Since it’s the beginning of a new month and also the weekend, we decided to club both of our news features together. In today’s edition, we will be talking about the “Upcoming Asian BL Dramas” while checking out “Weekly BL Updates” from the past weekend. Buckle your seatbelts and join us for this ride!

Upcoming Asian BL Dramas

Love Mate

Following the success of ‘Our Dating Sim’, Studio Winsome will release another BL series called ‘Love Mate’ starting May 4th 2023. Cho Han Gyeol and Cho Hyun Min will play the lead couple and the series will be available internationally on GagaOOLala and Viki.

Synopsis:

Jeong Ha-Ram, a new employee at ‘So What’ production company falls in love at first sight with his boss Seo Yi-Joon. Ha-Ram, who is used to getting a lot of attention is surprised to find out that Yi-Joon is not easily swayed and is busy planning a reality dating show. The back and forth between them leads both to discovering love despite their opposite personalities.

Official Teasers-

Starstruck

Korean based streaming platform ‘Heavenly’ has confirmed the release of ‘Starstruck’. A teen romance based on Han Tae-Jins novel of the same name. The series has 8 episodes and will star SF9’s Zuho and Kim In-Sung as Yoo-Jae and Seo Han-Joon. Starstruck will premiere on April 18th 2023 but whether the series will be available for international fans is yet to be announced.

Synopsis:

The drama depicts the story of Seo Han-Joon, who has been in love with his best friend Jo Yoo-Jae since childhood. He made the decision to keep the feelings to himself out of fear of ruining their friendship. However, as their final days of high school are drawing near and emotions are running high, he loses control and confesses.

Official Teaser-

House of Stars

‘House of Stars’ is an upcoming TV series from Star Halo Entertainment. The series stars’ actors Namchok Tanon, Heng Thatpong, Double Tuptep and New Akaravin. ‘House of Stars’ premieres on May 1st 2023 on Channel ONE31 and IQIYI.

Synopsis:

The story follows Wayha (Heng), a good looking young man with a provincial accent who pursues his dreams in the House of Stars. Here he meets Wayu (Namchok) and they develop a bond. But relationships are forbidden in the House of Stars and this affair could end their careers before they begin. On the other hand, there is Pawin (Double), an openly gay actor who falls in love with Korn (New) an actor from another company. How will these two couples navigate their lives and careers.

Official Teaser-

The Luminous Solution

PTG Entertainment has a new series premiering on May 27th starring Gun Napat, Mig Teerapat, Bhu Bhudis and Bell Rachata. The series will air on AmarinTV34 with a rerun on Youtube for International fans.

Synopsis:

The story depicts two couples, both going through hardships and the two men who make a wish to change their fates.

Thana is having trouble at work, in his personal life and in his relationship. He can’t seem to catch a break. So he makes a wish to forget everything. He soon learns that every wish has a price.

Mai and Ryou meet on the bus going to school, and though they don’t seem to get along at first the tides change and they become very close, sharing a lot of first moments. Mais family has decided to move out of town and in order to avoid him and Ryou getting any closer he starts to keep his distance, breaking Ryous heart in the process. Ryou can’t take the pain, so he visits the woman who can make him forget.

Official Trailer-

Vian

O2 Production, the Vietnam based company behind ‘Love Bill’ and ‘Want to See You’ is back with another project called ‘ViAn. The series will air on TikTok and YouTube shorts and it stars Ba Vinh and Mai Vu Luan.

Official Trailer-

Tie The Not

Oxin Films, the production house behind ‘My Story’ and ‘Rainbow Prince’ will release a mini-series starring Daryll Rodriguez and Oryl Meija. The drama will air on May 27 2023 on their official YouTube Chanel and the events were inspired by a true story.

Synopsis:

Briggs is a simple guy who never got a chance to fall in love because of his responsibilities in their family business, ironically their family business handles weddings. Love finally strikes when he meets Shao. The problem is Shao is set to marry Louise because of an arranged marriage. How will they navigate this complicated situation?

Official Trailer-

Weekly BL Updates

Love Puzzle

KOB Entertainment has released an 11-minute Pilot for their upcoming series “Pleng Prai Love Puzzle”. The series is expected to air later this year and it stars Noh Phoulang as Pleng and Tan Kittinan as Prai. The drama is based on the Novel of the same name by TJ Tommys.

Synopsis:

Pleng is a freshman who has just moved to Bangkok to further his studies. On the night of his arrival, Pleng and his friend go out and meet a stranger who challenges them to a game of snooker. Infatuated with this stranger, Pleng ends up in a hotel room with the guy but in the morning when he wakes up, the stranger is nowhere to be found. On the day of his orientation, Pleng is stunned to see the stranger he spent the night with is a senior in his faculty named Prai. Though they do try to build and maintain a relationship, Prai is battling demons from his previous relationship and it becomes a barrier they cannot seem to overcome.

Official Trailer-

I Cannot Reach You

Mikas manga will be having its live drama adaptation. The drama is expected to air in September and Maeda Kentaro will be playing the lead alongside Kashiwagi Haru.

Synopsis:

Yamato and Kakeru have been best friends since childhood. Two halves of a whole. The cool smart one who is good at almost everything (Yamato) and his average dorky friend who struggles to do anything right (Kakeru). Always by each other’s side but not together in the way they truly want to be. No matter how hard they try, their hearts cannot reach each other.

Billkin and PP

Billkin Puthipong and PP Krit, one of the most well admired duos to come out of Thailand have banded together to form their own production company called ‘BKPP Entertainment’. Billkin and PP are most well known for their starring roles in ‘I Told Sunset About You’ and its sequel ‘I Promised You the Moon’. The agency will be run by both artists, in collaboration with their parents who are also directors and the focus of the company will be on films, as both artists already have separate music labels under their own names.

Minatos Laundromat Season 2

The popular Japanese drama ‘Wash My Heart’ starring Kusakawa Takuya and Nishigaki Sho will be returning for a sequel this year. The story is a continuation of Minato and Shintaros love story, and it picks up 10 years after the events of season 1. TV Tokyo has plans to air the sequel in July.

Overview of Season 1:

Minato Akira, a middle aged man struggling with his mundane corporate existence, finds his life turned upside down when he’s asked to return to his home town and take over his grandfather’s laundromat. In the course of operating the laundromat Akira meets a high school student by the name of Kastsuki Shintaro, who captures his attention. They quickly become good friends but their age gap is something that can’t be overlooked despite wanting to be more.

Absolute Zero

Studio Wabi Sabi acquired the rights to Salils novel ‘Absolute Zero’ and they will be adapting it into a TV series, expected to air later on this year. The drama will star Tor Supakorn, Teng Kansit, Toey Punawat and Mix Wanut.

Synopsis:

Suansoon and Ongsaa have been together for a long time. One day Ongsaa gets into a serious accident while rushing to celebrate Suansoons birthday. Suansoon is devastated and blames himself for what has happened. He prays that if he could go back to the past, he would not get together with Ongsaa. Events occur and Suansoon finds himself in the past, at a time when they were both in high school. He warns Ongsaa about the future but Ongsaa doesn’t believe him and he chooses not to leave Suansoons side. Ten years later, the day before the accident, his future self-visits him and tells him not to avoid the accident because if he does their fates will change and Suansoon will be the one to die. Ongsaa lets the accident happen. When he wakes up, he is back in the past again, back to before he ever approached Suansoon, so what can he do to save both of them. Keep the love of his life or avoid him altogether.

Official Pilot-

Love in The Big City

Booker nominated novel ‘Love in The Big City’ will be adapted into a drama, set for release on streaming services next year. The novel was written by Park Sang-Young and was originally released in Korea in 2019. It was later translated into English in 2021. The story focuses on a writer named Young, a cynical yet fun loving Korean student who pinballs from home, to class to Tinder matches. He and Jaehee, his female best friend and roommate, frequent nearby bars where they push away their worries about life, love and money with Soju and Marlboros. But as time passes even Jaehee settles down and leaves Young to face his problems on his own, finding comfort in the arms of the series of men, including one whose handsomeness is matched by his coldness and another who might be the great love of his life.

Stay tuned, until next week!