Sorry for answering some replies late. I'm back!
Using Dreamwidth on phone wasn't easy but I have good news: I finally have a new computer!

I finished a few series lately so I thought I'd do little reviews:

Call Me By No Name
GL, Japanese, 8 episodes, Gagaoolala

This was an intense and emotional watch. The themes and tone reminded me of the J-BL "Happy of the end" I watched last fall.
Serious, subtle, beautiful. Push-and-pull in the main relationship, wanting to save&being saved. Accepting feelings. Family trauma and sexuality. The virgin and the cool girl.

Apparently the GL community didn't receive this well (but it seems to be the case with anything more complex lmao). This series reminded me a lot of wlw relationships I know in irl and also how I used to be when I was younger.

I recommend this but I suggest to check the trigger warnings before if needed.

Mr. Plankton
South-Korean, 10 episodes, Netflix

I rarely watch straight romance anymore, and when this was trending on tiktok back on January I though it was going to be overrated because everyone was thirsting over Woo Do Hwan. To my surprise I actually ended up liking the series.

It's a genre hybrid of tragedy, comedy, and romance, but it works really well. This drama also deals with family trauma: the main "couple" (exes) are both orphans. It deals with issues such as abandonment, incurable disease, and found family. It's really well made and kept me hooked all 10 episodes. I haven't seen a good k-drama in a while(most of them i haven't been able to finish), but this one will stay with me.

These were pretty intense watches so I decided to watch something comforting next.
I started the J-BL "Our Dining Table". I loved the manga and so far I've really enjoyed the series.
I haven't started Pit Babe S2 yet but will probably soon, it's such a fun show. My only issue with it is that I don't really care for the side couples...we'll see if that changes with the new season.

Current Music: The Mamas & the Papas - California Dreamin'

This week I hardly used tiktok and instead focused on my own projects. I've been doing a lot of writing and researching. I feel like I'm getting my creative groove back slowly.

I also started watching a few series:

Call Me by No Name (GL)
Japanese, 7+ episodes (airing), Gagaoolala

I've liked every Japanese GL I've watched. Overall j-dramas usually have that delicate and angsty slice-of-life vibe I really like. So this was obviously my first on the watchlist when I heard there was a new Japanese GL. The relationship in this drama has the tropes of first love and moving in together immediately. It's obsessive, weird, mysterious. I really like it. I think I will post a full review once the season is finished.

XO, Kitty
American, 2 seasons, Netflix

Perfect series for a kpop fan. I didn't know this was part of the To All The Boys I've Loved Before - world.
I haven't watched an American teen show for a long time(I think Never have I ever is the last one), but nowadays they're more diverse and have more interesting concepts I can relive my teenage years while watching them :D I watch so much serious and dark stuff I had been looking for something fun to watch for a long time and this was a perfect series for it. I felt like a teengirl watching this series it's so cute. This was the first series I've bingewatched for a long time.

Ofc I have thousand other series on my watchlist. There's so many new Thai GLs, I haven't even checked the new Freenbecky series and film yet... or Petrichor. I think next I'm gonna finish the BL the Heart Killers since I've already watched half of it and it's really entertaining.

From Thai GL's i'm definitely gonna tune into the mafia(The Dragon House) and prison(Clairbell) ones. They are my favorite BL genres as well, and I loved Orange is the new black and mafia films. They are such masculine genres I'm really excited that there are women-centric versions as well.

Next I'm gonna start watching S2 of Fragrance of the First Flower (Taiwanese GL). I really liked the first season.

'
I also started watching another survival show: &AUDITION where &TEAM was formed. I'm so glad some people who were eliminated on i-land were able to debut on this team. The survival show is not as brutal and the style of it is a bit different, more like a documentary, I think it's primarly made for a Japanese audience. I've been listening to &team discography for the past few weeks and really enjoy their music. I still don't have a bias but at the moment I'm most drawn to Harua because he is so cute.

On Kpop news, I'm really excited for Le sserafim's and Seulgi's combacks next month!

The trailer for Le sserafim's HOT is amazing I got emotional watching it:

Watch on YouTube

I'm so obsessed with Chaewon's outfit she looks so cool and sexy😳

Hyunjin was live on ig yesterday and showed his very aesthetic room.
This is the vibe I want in my life:

I only recently found out about Fandom Trumps Hate. I'm not participating as a writer (i can barely write my own fics), but there are many kpop ships i'm thinking about bidding on. The money goes to charities and i feel like this is something really important that is needed now.

Current Mood: calm
Current Music: TXT - Anti-Romantic

I have a lot of thoughts and feelings about this documentary. It's an 8 episode Netflix documentary about the training and survival show of the new global girl group Katseye. It's a South-Korean and American collaboration between Hybe and Geffen. 20 girls compete to be part of the 6 chosen ones for the group.
The main themes are competition, hard work, collaboration and fame. There's a lot of jealousy going on between the girls as not all are on the same skill level but some are more popular according to the votes. The girls have also formed friendships during the training so it's hard for them to let go of their friends. It's difficult to see girls who work hard not make it to the group. Entertainment industry is relentless and so is the documentary in some parts. Some people say it shouldn'tve been published because it puts so many of the girls in a bad light and many have received hate and even racist comments. But on the other hand it shows the reality of the competition of entertainment industry. This doc reminded me so much of my days in drama high school and how competetivie environment can affect you. You have to have a lot of confidence not to break down. The teachers and mentors are really tough and so are the people online leaving all kinds of comments. I feel like this is somehow similar to the LE SSERAFIM doc which also goes backstage with the performers to showcase the hard work behind them. It's an interesting choice to show fans (and haters) that side as well.

Overall the documentary was well made. There's still drama going around surrounding Manon and the other girls who critisized her. She is one of the most popular members with fans and was scouted for her star quality even though she had no prior experience with singing or dancing. She missed practise and lot of the girls didn't like it. It doesn't look good if you don't put in hard work but still are popular and succeed. The drama is what is making the documentary go viral at the moment and I've had to take a pause from socials because i feel like i've already processed it. The drama left a bad taste in my mouth and the documentary was sometimes too intense to watch so I couldn't binge it. Regardless of the drama I hope both Katseye and the former trainees who didn't make it to the group find success.

I watched Inside Mari the tv adaptation because it has the Chaser Game W actress Yurika Nakamura . I've read the manga few years ago and really liked it. The tv adaptation didn't quite capture the weirdness and angst that is in Shuzo Oshimi's manga but I still liked the series.

It's a psychological work with supernatural and lgbt themes - but in a subtle and complex way.

It mainly deals with identity. Two people - a popular high school girl and a NEET man get their identities tangled up. But it's not a typical bodyswapping story. The high school girl - Mari also has an outsider best friend who is important in the story. These three people connect with each other in the story in an interesting way. It deals with how to live one's life and become yourself, how to find connection with others and yourself. What is real identity - who are you - is the main question. The protagonist(s) find themselves in a situations where everything is foreign in their lives and they don't recognize themselves. The body-soul connection is broken.

Other theme that many have analyzed is gender. Many people (online) view this story as a trans allegory. Since the girl gets the soul of the man but the man doesn't, it has been analyzed as a story about trans womanhood. What I also considered as a perspective is a Jungian analysis with feminine and masculine parts of each of us - anima and animus.

I watched this youtube analysis called The Incel to Trans Pipeline and Inside Mari, which talks about the work from the perspective of this online phenomenon called "transmaxxing". It's an incel phenomenon and I was first hesitant to approach this work I liked from this perspective but then again I'm interested in other people's interpretations. The video analysis is actually not so much an intepretation but more so uses the work as a example for the video essayist own reflection of her trans identity.

The video essay made me also consider what I personally related to in this work in context of my queer identity. I've also have struggled with my gender and sexual attraction but then came to realize it wasn't a trans experience but an experience of being trapped in society's role as a woman. I feel like Inside Mari can capture the horrors of gender that are relatable to both cis and trans people. Mari represents the perfect idea of girlhood but it's not something that is an essential experience for all women - even Mari isn't what people think she is and she is trapped inside her identity as well.

Lately I've been getting into jpop and specifically AKB48 and it has been a very comforting world for me. It's this idealized version of girlhood that is both a performance but also a real experience is also very much at the heart of the idol industry. Most of the fans are men which I struggled with because lot of them sexualize their oshis and they used to make bikini mv's and photshoots (even of the underage members) and that's an issue i've had with it but luckily it isn't really part of AKB48 anymore. It's what Inside Mari also touches upon: sexual shame and being a woman but looking at yourself from the lense of a man. Our desires and experiences are not like in a fantasy but it's comforting to be in the "pure" girlhood fantasy world. In real life teenage years at least for me were really chaotic, sexually confusing, and full of self-hatred - which is also what Inside Mari touches upon - the ideal girlhood does not exist except in the eyes of the alienated man who finds comfort in it. But it is a comforting fantasy - beauty, friendship, freedom, joy, and fun.

I finished two series today. These are short reviews of them:

Fragrance of the first flower S1
Taiwanese, GL, Gagaoolala

Second-chance romance with childhood best friends. I really loved this series. It depicted internalized homophobia well, which is the main cause why the two best friends didn't originally end up together. The series consists of flashbacks to their high school years and then back to when the two main characters are in their 30's. This was realistic and bittersweet. I'm excited that we're getting a second season this year!

My Name
South-Korean, thriller, Netflix

Revenge thriller. Mafia vs the police. Double identity. Han so hee is incredible in this. I always love films were women kick ass! This was so well made and i was entertained even though i rarely watch this genre anymore. I'm not sure if the romance was necessary to the plot but it didn't bother me too much. For my own taste i would have wished for more slow moments than fight scenes, but that's just my personal preference. I also love the exploration of double identity and does the monsterous side take over you or do you stay human. I think the main villain was also complex and interesting in this regard.

I recently finished two series I started last month. This is going to be a short review of them.

My Strawberry Film
8 episodes, Gagaoolala, Japanese, slice of life

Beautiful slice of life drama surrounding a mystery of a girl in a video tape. The four high schoolers are having complex relationship with each other but the drama is very delicate and natural. The plot itself is very simple but I was never bored. As I previously said, this was mistakenly marketed as BL which it is not but it deals with lgbt characters although there isn't a final happy gay couple. I knew from the beginning it wasn't going to be a queer romance but I kept watching because it was beautifully done and i loved the portrayal of youth and friendship.

BLANK The Series
6 episodes, Youtube, Thai, GL

This was so good! I got emotional in the last episode. The main leads couldn't be more different in personality: 20-year old girl who's obssessed with an older woman who's emotionally very distant but also very considerate. The acting was so good. This series also felt very natural and it lacks the melodrama that thai dramas usually have. I love that we got a mother figure as a love interest 😭❤️ I'm so happy that the series is going to have a S2 soon!

Tv series

GAP (GL)

I've been watching this slowly because i like it so much i don't want it to end! This is so good and it might be the best gl drama i've watched. I really like the bossxemployee/sunshinexgrumpy dynamic

Blank (GL)

Western GL fandom cancelled this before it aired because it has a 16 year age gap. I don't mind it if it's well done and I actually really like this series, it's very realistic in tone.

Pyramid Game

I'm halfway through, haven't finished it bc i want to binge it bc its so intense. I will post analysis of this later because I'm really invested in this drama. It's about bullying in an all-girls school. I really love the portrayal of complex female relationships

My Strawberry Film
This was marketed as BL but I don't think it's one. There's only 2 episodes left and no progression of romance for anyone. But I watched it because it's beautifully directed and it's interesting to see how the 4 young people deal with their relationships with each other.

Takara-Kun & Amagi-Kun (BL)
Cuuuuute! I usually don't watch high school romance but this was exeption because I was looking for something sweet and I heard this one was great. I think I prefer Japanese BL, it's just something about how they are directed that feels natural.

+and finished Cherry Magic anime, which I really enjoyed. I'm looking forward to the next BL omegaverse anime Okaeri Tadaima airing next month.

Film

Drive-Away Dolls

I already made a post about how much I loved this movie. More fun and sexy lesbian films!

Games

Amelie
Yuri visual novel, and i didn't know it was horror i freaked out! i love how it plays the same story but from different POV it adds to the horror, not many choices but they dictate the story so i went back to the story to go further, lot of repetition which was sometimes kinda annoying. But i loved how the story revealed more of itself and that the story got longer and more complex the further i went into the game.

I'll definetely be playing more yuri visual novels in the future!

Films

I didn't watch many films this month. I've been mostly watching tv series and reading fanfic on my free time. This month's films have been 2 kinky straight romance + 2 lesbian romances.

The Secretary (2002)

Secretary masochist x boss dom. This was less scandalous than I thought but the main leads had great chemistry. The psychological side of BDSM was also explored, the main character uses it as a replacement for self-harm and gradually througout the relationship she becomes more independent. The ending was too rom com style for me and imo it broke the tone of the film.

Love and Leashes (2022)

This is a South-Korean BDSM romance I found from Netflix. I heard it's a realistic portrayal of BDSM and the film does go through the roles and rules. We finally have femme domme representation! The play sessions were sometimes too short and the erotic side of this film wasn't very strong although it's a depiction of BDSM, it was more of a funny weird thing. But the film kept me interested and it had its fun moments.

Light, Light, Light (2023)

Finnish film set in the 80's, Chernobyl has just exploded and two teenage girls meet a a little town. I loved the nostalgic vibes and 80's soundtrack on this film. Unfortunately it's told from the past tense through memories and time skips, which made the film less emotionally intense. Sometimes the scenes were more like from a music video. It was a beautiful but sad film.

Duck Butter (2018)

I don't know how to feel about this film. During my watching experience I was fully invested in the story, as it is very time-intense depicting 24hours. How the two women become more involved with each other and with each other's traumas is interesting. Something that starts out as a spontaneous adventure ends up being a codependent nightmare. Sergio's character was super interesting. The film's grittiness reminded me of the HBO show Girls, although it wasn't as sarcastic in tone. What put me off how many poop jokes were during the film and in the end there's actual shit involved in one scene. It sure isn't a beautiful film, but very chaotic.

Tv-series

I finished 3 series I started last month:

Pit Babe (BL)
The first omegaverse show! The first part of this story was more focused on car racing, which isn't my thing. The omegaverse stuff became more important to the plot in the second half. The ending was full of twists and turns, it was super dramatic. I still think it should have been an omegaxalpha story instead of alphaxalpha, but this is a great start and hopefully there will be more omegaverse stories.

Chaser Game W (GL)
My favorite show I've watched this year. Lovers to enemies to lovers again, which I loved. I also enjoyed the female-centric workplace and great outfits. My only problem was that it was too short: the ending would have been a little less rushed if it had been 2-3 more episodes. Overall, a great story !

Love Senior (GL)
So much lesbian drama with engineering students! The main couple have both three different girls going after them and that's what causes the major drama in this story. I found the episodes a little bit too long and the drama was sometimes slacking. But the lead pair is absolutely beautiful and have great chemistry. I didn't like the coma and amnesia trope in the ending but I'm glad it was a happy ending eventually.

New series I finished:

Happy Shiny People (doc)
Continuing my cult documentary obsession. This one is about Christian cult-like movement that the reality show star family Duggars are part of. It's about abuse, exploitation and sexual assault that is rampant in the Church. The ex-members and family members share how the cult prepares, especially women, for the perfect victim mindset. The cult also encourages homeschooling and has a mission to send those homeschooled Christians to government positions. It's terrifying how much political power these kind of people have in the US!

Blueming (BL)

My first South-Korean BL. This was a pretty short show. I noticed how different in direction style it is to Thai BL's, which have lot of dialogue and close-ups. This BL focused in a film school, which I love since I've been thinking about applying to one. It has one of my favorite tropes of someone who considers themselves an outsider has a popular person fall in love with them. This was somehow very realistic in tone.

Books

The Imperial Uncle
It's been a while since I've read a new danmei. I was looking for something short to see how to execute a romance in around 400 pages. This one is a political drama told from a first-person narrative. The main character is a hopeless romantic and the romance in this danmei is very... delicate? Romantic in an old-fashioned way. The main character Prince Huai is part of a political conspiration and the story is much about nostalgia and finding your place in the world, which I loved.

+ I'm halfway through Little Life, which I'll hopefully finish next month

Love Senior

Cute college GL! It has the senior-junior relationship that's common in yuri. This is my first Thai GL and I'm excited for all the works that are coming in 2024!

Pit Babe

I picked this up because it's the first omegaverse tv show! It centers around car racing (not something I'm super into) between an alpha x alpha couple. There's a lot of drama going on in this show.

Chaser Game W

My new favorite GL! This one is Japanese. It's an friends to enemies to lovers between a boss and an employee who are former lovers. I love their dynamic so much and the actresses are so beautiful!

My Name

I picked this up because it has two things I love: Han So Hee and female revenge.

Cherry Magic

I'm so glad Cherry Magic got an anime! I've seen the Japanese BL version of it but I'm actually enjoying this anime even more!
Office dramas might be my new favorite genre.

This was one of the best tv shows I've ever seen! It has everything I loved: a female focused thriller that critisizes patriarchy.
Each episode set up something new, revealed something from the main plot and at the end of the episode turned the viewer's exceptations. First I wasn't sure If I liked the multiple POV structure because I was so invested in the main character's story but I ended up liking it.

Some things I liked about it
- Dramatic plot twists and structure like in a Park-Chan Wook film
- Amazing cinematography. I was never bored during the story.
- The Themla and Louise roadtrip -type of sapphic romance vibes from Kim Mo-mi and Kim Chun-Ae
- Critique of the beauty industry and how violently it affects women's relationship with themselves, other women, and men
- Disgusting men getting murdered
- Complex female relationships at the heart of the story (friends, classmates, mothers and daughters)
- The cycle of violence, abuse, and bullying
- How the main character lived many lives

5/5

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haitangkitty

BL and GL stuff

Entries tagged with tv review

Tv-reviews: Trauma Time

Weekly update

Doc review: Popstar academy

Tv review: Inside Mari

Tv wrap up

TV wrap up

March in Media