BL Thoughts & Reviews

...but do we?

"We need more strong M/M friendships/bromance shows" is a refrain I see commonly in reference to anything Sky-Nani related.

I like Sky and Nani; I like the show they were in together; hell, I like the concept of a BL starring them. But their on-screen bromance is not necessary on the basis that it's somehow rare to see a male friendship in the Thai drama space. We already have more than enough bromances/depictions of male friendships in the Thai drama space.

From just GMMTV alone, we have a variety of depictions of all male friendships and even bromances in het/BL/and non-romance series like:

Blacklist (Traffic, Andrew, Highlight, Title, Jim Bae, Buntad)

The Gifted (Pang, Punn, Ohm)

My School President (Chinzilla, Tin, Thiu)

Not Me (Gram, Sean, Yok, Gumpa)

Bad Buddy (Pran, Wai, Pat, Korn)

Theory of Love (Khai, Third, Bone, Two)

2gether (Tine, Fong, Phuak, Ohm)

Outside of GMMTV, there are classic bromances like Nunew and Nat's characters in Cutie Pie, Auau and Thomas's characters in Your Sky, and Noeul and Peat's characters in Love In The Air. As an aside, I feel like people don't count these particular pairs as bromances because the characters are both explicitly gay and explicitly in separate romantic relationships, unlike the friendships between two straight male characters (see Traffic and Highlight in Blacklist) and friendships between one straight character and one gay character (see Wai and Pran in Bad Buddy).

Another issue at play with bromances like Nunew and Nat's is the fans's perception of the actors (and even the characters). Nunew and Nat are both the ukes in their ships. Nunew in particular has a more feminine presentation both on- and off-screen than say, Sky or Nani. And some people will ignore the fact that Nunew's friendship with Nat is a positive male-male bond merely because Nunew and Nat don't fit neatly into a stereotypical masc male box. After all, you can't have a male-male friendship with 2 femme-coded actors/characters, right? Wrong. But I think people genuinely think this way. You can see it in how those people talk about any friendship combination between DMD bottoms. I have a whole thesis I could write on how the fans discuss the relationship between DMD bottoms versus how they discuss the relationships between the tops (e.g., Zee has a "bromance" with Max but you don't see similar language used for the friendship between Namping and Kim. In fact, in that friendship, the "bro" part is stripped from them and they're described as having something resembling a sisterhood). Of course, I'm not saying there is anything wrong with this (I support femme-coding everything lmao), I'm just saying that I think this plays into why people don't think there are a lot of bromances depicted in internationally available Thai dramas (BLs specifically). People simply do not think of some of these characters (and their actors) as men with a close friendship. Instead, they view them damn near as women or otherwise they view the obvious friendship as romantic.

I also feel like people don't count bromances in BLs because the focus of the story in a BL is an actual romance between two men. The bromances in these stories are often in support of the main romance (see Thiu and Tin in MSP for an example of what I mean), whereas the focus of a full-fledged bromance story is the friendship between two straight-coded traditionally masc men (Saint and Shin in Highschool Frenemy).

I'm not convinced that TeeTeePor had to be TeeTeePor for the sake of branding. If you think about it for more than 2 seconds, that entire talking point goes out of the window.

You don't need a consistent ship name to be able to brand this specific ship. No matter how you order the names, the ship name would be unique enough to appear in the searches (what other ship has any version of the TTP/PTT/PTTP ship name?).

Not only would the name appear in searches, but if the concern is that some people will tag TTP and others will tag PTT, the solution is that you can just search both. I did this for years with unofficial ships, surely everyone else can too with an official ship.

Users can tag both names and brands can search unique hits on both names to get an idea of popularity. Genuinely, what is the difference between doing that and the artists' name + the artists' ship name to gauge popularity of the artist individually? Brands do that all the time (which is how you end up with one part of a ship having more brand deals than the other). Bright brand collaborators were searching "Bright Vachirawit" and "BrightWin" to gauge Bright's popularity--even though sometimes both tags appeared in the same post. It can be done.

I've been thinking about this topic a lot lately, and Pond said something in his and Phuwin's interview with Zach Sang that really made it click. When actors are at odds with each other and the status of their pairing is on the line, a lot of times there is a divergence in the actors' goals. In PondPhuwin's case, Phuwin wanted a Hollywood star-like acting career, while Pond just wanted to care for his family. And in many ways, this explains a lot of what I saw about the pair on and offscreen (which is what had caused me to think they needed to break back then). Pond always seemed more interested in the ship itself and created amazing chemistry between the two onscreen. On the other hand, Phuwin seemed disengaged and even a little uncomfortable with the whole thing (especially around the Never Let Me Go era). Come to find out, there was actual tension between the two during this time and it came across on screen and during official appearances. And it all seems to have spurred from this 'difference in goals.' And that framing that Pond and Phuwin so helpfully provided in their Zach Sang interview has me recontextualizing a lot of actors' behaviors, especially regarding fanservice.

Now I'm realizing that the amount of fanservice a pairing does and that pairing's potential for longevity are directly proportional to how tied one of the actors' success is to the popularity of the pairing (bonus points if only one side initiates most of the fanservice moments/goes harder on the fanservice than the other).

So, for Pond, he would frequently try to keep the PondPhuwin together an in the public eye from Day 1. Don't get me wrong, I'm not saying Phuwin didn't put in any effort, but it's clear that Phuwin felt he had many options to maintain his success in the industry (or ways out of the industry if he grew tired of it). A similar situation plagues many pairings. I personally feel like Joong, Zee, Almond, Thomas (ThomasKong), Net (NetJJ), Fort (FortPeat), and Boss are the main guys I think of who fight the hardest to keep their ships alive if it came down to it.

For Thomas, Kong comes from money and can decide to end the ship whenever he wants and still be successful. I'm not sure about Thomas's background but I know that he's not nearly as privileged as Kong.

For Net, although I think he genuinely gets attached to his screen partners, I also think he's very calculated and knows what will keep his career in optimal form.

Almond is practically an industry baby and is probably just following directions when it comes to all the fanservice. But I do think that as he and Progress get more experience in this industry, if Almond isn't given the training he needs at his craft, it'll become increasingly clear who needs who more in the AlmondProgress pairing. In a way, it'll be a lot like late 2010s OffGun.

I don't follow FortPeat closely but it comes off like Fort is better built for the industry than Peat. The problem is, Fort's acting needs a lot of work. It's one of those situations where the person who enjoys the attention more doesn't have the chops to keep it on them for long.

Joong, to me, is in a similar boat as Fort where he yearns for the industry but maybe doesn't have the right appeal on his own to maintain the same level of success that he's had with Dunk. And although I think Joong and Dunk are more equal in terms of the amount of effort they have to put into their ship than other pairs, it just comes off like Joong has slightly more interest in staying in the industry long-term than Dunk.

Like with Net more generally, I think Boss feels some kind of attachment to Noeul. It's like if he doesn't work with Noeul, he thinks he can't be as successful. I personally don't think that's the case, but the way Boss talks about his career and Noeul's place in it seems a bit unconfident to me :/

Part 1 here and Part 2 here.

GMMTV's new gen actors who have had premieres air over the past year all need acting lessons besides maybe Surf.

Boom Raweewit is one of the best actors in the industry whose talent keeps getting wasted.

Former-Nadao carries weight for a reason. Billkin, Nonkul, Sky, etc. are all a head above their non-Nadao counterparts.

I pray for the day Nonkul does BL again.

GelBoys was really good but did not dethrone ITSAY and was veeeeeery slow at first.

GMMTV hasn't made a BL that was good from beginning to end since MSP.

I hope Khemjira (which I did not watch) shows Aoftion that spending obscene amounts of money for ZeeNunew to give us nothing for an entire season of television is not the only way to stay relevant. Spread the love!

Love Sick 2024 was one of the best BLs of the past three years and it involved blue shorts, teens, and puppy love, all the things the girlies hate. If you just open your mind to the possibilities, you will see that decent stories, good acting, and excellent chemistry is all around you.

I'm really interested to see what Change is going to do with their new gen. They have a lot of people I've never heard of, which always makes things more interesting.

The hate for the GMMTV mascots and bullying of the people that like them is so fucking weird lol. Like people are allowed to like things. What's the difference between liking GMMTV mascots and liking other fictional characters like Minnie Mouse, Winnie The Pooh, My Melody, Hello Kitty, Tweety Bird, etc.? Let people like things.

And speaking of the mascots, it's not that weird that they act/talk like children. They are characters. Characters that are canonically children. That's like saying it's weird that Pikachu's voice actor only says "pika pika" in a baby voice while in character or that the character-actors at Disneyland are weird. Like dude it's a job it's all fake, everybody is an actor who is ACTING when they pretend to be these mascots' parents. Get over it gahdamn.

JimmySea is one of those pairs that's kind of boring but you can't let go of that one series they did together where Jimmy knocked it out of the ballpark and Sea looked fine as hell 😭

Part 1 here.

PodKhao was a decent ship.

P10L exposed how one-dimensional Perth is.

Khaotung and (now) Santa overact.

GMMTV series get boring after like ep 6 (or the moment the couple gets together, whichever comes first).

I still like SkyNani as a concept and Sky and Nani individually as actors. I just respect my community more than to indulge in whatever bromance genre they're trying to occupy.

Dunk needs to improve on kissing. Phuwin needs to improve on pretending to be romantically attracted to his partners.

BOC doesn't need to produce 100 series a year to remain competitive. BOC's selling point is that they make ~art with real ~actors and ~mature themes. Obviously, I'm being dramatic to drive home the point (and don't really think BOC does nearly as good of a job being an arthouse company as, say, Nadao), but BOC is always chasing quality. Since they hopped on the scene with KinnPorsche, they've been about big budgets and genre-pushing themes. Then, with DFF, Man Suang, and 4Minutes, they showed that they cared about story and raising the acting talent standards higher. Now, they've released Shine, which only continues to build on those elements but also adding a touch of social commentary. They can't continue to do this at a high level if they're putting out 36 BLs a year 👀 unless they get a significant investment and sign more good actors. I'll take the yearly BOC hit for now until those things happen.

The kpopification of BL is finally dying down but it truly left no prisoners and it is so sad to see.

I'm more interested in DMD Gen 5 than I was for the other gens because at least most of them seem to actually want to be actors and aren't just in it to become fringe t-pop stars.

We need more pairs that challenge us. I'm tired of the same old dynamics and same old pairs really. TeeTeePor were interesting because of the unique chemistry they were giving in Your Sky (because it definitely wasn't their acting, bless their hearts). But now it seems like they've been talked into taking a more traditional approach to their work and, although I'm curious to see how it'll play in Duang With You, I don't have high hopes.

High School Frenemy was carried by Nani and Sky's acting and chemistry. The rest of the show was like 75% repetitive fight scenes no one asked for.

DMD's femmes are their key differentiator.

Dangerous Romance exposed how mid of an actor Chimon is.

Star in the Sky: Star In My Mind is JoongDunk's best work to date.

The Eclipse is FirstKhao's best work to date.

TeeTee is a stronger actor than Por. Thomas is stronger than Kong.

Gun struggles showing big emotions onscreen with the proper feeling they require.

I feel like DMD is scripting DMD Friendship ss3 more obviously than the last one I watched. There's something weird about how the Gen 5 actors comment on the show like it's a scripted drama rather than a reality show.

Speaking of DMD, if they're going to do the mascot thing, they should give it a personal touch. What makes people crazy about GMMTV mascots is not that they're cute (not you momo, polcasan, and permpoon 🥺) but that the actors genuinely feel connected to those silly guys and many of them actually treat them like their real children lol. Like yeah Rainy is cute as hell but why would anyone buy a Rainy doll over, say, a My Melo doll? What's the USP? Not saying I don't think it can be successful, it just feels a lot more impersonal. That said, I don't condone unfettered capitalism lmao.

I also feel like the DMD Sports Day is not as exciting as Starlympics, but that could just be because GMMTV overexposes their events. I guess the main point here is that GMMTV is capitalism final boss and I don't think DMD should feel the need to compete. Their selling point is that their pairs act like real couples and take couple-like fanservice to another level. It's a very different lane to occupy than the GMMTV family-friendly style.

Right now, the ghost ship market is hot as hell and that's all I will say about that 😁.

Saint is the problem.

Peemwasu from BUS should do at least one BL in his life. I see potential there…

An actor's offscreen antics can, and have, turned me completely off of their work (see Billy Patchanon and Mond Tanuchai). Likewise an actor that seems like a great person offscreen can make me more inclined to watch their shows even if I don't generally like the premise/tropes employed (see Fourth Nattawat and MSP).

HeartLiming should not have done the fake-out kiss. That was the only critique I really had of that story because otherwise that was an engaging and well-told story.

Canon Ships

ChokunAston. Chokun's fanservice is...but they look great together, their onscreen chemistry stole the show in Boys In Love, they are cutie pies, and Aston's personality is extremely likable. Tens across the board. No notes.

PearlPeak. The only reason to watch Love In The Moonlight after like episode 5 is because of their chemistry and Pearl's acting skill. Pearl's so good on his own, I damn near want to pair him with other people just to see if he has the chemistry-creating gene like Ohm Pawat and Sky.

TeeTeePor. Don't care about the seme-uke dynamic between them, all I know is that they were one of the cutest parts of Your Sky. Mind you, they're not the best actors so it just goes to show that their chemistry was hard CARRYING.

JimmyOhm. Despite their at times hard to watch storyline in The Next Prince they are legit so cute together and their offscreen personas match so well. They are so visually striking/distinct because of their titan genes and that somehow makes them more interesting to watch lol. I'm so into it!

DaouOffroad. Do I need to explain?

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Ghost Ships/Unofficial Pairs

AstonPaul. Out of all the currently active actors in GMMTV, these two make me feel the most delusional. Paul is TAKEN with Aston and they have the most wholesome personas in all of GMMTV. I would not be shocked at all if Paul has the fattest crush on Aston lol

PeterApo. Don't @ me but they have been my favorite what-if since July. IRL Peter is so funny and sweet while Apo is very suave and mature feeling. In Shine their chemistry was very present and visually they'd be the freshest couple we've seen, just beautiful and unwhitewashed 🤩

North Chatchapon

Sky Wongravee

Pung Phirunwat

Barcode

Thai BL-centric with some other things here and there.

Part 1: Predictions

1. ChokunAston inevitability.

I clocked it a long time ago but I think ChokunAston will be one of the most successful of the 2025 GMMTV rookie crop. Something in my bones is telling me they will have the PondPhuwin effect on people where their visuals will help propel them. That's not to say they're not talented, it's just that they have a certain look that I think people are looking for. Helps a lot that Aston is basically a native English speaker and seems to have a lot more cultural awareness than anybody else at that horrible blue company.

2. Emergence of China as one of the BL powerhouses.

And, in true Chinese BL fashion, they will be more experimental than other countries.

3. Widespread rejection of bromance, slowly killing the genre.

There will still be a contingent of diehards wanting to make space for hyphens, but they will be drowned out by those who don't want the genre to move backwards.

4. A novel will pop off.

I don't think it'll be as big as MDZS but it might have similar pull as TGCF. I also think it'll come from China.

5. Emergence of a serious entry into a Big 4 slot in Thailand.

Right now it's GMMTV, BOC, DMD, and IdolFactory. But I think Change will usurp IdolFactory. Smaller companies like Tia51 will continue to fight for market share but, due to their artist lineup, will be stuck with doing one high school BL a year until all their talent is poached.

6. The youngest crop of GMMTV newbies will shock us all with talent or global appeal.

ChokunAston, AlmondProgress, Singha Luangsuntorn, KenPaul, etc.--basically the 20 and under crowd--will either have the most talent or the most popularity in their respective projects.

7. DMD will have their foray into teen romances to compete with GMMTV.

They want their very own Progress and will probably have to poach someone for it. They will still do their grown up concept but will try their hand at casting more actors to fit coming of age stories.

8. Omegaverse live action BLs will become more commonplace/a staple of the genre like high school BLs (though much more niche/limited).

It'll start off very fringe in Thailand but I suspect China, Japan, and Taiwan will plunge head first into the craze. I think it'll end up being something like a backdrop for different types of tropes/stories. So, instead of just an enemies to lovers or coming of age story, it'll be an enemies to lovers of rival packs or a coming of age story for an omega character learning to deal with that reality. << Never thought I'd type those words lmao.

9. Thai high school BLs will shock the shit out of people and be some of the best BL we've watched.

It started really with Lovesick 2024 being so refreshing and well-received. Then there was Boys in Love. Now there's hype around 17th Spring and When Oranges Fall. People said they were tired of blue shorts but unfortunately the companies are only investing in talent and more nuanced storytelling when it comes to the younger actors (all while giving adults the most trite university/workplace BLs we've ever seen). People go where the entertainment is.

10. More fixed pairs in non-Thai series.

I'm specifically thinking in China/Taiwan. Japan would never and Korea doesn't have the current infrastructure to.

11. The KBL actor-to-kpop idol pipeline will continue to go strong, especially if survival shows continue to be a thing.

We're also likely to see lesser known but more established kpop idols do a Park Jaechan and go star in a BL for a few months before returning to regular idol activities.

12. Something fishy about Nonkul.

I would not be shocked if he was the next new face to appear on the GMMTV roster. I could also see him appearing on the BOC roster. Either way, he will be one of those ones that's like not tied to a certain company's in-house projects and the signing will be for management only. Would love to see him do another BL though.

13. New blockbuster BOC BL starring Peter Deriy and all 32 of his teeth.

Why am I lying this is not a prediction, it's just wishful thinking lmao.

14. PeBaCa will tease their dormant period.

Their mascots will make their money for them.

15. KBLs will have their Thailand 2020 moment: likely terrible romances but increasingly sexy and widely watched.

I don't think they'll be able to replicate the success of 2gether necessarily, but there will be a breakout hit similar to TharnType. Also, the picture is just a reference, I don't necessarily think that Thundercloud Rainstorm will be a bad romance.

16. Magic and AUs competing for the top genre/trope.

The success of shows like Khemjira is quite telling to me. And then companies like GMMTV went all in on magic and tarot in 2025, BOC with AUs since Dead Friend Forever, and Change pretty much being known as the company that did the world's first apparently not real omegaverse show lmao (iykyk). I think a lot of companies will continue to follow the trend.

17. I can't explain it but I think PondPhuwin will get more famous but their contemporaries will be stuck at the same level of fame.

Something is telling me that Me and Thee will be even more famous than NLMG and will cause PondPhuwin to have more individual and more couple success. I don't know if this will turn into more work, but it certainly won't go unnoticed by the GMMTV higher ups.

Also, did I have to use this still? No. But I do what I can for y'all.

18. SonEuro will become BOC's next pseudo fixed pair.

I have no clue what's going on at BOC. First they said they weren't managing artists anymore, then Barcode and Jeff left and they signed like 15 more people, including Jes who is like an established actor. Shit's crazy but looking forward to more SonEuro on my screen. Also, Euro is adorable and Son seems really nice in person.

19. Thai BLs will cut back on sex scenes per capita, KBLs and CBLs will do nothing but have sex. KBLs will have very awkward sex scenes though.

20. Capitalism will continue to have untold and uncalled for success in Thailand.

We will see everybody and their mama get a mascot until it's a completely played out idea, video games, parasocial chat apps, a push to expand specifically in korea, and--somehow worst of all--more actors forced to sing and do other things they are completely incapable of doing. Plus, the US market expansion will continue very slowly and won't have much more success in 2026 (though it will overall be profitable).

21. New ThomasKong will drop but won't be as successful as new KengNamping despite being just as deserving.