#bl pair

Just want to let you know that whenever I want to know about smth in the BL world I just run to your blog bcz of how well researched and detailed all of your posts are and how much knowledge you have on this stuff . So, here iz I again.

Anyway, what i wanna know is this : He Changxi and He Yanzhao got quite a lot of attention at Cannes right ? The fact that they got invited there together in the first place seems like a very big deal to me (and a whole lot of other people apparently). But I'm not really aware how this works for Chinese onscreen BL couples . I wouldn't be so surprised or curious if it were a Thai or a Japanese or even a Korean/Taiwanese onscreen couple . But since it's China , i really really wanna know your thoughts on this whole thing. Like is it a good thing? Is it a bad thing? Will they escape The Curse ?

Also, see, I'm well aware that everything these actors do on camera is intentional. They might be good friends but the PDA is definitely intentional for almost all of them and it's definitely fan service. So one other thing that has me curious is this : Did they really have to drive home the fact that they were invited together and appear so romantic ? Bcz to me it seemed like the interactions were intended to be perceived as romantic. I'm not delusional enough to believe that Xizhao are suddenly in love or smth. Yeah i do believe they are good friends at this point but yeah. I'm really curious about this part bcz I'm pretty sure the entire PDA was intentional to a point that they wanted people to view them as a duo at the least and I'm curious to know if that was smth they were obligated to do bcz they were invited together in the first place and if not then why did they do it? I heard somewhere that they are signed under the same company . So is this smth the company might be trying to do to promote them as a duo like the ABO Desire cast is doing rn? Bcz otherwise isn't it too risky to be so openly promoting the 'we are an onscreen couple in a BL' thing for Chinese actors ? Shouldn't they have tried to atleast be subtle about it ? Or just yk light PDA would have been okay too right for them to be promoted as a duo? But no, they went all in . And I'm so so sooooooo curious to know what might be happening behind-the-scenes.

Please let me know your thoughts on this entire thing. Thank you!!

Hum, interesting question.

He Changxi & He Yanzhao at Cannes 2026

He Changxi and He Yanzhao got quite a lot of attention at Cannes right?

Honestly that white cape/sash thing did He Changxi lots of favors online. Although everyone I saw chattering about them was basically all "I don't know who these boys are but they pretty and we like the cape... moving on."

So attention, but enough to garner global recognition? Not sure.

For those not in the know, the leads of Sammy’s Children’s Day, Chinese actors He Changxi and He Yanchao, walked the Cannes red carpet at Festival 79 this year (2026). They attended as Cinematographic Recommendation Ambassadors. That means: talent (usually from international markets, often Asia) invited by brands, platforms, or production houses "to promote and highlight specific genres or cross-border media."

I don't know who brought them in (I did try to find out) or why they were the pair chosen (10/10 I would have opted for Pond Phuwin if it was purely to push BL-ness) but these 2 are hot right now and did pre-sell 50k of that massive magazine shoot deal so... I guess they make some kind of sense for Cannes. (Never forget western world media is desperate for the Chinese market. DESPERATE. So this goes both ways.)

More importantly, the Hes (heh heh) signed a big brand endorsement with KATO-KATO (a wildly popular/viral indie Chinese cosmetics company). I don't know how much pull KATO has with the CCP, since they don't have a megacorp backing them, but ironically that's likely why it's KATO tapping a BL pair.

I wouldn't be surprised if CCP turns a blind eye for now to this endorsement, because using a BL pair is clearly an international market run by an indie Cbeauty brand. Cbeauty has been chasing the Kbeauty dragon for nearly a decade and if they can use BL to do it, they will (and the CCP will let them) since Cpop has spectacularly failed to be at all effective. A fine line is being walked though, those boys better not be "too BL" about it.

Like is it a good thing? Is it a bad thing?

In this case, I would say it's aggressively fine.

Right now, I don't think China is gonna fuss too much over them. Sammy's did not cause the sensation Revenged or even Desire did (or Addicted back in the day) inside China. I get the feeling it was more popular overseas and it being in Cantonese certainly impacts... well.. everything.

(Although there's been some interesting consequences for He Changxi already.)

Theoretically, this Cannes thing could actually work against them. Too much attention means you also attract the CCP's attention. Only one way to find out.

Will they escape The Curse?

What do you mean? They aren't gonna brand, that was never in the cards. So if you mean will they escape being a busted pair, they were/are only a pair for this show/promo circuit.

If you mean the "no 2nd season" curse. I don't think that Sammy's will get one. The Hong Kong/Cantonese aspect throws an element of unpredictability into the works. We are in new territory here for Chinese BL, but I still don't think a season 2 is at all likely.

Apart from everything else, China doesn't have a strong tradition of second seasons in any arena. I can think of only a few noted exceptions (Ten Miles of Peach Blossom and its derivatives, for example), but I'd argue that's v rare in Chinese media. Remakes and stolen IP repackages are way more likely than original works getting 2nd seasons.

Did they really have to drive home the fact that they were invited together and appear so romantic ? Bcz to me it seemed like the interactions were intended to be perceived as romantic.

I didn't watch a ton but just from their carpet (like in this video) it looks like your bog standard BL co-brand to me. There were some arms about the waist but that's about it. Pretty normal in a branded pair... less than Thailand, more than Japan.

I'm curious to know if that was smth they were obligated to do bcz they were invited together in the first place and if not then why did they do it?

I have no doubt it was heavily encouraged if not explicitly laid out. As a pair with sponsorship deals who were invited to this event as a pair, they are obligated to give the $$ what it wants and act the part of a co-brand. (I sometimes wonder if it's in the contract: "must put arm on shoulder or around waist at least 3x every 15 minutes, playing with partner's hair/clothing is an acceptable alternative but no more than once an hour, sign on dotted line.)

I heard somewhere that they are signed under the same company .

I believe so, very recently too, Eastone Entertainment. Part of the fuss with Pursuit of Jade is Changxi did that contract negotiated by his former agency. After he quit and joined Eastone, the new agency pulled together a BL in only a few months almost entirely from their stable (a very Korean approach).

So is this smth the company might be trying to do to promote them as a duo like the ABO Desire cast is doing rn?

Well, He Changxi can SING sing. Like... he very good, but he's been super focused on acting since UNINE disbanded. I thought music was his first love, so given the option to return to it, maybe he would?

Can He Yanzhao sing?

Look tho, a duo isn't gonna cut it, they need at least 3 or 4 members. So I think no, they aren't gonna go the boyband approach like Desire did.

Bcz otherwise isn't it too risky to be so openly promoting the 'we are an onscreen couple in a BL' thing for Chinese actors?

That's the $64,000 question, innit?

I suppose the answer is, is there a great deal more than $64,000 on the line worth them taking that risk?

Shouldn't they have tried to atleast be subtle about it ? Or just yk light PDA would have been okay too right for them to be promoted as a duo? But no, they went all in .

I honestly wanna know what this "all in" was that you saw. Because I haven't seen it. Like there was no smooching or hand holding. On the carpet it seemed pretty circumspect. The photo shoots before and after were a little more touchy, but not by a whole lot.

Also, and this is important to remember, China mostly cares about how people inside China react to BL. The CCP is internally focused in the arena of social conditioning and restrictions (until face is involved). Which is why their propaganda is soooo cringe... wrong market. (And Korea's is so spectacular, they know their audience.)

So long as the BL sasangs INSIDE China behave themselves around a pair, and the pair-brands distribution, marketing, publicity et al is laser focused outside the great firewall, CCP seems to be turning more of a blind eye than ever before.

But I'm still mystified how Revenged Love got away with any of it, and I suspect, so are they.

So frankly, what the hell do I know?

There it is, my thoughts.

Let's see how this posts tags go, shall we?

Flame on.

THERE WAS A LIP BITE AND A WHOLE GIGGLE BUT THEY DIDN'T AIR IT??? The making was sooooo much better than the one they showed.

Out of all the Korean BLs I have watched, I have never felt I was invading someone's privacy during a kissing scene until this show. It seemed like the actors truly were immersed in their acting. You can see how much joy they showed on screen.

I hope this becomes the start of a more satisfying kissing scene in K-BL because so many times, they just leave me feeling meh. Very few could make me truly feel the love that they are trying to potray. I am truly loving the chemistry of jiwoong and seobin. They really nailed it

I wish they had kept the fun bits in too. Not very Korean of them if they did, though.

Yeah this pair is good, comfortable with each other in a way we don't usually get from Korea (except maybe Strongberry). Have you seen their Kissable Lips? Sad ending but pretty high heat.

Oooo, so, linky!