Odessa Jones
American living in South Korea
The editing isn't great, so the narrative wanders a bit. We don't spend as much time with the central couple as I would have liked. But the characters are likeable and don't fall into any BL cliches. In fact, although this is an Asian story about men falling in love with men, it isn't "boys' love." It's a story by gay men about their lives, or at least the fluffy, funny parts of their lives. It has a happy ending that makes sense emotionally. And a few scenes are so funny that they make the whole movie worthwhile (the scene where our hero gets his crush's business card is rom com gold).
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My disappointment could be partly due to the fact that I didn't find the stars attractive. But maybe worse, they also didn't have much chemistry. Chemistry can make up for a low budget and a weak script, but with no chemistry it's hard to keep watching.
As in the manga, the characters have really stereotypical seme/uke personalities. The seme is typically emotionally restrained and domineering. Maybe with a better actor and more chemistry, I could have overlooked his major personality defects. But instead I just ended the movie finding him really annoying.
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Falling in Love with a Rival
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As boys' love, it doesn't always work, as a result of Chinese censorship. The editing gives the feeling that significant scenes and pieces of information are missing. But the writers still got away with a lot of refreshingly dirty dialogue and a bit of skinship. There's chemistry between the actors, although the comic nature of the plot downplays it.
Though I think strong seme/uke dynamics are often a dumb narrative shortcut, they don't bother me much here. The dynamics result in a silly, entertaining power struggle between the two main characters, who are reasonably well developed (for a comedy).
I don't recommend this show if you're looking for romance. That's not the emphasis.
I do recommend it, though, as a well-written sex comedy that plays around with the conventions of boys' love. It's sad that Chinese censorship and the new ban on gay content means that we can't see what Chinese writers and directors could do with the BL genre in future.
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On the other hand, this couple have amazing chemistry. The emotions between them develop in a strange way--because of the rebirth plotline--but feel totally real. I wish the story were clearer (and maybe included less amnesia). But the last 10 minutes, which show us both alternate realities for our hero's life, deliver a real emotional punch. Also, sometimes this show is very sexy. That boosts the rewatch value a lot, for purely shallow reasons.
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But don't let that discourage you! I was looking for something fluffy and this fit the bill perfectly. I smiled and giggled my way through every episode (though I got bored in the episode with the pageant, which seemed to last longer than an actual pageant).
This plot lacks the tension of SOTUS, which it's often compared to. But I disapproved of SOTUS's enthusiasm for hazing too much and couldn't really enjoy it. Two Moons didn't have anything to object to. It was nice that the heroes were both basically interested in each other from the beginning (though there's some of that stupid BL "I'm only gay for you" nonsense).
If you're looking for more tension, the secondary couple have more conflict--and more flirting. And they are very, very cute. As are the tertiary couple, come to think of it... okay, this university is entirely populated by hot gay guys.
Best thing about this series is that it focused closely on these likable main characters so I never felt like there were throw-away scenes. The show would probably have higher rewatch value if there was a bit more plot and tension, but I still enjoyed the heck out of this show. As undemanding and fluffy as they come, if that's what you're looking for.
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