It’s not quite 2024 yet but I went through my list of shows I enjoyed this year that ended in 2023. My recommendations aren’t really random, but they are based on the categories I imagine them falling into.
By far the largest category was BL between students, in High School flavor…
Topping the list here would be one of the quirkiest Thai BLs I’ve seen, I Will Knock You. The love story between a High School delinquent convinced his tutor is in love with him and the tutor who is not in love with him (yet) made me smile from beginning to end. There’s also a lot of temple locations and some ice cream. I should recap this one.
My School President was a rom-com that actually made me laugh. In this high school Thai BL one hapless hero is convinced that the other one is his nemesis, when really he’s the object of his affection. This is a stress-free watch with fun side couples and catchy, poppy music.
Japan had two shows that I enjoyed. First is Kimi ni Wa Todokanai, which is a standard popular-introvert-in-love-with-his-unpopular-extrovert friend. Even if the story was cookie cutter, it hit all the notes in a satisfying way. It’s also not hard to understand if you’re learning Japanese.
The second, If It’s With You, hit me hard in my feels. One of the guys is sweet, smiling, and hurting inside while the other is the most responsible high school guy ever. There are beautiful shots of Enoshima, a cat, and whitebait. I loved this show enough to recap it.
It also comes in college flavor..
If you’re determined to watch a Korean show in this category, there’s Love Class Season 2. You don’t need to watch the first season, and it features 3 different couples in three different flavors. Maybe one will suit your tastes?
Stay By My Side is an amusing Taiwanese drama that seemed like it might be about a guy who could hear ghosts but was really about constant skinship. Not a good show if you want something serious, but if you’re in an un-serious mood it could be perfect.
Thailand’s Be My Favorite has a strong supernatural, timey-wimey element that sets it apart from the others in this category. If you are dying for students but want them to travel through time and get second chances to do things over, here’s your drama.
Honorable mention to Thailand’s Between Us. This drama features the second couple from Until We Meet Again (Which I plan to recap next year). They’re a popular and charismatic pairing and I know a lot of people were disappointed by this show, but I enjoyed it. They were two guys with problems who couldn’t communicate well but still managed to be there for each other.
What if I’m in the mood for hetero couples in school?
I don’t have as many of those to recommend, but China’s When I Fly Towards You was a very sweet, easy watch. Our female lead is introverted and good enough at English to tutor our introverted male lead, which is a real change up for this kind of show. If you’re looking for a stress free fantasy of what High School life could be, it works.
In Hidden Love he’s not in school, but she is so I’ll go ahead and mention it here. For any of us who’ve ever had a crush on an older brother’s best friend, this captures that intense longing for the impossible. But it’s not impossible, and it’s a fluffy, stress free watch.
People fall in love outside of school, right?
Yes! Sometimes!
The one GL I watched (I think the first ever full length series) was the Thai office drama GAP. It was far from perfect, but the cold, poorly socialized business woman falling for her sweet employee had a lot of chemistry and cute moments.
From Korea we had a city guy/country guy combo in the BL Love Tractor. Our city guy is handsome but it’s our boisterous country guy who really stood out. His enthusiasm as he realized his feelings and worked on how to handle them was infectious. Another fun watch.
Japan gave me another show worth recapping in My Personal Weatherman. If you want guys who AREN’T green flags trying to work out how to have a relationship, give this a try. Though it doesn’t get as explicit as some Thai BL, I liked seeing how their sexual dynamics played into their relationship.
Speaking of Thai BL, Wedding Plan managed to hide serious issues of family acceptance inside a light, comedic plot. A man and a woman plan to marry to hide their true sexual orientations from their families. But then the groom-to-be becomes attracted to his wedding planner. Sometimes changing people’s minds directly or estranging yourselves from them isn’t an option you want to take, and I liked seeing that in this often silly show.
China’s fantasy The Starry Love combined fantasy with comedy though it couldn’t resist getting all Xianxia-angsty at times. It all starts with a classic switched-bride situation leading to two perfect-for-each-other opposite couples. There were also fun side couples, terrible heavenly parents, and exciting adventures. (I guess there was a school, but I’m not counting it.)
What if I’m in the mood for healing?
Apparently I have a thing for healing, because I recapped all three of these shows this year.
If you want that as a BL with a side of healing from the past, I’m going to recommend Our Dining Table. In this Japanese BL a sweet, lonely salaryman meets a warm family and everyone heals each others hearts. There’s also great, everyday Japanese food.
If you want that as a BL with a side of chicken there’s Moonlight Chicken. This slice-of-life Thai BL features the lives of a group of men centered around a Hainese chicken restaurant. Issues of class and money are explored while a burnt out restaurant owner and a younger man in a messy break-up tentatively start a relationship. A lot of people preferred the side couple, a Deaf young man living isolated in his home and the young man who helps him get out of it.
If you want that as a hetero-sexual romance with a side of healing, I recommend On A Starry Night. In this Japanese drama a younger Deaf man who cleans the homes of the deceased pursues a gynecologist who delivers babies. I loved that our male leads deafness was a part of his character but the story focused on our female leads healing.
What if I want to turn off my brain?
For good, stupid fun in a BL flavor I recommend Thailand’s low budget-but-enthusiastic Laws of Attraction. It features our To Sir With Love Couple, but now our nice guy is all evil smiles and our jaded guy is a do-gooder. Their chemistry is amazing but the visual affects for fires aren’t, and that makes for an entertaining combo.
In a hetero flavor, there’s Korean’s Perfect Marriage Revenge. The good guys are good, the bad guys are bad, and the chemistry is hot. There are no messages, but there are orphans and pregnancy and cooking classes and hospitals. A fun ride of a show that doesn’t get bogged down with any serious messaging.
If you can stand ridiculous plots and characters pushed to their absolute limit, I recommend China’s My Lethal Man. Think about anything going on in this show too hard and it’ll hurt your brain, starting with the female lead reminding the male lead of his sister. This is only for those who truly love nonsense.
What if you’re not in the mood for love?
One of my favorite shows of the year is a Taiwanese supernatural-horror-thriller Oh No! Here Comes Trouble, which I recapped. There is a great bromance, monsters, calligraphy, and some sad tragic stories. It combines angst and comedy brilliantly. I laughed and I felt like I gained insight into the human heart.
Even though the ending got messy, I think China’s Parallel World had some amazing fantasy and locations. There is romance, but it’s the visuals and fantasy elements that have stuck with me the most. And the chicken. The chicken is great.
Korea’s Revenant has no romance, just great horror with creepy details. I love horror that can turn a benign action, like knocking on a door, into something frightening. There are also great performances that really sell the nightmare of what is going on.
China’s historical mystery Under the Microscope, got me more inveested in Ming era taxes than I ever expected. Our main guy is a true underdog working against the bureaucratic power of the time. The acting is fantastic and so are the hats.
That’s it for 2023!
There were a lot of other shows that I would absolutely reccommend under the right circumstances, but 25 shows seemed like enough for now. I’m excited to see what 2024 brings to drama land!