From this week onwards, we are introducing a new feature for avid BL fans- “Weekly BL Updates” whereby we will publish the latest announcements pertaining to the Boy’s Love universe. Let’s dive into the BL shores and check out what’s happening!
Extinguish The Light
Zee Pruk and Nunew Chawarin will star in a movie adaptation of CEO’s novel ‘Dubsaengrawee’ ‘Extinguish The Light’. The movie is a period drama produced by Major Group and is of the horror-romance genre. The movie will be shown in Major Cineplex chains across Thailand, there have been no details regarding an international release as of yet. The plot follows Pra Plaeng (Played by Zee) who enters into an engagement with Sang Rawee (Nunew), they have six months to progress their relationship otherwise they will have to break their engagement. During this time, they encounter different horror mysteries and adventures together.
Korean BLs
Korean production companies have entered a new era of Boys Love. Hanyang International is collaborating with Thai Production companies to produce multilingual and multi-cultural BL series, the much anticipated ‘Love Is Like a Cat’ starring Mew Suppasit will be the first to air, followed by ‘Eccentric Romance’ starring cute photos of Save Saisawat and Yoon Junwon. Other production companies have opted to add second couples to their series, for instance ‘Love Class season 2’ ‘Why RU’ and ‘Unintentional Love Story’ to name a few. This will change the entire format of Korean BL series as they will have need a longer runtime to tell the stories. ‘Unintentional Love Story; will have 10 episodes with an average runtime of 40 minutes. This has only been seen in ‘Light On Me’ and ‘To My Star 2’.
Official Trailers-
Ja Pachara, Don’t Say No & Be Mine SuperStar
Ja Pachara, the lead actor of ‘Don’t Say No’ under 888 Entertainment is taking some time off work to go through his ordination ceremony. This news came immediately after he finished filming his new series ‘Be Mine Superstar’ in which he stars alongside longtime partner, First Chalongrat. The ordination ceremony will last a month and will be a private family affair, no details will be shared with fans or the public. Ja is expected to return to work towards the end of April.
About Us But Not About Us
Elijah Canlas makes his international movie debut in ‘About Us But Not About Us’. The movie made its world premiere at the Tallinn Black Nights Film Festival in November 2022 and has already won several awards. The movie has been described as ‘masterfully orchestrated’ and a ‘truly intellectual and cinematographic pleasure’. The movie portrays only two characters sitting at a table, having a conversation. The story focuses on a university professor meeting one of his former students, a prospective writer seeking mentorship and guidance. It seems like a simple and casual breakfast but it takes many unexpected turns. The film delves into identity, loss, status, age and expression. Elijah stars alongside notable Filipino actor Romnick Sarmenta.
Official Trailer-
Midnight Musuem
A debate has sparked in the BL multiverse, a conversation or should I say a couple which has everyone confused. GMMTV aired ‘Midnight Museum’ a couple of weeks ago, a series which was never described as ‘Boys Love’ but has managed to make everybody dizzy from the amazing chemistry which the lead actors share. Gunn Atthaphan and Tor Thanapob take on the roles of Dome and Khatha, two people who are obviously connected but nobody knows how. Many theories have been put forward, some of reincarnated lovers, forgotten brothers, hallucinations and even possession. One of these theories is true and we will not know if ‘Midnight Museum’ falls into the boys love category until the end. What we can say is, it’s a completely riveting and captivating show. If you’re a fan of horror, if you’re not afraid of the dark we would recommend watching this series. Trying to figure out the story is half the fun.
Mew Suppasit and Art Pakpoom
Mew Suppasit is once again making headlines, this time because of a 5-year controversy that has finally been settled. In 2018 and 2019 Mew starred in a series called ‘What The Duck’ season 1 and 2 alongside Art Phakphum. To promote the series Mew and Art did a lot of fan service. They were cute in front of the camera but fans were dismayed to find out that behind the camera that was not the case. A video surfaced of Art Phakphum in tears, he claimed Mew had crossed a line beyond fan service and some things were done without his consent. Mew denied the allegations and the case was taken to court. It took a while for both of them to get their careers back on track, and now after 5 years they have settled the matter privately in mediation with Art offering Mew a public apology. He stated there were some misunderstandings between the two which have been resolved. They both do not wish to revisit the matter further, there are no hard feelings and they wish each other the best.
The Laws of Attraction
Jam Rachata and Film Thanapat are in their Superstar era. Last year they played the lead roles in Thai Lakorn ‘To Sir, With Love’, after which they gained international fame. Lucky for us they’ve decided to build on that fame and make another series under the same production company called ‘The Laws of Attraction’. ONE31 is keeping a lot of the details related to this series under wraps, what they did reveal was that it’s a crime related romance drama and Film will play a cold hearted lawyer.
Bed Friend Series
Mandee-Domundi series ‘Bed Friend’ starring Net Siraphop and James Supamongkon is making waves. So few series gain this much popularity in such a short amount of time. The views, the trends, the critical acclaim are all good. So it wasn’t a surprise when the producers decided to add two more episodes to the story to make it a total of 10 episodes. Bed Friend will serve as a prequel to upcoming ‘Middleman’s Love’ series starring Tutor Koraphat and Yim Pharinyakorn.
Venus in the Sky
9Naa production, the company behind ‘Checkout’ series has announced their next major project called ‘Venus in The Sky’. The story follows two friends, one has the feelings for the other and decides to confess. Sadly, his feelings are not returned which causes awkwardness and the two eventually fall out of touch. Years later, the two meet again, but this time the shoe is on the other foot. How do you convince a man you rejected to love you? There are several Boys Love series following this trope right now, Korean ‘My Dating Sim’ and Thai ‘The Promise’, so it’s a race to see who can tell this story better. Venus in the Sky stars Tod Pranapong, Cheque Wacharawee, Max Achira and Tontae Tinnakon.
Official Teaser-
Pleng Prai Love Puzzle
KOB entertainment presents the lead actors of their upcoming series ‘Pleng Prai Love Puzzle’. Noh Poulang (Nitiman) will star as Pleng and Tan Kittinan (The Theory) as Prai. Pleng has just moved to Bangkok to further his studies. On the night of his arrival, Pleng goes out with his friends and meets a stranger who challenges him to a game of pool. Pleng is swindled and loses every game, getting way too drunk in the process. Despite his inebriated state, his fascination with this stranger grows by the second. He ends up spending the night with the stranger at a hotel. When he wakes up, the stranger has disappeared and has repaid him the money he lost the night before. At freshman orientation Pleng is surprised to discover the stranger is a senior in his faculty.
Wedding Plan
Me Mind Y, the production house behind ‘Tharntype’ and ‘Love in The Air’ has joined the list of production companies that are integrating BL and GL couples. GL is a relatively new genre, it’s not as profitable as BL and producers are trying to draw attention to the work by blending the two genres. GMMTV has a similar project called 23.5 which will be released late this year.
Me Mind Ys project is called ‘Wedding Plan’ and it stars Sunny Wannarat as Sailom and Pak Naphat as NamNuea. Sailom and Yiwa are engaged. This marriage was arranged by their families. Both are forced to choose between duty and their hearts when its revealed that Yiwa already has a lover, Marine, and Sailom falls in love with the wedding planner NamNuea. Wedding Plan held its worship ceremony and is officially in pre-production.
The Day I Loved You
Regal Entertainment, the production company behind BenxJim season 1 and 2 will release a new series this year called ‘The Day I Loved You’. The series will star Rabina Angeles, Andre Miguel and Raynold Tan. No further information has been released with regards to the plot except that it follows the experience of first love.
Miracle & Immunity Shield
While other countries produce dozens of BL series in a year, Taiwan will usually produce 2 or 3. But it seems this year the tide might be turning as Taiwan has announced two series this month alone, both of which are currently in production.
The first is ‘Miracle’. Miracle was written by Lin Pei Yu, popular Taiwanese author and screenwriter. She wrote My Tooth Your Love, We Best Love season 1 and 2, and several segments of the HIStory franchise. The story follows Bai Zongyi (played by Lin Yutong) a young man who is determined to be a doctor and is forced to help an injured mafia Fan Zerui (played by Xu Kai). Bai ZongYi is wrongly imprisoned for Fan Zerui’s crime and they have been strangers since then. 4 years later fate brings them together again.
Next up is ‘Immunity Shield’ also called ‘Stand by Your Side’. The series will star Yan Yixuan and Hong Weizhe. It portrays Gu Buxia who develops the ability to hear ghosts, which is ironic because he’s afraid of them. He meets Jiang Chi, a new transfer student who he butts heads with immediately. It becomes hard to avoid Jiang Chi when Gu Buxia realizes he can’t hear the ghosts when he’s around Jiang Chi. Is Jiang Chi the cure to his problem?
No air dates have been released for these two series yet.
Love Mate
Cho Hyun-Min and Cho Han Gyeol have been revealed as the lead actors in upcoming Korean BL series ‘Love Mate’. An office romance that follows the appearance of a daring new employee and an iron-man who doesn’t believe in love.
Low Frequency
Kantana has announced the adaptation of dawins novel ‘Low Frequency’. The lead characters will be played by Ping Guntapat (The Tuxedo) and Guitar Sarin. It depicts the story of a young interior designer who can see spirits and gets involved with a young actor’s accidents case.
Love in Translation
Channel ONE31 in collaboration with ATime26 have announced a new project ‘Love in Translation’. The series will star LAZ1’s members Offroad Kantapon and Daou Pittaya. Atime26 is a subsidiary company of Grammy, and is the same production company behind ‘Our Days’ the series. It depicts the story of two young men, one who wants success and one who wants love. The two agree to help each other with their predicaments. And the more time they spend together, the more their hearts are shaken.
My Story The Series
So few production companies in the Phillipines produce quality BL series, but Oxin Films is one that has garnered enough attention. Under the direction of Xion Lim Oxin Films has released ‘My Day’ and ‘Rainbow Prince’ the series. In the past there has been some disputes within the company between the production team and their actors, but it seems the dust has settled and they’re moving forward with a new project ‘My Story’ the series.
Oxin films has just released the trailer for ‘My Story’ and so far it’s receiving good reviews. Oxin is breaking the boundaries of culture by filming primarily is Thailand. The visuals are stunning and language does not seem to be a barrier here. ‘My Story’ is the sequel to ‘My Day’ and it continues the story of Sky (played by Miko Gallardo). In the previous series Sky was portrayed as a culinary intern making his way into a multi-billion dollar food company. He inadvertently fell in love with his boss Ace. They seemed to have a happy ending but nothing good lasts forever because for the opening of ‘My Day’ we see a clear time jump. In this future Sky is no longer an intern but a grown man struggling to look for a job. He gets an opportunity to travel to Thailand and work as a Chef there. That’s where he meets a fellow employee Win (played by Teejay Marquez). Can Sky find love once again?
Official Trailer-
The Sign
Idol Factory Thailand launched a new Boys Love project with an impressive selection of their top tier actors. Last year ‘Idol Factory’ proved to us they deserve to be amongst the elite producers in Thailand by releasing ‘GAP the series’ and ‘Secret Crush On You’. This year they’re starting strong with a new supernatural-action series ‘The Sign’. Idol Factory will be producing this series in collaboration with Channel 3HD and they have assured the public it will be on-screen before the end of the year.
‘The Sign’ is a story about the bond of love between two young men who cared for each other in the past. An unfortunate incident forced them to part ways but fate and destiny intervened and they were reincarnated. Different bodies same souls. Now they are Phana (played by Billy Patchanon) and Tharn (played by Babe Tanatat), two officers and partners in the Special Investigations Unit. They will suffer many obstacles in the form of a mysterious and private psychiatrist “Cholothon” played by Heng Asavarid.
Stay tuned, until next week!
The BL Xpress 
That is an excellent article. Between reading, checking photos on Instagram and watching trailers it took me more than 30 minutes. Would you be good enough to tell me the difference between BL (boys love) and GL? First time I remember seeing the initials.
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GL (girls love) sometimes referred to by fans as Yuri, is a literary genre or media that showcases romantic relationships between female characters
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