When Great Men Academy first appeared on the scene I was really not impressed. From the sounds of it it was just another gender swapping storyline and in general I really don’t care for them.
Because in the end it’s not REALLY BL isn’t it? It’s still a girl who falls in love with a boy and not a boy who falls in love with another boy. In most of these gender swap storylines the swapped gender is even played by the same actor.
Like you have a girl who turns into a boy to get the man of her dreams. And what are the director and the rest of the crazy people in charge thinking? Right, let’s give the girl a short wig, put her in pants and hope for the best.
And this, suprisingly enough, doesn’t do anything for me whatsoever. So in general I stay way from gender swap storylines as far as I can. And I honestly thought GMA is just that: another boring gender swap. But boy, was I wrong.
After watching it, I wouldn’t call it gender swap anymore whatsoever.
I now would call it gender fuck.
But bear with me while I explain what I mean.
Yes, in the beginning we have the classic gender swap. We have a girl who changes into a boy and changes back thanks for the water of the lake. This part I have to say I found a bit exhausting.
But even at this part I was totally blown away by James’ acting ability. He played the girl who suddenly finds herself in a boy’s body so well it honestly blew my mind. He took so many of Love’s girl traits and put them into his acting it’s really crazy.
If you have seen James as pure James, the boy, before hand, you can absolutely see how great his acting ability is. He did such an amazing job during the show that I would go as far to say that he is the reason, why GMA is not just another gender swap story, but a proper gender fuck storyline. Because he honestly messes with your perception of what you think is typical boy and typical girl.
After the first couple of episodes Love looses her ability to swap back into her girl body and we are left with Love, the boy.
A boy, who suddenly recognises that he might have feelings for someone else then his/her beloved Vier. And this is where things are really getting mind blowing.
We have Tangmo, straight until now, who falls fast and heavy for Love, the boy version. He doesn’t struggle much with the idea of being in love with a boy and I always love seeing that.
Gay freak outs can be quiet entertaining but at this point in time we have seen it so often, it gets a bit old.
But Tangmo doesn’t freak out and funnyly enough the only person freaking out is Love. Because how can Tangmo really be in love with Love, if he thinks that Love is a boy? So Girl-Love inside her male body really struggles with accepting his love as she fears he is gay and might just love him as a boy.
And see, that’s why I really loved this show. Because it’s not about a girl finding her dream guy and magically transforming back into a girl. We don’t get the normal heterosexual ending.
We get an ending that shows us, that the love between Tangmo and Love has NOTHING to do with they biological sex!
It’s about loving someone, the essence of someone, something that is deep down inside of every person and this essence has no gender whatsoever!
I honestly loved that they didn’t let Love change back into a girl just like that. If they would have done that I think I would have just seen GMA as another gender swap storyline.
But thanks for the genius decision to leave Love with her boybody they really highlighted that true love has nothing to do with gender or sexuality. It’s about love and it’s beautiful and it’s compassionate.
I honestly can’t recommend GMA enough. It’s such a fresh take on genderswap and it will honestly do things with your mind you never thought possible for such a simple show.
It’s an example for love trumping all the odds and I don’t know about you, but I will never get tired of that.
*Repost from BLDA
Your Heart's Content 