A World of Asian "Boys Love" Drama

The handsome protagonists of novel 'Mr Zhang and Mr Zhang' deserve a last look-in, with their final three episodes coming to a close. They are going to be difficult to write about without giving away spoilers and without writing too abstractly, but I'll give it a try. (To read my earlier review of episodes 1 to 3, you can find it  here .) Summary: Zhang Nan and Zhang Zhe continue with their struggles in their new separate lives, pining for each other but still heavily constrained by the forced exile imposed on them in episode three. They desperately try to meet when they can, but most of their secret contact is over the phone. The lives of their friends continue to deteriorate as well, and everyone is increasingly despairing of their future. Chunzi's relationship turns upside down and destabilises all his friends. The three final episodes of this grim mini-series are very grim indeed. The earlier trap set for Zhe and Nan is now inescapable and exerts an increasingly...

Chinese series The Ambiguous Focus is currently screening at the time of writing, so only the first three episodes are available to view, and only intermittently as they get taken down. It's described as a BL drama, but it's far removed from the youthful innocence and tentative attractions of that genre. It's a ferocious melodrama, riven with the exploitation, cynicism and cruelty of gay adulthood. It's blown me away, so I thought I'd work through my initial thoughts about it now, and watch the rest later.  (UPDATE: You can find my review of the final three episodes  here .) Summary: Friends since childhood, Zhang Zhe and Zhang Nan have been in a relationship for ten years, since university. When we meet them, it's obvious that they are having difficulties, to the point where trust and fidelity are no longer even the most serious part of the problem. They are both having affairs and hookups on the side, though Zhe is less brazen and Nan is more careless. Both...

I've read in a couple of places the 2016 Chinese movie The Male Fairy Fox of Liaozhai has some BL elements to it, but without it being the central focus of the story. It's based on a Qing dynasty era fairy tale. There's also mention of a sequel on the way soon. Summary: A mischievous "fairy fox" (a supernatural deity that seems to be a cross between a spirit, a god and a demon) enters the human world disguised as a beautiful young man, with a view to learning more about human behaviour. When he sees a young couple in love being refused marriage by her father, he is immediately intrigued. He follows the young man - a scholar - to his hometown and befriends him, then he manipulates him with alcohol. It's soon evident that the two men are attracted to each other. When the scholar's servant exposes the fox god's true identity, they enlist his help to rescue the fiancee, who has been captured by a local warlord. Danger and violence ensue, with the fairy ...

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...

The premise of Chinese short BL series Uncontrolled Love  (also known as Irresistible Love) didn't appeal to me when I first read about it. But I thought I would give it a try anyway, seeing as it has generally good reviews. Summary: Orphan Shu Nian is adopted by a wealthy industrialist family, the Xie's, when the malicious capricious young son Xie Yan chooses him from the other orphanage children, mainly on the basis of his passivity and his ability to withstand Yan's cruelty. They become very close as they grow up, but Nian's relation with the Xie's has clear boundaries that never allow him to become a fully-fledged family member. Instead he becomes a servant in a toxic master/valet dynamic with Yan and his parents. After high school, Yan is sent to England for several years to study and learn the family business. When he returns to China in his mid-20s, the two young men live together again in the family home but still as servant and 'young master'. Yan...

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...

I came across a short edit of Beloved Enemy and it looked interesting so I thought I would give the whole series a try. Summary: Corporate gun Gu Qing Pei is poached by a huge investment conglomerate to act as CEO. His job is theoretically to restructure the company and look for business opportunities, but in practice the Chairman wants Gu Qing Pei to act as a business teacher to his wayward violent son Yuan Yang. Gu Qing Pei takes on the job but stipulates that he must have total freedom in the way he deals with Yuan Yang, including removing his access to money. Yuan Yang reacts extremely violently but realises that he has essentially been trapped into working with Gu Qing Pei. He enlists the help of his friends to bring down Gu Qing Pei by any means possible, so that Gu Qing Pei will then resign and Yuan Yang can be free again. One of their plans goes horribly wrong, and has serious repercussions for Yuan Yang, Gu Qing Pei and the company. This show ...

Chinese series Addicted (also known as Heroin)  is a hugely popular BL series from 2016. There's a widely held view that it's one of the best BL dramas ever made. I don't subscribe to that view at all. Summary: High school student Bai Luo Yin is very unhappy with his estranged mother, who has decided to marry a wealthy party official. His life at school is becoming increasingly complicated by a poisonous relationship with fellow student Gu Hai. The two boys torment each other relentlessly and obstinately refuse to stop the oneupmanship of practical jokes and annoyances. However Hai soon realises that Yin is just as sensitive as Hai is himself, underneath all the sourness and bluster, and he eventually falls in love. His declarations soon pile up and become just as relentless as the previous bullying was. Yin's life now follows a pattern of never-ending resistance and finding ways to avoid Hai. Yin is horrified when the truth about his mother's new marriage is reve...

If I have a guilty pleasure when it comes to BL, it's Chinese series Advance Bravely . How can something so slight and vacuous be so entertaining? Summary: Xia Yao is a young and supremely beautiful waif, from a very wealthy, very powerful family. He used to be a ladies man but he's recently become more solitary and stay-at-home, earning him the nickname 'The Monk', which he loathes. He is pursued relentlessly by the 'goddess' Yuan Ru, whom he rejects repeatedly to no effect. She is entirely unfazed by anything he dishes out at her and will stop at nothing till she marries him. She enlists the help of her older brother Yuan Zong, a highly skilled former special forces soldier who now operates his own successful bodyguard business. The brother and sister are from a very different background to Yao, having grown up poor and then left motherless at a young age, with Zong having to take on the responsibilities of raising his baby sister. He obviously knows well hi...