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BoysLove: Odds & ends [1]

['This Content Is Not Subject To Review Daily Kos Staff Prior To Publication.']

Date: 2025-02-18

You see those flowers? If you think they're pretty, that means you like them. If you feel the need to own them, that means you are obsessed with them. If you want to take care of them and help them grow, that means you love them. — Fish Upon the Sky (Youtube playlist)

Boys’ Love series are at their best when they encourage us to be at our best.

My apologies, dear readers! I was informed on Sunday that a meeting that people had been trying to schedule for months is finally on … for Tuesday, exactly when this story will be published. So, instead of my planned story about the series My Engineer, I will give you this collection of odds and ends.

I feel like i should be available when the other story appears in case you have comments or questions. It will be published next week so you have some extra time to view the series (link below).

In the meantime, enjoy the odds & ends below and say hello to Flying Pig Dog, who has graciously volunteered to host our BoysLove group today during my absence.

The realities of life as a BL actor

In the early days of the genre, there was some concern by actors about getting typecast as “gay actors” if they appeared in BL series — even if they were straight (as many are). That has pretty much disappeared … and it might be due to the 2020 Thai BL series 2gether: The Series with its sequel, Still 2gether, surpassing one billion views for all of their episodes combined. That was a stunning success that made the entertainment industries of Asia sit up and take notice.

Now, BLs are considered plum opportunities for actors. Not only can they get regular work (always a challenge for actors anywhere), they can get fairly good salaries. If they star in a popular series, they can develop their own fan base and commercial endorsements will be quite profitable.

If a “ship has sailed” it means there is confirmation that the pair of actors imagined to be a romantic couple in real life actually are boyfriends (most “ships” exist only in fans’ dreams)

A potentially big source of income comes from doing fan service: attending conventions, fan meetings, and other activities that bring the actor and his adoring public together. If an actor gets “shipped” with another popular actor (that is, linked in a fantasized relationship not just as an onscreen pair but as a real-life couple), the sky is the limit; fans go crazy for their favorite ships and the pair can enjoy lucrative fees and all expenses-paid travel to meet their admirers at events.

However, some BL actors don’t invest time and energy in becoming shipped and working the circuit of public appearances. Instead, they focus on other projects that arise from their multiple talents (if there is a BL actor who doesn’t also have at least two or three additional skills like singing, dancing, songwriting, and modeling, I haven’t encountered him yet).

Let me introduce you to a couple of actors who found initial fame in BL series and then built major careers beyond the BL world.

Billkin Putthipong Assaratanakul

This Thai actor got started in the entertainment industry as a teenager. Billkin made many appearances on television in guest and supporting roles, on talk shows, and on contests.

Billkin Putthipong

But it was BL that launched him into becoming a household name in Asia. In 2020, he starred in the BL series I Told Sunset About You, teaming up with another Thai actor, PP Krit. They had worked together previously and would continue to do so in several short films, a great professional matching as well as a good friendship.

ITSAY, an award-winning coming-of-age story, became a huge hit throughout Asia. Billkin and PP followed it up with a sequel, I Promised You the Moon, set a year after the events of ITSAY, when both the young men are university students. Billkin and PP sang the original songs that make up the soundtracks of both series.

Billkin has made singing a major focus of his professional life. He gives concerts around Asia, drawing stadium-size audiences. He is especially popular in mainland China; undoubtedly his fans there appreciate not just his talent but also the fact that he speaks and sings in Mandarin as well as Thai and English (Billkin studied in the UK for about eight months and speaks fluent English).

Billkin has also continued to perform as an actor, most recently starring in the hit mainstream film How to Make Millions Before Grandma Dies. Will he return to BLs someday? We don’t know but he acknowledges that BL was his springboard to international success … and we wish him the best of luck in all his future endeavors.

Kim Ji Woong

Ji Woong is well on his way to becoming one of the most famous faces in the entertainment world. As a member of the Korean pop group that many believe will be at least as successful as BTS (currently vying with Taylor Swift as the hottest pop talents globally), Ji Woong’s future is rocketing ahead on a trajectory that goes from one success to another.

Ji Woong

His career had a rocky beginning though. When he was 17, he debuted as the lead vocalist in a boy band, INX, that lasted just barely more than year. The group ended up filing suit against their management company for lack of payment, abusive behavior, and more … and eventually won.

Ji Woong moved to another agency and pop group (Ateen) and — man, he had bad luck — again it turned into a mess. The boys suffered verbal abuse, sexual harassment, and more by the CEO and his wife. Again, Ji Woong and his new bandmates won their case.

Sadly, the music industries of both South Korea and Japan are plagued with abusive behavior on the part of management companies. Not all are bad but, as is to be expected, even the good ones get tainted by public scandals involving the bad ones.

Unsurprisingly, rather than seek membership in a new band, he turned his attention to acting. He appeared in several non-BL series and then landed starring roles in two BLs, Kissable Lips and Roommates of Poongduck 304.

Poongduck is a fun rom-com and has an unusual concept. Many BLs have a power imbalance as a key component in the relationship: the popular kid vs the dorky nerd, the senior college student vs the freshman, or the rich and worldly playboy vs the naive lad barely getting by.

In this BL, however, the tables get turned … at least partially. Ji Woong is a rich heir and his (eventual) romantic interest — played by Yoon Seo Bin — is just a working guy … but Ji Woong discovers that Seo Bin is his new landlord and Seo Bin finds out that Ji Woong is his new boss. So both get to take turns being “king of the hill” depending on whether they are at work or at home.

After Poongduck, Ji Woong was ready to try his luck at music again. He entered a Korean talent-survival show, Boys Planet, that promised to award the top contestants long-term contracts in a new boy band. Ji Woong scored well and thus debuted as one of the K-pop idols of ZeroBaseOne.

Being both an idol and a BL actor, Ji Woong offers crossover appeal. He brings fans from his acting career to his musical career and vice versa. As busy as ZeroBaseOne is these days, it’s uncertain when Ji Woong will be able to do another BL; there are rumors of a sequel to one of his previous series but who knows when it might happen?

In the meantime, you can enjoy watching Ji Woong in his BL series as well as his music videos with ZeroBaseOne. They really are good.

One of the dirty little not-so-secrets of K-pop is that many idols actually aren’t very good singers but rather are great entertainers. But the ZB1 boys are the real deal, outstanding singers as well as talented dancers. Their music is fresh and exciting.

I predict spectacular and well-deserved success for Ji Woong and his bandmates.

See you next week!

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