Manga Favorite Shounen-Ai/Yaoi Titles

[Dagger]

[QUOTE=Remadi]
Looking forward to the 10th, because that's when Wild Rock is supposed to come out! I get to own work by Takashima Kazusa![/quote]
Thanks for the reminder. (Wow, that's tomorrow!) I agree with you about Blu's production quality. I think it's really nice--not to mention lucky for us fans--that at least three of the companies doing BL put out books which really look nicer than the norm for manga.

[quote]P.S. Did any of you guys get any good BL-related gifts for the holidays? I'm supposed to be getting a manga, but I don't get it until next week.[/QUOTE]
Let us know what it is when you get it. :)

I didn't receive any BL-related gifts, but I did give myself the first volume of La Esperanca, haha. I was impressed with the chapters I read way back when, but taken as a whole, the volume was more engaging than I had expected. The artwork is very beautiful. It's not the sort of thing that would ordinarily be to my tastes, but it's so well done that I honestly can't complain. Plus, the manga-ka used screen tone very heavily, and I get drawn to frequent screen tone usage like... er, a moth to flame. Or something.

There's (almost) no real BL content so far; I'm assuming there's a reason DMP is releasing it under their Yaoi label, though. To me it feels kind of like a bishounen version of Maria-sama ga Miteru, what with the Catholic school setting and the main character's earnestness & purity. On the other hand, Robert is certainly no Sachiko...

*sighs* Another month until Loveless volume 1 and Earthian volume 2. At least they're coming out on the same date.

EDIT: Not BL, but I had to mention it. Mikiyo Tsuda's (that is, Taishi Zaou's) [url=http://www.pri-pri.jp/][u]Princess Princess[/u][/url] is being made into an anime, with [i]gorgeous[/i] character designs by Atsuko Nakajima. Whee.

~Dagger~

[Guest bilnky_the_pipe]

I love yaoi so much!!! and it take up a good part of my life!!!! Im up to about 80 mangas and alot more I have on my computer!!!! I was just so happy when earthian came out to the US cuz i just luv chihaya!!!! Im just so happy i found pepole to talk to!!!!

[Dagger]

[url=http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/pressrelease.php?id=1501][u]Juné press release[/u][/url]

Does anyone else think this is kind of odd? I'm not against the idea or anything, but I don't really understand the purpose of it. Especially since what they're basically doing is switching from one outdated word to another, even if they're honestly basing it on the French author instead of the old Japanese June imprint. Which I find a little dubious.

If I'm reading it correctly, all of DMP's yaoi/BL titles will now be published under the Juné label. Well, whatever floats their boat, I guess.

Aren't Loveless volume 1 and Earthian volume 2 supposed to come out today? I'm hoping to make a run to the bookstore on Thursday or Friday.

~Dagger~

[xyzxzy]

hello everyone. I just got into reading Yaoi and Shonen Ai lately. I really loved it. I'm currently looking for good Y/SA manga. Do you guys have any recommendation for me. These are the type I'm into.

[B]RIN! Satoru Kannagi & Yukine Honami
Bukiyou na Silent - Hinako Takanaga
Desire - Maki Kazumi & Yukine Honami
Legal Drug - CLAMP
Tokyo Babylon - CLAMP[/B]

I tried to search online for Yaoi/shonen ai, however, I ended up looking at some hard-yaoi manga which I'm totally not into it.

Also, I checked out [b]Loveless[/b] at the Bookstore. Was it just my eyes or they changed the main character into a girl. May be I have to check it out again.

[Dagger]

[QUOTE=xyzxzy]hello everyone. I just got into reading Yaoi and Shonen Ai lately. I really loved it. I'm currently looking for good Y/SA manga. Do you guys have any recommendation for me. These are the type I'm into.

[B]RIN! Satoru Kannagi & Yukine Honami
Bukiyou na Silent - Hinako Takanaga
Desire - Maki Kazumi & Yukine Honami
Legal Drug - CLAMP
Tokyo Babylon - CLAMP[/B]

I tried to search online for Yaoi/shonen ai, however, I ended up looking at some hard-yaoi manga which I'm totally not into it.

Also, I checked out [b]Loveless[/b] at the Bookstore. Was it just my eyes or they changed the main character into a girl. May be I have to check it out again.[/QUOTE]
Are you talking about the character design? Either way, no, they didn't change him into a girl.

You might like Tenohira no Seiza (which has art by Yukine Honami). I'd also recommend works by Yoshinaga Fumi. But her stories do get somewhat explicit at times, so I don't know how comfortable you'd be with them. Try Ichigenme wa Yaruki no Minpou or Solfege. Gerard et Jacques is better than both of those, but it's also a lot more... blatant, so you'd probably be better off avoiding it. Or, for a completely "safe" series, you could look at Antique Bakery, which is also by her. It's not BL, strictly speaking, but it offers a good example of her style, and one of the main characters is gay.

So far, Demian Syndrome is completely free of explicit content, and it's also quite good. You might enjoy Komatta Toki ni wa Hoshi ni Kike by Abe Miyuki (which is actually more about a "romantic friendship" type of thing; as was mentioned a bit earlier in this thread, it appears that the relationship never becomes clearly romantic). Breakfast Club by Akemi Takaido is well worth a read, and any questionable stuff in it is largely comedic, if I remember correctly.

Mister Mermaid, by Mizushiro Setona, is really beautiful and bittersweet. What else... Kokoro Kikai, Dousaibou Seibutsu ("Same Cell Organism") and Soshite Koi ga Hajimaru (all by Sumomo Yumeka). La Esperanca recently started coming out from DMP. They have some upcoming titles to keep an eye on as well--you might want to consider Dear Myself and Il Gato Sul G (G-Senjou no Neko). For series from other companies, there's also Earthian and Shout Out Loud (Sakende Yaruze). The latter won't be released till April. I barely remember Menkui, which will be coming out even later, but it could be worthwhile. Of course, if you haven't read Only the Ring Finger Knows yet, that's an obvious choice.

EDIT: Oh, I forgot to mention Silence... which does have sex scenes, although they're not especially radical or anything. But I'll be damned if it isn't one of the best BL manga I've read, and that's only a few chapters in. And a few others--Tsuki to Mizu no Yoru, Color, various titles by Hotaru Odagiri...

~Dagger~

[xyzxzy]

Thanks Dagger. I loved your recommendation of [B]Silnce[/B]. I read up to chapter 3 already. [B]Tenohira no Seiza [/B] was great too, I read up to chapter 2. I finished several chapters of Damien Syndrome. I loved it a lot.

I have to wait for the next update releases so I cuold download. :animecry:

Now, I'm waiting for Sweet Revolution to release at the bookstore. It will be in store in mid-March. What a long wait. I also checked out Loveless, I somehow mistaken the word [b]his[/b] into [b]her[/b]. Silly me, probably the picture on the cover fooled my eyes. :D

I almost forgot about "The only ring finger" - Hotaru Odagiri will be released in store in March too.

[Dagger]

I'm glad you enjoyed them. :)

Anyway, here are some new Blu licenses, as reported by the Anime on DVD staff.

[B]Black Knight[/B] by Tsurugi Kai
[B]Junjou Romantica[/B] by Nakamura Shungiku
And, best of all...
*melodramatic drumroll*
[B]Gerard et Jacques[/B] by Yoshinaga Fumi!

I don't know anything about the first title, I've read the second but don't remember feeling that much enthusiasm for it, and obviously I'm pretty amped about Gerard et Jacques.

In other ComicCon news, ANN says that CPM (the company that owns the Be Beautiful manga line) will release the Haru wo Daiteita (Embracing Love) OVA.

~Dagger~

[xyzxzy]

Also, I checked out Border Book the other day. I came accross [B]Level C[/B] - Futaba, Aoi / Mitsuba, Kurenai. There're 2 Volumes there. It's hard Yaoi, so I skipped most of the pages.

[Dagger]

I thought [url=http://www.theotaku.com/news/view/mtv_on_shoujo_and_yaoi/1057/][u]this[/u][/url] was kind of interesting. I was a little apprehensive about watching that video, but I actually thought it was pretty much on target, and it didn't take the freak-show approach that some mainstream news sources do (well, at least when it comes to cons). Same goes for the article.

I got the first volume of [b]Jazz[/b] today, courtesy of Amazon. DMP sure is strict about their ratings; there wasn't anything in there to warrant making it 18+, from my perspective. I suppose it's for the best, though. That kind of caution may come in handy if manga continues becoming more mainstream. As for the book itself, I liked it. I was cringing at the whole [spoiler]drugging[/spoiler] scene (and it's all too telling that I was thinking, "Oh, not that again!"--I've been reading way too much of this stuff, haha). By the end, though, I was surprised and almost taken aback by how the characterization was handled. I liked both of the male leads, and I'm looking forward to the next volume.

I came [i]this[/i] close to picking up Our Everlasting volume 1 when I was in Borders, but I ended up going for Hands Off volume 5 and Godchild. Hands Off really is what Eerie Queerie/Ghost should have been, as I keep saying--I know it's not BL, but that almost doesn't matter. It has that whole "pure love" thing going on, which is good enough for me.

EDIT: Hm... the OTRFK novel should be coming out kind of soon, right? I guess I should go check the date.

~Dagger~

[xyzxzy]

OTRFK should be in store mid-march. I had been visiting Border Books every week just to check up. I read the first volume of Our Everlasting and Jazz (or Jazzy). I didnt' know Jazz has more than 1 volume.

Also, I had been reading a lot of yaoi online lately. These are may favorite right now.


[B]Yatteraneeze! [/B]
[B]Bokura wo shihaisuru kotoba[/B]- I love this story a lot, though I havent finish it yet.
[B]boku no sukina sensei[/B]

[Dagger]

[QUOTE=xyzxzy]
[B]Yatteraneeze! [/B] [/QUOTE]
Heh, I've been reading this lately as well. I find it oddly addictive, even though there were quite a few things I didn't like about it at first. I thought some of the early plot developments were a little too mean-spirited, and there were times when Masaki's forcefulness erased any sympathy I might have had for him. Hiroya's personality confused me because he starts off as a mixture of extreme naivete and homophobia--an odd combination. That makes his later growth more striking, I guess.

Yatteraneeze! seems to be one of the very few BL manga that addresses [spoiler]the issue of AIDS (even if it does end up being a false alarm).[/spoiler] Masaki's deep fear is well-depicted, and the development of the main characters' relationship is very satisfying... at least in part because it takes so many twists and turns to get there, haha.

I probably shouldn't like Kanae, but I do. His smooth, cynical attitude contrasts nicely with his [spoiler]unrequited love.[/spoiler]

Amazon has a [url=http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1569708940/qid=1142186812/sr=1-2/ref=sr_1_2/102-9913801-8800134?s=books&v=glance&n=283155][u]listing[/u][/url] for Jazz volume 2, so I'm assuming there's more. I like the cover.

In any case, I don't think I've come across the other two manga you mentioned, but I'll try to check them out.

~Dagger~

[xyzxzy]

That's great, I love Jazzy. As for Yatteraneeze!, at first I didn't even bother to read because I thought it's a bit too dark for me. After that, I gave it try and now I'm addicted to it.

I went to Border Book today and checked on the author Honami Ykine. I didn't know she's also the author of Rin! :D I searched for more series on her, but I couldn't find any. :animecry:

[Aine]

I love all yaoi even the hard core :) I would have to say my favorite is a tie between Gravitation and FAKE. You can download uncut volumes of Gravitation off the internet even the hard core volumes :) for the hard core volumes though you have to download them from the authors website and she had them password protected so you have to e-mail her for the password the only problem is that they are not translated :animeangr but then again for the hard core volumes you dont need to know what they are saying all you need is the pictures :) FAKE is an alsome graphic novel though like the original Graviation they pretty much only go as far as kissing until you get to the last volume where they actually go all the way :)

[Dagger]

Looks as though [url=http://www.yaoi-manga.com/news][u]Time Lag[/u][/url] has been licensed by DMP. I think it'll suit their line-up rather well, although I don't actually remember much about it at this point. It does offer a look at some of Hotaru Odagiri's older art... at least, I'm going to assume it's older, since it appears a bit looser and not quite as sharply stylized as OTRFK. Still very pretty, though.

Another random observation that's only tangentially related to Time Lag: I've learned that I don't really care for all-male love triangle stories, with a couple of exceptions... because much of the time, I end up rooting for the third wheel. :animesigh

~Dagger~

[xyzxzy]

[QUOTE=Dagger]
Another random observation that's only tangentially related to Time Lag: I've learned that [B]I don't really care for all-male love triangle stories[/B], with a couple of exceptions... because much of the time, I end up rooting for the third wheel. :animesigh

~Dagger~[/QUOTE]

Me too, I really don't care much about love triangle relation. I guess I'm bored of such plot/theme already.

By the way, I finished reading chapter 3 (I'm not sure if there will be more of this series) [b]Pure[/b] by Misono Erii. I loved it so much, I re-read it several times alread. The story is about Kenichi who's in love with his brother in law (his brother in law divorced with his sister already, I don't think they're related any more). Forgive me for writing horrible review. I just want to share some good Yaoi series.

[Dagger]

Chapter 4 of [b]Silence[/b] is out! And it's great!

The whole chapter takes place from Masato's point of view, and it does a lot to explain why he behaves the way he does. His confusing actions were a big part of what had kept me interested in the series, but even without that sense of mystery around him, the story is still compelling. If anything, it seems more bittersweet, now that I know [spoiler]he liked Kaoru from the beginning.[/spoiler]

I like the seme character in [b]Pure[/b]. His no-nonsense, decisive attitude is refreshing.

~Dagger~

[Kei]

[color=darkblue][size=1]I was looking over at MangaNews today and I saw a description for a manga called [b]Yuri to Yura[/b]. It sounded very interesting, but I was wondering if anyone knew anything more about it before I start going out of my way to try and find it. Anything you could tell me would be appreciated. ^^[/color][/size]

[Dagger]

[quote name='Lady Katana][color=darkblue][size=1]I was looking over at MangaNews today and I saw a description for a manga called [b]Yuri to Yura[/b]. It sounded very interesting, but I was wondering if anyone knew anything more about it before I start going out of my way to try and find it. Anything you could tell me would be appreciated. ^^[/color'][/size][/quote]
I've only read the first chapter. Speaking personally, I didn't care for it at all. That might not mean much (in another recent development, I completely [i]hated[/i] how [b]Sex Pistols[/b] started off, but now I'm irrevocably hooked on it). Even so, I thought it seemed a little garbled, and the whole pace was kind of forced and unnatural. The parts that were supposed to be funny didn't really do anything for me. -_-

~Dagger~

[Shinjitsu]

[color=dodgerblue]I've just recently become acquainted with Gravitation and omg, it's like... my one true love!!! Lol, I really really love it. Yuki/Shuichi = OTP ^_^[/color]

[Dagger]

I just dropped in to note a couple of things... first of all, I read [B]La Esperanca[/B] volume 2 yesterday. It's still not very BL-ish--in fact, it lacks the tension (sexual and otherwise) of the previous volume, but there's a great two-part side story at the end, so I don't feel cheated. The artwork is as gorgeous as ever, and I stand by my assertion that the series is the equivalent of Maria-sama ga Miteru, but with males.

Other stuff I've been reading lately includes [b]July 1999, Shanghai[/b] by Mizushiro Setona (highly recommended) and [b]Antique Bakery[/b] volume 3 (more Ono antics!). I ordered [b]Sound of My Voice[/b] (Boku no Koe) last week, but it probably won't ship until May.

Secondly, I received [B]The Lonely Ring Finger[/B] in the mail today and have started reading it casually. It's very, very far from being high literature--in fact, I would be downright embarrassed to be caught reading it in public, and not just because there are boys surrounded by shoujo flowers on the cover. However, the translation is competent, at least in the early chapters, and it succeeds in being a nice, fluffy diversion. At the very least, it reads less like bad fanfiction than novels adapted from anime, and that's a plus. But it's still no Boogiepop and Others.

Last of all, I placed an order for Eiki Eiki's [b]The Art of Loving[/b]... which is technically supposed to be out by in a couple of weeks. Given DMP's terrible online distribution, though, who knows when I'll actually get it. If anyone here is familiar with the title (formerly Renai Koufukuron), could you comment on it? I bought it on blind faith, based on the manga-ka. In any case, [b]Il Gatto Sul G[/b] volume 1 ought to be coming out around the same time. Keep an eye out for it!

[quote name='Shinjitsu][color=dodgerblue']I've just recently become acquainted with Gravitation and omg, it's like... my one true love!!! Lol, I really really love it. Yuki/Shuichi = OTP ^_^[/color][/quote]
I'm glad you're enjoying it. For me it's more like Maki Murakami + insane comedy = OTP, but there are many reasons to have fun with Gravitation. :catgirl:

~Dagger~

[xyzxzy]

I dropped by Border Bookstore last weekend and grabbed [B]"Sweetest Revolution" [/B] and [b]Our Kingdom[/b]. Seriously, I'd been waiting for it for two weeks. It's all right for my taste. I loved the art. I'm still waiting for [B]the Art of Loving[/B]. I didn't see[B] La Esperanca[/B] there yet. :animecry:

Btw, I just read [b]Reverse!?[/b] by MISHIMA Kazuhiko. The plot is very refreshing. There're no explicits scene so far.

[Dagger]

[QUOTE=xyzxzy]
Btw, I just read [b]Reverse!?[/b] by MISHIMA Kazuhiko. The plot is very refreshing. There're no explicits scene so far.[/QUOTE]
You know, I had no idea that Reverse was more than one volume! Thanks for reminding me about this series; I just read the first two chapters of the second volume, and it's as funny as ever. I like all of the main characters, even the devilish Mifune. :animesmil

~Dagger~

[Guest Lonnie_14]

[color=#6699FF]Gravitation and Sukisho are great Shounen-Ai titles. ^^[/color]

[xyzxzy]

[QUOTE=Dagger]You know, I had no idea that Reverse was more than one volume! Thanks for reminding me about this series; I just read the first two chapters of the second volume, and it's as funny as ever. I like all of the main characters, even the devilish Mifune. :animesmil

~Dagger~[/QUOTE]

I know, at first I thought Mifune is so cute. What a twist. :animenose :animesmil I forgot the other two characters name. It's so hard to remember.

I just read [B]Mangetsu Monogatari[/B] up to chapter 2. It's quite funny too.

[duoikari]

[quote name='Lonnie_14][color=#6699FF']Gravitation and Sukisho are great Shounen-Ai titles. ^^[/color][/quote]

Although i had to argee, but i think gravy is much better then the sukisko manga. The sukisko manga was too dependent on the game to tell the story.