#10 Older BLs Worthy of a Binge Watch

[absolutebl]

Hey ABL. Just sent my doctorate for examination and for the first time since 2019 I have WAY too much time on hands. Can you suggest some binge watches? Got into bl last Feb so stuff before that would be great. Warmly, M

CONGRATZ!!!

10 Older BLs Worthy of a Binge Watch!

(in no particular order, prior to 2022)

1 Seven Days: Monday-Thursday & Seven Days: Friday-Sunday

Japan 2015 (grey)

Never doubt my ability to recommend this show. One of the best live action yaois ever made, with perfectly structured angst, fantastic characters and acting, and no problematic tropes (rare in Japanese BL). The leads have excellent chemistry although it’s low heat there’s still some really cute mutual kisses.

2 To My Star

Korea 2021 (Viki)

In the mood for something more grown up? TMS is a touch quirky to get into, but utterly charming once it hits its stride. This is the ultimate grumpy/sunshine pairing plus the most appealing light-filled kitchen of our dreams.

I don't like season 2 but others do. It is very clever.

3 We Best Love: No. 1 For You & Fighting Mr. 2nd

Taiwan 2021 (WeTV)

How about a uni + office BL? Brilliant acting saved this show from a messy (pretty classically manga) narrative with a lot of angst. You have to buy in to a yaoi aesthetic with this one, accept that things move fast and occasionally confuse, but that everything will be okay. It’s the ultimate pining seme meets the ultimate tsundere uke. WBL successfully manages to combine the best elements of Korean, Thai, and Japanese BL as it exists right now. Couple that to the insane chemistry from the leads, and we have one of the greatest BLs of all time, cooking higher heat to a recipe I doubt anyone else will ever be able to replicate since only Taiwan is this flexible.

4 He's Coming to Me

Thailand 2019 (YouTube)

With only 8 8 eps and from GMMTV this is short, high quality and bingable for Thailand. Boy and ghost boy fall in love, must solve ghost’s murder. Peak pining but also pretty tame, features my favorite sweet but important coming out sequence in all BL. The third in my precious triumvirate of unbeatable Thai BLs, that are only nominally BL because the story, acting, and production values are so good.

(Together with Until We Meet Again & A Tale of Thousand Stars - those 2 are longer so I don't consider them as bingable, but if you want something to get really stuck into? Go to town.).

5 Color Rush

Korea 2021 (Viki)

A unique paranormal twist elevates this classic high school drama into a pitch-perfect allegory for the queer coming out experience and one of the best BLs of all time (I will fight you on this). Here's my battle essay.

Original trigger.

(Don't bother with season 2.)

6 HIStory 2: Crossing the Line

Taiwan 2018 (Viki)

Lin Pei Yu directs this sports romance (volleyball) with a good boy/bad boy pairing, and my hands-down favorite of the HIStory franchise. There is no clear seme/uke. Ostensibly it's high school set but Taiwan doesn't care about age appropriate actors. It's a very soft sweet romance with some ridiculously easily overcome conflict. There's great kisses but it's medium heat. The side dishes are the stepbrother trope but they’re very tame, and there’s no other triggers. It's not just my favorite of the franchise, it’s one of my favorite BLs with a perfect happy ending.

(The second H2 is also pretty good.)

7 Cherry Magic

30-sai made Dotei Da to Mahotsukai ni Nareru rashii AKA Cheri Maho

Japan 2020 (indie subs)

The sweetest fluffiest magical realism BL, packaged as a pinning office romance, very low heat (practically chaste) but the cutest. It’s truly great.

8 Light On Me

Korea 2021 (Viki)

Korea does an elegant pastiche of traditional live action yaoi but all tropes are cleverly deployed to bolster one of the most riveting love triangles ever put on screen… and I don’t like love triangles. LoM strategically tailors classic BL tropes to 2 different semes resulting in pristine pacing, plot, and character development, explicitly serving narrative (not just to tick boxes). LoM is a master class in trope drops. (If you write fanfic or romance you should study this show.) Full review.

9 Be Loved In House: I Do

Taiwan 2021 Viki

A cute classy office set BL with a few plot raised eyebrows, but no other concerns. ALL THE TROPES plus a general sweet softness that’s pretty rare from Taiwan, who usually prefer to go hard, but all their signature domesticity.

10 Lovely Writer

Thailand 2021 (YouTube)

Thailand criticizes itself and the BL industry while simultaneously giving us classic seme/uke with great chemistry in a one-two punch of “we love it, but are we supposed to? and must we think this hard, yet enjoy it SO MUCH?” This show won’t appeal or make sense to those who don’t already have at least some Thai BL watching experience. What Lovely Writer does, at heart, is reexamine Thai BL has done to queerness, but in a very gentle way that has more to do with Thai BL growing up than any actual queer authenticity. It’s not parody or pastiche, but it is self reflective and trying to correct for some chronic mistakes. Whether it is ultimately successful in this matter is going to depend on the watcher’s relationship to BL and queer identity. But that’s what makes this show beautiful, interesting, and thought provoking. And I, for one, applaud the effort even if I didn’t personally connect to the characters.

If you wanted 2022 included here's my top 10 from 2022:

[anuntitleddream]

MyEn questions?

Here are some questions I thought of while watching My Engineer The Series: Season 1:

*please note that some of these are rhetorical, while others are not; they are mainly for enjoyment and laughter (and also my sanity); also SPOILER WARNING 

Ep.1

How did Bohn knock out those 6 gang member guys in the bathroom?

Ep.2

Why are Ting Ting and Tang not a couple?

Where/How/Why did Ting Ting get that picture of Duen?

Ep.3

Where did King get his checkered fanny pack? (I want one)

How many languages can King speak?

Ep.4

If Duen and his friends are freshmen, then are Bohn and his friends in their second year at university, or are they older?

Was Duen actually jealous, or just like upset?

Ep.5

What’s up with King and his dad? He says ‘your husband’ to his mom twice??

Ep.6

Duen is a Sagittarius, but what about the other characters?

Am I the only one who thought that the Boss/Fonn dynamic was cute?

Why does Frong not want to give/sell the jasmine flowers to Thara? 

Ep.7

Has Bohn’s necklace been a ring this whole time, or does he wear different ones? If so, what are the other ones??

Why is Duen not a chef already?

Ep.8

Why did Bohn and Ram wait like all day to fight?

Ep.9

Why does Frong seem so put off by Thara?

Also, why does Frong ask Thara to stop smiling? Is this irony??

Do Thara/Frong know that they were both in the prom king competition together last year? (I would assume so)

Where in the heck did Duen take drunk Bohn? Who’s room is that??

Ep.10

So Thara does have a car [I think]?

What in the heck prompted Duen to do that to Bohn?

King also has a car somewhere?

What. The. Actual. Heck., Duen?

How did Thara come to have a pet lizard named Cupcake?

Was King just messing with Boss when he was showing him the cheat code for their exam?

Who is Thara’s doctor friend?

How does Ting Ting do her hair buns? (I want to know the secret)

Alright, who let Duen near the alcohol, again?

Ep11

What are Ram’s dogs’ names?

Where is Frong’s brother Fang?

Ep.12

Is this ice cream “date” foreshadowing?

What did Thara mean when he asked Frong if he was the youngest in his family? Was he just teasing??

Did Thara tell his doctor friend that he was worried about Frong and Frong’s mother?

What was up with that heckin weird guy in the park? What was he doing?? And why did he hit King in the head with a stick???

Why does Ram have bad dreams?

What are the meanings of the rest of Ram’s tattoos?

Are Tee and Phu actually going to be a thing? 

Ep.13

How has Duen not picked up on Bohn’s fake annoyance/anger? Why can’t they just talk to each other??

Will Ram always drag King by the arm like that?

How are they just casually wearing clothes that are soaking wet?

Can Thara not see that Frong is flirting or...?

Why doesn’t Bohn just tell Duen what happened with Mind?

Ep.14

Will Thara actually delete those pictures of Frong?

Did Thara actually stay up all night looking for Frong’s necklace and not sleep?

Duen, what are you trying to accomplish by getting lost in the woods, huh?

Does Duen still think that something happened with Bohn and Mind?

What happened to Fon? Like where did she go?

How did Duen manage to get Bohn to sleep outside? Is he like some secret martial arts master or something?

When did Ting Ting start filming a blog and what’s on it?

What’s gonna happen to Mek/Boss?

If King was bit by a dog at his grandmother’s house when he was younger and he is on his way to visit her, maybe something regarding Ram/King will happen?

I wonder if Duen’s parents will be upset when they find out he and Bohn are together, since his dad seemed stern and thought Duen originally had a girlfriend?

*****

Hello again all!

Wow, it’s been a while (again) These past few months I’ve been very grateful to keep up with my job and pretty soon (hopefully) I will be going back to school, so the busy work continues, but I still want to try and post on this page, even if it’s just me rambling on like this to myself/in my head~ 

I know this post kind of goes against the pre-terms I wrote about when I first started this whole page, but a short story time: I began delving into some more BL series after my last post and I found one that I got rather binge-worthy with. It’s titled My Engineer, and while I don’t love every aspect of the show itself, I thought it had a good plot and interesting characters, and overall I just really liked it and am looking forward to season 2!! *jazz hands* :)

~MG

P.S. - I have some more ideas for some posts, but I don’t want to try and compile them all in one day, so they will be forthcoming