Agreed, microdramas are basically a separate media from normal dramas, imo. In the same way that the same source will be adapted to a movie and a (normal) drama, the same material will also be adapted to a regular drama and a microdrama
One thing more that I think you can also add or mention "Returned Master" if you want
Thanks for the suggestion, but Returned Master has 18 min episodes so in my (totally arbitrary) categorization, it seems more like a full length series than a microdrama. The ones here should be mostly 15 min or less, and I don't have a more general all Chinese BL list since a lot of other people have made them already.
But I appreciate the suggestion! I am actually hoping to watch it when I have time :)
I don't care what anyone says but I'm watching Stand by Me as a bl. I'm aware that the series was made in mainland…
(Sorry for reviving this old thread, I just had some thoughts :D)
If it helps, I think there is a certain subgenre of Chinese shows that fall into "not technically BL for broadcasting reasons but the creators and the audience both view it as BL". It won't typically have any kissing or explicit confessions, but they tend to hit a lot of the typical gay fanfic tropes otherwise. This particular nuance tends to get lost on this website imo, where people tend to put shows into either being actual BL (has explicit romantic/sexual scenes) or bromance (anything else). I would consider Stand By Me the type of show that very clearly intended for BL-watching audiences, same with a lot of the shows other people have listed.
If you're still looking for recs, I started a list of microdramas that imo fall into this category: https://kisskh.at/list/3m65lw64
It's one of those shows where the creators and audience are both aware its BL but in terms of physical stuff its just some long looks and hand/arm grabbing, plus a comment about one of them thinking the other is handsome. Also it's mainly an ad so just fyi
This show has everything: cute boys in black lace domino masks and/or leather suspenders, a woman with a riding crop, gay crushing, inappropriately timed skincare advertising, and Xiao Tai dressed as a woman.
Did the guys end up with any girl?? (especially ML) pls tell me no
I haven't seen the show yet so I'm not sure what they did with Du Sha for the drama, but to be fair she is in the original manga too. Originally she is a fujoshi in their class who likes shipping them.
I would say no, as this is a weird example where the original manga (18δΈι) was published as a bromance school manga. It got kind of BL-lite at times, and most of the readers certainly viewed it as BL, but it was never officially a BL. There was a side plot involving a man who is in love with Jin Zhan's straight brother (although I would say this plot was more LGBTQ than BL, and their relationship status remains kind of nebulous to the end), and the ending sort of generically says "love who you love", but the author doesn't actually have any explicitly romantic scenes and (as far as I saw at the time the manga ended) never confirmed that the main couple were officially romantically together.
idk if anyone else even cares about this but I can't believe Oryo and Yokohama Ryuusei started out in Kamen Rider Fourze as childhood friends and rivals, and...now they're in a mainline film as childhood friends and rivals. Also how is Oryo so prettyyyyy
It wasn't exactly the same. Guardian aired weekly and all episodes were released, it just got removed for a while after it finished releasing. I think it's back up now, though.
But I appreciate the suggestion! I am actually hoping to watch it when I have time :)
If it helps, I think there is a certain subgenre of Chinese shows that fall into "not technically BL for broadcasting reasons but the creators and the audience both view it as BL". It won't typically have any kissing or explicit confessions, but they tend to hit a lot of the typical gay fanfic tropes otherwise. This particular nuance tends to get lost on this website imo, where people tend to put shows into either being actual BL (has explicit romantic/sexual scenes) or bromance (anything else). I would consider Stand By Me the type of show that very clearly intended for BL-watching audiences, same with a lot of the shows other people have listed.
If you're still looking for recs, I started a list of microdramas that imo fall into this category: https://kisskh.at/list/3m65lw64
https://kisskh.at/list/3m65lw64