Chinese BL(ish) Microdramas

Modern/Mystery/Thriller

Premise: A criminal psychologist returns to help with an unsolved serial killer case, and is partnered with the younger brother of his deceased best friend (who was also a victim of the same serial killer).  


Has some shades of S.C.I.  If you can ignore the microdrama standard production notes (like lolita fashion shoes being used as "dance shoes", some questionable police procedure, and inconsistent acting from side characters), I would say this is a pretty fun time and really gets you wondering what will happen next.  It's not really a whodunnit exactly, as I think a lot of elements are predictable if you've watched police shows before, but more of an uncovering of the why behind each person's actions.  Also appreciated a few of the writing choices where characters actually made smart choices (the scientist girl and the meds, Cheng Ye and the phone tracker)!  

Historical (Warring States)/Adventure

Premise: The lazy son of a martial arts family is transmigrated to the late Warring States period, where he meets a swordsman out for revenge on the Qin king.

Surprisingly decent production values for a microdrama!  The main leads have pretty decent chemistry too, and it's a happy ending :)

Modern/Entertainment Industry

Premise: A popular actor finds himself in an online controversy, and turns to his grumpy ex-friend, a rock singer, for help.

75% typical entertainment industry BL, 25% pleasantly surprising, 100% cute and fluffy fun.  The show has a knack for making the leads actually pretty charming.   Also Huang Jingzhou has been in 2 BLish shows and he's very good??

Modern/Entertainment Industry

Premise: A popular actor finds himself in an online controversy, and turns to his grumpy ex-friend, a rock singer, for help.

This is based on the same source material as Reach for the Stars.   I am not planning to watch this since I already watched the other one.

Faux Historical/Political

Premise: A former general returns in disguise to the capital, where he meets his childhood friend (a prince) and becomes involved in political intrigue.

This is basically someone's fanfic rewrite of Nirvana in Fire, but honestly...I don't mind.   Pretty decent production, plus some actually convincing acting, and the gay love the author of NiF pretended wasn't there to begin with.  Also was pretty impressed with how they handled the female characters!

Faux Historical/Political

Premise: A sheltered young prince is thrown into court intrigue, and becomes involved in the plans of the Grand Eunuch.

Beautiful costumes and pretty nice sets too!  Shockingly more political drama than anything else but there is definitely a /vibe/ with the 2 leads.  The Grand Eunuch is also just a very beautiful man and looks SO good in all his scenes.  

Note: This has a sad ending!

Modern/CEO

Premise: A rich party boy hires a hot new bodyguard, but the bodyguard might have some secrets regarding his new boss's family business.

Surprisingly decent sets (the rich guy's house is convincing enough for a microdrama) and the leads are pretty good-looking!  The writing is the weak point in this one, as it jumps around a lot between episodes and uses a lot of basic tropes (although periodically it has some comedic self-awareness).

Leans heavily toward the BL side of things, as there are a lot of suggestive scenes and comments about them being in an actual romantic relationship, plus a stage kiss at the end.

Modern/Advertisement

Premise: A beauty streamer investigates a mysterious club, with a mysterious scientist behind the scenes.


This is mostly an ad for a skincare face mask.  Surprisingly decent production values (I assume they got paid by the skincare company), plot is somewhat nonsensical but kind of fun to laugh at, and the two leads are very attractive and definitely gay.

Modern/CEO/Comedy

Premise: A rich party boy finds out his family's fortune is gone and he has been sent by his father to be a rival CEO's secretary.  


This show has a budget of like $10 and half the time they seem to all be sharing one mic, but it's SO MUCH FUN???  Like I was laughing almost the entire time.  It uses a bunch of the most ancient and overused tropes (e.g. accidentally taking an aphrodisiac) but somehow always takes them in hilarious and/or just weird directions.  Also the two main actors are both super handsome.

This one also has the messed up audio in the subbed versions, but the original audio actually adds to the humor.  I didn't know I needed a pennywhistle cover of the Imperial March until now.

Historical (Republic)/Comedy

Premise: A wealthy scion is trying to deal with opium smuggling through his family's docks, when he encounters a long-lost childhood friend (read: himbo).  Just two bros, bein' patriotic.

I had never thought of Republic-era and comedy as being compatible, but this show really goes for it.  Please do not watch this for historical accuracy, serious spycraft, or complex plot - it has none of those things.  What it DOES have, is a lot of fanfic tropes, the himbo in a maid apron, consistent jokes, and two attractive men who like to stare deep into each other's eyes and have married couple arguments.  

It's one of the shows that is probably easier to watch as bromance for people not into BL, due to a relative lack of gratuitous touching/nudity.

Xianxia/Comedy

Premise:  A normal modern guy rages about a web novel, but ends up transmigrated into the novel as the xianzun character who dies a horrible death at the end.  He tries to survive by repairing his relationship with the main character.

Production values are pretty questionable, but this IS from 2022, and the show tries to balance it out by not taking itself too seriously.  Outfits are nice by microdrama standards, and a few set pieces are pretty decent.  This is definitely non-copyright-infringement Scum Villain with some dollops of Untamed.  

Actually kinda got some feels by the end, though.  That, and the student character is super pretty and the show knows it.  I'd watch the sequel just for him in his sexy evil demon makeup.

Modern/Entertainment Industry/Sitcom

Premise:  A streamer gets mistaken as revealing he's dating his roommate.

Modern/Fantasy/Comedy

Premise:  An author writes a bunch of webnovels using the same villain, who always gets killed off in really stupid ways.  The villain ends up coming out of the computer and demands the author write a new novel with a better ending for him, and ends up living with the author in the meantime.


This is a cute little series that clearly doesn't have much budget, but they're creative about getting around that so it doesn't look too bad.  The BL element is very gentle, even compared to later microdramas that have stronger BL tropes, but it makes sense as an mgtv release from 2020.  The main character is explicitly stated to have a crush on his female friend, but this is not seriously pursued as a romantic subplot, and his actual emotional reactions are all around the other male lead.