Boom's BL Ranking

At this point, To My Star 2 is the pinnacle of excellence in which all other BLs will be compared. It's almost not fair, since I don't even know if I can really classify this as a "BL." This show handles deep, meaningful, messy, adult, human emotions better than any show I've watched recently, from any country, across any genre. Hwang Da Seul and writer Park Young, along with actors Kangmin and Wooheyon created a masterpiece that will likely not get replicated for a good while. 

Not even sure if this can (or should, or is) classified as a BL. This is cinema. The writing, acting, music, cinematography, color grading -- it was all done with such attention, care, and love. PP and Billkin's work together, particularly in their more intimate scenes, felt so raw, vulnerable, unrehearsed, and natural. The supporting characters all were excellent. A gorgeous gorgeous story. 

The entire History series ranges from good to excellent, but Trapped tops the list in every aspect. Like my favorite series of all time (Buffy the Vampire Slayer), it does a brilliant job of blending genres, and manages to be stressful, dramatic, funny, tense, sexy, action packed, and hilarious without ever feeling like tonal whiplash. Jake and Chris give you wonderful performances and masterful chemistry as our two leads, and Andy and Kenny are an incredible supporting pair. Props to this show for also managing to have an ending that is both happy and sad, satisfying and realistic, even if it's not the typical "happy ending" you want. 

Light spoilers:

I will defend the way this show ended to the grave. I completely understand how, in the context of the BL genre, the ending can feel like a gut punch, a cheat, a slap in the face to people who come to BLs to experience a certain type of sensation, but I feel like this show told a really real honest, messy story in a really beautiful way. Incredible performances. HOT. 

I have never simped so hard for a pair of actors as I have with Max and Cheng Hao. A slightly higher budget and tighter storytelling could have propelled this to my #1 BL, but regardless, this is one of the most quietly sweet BLs I've watched. I really love that the guys are a little older, it tells a more "adult" story, and their chemistry is really just through the roof. 

MORE BLs with A-typical storylines! Clearly I love the genre or I wouldn't watch as many as I do, but it's so refreshing when we can leave the high school/college engineering student typical story tropes and explore some different genres. A supernatural-esque medical drama about a Doctor stuck in a Groundhogs Day scenario of needing to repeat a day over and over until he can save someone's life? The plot alone was enough to have me hooked, and the execution was done masterfully. 

I understand that this 10 is a bit performative. By that I mean, there are clear issues with this series. The writing is mostly good but has it's issues. The editing, on the other hand, is downright dreadful at moments. With all that being said, this is my number 1 comfort show, and the butterflies in my stomach this series produced has yet to be matched. I'd love to see these two get a second season with a higher budget, or another project together. 

This was a really charming story with two charismatic and adorable leads. I loved the way their relationship blossomed. SPOILER: I did think the ending (last two out of 8 episodes) was a bit underwhelming, and felt like a tacked on coda with forced discourse that didn't ring entirely true. I was also disappointed that they didn't give us a final kiss. Still, this is definitely a comfort show that I could see myself rewatching. 

I wanted to like this show a lot more than it did. I felt like it started and ended strong, but there was a big stretch of episodes in the middle that were just downright boring and uninspired. Cute pairing though, and props to this show for hiring an actual gay actor (even if he didn't come out until after the show finished airing). 

I enjoyed the concept of this show a lot more than the execution. The leads didn't really have chemistry at all, and I felt like the supernatural-esque element of the show was underutilized. 

Han Gi Chan became one of my favorite BL actors after watching Where Your Eyes Linger, and being paired with out gay star Holland seemed like it would be a dream. Unfortunately, there is very little redeemable about this show. Their performances are solid, there are some beautiful shots in this show, the OST is good, but the storytelling is pretty dreadful, to be honest. A waste.