Production is under way on a second season of lesbian drama “Fragrance of the First Flower,” an Asian drama series from Taiwan’s GagaOOLala.
The first season, comprising six episodes that debuted in 2021, follows the life of Yi-Ming (portrayed by Lin ZaiZai), a married woman with a son, who finds herself reunited with Ting-Ting (played by Cheng Lyan), a girl from her past. Their encounter sparks a connection that opens the door to the possibility of escaping Yi-Ming’s monotonous married life.
In season two, expanded to 12 episodes, Yi-Ming embarks on a new chapter as a newly divorced single mother and a career woman. This fresh start brings challenges as she navigates the hardships of single parenthood and societal pressures. Even though Taiwan has legalized same-sex marriage in 2019, this does not mean that LGBTQ+ relationships have been fully accepted in mainstream society. Yi-Ming grapples with whether she can truly follow her heart and pursue a life with Ting-Ting. The original cast will return and new characters will be introduced.
“The strong demand for authentic and meaningful Asian LGBTQ+ content from both Eastern and Western audiences is evident in the interest in season two expressed by those who acquired the rights to the first season,” said Kaite Chou, head of acquisitions and affiliate Sales at GagaOOLala. “Additionally, an increasing number of international distributors and OTT content buyers from the U.S., Asia, and Europe are considering acquiring both seasons, highlighting the global appeal of this unique Asian lesbian IP.”
The first season was licensed to distributors in South Korea, Australia, Spain, Portugal, as well as screening on the GagaOOLala platform. There were also limited theatrical releases in South Korea for the first season.
It was Taiwan’s first title to enter Series Mania, was picked as one of 2021’s best international TV shows of 2021 by Variety and played at ten international film festivals, including Tokyo, BFI Flare London LGBT Film Festival, Frameline San Francisco International LGBT Film Festival, Outfest Fusion QTBIPOC Film Festival, and the Melbourne Queer Film Festival. Additionally, it won the Golden Bell Award for best screenwriting, best actress and best supporting actress in a miniseries/TV movie.
Both seasons of “Fragrance” are produced by GagaOOLala, a global LGBTQ+ and boys love streaming platform, based in Taiwan and launched in 2017 by parent company, Portico Media.
“GagaOOLala will continue to invest in and produce more gender-diverse film and series IPs that achieve this goal,” said Jay Lin, founder and CEO of Portico Media & GagaOOLala.
