
SunshineMar:
2023 IN BL QUESTIONNAIRE
Since I’m overwhelmed with Sunshine’s questions ("Gah, I can't decide!"), I shall evade with some of my own creative categories (limited to BLs I’ve actually watched with MDL release date in 2023):
All-around favourite Thai BL: “Moonlight Chicken” (unless one counts “My School President” as 2023)
All-around favourite Korean BL: tie between “Eighth Sense” (drama) and “Our Dating Sim” (fluffy)
All-around favourite Japanese BL: tough choice because there were a number of really excellent BLs, but I’ll go with “My Beautiful Man: Eternal” (but largely based on the trilogy as a whole, so that’s not really fair – otherwise it would probably be “Kimi to Nara Koi wo Shite Mite mo”)
All-around favourite Taiwanese BL: “Stay By My Side” (I haven’t yet watched “Kiseki: Dear To Me”, so I can’t compare)
Best BL which is arguably a bromance: “Stay With Me” (Who would have expected a BL this good from Mainland China?)
Best BL with no official international release: “Kimi ni wa Todokanai” (Thank you, Bilibili!)
Most trashy and lurid BL of 2023 which I’m ashamed to admit that I liked: “Playboyy”
Most raw and graphic yet dramatically purposeful and non-trashy sex scene in a BL: “Bokura no Micro na Shuumatsu”
Best and funniest BL still airing as of 31/12: “Cooking Crush” (My first Off/Gun BL … gosh these guys are good!)
Best non-BL with a meaningful gay side theme: “Beni Sasu Life” (No spoilers!)
Cutest little kid in a BL: Tane in “Bokura no Shokutaku” / "Bokura no Kyujitsu" (Astonishingly good 7yo actor)
Best Korean BL which I loved but many others hated: “Love Mate”
Best BL which made me embarrassingly teary: “Moonlight Chicken” (Li Ming + Heart storyline) (Warning in case you ever take me on a date to a movie theatre: I get teary easily. Yes, I'm really a guy.)
Best food-themed BL: “Zenra Meshi” (even though not so great as a BL love story, very interesting food porn + my beloved Yutaro)
Most disappointing BL which had a good story concept and could have been really good but was just terribly executed: “Luminous Solution”
Worst BL which was so bad I didn’t watch it, so technically I can’t list it here: “Crazy Handsome Rich"
Almost worst BL except that Bigboom is such a cutie, so I have to be kind: "Future"
Almost worst BL which was awful in the first episodes but then got much better, especially in the last two episodes which were actually pretty good: “Middleman’s Love”
Worst acting performance in a BL: I hate to sound catty … but it has to be Gun Napat in “Luminous Solution” (OK, his character in “Love By Chance” was cute, but this guy really can’t act)
Cutest and sweetest totally new CP: Newyear + Jur from “Firstly Like You” (= excerpts from “Hit Bite Love”)
Best fluffy and insubstantial TikTok micro-series starring my beloved Tutor and Yim: “Our Winter”
Best BL short with virtually no spoken lines: “Childhood”
Honourable mention for best BL not on MDL: “My Goofy Deskmate” (Vietnam – fluffy vignette-type mini-episodes, but with such good, funny, engaging characters)