Asian BL - BL/Gay Dramas and movies 1980's to 2021

Old school Japan. Even crappier than the first movie.

Mini-mini-drama.

I'm actually not sure if this belongs on the list, at all. It's been listed with "LGBT" and similar tags, here and there--but the synopsis mentions nothing about it. Perhaps the MC swings both ways. When I feel motivated, I'll check to be sure.

One of the crappiest of the bunch of Japanese BLs based on mangas. It's your run-of-the-mill typical Japanese BL. Harmless, meaningless, kind of cute--and totally forgettable.

Short

In the middle-ground between a short and a full-lenght movie. Aboutish an hour.

I haven't watched this, so I base this on the synopsis;

I think this probably belongs on the list even if there is a sex change involved. (If he would identify as a woman but likes a guy--he would be straight = not BL.)
Because as far as I understand; the choice to change sexes is not really based on gender identity but a wish to get the guy he wants. (How fricking horrible is that?!) I.e. he's gay.
It depends on how one sees it and how the piece portrays it.

I won't watch this because I think that I might end up VERY upset and angry. This plotline is absolutely disgusting, whether it would end up being because the producers are extremely disrespectful towards the whole issue of being Transgender and transitioning--or whether it would be because I want to cry at the thought that anyone would be insane enough to change their gender physically in order to get a person they're in love with.

Short

This is so simple--just your basic, lightweight, by-the-book cliché BL manga (here in live action version)--but darn, is it fricking feelgood...
At times, quite hilarious--but mostly just... cute and puts a smile on your face. 

Add to that a  pretty nice production and decent acting--that wraps it up as one of the most endearing BLs of 2020. 

I can't rate it higher than this, since it's just TOO light weight to make an impact, but it's so sweet that I'm not bothered by its silliness and ridiculous innocence.

Short

Short

To be honest, all the Club Friday Installments are completely jumbled in my mind and I can't remember which ones I've seen and which ones I haven't. I've included the ones that supposedly have BL/Gay storylines according to tags on MDL.

This struck a chord with me, to an extent that very few pieces ever has done.
Even though I'm borderline compulsively objective, I just can't be with this one.

That feeling Yeon Woo gets whenever he sees color? I got a little piece of that when watching this. 

I won't call myself an artist, since I totally suck. But I've been glued to pencils, crayons, paints and pens since I was old enough to grab them. Losing my eyesight--losing the world and all the colors in it--would kill me. So the theme... Iget it. I truly, truly get it..
Also, I have sensory hypersensitivity, so I know that pleasure rush of awe.

But this drama has even more than the exceptionally unique story that it is on the surface. Put these guys and the way they experience their world and each other, in a deeper context.
Alienation, loneliness, "lack of color" in a metaphorical sense rather than actual--and the emotions evoked when finding someone who (or something that) normalizes it all. The high when discovering it--and the extreme pain of then losing it.
I truly get this part, too. 

There are profound thoughts and concepts handed out, but it's never written on the nose--it's subtle enough to avoid that trap. Some scenes are just exceptional. Like the one in school when Yoo Han is trying to convince Yeon Woo by talking about color theory and showing him the color chart. To be able to make such an innocent scene so sexually tense--one truly is a hell of a script writer... The effect is awesome, and shows us just how tempted and mesmerized Yeon Woo really is. 

The drama is so solid, so well told, and so well acted, that it became an instant fav of mine--even though I usually prefer to keep away from anything that even slightly resembles fantasy-themes.
Sure, it has a few flaws. Sometimes, the editing is a bit stupid and some parts of the plot are left hanging--but overall, this is a great, great, great little piece of art. 

Short

Short

Short

Well... It's a commercial spot. There is no point, no story, no time. It couldn't possibly be GOOD... Take it for what it is; fanservice with Off & Gun. Who are always cute.

Haven't finished this one, since it was too heavy for my current mood... 

I'd been putting it off for years--something I now regret. I tend to do that--create preconceptions that I then hold for true until I give it a chance and realize that I once again judged a book by it's cover. (Not literally, but you know...)

It's a super cheap production--but it doesn't matter, because this is a STORY.
It's realistic, depressing, sad, thought-provoking and a work that puts the plastic BL in another perspective. I love the crappy, ditzy junk, too. But I don't for a second forget that it's fantasies.

There are real people (a shitton of them--5-15 % of the world's population, you know...) behind our obsession and ships. The fandom often forgets to support the real people and their struggle to achieve equal rights and respect. OUR, actually. I belong to the "letter group", I'm bi, but I'm lucky enough to be born in a country where equal rights (ALL rights, including marriage, adoption and everything else) for LGBTQ people are written in stone and any discrimination is heavily scorned upon by most of society. 

Most aren't so lucky. And this is a fact we need to remember, oppose and fight for. Otherwise our fangirling is vile hypocrisy of the worst kind.

If you're a fan of heavier, REAL stories; do not miss. (Even though I haven't finished it, I can't imagine that it would turn less good further on.)

Ahh... This sucks. Lol. But there is a tiny portion of BL. 

Decent drama series of the slightly angstier and less cutesy kind. Kind of... boring. Don't get me wrong, it's definitely worth a watch--I just mean that the storyline isn't exactly all that exciting. It's mellow, with a melancholy feel to it, most of the way through. 

The plot and execution is a bit uneven but the acting is good. The play with colours as a theme--something you will actually see visually, if you pay attention to colours of clothing etc, as well as in the technical work with lighting etc.--is an interesting and artistic touch. I thought about it when watching, but thought it might just be me over-interpreting, but then I saw a review that pointed out exactly the same thing, so I guess I wasn't reaching. :)
The colours are more than just a prop, they paint the guys and their personalities, moods and states of mind. Observe how they change with time...

Has some really nice smooching and bed scenes, too. (Oh, let's see if you notice a thing which some other critics seem to have missed. Someone complained about that the bedroom chemistry between the leads wasn't even close to as good as the one between them and their respective BFs--but take a close look at the longest and most graphic bed scene.... I would, perhaps have agreed about the chemistry thing, but then I noticed something which I missed at first, but saw when playing back. You see--BF and Crush look similar enough to make you to miss out on something visually subtle in this scene, unless paying attention.)

Watch the specials as well. They give closure to the story.

Huge plus for a GREAT OST and score. I'm definitely not one for sleazy ballads and love songs--but when it's good, it's good. I tend to listen to all kinds of crap as long as it's from an anime/drama/movie I like, because I associate it with them. But in some cases, the music is actually really good. This is one of them. Max Lin's songs from the OST are just really, really beautiful.

A bunch of super-short specials for the drama "Dark Blue and Moonlight". Bad such, but very satisfying since they gave closure. (Ambiguously presented but still clear, IMO.)

The third, latest (2019) and probably last, installment in the story of Pete and Kao--this season focusing almost exclusively on them + the second BL couple who are made up from characters we met in the previous installment. A small straight storyline is present, very much an excuse to make everyone happy, but it's okay and is connected to one of the BL couples, in a reasonable and logical way. 

One's gotta' love Pete and Kao, they're so cute. This season has a lot of drama but sweetness tastes even better after bitter, right. The side couple's story is quite nice, too. And both couples have good chemistry and acting skills.

For those craving smooching and skinship, this one has more of that, although still too little for my taste :P

Upcoming 2021.

I wasn't very impressed with the latest Korean BL mini-dramas, but this was by far better than the higher rated "To My Star". 

The synopsis made me suspicious, since i expected something shallow "idoly", but it wasn't like that at all. A simple and straight-forward little love story that was quite adorable. 

It's lacking in depth, and that's definitely because of the short runtime, but it makes up for it decently, with a beautiful score and OST, good acting and a nice production with many beautiful scenes and atmosphere. 

Nothing I'll remember for a long time--but definitely not a waste of time.

The biggest disappointment in a long time... I was really looking forward to this, especially since I'm a big fan of Ohm, but this was just... pretty bad. It could have been great if it would've played out as the coming-of-age thing that it seemed to start out as. But it just went completely off-kilter and ended in a train wreck. 

Editing was a mess, the writing was crazy strange and the whole thing just felt moronic. I get what the director wanted to say, but it just didn't work. Too bad, because he does have a knack for creating atmosphere and beautiful scenes.  I wasn't all that bothered by the thing I suspect most BL-fans would oppose. I'm bothered by the uncomfortable way it was resolved. I won't spoil, watch it for yourself. 

I also dislike the way the movie handles a very serious topic--which I have never heard of, but assume is anchored in reality; some kind of former school run "re-education" for Thai gay kids. Whether it has been very regional and sporadic--or whether it has been done in a bigger scale--I have no idea about, but I would definitely have wanted to know more about it. But the movie doesn't go into any detail at all and just touches the subject in a shallow way, which feels offensive. It would be very important to direct attention to something that awful, but if done--it needs to be done a hell of a lot better than this.

Pluses; The acting. Great such from pretty much everyone. Some scenes were beautiful in execution and visuals. 

And... on a personal nostalgia-note; I was a kid in the 90s, albeit much younger than the guys in the movie, so I do get some flashbacks to my childhood. Clothes, hair-dos... And, of course, the 3D-pictures... Yay! (Natually, I had to pause the movie in the scene where they show the particular picture that is poignant to the story--to see what the picture showed. I won't spoil. Look for yourselves. If you can see 3D-pics, that is.)

Haven't watched these series, so I can't vouch for certain that they, indeed, belong on this list. If there are no characters who identify as male and likes guys, it doesn't belong here. (If one identifies as female and likes guys--one is straight, no matter what parts may still be attached.)

Sequel season for "Diary of Tootsies". See S1 for comment.

Mini-drama

Short

Short

Based on the lovely manga "Hana wa Saku Ka?" by mangaka Hidaka Shoko (another of my fav mangakas in the department of tender and simple works). A mellow, gentle little story--and I think the movie managed to adapt the story and the atmosphere of the original work, very well. 

Unfortunately, it would have needed a longer runtime in order to flesh out the story and make it less shallow. In the manga, the relationship develops slow and much softer than here--where it becomes a little bit too haphazard and makes the growth of feelings between the guys, feel too rushed.

The chemistry between the leads doesn't work for me and that's due to Amano Kousei's non-convincing acting. He does his best and he's not a crappy actor, the problem is that he doesn't catch Sakuragi's feelings for Youichi and feels awkward in their interactions, even if Watanabe Tsurugi works his ass off trying to meet him halfway. (And in case you haven't read the manga and find Watanabe's acting stiff; it's not Watanabe himself, it's his character. He makes a good portrayal of Youichi, who in IRL likely would have been diagnosed with mild autism.)

But all in all--this is still a sweet little story, even if it doesn't quite manage to stand on its own. It's likely more rewarding for someone who has read the manga.

Short, which is part of the compilations "Gay Out Soon".

Short

A very long short--or a very short full-lenght movie, depending on how you see it.

This... is definitely not for everyone. I, for one, went ballistic when I heard the news about it being filmed. I just couldn't believe that someone would choose THIS title to adapt into a live action. The manga is already in itself provocative and far from an easy-chew. Nakamura Asumiko is one of the greatest mangakas ever, IMO, but her art is not for everyone and some of her stories are heavy and dark enough to make many BL fans shy away. 

This one is one of her darkest, and pretty much one that one either loves--or hates. It takes effort to understand these twisted characters and their screwed-up, but profound relationship. They're not likable at all, there is nothing cute about their love, their bond is much stranger than that. So to turn it into a movie was a bold move.

It turned out good. And bad. Some parts were exceptionally well adapted and it catches the dark and menacing beauty of the original story, but other parts didn't work. Some things have been beautified, thus losing much of the original complexity in their relationship dynamics. Also, some balance is lost between dark and light, making the full picture somewhat crooked and haphazard. 

But I still love this dramatization of a great manga, because of the parts that truly captures the story--and because there are far too few dark fairy-tales in the assortment of BL.

Short of the long kind. (52 minutes.)

Oh, God. Where do I even start? 

The reviews for this first of the "En of Love" trilogy of mini dramas--were a slaughter-house. But I'll watch (almost) anything once. If for nothing else--at least to be able to trash it. I mean--it couldn't be QUITE that bad?

It was.

First cringe; A crazy, squealing fan going bonkers in an (utterly uninteresting) video rant. I don't want to see it in a shitload of dramas. (Which we do.) Second cringe; The intro song. (The whole OST is awful.) And thus began the major cringe-feast. 

Keywords; 

Cheesy. As in drowning in a swimming pool-sized fondue pot level of cheesy.
Far-fetched. As in--the assigned bottom (sigh), even giving in to the out-of-nowhere courting, was about as believable as Kim Jong-Un's unicorns.
Win. (In the role of Gun.) Who casted this guy?! He's about as good an actor as a some poor kid assigned to play a tree in a school play. Stiff, flat, monotone and (I'm sorry;) came off as more than a little bit... intellectually challenged. Both the character and the actor. And (if to be even more mean;) he's not fit for the role of a supposedly super-hot uni idol that people will walk over corpses to date. I actually LIKE non-gorgeous leads, but it just becomes weird when a whole school shrieks and faints over a really plain, clumsy, dorky dude who just screams "Forrest Gump".

Techs and production were fair. Acting from everyone else, varied between "uhh" and "totally okay". Folk (Bar) has promise, with a bit more experience. He's definitely the one redeeming factor of this crap.

But overall, this was just awful. A corny, sleazy, syrupy, illogical mess.

However--I don't hand out "1" ratings, unless it's an absolute catastrophe of epic levels. The extremes of "1" and "10" should be very sparsely used, IMO. A "4" is fair, taking everything into consideration. I.e.--significantly below average.

Second in the "En of Love" trilogy of mini-dramas, released back-to-back.

Third and last in the "En of Love" trilogy of mini-dramas, released back-to-back.

Short

This is one of those flicks that transcend any label of "BL" or "LGBTQ" or alike, even when it's such a big part of the plot and themes. It's just a movie, just a story, where sexual orientations aren't the main point, even when being the center of attention. That's a very subtle, but pretty hard, treshold to climb. The focus is instead on the emotions, in this mess of a love triangle. 

The story in itself, is nothing new. (Though, perhaps the directions in the triangle, aren't the most common ones.) What's interesting here, are the dynamics and intricate bonds between the three. Which are presented, and portrayed, in an excellent way by the director and the actors. 

I've revised my opinion about most of the BL/Gay themed movies and dramas I used to love back in the days when the assortment was sparse and I was less of a connaisseur (lol), but this is one of few that I haven't downrated with time. 

It's a deep, beautiful little piece, told in a sensitive and poetic way, not just storywise--but also in music, visuals and by solid directorial work. 

It's not just a good gay themed movie. It's a good movie.
That's a pretty rare thing to be able to say about the majority of flicks and dramas on this list.

Short

Long short/short full-lenght. (A bit over one hour long.)

Short with heavy themes, featuring Gun.

Yet another dramatization of one of Chinese BL author Chai Ji Dan's novels. This is bad, especially so in comparison with the adaptations of her other novels; "Addicted" (which is really good) and "Advance Bravely" (which is a very good production.)

Firstly--the extreme revision of the story is a downer. The novel is absolutely insane, (but aren't all her novels, though...) but here it's very much toned down and modified--probably due to the over-the-top setting in the original novel, with snake breeders, mobsters and huge ass plot parts with massive operations of reptile thefts en masse and whatnot... It would have made for a much trickier production to pull off. So it's understandable from a practical POV.

But when scratching the whole snake breeder thing, which the whole novel revolves around--not much is left. Just a moron with a thick skull, the A-hole he gets involved with, and their stupid love story. If the original storyline had been present--"stupid" would have been fine. Because the insanity would have justified everything. Without the world of breeding of venomous crawlers--this just becomes uninteresting and generic and the only insanity left is just odd and silly, rather than insane.

No one in their right mind would call Chai Ji-Dan's stories GOOD, but we like her stuff exactly because they are crazy. (And because of the--often gross, but always eye-popping--smut.)

In addition to cutting out almost all slithering things--this is a really cheap and really crappy production.

Note; The novel has different names depending on which fan translation you read, and it goes for the drama as well. It's often called "Counterattack".

Special for the drama "Falling in Love With a Rival". (Sometimes called "Counterattack".)

Another "long short". Aboutish an hour long.

Not BL but gay theme (which is just a part of the much bigger picture), not light, not cute.
This is cinematic art at its best, in case you want to watch some true quality film-making.

LBGTQ Parenthood.

A rather good flick with some good acting, that highlights an issue that should be a given but unfortunately isn't. Sweet, heart-warming and just feel-good.

This is not even close to as good as some claim it is. It's barely mediocre.

The premise could've been nice and the creators make an effort to bring a decent idea, to life, but it just doesn't work. The production is absolutely horrible in quality--it doesn't get more low-budget than this. And it seriously impairs the end result. Add to that quite a few random and unnecessary scenes (i.e. = the result of a messy and badly planned script) and haphazard pacing which makes for a bumpy ride. 

The actors try their best, but don't quite reach the goal--which is probably due to bad directing. 

Ahh... it's just a really, really sloppy flick--to the degree where the story itself becomes non-enjoyable.