#thai show recs

[wakandan-thot]

its 4am i just finished episode four of Reverse 4 You how am i not supposed to crash out while everyone in my house is sleeping after THAT ending

[mono-blogs-art]

How is Pluto such a good show. Episode 3 and 4 were just back to back bangers. Dude i cried my eyes out

[absolutebl]

Heyo! I have a friend I'm trying to get more into BL. She's watched KinnPorsche and I recently got her to watch 3 Will Be Free (I know, not BL). She's somewhat picky about the romance she likes to consume, so I thought I'd ask you which BLs you think would be best to get her started with the genre. Her specifications are 1) a good, solid plot (any type is fine); 2) slow burn; 3) and good chemistry. She also loves sci fi and fantasy. My initial thoughts are MoD, Not Me, and AToTS. Any additions?

BLs with: 1 Good Story, 2 Slow Burn, 3 Good Chemistry, 4 PNR elements if possible

I have not one specific list for you, but several! Many of these not updated so likely to recommend pre the 2023 madness. (Imma rag on some of your choices briefly: KP & MoD only satisfy one criteria - chemistry IMHO.

I did give you a final list of winners at the bottom tho!

1) BLs with the best stories:

2) BLs with best slow burn:

3) BLs with the best chemistry:

(by my definition)

4) PNR BLs (paranormal, sci-fi, or fantastical elements)

P'ABL did the math:

BLs that do or should show up on most of those lists:

Dear Doctor I’m Coming for Soul (Thailand) - the first one I thought of that satisfies all criteria. Good story, great chemistry, PNR & slow burn. By your friend's accounting, this should be the perfect BL. I'm a fan of this show and I have a full review here BUT I don't actually rec it often. Why? My quibble with DDICFS is that for dyed-in-the-wool BL or romance fans the ending may not satisfy, BUT that seems to be the one thing your friend is NOT - so this should be perfect.

Triage (Thailand) - good chemistry, frustratingly slow burn, def PNR, and good story. This was my second pull. It suffered at the time of airing from distribution issues and (perhaps more sadly) being up against KP. It's really good tho. A “correct the past” Groundhog Day plot, that has narrative baggage I normally do not like but is so clever about time loops, I have to forgive it my hang-ups. About a doctor who must save a boy to fix reality, but not in the usual way. 

Until We Meet Again (Thailand) - GREAT story, decent chemistry, very PNR, but not slow burn. It’s a perfectly executed fated mates reincarnation plot, fantastic well-seeded twists & reveals, and the only BL I would love to see adapted by other countries or read professionally translated. 

Old Fashion Cupcake (Japan) - slow burn, great story & chemistry, no PNR. This is a deceptively simple office romance that actually has a lot to say about life, love, maturity, and pancakes. It’s charming but also deeply moving and loving in its exploration of what it means to give up, and how connection can bring with it second chances. It’s also beautifully filmed and acted. 

Seven Days (Japan) - slow burn, great romance plot, good chemistry, no PNR. This is a pitch perfect elegant little YA romance that stays completely true to its yaoi roots but neatly avoids all the flaws of the genre. The story is deceptively simple but allows for angst and miscommunication to develop with VERY good reason, and is almost worth studying because of that. As a romance, it is elegant. I can see why it got stolen adapted.

1000 Stars (Thailand) - solid romance, very slow burn, okay chemistry, no PNR. All BL is romantic, but not all BL is a modern romance in the literary sense of the term, but 1k* is just that, an absolutely glorious slow burn gay romance that nods at BL but isn’t behooven to it. It’s just a really well executed linear romance story.

HIStory 3: Trapped (Taiwan 2019 Viki) - not PNR and maybe not exactly slow burn but aces everything else. (This was MY KP when it aired.) Taiwan often struggles with story because their BLs aren’t always long enough to really get stuck in, Trapped is different. It has a baby murder investigation that promotes conflict between the leads, so the romantic tension is between plot and character, it’s so smart. The leads did a GREAT job of showcasing mature chemistry. The side dishes in this series are wonderful too. The main couple has an amorphous ending, but like with Dear Doctor, that shouldn't rank under these specific circumstances.

My School President (Thai 2023 YouTube) - great chemistry, very slow burn, okay story, no PNR BUT you have to like YA. I know not everyone does. This is very youthful. GMMTV gave us a classic high school set Thai BL with tropes like messy boys singing their feelings that made this one Love Sick for the modern age with all the gentle sweetness and pining ache, but none of the dated damaging tropes or issues. Yes, we’ve seen it all before, but I still ADORE this. And there is a lot to be said for the classics being executed perfectly. Who let my BL be this wholesome and funny? Possibly too slow burn for some, we wait many eps for that pay out, and Tin's pining is NOT quiet, but it defines dorky and earnest, so when the payout comes? Lovely.

About Youth (Taiwan 2022 Gaga) - exactly the same criteria as MSP just Taiwan's version. A truly lovely little coming of age high school BL with a classic YA low drama but high angst and an earnest depth. I didn’t even mind the singing, and that’s saying a lot. A weak seme/uke dynamic but tons of BL tropes (both rare in a high school setting but common for Taiwan) makes this one feel both sweet and colored by an almost real world queer authenticity and grit. Full review here.

See You After Quarantine? (Taiwan 2021 Viki) - it's short there isn't a ton of story development, but it's a nice nugget introduction to Taiwan's style. Great chemistry, def slow burn, and CUTE. This under-appreciated gem is Taiwan’s answer to Gameboys and is just as charming and adorable yet still quintessentially Taiwanese. It features a Japanese love interest and the cutest most confused disaster gay. Slow burn because the two have almost no actual screen time together and yet manage some truly amazing chemistry. How does Taiwan do it?

Why no KBL?

Fascinating but despite the fact that KBL tends to earn the highest ratings from me and occupies the most slots in my 10/10 BLs of all time, because they are so short they tend to fall... erm... short in the arena of story and slow burn. Also, until recently, not a lot of great chemistry.

So here are a few others I considered but ended up eliminating for not containing enough of your required elements:

He's Coming to Me (Thailand) - review here

Nobleman Ryu’s Wedding (Korea) - this has a 12th Night meet Cinderfella feel to it, plus some great story tricks like a plot that requires a historical setting (I love it when narrative elements are codependent). 

Our Dining Table - It’s a quiet & cozy little parable of found family alleviating loneliness. Possibly too slow for some but definitely high up there for me with the best of what Japan can do, it’s only flaw (if I dare say such a thing) is that it is not really “romantic.” Lovely & sweet but the romance beats are being used to build a family relationship, not just couple intimacy, it’s OK with me, but not totally BL.

DNA Says Love You (Taiwan) - full review here

Ghost Host Ghost House - if your friend likes horror and culture immersion this might be a winner. Boys shack up with ghosts and each other. The story is weak but everything else is on point and it has some of the best slow burn HOT chemistry ever to hit our screens. No... really. The THIRST is real.

Semantic Error (2022 Viki) - Simple story, no PNR, not slow burn, but for Korea it’s some of the best chemistry the traditional studios have ever managed. It is flawless BL. Truly, perfection for the genre. If your friend doesn't like this, BL is probubly not the right genre. Full review. 

Light on Me - def slow burn but story is a little weak and while there is chemistry, it's not really acted upon. Also v YA and a little stiff. I love this BL unreasonably.

KP not tagged to protect me from the fandom. Don't troll me and prove my point. Remember I can has ban hammer and am not afraid to use it.

(source)

[pharawee]

if you could recommend 2-3 BLs to someone who has not seen anything that came out from late 2023 onwards and just came back from hiatus, what would you recommend? asking for a friend

Hi anon! I'm not sure if I'm the right person to ask since I'm 99% into Thai BL and have pretty niche taste but I'll try my best to give you some recs:

My Stand-In on IQIYI - If you want to get right back into fandom and don't mind waiting for a new episode every week then this is a good place to start. This is by the same production company that did I Feel You Linger in the Air, and based on a danmei (Professional Body Double) by Shui Qian Cheng. The cast is gorgeous and the plot very promising. Only one episode has aired so far but everyone (myself included) already loves it.

DFF - Dead Friend Forever is more of a psychological horror series with BL elements showcasing Be On Cloud's next generation of actors. If you don't mind gore and heavy themes then this might be for you. Please make sure to check the content warnings beforehand though because this series isn't holding back.

The Sign is probably the most popular choice because it offers a bit of everything. It's basically a (very sexy) BL wrapped in an action-oriented, culturally relevant crime drama reincarnation plot. Pretty sure it broke tumblr's tags a couple of times - that's how good it was (or still is - we're waiting for a special episode that hasn't aired yet).

These are probably among the most talked about and recent non-gmmtv BLs on tumblr. I'd rec you more (especially more indie and niche stuff haha) but I know that's probably very overwhelming. If you want me to I can try and give you some more recs based on your likes and dislikes. 💜

[freensrcha]

Which upcoming Thai gl series are you most excited about? For me it's 23.5 because I adore Milk and Love together, and they're probably going to properly kiss on screen, which makes me want to squeal into my pillow 🤗

thank you anon for this opportunity to scream about women kjsjksjkdsndj

23.5 is SO UP THERE cause i've been dying over milklove when all we had was inkpa crumbs and they're absolutely going to kill 23.5. ngl i was concerned 23.5 would be high-five drama but gmm has been acting a lil different lately so idk. and technically i said the same thing about bad buddy before it came out so... don't listen to me is the moral.

the last case cause I LOVE CRIME AND MURDER AND MYSTERY. it's just so up my alley. i hope there's women covered in blood GOD PLS. BE GAY DO CRIME

show me love!!! stalking lux (special shoutout to about galaxy which will probably star lux) on instagram for a week straight ended with my insta fyp being filled with thai pageantry content which is literally 90% englot. i mean i already knew them long back but now it's a different level and THEIR CHEMISTRY. yk it's gotta be good when they decide to make a show cause of your irl chemistry. and engfa is openly queer so yes to more queer people playing queer characters.

reverse 4 you had such a good pilot trailer and it has a very solid plot so i'm super excited for that too. i do love me a forbidden romance hehe

be mine/be my baby. i'm still confused about the different names forgive me but i'm still excited cause we HAVE FOUR WHOLE COUPLES. i'm most excited for the roommates (ormfolky) cause ROOMMATES hehe

special mentions to season 2 of both fragrance of the first flower and girlfriend project day 1. happy ending of fotff this time PLEASE.

also big shoutout to sofia (@ahxu-laowen) without whom i wouldn't even know about half of these. OUR SAPPHIC SAVIOUR ily 💖

[lurkingteapot]

all these Laws of Attraction (2023) things flying around are making my desire to re-watch Khun Chai SKYROCKET. I don't have time! But the heart wants.

(If you haven't watched it yet, what's stopping you? it's the love child of a typical telenovela-style Thai lakorn, a wuxia show, and a historical BL show, and it's FANTASTIC. it's historical! it's got family politics! actual politics! a huge cool ensemble of characters! fantastic sibling relationships! MAGIC! It's on youtube -- with subs! the first episode is 95% exposition and has a content warning list that's at least eight items long, but I promise a) it gets better after that b) you will get SUCKED IN.

I'm not selling this well but it legitimately was one of my top five favourite things that aired in 2022, so if you've heard or read about other faves of mine and thought, oh, this person has acceptable taste? give it a shot.

Again: It's 17 episodes, on youtube in full, and it has both English and Thai subtitles available. The theme song is sung by Nunew and the MV hit 10M views on youtube within two weeks.

I'm not even making you go try to find it yourself. Here's ep 1. Have fun.

Warnings under the cut. Despite the laundry list of them, this is NOT a grimdark show.

Ep 1 contains instances of: homophobia, forced outing, suicide (on screen and graphic), attempted murder of a child, corporal punishment of a child, snakes (bad cgi).

Overall warnings for things that don't occur in ep one but will at some point (I'll dig up specifics if anyone needs them):

bugs (seriously this has SO many bugs), roofying/sex pollen, murder (various instances), controlling parents, mushrooms (you'll see), fire, ep 5 has rats and a very disturbing view of a mutilated corpse … I'll add to this as I remember.

[myromancedramas]

My Master Lists

Hi welcome to my little blog :,) Here are my recommendation lists! I try to keep these updated but I'm not always punctual, forgive me. Let me know if you have any questions or trouble with the links!

My main is @softandorsweet <3

currently rewatching: Doom at your service

just finished: Love for Love's Sake

MY TOP 5 FAVORITES (see google doc list for plot descriptions and my full list of recommendations)

Romance Kdramas

DOOM: AT YOUR SERVICE (TW death, terminal illness, parent death, themes of su*cide)

TWENTY-FIVE TWENTY-ONE (TW anti-fatness, mild bullying, themes of depression)

HOMETOWN CHA-CHA-CHA (TW anti-fatness, themes of su*cide, ensemble character death)

YUMI'S CELLS (1 & 2) (TW anti-fatness)

 LOVE FOR LOVE’S SAKE (BL) (TW homophobia, su*cidal ideation, shown su*cide, death, blood)

Romance Thrillers Kdramas

VINCENZO (TW multiple characters death, murder, gun violence, homophobia, torture)

W: BETWEEN TWO WORLDS (TW themes of & su*cide, gun violence, parent death, homophobia, sexism, anti-fatness)

HEALER (TW parent death, murder, childhood abuse, kidnapping, themes of su*cide)

WHILE YOU WERE SLEEPING (TW childhood trauma, parent death, so much anti-fatness, homophobia, sexism, main character death, murder, slipping someone a drug, themes of & shown attempted su*cide, gun violence)

HAPPINESS (TW self h*rm, murder, zombies basically so lots of blood, classism, gun violence)

Thai Romance Dramas

NOT ME (BL) (TW physical altercations, gun violence, arson, kidnapping, commentary on ableism, racism, capitalism and more)

BAD BUDDY (BL) (TW physical altercations, blood, family violence, gun violence, unwanted public outing) 

MY SCHOOL PRESIDENT (BL) (TW mild manipulation, shove, slap, punch, homophobia, non con photo taking, unwanted public outing)

KINNPORSCHE (BL) (TW gun violence, murder, torture, kidnapping, mafia altercations, physical altercations, under the influence sex scene, dubious consent) 

THE ECLIPSE (BL) (TW homophobia, minimal physical altercations, outing someone)

Japanese Romance Dramas

MY LOVE MIX-UP (BL) (TW homophobia)

ALICE IN BORDERLAND (TW shown death, su*cide, extreme violence, sexual assault, severe psychological trauma)

CHERRY MAGIC (BL) (TW age gap)

SEVEN DAYS (BL) (TW cheating)

ONLY JUST MARRIED (TW fake marriage, unrequited love)

Taiwanese Romance Dramas

ABOUT YOUTH (BL) (TW family stress)

WE BEST LOVE (BL) (TW blackmail, dubious consent, manipulation, non con kiss, violence)

MY TOOTH YOUR LOVE (BL) (TW trauma, parent death, physical abuse, family abuse)

HISTORY 3: TRAPPED (BL) (TW gun violence, kidnapping, gun violence, blood)

BE LOVED IN HOUSE: I DO (BL) (TW manipulation)

Chinese Romance Dramas

PUT YOUR HEAD ON MY SHOULDER (TW anti-fatness) 

i wanted to include any warnings i noticed while watching these shows, as to reduce any harm to anyone taking my recommendations! these are still my favorite shows and have as many nuanced positives as nuanced negatives!

key: FL = female lead, ML = male lead, TW = trigger warning

message about south korean dramas: i think so many of us are drawn to kdramas for their depth and analysis of different forms of oppression and traumas. however, kdramas are lacking so much in so many ways thus the TWs. i recently found out that studio dragon, the largest production company in south korea is a monopoly company (bought out all smaller independent businesses and now has total control over most production in south korea). studio dragon alone has produced vincenzo, hometown cha cha cha, happiness, twenty-five twenty-one, yumis cells, my roommate is a gumiho, doom at your service, true beauty, start-up, tale of the nine tailed, flower of evil, it’s okay to not be okay, hi bye mama, my holo love, love alarm, hotel del luna, because this is my first life and way way more. plus they just signed with Netflix in the last year or two, and will only be continuing to expand. if you regularly watch kdramas there’s not much we can do, expect support the dramas that have become more inclusive. knowledge is power and having perspectives on why studio dragon is not perfect is more beneficial than living in the dark.

[marshmallord]

i just binged the first four episodes of laws of attraction and my only complaint is that i did this too early and now i have to WAIT for EIGHT MORE EPISODES…… wish i’d waited a bit longer so i could binge more TT

[tm-trx]

currents.17 [2024]

selections from my week in media [21-27 april 2024]

[anticipating]

Change2561 released trailers for their upcoming slate of shows and most of them look really interesting, but the two that stood out were Goddess Bless You From Death and Pit Babe 2. Never thought we'd get a second season of Pit Babe but I'm here for the shenanigans.

[listening]

"A.D.T.O.Y." / 2PM

"Crying" / Aerosmith

"The Real" / ATEEZ

[reading]

To Build a Home We Deconstruct Our Rituals by letmetellyouaboutmyfeels - 9-1-1 fake marriage trope

[watching]

In Blossom - Finally had a chance to get back to this one and managed to get through most of the rest of it. I'm bored a lot of the time, even with fast forwarding through the second pairing. I do love the male lead's costuming though, so that's worth a lot.

previous Currents posts

[zhouxiangs]

finally bit the bullet and got an iqiyi subscription so... please rec me anything you think i should watch! bl or otherwise, i'm all eyes

[lyknest]

10 songs on your playlist right now!

rules: you can usually tell a lot about a person by the type of music they listen to. put your playlist on shuffle and list the first ten songs, and then tag ten people. no skipping!

OH this feels like baring my soul!!!! thank you for tagging me @heart-ming & @justafriend-ql 💗🫶

because I'm a weirdo i have different apps for different music, like i have bollywood songs pirated downloaded on my phone, prime music for english + other music and spotify for everything i can't find on prime music (which is mostly thai music)!!! and i don't do playlists, i just add all my songs to my library and hit shuffle 😶‍🌫️ so here's all three!!!!

tagging: @i-got-the-feels @wanderlust-in-my-soul @writtenalloveryourface28 @sorrowfulliming @deshimango @chinzhillababy @pondphuwin (no pressure though ✨💌)

[astarlightmonbebe]

crazy that i finished 12 dramas in 2023. and only one of them was a traditional 16 ep kdrama.

they were, in order of completion -

through the darkness (kdrama, 12 eps)

blood of youth (cdrama, 40 eps)

lighter and princess (cdrama, 36 eps)

black knight (kdrama, 6 eps)

our beloved summer (kdrama, 16 eps)

race (kdrama, 12 eps)

dearest (jdrama, 10 eps)

a thousand goodnights (twdrama, 20 eps)

my lovely boxer (kdrama, 12 eps)

vigilante (kdrama, 8 eps)

i am nobody/the outcast (cdrama, 27 eps)

a journey to love (cdrama, 40 eps)

[pharawee]

Hello! I’m currently loving the pitbabe cast,nut in the “boys journey” on youtube and tiktoks seems more feminine (which i love!) and is very different from his character. But it made me think that fem characters aren’t really a thing in bl. I’ve watched SCOY but apart from that is there any bl works that have a fem main character that isnt a “joke” and has a love interest?

Thank you and have a great day!!

Hi anon! 💜

Negl I'm absolutely desperate for more fem (main) characters in BL but sadly, you're right, there aren't many main characters who fit the description. There aren't even many side characters who fit the description (and even fewer fem side characters who aren't primarily there for comedic relief).

Like, I loved Green in 2Together. I wish the story had treated him better and I still follow Gun Korawit on ig hoping he'll get more roles soon because he's so lovely (the same goes for Bruce Sirikorn who I just adore and who finally FINALLY got a lovely side role in Step by Step).

It always makes me really sad when I browse the comment section of MDL or the hellscape that is x (or even reddit) and people are just so dismissive and cruel when it comes to fem BL characters or even actors - calling them annoying or unattractive. They want their "ukes" not to be too manly (whatever that even means) but never in a confident or unapologetic or flirty way. And let's not even go into what they think of fem characters who don't fit the stereotypical "bottom" cliché...

That being said, there's probably a spectrum here for what makes a BL character fem. Some people might include characters like Yai in Big Dragon or Pete in Love By Chance (or Fluke Natouch in pretty much every single one of his BL roles - most of which I actually disagree with lmao) but let me give you a few examples of feminine main characters in (Thai - because that's most of what I watch) BL that I'm really vibing with:

PP Krit as Oh-aew in I Told Sunset About You & I Promised You the Moon. Because if you're not at least a little bit in love with Oh-aew then I don't even know. 🥰

Tootsies and the Fake and its series prequel Diary of Tootsies - this is more a queer comedy than BL but I absolutely adore it. Very funny, very cute and heartwarming too. 💜

James Supamongkon as Uea in Bed Friend - if you like your fem characters confident and sexy (with an incredibly upsetting backstory - be warned) then this series is for you.

Pak Naphat as Namnuea in Wedding Plan - Nuea is the softest, thirstiest, cutest boy. This Mame series is often overlooked because it isn't as dramatic as her usual stuff but I liked it a lot when I watched it.

Earth Katsamonnat as Seeiw in My Only 12% - because Seeiw in the latter half of the series is the most confident we've seen Earth since Until We Meet Again (but personally I'm still waiting for the day when I can see Earth play someone in overknees and a cute skirt 🥰)

Turbo Chanokchon as Anda in Love Stage!! (the Thai remake) - so what if I needed to lie down for a bit when Anda wore that wedding dress and wig etc. That's a completely normal reaction. (Turbo also had a small side role in Nitiman and he looked so elegant and confident there that he totally stole each scene he was in).

Fluke Natouch as Krit in Make a Wish - this one never had an international release but if you can track it down with fansubs then it's a cute little watch and Fluke looks amazing in it. This series also has Pon Thanapon (Jeff in Pit Babe) in a side role and that's always a plus.

Tor Atagorn as Nail in For Him is simply GORGEOUS! The series is still ongoing and recently lost some of its steam but Nail's styling remains meticulous!

[natalias-pierogi]

Ok I am wondering if I should watch Cupid's Last Wish or Fish Upon The Sky, so. BL people, tell me. Save me from making the decision. I am begging

[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.

[absolutebl]

BLs with Strong Historical Elements

Costume dramas, historical BLs, and BLs with time travel or flashbacks to historical locations & times.

These are in order of my personal preference, best at the top.

I Feel You Linger in the Air

2023 Thailand

IFYLITA is an exquisite BL, from filming techniques to narrative framework (much like Until We Meet Again). It's about a gay man from our time who falls into the past, becomes a servant to a noble house, and falls in love with the heir. It turns out this has all happened several times before. Steeped in history and family drama it edges into lakorn (but not as much as To Sir With Love and with way less scenery chewing). This is an elegant and classy soulmates BL... from Thailand which normally doesn't even try for classy. The main couple (both as a pair and as individuals) were excellent, particularly Bright (Yai) whose eye-work acting style is a personal favorite of mine. Pity about the ending. Oh it wasn’t that sad but it wasn’t good either. This show could easily have earned a 10/10 from me except that it fumbled the… erm… balls in the final quarter. Argh. Whatever.

Nobleman Ryu's Wedding

2021 Korea - WeTV

A boy cross-dresses to take his runaway sister's place as a bride to a shy scholar, turns out they like being married. A historical setting allowed this BL to use some seriously old fashioned romance tropes (arranged marriage, evil step-sisters, Cinderfella) but also modern BL stylings like fake relationship & secret identity (drag) plus some cute gay panic. It reminded me of 12th Night more than anything else which just happens to be my favorite Shakespeare play. For all these reasons, I adored it.

(the ghat kiss!)

Tinted With You

2022 Korea - Viki

Fun stylish time travel meets portal fantasy with a likable cast, historical setting, and two actual kisses that mitigate the rough plot and issues around anachronisms.

Word of Honor

2021 China (censored) - Viki/YouTube?

I don’t rec Chinese stuff often, because I believe in censoring the censors, but this show is one of my favorites of the post 2016 censored bromances. It’s two murder-gay assassins (pining sunshine/tsundere), and they are so insanely gay for two boys who will never be allowed to kiss. Tropes include: wuxia, soulmates, paranormal, historical, and fantasy elements.

To Sir, With Love AKA Khun Chai

2022 Thailand - YouTube?

This is a true lakorn (basically Thai tellenovella or soap opera) with scenery chewing performances, especially from the mother characters. Gone With the Wind + Days of Our Lives but gay. That said? I loved it: A glorious central brother relationship (the best, made me cry), het romances, class divide + gay *gasp* main romance - oh my word, the campy drama of it all! Arranged marriage, rebellion, cut sleeves, over-the-top death with curses and regrets, beautiful if inaccurate costumes, secrets unraveling, cover ups, sparkle murder, sex herbs, coils within coils including snakes and murderous green metallic sequins (is anything gayer on this earth?). It’s a WILD ride but it does end happy for our gay boys. A man cries when he finds DEATH GLITTER. Come on! You haffa watch it. That said, like Manner of Death I struggle to rate something on a BL scale when it patently isn’t a BL. So I ended up giving this exactly what I gave that show, 7/10 I enjoyed it a whole lot, but not as a BL.

The Untamed (Special BL Edition)

2020 China (censored) - YouTube

Censored wuxia bromance, amorphous ending. Probubly the best known BL of its kind out of China and responsible for bring many fans to the BL side.

Our Skyy 2: Never Let Me Go

2023 Thailand - YouTube

I was nervous to watch this PondPhuwin vehicle but I liked it a lot! Doomed soulmates + paranormal time travel to fix the past. I’m happy for the outfits and the dancing (if not the singing). It’s not a bad premise and it’s nice to see GMMTV lean into its high production values for a change. I'd adore a full historical starring these two and this was definitely the best of the second series of Our Skyy. I don't think you have to have watched the original Never Let Me Go to enjoy this.

Legend of Long Yang: Rebirth

2017 China

Gaga

Whipping boy trope... literally, servant character takes the strap for the prince, who then makes him his bodyguard and lover when he becomes king. Low budget historical, comes off as kind of cosplay wuxia version of Irresistible Love, but we get (in the credits) an actual kiss, and they both live. So yay for small mercies.

The Director Who Buys Me Dinner

2023 Korea (historical flash backs)

iQIYI

A new employee at a film company encounters a director who claims to have lived 300 years and insists that they have to date (eat, hug & kiss) if baby doesn't want to die. It has a lot of Japanese elements, not the least of which are: an office setting, the fact that every character in this show is unhinged, and a killing of the gays. Featuring a gorgeous & stellar cast, TDWBMD should have utilized them less for melodrama and more for chemistry. This BL surprised me by going there with a lipstick mark AND an actually gay idol. But (you knew there was a but) while it's a unique twist on an office romance it is NOT a unique twist on the doomed red thread trope, resulting in it feeling less than the sum of its parts and ultimately unsatisfying. This might have also had to do with the fact that this was one of those KBLs where I felt how very short it was the whole time I was watching, like I was missing something constantly, in every episode. Worth watching for some but seriously flawed.

First Love Again

2022 Korea (historical flash backs) - Viki

A popular novelist who remembers his past lives meets his soulmate for the third time, only to find she has been reincarnated into the body of a man. This one started out a touch mean-spirited, but we eventually got a good kiss. The confession/rejection scene was justified and the reconciliation and ending was... fine. All in all, the pacing felt rushed and the romantic arc was underdeveloped. They go from like to love to boyfriends in a red hot minute. But that’s par for the course with Korea’s short form. If you don’t mind a heavy does of melodrama in your BL this one has a solid story with a strong concept that’s well acted and produced, making it a classic KBL with better than average chemistry but ultimately a touch forgettable.

Love in Spring AKA Spring of Crush

2022 Korea

This show was all over the place with uneven acting, narrative, and focus (sometimes it wanted to be a slapstick comedy, sometimes a depressing melodrama) which meant no one, actors or viewers, took anyone or anything seriously.... AND it’s a bromance. I was left wondering if SalHyung is now code for “they were roommates” in Kdrama historicals but otherwise largely apathetic and unimpressed. Korea, I now know you can do better. Do better.

Mermaid's Jade

2019 China (censored-esk) - Gaga

Kills the gay.

The Male Queen: Han Zi Gao

2016 China - Gaga

Kills the gay. Schrodinger's BL, both a BL and entirely not one at the same time.

Diary of Heong Yeong Dang

2014 Korea

Kills the Gay

I was gonna do a top 10 list, but there aren't enough by my metrics, so many end sadly.

This post at the behest of @verymuchof thank you for the idea!

Dated April 2023, includes only BLs that had finished their run by that date. Not responsible for cool costume flix that come after that. But you should check the comments to see if any have been added by others!

I might have missed a few that only have time historical elements since I don't always track those.

Also I would like to point out a decided lack of Japan on this list. My ninja yaoi consuming tiny past self is VERY upset about this void.

WHERE ARE MY GAY NINJAS??!!!

(source)