Forum - View topicINTEREST: Readers Pick the Best Boys-Love Manga for Beginners
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BinBouGami1234
 Posts: 117 |
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Not a yaoi manga, but Shimanami Tasogare has the best depiction of LGBT+ characters that I have seen in a manga series (and I'd avoid most yaoi manga if you're looking for realistic depictions of gay characters, as most of the relationships are toxic and borderline abusive).
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Яeverse
 Posts: 1146 Location: Indianapolis |
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love sekaiichi hatsukoi, was my first anime to get me into the genre, onodera is still so cute and relatable
lots of good ones on the list. Wish one of Junko's had made it. |
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pirateaddict
 SubscriberPosts: 202 |
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I love Blue Morning and also The Worlds Greatest First love, I always buy those.
One I would recommend (rated 13+ Teens) would be La Esperanca by Chigusa Kawai. It's not abusive or lots of gratuitous sex scenes, set in a Catholic school it's a lovely journey of two boys and their interactions. |
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catandmouse
Posts: 220 |
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I’m glad 7 days is on the list, but Ten Count is not for beginners (in my opinion).
I’m surprised Hana no Miyako de was on here instead of the main story Hana no Mizo shiru |
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BVerfG
Posts: 43 |
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While I agree that Shimanami Tasogare is a good manga, it's at least misleading to say that most of the relationships in yaoi are toxic and borderline abusive. It might still be true on a sheerly statistical level but there are plenty of yaoi manga who just have romantic/cute relationships (which might very well be unrealistic but aren't toxic or abusive). Ironically at least one of the manga in this top 10 has a toxic relationship, which just goes to show how popular that part of the genre is. But the works of Junko, Kanna Kii or Yamamoto Kotetsuko have some popularity as well and are good (if in Kotetsukos case at times a little weird) represehtatives of the "cute yaoi faction". |
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Lactobacillus yogurti
 Posts: 852 Location: Latin America |
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I'm nowhere near being a fujoshi (in fact, they irk me to no end when they ship straight characters), but if I were to recommend a manga where the main characters are gay, it's definitely Kinou Nani Tabeta?. Well-rounded characters and an interest approach to food on a budget.
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pauladls
Posts: 198 |
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Something by Yamamoto kotetsuko for sure
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katscradle
Posts: 469 |
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I’m rather impressed there are three titles by Rihito Takarai on the list. Who suggests Ten Count to just anybody though? I think it’s good to represent the edgier side of BL too but, that is not one I would chose first. I know several BL fans that dropped the series like a hot brick at some point. So as popular as it is for a fan to suggest it some vetting needs to happen first. I’m already bracing myself for when the anime arrives.
For beginners I think I would generally recommend any of the BL titles by est em probably.
I know some fans regard Only the Flower Knows as weaker or, more average. I also think period may have something to do with it since I’ve noticed a trend with stories set in the past being popular. The spin-off is also shorter. |
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Fenrin
 Posts: 703 Location: SoCal |
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Seven Days was my first BL haha, good choice with Blue Sky Complex too, most of Ichikawa Kei's works are good starters. I'd also recommend Yamada to Shounen, and like pauladls said Yamamoto Kotetsuko's works are a great gateway (my favorite being Harete Bokutachi wa and it's sequel).
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Suxinn
 Posts: 249 |
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It's a bit older than most of the manga on this list and a manhwa not a manga, but I always thought 1001 Nights (published in English by Yen Press) was a good beginner BL. (It's also one of my favorite stories, BL or not.)
Otherwise, surprised none of Yoshinaga Fumi's stories made it on here. She and Kunieda Saika were my first favorite BL mangakas. Even putting aside her excellent What did You Eat Yesterday? (which is published in seinen magazine Morning), her earlier works, ala Moon and Sandals (published in Hanaoto, licensed by Juné), absolutely deserve a mention, I think. Oh, and Yamashita Tomoko's work. (My favorite is Dining Bar Akira, available digitally from Net Comics.) She wasn't my first, but I wish she was. Her storytelling and characterizations are masterful, whether she's writing josei, seinen, or BL. I also agree that Ten Count is definitely not a good beginner BL manga. (There's not just a lot of sex but a lot of said sex is dubiously consensual/coercive, ugh.) Seven Days, however, was one of the first BL my friend (a shoujo romance fan) read and she enjoyed it a lot, so I'm sure a whole host of people have read and enjoyed it as their first BL manga. EDIT: Ah, and for unlicensed stuff, folks who haven't read any of Fujitani Youko's work (Rutta and Kodama) absolutely should. They're sweet and fluffy and always leave me happier than they found me. |
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iamtooawesome
Posts: 351 Location: Thailand |
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Woah I think recommending Ten Count for begginers is a bit hardcore it's like baiting straight-couple shippers to read Killing Stalking.
Good list. Sekaiichi was the 1st stuff that dragged me to Yaoi hell. Dokyusei is definitely my #1 rec the movie even got me. |
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