Our knees hurt and the music is too loud. Ben, NiNi, Shan and friend of the pod Turtles talk Gelboys and Heesu In Class 2.
Episode transcript available here.
00:00 Welcome
00:55 Introduction
08:36 Gelboys: A Portrait of Modern Youth
17:32 Gelboys: Technology, Loneliness and Distraction
30:58 Gelboys: Our Not-So-Fab Four
40:30 Gelboys: Perspectives On The Ending
44:28 Gelboys: Final Thoughts and Ratings
53:17 Heesu In Class 2
01:00:41 Heesu In Class 2: The Story Is Storying
01:09:55 Heesu In Class 2: Friendship, Family, Queerness and Acceptance
01:24:57 Heesu In Class 2: On Seungwon
01:28:06 Heesu In Class 2: The Galloping Disk Horse, Final Thoughts and Ratings
01:38:31 Outro: Things Are Dire
Prestige TV is gay now! Historical bottom dementia is on the menu as we tackle two different era-spanning toxic romances. Ben, NiNi and friend of the pod Captain Hands talk Interview With the Vampire and Fellow Travelers.
Episode transcript available here.
00:00 Welcome
00:55 Introduction
02:25 Interview With The Vampire
12:27 IWTV: The Vampire Mythos
17:28 IWTV: The Best Bits
21:35 IWTV: Claudia
26:55 IWTV: Queerness in the Story
36:19 IWTV: Gay Paree
41:24 IWTV: Final Thoughts and Ratings
51:16 Fellow Travelers
01:04:44 Fellow Travelers: Hurt People Hurt People
01:13:22 Fellow Travelers: The Saga of Hawk and Tim
01:21:20 Fellow Travelers: Final Thoughts and Ratings
01:28:38 Outro: More Toxic Tales Please!
FINALLY SOME GOOD GL. Ben, NiNi and Twig talk Fragrance You Inherit and Fragrance of the First Flower.
Episode transcript available here.
00:00 Welcome
00:55 Introduction
03:16 Fragrance You Inherit
08:34 Fragrance You Inherit: All About the Relationships
17:46 Fragrance You Inherit: Sakura's Coming Out
21:50 Fragrance You Inherit: On-chan
24:21 Fragrance You Inherit: Final Thoughts and Ratings
29:08 Fragrance of the First Flower
37:14 Fragrance of the First Flower: A Friend and a Foe
45:22 Fragrance of the First Flower: Life Life-ing Is Good Drama!
52:49 Fragrance of the First Flower: Final Thoughts and Ratings
57:04 Outro: Lesbians!
In Part 2 of our Untamed discussion, Ben, NiNi, Shan and Bookworm talk our love for Jiang Cheng, our hatred for Meng Yao/Jin Guangyao, and why we will always hold out hope for more Chinese BL.
Episode transcript available here.
00:00 Welcome
00:55 Intro: More Notes From The Future
01:45 The Second Life
09:23 The Second Life: The Fallout of Wei Wuxian's Choices
16:52 The Second Life: Meng Yao's Dastardly Deeds
26:52 The Second Life: The Tragedy of Wen Ning
32:35 The Second Life: Two 'Fools'
37:41 The Second Life: Various Random Musings
48:18 Page to Screen (and Audio, and Anime, and Stage, and...)
56:59 Afterlife: The Impact of The Untamed on BL and Fandom
It's 'the biggest goddamn BL in the world', and we're finally going to talk about it. Ben, NiNi, Shan and Bookworm talk The Untamed. In Part 1 of our two-part episode, we talk censorship, the journey from MDZS to The Untamed, and the first half of the story.
Episode transcript available here.
00:00 Welcome
00:55 Introduction
03:55 Censorship in Media: A Global View
12:37 The MoDaoZuShi Phenomenon
24:33 The Big Picture
33:36 The First Life
40:07 The First Life: Thoughts and Impressions
46:21 The First Life: WangXian and Other Fucked Up Love Stories
01:01:17 The First Life: Various Random Musings
01:11:02 Outro: Notes From the Future
It’s our 3rd Annual Very Important Internet BL Awards and we’ve changed up our whole shit! Ben and NiNi talk the best things we watched all year.
Episode transcript available here.
00:00 Welcome
00:55 Introduction: It's Awards Season Once More
02:09 Acting!
08:00 Ships Ahoy!
16:31 Immortal Technique
29:05 Top Tings
41:43 Special Class Awards
43:11 Special Class: Honourable Mentions
47:36 Special Class: Mark Pakin 6th Man Awards
51:13 Special Class: Standout Queer Narratives
01:06:00 Outro
It’s our holiday special (because it's a holiday somewhere in the world)! Ben, NiNi and assorted friends of the pod look back on 10 years of BL as a genre and talk 10 shows that define the genre for us.
Episode transcript available here.
00:00 Welcome
00:55 Celebrating the BL Canon: A Retrospective
02:08 Blueming (2022) | KR | dir. Hwang Da Seul (Megan)
07:35 Dark Blue Kiss (2019) | TH | dir. Aof Noppharnach Chaiwimol (Shan)
13:59 He's Coming To Me (2019) | TH | dir. Aof Noppharnach Chaiwimol (Captain Hands)
17:00 His (2020) | JP | dir. Imaizumi Rikiya (Twig)
21:12 Light On Me (2021) | KR | dir. Lee Yoo Yeon (Kyra)
25:40 Make It Right (2017) | TH | dirs. New Siwaj Sawatmaneekul and Cheewin Thanamin Wongskulphat (Turtles)
33:29 The Miracle of Teddy Bear (2022) | TH | dir. Paajaew Yuthana Lorphanpaibul (Pluem)
39:52 Theory of Love (2019) | TH | dir. X Nuttapong Mongkolsawas (Bookworm)
46:15 The Untamed (2019) | CH | dirs. Steve Cheng and Chang Ka Lam (Shan)
51:42 We Best Love (2021) | TW | dir. Ray Jiang (Twig)
57:59 Ben and Nini's Drive-by Faves
Ben, NiNi and Shan discuss a weird year for QL and look ahead to 2025.
Episode transcript available here.
00:00 Welcome
00:55 2024 Headlines: Industry Consolidation
06:49 2024 Headline: Self-Censorship
13:52 2024 Headlines: Vertical Format Micro-BLs and Other Shit We're Anti
20:14 Festivus Airing Of The Grievances
36:51 2024 Fan Awards
55:49 QL Resolutions
01:04:45 Affirmations and Hopes for the Future
Korea swung big at the end of the year and hit it out of the park on both the queer romance and queer life drama fronts. Ben, NiNi and Shan talk Let Free The Curse of Taekwondo and Love In The Big City.
Episode transcript available here.
00:00 Welcome
01:15 Introduction: Let's Talk Hallyu
06:01 Let Free The Curse of Taekwondo
12:36 Taekwondo: Themes and Patterns In Hwang Da Seul's Work
21:54 Taekwondo: The Separation
33:28 Taekwondo: The Reunion
38:22 Taekwondo: On Hyeon Ho
44:57 Taekwondo: Final Thoughts and Ratings
52:33 Love In The Big City
58:46 Love In The Big City Part 1: Mi Ae and the Film Adaptation
01:06:50 Love In The Big City Part 2: Umma and Young Soo
01:17:05 Love In The Big City Part 3: Gyu Ho and Kylie
01:28:31 Love In The Big City Part 4: Habibi and the T-aras
01:40:28 Love In The Big City: Final Thoughts and Ratings
01:48:25 Outro
More takes on the office romance, now with bonus miscommunication! Ben, NiNi and Ginny talk Ayaka Is In Love With Hiroko and At 25:00 In Akasaka.
Episode transcript available here.
00:00 Welcome
01:16 Intro
02:52 Ayaka Is In Love With Hiroko
10:45 Ayaka: A Split Narrative
17:20 Ayaka: The Negatives
24:25 Ayaka: Final Thoughts and Ratings
29:08 At 25:00 in Akasaka
35:34 At 25:00 in Akasaka: It's the Characters for Us
43:18 At 25:00 in Akasaka: Hayama and Shirasaki
49:05 At 25:00 in Akasaka: Filmmaking and Production
53:25 At 25:00 in Akasaka: Final Thoughts and Ratings
58:45 The State of J-BL
The pulps are evolving in what seems like two distinct directions, and we have some thoughts on that. Ben, NiNi and friend of the pod Twig talk We Are and Knock Knock, Boys!
Episode transcript available here.
00:00 Welcome
01:15 Introduction
05:56 We Are: Branded Pair Background
14:37 We Are: A Rorschach Test of a Show
30:47 We Are: Final Thoughts and Ratings
38:21 Knock Knock, Boys!
48:39 Knock Knock, Boys!: Sex Positivity
55:51 Knock Knock, Boys!: Our Fab Four (and Jane)
01:09:58 Knock Knock, Boys!: Final Thoughts and Ratings
01:14:54 Importance of Pulps as Labs
It's a mailbag episode! Episode transcript available here. 00:00:00 Welcome 00:01:15 Introduction 00:02:10 Inbox: Surprises of the Season 00:07:07 Inbox: Does Categorization Matter? 00:11:42 Inbox: BL Fatigue? 00:15:51 Inbox: The BL Bubble 00:30:26 Inbox: Sex On Screen 00:41:07 Inbox: Fave Sex Scenes 00:51:24 Inbox: Worst Sex Scenes 01:04:24 Bonus Round: Best Sex in a Bad Show 01:06:54 Inbox: Critical Philosophy 01:18:31 Outro
Queer truth is on back on the menu, just as we were starting to get FAMISHED. Ben, NiNi and Shan talk Marahuyo Project and No One Cares For An Old Man's Underwear.
Episode transcript available here.
00:00 Welcome 01:15 Introduction 08:40 Marahuyo Project: A Queer Activist's Story 20:24 Marahuyo Project: On Queerness 30:16 Marahuyo Project: Our Characters 42:09 Marahuyo Project: The Christina Story 48:52 Marahuyo Project: Parents and Children 54:54 Marahuyo Project: Final Thoughts and Ratings 59:48 Ossan no Pants 01:05:18 Ossan no Pants: Our Characters 01:26:30 Ossan no Pants: Key Character Arcs 01:36:49 Ossan no Pants: Furuike and That Fucking Guy 01:45:25 Ossan no Pants: Final Thoughts and Ratings 01:51:18 Importance of Variety in Media Consumption
Summer didn’t give us a lot to say, but we ALWAYS got something to say. Ben, NiNi and Shan talk a highlight of the season, Twig reports from the field, and we award summer’s Girl Who Tried.
Episode transcript available here.
00:00:00 Welcome
00:01:15 Introduction
00:02:21 Twig’s Dispatch
00:14:24 Spotlight: Tadaima Okaeri
00:20:34 Girl, You Tried
00:27:08 Celebrating 50 Episodes
School's in at GMMTV, but we gotta put two series in detention for not fulfilling the assignment. The actors were charming, but the finishes were...rough. Ben, NiNi and Ginny talk 23.5 and Only Boo, the merits of high school stories, and the specific challenges of telling stories about queer high schoolers.
Episode transcript available here.
00:00:00 Welcome
00:01:15 Introduction
00:02:18 23.5: Early Reactions
00:14:18 23.5: Supporting Characters
00:21:27 23.5: Frustration with the Writing and Execution
00:33:42 23.5: Final Arc and Ratings
00:38:42 Only Boo
00:48:06 Only Boo: Popping the Bubble
00:58:42 Only Boo: If You're Gonna Do An Idol Story, Commit
01:05:06 Only Boo: Final Thoughts and Ratings
01:08:45 Outro: High School Blues
Second chance romances, long-term pining, and their roles in queer narratives are our JAM, so we gotta talk about how two Japanese BLs should have been 10s but absolutely flopped for us. Ben, NiNi and Twig talk Love Is Better The Second Time Around and Living With Him. Join us to break down what it's like to watch a show fall apart in real time.
Episode transcript available here.
00:00:00 Welcome
00:01:15 Introduction
00:02:38 Love Is Better The Second Time Around: What Worked
00:13:31 Love Is Better The Second Time Around: What Didn't Work
00:23:32 Love Is Better The Second Time Around: Final Thoughts and Ratings
00:26:54 Living With Him: How It Started
00:36:33 Living With Him: Where It Went Wrong
00:44:40 Living With Him: Final Thoughts and Ratings
00:52:03 Why The Queerness Matters
