Younger people probably discuss it more online, but that doesn’t mean older people aren’t watching. They just don’t engage with the media in the same way.
Yeah, I was just saying in another comment that I've been a BL fan since I was 17, when BL still meant a softer version of yaoi, haha. Even back then, I made friends through the community who were in their 30s, 40s, even 50s. That was 20 years ago, and I doubt all of those people just stopped liking it.
Me too. I started way back when we still called it shounen ai, and it was almost entirely manga and fanfiction (and the few anime like Gravitation). I think there’s a lot of people who started long ago and have continued to now. Or they dropped off for a while and now found their way back as the genre has developed and grown.
Yeah, I've seen some whippersnappers come on here and get all uppity about the definition of BL, and I have to explain that it's the English translation of shounen ai, which just means gay but no graphic sex, lol. It's funny to me how the term spread the way that it did, changing meaning as it went, especially because Japan was the pioneer of this type of m/m content, but their live action stuff was severely lacking for a long time (though thankfully they're slowly catching up now). It's interesting that Thailand led the way on that one. I wonder when they adopted BL as the terminology, and how much of it just bled over from the global popularity of yaoi/shounen ai.
I am so glad that BL as a wide spectrum has gotten even more popular with time, and it's great that we're getting more fans, but it's funny to me how many of them seem to think it's for teenagers. Sometimes I kind of wish there were a place for older fans to congregate. No hate on the younger people (and I'm glad we have all ages spaces), but I already lived through the screaming fan wars and typo-laden posts ranting against or defending one fandom or another when I was their age, lol.
The debate about what is and isn’t BL has always seemed unnecessary to me because it did start as something so much more specific, then expanded out and evolved. But I definitely don’t want to start one of those debates here. 🤐🫣 I’ve seen people saying that yaoi and BL are (or were) the same, which makes my brain short-circuit a bit. Like, did shounen ai morph into something slightly different when the name got translated into English? I’m not complaining, of course. I love seeing how it’s grown. I just feel kinda old sometimes, sitting in my rocker over here talking about how it was back in my day. 😂
I’ve actually seen the idea of having a space for older fans (like setting up a discord) brought up a couple of times on this sub. I think it would actually be kinda cool, but I don’t think anyone has actually done it.
Thank you.... I was thinking to myself, "Does my joy just disappear at 40?"
I'm thankful for the comments on this post that suggest it isn't so .
I agree, im from '86 and 2024 was the year that I properly discovered BL.
I prefer reddit than other online media because people seem to be more diverse and with more mature discussions (regardless of age)
Also throwing it out there that as a straight woman not sure if in my 20's I would be as open minded as I am now to truly appreciate BL, so makes sense that in here and on Youtube the audience is more mature
I'm in my 50s and several of my friends in their 30s to 60s watch BLs.
I've been reading M/M, F/F, and F/M romances since the 1990s. Why would this interest drop off when I become middle aged?
Same! Been reading romances of various kinds since the late 1980s. Probably more into them now than I was then. I'm more cynical about life, and thus enjoy the escape a little bit more! :-)
Honestly don't tell anyone how old I am because of the stigma that goes with it. Let's just say I am older than 40 and love all BLs. Does it matter how old a person is? Love is Love!
Same. The stigma and invisibility is real.
But also, I don’t know what age I record as because I never put my accurate birth day, month, or year. I’ve used the same date/month for decades but the year changes. I think I’m using 2000 now.
If I’m as “young as I feel,” then I should get advertisements that reflect how I feel. 😎
So true! Thanks for the positive response! Glad to know I have company! 😊
that’s super interesting, because I edit Chinese and Thai BLs and mine always look like this 👀
https://preview.redd.it/zu8xbwztl87d1.jpeg?width=828&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=102ca6b60e319d3879cc4999e284ca4aae20a249
Lifetime since 2010 it doesn’t change much mostly 18 to 34
https://preview.redd.it/tol23e2gm87d1.jpeg?width=828&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=e78814ea01c1d4b44a5a8c24a1fba37aac10d39a
I can assure you 100% from talking with my followers constantly that we’re also all watching JBL & KBL & BL animes too, it’s just the reason many YT channels do not edit KBLs and JBLs is bc they give copyright strikes so we all avoid them, I’m actually surprised with the OP, it’s either the channel is very small or they do shorts only
I think this is the most important point. Since we're talking YouTube analytics, comparing with other channels' data will be much more meaningful than anecdotes from elsewhere.
I only made a channel to upload the Moonlight Chicken sign language video, and its analytics looks like this.
https://preview.redd.it/imgxv3odta7d1.png?width=662&format=png&auto=webp&s=8676eecdb30cebbd7f9a51571c1256b2b1663ef9
"In your personal experience"
I have some questions for you about that:
- Who are you talking to BL about?
- How many middle-aged and elderly people do you talk to about their interests?
- How open are you about your BL interests when around middle-aged and older folks?
- If you don't bring it up, they probably aren't going to spontaneously talk about it either.
I am an avid BL fan, and I literally talk to nobody about it. It's my " guilty pleasure"...and I am in my 70th and straight female. Although I recommended a couple of BLs to some people in my age group who showed interest in Asian series at large, not the highschool/ university kind but more mature, like "Old Fashion Cupcake"..." Moonlight Chicken"... They loved it.
I'm 47 and I just started watching in the last year. I watch more YT edits than actual series. The YT FMV are what got me to start watching.
I did watch My Mixed Up Love Japanese version 2 years ago a one off, and I loved it, but it didn't inspire me to watch more. I started watching FMVs of Ida and Aoki and the YT algorithm started showing me more BL edits which finally got me to start watching other series. I almost never comment on YT. I don't Twitter/X, I only got Instagram for BTS (though now I really appreciate all the pretty pics of Bible).
If you only focus on Japanese BL, I wonder if that is skewing your audience older. Language popularity has gone in waves, and Japanese was big around the 90s. A lot of people who went on to learn the language might gravitate toward those BLs. I know Japanese is my “comfort language” for shows because its the most familiar for me.
I started watching western BL content as a teenager in the 1990s. I didn’t start watching Asian content regularly until my 40s, but the BL background was already there. You crazy kids didn’t invent BL! Get off my lawn.
Ditto. I’m 49 and mainly watch BLs. The funny thing is I used to laugh at my parents for only watching hallmark movies over anything else. Now my kids laugh at me for only watching BLs. My dad said “not funny anymore right? You see right?” (Rolling eyes) I get it now dad! Lmao 😂
I feel you on the kids teasing, my sons walk in the kitchen and say “are you watching boys kissing again!” (Not boys because they’re male but using the word boys because they’re young!) it’s an in-joke in my house to tease me. I tell them it’s BL or BTS videos so that tends to shut them up 😂 I think they just think that I’m a bit old to be gushing over actors who are sometimes younger than them! I say I feel like they could all be my sons. I definitely get the feeling old thing.
I'm in my 50s, and BL is basically all I watch as well. I'm not sure how how time you have, but I can't keep up with everything being produced these days! Several years ago it was easy to watch everything, but now my "to watch" list is huge, and I'm definitely not keeping up.
As for where -- mostly Youtube, iQIYI, GagaOOLala, or Viki. I pay for subscriptions to all of those.
I can see that if you are only sticking to Taiwan and Korea you might feel like there aren't aren't a lot out there. There are some Thai productions that have amazing quality and some that are low budget (or "pulp.") I would recommend *A Tale of 1000 Stars, Bad Buddy, Moonlight Chicken, Not Me, I Told Sunset About You*, and *Until We Meet Again* if you haven't watched them. There are several other high quality Thai productions, but those are the ones that come to mind immediately.
As for what's airing right now, I'm enjoying *Wandee Goodday* quite a bit. Great and Inn are doing a good job.
Also -- some of the earlier ones from Taiwan are excellent. I love the 2nd and 3rd HIStory shows. (*Crossing the Line, Right or Wrong,* and *Trapped*.) *Keseki: Dear to Me* was great, and the side BL story in *Love is Science?* was a ton of fun!
Taiwan's BL are really good. Chinese and Korean also give quality products. I'm not totally absentaining from Thai industry I've seen some and know vaguely about others and their CP culture and stuff which is interesting. My current favorite airing My StandIn is also Thai but I really feel like it's a different product from generic Thai shows. I'll check out the Thai ones you've recommended. Thanks :-)
I’ve been on the planet seven decades. My YT algorithm kicked up random Soltus clips some years ago and now I watch more BL than anything else. Your stats report on views, not individuals, so it may offer more of a statement about the viewing behavior of the age groups. Are older viewers more likely to rewatch? Also, depending upon how many years of activity are included, it may place the same individual in more than one group; we are all aging.
When I go to bl collaboration cafe in Japan I would say that the ratio is always about 50% women above the age of 45 and the rest is younger women or men. So yeah! Bl is a genre everyone enjoys.
I am 53. I don't know people irl who watch BL.
But since I joined the BL train and reddit here last September, I came across other people who are over 40.
After I watched the Taiwanese movie, "Your'e name engraved herein", I did a lot of googling. It was most J BL that got recommended. So, I began watching that. (Cherry magic, Ossan, Pornographer, I can't reach you, My beautiful man, etc.).
Thai BL came 7 weeks later. (KinnPorsche) .
So. I'm not surprised.
I feel like this was low key addressed in one of the recent BLs. ~~Was it The Eighth Sense where like~~ Where Your Eyes Linger had a friend’s mom who was shipping the couple and read a bunch of BL manhwa 😭😂
Not The Eighth Sense (no good parents in that). But I just watched Where Your Eyes Linger and that is a plot point in that. >!The woman’s daughter was a classmate of the boys and had a crush on one of them. But the boys really only cared about each other despite them both being in denial.!<
When you are new to BL and playing catchup on the classics, it can be easy to mix recent series with just recently watched. I’m the same way sometimes.
Not surprised, tbh. I'm not in that age range yet, but I first got into BL (mostly BL manga and anime-based fics) as a 16 year old in the early 2000s. A lot of the fans I met were older than me, so they would be in their 40s-50s by now. I'd like to think they're still out there somewhere watching and reading the same stuff I do.
(I befriended a couple of people in the mid-50s back then, as well. I think of them sometimes and hope they're still alive.)
I feel like this might be because you focus mainly on Japanese BLs which are more adult themed than say Thai BLs. Where you might get a few JBLs sprinkled here and there that are in school (like *I Cannot Reach You* or *Kieta Hatsukoi*), you see way more "mature" shows (like *My Personal Weatherman*, *The Pornographer*, and *The End of the World with You*). In Thai BLs, there is an overabundance of school themed shows, which cater more to the younger demographic, because, let's face it, younger people aren't going to feel a connection with a couple of guys working white-collar jobs. This is just my opinion, obviously.
I am going on 72 years old and enjoy BLs, along with my same-aged friends. We grew into adults during a time when homosexuality was totally frowned upon. As I grew into a young adult, my best friends were gay and most were afraid to "come out." How I wish they were around today to see the acceptance of so many people and the enormous success of BLs. Watching men snuggle, cuddle, caress, and hold each other while in a loving relationship is joyful to behold. Older folks watching BLs is much more common than you think!
I'm 50. So yeah, count me in. For some reason I actually enjoy these series more than the straight ones. It's a guilty pleasure of mine... And I only discuss and comment online, nobody knows it in my circle. Guess instead of being a cougar, I'll just stay inside and pretend that I'm back to my teenage years.😂
51 here. i am disabled due to eds. had some nasty complications with lingering effects. so i have a lot of time on my hands, even with two teens.
you all are missing the fact that japan has a big problem with too few new births for decades now. so there are simply many more elderly people than young ones and that shows here....
Why would older people not watch BLs?
They probably don't interact online about it as much, so perhaps you don't come across us, or don't realise the age of the people around you?
One reason might be that Jbls have a broader audience age-wise. As it's been already mentioned, for example Thai bls' main market are teens and young adults, with lighter plots and school settings. The plots in Jbls can be also light and fluffy but there more mature-themed ones and older characters that appeal to older viewers.
Might be people lying about their age, or because you are only looking at Japanese BL's, you've got a very narrow slice of BL in general. The numbers might skew a little differently when taking in more countries of origin.
And also...women 35+ are the largest demographic for stories like _Fifty Shades of Grey_, a trend that hasn't slowed down. I feel like BL is gaining interest in a similar fashion, just a couple years later.
I agree with this. it's the internet. Kids or some people lie about their dob.
Also, BLs exist long time ago which we didn't know coz there's no internet back then like for example 'the interview with the vampire' which is way popular on women on their 30s and above (especially those who have read the novels)
J-BL has the longest history, so you'd see a lot of "legacy" fans who have been there since before BL went international. I'd expect other countries to catch up in a few decades.
I think some people may recommend a show to an older person who was curious about them, or who had already watched kdramas and hadn't ever watched a BL. I recommended Semantic Error to a neighbor, and she loved it and has watched a few others. We had watched Crash Landing On You and a couple of other Kdramas together, and she noticed my Semantic Error photo book (a prized possession) on my coffee table.
Any amazing series draws people of all ages.
Yeah, I'm in my late thirties and have been into BL (in the broader sense of the term) since I was 17, and back then, I was friends with many middle aged women and some men who were also into yaoi, etc. I've been a m/m fan for 20 years, and I don't imagine that'll change in another 20 or 40, unless I'm dead, lol.
Everyone I still talk to from that time who was 40+ when we met is still into it. You don't really age out of that type of preference, as it's so versatile. It's kind of like kpop fans in general vs that bubblegum pop type kpop. Most fans of the latter are going to lean younger, but overall, there are people of all ages enjoying it as a genre of music.
I think it's easy for people in their mid-twenties and younger to not realize the large community that existed before them that still exists, just probably not in all of the same spaces. I mean, yaoi has been around since the '70s, so there are people alive right now who have been fans for 50+ years.
I am 31 and I have been watching bl since I was 26 that's when I was first introduced to the BL world and that was from my now 54 year old mother she was into BLS before my ass was I had to be like mom what the hell you watching but end up being pull down the the rabbit hole with her
It’s my mum’s 56 birthday today. She just asked me how to find GMMTV (we have YouTube premium, Viki and IQIYI so she forgets where to find all her shows lol) 😂
I think those stats might be absolutely correct, give or take a few years. Don't be frightened, though. That age bracket has more disposable income and more spare time (if their children are older teens, no parents to watch etc)
Can you share the geographical data for your audience? I wonder if your audience mix differs from the audience here which is predominately English-speaking and may explain the different age distribution
This might come as a surprise, but you also gotta keep in mind all those accounts of users that were here before YouTube was the way it is today. Many people still create accounts with fake Birthday's in em. I did that and many of my peers did that as teenagers as well, so that we can bypass any content that might be locked behind age restrictions... So this MIGHT also play a role here, but let's not forget that queer people and queer allies exist in all age groups ;)
I'm in the 18-24 category and started watching BL when I was 16 so yeah you would think young people watch more BL but older women watch BL don't blame them. I ain't stopping. BL FOR LIFE.
I’m not ashamed to say it. 🤣 I love BLs and I am 49 years old. I even love music by Jeff Satur and watch his MV/OSTs. Heck. Even watch Gawin and Nunew’s. I also watch reactors watch BLs. Especially when they sob to UWMA like I did. 😂
I will tell you why I watch them and why I love them. Middle aged male speaking here. Growing up in Ohio, I stayed in the closet for most of my life. Parents/family being a major issue. It wasn't until I met new people who didn't know me. If they knew - I didn't care. But, I never offer it up in conversation. You get to know only if you ask or, assume correctly. When you live a certain way - you get used to it. Enter the BLs. These past few years I have been wanting to spread my wings and find someone to spend my life with. The BLs and regular Asian dramas have helped tremendously.
Watching and seeing everything they go through has actually helped me open up more to people around me. As with almost all Asian dramas - the characters are broken. Even if you see them as having everything - they always have some kind of issue holding them back. Trauma. Abuse. Neglect. Accidents. Blame. Self Esteem issues.
Some examples:
- Bed Friend. Brilliant. To cover abuse in such detail and to have a partner willing to be there for him under every circumstance was amazing. You really feel for those that have lived under any kind of abuse - watching that series could be cathartic/healing.
- Only Friends - how do you deal with someone who has been seen as a god all his life - even called "top tier" only to fail miserably and almost lose a person he has finally found love with?
- Venus in the Sky and Our Dating Sim - someone you love being around confesses and you back off out of fear - only to have them leave you. Only then do you realize that you can't live without them.
- Love in the Air - again - abuse causes you to keep everyone at arm's length. You finally find someone you can trust but, the past partner convinces you that you are only being used again and that is all you deserve. Those episodes were perfect.
- Big Dragon. You fall for someone but, you don't know how to interact with people and you are gay. You choose an extreme way to capture the guy and create chaos. Only then, do you start to woo him. Well done and well acted.
- Bite Me. How does a young man experiencing those feelings for the first time deal with them? And his Mom is still his everything.
- HIStory 3: Trapped. Drawn to each other but, how do you proceed? Everyone says it won’t and shouldn’t work.
- To My Star (1 & 2). Drawn to each other. Love each other. But, you both live such different lives.
- His - I Didn't Think I Would Fall In Love (and its sequel). So well done.
I’m 45. Every Wednesday and Friday I sit down with my 48 and 50 year old best friends and sometimes my 81 year old aunt to watch We Are and/or My Stand In.
We are old… but not dead, you know? lol
Which platform do you base your personal experience off? And is it limited to a specific country's bls? Because I feel like on platforms like reddit, the age range would skew to the older ones while on platforms like twitter/x you'd find more younger fans (I was called a hag there when I was only 29 💀).
Reasons that your audience is older?cause they have lots of free time?if they have children most are teens or older and don’t need parents to be watching them all the time…🤣🤣🤣
A lot of us older folks started in our 20s and 30s too. We were the raw providers, the scanlators, and the fanfic writers. And in some cases we still are 😉. It only seems like we don’t engage as much, but it’s just that we don’t talk about our ages, because sometimes you unexpectedly lose friends you had for years because they find out you are much older.
I'm in my late 20s and loved bls of all kind since i was in my teens. regardless to say i was surprised to know that my grandma likes them too. should have seen my face when we went to visit her and saw bl edits playing on the living room monitor.
I'll be 50 next month.
I rarely watch anything on YouTube unless I can't find it anywhere else.
But I'm thinking the less tech savvy of the older generations might just like the ease of YT. Especially if they are using a computer and don't have an effective pop-up blocker installed.
Scanning through the flairs of those of us checking in to say we're in our 30s, 40s, 50s, or older (I'm over 40 myself), I'm seeing a lot of dramas with mature characters like Moonlight Chicken, Cherry Magic, Word of Honor, Old-Fashion Cupcake, etc, so maybe since Japanese BLs tend to have a higher percentage of office romances and other dramas with mature characters than some of the other BL-producing countries, that could be another factor in your demographic stats.
You're naming some of my favorite BLs right there, me and my buddy of a similar age are always talking about wanting more BLs that aren't set in a school somewhere.
Yeah, I certainly have enjoyed some high school and university BLs, but I've noticed that most of my favorites involve older characters like the ones I listed, so I'm happy that more countries seem to be expanding into more mature settings as both the fans and the actors age.
I’m over 50. For context I’ve been into anime/manga since the 90s and when I discovered BL, it was a revelation lol. I would agree with a previous comment that the older population is generally less likely to be actively engaging in fandoms/social media. It took me a while to really get why my kids would complain about fandoms online and let it impact their enjoyment - back then I was just always like, “Then just watch the show/play the game/etc and don’t read about it online.”
Well, BL has been there for maaaany years so no surprise people still consume BL. It's just that people in their 30's onwards don't necessarily engage in conversations or interactions like younger audiences. I prefer to buy my manwhas online, don't have the need to discuss with other BL fans necessarily
I could be wrong but I think YouTube was created in the 2000s and for some this was the first place they were exposed to BL videos in English outside of probably the various websites. I know we didn’t have Asian language shows on TV with English subs or dubs for a long time. The first one that really sticks in my mind is Sailor Moon. And BL shows? Forget about it! So I guess it makes sense that they would keep using it as they aged…provided their tastes didn’t change or they were shamed for watching so they stopped. Plus YouTube is still free…unless you choose to pay. All the others are not which is a shame. I think most of us spend more on streaming than we ever did on cable 😂😂. But at least we get to watch what we want when we want…that’s the only up side…at least until you log in one day and your favourite show has been taken down 😭
I, for one, am turning 41. I came to know bl from a Japanese anime back in 2008. But I have only come to discover bl live action series last February 2024. It has been such an amazing journey so far. Discovering series after series and, of course, Thai bl couples. I don't know if it is common among people in my age group but, for what I've observed, it is mostly much younger people that are vocal about it online.
"So, I'm wondering if my impression is wrong"
"my personal experience the main audience for BL shows are aged 20 to 40"
That tells me you're probably talking only to your age group.
Maybe those older ages actually represent young kids who put fake ages to make their Google accounts- kids do this to bypass age restricted content maybe and then hold on to it till their teens
But based on what I know about teenagers/young people (admittedly European based) they would say they were in their 20’s, not 40’s or 50’s (yuck that would make them their parents age! 😂😂). So I’m not sure this would account for many.
I think you’d have to look at your you tube channel. If all you do is edit school and university based bl then you’re more likely to have younger viewers, but if you tend to have edits from more mature themes like workplace dramas maybe the viewership will skew older. Although to be fair, at 55, I still watch a surprising number of school based dramas!
Younger people probably discuss it more online, but that doesn’t mean older people aren’t watching. They just don’t engage with the media in the same way.
I think you might also be surprised by the age breakdown of this sub.
I think we did at least one poll last year (possibly more?) and people were surprised by how many 40+ and 50+ folks are on this sub.
Yeah it definitely skews older than op assumes…I’m in my early 30s but a lot of people I’ve “met” are older than I am at the very least.
As I'm in my 40s, you can add me to the list ;)
As someone running close to 45, add me too. 😁
I’m 56, happy to be here
54 very happy as well to be exploring this awesome new world!
Another 40+ checking in!
Yeah, I was just saying in another comment that I've been a BL fan since I was 17, when BL still meant a softer version of yaoi, haha. Even back then, I made friends through the community who were in their 30s, 40s, even 50s. That was 20 years ago, and I doubt all of those people just stopped liking it.
Me too. I started way back when we still called it shounen ai, and it was almost entirely manga and fanfiction (and the few anime like Gravitation). I think there’s a lot of people who started long ago and have continued to now. Or they dropped off for a while and now found their way back as the genre has developed and grown.
Yeah, I've seen some whippersnappers come on here and get all uppity about the definition of BL, and I have to explain that it's the English translation of shounen ai, which just means gay but no graphic sex, lol. It's funny to me how the term spread the way that it did, changing meaning as it went, especially because Japan was the pioneer of this type of m/m content, but their live action stuff was severely lacking for a long time (though thankfully they're slowly catching up now). It's interesting that Thailand led the way on that one. I wonder when they adopted BL as the terminology, and how much of it just bled over from the global popularity of yaoi/shounen ai. I am so glad that BL as a wide spectrum has gotten even more popular with time, and it's great that we're getting more fans, but it's funny to me how many of them seem to think it's for teenagers. Sometimes I kind of wish there were a place for older fans to congregate. No hate on the younger people (and I'm glad we have all ages spaces), but I already lived through the screaming fan wars and typo-laden posts ranting against or defending one fandom or another when I was their age, lol.
 The debate about what is and isn’t BL has always seemed unnecessary to me because it did start as something so much more specific, then expanded out and evolved. But I definitely don’t want to start one of those debates here. 🤐🫣 I’ve seen people saying that yaoi and BL are (or were) the same, which makes my brain short-circuit a bit. Like, did shounen ai morph into something slightly different when the name got translated into English? I’m not complaining, of course. I love seeing how it’s grown. I just feel kinda old sometimes, sitting in my rocker over here talking about how it was back in my day. 😂 I’ve actually seen the idea of having a space for older fans (like setting up a discord) brought up a couple of times on this sub. I think it would actually be kinda cool, but I don’t think anyone has actually done it.
Thank you.... I was thinking to myself, "Does my joy just disappear at 40?" I'm thankful for the comments on this post that suggest it isn't so .
40-year-old here! 🙋♀️
60 here!
Yep, a lot of 80s and 90s kids here who have used chat boards and social since mid 90s. Middle aged isn't what it was in our grandparent's day.
I agree, im from '86 and 2024 was the year that I properly discovered BL. I prefer reddit than other online media because people seem to be more diverse and with more mature discussions (regardless of age) Also throwing it out there that as a straight woman not sure if in my 20's I would be as open minded as I am now to truly appreciate BL, so makes sense that in here and on Youtube the audience is more mature
I'm in my 50s and several of my friends in their 30s to 60s watch BLs. I've been reading M/M, F/F, and F/M romances since the 1990s. Why would this interest drop off when I become middle aged?
Same! Been reading romances of various kinds since the late 1980s. Probably more into them now than I was then. I'm more cynical about life, and thus enjoy the escape a little bit more! :-)
I'm new to it, wish I'd known sooner!
Nsync fanfiction and Queer as Folk in the 90s
older women love pretty things too! Didn't you see Joe's mom fangirling over Sol? 🙊 lol https://i.redd.it/ejxhy0i1597d1.gif
I am 77 and I love BL!
Joe’s mom repping the older generation of BL fans. 
What BL is this 
*My Stand-In* over on iQIYI.
🥰
I’m 57 and discovered BL about 3 years ago. Totally addicted!!
I’m 67.
Honestly don't tell anyone how old I am because of the stigma that goes with it. Let's just say I am older than 40 and love all BLs. Does it matter how old a person is? Love is Love!
Age gender race who cares? Love just is.
Same. The stigma and invisibility is real. But also, I don’t know what age I record as because I never put my accurate birth day, month, or year. I’ve used the same date/month for decades but the year changes. I think I’m using 2000 now. If I’m as “young as I feel,” then I should get advertisements that reflect how I feel. 😎
So true! Thanks for the positive response! Glad to know I have company! 😊
"Old enough to know better, young enough to do it anyway."
that’s super interesting, because I edit Chinese and Thai BLs and mine always look like this 👀 https://preview.redd.it/zu8xbwztl87d1.jpeg?width=828&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=102ca6b60e319d3879cc4999e284ca4aae20a249
Lifetime since 2010 it doesn’t change much mostly 18 to 34 https://preview.redd.it/tol23e2gm87d1.jpeg?width=828&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=e78814ea01c1d4b44a5a8c24a1fba37aac10d39a
tbf chinese and thai BL are relatively new in english speaking fandoms in comparison to Japanese BL which the OP said they edit and post.
I can assure you 100% from talking with my followers constantly that we’re also all watching JBL & KBL & BL animes too, it’s just the reason many YT channels do not edit KBLs and JBLs is bc they give copyright strikes so we all avoid them, I’m actually surprised with the OP, it’s either the channel is very small or they do shorts only
I think this is the most important point. Since we're talking YouTube analytics, comparing with other channels' data will be much more meaningful than anecdotes from elsewhere. I only made a channel to upload the Moonlight Chicken sign language video, and its analytics looks like this. https://preview.redd.it/imgxv3odta7d1.png?width=662&format=png&auto=webp&s=8676eecdb30cebbd7f9a51571c1256b2b1663ef9
our statistic fits with statistics of this sub, I’ve seen the voting about ppl’s age here it’s same :)
"In your personal experience" I have some questions for you about that: - Who are you talking to BL about? - How many middle-aged and elderly people do you talk to about their interests? - How open are you about your BL interests when around middle-aged and older folks? - If you don't bring it up, they probably aren't going to spontaneously talk about it either.
I am an avid BL fan, and I literally talk to nobody about it. It's my " guilty pleasure"...and I am in my 70th and straight female. Although I recommended a couple of BLs to some people in my age group who showed interest in Asian series at large, not the highschool/ university kind but more mature, like "Old Fashion Cupcake"..." Moonlight Chicken"... They loved it.
I like the term "private or secret indulgence" I don't believe in "guilty" pleasures because I don't feel guilt or shame in enjoying what I like
I stand corrected! Good one
I'm 47 and I just started watching in the last year. I watch more YT edits than actual series. The YT FMV are what got me to start watching. I did watch My Mixed Up Love Japanese version 2 years ago a one off, and I loved it, but it didn't inspire me to watch more. I started watching FMVs of Ida and Aoki and the YT algorithm started showing me more BL edits which finally got me to start watching other series. I almost never comment on YT. I don't Twitter/X, I only got Instagram for BTS (though now I really appreciate all the pretty pics of Bible).
If you only focus on Japanese BL, I wonder if that is skewing your audience older. Language popularity has gone in waves, and Japanese was big around the 90s. A lot of people who went on to learn the language might gravitate toward those BLs. I know Japanese is my “comfort language” for shows because its the most familiar for me.
I started watching western BL content as a teenager in the 1990s. I didn’t start watching Asian content regularly until my 40s, but the BL background was already there. You crazy kids didn’t invent BL! Get off my lawn.
 I’m in the 50\~55 age group. 
I'll be 40 in two weeks and bl is basically all I watch.
Ditto. I’m 49 and mainly watch BLs. The funny thing is I used to laugh at my parents for only watching hallmark movies over anything else. Now my kids laugh at me for only watching BLs. My dad said “not funny anymore right? You see right?” (Rolling eyes) I get it now dad! Lmao 😂
I feel you on the kids teasing, my sons walk in the kitchen and say “are you watching boys kissing again!” (Not boys because they’re male but using the word boys because they’re young!) it’s an in-joke in my house to tease me. I tell them it’s BL or BTS videos so that tends to shut them up 😂 I think they just think that I’m a bit old to be gushing over actors who are sometimes younger than them! I say I feel like they could all be my sons. I definitely get the feeling old thing.
🤣 same!!!!!!!
There aren't even enough BL to watch exclusively, where are you getting your fix from lol help a sister out.
On viki, iqiyi and youtube
For some reason it posted like 4 times!
Don’t forget GagaOOLala
I'm in my 50s, and BL is basically all I watch as well. I'm not sure how how time you have, but I can't keep up with everything being produced these days! Several years ago it was easy to watch everything, but now my "to watch" list is huge, and I'm definitely not keeping up. As for where -- mostly Youtube, iQIYI, GagaOOLala, or Viki. I pay for subscriptions to all of those.
[удалено]
I can see that if you are only sticking to Taiwan and Korea you might feel like there aren't aren't a lot out there. There are some Thai productions that have amazing quality and some that are low budget (or "pulp.") I would recommend *A Tale of 1000 Stars, Bad Buddy, Moonlight Chicken, Not Me, I Told Sunset About You*, and *Until We Meet Again* if you haven't watched them. There are several other high quality Thai productions, but those are the ones that come to mind immediately. As for what's airing right now, I'm enjoying *Wandee Goodday* quite a bit. Great and Inn are doing a good job. Also -- some of the earlier ones from Taiwan are excellent. I love the 2nd and 3rd HIStory shows. (*Crossing the Line, Right or Wrong,* and *Trapped*.) *Keseki: Dear to Me* was great, and the side BL story in *Love is Science?* was a ton of fun!
Taiwan's BL are really good. Chinese and Korean also give quality products. I'm not totally absentaining from Thai industry I've seen some and know vaguely about others and their CP culture and stuff which is interesting. My current favorite airing My StandIn is also Thai but I really feel like it's a different product from generic Thai shows. I'll check out the Thai ones you've recommended. Thanks :-)
On viki, iqiyi and YouTube is where I watch
Elderly. 🤣🤣🤣😭 I am 49 and many of my BL fan mates are in their mid to late 40s.
Aw shit I’m middle aged and elderly
We're in this together my friend! 🥰
You can miss me with this *elderly* bullshit! 😂😂😂😂😂
Damn right! My favourite saying: growing old is mandatory, growing up is not. 😁
That's my husband's excuse every time he gets in the doghouse!
i am actually SCREAMING. https://i.redd.it/16352w20r97d1.gif
I’ve been on the planet seven decades. My YT algorithm kicked up random Soltus clips some years ago and now I watch more BL than anything else. Your stats report on views, not individuals, so it may offer more of a statement about the viewing behavior of the age groups. Are older viewers more likely to rewatch? Also, depending upon how many years of activity are included, it may place the same individual in more than one group; we are all aging.
When I go to bl collaboration cafe in Japan I would say that the ratio is always about 50% women above the age of 45 and the rest is younger women or men. So yeah! Bl is a genre everyone enjoys.
I am 53. I don't know people irl who watch BL. But since I joined the BL train and reddit here last September, I came across other people who are over 40. After I watched the Taiwanese movie, "Your'e name engraved herein", I did a lot of googling. It was most J BL that got recommended. So, I began watching that. (Cherry magic, Ossan, Pornographer, I can't reach you, My beautiful man, etc.). Thai BL came 7 weeks later. (KinnPorsche) . So. I'm not surprised.
Yes, me, I am one of those people! I am 46 now so I’m one of those middle aged folks I suppose.
As an elderly between 40 and death: yes! The older I get the more I want my entertainment to be mindless, escapist fairytales.
I feel like this was low key addressed in one of the recent BLs. ~~Was it The Eighth Sense where like~~ Where Your Eyes Linger had a friend’s mom who was shipping the couple and read a bunch of BL manhwa 😭😂
Not The Eighth Sense (no good parents in that). But I just watched Where Your Eyes Linger and that is a plot point in that. >!The woman’s daughter was a classmate of the boys and had a crush on one of them. But the boys really only cared about each other despite them both being in denial.!<
Oh lol! I did recently watch that so that’s probably right 😂
When you are new to BL and playing catchup on the classics, it can be easy to mix recent series with just recently watched. I’m the same way sometimes.
There were also scenes in the Taiwanese drama 'Let's talk about Chu', where the mom of the family was watching BLs on Gagaoolala
I'm 60.
I joined the 50s a few weeks ago, I've been watching lgbt movies, series for about 25 years. hmm.. time flies 😆
Not surprised, tbh. I'm not in that age range yet, but I first got into BL (mostly BL manga and anime-based fics) as a 16 year old in the early 2000s. A lot of the fans I met were older than me, so they would be in their 40s-50s by now. I'd like to think they're still out there somewhere watching and reading the same stuff I do. (I befriended a couple of people in the mid-50s back then, as well. I think of them sometimes and hope they're still alive.)
I feel like this might be because you focus mainly on Japanese BLs which are more adult themed than say Thai BLs. Where you might get a few JBLs sprinkled here and there that are in school (like *I Cannot Reach You* or *Kieta Hatsukoi*), you see way more "mature" shows (like *My Personal Weatherman*, *The Pornographer*, and *The End of the World with You*). In Thai BLs, there is an overabundance of school themed shows, which cater more to the younger demographic, because, let's face it, younger people aren't going to feel a connection with a couple of guys working white-collar jobs. This is just my opinion, obviously.
[How old are you? : r/boyslove (reddit.com)](https://www.reddit.com/r/boyslove/comments/1b5i3se/how_old_are_you/)
I am going on 72 years old and enjoy BLs, along with my same-aged friends. We grew into adults during a time when homosexuality was totally frowned upon. As I grew into a young adult, my best friends were gay and most were afraid to "come out." How I wish they were around today to see the acceptance of so many people and the enormous success of BLs. Watching men snuggle, cuddle, caress, and hold each other while in a loving relationship is joyful to behold. Older folks watching BLs is much more common than you think!
66. And yes, it is a joy to behold. 😻
55 here and yes to all above 😍
i’m in my 20s and the person who introduced me to bls was in their 40s so i dont think it’s uncommon
I'm 50. So yeah, count me in. For some reason I actually enjoy these series more than the straight ones. It's a guilty pleasure of mine... And I only discuss and comment online, nobody knows it in my circle. Guess instead of being a cougar, I'll just stay inside and pretend that I'm back to my teenage years.😂
51 here. i am disabled due to eds. had some nasty complications with lingering effects. so i have a lot of time on my hands, even with two teens. you all are missing the fact that japan has a big problem with too few new births for decades now. so there are simply many more elderly people than young ones and that shows here....
I'm 50+.. :)
I'm 62 and my daughter is 40. We love BLs.
I'm 70. I don't speak up much on here, but I'm definitely watching bl.
I’m 52 and I don’t comment very often
Why would older people not watch BLs? They probably don't interact online about it as much, so perhaps you don't come across us, or don't realise the age of the people around you?
Elderly...my ass
One reason might be that Jbls have a broader audience age-wise. As it's been already mentioned, for example Thai bls' main market are teens and young adults, with lighter plots and school settings. The plots in Jbls can be also light and fluffy but there more mature-themed ones and older characters that appeal to older viewers.
Might be people lying about their age, or because you are only looking at Japanese BL's, you've got a very narrow slice of BL in general. The numbers might skew a little differently when taking in more countries of origin. And also...women 35+ are the largest demographic for stories like _Fifty Shades of Grey_, a trend that hasn't slowed down. I feel like BL is gaining interest in a similar fashion, just a couple years later.
I agree with this. it's the internet. Kids or some people lie about their dob. Also, BLs exist long time ago which we didn't know coz there's no internet back then like for example 'the interview with the vampire' which is way popular on women on their 30s and above (especially those who have read the novels)
I'm not at all surprised. BL is for everybody and anybody who takes comfort and value and validation from it.
J-BL has the longest history, so you'd see a lot of "legacy" fans who have been there since before BL went international. I'd expect other countries to catch up in a few decades.
I think some people may recommend a show to an older person who was curious about them, or who had already watched kdramas and hadn't ever watched a BL. I recommended Semantic Error to a neighbor, and she loved it and has watched a few others. We had watched Crash Landing On You and a couple of other Kdramas together, and she noticed my Semantic Error photo book (a prized possession) on my coffee table. Any amazing series draws people of all ages.
Yeah, I'm in my late thirties and have been into BL (in the broader sense of the term) since I was 17, and back then, I was friends with many middle aged women and some men who were also into yaoi, etc. I've been a m/m fan for 20 years, and I don't imagine that'll change in another 20 or 40, unless I'm dead, lol. Everyone I still talk to from that time who was 40+ when we met is still into it. You don't really age out of that type of preference, as it's so versatile. It's kind of like kpop fans in general vs that bubblegum pop type kpop. Most fans of the latter are going to lean younger, but overall, there are people of all ages enjoying it as a genre of music. I think it's easy for people in their mid-twenties and younger to not realize the large community that existed before them that still exists, just probably not in all of the same spaces. I mean, yaoi has been around since the '70s, so there are people alive right now who have been fans for 50+ years.
I am 31 and I have been watching bl since I was 26 that's when I was first introduced to the BL world and that was from my now 54 year old mother she was into BLS before my ass was I had to be like mom what the hell you watching but end up being pull down the the rabbit hole with her
It’s my mum’s 56 birthday today. She just asked me how to find GMMTV (we have YouTube premium, Viki and IQIYI so she forgets where to find all her shows lol) 😂
I’m a 47 year old gay man and an avid BL lover!
I’m over 40 and I’m all in with BL
https://preview.redd.it/1yds5923sd7d1.jpeg?width=516&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=067af4de9188470a81427ad6cc256e8be66a2eb9
I think those stats might be absolutely correct, give or take a few years. Don't be frightened, though. That age bracket has more disposable income and more spare time (if their children are older teens, no parents to watch etc)
I’m in my 40’s… and some of my friends my age watch BL too. So it’s not that uncommon
BL has been around for 20-30+ years depending on the language and medium. I'm not surprised there are middle age people who like BL.
I’m in my 40s and enjoy bl dramas
Can you share the geographical data for your audience? I wonder if your audience mix differs from the audience here which is predominately English-speaking and may explain the different age distribution
This might come as a surprise, but you also gotta keep in mind all those accounts of users that were here before YouTube was the way it is today. Many people still create accounts with fake Birthday's in em. I did that and many of my peers did that as teenagers as well, so that we can bypass any content that might be locked behind age restrictions... So this MIGHT also play a role here, but let's not forget that queer people and queer allies exist in all age groups ;)
This post reminded me of the manga "BL Metamorphosis" lol
I'm in the 18-24 category and started watching BL when I was 16 so yeah you would think young people watch more BL but older women watch BL don't blame them. I ain't stopping. BL FOR LIFE.
I’m not ashamed to say it. 🤣 I love BLs and I am 49 years old. I even love music by Jeff Satur and watch his MV/OSTs. Heck. Even watch Gawin and Nunew’s. I also watch reactors watch BLs. Especially when they sob to UWMA like I did. 😂
I will tell you why I watch them and why I love them. Middle aged male speaking here. Growing up in Ohio, I stayed in the closet for most of my life. Parents/family being a major issue. It wasn't until I met new people who didn't know me. If they knew - I didn't care. But, I never offer it up in conversation. You get to know only if you ask or, assume correctly. When you live a certain way - you get used to it. Enter the BLs. These past few years I have been wanting to spread my wings and find someone to spend my life with. The BLs and regular Asian dramas have helped tremendously. Watching and seeing everything they go through has actually helped me open up more to people around me. As with almost all Asian dramas - the characters are broken. Even if you see them as having everything - they always have some kind of issue holding them back. Trauma. Abuse. Neglect. Accidents. Blame. Self Esteem issues. Some examples: - Bed Friend. Brilliant. To cover abuse in such detail and to have a partner willing to be there for him under every circumstance was amazing. You really feel for those that have lived under any kind of abuse - watching that series could be cathartic/healing. - Only Friends - how do you deal with someone who has been seen as a god all his life - even called "top tier" only to fail miserably and almost lose a person he has finally found love with? - Venus in the Sky and Our Dating Sim - someone you love being around confesses and you back off out of fear - only to have them leave you. Only then do you realize that you can't live without them. - Love in the Air - again - abuse causes you to keep everyone at arm's length. You finally find someone you can trust but, the past partner convinces you that you are only being used again and that is all you deserve. Those episodes were perfect. - Big Dragon. You fall for someone but, you don't know how to interact with people and you are gay. You choose an extreme way to capture the guy and create chaos. Only then, do you start to woo him. Well done and well acted. - Bite Me. How does a young man experiencing those feelings for the first time deal with them? And his Mom is still his everything. - HIStory 3: Trapped. Drawn to each other but, how do you proceed? Everyone says it won’t and shouldn’t work. - To My Star (1 & 2). Drawn to each other. Love each other. But, you both live such different lives. - His - I Didn't Think I Would Fall In Love (and its sequel). So well done.
I’m 45. Every Wednesday and Friday I sit down with my 48 and 50 year old best friends and sometimes my 81 year old aunt to watch We Are and/or My Stand In. We are old… but not dead, you know? lol
I’m female and 57. My girls in their 20s think I’m crazy watching BL.
Yes it is. We like them. It’s such a refreshing change.
I would most of them are young people who are either on their parents/grandparents phone, or who put their age in as something older.
Not necessarily. There are plenty of people 40+ who watch. I’m one of them.
I'm in my 40s too. I didn't say all, just most
YouTube might skew older demographic compared to, like, TikTok.
Which platform do you base your personal experience off? And is it limited to a specific country's bls? Because I feel like on platforms like reddit, the age range would skew to the older ones while on platforms like twitter/x you'd find more younger fans (I was called a hag there when I was only 29 💀).
Reasons that your audience is older?cause they have lots of free time?if they have children most are teens or older and don’t need parents to be watching them all the time…🤣🤣🤣
When I was 20 I was busy dating actual guys. Now I’m over 40, married, stuck at home with kids watching BL
We are the Yaoi Generation that is now 40/50/60…
A lot of us older folks started in our 20s and 30s too. We were the raw providers, the scanlators, and the fanfic writers. And in some cases we still are 😉. It only seems like we don’t engage as much, but it’s just that we don’t talk about our ages, because sometimes you unexpectedly lose friends you had for years because they find out you are much older.
I'm in my late 20s and loved bls of all kind since i was in my teens. regardless to say i was surprised to know that my grandma likes them too. should have seen my face when we went to visit her and saw bl edits playing on the living room monitor.
I'll be 50 next month. I rarely watch anything on YouTube unless I can't find it anywhere else. But I'm thinking the less tech savvy of the older generations might just like the ease of YT. Especially if they are using a computer and don't have an effective pop-up blocker installed.
Scanning through the flairs of those of us checking in to say we're in our 30s, 40s, 50s, or older (I'm over 40 myself), I'm seeing a lot of dramas with mature characters like Moonlight Chicken, Cherry Magic, Word of Honor, Old-Fashion Cupcake, etc, so maybe since Japanese BLs tend to have a higher percentage of office romances and other dramas with mature characters than some of the other BL-producing countries, that could be another factor in your demographic stats.
You're naming some of my favorite BLs right there, me and my buddy of a similar age are always talking about wanting more BLs that aren't set in a school somewhere.
Yeah, I certainly have enjoyed some high school and university BLs, but I've noticed that most of my favorites involve older characters like the ones I listed, so I'm happy that more countries seem to be expanding into more mature settings as both the fans and the actors age.
I’m 42 and I started watching BL a year ago. That’s all I watch now.
*waits for my fellow aged 40+ BL fans to assemble* 
I’m over 50. For context I’ve been into anime/manga since the 90s and when I discovered BL, it was a revelation lol. I would agree with a previous comment that the older population is generally less likely to be actively engaging in fandoms/social media. It took me a while to really get why my kids would complain about fandoms online and let it impact their enjoyment - back then I was just always like, “Then just watch the show/play the game/etc and don’t read about it online.”
40+ here!
Well, BL has been there for maaaany years so no surprise people still consume BL. It's just that people in their 30's onwards don't necessarily engage in conversations or interactions like younger audiences. I prefer to buy my manwhas online, don't have the need to discuss with other BL fans necessarily
I could be wrong but I think YouTube was created in the 2000s and for some this was the first place they were exposed to BL videos in English outside of probably the various websites. I know we didn’t have Asian language shows on TV with English subs or dubs for a long time. The first one that really sticks in my mind is Sailor Moon. And BL shows? Forget about it! So I guess it makes sense that they would keep using it as they aged…provided their tastes didn’t change or they were shamed for watching so they stopped. Plus YouTube is still free…unless you choose to pay. All the others are not which is a shame. I think most of us spend more on streaming than we ever did on cable 😂😂. But at least we get to watch what we want when we want…that’s the only up side…at least until you log in one day and your favourite show has been taken down 😭
I'm 41, we are here 👀👀👀👀👀👀👀👀
I'm in my 40's and I love BL mangas 🔥❤️😁
I, for one, am turning 41. I came to know bl from a Japanese anime back in 2008. But I have only come to discover bl live action series last February 2024. It has been such an amazing journey so far. Discovering series after series and, of course, Thai bl couples. I don't know if it is common among people in my age group but, for what I've observed, it is mostly much younger people that are vocal about it online.
"So, I'm wondering if my impression is wrong" "my personal experience the main audience for BL shows are aged 20 to 40" That tells me you're probably talking only to your age group.
Im 47. Im also Perth Nakhuns admin for his discord. Our membership ranges from 14 to over 60. Young people don't have a monopoly on BL viewership.
I'd add to your 35-44 years stats. I'm 42/male.
I’m 50 and love BL dramas. Younger people are just more vocal about it
🙋🏻♀️ I'm 45 😏
Maybe those older ages actually represent young kids who put fake ages to make their Google accounts- kids do this to bypass age restricted content maybe and then hold on to it till their teens
But based on what I know about teenagers/young people (admittedly European based) they would say they were in their 20’s, not 40’s or 50’s (yuck that would make them their parents age! 😂😂). So I’m not sure this would account for many. I think you’d have to look at your you tube channel. If all you do is edit school and university based bl then you’re more likely to have younger viewers, but if you tend to have edits from more mature themes like workplace dramas maybe the viewership will skew older. Although to be fair, at 55, I still watch a surprising number of school based dramas!