This Week in BL - Good Stuff!
Organized, in each category, with ones I'm enjoying most at the top.
Lately It's Winter Season Fourever You2 (Fri WeTV) ep 2 of 8 -I love this so much. I love our poor little Rich kid who has never known family or warmth. I love our casual, affectionate, easy-going sweetheart who just welcomes him without a care. It’s all painfully precious.
Your Dear Daddy (Sat iQIYI) ep 3 of 8 - Oo creepy opener. But aside from the shoulder-molesting ghost, this show is darn tootin’ cute. Bonus: GL side couple!
Cherm Chey (Tues Gaga) ep 1 of 10 - Oh noes, I love them so much. This is gonna be a great show to start my week. I am charmed. We went out of the gate with a linguistic negotiation and some pronoun action and I’m v happy. It is a little weird, and a little disjointed, but I like it. Quirky. Flirty. But also, what is this show about? Or is it just a slice of life thing? (Also, I know that temple well!) Until proven otherwise, I am subtitling this one: Eat, Pray, Gay.
Love Upon a Time (Fri iQIYI) ep 9 of 12 - Honeymoon phase did not last very long, did it? Our rich boy is certainly making promises he cannot keep. As ever, this installment was engaging and I am still pleased with this show.
Love of Silom (Fri WeTV) ep 5 of 12 - Yet another case of “absolutely awful parents.” It’s like they came out of an AMA Reddit thread into our BL. Oh no, it’s so early on and already a full on love confession? This means we were in for a world of hurt in pain. The family, trauma, and drama is going to downpour upon us.
When Oranges Fall (Weds YT) ep 2 of 12 - Not so much linguistic negotiation as linguistic instruction? (Is that the kink version? Asking for a friend.) What he actually says in the image pictured is “Didn’t I say no using guu/meng?” It’s v clear K2 has a big’ol crush, while K1 is Captain Oblivious. I’m liking this better this week than last, but I have to say that it is largely because of the secondary couple. They’re very cute. Gimme moar.
Flower Boy (Sat Gaga) ep 5 of 10 - I am never a big fan of lying liars who lie. And this show is kind of based on one. I have to admit, it’s diminishing the expereince it for me. I sure hope our flower boy gets some major revenge at some point.
Magic Move (Tues iQIYI) ep 5 of 10 - I’m getting bored with this one, at this juncture. Most of the fortuneteller stuff is silly to me. And the main couple, while cute, just doesn’t have much oomph. Side dishes gave us a great kiss tho. (That was one v specific kink.)
Ongoing Series - Not Thai
Double Helix (China Fri & Sat Gaga) eps 5-6 of 12 - OMG these boys! Why so painful and melodramatic? Moving directly in with your ex-boyfriend is not “taking it slow.” This is a wild soap opera of a show. I’m sorry, but putting toothpaste on a burn is bonkers behavior. DON’T DO THAT! A note for the director: you can’t cut back to back NC seems like that when one pair is so much better at kissing than the other. In other news, things are about to go terribly terribly wrong for everybody.
Fake Fact Lips (Japan Fri Gaga) ep 5 of 10 - Argh. These losers are so terribly in love, and so terribly bad at it. Also FINALLY. Also, the JBL we are accustomed to would have ended on this episode. So I’m not entirely sure where we’re going as were are only halfway through. Still, I’m obeying my own mandate, and having no expectations of Japan.
Smile after Tears (Taiwan Weds Gaga) eps 1-2 of 12 - I do enjoy the style and troubled softness of Taiwanese high school BLS. I’m sad we get them so rarely, and they so often must revolve around music. But frankly, I will take what I can get in this sub genre. I’m enjoying this, the optics are good. Our cutie is very cute, our tsundere is very tsundere with a crush, our second lead is v earnest. However, the title is ominous. I am not reassured by the plot description on MDL.
The Gaze (China ??? YT) eps 7-8 of 10 - This is turning into one of those shows where I actually think the happiest ending would be if the mains do not end up together. He is a bully and as such he’s not a good boyfriend. The sides on the other hand, remain eminently enjoyable.
Life in Smokey Blue AKA Smoke Blue no Ame Nochi Hare (Japan Tues Gaga) ep 7 of 10 - If Thailand is banned from using wigs, then Japan is henceforth banned from using facial postiche. Unwatchably bad facial hair there. Anygay, as is common with me and BL, if the leads are apart for most of an episode, I find the episode dull. This one was also sad.
Journey With You (China Fri Gaga) ep 4 of 8 - Drama drama, court politics, brother against brother, gays against gays, gay on gay crimes, etc. Also yay CBL kiss! Still a surprise thrill whenever it happens. This being a good kiss, my doubts as to an HEA have multiplied.
Unexpectedly Naughty Fukami AKA Yatara Yarashii Fukami-kun (Japan Mon Gaga) ep 7 of 10 - Unbelievably awkward date for the win? Maybe more for the draw?
Wishing Upon The Shooting Stars (Taiwan Thurs Gaga) ep 10 of 12 - It’s just kind of sad now. And I don’t see how they’re gonna resolve it.
Check in to You (Korea Thurs YT) eps 1-2 of 6 - I just am not sure about this. I don’t love either of the characters and I hate the backbone trope of bodyswap (pun intended). If this becomes "pay to watch" I won’t continue.
One Year (Thai Sun YT) dropped at ep 3 of 8, not for me.
CrazyLove-MooMoo AKA Crazy Love, Moo-Moo (Thai Sat VIU) 10 eps- trailer It's BossNoeul in a comedy based on a novel but who tf cares when my boy Noh is there paired with Turbo? How delightful. Honestly? I would love to watch this, but they sure aren’t making it easy on international audiences.
Lost to You (China Gaga) 12 eps - I decided to hold off on this one and wait until it completes its run and I know the ending. I greatly mistrust any BL description that includes the word “bittersweet” esepcially out of China. Thus I depend upon those with greater courage than moi to tell me how this one goes.
Love Punch! (Japan YT grey) 7/10 - Quiet, reserved Tsuru, top student at rival Shiraiwa High School, visits and flirts with outgoing but violent Madoka, causing tension between school gangs. Tsuru moves into Madoka's grandmother's place and pursues him, but maybe just for revenge? It's a bit odd and disjointed and violent but it actually is a BL and it all ends on a not-as-bad-as-it-could-be-couch-cough-Japan kiss.
Boku no Tomei na Dokyonin (Japan vertical YT grey) - 5/10 Vertical series about a high school student, left alone at his grandmother’s house, who ends up living with a ghost. The ghost's past and lingering regrets begin to unravel while the human's feelings deepen. I'm never a fan of the "my ghost bf" trope but this one at least managed to end it not unhappily, he still dead tho.
Next Week Looks Like This:
5/27 The Guy and I Who Will Break Up in 100 Days AKA 100 Nichi Go ni Wakareru Boku to Kare (Japan Weds Gaga) 10 eps - "Documentary" about the "ideal gay relationship" features a couple already broken up who decide to fake it for the camera.
5/28 Love Class 3 (Korea Thurs Viki) 10 eps - that's all we got folx.
5/29 A Dog and A Plane (Thai Fri Viki & Gaga) 10 eps - trailer A prissy gay flight attendant in a push-pull relationship with an EMT dude-bro. Characters are a bit throwback to PeteKao (no bad thing) not to mention the looming shadow of What the Duck? (bad thing). Okay GMMTV, surprise me, I'm game. (And you all know TayNew are my OG GMMTV pair du jour.)
5/30 Ticket To Heaven (Thai Sat Viki & Gaga) ep 1 of 5 - trailer GMMTV is doing a Boy Foretold by Stars concept? Interesting. I did not have religious boundary pushing and bildungsroman down on the BL bingo card. This isn't my thing but I think G4 are actually going to be amazing in it and I certainly look forward to them pushing their acting chops and the discomfort something like this can cause in viewership. I like it when BL makes people (who aren't me) uncomfortable.
5/30 Payback (Thai Sat iQIYI) 10 eps - trailer Thai adaptation of the Korean webtoon of the same name 페이백 written by samk and illustrated by Fujoking. A gang member joins the entertainment industry for revenge, and a powerful mogul becomes obsessed with him. This could go to YT, Gaga, or iQiyi. (I am VERY intrigued by this premise - Bangkok Boy meets Reset?)
All BLs Announced for 2026 that I knew of at the start of the year. (Not kept updated.)
The tag BLigade: @doorajar @solitaryandwandering @my-rose-tinted-glasses @babymbbatinygirl @babymbbatinygirl @isisanna-blog @mmastertheone @pickletrip @aliceisathome @urikawa-miyuki @tokillamonger @sunflower-positiiivity @rocketturtle4 @blglplus @anythinggoesintheshire @everlightly @renafire @mestizashinrin @bl-bam-beyond @small-dark-and-delicious @saezurumurmurs @waitmyturtles @worldhopping
(hellsite doesn't allow me to tag that many people, sadly)
dededos
jacobvanloon
kaledo-art
yousharknotpass
gummygunk
titsay
izzy806
vaporwave
turnnoffyourmind
