We recently listed down 5 BL series that you should be catching up on. Well it’s still Pride Month and there are so many good BL shows out there that we can’t fit all in just one list.
So, we are back with another list of 5 BL shows that you may want to watch. Again, these are just my personal opinion and in no particular order. Most of these also consist of less than 10 episodes, with each one running less than an hour (perfect for binge watching if you want to).
However, you can still watch them at your own pace even after Pride Month ends – I mean every month should be Pride, right?
Boys Be Brave (2024)
Kim Jin Woo, a Type A student, gets a new roommate: Jung Ki Sub, the campus playboy. Ki Sub knows about Jin Woo’s crush and decides to become Jin Woo’s ideal type. As they live together, Jin Woo struggles to hide his feelings. How long can he keep it up?
Kim Sung Hyun and Nam Shi An deliver strong performances in the BL show. Kim’s acting is especially effective in scenes where Jin Woo tries to control his feelings. Nam brings charm to Ki Sub, avoiding the flat “manic pixie dream gay” stereotype. The show also features a compelling side couple storyline.
Boys Be Brave might be a personal case of recency bias, but I still loved the show- more than I expected. The ‘forced cohabitation’ trope is not new, but I guess tropes are tropes for a reason and this was a really enjoyable watch.
Eternal Yesterday (2022)
Koichi, a popular high school student, and Mitsuru, his smart yet introverted classmate, fall in love despite their opposite personalities. One morning, Koichi gets hit by a truck. The two navigate a relationship “in between” life and death.
It is hard not to fully talk about Eternal Yesterday without giving away its twists and turns. The story uses the idea of the “limbo” to introspect a person’s relationship to life and death. For a plot that other people might find ridiculous, the BL shows managed to portray grief and solitude with such seriousness and sentimentality.
It is one of the more melancholic BL shows on this list but if you want a good cry (I cried for the entire last episode) it is definitely worth the watch.
I Cannot Reach You (2023)
Yamato and Kakeru are childhood best friends but the complete opposite of each other. Yamato is smart, cool, shy, and popular, while Kakeru is bubbly and clumsy. On a group date, Kakeru discovers Yamato’s long-time crush on him, starting a push-and-pull off emotions, crossing the line between friendship and romance.
‘Friends to Lovers’ stories are usually a hard sell for me personally. It tends to be cliché and predictable. But there’s something about I Cannot Reach You that makes for a delightful viewing experience. Maybe it’s because of the charm that Maeda Kentaro and Kashiwagi Haru brought to their respective lead characters. Maybe it’s how the show captures the innocence of first love.
It’s another one of those easy-watch that you can binge if you just want to inject some kilig back into your life.
Love for Love’s Sake (2024)
Tae Myung Ha wakes up being transported in an online game as a highschooler. His mission: to make Cha Yeo Woon, the school’s track and field star, happy. Fail the mission and Myung Ha will face dire consequences. While meeting other characters along the way, will he complete his mission?
Love for Love’s Sake is one of the buzziest BL series that made the rounds so far in 2024- and it’s not surprising why. It stands out from the usual slice-of-life and romance drama stories common among Korean BLs. As you watch the relationship developing between the characters, you get reminded by the game that runs through the undercurrent of the show. Despite having some clunky parts in the latter episodes, the plot twist at the end still felt earned and is a standout moment of the show.
Lee Tae Vin gave a nuanced performance of Myung Ha, but it was Cha Joo Wan, playing Yeo Woon, who was the breakout star of the series for many, including myself. His performance was incredibly sweet but still tender and vulnerable.
Even for non BL fans who just want to watch something with an interesting plot, I think this is a really good series to catch up on.
Moonlight Chicken (2023)
Jim is an owner of a Hainanese chicken rice diner. Before closing, he meets a drunken Wen who he takes care of and spends the night with. Despite Jim’s resistance, Wen continues to pursue the shop owner.
Working part-time at the diner is Jim’s nephew, Li Ming. One day, he was framed by Heart, the deaf son of an affluent family, for breaking an item in their house. To pay, he offered to work for the family. The more time the two spend together, the more they understand each other, and hate turns to love.
I had a bit of a hard time summarizing Moonlight Chicken because of the multiple storylines that it packed in its 8-episode run. It is definitely one of the better screenplays that have come out of the GMMTV studios. Every storyline was interweaved organically and nothing felt forced, albeit being melodramatic at times.
The definite highlight of the show was the scenes with Fourth and Gemini, who played Li Ming and Heart, respectively. They gave such complexities to their characters, which is always refreshing to see in teenage roles, and gave some of the best acting performances in the show.
The pair was starring in their own show My School President (a coming-of-age romcom) that was running around the same time. The one-two punch of these series showcased the duo’s range; they can perform both drama and comedy with such nuance. I’m so excited to see them in their future projects.
Cover image credit: Boys Be Brave (2024)
