Eccentric Romance (2024)

PecBros, or, Peccentric Bromance

This is how I imagine the pitch meeting for this show went:

WRITERS: So, we have a proposal for a new BL. One that is radical and fresh and new and innovative...
PRODUCERS: What is it?
WRITERS: It’s a Thai BL crossed with a Korean BL.
PRODUCERS: Brilliant!! Go nuts!
WRITERS: Great! How much money do we get?
PRODUCERS: Nothing.
DIRECTOR: Hang on... (To the writers:) Talk us through it.
WRITERS: Well, there's this Thai dude who comes to study at Korea, and he's best friends with this Korean dude, because they grew up together, and...
PRODUCERS: In the same country?
WRITERS: Yes.
PRODUCERS: Which one? Thailand or Korea?

WRITERS: Exactly.
PRODUCERS: O... kay...
WRITERS: Anyway, the Thai dude goes to the same university as his buddy, and they decide to share the same room. Will they be more than friends? That's the story.
(Everyone sighs.)
CASTING DIRECTOR: So, I'm guessing we’ll need to find a Korean actor who speaks Thai, and a Thai actor who speaks Korean?
PRODUCERS: Who are also willing to be in a BL? Forget it. Too expensive.
WRITERS: What do we do then?
PRODUCERS: We get around it.
WRITERS: How? By giving them a few language lessons?
PRODUCERS: Of course not. Let's just have the Thai guy speak Thai, and the Korean guy speak Korean. Easy peasy.
WRITERS: But…
PRODUCERS: But what?

WRITERS: If the Thai actor cannot speak Korean, and the show is set in Korea, how will he interact with all the other Korean characters in the show?
PRODUCERS: What characters?

WRITERS (shuffling through their papers): Well, so far, we have a couple of university students, a gym teacher, and of course, a fujoshi.
CASTING DIRECTOR: That would be a problem.
PRODUCERS: Hmmm... Well, why don't we just say that all the students are majoring in Thai, that the gym teacher loves Thai culture, and the fujoshi… well, can’t she just love Thai food?

WRITERS: Yet none of them can speak a word of Thai?

DIRECTOR: Well, what are the boys supposed to be studying at college?
WRITERS: I think they’re studying… (They talk among themselves and fumble through the pages.) Ummm... something physical education-y.
PRODUCERS: In other words, something that gets them to the gym in order for us to see them topless.
(The writers remain silent.)
PRODUCERS: Then why the fuck does any of it matter?
Just throw them in the gym, take a few thirst traps, and give it a theme tune. Done.
DIRECTOR: Ummm… Not to be a wet blanket or anything. But is there a plot somewhere around the corner?

WRITERS: We’re still working on it.
DIRECTOR: What do you mean "working on it"?

WRITERS: We have an element of mystery. We think the gym teacher might be involved in a murder.
DIRECTOR: Might be? Surely you, as writers, should know what happens?
PRODUCERS: You a rookie? He's just a hunk of meat. (To the writers): Isn't he?
DIRECTOR: Well, you’re not helping matters. If we have good actors, or better scriptwriters... no offence...
WRITERS: None taken.
DIRECTOR: What am I supposed to do now?

PRODUCERS: Oh, relax. This is BL 101. You need arms, pecs, abs, and ass. You need some “angst”, whatever the fuck that means, and you need a happy ending. Don’t tell me the girls won’t eat this up.
WRITERS: They have a point.
PRODUCERS (clapping their hands twice): Get to it, then. Make us some money.
CASTING DIRECTOR: This is going to be a fun couple of months.
DIRECTOR: What could possibly go wrong?


And this is how I imagine the post-production meeting went:

PRODUCERS: Remind us, which one of you was the editor on this project? (A hesitant hand goes up.) You're fired. And who did the cinematography? You’re fired too. Now, who did the music? (Another hesitant hand goes up.) Give the man a raise. He knows how to trap that thirst. Now, where are my screenwriters?
WRITERS: Here.
PRODUCERS: Tell me, have you ever considered writing for gay porn? Because your talents are wasted here.
WRITERS: Oh! Wait... what?
PRODUCERS (sighing): It's one thing to have no plot. Which is what you came to us with in the first place. But now, you have given us a murder mystery in which the real villain was... drumrolls please...
CASTING DIRECTOR: Oh, you want us to do the actual drumroll?
DIRECTOR: Interesting.
PRODUCERS: The fat guy! You know, the fat guy who steals other people's food, who can't control himself or his feelings, and who therefore deserves to die? This is what you were going for. In 2024!
(The writers are silent.)
PRODUCERS: Tell me, was he meant to be gay as well? Not that we acknowledge the existence of gays in KBLs, of course. Or did you make that vague on purpose, so that your audience wouldn't have to think of him as a sexual being?
WRITERS: No... It's just...
PRODUCERS: You do realise you've managed to write a show in which a YouTube influencer is *not* the worst person in the world? Now that’s an accomplishment.
DIRECTOR: What are you so mad at them for? You green-lit the project!
PRODUCERS: Yes, back when we thought it was about two cute boys hitting the gym, bonding over Thai food, and lip reading in different languages. We didn't expect a minestrone of anti-fat prejudices and pro-protein-shake propaganda. Didn't we have enough of that in Blueming?
DIRECTOR: What do you want us to do then? Pull the project?
PRODUCERS: No, of course not. (Sighs.) When you've been in the business for as long as we have, you'll realise that people will watch anything. Most BL is queer-bait-and-switch anyway.
DIRECTOR: What then?
PRODUCERS: Send it to focus group -- but make sure there's no one gay, fat, or above 40 in it -- and see how often they say 'fluffy' or 'cute'. If it's more than 50%, release it.
WRITERS: So you want us to release something that you yourself hate?
PRODUCERS: Of course. Haven't you seen the Producers?


Reader's (Google Translated) Digest:
DO SAY: Krub, C̄hạn rạk khuṇ, Annyeonghaseyo, Salanghaeyo.
DON'T SAY: H̄yud ley. Kkeojyeo.

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ECCENTRIC SHOW FOR SURE

First of all let me just ask why title the series Eccentric Romance? The term eccentric literally means unusual, odd or strange. Do the makers hate same sex love stories that much to actually call whats happening odd and/or strange? Is it supporting BL genre or mocking it?

The series is actually not that bad but it isnt actually good as well. At least it was better than that last Thai-Korean show starring Mew.

Lets discuss the biggest elephant in this show. This is not the first (or the worst) multi-lingual drama created, but for the love of the heavens above, could the producers just stop doing this now? It is not fun to watch series with leads speaking different languages and we as watchers should pretend that they understand each other. JUST STOP THIS INSANITY. Nothing about it is funny and watcheable. It just screams cheapness and the inability of the budget to actually afford bi-language actors.

My next gripe is this - i am so tired of watching BLs with girls objectifying the leads screaming "ohmygod hes so handsome" as if its their first time seeing a guy. Even worse, ive seen a few BLs doing this same shit and i am like who the f are they screaming at? They want us to believe that they cast the hottest actors in the world and maybe if they keep saying and doing it over and over we as watchers would believe it too. I mean the actors in this series are not bad looking but to be honest they dont look like someone who would stop people in their tracks. Stop doing this writers, this is just lazy lazy lazy writing.

Anyway, no need to recap, not worth retyping it, just read the synopsis here in MDL. I actually feel bad for this series. It is a show wanting to be different but isnt. The main story is quite unique in the BL world, conceptually, but the mediocre execution prevented it from actually being good. The acting is very amatuerish and the chemistry between the main couple is lacking. The sets are awful and screams low-budget. It feels like they shot the entire series within a day or two. The main twist and ending felt so rushed. Its a slice-of-life drama with no backstories and no real depth.

I really really cant understand why this has to be 12 short episodes with almost nothing happening. Add the fact that the 15minute episode is actually just about 12min when you have more than 90sec recap/opening credits and another 90 sec end credits. It is so obvious that the material they have and shot is just enough for a full-length movie and just divided it into 12 episodes and that they intend to re-release it in a movie version later on to milk it as much as possible. Please Im begging you Korean producers, if you want to make a series, please MAKE A SERIES. How difficult is it to add maybe 5 or 10 minutes to each episodes to fully develop your stories and characters?

Would i reccommend it? Not particularly, but if you have time to waste binge it in 1.25 speed, that would certainly make the experience better. Would i rewatch? Not even if you put a gun in my mouth. im giving it a 6.5 out of 10.

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