After a strange week, I found myself back again in the BL drama genre. It's about time we ventured beyond the South Korean border and saw some fantastic international dramas within this genre. Good odd presentations are hard to come by, so recommendations are always welcome!
Mhm… lots of BL content on the blog this week but I'm in the mood lately, and Yuri or GL's are hard to come by, (at least the good ones don't make me feel slovenly because of their fetish-y and are made to fulfill a cis male fantasy), so I found myself in the pit of gay drama. I watched this 4 weeks alone but I'm not a newbie to the genre, it seems anxiety is great for fighting depression and I'm always on the lookout for a good queer rep. I get a bit fed up with hetero narration sometimes and K-Drama is sadly full of it. I'm tired of living off the crumbs. BL can be fantastic, okay, really cringe or downright weird, but there are some amazing ones out there that I thought and I wanted to share them with you today, because watching dramas is my way of de-stressing, forgetting the world and worries. me these six plays had a great impact on me. Also, forgive me, I know we are called hallyureviews, but sometimes I just want to share other country's content with you!
One of the dramas this week I finished, 12 episodes of 20-30 minutes long and one of the reasons I didn't sleep more than 5 hours a night this week. (Insomnia is only half of the reason). Be Loved in House: I Do is a Taiwanese drama and I have to say this is the country I've seen the most BL in. There is something about them that makes me watch every time and compared to China and SK they seem so much more advanced in society as in accepting LGBTQ+. I mean, both of the Taiwanese shows on this list have amazing, supportive mother characters. Man I'm jealous.
However, Be Loved in House: I Do is a little more predictable, I really enjoyed the whole story. Enemies to lovers has always been a trope which I enjoy and both actors are pretty good actors, the age difference is quite big but it causes one of them to be much more experienced than the other. Pretty sure this is Hank Wang's acting debut (that guy's dimples make me weak). I wish this drama had a little more depth but it got the job done in the end even if ZuZhen was emotionally crippled but you know what? I relate.
I'm not sure who came with them but they always seem a bit random to me. It may be a language barrier, but how horrifying they are. Anyway, WBL is another Taiwanese BL drama I watched this week and it kept me up too late into the night. There are two seasons to this, a total of 12 episodes so far, and there could be a third season to come! I like this a bit more than BLIH. WBL characters are just a little more immersive and their communication and character development is explored in a better way and their chemistry is there too which makes me happy.
Pretty sure you can watch this on WeTV too!
Though the second season was a bit too rough for my liking – too many strong slaps and kisses – but oh well, we can't have it all! It's another foe for lovers to hate to love again this type of drama but we get a decent amount of fluff too, which balances all the anxiety. 'Cause boy you know a good BL should be.
Like in the Movie
Whoa, will I move on from this filipino drama? I keep mentioning it too much on the blog. I might though because I googled if we get a second season and one of the actors seems a butt hole, but sometimes the story is more important than the actors. Like In The Movies premiered last year, when I was also experiencing something very personal and realistically weird rap and the topics covered were very important to me. It's a very painful drama to watch, but it's also very refreshing to see these knowledgeable characters and how they handle things. This drama doesn't have a happy ending either, it's very realistic and that's what makes it so great. We all love and enjoy the tragic love that starts with living together too much right? And Like In The Movies is exactly that. Let's try to give the people behind it the love it deserves except for one of the male leads, of course.
You can watch this one on YouTube!
Let's take it to the west of the world, toSweden to be exact. Una and I both have a special relationship with Sweden and the language, and enjoy good Scandinavian drama. This Netflix show came at the perfect time, I had just finished Vincenzo (I believe) and needed something new to fill my life and to deal with the Uni which was stressing me out. Netflix gave me one of the most heartbreaking and beautiful dramas I've seen on the platform in a while. This is a very great character and has such depth. Young Royals is more than just their youthful love, it's an age story that will make you cry and feel seen. I need Netflix to confirm the second season of the show like yesterday. I'm not sure what they're waiting for, but if I don't get more Simon and Willhelm soon, I might die. No hat.
