gonna go off on a 🤡 whim here but i'm obsessed with Love Beyond Dreams and LeneRann so much that they're basically all i've been thinking about and i've had this theory in my head for some time now and i can't keep yapping in my friends' dms, i need to see if there's more like-minded people 😂
i believe time has actually gone back once already, for Lené 👀 or something along those lines, but the idea is that that is the reason why Lené so cruelly pushes Rann away in episode one, to the point that Rann leaves the country - and i'm pretty sure it's to protect Rann from whatever future she has if Lené accepts her feelings then and there.
'cause it's quite obvious, to everyone (including Rann) that the feelings are mutual: the affection, the flirting, the intimacy that grows between them over the years is so obvious that OF COURSE it comes as a huge shock when Lené reacts the way she does when Rann kisses her and immediately says the cruelest thing she can just to push her away effectively.
and her own feelings are clearly still there when, in this current timeline, Rann comes back from abroad and Lené is immediately hit by several emotions at once upon seeing her
and then, later on in the ep, she vocalizes those feelings (albeit to herself) after another argument with Rann, this one hitting very deep (especially after Rann used the "P'Le" nickname that Lené has obviously been yearning to hear all this time)
and the line that really gets me tearing up 😭
there's certain things we're gonna need them to show for my theory to have a bit more solid ground to grow on, but if this turns out to be just a theory i'm gonna be a teeeeeeeeny tiny bit disappointed 'cause OH MY GOD THE POSSIBILITIES 😂
(i'm lying i won't actually be disappointed, i already think this series is a masterpiece of production, writing, acting and chemistry, they can do no wrong by me 🥰)
i will say though, there was also a part of the trailer that really caught my eye and had me wondering if time reversing for Rann only happens once or if there's actually a chance we might see it again 🧐
'cause that opens up possibilities for lots more angst in future episodes and i'm not sure i will survive that, with how great a series this is 🥴
the fact that it only has seven episodes is the most devastating realization i've had in months 😭
anyway that's my theory - any like-minded clowns here? 🤡
The end of the year kicked my ass, but I wanted to get one last one of these out for 2024! The last one before this was 10 November. If you're interested in GL older than that, check out my GL rec list through Feb 2024 and my #gl recs tag for the other odds and ends posts. New series marked with an asterisk*.
Currently airing (with thoughts up to 29 Dec):
The Fragrance You inherit 5/8 (Japanese, Friday/Saturday-ish, no official distribution but fansub on @isaksbestpillow's blog [thank you Siiri!] I have been really enjoying this show and have been writing when I have time (last post was for ep4). At its core this is a gentle show about kind people who love each other doing their best, which is always my favourite thing. Subs are on pause for the moment so you have time to catch up before the finale!
Pluto ep 11/12 (Thai, Saturdays 9:30 AM ET, YouTube) This plot continues to be absolutely wild. There's a lot of discourse around Oom this week, to which I'll just say: Setting a test to see if the people you love will hurt themselves in order to make you feel better is not loving or healthy behaviour, even if your motivations are understandable and sympathetic. Namtan is doing a great job making these twins feel like different people, and she and Film are still gorgeous together. And I have no idea what's up with the messy lesbian sides, but I'm on the side of all of them need a time out! I've been pretty dialed out of this show because it's not my thing, so I'm not that invested in any of the relationships going into the finale, but it's been a wild ride and it seems to be holding together for those who enjoy the high drama of this plot.
*Petrichor ep 5/10 (Thai, Saturdays, 10:00 AM ET, iQIYI) The procedural aspects of this show are unfortunately not well executed, but Engfa and Charlotte have fantastic chemistry. I'm also really loving seeing Na and Max again even though I am very worried about getting too attached to their characters. It's always hard for me when a show is about a police officer trying to do good work in a corrupt system because the only takeaway I can accept is that that is not possible lol but I'm enjoying seeing these two on my screen every week (except this week, because we sadly did not get a new episode today).
*Mate, 6/12 (Thai, Tuesdays, WeTV (uncut version)) This one is hard to describe. It seems to be trying to do for trauma in a GL what Love in the Air and Bed Friend did in BL--show a realistic depiction of trauma in one of their characters and have them fall in love, and be taken care of and healed that way. But that also makes it extremely hard to watch. The trauma flashbacks and trauma responses is rough. The main character is not very likeable but that's kinda the point, I'm not minding that part of it so much. There are a lot of things I like about this show, so I don't want to discourage views. Just go into this one informed, and make the decision that's right for you.
*INTP 1/? (Korean, Fridays (?), YouTube) This is the latest short series from RedQ, who produced some of my favourite GL short series including More than or equal to 75 degrees C, and To the Ex who Hated Me. No info on how long it will be or if it will be weekly, so that Fridays release schedule is a total guess. The setup of this one reminded me of Semantic Error if SangWoo realized he was attracted to JaeYoung at their first group assignment meeting.
Recently Completed:
Apple My Love 6.5 50-min eps (Thai, Oct 12-Nov 16, GagaOOLala and YouTube) I ended up feeling like this one bit off a bit more than it could chew, as much fun as I had with it, it was a wobbly landing. I was ok with the ending at the end but I spent a lot of time watching the finale uncertain about how I felt about all of it. There's a 30 min "episode 5.1" that is an important bridge between episodes 5 and 6 (and also includes a 10-min fingering scene, thank you show) that I think resulted from either poor pacing or realizing they needed to set up the episode better? It was odd but something to make sure not to skip. The show does a lot of what I love about Kongthup's latest BLs: it avoids the worst drama pitfalls and calls them out in the show itself when it uses them, and it is largely about being kind to its characters who are figuring themselves out. Warning for extremely hard to watch secondhand embarrassment in the first couple of episodes lol Kris is such a cringefail lesbian I love her. With the caveats above, if you don't mind secondhand embarrassment and want a comedy GL and are willing to be a little patient with the ending, give this one a try!
The Loyal Pin 16 65-min eps (Thai, Aug 4-Dec 1, YouTube) Anin was the bravest right through to the end. I really liked a lot of this show, but I found the pacing a bit uneven and the finale a little rough. It's hard, because I actually am happy with the way the show ended--it makes perfect sense and was where I was hoping they would get to the entire show. What I didn't like was how we got there. It seemed wild that Pin and Anin didn't at least talk about this possibility before we got there; and didn't feel like we ever resolved the disparity between the two leads, though the show was aware of it the whole time which I did like. And you may have seen the shouting about the prank in the finale, it was in really poor taste. In the end, this show was beautiful, gave a platform for promoting Thai culture (food, clothing, history), and had excellent intimacy. I really enjoyed the slow burn between Anin and Pin, and I loved that every character had and used the agency they had, but that the show was realistic about what was in and outside of their control. If you want a slow-burn and high-heat romance and are willing to be a little frustrated for the sake of the drama, and/or you really like a pigtail-pulling romantic dynamic, you should watch this show.
Red Whisper 8 10-min eps (Korea, Oct 2-Nov 11, YouTube) Honestly this show never got better after what I wrote about it a month ago about how its portrayal of bisexuality and nonmonogamy was upsetting. For the record one last time: Not all bisexuals are nonmonogamous, and entering a monogamous relationship under false pretenses and then acting like your partner is being unreasonable by not wanting an open relationship is shitty behaviour. This one is sadly not recommended.
The Nipple Talk 10 30-min eps (Taiwanese, Nov 8-22, GagaOOLala) I highly recommended the first half, and so I am so sad to say that I can't say the same for the second half of the show. I was really enjoying how much the show seemed to support a mix of monogamy and nonmonogamy, but the second half of the show leaned heavily into 'everyone wants a monogamous relationship when they meet the right person', which disappointed me. The show also tried to introduce some themes that felt very dated in terms of how they handled them (e.g. HIV) and I ended up just not really liking the Pony character as a person by the end. The lesbian relationship was super messy in a way that I did not find fun too. Mama was the best part of this show, and I hope we get more characters like them in future (better) shows!
*Soul Sisters 24 12-min eps (Chinese, iQIYI) This entire show dropped this week so I binged it in one go. The basic setup is a GL version of Meet You At the Blossom, except the gender fuckery lasts for most of the series and they don't actually ever get to kiss. I loved this little show; it is a frenetic, very silly and censored comedy, so calibrate your expectations accordingly. But it walks the line in a way that is palatable (or was for me, anyway). Without giving too much away, it is an open happy ending. The caveats for this one are that there is no wasted tape, so the pacing is rollercoaster fast, and the cuts are sometimes jarring. But it's a surprisingly beautiful show for the budget, and I really appreciated all of the ways they came up with to give these women shippy moments. Also, good lord this main character is so competent, which is a major weakness of mine. I had a great time!
*Whisper Me a Love Song 12 25-min eps (Japanese anime, Apr-27 Dec, HiDive) This started airing in April but there was a delay and the last episode didn't air until yesterday. High school lesbians in a band having embarrassing confused and misunderstood feelings all over the place (with good endings including a kiss for at least one of our couples). I appreciate that this anime is not playing with the 'are they friends who joke about wanting to touch each other's boobs or are they more' line, they outright say they want to be more than friends and then kiss. The music is good too! Recommended if you are feeling like a high school dramedy with good tunes that stays pretty light and is in the 'bubble'.
Recent One-offs, Side Couples, etc.:
My Hot Butch Roommate (actually a 2-parter) aired on bilibili 1, 2) and was subtitled by @douqi7s on YouTube (1, 2) These two are very cute, and this little short does a ton with the very tiny 5 minutes of total runtime it uses. Give the original bilibili uploads a stream so they get views, even if you watch the YT subbed version!
Fufuknows put out a new lesbian short titled The Choices of Two Lesbian Couples in Love on YouTube This was a great short (11 min) film featuring the story of two couples at different stages in their relationship, and the different choices they make about their futures. I really enjoy Fufuknows as queer short filmmakers, and I appreciate that they regularly include lesbian and wlw content in their bi-weekly (as in, every other week) fictional shorts that they produce and release. This one is recommended!
Aim's Lesbian plotline in the new Love Sick 2024 remake concluded (this was not a plotline in the 2014 version and it's one of the changes I really like and that I think works really well) Spoiler: she doesn't get a romance happy ending but her story ends with acceptance from her friends about who she is, which was lovely to watch
There was a brief of-the-week lesbian couple who wanted to marry in Spare Me Your Mercy Spoiler: their story is tragic, which is par for the course in a murder mystery
I am suspecting wlw sides in See Your Love I may end up eating these words but I was getting vibes, and so I'm putting this out in the universe now in hopes I'm right lol
There is a new Korean shorts production company on YouTube called Lovememory (Their first BL ep is out and the GL, First Love, has a trailer)
Mom Ped Sawan started airing but I don't have a source so I can't give any info or links unfortunately. If anyone knows of a subtitled source for this show, please let me know!
My Ex's Wedding came out in Thai theatres waiting for an international source for this too
Korean short film What's In my Bag was uploaded to Matchbox I haven't seen it yet but the trailer is on YouTube if anyone is curious! The film is available now for a small fee on Vimeo (runtime 12 mins).
Sastra film app YouTube channel has several short Cambodian GL series that come out weekly Honestly they are not to my taste but I don't like gatekeeping GL especially from smaller markets. I check in on these time to time and if there are any that I think are great I'll give them a shout-out
Ditto above with JPC media YouTube channel for Thai GL shorts if there are any that stand out to me I'll say so; that being said I haven't had time recently so if I've missed anything good let me know!
Starting soon:
Us the series, Thai, 18 January 2025, most likely YouTube (as this is a GMMTV show) Caveat that this date is a rumour, see comments
Fragrance of the First Flower s2, Taiwanese, 18 February 2025, GagaOOLala ok this isn't that soon but I'm just so excited we're getting this second season after all!
It is so, so nice that we have this much GL to keep track of, I can't complain! This covers a whole month of content and it was a month I was very distracted from my QL consumption so while I always welcome anyone pointing out stuff I missed, I would particularly appreciate it this round.
@embersinthefirelight wants to know my first QLs that got me into the genre.
Rules: Post the first 3-5 (or as many as you want) QL shows that got you into the genre. Feel free to explain or give propaganda 😁
(updating to include some things I realize I left out after reading @hughungrybear's post for this tag game)
My first exposures to QL did not bring me into the QL genre, as at the time I wasn't even aware there was a genre. These were films I saw at Frameline, the San Franscisco queer film fest. But I want to include them for completeness, as they primed me for what follows. All are theatrical-release films, not series, and all are worth a watch:
Sailor Moon (Japan, not sure which version)
You know, I don't remember anything about this, other than that it was animated and that I saw it, sorry.
East Palace, West Palace (China, 1996)
A man is arrested after being caught cruising for sex in a restroom. He proceeds to attempt to seduce his interrogator. Recommended for patient watchers, but it's not artsy. This film had to be smuggled out of China.
Formula 17 (Taiwan, 2004)
A guy who hates casual sex falls for a guy who only sleeps with his partners once. It is very much a QL in the trope sense of the word. Quite funny, with a couple fabulous riffs on Chinese opera. Recommended.
Eternal Summer (Taiwan, 2006)
Three high school friends navigate a romantic triangle. Recommended.
No Regret (Korea, 2006)
By a queer director. An escort meets a rich guy and things go batshit. Dark ending, although not tragic for the leads if I recall correctly. This film is an acquired taste. Mysteriously has just shown up on Gaga, if you're adventurous.
And a bromance:
Vive L'Amour (Taiwan, 1994)
By a queer director. A young man finds a key to a vacant apartment and moves in, only to be interrupted by the real estate agent and her hookup. Recommended for very patient viewers into artsy films.
I'm not going to include Hush or Okoge, both from Japan, as I don't consider either one to be QL.
Now back to what brought me to QL as I know it today.
Unfortunately, I don't keep track of when I watched something, so this is going to be a guess. However, it would have been on YouTube (with a side trip to CrunchyRoll) as my subs to other services came much later, after I was solidly into the genre. Still, I have some pretty good guesses.
I'd guess I was brought to it from Teen Vogue's articles on BL that showed up in my Twitter feed, back when Twitter was Twitter and I was on it. But of course YouTube has the algorithm, and when I started watching them it started recommending others.
I can't tell from my Tumblr postings, as I came to Tumblr after watching Bad Buddy, which I know was not one of my first. Actually, it was Bad Buddy that brought me to Tumblr, especially @telomeke-bbs's posts about the series. But we're talking about what brought us to QL, not to Tumblr.
I'm not sure when I started watching, but it would likely have been somewhere after COVID first hit and I needed something to keep me sane (still do).
So, to the likely list, in order of recommendation:
Until We Meet Again (Thailand, 2019)
A masterpiece of a series (with some problems) in which tragic 70's (?) fated lovers get reincarnated (sort of) for a chance at durable happiness in the much gay friendlier present. Recommended with content warning for suicide.
Cherry Magic (Japan, 2020)
A virgin turns 30 and gains the ability to mind read anyone he touches. Then he discovers the office heartthrob is attracted to him and has to deal with them both being guys. Lots of fun. Recommended.
Dark Blue Kiss (Thailand, 2019)
Two guys carry on a hidden relationship, which is endangered by an underage guy pursuing one of them. Recommended.
Together With Me (Thailand, 2017)
Guy has sex with a guy and wants to know if that makes him gay, while still dating a nefarious girlfriend. Series is a mix of a great journey and painful tropes. Approach with caution.
I also watched the first episode of SOTUS, was immediately turned off by the hazing, and abandoned it.
I'm pretty sure I watched Gaya Sa Pelicula fairly early on, but I'd guess I was already hooked on the genre at that point.
As for GLs, my first would have been the second couple InkPa in Bad Buddy, but for a specific series, it would be:
Sleep With Me (Philippines, 2022)
A wheelchair using late night talk show host meets a fan who can only sleep in the daytime and they navigate a new relationship. Recommended.
I can't say I've gotten into GL, but ClaireBell blew me away.
Thinking…and in a way, I guess I can say that I do ship Neia in a way. But it’s not in the conventional way with them riding off into the sunset or being a happy loving couple. 
I think Nate and Leia should happen at some point, but as a lesson for both characters. They’d learn that just because they want the same things, that doesn’t automatically make them a good match.
Nate would realize that he does want that soulmate connection, but that he doesn’t have it with Leia. But when he finds that person, they’d teach him that going in and thinking you’ll last forever is not a healthy mindset. Not if you don’t work for it.
Leia would realize that she already has that connection with Jay and Gwen. Someone she’s comfortable with, someone she can talk to, But that forever connection, won’t come easy by just wanting it. It has to be worked for. And I wholeheartedly believe that while Jay was being realistic, he was also scared. Because for most of DDB, Jay was confident in making a long distance relationship with Leia work.
This show has immediately skyrocketed to the number one spot as my new favourite thing I'm watching (and I'm watching EIGHTEEN currently airing series right now not counting the fan-released stuff and the stuff I'm catching up on, HOW).
I am in love with Ayaka Is In Love With Hiroko!
This first episode is so funny, and perfectly establishes the characters and the dynamic. Both of these women know exactly what they want, and it's misunderstandings that get in the way.
As someone who has come out to girls who were flirting with her to make sure that they didn't feel taken advantage of (only to find out later they were actually also queer and exploring their interests, whoops), I find the premise that an experienced lesbian continually misreads her junior's flirtation as the acts of an oblivious straight girl SUPER RELATABLE.
It seems apparently like they also got lesbian influencers to be extras in the lesbian bar scenes? Incredible.
Run, don't walk! Airing every Thursday night at 10pm EDT on GagaOOLala
I'm still trying to figure out what 2025 means for me in terms of where and how I spend my time, but one thing I am passionate about is making sure there is a record of GL media, so I'm going to try to prioritize keeping this up to at minimum monthly, though I might change up the format. Last one was end of December 2024. If you're interested in GL older than that, check out my GL rec list and my #gl recs tag for the other odds and ends posts. Series new to the roundup are marked with an asterisk*.
Currently airing (with thoughts up to 31 Jan):
Petrichor ep 9/10 (Thai, Saturdays, 10:00 AM ET, iQIYI) I've appreciated the struggle that Tul has gone through in terms of wanting to use her police powers to protect her family though that goes against her morals, and some of the procedural aspects I was grumbling about before have been explained by the plot. However, it still bothers me that she's not a very good detective. That being said, Engfa and Charlotte still have fantastic chemistry, and Na is having what seems like the time of his life.
*Us the series ep 2/12 (Thai, Saturdays, 8:00 AM ET, YouTube) I admit I think I have Chao Planoy fatigue. Age gap, both characters are lying to each other, there are abusive family members, and a guy who seems nice but I'm braced for a reveal about how he's actually awful. I'm feeling like I'm playing bingo. Honestly If someone gets hit by a car I might lose it. All my baggage aside, the pacing on this feels uneven and it doesn't feel like it has its feet yet.
*Call Me By No Name ep 4/8 (Japanese, Thursdays, 12:30 PM ET, GagaOOLala) Honestly I am not buying the romance between these two protagonists and I am finding them a little overwrought.
*Trunk Girl ep 1/? (Korean, possibly Thursdays, YouTube) This has just started, and the vibes are off. I am suspicious of the circumstances that led this runaway to stay with her friend, especially when she kissed her in her sleep (and I don't mean suspicious of sapphic feelings, those are already taken as given considering the genre).
*FirstLOVE ep 5/? (Korean, Mondays, YouTube) Toxic girlfriend gets replaced and then regrets letting her lover go. We'll see how this ends but this is another messy drama that feels pretty rough.
*I Am Devil ep 5/? (Thai, Saturdays, YouTube) Gonna be honest with y'all I watched ep1 and shelved the rest, it's a pulp in the style of high drama like Sastra and JPC below produce and just isn't my jam. If you're looking for high heat lakorn-style drama, give this a try.
[Note: Mate is still airing if you did not fast track, but since I did I've included it in the following section]
Recently Completed:
The Fragrance You inherit 8eps 25mins each (Japanese, 8 Nov 24-27 Dec 24, no official distribution but fansub on @isaksbestpillow's blog[thank you Siiri!] I loved this finale and wrote about it here. For those who don't want to click the link, in short this is not a romance but a really beautiful and sweet show about all kinds of interpersonal relationships.
Pluto 12eps 45 mins each (Thai, 19 Oct 24-04 Jan 25, YouTube) This series showcased the skills and chemistry of Namtan and Film, and had some of the most iconic product placement in a GL to date. The plot was messy but held together, and as much as I was unimpressed with their choices week to week, their choices made sense within the narrative (and genre) being told. I knew this one wasn't for me, but what it was doing, it did pretty well, and beautifully. The one real ding from me was the use of blindness as a metaphor that essentially got handwaved away; that and I think it was doing too much. But I am glad that before that, there was some great use of their platform to highlight the importance of universal design.
INTP 4eps 5 mins each (Korean, 27 Dec 24-22 Jan 25 YouTube) This is the latest short series from RedQ, who produced some of my favourite GL short series including More than or equal to 75 degrees C, and To the Ex who Hated Me. I said when this started that the setup of this one reminded me of Semantic Error if SangWoo realized he was attracted to JaeYoung at their first group assignment meeting, and I think that holds. These two fell for each other because they both care about the group project, and both protect each other. It's a bit short but I found it very sweet.
Mate, 12eps 50+ mins each (Thai, 26 Nov 24-28 Jan 25 fast-track or 4 Feb 25, WeTV (uncut version)) In the end this show remained a struggle for me. There were things it was doing that I really liked (the characters tried hard not to resort to noble idiocy, and when characters did resort to noble idiocy they were confronted with the consequences, for example), and things that I really did not, and there were parts that were really hard to watch and will haunt me. There are a lot of things I like about this show, so I don't want to discourage views. Just go into this one informed, and make the decision that's right for you.
*Adrenaline 4eps 15 mins each (Thai, 10 Jan-31 Jan 25, YouTube) This show is a cross between a travel ad and a lakorn. This is a major spoiler, but the main character has a secret condition where she forgets things that causes her to forget her first time with her girlfriend!? This show is so messy lol
Recent One-offs, Side Couples, etc.:
Fireworks of Yesteryear/When We Met has been made available on YouTube. A 35-minute Chinese GL that includes a makeout and as a result the production team have been working hard to get it in front of eyeballs. This is a moody piece with an open ending; there's an age gap too so YMMV (30s and 22).
GL microseries Your Name Engraved Herein (not to be confused with the BL feature film) has been subtitled by @douqi7s. Watch the original on Bilibili and enjoy the subs on YouTube. This one is also melancholy but it's some really tight storytelling in under 2 mins and manages to feel hopeful even though it's sad.
There is a lesbian side couple in Flirt Milk the series (airing now on iQIYI). This couple Noon and Praewa previously appeared as sides in Love Senior.
There is a new MV featuring a lesbian couple for the artist KnomJean on YouTube. This is one of those MVs that tells a story (TW for family violence) and after getting through the sad backstory, celebrates marriage equality in Thailand.
IdolFactory is re-running GAP the series on YouTube. If you've been putting off watching, now is a good time!
Speaking of re-runs, Yes Or No and the two sequel/spinoffs (Yes or No 2, and Yes or No 2.5) are all newly on GagaOOLala for streaming in some regions (I know for sure they're in North America, not sure about others)
Uranus2324 is starting to show up in particular places on the internet. I watched it and after all of the negative things I'd heard I actually liked it lol I'll see if I can write about it more this week
My suspected wlw sides in See Your Love ended up being implied only I was a little sad about this but at least I wasn't imagining the vibes.
Mom Ped Sawan is still airing but I still don't have a source for subs
Sastra film app YouTube channel has several short Cambodian GL series that come out weekly Honestly they are not to my taste but I don't like gatekeeping GL especially from smaller markets. I check in on these time to time and if there are any that I think are great I'll give them a shout-out
Ditto above with JPC media YouTube channel for Thai GL shorts if there are any that stand out to me I'll say so; that being said I haven't had time recently so if I've missed anything good let me know!
Starting soon:
Reverse With Me (sequel spinoff to Reverse 4 U), Thai, 5 Feb, iQIYI and Ch3+ app
Fragrance of the First Flower s2, Taiwanese, 18 February 2025, GagaOOLala ok this isn't that soon but I'm just so excited we're getting this second season after all!
As always, if I'm missing anything, please let me know!
Since I did this last year, I thought for posterity I'd post another reflection on everything I watched that completed in 2024. For me, that means anything that started in 2023 but the last episode was in 2024 is on this list, but anything that was still be airing after 31 December 2024 11:59 my time (EST) is not on this list, even if the bulk of the show did air in 2024.
A few stats:
[The image is TL;DR for what follows lol]
I watched ~150 discrete pieces of new QL content in 2024 (series/films) that I tracked [It gets complicated with specials and split seasons but I did my best to be consistent]; plus 10 things that I would consider "adjacent". For contrast, I listed 110 pieces of discrete content in 2023; that's a 45% increase year over year!
This clocked in at an est. 900 hours of new BL/GL and adjacent content (up from ~600 in 2023--which also tells us that the content I tracked was a little longer overall because that's a full 50% increase in terms of hours spent).
The new content I watched came from 9 different countries [same as 2023]: (Cambodia [1], Philippines [2, down from 3], Hong Kong [1], Japan [32, up from 18 in 2023], Korea [20; was 19], Myanmar [2, up from 1], Taiwan [12, up from 6], Thailand [75; up from 56], Vietnam [4, down from 7]), China [5], and then 3 joint effort productions from Thailand/Korea [2] and Thailand/Taiwan [1]
This means just under ~47% of the content I watched on this list is from Thailand [close to the 50% in 2023]
So many more shows had multiple or varied distributions this year, but like last year ~85% of my content was on 3 platforms: YouTube [38%; down from 40%], GaGaOoLaLa [30%; up from 23%] and iQIYI [17%; down from 21%] Note: I'm in Canada and my access routes are sometimes affected by that.
As unbelievable as it sounds with all that, I did actually drop shows this year! I dropped 9 shows, which is I think more than I've dropped in my entire previous 20+ years watching queer asian media combined (that might be an exaggeration but I do really hate dropping shows); 4 Thai, 3 Filipino, 1 Taiwanese and 1 Japanese (listed at the very bottom of this post if you want to be messy). I didn't track any dropped shows in 2023.
And if you're wondering how many shows there are in the world in total, I am aware of an additional 11 shows I just did not have time to even start (2 from Cambodia, 4 from the Philippines, 3 from Thailand, and 1 each from Korea and Myanmar). That does not include the vertical short reels that I didn't track this year--see @ellsieee 's tracking post for these--as well as several GL shorts from JPC media YouTube channel and Sastra film app YouTube channel that I just have not had time to try or even keep track of, though I do peek in on them to see if there's anything that looks particularly good, and I do always link these folks in my GL round-ups.
All of this doesn't include re-watches or catching up on old shows, or non-QL queer media, or non-queer media (the hets sometimes do deserve rights); but does include films as well as shows.
I hope you all appreciate that with this much content, and with my general brand of being unable to make decisions, I really struggled to narrow down a top 10 list. What follows is the best I could do lol
Top 25 QLs I'd Recommend From This Year:
[Links are self-indulgently to what I thought was the most relevant post I'd made this year relevant to that series/media, mostly spoiler-free pitches]
She Loves to Cook and She Loves to Eat S2 (Tsukutabe) [GL]
Love in the Big City
Love For Love's Sake
Tadaima Okaeri [anime]
Ossan no pantsu ga nandatte ii janai ka (Oppan)
Marahuyo Project
Knock Knock Boys
Let Free the Curse of Taekwondo
Love is Like a Poison (Doku koi)
Ossan's Love Returns
Twilight out of Focus [anime]
At 25:00 in Akasaka
Cooking Crush
Cherry Magic [anime]
Cherry Magic Thailand
Takara no Vidro
Soul Sisters / Twin Rabbits [GL]
Perfect Propose
Unknown the series
Paradise of Thorns [film]
Blue Canvas of Youthful Days
The Secret of Us [GL]
Mr Mitsuya's Planned Feeding (Mitsuya-Sensei)
The Time of Fever
A Man Who Defies the World of BL S3
I tried to put these in some kind of order but honestly if you asked me to rank them the numbering would change all the time and I would combust. The ones I liked best are closer to the top of this list. I also debated back and forth on whether Paradise of Thorns counts as QL so many times. But in the end I decided the main character was queer and queer romance of a sort was at the heart of the drama, so I've left it in this list even though technically it should probably sit with the 'adjacent's.
Worth noting that though only ~20% of the content I watched was from Japan, ~45% of my favourites were from Japan.
+5 notable pulp offerings worth mentioning:
Bagan Beginning (Myanmar)
City of Stars (Thailand)
Gym Affairs (China)
To the Ex Who Hated Me (Korea, GL)
Under the Oak Tree (Vietnam)
I think I'll do a top 10 GL post separately since we had enough content to warrant a top 10 (yay!) but this is already long enough. I just want to take a second to acknowledge that this year was so much better than in 2023 when I didn't feel like I could recommend any of the new GL shows. Thank you content creators for better and more GL in 2024, please keep that energy for 2025!
Bonus: Not a QL but worth calling out:
How to Make Millions Before Grandma Dies (Thai film)
I saw both this and Paradise of Thorns in theatres during the Toronto International Film Festival and they were both so powerful! Extremely different tones but they surprisingly hit on similar themes, and very beautifully filmed. HTMMBGD was a complicated film filled with very rounded and complex characters, and I still think about it all the time. Very excited for more folks to have access to both of these soon.
Sidenote: The fact that I watched 45% more shows in 2024 than I did in 2023 and still managed to keep my rec list to 30 (*cough1cough*) does seem to back up the general feeling that though we had more content, we didn't have a proportional rise in good content. I do want to crunch those numbers in another post.
Double Plus Bonus: Best Older QL Content I watched for the first time in 2024:
Life as a Girl / Joshi-teki Seikatsu (Japan, 2018; I'm so sad I missed out on this one for so long due to misinfo, it is fantastic! Thanks to @so-much-yet-to-learn for helping propel me to this one)
Iron Ladies (Thailand, 2000; thank you for the rec, @happypotato48)
Nacchan's Secret / Himitsu no Nacchan (Japan, 2023; thank you @furritsubs for making this watch possible)
Can I Buy Your Love From a Vending Machine / Sono Koi, Jihanki de Kaemasuka? (Japan, 2023; thanks to @nicks-den for making this watch possible)
I Fell In Love with the Villainness (Japan, 2023; watched because of a convo with @pilanthitasanilaphat)
Doi Boy (Thailand, 2023; this one I had on my list and just had to work up the energy to watch, but it was a beautiful film and I'm glad I did)
BL Metamorphosis (Japan, 2022; another thank you to @furritsubs)
Dear Dad (India, 2016; thanks to @neuroticbookworm for the rec!)
Salty Blue / Kakenuketara, Umi (Japan, 2023, thank you again @nicks-den!)
[I can't believe I forgot this at first] The Miracle of Teddy Bear (Thailand, 2022, thanks for going on that journey and writing great meta with me and for calling me out for forgetting @lurkingshan!)
There is so much good content in the world and despite my best efforts I haven't seen everything! So grateful to the fansubbers and people who write about past shows so that those of us who missed them the first time still get a chance to see them.
In terms of my output based on all this input, I continued not lurking this year, and have enjoyed it very much; see my Top 10 posts from 2024 here as well as the content I linked in my recommended shows above--going through the process of adding those links really highlighted to me how much more I've written this year, and how much more motivated I am to write about shows I love. It's no surprise I had dedicated posts for most of my top shows! To highlight a few specific projects this year that I'm proud of, I participated in the Love in the Big City Book Club read and watch-alongs organized by @lurkingshan, which was such a fun project that I am grateful for, and I started my GL Odds and Ends posts (tagged with #gl recs) that I am still feeling out but am really enjoying seeing the impact whenever someone watches a show because they found out about it through one of my posts. I also made an appearance on several episodes of @the-conversation-pod and had an incredible time trying out different things in a quarterly 'Dispatch' and having some really rich conversations with @bengiyo and @shortpplfedup. I love this corner of tumblr that we've carved out for ourselves as a QL watching community, and I just want to say to everyone I've interacted with in 2024: Thank you, and wish good things for you all in 2025!
Full list of 2024 shows under the cut for anyone curious! [Mostly in order it completed but may be slightly off--if a special aired immediately after the final episode I only list them as one thing and count the airing of the special as the end date, for example].
Bagan Beginning
Love Senior the Series
After SunDown
VIP Only
Twins the Series
Last Twilight
Night Dream the Series
My Universe
Bake Me Please special episode
Sahara Sensei to Tori Kun / Mr Sahara and Toki-kun
Love for Love's Sake
7 Days Before Valentine
Happy Ending
PitBabe the series
For Him the series
Cooking Crush
The Sign
Chaser Game W
Playboyy the series
Perfect Propose
Ossan's Love Returns
Tsukuritai Onna to Tabetai Onna S2 / She Loves to Cook and She Loves to Eat
Cherry Magic Th
Dead Friend Forever
Sukidoya / Although I Love You and You / Sukiyaken kedo dou yaroka?
Healing Thingyan
Love You in Every Multiverse
Cherry Magic (anime)
Please Teach Me
Anti Reset
Jazz for Two
Blank the Series
A Secretly Love
To Be Continued the series
Love is Better the Second time around / Koi wo Surunara Nidome ga Joto
City of Stars
Sea You Soon
Human Too
Man Who Defies the World of BL s3
Gray Shelter / Gray Currents / Grey Current
Gym Affairs
1000 Years Old the Series
Love is Like a Cat
To the Ex Who Hated Me
Lady Boy Friends the series
Deep Night the series + Special Episode
Unknown the series
Memory in the Letter
You are My Star
Lonely Girls
Boys Be Brave / Roommates / I Can't Confess
Blossom Campus
Two Worlds
VIP Only special episode
Pray In Love
I Fell In Love with My Male Best Friend
Friend With Benefit
Stay By My Side special episode
23.5
You Made My Day
Living With Him
City Boy Log pt3
Anti-Reset special episode
The Time of Huan Nan
Xiao Xiang Yi Jiu
Inverse Identity
At 25:00 in Akasaka
Only Boo!
Tadaima Okaeri
Love Bully (Club Friday)
Blank the Series S2
Marahuyo Project
The Two of Us
Blue Boys
OMG Vampire!
My Stand-In
We Are the series
Ossan no pantsu ga nandatte ii janai ka / Oppan
Wandee Goodday
Under the Oak Tree
The Rebound
Love Enemy
Love in the Apocalypse
Bad Guy
My Marvellous Dream is You/ Dream the Series
Century of Love
Knock Knock Boys
Be Your Star
Meet You at the Blossom
BOYTOY
The Secret of Us
Ayaka is in love with Hiroko / Ayaka-chan wa Hiroko-sempai ni koi shiteru
My Love Mix-Up!
This Love Doesn't Have Long Beans
Love Sea the series
Cosmetic Playlover
City Boy Log s4
Sunset Vibes
Mr Mitsuya's Planned Feeding
Takara no Vidro / Takara's Treasure
Paradise of Thorns
I Hear the Sunspot
The Time of Fever / when your temperature reaches my fingertips
4 Minutes The Trainee
Twilight out of Focus
Happy of the End
The On1y One
Live in Love
Heaven'sxCandy
The Two of Us s2
Addicted Heroin
I Saw You In My Dream
Monster Next Door
Our Golden Times
Affair
First Note of Love
Battle of the Writers
Reverse 4 U
Unlock Your Love
Chaser Game W s2
Let free the Curse of Taekwondo
Uncle Unknown
The Hidden Moon the series
Love in the Big City [the series]
Smells Like Green Spirit
Red Whisper
Eccentric Romance/PT is Love
My Damn Business
Apple My Love
Dominant Yakuza and Wimpy Corporate Slave
The Nipple Talk
Kidnap the series
Every You Every Me
Jack & Joker
People Come Later
Blue Canvas of Youthful Days
The Loyal Pin
Let's Eat Together Aki and Haru 2
Love is Like a Poison / doku koi: doku mo sugireba koi to naru
Bad Guy My Boss
Haunted Hearts
Seoul Blues
The Renovation
Love Sick 2024
Love in the Big City [the film]
Spare Me Your Mercy / Euthanasia
Soul Sisters / Twin Rabbits
My Hot Butch Roommate
Whisper Me a Love Song / Sasayaku you ni koi wo utau
Boys' Christmas
Bonus: FuFuKnows bi-weekly shorts [every other week they post a short film, almost always a QL storyline; there were 23 in 2024]
And those QL-adjacent shows I mentioned [these are all adapted from QL media or starred QL actors or were part of a QL franchise but did not have a canon queer romance at the core of its storytelling]:
The Spirealm
Close Friend 3 - Soju Bomb
How to Make a Million Before Grandma Dies
Man Suang
High School Return Of A Gangster / I, a Gangster, Became a High Schooler
Kimi to Yukite Saku: Shinsengumi Seishunroku
Hoshikuzu Telepath
A Balloon's Landing
Peaceful Property
My Strawberry Film
The shows I dropped:
Time the series
Beside You
Sugar Dog Life
The Whisperer
Kiseki in Tokyo
Q18
Sky Valley
The Fate Trap
Dear Miss Becky
And as a shout-out in penance, the shows I had on my list to get to but haven't yet watched:
A Blue Sky (Cambodia)
Ending Friend (Cambodia)
Pretty Boys (Philippines - requires an access fee on VivaMax+)
Oh My Boo (Philippines)
The Perfect Heartbreak (Philippines)
Where I found You (Philippines)
My_ the series (Myanmar)
What's In My Bag (Korean GL - requires an access fee on Vimeo)
Complicated (Thai)
Club Friday: Hot Love Issue (Thai)
2nd Chance (Thai; not to be confused with Second Chance, this was a smaller 3-episode short series from this year)
I haven't been as good at posting about shows as I wanted to be, so I'm trying a round-up format instead because it feels like a lot of GLs skirt under the radar. It's exciting that we're in a time when there's enough GL airing that it's worth doing a round-up! This was a great week for the lesbians to figure themselves out, so it feels like a good week to start. No idea how regularly I'll do this, need to figure out a cadence that makes sense.
Currently airing (with thoughts up to Oct 6):
Reverse 4 U 5/8 (Thai, Tuesdays 1:00 PM EDT, Netflix / YouTube) This week the girls finally sorted themselves and we got set up for the main plot to start next week. I was initially really stoked about this one and then a little bummed that it's not taking it's very cool premise and the stakes it establishes as seriously as it could be, but I'm still hoping it will start to have real stakes in the main plot stretch.
The Two of Us s2 ep 6/6 END (Thai, 29 Aug-3 Oct 2024, YouTube) It was so great seeing women in their 40s being romantic together but I did not love the plot of this one; I find their romantic conflicts too juvenile (lots of easily-triggered jealousy). The moments they're being sweet are great though.
Unlock Your Love ep 4/8 (Thai, Wednesdays, GagaOOLala / YouTube [cut version]) This is the first episode that this series felt a little more assured; I liked the series this production company produced with a short run time, it feels like this series has been worse off for its longer episodes. That being said, when these couples get to do their thing like in this episode, they have good chemistry.
Chaser Game W s2 ep 3/8 (Japanese, Thursdays 12:30 PM EDT, GagaOOLala) @lurkingshan is already doing a great summary of this week to week in her JQL weekly round-up!
Affair the series ep 6/8 (Thai, Fridays 11:15 AM EDT, iQIYI/ YouTube) Finally! I liked that it was Ek pointing out that Wan was unhappy the entire time she was gone that finally got Pleng to give in to her desire to be with Wan. This show is so melodramatic but the emotional threads follow and the character motivations are clear and consistent; I'm enjoying it in spite of not loving melodramatic storylines in general. It helps that the acting in this one is excellent.
The Loyal Pin ep 10/16 (Thai, Sundays 12:15 PM EDT, YouTube) Glad we finally got confirmation of Patt's history! And I'm relieved Anin knows she has an ally, though I feel like it's given her false confidence that worries me. These two are stressing me out by how bad they are at being careful but I do love how desperate they are for each other, as well as how beautiful this show is.
Red Whisper ep 2/8 (Korea, Wednesdays and Sundays, YouTube) Starting with cheating is not my fave but is par for the course with these SukFilm short series; my fave so far has been their first GL so if you haven't seen that yet I'd honestly recommend that instead.
Recent One-offs
Out of Breath (re-release in a bingeable version; Korean, YouTube) Highly recommended! Also the creator, Soo not Sue, announced she's working on another series to hopefully air before the end of the year, which I am super stoked about.
The Suffering of Xiqing Mountain (Chinese (censored), YouTube)
Sastra film app YouTube channel has several short Cambodian GL series that come out weekly Honestly they are not to my taste but I don't like gatekeeping GL especially from smaller markets. I check in on these time to time and if there are any that I think are great I'll give them a shout-out
Ditto above with JPC media YouTube channel for Thai GL shorts if there are any that stand out to me I'll say so
Recently ended that I haven't had the wherewithal to write about:
Hoshikuzu Telepath (fansub) Thank you to @yuiyuihan for your hard work making it possible to watch this series! I I haven't read the original manga but I do know they changed the kiss communication to a forehead rest; Unsurprised that this adaptation, starring idols in the same group, would be left ambiguous in terms of whether their feelings are friendly or romantic. I liked what this series was trying to say, but in all honestly didn't love the execution. It's too bad because I absolutely love the concept of an alien being helped by girls obsessed with building rockets.
The Secret of Us 8 eps [complete] (24 Jun-15 Aug 2024, YouTube) I first included this in my recommendations from the summer and then retracted, but I ended up liking this series and then never updated again. So to set the record straight: Though it lost me in the middle, the ending on this series won be back over. I really appreciated the way this series handled filial piety and balancing that against personal happiness. I appreciated SO MUCH that the main characters decided together how to handle Lada's situation with her mother. I finally understood too late that Earn believed the lies Lada's mother told her in ep1, and that affected some of their decisions in the middle of the series. I still think the execution was wobbly, but the acting and chemistry between the two leads carries this series through. This has some of the best domestic fluff in any GL, as well as my favourite GL counter lift to date. And it's gorgeous. Tentatively recommended with the caveat that you do have to either enjoy or power through the melodrama in the middle.
Starting soon:
Apple My Love, Thai, 12 October, GagaOOLala
Pluto, Thai, 19 October, VIU
The Nipple Talk, Taiwanese, 1 November GagaOOLala
My Ex's Wedding [in theatres in Thailand 14 November]
