#KOREAN REMAKE UPCOMING

[bl-bam-beyond]

A LOOK BACK at Tutor & Fighter

WHY RU? (2020, THAILAND)

With the Korean Remake soon hitting screens I decided to do a rewatch of Thailand's Original Version.

Can Korea replicate what Thailand created successfully. Time will tell.

Fighter (PRUK PANICH aka ZEE) didn't understand why he had such excitement when it came Tutor (SUPPAPONG UDOMKAEWKANJANA aka Saint) so he set out to tease him. Or so he said until he finally admitted he was attractive to his junior.

WHY RU? had a few couples including Zon and Saifah and that thing with Tanthai and Japan.

Let the rewatch commence.

@pose4photoml @lutawolf

[madeinjapan-thailand-blbambeyond]

MCF: MADE IN THAILAND

PRUK PANICH

[Nickname: ZEE]

SUPPAPONG UDOMKAEWKANJANA

[Nickname: SAINT]

[blnewsforum-by-blbambeyond]

Casting News:

Any BL fans watching Star Struck. Well that's Lee Sang Min playing Han Joon's senior. He is soon scheduled for his very own BL. He is one of the mains in upcoming Korean Remake of WHY RU?

@pose4photoml

[absolutebl]

This Week in BL - Well... at lease we have Wandee & Stand-in?

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

May 2024 Wk 4

Ongoing Series - Thai

Wandee Godday (Sat YT) ep 4 of 12 - The geept is strong with this one AKA Yak CAN flirt. Wandee now knows he isn’t the only one with a crush on someone else. AND YET they are SO DAMN CUTE together. I do wonder sometime if Yak is running a counter con with Dee pretending to have a crush on Taem. Meanwhile, mad props on the HPV vax public service! Good for them!!! Now that's my kind of product placement. I do have a feeling the sad bit with these two is gonna be VERY sad and last longer than we like. 

My Stand-In (Thai Fri iQIYI) ep 5 of 12 eps - It’s a riveting show. Pleasant? No. Riveting? Yes. Tiny crumbs for Ming’s assistant. Joe is best boy. That is all. I LOVE this show.

We Are (Weds iQIYI) ep 8 of 16 - TOO MANY SOUND EFFECTS. Omg get your fingers off those buttons you computer wanking sound dude (you know it’s a dude) what tf do you think this is? Lovely Writer? Also, they left ALL their drinks! Can you not walk and drink at the same time in a BL? Meanwhile not much happened that hadn’t already happened AKA bit of a filler ep. That said, the friendship group stuff is glorious!!! Also this brand of super gentle flirting suits PondPhuwin better than any of their prior rolls. It reminds me of how much I think they suit a historical. There is a gentle dignity to these two. 

Only Boo! (Sun YouTube) ep 7 of 12 - I love how kindly the turn down was. But most of the dancing stuff was dull. I don’t know I just find the actor playing Kang pretty vacant of appeal I guess. 

Ongoing Series - Not Thai

At 25:00 in Akasaka AKA 25 Ji Akasaka de (Japan Thurs Gaga) ep 6 of 10 - As is not uncommon with JBL I’m being to get frustrated with Yuki the Uke. Sigh. I’m probably gonna stay that way for several episodes given the pacing of this show. 

Living With Him AKA Kare no Iru Seikatsu (Japan Thurs Gaga) ep 7 of 10 - Also frustrating. Willful misunderstanding. We got us some running of the gays but boy is this drawn out. 

Blossom Campus (Korea Thurs Gaga & iQIYI) ep 3-4 of 6 - The puppy is a bit too much sunshine innocent for me. And the professor is a bit creepy. I don't know, I'm not loving this one like I want to.

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.

In case you missed it

Crossing my fandoms moment, major Kpop blog ran the following: OMEGA X Hangyeom Talks Jazz For Two, Brotherhood, And More With KpopStarz

Tis the season of remakes? Both Addicted Heroin (August, my love!) and My Love Mix-Up (G4!) are coming from Thailand. I am very excited to see both. I love a Thai remake, often more than the original.

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.

May Releases

VBL (Taiwan) is releasing 4 'Special Episode' epilogues to their 4 2023 shows every Friday this month on Gagaoolala, Viki & Viu. Not sure on search terms or how to find these. (Or, frankly, if we need them.)

5/10 – You Are Mine

5/17 – VIP Only

5/24 – Stay By My Side

5/31 – Anti Reset

5/28 My Biker 2 (Thai movie YT?) - trailer

5/30 Knock Knock Boys (Thai Thurs WeTV & Gaga) - I do love Best and I'm interested in seeing him in a new pairing. That said, I'm not wild about Seng. Still, this looks like a chaotic pulpy mess, I'm looking forward to wallowing in it one way or another.

5/31 The Time of Huannan (Taiwan movie) - May not be BL

THIS WEEK’S BEST MOMENTS

All Wandee Gooday.

Icky no longer allows screen shots or there would have been a bunch from Stand-in.

(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 infinate wisdom doesn't like too many tags.

There's these tricks, remember:

[gunsatthaphan]

~ Monthly BL Breakdown: April 2024 ~ 

🌷 Happy May!!! ☀️

Disclaimer: ALL shows can be streamed here or here, as well as on Youtube and other platforms. For more info on where to watch what, check out this post! 

New breakdowns are coming at the end of every month - feel free to add stuff! -> previous breakdowns

What came out this month? (green = seen/currently watching)

🌟 Love is Like a Cat - April 1st (South Korea / Thailand) 

🌟 We Are - April 3rd (Thailand) ✅

🌟 Memory in the Letter - April 6th (Thailand) 

🌟 Living With Him - April 11th (Japan) 

🌟 Gray Shelter - April 11th (South Korea) 

🌟 Beating Again - April 13th (Thailand)

🌟 Blue Boys - April 15th (South Korea)

🌟 At 25:00 in Alasaka - April 18th (Japan)

🌟 GMMTV2024 Part 2 (lineup event) - April 23rd (Thailand) ✅

🌟 Boys Be Brave - April 25th (South Korea) 

🌟 CHANGE2561 2024 lineup event - April 25th (Thailand) ✅

🌟 My Stand-In - April 26th (Thailand) ✅

🌟 City Boy Log Vol. 3 - April 30th (South Korea)

New series & movie announcements

🎥 The Fridge - Date TBA (Thailand)

🎥 Flavor of Us (starring Benjamin B., Dome W. & others) - Date TBA (Thailand)

🎥 Children's Day - Date TBA (Taiwan)

🎥 Blue Time - Date TBA (China, possibly censored)

🎥 Bad Guy My Boss - Date TBA (Thailand)

🎥 Oriental Magician In The Ent. Circle - Date TBA (Taiwan)

🎥 Under the Oak Tree - Date TBA (Vietnam)

🎥 Invitation - Date TBA (Thailand)

🎥 The Love Matter - Date TBA (Thailand)

🎥 I Saw You in My Dream - Date TBA (Thailand)

🎥 I Wish You the Best - Date TBA (Thailand)

🎥 Impression of Youth - Date TBA (Taiwan)

🎥 Meet You at the Blossom - Date TBA (Taiwan)

Other news from the BL world

❗️ The production company Studio WabiSabi announced that their actors Boun N., Prem W., Santa P., Sammy C., Yacht P. and Stamp P. have terminated their contracts and will no longer be artists under the company on April 15th. Shortly after, GMMTV announced the 6 of them as newly signed artists, along with the disclosure that BounPrem's upcoming BL Vampire Project is now being produced under GMMTV, who now also own all broadcasting rights; WabiSabi will function as a co-producer. New S. stated on Twitter that the decisions had been long in the making, as well as the fact that WabiSabi no longer functions as a management agency for actors and is now a mere production company. He also denied the rumors that the company is shutting down. Shortly after the transfer of the Wabi Sabi actors, actor Fluke Jeeratch (formerly Pongsakorn) joined GMMTV as well.

❗️ The Filipino BL Gameboys is getting a third season. An air date has not been confirmed.

❗️ P Ekkapop and Pan Jirachot, the lead actors from Kiseki Chapter 2, have announced a new project together. Details are unknown.

❗️ Actor Barcode Tinnasit has announced his departure from his agency Be On Cloud.

❗️ After some confusion, the Korean production company Studio X+U announced that their upcoming series Fragile - which was initially advertized as a Korean SKAM remake - is in fact not connected to the Norwegian web series and is instead a standalone series, which focuses on the life of a group of teenagers. According to ZUM News, there was supposed to be a Korean SKAM remake based on the Norwegian original, which was however cancelled due to unknown reasons. Fragile was created as a substitution.

❗️ GMMTV held their 2024 part 2 event on April 23rd. The following BL projects were announced:

The Heart Killers (starring FirstKhao & JoongDunk)

Perfect10 Liners (starring ForceBook, PerthChimon, JuniorMark)

Heart That Skips a Beat (starring EstWilliam)

Revamp (starring BounPrem, formerly known as Vampire Project)

Sweet Tooth, Good Dentist (starring MarkOhm)

The Ex-Morning (starring KristSingto)

❗️ The production company CHANGE2561 held their 2024 lineup event on April 25th. The following BL projects were announced:

This Love Doesn't Have Long Beans (starring SailubPon)

Goddess Bless You From Death (starring PavelPooh)

I’m The Most Beautiful Count (starring PingSupanut)

Pit Babe Season 2

Upcoming series & movies for May

👉🏻 You Made My Day (starring Tar A. and Bom T. from I Will Knock You) - May 3rd (Thailand)

👉🏻 Inverse Identity / Upside Down - Mary 3rd (China)

👉🏻 Wandee Goodday - May 4th (Thailand)

👉🏻 A Balloon's Landing - May 10th (Taiwan)

👉🏻 City of Stars: Special Episode - May 10th (Thailand, cinema release)

👉🏻 The Time of Fever (Unintentional Love Story spinoff) - May 15th (South Korea)

👉🏻 Blossom Campus - May 16th (South Korea)

👉🏻 OMG! Vampire - May 19th (Thailand)

👉🏻 Manji Reverse - May 24th (Japan)

👉🏻 My Biker 2 - May 28th (Thailand)

[slayerkitty]

Visual Effects in Only Friends MV part 2

The second song on the Only Friends OST dropped today; So What? by the amazing Ford Arun. Much like the first MV for Only Friends, this one is also has visual frameworks that made me stop and stare.

Just like my first post on this subject, where I talked about the late 90s/early 00s aesthetic of the show as well as controlled voyeurism (aka we only see what they want us to see), these themes show up again here, but a little differently. Unlike the Let's Try MV and the BTS vids which use multiple different effects and transitions as well as framing a lot of the scenes to look like (possibly) 90s camcorder footage, So What? has two visual effects (I think technically three, and I'll point out why I say it this way in a minute).

The first one is the camcorder footage effect. Except that it's even different from the Let's Try MV. While the Let's Try MV has the "play" prompt onscreen and time stamps, it now, to me, feels more like CCTV video than camcorder video. The video effect on So What? is definitely camcorder footage because it is time and date stamped.

Now, the time and date stamp is February 1st, 2020 at 6:06pm for every screen it appears on, which to me cannot be an accurate date/time for any of the scenes. Several of these scenes were from episodes 4, 5, 6, or potentially yet to air. Chuem drops info about Covid in episode one and in February of 2020, we were so early into the pandemic during that time that I'm not sure she would have referred to it so casually, plus with no Covid precautions being taken onscreen it does feel the show is set currently (aka 2023).

Why this date? Why 6:06pm? WHAT IS JOJO TRYING TO SAY HERE? Is this a specific reference to something upcoming on the show? Is this date famous in Thailand for something? Did he just pull a date and time out of a hat?

Onto the second effect: the yellow text on the screen is back! It was heavily used as a visual effect in episode one, and after a discussion with @ignoranaxed I did add it to my Narrative Frameworks post where I'm tracking visual effects on the show. We discussed whether or not this was an homage or reference to SKAM Norway, an extremely popular coming of age teen drama that had an amazingly done queer season (Season three. If nothing else, stop what you're doing and go watch SKAM Norway season three. You can thank me later). The show was so popular it has been remade in Spain, Italy, France, Germany (named Druck), Belgium (named WtFock), the United States and has even been announced as a Korean (BL?) drama for next year.

Is this an actual homage? I came down on the side of maybe. I can't swear it is, but I can't say it isn't. That yellow text on the screen is iconic due to SKAM Norway, and it is used in every single remake of the show (if Korea doesn't use it, I will cry. Also, if Korea doesn't release/air it in the same way, I will cry). Leaving that aside, the yellow text is in Thai, and as yet, I have no idea what it says because my subs only translated the song lyrics, not the onscreen words. If anyone who knows Thai can help me with this, I would love you forever because there's one other thing that shows up in yellow on the screen, and it's this:

WHY AN ELLIPSES, JOJO? WHAT DID IT SAY BEFORE THIS? I NEED TO KNOW WHY IT'S TRAILING OFF. IS IT TO BE CONTINUED? THE NOT KNOWING WILL DRIVE ME INSANE.

Onto the third , but maybe not really an effect: Is Ford photoshopped in here?

I ask this because if he is (and I can't quite tell but I think maybe?) then does that mean this is future footage coming up on the show? Or, like Let's Try MV did with it's extra SandRay footage in the car, was this just shot for the MV? I'm curious to see what people think on this.

Now for the rest of the MV where I just melt down because WHAT THE FUCK IS THIS DRAMA BETWEEN YO AND PLUG, JOJO? YOU CAN'T DO THIS. Also, is this Sand hugging Yo?

You can't do this to my girl. This will hurt.

Do we think this is Boston and Nick potentially going ice skating or roller skating? Because if it's roller skating, JOJO I WILL LOVE YOU FOREVER.

In summary, the visual frameworks are back in play once again and what they're choosing to show and how feel important.

Tagging the ephemerality squad: @waitmyturtles, @wen-kexing-apologist, @ranchthoughts, @chickenstrangers, @lurkingshan, @twig-tea, @clara-maybe-ontheroad, @distant-screaming

Apologies to anyone I missed. If you would liked to be tagged in my OF posts/meta, please let me know and I will add you.

[chaos0pikachu]

tldr: bitches want gay shit, not het shit, with data and numbers to back it up; bonus Bible’s booty

so thinking about @discluded​‘s essay on Mile and Apo’s upcoming historical drama, and Thailand’s bid for soft power got my brain thinking thoughts. I’ve talked about Thailand noticing the soft power of their BL media before along with why I think Chinese, South Korean, and other East Asian media (from television to novels, etc) are popping off in popularity in the last 5 years or so. Idk where those posts are and I’m to lazy to link them thus is life

The point! The point is tho reading discluded’s post made me think about F4 Thailand. Ironic, I know, since F4 is a het drama based off Boys Over Flowers a shojo manga from Japan that was released in 1992 and ended serialization in 2008. 

Firstly, Boys Over Flowers FACINATES me b/c the god damn chokehold this series has on various Asian countries. I told a friend it’s comparable to like, Romeo and Juliet, in that it’s been adapted, remade, re-adapted, re-booted, re-imagined, and so on over and over and over again. Like there’s audio dramas, there’s films, there’s multiple live action TV shows, there’s an anime. Japan’s made two feature films, and two seasons of a TV. Taiwan had two seasons of a TV show, Korea had a tv show, China had two versions of the same show (one was a remake), Indonesia had two tv shows, India had a tv show, and finally Thailand was the latest to adapt it into a TV show in 2021 - 2022. The legacy of this story can’t be denied. 

Now, my point? Okay so my point is I witnessed online the marketing for F4 Thailand in real time. It was interesting to me b/c I very rarely - and have not since - seen a ton of talk about a Thai drama that wasn’t BL or a horror or action film. 

When it comes to the Thai film industry, the three genres I see discussed are: BL, Action, Horror. You can see this in what Netflix (America) offers in regards to Thai series specifically what ones they dub which shows like: Girl From Nowhere (which Netflix invested in a s2 and is a thriller/horror drama), The Whole Truth (a horror film), and Thai Cave Rescue (which they also have a documentary based on). Netflix is still (STUPIDLY) reluctant to purchase a license for any SK or Thai BL content (I know Semantic Error would blow the FUCK up on Netflix you idiots!!!) probably b/c investors are like, hmmmm but would gays of color sell? I would say they also have Your Name Engraved Herein but that’s an easier sell b/c its a drama and has more of that classic gay Oscars vibe (this isn’t an inherent bad thing don’t come for me). 

Okay back to my point I s2g I have one. 

So marketing for F4 Thailand was interesting b/c I actually saw it. I don’t see marketing cross over into my international waters for Thai het dramas. What helped this, and I fully believe this was done purposely, is the casting of Bright and Win who gained international popularity from 2Gether. Like, it seemed pretty obvious to me that casting Bright and Win was a bid to peak the interest of the international market, combined with casting them specifically in an adaption of one of the most famous and well known Asian romantic dramas of the last 30 years or so. This show was set-up to be A Hit. 

But I don’t think it really worked internationally; bare with me, numbers time. 

Now, ratings for F4 averaged at .441% on Thai TV, higher than Bad Buddy (which aired on the same network) which averaged at .121% and Kinnporsche which averaged at .314%. 

I compared F4 to these two shows specifically b/c they aired in a similar timeframe (all three shows aired over the course of 2021 - 2022 except KP which only aired in 2022) and arguably Bad Buddy and Kinnporsche were the biggest BL shows in Thailand in those respective years. 

F4 also did well in the Philippines, and ended up dubbed into Filipino, and it’s scheduled for re-broadcast in 2023. Honestly, it’s difficult to see how well F4 did internationally as there’s not a ton of information available on it. When I google “F4 Thailand reception” there’s not a lot of results, if I google “boys over flowers Thailand reception” I get this: 

ngl I think it’s pretty funny that one of the top four most asked questions is if F4 is BL and again, it’s def b/c of Bright and Win’s casting. But given that there’s not a ton of information available, I glean that F4 didn’t do great in the western (American/Latin American/European) market. Not to say it didn’t do well. 

On Google ratings: F4 Thailand lands at a 4.9 rating with 2619 reviews/ratings and Bad Buddy stands at a 5.0 with 1085 reviews/ratings

On MyDramaList F4 has a rating of 8.5/10 from 11,982 users, and Bad Buddy has a 8.5/10 from 26,445 users

On IMDb: F4 has a rating of 7.8/10 from 2.3k users, and Bad Buddy has 8.8/10 rating from 5k users

This isn’t a comparison about quality, but activity. I’m not here to make judgements on either shows quality, but rather international impact and relevancy. Outside of Google, Bad Buddy has more active users who left a rating or review on the website than F4, almost double in fact. 

If you go to GMMTV’s official Youtube page and look at the most popular videos on the channel it’s majority....2Gether. Like my god so much 2Gether the CHOKEHOLD this show had on y’all:

More date and a comparison of F4 and Bad Buddy’s international numbers below, we’re getting into the meat now. 

Now the actual F4 official trailer has 3.7 million views on GMMTV’s channel. Bad Buddy official trailer, also on GMMTV’s official channel, has 2.7 million views. Both are set at 1 year ago so they’re within the same or similar time frames for comparison. 

To throw in there, the Kinnporsche official trailer was released 10 months ago and has clocked 7.1 million views total on Be On Cloud’s official channel. To keep up with the comparison, F4′s OST Who Am I clocked 21 million views at 1 year, while KP/Jeff Satur’s OST Why Don’t You Stay has clocked 36 million views at 8 months. 

(completely unrelated sidenote but Vegas/Bible’s ass has 3.4 million views and I just find that fucking hilarious, the man’s booty got more youtube views than other studios episodes. The power of Bible booty) 

You can watch episode 1 of F4 on GMMTV’s official youtube channel, but only episode 1 the rest are just previews for other episodes. Idk why, other series whether het or BL they have all the episodes available. There’s apparently 80 videos that are hidden, I’m wondering if you have to pay Youtube premium to access those. Since I only have episode 1 to compare, for comparisons sake, we can look at those numbers of F4′s ep01 and Bad Buddy’s, both of which are clocked at 1 year each, are as follows:

Bad Buddy ep01 [1/4]: 9.6 million

Bad Buddy ep01 [2/4]: 5.4 million 

Bad Buddy ep01 [3/4]: 4.9 million

Bad Buddy ep01 [4/4]: 5 million

F4 Thailand Begins ep01 [1/4]: 1.7 million

F4 Thailand Begins ep01 [2/4]: 848k 

F4 Thailand Begins ep01 [3/4]: 3.3 million 

F4 Thailand Begins ep01 [4/4]: 747k 

If you crunch these numbers, Bad Buddy’s total view count for episode 1 is around 25 million views. F4′s total view count is around 7 million views (if I’m doing my math correctly a bitch doesn’t work in maths). 

Now, I don’t know what the premiere numbers for either of these series was. BUT, this shows that one series, Bad Buddy, has legs and the other, F4, didn’t. 

Either way that’s a pretty sizable gap and a lot of international fans use Youtube as a means to legally watch and support these shows as shown in the availability of subtitles.

F4 has subtitle options in: English, Korean, Chinese (Taiwan), Portuguese, Turkish and Spanish

Bad Buddy has subtitle options in: English, Turkish, French, Indonesian, Spanish, Chinese (Hong Kong), Korean, Chinese (Taiwan), Vietnamese, Arabic, Portuguese, Polish, Italian, Burmese, Chinese (Simplified) and Bulgarian.

Bro, BULGARIAN.

As far as I can tell, IQIYI doesn’t release streaming data that I could find, so idk what the numbers are for Kinnporsche. I do know that Kinnporsche, since airing, has never let the sites Top 10 list which is an impressive feat after ending months ago. 

So like, what does all this information mean~ exactly? Am I saying F4 Thailand was a flop? No, not even a little bit lol I don’t have enough data to really say definitively F4 was a flop nor is that really the point here. 

The point here is about international impact, and the fact that in my humble ass opinion, Thailand’s het shows ain’t hitting internationally all THAT much. Not as much as their BL shows are and have been. 

Objectively, going by Thai ratings, F4 did a lot better than Bad Buddy, but internationally? Internationally there’s a pretty visible gap from everything I’ve seen. 

I think what GMMTV was hoping was by casting Bright and Win they’re pull in that international audience they had cultivated with the 2gether series. But het dramas are high key a dime a dozen in American/European/Latin American audiences. Folks go to Kdramas or Cdramas for het dramas (and I have theories on why those hit, namely Cdramas for the high fantasy aspects that Europe and America doesn’t deliver on and kdramas for being unashamedly high quality produced romances. Also the one-and-done factor). 

Given the juggernaut success of Kinnporsche, not just in the west but also in other Asian countries I imagine that’ll influence other studios to try to follow suit even more to gain even a half-slice of that visibility and profitability. Kinnporsche, imo, is an outlier, it’s success is sorta like 2gether and TharnType in that there were a lot of factors outside of the show itself that led to it’s individual success. 

Like, flat, argue with the wall, 2gether is NOT a good series. But, it was released right when lockdown began (literally, ep01 aired Feb 21, 2020), in a way 2gether was like Animal Crossing, GMMTV didn’t expect it to do THAT well especially internationally but it did partially b/c what the fuck else we people gonna do in lockdown? Watch a simple but cute gay romcom which there was a gap for - Love, Victor wouldn’t air it’s first episode until June 17th, 2020, and that was marketed less as a queer romcom and more as a queer coming of age story. There’s also the factor of The Untamed having ended - final episode August 20th, 2019 - and folks catching on to the growing and active existence of international queer media that wasn’t boxed in and tied down by American conventions. 

I think what we’re going to see is the “next era” of BL. We saw the uptick in overall content post 2019/2020 with the success of 2Gether and TharnType, following the success of series like Why R U, Love By Chance, 1000 Stars, Lovely Writer, etc along with other countries getting in more on the game (namely South Korea) and the overall uptick in the amount of BL (and now GL!) shows across the board. 

After 2gether we saw more BL shows, I think after Kinnporsche we’re going to see higher quality BL/GL shows. And I think we’re already seeing that. Semantic Error was a nice change of pace for SK b/c it was longer than 15mins, I think going forward given the success of SE we’re going to see SK branch out slowly into developing longer shows (no longer than 30 to 35mins tho to keep costs down) and better workshopping (some kisses in KBLs...my guys). While for Thailand I think we’re gonna see better quality shows. Not Me dropped the ball in some regards but visually the show was great. Cutie Pie’s story was incoherent sure but visually? Hot damn that was a good looking show. We’re also getting more interesting concepts out of Thailand too; like that Prince/bodyguard show coming out, the fact Kinnporsche did eventually get made and MileApo’s upcoming historical film. 

this all got away from me but whatever, bitches want gay shit, peace

[padoarchive]

fanpage for big ocean

group name: big ocean, big o!cean, 빅오션

company: PARASTAR Entertainment

fandom name: pado (wave in korean)

fan color: turquoise

debut date: 22.4.2024 with the single glow (remake of glow by h.o.t)

members:

Lee Chanyeon

• main rapper

• 27.3.1998

Park Hyunjin

• main vocalist

• 24.10.1999

Kim Jiseok

• main dancer

• 5.3.2003

socials:

instagram:

big_ocean.official

chanyeon_l.3

hyunjin_pick

jiseok.1

parstar.ent

twitter: Big_O_Cean

youtube: https://youtube.com/@BigOcean.official?si=w0YvRczGiwlIrrZU

tiktok: big_ocean.official

https://www.tiktok.com/@big_ocean.official?_t=8m8JLoM0w9h&_r=1

facebook: https://www.facebook.com/official.bigocean

fancafe: https://m.cafe.daum.net/Bigocean-fancafe/_rec

thank you for checking out my page for big ocean !

[old-dramas]

do you heard upcoming korean remake with jung woo sung in leading role?

tell me that you love me? i know one of our members has seen the original! what do you think of the remake so far (if youre watching)? :)

[bl-bam-beyond]

AS 2023 ENDS AND 2024 BEGINS LETS GET INTO 2024 UPCOMING KBL. WHAT WE ACTUALLY GOT IN 2023.

For 2024 we supposedly have...

1. Love For Love Sake ✅️

2. Choco Milk Shake Season 2

3. Eul's Love

4. Gray Currents (now called Gray Shelter) ✅️

5. The Time of Fever (Unintentional Love Story 2: Second Couple Sequel gets title) ✅️

6. Ambiguous

7. Blossom Campus (STRONGBERRY) ✅️

8. Boys Be Brave (Original Title: I Can't Confess) from the director of Our Dating Sim) ✅️

9. Say I Love You (from the director of The New Employee)

10. Uncovering The Curse of Taekwondo (from the director of To My Star)

11. Jazz For Two ✅️

12. Good Night To Get Drunk

13. Joseon Chefs

14. Skam (Korean Remake) Cancelled 🚫❌️

Expected in 2023 that may appear in 2024

15. Heesu In Class 2

16. Love is Like A Cat ✅️

17. The First Love Manual

18. Eccentric Romance

19. Secret Relationship

20. Wuju Bakery (Thai-Korean BL Series)

Unexpected or Unknown (at least by me) of 2024 aka Special Additions:

21. Happy Ending (by Strongberry) ✅️

What Actually Aired/Airing in 2024

1. Love For Loves Sake

2. Love Is Like A Cat

3. Happy Ending

4. Jazz For Two

5. Gray Currents (changed from Gray Shelter)

6. Boys Be Brave (changed from I Can't Confess)

7. Blossom Campus

8. Time of Fever (6 Episode Sequel to ULS originally a movie in Korea airing on IQIYI as of September 12, 2024)

What Actually Aired in 2023 (In Order of which I liked more)

1. Our Dating Sim

2. The Eighth Sense

3. Unintentional Love Story

4. Love Class Season 2

5. Why RU? Korean Remake

6. Love Tractor

7. Jun and Jun

8. Bon Appétit

9. A Shoulder To Cry On

10. Starstruck

11. Happy Merry Ending

12. Love Mate

13. All The Liquors

14. Individual Circumstances

15. Bump Up Business

16. A Breeze of Love (not on my original list but aired on the dreadful IQIYI yes I have a love-hate issue with IQIYI sometimes I love it and sometimes I hate it most especially with KBL)

Unsubstantiated Rumors

Blueming Season 2 - though a second season was rumored and wanted by fans no official sequel is in the works as of now but like many fans... my fingers are crossed.

4 Directors From Existing KBL Hits (To My Star, Our Dating Sim, The New Employee and Semantic Error) are all slated to direct BL's in 2024

Updated May 16, 2024

@pose4photoml @lutawolf @kingofthereblog-boysloveed

[mineonmain]

9 People You'd Like To Know More

Thanks for tagging me lovely @incandescentflower 💛

Last song: I may or may not have had I Need Love by DKB on a loop for the past few days. Sorry for listening to good music ig ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

Currently watching:

Jun and Jun (i have so many issues with this show, the top one being it's so boring!! I'm living for the Mr. Heart cameos and that's it rn i'm so sorry to all the girlies enjoying it. big fat nothing sandwich for me)

Hidden Agenda (a little slow on the 'plot' so far but i'm obsessed with joongdunk joongdunk-ing all over the place so i'm fucking living. no comment)

Minato's Laundromat 2 (just waiting for it to end so i can see how it ends. will we get any major character development? will we officially have 2 couples?? will minato stop being allergic to physical contact?? tune in next week!)

I Feel You Linger In The Air (just saw ep one the other day and it's looking SO FUCKING GOOD, if y'all aren't watching it you absolutely have to)

About to start:

idk. i'll have to see what's coming up and see if it looks interesting. Might tune in to the Korean Why R U remake just to see how bad it is lmaooo

Just finished:

Sing My Crush (underrated and not hyped up enough!! Nothing groundbreaking but a grand time, for a change it doesn't have a lot of the usual tropes and that's really refreshing!

Currently reading:

Not actively in the middle of a book bc I just finished one, but i'm starting the Good Omens book next.

Current obsession:

I don't know if I have a specific obsession over any one particular thing at the moment, but maybe it's ZB1 (or as I like to call them, Bepler)?? I've been following their journey since day 0 (stan our fruity king Jiwoong) and it's just been so much fun. I'm also following a whole bunch of the trainees who didn't officially debut with the group, hearing a lot of news of them debuting now too (and that too with a lot of their fellow trainees too - i haven't seen another survival show that was this popular that this many trainees have debuted together - you have the upcoming jellyfish ent team, haruto's new group, the redstart ent group, wumuti and jay and jongwoo are busy promoting, and wang zihao's just debuted)

uhhhh who can i tag. my usual girlies i guess @whatisgodtoanonbeliever @liyazaki @onstoryladders @webetterlove @respectthepetty @rythyme @antisocial-burrito @disasterbabygirlnick @dribs-and-drabbles @bisexualhedgehog @vegaspetesupremicy (that's not 9 yes i know, i am not jared 19)

[kharisubas40972]

Kritika Kamra, Dhairya Karwa and Raghav Juyal to headline Karan Johar and Guneet Monga’s Gyaarah Gyaarah, Indian adaptation of Korean drama Signal for ZEE5 : Bollywood News

Another Korean drama is getting an Indian remake. Following the news of JioCinema working on Suspicious Partner adaptation, Karan Johar’s Dharmatic Entertainment and Guneet Monga’s Sikhya Entertainment are joining hands for the upcoming procedural drama Gyaarah Gyaaraah. The series is a Hindi adaptation of the Korean drama Signal, which originally starred Kim Hye Soo, Lee Je Hoon and Cho Jin…

[dojae-huh]

so excited for jaehyun’s drama. So far i’ve seen two popular senior actors revealed to star in the show. It’s definitely a bigger scale than dear m. Plot wise is heavier as well. Though the rich and poor dynamic is often represented in kdrama, i’m waiting for the way they tell the story and the acting as well.

i have a question tho. Do korean agencies usually announce if an actor is confirmed to be on a drama? As far as i know, no agency will announce officially on their platform during the filming stage. We’d usually know from articles that says “This actor is reportedly/ rumored to play in …”. After filming and promotion starts, only then the agency would announce right? I see the same pattern with other acting agency as well. Just saw some people make it a mistreatment issue when sm doesn’t announce that jae accepts to be in the drama.

Sorry, I don't have an answer to your question. I don't think there is a point for the agency to announce anything before the official release date. So many things can go wrong (cancellation of the project, postponement of the release, the idol getting sick and declining the role in the end). For example, Jaehyun was supposed to play in a musical. Fans were so excited, watched the original to get to know the material beforehand, discussed if the role suited Jaehyun. Where is the result? It simply didn't happen.

Fans complain because without such posts on the group's socmed stans of other members stay unaware of the achievements of their bias. It's popularity Olympics. For the member in question it changes nothing otherwise. I mean, announcements of upcoming projects won't hurt, it would be nice to have a well kept official news-account for the whole group, but it's not a big deal either.

I hope the new tv-series is good. Jaehyun is not a person who would be interested in acting for popularity or the lable (actors are higher on the totem pole in SK). With his looks and inexperience there was a danger he would be put into a box, type casted. Which would be against his interest.

After Dear.M Jae wanted to play a gay character (a soul of a female reincarnated in a male body, who found the lover from the previous life, and despite being same-sex they fell in love again) in a remake of an old movie (Bungy jumping with you). It was a serious story about homophobia, star-crossed lovers, society acceptance, self-acceptance, etc.

This choice made it clear Jaehyun didn't want to take on another stupid role.

[gunsatthaphan]

~ Monthly BL Breakdown: May 2024 ~ 

🏳️‍🌈 Happy Pride Month!!! 🏳️‍🌈

Disclaimer: ALL shows can be streamed here or here, as well as on Youtube and other platforms. For more info on where to watch what, check out this post! 

New breakdowns are coming at the end of every month - feel free to add stuff! -> previous breakdowns

What came out this month? (green = seen/currently watching)

🌟 You Made My Day (starring Tar A. and Bom T. from I Will Knock You) - May 3rd (Thailand)

🌟 Inverse Identity / Upside Down - Mary 3rd (China)

🌟 Wandee Goodday - May 4th (Thailand) ✅

🌟 Dear Miss Becky - May 6th (Philippines)

🌟 Deep Night Special Episode - May 9th (Thailand)

🌟 A Balloon's Landing - May 10th (Taiwan)

🌟 City of Stars: Special Episode - May 10th (Thailand, cinema release)

🌟 The Time of Fever (Unintentional Love Story spinoff) - May 15th (South Korea)

🌟 Blossom Campus - May 16th (South Korea)

🌟 OMG! Vampire - May 19th (Thailand)

🌟 Pray in Love - May 20th (Taiwan)

🌟 Manji Reverse - May 24th (Japan)

🌟 My Biker 2 - May 28th (Thailand)

🌟 Knock Knock Boys - May 30th (Thailand) ✅

🌟 Anti Reset Special - May 31st (Thailand)

Monthly Likes / Dislikes

❣️ My Stand-In - I've been liking this a lot and it's probably my favorite bl from this year so far. I was mostly skeptical of the reincarnation trope as I usually don't like that but I like where it's going. The storytelling is excellent, it's comprehensible and sends such good messages, it's subtle, not as in-your-face as other shows, they're not rehashing the same things and every character is believable and well-shaped, down to the smallest side role. The characters are flawed but so well-written that it's just a joy to witness them develop. That being said I wanna give a big shoutout to whoever was in charge of casting because the lineup is really top-tier lol. Every character is on-point thanks to their respective actor; Up is doing so well and also Poom is a very pleasant surprise. I love how expressive he is and him and Up work extremely well as a team imo. Also Mek as Tong is a good choice. Almost forgot what a truly good production looked like lmao. I'm in awe.

New series & movie announcements

🎥 Some Secrets in High School (mini series) - Date TBA (Thailand)

🎥 Street Fight (movie) - Date TBA (Thailand)

🎥 See Your Love - Date TBA (Taiwan)

🎥 Century of Love - Date TBA (Thailand)

🎥 Allure of the Siren - Date TBA (Thailand)

🎥 Takara's Treasure - Coming July 1st (Japan)

🎥 Air Moment (starring Earth T. & others) - Date TBA (Thailand)

🎥 The Paradise of Thorns - Coming August 2024 (Thailand)

🎥 Your Sky (starring Thomas & Kong, winners of the DMD reality program Friendship the Reality) - Date TBA (Thailand)

🎥 I Hear the Sunspot (remake) - Date TBA (Japan)

🎥 My Idol - Coming August 2024 (South Korea)

🎥 Khemjira - Date TBA (Thailand)

Other news from the BL world

❗️ In a week-to-week-release, Be On Cloud announced the cast of the upcoming BL 4 Minutes: Bible Wichapas, Jes Pipat, Bas Asavapatr, Job Yosatorn, Fuaiz Thanawat, Mio Athens, Jet Jetsadakorn & Jjay Patiphan. A release date, as well as further information has not been disclosed.

❗️After the announcement of OhmFluke being the lead actors in the upcoming Korean BL Surfing, their respective managements released a statement saying the news were false and that there was never any contact between the companies nor a request for permission to issue the news.

❗️The annual KAZZ awards were held on May 14th. The following BL actors/productions won:

Net Siraphop - Actor of the Year

Bed Friend - Series of the Year

Pit Babe - Kazz Magazine Favorite Award

❗️ The 20th Komchadluek Awards were held on May 28th. The following BL actors/productions won:

Zee P. - Most Popular Actor

Nunew C. - Best International Singer

Fourth N. - Best Rising Star

JimmySea - Best Couple

❗️ Actor JJ Radchapon has been announced as Net's new partner in the upcoming BL Love Upon a Time. His original partner James S. previously dropped out of the project to focus on his music career. Shooting will begin soon.

❗️ Actors Kaownah Kittipat and Max Nattapol have been announced as the BL side couple in the upcoming period GL drama Mom Pet Sawan.

❗️ Actor Tang Chinadis has announced his departure from the upcoming BL Jack & Joker. He withdrew from the project following accusations of physical abuse from his ex-girlfriend Prigkhing S. (formerly with GMMTV)

❗️ After accusations of domestic violence against his ex-girlfriend, the charges against GMMTV actor Pawin Thanik have been dropped. The company released a statement saying both parties requested a mediation, after which they came to a settlement where both cases were dismissed. Pawin had previously been placed on work probation and withdrew from the BL We Are amongst other projects.

Upcoming series & movies for June

👉🏻 My Love Mix-Up - June 6th (Thailand)

👉🏻 Love Sea - June 9th (Thailand)

👉🏻 SunsetxVibes - June 15th (Thailand)

👉🏻 The Rebound - June 26th (Thailand)

👉🏻 Blue Boys Part 2 - June TBA (South Korea)

[cielhunternorwood]

So, this is going to be a strange bit of tangent-rant, what with all the Xitter-ing about Stellar Blade, sexualization, and whatnot. I promise, though, it's more random chatter than my own opinion on the matter (which is, more or less, idgaf). Reader beware.

For the unaware, Stellar Ass is an upcoming Korean video game starring a female main character modeled after a, well, model from Korea. However, the likeness isn't one-to-one, as there's some anime-ification going on with her face and hair, so there are definite liberties being taken with the character.

Naturally, though, people are less focused on her face and more focused on her butt and thighs, because her design is very much going into Hornyville in terms of accentuation, over-curvature, her swoocy movements, and her attire, or lack thereof.

Granted her butt and thighs are nowhere near as fantastic as Raiden from Metal Gear, but enough people have been chattering over her to trigger others who find this kind of design distasteful for many reasons. The thing is, it's a valid criticism to throw at a game, relying on some form of eye candy to draw people in.

It happens ALL THE TIME because that's what character design in games is about: making a character attractive and memorable to draw in the player and keep them hooked. It's not always sexy, though. Sometimes it's cute, sometimes it's cool, and sometimes it's just familiar to the player.

Having said that, it is also often a problem to design characters with sex appeal in mind, and it almost always involves female characters due to an inherent double standard that has yet to fade due to the many cultures that handle the issue in different ways.

Not that you can't make a sexy main character and still make them enjoyable to some extent as a character, but impressions will always be on visuals first, especially when knowing the persona of a character requires a time investment. In that way, a lot of the reactions based on appearance go both ways for equally valid reasons.

Similar complaints were made about Bayonetta and Nier: Automata, which are all equally valid, and could be made about the old Tomb Raiders if not for the rather cartoony cover arts (also that they toned down her boobs the more realistic they became in visual style). It's a means of hooking that is often used with a game that may not hit it off on gameplay alone.

The trouble is that the sexualized character can cause mixed signals, making an otherwise unremarkable game seem amazing because the sexy girl (or, rarely, guy) in the middle of the screen is triggering a positive reaction- brain chemicals, yada yada- from that alone. Hence why someone like me, who is asexual, generally is unaffected and has a more grounded opinion of such games.

I found Tomb Raider to be interesting to play, even if platforming in the remake was really buggy, forcing me to cut it short. Bayonetta felt too much like DMC 4 for me to actually buy the game, plus the magic hair idea and the heel-revolvers felt too dumb to me. Nier Automata was the first game to actually make my eyes hurt due to its washed out, sepia'd locations, and I found the game really boring even with its supposed "great story": it was just treading the old ground of other games that came before it without adding its own unique flair.

I can't help looking at Stellar Blade and thinking it'll be more of the same: people confused by their own excites into thinking a game is better than it is, much in the way the adrenaline rush of playing certain stupidly-difficult games can make you think a certain game is fun when it's actually badly designed and forcing you to win against unfair odds.

There's a lot of focus on how a game makes us feel when judging it, rather than judging it based solely on its status as a game. The fact that too many people can't separate their like or dislike of a game from its actual quality leads many to praise an otherwise bad game or condemn an otherwise good game, all over what the game makes them 'feel'.

To reel it back in, liking a game because it has a sexy character you want to watch and wank to, while I guess being fine, doesn't mean someone is wrong to criticize that design for being as such and further complain about 'oversexualization'. Especially when that sexiness is always the focal point of promotional media, cutscenes, animations, etcetera.

It's a very normal reaction to something that is still perceived as in the realm of sexism, sometimes because it comes from a culture that doesn't have the same values or progression as our own in that field. It's still a talking point that inevitably causes flared tempers, mainly because the people liking these sexy main characters feel attacked when the point is brought up.

Unfortunately, the defensive reflex really reveals more about them as a person than anything else, being unable to admit that 'Yes, this character is oversexualized, and I'm okay with that,' because the connotations to go with that are bad. It very easily lends to some extremist name-calling and labeling when the discussion should be focused on whether this is an okay thing in general or if it continues to promote an objectification ideal.

The problem then becomes the 'but it's a fictional character,' argument, which is a weak argument at its core due to the fact that separating fiction from reality relies on an individual knowing themselves in and out (which is impossible, mind you). However, a lot of what we like in fiction and onward is a translation of what we want subconsciously or would gravitate towards in reality because that's how the brain circuits are wired.

Again, this is focusing purely on the visual representation. For the pure reason that most consumers will always go for the instant gratification effect rather than hold off for the longer-lasting good effect. Part of why gacha games are so popular and addicting, but that's a subject for another time.

I guess, in the end, this tangent-rant is mostly a complaint that the problem isn't the character themselves but our unwillingness to have an actual discussion on how this can be a problem, how it may perpetuate a problem, and how it should be allowed to receive these criticisms, even if some of the complaints are plastered with buzz words or using it as basis for a really bad agenda.

We'll all love good-looking designs, be they sexy, cool, cute, or just reminiscent of someone we know, but we should always be willing to criticize them. Same for games. Your feelings for something and the quality of it are two entirely different things.

If you can't separate the two from each other, then either you need to learn how you can do that or simply admit your own bias and never render judgement.

Anyways, that's all I wanted to get out of my system. Again, my own opinion of Stellar Blade's MC is "I don't care," because I've seen enough of that kind of thing to just be numb to it. Also it's not as bad as a lot of character designs in Artery Gear and Nikke, or the stupid Nero Saber Venus look in Extella.

[themovieblogonline]

Emma Stone and Yorgos Lanthimos’s New Film: Here’s What We Know

Get ready for another dose of Lanthimos weirdness with a sprinkle of Emma Stone charm! Hot off the heels of their Oscar success with "Poor Things," the dynamic duo of director Yorgos Lanthimos and actress Emma Stone are teaming up for a brand new project titled "Kinds of Kindness." A Trip Down Collaboration Lane Just a few short days after the success of Poor Things at the Oscars, with 11 nominations and 4 wins, the actor-director duo Emma Stone and Yorgos Lanthimos are back at it again with a brand new feature. The upcoming film, Kinds of Kindness, is said to be the pair’s 5th overall collaboration, including hit and critically acclaimed features The Favorite (2018) and Poor Things (2023). They’ve also worked together on the 2022 short film, Bleat.  If that wasn’t enough, talks about a potential 6th collaboration are underway too. Lanthimos wishes to remake the South Korean comedy film, Save the Green Planet (2003), with Stone in a supporting role.  An Ensemble Cast Kinds of Kindness will be starring Emma Stone, who has won the Academy Award for Best Actress twice, recently for Poor Things’ Bella Baxter and her first one for La La Land’s (2016) Mia Dolan.  Poor Things co-stars Willem Dafoe and Margaret Qualley, along with Jesse Plemons, Hong Chau, Mamoudou Athie, and Hunter Schafer will share the screen with Stone. Joe Alwyn, The Favorite co-star, will also be a part of this dream cast.  What is the Movie About?  The plot of Kinds of Kindness is still under wraps. However, during an interview with the Guardian in December 2023, the Greek mastermind gave a teaser as to what the film could be about.  The story was authored by Efthimis Filippou, who has worked with Lanthimos in The Lobster (2015) and The Killing of a Sacred Deer (2017).  Its filming began in 2022 in New Orleans.  Previously titled And, Kinds of Kindness is an anthology film, consisting of 3 different stories. Currently in the editing phase, Kinds of Kindness is a contemporary film. Each actor will play a different role in each story. Moreover, Searchlight Pictures, the main distributor of the film, announced that Kinds of Kindness would be a contemporary, sci-fi anthology film.  Yorgos Lanthimos is notorious for keeping things hush-hush, all the while throwing the most complex and quirky hint bombs. We’ll just have to wait and see how eccentric and unique the feature will be.  Release Date – Perfect Timing?  Kinds of Kindness will be released on 21st June 2024. Produced by Andrew Lowe and Kasia Malipan, Kinds of Kindness is rumored to be going to Cannes. This makes it Lanthimos’s 2nd contemporary film to be premiered at the Cannes Film Festival, after The Killing of a Sacred Deer (2017). Previously, Lanthimos’s films The Favorite (2018) and Poor Things (2023) made it to respective Venice Film Festivals.  Overall, Emma Stone and Yorgos Lanthimos have indeed formed a successful working relationship in the box office realm. We are excited to see what they will dish up together in the future.  Read the full article