The Rise of Girls’ Love Across Asia (Plus a Bonus for All Access Members)

Girls’ Love is on the rise throughout Asia. In some Southeast and East Asian countries, TV series marketed as Girls’ Love are gaining popularity. Shortly after the COVID-19 pandemic, many production companies in the region began producing these TV series, which are attracting young audiences.

But GL as a genre is nothing new. Like its counterpart, Boys’ Love, it has evolved over time. Each country in Asia has its own distinct approach to showcasing these genres. In China, it’s mostly spread through literature, but the content can be heavily censored. In South Korea, it’s more accessible with manhwa. In Thailand, it appears more frequently in mainstream TV series. However, Chinese and Korean GLs are following in the footsteps of the Thai’s. Regardless of format, GL and BL follow the same formula.

The positive reception of GL and BL series in Asia is somewhat surprising. Let’s look at why audiences are becoming more engaged.

A Brief Introduction to Girls’ Love

Girls’ Love is a media genre that focuses on the relationships between girls and women. In the past, GL and BL referred to Japanese works, as the terms originated in Japan. Both have evolved into their own respective genres, which don’t necessarily reflect their country of origin.

These days, GL and BL can sometimes serve as marketing labels. Light novels, webnovels, anime, manga, Wattpad stories, and TV series that are plot-driven and end in Happily Ever After can all be classified as such. Recently, though, there’s been a heated debate in many circles about what constitutes a BL (Is the Canadian-produced Heated Rivalry a BL? Is BL or GL exclusively Asian?), but that’s a topic for another day.

Some notable GL works include Takako Shimura’s Aoi Hana (Sweet Blue Flowers) and Oyuki Konno’s Maria-sama ga Miteru (The Virgin Mary Is Watching or Maria Watches Over Us).

Why Asian GL TV Series Are Booming

Asian GL TV series are becoming increasingly popular, particularly those produced in Thailand, and what drives this demand for GL content is something cultural.

Thai GL like GAP: The Series, which was adapted from the novel of the same name by Chao Pla Noy, and The Loyal Pin were huge hits when they first came out post-pandemic. The “love team” or pairing of Thai actors Freen Sarocha and Becky Armstrong (“FreenBecky”) built a large and loyal fan base. Their shows found success as they’re primarily rooted in the culture of love teams, in which a pair of actors lead a TV series. This kind of arrangement is especially common in Thailand, the Philippines, and South Korea.

Other popular GL love teams contribute to the genre’s continued rise: “Englot,” the popular “ship” name for Thai actors Engfa Waraha and Charlotte Austin, who starred in the series Show Me Love, Love Bully, and several other series; and Milk Pansa Vosbein and Love Pattranite Limpatiyakorn, who starred in 23.5, Whale Store xoxo, and several others. Some of these pairings are so popular that several sold-out fan events were even held across Southeast Asia.

Thai GL undoubtedly dominates the competition in the region. Other series, such as Reverse 4 You, Blank, and Love Senior, are also massive hits, but yuri adaptations into GL TV series and even anime are also highly regarded.

Bloom Into You by Nio Nakatani, a Japanese yuri manga with an anime adaptation, is a coming-of-age romance following high school students Yuu and Tuokoi as they navigate their teenage romance. Queendom by Salmon, which has been adapted into a Thai GL series, is an enemies-to-lovers romance that follows two girls named Rey and Print who have been rivals since they were children and continue to be so as adults. The Secret of Us by Mee Nam, a yuri novel turned Thai GL TV series, is a second-chance romance that follows Fahlada as she meets Earn during her study abroad. Romance sparks between the two, but Earn abruptly leaves Lada hanging.

GL’s huge popularity in Asia also stems in part from people’s desire for happy stories that make them feel good. GL usually has a happy ending, which is a nice reprieve from stories about queer suffering.

This trend of looking for a happy ending in stories picked up after the height of the pandemic, when people were looking for an escape from the tragedies in the news. People seek to escape the world’s dark reality, and Thai GLs almost always lead to happily ever afters. When I wrote my article about bookish predictions for 2024, many experts I spoke with had predicted a similar trend: readers want escapism and feel-good stories in the midst of worldly tragedies.

Resurgence of Boys’ Love

BLs were once limited to written and visual content, such as manga and manhwa, but they have since expanded to a variety of other formats over decades. But it wasn’t until after 2020 that it became an enormous success in Asia.

At the moment, an abundance of BL live-action TV series are being produced in Thailand. The 2gether: the series, which was adapted from the 2019 webnovel Because We Are Together by JittiRain, was such a phenomenon that it spawned cult followings throughout East and Southeast Asia, paving the way for more BL TV series in the region. In the Philippines, BL made waves with the pandemic-made and Emmy-nominated Gameboys. BL TV series also became popular in Japan, South Korea, Taiwan, and other neighboring Asian countries.

But while Thailand is a conservative country, it’s generally accepting of the LGBTQ community. In fact, it’s the only Southeast Asian country that recognizes same-sex marriage. Because of this positive development, GL and BL stories have gained widespread acceptance.

The success of Asian GLs and BLs could be replicated in other markets. Unfortunately, homophobia remains prevalent in many parts of the world.

This surprising rise of GL and BL in Asia may not be enough, but it does provide a glimmer of hope for future change, not only in this part of the world but possibly elsewhere.

All Access Bonus: Behind the Scenes of The Best Romance of the Century So Far

Earlier this month, we released our Best Romance Books of the Century So Far, the latest installment in an ongoing series on the Best Books of the Century So Far (stay tuned for more!). Today, we’re giving All Access members a peek behind the scenes, offering brief insights into the selection process and, for all you curious cats, a look at the titles that didn’t make the list.