Unproblematic BL dramas for beginners

Popularly known as Cherry Magic!, this is a very charming, slightly supernatural romcom based on a popular manga, with lovable characters and superb storytelling that was released on a local Tokyo TV channel and surprised its creators by gaining a huge international fandom, despite having no official international release (at first...)

Cherry Magic now has an official international release for free on Crunchyroll, but the best English subs are still the original fansubs by Irozuku on https://irozuku.org/fansub/tag/cherry-magic/

This might be one of the best BL dramas in the past five years, with superb acting, direction, editing, OST, and absolutely beautiful cinematography. Some hesitate to even call it a BL (it might just as well be called a teenage LGBT coming-of-age story), but beware -- just because it doesn't contain a lot of classic tropes and toxic romance doesn't mean it won't make you cry. And cry. And cry.  
While watching this as it aired, I compared it to being repeatedly hit by a gold brick. On the one hand, ouch. On the other hand,  gold. 

Official release is a 30-day rental on Vimeo, but if you can afford it, it's worth every penny.
ETA: As of February 2023, it's available on Rakuten Viki: https://www.viki.com/tv/38887c-i-told-sunset-about-you

Also known by its original title Gaya Sa Pelikula, this is a wonderful first-wave Filipino BL made by LGBTQ+ creators. Stellar acting and an amazing selection of contemporary Filipino songs in the OST.

Official release on Globe Studios Youtube channel and Netflix.
Here's my YT playlist. 

A South Korean BL about a somewhat faded extroverted celebrity and a shy, introverted cook in a café, who are forced to live together when there is a scandal involving the celebrity. They immmediately clash, but also affect each other in unexpected ways. 

Originally a short  miniseries that has also been combined into a movie. Free to watch on Rakuten Viki. https://www.viki.com/movies/37604c-to-my-star-movie

My Shool President is the Thai High School BL that breaks the mold of Thai High School BLs. Here you will find no toxic girlfriends, no plotting love rivals, no stupid misunderstandings, no contrived hurdles, no will-they-won't-they, no running away from feelings. Tinn is the boy who becomes school president solely because he wants to help his secret crush Gun save his beloved Music Club. And there the similarities with Love Sick ends. Tinn has had this unrequited crush for two years already when the story begins, but it's not because Gunn has rejected him, it's because Gun is a clueless, chaotic, but sweet and straightforward boy whose greatest love up to this point is music. So we have a steadfast, kind boy who will do anything for his crush regardless of whether he's acknowledged or not, and an initially clueless but sweet chaos boy who is not afraid to face his feelings when they do occur. The writing, pacing, and direction are excellent, as is the acting by the teenage Gemini (Tinn) and Fourth (Gun)--keep an eye on these boys in the future! The chemistry is sooo goood (and Tinn's friend Tiwson must be the best wingman in the history of Thai BL). You'll find  no super spicy scenes here, but you won't miss them. Also, there is a lot of surprisingly good music in this show, some of it original and some of it great covers of well known Thai pop songs.

Official playlist on the GMMTV YouTube channel: https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLszepnkojZI4cwy-dWOlYFFZeY3PKcqdQ
OST playlist: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLszepnkojZI5hJs33rVK32iD65MG_sgnG

This series requires a caveat: The actual romantic interactions between Kai and Third are non-toxic (with the exception of one scene about halfway through, which is meant to be cruel and off-putting). However, Third carries an unrequited, unconfessed torch for Kai, and Kai is a huge jerk to Third throughout the first half of the series because he is selfish and oblivious, and I dare you to not cry with Third in every episode in the first half. You will hate Kai because you are supposed to hate him. He has a very tough job of redeeming himself in the second half.
Official playlist: https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLszepnkojZI6NbJpvcPwFoGA_GWVDzFhq

A Tale of Thousand Stars, or 1000 Stars, is a Thai BL drama that took ages in production and post-production, and it shows. This is not a cheap series set in a school environment, but for the most part in a remote village in Northern Thailand where the ML goes to work as a volunteer teacher, in place of the former teacher whose transplanted heart he received when she had a fatal accident. 

Playlist on YouTube: https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLszepnkojZI4DTG4wQ60bVOgIkN6ZjW2s

An adorable and lovely new wave Japanese office BL with adult characters, one of whom is in fact middle aged,  and how they grow closer through doing "teenage girl" stuff like visiting dessert cafés and experiencing new things. Short but very sweet. Based on a manga. Available on Viki.
Don't miss the "apple pie epilogue" if you can find it. 

An unusual BL because its setting is around the filming of a fictional BL drama. Gene is a writer who is more or less forced to write BL and be involved in the drama production, although he would rather write fantasy horror alone in his flat. Nubsib is the young man who gets the leading role, and immediately seems to be fascinated with Gene rather than his series co-star. The series has some meta commentary about the BL industry, like the fanservice and selective homophobia in the industry, but is at heart a romantic comedy, with great acting and terrific chemistry between the two main actors. 

https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PL78hRR_5TNMkd7scT8hfDWbvx0yfj2rKg

A romantic enemies-to-lovers comedy about a policeman who is obsessed with a mobster, determined to prove his guilt -- but as they are thrown together, feelings start to happen...
The Taiwanese HIStory series is pretty uneven, with some highs and some lows, but this is one of the more enjoyable instalments. Also there are amazing suits. 

Free on Viki: https://www.viki.com/tv/36410c-history-3-trapped

Gameboys was one of the first Filipino BL dramas, filmed and aired in the middle of the pandemic, and was innovative in its use of video screen interactions. Like other early Filipino BL, it's more aware of LGBTQ realities than the BL of other countries. Watch it on Netflix or Youtube: https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLEr9FH7oPOQ60QPmaIbofYnS6OKR3H5g-

One of the most underrated BL dramas from 2019 which for a long time was unavailable except with dodgy fansubs and low quality rips, but GMMTV suddenly released the whole series with English subs in the autumn of 2020. It's a paranormal romance about Mes, a lonely ghost who died on his 21st birthday in 1997, and can't reincarnate because of an unresolved matter around his death. And then a boy turns up in the graveyard on the Qing Ming festival, and for some reason it seems as if he can see Mes! This is a sweet and suspenseful story, with perhaps one of the best coming-out scenes in Thai BL. 

My YT playlist

Light On Me is South Korea's first full-length BL drama (10 episodes of 25 minutes each), unlike their previous movie-length miniseries. It's adapted from a phone game called “Saebit Boys High School Council".  It chronicles lonerTae-Gyung's eperiences joining the high school council in order to make friends, and meeting  his first love there (something we are told in the opening, though not who that is).  There is not much plot and the pace is a bit slow, and you might get a bit frustrated toward the middle, but the characters are lovely and wonderfully played, and you will root like mad for the boys getting their act together.

Light On Me is free to watch on Viki.

This BL from 2021 is kind of slow and some people find it boring, because there's no external plot at all, it's just Bbomb and Jin and how their relationship progresses over the course of a year in college. But the cinematography is great, the characters feel very real, and the chemistry between the two main leads is outstanding despite this being a low-heat romance. Also, the characters are both flawed, but when they get things wrong they actively try to solve things by talking like intelligent people, which is very refreshing.

If you want a comfort-food kind of BL, something that is not spicy or full of angst but soothing and nourishing. this might be for you.

Nitiman is free on WeTV but requires a VPN for Thailand to watch if you don't live in SE Asia. Starting on July 16th 2021, it will be officially uploaded on Youtube on a weekly basis.