MANILA -- Director-producer Xion Lim produced a very successful boys' love (BL) series in 2020, “My Day,” under his Oxin Films, which was streamed in May 2020, when quarantine measures were still very strict.

“Patakas ang ginawa naming shoot at that time,” Lim told ABS-CBN News. “That was the time ECQ [enhanced community quarantine] was declared.”

”My Day” generated more than 100 million views on YouTube and is still being watched up to this day. “That’s why I thought of doing Season 2,” Lim said.

The new series, “My Story,” took two years to come out. It introduces new characters who have instantly became popular.

“After only two episodes for ‘My Story,’ we already garnered 5 million views,” Lim said. “The series just aired its third episode.

“On TikTok, we got 28 million views. The new cast apparently surpassed the popularity of the original cast. The new episodes have been trending consistently. That’s why we are in talks for Season 3, to be titled ‘Our Story.’”

The script of “My Story” compiled different experiences from Lim’s friends, his own and contributions from the writers. “Direk Easy [Ferrer] is part of our team as writer,” Lim revealed. “We brainstorm for the stories.”

They even shot part of the episodes in Chiang Mai, Thailand, spending 12 days abroad, while 14 days were completed in Manila. A total of 10 episodes will be aired on “My Story.”

Additional cast members joined the second season, which will present an extended story. Jericho del Rosario plays Zeke, while Hiro Shimoji plays Fifth.

“They are very comfortable with each other, like on the set and behind the scenes,” Lim noted. “Ako kasi, as a director, I always want my cast to adlib their lines. So the scenes come out naturally. I like their combination. Maangas, yet soft.

“’Pag kinikilig na ako sa set, good take na ’yun for me. Very comfortable ang mga characters ko with what they are doing and you see that on the set. The audience can feel that. What the characters are doing translates to the audience.”

Although Del Rosario and Shimoji are both very young actors, they are ready to face their bashers, haters and lots of persecution in their first BL project.

JP Lopez is one of the writers of the series, who also plays a cameo. Others in the cast are James Ramada, Kate Yalung, Jason Flores and Adrian Dionisio.

“Honestly, for me, it was just professionalism,” Del Rosario said. “Some people will think and say anything, whatever they want to say. I don’t mind them. Whatever you do, right or wrong, there are people who will always say something about you.”

Meanwhile, Shimoji accepted the role to break the stigma that when you do a BL series, you are readily judged as gay.

"I’ve been acting for 10 years,” said Shimoji, who is a film major at De La Salle-College of St. Benilde. “I wanted to prove something that this is also job-related. As professionals, we do this from our hearts.

“I want to break the notion that if you do a BL series, it dictates your personality. It’s not like that.”

For Lim and his team, there was initially the pressure to come up with a new series that’s as successful as the first one.

“That’s why it took us two years to come up with the second one,” Lim said. “I don’t want to disappoint and fail my audience. Madami pa rin talaga ang naghahanap sa Season 2.

“So when Direk Easy and JP joined the team, we just came up with stories that are relatable. Up to the point where hindi na kami nag-isip. We don’t want to be pressured to make it successful. We just had fun along the way.”

The director-producer refuses to believe BL stories are no longer popular.

“Others were saying the BL series here in the Philippines is dead,” lamented Lim. “But if you look at the BL series in Thailand and even South Korea, the LGBTQ+ community will never die. I think they are just waiting for a new content and fresh ideas.”