A World of Asian "Boys Love" Drama

2020 Thai BL series Why R U The Series brings back adorable Love By Chance actor Saint to our screens, and boy have we missed him! He's the biggest drawcard here, and definitely the top reason for watching Why R U in the first place. So is it worth watching? Summary: University students and siblings Zon and Zol have a teasing rivalry. When Zon realises that Zol is writing BL stories about him being in an imaginary relationship with his nemesis Saifah, he insists that she delete them. She cheekily asks him to swear that he doesn't have conflicting feelings about Saifah (she saw them share an accidental kiss during a fight). He hesitates, but he swears to it anyway. Bad move! His obvious lie throws him into an upside-down BL alternate universe, where Zol's BL story about him looks like it's coming true, and he starts hallucinating some very famous BL characters. Meanwhile, Zon's friend Tutor starts to struggle in his own lifelong platonic friendship with beautiful p...

2019 Thai BL series Until We Meet Again (UWMA) aims at presenting a story at the more dramatic and romantic end of the BL spectrum, without straying far from the formula. You'll run the usual gamut of tentative first steps, painful uncertainties and long loving stares, but prepare yourselves for such intense longing that it can even overcome death. There's comedy here too, but, much like that other recent Thai BL success story He's Coming to Me, the true unifying emotional force and strength behind UWMA lies in its supernatural theme. SPOILERS WARNING: I go into a fair amount of detail about the evolution of some of this series' characters in this review, so this is a heads-up for some substantial spoilers. Summary: In the late 1980s, two young gay lovers at university Inn (also called Intouch) and Korn try to overcome obstacles that are preventing their relationship, especially their families. When their angry fathers make a final attempt to separate them for good,...

When two of the most charismatic Thai BL actors in the business are in same series, deciding to watch it is the easiest decision you'll ever make. 2019 Thai series "He's Coming To Me" is that series, and Singto Prachaya (SOTUS) and Ohm Pawat (Make It Right) are the actors. Seriously, don't wait any longer, just watch it already. Summary: When university student Mes dies a sudden death on his 22nd birthday in 1997, he isn't reincarnated but left as a ghost to roam the grounds of the cemetery where he was buried. He has other ghosts to spend time with, but he feels lonely because no friends or family visit the cemetery. No one attends to his grave and, with time, it becomes overgrown and derelict. When a kind young boy Than takes pity on the dilapidated grave and lights an incense stick, Mes suspects the boy can either see or hear him. As he grows older, Than continues to visit Mes's grave once a year, leaving food and candy that Mes has asked for, much to...

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 ...

Of the three sub-series that make up season one of famed Taiwanese BL program HIStory,  HIStory: Obsessed gets by far the most thumbs up from its dedicated fans, and it's easy to see why. The other two don't even come close to its ability to immerse its audience it its out-there narrative and - let's be honest - its totally bonkers BL overkill. Summary: Shao Yi Chen and Jiang Jing Teng have been in a loving relationship for ten years ever since university, but suddenly Teng announces that he is going to marry a woman. Distraught, Chen runs away and is promptly struck by a car and killed. Chen is then reincarnated as himself ten years earlier (is that really how reincarnation is meant to work??), back at university and before he and Teng had ever met in person. Chen sees this as an opportunity to find some backbone and completely alter history, to ensure Teng never enters his life. But fate has other ideas, and the two boys are drawn together again when Teng finds one of ...

Time to go back to the beginning, with HIStory Season 1: My Hero , the very first instalment. Summary: Student Lan Xi dies in hospital, with her boyfriend Ying Xiong by her side. An angel of death (for some reason, this is translated as 'genie' in the subtitles I viewed) takes her soul to Limbo but realises he has made a mistake, so he sends Lan Xi back. She possesses the dying body of a young bookish male student at Xiong's university called Gu Ren. The angel gives her one condition for her rebirth: she must receive a kiss of love from Xiong in 7 days, or her soul will be taken back and Ren will die. The first thing that strikes the viewer who is familiar with some of the brilliant season two series is how low-rent the production is. The sets and costumes are ordinary (the angel wears a sort of bedsheet like a toga), the dialogue is amateurish, the acting is average at best, and the direction is confused and ponderous. It's hard to believe it was made in 2017, its ...