#roundups

NUMBERS

I watched 45 2025 BLs in total, including some that started late 2024 (the ranked list includes Me and Thee which takes it to 46). I thought I'd watched more but this is a considerable jump from last year (25), but last year I was just getting into BLs and catching up, where this year I prioritised watching along with people. I'd like to go back and watch some older ones in 2026, but still keep up with new releases, especially those with longer episode running times + episode counts

Of the 45, 26 were from Thailand, 10 were from South Korea, 7 were from Japan and 2 from China. Clearly I need to watch more from other countries, but Thai shows just have me in such a chokehold! lol

(This did make me realise, I didn't include See Your Love on my 2024 list because it hadn't finished airing, but only maybe two eps were aired in 2025, so it doesn't 'count' to me for 2025. Oops!)

RATINGS

I won't list my rating for each series, but the average by country and overall:

Thailand: 8

South Korea: 7.4

Japan: 8.2

China: 9 (though with only two it doesn't seem fair lol)

Overall: 8

And now for some slightly longer thoughts on my top 10

ME AND THEE (THAILAND) | MDL PAGE | MY POSTS

What can I say about this? Like so many, I'm completely obsessed with this series!

The acting, the humour, the emotions, the story, the writing, the editing, the music choices. Even the costuming, which is not necessarily showy, has so much thought put into it and is put to use to show, among other things, Thee loosening up as Peach shows him different sides to life as well as, of course, establishing the characters.

It's a testament to the writing and acting that, despite not knowing the specific references, this is still so funny and feels so familiar. (I did grow up watching soapies, but Australian ones!)

Pond is absolutely in his element here (he talked about feeling at home doing comedy in his ep of Between Two Stories or whatever it's called and you can feel it), but, while his Thee is often ridiculous, he never feels like a caricature. And Phuwin is holding his own as a much more subtle and subdued character.

The balance of Thee and Peach and how they complement each other is so nicely realised here. The way they feel safe with each other and open up to each other and learn from each other is so so beautiful! I could write forever about this series and still not say everything I want to, and none of it would be clever or insightful, but I love it so much.

And Peach's coming out scene is now one of my favourites of all time <3

MY MAGIC PROPHECY (THAILAND) | MDL PAGE | MY POSTS

Now, this one took me by surprise! I wasn't at all interested in it when they showed the pilot trailer at GMMTV 2025, but then the official trailer piqued my interest, so I tuned in with eager curiosity, and it ended up being one of my favourites. It would've been number one, but Me and Thee swooped in and stole its crown haha (it's definitely my favourite JimmySea series so far, though)

It had me giggling and kicking my feet one minute and then weeping the next. The acting was great, especially Sea (holy macaroni, he knocked it out the park), and I found the relationship to be really well written. I like the way In's grief coloured everything (which I went into more depth about here) and that Thap's issues were addressed too, particularly with his father. And I like that some things were subverted a little? Like Thap's ex being so gracious was really nice!

And Jimmy and Sea are just so so lovely together. They have so much warmth and familiarity with each other but they can do the dislike to love so well too. I don't always love when get together stories go too far past the get together part, but I think MMP had the perfect balance because we get to see them be sweet and domestic (and still very horny) without it getting repetitive. And the post credits interview, recalling When Harry Met Sally...?? GENIUS!

There were a couple of things I was eh on, but overall this was superb. Plus, any time I get to see Junior and Bookie is a bonus!

SECRETS HAPPENED ON THE LITCHI ISLAND (CHINA) | MDL PAGE

Such a beautifully, and lovingly, crafted series on every level. The acting, the story, the cinematography, my goodness. Such a pretty show! I like that a lot of the story, and the emotional unfolding, was told in this almost impressionistic way. (Not sure that’s the word I want, but a lot of it was in gestures and looks and also the use of their surroundings, somehow. I’m going to rewatch one day and see if what I’m saying makes sense at all)

The aching feeling that starts to pervade it is perfect, too! It’s exactly how a summer romance x coming of age should feel to me. Even as it moved past that one summer, it still had the certain feeling I’m looking for in this kind of story.

It’s just so beautiful, I don’t even know how to articulate it! (And the closing graphics are stunning too.) (copy/pasted from my post here)

SECRET RELATIONSHIPS (SOUTH KOREA) | MDL PAGE

I thought this was just going to be a messy love quadrangle, and it was, but it was so much more! It was like one of those ridiculous '90s thriller romances where some doe eyed ingenue meets a handsome man who's almost too good to be true and, spoiler! He is! Because he's totally unhinged and not in a good way. BUT! It was blended most ridiculously (and beautifully) with an office romance and a dash of soap opera flair.

This one literally made me scream at some of the twists and turns, even when I predicted most of them. I was utterly delighted the whole way through. This is the kind of drama I live for! Everyone went all in with the acting, too, and apparently I loved the cinematography (and was particularly impressed by the use of light to echo the mood of the narrative).

BALL BOY TACTICS (SOUTH KOREA) | MDL PAGE

Sweet, tender and incredibly romantic, but it was grounded too. I definitely shed some tears over the loveliness of it all with this one! It also has one of my now favourite coming out scenes. Unfortunately, my Serializd reviews, which I'm consulting to jog my memory, are very brief for this one, so that's all I've got. Once again, incredible acting, though! Oh, I do remember some ear touching that absolutely took me out. The little details of care and affection were beautiful.

THERAPY GAME (JAPAN) | MDL PAGE

This was a last minute watch for me and I'm so glad I took the time to watch it! It's so lovely. It doesn't seem to have been overly well received I think? I'm not sure! I adored it though.

But I love Minato, my self sabotaging son, carrying all that trauma in his adorable head and I love that he found, or was found by, this loyal tall puppy of a man! Ah, Shizuma, such a sweet boy, but not a doormat!

Minato's pain is raw and feels so real and is beautifully acted in all its nuances (along with other emotions) by Kido Naoya. He was captivating! (As a sidenote, LOVED Minato's styling!)

As much as I'm not one for ~Feelings in real life (I have issues, I know), I do love a story like this where, by opening himself up to the love Shizuma was offering, Minato also opened himself to the love that was already there from others.

And I LOVED the queer found family at the bar. The scene where Shohei meets everyone and is so delighted to be with so many queer people was sheer loveliness <3

GELBOYS (THAILAND) | MDL PAGE

I wrote even less about this on Serializd, and my memory is terrible, but incredible across the board! Acting, music, costuming, sets, cinematography, feelings: stunning!!! It felt so raw and real (it did not make me miss being a teenager) and it kind of made me think of the Heartbreak High reboot, in the sense that these are messy teenagers and never cutesy. (Don't get me wrong! I like a cutesy teen show, but this was a lot more grounded). And it's so stylish!

ME AND WHO (THAILAND) | MDL PAGE

This is camp! And it is 100% my jam. It shows that hyper-stylised doesn't mean emotionally empty because the emotional aspects of the story felt very deep and rounded to me. It's what should anchor a romance and I think it was done really nicely here, not at all hindered by the amazing chemistry Big and Park have. And they've both proven (to me, anyway) they can do comedy and the big emotions. They're definitely one of my favourite pairs now.

My interest did flounder a little toward the end, but overall I found this thoroughly enjoyable and very moving. The love confession here has to be one of the most romantic and swoony I've seen in a while!

Also, have to give a shoutout to Poppy who was a riot as Butler François and also Lookwa as Suriya's mum, who did a great job of being the scheming lakorn/soap opera mother-in-law (at the start, anyway). And it's always fun to see Parn too!

The costuming really helped in this one too (shoutout to all of Lookwa's super fun outfits), especially with creating two distinct characters in Apo and Phopthorn

THE HEART KILLERS (THAILAND) | MDL PAGE | MY POSTS

For most of the runtime, I truly thought this would shoot right up into my top 3 BLs of all time. Alas, the last couple of eps veered into territory I just personally never like. It made sense, it wasn't badly written, it's just very much Not My Thing. The very ending did bring it back for me, though, and maybe I'll feel different when I rewatch, knowing where it's going, but yeah.

Other than that, I have no issues at all! Pretty sure it's in my DNA to love a gay, Thai adaptation of The Taming of the Shrew that takes its cues from 10 Things I Hate About You. Jojo and I have very similar tastes in cinema and music and fashion, so this was a hit for me on those points. And Style! Style!!!! He's like if a pop punk song was a person and I adore him and his little crop tops <3

This was just so much fun! I'm re-reading my Serializd reviews and I can feel the joy and delight in my writing! It felt so good to be SO obsessed with something like I was with this.

These were my favourite roles for Joong and Dunk so far (we'll see how I feel after DYTD) and, god, I had a blast. Their relationship dynamic was catnip to me!

And I got to see Dunk dressed as a burger! That's the kind of thing that makes life worth living!

I don't know what else to write about this because my Serializd logs were long and mostly just me rambling incoherently, so I'll quote this bit from one of them that sums up, not only how I feel about this series, but everything I watch and love this much:

I WISH I could write essays the way other people do but I can only keyboard smash and flail and literally kick my feet while watching because I'm not smart enough to take it all apart the way I want to

But, yeah, for the most part, I found THK to be a very smart and fun adaptation with impeccable styling and excellent performances. I know people have mixed feelings about Jojo, but he does seem to get really good performances out of his actors and often performances that surprise me.

KNOCK OUT (THAILAND) | MDL PAGE

I have zero interest in boxing (though it was cool to see the Muay Thai ritual, I suppose is the word... And apparently I was impressed you can kick each other in the head?), but I was here for the Drama and Romance and this fed me well on both fronts.

The drama came in strong from the first ep and this must be one of the rare occasions I was equally invested in the main and side couples (usually I don't care much for side couples). Both the romances were so lovely! They were sweet and tender but also very passionate and sexy. I'm happy it seems like Guide and Dech are together in another series (I think they're a couple but it's not a BL?) but bummed it doesn't seem like Gunner and Nice will be acting together again. Ah well!

And, despite what I said about boxing, the rest of the story was generally compelling for me too! I found it funny and emotional and hard-hitting, if you'll pardon the pun. It looked great too! It did kind of go off the rails a little, but in an OTT bonkers fun way!

But, yeah, I know I had a lot of fun with it and that's what matters (can you tell I'm running out of brain power now? lol)

(Banner images are a mix of my caps + taken from MDL or TMDB)

ALL SERIES RANKED

(A lot of this is just vibes! And you can see the ranking doesn't necessarily match up with my top 10 XD)

Me and Thee

My Magic Prophecy

Secrets Happened on the Litchi Island

Secret Relationships

Ball Boy Tactics

Therapy Game

Gelboys

Shine

Me and Who

Knock Out

Thundercloud Rainstorm

My Sweetheart Jom

The Heart Killers

My Stubborn

Ossan’s Love Thailand

The Next Prince

My Bias is Showing?!

When it Rains, it Pours

Perfect 10 Liners

Love Begins in the World of If

My Secret Vampire

Boys in Love

Stay By My Side After the Rain

The Journey to Killing You

Khemjira

A Sketchy Job

10 Things I Want to Do Before I Turn 40

Punks Triangle

Memoir of Rati

Love in the Moonlight

The Wicked Game

Your Sky

Business as Usual

The Bangkok Boy

ThamePo

That Summer

The Ex-Morning

Top Form

Revamp

Something’s Not Right

Sweetheart Service

Sweet Tooth Good Dentist

Loy Kaew First Love

Lost in the Woods

Tide of Love

Never Fair <- not actually the worst but someone on MDL said AI was used and until I'm certain I don't really want to rank it at all. Ofc there may be AI in the other series too, IDK

CURRENTLY WATCHING

Goddess Bless You From Death ; Me and Thee ; Burnout Syndrome ; Melody of Secrets ; Dare You to Death ; Love Alert ; Reloved ; School Trip: Joined a Group I'm Not Close To

ON THE WATCHLIST

Chosen Home ; Dating Game ; Fight for You ; I'm the Most Beautiful Count ; Interminable ; Love Sea: The Home for Lovers ; Mandate ; My Secret of Seer ; Revenged Love ; The Boy Next World ; The Promise of the Soul ; To My Shore

DROPPED/PAUSED

Lover Merman ; Suntiny ; The Proper Way to Write Love* ; I'll Turn Back This Time ; Reset ; My Golden Blood ; The Love Never Sets

*I watched one ep and wasn't in the mood and now I don't remember the first ep XD

My BL Masterlist (ranked by country) / MyDramaList

I seriously, seriously doubt anyone has made it this far, but if you have, congratulations!

And thank you! Feel free to comment or reblog with whatever, or, like I said, send me an ask if you somehow want to hear more from me after all this lol

lb