Reviews of Asian BL Series

40 The Star Season 2 - The first full BL series from Myanmar

As this series is the direct sequel of "The Star Season 1", which I didn't review before, and which some of you may not have watched, let me summarize what happened there.

"Season 1" was actually no series, but a 33-minute short film about a gay couple, businessman Rachel (Myo Mg Mg) and Kyal (J Yaung), whose name translates as "star", and who works in a coffee shop. After being together for a year, Rachel (Myo Mg Mg) tells his mum (Soe Moe Kyi) about their relationship. She invites Kyal to dinner and at first claims to accept their relationship. But then she makes a condition: she wants to hire a surrogate mother so that Rachel can give her a grandchild.

During the first meeting of Rachel, his mother, and Saw (Phyu Thant Chaw), the surrogate mother, Rachel's mother tells Rachel to take care of Saw, which makes him feel responsible for Saw, who is a painter. He spends more and more time with her, after he notices that Saw wants a "happy family life", which makes him feel guilty.

When Kyal visits Saw, he learns that she wants to have a family life with Rachel. Kyal gets angry, damages Saw's painting, and Rachel interferes, threatening Kyal. A week later, Kyal, who hasn't met Rachel in the meantime, visits Rachel's mum's house, who tells him that Rachel has moved in with Saw. When Rachel doesn't answer Kyal's phone calls and avoids him, Kyal breaks up with him. As Kyal receives on his way home a text message from Rachel who writes that he is too scared to meet him, Kyal is run over by a car and seriously injured.

What makes this short film worth watching despite minor flaws of the editing and the sound is the true-to-life story, good acting and acceptable production quality, bearing in mind that this is a low budget production from Myanmar, a country that isn't really famous for producing BL or gay content. Just like in the incredibly successful Trust Entertainment short film "Bus Stop", "The Star" succeeds in telling a complex story. All the actors do a decent job, and the male leads are very handsome, too, with J Yaung being my personal favourite.

The sad ending of the short film is the starting point of season 2, which is a series of 8 episodes with a total runtime of roughly 3 hours, which is an achievement in itself, as it's the first full-time BL series from Myanmar as far as I know. But at the same time this is where the problems start – but I'll come back to that later, as I want to summarize the plot first.

Thura Htet (Min Thant), the man who ran over Kyal, takes responsibility and stays at his side in hospital. Kyal is not only injured because of the car accident, but he is also seriously heartbroken, because he is still in love with Rachel, although he tries to get over him.

While Kyal is in hospital, Rachel, who suddenly misses Kyal, keeps going to the coffee shop, where the owner's young cousin, Swan Thu (Ti Min Khant) immediately falls for him. After Swan Thu promises Rachel to tell him about Kyal's whereabouts, Rachel gives him a lift home, and the boy tells him that Kyal is in hospital. When Kyal is dismissed from hospital, Htet takes him to Ma Wai Khin (Su Myat Mon), his boss' home, where Kyal used to live, but when Kyal notices Rachel quarrelling with Ma Wai Khin in front of her house, he decides to move in with Thura Htet.

Rachel breaks up with his mum and Saw, as he still wants to get back together with Kyal. Rachel is so obsessed with this idea that he doesn't only try to meet Kyal wherever he goes – in the coffee shop, in the hospital and in the street. He even turns to violence, attacking Thura Htet. When Rachel tries to hug Kyal, Kyal slaps him in the face. Compensating for running Kyal over becomes more and more Htet's excuse for being with Kyal, who at first feels a little uneasy about him, but gradually falls in love with his saviour.

When Htet comes to the coffee shop and meets Rachel, the latter starts a fight again. After the owner of the shop kicks Rachel out, he goes to Htet's house and starts quarrelling again. Htet knocks Rachel down and Kyal rejects him again. A short time later, Rachel even stops Kyal and Htet's car on the way to work, and Kyal agrees to meet him at the coffee shop. When Rachel tries to force a kiss on him, Htet beats him down again.