#bl to watch

[absolutebl]

What's good on iQiyi? Now that KP is done I'm ditching the subscription but also watched Blueming and Gen Y. It doesn't have to be BL, I'll even take a noona romance. Bad and crazy is also on my list

What’s good on iQIYI? 

So you names the heavy hitters: KinnPorsche and (more important to me) Blueming. 

I haven't watched a ton on this platform, but here's a few:

You don't name it so ABSOLUTELY watch Dear Doctor, I'm Coming for Your Soul. I like this BL A LOT and this is the only place to find it. Review here.

Until We Meet Again - if you don’t want to watch it elsewhere. This is my favorite Thai BL of all time. (It’s also on YouTube and Viki.) 

Love By Chance - if you don’t want to watch it elsewhere. I consider this mandatory BL viewing. Everyone should see it. (It’s also on YouTube and Viki.) 

En of Love - perhaps less mandatory but still decent, especially the YinWar Ep. The first big example of Thailand’s “sampler pack” style BL. 

7 Project, I don’t really like any of these all that much, but if you really like some of the pairs it might be worth watching. SantaEarths is okay, the GL one is cute but has a terrible ending, BounPrem’s is rough going, BoomPeak’s has no kissing (this is my shocked face) but was the best of the lot. I didn’t watch the het ones. 

Even Sun (airing) if you like BounPrem, but I'm not into it. 

Check Out (airing) if you like high heat, but I'm not into it. (That said if you like the main pair they also have their first BL Skinship on this platform. That’s a long form advert, like Ingredients, tho.) 

NOT BL

My Dear Guardian - yet another take on Decedents of the Sun (I love a soldier/healer pairing)

Sweet Teeth - honestly I have no idea why I liked this one, but I did.

She Would Never Know - Noona but not my favorite, also I think Netflix has it now. Only worth watching if you, like me, are a Rowoon completest.

Romantic Blue - If you want to see Ohm act without Fluke. 

Ones I have on My List, but haven't watched yet

Bad & Crazy - it's so hard to find and so many people talked about it when I aired I feel like I should watch it.

Ten Years Late 

See You Tomorrow

Romantic Blues

Love Scenery

I am decidedly not a connoisseur of cdramas (I rarely watch their historicals because HOLY 50 eps batman!) so maybe others can weigh in with the important ones to watch on this platform. That’s where iQIYI’s strength lies... if you can call it that. 

Also remember, I’m USA based, so we might not have access to the same content. 

(source) 

[houjichas]

two bros… sitting in the dugout… touching their palms together and comparing hand sizes… this is what baseball is about

[alistairlowes]

i'm sorry but this shit annoys me to no end. like this is about heartstopper and you all need to stop acting like that show invented everything.

fucking anyways

1. Koisenu Futari

Show that’s specifically made to be about aromanticism and asexuality as well as how aroace people are perceived by society. They are main characters. That’s the main plot.

2. Heartbreak High

Want a teen show with ace rep? No problem. One of the main characters is ace! Would you look at that! The representation already exists! It's got a ton of other rep too and it's on Netflix but somehow we never got that ace rep yet right? You don't even need subtitles for this one.

3. SkamFr (s12)

Is it a bit too much at times? Ye sure but you know what it also is? Another teen show where the main character is asexual that deals with asexuality as the main theme. And no you don't need to watch all those seasons before to get it.

4. Bojack Horseman

I didn't even watch this one but I'm aware.

5. Cherry Magic

Oh would you look at that a show with main mlm couple where one of the side characters is aroace? I mean surely it hasn't been done before.

6. Run On

You want some casual side character ace rep? Well here you go even kdramas have done it but I guess there just aren't any shows...

Honorary mention to Sex Ed for that one scene.

[krazieka2]

Baby Emblem. Three Babies

[clearancecreedwatersurvival]

Katsuki Yuuri is so funny because dude is an Olympic level figure skater who competes internationally regularly and he introduces himself through narration in the first episode as very average in skill, who is doing it like him.

Your self confidence may be bad but is it deluding yourself into thinking you suck at something you rank sixth in the world at bad?

[dykealloy]

“we sent yuan away so his feelings could subside” you sent him to gay rizz bootcamp is what you did

[gunsatthaphan]

👋🏻👋🏻👋🏻.

[sunniss]

tae-yi in glasses~

[kuravix-art]

Honestly? Who knows at this point.

[pharawee]

BENZ Atthanin Thaninpanuvivat & GARFIELD Pantach Kankham —รักนี้ไม่มีถั่วฝักยาว (This Love Doesn't Have Long Beans) · Teaser · Coming Soon

[seatawinan]

[absolutebl]

I'm in quarantine rn and my credit card isn't here yet so I can't get gaga/viki. What are your favorite bls on YouTube that came out like this year or near the end of last year. Or in general a favorites by platform would be interesting too if you don't have one already 👀

Gotcha covered. Not sure on your particular taste so I popped the mini reviews in too. 

Best 2022 BLs Available to watch for Free (with ads)

Gonna do just 2022 because I have that post in progress, and I can just pull from it. And also SO MANY happening this year. Gonna suggest completed series ONLY, so as of mid May 2022.  

Semantic Error - (Korea Feb Viki*) 10/10

Main Tropes: opposites attract, enemies to lovers, bully romance, sunshine/tsundere, teasing & pranks

This is my favorite BL of 2022. Korea hits it entirely out of both Parks (pun on the actors’ last names intended) by doing a university set BL with everything we might expect done exactly right, their signature quality executed perfectly, and added bonus good story, great pacing, yaoi style filming, and fantastic chemistry. You cannot ask for more from a BL, let alone a KBL. Full review here.

HIGHLY RECOMMENDED 

* (I believe it is now free with adds to many countries, some of my other favorites might also be free on Viki but I don’t check which ones are free, because i have a sub. In general, I suggest Korean BL on Viki and watching whatever you can.)

Bad Buddy - (Thailand, Nov-Jan on YouTube) 9/10

Main Tropes: secret lovers, Romeo & Romeo, sunshine/tsundere, enemies-to-friends-to-lovers, GL side plot

GMMTV’s flagship BL started 2022 on a BANG (okay no actual banging but you know what I mean), starring heavy hitters Ohm & Nanon in a pitch perfect university Romeo & Juliet masterpiece that will give you domesticity meets pain whiplash throughout and jet lag at the end. Great production values, killer acting, and some conscious effort to correct for half a decade of Thai BL’s anti-queer mistakes. GMMTV, we forgive you. More. Live blog of this one is here. Full review here.

HIGHLY RECOMMENDED

Not Me - (Thailand Jan-March YouTube) 9/10  

Main Tropes: enemies to lovers, secret identity, identical twins, goodboy/bad boy

GMMTV gave us a dark disestablishment narrative (in a time of civil unrest) with established queer award-winning director Anucha and starring OffGun. THIS IS AN AMAZING THING to get to experience in the BL world - nerve racking but remarkable. But was it ACTUALLY BL? Not Me had a lot of BL elements, but in the end that’s not what the show was about, or even what it was genuinely trying to be. Still an amazing piece of Thai cinema certainly worth your time. Don’t worry, it all ends happily. Full review here. OffGun Eulogy here.

HIGHLY RECOMMENDED

Cutie Pie (Thailand Feb-May on YouTube) 8/10

Main Tropes: arranged marriage, age gap, secret identity, cohabitation, rich kid problems, he’s in engineering

Very high production and a lot of visual references to live action yaoi gave this show a whiff of Japan but ultimately it stayed firmly in Thailand’s BL camp veering from absurd to appealing to annoying and then back to absurd again. If you can roll with the arranged marriage conceit and very lifestyle D/s relationships, the chemistry is spot on even if the plot is naff and sappy and driven by miscommunication. Watch this one for the pretty, give it a pass on depth. Full review here.

RECOMMENDED

Mr Cinderella (Vietnam Jan YouTube) - 8/10

Main Tropes: forced proximity, cohabitation, childhood sweethearts, opposites attract, good boy/bad boy, domesticity

Higher than normal production values plus experienced BL actors plus two charismatic smoldering leads with good kissing and comfortable body language make this Vietnam’s objectively best BL to date. Plus we got a fabulously (and quintessentially Vietnamese) domestic ending. Full review here.

RECOMMENDED

Love Stage (Thailand, Feb-March YouTube) 8/10

Main Tropes: childhood crush, sunshine/tsundere, unrequited love, secret identity

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 followed the original manga story arc relatively closely: boy falls in love with girl as a child, grows up to discover girl is actually a very pretty boy. Although there are some quintessentially Thai changes that mellowed, softened, and extended the romance arc. 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 the contrasting kinds of closets. And I love that they depicted two couples with two different versions of this choice. A solid and enjoyable show. Full review here.

RECOMMENDED

Enchanté (Thailand, Jan-March YouTube) 7/10

Main Tropes: childhood sweethearts, sunshine/tsundere, secret admirer with a touch of Cyrano de Bergerac and dose of Boys Over Flowers.

Theo returns from France and starts a written flirtation inside a library book (!) at his new uni with the mysterious Enchante. When he and his best friend Akk hunt for Enchante’s real identity, 4 senior boys step forward - all intersted in dating Theo, all with ulterior motives. Can’t fault the chemistry or the classic old school Thai uni BL and Akk (Force) was particularly sympathetic. But the twist over Enchantie’s identity felt disingenuous, manipulative, and unnecessary and the whole narrative was flawed as a result, Theo became unlikeable and irredeemable. GMMTV seems to specialize in squandering great chemistry on shoddy scripts. Honestly it probubly should get an 8/10 by my rating system but I was so disappointed I’m gave it a 7/10 and did not bother to write a full review. Live blog ep-by-ep recap here.

RECOMMENDED WITH RESERVATIONS

Secret Crush on You (Thailand Feb-May YouTube) 7/10

Main Tropes: stalking, obsession, hottest guy on campus, multiple couples, queer affirming

Previously known as Stalker the series, and you can TELL. Co-produced by and featuring (but NOT staring) Saint and directed by Cheewin (sigh) with all fresh faces it was pure pulp and... I hated the plot. In fact I was ALL OVER THE PLACE with this show. SCOY drove me nuts and made me bush but had flashes of unparalleled genius. It had a ton of things I really did not like (e.g. the humor was crass and awkward, and the whole stalker thing was extremely CRINGE). It also had things that really worked: (e.g. representation of multiple different kinds of queerness, about which it very Taiwanese - in that there was no doubt that the characters really did want to bone). It was the opposite of sanitized gay. Honestly, if you can make it through the first half, and survive the never ending cringe-factor that IS this show, the second half is entirely unique - content we’ve never seen before in BL. Full review here. 

RECOMMENDED WITH RESERVATIONS, but not the usual ones.

Rainbow Prince (The Philippines Jan-Feb-March YouTube) - 6/10

Main Tropes: disney princess, opposites attract, sunshine/tsundere

This long form MUSICAL BL is fucking LEGEND. Also it’s profoundly not good. The acting is absolutely terrible but that’s not the point, the point is that it’s a cheesy af fairy story. Possibly the gayest BL to ever BL and certainly the most camp and very Disney. Watch it of that’s your thing, otherwise hard pass. (Full review here.)

RECOMMENDED ONLY IF YOU ALSO LIKE DISNEY SHIT

I hope these help and let me know if you tray and like any of them!

[ablazenqueen]

Simp: A simpleton putting his all into being a hopeless romantic. He acts like a chilvarous white knight and would do anything for his partner’s happiness.

[perths]

Gun Atthaphan by Best Jeera (MUA)

[wanderlust-in-my-soul]

You should eat too. Here. I'll feed you.

[gunsatthaphan]

earthmix in ossan's love returns ep4