Feel-good BL Dramas & Movies (Korea/Japan)

Country -Japan
Release Date - 2020
Status - Complete
Drama
No. of Episodes - 12
Episode Length - 24 min.
Production Quality - 10/10
Acting - 9/10

Spoiler-free Review: A 30-year-old office worker virgin suddenly gains the supernatural power to read people's thoughts and discovers his handsome and popular workmate likes him. This was so cute and wholesome!

Country - South Korea
Release Date - 2021
Status - Complete
Web Series
No. of Episodes - 8
Episode Length - 14 min.
Production Quality - 10/10
Acting - 9/10

Spoiler-free Review: Loan shark falls in love with debt owner. Liked the acting, loved the great OST, and the two characters meeting and falling for each other was quite cute!

Country - South Korea
Release Date - 2020
Status - Complete
Web Series
No. of Episodes - 8
Episode Length - 10 min.
Production Quality - 9/10
Acting - 8/10

Spoiler-free Review: A cute story about two people meeting by chance and dealing with their feelings towards life and each other. Quite short but a feel-good watch nonetheless.

Country - South Korea
Release Date - 2021
Status - Complete
Web Series
No. of Episodes - 9
Episode Length - 15 min.
Production Quality - 8/10
Acting - 9/10

Spoiler-free Review: While short, the chemistry between the two leads was amazing to see and what surprised me the most was the very much realistic kiss between them, which was a change from the usual peck on the lips from most BL dramas to come out of South Korea.

Country - Japan
Release Date - 2021
Status - Complete
Drama
No. of Episodes - 10
Episode Length - 24 min.
Production Quality - 10/10
Acting - 8/10

Spoiler-free Review: A silly misunderstanding about a class crush pushes our two male leads into a funny yet cute predicament that leads them to explore their feelings for each other and what it means to love someone. The two leads are quite cute together and even if there's not much intimacy between them, the journey they take to acknowledge their relationship is wholesome.

Country - South Korea
Release Date - 2021
Status - Complete
Drama
No. of Episodes - 16
Episode Length - 21 min.
Production Quality - 10/10
Acting - 8/10

Spoiler-free Review: While still short when compared with other dramas from South Korea, it was great to watch a BL from this country have enough time to explore the characters and their struggles in finding love and figuring out who they are and what they want from each other. Think of "Light On Me" as a typical coming-of-age, romantic high school drama but the focus is on the cute boys and their crushes for each other.

Country - Japan
Release Date - 2020
Status - Released
Movie
Production Quality - 10/10
Acting - 8/10

Spoiler-free Review: A touching movie where the focus is more on family and self-growth rather than the main character's romance, which was an added bonus to the plot. Definitely worth a watch and there's a happy ending.

Country -Japan
Release Date - 2022
Status - Complete
Drama
No. of Episodes - 5
Episode Length - 25 min.
Production Quality - 8/10
Acting - 8/10

Spoiler-free Review: A 39-year-old section chief going through an early midlife crisis avoids anything new or mildly exciting that would otherwise break his monotonous work-sleep-work routine. That is until his younger subordinate at work challenges him to try things like a carefree young school girl would - waiting in line at a popular place to eat some pancakes, taking silly selfies, and eventually spending all their time together until feelings start to develop.

It was refreshing to see the beginning of a love story between two male characters who aren't in high school, especially since they're both 39 and 29, share a workspace, and have different world views. Watching them grow closer together and understand each other was sweet. No messes, drama, or tropes. Just two grown men finding who they are and falling for each other in the process.

This was sweet and light-hearted. No heavy themes and a warm ending!

Country -Japan
Release Date - 2022
Status - Complete
Drama
No. of Episodes - 8
Episode Length - 24 min.
Production Quality - 8/10
Acting - 9/10

Spoiler-free Review: Kouta is a gentle-looking young college student with extremely bad luck who has learned to hide his short-tempered personality from others out of fear they might avoid him like others did when he was a kid. One day he runs into Naoya, a popular and good-looking classmate who he finds has extremely good luck. By sticking close to him their luck cancels out and our protagonist is able to enjoy a normal life for the first time ever. Things get complicated when Naoya mistakes Kouta's desire to become close as a love confession and the two slowly get to learn and discover more about each other. Definitely a happy ending!

Country - South Korea
Release Date - 2021
Status - Complete
Web Series
No. of Episodes - 8
Episode Length - 11 min.
Production Quality - 8/10
Acting - 8/10

Spoiler-free Review: A cute setting with attractive boys cooking food and falling for each other. It's a shame it wasn't longer so we could understand and learn more about each character, but the main couple was worth it.

Country - South Korea
Release Date - 2021
Status - Complete
Web Series
No. of Episodes - 8
Episode Length - 15 min.
Production Quality - 9/10
Acting - 7.5/10

Spoiler-free Review: While not the most creative, and similar to another BL to come out of South Korea at the same time "The Tasty Florida", this one was a good watch for its runtime. The two main characters are cute enough together, even if at times I really didn't feel their chemistry was the best.

Country -Japan
Release Date - 2021
Status - Complete
Drama
No. of Episodes - 6
Episode Length - 24 min.
Production Quality - 8/10
Acting - 8/10

Spoiler-free Review: While the ending is happy for both main characters, their relationship wasn't my favorite. And the second lead definitely deserved better. But in the end, both main characters found love and happiness with each other so I still enjoyed it.