8 Best Korean BL Dramas of All Time
The genre of Boy Loves may be pretty popular in countries like Thailand, Taiwan and more but South Korea, given its cultural dependency is only now warming up to the idea of male-male romances. The Korean BL industry only blossomed a few years ago and 2022 saw the most number of gay romances coming in the form of K-dramas.
Being way shorter than typical K-dramas, Korean BLs are mostly web dramas that do not get a TV network release but are enjoyed by fans all over the world nonetheless.
If you are someone who would love to watch short and intense romantic boy loves in the form of K-dramas here is our list for the 8 Best Korean BLs of all time.
Where Your Eyes Linger
One of the most popular BL show that came from South Korea is 2020’s Where Your Eyes Linger which follows the life of an 18-year-old student, Han Tae-joo who is also the successor to the TB Group. Since he hails from a wealthy family, he has limited worries.
Tae-joo has a childhood friend, Kang-gook who is physically strong and is trained in different martial arts disciplines. Kang-gook is tasked with the responsibility of protecting Tae-joo and starts part-timing as his bodyguard. Tension erupts between them when a new female student, Hye-mi, shows interest in Kang-gook leaving Tae-joo irritated.
To My Star
The 2021 K-drama To My Star was renewed for a new season in 2022. The show follows the life of actor Kang Seo-joon who was one of South Korea’s biggest and most popular stars. His career starts to decline due to his personal scandals and his manager decides to put Seo-joon on a break. Seo-joon moves in with his manager’s childhood friend, Han Ji-woo.
Ji-woo is a chef by profession and is as alienated from the world of fame and limelight as one can be. The two boys decide to adapt to each other’s lives now as roommates and suddenly develop a romantic relationship. However, their love comes under threat when the more conservative Ji-woo and the free-spirited Seo-joon realize that their outlooks on life, love and everything else appear to be different.
Color Rush
The 2020 BL drama which was renewed for a second season in 2022, Color Rush narrates the story of Monochromantic people (known as ‘Mono’s) who live in a world where they are not able to see colours. They view their surroundings through varying shades of grey, black and white.
However, every Mono has a fated person (known as ‘Probe’s) who is able to trigger their grey-scale world into colour, inducing what is termed as a ‘Colour Rush’. Yeon-woo is a Mono who is aware that other colours do exist but has never experienced them for himself. His life is forever changed when he meets Yoo-han, his Probe, and experiences his first ‘Colour Rush’.
Blueming
2022’s Korean BL Blueming is a simple love story that follows the life of Cha Si-won. He is a media student and has followed a routine all his life in order to look the way he does. Si-won believes that his good looks will help him get more popular but it all suddenly changes when a new student joins his course. Hyeong Da-un.
Da-un is also someone who has perfect looks but on top of that, he is academically smart and also comes from a rich family. He is everything Si-won aspires to be and Da-un’s presence starts making Si-won insecure. Moreover, Da-un is oddly attracted to Si-won and tries to help him gain confidence just the way he is.
Semantic Error
One of 2022’s most popular Korean BL, Semantic Error follows the story of Chu Sang-woo, a junior computer science student who is reasonable, and rigid to his own ideologies. Part of his university work requires Sang-woo to work on a group project for the liberal arts in order to pass the module.
His group has decided to leave him to work on the project by himself so Sang-woo decides to omit the names of the other students from the final presentation causing them to fail the module. Sang-woo’s action, though completely right in his mind causes him to clash with a senior student named Jang Jae-young who was a part of the group project.
Jae-young is the polar opposite of Sang-woo and after Sang-woo’s action costs Jae-young his college credit, his plans to study abroad are suddenly thrown up in the air. Jae-young plans to torment Sang-woo for what he has done and the duo is forced to work together leading a strange attraction to develop between them.
Long Time No See
The first ever BL drama to come from South Korea is 2017’s Long Time No See. The show revolves around a renowned hitman/assassin named Flying Dagger who starts dating someone named Wild Dog. Wild Dog is someone who isn’t really what he implies to be.
Both Flying Dagger and Wild Dog start hiding their secrets. However, they cannot help but fall in love with each other. They run into danger as gangsters chase after them. The catch now is if Flying Dagger will reveal his secret identity as the two assassins try to overcome obstacles and try to continue their journey of love.
Light on Me
The 2021 BL K-drama, Light on Me follows the story of Woo Tae-kyung, an 18-year-old average boy who has no friends. Tae-kyung is asked to join the school’s student council by his teacher. Being a member of the student council is not easy because one of its members, Noh Shin-woo, holds a strange resentment toward Tae-kyung due to their previous encounter.
The president of the council tries to get Tae-kyung and Shin-woo to get along and the maker of this council, Namgoong Shi-won also befriends Tae-kyung during the process. Tae-kyung and his new set of friends enjoy his new social life and Tae-kyung starts questioning if he may or may not like one of his fellow council members – Shin-woo.
Cherry Blossoms After Winter
After the sudden death of his parents, seven-year-old Seo Hae-beom is forced to move in with his adoptive family. The family Hae-beom has moved into has a young son named Jo Tae-seong who is the same age as Hae-beom. Hae-beom is in awe of Tae-seong and considers him to be everything that he aspires to become.
Tae-seong is tall, handsome, popular, caring, and worthy of love and attention, something that Hae-beom thinks he can never be. The two end up being in the same class in high school and end up spending a lot more time with each other than they could ever think of. This blossoms an unexpected romance between the two.
And there we have it, our list of the best Korean BL dramas of all time!
What do you think of our list? Have we included your favourites? Or have we missed any must-watch dramas? We love to hear from you so do feel free to let us know in the comments below.