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More JBL Series, Fewer Quality Straight Shows

J100

I’ve noticed a trend — I don’t know if it’s because of this site, but there are more JBL than straight series lately. I don’t understand why this is happening. If there are straight ones, they have no plot and are just really trashy, like Tada no Renai Nanka de Kikkonai: Kojirase Joshi to Fetishna Buka (2025). What’s going on lately? Is it because not all the series are available here?

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Pinwheel

Mmm, I don't think that's true. BL gets a lot of hype on MDL feeds and other social media places so perhaps that's why you perceive them more.

For example I just went to search j-dramas released in 2025 with the genre "romance", and there's a total of 82 results. Out of those, if I select the tags for Gay Romance, Gay Male Lead or LGBTQ+, only about  13 dramas remain. 

So that leaves ~66 romance dramas without queer themes tagged, versus ~13 romance dramas with queer tags (which can include BL or GL or other).

And if I remove the romance genre the proportion of non queer dramas only increases, 374 jdramas in total with only ~16 dramas having queer tags.

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autumn iris

Ah, you mean currently airing drama? Yes there's 4 BLs airing. + Kita-kun ga Kawaii... which plot is about a man being shared by 2 women and a man, that makes 5.

The 19th Medical Chart/19 Banme no Karte is pretty good even though episode 5 is not as good as the previous 4 episodes and a bit boring. Hopefully episode 6 will be better. There's Matsujun and Mackenyu. And the dialogue is touching.

Not watching that many J-drama though, so I don't know if the other airing dramas good or bad.

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flow

Personally I'd like more JGLs but to each their own.

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J100
 autumn iris:

Ah, you mean currently airing drama? Yes there's 4 BLs airing. + Kita-kun ga Kawaii... which plot is about a man being shared by 2 women and a man, that makes 5.

The 19th Medical Chart/19 Banme no Karte is pretty good even though episode 5 is not as good as the previous 4 episodes and a bit boring. Hopefully episode 6 will be better. There's Matsujun and Mackenyu. And the dialogue is touching.

Not watching that many J-drama though, so I don't know if the other airing dramas good or bad.


 Pinwheel:

Mmm, I don't think that's true. BL gets a lot of hype on MDL feeds and other social media places so perhaps that's why you perceive them more.

For example I just went to search j-dramas released in 2025 with the genre "romance", and there's a total of 82 results. Out of those, if I select the tags for Gay Romance, Gay Male Lead or LGBTQ+, only about  13 dramas remain. 

So that leaves ~66 romance dramas without queer themes tagged, versus ~13 romance dramas with queer tags (which can include BL or GL or other).

And if I remove the romance genre the proportion of non queer dramas only increases, 374 jdramas in total with only ~16 dramas having queer tags.

I’m talking about the shows currently airing. And I’m only talking about gay versus straight — not threesomes or anything like that. 

The 19th Medical Chart isn’t a romance series.

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ColourMePurple

There's Learning to Love which is straight romance. It doesn't have much hype I think. Maybe because it is Older Woman Younger Man which is not commonly explored in dramaland and that's a shame.

It is a nice drama though. Would be nice if more people give it a chance.

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autumn iris

Ah, I see. I thought anything that doesn't have any LGBTQIA+ member was counted as a straight drama, apparently it should have romance. I'm not sure if 19 Banme no Karte main leads will have any romantic relationship, but for romance as the side plot there's the sweet romance of the married couple from episode 4 (the diabetic husband).

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J100
 ColourMePurple:

There's Learning to Love which is straight romance. It doesn't have much hype I think. Maybe because it is Older Woman Younger Man which is not commonly explored in dramaland and that's a shame.

It is a nice drama though. Would be nice if more people give it a chance.

I saw it, it looks cute, but I haven’t found it translated yet. 


But that’s also not related to what I asked. I asked if everything is published on the site because something strange is happening. 



 autumn iris:

Ah, I see. I thought anything that doesn't have any LGBTQIA+ member was counted as a straight drama, apparently it should have romance. I'm not sure if 19 Banme no Karte main leads will have any romantic relationship, but for romance as the side plot there's the sweet romance of the married couple from episode 4 (the diabetic husband).

I’m saying there’s no balance anymore… clearly, and it’s been going on for a long time… I watch gay series and enjoy them, I’m not condemning them, I’m just saying there’s more romance in that genre than in straight ones. If it’s straight, it’s usually something cheap...

Check the calendar under the Japan filter and see for yourself.

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ColourMePurple

If you mean plot wise then I kinda agree with you. Though I don't watch that many jdramas but in general I feel straight romance dramas have a lot more side plot storylines and less relationship storylines except when it is a high school romance. But I want more adult romance stories. With BLs they focus a lot more on relationships and less on distractions. 

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autumn iris

If you're talking about currently airing romance drama, maybe yes. I didn't get interested in any of them. Took a peek on Cinderella Closet and that drama that has Itagaki Rihito as FL's son perhaps, but they're not for me. But previously, I watched Nami Uraraka ni Meoto Biyori and Watashi no Otto to Kekkon Shite and the romance plot were amazing imo. I also watched Glass Heart and the romance element (because the main plot is the newfound band's survival in the music industry) was pretty good.

And for upcoming straight romance drama, October release Romantics Anonymous and Shumaku no Rondo looks legit. And the 2026 release Gas Ningen also looks legit. You can check them out later when they're airing.

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J100
 autumn iris:

If you're talking about currently airing romance drama, maybe yes. I didn't get interested in any of them. Took a peek on Cinderella Closet and that drama that has Itagaki Rihito as FL's son perhaps, but they're not for me. But previously, I watched Nami Uraraka ni Meoto Biyori and Watashi no Otto to Kekkon Shite and the romance plot were amazing imo. I also watched Glass Heart and the romance element (because the main plot is the newfound band's survival in the music industry) was pretty good.

And for upcoming straight romance drama, October release Romantics Anonymous and Shumaku no Rondo looks legit. And the 2026 release Gas Ningen also looks legit. You can check them out later when they're airing.

Cinderella Closet isn’t exactly a straight series—it leans more toward something in-between, borderline. But it also feels, to me, like it’s not even a Japanese series, and I’m not sure why… I haven’t checked who the director is, but it might not be Japanese at all. In any case, it’s definitely not a typical straight drama.

The series you mentioned aren’t airing, and I don’t like the actor from Nami Uraraka ni Meoto Biyori. I haven’t seen the second series you described, 

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autumn iris

The one with Itagaki Rihito: Their Marriage 

And Marry My Husband Japan/Watashi no Otto to Kekkon Shite

Ah, I get you. Honda Kyoya is stiff. But he has pretty face, looks a bit plump in Nami Uraraka ni Meoto Biyori but still looks pretty.

And, I missed it, if you think a drama hasn't been added, you can submit or tell someone else to submit the drama page. Because sometimes even after a period of times since a title has been announced or even has been concluded airing, they're not yet added in mdl, but one day they suddenly appeared. There were many times when I wanted to add titles and they're not yet exist. I also once saw a feed about a netflix J-drama iirc which hasn't been added while it's already airing and the op asking for someone to add them. But maybe it's because the admins/staffs need time to process like all of the submissions which I believed will be a lot. An advice, look for the title using the original language alphabets, it's more accurate.

For J-dramas, sometimes I open Drama Otaku. I'm not sure if they already listed 2026 titles, as they put titles based on seasons. I used to check this season (for example summer/ Q3) and the next season (fall/ Q4) since there were always 2 seasons being shown in their homepage. You could visit them, and maybe check whether the strange things  you think is happening is really happening or not.

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J100

Thanks.

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