K-Drama 
1
childhood crush, sunshine/tsundere, unrequited love, secret identity
Delayed from 2019, staring Kaownah & Turbo (Nitiman), adapted from a yaoi manga (and the Japanese live action and anime of the same name) I didn’t expect much from this on. Japan’s version of Love Stage!! wasn’t successful and didn’t highlight the crossdressing element of the original manga & anime. Fortunately, Thailand had the guts to do the original yaoi justice (I am ashamed for doubting them) although they didn’t resolve it in the same spectacular way as the anime.Stymied by lack of international distribution this BL surprised me with its charm. The acting was good, the leads were appealing, support cast on point, and the production values high. It’s gave me Lovely Writer vibes (although with a lot more Japanese slapstick and way fewer egregious sound effects).
It followed the original manga story arc relatively closely with some quintessentially Thai changes. We got the nose bleed, the dub con sleeping kiss, and a few other questionable yaoi derived tropes, but all-in-all what Thailand did to mellow the content, mellowed it in mostly the right direction. We also got solid side characters and couples and some pretty high heat levels prettily handled.
Demonstrating the advantages of a Thai long-form adaptation, this version gave us a chance to really watch the two leads become friendly and like each other beyond just a crush and then fall into love. And I believed it, despite their rocky start, in a way I never did with the previous adaptations. Particularly Anda’s character.
One of the things I’ve always appreciated about this story is that the climax is about coming out as a celebrity couple as well as gay. I like the examination of the nature of celebrity versus privacy. And I love that they depicted two couples with two different versions of this choice. P’Jet is such a a great advice giver for Anda and I love the “gay advice auntie” rep. It ended well, different from all prior adaptations and very Thai about it. A solid and enjoyable show.
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rural setting, country mouse/city mouse, rich/pour, enemies to lovers
Adapted from a y-novel by Peachhplease, directed by New starring Mek (the Kiss series, het male lead and has been with GMMTV forever) this was his first BL (he shouldn’t have) opposite a fresh face Mark, support cast included Arm (Friend Zone 2) and Mike in (Tonhon Chonlatee).This was a cheap 1000 Stars kock off about a doctor who goes rural and falls in love with the volunteer teacher. I guess this should be added to my short list of BL‘s that are told from the seme’s perspective?
Linguistically: these two are formal with each other using pom/khun. Also If you want to hear frozen register spoken, that’s what Prince’s maa speaks to tease Fah.
How did this show managed to be boring, corny, AND cheesy? There was a really dumb manufactured miscommunication-based parting and while they mutually pined well, the kiss at the end was extremely poor quality for Thailand. Tut tut - you have one job to do.
To put it simply, this show was dull. I don’t know exactly how to write a review of this as “boring” isn’t in my rating system but, it is a BIG SIN for me, so I guess 5/10?
Watch only if you have nothing better to do.
I think the Star & Sky shows would have been VASTLY improved by cutting each set back to 6 eps each and then cross cutting between the two couples like the Why R U? or Dark Blue Kiss approach with 12 eps total. Just call the whole thing Star & Sky. Each couple would have been less boring and frustrating if focus were split, and the pacing would have been a lot better too.
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high school to college, cohabitation, popular boy/nerd, orphan protag
Korea is really borrowing other country’s styles of BL this year. With this one they took on origin Japanese yaoi but gave it their signature softness and precise production style with a STUNNING color palette. I can’t get over the visuals of this show, the beautiful pastels, the sun-saturated over-exposure, the elegant staging. Combine that with manga framing style, some prototypical BL character archetypes, that tiny edge of bullying roughness and out-of-control seme, plus FINALLY a palatable take on the stepbrothers trope (in this case it’s adopted son of best friend) and it was, in a word, classic.Orphaned uke, HaeBom (Ok Jin Uk, trot idol group SUPERFIVE) is small, sweet-natured, and adorable, but also timid and bullied and desperate to be loved. The seme, TaeSung (Kang Hui Thumping Spike), is tall and reserved, depicted pumping iron and sporty and desired by all. In typical yaoi fashion it’s TaeSung who is the passionate one, who has adored HaeBom since childhood, who wants him desperately.
At first I discounted CBAW because it was so quiet (did I learn nothing from Oxygen?) and then I realized it’s just sophisticated and understated - with occasional flashes of *holy gratuitous shower scene, batman!* Don’t misconstrue me, it’s not slow, it’s just subtle. It ended up being both sadder and more whimsical than I was expecting - dream-like and atmospheric, as if the whole thing took place under cold water on a warm spring day. Is there plot or peril? Not really. Do we care? Also, not really.
The chemistry is awkward but I’m learning that awkward is something Korea enjoys putting in its romances. I wonder sometimes if they don’t think awkward = romantic. Regardless, it works for this couple since TaeSung has always known what he wanted (just been in denial and rejection mode) and HaeBom must play catchup. There’s always a power imbalance with this extreme of a seme/uke pairing, but it’s even more so with these two since it encompasses not just the height difference but desire. (I happen to really enjoy power imbalances.) TaeSung was always going to be too much for HaeBom - more demanding, more in love, just more. It is only his adoration of HaeBom that keeps him from becoming too much for everyone. TaeSung knows this, he’s self aware, which is why he holds onto HaeBom with such desperation. HaeBom’s journey is one of learning to accept that he is the the quiet softness that tempers TaeSong’s extremes, and is just as necessary for all he goes unnoticed. When they are just together as a couple, they’re ridiculously cute and visually nostalgic and I grew to really love them as a couple.
Look, I can’t help it, I’m old school and so is this show.
This BL is VERY traditional, almost pastiche. As I watched I could feel that song from Fiddler on the Roof running through my head.
In case you can’t guess, I absolutely loved CBAW, but I can’t separate it from my relationship journey with this medium as a whole. I grew up reading sweet yaoi, and this was THAT YAOI just on my screen. There’s no objectivity with me and CBAW. It’s beautiful and I loved it for what it was and how it made me feel and what it reminded me of. It’s not flawless, but it is a wonderful experience.
HIGHLY RECOMMENDED
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Rockstar romance BL + second chances at love redemption arc
Given is based on a yaoi manga (that I didn’t much like) and an anime (that I never saw) but honestly I was happy to get any light BL from Japan in 2021.Fortunately for me, GIVEN ended up being a stolid traditional live action yaoi of the kind that I’ve come to expect from Japan (when they don’t go dark). So we're talking in the arena of SEVEN DAYS. With the possible exception of the hair styles, this BL could have been made in 2015 and no one would be surprised.
GIVEN had a surprisingly happy and sweet final episode, my only issue was that this series was built on a “sing your feelings” chassis and this is one of my least favorite tropes. (But that’s my baggage, not theirs.)
It wasn’t ground breaking, but it didn’t disappoint either and I, for one, am super glad we got it when we did.
RECOMMENDED.
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Find your soulmate in the mountains of Thailand
Foundational Romance Trope? Fated matesSome of us have been waiting for this series for a really long time now. The fact that it had so many production issues made me nervous going in. However, I really loved the story. I found the chemistry with the leads uncertain at first. Hard to pin down why, but I keep having this issue with Earth. In the end, I got over it (or they did).
Formerly known as Tale of Thousand Stars (the title change was a good call). It neatly avoid GMMTV’s previous BL’s (Tonton Chonlatee, My Gear & Your Gown) ending issues. And though it was slow to find its stride, this show probably has one of the most romantic endings ever filmed in BL.
On the whole it leaned hard on classic romance (rather than yaoi) tropes which resulted in a mature, sweet, charming, smart series with a FANtASTIC finale. Tonally it was a lot more like, oh I don’t know, Love O2O meets The Notebook only gay. I liked it a lot more than I thought I would at the start, but was it BL? Probably not. Who cares though.
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Tropes: jock/nerd, enemies to lovers, friends to lovers, reunion romance, secret romance, LTR
Y-novel adaptation originally slated as Secret Admirer (teaser) about an “ordinary guy still in love with the older boy he lived next door to during university,” starring Earth Teerapat (Wayo in 2 Moons 2) opposite Fluk (seasoned but not done BL). Plot entirely changed from novel to an absurdist: boys are forced by their university to be a BL couple for promo - although this conceit did give the show license to lampoon BL tropes (which I kinda enjoyed). But the show was VERY awkward with poor chemistry across the board.Lead couple had a tom/jerry vibe with the uke too stiff and serious and the seme a prankster immature idiot - one of my least favorite dynamics (it always seems mean-spirited). They reminded me of My Boy (which I DNFd) X BonDuen from My Engineer (who I dislike).
Other pairs include BearBomb, TimMai, and ParkLee (LTR whom use ter with each other - cute). The domesticity with the side couples was somewhat engaging, and the medium heat sex scenes were descent, but that’s it. The main couple is a little better after the time jump, mostly because Mek in now understandably arrogant. I guess.
I ended up fast forwarding everything that didn’t have the Tim storyline in it because I am a shallow shallow person. I also kept thinking that the actor playing Tim would’ve made a great Dr Pha in 2 Moons.
The worst thing about this show (aside from leads chemistry) was that the chemistry of the friendship groups felt off too. Normally, Thailand can handle friendship groups well. But these 2 different groups? I didn’t believe they were friends at all.
This drama suddenly got sensible and interesting in the finale after the time jump, and the reason for the split turned out to be a decent one. But frankly, that was just frustrating. Because I got a glimpse that this could’ve actually been, if not a GREAT show, at least a passable one. But they saved this for the last 2 eps? That’s just annoying. Another wedding makes me feel like this trope is becoming ubiquitous in Thai BL. Who knew Grey Rainbow would end up with us here?
In the end I can't really recommend this. There's much better Thai BL these days, and tons of it.
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disney prince, opposites attract, sunshine/tsundere
(Jan-Feb-March on YouTube)This long form MUSICAL BL is LEGEND. Also it’s profoundly not good. The acting (aside fro the 2 leads) is absolutely terrible across the cast. But that’s kinda unimportant to what it did... or tried to do.
This was the BL version of High School Musical. Sparkles. Drags queens. Sweater vests. Pining. Floppy hair. Great subs. It’s a cheesy af fairy story. Hella queer. Possibly the gayest BL to ever BL and certainly the most camp.
THIS IS ART, PEOPLE.
Art is Art.
Art is the prince.
The prince is super touchy feely, me likey.
Plus every BL trope you could possibly want. and THEN all of the Disney ones.
It’s basically like the Philippines took Walt Disney by the tie, shook him violently with it and sang into his face a full volume:
WE WILL MAKE IT GAY, YOU COWARD!
I struggle to rate it as a result, because that’s kind of not the point. Would I watch it again? No. But then sing your feelings is one of my least favorite tropes. Plus I hate Disney. Seriously, just, HATE IT. So this BL was not for me, it was never gonna be for me.
But it was for Prince, Country, & BL!
RECOMMENDED ONLY IF YOU ALSO LIKE DISNEY STUFF
* before you ask, yes I HAVE seen Were the World Mine
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high school crush, chaos muffin, high angst, classic seme/uke, secret relationship
Don’t expect modern BL but do expect classic live action yaoi. Japan played with narrative beats with this one so, it actually launches with a confession scene and secret relationship. The initial meat cutes are told from each boy’s perspective as flashbacks. It’s really flipping good with both of them liking each other, and already in a relationship, yet so nervous about what to do. It’s completely and totally high school first love, flip-flopping agony and joy. It made me so happy but it’s also so teenage crisis management it’s traumatic to live through. This is my favorite kind of Japanese BL, I kept getting a hint of Seven Days and I never mention that show lightly.Amagi, our uke, is an ADORABLE sunshine bean nugget with wildly uncontrollable elbows, one of the weird outsider kids. He’s frantically jerky and clumsy but in a way that doesn’t seem as overblown as Aoki did in Kieta Hatsukoi.
Takara is elegant to the point of deadpan, too cool, one of the popular clique, reserved and inaccessible at first(to us and Amagi). But turns out Japan is doing their version of pining with him. And when Japan does pining it skips right over yearning and into THIRST.
Takara, it turns out, is the one who liked Amagi first, and it’s Takara who will latch on to Amagi’s confession as an excuse to hold on as tightly as possible to his sunshine. Takara’s reason for keeping their relationship secret is that he doesn’t wanna share Amagi, ‘cause he thinks his friends will like Amagi too much and steal his attention - such a seme reason. Takara will (as we learn, as we watch him learn, and as eventually we see Amagi learn) do absolutely anything to keep Amagi. He’ll risk his friendships, his popularity, his status, even go against his own nature and learn to communicate (which includes going against his personality as a sullen teen).
“I like him so much that it feels stupid.”
The show depicts depth of character and balance by switching perspectives and voice overs from Amagi to Takara relatively quickly. We need this as Amagi shows too much emotion and Takara too little. Takara is a classic seme, voicing many of the conceits of the archetype while at the same time being a seme who is scared of his own semeness and therefore forced to learn to communicate. Amagi’s fears are all the fears of first love (and not really queer love, just first time jitters) and Takara’s attempts to mitigate that fear mean trying to understand Amagi better through conversation.
I adore this because part of first love should be learning how to talk to each! The way Takara evolves in this matter is so good and so important to the BL genre I did a whole post about it. I genuinely think this is a BL suitable to show to youngsters and teens, a genuine YA coming of age narrative.
It is Takara’s voiceover that really blew this show away for me. All too often in BL we only get the uke’s perspective and that means, with a difficult uke, it can be hard to understand why the seme likes the uke in the first place (see SCOY). With these two we are never left in any doubt that Takara thinks Amagi is beyond adorable, wants to have him (in all way) and keep him (probably in all ways too). Takara is also a corny, awkward, dork, because coolness and passion are incompatible, and I we him for this. He keeps stepping on land mines with Amagi and not knowing what to do about it. Good thing his default it to actually communicate. GOOD SEME, have a cutie as a treat. And Takara does win, there were more kisses in this high school JBL than I have seen since Seven Days. Sure they are awkward, teenager, dead fish kisses, but for this narrative that totally worked for me.
“He said something cute and I couldn’t help myself“ is so traditional Japanese seme in one sentence I can’t even.
As a couple, and we see them in a relationship for the entire show, these two are sweetly shy, and so painfully high school awkward it’s almost unbearable. The hand holding! The torture of decision making when you can’t read his mind! The. Agony. of. it. All. But I happen to enjoy the way burgeoning desire works with high school characters better than in any of the other settings Japan explores. What I find annoying in an office drama like Senpai is fine here.
Warning though, these two pretty much define cringe. Takara because he is trying desperately to maintain his reserve (and perform perfect seme) while simultaneously being so in love/lust with Amagi in high school where desire is, by definition and practice, uncool. While Amagi is just a tiny basket case with more than a hint of blushing maiden about him. He is all frenetic movements and angles, like he cannot control his limbs or his emotions, both are deeply confusing to him. Watching them stumble around each other and reflectively agonize over every little movement and conversation is an exercise in joy, patience, and terror. It’s all so “teenager” I can hardly stand it.
I gnawed on my knuckles and squealed a lot with this show. Reserved cool kid who must lean to communicate to keep the tiny disaster nugget he’s madly in love with. It is beyond charming: soft and gentle, packed with cuteness and high school angst. Did anything actually happen? No. Was it emotionally tense and paced well enough for me not to notice? Absolutely. Was there plot? Not really. Did I enjoy the hell out of it, anyway? Oh yes.
9/10
TOTALLY RECOMMENDED
GaGa’s subs are more poetic but Viki’s are more comprehensible, so I did (and recommend) both but if you must pick? Viki.
I you liked this show you should watch Seven Days and even Old Fashion Cupcake. Also something like Cherry Magic, My Love Mix Up, and Mr Unlucky might also be enjoyable. For something a little less cringe but with a similar dynamic there’s Korean BLs Cherry Blossoms After Winter and Light on Me. (Also T&A features one of the best wingman since Namgong.
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Arranged marriage + secret identity with a cinnamon rolls pairing
Pitch perfect new BL in the now typical Korean style:1. well defined character roles and social positioning
2. fast pacing because of the short run time
3. very small cast
4. extremely high production values and so PRETTY
5. light-touch meets strategic trope use
6. very soft bois and a weak seme/uke dynamic
A historical setting allowed this one to use some seriously old fashioned romance tropes, arranged marriage and evil step-sisters, but also modern BL stylings like fake relationship and secret identity plus some gentle gay panic. So flipping cute, their little smiles, just GAH. Bit of a dead fish kiss but I don’t care because I loved this tiny show full of soft sweethearts and no one saying anything directly (except our man with the poetry, I hope he finds his true love). Adorable.
It was a lot more light-hearted and gentle than any historical BL to date, which is Korea stamping the sub-genre with its mark and standing up to China’s darker BL traditions. It reminded me of 12th Night more than anything else which just happens to be my favorite Shakespeare play.
For all these reasons, I adored it.
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Tropes: rich/poor, boss/employee, enemies to lovers, office setting, cohabitation
This is a solid little office set KBL about a rich kid who ends up both the boss and tenant of a total sweetheart cutie, and falls madly in love with him. Although the show suffered from KBL’s shorter length, I love the kissable lips pair and they deliver solid all round chemistry despite limited screen time, which is rare from Korea. So I hope they stay branded and we get even more from them in the future.Ultimately I recommend this show, a solid 8/10.
If Japan didn’t dominate the office BL niche with shows like Cherry Magic and Old Fashion Cupcake this BL probably would get higher marks for me. But it’s a difficult hill to climb (although I’m delighted to see Korea try). Even though Japan and Korea often give us the same length shows, I feel the brevity in the Korean stuff in a way that I don’t with the Japanese stuff. Frankly I think it’s Japan’s sophisticated cinematography facilitating the complexity required by shortness (what’s left out has to be implied by the lens and the acting) where Korea’s more commercial and simplistic style (which works great in longer Kdramas or something like Light On Me) falls short (pun intended) with their short KBLs.
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coming of age, self actualization, rich/poor, crush, rescue, friends to lovers
It’s truly lovely little coming of age high school BL with a classic YA low drama but high angst story. I didn’t even mind the singing, and that’s saying a lot.It featured Taiwan's modern take on AePete: popular but painfully lonely rich kid, Guang (complete with evil pressure-cooker tiger parents) meets and is basically adopted by poor nerdy (secret rockstar) Qizhang. HE EVEN HAS AE’S TOTE!!!
Side dishes are Guang’s adorable bestie, Ray, and even more adorable (also a rockstar) Jian.
Lots of BL tropes but also this is quite queer and very Taiwan with an earnestness depth I haven’t seen since My Ride an almost real world authenticity. Not that I normally like that in my BL, but I’ll forgive Taiwan (and the Philippines) for their sticky almost dirty style if it is this endearing and engaging (see also Gameboys).
I wish it had been given a bit more room to breathe, but all in all a great edition to the Taiwanese BL lexicon which was in dire need of just this kind of content.
RECOMMENDED
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age gap romance, pining since childhood
A high school student pursues the man of his dreams who happens to run a laundromat in this classic age gap BL. This drama has a 10 year age gap so if that wigs you out, don't watch it. I happen to LOVE age gap romances.Minato’s Laundromat is so steeped in yaoi tropes and archetypes, not to mention a typical romance arc, that it will be an overload for some, but those of who love this genre for its DNA will adore it. It made me very happy because it did everything I want a BL to do, and there’s not much more I ask of a show than this. It’s the closest Japan has come to perfect live action yaoi since Seven Days.
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an unassuming little friends to lovers cheese fest
Main Tropes: friends to lovers, LTR, office romance, (himbo) sunshine/tsundere, found family, himboFrom the creators of Be Loved In House, co-produced by Taiwanese and Japanese media, starring Shi Cheng Hao (HIStory3: Make Our Days Count). Some crossover cast and familiar faces, tons of cameos from See You After Quarantine, Be Loved In House: I Do and HIStory 3. Hot bartender + jaded nerdy single dad side couple.
This is a solid safe little BL.
Jung and Fu have been codependent besties for 20 years but every decade or so Jung gets rip-roaring drunk and kisses the bejesus out of Fu. This leads to... confusion. Very much a sunshine himbo vs pining tsundere pairing. Nice to have Taiwan back in the game and I do love their style. Is queer classy a thing, like the opposite of camp but still VERY cheesy? Kinda the antidote to SCOY, should you need such a thing. Which I DO.
Lots of domesticity and boyfriends being cute boyfriends, occasional dumb drama, but gay boys and chaos bis? What can ya do?
Both couples are really good but that’s not uncommon with Taiwan (although for me the chemistry felt slightly off). The pacing of this series is good with some waffling, but the beats of the narrative are really unusual, making it HARD to predict.
There was a couple dreaded unnecessary break ups and I remained confused over the use of the baseball field. But all in all, I’m satisfied. It’s not groundbreaking but it is a solid sweet unassuming little show.
RECOMMENDED
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Bad boy/good boy + sunshine/grumpy, + younger seme pairing, bully romance
A college kid (part-time tutor) confronts the leader of a gang (Noey) who then turns out to be his next student - falls in love with him.Bad boy/good boy + sunshine/grumpy + younger seme + bully romance? Noey has a baby Dom thing to his bully behavior which is oddly cute. Lots of tropes I enjoy and YET I never resonated with this pulp. (I think Noey uses ter because he’s younger, and doesn’t want to use phi.)
The costumes in this show are insane and I kinda like them. There’s a Grease thing going on, and thus I keep expecting them to break into song (and being grateful t hat they don’t). The wardrobe is like the plot and the acting: loud and obvious and not very good but weirdly entertaining.
Did I like it?
Not really.
Did I mildly enjoy watching it?
Apparently.
Ultimately, I found the romantic chemistry inauthentic (especially from the uke) these two just never seemed to actually like each other, let alone want to be together, plus a terrible dead fish kiss.
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This review may contain spoilers
Hyung romance, puppy/cat pairing
Most of this country-set BL had me feral for the beautiful broken city boy and his hot young farmer. Hyung romance, puppy/cat pairing, open frankness meets jaded reserve, language play, water hose frolicking, only one bed, just all my favorite tropes. This show was basically a light-weight Restart After Come Back Home and I’m not even slightly mad about that.But (and you knew there was a “but” coming) something about the cringe of the final 2 eps and the impermanence of the ending (both of which highlight the fact that ultimately these 2 are I’ll-suited: too different and too far apart) left me with the feeling that they probably won’t last as a couple. However, in this case, rare for me, I forgive it this finale for my love of the rest.
I did dither a lot though, it’s not an 8 but not a 9 either. Better than Love Mate (8/10) not as good as The New Employee (9/10) but in the end I’m value adding up for the premise and the cast, which earned it a 9/10.
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