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absolutebl · 30 days

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Top 10 Great BLs That Are REALLY hard to find (but worth tracking down)

But you may want to go hunting anyway!

Seven Days

Seven Days: Monday-Thursday

Seven Days: Friday-Sunday

Japan 2015

Never doubt my ability to recommend this show. One of the best live action yaois ever made, with perfectly structured angst, fantastic characters and acting, and no problematic tropes (rare in Japanese BL). The leads have excellent chemistry although it’s low heat there’s still some really cute mutual kisses.

Cherry Magic AKA 30-sai made Dotei Da to Mahotsukai ni Nareru rashii

Japan 2020

The sweetest fluffiest magical realism BL, packaged as a pinning office romance, very low heat (practically chaste) but the cutest. It’s truly great.

Cherry Magic Thailand

Thai 2024

A soft charming warm hug of a show about crushes and mind reading and self worth, with no-fuss execution from a consummate team and an OG lead pair proving why they remain eternal and deserve to grow up. Look, here’s the thing, Cherry Magic is a great Thai BL in its own right not comparing it to any other iteration. But even when I do compare (and I've seen all the Cherries and read the manga) it still stands. I personally like it slightly better than the Japanese live action, but I think that’s because I just really like Thai BL and I LOVE TayNew. Also all the kissing was both present and better than any other iteration. As it should be from Thailand.

I Feel You Linger in the Air

Thai 2023

IFYLITA is an exquisite BL, from filming techniques to narrative framework (much like Until We Meet Again). Steeped in history and family drama it edges into lakorn (but no as much as To Sir With Love and with way less scenery chewing). This is an elegant and classy BL... from Thailand which normally doesn't even try for classy. The main couple (both as a pair and individuals) were excellent, particularly Bright (Yai) whose eye-work acting style is a personal favorite of mine. Pity about the ending. Oh it wasn’t that sad but it wasn’t good either. This show could easily have earned a 10/10 from me except that it fumbled the… erm… balls in the final quarter. Argh. Whatever.

All about the ecstasy and the agony here.

Restart After Come Back Home AKA Risutato wa tadaima no ato de

Japan 2020

Atmospheric study in rural Japan meets complex family dynamics built on a romance framework of city boy meets country boy, grumpy/sunshine. It’s beautiful and icy sweet. Slow moving in places but ultimately worth the patience, low heat, low angst, and stunning.

Given

Japan 2021

Boy joins band, falls in love with other boy. The singing is terrible, fast forward through that but with the possible exception of the hair styles, this BL could have been made in 2015 and no one would be surprised. As such, it wasn’t ground breaking, but it didn’t disappoint either.

Make a Wish

Thai 2023

A doctor who can see the dead strikes a bargain with a wish-granting irreverent tree angel - naturally they fall in love (from Sammon: Manner of Death & Triage). Stars Fluke Natouch opposite not Ohm, but who cares because Fluke has chemistry with everybody. Once again the Thai afterlife is incredibly bureaucratic but I enjoyed the premise and the unfolding of the story (it’s not predictable but still satisfying and with nice little twist). I like that the doctor is just gay AF - fag hag bestie and all the swagger. The cast is excellent but the comedic stylings are a bit overblown and tonally off. It had sad parts and did make me cry but is ultimately happy with a great sex scene, good smiley kisses, and all the agency.

2 Moons The Ambassador AKA 2 Moons 3

Thai 2022

A Thai pulp that felt like it came out 5 yrs ago with many of the flaws inherent to that time and studio system, including manufactured angst and convoluted plot, but an ultimately sweet main couple that (as a pairing) feels a bit more modern and satisfying to watch than they started out. This will probably go down in history as one of the few BLs where I genuinely didn’t care about any of the side couples. All that said I find this show oddly appealing and rewatchable and I have no excuses for that.

I Want to See Only You AKA Kimi no Koto Dake Mite Itai

Japan 2022

This is a beautiful, well acted piece of cinema, about two boys who are opposite personalities and grew up together. Gifted and serious Sakura pines after outgoing eccentric manic pixie dream boy, Yuma. It is very pretty and this is the kind of atmospheric elegantly performed BL that only really comes from Japan (complete with dead fish kisses - what you though Korea invented them? oh no).

Triage

Thai 2022

BL does Groundhog Day featuring a doctor stuck in a time loop who must save a poor little rich boy from death by seducing the stuffing out of him, then PLOT TWIST, poor little rich boy must do the same for doctor! Unfortunately... stuffing keeps leaking. I thought the plot was engaging if a little redundant and occasionally exhausting. The pairs were all well done, low heat but with decent chemistry and the support characters were likeable (or unlikeable, as required). If anything, the romance arc detracted and distracted from the main plot, but that doesn't stop this from being a genuinely good show.

HONORABLE MENTION

Great Men Academy

Thai 2019

Bodyswap involving unicorns making a teenage girl into a boy makes this questionable as a BL (because, ya know, gender). But the fact remains that James is killer in the lead, and I (who do not like bodyswap) loved this damn show. Look, there is actual plot, hotties at boarding school, "bully the one you love" trope, some weird VR shit, very bad CGI, and yes, the boys end up together... whether they boys or not, so to speak.

Some of these shows may appear on a smaller streaming service, like WeTV, or they may be on a legal platform in your territory. I hope it goes without saying you should check there first.

(source)

This list updated Spring 2024, not responsible for cool stuff that went missing (or was added to a platform) after that date.

It's it last in a series the rest of which are:

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smittenskitten · 10 months

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RESTART AFTER COME BACK HOME (2020) starring, Furukawa Yuki & Ryusei Ryo

#restart after come back home #risutato wa tadaima no ato de #jdramaedit #ryusei ryo #furukawa yuki #filmedit #movieedit #worldcinemaedit #cinemapix #asianlgbtqdrama #moviegifs #filmgifs #jmovie #リスタートはただいまのあとで #risutatoedit #prangon gifs #i made this last year with the other restart set #i forgot this existed 😭😭

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my-rose-tinted-glasses · 5 months

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#Restart After Come Back Home #リスタートはただいまのあとで #Risutato wa tadaima no ato de #After the Restart #japanese film #rosygifs

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labmem002 · 3 years

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mitsuomi: wow, yamato, you're in a good shape..

*camera cuts to ryusei ryo, thin as a toothpick*

#the only downside of film adaptation is that yamato isn't buff like in manga #restart after come back home #risutato wa tadaima no ato de #jdrama #text

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bisexualrep · 3 years

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Restart After Come Back Home

https://www.ichihachisubs.com/restart-after-come-back-home

Hey anyone who likes wholesome and emotionally captivating films!

Just watched this and it is such a beautiful film about finding one’s place in the world and connecting with other people. It is beautiful in so many ways but the writing really captivated me. The way they show the lead characters falling in love is so simple and beautiful and it made me cry several times because... It’s so relatable in it’s simplicity and just wow. My heart is so warm and overflowing after watching this! I really recommend it because it makes you see and appreciate the beauty in the mundane.

You can watch it here with eng sub: https://www.ichihachisubs.com/restart-after-come-back-home

#Restart After Come Back Home #Risutato wa tadaima no ato de #lgbtfilm #if you watch it please come yell at me about it because !!!!!!#japanese drama #japanese film

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irregirl · 3 years

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Japanese BL pt. 2

Okey I already made the pt 1 you can check it HERE. This time it's not only live action but also drama that I've been watched so far🤗🤗

1. Life senjou no bokura

I made review bout this HERE

Bitch I'm crying😭😭no matter which part I'm ALWAYS CRYING😭😭

2. Sankaku mado no sotogawa wa yoru

Don't hope to get a romance on this live action😑😑I feel tricked

But don't worry there will be the anime and it'll be lovey dovey🥰🥰

3. Risutato wa tadaima no ato de

Both of them are my bias😍😍I'm lying if "I say I watch the live action cause the plot", while the plot is this HANDSOME💘💘in conclusion I watched because of them🤭🤭

4. Cherry Maho! 30-sai made Dotei Da to Mahotsukai ni Nareru rashii

BITCH I'm still angry cause I got nothing for kiss scene😠😠😤😤🤬🤬

4. Junjou

It's an old movie🎞🎞I only watch cause one of them is handsome :v (I'm sorry🙏🏼🙏🏼)

5. Be love

Idk if this will continue or not cause I still have cliffhanger in here~~🙃🙃

See you on another episode gays👻👻

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absolutebl · 1 year

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10 Great Slow Burn BLs

I was asked about great chemistry, slow burn, with lots of pining and yearning, and an HEA (of course). For slow burn there will be less high heat due to the style of narrative, so I am going with actor chemistry, as well as emotional and mental resonance, not necessarily physical chemistry. (Something like Bed Friends could be argued is high heat slow burn... which would be what? A rolling boil?)

Honestly, slow burn is pretty relative, so I'm going with romance pacing puts the kiss and togetherness at the back 1/3 (if not the very last episode). Rather than at the "normal" 2/3.

1. Light On Me (Korea 2021 Viki)

Korea does an elegant pastiche of traditional live action yaoi but all filming is cleverly deployed to bolster one of the most riveting love triangles ever put on screen… and I don’t like love triangles. The high school angst is strong with this one and it's certainly slow burn and there is some EPIC yearning drawn out over a longer than usual KBL. Full review.

2. My School President (Thai 2023 YouTube)

GMMTV gave us a classic high school set Thai BL with tropes like messy boys singing their feelings that made this one Love Sick for the modern age with all the gentle sweetness and pining ache, but none of the dated damaging tropes or issues. Yes, we’ve seen it all before, but I still ADORE this. And there is a lot to be said for the classics being executed perfectly. Who let my BL be this wholesome and funny? Possibly too slow burn for some, we wait many eps for that pay out, and Tin's pining is NOT quiet, but it defined dorky and earnest.

3. Old Fashion Cupcake (Japan 2022 Viki)

It's hard to call such a short show slow burn, but it is. There are many episodes spent watching Togawa just HUNGER for Nozue and try to court him by feeding. This is about a younger man with a long cherished crush on his boss (ten years older and going through a mid life crisis) who decides to save and seduce said boss with pancakes. It’s wholesome, comforting, sexy, and a very necessary narrative about still having hope, interests, and openness to affection at any age. It’s a stunningly filmed late-in-life coming of age/queerness story packaged in a subtle critique of expectations around masculinity, love, and loneliness… and it’s beautiful. Full review.

4. My Ride (Thai 2022 Gaga)

Thai BL grew up with this pulp (the first ever to make my end of year top 10). It’s a truly lovely and special little show featuring the extremely rare pairing of sunshine/sunshine (AKA a cinnamon roll couple) plus mature explorations of relationships using one of the softest, sweetest and most innocent friends to lovers vehicles. Kindly, overworked doctor meets broken-hearted motorcycle taxi driver in an “other side of the tracks” slow burn romance. Even though we see them meet, we also see one of them fall in love, step back, and PINE for olympic gold. With honest queer rep that adds to, but doesn’t impede, the story, and genuine conversation about the nature of class, wealth, and classism, not to mention communication, honesty, and respect for boundaries, you can’t go wrong with this show. Full review.

5. Cherry Magic (Japan 2020 fan sub)

AKA 30 Years of Virginity Can Make You a Wizard AKA 30-sai made Dotei Da to Mahotsukai ni Nareru rashii AKA Cheri Maho

The sweetest fluffiest magical realism BL, packaged as a pinning office romance, very low heat (practically chaste) but the cutest. It’s truly great. Don't expect kisses tho.

6. Wish You: Your Melody in My Heart (Korea 2020 Viki)

7. About Youth (Taiwan 2022 Gaga)

A truly lovely little coming of age high school BL with a classic YA low drama but high angst and an earnest depth. I didn’t even mind the singing, and that’s saying a lot. A weak seme/uke dynamic but tons of BL tropes (both rare in a high school setting but common for Taiwan) makes this one feel both sweet and colored by an almost real world authenticity and grit. Full review here.

8. The Tasty Florida (Korea 2021 Viki)

Another one where it's hard to describe as slow burn because it's so short, but there is certainly that feel and it's def got the pining. Not really a love triangle featuring the prettiest men ever to be grouped together outside of K-pop, honestly the visuals are ridiculous, there’s a story, it has to do with food, whatever, they so pretty.

9. See You After Quarantine? (Taiwan 2021 Viki)

This under appreciated gem is Taiwan’s answer to Gameboys and is just as charming and adorable yet still as quintessentially Taiwanese as one might hope. It features a Japanese love interest and the cutest most confused disaster gay. Slow burn because the two have almost no actual screen time together and yet manage some truly amazing chemistry. How does Taiwan do it?

10. Restart After Come Back Home (Japan 2020 Gaga)

AKA Risutato wa tadaima no ato de

Others?

A Tale of a Thousand Stars

Step By Step

Our Dining Table

Where Your Eyes Linger

Choco Milk Shake

Love Class

DNA Says Love You

My Only 12%

Dear Doctor I’m Coming for Soul

2nd part of the question:

Who does it best? Shows, actors, countries?

COUNTRIES

I have said it before and I will say it again, no one does thirst like Japan. I think however, Korea is also very good at pining and yearning. So for "countries" those would be my top picks. But most BL producers have some examples, it's just that Thailand, Taiwan, and the Philippines tend to pay out the yearning more quickly (see something like 2 Moons Ambassador for an example of this kind of pacing).

Japan and Korea will make you wait for it. For Thailand you usually have to rely on the high school stuff. 21 Days Theory and Love Sick are both also slow burn.

ACTORS (characters)

I do have a post about great piners, several in fact.

(from @crowie ask)

These top 10 picks are based on my personal definition of slow burn and pining, yours may differ.

Post updated June 2023 and only contains BL that has completed its run. Not responsible for epic pining or fab slow burn BL that comes after that date.

Please feel free to comment or repost with additions! Share the love... slow though it may be.

(source)

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my-rose-tinted-glasses · 5 months

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I wonder how many people in the world love themselves. I feel as though I've been stuck in a long, endless tunnel.

#Restart After Come Back Home #リスタートはただいまのあとで #Risutato wa tadaima no ato de #After the Restart #japanese film #rosygifs

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smittenskitten · 1 year

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RESTART AFTER COME BACK HOME (2020) dir. Inoue Ryuta

#restart after come back home #risutato wa tadaima no ato de #jdramaedit #moviegifs #filmgifs #cinemapix #userbbelcher #worldcinemaedit #asianlgbtqdrama #filmedit #movieedit #furukawa yuki #ryusei ryo #jmovie #リスタートはただいまのあとで #risutatoedit #prangon gifs

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absolutebl · 2 years

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10 BEST Low Heat BLs - Soft & Sweet (Safe to Watch with Parents)

Not sure I am the right one to answer since I'm the opposite of a prude but I'll give it my best shot. Please keep in mind that these are romances, so there will be at least a kiss (in most of them), I'm thinking Disney level, so they might also be okay for kids, but as I always say with kids, you know your kid best, you have to judge what they are okay to watch.

1. Cherry Magic

AKA 30 Years of Virginity Can Make You a Wizard AKA 30-sai made Dotei Da to Mahotsukai ni Nareru rashii AKA Cheri Maho

Japan 2020 - CrunchyRoll or Fan Subbed

The sweetest fluffiest magical realism BL, packaged as a pinning office romance, very low heat (practically chaste) but the cutest. It’s truly great. It’s not in my top 10 of all time list simply because the heat level is too low for me, personally.

No kisses for the leads, side couple kiss is v dead fish.

2. Light On Me

Korea 2021 - Viki

Korea does an elegant pastiche of traditional live action yaoi but all tropes are cleverly deployed to bolster one of the most riveting love triangles ever put on screen… and I don’t like love triangles. LonM strategically tailors classic BL tropes to 2 different semes resulting in pristine pacing, plot, and character development, explicitly serving narrative a-not just to tick boxes. LoM is a master class in this technique. (If you write fanfic or romance you should study this show.) Full review.

Very low heat, Korea in peak chaste form (pre their 2022 “oh, boys can kiss” epiphany). But there is dildo humor.

3. My Love Mix Up

AKA Vanishing My First Love AKA Kieta Hatsukoi

Japan 2021 - Viki

Completely adorable absolute chaos bi disaster muffin falls accidentally and completely in love with his classmate, hijinx and friendship result. What’s great about this BL is that it deals with things like homophobia, asexuality, and one sided affection in an extremely gentle and palatable way. Perhaps sometimes too subtle, but I believe this is a great show for younger audiences, particularly if you want to spark conversations about identity, sexuality, authority, truthfulness, and consent. Oh and it’s funny.

No kissing at all.

4. Seven Days: Monday-Thursday & Friday-Sunday

Japan 2015 - grey

The leads have excellent chemistry although it’s low heat there’s still some really cute mutual kisses.

5. Wish You: Your Melody in My Heart (movie)

Korea 2020 - Viki

Set in the music industry featuring a talented singer and the pianist who falls in love with him (and his music), subtle and achingly adorable. High production, low heat, short run, very tame, and Korea, so more of a western style. It’s not the most logical story though. No coming out, exists in the “Korean BL bubble universe” where everything is just fine and dandy with the gays.

Kisses but they tame and no sexy.

6. He’s Coming To Me

Thailand 2019 - YouTube

Boy and ghost boy fall in love, must solve ghost’s murder. Peak pining but also pretty tame, features my favorite sweet but important coming out sequence. The third in my precious triumvirate of unbeatable Thai BLs, that are only nominally BL because the story, acting, and production values are so good. (Together with UWMA & 1k*).

One (maybe two) soft romantic kisses. Nothing else possible.

7. Restart After Come Back Home

AKA Risutato wa tadaima no ato de

Japan 2020 - grey

Low heat, low angst, very pretty.

8. My Ride

Thailand 2022 - GaGa

Thai BL grew up with this pulp - a truly lovely and special little show featuring the extremely rare pairing of sunshine/sunshine AKA a cinnamon roll couple. Mature explorations of relationships using one of the softest, sweetest and most innocent friends to lovers vehicles. Kindly, overworked doctor meets broken-hearted motorcycle taxi driver in an “other side of the tracks” slow burn romance. The support cast is excellent, making for great friendship groups and family dynamics. With honest queer rep that adds to, but doesn’t impede the story, and genuine conversation about the nature of class, wealth, and classism, not to mention communication, honesty, and respect for boundaries, you can’t go wrong with this show. In other news, I am a sucker for a single dimple. Full review.

One sweet kiss at the end.

9. Mr. Unlucky Can Only Kiss

AKA Mr. Unlucky Has No Choice but to Kiss! AKA Fukou-kun wa Kiss Suru Shikanai!

Japan 2022 - Viki & GaGa & indie subbed

Mr Chronically Unlucky (another adorable chaos muffin) and Mr Always Lucky end up dating after they meet at uni orientation. It’s JAPAN yet they kissed in the first episode. What freaky alt-reality did I enter into? That’s all they kiss tho, over which I was a touch disappointed. Still I spent far too much of my time with this show biting my knuckles and squealing “THEY’RE SO CUTE!” It is very slapstick Japanese style comedic (light) BL reminds me of Cherry Magic. So if you like that style of BL you’ll adore this show.

Amusing story: I paused mid the most tooth-achingly adorable first date in the entire universe and Viki was like “something missing?” and I was like “MY HEART YOU BASTARDS”

One kiss beginning and some shirtless lust.

10. What Did You Eat Yesterday

AKA Kinou Nani Tabeta?

Japan 2019 - grey

A not really BL about middle-aged gay couple who live together, one of whom loves to cook and the other who loves to eat. That’s it. That’s all that happens. There’s a bit of coming out drama, but hardly really drama. It’s all very repressed but also incredibly restful and calming. Like classical music.

No kisses, some casual domestic affection.

Other Options

A Tale of Thousand Stars (Disney style ultra romantic kissing, implied sex)

La Cuisine (couple soft kisses at end)

Silhouette of Your Voice AKA Hidamari ga Kikoeru AKA I Hear the Sunspot

Oh Boarding House (kisses are perhaps too good)

Great Men Academy (GREAT but not BL)

2 Moons original (boring)

His the series (boring)

First Love Again (multiple kisses)

Ingredients (emotional support grocery store commercial)

Love Class (that plot)

Tinted With You (historical)

Nobleman Ryu’s Wedding (historical)

Behind Cut (confusing)

Old Fashion Cupcake (but that ONE kiss is a DOOZIE, there’s a lot of thirst in this one)

Others That are (technically) Lower Heat but I’m not sure I’d rec for other reasons

HIStory My Hero (odd)

My Dear Loser: Edge of 17 (side couple)

The Untamed (censored bromance, violence)

Word of Honor (censored bromance, violence)

My Esports Genius Brother (China is so weird around censorship)

Friend Forever (sigh, it could have been good)

Absolute BL 1 & 2 (parody, not a story)

DNA Says Love You (very complex, slow start)

Bad Buddy (bully, forced outing)

Bite Me (boring af)

Love Sick (side character issues also v long)

Nitiman (poor ending)

Given (terrible singing)

SOTUS (bully)

2gether (I have issues with Green)

Mr Heart (stalker)

Color Rush (suicide)

Where Your Eyes Linger (whipping boy)

Puppy Honey (side couple)

There is A LOT of low heat stuff. It’s way more common than high heat.

More on Japan’s cinematic style here.

6. Cherry Blossoms After Winter

Korea took on early Japanese sweet yaoi but gave it their signature softness and precise production style with a STUNNING color palette (beautiful pastels and sun-saturated over-exposure), manga framing style, some traditional BL character archetypes, that tiny edge of bullying roughness and out-of-control seme, plus FINALLY a palatable take on the stepbrothers trope and it was, in a word, classic. Sophisticated and understated CBAW is not slow, it’s just subtle.

This show is dream-like, as if the whole thing took place under cold water on a warm spring day, dappled sunlight slanting through trees above. Is there plot or peril? Not really. Do we care? Also, not really. Look, I can’t help it, I’m old school and so is this show. I grew up reading sweet yaoi, and this was THAT YAOI just on my screen. There’s no objectivity with me and CBAW. It’s a beautiful pastiche and I loved it for how it made me feel and what it reminded me of. It’s not flawless, but it is a wonderful experience. It’s like a Maxfield Parrish BL. Is the filming style serving story, I’m not sure, but it is serving nostalgia.

7. Color Rush

A unique paranormal twist elevates this classic high school drama into a pitch-perfect allegory for the queer coming out experience and one of the best BLs of all time (I will fight you on this).

It’s no accident that I chose so much Color Rush for my screen caps in the post on yaoi framing styles. It is SUCH a manga (yes I know, it’s Korean). The cuts from one shot to the next could actually just have stepped off the page. If Wes Anderson did BL it’s be something like this.

Of course the use of color is just phenomenal - the range of hoodies, and the different backgrounds. The marriage of simplistic wardrobe with simplistic setting is about precision not the mundane. How Yoo Han is using color to seduce AT ALL TIMES is intentional brutal as we are never to forget the threat this entails (our POV and this movie’s is entirely Yeon Woo). Color is the vehicle and the predator, the danger and the light, it is sexual awakening, it is being gay, it is embracing the monster within - right up to and including the color rush itself as something essentially orgasmic. I can tell you, purely on the basis of the fact that the manwha was in black and white, that this BL must be better that its source because it had color to use in its storytelling. Because it had color to play with. If that’s not the visual voice of cinematography telling me a tall tale, I don’t know what is.

I will never get over this show.

8. Semantic Error

Korea hit it entirely out of the Parks with Semantic Error by doing a university set BL featuring everything we expect from BL just done exactly right. It has Korea's signature quality executed perfectly, and added bonus good story, great pacing, stunning visuals, and fantastic chemistry. You cannot ask for more from a BL, let alone a KBL. And the film team was part of this.

Frankly I would have used screen caps from Semantic Error as much as Color Rush in that post on yaoi framing techniques, but I wrote that post too long ago. This BL owes more to its Japanese roots than any other Korean BL I’ve seen: story, characters, and filming style. That image above with the backlit windows and the empty classroom? Could have popped out of Takumi or Boys Love (would have been more blue toned though), not just classic BL but the beginning of BL.

This is another KBL one where the use of color, particularly contrast, is incredibly strong. In this one cool vs warm tones are tools for characterization. (Usually they are used for mood, but not really in this show.) JaeYoung is usually wearing warm tones or shot in warm lighting and with warm backgrounds (reds, oranges, yellows), except when he enters SangWoo’s space. SangWoo is the opposite, almost always in cool tones and lighting (greens, blues, purples). So we get this fire and ice contrast between the two of them, with the lighting playing up who is “winning” the argument or the intimacy levels by being either warm or cool (or transitioning between them in the course of the shot). When JaeYoung manages to crumble SangWoo’s defensives, it gets warmer, when SangWoo is in charge of the narrative drive, it gets cooler. It’s very clever.

I think Korea is particularly good that this tonal character association and mood enhancement because they use it in high concept Kpop MVs all the time.

9. Cutie Pie

Very high production and a lot of visual references to yaoi gave this show a whiff of Japan but ultimately it stayed firmly in Thailand’s BL camp veering from absurd to appealing to annoying and then back to absurd again. If you can roll with the arranged marriage conceit and very lifestyle D/s relationships, the chemistry is spot on even if the plot is naff and sappy and driven by miscommunication. Watch this one for the pretty, give it a pass on depth.

But if it has so little story for the cinematography to support, why did I pick it?

I like the setting chosen (it’s no accent this is top of my list of best Architecture in BL) but I also love the clean filming style, it’s very very manga for Thailand. Cheewin does this well sometimes (see alos SCOY). Not really the best BL by any stretch of the imagination, but there is something candy bright about this one that really harkens to reading yaoi, and Thailand just doesn't do that very often. This is why I chose it.

Wardrobe, setting, and color choices are all used to really highlight the differences between the characters in terms of age and life stage. Also Zee has really learned how to push his physicality since Why Ru U? so that his body positioning in particular just looks EXACTLY like the seme of some 2000s yaoi.

10. Until We Meet Again

UWMA is a work of narrative genius, and all the actors all turn in stellar performances, it is the best Thai BL from a storytelling perspective. It’s two interwoven narratives, present and past, of lovers who have been reincarnated in order to find each other again and forgive each other (and their families) for that past.

But this is a strange one to chose for this list, since the cinematography is workmanlike at best. There’s repeat cuts and other annoying tics, and general hallmarks of New’s style as a director (which is, quite frankly not particularly stylish). BUT, one of the fun things to watch for in this BL is how New contrasts central framing with peekaboo (AKA dirty) framing with regards to the two lead couples.

Korn & In, the past selves, are secretive, scared, and hiding everything. They are usually filmed with things dirtying the screen: walls, and other objects, so we get this voyeuristic feeling of always peeking around a corner at them, and seeing something we shouldn’t. The few times we see their intimacy fully framed it’s at night, staggered, and/or off center. This illustrates not just the secrecy but the instability of the relationship.

Dean & Pharm, the present selves, the camera treats as a representation, in part, of Dean having learned from his past not to hide who he loves. They are often filmed full figure, and centrally framed, full lighting, bold and direct, standing upright, holding hands, or kissing.

In other words, New is using framing techniques to highlight in a way the couples “outness,” the state of their relationship, is related to the outside world and also how they feel about it and themselves.

And there they are, my 10 picks.

Honorable Mention: Light on Me

The filming in this show was precision engineered. The frame was kept uncluttered, characters appeared exactly in the center, there was little visual noise, and the lighting was full on, even in night shots. To me this reflected the character of TaeKyung - honest and almost stilted in his mannerisms. I feel like the director filmed this series as if the show itself were TaeKyung: careful and clear and specific.

This may come off as one-note or simplistic to a casual viewer but it’s actually quite difficult to film something so precisely and still make it interesting to watch. It forced the viewer to focus almost entirely on the actor’s faces, their nuanced emotion, and their interpersonal relationships to the exclusion of all else. Lucky for us those actors served the lens beautifully.

There is literally NOTHING distracting about this directing style. It’s like the camera was a neutral white room, a well-lit gallery in which the narrative hung suspended for us all to stand and stare at in hushed silence.

I mention not so much because it serves up story, because it doesn’t, but because it is the opposite, it allows the story to serve itself.

All my stuff on the BL filming side of things:

Yaoi filming, staging & framing techniques

Favorite Uses of Metonymy In BL

BL Directors - Overview

Lighting

Diffuse point lighting

Backlighting & Silhouettes

Unidirectional focused lighting

Spotlight on romantic couple moments

That lens flare moment

Framing

Staggered couple framing

Linear cinematography + near perfect framing, in distance shots

Central Aperture Framing

Peekaboo Framing

Acting

Favorite Subtle Character Attributes

Ohm’s Acting

Gun's Acting

We Best Love: Seme/Uke & Sam Lin’s Acting Screen Presence (Charisma + Experience)

Saint’s Physicality

OffGun & The Evolution of Chemistry for a BL Pair

Why Nanon Korapat's Acting is FANTASTIC

Meta Post - All My Stuff on the BL Industry - Master Post talking about financing & production: This is a complication by request of all the posts and discussions this blog has hand on the BL industry as an industry, includes studios, production, country analysis, actor and fan behavior

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absolutebl · 2 years

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Hi fave bl encyclopedia ❤️

So my question is about Japanese bl, like I don’t understand it! Please help 😭

So I know japan is like the motherland of yaoi and they pretty much started it all, and they make some pretty graphic and explicit bls ( which is not my cup of tea tbh), but then they also have shows like cherry magic and keita and the most recent KEI X YAKU (I am watching this one rn, and I actually like it so very much) but for the life of me I can’t figure out why these shows are made with zero intimacy between the main couple, not even a simple innocent kiss?!

are these shows considered more mainstream? Are the yaoi only allowed in fandom space? And not in mainstream media?

Just why are these shows made the way they are?

Don’t get me wrong CM and KH are two of my absolute favorite bls of all times, but I still don’t get just… WHY?

Hi!

The Weeds of Japanese BL

So I am going to go off of this blog post on the history of Japanese BL and yaoi and only bother to repeat myself if strictly necessary.

Top 10 BLs Out of Japan - top 10 plus history of BL (part 1 in the series on the history of BL)

Otherwise there would be a lot of rehash.

So my question is about Japanese bl, like I don’t understand it. Please help!

So have you read the above post? Because if you haven’t reading that will at least give you some kind of foundation for your understandable confusion.

But part of most people’s misunderstanding over Japanese BL actually has to do with the nature of Japanese cinema.

Here’s the thing, the Japanese have a very specific taste to their cinema. They have a style and lens that they stick to and (with a few noted exceptions) they pretty much haven’t deviated since the 1950s.

In film style there’s atmospheric (cinematic and sweeping, think Kurosawa) vs live action manga (think cartoonish + sound effects, stylized framing and staging techniques meets slapstick).

In yaoi there’s light (sweet, clean, bright, airy) vs dark (erotic, serious, gritty, rough).

In the sexual sphere there's prudish & chaste vs kinky & explicit.

Everything seems to be bifurcated in Japan. Now, on a very few occasions they can tread the line between the lanes, and borrow bits and pieces from different approaches, but most of the time they stick to those lanes pretty cleanly.

I can’t figure out why these shows are made with zero intimacy between the main couple, not even a simple innocent kiss

Generally speaking, the shows that are very light very sweet and very bright, cartoony, with lots of slapstick elements will have little to no sexual contact at all: so Cherry, Mix Up, Ossan, Same Difference, Mr Unlucky, Our Dining Table to fall into this category.

They'll owe a lot more to Shōnen-ai (which is turn has a lot to do with Bildungsroman) which means it's more gentle and tends to be a journey of self discovery for the uke - undertaken by younger characters (or younger acting/seeming innocents), and thus (like YA) much less sexualized.

(I am not going to comment on KEI X YAKU since I didn’t watch it because it appears to be a bromance.)

are these shows considered more mainstream?

Sort of, it’s more that they’re just considered a different category. Like how USA draws a distinction between the amount of sexual content that is allowed in a sitcom versus a soap opera. Similar kinds of topics, frameworks, filming style, and target demographics dealt with, but expectations around nudity and sexuality are way different. Different air times and lengths too.

This doesn’t seem weird to me because I grew up with soaps vs sitcoms. But if I step outside of my upbringing, it’s odd right? The nature of the sexual content is so different, but they’re mostly both family dramas with a ton of romance. And then the “late night” (read sitcom timeslot) soaps came along kinda blending the two. Ah... the 90s.

Where was I?

Okay so, why are they different? Because Japan thinks of them differently.

Another thing to know about the Japanese film industry?

They take little to no interest in or guidance/feedback from the international market. They do not care. Their attitude, when something like Cherry Magic does well outside of Japan is... oh do the internationals like that one? How quaint. That’s special. Should we consider... distribution? A second season? *yawn* how tiresome.

Which is why a JBL will drop locally, get mad pirating and illegal subs and such, and then about half way through suddenly show up on a distribution platform like Viki or GaGa pretending it has always been there.

Can you sense my frustration? This is why backlist is so hard to get hold of too. But it KEEPS happening.

Like Japan just forgets about us.

Which is probubly because THEY DO.

Japan cares about their own internal market interest and style way way WAY more than any other BL producing country. (I would argue including Mainland China.)

Japan respects Japan’s taste.

PERIOD.

End of discussion.

Look at the HAIR.

I rest my case.

When I talk about the fact that Japan has an unchangingly firm point of view? This is what I mean.

Set your expectations based on what Japan has done in the past, because that is what they will do in the future.

You will never be disappointed. They will hold steadfast to their traditions, the good, the slapstick, and the kinky.

Are the yaoi only allowed in fandom space?

Cherry Magic I would call both mainstream, popular, and live action yaoi.

Plenty of yaoi of this type (and back in the day) has very little on page kissing (or anything else for that matter), either. There is a whole sub-genre of sweet, or even clean, yaoi. Which is not to say it didn’t piss me off that they couldn’t actually kiss in Cherry Magic. Especial with that elevator fake out and the dead fish kiss from the side dishes. Very disappointing.

Might be expense involved. Talent ain’t cheep in Japan, might be too costly to have them kiss.

Or they just being coy teases about it.

Basically they brats, and we in a non-con kink relationship where they promise but never deliver kisses in some kind of weird passive aggressive D/s dynamic. Also, VERY Japanese.

Oh shit, my dating trauma is showing.

Ignore that last bit.

Just why are these shows made the way they are? Don’t get me wrong CM and KH are two of my absolute favorite bls of all times, but I still don’t get just… WHY?

I know it is super frustrating. I would like it if they just put at least one kiss in there too.

Here’s the thing: I happen to like Japan’s lanes, even as I am frustrated by them. Because when they do it well, they are square root of it all.

Get it???

SQUARE root?

Because, ya know, no kisses = so square.

Okay I’m pushing it.

But also the other lane gives us kisses = great = MURDER DEATH MUTILATION!!!!

Oh, Japan.

Here’s some interesting stats on Japanese ‘s BL (or more properly LAY - live action yaoi) for you:

As of early 2022, there’s still only about 55 of them.

High heat erotic LAY & pinks: 21

Light cheerful LAY in which there is little to no kissing, or it’s very dead fishy: 21

LAY that managed to be very yaoi but actually strike a balance between the two: 12 (and I include all the Takumi-kuns in here and they seriously might not qualify because... Takumi)

I just did the count for this post and it’s wild how even the split was.

(I’m missing some and not all are really BL, but with a sample of only 50+ it’s not really statistically viable anyway).

If you want to really understand how Japan adapts yaoi you should delve into Love Stage!!:

Read the yaoi manga

Watch the anime

Watch the Japanese live action adaptation

Watch Thai BL adaptation

It’s a pretty informative experience. Tells you a lot about Japan’s relationship to the industry and genre that they started and how yaoi is treated differently in the different mediums.

But honestly, the answer to your question is gonna really frustrate you.

This is all just Japan being Japan, and it’s the way they approach BL. Because it’s the way Japan approaches cinema.

Because, in the end, even if we call it BL, Japan is always going to do LAY, and that is kind of its own creature. The starter to the sour dough, not the bread that results.

Because Japan is always going to pick their lanes and stick to 'em.

Having said that, here’s some LAY that actually manages to have all of the things we expect from BL including kisses!

Seven Days

Given

Life: Love on the Line

Restart After Come Back Home AKA Risutato wa tadaima no ato de

Utsukushii Kare AKA My Beautiful Man

That last one is absolutely amazing. See me lose my tiny mind over it and how it manages to be SO yaoi and SO Japanese and SO WONDERFUL despite everything. Or perhaps BECAUSE of everything.

Utsukushii Kare is a BL that actually no other country could make. It’s PURE uncut Japanese live action yaoi and it’s AMAZING partly because of that.

Mr. Unlucky (AKA Fukou-kun wa Kiss Suru Shikanai!) is an interesting test.

I, and many other aficionados of LAY, expect it to have no kissing. But it’s already odd in that it got its distribution sorted before it started airing. Like a goddamn adult. This is confusingly un-Japanese of it.

If Japan produces this as a slapstick comedy, in the vein of Kieta Hatsukoi (AKA My Love Mix Up), but it actually has decent kiss like Utsukushii Kare? It means Japan, whether it likes it or not, is finally being influenced by the popularity of Korean & Thai BL.

But if it doesn’t give good kiss, it means they are still sticking to their established traditions.

And this being Japan, my money is on the later.

Let’s see how much crow I eat in a month.