A World of Asian "Boys Love" Drama

2019 Thai BL sequel series Dark Blue Kiss (DBK) gets its greatest gift and strength from the charisma of its two lead actors Newwie and Tay, reprising their Kiss The Series and Kiss Me Again roles of sensitive intelligent Kao and hot-tempered tough guy Pete respectively. These two very likeable and popular actors have amazing chemistry, and with this series they've reimagined one of the least sympathetic couples in Thai BL as one of its greatest. But the real surprise here is how unexpectedly great the new series is too. The screenplay is just so good. Summary: At the start of this sequel, set three years later, Pete and Kao's loving and trusting relationship is now well-established, though they remain closeted and discreet in front of most of their friends and family. Perhaps surprisingly, it's Pete who wants to take the next step and come out, whereas it's Kao who resists firmly and won't be pressured. Perhaps this is partly because Pete is already out to his fa...

Indigo Mood is a combined prequel/sequel to Japanese BL drama Pornographer - though the prequel sections make up 95% of this series. It's far superior to its predecessor and is well worth spending time on its six twenty-minute episodes. SPOILERS WARNING: you should definitely watch Pornographer before watching Indigo Mood. Besides the fact that it would spoil Pornographer to watch it back to front (due to the presence of the sequel elements), a lot of its screenplay won't make much sense because it assumes you're familiar with what's been going on between the three main characters. You should also reconsider reading this review, though I'll keep story details to a minimum. Summary: Indigo Mood spends most of its time in the past, before the events portrayed in Pornographer, where student Kusumi had his bicycle accident that launched him into the life of pornographic novelist Kijima-san. It focuses on how Kijima and erotic fiction publisher Kido-san - former frie...

2016 Filipino online BL series Hanging Out is one of those fantastic programs you come across by chance, usually from a recommendation online or through word of mouth. I'd certainly never heard of it before seeing it in my YouTube recommendations a few months back, and I'm so glad I did. It's the very first Filipino BL I've seen, and it's such a breath of fresh air after the unadventurous repetitions of Thai BL. Summary: In one of the funniest 'meets-cute' out of all the BL series I've seen so far, aimless cynic David meets the dashing and charming Adrian at a surprise party that he was never invited to. Despite the awkwardness of the situation, there's an instant connection between the two men, though they are both very tentative and afraid to admit to it. Adrian's friends notice the sexual tension, but their unsubtle gossipy speculation about David might scare off the already jittery new guy. Despite his reservations, David is immediately ...

Examples of Korean BL haven't been easy to find. I've struggled to find anything other than "No Regret", a fantastic movie in its own right but it's not really BL in the strictest sense. Bromance seems to be more common in Korea, a genre that I always try to avoid due to its cynical use of gay-baiting. Mini-series The Boy Next Door is more bromance than BL on the face of it, but more than anything else, it's a brilliant and really effective satire of BL. Summary: University students Gijae and Kyutae live next door to each other in a block of small flats. They meet out front when smoking a cigarette and don't really hit it off. They feel uncomfortable with each other but at least make an effort to be more friendly with each other. However all their meetings in public end up having the very odd appearance of them being a new couple in love. Their friends and acquaintances are mystified by how close they seem to be, and they all jump to the conclusion that...

I've been having a more difficult time lately finding a BL drama that interested me enough that I wanted to stick with it till the end. I started with Korean drama Hello Monster, mainly to see what all the fuss is about with Park Bo Gum, but I didn't make it far enough before getting bored. I finally got to see the sublime Call Me By Your Name at the cinema, but I won't review it here. Instead I took a recommendation online to watch Chinese BL drama Like Love . And I'm very glad I did. Summary: University student Maiding is a nerd but likes to think that he is outgoing and sociable. However he only has his roommate Li Meng as a friend and doesn't understand why there's no one else. One day Li Meng asks Maiding to find out whether their very handsome dorm neighbour Ziyan An is gay, as a lot of his  fujoshi friends are interested in finding out the truth. Ziyan responds that he's bi, which intrigues Maiding. He starts following Ziyan around and basically fo...

I've stuck with my Taiwanese obsession by watching feature-length movie Artemisia . I went into this movie cold, not knowing anything about the storyline except that there was a gay-themed subplot. SPOILERS ALERT: I give away some of the ending in this review, beware. I've marked the section with spoilers so you can avoid them if you want to. Summary: A middle-aged widow leads a lonely life and struggles to fill in her days. Her two children are in their thirties; her closeted gay son looks after her, and her daughter studies in France. She also regularly looks in on her elderly mother, a malicious, cantankerous woman who is a chronic miser. She secretly longs for a large family, all living together, but is increasingly resigned to the fact that it probably won't happen. She finds it extremely difficult to understand her children and the way they live their lives. Knowing her temper and conservatism, her children generally give their mother plenty of distance from their...

I was ecstatic to be able to find the rest of Advance Bravely episodes 19 through to 30 on Dailymotion. This was a binge-watch feast and the happiest any BL series has made me. If you can find any of the season 2 episodes on youtube, watch them there, as the quality of the Dailymotion uploads is poor at this point. UPDATE: If you haven't read it yet, you can find my review of Season 1 here . SPOILERS WARNING: there's a lot of detail about the plot in this review. Don't read it if you want to be surprised or if you haven't watched season one yet. Summary: Xia Yao and Yuan Zong's relationship goes from strength to strength, and they are increasingly unfazed by being seen as 'close' by their colleagues, families and friends. Xia Yao's father gives him an ultimatum to find a girlfriend or else a marriage will be arranged. Xia Yao takes advantage of his parents' obliviousness to escape Beijing and go to Northeastern China for Chinese New Year to su...