BL Shows of note

[Bardeara]

So in the past few months, I've gotten into a new genre of TV/Movie watching that has at least helped re-spark my investment in tv shows. 

Sadly the last several years I've been rather bored with local shows, because they tend to focus on the drama/action and not focus on the heart.  I realized how much I missed it after the emotional episode on Law & Order: SVU when they aired an episode of someone who suffered a mental health crisis due to the pandemic and it made me realized I couldn't relate to the standard shows.

 

Anyways, my friend send me an link to view, and I won't like I hate reading sub-titles, so I refused to watch it for several months.  After being strong armed to watch it, I it occurred to me why he wanted time to watch it in the first place. It wasn't because it was a BL series, but rather the context of the show that got me to do a major double take.  The show is called "Until We Meet Again"  you can google it if you want to know more, I don't know if we're allowed to post links here, mainly because I'm too lazy to check. lol

 

Regardless this had me start a whole new trend of looking into BL and other shows that are of Asian context.    I know we have shows in the English version, like Heartstopper & Love Victor to name a couple of examples, and as good as they are, they don't hit the emotional cords like some of the Asian shows.

Well now that I've done babbling, here are a few of the ones I've really found interesting and think people show view.  They are on YouTube if you cannot find a site that holds them:

 

Bad Buddy

Until We Meet Again

Tale of A thousand Stars

Vise Versa

Be My Favorite

 

I'd love to start a chat or place were people can talk about it.  Also, if there is a correct location and I've missed it, let me know. 

 

I'd love to hear people thoughts on some of the above and any others they really liked. 

 

Regards.

[Drew Espinosa]

I started watching BLs back in 2020 with Where Your Eyes Linger, a Korean BL. I liked it, but it was rather short, and I wanted more, and so down the rabbit hole I went. Honestly, it's actually hard for me to verbalize why I'm so drawn to this genre. I think one of the reasons is because of how romantic they are in a way that few Western LGBT series can match, if that even makes sense.

My favorite BLs overall are:

1. The Untamed 
2. Bad Buddy
3. KinnPorsche
4. Word of Honor
5. The Eighth Sense

Edited August 10, 2023 by Drew Espinosa

[spike382]

Hi @Bardeara, I’ve been down the rabbit hole of BL since about February of this year thanks to Drew Espinosa, who posted above me.

I can’t even entirely explain the “reason” for pretty much exclusively watch BLs except to say, like you, I found a lot of western equivalent media to be too sparse and too lacking with a couple of notable exceptions.

My all-time top favorites are kinda moving constantly depending on what I can remember as being particularly great, you’ve listed some of the pinnacles of the genre here already.

Be My Favorite has blown me away with how consistently good it’s been and how amazing the acting of the two leads have demonstrated.

It seems like a lot of your series are all from GMM, all of those you listed I love.  Here’s a few more of my absolute favorites from GMM: 

The Eclipse

Moonlight Chicken

My School President 

Not Me

[Bardeara]

9 hours ago, spike382 said:

Hi @Bardeara, I’ve been down the rabbit hole of BL since about February of this year thanks to Drew Espinosa, who posted above me.

I can’t even entirely explain the “reason” for pretty much exclusively watch BLs except to say, like you, I found a lot of western equivalent media to be too sparse and too lacking with a couple of notable exceptions.

My all-time top favorites are kinda moving constantly depending on what I can remember as being particularly great, you’ve listed some of the pinnacles of the genre here already.

Be My Favorite has blown me away with how consistently good it’s been and how amazing the acting of the two leads have demonstrated.

It seems like a lot of your series are all from GMM, all of those you listed I love.  Here’s a few more of my absolute favorites from GMM: 

The Eclipse

Moonlight Chicken

My School President 

Not Me

Ah yes I've seen all four of them.  Normally I avoid school ones, unless their story is strong.  MSP I watched because it's part of the My Skyy 2 and I decided to watch all of them before MS2.  

 

Moonlight Chicken is an amazing one.  I really loved how they tackled the adult themes, along with not shying away from the disability.  Because of how they handled it, I'm fairly certain the up coming show called  'Last Twilight' will actually be a strong contender given the disability theme.  

 

Not Me and The Eclipse I enjoyed, however, I foolishly binged watched them and lost sleep as a result.  I don't recommend binge watching shows when you have to read everything.  It really loses the enjoyment of it. 

[Bardeara]

10 hours ago, Drew Espinosa said:

I started watching BLs back in 2020 with Where Your Eyes Linger, a Korean BL. I liked it, but it was rather short, and I wanted more, and so down the rabbit hole I went. Honestly, it's actually hard for me to verbalize why I'm so drawn to this genre. I think one of the reasons is because of how romantic they are in a way that few Western LGBT series can match, if that even makes sense.

My favorite BLs overall are:

1. The Untamed 
2. Bad Buddy
3. KinnPorsche
4. Word of Honor
5. The Eighth Sense

The Eighth Sense is on my docket to watch.  KinnPorsche I liked and also didn't like but for different reasons.  The story had some I think they tried to put too many twists. the Real world drama I didn't hear about until after, and I feel bad for the cast that they have that cloud over their shoulder.  I love the music in the show though.  JS is a good composer and I like how he composes it in both English and Thai.

 

I'll have to check out the other two.  The Untamed and Word of Honor. 

[Drew Espinosa]

@Bardeara, will you be watching Only Friends, this weekend?

@spike382 and I have been looking forward to this series for months.

[spike382]

1 hour ago, Bardeara said:

Not Me and The Eclipse I enjoyed, however, I foolishly binged watched them and lost sleep as a result.  I don't recommend binge watching shows when you have to read everything.  It really loses the enjoyment of it. 

I understand that, The Eclipse in particular is probably in my top 5 BLs, based entirely on the relationship of the leads.  They’re one of the more authentic pairings I’ve seen on screen where the relationship feels more real.
 

1 hour ago, Bardeara said:

The Eighth Sense is on my docket to watch.

I also strongly recommend the Eighth Sense.  My enjoyment of Korean BLs has been very hit-and-miss.  Generally, with a few exceptions, they’ve been too short and underdeveloped.  This year they’ve released some particularly good ones, even the shorter series.  The Eight Sense has none of the issues, and in my opinion it’s the best Korean BL ever made.

24 minutes ago, Drew Espinosa said:

@spike382 and I have been looking forward to this series for months

[Bardeara]

50 minutes ago, Drew Espinosa said:

@Bardeara, will you be watching Only Friends, this weekend?

@spike382 and I have been looking forward to this series for months.

Yes I will be.  There's three that have my interest that's starting shortly. I cannot remember the names of the other two... wait I think I have them on this computer.. hang on. (seriously why am I writing in real time like you can hear it. lol)

Dangerous Romance is one of them, I cannot remember off hand the other. 

[Bardeara]

So lets start planning now.  Shall we create a new thread for when Only Friends start for that show... aka talking about that in there and going forward we create threads for shows we are actively watching to talk about?

 

Also if anyone is interested the shows I'm currently following.

Be Mine SuperStar (2023) - Ep. 7 airs on the 14th.  Honestly it's kinda campy but I decided to watch it after the main pairing did Don't say No, which was a spin from TharnType's sequel. it does make me laugh which I need right now.

Hidden Agenda (2023) - Ep. 6 airs on the 13th.  I don't hate this one and the pairing was part of one of the shows from My Skyy 2.  Star of Mine I believe.  Have to double check. 

Be My Favorite (2023) - Ep 12 (Final) airs the 11th. (tomorrow) A lot of people didn't like the main character, I didn't love him but the story is what stands out.  Plus the twist is a classic Bard style I'll tell you.  I didn't see it coming even if it was shown early on.  

 

Recently I just watched Once Again  -  It's a Korea 8 eps. Talk about an emotional roller coaster.  I highly recommend it.  Sadly the ending is confusing even for me.  

[Bardeara]

12 minutes ago, Bardeara said:

So lets start planning now.  Shall we create a new thread for when Only Friends start for that show... aka talking about that in there and going forward we create threads for shows we are actively watching to talk about?

 

Also if anyone is interested the shows I'm currently following.

Be Mine SuperStar (2023) - Ep. 7 airs on the 14th.  Honestly it's kinda campy but I decided to watch it after the main pairing did Don't say No, which was a spin from TharnType's sequel. it does make me laugh which I need right now.

Hidden Agenda (2023) - Ep. 6 airs on the 13th.  I don't hate this one and the pairing was part of one of the shows from My Skyy 2.  Star of Mine I believe.  Have to double check. 

Be My Favorite (2023) - Ep 12 (Final) airs the 11th. (tomorrow) A lot of people didn't like the main character, I didn't love him but the story is what stands out.  Plus the twist is a classic Bard style I'll tell you.  I didn't see it coming even if it was shown early on.  

 

Recently I just watched Once Again  -  It's a Korea 8 eps. Talk about an emotional roller coaster.  I highly recommend it.  Sadly the ending is confusing even for me.  

I found the other one I'm looking forward to seeing.  It's call I Feel You Linger in the Air (2023) - Starts on Aug 18. Trailer can be found on YouTube.

[Bardeara]

How shall we grade the eps/show  out of 5 out of 10? What area's shall we look at.

Example.  Plot, characters. how classic the whole I can solve a bullet wound with a bandaid or a cuetip.   ok that one always makes me laugh. 

[Drew Espinosa]

47 minutes ago, Bardeara said:

Dangerous Romance is one of them, I cannot remember off hand the other. 

Yeah, this series along with Only Friends and Last Twilight are the ones I'm really forward to from GMM.

22 minutes ago, Bardeara said:

I found the other one I'm looking forward to seeing.  It's call I Feel You Linger in the Air (2023) - Starts on Aug 18. Trailer can be found on YouTube.

I'm legitimately excited for this series. It's not often when you see a historical Thai BL. There's another historical BL that should be released later this year, it's called Love Upon a Time.

[Drew Espinosa]

42 minutes ago, Bardeara said:

So lets start planning now.  Shall we create a new thread for when Only Friends start for that show... aka talking about that in there and going forward we create threads for shows we are actively watching to talk about?

 

IMO, for now we shouldn't create separate threads for individual shows, or we'd end up cluttering The Lounge.

44 minutes ago, Bardeara said:

Honestly it's kinda campy but I decided to watch it after the main pairing did Don't say No, which was a spin from TharnType's sequel.

Oh, did you watch TharnType as well? I tried watching it, pretty early on in my BL journey, but I kinda found the toxicity between the leads to be too much so I ended up dropping it.

 

[Bardeara]

13 minutes ago, Drew Espinosa said:

Yeah, this series along with Only Friends and Last Twilight are the ones I'm really forward to from GMM.

I'm legitimately excited for this series. It's not often when you see a historical Thai BL. There's another historical BL that should be released later this year, it's called Love Upon a Time.

Yes that's another one I'm interested in seeing.  This reminds me of another one that I cannot remember the name it's a time travel alt world kind of thing. Two Hearts or Two souls I think it's something like that.  but meh.  Midnight Museum is a good show actually.  Would like to see a second season on that one. 

 

[Bardeara]

6 minutes ago, Drew Espinosa said:

IMO, for now we shouldn't create separate threads for individual shows, or we'd end up cluttering The Lounge.

Oh, did you watch TharnType as well? I tried watching it, pretty early on in my BL journey, but I kinda found the toxicity between the leads to be too much so I ended up dropping it.

 

I watched it.  the toxicity is a pain.  I think the reason I hung on through it was that I kinda spoiled it for myself. you learn the reason why he is the way he is later on and the ending is amazing.  Worse for me, was it was very relatable. It's one of those Growth shows where the character actually matures over the series. 

[Bardeara]

15 minutes ago, Bardeara said:

Yes that's another one I'm interested in seeing.  This reminds me of another one that I cannot remember the name it's a time travel alt world kind of thing. Two Hearts or Two souls I think it's something like that.  but meh.  Midnight Museum is a good show actually.  Would like to see a second season on that one. 

 

Two Worlds that's the series I'm thinking of.  So fair it's only a trailer, I haven't heard of a release date.  
Cherry Magic - Thai's version is one I'm interested in also. The trailer seems interesting's with the classic I can hear your thoughts. 

[Bardeara]

I guess I'll add another one that has be curious is My Universe The Series.  It's starting on I believe the 20th of this month and it's got the My Skyy 2 concept.  I see 12 stories and it's a full 24 eps long.  I don't believe it's based on any series, so maybe they are trying out to see which shows people like before giving a full series.

 

I don't know if it will be any good, hence I'm curious to see how it is.  

 

[spike382]

43 minutes ago, Bardeara said:

Two Worlds that's the series I'm thinking of.  So fair it's only a trailer, I haven't heard of a release date.  
Cherry Magic - Thai's version is one I'm interested in also. The trailer seems interesting's with the classic I can hear your thoughts. 

@Bardeara, have you watched any other series with the leads from the Cherry Magic remake?  Tay and New have previously been a popular pairing a few years back, they took a break from BL for a while, so the series is getting buzz simply for their return.  I’m personally looking forward to it either way. 

[Bardeara]

6 minutes ago, spike382 said:

@Bardeara, have you watched any other series with the leads from the Cherry Magic remake?  Tay and New have previously been a popular pairing a few years back, they took a break from BL for a while, so the series is getting buzz simply for their return.  I’m personally looking forward to it either way. 

I've seen Vice Versa, Midnight Museum,  SOTUS,  SOTUS S,  Kiss Me Again, Dark Blue Kiss, and just finished The Warp Effect. 

At least those are the ones I know they were in, thanks to mydramalist.  I'm flip flopping between shows. 

 

Oh another really good one is 55:15 Never Too Late.  What I really liked about this one was the 5 characters get to be 15 again but at the age they are now and have to deal with that.  

 

[Drew Espinosa]

2 hours ago, Bardeara said:

I watched it.  the toxicity is a pain.  I think the reason I hung on through it was that I kinda spoiled it for myself. you learn the reason why he is the way he is later on and the ending is amazing.  Worse for me, was it was very relatable. It's one of those Growth shows where the character actually matures over the series. 

Maybe I'll try watching TharnType again, and potentially finish it all, 'cause it is considered an icon of the genre.

1 hour ago, Bardeara said:

The Warp Effect.

I've been meaning to watch this series, but whenever I think I've found time for it, a new BL catches my interest, lol.

[Bardeara]

1 hour ago, Drew Espinosa said:

Maybe I'll try watching TharnType again, and potentially finish it all, 'cause it is considered an icon of the genre.

I've been meaning to watch this series, but whenever I think I've found time for it, a new BL catches my interest, lol.

Honestly I found TharnType kinda like therapy for me anyways. Like Type, I acted poorly for a few years due to similar contexts.  Although I must admit I wasn't anywhere near as physical as he was. No excuse for it, I know, just better understanding of why people react certain ways. Now I feel like I need to see the sequel, but I didn't enjoy it... I don't know I cannot remember.  Prob was because I did it while binge watching it. 

Warp Effect, has clear flaws in the writing.  It was a major misdirect that even with clarity one will sit and pause. Personally the final ep I felt needed to be a little longer to flush out the ending. You'll understand if you get there. The Kink story was a missed opportunity where they play it off more for comedy than to help people better understand it. If it wasn't for my fiends sister and the many talks over the years about all the S&M stuff I wouldn't have rolled my eyes as much.  Still the heart to heart scenes when they did have it, was good. 

[Bardeara]

Be My Favorite final episode has dropped... I've watched it.  

I have a lot to digest it's one of those time travel series, where I think if you've ever wanted to go into your past to alter something then you should see this one. It's joyful, it's heart wrenching, it soulful and it's so many other things.  Most of all it will make you rethink if you're living in the now. 

It is in my top 10 BL shows... I think it might be.  I recommend you give it a go. 

Again it is available on Youtube, as it's promoted by the company on Youtube with English subs for you to follow. 

I'm still not sure if you can post links here, but I've noted that on another thread people can post music.  If it's not allowed, hopefully one of the admins will remove the post portion.  

Anyways, that's my review. BTW, where can I get one of those things.  I wanna win the lottery.

[Drew Espinosa]

I just finished the final episode of BMF as well! There are few series, BL and non-BL alike, that leave an impact on me. But, Be My Favorite is one of them. I'm so glad I decided to watch this series, because I was actually skeptical of Krist as an actor. In hindsight, I was totally being unfair, especially because I was judging his abilities from a seven year old series. Krist proved me wrong, and he truly shined in this series!

I'm honestly going to miss this series.

[Bardeara]

1 hour ago, Drew Espinosa said:

I just finished the final episode of BMF as well! There are few series, BL and non-BL alike, that leave an impact on me. But, Be My Favorite is one of them. I'm so glad I decided to watch this series, because I was actually skeptical of Krist as an actor. In hindsight, I was totally being unfair, especially because I was judging his abilities from a seven year old series. Krist proved me wrong, and he truly shined in this series!

I'm honestly going to miss this series.

I am gonna go on a limp here and say this will likely have some kind of follow up in what I'm assuming GMMTV is preparing for next years My Skyy 3.  If they don't add them I'll be very surprised. I said it back when Ep. 11 dropped that regardless how Ep 12 turned out they could follow Bad Buddy approach of My Skyy 2 where they cover a section of the time jump. 

 

Like you I was more than skeptical of Krist and nearly skipped the series, but the concept is what drew me in.  I also remembered that his acting style was based on a character concept and I had not actually seen any of his other works so I couldn't say if the character he portrayed in SOTUS was due to an acting abilities or if it was the way the character was.   Regardless I'd say he's grown as an actor and likely was able to grow more over those years which helped him. 

 

Now with the pairing approach that Thai tends to do.  I hope he doesn't do to Fluke, like what was done to him along with several other actors have seen happen to.  (aka kill their contract and their acting partner resulting in losing any hope at getting further contracts until a suitable replacement can be obtained.) often it kills their acting and they fall into a support role for their remaining career. 

[Drew Espinosa]

All right, I just finished the latest two episodes of the Chinese BL, Stay With Me. I've been following this drama religiously since it premiered in the beginning of July, and it's quickly become one of my favorite BLs of 2023. I'm actually bracing myself for the final two episodes, which come out tomorrow, because I've seen rumors that the series will have an open ending to set up for a second season.