BL Must Watch
this is a list of BL shows/movies every BL fan should have seen at least once
straight shows with BL subplots are included if historically relevant (birthplace of offgun or taynew etc.)
note: this is my personal opinion but feel free to comment suggestions
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1. Love Sick: The Series
Thai Drama - 2014, 12 episodes
cw: rape jokes, cheating, homophobia, rl shipping
dont listen to sotus truthers, this is the first thai BL. essential viewing. the characters are great
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2. Love Sick 2: The Series
Thai Drama - 2015, 36 episodes
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3. Sotus: The Series
Thai Drama - 2016, 15 episodes
cw: hazing can get infuriating, homophobia iirc
you just need to have seen it if you wanna make it in this BL world. season 2 isnt required tho i say this because i tried to watch it and it was BORING
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4. Love by Chance
Thai Drama - 2018, 14 episodes
cw: rape (played for laughs. kengkla -> techno), gang rape (tar's backstory), attempted rape (on a rape victim!) (tum -> tar), bullying, casual homophobia, homophobia, stepbrother romance, nonconsensual kissing, nsfw
ae's actor was 16/17 when this was filmed, which can be pretty uncomfortable considering the heavy makeout scenesits ok to skip this one. yes i put it on this list because it really shaped me as a person but i would never rewatch the whole show i just rewatch the tincan cut every now and then
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5. Long Time No See
Korean Drama - 2017, 5 episodes
cw: murder, homophobia, homophobic bullying, gang violence
OG korean BL, way ahead of where your eyes linger
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6. HIStory3: Prisonnier
Taiwanese Special - 2019, 20 episodes
cw: this is a gang drama so there's death, violence and all that jazz. attempted rape in episode 14 (or likely 7 if you're watching on viki), unhealthy age difference between the one heterosexual couple
quintessential taiwanese BL. lifechanging stuff
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7. Où tes yeux s'attardent
Korean Drama - 2020, 8 episodes
cw: homophobic parents, internalized homophobia, violence, irl shipping (sort of)
the first korean BL with more than 4 episodes or something like that. broke some boundaries for Sure and we love to see it. its success opened the doors for future KBL
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8. To My Star
Korean Drama - 2021, 9 episodes
cw: some homophobia kind of, one of the leads has PTSD
i think this is the best kbl and thats why i put it on this list. ive seen it at least 8 times.
dont watch season 2 (joke i think you probably should but prepare to cry etc)
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9. Until We Meet Again
Thai Drama - 2019, 17 episodes
cw: suicide, ptsd, irl shipping
it should be in your dictionary
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10. Advance Bravely
Chinese Drama - 2017, 30 episodes
cw: transphobia, homophobia, stalking, assault, animal death (a chicken), attempted surgery without consent (they tie him up and everything, and then its played for laughs a bit), probably the most misogynist show ive seen in a while
i know a lot of people went to watch this after they watched word of honor (because of gong jun) and for that i am sorry. nonetheless, this show is ridiculous and i love it so much. the author of the novel also wrote addicted heroin BTW
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11. 3 Will Be Free
Thai Drama - 2019, 10 episodes
cw: transphobia, death of a (minor) trans character, suicide, casual homophobia, casual biphobia, gang violence, rape, attempted rape, domestic abuse, murder, nsfw, cheating, nudity
just do yourself a favor and watch this
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12. Senior Secret Love: Puppy Honey
Thai Drama - 2016, 6 episodes
cw: off's character specifically is kinda homophobic iirc
this is where offgun was born. congrats its a mainstay bl couple! pretty boring show tho
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13. Theory of Love
Thai Drama - 2019, 12 episodes
cw: cheating, nonconsensual kissing
to me this is THE offgun show. not me is good too, but this one is an emotional rollercoaster and i think any experienced BL watcher needs to have seen it
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14. Kiss Me Again: Pete-Kao
Thai Special - 2018, 3 episodes
ok i never watched the whole show just the Official BL Cut that gmmtv themselves uploaded to youtube a few years ago.
i have mixed feelings on petekao as a relationship. but their circumstances are funny. not a must watch if you want to watch dark blue kiss, but i still recommend it. as it birthed taynew! poor new (not because of tay. if you know you know)
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15. Dark Blue Kiss
Thai Drama - 2019, 12 episodes
cw: dubious consent in some scenes involving petekao, homophobia, violence, attempted sexual assault (handled appropriately)
its good
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16. Bad Romance: The Series
Thai Drama - 2016, 13 episodes
cw: cheating but not really??
the birthplace of maxtul lol
bad romance is insanely BAD. watch at your own risk
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17. Together with Me
Thai Drama - 2017, 13 episodes
cw: cheating, nsfw
this is the kornknock backstory - so it takes place before the events of bad romance. dont ask me which one you should watch first but it probably doesnt matter
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18. Ossan's Love
Japanese Drama - 2018, 7 episodes
cw: some scenes are basically SA played for laughs. jsut be aware
why did this show both advance bl and set us back a few years. when this came out, japanese bl was basically 100% movies and no tv shows at all. kind of changed the game in that way. also iconic for being about working adults
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19. Seven Days: Monday - Thursday
Japanese Movie - 2015
quintessential japanese bl movie duo. based on an iconic manga of the same name
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20. Seven Days: Friday - Sunday
Japanese Movie - 2015
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21. The Lover
Korean Drama - 2015, 12 episodes
one of if not the first korean tv show to feature a gay couple. get your history books out
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22. Addicted Heroin
Chinese Drama - 2016, 15 episodes
cw: SA, rape, stepbrother romance, underage characters in nsfw scenes
i put this in the list because its legendary but i do also think you should skip it if any of the warnings above even slightly bother you because thats basically all the "romance" is. its rape
but you should at least know /of/ this show, because its basically responsible for why chinese BL is largely censored these days. because it was so explicit. the actors are also not allowed to ever act in something together again
this work is still notorious. it also since had a censored chinese remake which is quite ironic. but i prefer that one because. you know. i think the story is a lot better if its not full of sexual assault. its also getting a thai adaptation soon which features an underage actor so addicted heroin is truly an infamous bl to say the least haha. it also never finished airing because it was banned before the last episode could be released
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23. Same Difference
Japanese Movie - 2014
iconic japanese bl movie. why havent you seen this?