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Vietnamese BLs

Selbee

VIETNAMESE BL 29

Happiness Flies Far Away (2020. 8x25min)

Phi is a country boy left to take care of his siblings after the tragic death of their parents. Hoping to make more money to pay for school, he moves to Saigon where he ends up working in a hotel. There he meets a rich client, Khoi and after the initial embarrassment  they fall hard for each other. But Khoi's family won't leave him be and the tragedy ensues!

Nothing goes right for the protagonists of this bl! Tragedy and death and the root of it all, the family pressure: be it Phi's siblings he is suddenly responsible for, be it Khoi's parents who insist he marries a girl of their choosing. Neither is free nor is ever going to be.

Cinematography is stunning and the music sets the adequate heavy, ominous tone! The actors are perfect and the chemistry is there.

But that ending.....😭😭it was really unnecessary! It stems from another time and another age!
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLfnQxeTD8yucdxgmcH6W8XIG4mPhAhPw2 


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Selbee

VIETNAMESE BL 30

Because Of Meeting You, We Can Be Here Together (2018, 29x19min though really only 12min the rest are credits)

Ha Sinh is a country child, naive and ignorant, who was born into a very poor family. Always mistreated by his parents and siblings who hate him, Ha Sinh is given to a wealthy man from the city by his Grandfather, as payment of a favour from the past, who thought this would be his best chance to have a better life. Leaving the bosom of his family, now Ha Sinh has to learn to adapt to life in the big city and deal with his new home mate: Vien Truc. At first, what seemed to be a complicated and hateful relationship, then becomes friendly and loving. A different feeling between the two begins to be born and, despite trying to resist, becomes stronger than they can admit.

This is an older series and it shows! The beginning is very strange but then it smooth sailing (though some plot points are rather illogical) of classical enemies to lovers story until it reaches the final third when it is full of time skips (all of a sudden they are dating: how?when? WTF? we will never know!) and crying! The second part also deals with a homophobic parent and the consequences of their words! It was rather powerful! And the music is made for crying! But don't worry it is not all sad!

The subs are bad (as usual) but if you are brave enough and interested in quirky productions , you can watch it here:
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL_S9UyLiUC2siTextR9aKjUaweyQuQ32 


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Selbee

VIETNAMESE BL 31

Oh, My God! (To Do! 2023. 5x25min)

An goes to see his grandmother in a mountain village for the first time since he left 10 years earlier after a traumatizing incident. On the road he meets Thanh and clashes with him only to discover later that Thanh is his grandmother's foster son and that he has to share a room with him. The initial misunderstandings develop into something more as Thanh helps An deal with his demons.

This is an uneven series meandering between slapstick comedy and trying to deal with serious issues: An's trauma is reminiscent of TharnType while the gay uncle's eternally happy face hides deep misery (think ITSAY and the red bra!). And of course there is a useless mean girl they could have done without.

Nevertheless, in spite of its flaws, the series is a good watch, it is beautifully filmed, the actors are amazing and have great chemistry and the music is dreamy.

Go for it!
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL3lkkYzxtVlPgZQ1vzsnbmME0P1x5V7ui 

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Selbee

VIETNAMESE BL 32

Football Guys (2018. 7x10min; recut version 2022. 8x10min)
Bikini War (Football Guys 2) (2018. 13x12min)

Duc Chinh is a new student and a talented football player. He was given the only remaining place in the dorm with Tien Dong, temperamental star footballer. When the club loses in the finals again, Tien Dong disappears while everyone thinks he left to study abroad.
Some time later, the football club goes to a seaside resort for training and there they meet Tien Dong who is amnesiac and is living off of older rich women he picks up there.

This is another enemies to lovers series complete with usual scenes: tripping on the other person, long shower scenes... While the first season is short and it focuses mainly on the two main characters, the second season is going for a slapstick comedy involving resort staff and guests while leaving a very little time for the main couple.

The producers, YoungLifeTiVi, makers of Memory, A Love Song For My Beloved etc. tend to disperse themselves, going off topic and generally wasting precious time telling unnecessary side character stories. The main story is usually very interesting but is unfortunately not told well! Or to the end, for that matter: they all open-ended!The episodes are very short: actually 5 - 8 min long while the rest is credits, very, very long credits!


Watch the original season 1 and 2:
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLhue2OIY8nfAgVXGy26mfm6sVP2qMOX-c

The recut version (with minor differences):
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLsxepgkpcQg-sfD-zbFj_ncsSw1CqXnxf 

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Selbee

VIETNAMESE BL 33

Hey! First Love (2019. 4x10min, BTS included)

HEY! FIRST LOVE” is a webseries which includes various short scenes that capture intimate moments of a young gay couple, from school, dates to home. Every little simple wonderful thing in life.
 
This is a gem! I feel like I'd been scraping the bottom of the barrel in VBLs recently but then I happened upon this one. Sweet, cute, funny and far too short, leaves you craving for more!

Do you remember Thai webseries Between Us Special, they made to humour the fans? Well, this is the vietnamese version (which came first, I think!).

Just watch it: it is only about 25min long!

https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLGCQUte0H8_EqZuJXKMqFmZ3vf__5K7pb

 


My Goofy Deskmate: Ey Mi Amor! (2023. 12 x 10min)

This Vietnamese BL seems to be an extended version by a different producer, of Hey! First Love. The concept is the same: a string of short sketches. Here we have two pairs of best friends finishing high school . Are they friends or more? We see the evolution of those relationships and how they deal with the outcome.

Unlike the first series, this one has a linear plot and is less funny. It is filmed vertically. Some episodes are longer because they include some BTS interviews with actors. It is a nice and cute short watch!

You can watch it here:
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLlFBAZXJjUph9FXTREspY-nEjCbgsFkDd

Enjoy!

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Selbee

VIETNAMESE BL 34

The Day You Came (Ngay Em Den, 2019. 35min)

Two strangers meet and end up staying at the same house. The attraction is immediate! The future is less than certain!

This is a short movie by O2 Productions. The story is not very original (a photographer and a baker) but the outside cinematography is pretty (Vietnam is a beautiful country if these bls are to be believed!), the chemistry is palpable but it is brought down by ridiculous special effects (lightning like electricity between their eyes!) What is the need for that?

Watch it here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CG5SIDecT1w 

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Selbee

VIETNAMESE BL 35

The Time Adventures of To An (To An Ky, 2020. 6x27min & 3x6min side stories)

To An and Doan Bang are best friends living in the imperial court in ancient Vietnam. Doan Beng is slated to marry a princess but To An is in love with her so with the help of a local tavern girl (and probably more!) To An manages to break that engagement and marry the princess himself. But on his wedding night, he is transported to present day Saigon where he meets the present incarnation of people he knew back then. He gets to know Doan Bang now Henry and the princess now a theatre director. Interacting with them, he realizes who he is really in love with and goes back to his own time.

To An Ky has the merit of having an original concept: a time travel BL. And the cinematography/filming is rather well done. The story is a bit messy and awful subs do not help! The side stories are just music videos featuring major events from this webseries with a couple of additional scenes, so one may as well only watch those!

The problem is the main actor, Adam Lam : this seems to be his vanity project, showcasing his talents. But he is terribly miscast (I kept thinking of the cast of The Golden Blood: one actor is the hotness incarnate, the other a comic relief support character actor).

Here is the official playlist:
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLvUgUCAJsX3y2joJRiU8Y8uDDM_aLb42k
Enjoy! 


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Selbee

VIETNAMESE BL 36

The Lost Ring (a.k.a. The Ring Goes Missing, 2018. 25min short movie)

Cot is a student working as a housekeeper to pay his university fees. One day, his employer accuses him of stealing a ring...

A nice short movie, with minimum of toxicity but a lot of misunderstandings, cute moments and a few obligatory shower scenes. Another enemies to lovers story or maybe better said, boss/employee one! Short & sweet & funny!❗❗Don't skip the post credit scene!! ❗❗ Pure fluff!

It is by O2 Production so you can find it on their youtube channel as well as on Gagaoolala.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-72EoBjPaBE



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Selbee

VIETNAMESE BL 37

Waiting For The Wind (2013. 28min short movie)

Phong is a bartender moonlighting as a male hooker. One morning he bumps into Khanh who is smitten and pursues him relentlessly. They eventually start dating. And then destiny strikes a blow!

A very poignant short movie, telling a story about two young men faced with extraordinary circumstances. It is beautifully filmed at times though sometimes it looks and sounds like a high school project.  Editing is a bit rough and choppy and the sound is mostly bad but the music saves the day! It was made by Friends Make Film Production as part of project to "reduce stigma and discrimination for homosexual, and HIV prevention".

Watch it here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nu6f8O9h_VQ 

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Selbee

VIETNAMESE BL 38 (LGBT)

Goodbye Mother (2019. 1h45 movie)

Van comes back to Vietnam from the States for the first time in 9 years. He brings his boyfriend Ian with him intending to come out to his mother and his family. But everyone expects him to get married so coming out seems very complicated.

What a beautiful movie! What an amazing cast of characters. Van and Ian have great chemistry. His mother is epitome of elegance, competence, beauty and understanding. The grandmother suffering from dementia (or is she?) is the kindest and funniest character of the movie. And then there is the family dead weight, a group of bitter, incompetent, lazy and judgemental people making the Mother's life a misery. And still she deals with everything calmly with a smile.

I actually did not want to watch this thinking it would be sad (just look at the title and the main poster with grandmother) but it is not. Moreover, it has the vietnamese BLs' obligatory shower scene!

Last, but not least I would like to thank AthenaTheStorierX for bringing this amazing movie to my attention.

Go watch it on Gagaoolala and Viki (in certain regions)! 

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Selbee

VIETNAMESE BL 39

Adam's Secret (2017. 10x20min)
Part 1 out of 4

Nam is a photographer whose girlfriend surprised him outside a gay bar kissing. Duang, a model, surprised his boyfriend sleeping with his best friend, a girl. Huy is an out of town student, naive and simple. They find themselves unwillingly roommates after the landlady rents a single room to all three of them and then goes for a trip with their rent money. After the initial clashes, they become good friends and maybe more?

This is a sitcom: the only thing missing is a laugh track. The story is a bit messy and auto generated and auto translated subs, do not help comprehension. It is poorly made and very amateurish. The sound is awful and the music the same as in other VBLs. Actually, I keep hearing the same background score in majority of these series. Do they have a short playlist from which all producers choose?

I could not figure out why it was called Adam's secret since there is no characters with this name. Unless Adam stands for Man (like the first man in Bible!)  then it is about Nam and his closeted homosexuality.

You can watch it on youtube:
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLh1FaI32w-5DvV56I75vgs8iyU-CYMTHe

 Adam's Secret 2: My Brother (2017. 14x15min)
Part 2 of 4

Vu's mother remarried and they both go to live with her new husband who has a son, Phong. He is a cold and taciturn young man but Vu's sunny disposition breaks down his walls. When their parents leave for honeymoon, the young men's relationship takes a radical turn. There are a few side couples: Thian who's looking for his childhood friend ManMan, Lan who likes Van who wants to marry Phong...

The connection to the first series is Nam, here just a side character and Vu's old neighbour.

This drama is the vietnamese remake of thai movie My Bromance. It was supposed to have 15 episodes but the story wraps up nicely with ep.14. The production is not that bad (i.e. I've seen worse!) but the issue is still the sound: badly recorded. Background score is awful generic elevator music. The songs are nice. There are a few red flags though (ep. 7 drunk kissing and more!).

Watch it here with eng subs (warning : about a third of EVERY episode is soundless)
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLh1FaI32w-5B8E5z_HTq11ecrERgizQWF

There is also a french fansubbed version:
http://asiandrama.eklablog.com/adam-s-secret-2-my-brother-a135027942 

Adam's Story: Roommate (2017.  6x10min)
Part 3 out of 4

Nam has been in a relationship for a year now with his childhood friend Dang. He and Duong parted ways and now he is living with Dang.

This short web sitcom is a series of unrelated sketches from their everyday lives. The series takes place after the events in Adam's Secret 2 (where Nam was a minor support character) and is so much simpler than in Adam's Secret. It is mildly funny but I was bothered by sound which was cavernous, very difficult on ears!

You can find it here:
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLh1FaI32w-5ApbMMkdRRDIS1Y1mIxIIiT

Adam's Story: Neighbour Guy (2018. 9x10min)
Part 4 of 4

Nam and Hoang are bickering neighbours in a university dorm. Will their bickering lead to more?

Even though it is the final part of Adam Series, this installment is unrelated to others storywise. There are familiar actors but the roles they play are different. This sitcom is a series of sketches showing the bickering  and teasing nature of their relationship.

You can find it here:
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLh1FaI32w-5CwS0EUpO_xMErF4P8lv91O

Enjoy!

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Selbee

VIETNAMESE BL 40

Moi Nam Toi Lai Den Tham Mo Cau (Every Year I Visit Your Grave, 2021. 1h23)

This movie is the Vietnamese version of Thai drama "He's Coming To Me". You will find every iconic scene from the series here.

Watch it on here with subs:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4TE_c1awUoI

NB Do not look for the scene featured in the youtube thumbnail for this movie: the producers often photoshop stills from foreign bls (in this case thai's Check Out ep. 0) 

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Selbee

VIETNAMESE BL 41

Happy Family (S1, 2019 4x12min; S2, 2020. 5x12min)

A family gets together to celebrate Vietnamese Tet (Vietnamese lunar New Year, same as Chinese!). Hong Phuc invited his friend Minh Triet who came with a girl, which Phuc is not happy about.Phuc's cousin, Gia Huy come with his boyfriend/boss Tuan Anh.

This is a sitcom so expect: canned laughter, silly slapstick, special effects, bad acting in addition to or as a result of the low budget production. Subs are really bad! Not my cup of tea.

It is a YoungLife TiVi production available on youtube:
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLvVQnqlzVjql81nAFsEY9quduhenHu1fB 

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Selbee

VIETNAMESE BL 42

Tien Bromance (2020. 10x25min)

Frankly I do not know how to describe this one!

It is an extremely violent BL with a dash of romance . The story follows Tien and Tai. Tien is a mafia heir and Tai is his school friend, secretly in love with him. As one youtube comment said:
"And because this is a BL:
Tai  - wife, princess, damsel in distress
Tien - hubby, prince, demigod, son of Zeus
The world - Hades and his gang!"
That is spot on!

There are two parts: in the first half the genre changes every episode. It goes from horror to melodrama to crime to thriller. The second half, 5 years later, is calmer, more melodramatic. And this is only the first season!

Production value is high, much better and slicker than the majority of VBLs. But the screenplay is a bit lacking since the episodes end on a cliffhanger without showing the resolution of it in the next one. Episodes have titles (1. Ghost of Valentine Past, 2. Despite Loving You, 3. Christmas Terror, 4. Life and Death Escape, 5. Not Once Completely, 6. Mutual Boundaries, 7.  Letter of Death, 8.Get Back Together, 9. I Used to Be Young, 10. The One Behind Tragedy). It is a series of short movies actually! Music is very pathos heavy!

No fluff whatsoever!

Watch it here: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLvLWyVAMj2PjkOBz0766sHJBmdSGTQztA
Episode 3 is missing from youtube but you can find it here: https://www.bilibili.tv/en/video/2048310534

Trailer for the first half (ep.1-5):
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XP6Eh4pEII8&list=PLrOorRfXW5qYaZ6OJmFHGSjS1E5_HaMta&index=2

The sequel is Tien Bromance: My Small Family 

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Selbee

VIETNAMESE BL 43

Stupid Genius (2023, 6x15min)

Khoa is a gifted badminton player but a very bad student. He needs to get his grades up in order to enter the national badminton team. So he asks the class best student Vinh for help.

Vietnamese BLs have lost their edge! They used to be poorly produced but the stories they told were powerful and raw. This series is well produced and acted and it is just a bit of fluff reminiscent of early Thai school bls: opposites attract, best friends make a second couple and token girls are fujoshis! There are even a few references to Thai BLs which were fun. It is a romcom: there is a lot of non cringy comedy with sound effects (I hate those!!!) and a couple of dead fish kisses.

It is quite a good watch for a fluffy drama but after seeing so many of VBLs, this sweetness and wholesomeness is disconcerting!

Watch it on youtube:
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL8vHP9TU8ecVHf2FYUCyJfTzZYZLyGxMN

Trailer:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MBZsYp7ZHrg 

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