BL and GL: Questions New Viewers Ask
New to boys’ love and girls’ love? Most people arrive with the same handful of questions: what the letters mean, where to start, why a show is missing in their country, and who is behind it all. These answers are written by Renkaze and use the live figures from the site: 215 titles, 391 people, 46 screen couples and 49 streaming services and channels.
The basics
What does BL mean?
BL stands for boys’ love, a genre of fiction built around a romantic relationship between men. It took shape in Japanese manga from the 1970s onward and is now made as novels, comics, television series, films and animation in many countries. On this site there are 187 BL series and films, and the BL hub collects them in one place.
What does GL mean?
GL stands for girls’ love, the same idea for relationships between women. In Japan the older word is yuri, and you will see both terms around. GL is smaller than BL in almost every country, which is part of why each new series gets attention. The site lists 28 GL titles so far, gathered on the GL hub.
What is the difference between BL, yaoi and danmei?
They overlap but come from different places. BL is the broad, current term. Yaoi is an older Japanese word, now used mostly for manga and anime. Danmei is the Chinese name for male romance fiction, usually web novels, and many Chinese live-action BL series are adaptations of danmei novels. The glossary explains these and more than a hundred other terms.
What is a Y series?
In Thailand, BL television is often called a Y series, taking the Y from yaoi. You will meet the word in Thai media. It means the same thing as a BL drama.
Is BL only made in Asia?
Nearly everything on this site comes from Asia, because that is where the television industry around the genre grew. The records span 10 countries, with Thailand the largest, followed by Japan, China and South Korea. Smaller industries in the Philippines, Taiwan, Vietnam, Hong Kong and Singapore are covered too.
Are all BL and GL series romances?
Romance is the centre, but the settings vary a great deal. The records include school stories, office comedies, crime and undercover thrillers, fantasy, time travel and a gangster drama or two. The genre filters on each archive page let you start from the mood you want rather than the country.
Getting started
Where should a new viewer begin?
Pick the country first, then the mood. Thai series tend to run weekly and come with large casts and recurring screen pairings. Japanese series are shorter, often late-night, and frequently adapted from a manga you can read afterwards. Korean BL is mostly short web series. The BL hub and GL hub open with rails for what is airing now, what is trending and what is top rated, which is the quickest way to see what is current.
Do I have to read the original book or manga first?
No. Every series here stands on its own. When a series has a source, the record names it, and the source usually has its own page. Cherry Magic is the example with the most formats on the site: manga, television drama, film, animation and a stage musical, each filed as a separate record.
How long is a typical series?
It varies by country and platform. Thai series commonly air weekly across a season, Korean web series can be as short as six episodes of around ten minutes, and Japanese late-night dramas are compact. Each record states its episode count and release dates, so you know the commitment before you start.
What is a screen couple, and are they together in real life?
A screen couple, or pairing, is two performers cast opposite each other, sometimes across several projects. Thai companies in particular promote these pairings. The 46 couple pages here describe the on-screen work only. This site does not repeat private-life claims about anyone, because a shared role says nothing about a private relationship.
How do I know what a series is about before I watch?
Every series page has a synopsis, the cast, the production company, where it streams and the episode details. Ratings are shown on the page. Use the cast links to follow a performer through other projects.
Watching legally
Where can I watch BL and GL series?
No single service carries them all. YouTube, GagaOOLala, iQIYI, WeTV, Viki and Netflix cover most of what travels abroad, and several Asian broadcasters have their own apps. The Where to Watch guide explains how each of the 49 services named on records works, what it is best for and how to check it from your country.
Why can I not find a series in my country?
Streaming rights are sold country by country and often episode batch by episode batch, so a series can be available in one territory and missing in the next. YouTube also lets each uploader choose where a video plays. Check the service from the country you are in.
Do you host or link to free unofficial copies?
No. The site points only to services that hold or publish a series. Watching through the official route is also what pays the studios and performers, and that pays for the next season.
How do I find out what is airing this week?
The airing calendar lists what is on and what is starting, and the homepage and both hubs carry an Airing Now rail that updates itself.
Actors, studios and music
Who are the biggest studios?
In Thailand, GMMTV is the largest producer of BL by a wide margin: it manages its own performers, produces the series, releases the soundtrack and books the same cast for surrounding shows. Studio Wabi Sabi, Domundi TV and Change2561 are other recurring names. Production company archives on the site list every series each one made.
What are the 391 people pages for?
Each profile lists a performer, director or musician with their screen work on the site, so you can follow someone from a series you liked into their other projects. Profiles carry only facts that have a source.
Where can I find the soundtracks?
Series pages link the official soundtrack and trailer when one exists. Those are listed from the official channels, not from re-uploads.
About this site
Who writes BL & GL Flix?
Every piece of editorial text is written by Renkaze, the site’s editor. You can read more on the editor page and in the editorial policy.
Where does the information come from?
From published sources: studio and platform announcements, broadcaster pages and reference works, checked record by record. If something cannot be confirmed it is left out rather than guessed. Counts and lists on the site rebuild themselves when a record changes, so the figures on this page stay current.
I found a mistake. What should I do?
Please tell us. The corrections policy explains how fixes are handled, and the contact page is the fastest way to reach the editor.
Do you cover news too?
Yes. There are 37 news articles so far on the genre and the people in it.
Still deciding where to start?
Open the hub that matches your taste and let the rails do the sorting.
