Boys’ Love. which used to be a minor genre, has become more and more popular in the form of dramas? Why?

Several officials of the film and OTT industry talked about the current craze of BL dramas

A woman in her 20s got to know the BL (Boy’s Love) genre world while watching a webtoon with pure cartoon pictures for 15 years old teenagers. It was not until the 10th episode that she realized it was a love story between two men. Since it was published on a large portal site and one of the main characters was designed so prettily that she thought it was a woman. Later, she began to find out about BL webtoons and web novels as well as reaching out to BL dramas. It’s not difficult to begin immersing in this genre after accepting it.

BL web drama “Semantic Error” has remained the most viewed work on the online content streaming service Watcha for 5 weeks.  “Semantic Error”, which ranked No.1 immediately after its release on February 16th, competed for the 1st and 2nd spots with “Damn Good Company Season 5” and has remained at the top since its 4th episode was released. “Semantic Error” is a campus romance that depicts the story of the art student Jang jae-young (Park Seo-ham) and Chu Sang-woo (Jae-chan), who majors in engineering, when they are involved in a liberal art class and a game production project. Although the number of Watcha subscribers is not comparable to that of Netflix, the No.1 OTT platform, it seems to be certain that BL video content, which used to be classified as a minor genre in Korea, has secured significant popularity for the first time.

“I don’t care whether you’re an alien or a man” – This is the worldview of BL. Unlike HL (Hetero Love), BL only has love scenes between male protagonists. BL dramas are no different from other romance dramas except that the narrative is male. In BL dramas, men and men become lovers and they also have conflicts over love problems and share physical interactions. BL does not turn a blind eye to prejudices of sexual identities at all, but it is natural for men and men to have feelings for each other at least in the BL worldview.

BL dramas are expected to be produced steadily in the future. Following the success of Semantic Error, the big film investment distributor NEW plans to release BL dramas “Follow the Wind,” “Bon Appetit” and “Love Tractor,” starting with “Blooming” on the 31st of last month. “Blooming” is meeting viewers around the world through iQIYI and NBC Universal Entertainment Japan. The BL web drama “To My Star” is set to air soon after finishing the production of Season 2. In addition, BL novels “The New Recruit” and “Eul’s Love” by content platform RIDIBOOKS also reported the news of its video version. Kidari Studio, which has entered the drama production business in earnest, has also released a list of its BL webtoons to be made as dramas.

The OTT industry, which has grown rapidly since the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic, has affected the increase in BL dramas’ popularity. Unlike TV dramas that are difficult to identify viewers, OTT is a system where you can choose the content you want according to your taste. This means it can target audiences more precisely than dramas on TV.  Users who prefer BL flocked to Watcha after the release of “Semantic Error”, and thanks to this, “Semantic Error” has become Watcha’s representative original content. An official in the OTT industry analyzed, “In the video content market, the viewers’ focus on masterpieces is decreasing, and there is an increasing movement of audiences valuing individual tastes. As the minor genre gained strength, BL dramas also contributed to the diversity of online content”

The Chinese web drama “The Untamed”, which was made based on a BL novel, was also enjoyed by Korean viewers through the OTT platform wavve. “The Untamed” also achieved great success as it topped the 2022 Wavve Awards in the overseas Asian drama series category. Despite not being as famous as “Semantic Error”, it still built a solid fandom. In particular, with the popularity of the main character actor Wang Yi-bo’s soaring in Korea, an individual community space was opened for him. The OTT industry is realizing the competitiveness of BL dramas. An official from an OTT platform, which used to mainly hold copyrights for overseas BL series, said, “After the great performance of ‘Semantic Error’, demands for BL content in Korea have increased. It is undeniable that BL is currently a  genre that can attract huge attention”.

The representative characteristics of recently produced BL dramas are light and low-rated dramas. Most of them are dramas for education purposes with positive settings and not too many physical contact scenes. These dramas are campus dramas with 12+ and 15+ labels. In the case of “Semantic Error”, although the original web novel was labeled R-rated, the web drama version was lowered to the level that 12-year-old kids and older can watch. “Blooming” is also a 12+ drama. “Light On Me”, which exceeded over 5% on Watcha for a month, is also a work that is appropriate for minors.

BL drama production companies also prefer scripts that are not too highly rated. According to the outline of the BL web drama script contest conducted by the production company Moving Pictures Company, there are no restrictions on genres, formats, or materials, but the viewing age is restricted to 15+. Works for viewers of 18 years old or older could not be submitted. This is a strategy to reduce the reluctance of those who consume BL dramas for the first time and to introduce this genre to new viewers.

BL web novels and webtoons have rapidly emerged as IP (Intellectual Property) sources for BL dramas. “Semantic Error” was made into a web drama based on the web novel and webtoon version, and “Cherry Blossoms After Winter” and “Blooming” are also based on webtoons.  The popular BL webtoon “Oh! Boarding House” will also be produced as a sitcom. A content industry official said, “As ‘Semantic Error’ began as a box-office hit, it has proved the potential of BL web novels and webtoons to become sources of IP. It is time for visualizing to gain great momentum in earnest. Film production companies also jumped into producing BL dramas. This is something I couldn’t imagine before.”

However, popular BL content cannot be made into dramas thoughtlessly. This is because things will be different when transforming a 2D product into 3D. In BL web novels and webtoons, sexual violent scenes and characters with high tendencies in that aspect frequently appear. 

Forced sexual intercourse, verbal – physical violence, and cruel scenes that are impossible or criticized in hetero romance are partially accepted in the BL genre. This is possible because it is a romance between men only, without women, who are considered relatively weak. If such BL content is produced as a live-action video with high accessibility, it may cause big problems. For example, the adult BL webtoon “Killing Stalking,” which was recently confirmed to be videolized, deals with numerous crimes such as stalking, kidnapping, confinement, murder, and rape in detail. When the news of the production of the drama spread, even the fans of the original version expressed concern, saying it was too provocative.

Management companies of actors are also considering BL dramas more positively than before.  According to multiple agency officials, as viewers’ interest in BL dramas increases, actors are also thinking of appearing in BL dramas more seriously than before. Some say that BL dramas can raise the awareness of new actors. The most obvious evidence is the increase in album sales of the boy group DKZ (formerly known as DongKiz), which consists of Jae-chan, the lead actor in ‘Semantic Error’, after the success of this drama.