2024 in BL was the year of disabled representation (not always good but it was there) and the year of curing blindness and the year of learning sign language and honestly it was impressive to see this many in one year, may it continue and get better year by year. @absolutebl MY favorite trend of last year.
We did also have two character with anxiety disorders that everyone took seriously including the show!
The horny race car a/b/o soap opera gets a second season;
Gay serial killer horror show featuring Pavel as an intense, stressed out cop who ends up sleeping with the questionable witness/victim because of course
Cooking rom com featuring gay sex in the kitchen, probably, and doctor/patient romance
Campy time travel show wherein Nut Supanut essentially plays himself
Not one but TWO Be Gay Do Crime shows (!!!)
FWB + fake dating rom com featuring grownups not university students
A crime solving gl series
Multiple ADULT gls featuring actual sex scenes (ily idol factory)
I always do the Quirky Awards each year but people often ask about my basic favs as well. Here they are.
Best Music
The Rebound, it was autotuned Stray Kids (more than even JYP's normal sins) only in Thai. I'm not mad about it, and usually Thai intro/outros piss me off.
Dishonorable mention: Sunset x Vibes backing track using instrumental Christmas music. I know it's copyright free but no, Thailand. Just... no.
Best depiction of consent & sex positive message
Every You Every Me, that installment with the rocker character.
AND Knock Knock Boys.
Dishonorable mention: Korea & Thailand black-sliding into dead fish kisses and "pan around the head" no kiss filming.
Best/Most Consistent Kissers
Pond & Phuwin, specifically in We Are (there was lots of kissing) but also just in general.
Best Kiss
YinWar in Jack and Joker
Best Chemistry
SalibPon in both their shows, Pit Babe and This Love Doesn't Have Longbeans.
They also showcased two different KINDS of chemistry, slow burn affection and burn up those health codes out the gate.
Despite my lack of posting and writing last year, I still spent so much time watching series. Honestly, more time than the time I spent working on several final paper. So, here's a semi-comprehensive summary of what I watched and enjoyed.
I watched 24 shows in 2024. Not including Your Sky, because it's on-going.
3 from South Korea. 4 from Thailand. 17 from Japan.
Released in 2024
Show titles and the little notes I wrote while being half asleep.
I Hear the Sunspot
Kouhei fell first for hungry boy Taichi.
Friends-to-lovers in my Japanese BL? Fork found in kitchen!
Kouhei has an auditory impairment, so Taichi (tries) to help him with his studies.
Taichi ultimately fails, but wins Kouhei's heart anyway.
Cosmetic Playlover
Mamiya works hard (serious) but Sahashi works harder (romantic).
Domestic fluff.
Men in a women dominated workplace.
Is this considered an office romance?
Perfect Propose
Burnt out office worker (Hiro) stumbles upon a younger man (Kai) who claims to be his fiancé.
Forced proximity if you squint.
Flirty aaah Kai.
Takara's Treasure
Grumpy Takara/Sunshine Taishin/Mountains
"Is it true that gay people exist?" - Taishin probably.
Asexual characters (Source: Me)
Japan presents its favorite "senior/junior" trope.
It's 25:00, In Akasaka
Yuki wants to be a star, so he acts in a BL show with super star Asami.
Oh, they also know each other from college.
Sensual melodrama with a fake-dating trope.
Love is Like a Poison
Lawyer Ryoma thinks he's in a legal drama when he's actually in a BL.
Sexy Lawyer x Sexy Scammer = Fluffy Downbad Boyfriends!
Haruto is Ryo's husband, but is also my wife (crime of the century).
Well-written characters for a well-written story.
Happy of the End
"Fuck it. Guess we both ain't shit." - Haoren and Chihiro
They were, in fact, not happy at all.
Unethical use of sex toys.
Read warnings before watching.
My Love Mix-Up (Thai)
A Japanese culture incorporated in Thailand made possible by making Mudmee half Japanese.
Just confused boys (Atom and Kongthap) falling in love.
Century of Love
Grandpa San waits a hundred years for his wife to be reborn only to find out that her reincarnation is a boy (Wee).
Grandpa learns what "gay" is and fell deeply in love with his husband.
Love Sea
Rich novelist Tongrak buys flirty island boy Mahasamut and brings him to Bangkok.
Good sound design in my Me Mind drama? A treat!
Would not recommend to everybody, but if you're into a sexy romance show, then this one is for you.
It has enemies-to-lovers, pet play, master-servant dynamic, rich boy x poor boy fantasy, falling in love, age-gap, and FortPeat.
My Stand-In
Joe gets transmigrated to the body of another Joe and fatefully bumped into his crazy ex-boyfriend Ming.
A BL with the plot of a telenovela.
Let go of your morals for this.
Joji's "Glimpse of Us" plays in the background.
A Time of Fever
Donghee's actor portrayed his role as someone who wishes that Hotae isn't gay to protect him from what he went through.
A coming-of-age story of self-discovery told through beautiful mis-en-scene.
Love for Love's Sake
Isekai in my BL?! Sign me up!
Myungha is given another chance to live in a game created by god himself.
Fictional character Yeowoo suddenly finds himself a protective clingy senior.
Gay, mental illness, and actors who looks like Soobin.
Released in Previous Years
More shows and more notes written from dreamland.
A Man Who Defies the World of BL (2021)
Straight man (Mobu) gets isekaied to a BL world.
The title is the story.
A world where homosexuality is the norm, and heterosexuality is unconventional.
Minato's Laundromat S1 (2022)
Age-gap nobody asked for.
High school boy (Shintaro) falls insanely in love with laundromat owner (Akira).
This is textbook BL live-adaptation.
Takara-kun to Amagi-kun (2022)
Sweet boys Takara and Amagi navigate their relationship in high school.
Grumpy x Sunshine trope and Popular x Nobody trope
They want each other so baaaad!
God's Favor (2022)
Yashiro dies after confessing to his childhood friend Kenta, but transmigrated as Kagura by choice.
Iconic line: "Why would you come back to me as a woman?"
Kagura and Rin yuri.
Everyone is bisexual.
My Beautiful Man S1 (2021)
Me (Hira) and the bad bitch (Kiyoi) I pulled by being autistic.
Whipping boy trope.
How not to start a relationship: see your partner as a god.
Finger sucking in my BL again.
My Beautiful Man S2 (2023)
"There is no way that my boyfriend who makes love to me every night actually loves me!" - Hira about Kiyoi
They match each other's freak.
Established relationship and domestic fluff.
My Beautiful Man: Eternal (2023)
Hira finds other (healthy) interests besides Kiyoi.
Celebrity x Photographer
Life changing franchise with an actor who looks like Beomgyu.
Became the Main Role of a BL Drama (2023)
Celebrity Yuichiro and former child-actor Hajime cohabitate for a BL series.
Freak x Anxious Boy
My Personal Weatherman (2023)
Weatherman Segasaki successfully pavloving his stay-at-home boyfriend Yoh into getting horny when the sun comes out.
Yoh being too blind to see just how much Segasaki is in love with him.
The exploration of Japanese couple dynamics and "amae."
I Cannot Reach You (2023)
Yamato is in love with his childhood friend Kakeru.
Low stake problems presented as high stake problems.
Yearning and eager kisses in my BL? Aaah childhood friends-to-lovers.
Yamato has the prettiest eyes!
Sing My Crush (2023)
Everyone knows that Baram and Hantae are married except them.
Best friends to soulmates to housemates to lovers (finally)
Hantae realizes that he's gay after acting upon it.
Singing in my BL as usual.
To wrap-up this comprehensive summary, I'm rewarding certain shows with special awards, because it's so much fun that way.
Best Writing
Love is Like a Poison (2024) - Ryoma's narration gave the show so much personality, but the most commendable about this show was how it kept getting better and better. The ending was perfect, because it provided the audience with continuity while simultaneously tying all the loose ends. It was not greedy! It understood what the show needed, especially for Haruto's character.
Love for Love's Sake (2024) - The concept of isekai is not new, but this show added its own twists to made it one of a kind. There were great choices made in this. It knew the perfect time to reveal information that would greatly benefit the narrative. Not only that, the show also managed to surprise me by being a mental health advocate. A little fact, this had one of they saddest break-up scenes I've seen last year.
Honorable Mention: My Beautiful Man S1 (2021) - The show provided me so much space for thinking, wondering, appreciating, and understanding of Hira and Kiyoi's relationship. The story had conflicts unique to the characters, and it was overall, so literary. The monologues were my favorite part along with the switching of point-of-views.
Most Beautiful Mis-En-Scene
A Time of Fever (2024) - This show bathed in sunlight! The yellows and oranges are so beautiful, so fitting for the coming-of-age theme, and so perfect for a prequel that's supposed to tell a story of the past. Every location is well-lived. They don't feel like sets, but real places. The camera work is perfect! Each frame is deliberate. There is a quality of intruding that makes all the scenes between Hotae and Donghee so raw. It's just an overall eyecandy.
Honorable Mention: Love for Love's Sake (2024) - The show has one of the best camera works on this list, but I did find it repetitive. Everything else is so pretty though.
Best Scene
Hira's Self-Pleasuring Scene in Episode 1 of My Beautiful Man (2021) - Hear me out! This scene surprised me, almost appalled me, so much. However, after rewatching the show 4 times at least, I grew a profound appreciation for the scene in connection to Hedonism. Hira wasn't even touching himself! He's merely looking at Kiyoi's face and thinking about him. I'll be talking more about it in a post one day, but you've got to give me a chance first.
Haoren and Chihiro's "first kiss" on the boat in Happy of the End (2024) - Well, something about them going on a date, kissing for the "first time," and Haoren telling Chihiro he "wants to die," altered something in my brain. The vulnerability was so loud—I swear I can peek into Haoren's soul if I looked into his eyes long enough. I've never experienced a scene like this before.
Best Official Soundtrack
Re-Move On by Gemini and Fourth - The impact of this OST is undeniable. Not only that, this song is so good! I'm glad they kept the streak of good songs since My School President.
geometric by osage - This song genuinely fit the feeling of Love is Like a Poison, and the sound directors perfectly knew when to play the song at the end. I genuinely see the show flash before my eyes whenever I listen to this song. It sounds like the ending of an adventure. Too bad, it's not talked about enough.
Other technical awards will be added in future lists once I get better at my production classes. Best editing, best script, best score, and everything else are way out of my expertise. I'm afraid I'll have to pass on this first. Here are categories created without much logic, just instincts:
Certificate of Appreciation for Better Sound Design
Love Sea (2024) - After the hell my ears went through in Love in the Air, the company finally improving the audio equipment, and doing a better job at editing the recordings. Listen, it's not perfect, but it's definitely better. Hearing Tongrak and Mahasamut despite the harsh winds, and the lack of actors accidentally touching the microphone again made my ears so happy.
Certificate of Appreciation for Prettiest Kiss
Takara's Treasure (2024) - I've seen better and stronger kisses, but the way Takara kisses Taishin is just so beautiful. They are pretty kissers—visually pleasing lip-lockers. You can almost feel how soft their kiss is through the skin.
Certificate of Appreciation for Cutest Characters
I Hear the Sunspot (2024) - I really love watching Kouhei and Taichi individually the most. They interact with their environment delicately, full of care, understanding, and full of kindness. Both Kouhei and Taichi are very big characters, in my opinion, that's why the show somehow felt underwhelming, because I feel like there were so many unexplored and underexplored areas in their stories. I'm in dire need of a season 2.
Overall Best Show in 2024
Love for Love's Sake (2024) - I only have feelings about this show, not thoughts. The writing, cinematography, acting, chemistry, editing, and message won me over. It's one of those shows that you think about for so long after watching it. If I loved it any less, I might be able to talk about it more.
Watching in 2025
I literally got a iQIYI subscription for Your Sky. I'm also watching Perfect 10 Liners, because nobody told me it's so funny and cute!
I'm looking forward to Ticket to Heaven and Love You, Teacher this year. I hope they meet my expectations, because they both look so promising.
This is my first year watching Bls. I randomly decided to watch Cherry Magic last December and became super hooked. I feel like I might get canceled for some of these rating but these are just arbitrary did I like/enjoy myself while watching. Nothing to do with the quality or if they are good or not. Also because I’m new I might not take note of things others would. Feel free to ask my to justify my ratings.
Completed Shows:
Cherry magic 10
Cherry magic (JP) 9
3 will be free 9
Water boy 6
Bad buddy 8.5
2gether 6.5
Kinnporsche 8.5
I cannot reach you 6.5
Dark blue kiss 6
Kiss me again 6.5
Kiss series 4
Moonlight chicken 6.5
Mr. Unlucky 7
Jazz for two 7.5
Bump up business 3
Love in the air 7 for part 1
My school president 7
Grey shelter 8.5
Wedding plan 7
Laws of attraction 8
Blueming 10
Unintentionally love story 9
Kiseki: Dear to Me 9
Breeze of love 6.5
Love for love’s sake 10
Love in translation 6.5
Bed friend 7
Love mix up (Japan) 9.8
Naughty babe 7
The director who buys me dinner 7
Love tractor 6.5
Bon appetite 8
My Only 12% 9
Manner of death 9
A man who defied the world of bl 7.5
At 25:00, Akasaka 8.5
Old fashioned cupcake 10
Knock knock boys 9
No one cares about old man’s underwear 9.8
Utsukushii Kare My beautiful Man 8 (Haven’t seen the movie yet)
Unknown 9.5
Our dining table 9
Semantic error 8
My personal weatherman 8
My stand in 8
Our dating sim 7.8
The rebound 8
My pornographer 9.5
Candy color paradox 7
Triage 8
Jun and jun 7.5
Century of love 7.5
I told the sunset about you 10
His (movie) 4
Roommate of poongduck 304 8
Our love doesn’t have long beans 7.9
Seven days Monday-Friday 8.5
I became the main role of a bl drama 8
Cosmetic play lover 7
About youth 7.9
My love mix up (Thai) 6
Love is better the second time around 8
Sunset x vibes 5
Takara’s treasure 8.5
Takumi pure Kim 4 -6
Perfect Propose 7.5
The Effect 7
The time of fever 9.5
4 minutes 7.5
I hear the sun spot 6
Tokyo in April is… 7
Restart after come back home 9.5
Jack O' frost 8
Sugar dog life 6.7
On1y one 10
Jack o’ frost 8.5
DNA says love you 8
Happy of the end 7
End of the world with you 6.7
If it’s with you 8.3
Love in the big city 9.8
The New employee 8
First note of love 6.5
I saw you in my dream 7
Minato’s laundromat 9.5
Stay with me 7
Let free the curse of taekwondo 10
Smells like green spirit 7.6
Eccentric romance 6.7
All the liqueurs movie 7.2
History 2: Wrong or right 9
History 2: Crossing the line 9
Dominant yakuza and wimpy corporate slave 6
Plus and minus 6.9
Light on me 8.5
Blue Canvas of youthful days 7.3
Blue complex 7.5
I am your pet 7
History 3: make your days count 9.3
Mr. Heart 6.8
Where your eyes linger 9
History 3: trapped 9.8
Cherry blossoms after winter 6.9
My damn business 7
My tooth my love 9.9
Rule 1 no dating 7
Love is like a poison 8.8
Watching:
Our Youth
Caged again
Your Sky
See Your Love
Winter is not the Death of Spring but the Birth of Summer
