The C-ent sudden generosity to awarding airing permits for C-dramas left and right will still not help any in limbo dramas adapted from BL-novels. The detective drama Justice in the Dark with Zhang Xin Cheng and Fu Xing Bo aired early this year and only 8-episodes were released before the drama stopped releasing new episodes. But the released episodes could still be watched until this week when viewers saw that clicking on an old episode got to a “cannot stream” error message. So the drama has formally been removed from streaming and fans of the BL novel are resigned to never seeing their beloved story finished onscreen. Reportedly the ban on BL-novel adapted C-dramas is going to last 5 years so maybe dramas can air in 2028 to which I’m like “huh” at the random time frame and also not holding my breath.
I really don’t understand why they keep producing BL dramas. I have nothing against them but it feels like a huge waste of time, money and talent if they keep getting canceled.
Because a lot of Chinese BL novels are very well written with interesting story line, and also it’s a genre with a very huge following locally and internationally. Just look at the actors that made it big after starring in one. Profit is a huge factor when ppl produce any kind of drama.
I agree with you, Nena. I don’t understand why they keep producing it …. looks like they just want to spend the money even knowing it won’t be aired.
Because all these were filmed after The Untamed got popular. Back then BL dramas are still allowed. Its only after Word of Honor aired then the ban came in. By then it was too late.
Oh, so you mean all those dramas were filmed in 2019-2021 and have yet to see the day? That makes sense, otherwise keep producing them would be suicidal. I do wonder though why suddenly the authorities decided to ban bl, they seemed pretty tolerant before, even if the leading couple could only stare deep in each other’s eyes (I bet Wang Yibo got headaches in each one of the film sets due to all the staring…). On the other hand, in many Cdramas, especially historical, even straight couples don’t do much more than holding hands (and we get creepy images of parrots kissing).
Yea if I recall correctly, Immortality and Winner King were filmed in 2020, and Justice in the Dark was filmed in 2021. No idea, maybe BL dramas were getting too popular. It did produce many top liuliangs afterall, with Zhu Yilong and Xiao Zhan still being the top actors today.
Can’t they give these dramas to Netflix?
No wonder productions are smarter nowadays and decide to produce their drama in Taiwan and air there instead. Hopefully Justice in the Dark will see the light of the day. I watched all 8 eps and its really good.
Really? Interesting. Can you name a few productions that are doing this?
The Only One comes to mind. https://mydramalist.com/68995-mou-mou
Also I think a BL drama which stars China actors just aired today. Its called Stay By My Side https://mydramalist.com/702599-innocent-playmates and apparently is a remake of Addicted.
You can search for The Only One (starring Liu Dongqin) and Stay By My Side (remake of Addicted which just aired today on Gagaoolala).
I think that Chinese bromances or bls as you would term it are way better than other skinship bls, as they have a great story line and well developed plots and characters but the international fans have to suffer due to the government guidelines,in this age it is almost archaic to impose bans on something as harmless as bls