Film theatrical release: 4th of July in Japan Also announced a SPECIAL EPISODE!!! to be broadcast on June 28th. Synopsis : Makoto struggles with a new update task. A "sudden upheaval" occurs in the Okita and Igarashi families. [source]

FRAGRANCE OF THE FIRST FLOWER, S2EP12

Y'all out there? Been a minute.

NiNi's seasonal allergies have arrived which means that the longest winter ever is finally over. Auntie is also on a sprint to graduation so season 10 (TEN!) is not opening for business QUITE yet, but our inbox is! Drop us a question, or a comment, and it may be featured on the show!

See y'all soon(ish)

NiNi, Ben and Shan

QL Release Schedule (April 2025)

This Month:

Upcoming:

Index

Gelboys, Episode 7 Finale: "Controversial In a Good Way" Is How I'd Describe This Finale, As Well As Teenagehood in General

CONFESSION! I know not everyone will agree with me about the following.

When Bua/Baabin and Chian/Fou4Mod get together in the end -- besides the issue of these four WONDERFUL characters not getting enough screen- and development time (which has been fully discussed in the tags, thank you fandom) to really close their stories as ripely as we wanted them to be closed,

I also thought to myself, we've seen this before, or at least, I've seen this before, in a Boss Naruebet Kuno show. What did I see that I thought I've seen before?

When I first watched Boss Kuno's I Told Sunset About You, I focused my meta on the amazing cultural framework of the show, the intermingling of the history of the environment with the show's characters. However, I spoke my truth on my feelings about the ending of ITSAY in my review of I Promised You The Moon, ITSAY's sequel, a show that was screenwritten and directed by another person (Meen Tossaphon) that wasn't Boss (who served as a producer for IPYTM).

In short, at the end of ITSAY: I could have very well seen Teh and Oh-aew not getting together. I loved Teh for the hotttttt mess that he was. I could have seen Oh-aew hold him very accountable for that hot mess action in ITSAY. It didn't happen in ITSAY -- but it did happen in IPYTM, when Oh-aew peaced tf out for a year before they got back together in their later adulthood, all because Teh remained messy, and Oh-aew had had fucking enough.

So, what I'm seeing in the tags is at least, Chian and Fou4mod didn't have to get together in the end for many fans to consider the show a success.

Between ITSAY and Gelboys, from a dramatic narrative perspective: I could go either way with an ending for Teh/Oh-aew and Chian/F4M either being together or not, as long as the dialogue could support an excellent accountability read on imperfect people.

However. From a purely emotional perspective,

Who the fuck am I to ask characters that are teenage boys to hold each other, and themselves, accountable to the feelings of someone else -- when they might not know how to *do* that kind of accountability?

I can't. First of all, I'm a mom! I have to model that behavior myself for my kids as I raise them, which, hello, I can be a mess, too, dur.

I've written in my past Gelboys meta that a huge theme of this show, for me, is nostalgia. The show places an emphasis on the point that despite environments and modes of communication changing over time -- that interactions of emotions between two people remain mostly the same throughout generations. I truly loved it when Bua told Baa,

That sentiment has remained universal throughout the advent of fuckin' cuneiform, the printing press, the telephone, e-mail, text messages, and AirDrops and TikTok likes. The little squeal that you make when the person you like gives you the moment of attention you need. That's been universal since our brains grew larger than walnuts.

In order for a person like Baabin to get there, to give the attention that Bua is wanting and demanding -- well, shit, that'll take work on Baabin that he might not know how to do, because he's a kid, too, like Bua. And I feel the same for Chian, and for Fou4mod, too.

These guys are confused, horny, in love, playing games, and using technology to dance around their crushes and their feelings. That shit is all messy, and that mess was captured perfectly in Gelboys, as it was in ITSAY, as only Boss Kuno knows how to capture it (and Meen in IPYTM, too).

From a dramatic perspective, Chian and Fou4mod could have not gotten together, and again, I think the show could have worked. But from an emotional perspective, Chian and Fou4mod do get together, and....do I call that a happy ending?

Not necessarily -- and I'm okay with that. Because Boss's past work, from ITSAY to IPYTM, showed that he himself is aware that humans continue to grow, past their teenagehood, into probably imperfect adults that will still make mistakes, because they are simply humans who will never actually be perfect.

That's what I'm taking from this finale of Gelboys. Like most of what others are saying in the tags: I believe the convictions of imperfections that I'm talking about, the chaotic intricacies of these characters, would have HUGELY benefitted from a couple more episodes.

I think there's a lot of emotional layering that we missed out on. I think I could have seen a lot more of Fou4mod with Faifa, and not only because I cheese on Paper Peerada everyday. I think Fou4mod making those mistakes with Faifa could have been elaborated for us to get a more in-depth look into his mindset when he was with her, and how the lessons he learned from fucking it up with Faifa turned into his ultimately trusting Chian in a relationship. I think that storyline was rushed, and we missed out on some key growth development from Fou4mod. I really also think we could have had so much more time with Chian and his growth, besides his growing out of love from Bua. I would have loved to spend more time with Chian in university, watching him grow and trust himself more.

But, what can you do. We got what we got, and ultimately? Despite my quibbles, I absolutely LOVED THIS SHOW, from beginning to end. This was a Series Y drama with a totally fresh approach, leveraging romantic nostalgia through the chaotic lens of modern technology, and I think Boss absolutely slam-dunked the risks he took to shoot the series the way he did. That weirdly-lit, frowsy, old-timey cinematography while Fou4mod and Baabin were in the nail salon to start the final episode? Crank up the gaslights, I absolutely love the way that scene looked.

I hope Boss continues to make Series Y for a long time. He's willing, and he's lucky enough, to take risks in his writing and directing, and I think those risks paid off. Gelboys was a little rushed in the end, but the story worked perfectly for me, and I'm gonna remember this series -- as a mom who'll be raising teenagers in no time -- with total fondness and admiration for the story that Boss told.

HEESU IN CLASS 2 Episode 2

END CREDITS FOR SECRETS HAPPENED ON THE LITCHI ISLAND / 荔枝树下热烈岛 (2025)

Chinese Drama - 2025, 7 episodes Links: GAGA | Viki | YouTube | iQIYI | WeTV | Youku | Tencent

Heesu in Class 2 (2025) dir. Park Kyung Min

HEESU IN CLASS 2 Episode 1

HEESU IN CLASS 2 Episode 1

HEESU IN CLASS 2 Episode 1

gelboys (2025)

kinda funny when online discourse can be refuted with ‘I was literally there’

Kinda funny when the term has been used since the ‘70s, over thirty years before this author claims to have decided it.

this is in the context of confirming the name of the overall genre at a specific event (and why it’s most commonly known as yuri), she talks about the historical context as well:

to clarify the last sentence, the ‘japanese researchers are unlikely to know this’ is because she’s talking about things happening in english fandom spaces rather than japanese fandom spaces.

Theory of Love Episode 9: The Last Moment

I was very excited to get to another Thai movie on this list, but things took an unfortunate turn because this film is heteromisogynist trash that does not actually tie very closely to this week's episode. In brief:

I hated it, if you can't tell! I don't recommend that anyone not doing this project watch this film. And similar to last week, it's connections to the episode are tenuous. There is the vague notion of the love triangle, but the nature of it is very different from the alleged triangle at the heart of this episode of TOL. There is also just the use of melodrama tropes in general; this episode features the aftermath of Khai's motorbike accident, an apology while dramatically injured, and a big messy confession scene. The episode also has some tiny nods to the film like the inclusion of chicken feet soup. But the thematic parallels are weak and it feels like the team just picked a film with a triangle and didn't look to connect them on a deeper level.

In this episode, after an initial dumb scheme to investigate Third's feelings for Un flops, Khai mirrors Third from a few episodes back by giving up on his crush and trying to go back to being his friend. The awkwardness is palpable, but Khai is trying to move past his feelings and leave Third be so that he can pursue his (supposed) feelings for Un. Khai keeps it together when Third brings Un around, generally tries not to ask too much of him as he recovers from his injury, and continues expressing regret for his mistakes in how he's treated Third in the past (though Third changes the subject every time he tries).

For Third's part, he is definitely not missing Khai's behavior and its implications, but he is refusing to engage with it and definitely doesn't believe it's real. They are back to getting along better after Third airing out some of his anger, but you can see a wall go up whenever Khai tries to talk to him about their relationship. He's been hurt too much at this point and he's not willing to listen. And while Khai's regret in this episode feels genuine, as does his uncertainty about how to act around Third, it doesn't take long for him to forget his resolve to keep things friendly and stay out of Third's business. Once his jealousy over Un is reactivated at a party where everyone is acting a fool, he makes a public spectacle of "defending" Third by wailing on Un and delivers the worst confession of all time.

Gun's face says it all. He's been trying to avoid acknowledging the change in Khai's behavior for weeks, and now Khai has forced him to confront it in the worst possible way in front of a bunch of onlookers. He has always wanted to hear these words from Khai, but not like this and not at this time when he is trying to move on from him. Their path to getting on the same page continues to be rough.

Theory of Love RomCom Roundup: The Proposal (2009)

And with that, we've arrived at my last official re-watch of this project, with The Proposal acting as an appropriate swan song for my revisiting moments in personal history. It's a shame it was accompanied by Theory of Love's shaky episode 8. There are some ways you could read connections between the two but this was the one week where any real intentional parallels were few and far between. @twig-tea outlined some of the tenuous parallels they managed to find, while @lurkingshan delved into Khai's psyche as he slowly comes to terms with just how severely he's screwed things up and @bengiyo talks about how the film and show depict renegotiation of power and boundaries.

The first and last film on the list directed by a woman (Anne Fletcher), The Proposal is classic rom-com featuring genre staples Sandra Bullock and Ryan Reynolds. The two switch nationalities as Margaret (Bullock) resists her impending deportation by blackmailing Alaskan Kennedy Andrew (Reynolds) into marrying her. I've seen this movie truly countless times; I didn't really realize until this watch how much of a comfort movie it is for me. It's one of those films that was constantly playing on the TV as a kid, and I've since watched it with other people and by myself periodically as I've grown. I spend practically the entire run-time giggling to myself. It's not exactly a favorite but I love it despite its flaws, which are mostly ones pretty standard for the genre. For the time, too - there's tons of racism here including offensive appropriation of Tlingit culture and Óscar Núñez putting on what I'm pretty sure is an exaggerated accent to play an "ethnically ambiguous" Latino jack-of-all-trades mostly so some immigration jokes can be made at his expense. And they have a weird relationship with immigration (which I think they believe they're aware of).

Sidebar, I'd like to highlight the Tlingit tribe in a way the film doesn't, so let's take a quick break for history! The Tlingit are Indigenous peoples of the Pacific Northwest Coast of North America and constitute two of the 231 (as of 2022) federally recognized Tribes of Alaska. Most Tlingit are Alaska Natives; some members of the Sitka Tribe of Alaska have Tlingit heritage (this is where Andrew's family lives). As they alluded to in the film the Tlingit have a matrilineal kinship system, with property and hereditary roles being passed down through the mother's line. Here is one of the tribes' websites and here's an informational page from the National Park Service specifically about the Tlingit in Sitka.

Though Betty White unfortunately takes part in the film's most offensive caricature, she still manages to be everything, the comedic powerhouse leading the way for the film's other comedy performers. Watching her do her thing is always a privilege.

Though I came up with some fun reads of The Proposal as it relates to the episode they still had by far the most tenuous relationship in terms of intentional parallels. I can see that there are themes of commitment and abandonment which come up in both; Margaret has a fear of commitment incited in part by the traumatic loss of her parents (her only family) as a teenager. She is terrified of being abandoned, especially by this family she has come to love. Unfortunately for the film and episode, this element of her character is not really delved into in a concentrated way, and her parallels to Third (or Khai, even) are not super overt. If we're reading this as a film Khai watched and resonated with, I think he would see himself more closely aligned with Andrew and maybe even admiring him, but, again, any real one-to-one parallels are spurious at best. I do enjoy imagining and speculating what Khai may have drawn from The Proposal though.

Let's be honest. Episode 8 is not it. It's not what we came for. I wanted Khai to be punished (and he was) but all the excellent main story stuff was squeezed between bloated side plots which do not appropriately bolster Khai and Third's story in any satisfactory way. They very clearly could if they tried harder, but all the enthusiasm I feel from production watching the main thing disappears once the side characters come on screen. I see the vision but it is lacking.

Thankfully what we did get from the main plot is still compelling. We get to see the ramping-up of Khai's feelings and the consequences of his actions catch up with him, all in one fell swoop. Simultaneous agony of this flavor is super fun in this story. He comes to realize just how badly he treated Third, but not before feeling what it's like to be on the other side of an unrequited love. Not before he realizes how others see him. Not before he is absolutely, utterly humiliated by his best friend. Then he gets run over! And there's only more to come.

I really liked the flashback we got of a conversation between Khai and Third where they promise to be there for each other and never leave; to me, this is the closest thing to a true parallel to the theme of commitment we get in The Proposal. I can totally see Khai watching the movie and seeing himself in Andrew, making a declaration to Third and getting the promise of commitment back - something he never thought he would want. Obviously, during that conversation Khai meant it totally platonically. It's not an explicit parallel. I can also see a very weak relationship between the characters of Margaret and Third from Khai's POV, as unemotional hard-asses committed to their work. But again, it's weak.

The ending of the episode, after the build-up we got, was the strongest part. It signals the true start to the consequences Khai will have to face. I love that it's kicked off by Khai making yet another massive mistake, when he assaults kisses Third as he's sleeping, a move he makes in an exhausted moment of weakness. A move which, in many other shows, would be painted as romantic. Third's reaction to the kiss legitimately scared me (Gun Atthaphan, the actor you are!!!!!!). I would have reacted the exact same way. What a fucking violation, and Khai doesn't even understand the full extent of his disgust. I am so fucking glad Theory of Love didn't act like it was romantic, treating it like the betrayal it was. Third's reaction is what should happen, always.

The weirdest connection I have to this film is that Sandra Bullock went to the same high school my dad did, about a year or two ahead. And for some weird, unrelated reason, my mom really dislikes her. No idea why. As for Ryan Reynolds, he was one of my biggest teenage Man Crushes. That is, one of the men the lesbian-in-denial I was carefully hand-selected as a Designated Male Crush. Other men in the line-up were Matthew Goode, Taylor Lautner, James Marsden, and Paul Rudd (among others). Esteemed company.

On a more serious note, I found it strange to watch this film now as an American with ICE crackdowns happening all the time. It's not that they didn't happen before, of course, but they're happening with much more regularity and no compunction whatsoever. I'm very lucky to have many friends who are second or third-generation immigrants, and I also have an aunt who is first-generation. Every day, I am afraid for my friends who are part of large immigrant families, especially for the folks with green cards or work/education visas. Watching a movie entirely predicated on a premise revolving around immigration only to treat it so lightly was... bizarre, to say the least. The credits sequence, with Margaret, Andrew, and Ramone (Nunez) interrogated by an immigration agent was surprisingly difficult to watch.

That aside, the show really sold me on Khai's depth of feeling and remorse. I'm super excited for what's to come. Excluding everything to do with the side characters.

Our next film is The Last Moment, another Thai project!! For a minute there we thought we would have to rely on poor @happypotato48 to explain the whole film to us but @my-rose-tinted-glasses came through for us and found us English subtitles at the last minute!! THANK YOU!!!

@solitaryandwandering I was reading your post above and another parallel occurred to me. If we don't try to make the film relate to ep8, considering that this is maybe the first film from Khai's perspective (since flipped is kinda meta commentary about the show structure as a whole), then I can see Khai relating to Andrew as how it relates to the earlier part of the story.

Andrew, like Khai, ended up in a forced close proximity living situation and decided to fake feelings (for very different reasons) and only when he lost the other person did he realize those feelings were real (or in Andre's case, had potential at least) minutes. By ep8 we're well past that point in the TOL story, but if we're going on the premise that this is the first film that Khai's perspective is captured by (other than maybe the shared perspective of Eternal Sunshine), it makes some sense that it would not relate 1:1 with where we are in the episode.

[I do still also think everyone who has written this week was correct that this was a weak episode and likely that's partially why the connection to the film is also weaker, for the record.]