Of the BL and GL series reviewed by Renkaze, twenty five carry the GL label, and they differ from the 182 BL series on country, format, rating spread, runtime and platform count.
All six GL print titles are the source text of a GL screen title. Six of the 12 GL screen titles, exactly half, have a book behind them.
Of the BL and GL series reviewed by Renkaze, twenty five carry GL as their only theme label, against 182 that carry BL. Set side by side, the GL group is more concentrated in one country, noticeably more print heavy, narrower in its rating labels and longer per title. Within the series reviewed, GL looks like a young and tightly clustered field next to a BL field that spans the region.
Each title carries one or more theme labels. A title counts as GL only if its label reads GL and nothing else, and as BL only if it reads BL and nothing else. The rule is blunt on purpose, because the alternative is to decide by hand which half of a two label title belongs where.
| Theme label reads | Titles |
|---|---|
| BL | 182 |
| GL | 25 |
| Bromance | 3 |
| BL, Yaoi | 2 |
| BL, GL | 2 |
So the comparison below runs 25 against 182, which is 114 series. The seven set aside are three Bromance titles, two that read BL and Yaoi together, and two that carry both BL and GL, which are Lost to You and One Year. Those last two would each add one to the GL side under a looser rule, taking it to 20. Every figure here uses the strict 25.
Sixteen of the 25 GL titles list Thailand, which is 88.9 per cent of the group. The other two are Friendly Rivalry from South Korea and Fragrance of the First Flower from Taiwan. No GL title lists more than one country.
BL lists Thailand on 52 of 182 titles, or 54.2 per cent, and names nine distinct countries in total once co-productions are split into their parts. Five BL titles are co-productions listing two or three countries each. The gap in geographic spread is the largest single difference between the two groups: three countries against nine, and zero co-productions against five.
| Country | GL | BL |
|---|---|---|
| Thailand | 16 | 52 |
| Japan | 0 | 18 |
| South Korea | 1 | 11 |
| China | 0 | 10 |
| Taiwan | 1 | 5 |
| Hong Kong | 0 | 3 |
| Singapore, Vietnam, Philippines | 0 | 1 each |
Counting Novel, Web Novel, Manga, Manhwa and Manhua as print, 6 of the 25 GL titles are print, or 33.3 per cent. On the BL side the figure is 19 of 182, or 19.8 per cent. GL leans on print at roughly one and a half times the BL rate.
The makeup of that print block is sharper still. Seven titles in total are typed Novel, and five of them are GL: Gap, Pluto, 23.5, The Secret of Us and Moon Shadow. The sixth GL print title is the Petrichor web novel. GL has no Manga, Manhwa or Manhua title at all, where BL has six.
| Type group | GL | BL |
|---|---|---|
| Screen titles | 12 | 77 |
| Print titles | 6 | 19 |
| Print share | 33.3% | 19.8% |
| Prose novels only | 6 | 13 |
| Comics | 0 | 6 |
A mechanism sits behind that number, and the percentage alone hides it. All six GL print titles are the source text of a GL screen title. Six of the 12 GL screen titles, exactly half, have a book behind them. On the BL side 26 of 77 screen titles, 33.8 per cent, trace back to a book, and that figure is lifted by multi part franchises where several screen entries point back to one book. GL screen adaptations are largely one book, one series, and the novel is where the story starts.
Nine GL titles have both an episode count and an episode duration, which is what a total runtime needs. Their median is 12 episodes at a median 58 minutes each, giving a median total of 10.4 hours. The 70 BL titles with the same two details have a median of 10 episodes at a median 44.5 minutes, for a median total of 6.9 hours. Summed, those nine GL titles run 96.8 hours and the 70 BL titles run 480.8 hours.
Platform spread runs the other way. The typical GL title is on 1 platform and the typical BL title on 2. Across screen titles only, GL averages 1.58 platforms and BL averages 2.18. The GL titles name 12 distinct networks or services between them and the BL titles name 43. The widest GL distribution is 3 platforms, on Friendly Rivalry; the widest BL distribution is 7.
Rating labels are narrower too. The 25 GL titles use three of the six labels: 13+ on eight, 15+ on six, MA on four. The 182 BL titles use all six, including PG-13 on 18 and PG on four, neither of which appears anywhere in the GL group. Part of that narrowness comes from format, since five of the six GL titles rated 15+ are novels.
Named performer pairings look more common in GL at first: eight of 25 GL titles carry one, 44.4 per cent, against 35 of 182 BL titles at 36.5 per cent. Restrict both sides to Thai screen titles, where pairings are almost always named, and the gap closes: 8 of 10 GL titles at 80 per cent, 34 of 40 BL titles at 85 per cent. The apparent edge belongs to country and format rather than to theme.
Release years show a field that started later. The earliest GL title is dated 2021 and the earliest BL title 2010, and only one GL title predates 2022 against 19 BL titles. Yet the median release year is 2024 for GL and 2025.5 for BL, because 48 of the 182 BL titles are dated 2026. GL has the later start, and BL has the bigger recent surge.
Sample size matters here. With 25 GL series reviewed, a single addition moves a GL percentage by 5.6 points, and the runtime comparison rests on 9 GL titles against 70 BL titles. One GL title, 23.5 the Series, is typed Series rather than TV Series and is counted as screen. Fragrance of the First Flower lists two years, 2021 and 2025, and the earliest is used. The country and format gaps are the widest and the steadiest; the rest is better read as direction than as measurement.
Twenty five carry GL as their only theme label, against 182 for BL. Two further series carry both BL and GL, so a looser rule would give 20. These are the series reviewed here, not a count of everything made.
Sixteen of the 25 list Thailand, which is 88.9 per cent. The other two are Friendly Rivalry from South Korea and Fragrance of the First Flower from Taiwan.
Six of the 25 are print, 33.3 per cent against 19.8 per cent on the BL side. All six are the source text of a GL screen title, so GL adaptations usually start from a novel.
Among the series with both an episode count and an episode duration, the GL median is 12 episodes at 58 minutes for 10.4 hours total, against a BL median of 10 episodes at 44.5 minutes for 6.9 hours. That rests on 9 GL and 70 BL series.
GL starts later, with its earliest title in 2021 against 2010 for BL. The median release year is 2024 for GL and 2025.5 for BL, because 48 BL titles are dated 2026.
Named pairings look more common in GL at 44.4 per cent against 36.5 per cent, but among Thai screen titles the figures are 80 per cent and 85 per cent. The difference comes from country and format, not theme.
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