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absolutebl · 6 months

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Okay, FINE, the shows you should watch for BL's QUEER AF roots

You ready to go hunting?

Many of these are difficult to find. Also many of the images of them and their posters have been block/banned by tumblr, so, no screen grabs for you! (Good times.)

I don't necessarily *like* any of these, but if you are queer and in this fandom and need to dialogue around BL's queerness - these are going to provide a foundation for you. They are important for various industry, reputation, directorial, and cultural reasons. As seeds often are.

Trigger warnings throughout.

The true beginnings:

Boys Love, Japan's 2006 movie is a REALLY rough start featuring a journalist + hot model = murder gay, mild necrophilia, cheating, abuse, rape, and suicide for love. Start as you mean to go on, why don't you, Japan? Is it queer... maybe? Is it BL... honey, I am very sorry to inform you, this started BL.

Note: Yoshikazu Kotani is famous in og BL circles since he acted in 3 early BLs, both Boys Loves and then Same Difference. Also he v tall and hawt.

Eternal Summer, Taiwan 2006 - unlike Japan, Taiwan did NOT start how it would, eventually, go on. But what a messy way to start. A high school story of 3 besties in a love triangle, self discovery, and sexual awakening that fucks it all up.

No Regret, Korea 2006, is a very unhinged queer catastrophe piece about a lost gay man who ends up a host and then almost a murderer because of both his job and his identity.

Note: This is the directorial feature film debut of Lee-Song Hee-il Korea's (so far as I know) first openly gay director who specialized (to this day) in queer content.

The Love of Siam, Thailand 2007, this was Thailand's queer awakening, sure they would backpedal for YEARS after, but in 2022 they began to remember what this movie was (and did) and overtly referenced this quiet little masterpiece. This movie is sad but stunning in that way that the best queer works from Thailand can be (like Present Perfect or ITSAY.) It has Thailand's quintessential softness around theme and character, which you'll understand perfectly when highlighted against the backdrop of the early 2000s works from Japan, Korea, and Taiwan. Thailand will never lose this soft style and it's one of the most attractive qualities of Thai BL: it's never very harsh with us or its characters. This movie very easily COULD have been quite harsh indeed.

I thought long and hard about including Rice Rhapsody AKA Hainan Chicken Rice (Hainan ji fan) on this list and finally decided it doesn't really qualify. Still let me mention Hong Kong's 2005 movie. It is amazing, fascinating, and very rough going for an ostensible comedy. It wasn't the actual beginning because few saw it and Hong Kong never really picked up or ran with BL let alone QL, but it was hella queer. It's also hella homophobic.

Just Friends? (2009 Korea) - this is Korea's first (kinda) upbeat version of a BL featuring already established boyfriends, one of whom is on military leave, trying to decide on coming out, family life, and the future. All of these are themes Korea will pretty much never tackle again, retreating as they would to their bubble. But what a fun little offering this little show was and is to this day. You should watch it.

Like Love 1 AKA I Love You As A Man: Part 1 - China's 2014 offering is actually pretty classic early form live action yaoi with things like whipping boy, a university setting, rich/poor jock/nerd pairing, hard grumpy/sunshine and a very odd title. It's pre-censorship with an HEA, also explicit, yeah China once did that. This is a lot less queer that it is classic BL and classic Chinese romance, neither of which have any kind of connection to reality. But hey, that's what I'm here for. But it's important to note the drifting away from queerness beginning to occur.

Love Sick - Thailand's 2014 "boys in blues shorts" high school set soapy (in all ways) offering is widely considered the true beginning of Thai BL and by default, eventually, BL as we know it today. (As the biggest producer they somewhat dictate taste and trends in the genre.) This is one of those BLs that owes almost nothing to yaoi, although it started a number of tropes that are now endemic to Thai BL. What it is, instead, is a well scripted story of bisexual self-discovery and the inherent chaos of loving someone of the same gender for the first time, all wrapped up in hormones, existing relationships, and communication issues. It is high school queer angst at its messiest. Nothing is going to be easy for these boys because queer isn’t easy but also because life isn’t easy… welcome to adulthood sweethearts. Is is overtly queer? For 2014 Thailand? Sure is.

Love Next Door 2 a movie from 2014 and one of Thailand’s early very high heat pieces, it’s odd, but sexy I guess? Some unexpectedly decent queer rep including femme characters getting screen time + HEAs. (Part one from 2013 has the same high heat content and features the same lead character (and actor) discovering he is gay with the sex worker next door, but isn't as good nor is it relevant to this installment.)

A few other unknowns, for the queer babies

Wait For Me at Udagawachou AKA Udagawachou de Matteteyo - from Japan in 2015, this is a story about two boys in high school one of whom is a repressed outsider and the other who has a terrible secret (body dysmorphia & cross dressing). When the first boy discovers what's up with the second one, his reaction is very much fetishization. "Oh Japan must you?" kinda started for me with this show. But in this case, Japan, weirdly MUST. This is the ONLY show laboring under (and testing) a pointedly straight lens (or is it?) and identity examination (yes but which boys' identity? that's the question) that I've EVER seen even edge into the BL genre. It is crazy queer, even as it mostly focuses on the fetishization of identity from an outsider's perspective. I WISH more people in fandom would watch it so I could at least talk to someone about it.

The Lover (BL Cut) Korea's 2015 series had multiple couples in an apartment complex, one pair of whom is a BL romance between a Korean man and a visiting Japanese tourist (played by a Kpop idol). It's comedic, slapstick sexy only (no kissing), but basically starts up Korea's bubble and use of idols in BL. It's kinda fascinating to watch them dodge around and still represent gayness in what (is sadly destined to become) a very Chinese way, but which Korea in pursuit of Hallyu and market share would morph into the bubble.

Mr. X and I from China in 2015 is a compilation piece and, I think, the first of this kind of multiple narrative shorter grab bags AKA "Sampler Pack BL." Two of the stories are very queerly sad, but the third is CLASSIC BL of the kind that would become China's best (and last) true BL, Addicted.

Sweet Boy, (Thai 2016) Chimon's first gay role and it is quite sad, oddly sexy, and similar to Dew the movie or My Bromance (just so you know what you are in for) but the acting is on point. When Thailand goes dark, this is how they do it, but this is rough going for baby queers because that's the darkness it is exploring. Our old thematic friends: the pain of self discovery and coming out into a homophobic environment and unfriendly reality, and the cost of being the one able (and willing) to stay in the closet.

Method (Korea 2017) this movie is a May/December actor/idol pairing, that should have been everything I wanted in life but is more about the older character cheating on his wife and their weird “artsy” relationship and frankly, I hated it. And I don’t say that lightly. Is it queer? Who tf knows, but is sure has some interesting things to say about the nature of PERFORMATIVE queerness.

Red Balloon is Taiwan's 2017 precursor BL to their biggest and most famous prestige piece Your Name Engraved Herein. If you're making a choice, choose that instead, but this series certainly paved the way for it to come into existence. Both shows tackle the pressures of culture and social structures on self acceptance and identity and the loneliness inevitably caused by conflict between the two.

(As indeed does Life Love On The Line, Present Perfect, Grey Rainbow, Tropical Night, My Sky, and many other queer meets early BL pieces that revolved around coming out and family acceptance.)

China's 3 2017 "they tried to censor the gay... and it went HORRIBLY wrong":

Beloved Enemy,

The Fairy Fox,

Mr. CEO is Falling in Love with Him.

Honestly these 3 are basically the uncanny valley of BLs.

The Novelist AKA The Pornographer series (2018-2020). Messy psychological machinations, gaslighting, fetishization, sexual corruption, and more good times from "well, what did you expect?" Japan, but also no holds barred queer, just well and truly fucked in the head (and arse) about it.

The Cornered Mouse Dreams of Cheese AKA Kyuso wa Chizu no Yume wo Miru (Japan 2020) - Drama llama queers so queer and so dramatic it's like Japan is trying to PROVE something: obsession, cheating, break-up, reunion, then break up again, all of it explicit. This show is just SO JAPANESE. I can't even, but you should watch it and you'll know exactly what I mean. Something like My Personal Weatherman owes it's lineage to this kind of BL. If you like Japan naked, boney, emo, and smoking (hot & ciggy) you will love this, and should watch it. It's objectively amazing, I can't stand it, but I NEED people to talk about it more.

More Queer Stuff about BL from moi

BL Linguistics & Queer Identity - I Am Gay versus I Like Men

Will BL Get More Honestly Queer?

Actually gay, not BL gay - the idea of “by queers, for queers, about queers,” the BL bubble, sanitized gay, and a queer lens

Queer lens (from the director) and chemistry (from the actors) in BL (A Tale of Thousand Stars)

Touch & Daisy in Secret Crush On You - Queer Coded Language and 3rd Gender Identity

BL in Taiwan & Gay Marriage

Debating Queerbaiting in BL ( + Devil Judge… is it queerbaiting?)

BL Actors and the Assumption of Queerness - outing actors, coming out, being out, more: Is that BL actor actually queer?

So is it really fetishization? straight women loving bl

Some BL fans are sasaengs, and it’s a problem in this fandom

BLs That Highlight How Society Treats Queers

10 BLs That Are Honest to a Queer Experience

If you like these kinds of shows try the "Moody Arthouse Smackdoodle" section of this post too.

Happy watching!

(source)

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missgryffin · 26 days

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sunday snippet ☺️

#eternal summer #happy easter! 🐇

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still-a-morosexual-help · 7 months

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Eternal Summer' twist ending traumatised me so much that now each time a game gives me a MC with 0 information about their background, origins and how they ended up in the game's particular circumstances I'm just like -

are you real

*eyeing twst's mc* are you a real person or just the unknowing puppet of a higher being, created with the particular skills needed to accomplish a task for their benefit

*eyeing blades of light and shadow's mc* are you a real person or-

*eyeing love island the game's m-

#eternal summer spoilers #?#eternal summer #choices eternal summer #choices blades of light and shadow #blades of light and shadow #choices bolas #bolas 2 #twisted wonderland #twst mc #twst wonderland #disney twst #twst yuu #twisted wonderland yuu #twisted wonderland mc

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maggiecheungs · 11 months

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ETERNAL SUMMER (2006) dir. Leste Chen

#eternal summer #leste chen #worldcinemaedit #asiandramasource #filmgifs #lgbtcinema #ray chang #joseph chang #taiwanese movie #ellisgifs

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thebvbbletea · 4 months

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I'm serious when I said asian movies always gave more impact to me than western movies.

LOOK AT ALL HIROKAZU KOREEDA'S MOVIES, WONG KARWAI'S, PARK CHANWOOK'S, BLUE, ALL ABOUT LILY CHOU CHOU, DEAR EX, BLUE GATE CROSSING, ETERNAL SUMMER, YOUR NAME ENGRAVED HEREIN, CRY ME A SAD RIVER, YOU ARE THE APPLE OF MY EYE, ETC. ETC.

ASIAN CINEMA MESSED ME UP AND I LOVE IT 😭

#hirokazu koreeda #wong kar wai #park chanwook #blue #all about lily chou chou #dear ex #blue gate crossing #eternal summer #your name engraved herein #cry me a sad river #you are the apple of my eye #asian cinema

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doublebilled · 4 months

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Eternal Summer (2006) dir. Leste Chen

Your Name Engraved Herein (2020) dir. Kuang-Hui Liu

#Kuang-Hui Liu #leste chen #eternal summer #your name engraved herein #taiwan #2000s #2020s #lgbtq #drama #friendship #coming of age #double bill suggestions

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helpilostmygender · 4 months

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It's been 8 years since I watched Iwatobi Swim Club and it became a massive special interest

Through most of highschool it took a back burner while my mental health steadily declined and my interests got darker

Last month I introduced my roommate/QPP @eclipsedrawsthings to the show and remembered just how much it means to me. Watching her quickly fall in love with it brought me nearly to tears.

I'd only ever watched the first two seasons and Starting Days before it quietly left my interest

So I've been watching all the content from beyond that point with her. And it meant the world to me

I'm 21 now. I've gone from barely older than the boys in the prequel to barely older than them in the finale

Last night, after 8 years, I finally watched the Finale Stroke movies with one of the most important people in my life.

My very first friend, who moved away before I could even really remember our time together, but was still a peripheral presence in my life. The girl I reunited with three times in middleschool before going our separate ways again. The woman who reached out to me and quickly realized we had grown into very similar people with very similar interests. The reason I was able to start a new life in a new state.

To say I cried is an understatement.

I finally got to see the conclusion to a story that hit incredibly close to home after eight years. And with someone I love. There were a lot of feelings happening for me.

Thank you for letting me share that with you Eclipse.

Anyway after that long winded emotional tangent, what I'm trying to say is this:

I'M FINALLY BACK IN THE FANDOM!

#free!#free! iwatobi swim club #eternal summer #final stroke #long post #sappy post

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absolutebl · 2 months

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Hi Absolute BL! Your blog has been a great resource for finding wonderful BLs to watch and love.

I was hoping you might be able to help. I've been having so much fun in BL/QL land that I've gotten a friend at least sorta interested but I don't really have a good show to recommend for them to watch. It would need to fit two requirements.

One of which is easy, low heat with maybe a couple kisses.

The other might not be possible: *big sigh* Dubbed instead of subtitled. They often can't do subtitles, but I haven't come across any BLs/QLs that are dubbed. A couple of kdramas on netflix are dubbed, but nothing that fits the bill.

I figured if anyone would know of a unicorn of a series that was low-heat, dubbed, and good, it would be you. If this is a unicorn of a different stripe, that is okay; I'll just continue with BL story time, where I basically summarize the plot of the BLs I'm obsessed with to my friend.

Happy Valentine's Day!

BLs that are Dubbed?

Ooo, you stumped me. Because I NEVER watch anything dubbed so I have those options turned off on all platforms.

Please COMMENT or RP+ if you know more?

Personally? I would check whatever is on Netflix in your country. In the states currently it's:

I Cannot Reach You

Wish You: Your Melody in Your Heart

Both of which satisfy your other criteria.

(Looks like Wish You is gone. If it was dubbed, you might be able to find the dubbed version grey now. Love Sick and SOTUS both were once on Netflix too, so you could check for them as well.)

Also good, possibly dubbed, on Netflix, but maybe not for your friend:

Eternal Summer

Your Name Engraved Herein

These are more in the "sad gay arthouse smackdoodle" arena.

Animated Yaoi

You could track these down? Crunchyroll maybe?

Cherry Magic

Love Stage!!

Semantic Error

These are the ones I know of off the top of my head that are also BLs. Love Stage!! and Cherry Magic both have Japanese and Thai BL adaptations.

It's pretty rare for BL to be dubbed. For many reasons, not the least of which is... it's not worth the money. It's leagues more expensive to loop than to caption.

Also, to be frank, the fandom isn't interested.

Unlike anime, live action fans often prefer the caption/sub experience and tend to be interested in (or even trying to learn) the source language. Sometimes because they are older, sometimes for other reasons. Demographics and all. Which is to say: if captions are less expensive and preferred, why bother dubbing?

I understand the disability argument in play, but remember these are entertainment assets at root - BLs need to make money. If dubbing isn't gonna increase audience numbers enough to profit, they have no reason to do it.

If any production house ever does it, my money is on Idol Factory. If The Sign got a Netflix distribution deal, for example, I could imagine a dubbed version. I don't think that's very likely, tho.

Honestly we (and they) should be so lucky!

#asked and answered #dubbed BL #Japanese BL #korean bl #I Cannot Reach You #wish you: your melody from my heart #Eternal Summer #Taiwanese BL #You Name Engraved Herein #cherry magic #cherry magic thailand #Love Stage!!#the sign #Idol factory

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missgryffin · 21 days

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I couldn't resist 🤭

#eternal summer #missgryffin snippets #😏#happy weekend!

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tigertoramaru · 5 months

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Water boards from Eternal Summer, finishing the rest from my previous: https://tigertoramaru.tumblr.com/post/735256446181195776/the-water-time-boards-from-eternal-summer

#non i11 #Free!#eternal summer #screencap #rin matsuoka #haruka nanase #nitori aiichirou #sousuke yamazaki #makoto tachibana #rei ryugazaki #mikoshiba momotarou #mikoshiba seijuurou #nagisa hazuki #tora q

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achiara · 1 year

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