AbsoluteBL

The Foodie BL I Always Wanted Thailand to give me

Main Tropes: enemies to lovers, tsundere seme, rich/poor, foodie romance

It's like Star Hunter has FINALLY grown up with this show. WZM was better than we have any right to expect with decent pacing and a foodie theme threaded through the narrative as both love language and plot driver - which I have been WAITING for. Basically CEO falls in love with a street vendor’s food, recruits him to work in his hotel, falls in love with him, and that’s the beginning. Class struggles! Kitchen drama! Papaya pounding (not a euphemism)! Chef poaching (not literally)! Spicy scenes (yes literally)! Food puns! It’s all so delicious.

Star Hunter... did you serve this one up just for little old me? Sure seems like, since no one else consumed it. Well... I do have a high space tolerance.

I think I have finally figured out Star Hunter’s brand: CHEEKY.

Will this review be full of food puns. Oh yes indeed.

Sure this show gets absurdly over cooked and falling apart messy in tone, it's like Star Hunter just CAN'T help but over egg the plotting (see what I did there). I imagine their workshopping is a hoot, it's a bunch of young actors being ridiculous, and the chaos just leaks onto the screen. But all the acting is on point, and ... FOOD! (Yes I have eaten my body weight to som tum. Why do you ask?)

The leads are actually pretty good (previous in Hidden Love). Poon is a great character because he is tsundere WITH good reason. And he’s portrayed with depth and sweetness for all his salty pride. Also I'm not opposed to a bit of a CEO romance in my BL. Alpha being won over by love and som tum, tasty. But what I really loved was that Athip loves Poon first for his food. When Poon runs away Athip finds him because of his food. Arthip begs forgiveness by eating Poon’s food.

But it’s BankBonus (who play Teng & Mayom) who once more steal the bacon. Honestly they dominated Gen Y 2 and now they are doing it again. Just give them their own show already! They absolutely crackle on screen together and it’s such fun to watch, who cares about plot?

In the end, this was the foodie romance set in the Thai Restaurant industry I have always wanted. The machinations of being in food service formed not just setting but also plot. Perhaps if Bite Me, Love Area and some of the ones from Korea (My Sweet Dear, Tasty Florida, Ocean Likes Me, To My Star) hadn’t disappointed me in this regard, I wouldn’t be so generous with this show. And to be fair, it probably should get a 7/10 by my normal standards. But What Zabb Man was cooked up exactly to suit my palate (and apparently no one else’s) so it gets a 8/10.

RECOMMENDED, especially if you like Thai food.

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enemies to lovers, fake relationship, one sided crush

I had a hard time finding this one so initially I dropped it as a DNF, then it turned up with fan subs so I decided to try it again. (I have found I often prefer fan subs for the Thai stuff.)

Frankly it’s better then we have a right to expect from this sort of Thai BL pulp, especially if you can make it through ep 4. I like the northerner vs Bangkok and how the different characters handle the classism of it. The side couples once we get up north are super cute. There’s even an out gay character. The actor playing IG is great at pining. Only Ruk didn’t really do it for me, too tsundere without purpose or reason. And he’s the main character so the drama rather sags because he can’t take the weight of it. It reminded me of Hometown Embrace or Friend Forever, only, frankly, better. Ep 8 where the friends cover for Rak by all kissing each other was very funny.

Still we are in serious pulp territory with ALL THE TROPES including “the homophobe faints.” Objectively it’s not very good and the terrible singing in every single episode made me dock a whole point. Sing your feeling is one of my least favorite BL tropes.

RECOMMENDED ONLY IF YOU’RE WILLING TO PUT WITH SINGING AND ALL THE PRODUCTION ISSUES OF A THAI PULP

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Is this BL?

I like this movie a lot, even though I'm not wild about the ending.

I think it is an excellent piece of queer cinema, although not necessarily BL. It doesn't use any of the tropes, archetypes or narrative beats I would expect from the genre.

I would recommended it as queer cinema. Beautifully filmed and acted, thoughtful and thought provoking. Although it is more likely to make you cry than smile.

It's one of Taiwan's few queer film pieces of this type, and stylistically it owes a lot to early Japanese queer cinema. Which, in turn makes me think of the new Japanese stuff we've been getting that harkens to those roots like Restart After Come Back Home or His the movie, but less cerebral as it has Taiwan's signature excellent chemistry and visceral passion.

Your Name owes a lot to its sibling source (?) project 2017's Red Balloon. So If you enjoyed YNEH then you should track that one down, it shares a main actor. You'll probably find it worth watching. Korea's Just Friends? also tackles enlistment but is way more BL.

I feel like if you're a big fan of YNEH then you probably also enjoyed (or would enjoy)

Love of Siam (Thai)
I Told the Sunset About You (Thai)
Present Perfect (Thai)
Life: Love on the Line (Japan)
Junjou (Japan)
Does the Flower Bloom? (Japan)
Cornered Mouse Dreams of Cheese (Japan) v. explicit
Gaya Sa Pelikula (Pinoy)
Papa & Daddy (Taiwan)
Goodbye Mother (Vietnam)

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Romantic suspense + cozy mystery + enemies to lovers + forced proximity

I thought Max & Tul did a great job at a difficult task which was to make gay romantic suspense palatable to a wider audience. Romantic suspense is already difficult to adapt to film, and then to add a queer? It was a fun if convoluted story and Max & Tul turned in a killer performances in all ways from smooches to bad ass-itude to badass smooches.

Was it ultimately successful?
That depends on your definition of success. I wanted it to open up Thai BL actor pairs to a broader market share in terms of story. I think it failed in this regard.

Was it a good show?
Sometimes, especially when Max & Tul were on the screen together.

Will it change the tide of Thai BL?
No, actually, I don’t think it will.

Still it is really enjoyable if you like gay romance more that suspense mafia thrillers. Like HIStory 3: Trapped it is more successful at the first than it is at the second.

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More and anthology of microfilms than a series

range 3/10-7/10 = c. 4.33/10

Same basic model as Y-Destiny except each couple was only given one 15 minute episode and there’s no character cross over. All known pairs. Look, I think I’m just not into microfilms that much. We get enough short BL out of Vietnam, Korea, and Taiwan these days. We don’t need it from Thailand in this sampler value pack model (like a BL anthology or something). Although it was fun to get Thailand doing tropes they normally don’t touch.

OhmFluke: LTR = 5/10
JaFirst: Cat = 3/10
MaxNat: Sports = 6/10
YoonLay: Friends to Lovers = 5/10
JimmyTommy: Pen Pals = 6/10
KimmonCopter: Idol meets fan meet VR = 7/10

*pats Thai BL on the head* You just do long series better, okay sweetie?

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ABO Desire Deep Dive Diatribe

As I type this, it has been a few days since the final episode of Desire aired and I have... a lot, to say.

Frankly, I should have done a trash watch from the start. But it took 5 episodes for me to realize what a dumpster fire phenomena this was, and by then it was too late. Live and let burn. As a result, I must write a whole thesis on the following formula aka the design of this damn show:

psychotic obsession + delicious toxicity
- chronic neglect of side dish
/ by the sheer madness of this show existing at all

Up top confession?

I loved this Very Silly Show in the worst possible way. And I do mean worst. It really was like watching fanfic brought to life.

Good fic but still... rough in places, in need of a solid edit past, littered with forgotten threads, dropped characters, tired tropes, and weak development.

* The main pair is a work of gd art.
* The filming quality is solid.
* The wardrobe department is unhinged and has issues with shirts (absent or awful, only 2 options).
* Generally, most of the acting had a lot in common with vintage sleds: cold, hard, wooden, and stiff, but still somehow a fun ride.

For what it was (remarkable) and that it existed at all (unprecedented) and how much I enjoyed the experience (despite myself), I went outside of my comfort zone when rating this darn thing. I admit, Desire is an 8/10 show, but I personally am compelled to give it a 9/10 on pure entertainment value.

And without question Desire is an icon of our BL times. 2025 will forever be remembered as the year China put mpreg on our screens.

And now, your actual review of this show:

Close on the herculean strides of Revenged Love, China continued its historic 2025 run on the international BL market with the first true ABO mpreg piece.

There is some semblance of story = about a boy who falls in love with an alpha (top of food chain) right before he manifests as an enigma (secret extra-special tippy-top of food chain) and then obsessively stalks/courts the object of his devotion though means both fair and foul (mostly foul) for the next decade. Why so secretive and manipulative? No reason, just Hua Yong being Hua Yong.

This show focuses on Hua Yong, a perfect sociopath ult babygirl, being a violent, unchecked, conniving, psychotic monster so pretty he will hurt your teeth, intent on possessing, owning, and sexing-up one increasingly confused alpha. (I know honey, we were all confused, it's okay, you're safe. No one else is. But you are.)

And when our little psycho wins? We likey! (So does the alpha.) Somehow everyone, including the audience, has also become toxic trash along with Hua Yong. Fun fun.

There is actual on screen kissing (yes, from China, no it's not very good) combined with some of the world's hottest shirt suspenders and some the world's ugliest shirts.

The end.

That's the whole show.

Oh... there is a nod at an intriguing side couple who ended up being mere set dressing.

And there is also actual ON SCREEN mpreg. Twice.

Plus China aired this by distributing through Hong Kong to a Taiwanese platform and if that isn't How Dare levels of malarkey I don't know what is.

Wild times we live in.

And I haven't even gotten to the Cpop boy group component.

What can I really say about this show?

This show would have been sublimely f'd up and utterly ridiculous even without the ABO trappings, but the world-building actually added to my enjoyment (and I am not an omegaverse stan).

However, there is a ton of Basil Exposition to wade through during the first 3-5 episodes (not unlike this review). If you are not familiar with omegaverse or dystopian alt-reality info-dumping... it's going to tax you eternal.

If utter fascination with Hua Yong gliding sveltely down marble stairs and primly torturing all the wettest-eyed omegas can't hold you through the opening episodes, don't bother with this show. I liked our sweetie Alpha Sheng but it's Hua Yong who rules (and drives) this show. Hua Yong = the most beautiful little obsessive stalker pouty ruthless gremlin ever to swish around in silk pyjamas. If you don't find him riveting from the moment he wades through that pool in the opening scene, you're not gonna like Desire.

If you decide to risk it, please know that this show is very very gorgeous, unbelievably toxic, and completely NUTS. This is the CBL KinnPorsche no one thought to ask for. Only this is KP stripped of all grit, sanitized within an inch of it's life, made larger and icier and very very precise.

All your triggers will be hit with this, we are in dark territory: stalking, obsession, possession, threat, blackmail, dubious consent, and more. There is a large dose of willful misunderstanding, plus a hand being torn off, and (for some labubull reason) stuffed teddybears are adhered to perfectly innocent shirts (that did not deserve such treatment). (Look, that shirt was a trigger for me. And then they had to go and do it again, outside of the flashback. In the future! LIKE THEY STAYED IN FASHION FOR YEARS. Untenable.)

And yet.

I adored Desire for the wild ride and tried not to get bogged down with the details.

And yet.

Here I am typing away... tunneling into the details.

The point is… that it exists at all. Desire is very meta. It is it's own mpreg. Most of us spend most of the time it was airing staring at it in wonder and thinking “How were you born? How do you even exist?”

So putting aside how I felt about it, I am going to talk about why Desire is, against all odds, actually important and crazy in the history of BL. As the self proclaimed most bonkers pundit chronicler of BL's abject nonsense, I feel compelled to make a statement. And also, I need a post to point people at when they ask me about this damn show in the future.

Me explaining Desire to a non-BL non-Ao3 friend.
Friend’s eyes getting bigger and bigger and bigger.
(I actually had to go into everything I am about to cover in this post. It took me half and hour of excited flappy hands.)
Eventually the friend says, “I think I must watch this.”
Me, “Oh no! It’s not good, it’s just a miracle of the modern age.”

[large section redacted that details the history of omegaverse and China's very checkered relationship with BL right up until this moments. If you wanna read it, I put it in full plus images on tumblr. Just search my handle and the title of this review). MDL is China owned, I didn't think it wise to put the reality of the situation here. Plus... word use is more authentic on tumblr.

Notes, Tips, & Tricks

I watched this show on both Gaga and Viki. I think Viki has better subs that better translated the ABO worldbuild into English. But there are strengths and weaknesses to both platforms' respective subs.

The first few eps really do have massive amounts of info dumping. But after that it's "manipulation as a love language" all day every day... and night.
The secretary core/beta assistants are a hoot. I want an Upstairs Downstairs of them dealing with their idiot bosses. It kinda feels like they’re the true masterminds of all relationships. They must be having vicarious fun with all of these hormone-crazed whack-doodle power-hungry (or utterly disempowered) alphas. Just the betas shuffling paperwork, making coffee, and kvetching about what dumbarses their superiors are. I watch it.
It’s hilarious how little work CEOs in Asian dramas actually do. There’s a lot of walking around in suits, playing on phones, passing each other clipboards, and occasionally flipping though a file.
Of course Gao Tu (the omega disguising himself as a beta) is my favorite character. I’ve always been a fan of cross dressing. Don't get too attached tho, his story arc doesn't get much resolution.
Be warned: Shen Wen Lang (his clueless alpha) will never gain a clue or a brain cell. The actor will never be any less uncomfortably stiff. And there will be no kissing for them.
But that said, Shen Wen Lang and Hua Yong's worstie relationship is pretty darn excellent. Lots of fun to watch that one.
Sit back and enjoy Hua Yong's lies. He is so darn pretty, who cares if evil? He can do whatever he wants. Also, do not apply logic, it will never make sense, because he is certifiably insane. No sense or sanity in that pretty little brain. He has 2 brain cells that know only 2 things: manipulation and Sheng Shao You.
At the start, Desire does not feel unhinged, it feels quite tailored and controlled. I prefer my CBL a bit more like Revenged Love (the Taiwanese side) with crunchy edges. At first this show feels more KBL-esk. Don't worry, all the edges will get very very fried. (But the kitchen stays white and immaculate.)
Beware Episode 9 for it is toxic and full of pheromone marks flaring, plus all the rutting dub con (and worse) one could ever desire. *big sigh* Everyone got all messed up by this episode. Over this episode. Because of this episode. The characters in this episode.
From ep 9 on, I pretty much spent every ep kicking my feet, flailing about, and squealing. I love the main couple and their were warped little power dynamic. So damn kinky. Oh the glorious toxicity of it all.

Us = crying screaming puking our guts out. The mpreg boys = pale milk-water maidens delicately coughing into sinks and lying decorously in bed pining for the fjords. Their husbands = clutching pearls.

The final episode was lackluster. At the last gasp they gave us our little gay families but they ultimately misused the excellent side pair.

I too was a bit disgruntled that Desire let us down in the 11th hour.

BUT read the diatribe I just wrote above.

I forgive it its sins.

I kinda feel like I have to.

My goodness gracious, what a glorious ride it was.

Ultimately do I recommend it?

Well YES, but with approximately 4000 words of reservations.

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Office romance, second chance, cozy BL

I loved this little gem of a show. This is my ideal BL: a classic second chance meets office romance of two nerds in love with a workplace reunion and good kisses. I’ve been waiting for KBL to give us this for a long time. I enjoyed every aspect from the casting to the very simple premise to the quietly smooth execution. Sure it’s very low stakes, but that makes it high domesticity and extremely warm and gentle. This is a warm fuzzy blanket of a story. The thing it reminded me of most was To My Star.

Do we call this cozy BL? Why not? This one is going to live in my rewatch pile, I can tell already, and you know what’s best about it? Every single episode is in that pile. There’s no skipping with this one, it might be good natured and calmly sweet but it’s tight and the pacing is excellent, so that it perfectly suited KBL’s short-length tendencies. I cannot recommend this one highly enough.

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slice of life, struggles, other side of the tracks romance, great side dishes

I enjoyed this complicated little show, even though it’s spectacularly messy gay with lots of shrapnel and authentic pain (normally not my style).

I thought EarthMix turned in their most compelling performance to date, yes better than Thousand Stars.

But it was GeminiFourth who stole my heart. What a wonderful side romance that was!

That said, the most interesting central relationship was that of Jim & Li Ming, their father-son angst mixed with evident affection made me tear up. This was more slice of life than it was BL, but it ended happily so I’m not mad at it.

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kink components, established relationship, cohabitation, miscommunication, celebrity romance

These two have such a great DS dynamic. Only Hira would apologize for banging and wanting to bang his own bf, but do it anyway. Talk about a service top with a humiliation fetish. Sheesh. The masochism is strong with this one. (Since I do not deal with humiliation fetishists well, the cringe factor got to me a little.) Still, pouty jealous Kiyoi is the cutest. [One flaw: The photographer dude should have been played by Kenta. Just a little joke.]

All in all, this second season didn’t blow me away the way the first season did, it was quieter and more uniform in its narrative and messaging - thus more predictable.

The basic relationship misunderstanding remained the same as Season 1 - all about value and self worth and how that’s assessed. The result is a performance that is a dialogue between imposter syndrome and a parasocial relationship. If these two only had the language and framework of BDSM to understand each other than they would, but they don’t so the story is us watching them suffer for it. But that’s part of the fun. Part of their fun too, I think, as if the fighting and misunderstanding is just another one of their many kinks.

An engaging and solid second installment, that was so consistent, I’m ended up keeping the rating consistent too.

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Tropes: fated mates, reincarnation, PNR, office romance, boss/employee, kill the gay

A new employee whose director claims to have lived 300 years and insists that they have to date (eat, hug & kiss) if baby doesn't want to die. Office, fated mates, and that’s kinda my jam.

It has a lot of Japanese elements to it not the least of which is the office setting, but also the personality of the uke character. Is every character in this show slightly insane? Yes. Is every actor in this show slightly too pretty for my emotional well-being? Also, yes.

I did not expect Korea to go there with the lipstick mark AND an actually gay idol. What alternate reality are we currently living in? Oh. Right. One where they kill the gays. Of course it is. No HEA.

Featuring a gorgeous & stellar cast, TDWBMD should have utilized them less for melodrama and more for chemistry. This BL is a unique twist on an office romance if NOT a unique twist on a doomed red thread trope, resulting in it feeling less than the sum of its parts and ultimately unsatisfying. Possibly this had to do with the fact that this was one of those KBLs where I felt how very short it was the whole time, like I was missing something constantly, in every episode.

Worth watching for some but seriously flawed.

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I don’t know what this show wants to be and neither does it

Love Area started out as Thailand tackles love triangles BL pulp style, but by season two lockdown had changed everything. Valen & Kaitoon dropped some great kisses but traded off crazy hair and makeup in a scene-by-scene whiplash that was clearly pickups done months after lockdown, and the second lead vanished. It was... surreal. Side dishes jumped up screen time but tackled mental health... badly. A fantastic new queer side character was randomly introduced, June, who was the best thing to happen to BL linguistics in 2022 but had nothing to do with the rest of the cast, show, or plot.

I’m not saying the kisses are worth suffering through this show, but almost. And if you are intersted in the Thai language June is something pretty darn special. But honestly? What a profoundly big mess yet simultaneously dull show.

In conclusion? Some very good chemistry in a few episodes and June was a GREAT character. BUT. Look, it wasn't as bad as Bite Me, but it wasn’t actually good, either. In the end, I didn’t know what I was watching, and neither did it.

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Shows early promise and it's good, I just wish it were more

Better than average chemistry (for Korea) and a unique setting almost pulled this show into the realm of something outstanding. Unfortunately, it never quite managed to get away from the pacing and story structure issues endemic to KBL’s limited time frame and scope.

Behind Cut stars hugely charismatic Bum Jun (model & drummer in Kpop band 2Z) and Eom Se Ung (formerly of Kpop group The Man BLK) and is set in the fashion industry. Gi Jin is a designer chasing his dreams who lives with top model Lee Bin. They’re good friends, although Lee Bin would like more. Then Young Woo, a cheerful delivery boy who is a little lost in life, stumbles into their lives.

It’s sweet this idea that a dream can be a person. And Gi Jin is one of those talented sunshine characters hiding pain, so we can see why he inspires devotion in others. The vibe between him and Young Woo is very good and the actors brought a lot more physical affection to the table than is normal from Korea. With a better story and pace this show could have worked itself up to being something special, like To My Star, but a weak love triangle and the old “break ‘em up for a year in the final episode for no good reason” trope (a K-drama specialty) fubbed the landing.

It’s good BL, serviceable, I’m not going to punish it for failing to live up to its own early promise when “slightly too short and faintly unsatisfying” is basically Korea’s BL wheelhouse. If KBL is your thing, this show will work for you. Just don’t expect it to be anything more than that.

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Foundational Romance Trope: Friends to Lovers

Normally I don’t review microfilms but Strongberry has been perfecting the BL microfilm genre (and, let’s be fair, kind of OWN it) since 2017. They are true masters of their craft. And still this is one of the best things they have ever produced so I had to talk about it.

It’s two episodes of about 8 minutes each that mange to perfectly portray the sweetest friends-to-lovers story ever. It’s joyful, and gentle with its characters, and a little hot. How on earth do they manage to leave us yearning for more yet completely satisfied at the same time?

It’s like the perfect amuse-bouche, that one finger food at that one cocktail party that you will never forget. You are a ridiculous human if you haven’t spent 16 minutes with these two boys. Go watch it now. Or go watch it again. It’s time VERY well spent.

ABSOLUTELY RECOMMENDED

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GMMTV's most under-appreciated BL

A boy who can see ghosts and falls in love with one. They move in together and try to uncover that ghost’s murderer.

I love Love LOVE He's Coming to Me. It's is probably one of the most under appreciated GMMTV offerings (right up there with 3 Will Be Free). This is one of the BLs I foist on people who aren't already into the genre as a kind of teaser to get them hooked.

It's a paranormal romance which is one of my favorite romance genres, so combining it with BL always makes me happy. I love everything about this show, the friendship group, the parents (good and bad), the mystery (there is one!), the coming out sequence (both of them are gay ya'll, not gay for you).


Look, Singto is good, but Ohm is a revelation. He's ah-mazing. I mean Frame is a fun character (Make it Right) and Ohm does a great job with the higher heat they foisted on him in that series at what, 16 or whatever he was (shudder). And Dew was a great part to show off his range, but he is FANTASTIC as Thun.

The part at the end where Thun has to confront Mes's grandfather? That breaks like EVERY Thai society code: linguistically, socially, all of it. Doesn't matter if gramps is a baddie or not, the fact that Thun would go into someone else's house and fight for his man against not just an elder, but a rich patriarch? It's INSANE. Thun is such a bad ass. Like bigger bad ass than Tan in Manner of Death.

Anyway, conclusion, more people should watch this show.

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