10 BL Series That Made BL Popular! 

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I think the popularity of 'Kinmporshe' took the bl industry into the stratosphere. 👍😊❤️ Made it more mainstream. 🙂

It seems like ppl don't understand that this is not really a list of the most popular bls but a list of bls that were somehow groundbreaking and took the bl genre to the next level. Like there are a few bls here that I didn't like at all but I still recognise their significance. And there are certainly a few very popular ones that didn't make the list bcs they didn't make that much of a difference for the genre. Also, the fact that this or that bl was your first doesn't mean it was groundbreaking for the whole industry either.

I cant belive u included "i told the sunset abt u " in the honorable mentions .It was a masterpiece of a drama.The story , cinematography and acting were top notch .I dont usually watch thai BLs but this was just the most beautiful piece of art. It deserves a league of its own .

Honestly ppl be sleeping on the Taiwanese bl industry while they be killin it since forever with HIStory series and sm more. They relli be serving with We Best Love and now Unknown, Kieski Dear To Me and sm more amazing and cool experimental bls tbh. Every single year they always ate with so much cool concepts with the bls. Everyone should relli stop sleeping on Taiwanese industry😭🙏

The Untamed. I know a lot if people don't appreciate it as a BL, but it is, and it was my first.😊

Why is it that Gameboys never makes these lists? The romance, comedy, and drama had me hooked right from the first episode! They made a second season and a full length movie! Especially being done through the Covid Pandemic which we all can relate to. I love the chemistry between them and the rest of the cast.

Addicted was the one who burst in storm....

I would include Tales of 1000 Stars as it set a new standard for quality storytelling at the time and also broke the mold of the university story line as well. After the impact of Tales many more well written and produced series came into the fray.

Manner of Death was a refreshing new plot type for me back then. History 3: Trapped also felt unique and special.

- We Best Love - If It's With You - I Cannot Reach You - The Eighth Sense - WHY R U? - Old Fashioned Cupcake - Minato's Laundrymat - Our Dining Table - Tokyo In April Is... - My Love Mix-Up - Ossan's Love - Cherry Blossoms After Winter - A Shoulder To Cry On - Kissable Lips - His (Movie Ver. 😢😢😢) - The Day I Loved You - Boy's Lockdown - Gameboys - Not Me - My Only 12% - Love For Love's Sake - PitBabe - Dear Doctor, I'm Coming For Your Soul (Sorry the list is so long 😂)

For me 'Bad Buddy' was the first BL I watched. The ones that got me hooked were 'Until We Meet Again', 'Semantic Error' and 'A Tale Of 1000 Stars'. And the one that got me deepest and unable to get over was 'The Untamed' which is still my personal favorite.

Definitly Unknown. This series is so incredibly good, the chemistry between the actors is on point. I doubt any other series will come along in 2024.

UWMA was my first bl. I started watching bls in 2020,because I was so bored of the boring movies on TV. At that time I was ARMY and I asked them if they know what bl is and a lot said yes and recommended UWMA to me. I was immediately hooked. You named my favorites here. Although the Japanese version of Cherry Magic wasn't as good to me.

I think love sick the series was also the series which introduced bl to many.

There are BL Series that were not so popular in their year, but became popular in the following year such as Triage (2022) became much more popular, known in the year 2023 and this has happened before with The Miracle of Teddy Bear and with To Sir, With Love

Top 10 BLs that I think contributed to the global success of BLs, some of which I wasn't a fan of. Gonna try to be as objective as possible here. For context, I got into BL in 2018, the year Love By Chance was released: 1. 2gether: It's impact was undeniable. After that show, BLs were being pumped out like hotcakes and it hasn't slowed down since. I would say this show has had the biggest impact on the industry and I hated this show once I realized the couple had no chemistry and were more like roommates than romantic partners. Everything else after this is in no particular order of impact, except for Semantic Error. 2. Semantic Error: This show single-handedly catapulted Korean BLs into the mainstream. After this show's success, every production company started pumping em out and it hasn't stopped since. Undeniable impact. Love this show! Hype well deserved. 3. Cherry Magic: This show did for Japan what Semantic Error did for Korea. Love it, despite the lack of a kiss. 4. Sotus: A beloved OG BL, one of the "godfather" shows of the industry; need I say more? I love this show for what it is, despite finding some elements annoyingly cliche at this point in the game, "I'm only gay for you" UGH! lol 5. TharnType: I hate the toxicity of this show, but its popularity is undeniable. I watched it because it was binge-worthy despite its toxic nature. 6. KinnPorsche: I still have never watched it but heard ALL ABOUT IT. 7. Bad Buddy: Same as KinnPorsche, but I watched this show after all the hype and loved it, mostly. Great acting. 8. 2Moons: Not the best acting, but it's a comfort show for many of us OG BL stans before we had a lot of BLs to watch, and it's as iconic as Sotus and belongs in the "godfather" category. 9. Love By Chance: Though I think it sort of faded in popularity, it was, at the time, one of the most popular BLs ever. 2018 was a rough year for BLs. Most BLs released that year were not good AT ALL, so LBC was a bright light in a dark tunnel. It deserves its flowers. This show was not perfect, but its a comfort show for me. 10. Addicted, I hate the toxic nature of this show, but its impact was undeniable. An OG "godfather" show, but for China, despite the controversial themes. I really didn't like this show. smh. 11. Honourable Mentions: A Tale of a Thousand Stars/Gameboys: A Tale of a Thousand Stars was famous for its unique setting, beautiful visuals, great chemistry, and wonderful acting. I think this series helped to shake up the monotony of BLs and gave us a different vibe from the typical university/school settings we were all so accustomed to. I think the only gripe people had with this show was that there was only one kiss. But its production value is always touted as one of the best in the industry. Gameboys brought a unique perspective like ATOATS, plus great acting. I haven't watched it, but I know of its impact. It's the Cherry Magic/2Gether/Semantic Error of the Philippines. Was a highly regarded BL, globally. 12. Bonus - My Favorite BL of ALL Time: History 3: Make Our Days Count: The acting and chemistry is the best I've ever seen in a BL, ever. Some aspects of the show are a little problematic, but I could overlook them. I pretend the ending doesn't exist since the main couple made a cameo in a different BL, so that's the true ending for me.

Thank you for mentioning make our days count!! That series and bad baddy are my favorite bls ever! 😭❤

Agree with most of the list … although my favorite isn’t in here .. love in the air. Think their chemistry was off the charts

OG BL fans have watched them all😌❤️

I agree that the stellar acting of Until we Meet Again is exceptional. I LOVE all the couples in this series.

tale of a thousand stars 💖....is my 2nd and ultimate favourite after kinnporshe☺

These are brilliant, all of these have been recommended to me at some point!

UWMA was my first BL, and it introduced me to the whole genre and there was no stopping for me after this!!! I was waiting to see it on the list and I couldn’t agree more with your review!!

I think I Told Sunset About You and Dark Blue Kiss should be added to the list.

Theory of love is one the best series❤

I think Gameboys was precedent-setting becaue it was one of the first Filipino BLs, and the fact that it was filmed mostly at the two lead characters' homes during pandemic lockdown.

Until We Meet Again Appreciation YES Thankyou. It is such a good drama and the story is so incredibly captivating and interesting. It is truly ground breaking to me and I will never stop hyping it up.

I think you forgot the best out there The untamed

UWMA was my first bl. I was looking at reaction videos, and I found one guy who had a bunch of asian dramas. Later, I found out most were bl and UWMA was the first I chose to see. Still one of my top bls. Amazing story and acting performances

I would add to this list Between Us Theory of love Not Me Love Mechanics History 4:Close to you We Best Love Don’t Say No Vice Versa My School President Together with Me Why RU? He’s coming to me My Engineer Lovely Writer Manner of Death Make it right Oxygen Cutie Pie The Eclipse Never Let Me Go Fish Upon the Sky Love in the air Gen Y Secret Crush On You Senior Secret Love:Puppy Honey Star and Sky:Star in My Mind My Only 12 % Triage The Miracle of Teddy Bear Nitiman ETC.

I totally agree with the list but I want to add “secret crush on you” some might not agree but I think it made way to more naughty and playful bl and also gave recognition to characters that would usually be in a bl just for comedic relief. It gave actual plot to a trans character and to character that are looked as as more feminine ❤

the Untamed, Addicted, advance bravely slapped me out of reality😂😂

My personal fav 1. 2gether the series ( my 1st bl drama) 2. Kinnporsche ( mature, mafia) 3. Lovely Writer (innocent, cute + hot) 4.Not Me series ( twins,politics, friendship,enemies to lovers) 5. Twilight ( my personal fav, high school, enemies to lovers) 6. Only friends ( messed up relationship, My fav actor Mark as the lead❤) 7. My school President ( funny, cute, lots of songs, high school and Mark is acting❤) 8.The Sign ( Crime, the lead’s relationship is another level, fantasy, mature)

I cant quibble with any of the shows you highlighted. Thank you for giving Until We Meet Again some love. I think one show that should be on the list is Love Sick. I am curious to see if the remake will be any good.

The Untamed💚💚💚 and for thai its the eclipse🧡🧡 🧡

"Love sick" the serie was the first Thai BL who had open the door for all the other ones . Without it the Thai Bl industry will not be what it is today

Love By Chance is My Favourite series and it always be ❤ Also ost's in this series are great too🌸

Until we meet again was the series that introduced me to BL, tbh I don’t even know how I came across it but I saw it and started watching in and love it. 😭

for me it was Love in the air. BossNoeul's & FortPeat's chemistry was AMAZING

I remember having a breakdown when they canceled Addicted😂

For me anyhow, it all started with Gameboys.

In no particular order: Love Sick, SOTUS, Love By Chance, 2gether, I Told Sunset About You, Bad Buddy, Gameboys, Gaya Sa Pelikula (Like In The Movies), DNA Says Love You, En of Love: Love Mechanics, Happenstance, HIStory Franchise, Make It Right, Utsukushii Kare, My School President, Not Me, Papa & Daddy, Addicted / Stay with Me, Takara-kun to Amagi-kun, TharnType, The Day I Loved You, The Eighth Sense, The Untamed, Until We Meet Again, I Feel You Linger In The Air, Tale Of 1000 Stars, Wish You: Your Melody From My Heart, Heartstoppers, Young Royals, Eternal Yesterday, Last Twilight. A much more complete and global list of series that made a meaningful impact on the BL industry and/or increased its popularity and not just among existing BL fans.

I never discovered bls until 2021, and it took a while to find them. My first bl was Fish Upon The Sky and it's just snowballed into hundreds of bls from anywhere I could find the. Light On Me, and Don't Say No were some off my favorites on top of the ones already mentioned but as good as History 3: Make Our Days Count was it was incredibly hard to get over and to be able to rewatch it.

You forgot "HIstory" from Taiwan

If we're talking non bl people getting drawn into the genre, I'd honestly exclude SOTUS, Tharntype and Love by chance. I've been watching BL's since 2016 and been here for almost all of them. I can tell you that most BL shows before Bad Buddy weren't mainstream audience hits. It's also totally criminal to exclude Not Me. Just as Bad buddy was ending, all those non bl fans who were brought in by it, were even more pulled into the Asian bl wormhole after watching Not Me which came out around that time. But speaking in terms of numbers and reach, honestly, I'd say none of the shows before Bad Buddy. I wasn't even a fan of it as much but that show was everywhere, making mainstream watchers more and more curious about Thai BL.

I think 2Moons was also extremely popular. That's time,very hype. The veiw in the RU-vid was a million in one day in each episodes.

You missed the most important BL of them all, Lovesick. That was the first commercially successful BL series. It paved the way for all the other BLs that came after it. Lovesick proved that BL content can be mainstream and have an audience.

Although you did give it a mention at the end I think I Told Sunset About You should have been in your top ten.

2gether my first and introduced me to BL. Sotus is my all time fave.

ITSAY is a must here..

Semantic error and Bed friend hooked me.

This list demonstrates exactly how pivotal 2020 was in transforming BL from a niche genre with a slender audience into a niche genre with a much larger, very global audience. Four of ten series in this list originally aired in whole or in part in 2020. The pandemic indisputably, if inadvertently, factors into the growth. The beneficiary of the global lockdown that commenced in March 2020 lands at #1 on this list. 2Gether just happened to be on-air when millions of people began asking their friends, "what are you doing to entertain yourself these days?" It deserves #1, not because it is great, but because it was the show that answered that question. Word began to spread. There is no better example of "made BL popular" on a grand scale. But note, the genre was already trending upwards before the lockdown. The list also includes Tharn Type and Until We Meet Again. These two aired shortly before 2Gether, concurrent with the first news stories about the Covid virus. If the lockdown had begun six weeks earlier, the rocket fuel effect the pandemic had on 2Gether would have propelled their profiles into the stratosphere instead. BL's popularity was already increasing thanks to shows like TT and UWMA--the pandemic merely acted as an accelerant. The list also includes Cherry Magic, a later 2020 series from Japan. Airing concurrently with CM that autumn were I Told Sunset About You (Thailand) and Gaya sa Pelikula (Philippines). All three raised the bar for BL in terms of quality, and the fact they hailed from different countries demonstrated the newfound globalization of the genre. Each brought new BL viewers I to the mix. I don't know how you single out one of these three concurrent series when many of us were consuming more than one simultaneously. I'd have fudged the list here, and treated all three as a single entry in terms of impact. That's nearly half the list right there that aired in whole or in part in 2020.

been watching since sotus

Without a doubt “grey rainbow “ was terrific.

I like all the shows on the list. Years ago my 1st ever BL that I watched was love by chance and my 2nd was Addicted Heroine I’m happy to see them on the list even though they both made me cry.

Love in the Air

I agree with this list 100% i think many people started BL based on one or more of these shows so they really are the ones that brought bl to the world

my first chinese bl is addicted and i become addicted to bl due to this, love by chance played a main role to get me into bl, as it is my bl ever, sotus locked me into bl, cherry magic is my first japanese bl the cutest one ever and after that i could never stop its been 6 years now

Sotus,love sick,dark blue kiss,Itsay,until we meet again, 2gether the series, kinnporsce, semantic error ,love by chance, why r u.

I think you should also add the untamed, history 3 trapped, we best love

Algunos de los últimos, los subiría...pero ESTA MUY BIEN UN ABRAZO DESDE Argentina 🇦🇷🇦🇷🇦🇷

Love Sick. It kicked off the BL era.

Which BL released in 2024 would you add in this list?

definitely need to add untamed you could not escape their fans lol but they got me loved it so much

TinCaaaaan. Still my fav side couple❤. I would add Unknown,hands down.The sign,We best love

Together With Me should be added!

SEMANTIC ERROR IS MY ROMAN EMPIRE ❤

Gameboys paved the way for phillipino bl

SOTUS is and will always be my top favorite..❣️ I'm sooooooooooooooooooo happy after waiting sooooooooooooooooooo long they are doing my ex morning..😌😌😌

Yeah I LOVE "Stay with Me"

The only good thing I got out of 2Gether was a love for the band SCRUBB. I agree with the rest of your list, but I also think that Love Sick, Together With You, and Gameboys were exceptionally ground-breaking. I would also include We Best Love and the entire HIStory franchise. I have a lot of other BLs that I would consider my favourites, or even some of the best BLs ever made, but they would not necessarily be dramas that "made BL popular". I have never watched "The Untamed", but after reading this and many other comment sections, I think it's time I took the plunge! 😊

I liked some of the Star and Sky series and the Eclipse drama, although the latter was sometimes confusing - a challenge to follow.

My first BL was 'don' t say no' It took me into the bl world😉😊

I am watching TharnType on RU-vid season 1

even my first bl was love by chance.. ahh I love them perth, saint soo much.. but I'm also happy that perth was casted with chimon now.. their chemistry was great.. just love all around.❤❤

Wil, add "Blue Ming" and "HIStory 3: Trapped" and this list will be perfect.

omg i cant even remember what one got me started but i have seen them all lol

What hooked me on bl series was untamed /all history series / after manner of death / until we meet again / after that series i became bl series addict and started watching all bl series that i could faund

To My Star, a Korean BL

Where is Together With Me The Series?

I think I Told Sunset About You, Gaya Sa Pelikula and The Eight Sense change the bl industry in their own unique and profound way

Love Sick fue mi primera serie BL, puede que no tenga la popularidad de otras series, pero fue la que puso la priedra para lo que es ahora el género BL, y muchos aún estamos aquí gracias a ella ☺

And they all are best BLs ever for me❤️❤️...

okay... I watched all, except addicted, cause I don't want to watch only half of the series

And the Irony is I love all these BLs and some of them are my top fav of all time.. however after so many years , I still don't get the hype of 2gether ... My top list of all time , not in any particular order.. Bad Buddy ( Thai) ATOTS ( Thai) We Best Love ( Taiwanese) Semantic Error ( Korean) Addicted( Chinese) Gaya Sa Pelikula ( Philippines) SOTUS ( Thai) I Told Sunset About You ( Thai) TharnType ( Thai) HIStory 3 Trapped ( Taiwanese)

Addicted, for me, is the best till now

I am so happy that you mentioned SOTUS and I can't wait for their new drama "Ex - Morning"

Where is Your Name Engraved Herein?

You are an engineering student? Oh wow amazing ❤ are you Thai? ❤

Semantic error , the eight sense and to my star are my all time favorites y my love Korean bl

Till We Meet Again I've watched countless of times and every time I cry!!! The Cast was wonderful!!! Del and Sammy were beautiful!!! I liked Sammy's personality a lot!!! She made me smile and laugh thru the tears from what Pharm, Dean, Intouch, and Korn stored apond me and Del didn't disappoint me at all either... Neither did Team and Win... Safe to say I love that drama... However watching the "Unforgettable Night" Sammy didn't have bigger parts which I felt disappointed!!! She did grow up to be a lovely sweet and beautiful lady... And not to ever forget Sin which I'm sry to be forgetting the real names here, he didnt have a real big part which I had hoped for... He totally took my heart... He's so nice looking I wanted to see much more of him as I did watched "Don't Say No"... I have a few more but I'm sure I've said enough... Oh yes KinnPorsche is definitely a fave of mine as well!!! Porsche was dripping with so much charm from the tip of his head to his toes!!! 🌿🌹🌿

Love in the air no doubt

"Love by Chance" was also one of my favourites back then. But it is also an example for a series, that, when you watch some time later, it isn't that exiting anymore. Instead you see all the flaws. Especially how badly written these characters are. You have someone, who definitely needs a therapy. You have a full blown idiot. You have an extremly annoying little child. You have someone, who is pretty useless as a man. You have someone, who's jealousy is at the level of a mentall issue. You have a stalker, who should spent a few years in prison.

I also think My School President

Kinnporsche made Thai BL & Semantic Error Korean BL more popular internationally

Between Us, Fahlanruk, Love in the Air, Cutie Pie, Don’t Say No . There are so many Taiwanese are always good😊 shows too

who is that in 0:17??????

Honorable mention for Between Us

I am probably in the minority, but for the life of me, I cannot watch together the series. I tried like many times and I just can’t finish it.