#thai bl favorites

[justafriend-ql]

Thai BL Favorites List Tag Game

thank you to the lovely @firstkanaphans for tagging me! the original prompt list was created by @thatgirl4815. let's get into it!

(note: i'll try my best to not make this entire list about never let me go, but you know who i am)

favorite bl: never let me go (nobody is surprised) it's unique, innovative, the first gmmtv bl series based on an original script rather than adapted from a novel. the lovechild of cringe 90s thai action dramas and BL tropes that p'jojo flirts with or fucks with depending on how he's feeling. palm and nueng live in my head 24/7 and the cinematography of the series drove me to learn how to make gifs (something i would not recommend you do if you value your freetime lol)

favorite pairing: palmnueng :) power imbalance, social expectations, and simmering sexual tension that all breaks loose at the seashore. duty turned to devotion and loneliness turned to love. two 18-year-olds whose life circumstances couldn't be more different yet find mirror images of their own insecurities and lack of self-worth in each other. clinging onto each other only to let go in the name of love. but always returning to each other, their other half, their soulmate. literally everything i could ever want in a pair. bonus: they kiss each other like they actually want to.

most underrated actor: sing! he's great in comedic roles (had me wheezing with laughter in unidentified mysterious girlfriend). but completely slayed as todd in not me. toddblack scenes make me genuinely sick. i would love to see more of him in dark dramas. also you really just have to respect his dedication. he survived infamous early series like slamdance (he was paired with drake) and put his whole pussy into the puppy play in warp effect.

favorite character: palm pannakorn jannaloy my most beloved boy. breaks my heart and heals it at the same time. he's just such a fundamentally good, kind person. and pretty much nothing in his life makes that easy. eternally self-sacrificing, without much love for himself but so so much love for others. even when they leave him behind. look! the very first gif i ever made was of him - see below and kindly disregard the quality.

favorite side character: pa jindapat out of all the series i've watched, pa is probably the character i relate to the most. that's why she's my pfp! i love her messy buns and glasses and over-sized t-shirts. she just feels very real in all her interactions with pat and her cluelessness about her very big crush on ink. the little tremble in her voice in the dark room scene when she tells ink "i liked it. i liked it so much i thought that i was special to you" makes me tear up. she's funny and she's bold and she holds her ground and i love her. very much.

favorite scene: the farewell dance - never let me go, episode 9 there's no dialogue. just music. grief-stricken palm and nueng dancing slowly, somberly in a motel room palm will wake up alone in the next morning. nueng knows he's leaving; deep down, palm probably knows too. their steps slow and palm seeks comfort in a kiss that quickly turns desperate because they're both hurting and the only thing that will numb the pain is each other. the feeling of tears running down palm's face forces nueng to pull away. the look on nueng's face as he wipes palm's tears away is possibly my favorite thing phuwin has ever done. he looks so goddamn heartbroken and guilty, because nueng feels like palm's brokenness is his fault. also one of my favorite performances from pond - and he was in the hospital earlier that day!!

favorite line: "i love you. and i want you to love yourself too." ayan to akk; the eclipse, episode 12, part 1/4. speaks for itself i think.

most anticipated bl and why: dangerous romance although i'm definitely excited for only friends, i have a soft spot for underdogs and this series seems like one (especially if it airs at the same time as only friends). i love perth especially and both chimon and him are crazy talented actors. i hope despite the silly title of the series, the script gives them something good to work with. and i hope that "i hate you" kiss in the rain from the pilot is better in the actual series lmao. the bts photos are making me super excited! also: viewjune let's gooooooo

healthiest relationship in a bl: heartliming these two make me cry. really just the epitome of finding a safe space in another person and providing them with a safe space in yourself. everything about them is beautiful. the amount of effort and care they put into learning how to communicate with each other is incredible. i love that they fight alongside each other. and: "i love it when i'm with him" - sometimes it's really as simple as that.

most toxic relationship in a bl: going to second @firstkanaphans here and say tharntype this almost feels like a cop-out because it's so obvious, but it's true. nothing will ever excuse the things tharn did to type without his consent, and type's internalized and externalized homophobia wasn't dealt with satisfactorily in my opinion. there are good kernels in every story, but the bad overwhelmed the few good ones in this series for me.

guilty pleasure series: love by chance guilty because it's mame and i don't love how aggressive they make ae (the sweetest, gentlest boy) toward the end. to be honest i skipped everything except for the aepete scenes when i watched this so i can't comment on the rest. but i often find myself returning to episode 4, in particular, because ae's feelings realization journey is lovely and soft and seeing baby perth and saint is always a treat. i liked it enough to gif it, so...

bonus! most underrated series: my only 12% created this bonus category so i can beg you to watch this one if you haven't. trust me and suffer through the bad haircuts and slow burn. i knew it was different from other series when seeiw cries while watching a queer movie with his sister, recognizing his own feelings onscreen, then sneaks downstairs to watch the rest by himself in tears later that night. that experience is so fucking real. this series seared me with its portrayal of the nostalgia and grief of childhood friendships and eventual separation, and the role reversal post-reunion is so well done it makes me insane. i was sobbing in my room at 4am and that's the best review i can give a series.

i had a lot of fun doing this and i hope if you read to this point you got... well, something, out of it. tagging @cankersoregirl @first-kanaphan @feralmuskyscentedhoepran @akkpipitphattana @ayan-sukkhapisit @nongnaos and anyone else who may like to do this!

[coffeebookslovegt]

Si muero, mi mamá eventualmente lo superará, pero si simplemente desaparezco, eso sería demasiado cruel para ella.

[heretherebedork]

Got tagged by @littleragondin so why not give it a try?

Favorite Thai BL:

The impossible question. Do I go with the one I've watched the most? Or the one I genuinely think is the best BL? Or the one I'd recommend to the most people!? What does favorite even mean?

Um.

Anyway.

I'd go with Tossara just because of how many times I've watched it and still love it beyond all words, honestly. So many other BLs tend to lose my with the ending or with the middle drama and the tiny perfect package of Tossara makes it a winner in my book.

As for my favorite that is also actually genuinely good... A Tale of a Thousand Stars. This show has a very special place in my heart, started on my birthday and is just all around one my favorite BLs and my favorite Our Skyy 2 episodes. I love the characters, I love the setting, I love the tone and them as a couple... just A+ all around.

Favorite Pairing:

Kan and Thua. Hands down. Expect to see these two mentioned again. Like, I love their story and their characters and just everything about them is so important to me. They are my most beloved and I don't think anyone soon will be unseating them.

Most underrated actor:

No idea? None? Who is even under or overrated? I don't know! Let's go with a pair of actors that I adore beyond measure and never got their true leading roles... Bank and Bonus. My beloveds. They played two of my top pairings for chaos and I love them so, so much. They made me love PokTong and the made me love MayonTengnueng. I have a special little spot for these two and seeing Bonus in Low Frequency always makes me happy.

Favorite Character:

My undying love for Ton is undying no matter the time. I love this boy and his deepseated but unfelt homophobia, I love how much he had to fight himself for every step of progress but how much progress he made as well. I love how much he loved and how much he hurt and how much he felt without ever really being able to label it or understand it without the support of everyone around him.

Is he perfect? Hell no. Do I love him? Yes.

... Look, my favorite characters tend to be side characters, okay?! I had to reach deep for this boy or it was just start listing boys from Vietnamese BL that didn't have side couples.

Favorite Side Character:

Kan. Forever. Frankly, he's my favorite character ever but he is technically a support character so he goes here. But this boy? This yearning, desperate, hurt and scared boy? He is everything to me. He grew so much and learned so much and found so much and I will never, ever leave him behind.

Favorite Scene in a BL:

Na and his sunglasses. Does this count? I don't know, if this doesn't count than nothing does.

Favorite Line in a BL:

I'm really sorry but I don't think I have one and if I do I don't remember it. Quotes are not my strong point and I tend to think in scenes/characters rather than lines from the show. And even the ones I do love don't tend to stick with me for long.

Most Anticipated BL (and why):

Dangerous Romance. Dangerous Romance. I am going to become the absolute wildest version of myself when that comes. BL Tropes and Class Commentary with tropes and social issues? My beloved! Yes, Only Friends has a lot to say but almost none of it will be in tropes so, you know, not my favorite. Very excited but this one? Everything to me.

Healthiest Relationship in BL:

Everyone in SCOY. Just... everyone. But especially my most precious SkyJao. I love them so much.

Special Mention to BeePrince, honestly, for being one of the best couples and healthiest, most open to each other relationships without actually being out because of social expectations and the way they just believed in their love.

Most Toxic Relationship in BL:

First place: PrapaiSky. No one can beat them out yet. He broke into his apartment and read his diary to him while he sobbed and begged him not to and had broken up with him. Nope. Nope, nope, nope. Nope. Just miles of nope.

Second Place: MorkPi. For the manipulation, emotional abuse and the way the show portrayed every selfish and unkind thing Mork did as his Only Choice. I hope Pi got out of that relationship.

Guilty Pleasure Series:

History 1: Obsessed. I love this little thing and it's not objectively that good and it's got so many issues and I don't even care because I love it so much. Absolutely imperfect and absolutely fucked up and full of not so good tropes but I still adore it.

Most Underrated Series:

I don't know? I don't know what other people think! I will put Tonhon Chonlatee here because, obviously, I love this little show. But what else?

Pretty much all Vietnamese BL falls under this umbrella but I give a special spot to You Are Mah Boy which is adorable and fluffy and pretty and criminally underrated by people. If you haven't watched it, it's all on youtube and you are sleeping on something wonderful. Not super deep but just so fun.

+BONUS Favorite Setting/Location:

This is rough. Like... what even do I say? I dunno?

I think my real answer has to be forests. I love characters and shots in forests just in general, they make me feel happy and they're different than the typical beach things we get. Forests are common here and I love seeing different forests and the different ways people around the world move in the forest. It's just great. But rare.

My other favorite is, oddly and against all appearances, bathrooms. Bathrooms and elevators. Scenes where the character have the illusion of privacy without it being totally private and with the chance of being interrupted but also we're just observing them? Love it. Thes are my favorite moments, the illusion of privacy knowing it can be broken at any second but needing that privacy enough to keep going even without that.

Anyway, I don't tag people but feel free to participate if you wanna!

[wanderlust-in-my-soul]

Love is something you fight for together. Stay by each other's side through every obstacle. If I was scared, I'd had run away the day I found out you're a hitman. But I stay with you because I love who you are. I know for sure you're the one I want. There's no need to be afraid. You and I will be fine. Everything will turn out alright. Knowing how much you care about me makes me certain that I didn't chose the wrong man. You deserve love just like anyone.

[gunsatthaphan]

🥃🔪🔥

[khaoala]

so nice of him to return the favor.

ONLY FRIENDS episode 2 THE HEART KILLERS official trailer

[thisautistic]

Let me refresh your memory...

[absolutebl]

MY BEST & WORST BLs of 2024

My Top 10 BLs of 2024 are (in order)

1 Cosmetic Playlover

Japan Gaga

I love this little show. It's a classic office BL about the older workaholic who loves his job and the younger upstart who unexpectedly loves his boss.

It’s a hyung romance where everybody is extremely earnest and sweet and pretty about everything. Except our seme, who is slightly unhinged and a little obsessed in all the ways one likes best from Japan. Utterly charming unexpected gem of a show. What fun!

Already in hard rewatch territory.

2 Love For Love's Sake

Korea iQIYI trigger suiside

KBL isekai about a man who must win a game by convincing a reserved teen outcast to fall in love with him. Of course, that teen represents himself and his own unhappiness. Like many queer narratives, this show is actually about self worth, trust, and found family, and it is VERY on the nose. But I don’t expect subtlety from my BL and I enjoyed it's truly lovely redemption arc and earnest performances. The narrative tension is tight, and the pacing is killer.

That said, I did find the flow a touch disjointed with overworked filming angles and poorer than average captions, but the consistency of tone, script, and immersion is spectacular, beyond the norm for BL (even KBL). You will drown in this show and like it that way. The leads have fantastic chemistry and it's ultimately highly rewatchable and utterly charming, which counts for a lot.

3 Unknown

Taiwan YouTube

Unknown is a wonderful BL with a pitch perfect portrayal of long term pining, age gap, and the stepbrothers trope. The acting and chemistry are ON POINT (especially from the leads) which made the resulting characters very believable.

When it dwells in intimate family drama, it's stunning. It's slightly less successful when it leaves the home and goes gritty. It's few flaws are the result of curtailed length. It could have used more breathing room to deal with side plots, characters, and companion character development. The editing was occasionally choppy and packed with flashbacks that broke the emotional tension. Still, those are mere quibbles for me. This is an excellent show based on one of my favorite old school BL tropes that I know I'm going to be recommending for a long time.

4 We Are

Thai iQIYI

I unabashedly loved show. It was slow to find its stride (I didn’t get into it until ep 6!) but I’m so glad I gave it a chance. It’s a soft ensemble piece with multiple couples and very little plot, but I didn’t care because it’s not trying to be anything more substantial.

Essentially, this was a series of vignettes covering one year of uni for a queer friendship group finding love, new friends, and laughter. It’s not being harsh with us or it’s characters the way some offerings of this ilk have been (side eyes Friend Zone and Only Friends) nor did it tumble into Gen Y chaos. In fact, this reminded me more than anything of a refined Love Sick - just with older characters and occurring within a genre that has matured over this last decade. It has that close queer friendship group meets earnest gentleness that made me adore Love Sick and Make It Right so much.

In other words, this was Thai BL at its finest, finding it roots again 10 years on, but also stretching upwards and showing us what it could do with that original seed. So? I adored it. Did it blow my mind? No. But it left me smiling and made me belly laugh quite a bit.

5 Cherry Magic (Thai remake)

Thai grey

A soft charming warm hug of a show about crushes and mind reading and self worth that really worked for me. With no-fuss execution from a consummate team and an OG lead pair (proving why they remain eternal and deserve to grow up).

Look, here’s the thing, Cherry Magic is a great Thai BL in its own right - not comparing it to any other iteration. But even when I do compare (and I've seen all the Cherries and read the manga) it stands strong.

I, personally, like the Thai BL slightly better than the Japanese live action yaoi, but I think that’s because I just really enjoy Thai BL's style and I LOVE TayNew (who may be my favorite OG branded pair still in operation). Also all the kissing was both present and better in this version. As it should be from Thailand.

Highly recommended.

6 Wandee Goodday

Thai YouTube

Such a FUN show. A charming quintessentially modern Thai BL about a doctor and a boxer who start as a one night stand and then fall in love. Great rep for everything from Muay Thai, to safe sex, to FUN sex, to ace, to bisexuality, to smiley kisses, to the first legal gay wedding in a Thai BL.

It’s a delight and I enjoyed (almost) every single moment of it. With out question it's best traits are active positive representations of green flag boys, communication, and grown-up relationships but the chemistry is ALSO on point. I personally can't (and don't) ask for much more than this from my BL.

Highly recommended as one of 2024's best pick-me-ups.

7 The Sign

Thai YouTube

This show is literally everything (except straight) all at once. It's BL, queer, band of brothers, romcom, erotica, PNR, fated mates, police procedural, fantasy, mystery, suspense, and slasher. It’s the king of genre mash-up chaos. Sure, it's madness but there is genius in it.

Was it a crazy unhinged mess +1 roll for damage? Yes. Yes it was.

Did it manage to hold all those tangled threads together? No it did not.

Was it also a charming, sexy, engaging, non-stop piece of entertainment? Sure thing.

I think this show is basically my KinnPorsche, and frankly I’ve been chasing that dragon naga since KP aired.

Is it perfect? No. But it was balls to the wall FUN.

Emphasis on balls.

8 Century of Love

Thai Gaga

This is a very pretty drama about a young man who fell in love with a nice girl 100 years ago, and when she died in his arms, he was cursed to live until he could meet her reborn self. Only this time around, she’s reborn into the body of a man. Or is she?

I love it when Thailand gets all up in its own historical business and reincarnation and shizz. I like this pair (it’s not DaouOffroad’s fault I didn’t enjoy their first series.) Daou’s wushu is snazzy and we got a unique meet cute. (Erm… Remeet cute? Meet cute 2.0?)

Ultimately, this is I Feel You Linger in the Air + First Love Again, rather than (as one might expect) Until We Meet Again or The Director Who Buys Me Dinner.

The leads turned in great performances, although Daou outclassed everybody else on that screen by making us really believe he's over 100 years old.

It’s a good story and a great BL and I can’t find any major faults with it beyond a certain level of camp that is sadly endemic to lakorns. I’m going to give it credit as the kind of BL that one could safely recommend to lovers of melodrama and historical romance, without having to qualify it as “good for a BL.”

It was, to put it succinctly, a VERY ENJOYABLE show.

9 Sugar Dog Life

Japan grey

This is a phenomenally charming and adorable little romance about a forlorn university kid and the police officer who adopts him. They are relentlessly kind to each other, in fact it’s an extremely kindly show over all (everyone in it is so nice to everyone else including us) so there’s very little tension. But what it lacks in drive, angst, and complexity it makes up for in earnest acts of service and simple affection.

These two are basically boyfriends from the get-go, it’s just one of them acts like it and doesn’t realize it and the other one realizes it and has to figure out how to make it a reality. It’s incredibly sweet and incredibly wholesome, nourishing but delicious.

Everybody who can, should watch this show. It will make you feel better about life.

10 The Rebound

Thai iQIYI

I am well aware that objectively this show was, erm, NOT good. But this was a sports romance Thai BL pulp with everything I could have asked for given this sub genre. More, actually, since MeenPing are both great basketball players and the team component really did form part of the connective tissue of the show (vital in a sports romance IMHO since these are band-of-brothers narratives).

Meen has his shirt off within the first two minutes which is all I needed but he's still pretty great as the sullen secret-keeper against Ping's cheerful survivor - childhood sweethearts torn asunder and now reunited. Then Frank sweeps in to give everyone a bad case of second lead syndrome.

I always try to judge BL for what it is AS BL, and what it’s trying to do within its own territory and purview. This did exactly what it claimed on the tin: gay boys play b-ball and fall in love. That was all I wanted from it. Sure there was random kidnapping and a light bought of mass murder, but what’s a BL in 2024 without a touch of the mafia? You do you little pulp, I’m disposed to be pleased.

These BLs all got 9/10s from me. Unlike in 2023, I did not hand out any 10/10 to any BLs in 2024.

The 13 BLs That I DNFed in 2024

(no particular order)

7 Days Before Valentine

Bad Guy My Boss

Bad to Bed

Beside You

Close Friend 3 Soju Bomb

Happy of the End

Kiseki Chapter 2

My Universe: Refund Love

Ossans Love – Season 2 (5 years later)

Playboyy

The Hidden Moon

The Whisperer

Time the series

You can consider these my "worst BLs of 2024." I am no longer a BL completest, too many aired in 2023 and it broke me. I now DNF all whenever I feel like it.

Codicil

I only carefully track/watch Thailand, Taiwan, Korea, and Japan. Other countries are not fully represented.

2024 - My Numbers

So my spreadsheet chronicled 109 BLs that finish airing in 2024 (down substantially from 138 last year). Japan has increased production slightly (length and consistency), Taiwan stayed steady, but Korea cut back - as did Vietnam, the Philippines, and Thailand.

73 = watched & reviewed (almost 30 less than 2023! I fell off the wagon in a big way)

3 = I'm still thinking about watching/finishing (4Minutes, Blue Canvas of Youthful Days, Spare Me Your Mercy)

20 = CNF (could not find)

13 = DNF (which accounts for how few very low scores I handed out, I just stopped watching). Speaking of which...

Ratings spread

(# of stars. & # of BLs given that rating)

0 (see DNFs instead)

1 - IT'S DEPRESSING they killed the gay, save yourself

1 - I DON'T KNOW WHAT I AM WATCHING AND NEITHER DOES IT

3 - FATALLY FLAWED but still basically BL, however… do we want to support this kind of behavior?

3 - WATCH IF YOU HAVE NOTHING BETTER TO DO but don’t expect much, it’s a total hot mess

9 - WORTH WATCHING BUT FLAWED probably around the ending or in narrative structure/cohesion or censorship

24 - RECOMMENDED WITH RESERVATIONS i.e. isn’t quite BL, convoluted, not strictly HEA, too short/long, or chemistry issues

22 - RECOMMENDED some concerns around tropes (like dub con) or story structure but still satisfies as BL

10 - ABSOLUTELY RECOMMENDED probably a few pacing issues or one flaw

0 - HIGHLY RECOMMENDED faithful to tropes, happy ending, good chemistry, few flaws, high rewatch potential

Favorite 2024 call out?

The Sign's nod to UWMA

Most adorable meta moment of 2024?

Wandee Goodday

Most stunning execution of a traditional trope in 2024.

Began Beginning (the shoulder lean)

(source)

[miss0atae]

This guy is having so much fun reading people's thoughts.

It's probably one of the worst powers to have because there are things you don't really want to know. I'm glad Jin is still finding some fun with it.

Look at his smile! He is having the time of his life right now witnessing how Phu is more preoccupied with food while every one of his loved ones are caring about him.

[deliriousblue]

THE HEART KILLERS (2024) episode ten

[potatoes-in-bloom]

Sunshine disguised as a Rebel

[tortibomb]

เธมโป้ (ThamePo) Heart That Skips a Beat | EP.12

Po and his keep my name outta your filthy mouth was the highlight of episode 12. The audacity!

[thistle--bug]

Thame: Guys i totally killed the mood and ruined my date with po :(

Jun:

[heretherebedork]

The first two kisses of Beer and Wan, before the confession, before the feelings, before the fear, the love between them that will bring them back to each other.

[cirphu]

I'm sorry. I really am sorry. And I'd like to thank you too. Because what you do for me means the world to me. Are you drunk? No, I'm not … Yes, I am. But, I'm not saying it because of that. I really do want to apologize.

Fluke Gawin as PISAENG & Krist Perawat as KAWI BE MY FAVORITE (2023), dir. Waa Waasuthep Ketpetch 

[gunsatthaphan]

"I want to do what lovers do."