Welcome to my Saturday blog post, where I give thoughts on dramas I’m watching, whether at the beginning, middle, or end. Whatever I want, because I’m petty that way.
This week, I recapped episodes 25-26 of Pursuit of Jade. Now the war is really warring.
I continued recapping Payback with episodes 5-6. The plot is plotting, but honestly, the leads’ chemistry is so crazy good I wouldn’t care if it weren’t.
For Funsies I added Be My Player Two commentary to my Patreon to go along with the madness that is Knot. If you want week-to-week updates on my thoughts about those shows, you can get them there.
What did I watch this week? I can’t always theme my reviews, but this week I pulled it off with initial reviews for three shows that are… out there.
If you are in the mood for sweet, green-flag-infested, well-produced shows, you should probably skip these and watch When Oranges Fall (which is very good). But might as well read my reviews while you’re here:
Are the Sexy Buttocks Not Good? – えっちなお尻じゃダメですか？ – 2026
Currently airing everything-gap Japanese BL, I’ve watched 3 of 10 episodes.
A guy who wants to experience a prostate-induced orgasm meets a nice older gentleman who helps him achieve this goal. Romance ensues.
Here’s a link to the trailer in Japanese, because that’s what I could find.
That premise sounds out there, but honestly, this is the most classic-tropes-that-are-now-considered-problematic show of the three I’m reviewing. We’ve got a cute young thing with a man who is much older, much richer, and much bigger.
Plus, amusingly, our lead seeking that specific stimulation states that he’s not gay while specifically wanting a man to do the stimulating. Ignoring all the other thorny bits of that statement, women CAN help with that problem too.
Anyway.
This show will not win over anyone who hates the set-up
This is not an intelligent, illuminating, thoughtful exploration of a young man’s sexual awakening at the hands of a partner the internet would hate. It’s 10+ minutes per episode of indulging in a certain kind of fantasy.
Our young thing is cute, naive, insecure, and could use a nice, older caretaker. Luckily, the nice older guy is genuinely nice and focused on pleasing his partner. They start with sex but realize they like each other and decide to start a real relationship.
That’s. It. I don’t expect much from the rest of the show, but I’m enjoying it.
But not as much as I’m enjoying:
The Servant Prince – しもべの王子様 – 2026
Currently airing opposites-attract-but-more-complicated Japanese BL, I’ve watched 4 of 8 episodes.
A man who’s lost everything tries to let go of the successful partner he’s used for sex and comfort since high school, only to discover a new side to their relationship.
Here’s a trailer-ish-thing in Japanese.
Somehow, this is a combination of My Beautiful Man, Life in Smokey Blue, and Fake Fact Lips.
Let me explain
We’ve got the dynamics of My Beautiful Man, with the quiet, repressed one being the errand boy in high school who takes care of his more expressive, popular partner. But it’s a little more complicated than a bully and a bullied.
But it’s been 10 years since High School, and the expressive partner needs to get out of a rut with the support of someone he’s known for years, like Life in Smokey Blue.
At the same time, they’ve had a certain type of relationship since high school. Now, things are changing, and they have to work together to build a new, different relationship, like in Fake Fact Lips.
Also, there’s a poor rich guy. I love a poor rich guy.
And I love it when complicated, twisted, unusual people find each other
On the surface, it looks bad, and the show makes sure that’s what we see in the first episode. Our rich guy seems to be callous, arrogant, shallow, and taking pleasure in using someone with less power than him.
But 10 years later, they’ve got the same relationship, despite the power having shifted entirely. Our rich guy is no longer rich. He’s unemployed and depressed. Meanwhile, the former classmate he still uses for sex and comfort is the president of his own company.
At this point, it becomes clear that the one being used, isn’t. He’s doing this because he wants to, not because he feels forced. He’s never felt forced.
Plotwise, our formerly rich guy is finally starting to pull the shattered bits of his life together, realizing how ended up so low and what he wants to do differently. Thankfully, he has a powerful and submissive partner to support him.
My only hope is they stay weird
I like that they have a unique relationship to go along with their unique personalities. And what is normal anyway?
Well, struggling to understand their own feelings and having communication issues is pretty normal. And exhausting. I get why people avoid it. But I think our pair here can work on those things while preserving the special dynamic that seems to support them both.
Because of the characters and their power dynamics, it’s the people who loved My Beautiful Man (or My Personal Weatherman or The Proper Way To Write Love) who I think have the best chance of getting into this one.
And last, but not least, is this fascinating mix of bizarre production, out-there premise, and unique characters.
Blue Lips – 蓝嘴唇 – 2026
Currently airing opposites-attract Chinese BL, I’ve watched 7 of 16 episodes.
An apathetic man running a sex shop takes an interest in his club-singing, viagra-buying customer, and things get weird fast.
You know how I rarely talk about a show’s production because I just don’t care that much?
I HAVE to talk about this show’s production
This is one of those shows where I wish I could talk to someone on the crew about why certain choices were made. Definitely, they didn’t have money. Still. Questions.
There’s no way to form this into some kind of witty essay, so let me just make a list instead.
It’s a Chinese show. All of our characters speak Mandarin and have Chinese names. But all of the exterior shots reveal that this was obviously filmed in Korea. There is no in-story explanation for this.
Speaking of exteriors, when our leads are present, they are real. When they are not present, they are obviously AI.
There are also scenes with our leads with weird visual stuttering where I know they did SOMETHING with AI, but I’m not sure what. Maybe some kind of reframing or digital close-ups.
One of our leads has blue hair and blue lips. Sometimes. Not always.
He’s the singer in a band where the audio NEVER matches his lip movements or guitar playing.
A bad guy (maybe? Not sure) has the most amazing horse painting in his office I’ve ever seen. (See the main image of this post.)
I cannot believe some scenes are edited the way they are, but it’s real. It’s on my screen. It’s happening.
And at least in this case I know why they did it, but the sex shop appears to only sell mysterious boxes of things. This is likely because they can’t legally show certain sex toys in streaming or whatever, but it’s still funny combined with everything else.
Despite all this madness, I am In Love With This Show
For one thing, we’ve got kind of unique characters here. No CEO’s, Idols, or high school/university students.
We’ve got a pragmatic, laid-back guy with some kind of trauma in his past that has barely been hinted at by the halfway point of this show. He’s got a lot of money and doesn’t seem to care about anything.
Our blue-lipped guy is uptight, serious, and keeping a secret. I know what the secret is because I read the synopsis of the show online, but as of nearly halfway through the episodes, the show hasn’t revealed it. He’s a down-on-his-luck musician, making money at a club where he regularly has to sit with customers who push him to drink.
It’s not a great life.
And initially, our Laid-Back guy seems determined to make it worse for Blue Lips. Finally taking an interest in something, which is annoying Blue Lips by constantly requesting songs. Then, maybe because he’s irritated by Blue Lips’ constant viagra purchases, he gives him some different pills that produce some horrible results.
Blue Lips should never want anything to do with him again, but somehow, as they work together to, er, relieve the problem, they grow closer. The whole situation is so bizarre I thought for sure I was watching a certain kind of Taiwanese drama.
And yes, I love this show because I love the characters
They’re an amazing odd couple.
Somehow, in all the strange random production and strange random scenes, the two of them are super sweet together. Our Laid-Back guy stops wanting to annoy his serious, blue-lipped partner and takes care of him instead.
A slow trust is growing between these two people with their tragic pasts and secrets. I’m looking forward to seeing them open up to each other and grow closer. In between the ridiculous madness of the production.
And actually, aren’t moments of sweetness, sincerity, and humanity interspersed between bizarre, random madness just like real life?
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