Hi absolutebl, our most reliable source of all things BL ;). Such a big fan of your blog, and thank you so much for contributing to the fandom in such a healthy and positive way. Sorry for the long ask: but do you by chance have any thoughts on "bromance" as a genre? Like, do you watch it? Do you have recommendations? Are you a fan of it? I'm sorry if it's an inappropriate question (you are absolutebl after all, this might not be your cup of tea). It's just that sometimes I find myself drawn more to the chemistry of some current bromance series out there than the currently-airing BLs (but that's just my preference. Maybe I just prefer the low heat, old school types). I mean, I actually do like high heat BLs, but some bromance series really just blow me away with plot and chemistry that I don't mind the romance as subtext only (I just finished Japan's Kei x Yaku and Korea's Beyond Evil and both just BLEW ME AWAY. It was intense in the best way. And China's Untamed will always be a special favorite). Any thoughts? Thank you in advance!
BROMANCES
Hi and thank you, I'm flattered!
Ah I have watched some, but in general since we have so many more actual BL options now, I don't bother anymore. They mostly just piss me off either way.
I tend to intentionally ignore them - censoring the censors, so to speak.
I have a few posts tangential to this though:
Devil Judge & Korean Bromance Stuff
BL fandom picked up on Devil Judge, why?
devil judge, hallyu wave bromances, & non BL K-dramas
BL tropes deployed in The Devil Judge (2021)
Devil Judge... is it queerbaiting?
Word of Honor & Chinese Bromance Stuff
Word of Honor
Chinese mf censorship, fight me
Mainland China Censorship Be Like…
Some of the ones I guess I’d call bromances that I’ve watched:
Untamed (20 ep BL cut)
Word of Honor
S.C.I. Mysteries (actually one of my first BLs/bromances in general)
Find You In The Crowd
Love is Not Easy to Have
Swinging Blossom
The Fairy Fox
Beloved Enemy
His Cat
Till Death Tear Us Apart
Advance Bravely (this is more just censored BL)
Mr. CEO is Falling in Love with Him (same as above)
Legend of Long Yang
Customized Companion
Glass Heart
Past Youth
River Knows Fish Heart
Guardian
Mermaid's Jade
Broken Youth
Youth in the Breeze
Capture Lover
Precise Shot
Every Moment that I Think of You
My Esports Genius Brother
In Your Heart
There’s a bunch of early stuff out of China that is just barely censored, in that they don’t kiss (like the ghost boyfriend series), but it’s a lot more obviously gay than post 2016.)
I don’t keep track of the bromances from Korea (like At A Distance, Spring is Green) or Japan (with a few exceptions like Silhouette of Your Voice which is a yaoi adaptation) because they piss me off even more than China. It feels so cowardly. Or those wish side nods like Moment at Eighteen
It’s pretty simple...
if, if the characters were het and would have kissed in the drama under those circumstances, but they don’t because they are a same sex couple - I get really mad about it.
And I’m unable to get over that anger. Because the anger feels justified.
All that said, if you are someone who really doesn’t mind the great long con tease with no pay out these are the ones I liked despite myself:
Recommended Bromances (in order)
Word of Honor
The Devil Judge
The Guardian (super under appreciated but a TON of fun)
Untamed
S.C.I. Mysteries (if you like police procedurals)
Advance Bravely
Capture Lover
River Knows Fish Heart
Precise Shot
Beloved Enemy (IF you come out of yaoi and don’t mind some seriously triggering tropes)
Legend of Long Yang (this is kinda the precursor to Untamed & WOH)
I have not seen Japan's Kei x Yaku (I had spies reporting in on it and decided not to bother, since it was also difficult to get hold of). I have see Korea's Beyond Evil and I am afraid I didn’t get the bromance subtext as much as you, and others, have. I guess the actors didn’t work for me?
Episode Gifsets for each episode tagged Precise Shot. Short miniseries that explored the ‘brotherly’ love of two hot-shot competitive shooters, who were Obviously Not Gay for the Other.
There is an amazing amount of intimacy in teaching someone to shoot a gun... at least when it's done in a Chinese drama where the two characters are Definitely Not Gay but are Very Close Friends, You See. And their physical intimacy is just part of Teaching The Gun. And Nothing More.
(best BLs from China in no particular order, and all containing problematic tropes or serious censorship or both - triggers all ‘round)
Addicted Heroin (2016) Viki - Censored mid series but high heat classic BL prior to that, weird ending, still my favorite. Unfinished due to censorship but still very good, well acted and shot, high school set, rich kid falls madly for the genius poor kid in his class, starts an aggressive pursuit, includes kidnapping for love, obsession, stepbrother trope, plus some cheating.
Word of Honor (2021) Viki & YouTube - Censored wuxia bromance, amorphous ending. Two murder-gay assassins (pining sunshine/tsundere) who manage to be insanely gay for two boys who will never be allowed to kiss. Tropes include: wuxia, soulmates, paranormal, historical, and fantasy elements.
The Untamed Special Edition BL Cut (2020) YouTube - Censored wuxia bromance, amorphous ending. Probubly the best known BL of its kind out of China and responsible for bring many fans to the BL side.
Guardian (2018) grey - Censored bromance, episodic urban fantasy police procedural, one of the most epic long term pinings in the history of long term pinings.
Advance Bravely (2017) grey - Bodyguard romance censored mid series, weird ending. I actually kinda like this but it is very much censored has themes of revenge, salvation, infiltration, and domesticity. Hard to find and the rip is terrible.
My Esports Genius Brother (2021) GaGa - A strangely cute somewhat incomprehensible censored magical realism BL micro series about fated mates who balance each other out and must find the courage to stay together. More here.
Like Love: I Love You As a Man 1 & 2 (2014-2105) YouTube grey - Pre-censorship with an HEA, also explicit, yeah China once did that. Classic early yaoi style BL college romance for a rich popular jock type and a super nerd.
Mr. CEO is Falling in Love with Him (2017) grey - Heavily censored bromance that says what it does on the tin, but they basically end up living together.
S.C.I. AKA SCI Mysteries (2018) YouTube - Out of Hong Kong but they tend to act similar to Mainland China around censorship, this is a police procedural with a censored bromance main couple of police investigators who live together basically as husbands, it’s just not talked about. This is one of the first BLs I ever saw (I found their relationship very confusing).
Irresistible Love: Secret of the Valet 1 & 2 AKA Uncontrolled Love (2016) YouTube grey - Censored obsession romance but there’s an alt happy ending for the series on part 2, quite violent, lots of tiggers, whipping boy chassis.
Vids tagged “grey” may no longer have functioning links. Check MDL comment threads to track down. Or leave a comment I may have an updated link.
Mainland China & BL in Brief
China’s History with BL is complicated by serious homophobia and censorship, which I’ve posted about before so I’m not going to go into it again in depth.
Like Japan, most of China’s early stuff is depressing in that they like to kill their queers either with the seme character becoming so obsessed to the point of kidnapping, rape, and murder (the murder-gay trope). Otherwise they end their stuff with separation by accidental death, noble self sacrifice, or some other misery (kill your gays trope).
China entered the market in a big way with over a dozen movies 2014-2016 featuring either adult or university aged characters, often explicit relations, always obsessive love, and ultimate unhappiness.
In 2016 Addicted: Heroin released which looked to be an actual BL romance with a high school setting, high heat, and HEA and the censors lost their shizz and shut it down. (There are lots of rumors about what "playing gay” did to the careers of the respective actors, especially the one playing the uke role.)
Clearly production had already begun on a few 2017 series like Advance Bravely and Beloved Enemy, which then got killed or censored beyond all recognition, and there’s a drop off in movies with any kind of queer content after that.
This in turn resulted in the suppressed bromance long running series of 2018-2019 (SCI, Guardian). The ultimate result of which was wuxia adaptation, The Untamed in 2019. Word of Honor pushed back on the gay, again, but was still censored and not allowed to end (exactly) HEA (by romance standards). (And the uke actor was punished, again, this time ostensibly for other reasons.)
As China currently stands, BL is either heavily censored into little to no physical contact and couple references or the gay character(s) must die or end up de-facto apart. Basically China’s messaging is:
Stay in the closet or be unhappy and die.
This is why I tend to not be a big fan of Chinese BL.
I know, call me crazy.
If you want more about profound damage done by suppressing gay physical affection on screen and why it’s cruel and unforgivable I go on a serious rant here.
A list of bromances, sans my negtive thoughts and feels is here.
This is part of a series on top 10 BLs from each country coupled with a history of BL.
Japanese BL
Chinese BL
Taiwanese BL
Korean BL
Thai BL
Chinese masculinity and the ban on effeminate men
Where to watch it? Most Chinese BL eventually shows up on YouTube.
ALL BLS OUT OF CHINA
That I have watched and rated, by date & then rating out of 10 as of June 2022.
2014 Like Love 1: I Love You As A Man: Part 1 - 5
2015 Falling in Love with a Rival: Counterattack - 3
2015 Mr. X and I: Us Against the World - 3
2015 Like Love 2: Nobody Knows But Me - 2
2016 Addicted Heroin - 8
2016 Irresistible Love: Secret of the Valet - 5
2016 Irresistible Love 2: Uncontrolled Love - 6
2016 Fanatic Love - 5
2016 Queer Beauty: Oppressive Love - 3
2016 Ghost Boyfriend 1 - 2
2016 The Male Queen: Han Zi Gao - 1
2016 Lost Love - 1
2016 A Round Trip to Love - 1
2017 Customized Companion - dnf
2017 Glass Heart - dnf
2017 Legend of Long Yang: Rebirth 6
2017 Mr. CEO is Falling in Love with Him - 5
2017 Till Death Tear Us Apart: In This Case A Pleasant Lifetime Alone: Love is in a Blaze - 5
2017 His Cat: His Cat Boyfriend - 5
2017 Advance Bravely - 5
2017 The Fairy Fox - 3
2017 Beloved Enemy - 3
2017 Ghost Boyfriend 2 - 2
2017 Love is Not Easy to Have: Rare Love - 2
2017 Swinging Blossom - 2
2017 Find You In The Crowd compilation - 1
2018 River Knows Fish Heart - 6
2018 Guardian - 6
2018 Past Youth - 2
2018 Ghost Boyfriend 3 - 2
2019 Mermaid's Jade - 4
2019 Broken Youth - 4
2020 The Untamed - 6
2020 Precise Shot - 4
2020 Capture Lover - 4
2020 Youth in the Breeze: People of the Skyy compilation - 3
2021 Word of Honor - 8
2021 My Esports Genius Brother - 7
2021 Every Moment that I Think of You - 5
2022 In Your Heart - 2
