I’m bored and I have a little extra time this morning so it’s time for ABL to play with the spreadsheet of doom. 

Occasionally I get the question: 

If I were to subscribe to only one platform for BL which should I pick? 

This post is dated May 2023. 

First things first. I am going to be (somewhat) objective about this and not judge on quality of content. Because if KinnPorsche is all you love in life, obvs you need iQIYI, but if you are a HIStory franchise stan, than it’s all about Viki. Those are your life choices, I’m just here to play numbers games, okay? 

Secondly, some shows air on multiple platforms, particularly Viki & Gaga, but sometimes it’s Gaga & YouTube, occasionally it’s even iQIYI + others. This has only started happening in the last few years. Bed Friend was on 3 different platforms (GaGa, iQIYI, YT) - even though it was originally announced for Viki! I honestly don’t know how to track this, so I tend to log the spreadsheet with my preferred watching platform for that language, this will throw the numbers off for those platforms. 

Since I join everything my platform preference choice is based on:  

the quality of the subs/captions   

the quality of the user experience  

My subs experience tends to be: 

YT = best for Thai

Viki = best for Korean and sometimes Japanese, okay for Thai

Gaga = best for Chinese and sometimes Japanese but very weak Thai subs

My user interface preference is: 

YT, Viki, Gaga in that order then everyone else with iQIYI at the bottom. This is because I watch on mobile devices. 

ASplay, WeTV, former Line, Amarin TV, Netflix and the other smaller suppliers (and apps) will all be grouped together for this assessment. Since they have so few offerings, by default I would not recommend subbing those platforms unless you are a hard stan of all BL with disposable income. 

Super bad BLs that I watched back in the day on grey sites or YT (pre 2020 crack down) because there were no other options and I am a completest are still listed as grey. I would never suggest anyone watch these shows anyway, so I don’t care if they have now shown up on legitimate sites. If they are somewhere, it’s likely Gaga. Which means Gaga’s percentage of the market share is probably UNDER reported by my numbers. 

Movies and cinema-only releases that never got international distribution fall into the “grey” category. If I got it off an indie subber, since that too is technically illegal, it falls into the grey category as well. 

Final note: This is from a USA based IP, I don’t use a VPN, so platforms assessments are from that perspective. 

Spring 2023, current state of the spreadsheet. AKA 

Our BL Data Set 

Total # of BLs = 564

# of BLs ongoing (so finished runtime is best guess) = 18 

Just Answer the Damn Question 

Round Number of Actual BLs - % of market share

YouTube = 218 - 38.6%

Gaga = 148 - 26.2% 

Viki = 77 - 13.7% 

Grey = 53 - 9.4% 

BLs I’ve never been able to find on any platform (including grey): 36 - 6.4% 

iQIYI = 14 - 2.5% 

Other platforms = 12 - 2.2% 

Margin of error: +- 1% (look I’m just not driven to be that accurate here)

Subscription Platforms Breakdown  - % of market share

Eliminating YouTube, Grey, and missing BLs. Viki is included because I do not know which of theirs are behind the paywall and which are not. 

Total subscribe-only BLs: 257 

Gaga = 59%

Viki = 30%

iQIYI = 6%

Sml sites/apps = 5%

(rounded) 

Okay but how about actual runtime? 

Gaga = 360 hrs - 44% 

Viki = 311 hrs - 38% 

iQIYI = 98 hrs - 12% 

Sml sites = 50 hrs - 6%

Anyway you cut it... on pure BL standards...

GAGAOOLALA WINS 

Other consideration? In most places Gaga is ALSO the cheapest per month option. 

Final Thoughts

YouTube (America’s Alphabet) 

YT has the most pieces of content and longest overall runtime because of all the Thai stuff. ALSO bootlegs show up there, especially the early Chinese and Japanese stuff. They will often get taken down and you have to hunt for it again. YT takedowns come in waves, every 6 months or so.

However, GMMTV, some Star Hunter, some Studio Wabi Sabi, all the Vietnamese & Pinoy stuff (until now), and a few choice bits of Strongberry are YT content.

YT’s app is the best UX of a poor set (for me), but the web based YT at Premium level doesn’t work with Firefox. I use YT for work A LOT, so the fee for Premium ($13.99) and lack of ads + downloads (travel) is worth it for me, but I think it probubly isn’t if you’re on a budget. 

GaGaOOLaLa (Taiwan’s Portico Media) 

Of the pay to play platforms, GaGa dominates with the most BLs by all metrics. If you’re intersted in darker BL, GL and other queer content, very high heat, the history of the genre, or Japanese stuff - most of that is on GaGa. Also all of Strongberry and some of the newer queerer series (like My Ride).  

At $6.99 a month it’s ALSO one of the cheapest options. 

Gaga is based out of Taiwan, the only Asian country with marriage equality (as of 2022) AND it specializes in exclusively queer content so they need our support. If you can afford them, you should support them. GaGa is the only platform that will always have more BL, guaranteed (so long as Taiwan is autonomous). Ironically, you can follow their YT channel for previews and teasers to their latest series, short content, and acquisitions. 

Their app isn’t great, but their web-based interface is fine. That said: there’s no categories (way to organize), and the way they roll out new episodes is unintuitive. Their mobile app ALWAYS pauses not mater what you actually want it to do and the lack of the quick skip ahead is frustrating. 

Viki (Japan’s Rakutan)

Viki specializes in longer series, mostly Thai, Taiwanese, and a few of the Chinese bromances. It also now has a lot of KBLs. But in general only more recent stuff (2018 is as far back as they go).

At $4.99-$11.99 depending, it’s low to average cost. I’m not sure which one (if any) you actually need for BL. Most of my favorite new shows tend to air on Viki, and I like Rakutan as a parent company, so I don’t mind supporting them. 

They happen to have 5 of my top ten BLs, which is A LOT (since I hand out 10/10 so rarely). So for me they host the objective best BL content. 

They have the second best app (after YT, it’s kinda a combo of YT + Netflix) but the lack of a speed-up option is frustrating for many. Also the desktop version is super buggy. But they DO have categories you can name and control, which I love.

Other Platforms 

iQIYI - is Mainland China based (hello Baidu, you ugly fucker), so the platform getting/pimping BL for an international audience only is… how do I put this?… oh yeah: shitty. I will often rename it Icky, for this reason. It clearly wants to break the market, but… do we want it in the market at all? How long will they host BLs? When will they be shut down and censored? I would say it’s only worth it if you really also like Chinese dramas. And even so, Viki also has A LOT of those. Unfortunately for us, Wabi Sabi seems to have cut a distribution deal with Icky. And, of course, there is the KinnPorsche situation (so ironic that Icky hosts the highest heat). The interface is a nightmare. They have the WORST app, even when you pay, it serves ads, some of which alpha crash the platform. 

Netflix - here in the states it almost never has new BL content. Sometimes some old stuff. They tested the waters with SOTUS and Love Sick. I have a feeling they aren’t particularly intersted in this market. So if BL is what you watch, don’t bother. At last check they still had Gameboys and Your Name Engraved Herein and Wish You. 

WeTV - acts like LineTV used to, has Manner of Death and We Best Love and a few of the more obscure Thai pulps. But probably not worth it for anyone but a completest. 

Grey - Unknown or No Distributor 

Indie subbers: there’s some BLs that you can watch by supporting indie subbers who supply private links to their personal versions. This is not legal, but it is a slightly nicer way to get stuff you can’t find anywhere else. I’ve done this for some Thai and Japanese stuff.

I find the leads for these sources here on Tumblr. If someone is giffing and talking about a show and I don’t know how they are getting hold of it, I simply ask.

DramaCool (USA) & Dailymotion (France) & Bilibili (China) and others - AKA the grey space. You SHOULD feel guilty using these sites, you’re stealing, but it’s where many of us go for BL we can’t find anywhere else (in defiance of what few morals we have left). These are BLs that originally sold to very odd platforms or never got international distribution. Unfortunately, some of my favorites are in this category like Great Men Academy or Seven Days. It’s a nightmare. The ads are terrible and the virus/bug risk is high. They get taken down all the time. Or the leads are faked. I use an old computer to access and suggest you take all necessary precautions yourself.

P’ABL SOAP BOX TIME

Look I work tangential to the entertainment industry, so if you thought I wasn’t going to learn you a little on this subject, you got another think coming. 

HERE’S THE THING: 

You watch a show on one of the grey platforms, ESPECIALLY if it actually has distribution on Gaga or Viki - you better review that shit. You spread the word and advocate for that content here, on MDL, on social media, with fan art, I don’t care. You steal it, you find a way to pay back in your time and/or creativity. 

I get it if you’re poor, but don’t be a goddamn scab. Find a way to reward content creators with non-monetary support. If you had the time to watch the thing you stole, you have time to pay it forward in some substantial way. Do this even if you didn’t steal it but got it for free. Do this if you read fanfic. Do this with articles, blogs, books. Do this with podcasts. 

It isn’t hard to be a decent human and support creators. Don’t you dare just TAKE. If you’re that kind of person stop reading this blog immediately. I don’t want anything to do with you and you don’t deserve my words or my spreadsheet of Doom. 

/rant 

MORE ON THIS TOPIC WITH FOLLOW UP QUESTIONS

Original post on this subject that I adapted for this post. 

Does anyone know why Viki (a Japanese company) has so little Japanese BL? 

Or Japanese series in general, quite frankly. 

Like why do we get Korea’s Antique but not Japan’s Antique from a few years earlier? Is it lack of subs? 

I mean I know they have a few of the BL movies, but like NONE of the major series. And I get that Crunchyroll got rights on the anime but where did all the Japanese live action manga and web series go? 

I’m not crazy right? It’s weird that one of Japan’s biggest media corps, Rakutan, has international distribution rights to barely any Japanese properties. Instead we have to hunt down indie subs and bootlegged rips. 

That’s weird. 

Before I ask, this is not a complaint about Viki- I’m not privy to their strategy, so can’t really comment. But… I’ve noticed they have at least three different translation models on at the moment. Semantic Error is coming out later in the day, but at 100%, You’re My Sky is getting close to 100% quickly, while others are taking days and days (I see you First Love, again). Now it could be different priorities and different sub teams, but the optimistic part of me hopes that it’s A/B testing and they are modelling the impact of different ways. It appears to really impact the buzz around each show. I promise there is a question here- this has got me thinking about the different distribution models- not just Viki but across the different production and distribution companies. What kind of an impact do you think the different kinds of distribution has in the success of a series (and how do they even define that) and why do they distribute a series knowing their model has a direct impact on less viewers? Why do they take so long to release subs (and not at all internationally for some series) knowing that a series without quick subs will be either ignored or people will turn to grey and illegal sites? Surely maximising their customer base would be a goal.

Viki’s Strategy on Subbing

Honestly, I don’t think there is one.

Your speculation is interesting, and it's kinda sweet that you think they are that organized and intentional, but I get the impression it’s a chaotic mess over there. Crowd sourcing will do that to a platform.

Someone commented on one of my older posts about how Viki sub teams worked. I don't know if they are still around and following me but *waves* perhaps they will weigh in again? 

Thai dramas often get early subs because they are acquired with subs in place. Or, the Thai teams at Viki are very fast and efficient. Or they just have less to do (Viki doesn't actually have much Thai stuff compared to other languages.)

Sub-Team efficiency depends on the usual: how good is the top down coordination + how enthusiastic are the volunteers + when did they get the original assets. Also flow throttle, is there a bottleneck at some stage in the process because it requires one specific member? (Like final stage uploading.)

There’s certainly no split testing. Can you imagine them being that good? Oh what a glorious world...  

I don't think Rakuten even knows the meaning of the term. I've never seen them roll out an AB on any of their platforms, even the really massive ones.

Viki is pretty small for them. Not as tiny as Kobo. But nothing on their mobile, banking, or e-commerce subsids. I've actually been to one of those massive Rakuten corporate events and I think Viki had 3 reps there? Tiny.

Okay, maybe Rakutan Insight has done some split testing, but they mostly operates in survey data, and not the roll out testing sphere. 

Frankly every direct sale business should have a bucket testing strategy, but I've yet to onboard with a company to find one in place. (I think the exceptions to this would be Amazon, Google, and TikTok. And I think they are running them on us constantly. To great effect.)

Honestly, one of the blessings of my job is realizing how much more manipulative big corps could be with stats and data but just aren't because of a basic failure to understand how these things work to their advantage. Plus (of course) a profound unwillingness to implement a strategy that requires more work now for less work later.

(This is the primary basic requirement of AB testing - produce 2 of something to decide which one is better in the future. Keep doing this until you understand the pattern and have enough data to aggregate. Then use that data to stop producing everything comparable that does not have draw.)

It's my job, so I tell them to do this all the time.

But I promise: they pay me well to then completely ignore me.

This should come as a great comfort. 

That is great to know, but boy I sure hope Rakutan is paying Youku for them. 

Edited: no shade on Viki, just hoping they pay their subbers and don’t grab first and figure out the payment later ah la some subscription models that we could name. 

I always wondered how they legit got Addicted uncut. But I suppose that’s another story... 

Edited again: maybe it’s time I joined Viki, just to support their efforts on BL’s behalf. I mean, I do like Kobo a lot, and it’s the same parent company... Plus they seem to have the lead on Korean stuff and if Korea is going to seriously try to dominate BL, Viki might become the platform to beat. 

Edited again again: being a Japanese company, you’d think they’d go back into their own BL history and archives and try to get the IP on older stuff like Ossan, Takumi, and Seven Days higher quality and legitimately uploaded. I mean, in the end BL is their heritage to sink or supply.