| Boys' Love IS one of the main genres of this anime, alongside "action", "mystery" and "supernatural". But it doesn't have the BL tag because My Anime List is very strict about adding romance tags to stories. For example, 4 anime where (straight) romance is a big deal, but don't have a romance tag, are I'm sure the moderators have their reasons to do this and I am not criticizing their decision, however it is important to remember that romance can be a sub-genre in any story. Action, mystery, supernatural/fantasy and BL are all equally important aspects of this adaptation of the Mo Dao Zu Shi novel. A story does not need to be all about romance to be called romantic, much like FullMetal Alchemist does not need to be an actual "Comedy" to have the "Comedy" tag (but it does have the Comedy tag, and anyone who has watched it would never call it a "Comedy" story). MAL does not treat the "Romance" tag this way, they only add it when it is the most important aspect of the story, and they also omit it when they don't want to spoil the fact that romance will be a main aspect of a story that can't be called a "romance story", such as the examples I mentioned above. So this is a heads up for anyone who's wondering whether this donghua is gay or not. Yes it is. "Chinese censorship" did not erase that either. TV series and movies are heavily censored in China for many reasons, one of which is to not show obviously LGBT content. The novel is very gay and so is the comic; both are uncensored. This animated adaptation was censored to a degree, but it still conveyed the romantic feelings in crystal clear ways. This is not a "subtext" relationship. They complied with the "no gay kisses" rule, but everything else was adapted as if there was nothing to hide, and they were even shown I hope this doesn't come across as me complaining about the lack of a BL tag. The romance in the donghua doesn't become obvious until the final season, so I never questioned the absence of the BL tag until last year, but now I understand how this website operates and that's perfectly fine too. I'm just writing this to let others know that the reason why it doesn't get a BL tag is because this story is not all about romance. The novel gets called a "BL novel", but in reality it is also not a romance novel. Excluding the extra chapters, only about 1/5 of the main story is about the relationship, and the donghua placed most of that in the final season, while season one and two were slowly building up to it. *Edited to explain when the romance takes place in the donghua. The donghua changed the timeline of events a lot because the same company created the donghua, manhua and TV series, so they tried to make all adaptations different from each other while remaining true to the source material. The TV series was the most censored because it has real people in it. |
RojasebMay 2, 2022 9:36 AM
Monkey asks: Where BL? |
| Check out SNAFU |
| No, bro. Novel has BL does not automatically mean the animation is BL too. Where is the BL? Where tf is the romance? What exactly was your point again? |
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Cyruskilla said: Monkey asks: Where BL? In the final season, which you haven't watched yet according to your anime history |
Pink_Chipmunk said: I have seen this an8me and I can't call it bl. it does have bl undertones though According to your anime history you have also not watched the final season, which is the one that has the romance. First and second season were indeed just undertones that could've lead nowhere, but thankfully they kept their relationship canon in the third season. |
Pink_Chipmunk said: Oh, ok you wrote this in season one fourm so I thought that you were referring only to this season That's fair, I'll edit the post to explain it better |
RojasebApr 27, 2022 4:51 AM
Rojaseb said: Pink_Chipmunk said: Oh, ok you wrote this in season one fourm so I thought that you were referring only to this season That's fair, I'll edit the post to explain it better Rojaseb said: I finished first 2 seasons and didn't see any BL. So adding BL wouldn't make sense.Cyruskilla said: Monkey asks: Where BL? In the final season, which you haven't watched yet according to your anime history |
| Check out SNAFU |
Cyruskilla said: I finished first 2 seasons and didn't see any BL. So adding BL wouldn't make sense. Mo Dao Zu Shi is a mystery novel and Wanji's feelings for Wei Wuxian are told as a puzzle with many parts. The story slowly pieces it all together for WWX to understand, so what you watched in the first two seasons becomes romantic once it is explained (or rather, "discovered") in the final season. To give you a couple of examples, one scene from episode 7 (the archery tournament) is extremely important, then there's another during the tortoise cave that gives them their nickname as a couple. So the romance starts without the viewer knowing it. In the novel it's the same, it's a very slow romance, the slowest I've ever read. |
kugixakii said: umm I've watched the whole series i don't think its BL it's just that Lan Zhan is always looking out for Wei Wuxian, that's friendship It is explicitly said in episode 31 that I've seen people who read the manhua and the novel miss this at first, but yeah, that's just how it's written. A lot of the romance of this story was written as reveals tied to Wangji's character so unless you're paying attention you won't get the whole picture. |
| The novel and the manhua are bl. The donghua (anime) is not |
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kugixakii said: no i still don't think the donghua is bl For a person who never made a single comment in a year since joining the site, you seem very concerned about denying the gay relationship of these two characters lmao Anyways, the donghua showed what it showed and this isn't actually a matter of "opinion". You were either paying attention to what was being shown or not. |
Salamiii said: The novel and the manhua are bl. The donghua (anime) is not Have you actually read them though? A novel reader is the last person I would expect to deny that the donghua was gay, because you're supposed to be familiar with the more cultural content, such as the kowtows. The donghua kept the kowtows to Heaven and the ancestors (the Jiangs). In case you forgot, in traditional Chinese culture the only reason why you would ever kowtow in front of your parents (or caretakers) accompanied by your loved one is for marriage. No one ever brings their homie to kowtow for their parents. This was left unexplained in the donghua (unlike the novel and the manhua), but there is no other meaning to it, so any Chinese citizen would've understood what they were doing and the rest of the viewers have to look it up. It's something you either know or don't know, but aren't you supposed to know lol? In the novel version of the story, this happens much earlier and without Wangji knowing that it is happening. In the donghua, WWX already knew about Wangji's feelings and they were both aware of what they were doing in the final episode. The third and last kowtow, which is performed facing your future spouse, was omitted because they first had to kowtow in front of Wangji's parents as well, otherwise the marriage could not be. In the novel the third kowtow was never shown either, so the anime didn't even have a reason to show it. Anyway, so you're saying the only anime with two guys proposing to each other is not gay? |
| I can see it being a Shoujo but not BL. |
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RulyKinkajou59 said: I can see it being a Shoujo but not BL. Shoujo is not a genre, it's the people who buy it, and the majority of BL is shoujo/josei. |
Rojaseb said: Ok, sorry... it's just that the romance in the donghua seems "hidden" in comparison to the the original work. The first time I watched I didn't feel any romance. And about the novel, I've only read the first volume so I haven't really got thru that much major events but I do know abt the relationship between the both of them in kind of a superficial way, but again, I thought all the omission on the donghua was purposeful to not show pretty much any romance, but it appears I am wrong. Thanks for clarifying.Salamiii said: The novel and the manhua are bl. The donghua (anime) is not Have you actually read them though? A novel reader is the last person I would expect to deny that the donghua was gay, because you're supposed to be familiar with the more cultural content, such as the kowtows. The donghua kept the kowtows to Heaven and the ancestors (the Jiangs). In case you forgot, in traditional Chinese culture the only reason why you would ever kowtow in front of your parents (or caretakers) accompanied by your loved one is for marriage. No one ever brings their homie to kowtow for their parents. This was left unexplained in the donghua (unlike the novel and the manhua), but there is no other meaning to it, so any Chinese citizen would've understood what they were doing and the rest of the viewers have to look it up. It's something you either know or don't know, but aren't you supposed to know lol? In the novel version of the story, this happens much earlier and without Wangji knowing that it is happening. In the donghua, WWX already knew about Wangji's feelings and they were both aware of what they were doing in the final episode. The third and last kowtow, which is performed facing your future spouse, was omitted because they first had to kowtow in front of Wangji's parents as well, otherwise the marriage could not be. In the novel the third kowtow was never shown either, so the anime didn't even have a reason to show it. Anyway, so you're saying the only anime with two guys proposing to each other is not gay? |
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ChrisPie said: And let me say that I do not care if other people like BL, or don't mind it at least. But for me, it really is something that can destroy a story, so I rather not invest any time at all with it. Nice, one less homophobe in the fandom |
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