Have you finished binge-watching all the BL series available on Netflix, YouTube, and the likes? Well, here’s some good news: there are thousands more to choose from.
There’s no denying the hype of Boys’ Love Series all over the world. Following the likes of Thai BL Series, 2Gether: The Series, the Philippines have produced charming and compelling stories such as Gameboys, and more recently, Gaya Sa Pelikula, and made its way to mainstream media like Netflix.
It’s refreshing to see a conservative country like the Philippines accept gay representation in the entertainment sector through BL Series. We’d like to see it as an opportunity for more visibility of the LGBTQIA+ community, as well as of an avenue to keep the conversation of equality going. However, even with the well-received hype for BL series, there’s still the question of who they’re doing it for. People have pointed out that attractive straight-passing cis gay men get the most recognition in mainstream media, but what about the rest of the LGBTQIA+ community?
FIND YOUR STORY
GagaOOLala is like a gold mine for queer films and stories. With over 1000 titles to choose from, this Taipei-based subscription video on-demand is a service specialized in LGBT content.
GagaOOLala is now available worldwide for $4.99 a month. All films currently are equipped with English and Chinese subtitles, with other languages pending as the company monitors content popularity in different regions. This is the first streaming service available globally with a high concentration of Asian content, and here we listed down these promising stories you can consider watching in the streaming platform.
HAPPENSTANCE
In the midst of 2020, Wade finds an old bag full of love letters in his house’s attic. He discovers that these love letters were written to Luis by a boy named Jose Manuel 50 years ago. The letters express his affection for Luis, but because they lived in the 1970s and his father served in the army, he could not express his emotions publicly. Wade is so touched that he writes back to Jose, and he actually receives a reply.
BAO BAO
Cindy, Joanne, Charles, and Tim collaborate together to help each other to own a baby. Cindy supposedly has two babies, but she loses one and her marriage with Joanne turns rocky. Eventually, she returns to her hometown in Taiwan and meets her best childhood friend, Tai, who takes care of her. Confused about what a family should look like, Cindy finally plucks up the courage to face Joanne as well as Charles’s and Tim’s family. Even though it’s not generally acceptable in many places to be same-sex parents, Cindy still believes that that day will come.
HANDSOME STEWARDESS
Holly, a tomboy bartender from Taipei, meets Mong Lian, a karate champion visiting from Singapore. It is love at first sight, but the distance between Taiwan and Singapore soon becomes their biggest obstacle. In order to spend more time with Mong Lian, Holly decides to apply for a flight stewardess position at a Singaporean airline. Little does she know the job comes with many gender bias. While Holly is left to sink or swim at her new job, Mong Lian has to figure out how to come out to her parents.
MY BROMANCE
Being brought up in a broken family that never took care of him, Golf turned into an aggressive boy. One day, Bank, a young lovely boy, enters Golf’s life and becomes part of his family. But, he has difficult adapting to this change and, at first, does not accept his new brother. They eventually need to learn how to live together, overcome their obstacles together, and understand the true meaning of the word “Brother.”
