More JBL Series, Fewer Quality Straight Shows

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.

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

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.

 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.

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.

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.

 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.

This is not true. 

Interestingly (which why I replied in this 4 days old thread in the first place), the BL fans also think the same when some BL titles are not included here. i.e. there's big conspiracy to limit BL in this site bla bla bla

LOL

MDL is user-participation database website. Users can add every titles that meet the guideline as long as they're also following rules when adding them. Like @autumn iris  has mentioned, you can add the missing title on your own if you believe it is purposely ignored because it is straight.

On the other note,

Jdramas post 2000 era have never had good reputation when it comes to romance (with some exceptions that came once in a blue moon). It is also worth to note that before the BL booming, Japan did not release that many romance dramas in a season anyway,  

So, it is not surprising if you find any J-romance to be lacking. It is not because it is straight, or BL or whatever. 

However and luckily, Japan has offered many other interesting non-romance genres in their dramas.  

I personally watch almost exclusively Jdramas because I am tired of romance. I mean most of what I see on my local TV channels are romance anyway. So watching non-romance/slight-romance Jdramas is actually an escapism for me.