Ironically the first idol to appeal in a Korean BL role so far as I can tell is Japanese idol Terada Takuya (Cross Gene) who was ½ of the BL couple in 2015′s The Lover.
The first Korean idol to do so was Yoo Dong Kyun (Khan of ZPZG), who was in Tropical Night (2017). It v. sad.
2015 - Terada Takuya (formerly Takuya of CROSS GENE) The Lover
2017 - Yoo Dong Kyun (Khan of ZPZG, disbanded) in Tropical Night
2020 - Cheon Seung Ho (Seungho of THE MAN BLK) in Mr. Heart
2020 - Kang In Soo (MYNAME, disbanded) in Wish You & Nobleman Ryu’s Wedding (2021)
2020 - Lee Sang (IMFACT, inactive) in Wish You
2021 - Hur Hyun Jun (formerly Hwall of THE BOYZ) in Color Rush
2021 - Son Woo Hyun (Ghun of X-5, disbanded) in To My Star
2021 - Kim Yoo Hwan (SPEED, disbanded) in The Tasty Florida. I am gonna add that amazing body of his is well earned. He was one of SPEED’s acrobats and they had some of the greatest trick work EVER fielded in the industry (fight me). He’s the white shirt in this one (watch until the end, that swing flip I CAN’T EVEN. And he’s the ripped jeans + run dmc shirt in this one (yeah they’re fucking dancing in wheelies).
2021 - Choe Chan Yi (formerly Chanyi of THE MAN BLK) in Light on Me (ACE did the song)
2022 - Park Bum Jun (Bumjun of band 2Z) in Behind Cut (2Z also appears in Ocean Likes Me)
2022 - Eom Se Ung (formerly Seung of THE MAN BLK) in Behind Cut
2022 - Park Jun Hee (Jun of A.C.E.) Tinted With You
2022 - Han Sang Hyuk (Hyuk of VIXX) in Color Rush 2
2022 - Kim Ji Woong (INX, disbanded) in Kissable Lips & Roommates of Poongduck 304
2022 - Park Seo Ham (formerly of KNK) in Semantic Error
2022 - Park Jae Chan (DKZ) in Semantic Error
2022 - Ok Jin Uk (trot group SUPERFIVE) in Cherry Blossoms After Winter
2022 - Holland in Ocean Likes Me (soloist, first out gay idol in a BL, also appears in Roommates of Poongduck 304)
2022 - Leo (VIXX) in Happy Ending Romance
2022 - Karam (THE BOSS, inactive) in Happy Ending Romance
2023 - JunQ (MYNAME, inactive) in Individual Circumstances
2023 - Jaehan & Yechan (BOTH from OMEGA X) in A Shoulder to Cry On
2023 - Gongchan (maknae of B1A4) in Unintentional Love Story
2023 - Lee Dong Won (main rapper of KNK) in Happy Merry Ending
2023 - Kim Kyu Jong (formerly of SS501, major stage musical actor) in Happy Merry Ending
This has been a brief history of idols in BLs, Love in Spring not included. I’m sure I missed some and I’m sure there will be more. Comment with additions, please.
I’m stopping now. Pretty much every new KBL has soem kinda idol in it from 2023 on. It’s actually stranger to see one without an idol now.
I did dither over THE MAN BLK legitimately counting for various reasons, but then decided Kpop-ness is not my judgement to make, and left them all in.
Also it should be noted that Rowoon of SF9 does a killer job as a bisexual character in The King’s Affection, but that’s not BL.
K.will - Please don’t… - unquestionably the most famous, this is a tragic BL and features two extremely famous Kdrama actors from almost a decade ago!
Park Won - Fuxxxxx crazy - features Han Se Jin from Mr Heart and Lee Ki Hyun from Light On Me)
Park Won - Fuxxxxx crazy - in English, vocal by 스텔라장, with additional sexy footage
The Rose - Beauty and the Beast - 3 fairy stories, one of which is gay
OnlyOneOf’s hit libitO also has BL themes.
There’s a lot more sensuality and queer context out there, so I’ll pass you along to this fun video on the subject with samples.
The OnlyOneOf BL MV series
YooJung (main dancer, visual) - begin - BL love story continued in…
KB (lead rapper, visual) - be free - continuation and other side of above story
JunJi (lead vocalist, lead dancer) - be mine - second BL couple story continued in…
Rie (lead vocalist, lead dancer) - because - other side of above second couple, this one has the BL pool trope and is a break up MV
Mill (main rapper) - beat - this is my favorite of the series it’s a “saving him from his bullies” romance, very cute, completed in…
Nine ‘beyOnd’ (vocalist, mak) - beyond - other side of above third couple, bit of a bad boy trope
Bonus: 'Fuxxxxx Crazy’ MV Making Film
Most of Holland’s stuff is hella gay, but not necessarily BL.
Taiwanese Bl actor, Lin Yu (OuWen in Love is Science?) featured in a sad gay MV
Takara & Amagi were both played by Jpop idols. Arata Sato is a member of IMPACTors, and Oriyama Nao of Shounen Ninja (both groups are managed by Johnny’s Jr). I’m not going to track the Jpops in JBLs because challenges.
That said, 2022′s The Usual Night (Twitter account) from Japan is a 10-ep fake documentary series starring the members of Jpop group the Fantastics. It flew under everyone’s radars but apparently has a BL subplot featuring Yagi Yusei (My Beautiful Man) and Seguchi Leiya. This officially means they beat OnlyOneOf to the punch as the first inter-group BL pairing. Keito Kimura (Onoe from Candy Color Paradox) is also a member of Fantastics and in the show. Source reddit.
Do I think any MAJOR idols will do BL?
I think it’s pretty unlikely right now.
ACE’s Jun is probubly the biggest idol to have done a BL so far (at the time, pre-BL, not post). I do think the Jaehyun (NCT) possibly doing a BL thing thing was a rumor. Boy do I neither care nor want to argue about this, please don’t comment on the subject. He’s cute, it’d be fun, *waves hand in air* go away NCTzens.
If it’s a major idol currently active it’ll be a non-Korean (contract allowing) or one of those 3rd Gen out-of-contracts we are about to see a lot more of. (You better believe everyone is watching GOT7 to see what they do and how they handle it, so…)
But I think BL will still only be able to tap second tear idols even then - so VIXX not GOT7, for example. No shade on VIXX, they’re amazing, but they don’t have the same numbers in any arena, literally and figuratively. Also those from defunked and fractured groups seem to be fair game. And it’ll still be mostly the shorter idols who want to break into acting. And/or the ones old enough not to give a shit about reputation anymore. (None of this applies to Japan, attitudes are way different there.)
The personality of the idol really plays into this too. Like I could see Ten or Yuta (NCT) being all “fuck it, I’m doing a BL” (eventually) but not Mark (GOT7) for example.
It’s unlikely any studio would allow a highly active 4th gen do a BL. And yes, I do think it’s studio controls in place, they’re very careful with their stable.
You don’t let a triple crown racehorse do dressage no matter how popular dressage becomes.
That said, if the racehorse doesn’t perform well but dressage can somehow help?
Kpop group DKZ’s prior album first week’s sales? 1,482. Comeback in April 2022? 107,965.
The reason for that 100x increase? Most likely Park Jae Chan’s appearance as SongWoo in Semantic Error.
Apparently he had to convince his company to let him do it.
Do you feel drunk with power BL universe? I do. (info via KPOP Junkee)
In other news NuNew & Nat (Thai BL Cutie Pie) do a fun acoustic cover of Blackpink’s Lovesick Girls, which I find rather amusing for some reason.
Other BL + Kpop crossover stuff from me:
Match a Kpop song to that BL!
GOT7 Jay B singing wet track
10 Korean Male Beauty Ideals
Top 10 Kpop Idol BL Fantasy Cast List
Okay so “sing your feelings” is one of my least favorite tropes but still I often get asked about my favorite OSTs (original sound tracks), if I gravitate to anything it’ll just be one OTS (theme song) here are some of mine in no particular order:
Dark Blue Kiss - I genuinely love the weird drama-llama intro music, but yeah, no singing
Color Rush by Ryu Su Jeong and Finding You Kwon Soon Il- I like both theme songs enough to have actually purchased them
Wish You’s Wish For You by Kang In Soo & Lee Sang (IMFACT)
I’ll Be There by Johnny (To My Star)
Light On Me’s Spark by A.C.E.
Ocean Likes Me by Holland (for the BL of the same name)
My Oxygen sung by Nut (though I got tired of it fast)
I Still by Leo (VIXX) for Happy Ending Romance (Leo’s voice is just…)
Sunshower by Ayumu Imazu (for Eternal Yesterday) was my favorite of 2022, it’s still lives on my playlist in regular rotation, the BL on the other hand…
Rainbow - the refrain, not the main theme song, for Love Tractor
I’m probably missing a few, but I’ll add to this so long a Tumblr lets me.
13 K-pop Idols Who Admitted They Are Part of the LGBT Community
Last updated Mid 2023. Not sure how much longer Tumblr will let me update this one, also it’s kinda turning into a Kpop right of passage. So I’ve officlally stopped tracking.
areudirty
baratheonpilled
yousharknotpass
annaxmalina
tangentwithtanner
origamiaround
