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 21-22 of The Prisoner of Beauty. We get the return of Wei Shao’s box and an annoying poet. Lucky us!
I also recapped final episodes 11-12 of Khemjira. I think this may be the most successful, ambitious Thai BL I’ve seen, story-wise. But I’ll get into more of that below.
What did I watch this week? I just said, Khemjira. But first, I’m going to give an initial review of:
PUNKS△TRIANGLE – パンクストライアングル – 2025
Currently airing Japanese Punk BL, I’ve watched 4 of 8 episodes.
A young man in fashion school gets a chance to create an outfit for the model he idolizes, completely unaware that his partner for the project is the model he idolizes.
We know that even though I joke about how Japan worries about men being able to feed themselves and their endless parade of high school BLs, it never stops me from watching them.
Still, it’s nice when we get something different. And this is different.
Or is it?
Because, at its core, we’ve got My Beautiful Man, Kabe-Koji-Nekoyashiki-kun Desires to be Recognized, At 25:00 in Akasaka, I Became The Main Roll of a BL Drama, etc. It’s that potent combo of popular/unpopular, idol/idolizer that works so well.
In this case, they’re also punks. Red stripe and plaid-wearing, pierced, smoking, club-going punks. No one cooks for the other! Punks would never. Instead, you get a scene where one helps the other throw up. So, it’s both different and not.
Let me tell you more about the actual story
One of our punks is a young man attending night school to learn fashion design. His dream is to design clothing for his favorite model, the man who introduced him to the punk aesthetic and changed his life. Thankfully, the drama gods give him a chance, as the students get to compete for a chance to see the model in an outfit they’ve designed.
The only catch is that this is a partner project. Our young punk is a tsundere, and that coldness has been used to keep his classmates at a distance. The only one who approaches him is a quiet, bucket-hat-wearing guy with a blood-spattered design book because of how often he hurts himself. Which is pretty punk, really.
But our tsundere student has no idea this guy is really his idolized model. Even after he meets said model at a nightclub and has a life-changing experience with the guy and a cigarette. Which sounds dirtier than it is.
With the model, our young tsundere student immediately shows his cute side. But he also warms up with his classmate. Now our model is trapped, because he’s falling for this adorable little punk. But the adorable little punk doesn’t like people with secrets.
I have a thing for punks
I like that our punks look like punks and act like punks, within the constraints of drama reality. It’s not domestic. They sit on the dirty asphalt of the alleyway at night. I’m also glad I don’t have to smell the stale sweat, smoke, and alcohol through the screen.
They’re also human beings with personalities beyond enjoying the punk aesthetic and lifestyle. Our student is adorable underneath his piercings. Our model is outgoing and worldly, but enjoys letting the student take the lead when in his not-model persona.
And I also like the idol/idolized, unpopular/popular trope, so this is like an early holiday gift for me. I’m really enjoying it.
And I also finished:
Khemjira – เขมจิราต้องรอด – 2025
Recently aired Thai supernatural horror thriller BL with 12 episodes.
A young man destined to die before he reaches twenty-one hopes to get help from a powerful shaman, unaware of the complicated ways they are already connected.
Lately, there have been a fair number of ambitious shows with big, dramatic plots trying to break out of the office-school-domestic world of trope-y BL. Princes, thieves, cops, bodyguards, naga, and other larger-than-life characters try to subvert the system and tell a bigger story. It’s impressive.
Unfortunately, there has also been a corresponding number of shows that collapse under the weight of their ambitions. In the end, we’re left with a less-than-satisfying conclusion to what was supposed to be an epic love story.
I admire an ambitious story, no matter what state it ends in, but it’s been disappointing.
Khemjira breaks this sad streak and gets 1 million points from me for reaching the finish line strong.
But let’s start at the beginning
Our titular lead character, who goes by Khem, is cursed with a karmic enemy determined to kill him before he reaches twenty-one. Khem would like to live past the age of twenty-one, but there’s not a lot he can do against ghosts and spirits.
Making things either worse or better, Khem can see the ghosts and spirits coming for him. But there’s a limit to what he can do to keep them away. The clock is ticking, and he only has 6 months left.
Then he gets a chance to go out to the countryside and meet his best friend’s shaman master, Paran, who might be powerful enough to help him. But Paran takes his responsibility to the village under his protection seriously. Plus, he’s seen what happens when people try to subvert fate. He can’t take on Khem’s problems and put himself and the villagers at risk.
In the earlier parts of the story, we meet a diverse cast of characters and see how ghosts, magic, and people interact. We get to see the initial attacks and the power of Khem’s karmic enemy. As the story goes on, we learn more about Paran’s past, past lives, naga, black serpents, and our secondary characters’ place in the bigger story.
The production of this show is amazing
Before this, I think the more successful, ambitious Thai BL shows I’ve seen are Until We Meet Again or To Sir, With Love. Their stories are big and strong, but neither has the ambitious fantasy aspects nor the production levels of this show.
From cinematography to make-up to score, the show looks and sounds good. It’s easy to see that thought and care have been put into every decision. In particular, I liked how our karmic enemy transformed as her power grew. Second place goes to the chest-bearing naga costuming.
Even though this is the millionth time I’ve seen a variation on the True Detective opening credits, I thought they did a particularly good job of making them their own. The chanting, the coloring, and the visuals all match the mood and atmosphere of the story.
There’s a lot of Thai culture in this show, and as someone new to Thai culture, I’m certain plenty of details went over my head. I’d love for someone who knows what they are talking about to explain everything. But even knowing I missed a lot, it only made me want to learn more.
But most importantly, the writing stays strong. With all these different plot lines, past lives, characters, magical abilities, etc, there was a lot to balance.
While the romance is restrained both because of the characters’ characters and the life-or-death stakes, our main couple was never sacrificed to the plot. It’s hard to get behind characters who become different people just so more conflict can happen, and thankfully that never happened here. From beginning to end, I wanted to see them together.
And in the end, all the pieces of the story we’ve been given come together to a dramatic and satisfying conclusion. Nothing is dropped or solved off-screen.
Can I nitpick? Of course I can
Poor Khem is never given much that he can use to save himself. Neither the plot nor Paran wants to throw him a spell or train him or do anything, so he’s a fairly passive character. On top of that, he’s a gentle, quiet person. Paired with the reserved, often cold Paran, they don’t make for the most passionate couple on screen.
Meanwhile, the second couple felt a constant need to prioritize Paran and Khem over themselves. I don’t understand why they did this, and it made them feel stuck in place at times.
There were also little details and world-building stuff that I didn’t understand. This could be because of some aspect of Thai culture I don’t know or a translation issue. wanting to know more is as much a criticism as a back-handed compliment.
None of these things interfered with the main story
And despite its accomplishments, this is not my favorite BL of all time. Not because of anything the show did wrong, but because of my own personal kinks. Really, I’m not an epic story person. I love all the silly little domestic, light-hearted BL with people working at an office that does *something* we’ll never know.
But I think the genre has room for and needs more ambitious projects like this. I’m only hoping that more can follow in its footsteps, telling epic love stories involving two men.
(And yes, I’d like to see GL and romances that play with gender go epic too.)
This is a show that I also recapped, so if the horror or the intensity of the story has you worried, you can prepare yourself by reading about it ahead of time.
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