Hello Darlings!
I’ve been watching some Asian dramas lately and I decided that I’ve seen enough to make a post about it. They were such a great distraction from the pandemic and all that, I probably owe them not succumbing into another depressive episode.
Hope you’ll enjoy!
2gether The Series
⭐ | 🇹🇭 Thailand | 13 eps | 2020
College life | Fake Relationship | Music Club
LGBTQ+ rep: gay/bi men
Summary: Tine chases after Sarawat to be his fake boyfriend while trying to avoid another boy. He joins the music club where Sarawat plays guitar to pester him there. Will Sarawat agree? Yes. Does he have some ulterior motives? Also yes.
My opinion: This was the soft thing I needed at the time I watched it and even though the last episodes were meh I still love it. Side couples could be better? I liked the characters but did I like them together? Hmm. I mostly focused my shipping on the main couple.
Kiss Me Again
⭐ | 🇹🇭 Thailand | 14 eps | 2018
College life | Enemies to lovers
LGBTQ+ rep: gay men
my drama list | ep 1 | PeteKao only
Summary: I honestly have no idea. I only watched one couple’s story (Pete/Kao) and they’re the Engineering Major? That’s it. The rest are straights and I didn’t want that. Gives the backstory to Dark Blue Kiss though.
My opinion: It was cute and I liked seeing how Pete and Kao’s relationship started even though I was a bit annoyed with Pete in Dark Blue Kiss. It’s a fast watch if you skip all the straight people like me anyway so it’s worth it? And I live for enemies to lovers storylines.
Dark Blue Kiss
⭐ | 🇹🇭 Thailand | 12 eps | 2019
College life | Cafe | Established Couple | Enemies to Lovers
LGBTQ+ rep: gay men, side bi woman
Summary: It follows Pete and Kao 3 years into their relationship and their journey with coming out, jealousy, etc, etc. And the second couple (my fav) is Sun and Mork who slowly go from going at each other’s throats to somewhat friendly to something more.
My opinion: SUN! AND MORK! Those two won me over and that’s that on that. They’re such assholes but they’re also really sweet. And, again, enemies to lovers is my shit!! With Pete/Kao I got annoyed at all the dumb jealousy but they grew on me too.
My Engineer
⭐ | 🇹🇭 Thailand | 14 eps | 2020
College life | Many Side Couples
LGBTQ+ rep: gay men
Summary: As an act of revenge for something (I forgot?) Bohn, a popular engineering student, wants Duen, a first-year medical student, to bring him a flower every day for a month. There’s a plot and two friend groups involved.
My opinion: I loved some side couples but the main one annoyed me from time to time? Not sure why, maybe I just wanted the show to pay attention to the more interesting side relationships. Also, the ending didn’t feel satisfying enough but there will be a second season so probably that’s why.
HIStory3: Trapped
⭐ | 🇹🇼 Taiwan | 10 eps | 2019
Mafia/Gang | Mystery | Police | Comedy | Enemies to Lovers
LGBTQ+ rep: gay men
Summary: A police officer and a gang leader were killed together. Meng Shao Fei and Tang Yi both are after the person who killed their mentors but they go differently about it. Will they trust each other enough to solve the mystery together? And what will happen when there will be feelings involved?
My opinion: THEM!! Just!! THEM!! This show has it all: a mystery, humour, tension, sexual tension. Oh, and cool suits — Tang Yi, share your wardrobe with me, would you? And the side couple is equally engaging! MyDramaList says it has 20 episodes because you should watch it twice!!
3 Will Be Free
⭐ | 🇹🇭 Thailand | 10 eps | 2019
Mafia/Gang | Escape | Revenge | Poly
LGBTQ+ rep: gay men, a bi/pan man, poly relationship, a trans woman
Summary: Neo is running away from Thana and his gang after having a romance with his wife. He bumps into two people — Shin, a gay son of Thana, and Miw, a gogo bar manager who’s running away from her past. Together, they accidentally kill one of Thana’s assassins and are forced to go on a run from the mafia together.
My opinion: It was so good? The story. The visuals. The poly relationship. I’m amazed. It also had a side plotline with a trans woman getting her revenge for her boyfriend’s death and I loved her.
Long Time No See
⭐ | 🇰🇷 South Korea | 5 eps | 2017
Mafia/Gang | Met On The Internet
LGBTQ+ rep: gay men
Summary: A hitman, ‘Flying Dagger,’ starts dating ‘Wild Dog’ he met online. Both of them hide their secrets, yet they can’t help falling in love. Unfortunately, their relationship won’t be easy with gangsters after them.
My opinion: Well, the actors were handsome and the relationship rather cute but the writing and acting were subpar. Also, the plot seemed rushed while the action dragged out. Watch for the eye candy and for a kind of satisfying throwback at the end. Seriously, the guys are pretty and I might have upped the star rating just for that.
Out of Breath
⭐ | 🇰🇷 South Korea | 3 eps | 2019
Dating | Dating App
LGBTQ+ rep: lesbian women
Summary: Han Yu’s girlfriend breaks up with her because she’s afraid of being outed and Han Yu is pushed by her best friend to get a dating app where she meets Min Seo. The two of them agree to do stuff off of Han Yu’s dating list she never got to do with her girlfriend.
My opinion: It’s a short web series but it’s so tender and both the acting and the writing were wonderful. It’s kept simple with only three characters on screen and the locations are also limited and it suits this story. Compared to the title above, the shortness doesn’t equal subpar here — the dialogue is engaging and there’re subtler elements of storytelling present as well. Watch it!!
Gay Ok Bangkok
⭐ | 🇹🇭 Thailand | s1 5 eps | 2016 | s2 7 eps | 2017
Dating | Everyday Life | HIV
LGBTQ+ rep: gay men & a trans woman
Summary: A series that follows the lives of six diverse gay men in Bangkok. Talks about family, life, relationships, friendships, sex… There’s also a trans woman side character.
My opinion: This one is less about OTPs (though I still have one) and more about the actual life of queer men. It’s about sexual experience, prioritising between sex and feelings, trying to find someone that ‘fits,’ having crushes, queer friendships, life troubles, and decisions, breaking up… It’s honest and it’s fun and it shows the ups and downs of life. It gave me that feeling of ‘wow, life is actually happening.’
- What Asian LGBTQ+ dramas did you watch?
Local Bee Hunter's Nook 
These all sound amazing!! I’ve got to watch these 😍
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That’s great to hear!! I hope you like them!! 🙂
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Sun and Mork are the only reason I didn’t quit watching DBK because honestly I had enough of petekao bullshit skdhdj
Tangfei and zhaojack mean the world to me, h3:t has become my comfort show 🥺🥺🥺 and 3wbf was just the definition of perfection for me, I know I say it a lot but I was so emotionally invested I kinda didn’t care about anything else in the world while I was watching it!
And I really want to watch Out of Breath, it sounds so good!! This is a great list and I’ll make sure to save it to come back to it later for those shows I haven’t watched yet 💕💕💕
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Ohh, me too but the supportive dad was a neat part of their story too so not all petekao sucked jsdfhjf
Yes!! I need to rewatch I miss them already!! and the only thing I didn’t like in 3wbf is that Shin took off his father’s business at the end?? Why would he?? Just live on the beach with your fam and make art, boo!! (Also, Shin and Pete are the same actor?? How??)
Out of Breath was so good!! And it’s like an hour the whole thing so one sitting with some popcorn 😉 Thank you!! I hope you’ll enjoy them!! ❤ ❤ ❤
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RIGHT, I do feel like that was also nicely done and in general I feel like DBK treated queerness in a way that I felt a little closer to how it is in reality, compared to other shows!
Mmh, I feel like Shin did it so he will be able to support Neo and Miw? Kinda set the business straight and make clean money so he can say he’s done something with the mess that his father made. But YEAH Shin and Pete being the same actor is so weird skdhdkdh I watched them back to back (3wbf first) and I was like “BUT HOW” skdhddk
💕💕
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Yes! You’ll like Gay Ok Bangkok then because it’s the most ‘close to irl’ show out of those. Maybe along with Out of Breath but it’s too short to compare. (And the trans girl is the same actress as the one from 3wbf!)
Yeah but still… Made me sad. He could just sell it off and easily live on the money he already has…
I only realised when I’ve found this fic where Shin and Pete are twins split at birth and then chacked the actors! Biggest mindblow ever!
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ohhh then i’ll make sure to check it out! i am really keen to see how queerness is treated outside the usual western (and, let’s be real, mostly US) setting, and i like a lot of how asian shows portray it but at the same time it feels unrealistic at best and straight-gaze-y at worst, but when they actually do talk about queer issues i always find it very interesting and closer to my own experience and perspective than when queerness is talked about in (most) US-centric views. (I hope this made sense fhdskh)
ahah i noticed right away that they are the same actor but i find it incredible how different the characters are and how well he portrays both! ohhhhh i need to find that fic 👀
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Yes, I get it! The romance, overly fluffy stories are cool brain popcorn but it’s nice to see the real thing showing our actual experiences! And Gay Ok Bangkok is very ‘let’s be realistic’ with no perfect relationships and no OTPs but with, e.g., bear gay rep and talk of HIV prevention before every episode!
It’s the one with the most kudos in 3wbf tag! 🙂
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