Asian BL - BL/Gay Dramas and movies 1980's to 2021

Don't know whether to include this, or not. Apparently all the BL has been cut out due to the Chinese media ban on LGBTQ content.

Upcoming 2020.

Not BL, but contains a (several?) gay character(s?) Still haven't watched it but supposedly, it's one of the best dramas of recent years, and has gotten universal praise.

THE classic. But honestly... it really isn't all that with a cherry on top.

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Short movie that focused too much on aesthetics and forgot to tell the story in a way that catches the audience. Rather beautiful, but too empty.

Supposedly has gay character(s).

Sequel to mini-drama "The Moment".

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Compilation of different LGBTQ stories, of which at least one has a BL storyline and/or gay character(s).

This is lovely. With a runtime of only 15 minutes--it feels like a full movie. There would have been enough to make one. And it would have ended up MUCH better than the majority of BL flicks churned out by Thailand through the years. A sweet, pretty deep yet easy-going coming-of-age story and a couple I really wish we could have seen more of.
Production is pretty standard for a short, but well planned since the story is well fleshed out for its short runtime.  The lovely little Boy Sompob song "Jigsaw Heart" fits the feel and story perfectly. 

This is feelgood.

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Short of the long kind. (54 minutes runtime.)

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Horror with gay characters.

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Golden oldie. Gay themed romcom of classic 90s style. Think Julia Roberts-flicks, but with gay love instead. Not amazing in any way, but a nice watch if one likes older and "less teen-oriented" gay stories.

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Not BL--but the last episode is about a teen BL couple. This episode is a short version of the movie "The Blue Hour"--also on this list. 

(I love this series. A collection of urban legend-style little horror stories, of which some are really great and would make for awesome full-length horror flicks.)

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Movie version of the drama "To My Star".

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Korean-Thai co-production.

Not BL, but is supposed to have gay characters. I've got to say that the premise sounds quite irresistible--and very unique. I haven't been able to find it, though.

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This does belong on the list. The MC likes guys and does not identify with, nor does he want to be, a woman. (Which would have made him straight.) He wants to be a guy (who crossdresses) and likes guys = he's gay.

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So far--I love this. Love it. Love, love, love it.

Love the story, love the direction, love the OST/score, love the cinematography, love the setting, love the script (for most part), love the acting, love the cozy, lovely, happy, sunny feel, love how it makes me smile.
I even kind of love Earth in this one--and THAT'S a first for me...

Basically; a whole lotta' love.

This one's a keeper, even if there is potential for a derailing further down the line.

One of the best BL shorts to come from South Korea, IMO. A simple little story, but with a lot of heart and a very nice, summery atmosphere. Worth a watch.

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Very short full-lenght movie (or a very long short.) (1 hr 7 minutes.)

This + sequel, were quite popular when they came, but they aren't my cup of tea. Probably largely due to the fact that I really don't find the slick, metrosexual type of guys a´la Chinese/Korean boyband, appealing... Nor does the melodramatic type of story-telling suit my taste.  I prefer down-to-earth, simple kind of love stories in everyday type of settings, with your everyday type of normal guys. 

But if you like that type of guys and that type of stories--sure. The flicks in themselves, aren't that bad--but not good either. 

Sequel to "A Round Trip to Love".

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So precious, a classic. 

Of the adaptations of Chai Ji-Dan's novels, this would be the most "realistic" in both story and how it's told. (Compare to "Counterattack"--also called "Falling in Love With a Rival", and with "Advance Bravely"...) The novel is crazy, yes, but not QUITE as crazy as her other works. (All of them are EXTREMELY dirty, though. But that part is sparse in this one, as well as "Counterattack", and completely absent in "Advance Bravely", due to Chinese laws.)

The dramatizations of the ones before mentioned, are flat/boring/bad--and very glossy--respectively--but this one has a different feel. A more mellow coming-of-age type of story, that relies more on the dynamics and developing relationships between the characters, than everything that goes on around them. Two (fairly...) normal teen boys falling in love. It's charming and the chemistry between the guys is soooooo nice.

The drama only covers about half of the first book (of two), since it was discontinued. The reasons are a bit unclear but probably the Chinese media ban on LGBTQ content, was a big part of it.

But if one wants to know the full story--both novels are fan translated and available here and there--on Wattpad, for example. Be sure to support Sai's "official" translation (she has permission from the author of the novels, Chai Ji-Dan) and has worked very, very hard with this. I know, since I helped out with the editing for a while. 

Taiwan is supposedly making a reboot, which made the fans go ballistic, (especially since Taiwan are allowed to show actual gay content and therefore can include at least some of the VERY graphic content from the novels) but it turned out that the story is a free adaptation and does not include these guys. But it'll probably still be worth a watch. The Taiwanese usually manage to produce decent--to amazing--stuff.

I literally went "OHMYGAWD!" when I saw that this is coming as a drama. YES! YES! YES!
Based on an absolutely lovely one-shot manga--and this mini-drama turned out quite lovely, too. A bit of a different flavour compared to the earlier years of Japanese BL--fully in line with the freshness and "closer to reality makes it more beautiful, not less so", that they've delivered during the past couple of years. 

Sweet, quite simplistic and lacking all that over-the-top melodrama/exaggeration in acting and direction, that used to wreck far too many Japanese productions. An EXCELLENT choice of manga to adapt to a Live Action--and an excellent result, as well. It managed to catch the air and feel of the original work, bringing it to life with dedicated and believable acting and script.

Yay!

(Btw; If you read comics and decide to read/have read the one this is based on--do not miss out on the larger work which this one has more or less copied. "Complex", by Manda Ringo. Get through the first, messy part--and you will be rewarded with a knock-out of a BL...)

DO NOTICE the extremely gratifying cameo in the end--our (at least my) beloved boys from Taiwanese BL-drama "HIStory 3: Make Our Days Count" make a quick appearance! :D (I literally shouted and jumped up and down). Without spoiling too much--it was somehow a little bit of comfort to see them in an "alternative universe" as opposed to the actual drama...

Okay, I hate vampire themes. I especially hate vampire themes paired up with BL. 

But this would have been crap even if I DIDN'T hate vampires. 

This is bad. Seriously so. The only redeeming thing would be Fluke, since he's a decent actor.

Mini-drama.

Hmm. For some reason, I didn't like this. I enjoyed the other recent Korean mini dramas more, even though they were less qualitative... I'll give a decent rating because it's pretty well produced and there's nothing WRONG with it--it just didn't hit home with me. I get annoyed with unrealistic plot/relationship developments--and here, it's too much for me. Sure,when talking about BL--realistic stories are rare. But as long as it's built up and elaborated from the haphazard meeting/hook-up, it's fine. Especially if it's the sillier kind of BL. 

But this isn't silly--so it becomes awkward. And the relationship dynamics are fuzzy and somehow... the characters keep their feelings and thoughts to themselves. There is no need to write it on the nose, but some kind of outreach, explanation, voicing out what takes place in their minds and hearts--is kind of crucial to make us believe what happens on the screen.
This doesn't. 

It's cute and all that... but it's flat. The characters are flat and the story is told in that shallow and "let's show a little bit of this and a little bit of that, screw the fluidity" kind of way.
Which is a pity, since the plot premise was kind of unique. 

Acting was fair, but not in any way exceptional. 

Random cred; The far-from-acceptable dancing by the MC, was edited quite cleverly and smoothly and almost pulled off fooling an experienced and critical eye.
Tech work was quite nice with some extra lovely shots. 

And above all; Cred to South Korea for developing their BL, and managing to dig out a path of their own, with a distinct flavour that differs from the Japanese and Taiwanese productions, even though they have similarities.

Upcoming sequel season for "Wake Up Ladies". Perhaps Mr. Love's own relationship gets a bit more focus in this season?

Another one I haven't watched--and am a bit unsure of about the actual gay content. It's not BL, that much I know. But supposedly gay character(s?).

And it has Ohm... (Which for me is enough of a reason to watch it, when I can get around to it.)

I really don't like this movie. It's not utter junk, there are some nice themes there, but it's just not executed well. Ngern isn't a very good actor, nor are the others in the cast. FAR too much filler junk scenes, far too messy, far too random.
One plus is the focus on the main couple--something we don't get as much of in the drama series version--but I'd still recommend that one instead of this. 

One of the couples featured in the drama version--in this one, is... kind of creepy. (The huge age gap one.) I'm ambivalent. On one hand, it's somehow cute and touching. (The old guy, that is. The young one is much less likable in this one than Toptaps adorable version in the drama.)
In other ways, it makes me cringe.

I don't like the movie, so I wasn't thrilled about the drama, but this isn't half as bad as I thought it was going to be. Definitely one of the better ones in the big bunch of the more mediocre Thai BLs. 

I like the setting (because I love sports BL) and the plot is acceptable, but too much focus on the side couples (two straight, one gay/BL, one hinted BL one and a GL one) but their stories were fairly interesting, at least enough so to make me watch them and not fast-forward to the next BL scene. Unfortunately, the most interesting side couple got far too little time--as to not spoil, let's just say "the (huge) age gap one". At first it made me cringe a little bit, but then it was the sweetest ever and I would've loved to see their own story. Toptap is unforgettable as one of the two guys in that couple.

Acting is decent to very good, from most involved. New is adorable and even though I'm no fan of Earth, he does a pretty good job here, and the chemistry between him and New is quite nice even though I prefer New with Tay. (The "Kiss" series.)
Music and score was decent, directing and production pretty good.

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Meh. As I said in the comments for the drama--I don't like time skips. And the content was "meh" too. 

But well, whatever. It's a part of it. I love the drama so much that I'll just ignore this.

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The drama apparently is based on the content of a long thread posted on the Thai discussion forum Pantip--ages ago. It has a previous adaptation, in movie-form; "Boring Love" from 2009.Also has a S2. 

I have no idea why there are people who actually consider this good. I just can't...
I rewatch the Mew-scenes. Other than that; nope. It could have been so much better if it had skipped some of the ridiculous comedy parts and kept a TINY bit more of a serious tone... It's messy and uneven and just... no. The small parts that are good, just can't save it for me. 

Epic though; some sex- and kissing scenes... Not very many BLs that have dared to top them so far. (Not all of them are exactly... aesthetically pleasing, but the ones that are, are pretty damn fricking' hot...)

Season 2. See S1 for comment.

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I reluctantly love this...

Okay, this isn't that GOOD, per se--it's messy and far from perfect in execution, but it's more like... a parade of BL, BL, BL.
I can't resist this shameless poking fun at the BL fandom. Here you have ALL the tropes,  ALL the stereotypes, all which is ridiculous about BL, fanservice and insane Fangirls/Boys. Served with a huge portion of sarcasm and self-awareness--it's just pretty much hilarious. 

I'm a Fangirl, but still, I despise a lot about the BL fandom. I see real and troubling issues in many of the tendencies surrounding shipping and delusional fantasies. At the same time, I can't help but laugh my ass off at the insanity. Because it IS funny. 

So to make a drama that highlights the stupidity--is entertaining. Though, this one does it lovingly, not nearly as venomously as I do :P 

So, you are served; A shitload of couples (too many) of different types, in every single super-trope scenario/coupling you can think of--generously sprinkled with intense kissing, a bit of groping, silly crotch-shots and jokes, sweaty/freshly-out-of-the-shower male bodies, slip-and-catches, running-in-the-rain, accidental "kisses", piggy-back rides, bed-baths, an army of engineer boys, guys-with-guitars and soccer players, gratuitous-but-oh-so-rewarding cameos by iconic BL couples, super-cheesy dialogues and sugar-sweet moments, crude sexual innuendoes and everything else.

Huge plus for some of the hottest scenes in any Thai BL to date. I will never be able to wrap my head around how Saint, with his innocent baby-face looks, can look so lethal when he turns the switch. (And his crazy versatility. I mean... from Pete in LBC, to this?)

I love it.

NOTE; Watch the special episode before you watch the drama. It will make everything easier to follow.

Watch this before you watch the drama. 

It'll make things a hell of a lot clearer, since the first episode of the drama leaves you kind of "huh, wait, what, umm, what was that supposed to.,..?, say what?" until the picture becomes clearer in following episodes.

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