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BL Series Recommendations

Warning! This article may contain spoilers and content, inappropriate for children…or may not contain. Who am I kidding, get the children away from the screen.

I have been watching BL dramas for a while now, but since I dislike melodrama, it’s pretty hard to pick up shows to watch. So, I’ve decided to make the list of recommendations of the BL series with interesting stories, aimed for those, who want to see characters dealing with problems beside sole relationship development.

Revenged Love

While I’m not the biggest fan of romance and premise of RL isn’t exactly my cup of tea, my inner voice insisted that I should at least give this show a try. And despite the initial skepticism, RL turned out to be very nice surprise. It starts like a light-hearted comedy with some action and drama elements and turns into full-blown mix of drama and melodrama somewhere halfway through. What I really liked about RL is its memorable cast of characters (one of those rare shows, where both main and second couple are equally interesting) and the fact, that show doesn’t concentrate on the relationships only. RL shows, that characters actually have a life outside the relationship, and does a great job giving them solid development during the course of the story. For me, the weakest part of the show were episodes from 14 to 18, where Chi Cheng’s ex shows up and the melodramatic subplot takes over. It isn’t that bad, just no better than at any other average melodrama, with characters suddenly acting like an idiots and jumping to conclusions. But after a certain really sad plot-twist show gets better again and remains that way until the finale. Overall, RL is high-quality series with great acting, beautiful soundtrack, many memorable scenes and almost without pacing problems, which is very pleasant to watch. Even if romance isn’t your genre, I highly suggest giving RL a try.

Overall impression: 9 out of 10.

Amount of NSFW content: 3 out of 5 (few sex scenes and several instances of making out, everything is well-staged and pretty modest).

Dead Friend Forever

DFF immediately piqued my interest, since horror-themed BL stories are quite rare, let alone quality ones. DFF starts in the finest traditions of the slasher movies, deliberately gathering pretty much every trope, common for the genre. But after a few episodes focus shifts to the events of the past, and slasher backs away in favor of thriller, drama and tragedy. Core plot, while lacks in originality, filled with many interesting twists and keeps in suspense from the beginning to the end. Also, DFF has great soundtrack and very good acting. DFF has large cast of main characters, and, while only few of them have sympathetic traits, all of them are interesting to follow. The only serious con of the show is its ending, which looks like authors made two separate endings, couldn’t decide, which one is more fitting, and merged them together without much thinking. Personally, I prefer to stick with the time skip, simply ignoring the last-minute sudden plot twist right before the ending credits. Honestly, even if story is a tragedy, it doesn’t necessary mean that literally everyone should die. But, despite the inconsistent ending, I still suggest giving DFF a try, especially if you like quality claustrophobic thrillers, filled with paranoia and mutual suspicion, where present events are tied to the past tragedies.

Overall impression: 8,5 out of 10.

Amount of NSFW content: 4 out of 5 (couple of sex and making out scenes, while not as detailed as in 4 Minutes, still pretty explicit).

4 Minutes

First and foremost, if you came to watch this show for the romance, you’ll probably be disappointed. The core of the series is psychological thriller and drama with some detective and supernatural elements. While we have two interesting couples as main characters, their respective relationships are played in quite dramatic way. 4 Minutes brings up topics similar to DFF, where characters are forced to face the consequences of their past actions, which can’t be undone. And despite being on the lighter side of things compared to DFF, 4 Minutes is still dark and sometimes depressing show. Plot starts slow, but quickly picks up the pace, adding more pieces to the puzzle with each episode. Overall, 4 Minutes is very high-quality series with wonderful filming and acting and interesting plot, which managed to make me really emotionally invested. If you want quality engaging thriller, I highly recommend to try 4 Minutes out.

Overall impression: 9 out of 10.

Amount of NSFW content: 5 out of 5 (several sex scenes, all of them leave very little to imagination, one of them has Vivaldi’s “Winter” playing on the background, if I’m not mistaken).

Manner of Death

This show is a quality example of classic murder mystery in the small town, where everyone hides few skeletons in the closet. Story revolves around coroner and teacher, investigating the death of their common friend, whose case was swept under the rug by the local police. First half of the show is pure detective with plot moving at a leisurely pace, while second half shifts more towards action and melodrama. Plot is interesting to follow and have several good twists. To the pros of the show I would also like to add nice atmosphere of the small town, surrounded by the rugged nature, and very sympathetic main couple, who made me genuinely feel for them.

Overall impression: 8,5 out of 10.

Amount of NSFW content: 2 out of 5 (two making out scenes (one in episode 7 is especially good), few kisses and that’s that, also several disturbing topics arise as plot progresses, but everything is very toned down, and roughly falls under the 15+ rating).

Baker Boys

Including BB in my list can, probably, be considered cheating, since it’s not exactly a BL. While one of the main characters is openly gay and show itself sometimes walks into BL territory, there is no actual romantic subplot. BB makes heavy emphasis on the themes of friendship and mutual support, rather than romance, and while there are some bits of BL, they are played out mostly like either teasing or affectionate parody on genre’s clichés. But I simply couldn’t leave this show be, because it got me hooked and emotionally invested from the beginning till the end. BB is so far latest adaptation of the old manga called “Antique Bakery”, which I’ve read a long time ago, and while it was fairly interesting, I can’t say much about it. On the other hand, I’ve really enjoyed the Thai adaptation. While it generally stays faithful to the original, it makes everything brighter, bigger and better. BB is a mix of comedy, drama, slice of life, detective and psychological thriller. And BB manages to handle all of these genres surprisingly well. Show has memorable cast of characters and plenty of good dramatic, comedic and simply heartwarming moments, even the detective subplot is here not just for the sake of it. So, if you want to watch something relaxing and engaging at the same time, I highly recommend to give BB a chance.

Overall impression: 9 out of 10.

Amount of NSFW content: 0 out of 5 (as I said earlier it’s technically not a BL, there is some minor teasing, but no actual romantic subplot).

Note: for those, who is afraid of this adaptation, because they’ve included a female character into the main cast, don’t worry-she won’t drive a wedge between the main characters, and her one-sided crush on Weir is played entirely for laughs. She and her family are mostly here to keep the detective subplot afloat, and, personally, I find all three of them adorable.

The Sign

Sign is quality mix of action, detective, supernatural and melodrama. This show is one of those rare examples, where all elements of the show are handled either on good or at least decent level. For me the weakest part of the show was supernatural subplot, bits of story about mythology and the past lives are written very superficially and look like an easy way to get main characters together. If Sign was simple detective show with some melodrama, it wouldn’t have lost anything, really. But, even in the present state, Sign is very fun and enjoyable experience. Characters are bright and memorable, and dialogues are well-written, soundtrack is great and pacing doesn’t slow down. Detective plotline, while lacking any major twists, is very interesting to follow, and fighting scenes turned out very well technically executed.

Overall impression: 8 out of 10.

Amount of NSFW content: 3 out of 5 (few sex scenes and several instances of making out, everything is well-staged and mostly on the modest side).

KinnPorsche

First and foremost, if you want serious crime drama about mafia wars, you better search somewhere else. Plot in KP is barely outlined, is not on friendly terms with logic and remembers that’s it’s even there only in the last third of the show. But KP more than makes up for the lackluster story with wonderful filming, excellent acting, memorable cast of characters and one of the best soundtracks I’ve ever heard. This show is rather silly, but very enjoyable to watch. While melodrama prevails in KP, it is heavily watered down with comedy, action and drama. Speaking of comedy, there are plenty of moments, which are plain hilarious. KP is based on the novel by the same name, and BOC did a fantastic job adapting it. I won’t go much into details (want to write more detailed comparison later), but most of the changes in TV series were for the better, especially complete rewriting of the main couple. Still, while TV series are highly superior to the novel, there are some parts of the plot that make more sense in the novel. Also, to the slight cons of the show I would like to add the fact, that there are three main couples and not all of them are equally interesting. To be honest, for me, by the end of the series Vegas and Pete have completely outshined everything else, and they are the only couple in both TV and the novel, who actually made me genuinely care.

Overall impression: 8 out of 10.

Amount of NSFW content: 4 out of 5 (several sex scenes, many instances of making out, and, frankly, series are filled with eroticism to the brim, but, you know, while I’m not the biggest fan of ero-content, I can’t deny that KP TV series has best-staged NC-scenes I’ve seen so far).

Goddess Bless You from Death

To be honest, I can’t describe Goddess any other way, than “an ice cream truck overturned on my street”, because I love horror and I love detectives, and this show is wonderful mix of both. Story in Goddess is very interesting to follow, keeps the good pacing and doesn’t have any visible plot holes. Horror and supernatural elements are neatly interwoven into the narrative, some scenes are genuinely creepy and ghost of the woman, whose mouth is slit from ear to ear, stalking the main characters turned out very impressive. Goddess has well-written cast of characters, and couples in the show are both sympathetic and surprisingly mature. At least both couples manage to put their disagreements aside in the first third of the show and handle further issues maturely. If you want quality detective intertwined with occult horror, I highly recommend giving Goddess a chance.

Overall Impression: 9 out of 10.

Amount of NSFW content: 2 out of 5 (fair amount of kissing and hugging, implied sex, but nothing on screen).

Dare You to Death

DYtD is solid detective mixed with romance and slight comedy elements. This show resembles The Sign, devoid of supernatural elements. Even the main couple highly resembles one in The Sign in terms of both appearance and personalities. In DYtD we have two cops investigating the death of the university student, who, along with her friends, has quite a few skeletons in the closet. Frankly, I’m a sucker for the stories about unknown assailant killing off characters with guilty conscience one by one, and DytD is a decent example of such story. Main duo is very charismatic and investigation is interesting to follow. For those, who aren’t new to detective genre, there wouldn’t be much surprises, and last episode turned out somewhat anti-climatic, but still acting, story and pacing are on pretty high level. So, if you are looking for good detective, which is fun, easy and looks at one go, I recommend to try DytD out.

Overall Impression: 8 out of 10.

Amount of NSFW content: 2 out of 5 (several kissing and hugging scenes, implied sex, but nothing on screen).

Sammy’s Children’s Day

Surprisingly interesting series, which take place in the 1980s in the Kowloon Walled City. SCD mixes crime drama and melodrama with occasional comedy elements. This show does a great work recreating the atmosphere of 1980s. Filming and acting are wonderful, costumes and decorations are beautiful, and soundtrack is fascinating. While SCD leans heavily towards melodrama, story is quite engaging and manages to keep up the good pacing, skillfully alternating between light-hearted and dramatic moments, and characters are bright and memorable. The only serious con of SCD is its ending, or absence of thereof to be precise. SCD is based on the novel by the same name, and the first season covers only roughly one-third of the novel. So, let’s hope that we’ll see the rest of the novel adapted in the foreseeable future.

Overall Impression: 8,5 out of 10.

Amount of NSFW content: 2 out of 5 (few kissing scenes and one very brief sex scene, novel has more explicit stuff, but I'm currently judging only the first season of the TV show, which is pretty modest).

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