Last week, a reader commented to express concern that my work with DMP’s Digital Manga Guild for Inside the DMG might result in a bias towards their releases when reviewing for BL Bookrack. Whereas I feel that I’ve taken steps to avoid bias or misrepresentation (all earnings are going to the CBLDF as stated since the beginning, and I’ve been completely up front about my participation), it’s certainly up to each reader to choose how she (or he) wants to interpret my reviews, based on that disclosure.
But even if I feel absolutely comfortable that I’m critiquing DMP and/or DMG releases with a fair mind (and I do) it would be incorrect to say that I have no biases when it comes to BL. I most certainly do have biases, and they’re pretty freaking obvious in all of my reviews. It’s just that they’re more about content than whose logo is on the spine.
Like most fans of romance (BL or otherwise) I have very specific tastes, some of which may make or break a title with me. I’ve outlined my deal breakers pretty thoroughly in the past, so I won’t repeat it all now. In a way, it’s these biases/tastes that, in part, make my reviews (or anyone’s) valuable. Since there is no truly objective way to evaluate or talk about fiction, it’s our individual backgrounds and tastes that make multiple reviews of the same book worthwhile. Readers who share my general tastes (for instance), especially my most specific peculiarities, will have that in mind as they read my reviews—and this goes for readers who don’t share them as well. Both our similarities and differences with other people help to guide us to what we’ll most identify with or enjoy.
So, to take this conversation in a positive direction, I thought I’d take a moment to list the BL titles I’ve read over the past few years that have best conformed to my specific tastes since I began reviewing BL manga and manhwa. These are titles that have my biases written all over them. They are, quite simply, my favorites. Take that as you will!
Wild Adapter (Kazuya Minekura, Tokyopop)
Ichigenme… The The First Class is Civil Law (Fumi Yoshinaga, 801 Media)
The Moon and the Sandals (Fumi Yoshinaga, Juné)
Future Lovers (Saika Kunieda, Deux Press)
U Don’t Know Me (Rakun, Netcomics)
Red Blinds the Foolish (est em, Deux Press)
Age Called Blue (est em, Netcomics)
One Thousand and One Nights (Jeon JinSeok & Han SeungHee, Yen Press)
Totally Captivated (Hajin Yoo, Netcomics)
Roureville (E. Hae, Netcomics)
Color (Eiki Eiki & Taishi Zaou, DokiDoki)
Kiss Blue (Keiko Kinoshita, Juné)
Seven Days (Rihito Takarai & Venio Tachiban, Juné)
A Liar in Love (Kiyo Ueda, Juné)
Only Serious About You (Kai Asou, Juné)
You & Tonight (Keiko Kinoshita, Digital Manga Guild)
About Love (Narise Konohara, Juné)
My Darling Kitten Hair (Haruko Kumota, JManga/Libre Publishing)
Looking at this list, I’d identify my tastes as these: I like long, plotty series or quiet/ideosyncratic character studies much more than anything that falls in-between. I like Fumi Yoshinaga, Keiko Kinoshita, and est em. I like Korean BL (man do I like Korean BL—somebody please license more!). I don’t really care if the stories have sex, but I definitely want romance and/or intense emotional intimacy. I like emotional messiness and complication. I care more about the development of a relationship than I do its consummation. I don’t require realism, except when it comes to emotional truth (The Way to Heaven really almost made this list). I like (though can’t always get) stories where at least one character actually identifies as gay. Other books that (inexplicably) came very close to making this list include Deeply Loving a Maniac (801 Media) and Oku-san’s Daily Fantasies (SuBLime).
If you share my biases, I recommend you check out these titles. And I promise you let you know when I find more, no matter who has published them.
And now I put it to you: Readers, what are your BL biases? What makes a story work (or not) for you and what titles have most closely fit the bill?
Disclosure: MJ is currently under contract with Digital Manga Publishing’s Digital Manga Guild, as necessitated for her ongoing report Inside the DMG. Any compensation earned by MJin her role as an editor with the DMG will be donated to the Comic Book Legal Defense Fund. Juné, 801 Media, DokiDoki and Digital Manga Guild are all imprints produced by Digital Manga Publishing.
emmapeel says
March 29, 2012 at 3:43 pmI find it really difficult to zero-in on what I like in BL (or art/movies/literature for that matter), because as soon as I say I prefer *this,* I fall in love with *that.* But generally, I love a story with intensity: in characters, story arc, humor, sex scenes, or any combination. If I instantly love the art, that adds points; I especially love expressive faces and beautiful anatomy. If it’s uncensored, that’s also a plus, because I absolutely abhor the idea that someone else has decided that I shouldn’t be allowed to see something, and I see the various white blobs, stripes and voids as glaring/distracting mutilations of art. Also I generally prefer adult, or at least somewhat sophisticated, characters; I find innocent, virginal, baby-faced characters kind of a turn-off. Kink-wise, I like a good non-con scene, and otp unfaithfulness (is that even a thing, let alone a kink? idrk).
Under Grand Hotel, Viewfinder, U Don’t Know Me, Cut, Hero Heel, Brother, Prince Charming and No Touching at All are forever re-readable to me.
Beast and Feast is a new favorite, and older but I just found it and love it is Where Did Love Go. I also love almost anything by Youka Nitta, Miyamoto Kano, Shiuko Kano and Fujiyama Hyouta.
Honestly, my appreciation for BL is ever-evolving and I have a hard time picking favorites. Sometimes it just depends what mood I’m in. I guess that’s why, while I do read some reviews, I don’t take any of them as a definite yes or no.
Melinda Beasi says
March 29, 2012 at 6:58 pmI’m so glad someone else loves U Don’t Know Me! I felt at the time that I was the only one who liked it as much as I did. And actually, I was pretty impressed with Under Grand Hotel. It was sort of not-my-kind-of-bl, but so well done that I couldn’t help being mesmerized by it anyway.
My appreciation for BL is still evolving as well, honestly. I’m been glad that being a critic has given me the opportunity to step out of my comfort zone pretty often when it comes to BL. Often the results have been just as disastrous as I expected, but sometimes I’ve been really surprised.
COM801 says
March 29, 2012 at 7:32 pmU Don’t know Me! is one of my absolute favorites. I was somewhat surprised, I don’t know why, but I really loved Where Did Love Go. Where he had to re-iterate/emphasize that he falls in love w/ men…such a moment! It’s one of the few “Gay for you only” stories that I really enjoyed.
Rij says
March 29, 2012 at 5:19 pmIt’s easier to say what I don’t like than it is to say what I prefer. I haven’t really read that much BL and I’m lacking on lot of the “classics”. BL is nowhere near my favourite genre since pure romance is not really something that interests me often.
I don’t like short stories; no matter how well done, I just don’t like them. That already rules out much of the genre. But I also don’t like it when a simple romance plot is extended beyond two or three volumes. So I guess lenght of 1-3 volumes is my bias.
I want adult characters who don’t fall into rigid seme-uke roles. No blushing virgins. The innocent, sweet and shy uke who’s seduced by the much bigger and older seme is a total turn-off. I like strong characters who know their own minds and are in charge of their own lives. Artwise I like masculine, big guys with some muscle. Humour is always a big plus but it’s tricky to get right. I need to be able to tell the characters apart, not just in their looks but in their behavior too. Emotional realism and internal consistency are important. And on completely frivoulous vein, I love cops and yakuza.
Men of Tattoos (it looks like and anthology but isn’t)
Seven Days (only high school BL that I actually love)
No Touching At All
Under Grand Hotel
Wild Adapter
Border (is this even BL? well, if Wild Adapter counts…)
The Cornered Mouse Dreams of Cheese (someone PLEASE license this already so I don’t have to feel guilty about reading the scans)
Melinda Beasi says
March 29, 2012 at 7:01 pmI’ve been considering reading further into Border. There were a lot of things I liked about the first volume, though it didn’t *quite* work for me as a whole. Other readers have recommended it to, though, and I feel like I should keep going on the power of that alone. Also, I love the title of the last one you mention. I want to read it just for that.
Rij says
March 30, 2012 at 2:55 amI’ll admit that objectively Border is nowhere near a masterpiece. It just hits my buttons. After the first volume there hasn’t been any romance or sex, unless you count the one-sided crush one of the guys has on Yamato. It’s much more shallow than Wild Adapter, so there probably won’t be the kind of emotional intensity that you like. But it’s so pretty, the characters are likeable and I quite like the action/mystery plots with drama brought in by the characters sad backstories. Also with the added bonus of the main character being actually believably gay.
I thought about mentioning Kizuna instead but there’s just some things in it that bother me. I love the main couple but cringe at the secondary couple too much to name it as a favourite.
emmapeel says
March 29, 2012 at 7:19 pmI stuck with licensed BL for my list but I also love love LOVE Cornered Mouse and its sequel, The Carp on the Chopping Block Jumps Twice. To the point where I bought the books in japanese (which I can’t read), and Mizushiro Setona’s other works which are available in english, Afterschool Nightmare and X-Day. I don’t understand why this amazing work isn’t licensed in english.
And I love cops/yakuza too. Beast and Feast which I mentioned above is a recently released cop/yakuza story.
Rij says
March 30, 2012 at 3:01 amI’ll check out Beast and Feast!
I was going to keep my list to licensed too, but Cornered Mouse is just too good to leave off the list. I keep hoping that if I mention it often enough someone will eventually license it. Most of Mizushiro’s yaoi seems to be older so I don’t think there’s much chance of anything else getting licensed soon.
JRB says
March 29, 2012 at 7:22 pmHmmm. I like BL in general, including pretty much every type (at least among those available in English; there’s some untranslated subgenres I’m not into, like the heavy BDSM stuff). Things I particularly like:
I’m gonna buck the trend here and declare my undying passion for feminine characters generally and cute ukes specifically. Innocent, sexy, moody, perky, aloof, sweet, homicidal, I love them all, but especially shy or easily flustered nerds. Mmmm, pretty blushing nerds. :) I especially like uke-uke relationships, which are unfortunately quite rare. I also like so-called “wanko-nyanko” (puppy-kitten) relationships, where the uke is aloof and prickly like a cat and the seme is fawning and devoted like a dog; those are thankfully much more common.
I love cute fluff and comedies, but I also love high-intensity emotional-toque storylines (regardless of whether they’re “realistic”, so long as they’re convincing). And I have a thing for guys who are in complete, armor-clad denial. Two of my favorite works, The Tyrant Falls In Love and The Cornered Mouse Dreams of Cheese, have deeply closeted but emotionally dependent ukes who get forced into relationships they don’t want to admit they want; some people really hate that storyline but when it’s done well, as in those two, it can be very compelling.
Nerdy ukes of note:
No One Loves Me: grumpy editor gets assignment with introverted nerd translator, falls for him (one of the side couples also has a cute nerd uke)
A Love Song For The Miserable: clueless depressive nerd falls for pastry chef, screws it up, has to chase him down and get him back
The “One Night Stand” storyline in Scarlet: painfully insecure nerd falls for bi-curious straight guy, smut and snuggling ensue
The Madarame/Shiro couple from Love Pistols: seme-in-denial story served with lots of angst and abuse, also cracktastic science-fiction premise
Cute fluff:
Challengers!: gentle rom-com and one of the most hilarious BL things ever
Cafe Latte Rhapsody: sweet fluff with cute nerdy uke x tall nerdy uke-type seme relationship
After I Win: doe-eyed pretty uke x uke bashfulness, utterly unrealistic but adorable
Cool/Uncool: following two awkward teenagers through their sweet, low-key relationship
Guys in denial:
The Tyrant Falls In Love: Angst / comedy hybrid in which a homicidally homophobic uke-in-denial gets dragged kicking and screaming into admitting he’s in love with a guy
The Cornered Mouse Dreams of Cheese (available in French, by Setona Mizushiro): Atmospheric, moody story also with an emotionally dependent uke-in-denial
Close The Last Door: Rom-com with an uke who gets into a habit of fooling around with the seme while drunk, passes everything off (to himself) as the booze, the seme (amazingly) calls him on it, romance ensues
50×50 (untranslated, by Saika Kunieda): nutty comedy in which two ladykillers get dumped, get drunk, fall into bed together, and manage to convince each other it was just the booze, wash-rinse-repeat until they’ve more-or-less moved in together but are still insisting they’re totally straight; plus bonus cool lesbian couple
Melinda Beasi says
March 29, 2012 at 7:35 pmThis probably will come as a shock, but after pretty much hating the first volume of Tyrant, I ended up kind of loving the second. I almost even put it on my list, but it seemed weird to start with volume two. Heh. Also, perhaps I will give Love Pistols more of a shot. I didn’t care for the first volume, but we’ve seen how that can change. Also, I suspect I might like 50×50 if it ever gets licensed.
JRB says
March 30, 2012 at 11:27 am“Also, perhaps I will give Love Pistols more of a shot.”
There’s a whole bunch of different couples in different kinds of relationships (with some overlap between storylines), but many tend to be angsty/abusive and the SF part never becomes less utterly cracktastic (if anything, it gets moreso). Judging from your reviews, I think you might quite dislike a big chunk of it.
But if you care to keep going with Tyrant, it might be worth your while. V4 has the Big Damn Kiss (followed by immediate denial). (The backup stories in V5 feature another couple, which is heavy and abusive, just for a heads-up).
Melinda Beasi says
March 30, 2012 at 11:33 amI really appreciate your honesty here. I’ll probably still wade in at least a little further with both (I definitely need to see that Big Damn Kiss, so I’ll keep going with Tyrant at least), but I am grateful for the heads-up on the elements I’m less likely to enjoy.
COM801 says
March 29, 2012 at 7:23 pmHow timely, I was just writing about something similar.
Story line biases: deserved 2nd chances, adult romance, non-high school settings, character coming to terms w/ their sexuality, break ups, nurtured relationships, consensual sex, believable misunderstandings, characters being found out and having to deal with their sexuality public, parental involvement (this is a BIG one, especially if it’s a high school setting.)
Character biases: Adults, non-effeminate, glasses, dark hair, validly frustrated, older seme, aggressive uke, dark/twisted personality, characters that actively participate in the relationship, acerbic wit (think Mastuo Marta)
Mangaka biases (not that I do, but I want to like everything by them): Yoneda Kou, Miyamoto Kano, Aida Saki, Konohara Narise, Kunieda Saika, Mizushiro Setona, Yamada Yugi
Reaction biases: I want to cry and get angry and wish for revenge or fall in love right along with the character. A story that can take me out of my usual place as voyeur and put me, however uncomfortable, in the character’s shoes is usually a winner.
Of course there are exceptions to these, but I am definitely more likely to enjoy the story if these elements are present.
Melinda Beasi says
March 29, 2012 at 7:38 pmI can count on one hand the number of high school BL manga I’ve read where the parents even really exist, let alone get involved. Now, I kind of want to find more. Also, I am with you on acerbic wit. :)
COM801 says
March 29, 2012 at 7:58 pmOff the top of my head for “Real Live Parents! (who care)” are U Don’t Know Me!, Future Lovers, and A Truthful Picture. All of them are set in high school, but only two of the focus on the students.
I once wrote a paper that included a part about how, according to manga and anime, if you are Japanese and become a parent, you *will* die soon and if not soon, you’ll definitely never see your children become adults. And that it will all be due to the apparent #1 killer of Japanese adults… the traffic accident. In or out of the car, they can’t escape it.
Melinda Beasi says
March 29, 2012 at 8:01 pmU Don’t Know Me is already a favorite, and I tend not to think of Future Lovers as high school because (as you say) the main characters are adults, not students. But I haven’t read the third one on the list! I’ll definitely look for it.
Melinda Beasi says
March 29, 2012 at 7:50 pmAlso!!! Has any of this Setona Mizushiro BL been licensed/published in English? I NEED IT.
COM801 says
March 29, 2012 at 8:02 pmNot that I can find and I’ve been looking! However, After School Nightmare… well I can’t say anymore.
Melinda Beasi says
March 29, 2012 at 8:03 pmI adore After School Nightmare, which is why I want the BL. *sigh* I will have to wait.
JRB says
March 30, 2012 at 11:19 am“parental involvement (this is a BIG one, especially if it’s a high school setting.)”
Well, a lot of BL is for teens (especially the kind of stuff that gets translated into English), and teens generally want to get away from the whole “parental involvement” thing and into stories where they can be autonomous. This is true for American YA fiction as well. When you’re 16, parents are a drag.
Melinda Beasi says
March 30, 2012 at 11:35 amYeah, I definitely felt that way when I was a teen, and even younger, really. Some of my favorites as a kid were the “Maida’s Little…” books, in which the adults were pretty much absent most of the time, leaving the kids to run everything.
COM801 says
March 30, 2012 at 12:37 pmI’ve never read YA fiction except for S.E. Hinton, but I guess I can understand that. When I was younger (like 12 and up) I read (and still do read) Ursula K. Le Guin, H.G. Wells, Hemingway, Poe, E.E. Cummings, Steinbeck, books on linguistics and etymology, books that 70’s movies were made from, like Looking for Mr. Goodbar, The Killing Fields, Andromeda Strain, Coma, and lots of plays. These have definitely shaped my expectations. I’m a reader who prefers to watch and remember rather than escape and forget and when I really want to escape and forget, I read Science Fiction. I definitely did have days when I felt that I would be better off without the interference of adults, but since my mother was there for me when I lost my mind at the age of 13 and aided in my 4 to 5 year readjustment period, I appreciate reading stories that include parental involvement when teens are becoming the people they were meant to be.
I mean, it’s fiction, so there’s bound to be story lines that stray from what is commonly considered reality, but this is my bias. I’m not completely opposed to fluff and giggles or formula yaoi, but as a writer and a reader, I am more intrigued by stories that manage to be intriguing while remaining within the silo of real life. Admittedly, my biases make me hard to please, but I am fortunate enough to have found mangaka who write for adults or share my particular bent, so I’m not always left out in the cold.
Feriket says
March 30, 2012 at 12:00 amI love quiet, slice of life stories with slow development, character exploration, and emotional intimacy. Perhaps we do share biases, some what, because I do like Kinoshita Keiko and Yoshinaga Fumi quite a bit. I particularly have a soft spot for Kinoshita Keiko because I love Kiss Blue in particular, and I really enjoy how gentle and soft her art looks. I also like Asou Kai and Konohara Narise. (I’m REALLY excited for the release of Castle Mango in April.) Another mangaka that I really enjoy reading is Yoneda Kou. I love her characterizations and I wish to see more of her work licensed. No Touching At All is great.
I also have a giant bias for possessiveness, particularly when a character actually wants to be possessed or feel like he belongs to someone. Some of my favorite tropes are men raising kids, best friends falling in love with each other, and businessmen hooking up. I don’t really like any high school romance as much, even though I do read them and enjoys many.
In term of character type, my bias includes: short hair, glasses, suits, and collared shirt. The personality is something that I have to see for myself, but if the characters happen to include any of the physical bias I have, then I would be very happy.
I love short BL, anything from 1-3 volumes. Usually I don’t really pay attention to the length, only the story line, but I’ve noticed that a majority of what I enjoy are short manga.
Melinda Beasi says
March 30, 2012 at 8:09 amI think we do share tastes here in many ways. With that in mind, if there’s anything you’d recommend, I’d love to hear about it! I liked No Touching At All, but I feel like I should read it again, because it didn’t stick with me the way it seems it has for others. I feel like I should give it a second read.
Danielle Leigh says
March 30, 2012 at 9:09 amSomething was kind of…off about the translation of “No Touching At All”. It wasn’t *bad*, but somehow it lacked the spark that I felt reading it scanlated. (Also this entire post is awesome, as are the comments….let me just say YES! to more Mizushiro and also YES! to giving Sex Pistols another chance. It is total crack but if I remember correctly volume 2 focuses on a couple you might like more than volume 1….*I think*).
Leighann says
March 30, 2012 at 5:25 pmI’m all over the place on my personal tastes when it comes to bl. I love a little bit of everything, and I have a hard time pinning down exactly what I don’t like (with a few definite exceptions).
In terms of stories, I will latch onto pretty much anything with a sci-fi or fantasy tone to it and probably love it just for being something that I love even without bl. Serious stories are awesome, and a well-done dramatic story is always appreciated, but I also adore crack-type stories and pretty much anything obviously doesn’t take itself seriously. I’m not a fan of the plots that everyone and their mother has done before (oh, *another* high school story about childhood friends, yay >_<), unless they're really well done… or over-the-top campy.
In terms of characters (mostly visual in this case), I have a weak spot for feminine guys. ^_^ And crossdressing… and pretty much anything that blurs gender lines, for sure. Oh, and the ever-elusive feminine seme. Apart from that, long hair, glasses, and non-human features (animal ears, tails, wings… that kind of stuff). While I don't mind non-feminine guys, I cannot stand them when they get *too* manly. (Not a fan of overly muscled characters, even if they're realistically done.)
In terms of mangakas, my favorite is Mishima Kazuhiko. I have yet to find something of hers that doesn't make me squeal like a little girl in excitement. (Well… I haven't read her manga adaptation of the non-bl game Vitamin Z, so I can't pass judgement on that yet ^_^; But that's not bl, so I guess it doesn't matter for this anyway.) Others include Minami Haruka (it's absolute fluff, but I love her visual style… even when they all start looking alike), Homerun Ken, and Yamato Nase for visual style. Or Kyuushuu Danji and Kotobuki Tarako for the crack factor. Oh, and pretty much anything written by Konohara Narise, no matter who draws the illustrations/manga, because her stories just hit me right there (so I guess she counts for my purely plot-type fix).
In terms of series length, I'll go for anything. From a single chapter oneshot to a sprawling 10 or so volume series. As long as I'm enjoying what I see, I don't really care how long it is. I guess I do prefer a full volume of story if possible, but there are some stories that just wouldn't hold up for a full book, and I appreciated when a particular story feels like the right length.
As for specific titles… I'm horribly bad at deciding on things like that. But I guess I have some that I honestly can/have re-read include (aside from my entire collection of everything of Mishima Kazuhiko's that I can get my hands on). Oh, and apologies for using Japanese titles and listing titles that aren't available in English legally/at all in many cases. I stopped reading manga in English pretty much altogether several years ago, and my entire library is untranslated (and I honestly don't pay much attention to what's licensed or not… except for the stuff I'm translating, of course). ^_^;
for crack:
Mossore by Nangoku Banana: Okay, so technically this isn't even bl. It's shoujo comedy (emphasis on comedy) with a bl feel to it. (Though it does have an openly gay character who's in love with one of the other main characters, and more than a few of the jokes draw on some bl type elements.) But I find it absolutely hilarious, and it definitely fits my sweet spot for crack.
Kachou no Koi by Kyuushuu Danji: I wish I could share this with people who don't read Japanese, I really do. Though I'm pretty sure it's something that not everyone would like. I just know that it's another one that I find hilarious.
Sex Pistols (or if you prefer, Love Pistols…) by Kotobuki Tarako: Aside from the fact that I still have a hard time thinking of this series with the official title for the English version (even though I completely understand why they had to change it), the first volumes of this series are probably the most re-read books in my collection. Sheer crack. (And with a distinctly fantastic flavor that makes me even happier!)
I'm having a hard time coming up with specific examples that aren't crack, so I guess I'll just give up now. I'm sure I forgot to mention something, but that's more or less the gist.
Melinda Beasi says
March 31, 2012 at 7:43 amIn terms of characters (mostly visual in this case), I have a weak spot for feminine guys. ^_^ And crossdressing… and pretty much anything that blurs gender lines, for sure.
You might think from reading this entry that I wouldn’t feel the same on this, but actually I kinda do. Though I think my favorite version of this is the “feminine” guy who also happens to be a badass.
tungwene says
March 31, 2012 at 7:34 amI prefer longer narratives vs. chapters/one shots so most of the things I like best in BL only work when the mangaka has more than a handful pages to work with. I like side characters, especially family members, and I like to get to know the main characters’ friends. I like it when the main characters’ friends are more than just sounding boards for main characters’ rants about their love lives and get fleshed out enough to have their own story.
I like stories where one or both of the characters gets embarrassed and blushes a lot, not just during sex, particularly if he’s normally stoic and tough as nails. I have a serious soft spot for bromances where there’s already a close established relationship but there’s something keeping them from taking the next step, like an unrequited crush, etc.
I like it if the story doesn’t take itself all the way seriously and acknowledges its operating in a genre that requires some suspension of disbelief. The best examples I can think of aren’t BL but series with BL elements, like Fujoshi Rumi where the girl is convinced the guy and his best friend are made for each other even when the guy has told her he likes her multiple times, or Your and my Secret where the guy’s best friend is falls for him in a girl’s body though he still identifies himself as a guy.
What I’d like to see more of is BL with both characters identifying as gay. There’s lots of modern BL where one of the guys is out and living a gay lifestyle but other is not and I wish there were more stories where the relationship starts with both guys being out. I wish Fumi Yoshinaga’s What Did You Eat Yesterday would come out in English already!
I wish more old school BL like Banana Fish or Eroica would get brought over but that seems unlikely and you’d think going by my listed I’d be into Let Dai but that was a series where I became more invested in the side characters and eventually lost interest in the main characters and the romance and by the end was wishing I’d read a story just about the side characters without the main couple.
Melinda Beasi says
March 31, 2012 at 7:39 amI wish Fumi Yoshinaga’s What Did You Eat Yesterday would come out in English already!
THIS. MANGA PUBLISHERS ARE YOU LISTENING? PLEEEEEEAAAAASE?
A Day Without Me says
April 1, 2012 at 1:43 pmHmm, BL biases; my own have become more and more clear over the past couple of years. Although I still enjoy a cutesy high school romance once in a while, I am fairly biased against them, and biased strongly in favor of salarymen-in-love stories. I am also biased against any stories containing rape, sexual coercion, male pregnancy, and furries. Perhaps I am a touch vanilla in my tastes! Although, then again, I do love those violent BL tales like Banana Fish and Wild Adapter.
Geri-chan says
April 2, 2012 at 4:52 amI think we have some similar biases, which is why I appreciate your BL reviews so much! ^_^ I like plotty stories with a lot of characterization—explict love scenes are a plus, but as long as the emotional intimacy is there, it’s okay if the romance is relatively chaste. I tend to like a bit of angst or emotional hurt/comfort, as long as everything turns out happily in the end; I don’t really care for dark or unhappy endings, even if the story is well written. I really hate rape and dub-con, although it’s kind of hard to avoid in this genre—ideally, I like my manga to be about two guys in a loving, consensual relationship where they are both equals. (Preferably adult men, although I am fond of a few high school romances like Passion and Tea for Two.) I like it when the characters identify as gay or bisexual—the “gay only for you” trope is so common that it makes me roll my eyes a bit even in an otherwise great story. And I think the strict seme/uke division that I see in almost all BL manga seems kind of silly, so I love it when they at least switch positions once in awhile, which is one reason why I love Iwaki and Katou in Embracing Love (Haru wo Daieteita)!
Some favorite titles: Embracing Love, Love Control, Future Lovers, Tea for Two, FAKE, Yellow, and Ichigenme. (Well, pretty much anything by Fumi Yoshinaga is great, but that one is probably my favorite of hers.)