Rockstar romance BL + second chances at love redemption arc

Given is based on a yaoi manga (that I didn’t much like) and an anime (that I never saw) but honestly I was happy to get any light BL from Japan in 2021.

Fortunately for me, GIVEN ended up being a stolid traditional live action yaoi of the kind that I’ve come to expect from Japan (when they don’t go dark). So we're talking in the arena of SEVEN DAYS. With the possible exception of the hair styles, this BL could have been made in 2015 and no one would be surprised.

GIVEN had a surprisingly happy and sweet final episode, my only issue was that this series was built on a “sing your feelings” chassis and this is one of my least favorite tropes. (But that’s my baggage, not theirs.)

It wasn’t ground breaking, but it didn’t disappoint either and I, for one, am super glad we got it when we did.

RECOMMENDED.

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Find your soulmate in the mountains of Thailand

Foundational Romance Trope? Fated mates

Some of us have been waiting for this series for a really long time now. The fact that it had so many production issues made me nervous going in. However, I really loved the story. I found the chemistry with the leads uncertain at first. Hard to pin down why, but I keep having this issue with Earth. In the end, I got over it (or they did).

Formerly known as Tale of Thousand Stars (the title change was a good call). It neatly avoid GMMTV’s previous BL’s (Tonton Chonlatee, My Gear & Your Gown) ending issues. And though it was slow to find its stride, this show probably has one of the most romantic endings ever filmed in BL.

On the whole it leaned hard on classic romance (rather than yaoi) tropes which resulted in a mature, sweet, charming, smart series with a FANtASTIC finale. Tonally it was a lot more like, oh I don’t know, Love O2O meets The Notebook only gay. I liked it a lot more than I thought I would at the start, but was it BL? Probably not. Who cares though.

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Adorable Fluff

The slowest burning prettiest little emotional support supermarket advertisement ever to drop into our feeds. Or even, frankly, to exist at all. We did not deserve Ingredients, but we got it anyway, and it was CHARMING. It came from the retail side and it conquered our mushy pre-packaged hearts. Did anything actually happen in Ingredients? Nope. Do we care? Nope.

Ingredients also wins my best trope execution award for "Let Me Sing You My Feelings" for Ep 16. The number of emotions that cross Win’s face in the course of two songs while he watches Tops flirt with someone else is insane. Win keeps singing yet you see him go through an entire identity crisis - realization of love, jealousy, fear, adoration, loss, and more. It’s brilliant. And Jeff’s voice is crazy good. Even if you aren’t a fan of this series, you owe it to yourself to watch this episode.

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Tropes: jock/nerd, enemies to lovers, friends to lovers, reunion romance, secret romance, LTR

Y-novel adaptation originally slated as Secret Admirer (teaser) about an “ordinary guy still in love with the older boy he lived next door to during university,” starring Earth Teerapat (Wayo in 2 Moons 2) opposite Fluk (seasoned but not done BL). Plot entirely changed from novel to an absurdist: boys are forced by their university to be a BL couple for promo - although this conceit did give the show license to lampoon BL tropes (which I kinda enjoyed). But the show was VERY awkward with poor chemistry across the board.

Lead couple had a tom/jerry vibe with the uke too stiff and serious and the seme a prankster immature idiot - one of my least favorite dynamics (it always seems mean-spirited). They reminded me of My Boy (which I DNFd) X BonDuen from My Engineer (who I dislike).

Other pairs include BearBomb, TimMai, and ParkLee (LTR whom use ter with each other - cute). The domesticity with the side couples was somewhat engaging, and the medium heat sex scenes were descent, but that’s it. The main couple is a little better after the time jump, mostly because Mek in now understandably arrogant. I guess.

I ended up fast forwarding everything that didn’t have the Tim storyline in it because I am a shallow shallow person. I also kept thinking that the actor playing Tim would’ve made a great Dr Pha in 2 Moons.

The worst thing about this show (aside from leads chemistry) was that the chemistry of the friendship groups felt off too. Normally, Thailand can handle friendship groups well. But these 2 different groups? I didn’t believe they were friends at all.

This drama suddenly got sensible and interesting in the finale after the time jump, and the reason for the split turned out to be a decent one. But frankly, that was just frustrating. Because I got a glimpse that this could’ve actually been, if not a GREAT show, at least a passable one. But they saved this for the last 2 eps? That’s just annoying. Another wedding makes me feel like this trope is becoming ubiquitous in Thai BL. Who knew Grey Rainbow would end up with us here?

In the end I can't really recommend this. There's much better Thai BL these days, and tons of it.

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Arranged marriage + secret identity with a cinnamon rolls pairing

Pitch perfect new BL in the now typical Korean style:

1. well defined character roles and social positioning
2. fast pacing because of the short run time
3. very small cast
4. extremely high production values and so PRETTY
5. light-touch meets strategic trope use
6. very soft bois and a weak seme/uke dynamic

A historical setting allowed this one to use some seriously old fashioned romance tropes, arranged marriage and evil step-sisters, but also modern BL stylings like fake relationship and secret identity plus some gentle gay panic. So flipping cute, their little smiles, just GAH. Bit of a dead fish kiss but I don’t care because I loved this tiny show full of soft sweethearts and no one saying anything directly (except our man with the poetry, I hope he finds his true love). Adorable.

It was a lot more light-hearted and gentle than any historical BL to date, which is Korea stamping the sub-genre with its mark and standing up to China’s darker BL traditions. It reminded me of 12th Night more than anything else which just happens to be my favorite Shakespeare play.

For all these reasons, I adored it.

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Tropes: rich/poor, boss/employee, enemies to lovers, office setting, cohabitation

This is a solid little office set KBL about a rich kid who ends up both the boss and tenant of a total sweetheart cutie, and falls madly in love with him. Although the show suffered from KBL’s shorter length, I love the kissable lips pair and they deliver solid all round chemistry despite limited screen time, which is rare from Korea. So I hope they stay branded and we get even more from them in the future.

Ultimately I recommend this show, a solid 8/10.

If Japan didn’t dominate the office BL niche with shows like Cherry Magic and Old Fashion Cupcake this BL probably would get higher marks for me. But it’s a difficult hill to climb (although I’m delighted to see Korea try). Even though Japan and Korea often give us the same length shows, I feel the brevity in the Korean stuff in a way that I don’t with the Japanese stuff. Frankly I think it’s Japan’s sophisticated cinematography facilitating the complexity required by shortness (what’s left out has to be implied by the lens and the acting) where Korea’s more commercial and simplistic style (which works great in longer Kdramas or something like Light On Me) falls short (pun intended) with their short KBLs.

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high school crush, chaos muffin, high angst, classic seme/uke, secret relationship

Don’t expect modern BL but do expect classic live action yaoi. Japan played with narrative beats with this one so, it actually launches with a confession scene and secret relationship. The initial meat cutes are told from each boy’s perspective as flashbacks. It’s really flipping good with both of them liking each other, and already in a relationship, yet so nervous about what to do. It’s completely and totally high school first love, flip-flopping agony and joy. It made me so happy but it’s also so teenage crisis management it’s traumatic to live through. This is my favorite kind of Japanese BL, I kept getting a hint of Seven Days and I never mention that show lightly.

Amagi, our uke, is an ADORABLE sunshine bean nugget with wildly uncontrollable elbows, one of the weird outsider kids. He’s frantically jerky and clumsy but in a way that doesn’t seem as overblown as Aoki did in Kieta Hatsukoi.

Takara is elegant to the point of deadpan, too cool, one of the popular clique, reserved and inaccessible at first(to us and Amagi). But turns out Japan is doing their version of pining with him. And when Japan does pining it skips right over yearning and into THIRST.

Takara, it turns out, is the one who liked Amagi first, and it’s Takara who will latch on to Amagi’s confession as an excuse to hold on as tightly as possible to his sunshine. Takara’s reason for keeping their relationship secret is that he doesn’t wanna share Amagi, ‘cause he thinks his friends will like Amagi too much and steal his attention - such a seme reason. Takara will (as we learn, as we watch him learn, and as eventually we see Amagi learn) do absolutely anything to keep Amagi. He’ll risk his friendships, his popularity, his status, even go against his own nature and learn to communicate (which includes going against his personality as a sullen teen).

“I like him so much that it feels stupid.”

The show depicts depth of character and balance by switching perspectives and voice overs from Amagi to Takara relatively quickly. We need this as Amagi shows too much emotion and Takara too little. Takara is a classic seme, voicing many of the conceits of the archetype while at the same time being a seme who is scared of his own semeness and therefore forced to learn to communicate. Amagi’s fears are all the fears of first love (and not really queer love, just first time jitters) and Takara’s attempts to mitigate that fear mean trying to understand Amagi better through conversation.

I adore this because part of first love should be learning how to talk to each! The way Takara evolves in this matter is so good and so important to the BL genre I did a whole post about it. I genuinely think this is a BL suitable to show to youngsters and teens, a genuine YA coming of age narrative.

It is Takara’s voiceover that really blew this show away for me. All too often in BL we only get the uke’s perspective and that means, with a difficult uke, it can be hard to understand why the seme likes the uke in the first place (see SCOY). With these two we are never left in any doubt that Takara thinks Amagi is beyond adorable, wants to have him (in all way) and keep him (probably in all ways too). Takara is also a corny, awkward, dork, because coolness and passion are incompatible, and I we him for this. He keeps stepping on land mines with Amagi and not knowing what to do about it. Good thing his default it to actually communicate. GOOD SEME, have a cutie as a treat. And Takara does win, there were more kisses in this high school JBL than I have seen since Seven Days. Sure they are awkward, teenager, dead fish kisses, but for this narrative that totally worked for me.

“He said something cute and I couldn’t help myself“ is so traditional Japanese seme in one sentence I can’t even.

As a couple, and we see them in a relationship for the entire show, these two are sweetly shy, and so painfully high school awkward it’s almost unbearable. The hand holding! The torture of decision making when you can’t read his mind! The. Agony. of. it. All. But I happen to enjoy the way burgeoning desire works with high school characters better than in any of the other settings Japan explores. What I find annoying in an office drama like Senpai is fine here.

Warning though, these two pretty much define cringe. Takara because he is trying desperately to maintain his reserve (and perform perfect seme) while simultaneously being so in love/lust with Amagi in high school where desire is, by definition and practice, uncool. While Amagi is just a tiny basket case with more than a hint of blushing maiden about him. He is all frenetic movements and angles, like he cannot control his limbs or his emotions, both are deeply confusing to him. Watching them stumble around each other and reflectively agonize over every little movement and conversation is an exercise in joy, patience, and terror. It’s all so “teenager” I can hardly stand it.

I gnawed on my knuckles and squealed a lot with this show. Reserved cool kid who must lean to communicate to keep the tiny disaster nugget he’s madly in love with. It is beyond charming: soft and gentle, packed with cuteness and high school angst. Did anything actually happen? No. Was it emotionally tense and paced well enough for me not to notice? Absolutely. Was there plot? Not really. Did I enjoy the hell out of it, anyway? Oh yes.

9/10

TOTALLY RECOMMENDED

GaGa’s subs are more poetic but Viki’s are more comprehensible, so I did (and recommend) both but if you must pick? Viki.

I you liked this show you should watch Seven Days and even Old Fashion Cupcake. Also something like Cherry Magic, My Love Mix Up, and Mr Unlucky might also be enjoyable. For something a little less cringe but with a similar dynamic there’s Korean BLs Cherry Blossoms After Winter and Light on Me. (Also T&A features one of the best wingman since Namgong.

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PNR, grim reaper, enemies to lovers

Adapted from a y-novel by HUNGRYBIRD of the same name, Wabi Sabi picked up this defunked project and brought it back for iQIYI (with Director New acting as producer) staring Grey Rainbow (trigger warnings & sad ending) couple Nut & Karn. They are pretty great together and certainly mature and capable leads. Also featured Yacht (Paint with Love) and Pat (My Ride) as side characters.

This is a romance between a doctor trying to save his patients and a reaper who is both his enemy and (eventually) lover. Basically it’s the genius premise of a gay Doom at Your Service. High concept looks good on you, Thailand. I enjoyed it more than it’s ending deserved, and the best I can say is that it’s not strictly HEA but if you’re okay with Life: Love on the Line, you’ll probubly be okay with this BL. It’s set up well, there’s no surprise unpleasantness like HIStory 3: The BL that shall not be named.

The reaper mythos was pleasingly bureaucratic in an almsot Terry Gilliam absurdist kind of way. I wish we’d got a bit more of it, and how the underworld worked. And I also wish it had just really leaned into the “mistakes are just the frustration of the DMV” style. But this is Thailand, and high concept + absurdist really isn’t their thing, so I’m disposed to be happy with the silliness we did get.

The slow burn romance and the laying out of the intertwined past was really well done. Not to mention all of the external tension with the doctors in competition and their various cases, and the conflict between the leads and their roles in life. It’s much better storytelling than we usually get from Thai B - a solid little show, especially at the start. Now the driving conflict of a doctor who will not accept death was a little too drawn out and one note (I was over it by ep 6), but no worse than we usually get from Thai BL.

The side dishes were hit or miss for me, their drunken hook almost too relatable, but their insta-love tendencies felt conflictingly unrealistic. Also one of New’s OLD SCHOOL “around the back of head not at all a kiss” kisses. I haven’t seen that from Thailand since Make it Right! Retro “we not gay” camera action used because the actors aren’t comfortable with each other? Why here? Why now? Tut tut. I was mixed over them but the side couple was, in the end, cute enough (weird kisses notwithstanding).

The chemistry between the leads was MUCH more consistent than the side couple, and very well executed. KarnNut give GREAT KISS. Honestly, I can’t remember if their kissing in Grey Rainbow was this good, but in 2022 AKA the year of great gay kisses, this was one of the best I’ve seen - we are talking MewGulf or MaxTul level. Very impressive.

Are KarnNat the best Thai origin couple at domesticity? Seems like. And I LOVE domesticity in my BL. So they get extra points for this.

THE ENDING

This show had a very Korean style unnecessary-separation in the last ep. But I guess I’m used to that now? The show’s ending reminded me A LOT of Love: Life on the Line (Director’s Cut) so if you like that you’ll, like this one, but it’s not strictly HEA, there’s a lot more pathos. I thought it suited the narrative, so I’m not mad.

Want it spoiled? They get a lifetime together; the reaper goes back to being invisible to everyone but the doctor, so no one notices that he doesn’t age; he pulls the doctor’s card when the doctor is old; and then meets him again in his next reincarnation. So this is not exactly a happy ending, but it’s not really sad either. Just pathos.

Did I cry? Of course, I’m a sap. But for someone normally SET on HEA, I actually I liked it.

I’m not quite sure how to rate this show tho, as a result. And I’m not sure I’ll ever rewatch it either. Still, like Peach of Time, everything was set up for us, so the end wasn’t surprising and it managed to be substantially happier than Peach or, of course Grey Rainbow (shudder).

So maybe I rate it higher than I should because it could have been a lot worse? ARGH. Decisions. I went with 7/10

RECOMMENDED WITH RESERVATIONS

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disney prince, opposites attract, sunshine/tsundere

(Jan-Feb-March on YouTube)

This long form MUSICAL BL is LEGEND. Also it’s profoundly not good. The acting (aside fro the 2 leads) is absolutely terrible across the cast. But that’s kinda unimportant to what it did... or tried to do.

This was the BL version of High School Musical. Sparkles. Drags queens. Sweater vests. Pining. Floppy hair. Great subs. It’s a cheesy af fairy story. Hella queer. Possibly the gayest BL to ever BL and certainly the most camp.

THIS IS ART, PEOPLE.

Art is Art.

Art is the prince.

The prince is super touchy feely, me likey.

Plus every BL trope you could possibly want. and THEN all of the Disney ones.

It’s basically like the Philippines took Walt Disney by the tie, shook him violently with it and sang into his face a full volume:

WE WILL MAKE IT GAY, YOU COWARD!

I struggle to rate it as a result, because that’s kind of not the point. Would I watch it again? No. But then sing your feelings is one of my least favorite tropes. Plus I hate Disney. Seriously, just, HATE IT. So this BL was not for me, it was never gonna be for me.

But it was for Prince, Country, & BL!

RECOMMENDED ONLY IF YOU ALSO LIKE DISNEY STUFF

* before you ask, yes I HAVE seen Were the World Mine

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Hyung romance, puppy/cat pairing

Most of this country-set BL had me feral for the beautiful broken city boy and his hot young farmer. Hyung romance, puppy/cat pairing, open frankness meets jaded reserve, language play, water hose frolicking, only one bed, just all my favorite tropes. This show was basically a light-weight Restart After Come Back Home and I’m not even slightly mad about that.

But (and you knew there was a “but” coming) something about the cringe of the final 2 eps and the impermanence of the ending (both of which highlight the fact that ultimately these 2 are I’ll-suited: too different and too far apart) left me with the feeling that they probably won’t last as a couple. However, in this case, rare for me, I forgive it this finale for my love of the rest.

I did dither a lot though, it’s not an 8 but not a 9 either. Better than Love Mate (8/10) not as good as The New Employee (9/10) but in the end I’m value adding up for the premise and the cast, which earned it a 9/10.

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Secret love, high school romance, tons of pining, YA journey of finding yourself

GMMTV gave us a classic high school set Thai BL with tropes like messy boys singing their feelings that made this one Love Sick for the modern age with all the gentle sweetness and pining ache, but none of the dated damaging tropes or issues. Yes, we’ve seen it all before, but I still ADORE this. And there is a lot to be said for the classics being executed perfectly. Who let my BL be this wholesome and funny? This show was fantastic, it’s only flaw was the singing (and that’s my baggage). My favorite GMMTV BL offering to date. And yes, I've watched them ALL. Gemini and Fourth were spectacular, I hope we get tones more of them (check out Moonlight Chicken, they're excellent on that too.)

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coming of age, self actualization, rich/poor, crush, rescue, friends to lovers

It’s truly lovely little coming of age high school BL with a classic YA low drama but high angst story. I didn’t even mind the singing, and that’s saying a lot.

It featured Taiwan's modern take on AePete: popular but painfully lonely rich kid, Guang (complete with evil pressure-cooker tiger parents) meets and is basically adopted by poor nerdy (secret rockstar) Qizhang. HE EVEN HAS AE’S TOTE!!!

Side dishes are Guang’s adorable bestie, Ray, and even more adorable (also a rockstar) Jian.

Lots of BL tropes but also this is quite queer and very Taiwan with an earnestness depth I haven’t seen since My Ride an almost real world authenticity. Not that I normally like that in my BL, but I’ll forgive Taiwan (and the Philippines) for their sticky almost dirty style if it is this endearing and engaging (see also Gameboys).

I wish it had been given a bit more room to breathe, but all in all a great edition to the Taiwanese BL lexicon which was in dire need of just this kind of content.

RECOMMENDED

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age gap romance, pining since childhood

A high school student pursues the man of his dreams who happens to run a laundromat in this classic age gap BL. This drama has a 10 year age gap so if that wigs you out, don't watch it. I happen to LOVE age gap romances.

Minato’s Laundromat is so steeped in yaoi tropes and archetypes, not to mention a typical romance arc, that it will be an overload for some, but those of who love this genre for its DNA will adore it. It made me very happy because it did everything I want a BL to do, and there’s not much more I ask of a show than this. It’s the closest Japan has come to perfect live action yaoi since Seven Days.

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an unassuming little friends to lovers cheese fest

Main Tropes: friends to lovers, LTR, office romance, (himbo) sunshine/tsundere, found family, himbo

From the creators of Be Loved In House, co-produced by Taiwanese and Japanese media, starring Shi Cheng Hao (HIStory3: Make Our Days Count). Some crossover cast and familiar faces, tons of cameos from See You After Quarantine, Be Loved In House: I Do and HIStory 3. Hot bartender + jaded nerdy single dad side couple.

This is a solid safe little BL.

Jung and Fu have been codependent besties for 20 years but every decade or so Jung gets rip-roaring drunk and kisses the bejesus out of Fu. This leads to... confusion. Very much a sunshine himbo vs pining tsundere pairing. Nice to have Taiwan back in the game and I do love their style. Is queer classy a thing, like the opposite of camp but still VERY cheesy? Kinda the antidote to SCOY, should you need such a thing. Which I DO.

Lots of domesticity and boyfriends being cute boyfriends, occasional dumb drama, but gay boys and chaos bis? What can ya do?

Both couples are really good but that’s not uncommon with Taiwan (although for me the chemistry felt slightly off). The pacing of this series is good with some waffling, but the beats of the narrative are really unusual, making it HARD to predict.

There was a couple dreaded unnecessary break ups and I remained confused over the use of the baseball field. But all in all, I’m satisfied. It’s not groundbreaking but it is a solid sweet unassuming little show.

RECOMMENDED

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opposites attract, grumpy/sunshine, impossible dreams

Stars Kpop’s best known out gay singer, Holland, and Han Gi Chan (Where Your Eyes Linger). Noodle shop! Broken dreams! This is a solid little KBL, with a good premise and cast. Manic pixie dream boy can get old fast but when contrasted with awkward grumpy chef? It’s a tasty combo that elevates both ingredients. Holland is a charming screen presence - baby boy is HYPNotiC. And while I wasn’t entirely sold on the chemistry, these two did give us some very good kisses and sweet domesticity. I grinned through most episodes and I didn’t even mind the standard KBL 1 year separation at the end because it felt so true to the characters.

It was Tommy’s wardrobe that really clued me in as to what was going on with this show. His jumpers are full of rough shaggy textures and stormy-beach colors: sandy browns, blues, and grays. Not necessarily colors you normally associate with an ocean, but the colors that really are there on a cold northern beach in particular. We are left wondering if Tommy is meant to be an actual boy or if he is instead a representation of the ocean. Is this actually about Ba Da learning to love himself? (Since bada means ocean).

Tommy is like a piece of beautiful driftwood that has been tossed upon the shore, soon to be swept away again on the next tide. We aren’t surprised when he leaves, we aren’t surprised that he is both capricious and consistent. He may or may not be the spirit of the sea, but either way he embodies both its relentlessness and its transience.

The sparse coldness permeating this show in contrast to the cozy domesticity it depicts when the boys are together reminded me of something out of Scandinavian film. This whole series is permeated by a sense of winter. The lighting and style is exactly the opposite to the warm atmospheric feel we got from Cherry Blossoms After Winter. These are, in a way, two different ends of the spectrum of BL that Korea produces yet they both embody the precision stiffness of KBL.

We watchers of KBL are often left with this persistent idea that we are missing something all the time, something the characters are doing just off screen, or in between episodes. We missed it but Korea also didn’t WANT to show it to us because they find it too painfully intimate to portray. This absence colors all KBL with a certain wistfulness. There’s so much left unsaid. But also un-filmed. All the scenes that Thai BL would consider key, are left out. But, for me, Oceans Likes Me managed to justify this aspect of itself in a way other recent KBLs have not (I’m looking at you: Love Class). We never see Tommy and Ba Da actually become boyfriends, they just... suddenly... are. It’s as inevitable as the ocean. There is no confession scene, there’s no first time, there’s just THEM.

And then, just as quickly Tommy is swept away and there is no them anymore.

I understand the premise of this ending (unlike most of the arbitrary Kdrama 11th hour separations) which is: sometimes you can’t just support someone else’s dreams, you have to separate in order to pursue your own dream. It’s not a lack of love that ends the relationship it’s conflicting life goals.

I was happy (and a little surprised, frankly) that they brought it back around and ended with the boys together again.

RECOMMENDED

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