#jbl is magic

[shouldiusemyname]

I just finished watching Tokyo in April is... ep 5 and I realised something.

So usually, my mind is on all the time. I have a running commentary / soundtrack ALL THE TIME. Not only when I watch something, but literally all the time. Never shuts up. However! when I watch Japanese shows - NOTHING. No words. I watch an ep of whatever jbl (minato's laundry, my beautiful man, Tokyo in april, end of the world...) I go on Tumblr, people have things to say. Me? NOTHING. It took listening to @the-conversation-pod talk about Tokyo in April two months after watching the show, to be able to put into words what I felt about this show.

Now, after ep 5 of Tokyo and reading people's thoughts on Tumblr, it finally hit me -

When I watch Japanese shows my mind is completely silent. No thoughts. Just feelings.

I have no idea how they do this magic that they do, but I'm just going to keep reading everyone's meta for these shows and see how you guys beautifully put my feelings into words.

[theside-b]

BL DRAMAS + 'Postcards from Japan'

[lurkingshan]

Japanese BL Starter Pack

It’s been awhile since I dropped a rec list, so I am here today to share one that is very near and dear to my heart—a Japanese bl primer for those who are new to the jbl game. I created this for @neuroticbookworm to help her on her journey when she decided she wanted to start getting into Japanese works. The fandom (on Tumblr and generally) tends to focus primarily on Thai shows because they are the easiest to access for international fans, since Thailand is working its way toward world domination via ql media and wants us all to be able to watch. But there is a lot of great stuff to watch beyond the easy access Thai channels, and Japan is the country where this genre originated, so its shows are important for anyone who considers themselves a bl fan. Japan doesn’t cater nearly as much to the international audience so tracking down the shows sometimes takes some ingenuity and can-do spirit, but that’s part of the fun!

And so, the list! Bookworm is about halfway through it and having a ball, so I figured it was time to stop hoarding it and share it with anyone else who would like to dip their toes into jbl and isn’t quite sure where to start. A few notes: 

I am not here to teach you about the deep roots of the jbl genre or give you a primer on yaoi manga. I am by no means an expert and there are other places to find that information. Start here with this great post by @nieves-de-sugui and then maybe wander over to @absolutebl to read up more on the evolution of the genre.

This list is by no means an exhaustive accounting of every important Japanese bl ever made; it is simply a nice sampler platter of the cream of the crop among various styles you will find in jbl. Watching through this whole list will not only expose you to some fantastic shows, but also give you a sense of what makes jbl unique and how the country’s style differs from others, and point you toward the types of jbl you’ll like most (they tend to put shows in pretty specific style and tone lanes and once you find the ones you like there are lots more where that came from). 

If you’re coming to this post as a jbl lover and you don’t see your favorite here, I promise it’s not because I don’t love it very much; I simply had to make some choices to get this down to a reasonable shortlist. Feel free to leave extra recs for others to find! 

I’m putting these in a loose suggested watch order that will take you through the various jbl lanes in a kind of popcorn style, because I always think it’s good to change it up so you don’t get too stuck in one mode, and it works its way up to most of the extremely Japanese stuff (you will know what that means by the time you finish). But do what’s in your heart and change up the order if you want, friends, I am not the boss of you! 

Cherry Magic (Crunchyroll or grey)

gif by @liyazaki

I believe everyone on Tumblr is pretty familiar with this one, which is not a coincidence—this is one of the most accessible jbls. Not in terms of actual access to watch it, mind you (we’ve all jumped through shady internet hoops to watch it) but in terms of its content and style. Cherry Magic is a classic workplace romcom with a magical twist, and it is charming af. It’s a great exemplar of Japan’s light and zippy comedy lane for bl—a lane in which, importantly, the romances stay chaste even when the actual plot is about sex, or lack thereof. My friend @waitmyturtles would kill me if I didn’t make sure you know that Cherry Magic also has a lovely follow up film. And bonus: there is now a Thai remake airing so if you watch the original you can get in on the discussion about the different adaptations between countries. This is pretty easy to find these days in all the usual places, but I strongly recommend watching it here.

Old Fashion Cupcake (Viki)

gif by @liyazaki

Moving on to a slightly more mature workplace romcom. Old Fashion Cupcake, another Tumblr favorite, is an age gap boss-subordinate romance, and it’s both very adult and somehow wholesome af at the same time. Sure, there is a lot of carnal desire going on here, but there is also a lot of wooing via fluffy pancakes. It’s a tight five episodes and a fantastic example of what Japan, with its extreme technical precision in writing, directing, editing, pacing, and acting firing on all cylinders, can do in two hours. There’s not an ounce of flab on this thing and you’ll want to watch it over and over again.

Utsukushii Kare (Viki)

gif by @wanderlust-in-my-soul

Time to get a little weird! Weird is a key feature of Japanese media, and lots of jbls explore unusual relationship dynamics rooted in complex psychology. This is the first show on the list that will likely feel very Japanese if you’re new around here—my advice is to lean into it and finish the show, even if you get uncomfortable along the way. In Japanese media, discomfort always serves a purpose. This is a high school story with a twisted relationship at its center, and I’m not saying any more than that. Don’t spoil yourself and go watch it! This one also comes with two sequels—one short second season and one movie—that continue from the original story. They are less essential but still excellent.

I Cannot Reach You (Netflix)

gif by @my-rose-tinted-glasses

Next up, another high school tale, but with a totally different vibe. This show is kind of a revelation in its willingness to tell a story about overwhelming desire—including sexual desire—with young protagonists. It’s rooted in a classic but often misunderstood trope, friends to lovers, and takes the angst of it seriously, giving us a low stakes story that feels extremely high stakes to our leads. It’s also gorgeous and uses a classic Japanese visual style (bokeh) that you’ll be dying to learn more about. 

His (Viki)

gif by @gabrielokun

Time for a break from high school, and we’ll sprinkle in a movie for some added flavor. His is a jbl film featuring a second chance romance between a stoic, introverted man who moves to a remote town to start over, and his ex-boyfriend who follows him there unexpectedly, adorable child in tow. Importantly, this movie does not take place in what we often refer to as the “bl bubble” where homophobia doesn’t exist; the leads’ experiences of being gay men in a homophobic society are hugely important to the plot and themes of the story. It’s a beautiful film and I’ve lost count of how many times I’ve watched it. @bengiyo would surely also like me to tell you that this film follows a brief prequel show called His: I Didn’t Mean to Fall in Love about the characters originally meeting in high school; I do not think it’s really necessary to watch it but completists can start there.

The Pornographer series (Gaga)

By now you should be ready to get into some classic Japanese fucked up psychosexual material, right? Right! The Pornographer series is told in five installments in this order:

The Novelist, a six episode miniseries

Mood Indigo, a six episode prequel series

Spring Life, a 15 minute short

Pornographer: Playback, a two hour film

Spring Life Continued, a 15 minute short

Confused by that distribution model? So say we all; sometimes Japan likes to make us work for it to make sure we really appreciate its many gifts to us. The story across these installments is about a very difficult to love protagonist, what makes him the way he is, and the also-unhinged-but-in-a-different-way man who finally gets through to him. It’s an extremely satisfying love story and one of the best character arcs I have ever seen, full stop. For this one, you’ll want to just pull the word problematic out of your pocket and store it in a drawer; nearly everything that happens in this story is problematic and that’s the point. Lean in! All of these installments except for the film are on Gaga, if you get that far hmu and I will supply you with the final puzzle piece.

Our Dining Table (Gaga)

You could probably use a break after those last two, so it’s time to shift over to a heart-tugging twofer: family trauma mixed with the cutest shit you’ve ever seen. ODT is an example of another classic type of Japanese show: the food drama (you will see the GOAT in this category at the end of this list). In Japanese culture, food is love, and the act of preparing food for your loved ones is a common path to romance. You’ll love this story about an isolated office worker who meets a pair of brothers, learns to cook as a way of connecting with them, and begins to heal from his own trauma as a result. The image above is a scan from the manga, which @troubled-mind curates to make extremely cool comparison sets like this one. Many jbls are faithful adaptations of yaoi manga source material, so it’s good to have a bit of familiarity with them.

Minato’s Laundromat (Gaga)

gif by @liyazaki

Japanese media loves to explore taboo, and often manages to do it in a way that is surprisingly light and chaste. This is an age gap romance between a teenager and his adult neighbor that explores internalized homophobia, emotional repression, and falling in love across seemingly impossible social chasms. It’s also a great example of old school yaoi seme-uke dynamics that still show up across the bl genre. Also, take my advice: end your journey with this one with the first season and just pretend season 2 doesn’t exist.

Eternal Yesterday (Viki)

gif by @wanderlust-in-my-soul

Remember what I said about weird? Time to do that again, but with a heaping dose of grief and pain on top. It’s not a spoiler to tell you this show involves a major character death; a major character death is, in fact, the root of the entire story. This is a magic realist tale of first love turned tragic, and it will hurt and heal you. It is one of my favorite dramas of all time.

Restart After Come Back Home (Gaga)

And now for a break for your poor exhausted brain. This film is basically the jbl version of a Hallmark original movie, about a city boy who goes back home to the country and falls in love with a total sweetheart while working together on a farm. Enjoy it, bestie, you’ve earned it! 

Tokyo in April Is… (Gaga)

gif by @wanderlust-in-my-soul

You’ve probably noticed by now that emotional repression and failed communication are big themes in Japanese works. This second chance romance has plenty of both, and it’s a great example of a kind of muted emotional style that Japan does so well, where the surface of the story seems almost placid and calm even as deep emotion roils underneath. This one (and Eternal Yesterday above) are part of a special line up of jbls on Japanese channel MBS called Tonku (Drama) Shower. The shows air one after another in the same time slot on Fridays (in Japan, perhaps Thursdays for you depending on where you live) and you truly never know what you’re gonna get, but they’re all interesting. Warnings on this one for sexual assault and trauma. 

The End of the World With You (Viki)

Time for sexy and weird again, but even more so! This has to be one of the most unique bls ever made; it goes to some truly divine and strange places, and it feels incredibly queer while doing it. Made by the same screenwriter/director of the Pornographer series with a lot of the same sensibilities, but in a more heightened apocalyptic setting. This one has existential angst, a road trip, a redemption tale, and a variety of interesting side characters in the mix.

What Did You Eat Yesterday? (Gaga)

gif by @my-rose-tinted-glasses

Congratulations, you’ve reached the end of the list and your reward is watching one of the best bls of all time, and a perfect slice of life food drama to boot. WDYEY now has two seasons (along with a couple specials and a movie that fall in between) because the universe clearly loves us. You can now get it on Gaga for easy access but I’m partial to the versions over at @kinounaniresource for better subs. Wherever you watch, settle in to get cozy with Shiro and Kenji and make sure to always eat before you hit play.

[le-trash-prince]

*RIPS SHIRT OFF* CHERRY MAGIC THE MUSICAL STARRING MATSUDA RYO AND ARAMAKI YOSHIHIKO!!!!!

RYO IS IN HIS BL ERA THEY DID THIS FOR ME

BL fans may recognize Ryo from Can I Buy Your Love From a Vending Machine? but he’s known primarily as a butai actor who’s starred in many prominent 2.5D series. I’m biased but he plays fumbling and moe really well and I think he’s perfect for Adachi. Overall, it looks like a solid cast with many staple actors from productions like Tenimyu, Tousute, Toumyu, and so on.

To my knowledge, this is the first 2.5D BL adaptation!! I’m really excited!! It looks like it’s happening in April, so the DVD release will be some time after that.

Cast (via japan-stage-connection)

Ryo Matsuda : Kiyoshi Adachi Yoshihiko Aramaki : Yuichi Kurosawa Daichi Saeki : Masato Tsuge Satsuki Nakayama : Minato Wataya Sho Sakai : Yuta Rokkaku Kaho Takada : Nozomi Fujisaki Yui Hasegawa : Mari Kurosawa Naoya Gomoto : Asahina

[bl-bracket]

Introducing the next BL Bracket: Most Whipped in a BL!!!!

Continuing our trend of rematch brackets, we will now be doing a rematch bracket for Most Whipped!!!

Is your favorite character absolute gone for their lover? Are they willing to do absolutely anything for their lover no matter what? Well, this is their time to shine!!!

Rules for entry are in the pinned post and also in the form.

Lan Wangji from The Untamed cannot be submitted as he won the first season of Most Whipped.

Submit them here!!!!

Submissions Close: 22nd of Novemeber @9 PM (GMT)

@tournament-announcer

[purlpeiris]

Why did I wait this long to watch Cherry Magic?

It’s so good.

I spent today bingeing it. That wasn’t the plan but every time I got the the end of an episode I needed to watch the next.

I can’t remember the last time I smiled this much at every single episode of a series. At one point my face was actually aching from smiling.

What a great, feel good, joyous watch.

Ah, I need to stop putting off watching things when I know from the recs ans posts I see that I’m going to like them.

[absolutebl]

Thoughts on mr Unlucky? I was about to start it but someone told me it's not good and since you are the bl expert, i thought i would ask you your professional opinion. Thank you 💕

I didn't Love LOVE it, but I did enjoy it.

Mr Unlucky

AKA Mr. Unlucky Can Only Kiss

AKA Mr Unlucky Has No Choice but to Kiss!

Fukou-kun wa Kiss Suru Shikanai!

Japan 2022 Viki

My rating? 8/10

Mr Chronically Unlucky (adorable chaos muffin) and Mr Always Lucky end up dating after they meet at uni orientation. It’s JAPAN yet they kissed in the first episode. What freaky alt-reality did I enter into? That’s all they kiss tho, over which I was a touch disappointed.

Still, I spent far too much of my time with this show biting my knuckles and squealing “THEY’RE SO CUTE!”

It is very slapstick Japanese style comedic (light) BL and reminded me of a little of Cherry Magic.

So if you like that style of BL you’ll adore this show.

Amusing story:

I paused mid the most tooth-achingly adorable first date in the entire universe and Viki was like “something missing?”

and I was like

“MY HEART YOU BASTARDS”

(source)

[ppeonppeonhan]

Sooooooo...

[serasennatonen]

Japanese BL Essentials

[stupidcupidsposts]

"I'm sorry for falling for you" makes me sob everytime no matter the language

[lurkingshan]

To everyone skeptical Japan can adapt a high heat Thai bl: please I am begging you to finally get a Gaga subscription and see the dark and kinky and sexually explicit queer dramas Japan produces on the regular

[red-hibiscus]

If anyone is curious, Kinokuniya in nyc has A LOT of bl & gl manga

Aside from the "new releases" section, there's about 3 two level shelves of Japanese bl mangas. Plus another 3 same sized shelves + 1 four(??) level shelf for English translated mangas. There's maybe 4-5 shelves for gl.

I'd say they have a decent selection of popular bls and some I haven't heard of. Both classic spicy yaoi and fluff.

[mondstalgia]

Ever since Cherry Magic, LDH has been sending their idols and actors into BL's yearly and that's such a blessing.

[purlpeiris]

I’m not crying at the pens instead of rings scene. I’m really not.

[lost-my-sanity1]

god cherry magic is giving me so strong butterflies kshsksjssjs

[absolutebl]

Hiya hope you’re well! When I first got into BLs one of the first ones I saw was Japanese. But it’s on your dark BLs list (I recognized one of the pics but I can’t recall the series.) it was on you youtube and basically man falls for a guy they can’t have nice things cuz his brother is jealous and goes after man and idk what happened to guy but he either died or left idk. Then man either dies or something happens like a coma idk and brother is all over him in ewww ways. I’m just now realizing there was probably necrophilia which I can’t spell idk but yeah. Eww.

So that kinda made me not wanna watch the Japanese ones lol then I saw cherry magic last year bc I’m into kamen rider and my crush is there as one of the main characters and I loved it! Now I’m watching old fashioned cupcake bc another rider crush is a main character hehe. And I like it so far! I’ve only seen two episodes but I love it!

Anyways just felt like sharing bc no one here cares about my interests lol.

Ah, you are referring to this post:

And you are talking about this BL:

Forbidden Love (Japan 2008 GaGa) - whipping boy trope, servant who grew up in the sinister mafia-esk family. Spoiled, rich, loose-cannon seme madly in love with the older, somber, moral-compass uke. Homophobic family, cheating, murder gay, incest, & necrophilia! Oh goodie.  

I am SO GLAD you gave Japanese BL another try.

Can I recommend a tasty serving of Our Dining Table airing on Gaga right now?

I can promise you it won't hurt because I have read the source manga and Japan doesn't tend to deviate much when they adapt. This one is going to be softer and gentler than even Cherry Magic.

Oh, right, and for anyone else out there, there are two lanes to Japanese BL and I talk about it here:

All you have to do to stay safe from heartbreak is make sure you're in the right lane.