ALMOST Consensual LGBTQ Relationships But Not Quite
Titles that almost made it onto my "Consensual LGBTQ Relationships" list (for which the criteria is "no sexual harassment or assault by the love interests"), with the reasons why they didn't spoiled below.
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1. Life: Love on the Line (Director's Cut)
Japanese Movie - 2020
Yuuki is uncomfortable with Akira kissing him without warning, but he doesn't say anything initially. Akira has an internal monologue that he can tell from Yuuki's body language that Yuuki might be uncomfortable, but instead of stopping and talking it out, he just keeps doing what he's always done. Yuuki finally pushes him away and says he needs a warning before Akira kisses him. Akira agrees and follows the rule, and Yuuki's happy.
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2. Semantic Error
Korean Drama - 2022, 8 episodes
Before they ever become friendly, Jaeyoung definitely bullies and stalks Sangwoo (but it's physical harassment, not sexual). When they do get closer, Sangwoo is very clear about needing a warning before Jaeyoung touches him. When Jaeyoung follows this rule, he's great at it, but he sadly doesn't follow it every single time. There's also a scene where, when Sangwoo doesn't want to talk to him, Jaeyoung pins him against a wall and holds him there to force him to talk. Finally, there's two questionable kisses: One kisses the other while he thinks the other is sleeping, and one initiates a kiss when he's much drunker than the other (and the other goes with it).
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3. Not Me
Thai Drama - 2021, 14 episodes
Contains the most enthusiastically consenting gay intimate scene I've (ever?) seen, with both characters checking in with each other after each action ("Do you like this?)" and not proceeding until they get a yes. So it really sucks that earlier in that same episode, one ML nonconsensually tied the other to a bed for no apparent reason (truly, it was never explained). (No sexual activity takes place after the tying, for what it's worth.)
Other caveats: Before they become friends/lovers, they're enemies, and one beats the other up a lot (and literally chokes him out in one scene). There's a forced kiss later. Also, spoiler that one ML is beaten up by someone who he thinks is his lover, but is actually the twin he didn't know about.
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4. Triage
Thai Drama - 2022, 13 episodes
I think a total of two noncon kisses, though one ML tries for more and fails (spoiler: kissing restores memories that are lost after the timeline resets).
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5. My Esports Genius Brother
Chinese Drama - 2021, 12 episodes
Okay so I wanted to put this on the straight-up consensual list, but to be safe, I'll put it here because: 1) There's a light amount of non-sexual stalking in one episode, and 2) One ML does come on a little strong at times, but censorship cuts the scene before it goes anywhere.
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6. Sotus
Thai Drama - 2016, 15 episodes
Caveat that I watched this a long time ago, and my ideas of consent have probably evolved a lot, but I don't want to go back and rewatch it to check. My recollection is that the two sexually harass each other a lot in the context of the hazing system, which encourages it. But when they're pursuing each other seriously (outside of the hazing plotline), I recall it all being totally consensual.
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7. Bad Buddy
Thai Drama - 2021, 12 episodes
This 100% would go on the other list because it is all consensual and both boys know it, BUT Pran is the type of person who is usually verbally insisting he doesn't like the affection and is even saying "no" a lot. The two boys never have a conversation about Pat having permission to proceed in spite of Pran's "no's," and Pat even says at one point, "Your mouth is saying 'no,' but your eyes are saying you like it" (paraphrased from memory), which...isn't a good precedent. If only they could have had a conversation about this and maybe established a safeword or something!
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8. Craving You
Taiwanese Drama - 2020, 10 episodes
So the main relationship is actually fully consensual, but their first kiss in the series is a dubcon kiss that is only fantasized about by one of the MLs. It's unclear the kiss was actually a fantasy until later. (The dubcon is because one of them has just had a panic attack before the fantasy kiss happens. Both are into the kiss but like...imo a person is too vulnerable immediately following a panic attack for their consent to a first kiss to feel uncoerced.)
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9. Manner of Death
Thai Drama - 2020, 14 episodes
Fully consensual except the first two kisses happen when one ML is drunk. The drunk ML initiates both kisses, and the other ML kisses him back.
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10. Roommates of Poongduck 304
Korean Drama - 2022, 8 episodes
There's a power imbalance that kind of balances itself out in that one ML is the other's boss while the other ML is the landlord of the first ML. There's also a kiss that happens when one is drunk and the other is sober. It's initiated by the drunk ML, and the scene cuts before we see whether the sober ML responds or pushes him away.
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11. Girlfriend Project Day 1
Korean Drama - 2022, 4 episodes
All consensual except the kiss happens right after they had made a big deal about one FL drinking a whole bottle of alcohol by herself, when she normally doesn't even drink. So she's drunk when she initiates the kiss, and the sober FL kisses her back.
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12. Private Lessons
Korean Movie - 2020
It's all consensual except for the fact that through most of the film, one ML is in a position of power over the other (it's professor/student). Spoiler: By the time they finally get together, I THINK the professor has already turned in the student's grade and he's no longer the student's professor. However, the student is still attending the university at which the professor works.
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13. Red Aninsri
Thai Movie - 2020
Fully consensual except the FL is lying about her identity and intentions
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14. The Eighth Sense
Korean Drama - 2023, 10 episodes
I think it was all consensual except for some mild harassment in the beginning (Jae Won knows Ji Hyun is uncomfortable using public showers, but he initially pressures Ji Hyun to use a shower space closer to him anyway. At the end of the scene, he gives up and leaves to let Ji Hyun shower privately.)
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15. You Make Me Dance (Movie)
Korean Movie - 2021
Totally consensual except that one is in a position of power over the other that could make the other feel he had no choice but to go along with it (thankfully, that isn't the case, and the other one wants a relationship just as much).
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16. A Tale of Thousand Stars
Thai Drama - 2021, 10 episodes
All consensual and non-harassing except for like two scenes in which one ML is naked around the other and refuses to cover up even though the other ML is uncomfortable.
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17. The New Employee
Korean Drama - 2022, 7 episodes
Even if you overlook the fact that the intern is pursued by his supervisor, their first kiss happens when the intern is very drunk and the supervisor is totally sober. The intern would consent to all of this even if he was sober, but it's not like his supervisor knows that when everything starts.
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18. His - Koisuru Tsumori Nante Nakatta
Japanese Drama - 2019, 5 episodes
Fully consensual except for one scene, in which Shun is sleeping. Nagisa smells Shun's hair and goes in to touch him in some way (I couldn't tell what Nagisa was reaching for - Shun's hair?), but stops when the Shun stirs. So overall not too bad.
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19. The Eclipse
Thai Drama - 2022, 12 episodes
(I forgot to make a note after I added this, and now it's been too long for me to remember exactly why I put it here - sorry! I think it was that Aye constantly flirts with Akk even though Akk tells him not to, but their actual physical interactions are all consensual.)
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20. As if You Whisper
Korean Movie - 2019
Fully consensual except (spoiler) one ML first approaches the other with an ulterior motive that's never fully explained, and he may not have even been into the other ML at all when he first started pursuing him? It was unclear.