This Week in BL - It's All Pretty Enjoyable Fodder
Organized, in each category, with ones I'm enjoying most at the top.
Me and Thee (Sat iQIYI) ep 3 of 10 - Thee basically defines EXTRA. It’s everything he is. And it’s everything to me. I love this very silly show very much.
Reloved (Sat iQIYI) ep 1 of 10 - Tiny gay family! College sweethearts reunite, only now they both have kids. Side couple is tatted-up badie photographer meets buttoned-up CEO and I like everything about this show's dynamics.
I like a lot. It’s very Gay for a BL. (I’m not gonna explain that. If you’ve been around this long enough, you know what I mean.) It's also raunchy which I wasn’t expecting from a family drama. But here we are in 2025 and the unexpected just happens now.
Goddess Bless You From Death (Fri iQIYI) ep 5 of 13 - Honestly, you all know I love Pavel but I really do think Pooh is doing a stellar job with his role. I am enjoying this show so much because of that and the stilly plot. It gives me Manner of Death vibes with the ghost story as a fun twist. I have come to enjoy the PitBabe team doing whatever it is that they feel like doing, even if it mostly seems to be gallivanting around and not actually acting or performing a whole lot.
Burnout Syndrome (Weds iQIYI) 10 eps - OffGun are back, Kinging along. Yay! All hail the Kings of BL. Yes, by my calculations, this makes them current champions at 6 BLs (MaxNat also have 6, but a lot of shorts & sides plus Burnout is the most recent). High, Thor! Why so hot? Also Dew. Argh. He’s so good. This has a stage show feel to it. This plot is gonna kill me, tho. Normally this is not my style of BL, but I can’t lie, this was a banging first episode. I’m very invested.
Interminable (Fri iQIYI) ep 4 of 11 - This is very To Sir With love lakorn at this point = mustache twirling red lipstick wearing evil. (Where is my death glitter, I ask you?) Anygay, if you like a soapy mellow-drama (pun intended), this will work for you. If you don’t, it won’t. And that’s pretty much where we are. Also BillyBabe serve some of the best NC. And I do mean SERVE, kings.
Me and Who (Fri WeTV) ep 7 of 10 - This is one of those instances where the pair chemistry is carrying the show. While that was fine 2-3 years ago, there’s too much BL now, and we have too much to choose from. You can’t get away with just chemy anymore. The rest of the show also needs to be decent.
My Secret of Seer (Mon YouTube) ep 6 of 8 - this show has become very much not very good.
Head 2 Head (Sun YT) ep 5 of 10 - while this pair is fine, they still have no idea how to kiss. This annoys me more then it should.
The Love Never Sets (Tues iQIYI) ep 7 of 12 - I actually don’t mind a bit of long-suffering misunderstood and abused uke character. But this show is taking it too far. There’s also very little else that is good about it. The acting is OK, but that’s it.
The Cursed Love (YT) 10 end - OK, so now we know all the backstory and things just start happening. Various people are dying. I’m not entirely sure what’s going on. And it ends with tragedy. Great.
A martyr narrative about a group of forest rangers, 3 of whom have elemental powers and are attempting to stop Evil from emerging from a lost city. Also a love triangle. They pretty but not so smart. An interesting premise, but unfortunately, it kills the gay. It tried to redeem itself, but nothing ever really made much sense including the ending. 3/10
A chaebol-esk lakorn about family inheritance drama and power struggles that was held together by DaouOffroad’s chemistry rather than script, logic, or plot. Broken cocky illegitimate rich kid returns to daddy's fam for a spot of revenge. Honest cop framed for bribery becomes his bodyguard over shared pain and enemies. This is a pitch perfect Cdrama billionaire revenge romance trash… only as a Thai BL with one of our best indie pairs. Fantastic ingredients unfortunately it was over-seasoned and overcooked. This is a hard one for me to rate 'cause the chemistry is so damn good but most everything else is so damn bad. Going with my gut. 7/10
Ongoing Series - Not Thai
School Trip: Joined a Group I'm Not Close To aka Shugakuryoko de Nakayokunai Group ni Hairimashita (Japan Sun Gaga) ep 6 of 10 - Finally, an actual proper confession. Took him long enough!
Love Begins in the World of If AKA If no Sekai de Koi ga Hajimaru (Japan Fri Gaga) ep 2 of 10 - This show is fascinating.
Therapy Game (Japan Thurs Gaga) ep 5 of 10 - Aw poor baby. He’s so hurt. They both are. I do enjoy, sometimes, how Japan just holds up a magnifying glass to pain. Also they are so cute. And their brothers are so cute. Everyone is just so cute.
Thundercloud Rainstorm (Korea Thurs iQIYI) ep 1 of 8 - Korea? Starting us on a kiss? Fun fun. Another toxic BL. This one is stepbrothers-esk plus whipping boy. Lots of bullying already, and some def kink also! So if that smoothie is not for you, avoid drinking. But boy am I slurping it up. This is my brand of toxicity.
The Story of Bi Hyeong aka Enchanted Master of the Goblin (Korea Thurs iQIYI) ep 9 of 12 - rock dude and fox boy confession interuptus.
Peach Trap (Korea Thurs Gaga) ep 4 of 8 - This show has gone into entirely and completely ridiculous territories. Now we know who The Kiss was with and that it was a Good Kiss. We also know who endgame is.
To My Shore (China Sat/Sun Viki) eps 4-5 of 15 - I just… don't know about this. Do I like this? At least the kisses are Thai quality. I'm pretty sure I don't like it. Its entire purpose and plot would appear to just be… toxic. (The backwards phone was v funny tho.)
At 25:00 in Akasaka Season 2 (Japan Thurs Gaga) ep 9 of 10 - Living up to Japan’s favorite trope: Why don’t you two just talk?
Punks Triangle (Japan Gaga)
A supermodel pretends to be an ordinary fashion student and falls in love with a boy who has a crush on (read: obsession with) his alter ego. Since this is basically a secret identity (read: big lie) narrative, I could never get into it. It’s well done if you can live with the conceits, but not for me. 7/10 (I know it's more of an 8 show, but I just didn't like it, so there)
A Man Who Defies the World of BL Final (Season 4) (Japan Mon Gaga) - I'm a fan of this franchise but this is not a BL and there is no story to really follow so won't be chronicling it here. It is delightful and I recommend watching it tho.
Mystique in the Mirror (Thai Weds iQIYI) 8 eps - This is psychological horror taking place in an insane asylum and that is very much NOT for me. I’ll let someone more diligent tell me if it’s worth it - after it finishes.
Delivering a Delicious Divorce AKA Oishii Rikon Todokemasu aka Delicious Divorces (Japan Weds TVer) 10 eps - A brilliant lawyer, renowned for winning huge divorce settlements, teams up with his partner, a sharp-witted private detective, to tackle high-stakes cases of “love gone wrong” in this legal drama. I'm sourcing this nefariously and intend to binge once it finishes.
Here is a super interesting podcast if you enjoy crime-centered Thai BL. Former FBI Agent John Schachnovsky Talks Crime & Punishment in Thailand
Next Week Looks Like This:
There are bunch of shorter pulps from Korea (and China) airing on YT these days, but I haven't been chronicling them since they look, act, and feel rather throw-away. If I enjoy it enough, I'll let you know. But if you wanna watch subscribe to YT channels they are: TRUE FILM, Sukfilm, SEEKMedia, Strongberry & Lovememory.
12/5 Melody of Secrets (Thai YT or iQIYI) trailer Second trailer was not like the first. This seems a lot less thriller and horror. Which means this is more for me, but less likely to be popular. Still I'm game.
12/11 Dare You to Death (Thai Netflix) - trailer JoongDunk as police investigators in a mystery suspense thriller. Yes, I'm in. (My boys all grown up and scoring Netflix deals.)
12/18 Beside the Sky - Fourever You2 (Thai ????) - trailer ? Fah and Phoon from Fourever You in a very sad high drama trauma piece. Looks GREAT. I did love this pair initially, but I think these actors can handle this kinda content perfectly. I'm excited for this.
BL Announced for 2025 - PART 1
BL Announced for 2025 - PART 2
20 BLs Announced for 2025 That I'm Really Excited About
GMMTV 2025 Line Up - My Totally Biased and Wildly Flawed Feels
Sorry not much time for caps this week.
The tag BLigade: @doorajar @solitaryandwandering @my-rose-tinted-glasses @babymbbatinygirl @babymbbatinygirl @isisanna-blog @mmastertheone @pickletrip @aliceisathome @urikawa-miyuki @tokillamonger @sunflower-positiiivity @rocketturtle4 @blglplus @anythinggoesintheshire @everlightly @renafire @mestizashinrin @bl-bam-beyond @small-dark-and-delicious @saezurumurmurs @waitmyturtles @worldhopping
(hellsite doesn't allow me to tag that many people, sadly)
