Year-End Drama Clash! Forced Love Battle: Hong Kong vs. Korea Two Forbidden BL Dramas

Fans of BL series from both Hong Kong (Hong Kong BL series) and Korea (Korean BL series) get ready! Experience two intense "forced love" dramas causing a sensation and challenging emotional boundaries: “To My Shore” (produced in Hong Kong) and “Tide of Love” (produced in Korea). Both stories center on the themes of “power games” and “domination and redemption,” portraying the most painful male love stories of the year. They ignite a major drama rivalry between Hong Kong and Korea—billionaire Thai tycoon versus Korean chaebol—asking who can "force love" more intensely? Each focuses on unequal power relationships between heirs of prominent families and individuals from lower or elite classes, but with distinct styles to satisfy drama lovers of all levels. Both are now available on Asia’s leading LGBTQ+ streaming platform GagaOOLala.

To My Shore: Tide of Bodhisattva—a Thai tycoon heir’s passionate obsession. Continuing the dark legacy of Revenged Love, this Hong Kong production adapts a hugely popular novel with millions of reads by renowned author Su Erliang. It not only carries on the dark style that made Revenged Love and Desire famous but also features the backdrop of a giant business group (tycoon) in Thailand and forbidden love, making it one of the hottest and most talked-about Chinese BL series this year.

To My Shore revolves around the decisive clash between the "Top Obsessive CEO vs. the Calm Boss": Fan Xiao (played by Yun Qi), the third heir of a Thai tycoon family, is the "Top CEO obsessed with love" who appears gentle outside but hides a cruel nature inside (Sweet-Outside-Dark-Inside). He views love as a "game and a hunt." He confronts You Su Liang (played by Hao Yiran), a high-level executive of a Chinese pharmaceutical company, the "calm boss" who is rational and patient. Their relationship begins after a car accident and childhood wounds; Fan Xiao sees Su Liang’s sincerity as "pretense," igniting his desire to control and dominate. Fan Xiao not only displays dangerous possessiveness but also shifts their emotional battleground to the business arena, using investment power to pressure Su Liang into "having to seek his help." The series also features a provocative love triangle involving Lu Zhen (played by Chen Jianyu), Su Liang’s younger boyfriend, which intensifies Fan Xiao’s jealousy and desire for control. To My Shore blends the mystery and brutality of the Thai tycoon world, presenting suffocating desire and painful redemption. Ultimately, Fan Xiao must pay a heavy price and embark on a silent path of devotion in a "hellish pursuit of love" to win back the heart of the one he loves.

Tide of Love: Forbidden Dominance Promise, Korea’s counterpart to Fifty Shades of Grey. This short series, gaining much attention, is acclaimed as "the first Korean BL series to use the theme of forced love" and boldly compared to the Korean version of Fifty Shades of Grey. It successfully challenges the limits of Korean BL by combining forbidden elements of chaebol heirs, forced love, and dominance/submission (BDSM) through a dark three-layered structure: "Promise—Domination—Redemption."

This work confronts narratives of love entangled with power and desire head-on. The story starts with a harsh "friendship contract." Han Jae-hun (played by Jung Myung-chul), a cold second-generation chaebol heir and dominant partner, demands that Kim Hae-jun (played by Kim Hyun-seo), an art student needing funds for his mother’s surgery and submissive partner, sign an unequal contract mandating "complete obedience." While living together in a seaside villa, Jae-hun asserts ownership with passionate kisses and a signature "ice punishment," along with other forbidden rituals that blend pain with comforting heat, symbolizing intense obsession and possession. This series elevates the Korean "chaebol heir + student/contract relationship" genre to a darker, more intense level. Jae-hun’s control extends everywhere, even warning Hae-jun: "Your social circle is zero. You only need me." Yet, despite the transactional and shameful start, a gentle bond gradually forms. Hae-jun’s care touches Jae-hun’s hidden loneliness, and at the highest tide, Jae-hun reveals vulnerability, admitting fear of loss. Tide of Love uses a short series format (10 episodes, about 10 minutes each) to keep the plot tight and emotions intense. Nighttime settings, the isolation of the seaside villa, and stark light-and-shadow contrast create a high-quality "black romantic drama" atmosphere. This setup appeals to audiences who appreciate BDSM symbolism and stories focused on desire and power dynamics.

To My Shore and Tide of Love are now available for streaming on the GagaOOLala platform, with new episodes released every Saturday! Reserve your viewing spot to witness the ultimate forbidden love drama showdown between Hong Kong and Korea as the year ends!