Queer Ranking of LGBTQ & BL Series: B Tier

Leans into many of the BL tropes I have complicated feelings about, but somehow still makes the story enjoyable for me - and it's surprisingly emotionally mature in many moments. Between mafia storyline and the development of the main relationship, there's an interesting contrast drawn between different ways of expressing mascuilinity. Editing is sometimes noticeably clunky (especially the hyperactive soundtrack), the series leans too heavily on cameos from past BL series, and the plot skips way too quickly from the "I like you" phase to the "let's move in together" phase.

Casting was more balanced than in the previous season and the first couple is great, but damn the second love triangle gets exhausting.

The story starts out strong and interesting, with a main character who copes with his childhood trauma by avoidance in various dimensions. It's generally a mature exploration of growth, self-worth, attachment, taking responsibility, and interpersonal relationships. However, this series suffers from all-characters-must-pair-up syndrome; and the editing is sometimes kind of frivolous or tonally inconsistent.

Such a short GL series,  with slightly awkward pacing and a cliffhanger ending, but lots of heart-fluttering feelings!

Well-produced reality show. The editing fosters empathy with the participants. Episode 7 was a highlight, where they bonded with each other over their struggles with homophobia, and where Hyeon and Jeongho have a lovely heart-to-heart as friends from before the show. However, some aspects of how the show was constructed felt a bit unnecessarily harsh for some of the participants.

So much angst in this beautifully-shot mature sequel! It makes the lovely ending all the more satisfying, but oof the characters' suffering is hard to stomach when we aren't given any substantial breaks (only bits of humor) from agony until the final episode.

This show is careful and relaxed exploration of what attraction, romantic love and platonic love are. However, the strong start and thoughtful take on the body-swapping trope are undercut by pacing issues which leave the ending rushed, and by some shortcuts taken at the end in order to read the moral of the story to the viewers.

A silly, light-hearted comedy with hidden (almost too hidden) depths. It's self-aware and lampshades the rom-com tropes it uses in a way that makes this cute and fun. The hand-held camerawork, which adds to the kitschy feel of the comedy, is often distracting. Good for cuteness and heart-fluttering feelings though.

Funny and cute - the story generally makes the characters easy to empathize with, and there's an interesting exploration of chasing your dreams and finding your own dreams. Good cinematography, especially with the use of color, the subtly oblique angles, and the intimate close-up framings. There was some great and tasteful use of silence and ambient sounds during emotional moments in episode 7. The plot was too subtle at the end of episode 7 though, which made the ending a bit confusing.

Light-hearted, cute, and fluffy.  The writing felt a bit too scripted at times, e.g. with the coincidences, but it was still an enjoyable watch.

A heartfelt and healing series focusing on a character who's been running away from his grief but makes the decision to face it, with support from the people around him, by expressing his feelings through music. The series sometimes felt too abbreviated as if some scenes were missing, and some of the acting/directing of strong emotions felt a bit out of place, off-key, or insufficiently motivated by the story, but the series is still great at evoking cute, sad, and melancholic feelings, and the cathartic ending makes it all worth it. The anime version is funnier and more complete, and I recommend watching it afterwards for a different charm, or even just watching it instead if your time is more precious.

Some things were nonsensical, and the soundtrack editing often had abrupt cuts, but this was a really fun comedy and the comedic acting was great .

Intriguing drama, and a searing critique of exploitation in the BL industry. This series is well-shot, and the use of music for the soundtrack is decent enough. The only thing which stands out about the limited budget for this series is the use of greenscreening for driving scenes. Pacing sometimes lags a bit, but it's outweighed by how the series uses acting to express the characters' thoughts and emotions rather than making them talk to themselves all the time (contrast with TV adaptations of most BL novels). Especially noteworthy in the acting/directing is the ways the characters look at other characters and act with their eyes in general.

The producer character isn't written with enough depth, and he comes off as a scheming, cartoon-mustache-twirling villain; his attitude of entitlement to exploit his actors is rather on the nose. I think there was a missed opportunity in this series to mount a deeper critique the structural factors which perpetuate sexual abuse and labor exploitation in the BL industry. But the series did a very plausible and sensitive portrayal of how someone might behave while being traumatized by ongoing sexual abuse, and other characters (especially Marco) provide a good model of ways to hold space for a survivor - not perfect by any means, but tender, earnest, and supportive in ways that matter. I can't understate how happy I was to see that.

A fresh take on a concept introduced by Step for You (2018), with great pacing (right up until the last episode) and great character development. The story is lovely and sweet its exploration of how the lead characters grow closer together and become more vulnerable and interdependent with each other. This is the kind of romance story I've been yearning for forever. The last episode is a rollercoaster though, too much rushed angst and things which felt a bit underdeveloped (as opposed to the gradually developed angst in the characters' backstories), and which all gets wrapped up right at the end of the episode.

Extremely conventional BL (including "I'm not gay, I just love you", the university setting, a female best friend who roots for love, and a proliferation of BL couples among main characters), and not a deep or original story. But really polished.

Quirky and cute, good chemistry, and a love interest who is a Total Hunk (and he's bi!). Sensitive treatment of mental health, and LGBTQ politics is not erased from this representation the way it is in traditional BL series. Technicals (audio, visual FX) are sometimes a bit unpolished, but not distractingly so; sometimes the dialog pacing feels a bit off and the story can be a bit cheesy. Thematically, it's a bit more coming-of-age and more like American gay films than more traditional BLs. Trigger warning for self-harm.

A really cute and refreshing little webseries which leans into Korean melodramatic tropes while keeping things happy and uplifting. As a result, the writing occasionally feels pretty contrived, and some character actions aren't motivated/explained by the story clearly enough in the second half. But this is a really sweet and fluffy "puppy love" series featuring k-drama web series production quality, and it also has a more nuanced treatment of differences in class than other BLs. Content note: there is a bit of physical violence (punching) which comes out of left field in the second half of the series.

Hotness, gay angst, coming-into-identity angst, and family angst. This series is innovative in looking critically at struggles under COVID-19, class and queerness, and family dynamics. However, the ending felt a bit rushed to me and it undercut the growth arcs of the main characters, and lighting was a bit harsh throughout the series.

This is the ending 2gether should've had. Lots of cuteness, and the drama is fine. I wish it went on for longer (in order to give more room to the side couples), and I was pretty annoyed by the unhealthy relationship between Green and Dim.

Thematically and tonally similar to Life is Beautiful (2010) and His (2020) in the focus on societal pressures and homophobia faced by gay people and in the amount of angst, but shorter. I was frustrated by main character because he had internalized so many issues which real gay people in asian families face, but he just didn't communicate in a way that would be realistic for a grown adult. This short series didn't have time to go into enough depth about him, but it features lots of beautiful and painful gay angst, and is a nice watch nonetheless. I'd recommend His (2020) for a deeper and more nuanced treatment of characters facing the same issues.

The plot has some shortcomings and is a bit disjointed, but the filming and OST are great, on par with standard k-drama productions. Lots of teenage gay angst ("does he like me?"). A fun - if very short - watch.

This was a lot of cuteness and fun drama until episode 11, after which the drama felt forced and artificial - and the finale didn't even give a satisfying ending to it. There was no emotional payoff at the end for suffering through all that drama, and the main couple lacked strong character growth arcs. Amazing OST though, and the first 9 episodes are enjoyable for cuteness.

Great acting, beautiful visuals, beautiful story, beautiful OST. It gets emotionally intense, in a cathartic and melodramatic way (which not everyone will enjoy).  But, as with New's other series, it could've been directed/edited much tighter which would have helped with the pacing. CW for an intense suicide scene.

I appreciated the family angst in this series, and Chris Wu's visuals, as well as the development of the relationship towards the end of the series. The secondary couple was chaotic and ridiculous, but at least they were funny. The third (straight) couple was boring. The police plot was kind of hard to take seriously. The music was distractingly frivolous.

A funny and interesting body/gender-swap comedy. The alternate ending is better than the main one.

When I watched this, I loved certain scenes from the series but overall felt the plot was a bit slow. I'm a bit worried that it'll feel slow and boring if I rewatch it. Still, I love the main characters!

This series is very indie-LGBTQ and not BL. The filming has a very indie aesthetic which I enjoyed. I was surprised when I realized that Petersen Vargas, who directed this series, also directed Hello Stranger (2020), which is very different and a very conventional BL series! I actually prefer this series more, because it is more grounded and expressive of real issues which gay men collectively struggle with. The series is very short, and it could have benefitted from more room to breathe and develop the characters.

I enjoyed this show and several specific scenes (most of which are shown in a montage at the end of the series), but I think the good memories I have of the relationship between the two main characters are actually from SOTUS S! The second time I watched this show, it felt like it dragged on a bit too long. It spent so much time in the build-up to the main relationship, and then it ended. There was more angst and less fluff than I had remembered, but the show is still a classic, and the two main actors are cute here.