When you start getting into the BL world, you’ll discover that besides novels and Manga/Manhwa/Manhua, there are some fascinating BL drama adaptations that manage to give a whole new light to the story. BL drama adaptations always give a personal touch to the story, reflecting how things would be if they took place in real life. Additionally, many people prefer watching instead of reading. This article is good news for all of them.
Recently, there have been various novels and Manga/Manhwa/Manhua that received a Drama adaptation. Ranging from The Untamed – a Chinese BL drama adapted from the novel Mo Dao Zu Shi To Life: Love on the Line – a Japanese BL drama adapted from the Manga Life Senjou no Bokura. There have been remarkable BL drama adaptations where the characters were brought to life with amazing acting. Thus here, we’ll take a look at some of the Best BL Drama adaptations made from Manga and Novels.
1. The Untamed
The Untamed is a drama adaptation of the Novel Mo Dao Zu Shi. The novel also has a manhua adaptation as well as a Donghua adaptation. With the amazing acting of the main cast, The Untamed managed to be one of the most popular Drama adaptations China has to offer. Unfortunately, The Chinese censorship board wasn’t up for releasing a series with “homosexual relationships.” Thus the story was altered to hide the fact that the main characters are in a romantic relationship. However, their acting made everything so obvious that even the Chinese censorship board couldn’t ban it.
The story takes place in the historic era of China when cultivators had a huge impact on people. Wei Wuxian, the adoptive son of the leader of the Jiang sect, was exceptionally notorious and lively. The young disciples of the Jiang sect and other main sects were invited by the Lan sect for a proper discipline lesson. During this time, Wei Wuxian met Lan Wangji, the second nephew of the Lan sect’s leader, and formed a deep bond with him.
The Untamed
Later in the story, due to a series of unfortunate events, Wei Wuxian had to practice some wicked sorcery which is never good news. There are always consequences to the usage of evil cultivation practices. In Wei Wuxian’s case, he had to pay a lot more than expected, and in the end, he was killed by his brother. Wei Wuxian died with the title of the evilest cultivator the world has ever seen.
But after 16 years, he was brought back to life by Mo xuanyu, a vengeful man who wanted Wei Wuxian to take revenge on his behalf. With a second chance to live and find out what went wrong in his past life, he left the village where Mo xuanyu lived. On his way, he reunited with Lan Wangji, who was the first man who discovered that Wei Wuxian was back. Moving forward, what will Wei Wuxian and Lan Wanji discover in this new life?
2. Given
Given has become popular after it received an anime adaptation in 2019, followed by a BL drama adaptation in July 2021. The series is all about four boys linked together through their Rock band. There are two love stories in this series. The main couples are Ritsuka and Mafuyu, and the side couples are Haruki and Akihiko.
One day Ritsuka finds Mafuyu sleeping on the staircase with a guitar. They start chatting, and Ritsuka tells him that his Guitar has rusty strings that should be changed. Hearing that the guitar can be fixed, Mafuyu jumps with excitement and asks Ritsuka to teach him how to play the guitar. He later introduces Mafuyu to his band members, i.e., Akihiko and Haruki. One thing leads to another, and Mafuyu becomes the vocalist of their band. With the passing time, Ritsuka finds himself attracted to Mafuyu, but that’s when he finds out about his tragic past. How will things go from here on?
Given
On the other hand, Akihiko and Haruki have known each other for a while now. Haruki has a one-sided crush on Akihiko, and Akihiko is aware of it. He lives with his ex-boyfriend, but things never work out for them. Even after breaking up, Akihiko has lingering feelings for him. How will things turn out when Haruki finds out about it?
3. Absolute BL
The story, as well as the actors of this drama are hilarious. In this series, the main character finds himself in a BL manga. A world where the population of handsome men has increased significantly, and the faces of girls are blurry. However, our protagonist doesn’t fear playing a role in this world because he is not good-looking. He considers himself to be a Mob character without any significance in the BL world. But unexpectedly, his brother becomes a part of it, and everything starts going south in his head.
Absolute BL
After figuring out that he is inside a BL manga, Mobu started reading these mangas to stay prepared for anything. While reading BL manga, he found out that similar things are happening all around him. Starting from a delinquent falling for the passerby to the Crossdressed beauty, would a person that despises being a part of the BL world fall in love with a man?
4. Kieta Hatsukoi
Kieta Hatsukoi is a Drama adaptation of the manga with the same title. The whole story is based on one misunderstanding after another. One day he borrowed an eraser from his crush Hashimoto and saw Ida’s name written on it. Ida is your typical good-looking, topper student with a good personality. Ida sits right in front of Aoki and notices that his name is written on his eraser. However, he misunderstands and thinks that the eraser belongs to Aoki.
Kieta Hatsukoi
Later, instead of clearing things out with Ida, Aoki pretends that he likes Ida so that he can keep him away from Hashimoto. Ida agrees to maintain a friendship with Aoki, but as time passes, they both start getting closer and eventually fall in love. Towards the end of the story, they discover that the name written on Hashimoto’s eraser wasn’t Ida but Aida, one of Aoki’s friends. It turns out that the “A” was erased, and this one small mistake led to all the confusion.
5. Semantic Error
Semantic Error is a Korean BL drama adaptation of the manhwa with the same title. The drama is relatively new, so it’s currently ongoing. Chu Sangwoo has a rather difficult personality, he is a brilliant boy, but his perspective is different from others. He is a systematic person that hates any type of error in his works and his life. During a group project, all the other members made some excuses and ditched the work. However, Sangwoo completed the whole project alone and didn’t give any credit to the other members. Due to this, Jang Jae-young, a senior in his group, was stopped from graduating.
Semantic Error
Sangwoo received threat messages and calls from all three members on a daily basis, but he didn’t pay attention to any of them. He has been working on a game for a while now, but the graphic designer who’s been helping him was already busy. She referred Sangwoo to another graphic designer, and coincidentally it turned out to be Jang Jae-young. His personality is totally opposite from Sangwoo. He is a cheerful and extrovert person who would’ve been studying in a foreign country if Sangwoo wouldn’t have erased his name from the group project. After multiple conflicts, the two end up working together in the game, but how would such an unlikely pair fall in love?
6. Addicted Heroin
Addicted Heroin is a Chinese BL adaptation of the novel with the same name. However, as stated above, the Chinese censorship board is against the genre, and in the case of this BL, they went overboard. The Drama is filled with explicit scenes, due to which the censorship board didn’t let the show receive a proper ending. The series was discontinued before the climax. Even the cast members were restrained from meeting each other on stage or in public. But they managed to make a masterpiece with a low-budget series. It would’ve gained more fame if the censorship board wasn’t restraining them.
Addicted Heroin
The story depicts the lives of two men, Bai Luo Yin, who has been living in poverty with his divorced father, and Gu hai, a man that lost his mother and held a grudge against his father. They both study in the same school and become friends over time, although Gu hai starts falling in love with Luo Yin. However, with some twisted fate, Bai Luo Yin’s mother starts pursuing Luo Yin to live with the man she remarried, but this man happens to be Gu hai’s Father. With this revelation, how will their relationship turn out to be?
The 80s Anime Era was often referred to as the Golden Age of Anime. The Anime Produced in this Era changed the concept of shonen for the masses. One of these Anime was, “Saint Seiya: Knights of the Zodiac”. It Aired from October 1986 to April 1989. It was one of the best classic hits in japan but it was neglected in western countries. The adaptation of the Anime was very bad and lots of censorship was done to cut some great fight scenes. However, everything aside, it remains one of the best Shonen Animes ever made.
Saint Seiya is based on the manga of the same name written and illustrated by Masami Kurumada. The Anime was produced by Toei Animation under the direction of Yasuhito Kikuchi. Saint Seiya’s story revolves around five young men who are Loyally trying to Protect Athena. Our Protagonist Seiya Pegasus was trained to become one of the saints of Athena. Athena, the Goddess of wisdom Reincarnates every 250 years.
One of her mission is to protect the earth from any sinful deity. 88 Powerful holy Saints Assisted Athena in her mission to protect Earth. These 88 Saints are divided into 48 Bronze, 28 Silver, and 12 Gold Saints. 12 Gold Saints represent 12 Zodiac Signs. The Five young men who protect goddess Athena is among the 48 Bronze Saints.
Here are 10 reasons why you should watch Saint Seiya :
1. Gripping Story Line
A gripping storyline is when a series of plots grabs your attention. And you are so enthralled by it that it holds your attention throughout the series. Saint Seiya never fails to hold the gripping aspect of the storyline. The story’s main focus is on an orphan Seiya. And due to some unfortunate incidents, he turned into one of the Guardian Saints for Athena. Together with four other Saints, Seiya battles many demons to save the honor of Goddess Athena. All the events leading up to the final Ark are justifiable.
All five Saint protect Athena
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2. Great Characters
Characters are the soul of a story and each character tells a different story. Which gives viewers a chance to connect to them emotionally. The five main Characters of Saint Seiya are Seiya, Ikki, Shiryuu, Hyouga, and Shun. Seiya has lots of respect and love for earth and Athena, for which he fights many tough battles. Ikki is the toughest among the five having an aggressive personality but he loves his younger brother shun. Shiryuu is the person who always has his emotions under control and is the second most powerful Saint in the group. Hyouga has a very sad past and his determination toward his goal is the result of that past. My favorite character shun, is a kind person with a shy complex and a pacifist.
Saint Seiya main characters
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3. Mesmerising Soundtrack
The soundtrack helps convey emotions to the viewers. The Soundtrack has to match the feeling of Intense Fights and Emotional Sequences. Saint Seiya’s music composer is Seiji Yokoyama, who is loved by all the fans for creating such an enthralling soundtrack. There is a total of two Opening themes and two ending themes, which is perfect for the screenplay. My Favourite song is, “Pegasus Fantasy” and listening to it can make you feel like fighting some gods. Just try to watch the opening song and you will have your reason to watch the Anime.
Seiya Pegasus
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4. Brutal Fights
Without a Fight sequence, an Action Shonen Anime is incomplete. The more brutal and intense the fight sequences are the more invested viewers become in that Anime. Saint Seiya is filled with gore violence brutal fight sequences. The way the fight sequences are shown is breathtaking. You will be on the edge of your seats while witnessing the fights. My favorite Fight is between Ikki and Shaka. Fights also help build character development and many fights were able to resolve many character weaknesses. Shun who never liked to resolve to violence, had to fight for the sake of Athena and his friends. This made his Character develop with great resolve.
Saint injured during a brutal fight
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5. Bonding between Saints
Bonding between a team is very important especially when you have to work together for a specific goal. Saint Seiya has many Iconic moments between characters filled with many emotions. All the five Saints are so loving towards each other, besides having different personalities. My Favourite bonding between characters would be Shun and Hyoga. Both Characters Connect well with each other. Saints like Hyoga had an emotional past that led him to hide his true feelings. And shun being an emotionally shy person brings out the emotions from Hyoga and helps his character develop.
Shun and Hyoga
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6. Ahead of its time
What Appeals to a viewer’s Imagination in the Anime is the sheer volume of remarkable character material. During Fights, if the character’s weapons or Armour is well signified then it becomes arousing for the viewers. Saints have many different types of Armour composed of Bronze, Silver, and Gold matter. Each type of Matter is given to a specific group of Saint with different power levels. The sets of Armour that the Saints wear to fight are called, “Cloths”. The design and inspiration for this cloth are derived from the various constellation. The Fiery Cloths look great on characters, many fans have cosplayed the colorful Armour of Saint.
Great Armour of saints
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7. Entertaining Arcs and great Spinoffs
Many Viewers avoid watching or dropping the series with boring arcs. But that’s, not the case here because Saint Seiya has many great Arcs throughout the Story with a consistent plot. There is a total of four big story Arcs in the Anime.
The Galaxian Wars Ark is the First Main ark that Introduces the character and the Saints. This Ark focuses on the tournament to win the most powerful cloth, “The Sagittarius Gold Cloth”. The Sanctuary Ark focuses more on team building between Saints as they unite to defeat the pope. Lastly, Poseidon Arc and Hades Arc. Without revealing much I can assure you that these Arcs are filled with Amusement.
The Sanctuary Arc
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8. Life Lessons and Knowledge
There are many life lessons that you can obtain from watching interactions between Saints. The first and foremost lesson you will learn is Duty and Responsibility towards your Friends. You must Face the reality of your duties as a Saint and not run from them, running will only make it hard. You will also come across many new Power which will engross you into opening your encyclopedia and searching them. Like many of you, will be new to the concept of Constellation. After watching the Anime you will be interested to know more.
Believe in Yourself and Result will Yield
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9. Badass Antagonists
Besides the Protagonist, if there is someone who rules the heart of fans, It is the Antagonist of the Story. Shonen Anime is popular for its Iconic Antagonist, cause a hero can only shine when there is darkness beside him. A great Antagonist is someone who evolves with time and becomes deadlier the moment he loses the fight. Saint Seiya has some of the best Antagonists for whom you will feel strongly excited. My Favourite Antagonist of Saint Seiya is, “Hades” and “Poseidon”. Both antagonists are from important Arcs and are the personification of Real Mythology. You will Yearn for more fights between the Saint and Antagonists.
Hades VS Seiya Pegasus
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10. Mythology and Cosmology References
Saint Seiya Anime has many Mythological references, especially Greek Mythology. There are a lot of mythological Greek elements used to create figures and intrigues in the story. There are references to many gods in the Anime like Athena, Artemis, Hades, Hecate, and many more. Seeing this Anime will only increase your desire to know more about the particular mythology. And the cosmo power associated with the Mythology.
Greek Mythology and Cosmology
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