So the chatter is on in C-ent fandom of a certain subset called danmei novels (or BL novels) that the unofficial ban on the genre is/may be lifted. Last month a period drama called A League of Nobleman aired that was based on a BL novel and had been filmed for quite some time and was part of the BL dramas shelved after the ban in early 2022. But the aired drama didn’t even have any BL or BL-leaning elements and reported was edited to pieces and in the ending the male lead suddenly had a wife and kid hahaha. Earlier BL novel turned drama hits like The Untamed or Word of Honor heavily retained the BL flirting and insinuations. This week another danmei novel turned drama Justice in the Dark suddenly aired without any warning and from early viewer reactions has also been stripped of any BL hints and also heavily edited from the novel source material. C-netizens are speculating danmei novels turned dramas may be allowed to air and may drop one after another in order to recoup some cost but will be basically edited to have zero BL elements and the end dramas may all be terrible products which for fans may be worse than never seeing said dramas at all. Top of the list is Immortality based on the novel The Husky and His White Cat Shizun but also other BL novel adapted dramas filmed and awaiting approval for airing is Chasing the Light and Guardians of the Lands from another Priest novel.
Apart from the change of names and sci-fi setting added, Justice in the Dark is currently following the novel very closely so far (at least for the first case). There are even some cute interactions here and there between the two leads. I don’t see any weird abrupt cuts unlike A League of Nobleman. Its produced by Yang Xia, who also produced The Untamed, so I expect the rest of the drama to follow the novel closely as well.
The ban hasn’t been lifted, per se. The censorship department seems to have a new boss who is more relaxed and they seem to have made some sort of deal to cut out anything potentially problematic and then they can airborne the dramas with absolutely no promo. CP is strictly forbidden. It’s to ensure production companies get their investment money back while avoiding the situation they had after WOH aired.
Chen nepo kid really has bad luck lol he films a BL, they get banned. The ban is lifted , he gets temporarily cancelled lmao
which department? CAC, NRTA?
personally i dont think they’re doing this just to clear out their backlog of unaired stuff. looking at the bigger picture, i think we’re seeing a very gradual loosening of social restrictions which is trickling down here. of course, this is an optimistic take.
it’s hard to tell from the outside looking in
No other colours? White/Black, red/blue??