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Post by cosmic on May 28, 2015 20:21:14 GMT -5
"The Lover" is a South Korean series that follows 4 different unmarried couples living in the same apartment complex. It's an omnibus/anthology style in that the couples' stories are all separate (though characters do occasionally cross over). One of the "couples" is JoonJae and Takuya. Here's their description:  To the left is Takuya (played by Terada Takuya), right is JoonJae (played by Lee JaeJoon) I was hesitant to post this storyline here at first because I thought the show would end up just queer baiting with them, but then JoonJae actually admitted to himself that he's got feelings for Takuya! I mean, boy is crushing haaaaaaard. Since JoonJae is the only one that we get to hear internal dialog from, we still don't really know where Takuya stands at this point. I've seen many people speculating that Takuya has known what's up for a while and he has just been waiting for JoonJae to make the first move, while teasing/testing him in the meantime by doing very suggestive/provocative things. Who knows *shrug* only time will tell. EpisodesThese are cuts featuring JoonJae and Takuya. Warning though, this show is 19+ rated. While there is no nudity, there are definitely things in these clips that might not be safe for work. (Also warning for excessive use of the "Brokeback Mountain" music for the first 4 episodes lol. Thank god they stopped that!) Episode 1 Episode 2 Episode 3 (Doesn't seem to want to embed for some reason. Here's a link) Episode 4 Episode 5 Episode 6 Episode 7 (If you're interested in the full episodes you can legally and freely watch them at viki.com)Episode 8 came out today, but subtitles aren't completed yet. When a cut clip is available I'll add it. In the meantime you can also watch their scene with partial subtitles here if you want - skip to 31:40. If the show is actually going to get them together, they better hurry because there are only 12 episodes in the series... I'm getting a sneaking suspicion that it won't happen til the very last episode, if it happens at all. This could still turn out to be a one-sided, unrequited love. But with the way JoonJae's development of feelings has been treated so far (no internalized homophobia or identity crisis freak-out), I feel like even if it does end as a one-sided love it would still be a sign of some progress to be showing someone experiencing same-sex attraction in such a nonchalant way in a country where homosexuality is still so taboo. |
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Post by kevvoi on May 28, 2015 22:26:32 GMT -5
Nice find, thank you for posting
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Post by kevvoi on May 30, 2015 12:23:46 GMT -5
New clip courtesy of Yeon:
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Post by cosmic on May 30, 2015 13:49:18 GMT -5
Not much happened for them in this episode, but JoonJae's "like" for Takuya has now become "love" so that's... something?
JoonJae says he's going to "carefully approach" Takuya, but JoonJae! You're running out of time! Just bite the bullet and go for it!
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Post by Zathras on May 31, 2015 10:34:35 GMT -5
Thanks for posting this. It seems to be kind of a dramedy - part comedy, part drama. They definitely seem to be playing for laughs with a lot of it. Unfortunately some of it is pretty cringe-worthy to me  (like Takuya ... enthusiastically trying to teach Joon Jae some Japanese to improve his presumed porn-watching activities). But with Joon Jae's voice-overs they're going for a more serious approach. And I agree with you, cosmic, that it's nice that he's not panicking over having feelings for another guy. At the same time, I can't tell what Takuya thinks. He's naturally more outgoing, but that doesn't mean he's attracted to Joon Jae. I don't know if it's leading to them getting together, but at the moment I kind of doubt it. Either way, we'll find out soon enough. I would like to know who that young woman was who visited, or who it was that Joon Jae ditched to spend time with Takuya. They didn't explain either one, really. |
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Post by cosmic on May 31, 2015 13:19:34 GMT -5
Unfortunately some of it is pretty cringe-worthy to me (like Takuya ... enthusiastically trying to teach Joon Jae some Japanese to improve his presumed porn-watching activities). I was actually ok with that scene. The look of pure incredulity on JoonJae's face the whole time (as if he was thinking "Are we really doing this right now? Really??) was great! The scene I can't deal with is that whole farting/bad breath thing. It was so ridiculous and went on WAY too long. At the same time, I can't tell what Takuya thinks. He's naturally more outgoing, but that doesn't mean he's attracted to Joon Jae. I don't know if it's leading to them getting together, but at the moment I kind of doubt it. Either way, we'll find out soon enough. I agree that Takuya can be hard to read. Some times he does things that seem like he's intentionally trying to get JoonJae worked up (like all the phallic stuff going on in episode 5. That face massager scene! The smirk he gave when he made JoonJae feel the massager was... interesting), but other times it seems like he's just really open/outgoing and might not realize how sexually suggestive some of his actions can be. I would like to know who that young woman was who visited, or who it was that Joon Jae ditched to spend time with Takuya. They didn't explain either one, really. The woman who visited Takuya was just a friend. He says at the very beginning of the episode that his "Korean friend" wants to come visit. She's never mentioned or seen before that episode and hasn't been mentioned or seen since. She seems like she was just a plot device to bring out JoonJae's jealousy. And the same goes for the girl that JoonJae went to see. Takuya assumes she is JoonJae's girlfriend because there is a heart next to her name on JoonJae's phone and she calls him "honey" in her texts (also JoonJae doesn't correct Takuya when he calls her a girlfriend), but she was never mentioned prior to that episode. As much of a shut-in as JoonJae seems to be, I can't imagine him having any sort of serious, long-term girlfriend. He doesn't even seem to have many friends, if any. For all we know, she could be someone he met at his job and has only been out with a handful of times. I doubt we'll ever know. |
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Post by Zathras on May 31, 2015 18:37:46 GMT -5
Unfortunately some of it is pretty cringe-worthy to me (like Takuya ... enthusiastically trying to teach Joon Jae some Japanese to improve his presumed porn-watching activities). I was actually ok with that scene. The look of pure incredulity on JoonJae's face the whole time (as if he was thinking "Are we really doing this right now? Really??) was great! The scene I can't deal with is that whole farting/bad breath thing. It was so ridiculous and went on WAY too long. I didn't say it wasn't amusing   , but it still made me cringe a little. I agree the farting episode was too long. Good point. I at least figured she was not Takuya's girlfriend. I agree, Joon Jae definitely doesn't seem like he would have a girlfriend. I was wondering whether she was just a friend or maybe a relative, or maybe she was a possible love interest before Takuya came along. But you're probably right; we'll probably never know. |
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Post by kevvoi on Jun 8, 2015 14:43:20 GMT -5
New clip courtesy of Yeon:
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Post by kevvoi on Jun 25, 2015 10:58:15 GMT -5
Next part courtesy of Yeon:
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Post by cosmic on Jun 25, 2015 18:09:16 GMT -5
The finale (episode 12) aired today. It's already up on viki.com with the TakuJae (their "couple" name) scenes almost fully subtitled (Viki puts subtitles up in real-time and TakuJae scenes seem to always get subtitled the fastest).
I just finished watching their scenes for the finale... (highlight for spoilers) I'm pleased with the ending. It was so angsty, but then ended on such a sweet sort of rom-com ending. I do wish some of the developments that went on in the finale (and the episode prior) could have happened more towards the middle of the series so that we could have had more time to explore the aftermath, but at least it wasn't just a one-sided crush! There was no kiss, but that doesn't surprise me. Couples very rarely kiss in Korean shows. Even among the straight couples in The Lover, I think only one couple ever kissed and it was pretty brief. Plus, after another show/network got in pretty hot water with a government agency for airing Korea's first ever lesbian kiss, I think networks will probably be a bit gun-shy about showing any serious same-sex kisses for a while... So no kiss for TakuJae, but there was some very angsty and longing facial caressing, and hand holding.
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Post by Zathras on Jun 25, 2015 20:02:32 GMT -5
Ok, so it is worth watching to the end after all : ). I'm not surprised that there was no PDA. The two Korean shows I've watched were (for the most part) much more conservative than US and European shows.
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Post by cosmic on Jun 26, 2015 17:31:10 GMT -5
Ok, so it is worth watching to the end after all : ). I'm not surprised that there was no PDA. The two Korean shows I've watched were (for the most part) much more conservative than US and European shows.Yeah, I never expected any PDA either given what I know of Korean shows, but I saw many people on other websites that were hoping for it. There have actually been quite a few male same-sex kisses on Korean TV before, but they are pretty much always played for laughs or shock value. Either it's an "Oops! I slipped and our lips touched!" sort of accidental kiss (it's fairly common to have boy bands on variety shows play a paper passing game (x) or the Pepero game (x), which often leads to these sort of "accidental" kisses), or you'll occasionally get an instance where a male character is either pretending to be a girl or actually thinks he's a girl (recent example, a character with multiple personalities) and will kiss another male character. The same-sex kisses are never prompted by actual serious romantic feelings, which is why I think they can get away with it. The only same-sex kiss I've ever seen on Korean TV that was actually serious and not for laughs was the lesbian kiss I mentioned in an earlier post. And that show ended up having to go through a disciplinary hearing by the Korea Communications Standards Commission because of the kiss, so... I really don't think there will be any serious same-sex kisses on Korean TV for quite some time to come. But maybe some day, same-sex couples in Korean shows will be able to limply touch their closed lips together for 5 seconds just like most of the straight couples do LOL |
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Post by kevvoi on Jun 28, 2015 8:57:50 GMT -5
New clip courtesy of Yeon:
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Post by kevvoi on Jun 29, 2015 15:37:45 GMT -5
New clip courtesy of Yeon:
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Post by Zathras on Jun 29, 2015 19:58:49 GMT -5
That was sweet, though I'll admit I'm not quite sure exactly how to interpret the ending.
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Post by cosmic on Jun 30, 2015 19:58:20 GMT -5
That was sweet, though I'll admit I'm not quite sure exactly how to interpret the ending. From the dialog ("It wasn't very complicated, but no one could approach first... We were avoiding important things.") I got the sense that it was a situation where they both knew they had mutual feelings for each other, but neither was brave enough to make the first move, so JoonJae wallowed in despair and Takuya ran away back to Japan. With their final ending scene, the general consensus that I've seen among other viewers is that they end up together in Japan (the flyers in the scene have Japanese on them and both guys speak Japanese briefly, so they're definitely in Japan). After spending that one last day with JoonJae, Takuya went back to Japan. Then JoonJae tracked down Takuya in Japan and showed up on his doorstep, attempting to recreate the moment when they first met at JoonJae's apartment (suitcase drop and all). I guess in their time away from each other JoonJae was able to gain the courage to "approach first" and go after what he wanted? Absence makes the heart grow fonder and all that. |
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Post by Zathras on Jun 30, 2015 23:42:12 GMT -5
I like that interpretation  . That did occur to me, though I was also wondering whether any of the last episode was basically Joon Jae dreaming. Some of it kind of had that feeling, which made me question which parts were supposed to be interpreted literally. |
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Post by cosmic on Jul 4, 2015 14:41:32 GMT -5
For anyone who only watched this storyline through these clips that Yeon put up on Dailymotion, there are some moments missed because these clips only include scenes that focus on JoonJae and/or Takuya. I just watched the cut clip for episode 11 and there's a scene missing that immediately followed the ending of the clip. I can understand why they would have cut it since it is a pretty long scene that doesn't solely focus on JoonJae and/or Takuya, and it doesn't really affect the outcome of the story, but it's an interesting extra moment to add to what the characters were thinking. To sum it up, the building manager calls the tenants together for a meeting. JoonJae goes to the meeting without Takuya and looks lost in his own thoughts the whole time. The meeting is about trying to find out which tenant is leaving used condoms in the hallway instead of taking them out to the trash. One of the tenants (the same guy who went to talk to JoonJae and Takuya in the clip for ep1) suggests maybe the condoms belong to apartment 709 (JoonJae and Takuya). JoonJae immediately says "Takuya and I, our feelings aren't ready enough to—" then cuts himself off realizing what he's just admitted to in a room full of people, meanwhile everyone starts ooh-ing and ahh-ing and mumbling excitedly with each other. You can watch the scene here starting at 34:32 (this is on a website that legally licenses the show so it should be ok to link to it, right?). There's also this cute outtake that isn't in the cut clips. Be sure to click CC for the subtitles: |
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(like Takuya ... enthusiastically trying to teach Joon Jae some Japanese to improve his presumed porn-watching activities). But with Joon Jae's voice-overs they're going for a more serious approach. And I agree with you, cosmic, that it's nice that he's not panicking over having feelings for another guy.
, but it still made me cringe a little. I agree the farting episode was too long.
. That did occur to me, though I was also wondering whether any of the last episode was basically Joon Jae dreaming. Some of it kind of had that feeling, which made me question which parts were supposed to be interpreted literally.