I have written about this earlier: while the Boys Love (BL) genre may have already become mainstream in Thailand, its popularity in international/Asian markets such as in the Philippines (and for that matter, South Korea, Taiwan and China) may still be considered as nascent.
It's certainly up for debate but in the Philippines, the unfortunate quarantine situations appeared to have worked in favor of arresting the attention of socmed-savvy netizens of the country. The chatter on socmed should bear this out, particularly on "2gether: The Series" - a 2020 Thai BL series about two college-aged boys who began a fake relationship that soon became real.
Soon as well, Twitter was awash with clips and commentaries on other BL series that have become popular in Thailand and elsewhere but in the Philippines, that is, until recently: "SOTUS: The Series" (2016), "Together With Me" (2017), and "TharnType: The Series" (2019).
I, myself, have been able to recently binge-watch and expand my viewing options, to include "Addicted Heroin" from China and "Where Your Eyes Linger" from South Korea. There are other titles I checked but if nothing catches my fancy early on, such as the story/dialog (even if subtitled) or the actors, I discontinue to watch post-haste.
I have no authority to be saying this but probably due to the popularity of BLs lately, home-grown BLs also started being announced to either be in development, or being shown soon.
In fact, "Gameboys" #GAMEBOYStheSeries, "Sakristan", "Hello Stranger" and "Truly Very Yous" are available now (as per Facebook account "Boys Love Drama").
Esteemed BL-centric site, "PyschoMilk" #psychomilk considers the release of "Gameboys" a welcome surprise. It writes: "Across PyschoMilk's social media platforms, we are always putting out feelers and teasers about purely BL series that are soon to come from Filipino filmmakers. Never did we realize that we would be blindsided and surprised that it will be much sooner than we thought." A welcome blindside and pleasant surprise indeed.
At the same time, I am in anticipation over the release of "Oh, Mando" and mildly expectant over "My Day: The Series" even as "PyschoMilk" mentions in one of its features that these other titles - "My Extraordinary", "Where We Were", "Sa Pagitan ng Kumusta at Paalam" and "The Boy Foretold By The Stars" are also forthcoming.
Let us also not forget that popular spoken word artist Juan Miguel Severo has penned "Gaya Sa Pelikula" and awaiting production by Globe Studios, even as the script is now available on Wattpad.
As per Facebook account "Boys Love Drama", there will be "11 BL series from the Philippines ongoing or slated to be shown this year (2020)."
To be sure, there had been filmed gay-themed productions in the past 5 or so years but nothing compares to "Gameboys" as a true (as against what "PyschoMilk" refers to as quasi) BL series. "PsychoMilk" describes TEAM Mag's "Hanging Out" in 2016, as pseudo-BL. "PscyhoMilk" continues: It appears that "Gameboys" is not just a token representation of the LGBTQ+ community, but a genre series that entices squeals from the fangirls, a skipped heartbeat from a gay man as he is reminded of what his youth could have been if society had been more welcoming in years past....
Truth be told, this year, and despite the quarantine situations, there appears to be a veritable prolific harvest of BLs in a relatively short amount of time - it is cause for celebrations!
It's certainly up for debate but in the Philippines, the unfortunate quarantine situations appeared to have worked in favor of arresting the attention of socmed-savvy netizens of the country. The chatter on socmed should bear this out, particularly on "2gether: The Series" - a 2020 Thai BL series about two college-aged boys who began a fake relationship that soon became real.
Soon as well, Twitter was awash with clips and commentaries on other BL series that have become popular in Thailand and elsewhere but in the Philippines, that is, until recently: "SOTUS: The Series" (2016), "Together With Me" (2017), and "TharnType: The Series" (2019).
I, myself, have been able to recently binge-watch and expand my viewing options, to include "Addicted Heroin" from China and "Where Your Eyes Linger" from South Korea. There are other titles I checked but if nothing catches my fancy early on, such as the story/dialog (even if subtitled) or the actors, I discontinue to watch post-haste.
I have no authority to be saying this but probably due to the popularity of BLs lately, home-grown BLs also started being announced to either be in development, or being shown soon.
In fact, "Gameboys" #GAMEBOYStheSeries, "Sakristan", "Hello Stranger" and "Truly Very Yous" are available now (as per Facebook account "Boys Love Drama").
Esteemed BL-centric site, "PyschoMilk" #psychomilk considers the release of "Gameboys" a welcome surprise. It writes: "Across PyschoMilk's social media platforms, we are always putting out feelers and teasers about purely BL series that are soon to come from Filipino filmmakers. Never did we realize that we would be blindsided and surprised that it will be much sooner than we thought." A welcome blindside and pleasant surprise indeed.
At the same time, I am in anticipation over the release of "Oh, Mando" and mildly expectant over "My Day: The Series" even as "PyschoMilk" mentions in one of its features that these other titles - "My Extraordinary", "Where We Were", "Sa Pagitan ng Kumusta at Paalam" and "The Boy Foretold By The Stars" are also forthcoming.
Let us also not forget that popular spoken word artist Juan Miguel Severo has penned "Gaya Sa Pelikula" and awaiting production by Globe Studios, even as the script is now available on Wattpad.
As per Facebook account "Boys Love Drama", there will be "11 BL series from the Philippines ongoing or slated to be shown this year (2020)."
To be sure, there had been filmed gay-themed productions in the past 5 or so years but nothing compares to "Gameboys" as a true (as against what "PyschoMilk" refers to as quasi) BL series. "PsychoMilk" describes TEAM Mag's "Hanging Out" in 2016, as pseudo-BL. "PscyhoMilk" continues: It appears that "Gameboys" is not just a token representation of the LGBTQ+ community, but a genre series that entices squeals from the fangirls, a skipped heartbeat from a gay man as he is reminded of what his youth could have been if society had been more welcoming in years past....
Truth be told, this year, and despite the quarantine situations, there appears to be a veritable prolific harvest of BLs in a relatively short amount of time - it is cause for celebrations!