Retro BL Review: Lovely Writer

The 2021 Thai series Lovely Writer was one of those series that hooked me right away, reeling me in like a fish, but I didn’t even struggle or try to escape. It was one of those magic moments where I felt like it was a series written specifically for me, as it checks every single one of my boxes. Romance, whimsy, and some truly outrageous scenarios. It’s also a wonderful window into the behind-the-scenes world of a BL drama.

Gene (Up Poompat) is an adorably nerdy writer on a quest for a story of substance, however, his BL novel Bad Engineer (something he considers unimportant fluff) is being adapted into a series and his editors are forcing him to be a consultant if he wants to write anything else.

While sitting in on the casting Gene meets Nubsib (Kao Noppakao) a young and handsome young man who’s cast as the “top” Bad Engineer. What Gene doesn’t realize at first is that Nubsib is his childhood friend, and he’s taken the role with the sole purpose of getting close to Gene again. However, Aoey (Bruce Sirikorn), who has been cast as the “bottom” in Bad Engineer, has his own agenda and will stop at nothing to get with Gene, even though the incredibly handsome Mhok (Chap Suppacheep) is head-over-heels in love with him.

I thought Non in Dark Blue Kiss was bad, Aoey is my least favorite character out of any character I have ever seen in a BL. He’s just pure spoiled and unadulterated evil. When he finally gets his in the end, I literally cackled with maniacal laughter. Seriously, he’s just vile.

Unlike a lot of BL dramas, this series isn’t just strictly LGBTQ+ characters. There are several heterosexual characters and relationships, just like there would be in a real-world type of situation. Ken Prarunyu’s Tum, who is Sib’s manager and Gene’s college friend is one of my favorite characters. He’s cool, he’s calm, and confident in his masculinity which is why he’s not afraid to let Tiffy (Zorzo Natharuetai) wear the pants in the relationship. Tiff is also not just a girly girl. She’s a woman who knows not only what she wants, but who she is and doesn’t sacrifice herself or her femininity to get it. She also has sic motorcycle.

The diversity and the fact that the series has such a reality-based storyline are one of the reasons why it is my favorite. Also, one of the best parts of the entire series is when the original author of the novel it is based on, Wankling, has a cameo.

The series focuses on some pretty important topics including the toxicity some types of fan service can have on actors’ personal lives. Lovely Writer is both whimsical and fun while at the same time seamlessly weaving in some of these very dark and serious topics in a way that doesn’t bring down the mood of the series or the viewer. It also helps that the score, composed by Toy Terdsak Janpan is absolutely wonderful and probably my favorite of any BL I have seen – so I was overjoyed that it was included as part of the boxset for the series, in glorious uncompressed .wav format, which I wish all companies would use when selling digital music (I am looking at YOU GMMTV) because as an audiophile, the compression of an Mp3 is gut-wrenching.

All-in-all Lovely Writer is a lovely journey and a perfect series for the BL beginner.