BL Drama Lovers Club

 SunshineMar:

I hope everyone is having a nice holiday season!!!

Thanks for creating this club and happy holiday to you too.

Hey guys I just reached an epiphany which made me feel a bit sad honestly. I am rapping up watching  Future the series and I could not derive the interest and joy from it when I usually watch bls. I was so bored and distracted; when I was analysing why that is the sudden realisation hit. I realised it was because of the evolution and revolution of the BL industry over the last few years that has brought both change and progress. 

Future the series was not bad not saying it was perfect but it was a good series but it is a series of the past in the present. The conflicts in it that were once benchmark conflicts that tugged on heart strings and captivated audiences have now become generic. The main conflict was "Parental Disapproval", I am not trivialising this issue and what it brings to the discussion table; I am saying we are now in a time of MORE. This conflict along with misunderstanding used to be the main and only conflicts in BL series but today there is so much diversity in conflicts that compliment these conflicts. The BL watchlist is so inundated with content that series have began to develop into much deeper and exploratory plots that offer so much MORE. Take for example Laws of Attraction, Love in the Air and Taikan Yoho . These series have so much depth that provokes so much thought within the minds of the audience and with more series like them being released soon after, series such as Future become monotonous. I remember back in the day we used to wait in dire anticipation for Fridays (oftentimes)  when an episode would drop and  anywhere you were rather school or work, you would put up your bag on the desk and put your device behind it so the teacher would not see what you were watching, or at work where you would have one earphone in with the phone propped up on your desk sneakily watching ; getting so excited when the air kiss or sniff kiss scene happened, cursing the parents through the screen when they forced the couple to separate (usually episode 11) or screaming into the pillow when the make up scene rolled around.  Now these things still happen but not for the same depth of content, we are now on the edge of our seats in suspense as the mystery unravels as in Laws of Attraction for example; some scenes some of us would not dare watch in public now, (Kinnporche, Playboy, LITA).

Now all this progress in the industry is great but it is sad that now, at least for me, that it is a nod and salute goodbye to the content of the past. Now when series such as Future have become mundane to the mind, the usual magic is not there. The BL genre used to be unique and tucked away like a beautiful secret known only to a few. however now it is so widespread and commercialised that the cute and contoversial scenes that used to capture us are no longer enough to stimulate and sate our minds in regards to a BL.

These are some of my thoughts that hit me today while finishing up Future of the series. Does anyone else feel this way or is it just me?

 RiqueXinw:

The BL genre used to be unique and tucked away like a beautiful secret known only to a few. however now it is so widespread and commercialised that the cute and contoversial scenes that used to capture us are no longer enough to stimulate and sate our minds in regards to a BL.

I've only been watching BL since July but I'm interested in meta-type questions like patterns and genre change so this is the kind of thing I pay attention to.  One pattern is how the more mainstream a series is, the more it leans into the addictive nature of stress and increasingly complicated and contrived premises in hopes of standing out amongst the glut of options. BL and youth series haven't had to do that in the past, but there is so much BL content I think that's changing.

It also makes me sad that this seems to be happening, that there's a cost to the greater acceptance and diversity within the genre. If only it could be protected from the sorts of competition/market pressures which have IMO damaged mainstream drama. I really value and appreciate BL as a refuge from all of that and don't want to lose it.

 Mitzi Miao:

I see this progress in a good way. Also, now we have so many BLs we can choose from

I agree. We've had an enormous number and variety of BLs to choose from this past year, especially from Thailand. Of the ones I've seen, most have been alright, quite a few have been mediocre or disappointing, and some have really brought joy into my life. I personally am very happy with the current situation. Yes, the Thai studio-centric model tends to crank out quantity over quality (albeit very efficiently), but many are enjoyable crowd-pleasers with very nice visuals, even if not artistic masterpieces. I'm fine with that.

On that subject, I've coming now to the end of "Wedding Plan" (uncut version on iQiyi). I started it because, since subscribing to iQiyi ten weeks ago, I've so far watched a sum total of two series on this platform ("Bed Friend" and "Middleman's Love"), so I've now made a resolution to catch up on the many good BLs on iQiyi. Anyways, "Wedding Plan" began as a typical Thai-style silly comedy, but starting with Episode 3, I liked it more and more, and now I really love it. OK, it's not brilliant drama, and it has some of the usual Thai clichés - but overall, it's a really nice love story and overall story (by MAME) with two very appealing protanists played by Sunny Wannarat (familiar face from "Top Secret Together") and Pak Naphat, who is really good for such an inexperienced actor (and adorably cute). Bonus points for a important girl-girl side couple which is taken seriously.

One little point of irritation: It seems that the final "special episode" was released on Vimeo as a money squeeze, which seems greedy to say the least given that iQiyi is already a paid subscription service. However, one can find alternatives. *cough cough* 

I finished Cutie pie 2 you and again NuerSyn were the best thing.

 p43425:

I agree. We've had an enormous number and variety of BLs to choose from this past year, especially from Thailand. Of the ones I've seen, most have been alright, quite a few have been mediocre or disappointing, and some have really brought joy into my life. I personally am very happy with the current situation. Yes, the Thai studio-centric model tends to crank out quantity over quality (albeit very efficiently), but many are enjoyable crowd-pleasers with very nice visuals, even if not artistic masterpieces. I'm fine with that.

I agree, it feels Thailand goes more on quantity over quality, and still we got this year some really good BLs from Thailand, like I Feel You Linger in the Air that was a great series, and now we also have The Sign. I really feel this year was full of good Thai BLs (maybe becuase I was somewhat picky), like Be My Favorite, Moonlight Chicken, Bed Friend, Last Twilight to name some. 

 hoshthegoat:

I didn't really vibe with the main two couples

Yeah, Zee and Nunew (the real people) seem to have really nice personalities and a great chemistry together when doing fan service (recent example) - but I wasn't so excited about them in Cutie Pie.

 Elisheva:

It also makes me sad that this seems to be happening, that there's a cost to the greater acceptance and diversity within the genre. If only it could be protected from the sorts of competition/market pressures which have IMO damaged mainstream drama. I really value and appreciate BL as a refuge from all of that and don't want to lose it.

While the industry is expanding we do still see some authentic elements still shining through, but yeah to ushering change for the better we must say goodbye to the past; however lets not forget that somethings in the past are worth saying goodbye to because thank heavens for expensive productions and budgets to match now because these bl storylines finally get the justice they deserve.