee and horror, yet I enjoyed it more than I thought I would.

Pronoun use is ter/chan or rao (no nai or pom) because of the historical setting + softness of the relationship.

It's oddly sweet and wholesome, for a ghost story. Phloeng and Rawee enter into an arranged marriage for confusing prophetic reasons and a twisted fate, solving a mystery of the past that is haunting Phloeng's family and harming Rawee. Honestly, it makes no actual sense, but it's kinda historical, and very pretty, so I enjoyed it more than I should. 8/10

Next Week Looks Like This:

Upcoming BLs for 2024 are listed here. This list is not kept updated, so please leave a comment if you know something new or RP with additions.

June Releases

6/7 My Love Mix-Up (Fridays Thai Adaptation not sure where this will air) - I do love G4 and I did like the original and maybe this time these characters will actually kiss? I'm actually fine with this pick-up. I kind of enjoy seeing different countries remake the same IP. Especially if it's IP I'm mostly unfazed by.

6/7 The Last Time (Thailand Fridays YouTube?) - Convoluted story of loss and possible reincarnation or something?

6/9 Love Sea (Thailand Sundays MAME warning iQIYI - New characters to the Mameverse. While travelling, a writer has a one night stand with a very irritating man. YES I WILL TRASH WATCH THIS. Drinking will happen on Sundays I guess. (Look, I do usually travel on weekends, so it may end up being Monday Mame Trash - which jives.)

6/14 Let's Eat Together Aki and Haru 2 AKA Aki wa Haru to Gohan wo Tabetai 2 Haime! (Japan movie Gaga?) - Continues the (frankly) lackadaisical story from part 1.

6/15 Sunset Vibes AKA SunsetXVibes (Thailand Saturdays) Star Hunter and MosBank on iQIYI so if nothing else it's gonna be a wild and sexy ride. A one night stand but "uh-oh he’s my boss," adapted from a web series. I’m game. Maybe it’ll have a better story than Big Dragon? Maybe it will have a plot? We can but hope.

6/26 The Rebound (Thai Weds VIU?) - MeenPing are back in their 3rd BL together, a basketball based romance (Meen was a national basketball player, so yay for that). I like this pair better than most (I still do miss Meen with Est but Est has a fantastic looking new BL coming from GMMTV so yeah...) Anyway I'm up for a sports romance starring a man who, yah know, actually played that sport so... I'm game (pun intended).

(Speaking of, why can't Est be a merman? This... I ask you?.)

Why You? (Khmer movie - Billed as a horror romance BL this is supposed to release this month.

THIS WEEK’S BEST MOMENTS

In my world we call this smug. (Only Boo!)

LOOK AT HIS ARM?! This has been your Goodness Gracious Great Guns Of Huge 2024 moment.

(All Wandee Goodday)

(Last week)

Streaming services are listed by how I (usually) watch, which is with a USA based IP, and often offset by a day because time zones are a pain.

The tag BLigade: @doorajar @solitaryandwandering @my-rose-tinted-glasses @babymbbatinygirl @babymbbatinygirl @isisanna-blog @mmastertheone @pickletrip @aliceisathome @urikawa-miyuki @tokillamonger @sunflower-positiiivity

@rocketturtle4 @blglplus @anythinggoesintheshire @everlightly @renafire @mestizashinrin @bl-bam-beyond @small-dark-and-delicious @saezurumurmurs

Sigh, Tumblr in it's infinite wisdom doesn't like too many tags.

There's these tricks, remember.

[d2kvirus]

27/8/23 Fact or Fiction

Statement #1: Tetsuya Naito was the right choice to win the 2023 G1 Climax. FACT - At the time my immediate response was a groan, in fact that was my response when the final was going to be another go-round of Okada/Naito when the tournament was the perfect time to launch Will Ospreay into the stratosphere, but with the realisation that this leads to Naito having a showdown against former LIJ stablemate Sanada, and doing so on the tenth anniversary of the NJPW fanbase brutally rejecting him and his IWGP title match against Okada was bumped out of the headline spot in favour of Tanahashi/Nakamura for the IC title, the multiple narratives coming together does make Naito winning the tournament the right call

Statement #2: The G1 tournament should have less entrants and feature only those with a good chance of winning. FICTION - On the one hand I most certainly agree with the tournament having fewer entrants, as increasing the number of blocks in the G1 to four has made the tournament feel bloated, but ultimately the reason to slim the G1 down again is less to do with featuring talent with the best chance of winning and more to do with not featuring talent who will habitually stink the joint out and weaken the tournament as a result

Statement #3: This year’s G1 theme song “Born in the Ring” was better than 2021’s awesome “Max the Max”. FICTION - Max the Max sounded like a boss theme from a Yakuza game. Born in the ring sounded like the end credit theme of something Crunchyroll keeps recommending but I get bored of within three episodes

Statement #4: You CARE who wins the NJPW G1 Climax. FACT - Even though it is fair to say that the G1 Climax winner can often feel like the safe choice when there's the chance to strap a rocket to somebody's back (ironically because they tried to strap a rocket to Naito's back in 2013, and the NJPW crowd said "Īe" in response, it does set the stage for Wrestle Kingdom perfectly - and let's be honest, the sigh of relief everyone breathed when EVIL was knocked out underlines that people certainly care

Statement #5: SANADA will still be IWGP Champion by Wrestle Kingdom 2024. FACT - Sanada turning his back on Naito and LIJ is still fresh in people's minds, and that does tie into Naito winning the G1. True, EVIL splitting from LIJ was the more acrimonious split...but fucking hell does the idea of EVIL winning the belt between now and WK fill me with dread given how routinely his matches stunk out G1 cards, and indeed plenty of NJPW cards in general, and I'd rather not have 'Nam flashbacks to JBL's title reign thank you very much

Statement #6: A surprise in pro-wrestling is only good when it is something you want to happen or is the “right” decision by the booker. FICTION - I went back and forth on this one, as there's plenty of arguments to be made either way, but ultimately there's been plenty of surprise results which were the "right" decision and they made all the sense in the world, yet they just didn't pan out. Case in point Rey Mysterio's 2006 Rumble win and subsequent title win at WM22 were both surprises and there was plenty of support for them happening...and yet calling his title reign lackluster honestly feels like a compliment. Same goes for Chris Jericho doing the honours for Action Andretti, which at the time felt like a pleasant surprise and did fit the storyline that was going on at the time but in reality there were plenty of people who would have been more deserving of the rub, most obviously Konosuke Takeshita would have been perfect for getting the rub and that would've fit with how Takeshita was being booked at the time

Statement #7: The card for AEW’s All In show at Wembley Stadium looks pretty lame so far. FICTION - While the card has certainly been hamstrung by injuries, most obviously Jamie Hayter being unable to perform as that would've been the ideal moment to have her regain the women's title and refocus the women's division going forward, to say the card looks lame is frankly the sort of thing I expect from the Twitter accounts that the billionaire manchild shoved into my feed from people whose only identifiable personality trait is their performative hatred for AEW. Could the card be better? No denying that, either by extenuating circumstances such as missing Hayter and Danielson or because the matches feel like filler (i.e. House of Black vs The Acclaimed & Billy Gunn, which could easily be saved for All Out so it wouldn't feel like a cooldown match) but on the other hand there's plenty which is offering to deliver such as MJF/Cole, FTR/Bucks (but, please, keep the belts off the Bucks), Punk/Joe and Ospreay/Jericho could certainly deliver if Jericho doesn't try and make a Forced Epic out of it

Statement #8: Not only will Wrestlemania take place in London in a few years but it will also be the location for John Cena’s retirement match. FICTION - If the plan is to have Cena retire at WrestleMania, and the word "If" is doing some legwork there, then logically he would hang his sneakers up at a WM which takes place in the USofA. As for a UK-based WM, I still don't see that happening for the simple reason that the only viable stadium for it would be Wembley - but Wembley can't have a roof due to that bloody great arch they erected on the stadium to make it look "iconic" (or, more accurately, so people wouldn't immediately spot it's just a slightly bigger version of Arsenal's stadium), and that risks the British weather causing the show to be almost as much of a washout as the 2016 edition of WM