To Satisfy My Queer Heart (modern edition | macro version)

super gay 

wlw

To learn more about the real Bilitis Club the title is based on, check out the wikipedia article about it.

mlm and cross dressing

Trans, Bi, Gay, and Lesbian stories.

intersex, mlm gay, lesbian, genderqueer, ftm, kathoey

I'm not sure what is up with the subtitles. One of the people is ftm, but the pronouns used to describe this person are she/her. I'm not sure if this is because Japanese pronouns are different from English, and so some of that nuance was misinterpreted by the translator? But I also know that some trans people don't change their pronouns even after transitioning, though I think that's less common. So I'm not sure what that situation is. Regardless, I thought I'd make a note of that.

cw: family homophobia, general queer intolerance, misgendering(?), age gap relationship

mtf trans people and gay culture. themes of family, illegal/underground activity, beauty pagents, surgery and hormones

cw: manslaughter, addiction, transphobia

aroace, wlw

cw: coming out, outed, unaccepted family, abandonment, death of a loved one (referred to, but not seen)

mlm. There are also a couple bisexual characters. They never say "I'm bisexual," but they both admit to having either been in a relationship with people of multiple genders and/or loving people with different genders. includes themes like coming out and casual homophobia. includes a queer mlw dynamics

This drama is a critique of the boys love genre. It's pretty good. One of the characters is a little too codependent, but the storyline overall is really good. 

so many mlm, at least two bisexuals
heh heh this was dumb as hell in a good way

cw: unconsensual kisses, workplace harassment, infidelity, coming out, family homophobia, internalized homophobia, outed

mlm characters and a bisexual

note: although i rated this pretty low, this is a really popular drama, so don't be discouraged by my rating. if you think you might want to watch it, give it a try. 

cw: its got that questionable consent thing common in BLs. Includes homophobia. Includes suicide

wlw/mlm

cw: homophobia, lavender marriage

mlm

sooooo many MLM and the opening scene might have bi/pan characters?? The way the story was written, that probably wasn't the intention but idk. the premise of the show is based on the main character's homophobia who calls love between men a disease, and tries to prevent his younger brother from being gay. I won't lie, I did laugh a few times. Mostly because it was funny to see them play with tropes (if you know anything about me, one of my favorite writing techniques is deliberatly messing with tropes).

so a lot of mlm again, and perhaps a crossdresser? I'm not sure if the writers are conflating being trans with crossdressing or not, but if they arent then there is a crossdressing character.

so many mlm!! including a bisexual? At the very least a heterosexual biromantic character but I'm not sure. 

cw: mentions rape, non-consensual advances, family homophobia

as far as i can tell there are no english subs for this, but obviously it's a continuation of Falling in Love With A Rival

wlw, mlm, and the ever elusive butch (minor character)

cw: lavender marriage, coming out, closeted, family homophobia, outed

wlw, mlm

Explores many different themes without too much depth, but not in a bad way necessarily. loved the soundtrack
cw: discusses infidelity, being closeted, and includes light homophobia

asexual, gender nonconforming person, wlw bi/pan character with a preference for men (she is described as straight by other characters, i cant remember if she labels herself)

This is a slice of life drama with multiple queer characters in it. Each character in the office has their own main character moment as its a rotating story format. This show leans pretty heavily into stereotypes, well just making grand generalizations really. That's kind of the whole premise of the show. The opening song is dope though.

One of those main characters is an asexual character (and possibly aromantic) who is the fujioshi stereotype. There's a character who is described as a crossdresser by the narrator, but she seems to be trans. Also, the story follows the "deceptive queer character who is trying to turn straight people gay" trope which is like.... well a dicussion for another time perhaps. Also, they don't say it, but two of the guys could be interpreted as aromantic.

They go to a lesbian bar in episode 7.

cw: .... what's wrong with having consent like i just like why can't we just have consent, dead naming, lots of misgendering. 

mlm, bisexual, asexual, aromantic(?), wlw cameo character

cw: rape, drug abuse

mlm wlw mtf
This was sex work positive! 

cw: transphobia, coming out, conservative parent

Okay! So they actually describe Nagi as trans this time around. Asexual, aromantic (?)

cw: small company gets shat on by poor planning of big companies, transphobia, 

In episode 4, Nagi explains that he is a femme boy. Idk what pronouns Nagi would use, but I'm switching to he/him for now. If someone has a better sense of Japanese, lmk what would make more sense. I know Japanese doesn't has as strong a use of pronouns so it might not be appaernt. I guess I'll be trying to hear if he uses "ore" or "watashi"?

wlw mlm wlm ftm

this is a "Struggles and Hardships" kind of show. looks at the legal battles and civil rights side of things but not in a technical way, just by looking at how people experience life. a docuseries.

cw: homophobia, transphobia, (could be more but i dropped. nothing against the show, its just not the vibe im looking for these days)

mlm mtf polyamorous

cw: violence, transphobia, abuse, attempted rape

mlm
There's also a bonus clip that takes place after the series ended. 

cw: toxic relationship

mlm

cw: self-deprecation, toxic relationship

mlm

cw: stalking, kidnapping, attempted murder, self-deprecation, idk probably more

mlm

cw: internalized homophobia

also apparently bisexuals don't exist????? but that resolves itself by the second season. Not like in any social commentary kind of way, but just in a casual sort of manner. 

mlm

continues the story of I Told Sunset About You

multiple mlm including at least two bisexuals

continues the story of I Told Sunset About You

cw: infedelity

mlm peoples. this was cute. Also it has a character who is either asexual or aromantic (or both?)

mlm 

these are special episodes continuing the story from 30-sai made Dotei Da to Mahotsukai ni Nareru rashii.

mlm 

this is another special episode continuing the story from 30-sai made Dotei Da to Mahotsukai ni Nareru rashii. 

mlm couples and our resident ace

cw: coming out, very light family homophobia that happens off-screen, fainting

wlw. Main characters has implied bisexual and lesbian. Minor characters have a wholesome young wlw couple

cw: low self-esteem, mentions being closeted but is not addressed 

mlm

I read the manga for this first, and thought this was a sweet adaptation. The story is about overcoming prejudice and critiquing societal views about gayness in Japan, so it does include some homophobia. 

mlm

cw: interalized homophobia, the male lead also struggles with consent but they talk about it

a classic gay film. its almost required watching just because of how iconic it is. 

cw: death

mlm

mlm 

cw: homophobia and gang rape

mlm

cw: homophobia, terminal illness, death

wlw bisexual and lesbian

cw: rape, infidelity

wlw

mlm, biromantic(?) gay person

cw: suicide, AIDs, age gap, minor/adult relationship, infidelity, lavender relationships, outed, homophobia, internalized homophobia, seriously victimizing and indulgent to suicide fantasies (I do NOT recommend if you are someone who struggles with suicidal thoughts), also this deals with fujoshi 

bisexual and gay man

cw: infidelity, homophobia

bisexual(?) and homosexual leads mlm

mlm

cw: attempted murder, kidnapping. stalking, homophobia, violence

mlm 

cw: rape (not violent), homophobia, abuse

wlw

trans and wlw

cw: transphobia, infidelity

This is available in both movie and drama format with no extra or deleted scenes. MLM very cute ^_^

mlm at least one seems to be bisexual

cw: break up, injury, PTSD, internet rumors, scam, job insecurity

Trans and gay but also kinda transphobic

mlm | includes homophobia

not a typical bl drama. this is more like queer film/shows. if you've watched a few of those you probably know what i mean. typically the story explores the many aspects of queerness, not just the cutesy love story between two people, but also other aspects of gay life like ideas of found family, the gay scene, and the physical aspects of a relationship as well. but it also wasn't like a typical gay cinema either. 

If you like found family and action dramas, especially fueding groups, this might be to your liking ^_^

mlm

cw: homophobia, internalized homophobia, coming out, non-violent rape, infidelity

An undefined queer. This was mad cute.

mtf and mlm characters

cw: transphobia, homophobia, bullying, abandonment, neglect

many mlm. one of the leads seems to be bisexual and possibly also demisexual?
also this series uses some pyschiatric babble but doesn't seem to really know what they're talking about. this is irrelevant to the theme of this list but it bothered me so i felt like saying something :/

cw: blackmail, ngl the relationship is a liiiittle creepy and manipulative

MLM and surprise allies everywhere! a sweet coming of age drama

cw: coming out, off-screen homophobia

mlm and v accepting enviornment :')

cw: internalized homophobia

mlm most likely bisexuals. 

tw: minor/adult relationship (not the main couple but one of the novel stories), workplace sexual harrassment (fantasy), suicide scare, age gap, cheating (off-screen), uhh probably more 

mlm

ngl the way Kijima describes himself in episode 3 kind of reminds me of sexually active asexual people. Like, he isn't actually attracted to anyone, but he has sex. I don't think he is meant to be interpreted as asexual though. got another one of our cheating bisexual tropes in here.

cw: terminal illness, unconsensual transactional sex (i.e. if you have sex with me you can get the thing you want), cheating

mlm with lots of encouraging allies

cw: coming out

mlm

cw: drunk sex, internalized homophobia, suicide mention, pressure to come out, closeted, Covid-19, conversion therapy mention, biphobia (which does not get resolved)

mlm

mlm wlw bi/pan and supportive environment

cw: secret relationship, coming out, violence (street fighting), gun violence, bullying, workplace harassment, runaway, family disapproval of relationship but not in a gay way

mlm wlw if i remember correctly there are at least two bisexuals

cw: sleeping kiss, i cant remember any others

mlm, wlw, transgender in a magical way, bisexual characters (Yashiro and Rin), and one minor character that described himself in a way that leans towards pansexual

One character (Kenta) seems to be panromantic heterosexual but I'm not entirely sure if that's what the writer intended.

context: While Yashiro was born cisgender, he became transgender when he borrowed the body of Tendou. Same with Tendou in Yashiro. Does body swap count as trans rep? idk it had some trans vibes throughout the show, and there's an off-screen trans character that gets talked about, but honestly idk how i felt about this show.

cw: death, near-death, coma, suicidal ideation, suicide (as sacrifice), family homophobia

mlm and mtf

cw: gang, corruption, violence, teargas, arson, murder by a police officer, gun violence. physical violence by a loved one, home invasion, suicide reference, someone demanding someone else commit suicide, smoking (cigarettes), infidelity (sort of), abusive relationship

mlm

older gays!

cw: forced kiss, sleep kiss, age gap

this is technically a micro, but since its a continuation of Old Fashion Cupcake it goes on here

mlm, one of which is coded as bisexual, the other could be coded as demisexual and was introduced with panromantic vibes (gender wasn't specified in attraction, but that could just be because Japanese uses gender signifiers less in language in general). Very rare pairing!!!

If you squint really hard there's some wlw subtext. 

This show had a nice emphasis on consent.

Aparently Sasaki Mugi is nonbinary? I think I missed that but a note to be made regardless. Hoowever, OP does put a disclaimer they haven't actually watched many of the shows in their post and cannot confirm the statuses of characters

cw: home invasion, robbery, homelessness, secret relationship (which was never addressed now that I think about it), punching, exploitation

mlm with some light flirting

wlw

cw: stalkerish? i cant remember exactly but i think the earlier episodes have that kinda vibe

wlw
also bonus: 1st episode has a wlw marriage

cw: the cheating bisexual is a hard trope to avoid i will say that. sexual assault (flashing), internalized homophobia, homophobia, marital disputes

mlm

cw: toxic relationship, domestic abuse, sex work

mlm

cw: sexual assault, infidelity (mention), heteronormativity 

mlm

mlm

cw: homophobia, family homophobia, non-consensual outing

an ensemble cast with one character an asexual character, pansexual supporting character

this includes the rare wlm pan dynamic!

cw: outing, family dispute, STI, cheating, bullying, sudden hospitalization, pregnancy, expulsion

mlm

cw: stalker behavior, manipulative people, terminal illness, covid-19, general angst

mlm

cw: suicide, suicide attempt, murder (fantasy), abduction, rape, sexual abuse, drug use (fentanyl), surgery, death of family, death of loved one

mlm

had an artsy vibe. v indie.

cw: infidelity, homophobia, implied suicide, destruction of property, physical altercation

wlw 

cw: adult/minor relationship, toxic relationship, bullying (mentioned)

wlw. v cringey for me

cw: sexual assault, stalking, pedophilia (discussed, not on screen), manipulative relationship, internalized homophobia, professor/student relationship (mentioned), gay-because-of-trauma type story, infidelity, also another one of those stories where a character is most likely bisexual but they live in a world in which bisexuality is not a real thing.

This was surprisingly not super offensive to cross dressers (but still had its moments). However, the homophobia... ok so like there is a guy robot who falls in love with a guy. and the other guy is a straight guy which like okay yeah sometimes gay ppl fall for straight people right? but like, omg the straight guy is just so disgusted, ur typical "im gonna throw up at the idea of being gay" kind of stuff.... I mean the main lead is horrible for a lot of reasons though hahahah

although there are still cringe parts, it is better in the second season. To be honest I skipped a bunch of scenes though. 

*spoiler* after reading the definition of a queerplatonic relationship, I realized this is what the drama is about!!! 

wlw

cw: incest, rape, minor/adult relationship, blood, there could be more but i dont know cuz i dropped it :/ sorry

mlm and bisexual lead

idk this was some indie artsy thing. super slow i think i watched it on 1.75 speed almost the entire time. as always these artsy films confuse me.

cw: emotional infidelity, jealousy, uh idk probably more

So you don't find out until the end of the movie so SPOILERS 

but one of the characters can be read as trans. Throughout most of the movie Bubs is portrayed with masculine traits, but when she gets a new body, she takes on a feminine appearance and at the end of the movie is shopping around for a new feminine voice. She's also referred to as "eunnie" (which means sister) by one of the other characters but for some reason the English subs then refers to her with he/him pronouns in like the next couple lines. idk what thats about but anyway. English subs missed out on some essential trans rep, but the original Korean script did us right.

mlm but I'm not actually sure if the characters are queer. It's not made clear, which I think is done on purpose. 

homophobia, biphobia, infidelity, toxic relationship

There's a supporting character who admits to having had a crush on a woman when she was younger. The main story also deals with like the whole, "omg am I gay?" thing. Another drama where bisexuals don't exist. Although they have some "it's okay to be gay" dialogue and characters that don't mind, there's also some homophobia in it as well.  honestly this work has some pretty queer vibes, even if we are supposed to assume the story is straight. has some gender feels slipped in there as well. maybe that's why i liked it as a kid.

mlm
Easter egg: One of the episodes has a scene that's a reference to the 10 Dance manga.

cw: non consensual touch, drunk kiss, worshiping your love interest (literally)

mlm

themes surrounding family, divorce, and child custody

cw: non consensual kissing, divorce, homophobia, death, hunting

mlm

romance wasn't very strong in this to the point that it was confusing. apparently its clearer in the manga but i haven't read it

cw: sudden kiss, hallucination, psychotic break

mlm

if you want to see many different kinds of mlm people get together, this is a good show for it. You've got people who are confident, people who are insecure, people who lean into the typical gay scene of vogueing and drag, and people who lean closer to the "passably straight" area, people who are loyal and people who are players, people who avoid confrontation and people who are blunt and sincere... it's a great way to see that people are complex and no one stereotype can capture what it means to be mlm. 

cw: homophobia (discussed but not seen on screen. homophobia by: family and strangers)

mlm

cw: coming out stories

wlw

SPOILERS GALORE: 

It's not clear if the feelings were mutual, but one of these ladies was most likely gay. She chose to spend her last moments getting married to the FL, even if it was a fake marriage. 

cw: manipulation, divorce, suicide

mlm, wlw, ftm 

this is very artsy and has A LOT of room for interpretation. too big brained for me but i liked some  of it.  If you find out  the credits song lmk! 

cw: conversations about death, infidelity, implied suicide, loneliness,  abandonment by a lover, blood

mlm

cw: abandonment