#chaste bl

[absolutebl]

10 BEST Low Heat BLs - Soft & Sweet (Safe to Watch with Parents)

Not sure I am the right one to answer since I'm the opposite of a prude but I'll give it my best shot. Please keep in mind that these are romances, so there will be at least a kiss (in most of them), I'm thinking Disney level, so they might also be okay for kids, but as I always say with kids, you know your kid best, you have to judge what they are okay to watch. 

1. Cherry Magic 

AKA 30 Years of Virginity Can Make You a Wizard AKA 30-sai made Dotei Da to Mahotsukai ni Nareru rashii AKA Cheri Maho

Japan 2020 - CrunchyRoll or Fan Subbed 

The sweetest fluffiest magical realism BL, packaged as a pinning office romance, very low heat (practically chaste) but the cutest. It’s truly great. It’s not in my top 10 of all time list simply because the heat level is too low for me, personally. 

No kisses for the leads, side couple kiss is v dead fish. 

2. Light On Me 

Korea 2021 - Viki 

Korea does an elegant pastiche of traditional live action yaoi but all tropes are cleverly deployed to bolster one of the most riveting love triangles ever put on screen… and I don’t like love triangles. LonM strategically tailors classic BL tropes to 2 different semes resulting in pristine pacing, plot, and character development, explicitly serving narrative a-not just to tick boxes. LoM is a master class in this technique. (If you write fanfic or romance you should study this show.) Full review. 

Very low heat, Korea in peak chaste form (pre their 2022 “oh, boys can kiss” epiphany). But there is dildo humor. 

3. My Love Mix Up 

AKA Vanishing My First Love AKA Kieta Hatsukoi 

Japan 2021 - Viki 

Completely adorable absolute chaos bi disaster muffin falls accidentally and completely in love with his classmate, hijinx and friendship result. What’s great about this BL is that it deals with things like homophobia, asexuality, and one sided affection in an extremely gentle and palatable way. Perhaps sometimes too subtle, but I believe this is a great show for younger audiences, particularly if you want to spark conversations about identity, sexuality, authority, truthfulness, and consent. Oh and it’s funny. 

No kissing at all. 

4. Seven Days: Monday-Thursday & Friday-Sunday

Japan 2015 - grey

Never doubt my ability to recommend this show. One of the best live action yaois ever made, with perfectly structured angst, fantastic characters and acting, and no problematic tropes (rare in Japanese BL). 

The leads have excellent chemistry although it’s low heat there’s still some really cute mutual kisses. 

5. Wish You: Your Melody in My Heart (movie)

Korea 2020 - Viki

Set in the music industry featuring a talented singer and the pianist who falls in love with him (and his music), subtle and achingly adorable. High production, low heat, short run, very tame, and Korea, so more of a western style. It’s not the most logical story though. No coming out, exists in the “Korean BL bubble universe” where everything is just fine and dandy with the gays.

Kisses but they tame and no sexy.

6. He’s Coming To Me 

Thailand 2019 - YouTube

Boy and ghost boy fall in love, must solve ghost’s murder. Peak pining but also pretty tame, features my favorite sweet but important coming out sequence. The third in my precious triumvirate of unbeatable Thai BLs, that are only nominally BL because the story, acting, and production values are so good. (Together with UWMA & 1k*).

One (maybe two) soft romantic kisses. Nothing else possible. 

7. Restart After Come Back Home 

AKA Risutato wa tadaima no ato de 

Japan 2020 - grey

Atmospheric study in rural Japan meets complex family dynamics built on a romance framework of city boy meets country boy, grumpy/sunshine. It’s beautiful and icy sweet. Slow moving in places but ultimately worth the patience. Full review. 

Low heat, low angst, very pretty. 

8. My Ride 

Thailand 2022 - GaGa

Thai BL grew up with this pulp - a truly lovely and special little show featuring the extremely rare pairing of sunshine/sunshine AKA a cinnamon roll couple. Mature explorations of relationships using one of the softest, sweetest and most innocent friends to lovers vehicles. Kindly, overworked doctor meets broken-hearted motorcycle taxi driver in an “other side of the tracks” slow burn romance. The support cast is excellent, making for great friendship groups and family dynamics. With honest queer rep that adds to, but doesn’t impede the story, and genuine conversation about the nature of class, wealth, and classism, not to mention communication, honesty, and respect for boundaries, you can’t go wrong with this show. In other news, I am a sucker for a single dimple. Full review.

One sweet kiss at the end. 

9. Mr. Unlucky Can Only Kiss

AKA Mr. Unlucky Has No Choice but to Kiss! AKA Fukou-kun wa Kiss Suru Shikanai!

Japan 2022 - Viki & GaGa & indie subbed

Mr Chronically Unlucky (another adorable chaos muffin) and Mr Always Lucky end up dating after they meet at uni orientation. It’s JAPAN yet they kissed in the first episode. What freaky alt-reality did I enter into? That’s all they kiss tho, over which I was a touch disappointed. Still I spent far too much of my time with this show biting my knuckles and squealing “THEY’RE SO CUTE!” It is very slapstick Japanese style comedic (light) BL reminds me of Cherry Magic. So if you like that style of BL you’ll adore this show. 

Amusing story: I paused mid the most tooth-achingly adorable first date in the entire universe and Viki was like “something missing?” and I was like “MY HEART YOU BASTARDS” 

One kiss beginning and some shirtless lust. 

10. What Did You Eat Yesterday

AKA Kinou Nani Tabeta?

Japan 2019 - grey  

A not really BL about middle-aged gay couple who live together, one of whom loves to cook and the other who loves to eat. That’s it. That’s all that happens. There’s a bit of coming out drama, but hardly really drama. It’s all very repressed but also incredibly restful and calming. Like classical music.

No kisses, some casual domestic affection. 

Other Options 

A Tale of Thousand Stars (Disney style ultra romantic kissing, implied sex)

La Cuisine (couple soft kisses at end)

Silhouette of Your Voice AKA Hidamari ga Kikoeru AKA I Hear the Sunspot  

Oh Boarding House (kisses are perhaps too good)

Great Men Academy (GREAT but not BL) 

2 Moons original (boring) 

His the series (boring) 

First Love Again (multiple kisses) 

Ingredients (emotional support grocery store commercial) 

Love Class (that plot) 

Tinted With You (historical) 

Nobleman Ryu’s Wedding (historical) 

Behind Cut (confusing) 

Old Fashion Cupcake (but that ONE kiss is a DOOZIE, there’s a lot of thirst in this one)

Others That are (technically) Lower Heat but I’m not sure I’d rec for other reasons 

HIStory My Hero (odd) 

My Dear Loser: Edge of 17 (side couple) 

The Untamed (censored bromance, violence)

Word of Honor (censored bromance, violence)

My Esports Genius Brother (China is so weird around censorship)

Friend Forever (sigh, it could have been good) 

Absolute BL 1 & 2 (parody, not a story) 

DNA Says Love You (very complex, slow start) 

Bad Buddy (bully, forced outing) 

Bite Me (boring af) 

Love Sick (side character issues also v long) 

Nitiman (poor ending)

Given (terrible singing) 

SOTUS (bully) 

2gether (I have issues with Green) 

Mr Heart (stalker) 

Color Rush (suicide) 

Where Your Eyes Linger (whipping boy) 

Puppy Honey (side couple) 

There is A LOT of low heat stuff. It’s way more common than high heat. 

More Like This:

BL series to get my very conservative, very religious mother to watch? (PGish: sweet & clean)

Heat & Angst in BL + Terms Explained 

Why Such A Limited Range of Sex Acts in BL? 

The opposite: HIGH HEAT BL and 11 BLs with the BEST Chemistry  

Recs are dated Aug 2022 no responsible for BLs airing after that date. But please do rec in comments. 

(source)

[spirit-of-anime]

Doutei Hitsuji to Abazure Ookami

[pharawee]

I think... I'm about to kiss you. I'm going in...

[lurkingshan]

Japanese BL Starter Pack

It’s been awhile since I dropped a rec list, so I am here today to share one that is very near and dear to my heart—a Japanese bl primer for those who are new to the jbl game. I created this for @neuroticbookworm to help her on her journey when she decided she wanted to start getting into Japanese works. The fandom (on Tumblr and generally) tends to focus primarily on Thai shows because they are the easiest to access for international fans, since Thailand is working its way toward world domination via ql media and wants us all to be able to watch. But there is a lot of great stuff to watch beyond the easy access Thai channels, and Japan is the country where this genre originated, so its shows are important for anyone who considers themselves a bl fan. Japan doesn’t cater nearly as much to the international audience so tracking down the shows sometimes takes some ingenuity and can-do spirit, but that’s part of the fun!

And so, the list! Bookworm is about halfway through it and having a ball, so I figured it was time to stop hoarding it and share it with anyone else who would like to dip their toes into jbl and isn’t quite sure where to start. A few notes: 

I am not here to teach you about the deep roots of the jbl genre or give you a primer on yaoi manga. I am by no means an expert and there are other places to find that information. Start here with this great post by @nieves-de-sugui and then maybe wander over to @absolutebl to read up more on the evolution of the genre.

This list is by no means an exhaustive accounting of every important Japanese bl ever made; it is simply a nice sampler platter of the cream of the crop among various styles you will find in jbl. Watching through this whole list will not only expose you to some fantastic shows, but also give you a sense of what makes jbl unique and how the country’s style differs from others, and point you toward the types of jbl you’ll like most (they tend to put shows in pretty specific style and tone lanes and once you find the ones you like there are lots more where that came from). 

If you’re coming to this post as a jbl lover and you don’t see your favorite here, I promise it’s not because I don’t love it very much; I simply had to make some choices to get this down to a reasonable shortlist. Feel free to leave extra recs for others to find! 

I’m putting these in a loose suggested watch order that will take you through the various jbl lanes in a kind of popcorn style, because I always think it’s good to change it up so you don’t get too stuck in one mode, and it works its way up to most of the extremely Japanese stuff (you will know what that means by the time you finish). But do what’s in your heart and change up the order if you want, friends, I am not the boss of you! 

Cherry Magic (Crunchyroll or grey)

gif by @liyazaki

I believe everyone on Tumblr is pretty familiar with this one, which is not a coincidence—this is one of the most accessible jbls. Not in terms of actual access to watch it, mind you (we’ve all jumped through shady internet hoops to watch it) but in terms of its content and style. Cherry Magic is a classic workplace romcom with a magical twist, and it is charming af. It’s a great exemplar of Japan’s light and zippy comedy lane for bl—a lane in which, importantly, the romances stay chaste even when the actual plot is about sex, or lack thereof. My friend @waitmyturtles would kill me if I didn’t make sure you know that Cherry Magic also has a lovely follow up film. And bonus: there is now a Thai remake airing so if you watch the original you can get in on the discussion about the different adaptations between countries. This is pretty easy to find these days in all the usual places, but I strongly recommend watching it here.

Old Fashion Cupcake (Viki)

gif by @liyazaki

Moving on to a slightly more mature workplace romcom. Old Fashion Cupcake, another Tumblr favorite, is an age gap boss-subordinate romance, and it’s both very adult and somehow wholesome af at the same time. Sure, there is a lot of carnal desire going on here, but there is also a lot of wooing via fluffy pancakes. It’s a tight five episodes and a fantastic example of what Japan, with its extreme technical precision in writing, directing, editing, pacing, and acting firing on all cylinders, can do in two hours. There’s not an ounce of flab on this thing and you’ll want to watch it over and over again.

Utsukushii Kare (Viki)

gif by @wanderlust-in-my-soul

Time to get a little weird! Weird is a key feature of Japanese media, and lots of jbls explore unusual relationship dynamics rooted in complex psychology. This is the first show on the list that will likely feel very Japanese if you’re new around here—my advice is to lean into it and finish the show, even if you get uncomfortable along the way. In Japanese media, discomfort always serves a purpose. This is a high school story with a twisted relationship at its center, and I’m not saying any more than that. Don’t spoil yourself and go watch it! This one also comes with two sequels—one short second season and one movie—that continue from the original story. They are less essential but still excellent.

I Cannot Reach You (Netflix)

gif by @my-rose-tinted-glasses

Next up, another high school tale, but with a totally different vibe. This show is kind of a revelation in its willingness to tell a story about overwhelming desire—including sexual desire—with young protagonists. It’s rooted in a classic but often misunderstood trope, friends to lovers, and takes the angst of it seriously, giving us a low stakes story that feels extremely high stakes to our leads. It’s also gorgeous and uses a classic Japanese visual style (bokeh) that you’ll be dying to learn more about. 

His (Viki)

gif by @gabrielokun

Time for a break from high school, and we’ll sprinkle in a movie for some added flavor. His is a jbl film featuring a second chance romance between a stoic, introverted man who moves to a remote town to start over, and his ex-boyfriend who follows him there unexpectedly, adorable child in tow. Importantly, this movie does not take place in what we often refer to as the “bl bubble” where homophobia doesn’t exist; the leads’ experiences of being gay men in a homophobic society are hugely important to the plot and themes of the story. It’s a beautiful film and I’ve lost count of how many times I’ve watched it. @bengiyo would surely also like me to tell you that this film follows a brief prequel show called His: I Didn’t Mean to Fall in Love about the characters originally meeting in high school; I do not think it’s really necessary to watch it but completists can start there.

The Pornographer series (Gaga)

By now you should be ready to get into some classic Japanese fucked up psychosexual material, right? Right! The Pornographer series is told in five installments in this order:

The Novelist, a six episode miniseries

Mood Indigo, a six episode prequel series

Spring Life, a 15 minute short

Pornographer: Playback, a two hour film

Spring Life Continued, a 15 minute short

Confused by that distribution model? So say we all; sometimes Japan likes to make us work for it to make sure we really appreciate its many gifts to us. The story across these installments is about a very difficult to love protagonist, what makes him the way he is, and the also-unhinged-but-in-a-different-way man who finally gets through to him. It’s an extremely satisfying love story and one of the best character arcs I have ever seen, full stop. For this one, you’ll want to just pull the word problematic out of your pocket and store it in a drawer; nearly everything that happens in this story is problematic and that’s the point. Lean in! All of these installments except for the film are on Gaga, if you get that far hmu and I will supply you with the final puzzle piece.

Our Dining Table (Gaga)

You could probably use a break after those last two, so it’s time to shift over to a heart-tugging twofer: family trauma mixed with the cutest shit you’ve ever seen. ODT is an example of another classic type of Japanese show: the food drama (you will see the GOAT in this category at the end of this list). In Japanese culture, food is love, and the act of preparing food for your loved ones is a common path to romance. You’ll love this story about an isolated office worker who meets a pair of brothers, learns to cook as a way of connecting with them, and begins to heal from his own trauma as a result. The image above is a scan from the manga, which @troubled-mind curates to make extremely cool comparison sets like this one. Many jbls are faithful adaptations of yaoi manga source material, so it’s good to have a bit of familiarity with them.

Minato’s Laundromat (Gaga)

gif by @liyazaki

Japanese media loves to explore taboo, and often manages to do it in a way that is surprisingly light and chaste. This is an age gap romance between a teenager and his adult neighbor that explores internalized homophobia, emotional repression, and falling in love across seemingly impossible social chasms. It’s also a great example of old school yaoi seme-uke dynamics that still show up across the bl genre. Also, take my advice: end your journey with this one with the first season and just pretend season 2 doesn’t exist.

Eternal Yesterday (Viki)

gif by @wanderlust-in-my-soul

Remember what I said about weird? Time to do that again, but with a heaping dose of grief and pain on top. It’s not a spoiler to tell you this show involves a major character death; a major character death is, in fact, the root of the entire story. This is a magic realist tale of first love turned tragic, and it will hurt and heal you. It is one of my favorite dramas of all time.

Restart After Come Back Home (Gaga)

And now for a break for your poor exhausted brain. This film is basically the jbl version of a Hallmark original movie, about a city boy who goes back home to the country and falls in love with a total sweetheart while working together on a farm. Enjoy it, bestie, you’ve earned it! 

Tokyo in April Is… (Gaga)

gif by @wanderlust-in-my-soul

You’ve probably noticed by now that emotional repression and failed communication are big themes in Japanese works. This second chance romance has plenty of both, and it’s a great example of a kind of muted emotional style that Japan does so well, where the surface of the story seems almost placid and calm even as deep emotion roils underneath. This one (and Eternal Yesterday above) are part of a special line up of jbls on Japanese channel MBS called Tonku (Drama) Shower. The shows air one after another in the same time slot on Fridays (in Japan, perhaps Thursdays for you depending on where you live) and you truly never know what you’re gonna get, but they’re all interesting. Warnings on this one for sexual assault and trauma. 

The End of the World With You (Viki)

Time for sexy and weird again, but even more so! This has to be one of the most unique bls ever made; it goes to some truly divine and strange places, and it feels incredibly queer while doing it. Made by the same screenwriter/director of the Pornographer series with a lot of the same sensibilities, but in a more heightened apocalyptic setting. This one has existential angst, a road trip, a redemption tale, and a variety of interesting side characters in the mix.

What Did You Eat Yesterday? (Gaga)

gif by @my-rose-tinted-glasses

Congratulations, you’ve reached the end of the list and your reward is watching one of the best bls of all time, and a perfect slice of life food drama to boot. WDYEY now has two seasons (along with a couple specials and a movie that fall in between) because the universe clearly loves us. You can now get it on Gaga for easy access but I’m partial to the versions over at @kinounaniresource for better subs. Wherever you watch, settle in to get cozy with Shiro and Kenji and make sure to always eat before you hit play.

[junnnhui]

can't believe it took me this long to watch Bad Buddy because I am fucking obsessed? first of all I am a sucker for any reimagined version of a romeo-juliet story, and this one especially was such a delight <3 watching these two try to ignore each other because their parents hate each other was amusing enough, but watching them constantly scheming to avoid each other and pretend to be enemies because their faculties don't get along (when they're literally the definition of soulmates) was just peak television.

one thing that i especially love is how this is one of the few thai BLs- hell, this is one of the few pieces of media- where it feels like the main couple would actually last in the long run. usually it's just two leads who are attracted to each other and something dramatic happens and they fall in love in a way that feels grand but is just kind of... dramatic and superficial ig. but here- they enjoy spending time together even outside of all the flirting and cuddling, they're good at conflict resolution and communication, they are super supportive of each other, and they help each other broaden their perspectives. these two are such a domestic, functional couple, and despite all the bickering and fighting and pouting they just- really make it work.

another thing that really struck me is their physical closeness. a lot of thai BLs (especially lately) show a lot of steamy, physically intimate scenes but this one really had nothing (from the bts videos it looks like their kisses were supposed to be chaste-r but the actors just decided to give us a l'il treat xD). instead we get to see these two wrestle each other, or tend to each others wounds or feed each other, and that's. a really smart and refreshing way to show their physical closeness. i like that they didn't need to show us anything at all to prove how close these two are. i like that they decided to highlight the romantic aspect of the relationship without relying on the sexual one.

also. can i just say. romance and plot points aside. the show is just so entertaining. the pilot starts off with a bang and everything that follows is a treat. the conflicts are fucking hilarious. I was giggling every few minutes and all the bickering is top notch nonsense and every character is such a dumbass in their own right that their dynamics had me ugly laughing the whole time. but all that being said- their first kiss killed me? it was so gut wrenching and angsty and emotional I was sobbing my eyes out the whole time?? there were also several other moments where I was really worried for the characters. the conflict between the two faculties and the two families is flimsy enough to work perfectly for the humour but the stakes feel real at the same time so every serious beat in the story had me biting my nails fr. this whole show was a ride and idk how they did it but god. the plot is giving KFC a run for its money- it was finger licking good.

so yeah. tldr- i've had these mfers for two days now but if anything happens to them I'll kill everyone and then myself.

[hirmienworld]

I feel so (un)normal about this whole scene. My god, I can't find a fault in it, it's perfect from start to finish. They are in perfect synchrony, there is delicacy, they are enjoying their time without too much rush. It isn't excessively explicit nor excessively chaste, nothing appears excessive. I'm mesmerized. And here the credit goes entirely to Billy and Babe, because I honestly have only very few couples in mind, in the world of BL, with such powerful chemistry and complicity.

[chaos0pikachu]

twitt people being wildly annoying about playboyy already like

this take is just objectively incorrect, it is actually factually wrong.

I promise y'all there is not majority meat eating in BL do people hear themselves frfr

If you go by this list there's been over a hundred BLs released this year, so far. Out of that 100+ I've seen in full or partial about 30 or so of the list series/films this year and out of those like, not even half have explicit sex, maybe half have fade-to-black sex. A majority of BL is still pretty damn chaste and when sex happens it's usually some level of "shirts off, kiss, fall softly on the bed, fade to black". Hell challenge yourselves how often do we see sex that's not missionary or a bj in shows for real?

"BL used to sing cute songs and confess" THEY STILL DO! you child, you buffoon, you stale muffin, you dense donut.

If you didn't watch Laws of Attraction and see Tinn stealing a guitar so he could romantically serenade Charn that's not Thailand's problem that's a YOU problem.

Playboyy isn't porn - sex scenes have more in common with action scenes, they're just a different type of stunt work - it's fake sex. It's a show about sex, the missing persons mystery and the sex industry are the god damn story. That's still valid.

Pour one out for Den cause I have a feeling he's gonna be in the trenches on Twitter tbh

[bengiyo]

Not sure if you’ve already answered this one or not but I’m curious what your top 5 BL character development moments/achievements would be?

My personal fave is Charn’s process of opening his heart to Tin and how it changed him but didn’t detract from his sassiness.

Hmm, this is an interesting one to consider. It requires the character to change in some way. It's notable because a lot of times it only happens for one of them.

Alex from The Warp Effect

I actually really like the arc for Alex. I think seeing a character reckon with the consequences of his choice or lack of choices was really well done in this show. I like that part of learning for him was about how his people pleasing hurts the people he's trying to appease and making the choice to take better care of the people around him by being a more active participant in his own life.

Nakamichi Misaki from Me, My Husband, and My Husband's Boyfriend

I think I really liked how much she learned that she can choose the kind of relationships she wants from the people around her. I like that so much of her learning about what kinds of love are possible is grounded in her genuine love for Yuki. I have some complex thoughts about where the show chooses to end, but I like how assured she seems about her own life by the end of this compared to the way she seemed trapped at the beginning.

Uea from Bed Friend

Continuing even into Middleman's Love, I really love that Uea learned that he doesn't have to dim himself. He is beautiful. There's nothing wrong with that. It's not his fault that people treat him a certain way. He is also unwell. I'm glad he admitted that and is getting help. I'm glad he's built a support network that knows about his struggles so they can take care of him. I'm glad he severed ties with his horrible mother. He is thriving as himself and not who he was told to be.

Kawi from Be My Favorite

In so many ways I thought Kawi was an incel at the start of the show. I like that so much of his arc was about seeing people around himself in a kinder way, and also treating himself more kindly. I like that he had to face that no matter what he tries he will always eventually lose his dad. Grief is one of the constants of being alive. Everything dies, and so we have learn to cherish what we have and accept that nothing lasts forever. I actually came to like Kawi by the end of the series and could see what Pisaeng saw in him originally.

Amane in If It's With You

I love this boy, and I love how much he's comfortable with the fact that he's attracted to men. I like that his journey with Ryuji is learning that he doesn't have to skip over the cute stuff about first love and run directly to the apps and hookup culture. I like how, even though I wasn't necessarily keen on the chaste ending, it didn't feel like Amane regressed into a sexless being. It's hard for a lot of us who didn't get to have these cute experiences as teens. Dating is hard. We didn't get to practice in simpler settings. I like seeing Amane get a second chance at high school love and blossom as a result.

Ask Me Top 5 BL 2023 Anything

[grandekofi]

to expand on some of perth’s frankly shitty takes as a queer asian myself, i think it’s disingenuous of him and the fandom to infantilise these actors and act like there’s an “over-saturation of bls”. sorry in advance this is gonna be a long one.

to address the first point - all these actors are grown autonomous people who know what roles they’re taking. as i said in the tags of another post addressing this if you don’t want to act out sex with another man… don’t act in gay media. the primarily gay male writers don’t owe their straight actors a fairytale romance to justify portraying filthy dirty gay sex. gay people aren’t chaste, innocent people who stare at each other longingly and then dead fish kiss each other then never touch again. most have sex - casual or monogamous. portraying that isn’t exploiting actors. to act like the former is true is fetishising real queer people however.

now i have my critiques of certain companies *cough* domundi *cough* who cast actors who are quite literally barely legal with men in their thirties. however that is a completely different conversation around legal consent vs. ethics when money is involved.

now the big doozy - the bl industry being “over saturated”. oooft. firstly if people aren’t getting mad every time ANOTHER version of boys over flowers with the exact same plot is made then this just isn’t a valid take. but also, i’ve been watching queer dramas from all over asia since around the time gun started his career. for any other people who have also been around that long - congrats here’s your age pension card - but also you’d know it was slim pickings. we had either no proper representation or bad representation like addicted. when the BL boom in thailand hit that was HUGE. it meant not only did queer asians have a whole industry to see themselves in but also queer actors had somewhere to go. was it perfect? absolutely not but it was so necessary. the straight actors and fans taking part really need to take SEVERAL seats before saying anything like “there’s too much queer media”. no. there will never be “too much”.

if these actors are ever legitimately uncomfortable taking these roles it’s not like companies like GMMTV don’t make straight dramas. if you as fans don’t like the sex heavy shows go watch the dramas w the younger actors or god forbid just unpack some of your weird homophobia.

but we are allowed to want both quality and quantity. there’s room for both. not every dramas has to be as immaculately shot and thought out as things like ATOTS and Not Me.

i am honestly disappointed perth would spread such harmful rhetoric but i hope this sheds some light on why it’s Really Bad

[absolutebl]

Top 10 Great BLs That Are REALLY hard to find (but worth tracking down)

But you may want to go hunting anyway!

Seven Days

Seven Days: Monday-Thursday

Seven Days: Friday-Sunday

Japan 2015

Never doubt my ability to recommend this show. One of the best live action yaois ever made, with perfectly structured angst, fantastic characters and acting, and no problematic tropes (rare in Japanese BL). The leads have excellent chemistry although it’s low heat there’s still some really cute mutual kisses.

Cherry Magic AKA 30-sai made Dotei Da to Mahotsukai ni Nareru rashii

Japan 2020

The sweetest fluffiest magical realism BL, packaged as a pinning office romance, very low heat (practically chaste) but the cutest. It’s truly great.

Cherry Magic Thailand

Thai 2024

A soft charming warm hug of a show about crushes and mind reading and self worth, with no-fuss execution from a consummate team and an OG lead pair proving why they remain eternal and deserve to grow up. Look, here’s the thing, Cherry Magic is a great Thai BL in its own right not comparing it to any other iteration. But even when I do compare (and I've seen all the Cherries and read the manga) it still stands. I personally like it slightly better than the Japanese live action, but I think that’s because I just really like Thai BL and I LOVE TayNew. Also all the kissing was both present and better than any other iteration. As it should be from Thailand.

I Feel You Linger in the Air

Thai 2023

IFYLITA is an exquisite BL, from filming techniques to narrative framework (much like Until We Meet Again). Steeped in history and family drama it edges into lakorn (but no as much as To Sir With Love and with way less scenery chewing). This is an elegant and classy BL... from Thailand which normally doesn't even try for classy. The main couple (both as a pair and individuals) were excellent, particularly Bright (Yai) whose eye-work acting style is a personal favorite of mine. Pity about the ending. Oh it wasn’t that sad but it wasn’t good either. This show could easily have earned a 10/10 from me except that it fumbled the… erm… balls in the final quarter. Argh. Whatever.

All about the ecstasy and the agony here.

Restart After Come Back Home AKA Risutato wa tadaima no ato de

Japan 2020

Atmospheric study in rural Japan meets complex family dynamics built on a romance framework of city boy meets country boy, grumpy/sunshine. It’s beautiful and icy sweet. Slow moving in places but ultimately worth the patience, low heat, low angst, and stunning.

Given

Japan 2021

Boy joins band, falls in love with other boy. The singing is terrible, fast forward through that but with the possible exception of the hair styles, this BL could have been made in 2015 and no one would be surprised. As such, it wasn’t ground breaking, but it didn’t disappoint either.

Make a Wish

Thai 2023

A doctor who can see the dead strikes a bargain with a wish-granting irreverent tree angel - naturally they fall in love (from Sammon: Manner of Death & Triage). Stars Fluke Natouch opposite not Ohm, but who cares because Fluke has chemistry with everybody. Once again the Thai afterlife is incredibly bureaucratic but I enjoyed the premise and the unfolding of the story (it’s not predictable but still satisfying and with nice little twist). I like that the doctor is just gay AF - fag hag bestie and all the swagger. The cast is excellent but the comedic stylings are a bit overblown and tonally off. It had sad parts and did make me cry but is ultimately happy with a great sex scene, good smiley kisses, and all the agency.

2 Moons The Ambassador AKA 2 Moons 3

Thai 2022

A Thai pulp that felt like it came out 5 yrs ago with many of the flaws inherent to that time and studio system, including manufactured angst and convoluted plot, but an ultimately sweet main couple that (as a pairing) feels a bit more modern and satisfying to watch than they started out. This will probably go down in history as one of the few BLs where I genuinely didn’t care about any of the side couples. All that said I find this show oddly appealing and rewatchable and I have no excuses for that.

I Want to See Only You AKA Kimi no Koto Dake Mite Itai

Japan 2022

This is a beautiful, well acted piece of cinema, about two boys who are opposite personalities and grew up together. Gifted and serious Sakura pines after outgoing eccentric manic pixie dream boy, Yuma. It is very pretty and this is the kind of atmospheric elegantly performed BL that only really comes from Japan (complete with dead fish kisses - what you though Korea invented them? oh no).

Triage

Thai 2022

BL does Groundhog Day featuring a doctor stuck in a time loop who must save a poor little rich boy from death by seducing the stuffing out of him, then PLOT TWIST, poor little rich boy must do the same for doctor! Unfortunately... stuffing keeps leaking. I thought the plot was engaging if a little redundant and occasionally exhausting. The pairs were all well done, low heat but with decent chemistry and the support characters were likeable (or unlikeable, as required). If anything, the romance arc detracted and distracted from the main plot, but that doesn't stop this from being a genuinely good show.

HONORABLE MENTION

Great Men Academy

Thai 2019

Bodyswap involving unicorns making a teenage girl into a boy makes this questionable as a BL (because, ya know, gender). But the fact remains that James is killer in the lead, and I (who do not like bodyswap) loved this damn show. Look, there is actual plot, hotties at boarding school, "bully the one you love" trope, some weird VR shit, very bad CGI, and yes, the boys end up together... whether they boys or not, so to speak.

Some of these shows may appear on a smaller streaming service, like WeTV, or they may be on a legal platform in your territory. I hope it goes without saying you should check there first.

(source)

This list updated Spring 2024, not responsible for cool stuff that went missing (or was added to a platform) after that date.

It's it last in a series the rest of which are:

[morkofday]

Top 5 kisses in BL 2023

Top 5 fashion choices in BL 2023

Top 5 aesthetically pleasing BL in 2023

monica my beloved ♥ thank you so much for sending me all three of these!! i made separate posts for the other two here and here, but let's get into kissing now, shall we!

-

My Top 5 BL Kisses in 2023

I. PuenTalay in Our Skyy 2 x Vice Versa episode 2

listen, i know i am extremely biased but i am just OBSESSED with the parallel included to this kiss. p'x was high on something, having visions, incredibly galaxy-brained when he decided to remake puentalay's drunken kiss in their final episode. with the same dialogue and puen's soundless 'i love you' no less! this kiss is extremely beautiful and so meaningful and gosh. owns my whole ass ♥

II. MorkDay in Last Twilight episode 6

the rooftop kiss coming to compete with all the legendary rooftop kisses! absolutely feral over how this scene goes, how it starts with one tentative kiss (careful, scared, almost chaste and innocent, child-like) and then turns into all this hunger and desperation and determination and anger and grief and confusion and delight and relief. this is pure insanity. i know they're about to top this some time soon but ugh, true cinema.

III. LomfonTien in LaPluie episode 12

i was waiting for this kiss like i was about to drown without it and it did not disappoint. i think i replayed this scene like ten times once it happened bc it was just so good. very nice, very fulfilling. i hope these two get a second season so i can see more of them being crazy about each other and sort out whatever mess the universe has planned for them.

IV. JokeZo in Hidden Agenda episode 8

i know they have a full-on makeout session in this episode bc it's their first time and everything, but i am genuinely in love with this specific moment. there is just something so... intimate? humane? real? about the way joke brings zo with him into the bedroom and then sets them both down like this. it brings back memories, and maybe that touch of real-life connection makes this kiss so important to me. they're sweet, they're in love, and this kiss is a testament to that.

V. SandRay in Only Friends episode 9

i was straight up screaming when this scene happened for the first time. idk how firstkhao did it, but on some level, this feels like sandray's first kiss. it's so full of anger and passion and desperation and love and fear and. yeah. it's just a very impactful kiss, so it has to be here. some lives were changed. especially when this is impro??? oh christ alive.

Bonus: HeartLiming cheek kiss in Moonlight Chicken episode 8

this is the cutest shit. my heart fills with joy when i look at this. they're my precious beans and they're together and in love and everything is right in the world ♥

-

thank you monica, i love you so much ♥ i hope you enjoy these answers!

[olderthannetfic]

https://olderthannetfic.tumblr.com/post/736547236741332993/whats-the-current-consensus-among-you-and-your#notes

yeah like. say what you will for people like the Heartstopper and RWRB authors and their obnoxious takes on Asian BL and "problematic" content in it.... but they did at least do the thing that more of these people could be doing, and make their own original thing that suited their tastes. And they were popular! Among their fellow "fujoshis" rather than the coveted gay/bi male audience, but popular. They were obviously tapping into something people wanted. (I liked RWRB for what it is, I haven't bothered to read Heartstopper because, personally, I need smut in my romance novel trash, whether queer or het. But that's just me. Clearly there are a lot of people where it was exactly what they were looking for! There IS an audience for the chaste kind of gay romance but you can prove that by actually fucking writing one and writing it well)

--

True! I'll give them that.

[forkaround]

sometimes it's not about having all the rights and liberties. sometimes it's about being happy despite not having them.

Like, yes, it's really great to have legal rights. But that's a long fight and it shouldn't mean that your happiness should be put on hold till then.

This is about QLs, btw.

Most of them are made in conservative countries. Only Taiwan has the legal right to marriage but does that mean that only Taiwan should get to make queer media?

I mean, murder is illegal everywhere and yet it being shown in everything isn't complained about. But QLs are constantly criticized coz the country they are made in doesn't have marriage equality or social acceptance. Have you wonder why?

Why can't Thailand, S Korea, Japan, etc make these shows without being labelled fetishistic? Despite the fact that they are not, despite how many people discover their own queerness through these shows, despite how it offers a refugee to queer people, one of love, something that's rare in the rest of the world?

Have these people wondered that living in a country with legal rights is a luxury? That it's not like that for 90% of the world? Have they gotten so comfortable with it that they've forgotten that they didn't have it less than half a century ago?

I'm Indian. The state of the country about queer rights is abhorrent but BLs have gotten popular. Maybe it's the older BLs that give a comfortable feel and people venture into the more heavier/queerer ones. Maybe you just enjoy the queer ones there are. Because let me tell you India doesn't make these. The Western shows are too steeped in their own pop-culture for an average person to truly understand and thus enjoy it or it's too raunchy/sexy for many to be comfortable with. But S Korean BLs, chaste Japanese BLs, soft Thai BLs, India gets that. India can understand that. India can talk about that.

So while you sit on a moral high horse please try to understand the rest of the world does not share your perspective. It does not share your freedoms. And claiming these to be fetishistic only makes people who are already uncomfortable even more so. It makes people not want to explore these stories and parts of themselves they want to understand.

[grand-eclipse]

I think that My School President is a really good example of where a more chaste romance works. When I started watching Thai bls and going through the backlog, a lot of the older series were very minimalistic - usually going for a dead fish kiss and there was little high heat among those older series. Now bls offer a lot more heat, and those that don’t at least offer good kisses. What works for MSP is that while it resembles those older bls in terms of number of kisses, both in terms of casting, story, and chemistry, it makes sense. Tinn and Gun are both experiencing first love in high school, and they are so young and so shy with each other that it makes sense that we only get a kiss at the end of the series. Gemini and Fourth are also young, they’re eighteen years old, and I am absolutely not expecting anything high heat from them any time soon. I would be extremely uncomfortable if either of them did anything high heat in any of their upcoming series. 

The other aspect comes from the fact that, as a newer viewer, a lot of olders bls feel very bromancy rather than romancy. The kisses aren’t particularly passionate, but more than that, the chemistry between the pair feels less romantic. Even though there was no sexual intimacy between Tinn and Gunn, they absolutely sold me on the fact that they are head over heels for each other. They’re in the midst of puppy love, where something as simple as brushing hands causes explosions of buttterflies. 

I just loved this series so much from start to finish, and it has been so long since GMMTV has really stuck the landing on any of their bls, especially keeping it consistently good from start to finish. Hopefully this bodes well for their 2023 line up! 

[raptorific]

yaoi literally specifically refers to the pornographic variety of M/M content in Japanese.

I need you to understand that the use of "Yaoi" as an umbrella term for all M/M content in the west is specifically a symptom of the thing I'm talking about, and the fact that at the time when the term was imported, the prevailing view was that all same-sex content, no matter how chaste or wholesome, was pornographic. This is specifically why it came to mean "any M/M content" in the west.

If someone who primarily speaks Japanese was making a distinction between "Yaoi" and "BL," I would translate that as "gay porn" and "gay romance." That said, if someone is using "Yaoi" to refer to "gay porn" and "gay romance" to refer to "gay romance," specifically in a way that is derisive towards the sexual element, then maybe they should examine why they think they should use Japanese terms for porn and English terms for Romance

[three--rings]

You Should Watch Moonlight Chicken

Welcome to my formal rec of this show, which has stolen my heart so completely over the last few weeks.

What is it?

Thai BL series from GMMTV which has just finished airing (as of March 2, 2023). The characters all revolve around a chicken rice diner called Moonlight Chicken. It's got eight episodes a little over an hour each.

Couples:

Jim and Wen:

The main characters and couple are Jim (left above) and Wen (right). They meet when Wen passes out drunk at Jim's restaurant one night and they end up talking and flirting and then going home for a "no strings attached" one night stand.

Afterwards Wen is determined to attach strings but Jim holds firm to his "no complications" rule. Wen starts working part time at the diner in a not-at-all-sneaky plot to win him over.

Heart and Li Ming:

The adorable teen couple of Jim's nephew Li Ming, who he is raising, and Heart, a boy who has been extremely isolated since becoming deaf three years ago. They quickly develop a friendship and learn to communicate and it's heartwarming and adorable right up until it deal with very real issues of ableism.

Other characters:

Alan

He's Wen's not-quite-or-maybe ex. It's complicated. The show might be just as much about Wen and Alan as Wen and Jim, but theirs is a breakup story.

Gaipa:

He's a young friend of Jim, with a massive crush on him. Unrequited love and his relationship with his amazing mom is his focus. Standout performance from the actor.

Saleng:

The token straight. I felt bad leaving him out, okay? He's a good boy.

Okay but what's it ABOUT?

Life. Love. Relationships. Growing up, healing, building community and family even in the face of adversity.

Could you elaborate?

Okay look, the way the plot of this show was sold was "One Night Stand leads to complications when one of them already has a boyfriend?!? Drama!" Which is downright misleading. I showed up for messy gay drama and got a profound piece of queer cinematic art about the struggles of modern life and love and relationships.

This is honestly not your typical BL series at all. It really does feel a lot more like serious drama, queer film, etc than what we are used to. (I'm not saying it's ALONE...just rare.) It feels like a director/creator coming into their own and really stretching their abilities.

The cinematography is gorgeous, creating a quiet and pensive mood throughout. The acting is remarkable, excellent across the board with some real stand-out performances from the "side" characters.

The plot flirts with melodrama/soap opera turns but it always comes down on the side of grounded, realistic takes. I'll just say there are some moments that really hit me because they reflect experiences I've had in my life so well.

This show is very Adult to me. And by that, I don't mean steamy or sexy. It's really not, despite the first episode. It's a very chaste show, all things considered. I mean Adult in terms of These are Problems Adults Have. Dealing with the ending of relationships, getting over past relationship trauma, dealing with grief and loss, figuring out what you want in life, having to be there for your ex because they need you and you still care, etc. Just life, sometimes messy and painful, but ultimately beautiful.

If you can't tell I could go on for a while. But honestly, even if you're not a BL watcher normally, I recommend you give this a try. It's a feel-good show that will make you cry.

Okay where do I watch it?

Good news! The show is available for free on YouTube in its entirety! Just look for the GMMTV official channel.

Content Warnings under the cut to avoid potential spoilers but they will remain vague

Having sex while under the influence of alcohol but fairly lucid, cheating as a topic, breakups, ableism and parental neglect as a result, death of a partner, death of a parent, motor vehicle accident aftermath, age gap relationship(s)