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Are BL series stuck in a rut?

j729

I didn't know where to post this, it is more general than for a particular show. My question and/or observations has two parts.

  • We went from years of Engineering series, to High School, a year or so ago it seemed like it was Musicians and Bands (real life or otherwise) and Murder Mystery, and now we are on Vampires and Time Travel.  

I don't know if directors and studios (or writers) are just playing follow the leader, or copying what is successful, but it sure would be nice to see some variety.  I am already sick of vampires and time travel. I actually feel nostalgic for an engineering series right about now.

What theme is going to be the next one they beat to death???

  • My second question, is the quality suffering right now? I have never been so disappointed in how series are turning out. Maybe  my tastes have changed, but it seems like the last year or so things are so unsatisfying.

Stories that drag out too long. Plot holes you could drive a city bus through.  Bad directing, poor acting, and lack of editing. The list goes on...

It seems like in the earlier years of BL, you knew that it wasn't going to be the best in all categories, but some other part made up for that. Maybe there was a lack of story, but the actors were terrific and had good chemistry, and the director obviously did good. Or something like the sound quality or translations were bad, but the story and editing were fabulous. 

Now all that seems gone, and it just appears like they are throwing out just any old thing as fast as they can. Even the A-list actors don't seem to be doing much BL stuff now, and at times they could save an otherwise flawed series. 

The only series I think I have really enjoyed recently is Cherry Magic, I have to go back to probably 2021 or 2022 to find a string of series that I really found interesting and done well.

Maybe I am just burned out, but I would like to hope it isn't just me. I am longing for another 55:15, 180 Degree Longitude, or A Tale of Thousand Stars.

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Elisheva

I was thinking this about GMMTV in general (het and BL) a while back and that BL had maybe peaked already and is spiraling into the mainstream nonsense of say het rom coms with increasingly contrived plots. Not sure if I'm just not finding the ones which really spark or if they're not making them. I wouldn't call 55:15 great BL although that half of one story line had some fun moments like a certain someone accidentally auditioning for a BL role to help his friend :) But the series shone in how ambitious it was and how well it achieved the interconnections between past and present.

But then I think of Last Twilight and its exploration of a relationship centered in what comes to be deep trust and understanding. Is that any less ambitious in its aims or just more tightly focused? Moonlight Chicken too, with its interconnected stories of loss and healing.

I only found BL last summer so I don't have the depth of viewing you do. Don't know if there's a higher noise to quality ratio now or if my perception is skewed because I've been able to choose the better ones from earlier while the weaker ones have been mostly forgotten about and have never really made it onto my radar.

So no answers, just some thoughts.

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