Gay shit I watched

not a BL. ~540 minutes

Reality show in which five aspiring BL actors compete and test chemistry with each other.

They start out really awkward, but don't give up just yet, because they really grow close to one another. Weirdly, because they were all clear that they were here for work, that let them be fully honest and be really authentic and trusting. Their dynamic feels very cooperative and good-natured.

mlm. ~540 minutes

Simply skip the first episode. It sucks, adds nothing to the plot, and has a completely different tone from the rest of the series.

The Thai BL that opened the flood gates way back when. It's interesting to see where the tropes originated, and honestly, they are better executed here than in most subsequent Thai BL's. It's sweet and innocent. But there is a lot of uninteresting straight stuff to skip through (which can easily be done without missing any plot concerning the gayness), and if you want to keep track of all the characters, you had better note down their names and key words because dang there are a lot of them.

It deals with some heavy teen themes. I know someone had a sex tape leaked but I don't know if that was season one or two of love sick.  I know there is classism, cheating, slutshaming and a toxic straight relationship somewhere in these, although the show judges all of these things negatively and does not romanticize it.

mlm. ~1620 minutes

It's too long, but there is wholesome communication in here, and a lot of it is skippable unrelated straight storyline.

mlm. ~160 minutes

Law student rebels and goes to country side, meets cute bumpkin. Motto is do what you like, not what is socially acceptable. Just a solid BL. Nothing else to say about it.

mlm, gnc. ~780 minutes

Critique of BL industry standards that forbid dating. Pretty classic top/bottom dynamic between the leads. Not as revolutionary as it could've been, but it's a solid BL nonetheless.

RR side couple that's really sweet.

mlm. ~570 minutes

What happens when you put a cliché rich CEO drama main character into the real world? Hilarity, that's what happens. This has me rolling omg haha. Thee is so extra and so clueless and Pheem is so level-headed and the contrast is the best.

The central plot tension is resolved without any fanfare though, which makes it feel like, what was all the fuss about?

mlm. ~200 minutes

Two less than competent rivaling street gang leaders have to complete a temple tour together, for magic reasons.

Genuinely so good. Go watch it.

mlm. ~480 minutes

Fortune teller repeatedly has visions about his best friend's (hot but insufferably skeptical) brother dying, and tries to save him. Enemies to lovers. I really love watching these two bicker.

mlm. ~640 minutes

Rich boy x bodyguard, but also they're classmates. Murder plot, on the run. This has all the dramatic elements of a fanfic. It's fantastical, not based in reality, but is that a bad thing? It's sweet, it's angsty, it's got everything you need. This knows what the BL genre is about and does just that.

cw: support character gets killed

mlm. ~125 minutes

39 year old boss dude feels old. His subordinate likes him and wants to make him feel young again. This is sweet and genuine.

Consent politics could be better but could be much worse.

mlm. ~200 minutes

Guy travels back in time to see the student who saved his life as a kid and died in process. It's about coping with survivor's guilt. This is really good but I knocked off a whole point for that sleep kiss.

Spoiler: The ending is sad, but it is justified.

mlm. ~145 minutes

Ex gangster gets stabbed, wakes up and now has an angel tagging along. They stick together. Great plot, great acting, emotional.

cw: suicide due to homophobia

mlm. ~540 minutes

My School President was successful, so GMMTV decided to do that again, but with dancing instead of singing. It's sweet and silly and convincing and funny. The songs and dancing are pretty good too. Typical high school BL.

gnc. ~240 minutes

Painfully shy guy gets a job as a cross-dressing café host and learns to overcome his fear of girls. 

It's got that cozy and understated feel that quite a few queer Japanese short series have. No dramatic lighting, shocking plot twists or epic betrayals, just life unfolding, and people slowly healing by being quietly kind to each other. 

mlm. ~540 minutes

Slacker gets pursued by his boss and his roommate, and he's not comfortable with either. Which will he choose? 

This is hilarious, but it knows how to drop the humor when real feelings are being explored. It does that really well. 

Adaptation from Japanese show of the same name. The changes they made are good. The boss is less creepy.

mlm. ~30 minutes

Mini sequel to Ossan's Love Thailand where silliness continues. Each episode has its own independent tiny story arc.

mlm. Not a BL. ~150 minutes

His recently deceased brother's Canadian boyfriend shows up and he isn't entirely comfortable with the gay thing. Raising kid together. It's funny, endearing, true to life.

mlm. ~120 minutes

Nothing revolutionary here. Just a well executed classic BL. Good angst, good fluff, good happy ending.

mlm. ~300 minutes

Autistic coded lead meets kiddo with brother. Kiddo is extremely adorable. This is very very fluffy. Lots of social anxiety. The dad gets the 'subtle wingman of the year' award haha. He's the only reason these two manage to communicate at all.

mlm, wlw. ~150 minutes

Not really a BL, but more of a gay slice of life. Divorced dad meets new boyfriend and together they cope with society, homophobia, raising a child, and just life.

Spoiler: At the end they're really mad at each other but there is a season 2 that I haven't watched yet.

mlm. ~270 minutes

Thai guy comes to visit Korean friend who turns out to be dead, but they fall in love anyways and also he opens a restaurant. Solid BL. Good plotting, good acting, good pulling of heartstrings, good fluff, good angst.

mlm. ~300 minutes

Best friends to lovers. It's about the ethics of divorce. Just solid and familiar. It's really funny. It just works.

mlm. ~240 minutes

Loner fashion student has to begrudgingly collaborate with a very unfashionable classmate. It just so happens that said classmate is secretly also his idol, a model he'll run into in a bar, who'll teach him all about nightlife, and who is very into him.

I love that we're finally switching up the sparkly clean BL aesthetic for something more alternative. Also they're nailing sensuality and unfulfilled desire. 

Yep just a good BL, watch it.

mlm, trans, gnc. ~500 minutes

CHAOS QUEERS. Who gave a gay club a budget and where can I thank them?  It's a musical lol.

I know I already gave the prize of 'campiest show' to a Japanese BL up above, but this is a strong contender. Don't expect any of this to make sense, and don't expect any of it to be competent in any way, that's not what this is about.

Prince flees to other country during coup and takes up secret identity as commoner, and immediately takes advantage of his newfound anonymity to run away from his entourage and aggressively flirt with a hot guy. 

As many supporting ladies as possible are played by trans women and drag queens. Except the bodyguard, who is basically a Russian barbie doll, but fierce. 

The first episode has a drag show in which the main singer is like 'good evening ladies and gentlemen and everyone in between'. 

I think most of this is improvised, and they simply left the bloopers in. It feels like the actors are just hanging out with a vague sense of where the story is supposed to be heading. The plot is nonsensical and melodramatic in the best way.

cw: half undressing a sleeping person

mlm. ~700 minutes

Dude annoys guy on the way to job interview, guy turns out to be new boss and new roommate. Enemies to lovers. This is funny and endearing.

cw: several sympathetic characters repeatedly misgender their friend, a trans comedic relief character, with the intention of hurting her feelings, and this is played for laughs.

mlm. ~500 minutes

Lonely 40 year old dies and wakes up in his teen self's life. He swears this time he'll confess to his crush before crush dies of cancer. 

It's charming and funny, and the songs are good. I think the reason that this isn't very popular is that there's a lot of heartache in episode 1, which isn't what people come to BL for, but so far all of that misery is being left in episode 1 only. There is fun and fluff ahead.

wlw. ~320 minutes

Girl with magic time powers tries to not be aggressive lesbian's soulmate, but also can't stop saving her ass. Excellent plot and acting and everything. Really solid.

Not a BL. ~350 minutes

Give a bunch of veteran Thai BL actors control over a series and see how they take apart the genre. This is campy and hilarious, and I'm sure these actors had a lot of fun coming up with it.

wlw. ~400 minutes

Haunted by the ghost of someone she hurt in a past life, only her soulmate can help her survive. 

Excellent show, minus the special effects, but who cares. The thing that's hitting me most in this is Win's struggle with her mom, who doesn't believe in any of this ghost nonsense. She just sees Win failing at life, blames her for it, and believes she's doing what's best for Win's future. The way Win wants to be a functioning human out in society so badly, but just can't, and the way she feels guilty towards her parents for it, all of that feels so real. The person who wrote this knows what that feels like, having a disability that prevents you from having a job. I wonder if the author has mental health issues that cause hallucinations like these.

cw: suicide attempts, murder

Spoiler: not a happy ending. Still worth watching though!

polyamory, mlm. ~220

A couple decides to add a third, so they can be more stable. Obviously irl that would be a fishy polyamory practice, but this is cutesy fantasy. This is funny and warm and soft. I really love where the plot takes it.

Tangent, but Takuzo is excellent autistic rep. Even though his autism isn't named, it's so obvious. He infodumps, he has delayed emotional processing, he wants to connect with people so bad but says he just can't read people and doesn't understand social boundaries, he connects to animals more easily, he scripts, he takes chit-chat questions literally and far too seriously, he has a history of being rejected over and over again, causing social anxiety, he overextends himself to compensate, he has odd mannerisms, etc.

mlm, background wlw. ~350 minutes

Rich brat on the run from mafia meets deaf aspiring caretaker and hires him. It's silly nonsense, and I'm here for that. Deaf rep in this is pretty good.

mlm. ~200 minutes

The lead seems autistic coded, alexithymia, very logical. Other than that, just a solid BL with a classic BL dynamic, as far as I remember.

wlw. ~150 minutes

She loves cooking but needs someone to eat it, and her neighbor just happens to fit the bill. No giving up on this one before you finished ep 6, that's where the backstory emotions hit.

It's got a good plot, it's sweet, it's considerate, it's got gay panic, it's got self-discovery, what more do you need? 

Spoiler: Well it would be nice if it were reciprocated I guess, but we'll wait for season 2 for that.

mlm. ~480 minutes

Ghost story, good communication, privacy theme.  Good plot, good dynamic, good angst.

Spoiler: they don't get to stay together in the end.

wlw. ~720 minutes

Romcom that relies on poor communication skills for its main conflict. That's usually not my cup of tea, but it is actually quite funny, and I like seeing all of the standard 'cool rich stoic guy' tropes being applied to a girl. I also like the role the best friend plays, and how that platonic relationship is given equal amount of importance as the romantic one.

mlm, trans, gnc. ~210 minutes

This is a reality dating show for a bunch of gay guys, hosted by a trans woman. It's heartwarming and dramatic and wholesome and queer.

mlm. ~650 minutes

10 more guys get invited over for the dating reality show that includes opening up about past gay traumas. In this one they all pair off pretty quickly, though with some uncertainties and jealous moments. I appreciate the vulnerable conversations about sexuality.

mlm. ~210 minutes

This is a passion project from a gay Filipino couple living in LA, retelling parts of their own story.

Filipino goes to follow his dreams in hollywood and fails, falls for roommate. It's got soul. It's got authenticity. It's flirty. It's funny.

mlm. ~200 minutes

Undercover rich guy spots cute basketballer and arranges to be his roommate. Basketballer does some 'no homo tho' stuff, then his lesbian witch sister accidentally gives him back his ghost seeing powers, which he can only get rid of by touching rich guy. 

Majorly adorable. Even the ghosts are cute. Solid BL. Solid plot, solid characterization, solid humor. All-round good show.

Just fluff.

mlm. ~600 minutes

Amnesiac foreign prince who survived murder attempt washes up on a beach to be saved by a rude and impulsive guy who does care deep down.

It has all the positives of a GMMTV BL and none of the formulaic negatives. It takes societal homophobia, familial pressures, internalized homophobia and being in the closet more seriously than the average GMMTV BL and I really appreciate that. It doesn't have the usual sparkly soft perfect fantasy vibes and is more connected to reality. Makes sense, p'Aof directed it.

mlm, minor wlw. ~180 minutes

Activist bad boy x extracurricular activities nerd. It's stupid in the best way. But also genuine and emotional in the second half. 

cw: there is some mild violence played for laughs, but it's not major.

mlm. ~720 minutes

Ex-thief tattoo artist who got blackmailed into working for a cop goes to spy on pair of assassins who kill bad people, by seducing them. Chaotic and hilarious. I love it.

mlm, trans, gnc. ~104 minutes

Queer sports team, based on true story.

Not a romcom. This is almost a quarter of a century old, and it does show, but this is still great. Very funny, very uplifting.

mlm. ~600 minutes.

This is a comedy. It relies on repeated innuendo. Only one out of the four couples in this is gay. The other stories are unrelated and skippable. 

They were roommates. Plot is nothing special, it's just situational comedy.

mlm that shouldn't have been marketed as BL. ~1440 minutes

So this one is controversial. Not everyone likes it, and I'm convinced that's because it appears to be a typical BL on the surface, but that is not what it is. If you're skipping or fast forwarding through this, then yeah the plot isn't going to make sense to you and the ending will come as a shock, because the story is actually quite complex and layered.

This is a queer story about mental health, becoming a better person, overcoming homophobia and being able to start loving yourself through the love of someone else. Despite appearances, Nat is the main character and Tofu is only there to help him grow as a person. He's not an actual love interest. He is a mere representation of a love interest that was already lost.

This series is a form of activism.

Spoiler: depending on how you view this, you could interpret the ending as positive or negative. I interpret it as positive.

wlw, background mlm. ~400 minutes

Doctor meets her ex again, the one that broke her heart really badly, but doctor doesn't know that she was forced to do so and actually still loves her.

Excellent acting, beautiful cinematography, plot lacks nothing. They're both insanely pretty. 

It doesn't do anything outside of classic Thai GL/BL tropes, it's just that the execution is excellent.

censored mlm. ~2250 minutes

Epic adventure with intricate plot and beautiful settings and soundtracks.

I recommend opening up an excel sheet and noting down the names of characters (each character goes by multiple names), as well as the names of clans they belong to (that also go by multiple names), and then a couple of lines of backstory on each character, like their family relations or motivations. Everything is connected and you're not going to remember who's who otherwise.

The gay-ness is obvious to me, but if my dad watched this show, he would miss it completely.

cw: bunch of murder, torture, zombies. The special effects aren't convincing so it doesn't bother me much.

mlm. ~380 minutes

High school besties who were kinda in-between being friends and lovers separated for 10 years, now reconnect. 

The plot, acting and cinematography are all quite good, but this story should've been told linearly instead of with this amount of flashbacks. It is hard to contextualize their current actions without having a clear image of what happened in the past.

mlm. ~350 minutes

Guy loses job because his boss did fraud, finds famous hiding artist, has to convince artist to sign contract in order to get his job back. 

Solid standard BL dynamic. Well executed. Nothing out of the ordinary.

mlm, wlw. ~130 minutes

Brother and sister are both gay, switch lovers to pretend straightness to parents, hijinks ensue. Comedy. Honestly it's been a while since I watched this, but I definitely remember laughing and liking it. 

mlm. ~180 minutes

Solid enemies to lovers. Good chemistry. Good plot, good angst. Solid.

mlm. ~180 minutes

Sequel to the one above.

Misunderstanding leads to them having to start over years later. Still good plot and good angst.

cw: I really really hate how they portrayed the character said to have aspergers. It's not accurate to what autism is and it does feel malicious. 

wlw, gnc. ~110 minutes

So genuine. There are no evil people here, and yet it's about adultery. Relationships are hard. Communication is hard.

mlm. ~200 minutes

New secretary has to deal with very grumpy boss that everyone else is done with. 

This is over the top and ridiculous on purpose, in a good way.  It's silly and they have a fun dynamic together. The plot, acting, chemistry, production quality etc are also good. A good watch.

cw: kidnapping. Bit sexist.

mlm. ~27 minutes

An extra episode. Fluff and ridiculousness. A happily ever after.

mlm. ~110 minutes

Enemies to lovers, class differences. Cinematographically beautiful. Everything else is solid but not outstanding.

wlw, trans, background mlm. ~540 minutes

Awkward girl falls hard for popular and super nice girl, texts her pretending to be guy, and it gets complicated. This is a sweet and awkward high school romance. There's not a lot of drama. There's mostly a lot of wholesomeness.

There's an autistic-coded lesbian in the secondary couple and I love her to bits. Her love interest keeps making me cry because she keeps reinforcing that it's okay for Aylin to be the weird little gremlin that she is.

Also two trans women who date each other. They're adorable. Never seen that before in a show, even though that's really common in real life, so yeah, yay for representation.

wlw. ~270 minutes

Ever since receiving an eye donation to cure her blindness, she dreams about a really pretty girl. Pretty girl shows up in real life, and she's too star-struck to be a normal person about it. 

The main character is such a dumbass. I love this.

mlm. ~220 minutes

Insecure famous ex-athlete meets very confident current athlete. It feels really realistic in terms of how it deals with both parties' emotions and (sometimes lack of) communication skills. They said the word 'gay' out loud. I don't say this often, but I think this one is well-suited for a season two.

Not a BL. ~500 minutes

Five Thai (aspiring) actors, three Korean ones and two mainland Chinese ones all have to sleep in the same villa and complete missions, with the eventual largely unspoken goal being to find an international BL ship.

The BL element of this is really understated. There are rainbow pins, femme mannerisms, and mutual teasing about some people maybe liking each other, but other than that, the fact that this show is about finding a BL acting partner kind of doesn't come up and I wasn't even sure that's what this was about until quite late. But they're definitely having a lot of fun together and that's fun to watch.

I guess this is another one of those shows where Thai directors opted to put their aspiring actors' privacy above the financial incentives of the audience shipping them (or maybe they're afraid of social consequences if drama and breakups happen), and I do have to respect that.

mlm. ~450 minutes

A ragtag bunch of dysfunctional misfits end up living in the same house through circumstances, and slowly forming a very unconventional family. This falls in the category of 'casually heartwarming Japanese queer spotlights.'

The main character is painfully awkward from time to time, but in the end all the characters really do grow on you.

mlm, gnc. ~720 minutes

Loser employee is contractually obligated to go hit on his boss, as research for their company's AI boyfriend project.

Honestly I enjoyed this more than I thought I would based on the trailer. I expected the AI aspect to be very cringe, but the show was actually quite charming.

mlm. ~840 minutes

This follows in Secret Crush On You's tradition of being extremely cringe and cliché at first glance, only to contain unexpected amounts of emotional depth and maturity. And it's just very warm and loving.

mlm, gnc, background ace. ~440 minutes

Shorter BL stories with the same pair of actors. There is an overarching plot. 

It's really good. I enjoyed it a lot. Excellent acting. Special props for whoever made these fashion choices. But I can't give every show a 9. This is really good, but not wildly amazing. Definitely worth a watch though.

implied wlw. ~125 minutes

Slice of life about lower class teenage besties in a police apartment complex. Their relationship is ambiguous. It's not at all a happy story.

cw: minor x adult, suicide, parental abuse

mlm. ~540 minutes

Two little shits who've been frenemies since childhood are forced to live together. Also one of them keeps having prophetic dreams about the other, in which they're definitely kissing. Odd, what could that possibly mean.

Yeah it's fun in the way you expect a GMMTV BL to be, except the formula is really being perfected here. Standard but expertly done. I really like it.

Not a GL. ~720 minutes

Eight aspiring GL actresses do gay acting challenges, competing for roles in a GL short movie at the end of each episode, with the eventual goal being to find a fixed GL ship.

It feels a little bit low budget but I do enjoy it. They also definitely seem to be enjoying themselves. I tend to like this type of show more as it goes on, because the people involved get more comfortable around each other and I like watching people be good friends to each other.

mlm. ~600 minutes

Half Thai half French guy arrives in Siam in the 1910's. He faces competing national loyalties, classism, a Thai official romantically pursuing him, societal homophobia, and most of all his own fears and internalized homophobia. 

I liked it a lot in terms of plot, but the romance in this feels subdued and understated.

mlm. ~220 minutes

They're on opposite sides of a magic mirror, in different worlds. The plot is FAST. Whoever made this got a limited runtime and had to cram a lot of material in, and did so pretty effectively. Beautifully shot. Sweet. 

cw: abuse from father.

Spoiler: Ending is a weird uncomfortable age gap though.

mlm. ~120 minutes

Guy meets his four new strange roommates, three of whom seem very interested in fattening him up for some reason, and one of whom wants him to move out and won't leave him alone with any of the others... What could that mean?

Really silly and funny. I had a blast watching this. The vampires are such doofuses.

mlm. ~630 minutes

Heartbroken guy gets hired to make a documentary for boyband's last concert. He slowly uncovers and heals the relationships between the band members, reinspires hope for the band's potential future, and falls for the band's lead member.

An above average GMMTV BL, with all the tropes you expect. It stands out in the realism with which it portrays the idol industry, and the way GMMTV kind of casts itself as the villain of the story. The band members are played by an actual boyband. 

mlm, gnc. ~840 minutes

Average London boy gets told he's a prince of Emmaly and has to fight for the throne, but really he wants to go back home and find his disappeared adoptive dad. He might just stay for that one guard though...

This is pretty enjoyable, but it didn't live up to the expectations the marketing set for it. Parts of it are really very good, like the exploration of the unequal power dynamic in the secondary couple. The plot got a little lost and confused as to what it wanted to say. Maybe the ginormous budget was its downfall, as it means the scale of the production was too large for any one person to oversee, and multiple people's visions for the project got mixed.

mlm, gnc, background trans. ~270 minutes

Guy who doesn't do relationships finds a very green flag and might change his mind.

This one is so wholesome and queer. I love how the main couple with their realistic problems is contrasted with the support couple who perfectly embody the Japanese model BL couple.

mlm. ~360 minutes

Broke and talentless stir-fried basil lover attempts to swindle chef by pretending he can cook and take over his restaurant, but oh no, chef smells like stir-fried basil and is hot.

This is very silly, in a great way. It has a pretty coherent though not entirely believable plot. Standard Thai BL fare. An enjoyable watch.

mlm. ~580 minutes

Sweetest college kid in the world has to be fake boyfriends with stern schoolmate who probably has a secret crush on him.

The plot and acting are not exceptional, but somehow this works better than your average Thai BL. Maybe it's the directing?

mlm. ~120 minutes

One up-tight top dancer and one loosy goosy one have to learn from each other.

It has a lot of flair, but in the end I didn't really see much character development or romance materialize. It was anti-climactic.

mlm. ~530 minutes

This is goofy and soft and I like it. Dude chases weird things like aliens and ghosts, then unknowingly challenges cutesy vampire to a pig blood jelly soup eating contest. This is low budget but really funny. The vampire is such a dumb softie who's just so head over heels for the ML. I keep thinking I know where the plot is going and the murder and drama is going to start happening, but nope, the plot has other things in mind apparently haha.

mlm. ~150 minutes

Enemies to lovers high school. Nothing really special, but it's fun enough. Supportive gay uncle is the best character. I recommend it because it's short.

mlm, gnc. ~800 minutes

Big budget actual omegaverse. Rich enigma guy obsessively pursues rich alpha guy by pretending to be broke omega. This takes first prize for 'most unhealthy BL relationship' and that's saying something. But idk, exaggerating toxic gender roles, then flipping them upside down in thirty different directions is also kind of the point of omegaverse. It does work.

cw: romanticized rape scenes between partners. Stalking, manipulating, violence etc. 

mlm. ~260 minutes

Falling for robot caretaker who might have to be reset and forget all about everything. It's about how memories shape who you are. The robot is not at all robot-like. It's sweet.

mlm. ~200 minutes

Seems confusing at first, but that's because nothing is as it seems, and if you stick with it, you'll catch on later. A story about mental health, trauma and trust.

For some reason they decided to attach the behind the scenes to the end of each episode. You don't need to watch those. They don't add much.

mlm. ~325 minutes

Domineering boss who forbade love in the company goes soft over time. I like the plot, the acting, the humor. But yeah no it's nothing out of the ordinary. Just a BL on the middle to higher end of the spectrum.

cw: the relationship is a little toxic and uncommunicative.

wlw, gnc. ~480 minutes

Girl spends her merit points on magic app to get shitty but cute angel helper, and then decides they need to figure out who the angel was before death.

Silly and funny and extremely adorable, but the plot is quite thin, and the sound effects are a bit excessive.

mlm. ~200 minutes

BL actors are actually very much into each other and have unresolved history.

It doesn't do anything beyond the regular tropes, and it doesn't really have a budget, but I still liked it a bunch.

mlm. ~360 minutes

An actual mainland China BL that had some censorship hiccups but managed to sell the show to an international streaming service.

Class divide, shitty parents, internalized homophobia, an infantilized deaf character, and lots of art students. 

Worth a watch, but has its issues.

mlm. ~240 minutes

Strict guy likes loosy goosy guy who says yes to everything because he doesn't know what he wants. They end up as roommates and have to confront liking each other, while being in denial about that.

It's a standard BL.

mlm, gnc, not a BL. ~450 minutes

Reality show that is confused about its premise. Are these guys supposed to be here to date each other or to become BL actors? The show wants to do both at the same time. While I think the premise is ethically flawed, the execution very much wasn't. The guys are left fairly free and unpressured. We don't see interpersonal conflicts play out on screen, we only see them referenced in hindsight in emotional speeches by the guys like: 'we learned, we grew, we're really close now'. They clearly do date each other, but that too is not played out on screen, only referenced. This is the first reality show I've seen that strongly values its participants' privacy. It almost feels contradictory.

In the last couple of episodes they open up about their feelings and experiences with queerness. In the beginning I questioned how genuine their proclaimed attractions to the other cast members were, because obviously being in a ship is their ticket to fame and that's their future career, but given the last couple episodes, I can't deny that it's genuine. 

It's mostly wholesome friendship vibes. Clearly, the participants had a great time. I wish them the best in their future careers. I think this experience probably helped set them up pretty well.

mlm. ~190 minutes

Exposing abuse in BL industry. It feels genuine, authentic. Good plot.

cw: There is a bit of a power dynamic between main couple.

Spoiler: the ending is not super positive but also not super negative.

~190 minutes

mlm. ~500 minutes

Softie debt collector recently gained the ability to hear cats speak, and tries to stop the guy who inherited a cat café from selling it, even though that's totally against his job description.

A cute show about (not) feeling loved and worthy.

wlw. ~230 minutes

Season two of Chaser Game W. Fuyu comes back. I like it much better than season 1.

mlm, trans. ~540 minutes

I initially dropped this within ten minutes but I gave it another shot and discovered I was wrong to drop it.

No sense is made in the first episode. Throw logic out the window. The acting isn't good either. And yet I do recommend this series. The characters act like real people. When there's a misunderstanding, they simply ask each other, and bim bam boom, solved! It really feels like a real Thai gay star used this show to express what it's like to be a Thai celebrity, and I appreciate that authenticity. Also, excellent trans representation.

mlm, gnc. ~390 minutes

Songwriter meets café owner and hits on him. Café owner is receptive but has poor communication. The show calls that out and makes him learn. 

At the time this was made, Thai BL was primarily fantasy-based and didn't really engage with homophobia, internalized or societal, and the ubiquitous top/bottom distinction annoyed me. This show went against the grain, and I really appreciated that. It had a message. But BL has changed, and the message no longer feels revolutionary. Now it's just a pretty slow show without much of a plot. So no I wouldn't recommend this show now, but go back in time a couple of years, and I would have then.

mlm. ~450 minutes

This includes a body swap, but I promise it is actually gay and handled well. Countryside besties to lovers. Starts out with the main character being pretty unlikeable, but he changes. It is worth it to continue watching.

mlm. ~550 minutes

Continuation of Pete and Kao's story in 'Kiss Me Again'. They still have a fun dynamic, but the plot revolves too much around jealousy, cheating, lying, miscommunication, for my liking. It does also cover coming out and internalized homophobia and other such queer themes. It is fun. I do recommend it.

mlm. ~530 minutes

Bullyxbullied. This starts strong, but kinda fizzles out. A bunch of filler is added in in the middle episodes. There doesn't seem to be much of a plot in those ones. Chemistry isn't there. Sailom doesn't seem into it at all. He just pushes Kanghan away all the time.

There is hinting at a teacher/student lesbian relationship, and I don't like it.

mlm, wlw, polyamory, trans. ~360 minutes

Son of owner of nightclub interns in nightclub and falls for host boy who is also his classmate. 

I initially dropped this around episode 5, because it seemed like not much plot was happening anymore, and there was mostly focus on jealousy and skinship, but I picked it back up and don't regret that. It ends quite strong, with an anti-shame progressive message about sex work and polyamory.

It does well on cinematography, the set, lighting, acting, chemistry etc. 

Not a BL. ~510 minutes

Not a BL, but a reality show in which new actors choose their BL partner, with whom they are officially friends, not romantic partners. Wholesome, supportive, sweet, friendly.

Not a BL. ~360 minutes

In this season it was obvious that most of the ships were pre-decided, though there was one surprise. It is mostly an agency marketing their new talent and new ships. This oddly flip-flops between being scripted and fake and being almost painfully authentic.