M.J. Lyons's Blog

BLog reviews recent boys love, yaoi and LGBTQ+ English translation manga.

The Summer Hikaru Died Vol. 1
Story and art: Mokumokuren
Translation: Ajani Oloye
Publisher: Yen Press
Release Date: July 18, 2023

Let’s say you lose the person you care most about in the world. But then they mysteriously return. At least that’s what everyone thinks.

They look like the person you care about the most, they talk and behave like the person you care about the most, they have the memories of the person you care about the most. But you know… you just know whatever they are, they’re not the person you care about; something’s taken their place. Something dark, maybe even dangerous, but they tell you that you’ll always be together.

Would you doing anything about it? Would you care? Would it even matter what they are if it means you have each other again?

This is the quandary faced by anxious, cagey teenage Yoshiki when something returns in the place of his best friend a week after his disappearance in the mountains. Six months later, the two of them are enjoying popsicles to the oppressive buzzing of cicadas in their small mountain village. Yoshiki quietly confronts “Hikaru,” whose face begins to melt into swirls of dizzying, oily patterns as he admits, “I’m s’posed to be a perfect copy of ‘im…”

The Summer Hikaru Died is a rare masterwork manga that transcends easy categorization. You could call it a horror manga, but that evades the lush, compelling, astoundingly beautiful artwork found in even the most disturbing moments. There’s an element of slice of life, of Japanese pastoralism while also depicting the stifling, traumatic experience of being queer in a small town–complete with otherworldly spirits pressing in from all sides. You could call it boys’ love, if one of the boys is also an eldritch horror beyond comprehension to be contended with.

pic.twitter.com/gv4Av44Pct

— モクモクれん (@mokmok_len) June 28, 2023

Such a wildly gorgeous and terrifying piece of artwork by Mokumokuren.

As a queer boy from a small town, the meaningfulness of The Summer Hikaru Died lies in the way it captures the claustrophobic, repressive experience, the daily emotional disfigurement of life in a place like that. Not just in the small microaggressions and the passive heterosexist dominance of small town life–those are in there; friends asking when you’re going to get a girlfriend; nosey neighbours commenting on the intimate details of your family life. Mokumokuren aligns art, characterization, sound and internal monologue, the latter two being my favourite aspects, to ground the manga in Yoshiki’s deep, despairing, melancholic reality.

The artist uses closeups for moments of beauty and intimacy, but also repulsion and ugliness–the fixation of teenage love as you stare at your napping best friend; the wet, disgusting mouth of the gossiping cashier at the supermarket. Or the scene pulls back to create vistas that are alienating or breathtaking, or both at once, that swallow the characters and their small, normal lives as the horrors press in on all sides. Yoshiki’s own haunted eyes and whatever they fix on are so evocative, beautiful and disturbing.

The characterization and sexual politics in Hikaru/”Hikaru” alone… the unsettling ambiguity of “Hikaru’s” feelings for Yoshiki; are they remembered or new? What do they mean to this dark, unknowable thing’s new human life and their friendship? What does Yoshiki do about them while he is simultaneously repulsed and deeply in love with what was, and may still be in some way, his best friend? Hikaru’s/”Hikaru’s” own otherness as an albino person is less remarked on than Yoshiki’s othered status; the son of a mother from Tokyo, Hikaru’s belief that Yoshiki will escape to the big city and leave him behind–the ambivalent, age-old queer subtext of “you will escape this awful place people like you don’t belong here in the first place.” There’s this beautiful metaphor of the fear of queer contamination as “Hikaru’s” melting tendrils begin to wrap themselves around Yoshiki, and a dead-eyed “normal housewife” who lost her husband to something similar claims that “Hikaru” and Yoshiki will “mix” if he stays with what was his friend.

Finally, the use of sound, silence and the creeping thoughts. From the first page, the buzzing of the cicadas press in on the realization that Hikaru is no more and something has taken his place. The use of sound throughout the story, the sounds of croaking frogs, the shrill scraping of chairs on the classroom floor, the squeaking of sneakers on the volleyball court as “Hikaru” opens his shirt… and himself… in the gymnasium equipment room, a moment at once erotic and terrifying. Mokumokuren makes the world itself is this living, breathing, fleshy, heavy being where silence is profound and disturbing, and where Yoshiki is consumed by his spiralling, conflicted internal monologue.

I obviously cannot begin to contain all the things I love about this series in a few hundred, why I find the series so compelling. The first three English translation volumes are out with a fourth slotted for August, and a fifth already published in Japan, and if you’re at all like me you’ll be clawing at the doors of your local manga seller for the next volume. Coincidentally, when volume 3 came out I was starting French author Philippe Besson’s Lie With Me–would recommend if you want to have your heart equally broken. Besson’s autobiographical story of a love affair between two teenagers in a small town in France in the 80s as the threat of physical and social violence, and the spectre of AIDS hang over them resonated so strongly with a horror story from the other side of the world. I’m just going to quote Besson wholesale as he considers the relationship between the two boys and where they live, because the two stories are so meaningful to me:

All the same, there is often a staggering intimacy between us, a closeness beyond imagining, but the rest of the time our separateness is absolute. Such schizophrenia could bring even those with the strongest equilibrium to the edge of reason, and let’s admit it, I didn’t have much equilibrium to begin with.

There is the insanity of not being able to be seen together. An insanity that is aggravated in this case by the unprecedented situation of finding ourselves in the middle of a crowd and having to act like strangers. It seems crazy not to be able to show our happiness. Such an impoverished word. Others have this right, and they exercise it freely. Sharing their happiness makes them even more happy, makes them expand with joy. But we’re left stunted, compromised, by the burden of having to always lie and censor ourselves.

This passion that can’t be talked about, that has to be concealed, gives way to the terrible question: if it isn’t talked about, how can one know that it really exists?

Desire, especially repressed queer desire–ESPECIALLY repressed, adolescent queer desire–is so maddening for these reasons. Love isn’t this pure, sunny, beautiful experience, but something dark, ambivalent, contaminating, consuming, dangerous. If you lost the person you loved the most, but they returned to you and promised you’d be together forever, even if they might be something else entirely, would it matter?

Whatever you are, havin’ ya by my side is way better than not havin’ you at all…

That’s the conclusion Yoshiki comes to within the first few pages of The Summer Hikaru Died.

We’ll see if he feels the same as he’s consumed by his love.

Level of Problematic: Yoshiki’s troubled digestive system; I mean, it’s an eldritch gay horror where the love interest is already dead. The hint is in the title. So you know what you’re in store for. Sad, sad gays.

Level of Adorable: Yoshiki’s sad, gay eyes; as previously discussed… I LOVE SAD GAY THINGS. Sad, cute gay boys with tragic backstories and LONGING in a small town setting? A crush on your childhood best friend AND repression AND eldritch horror? It’s like this comic was made more me in a lab. Even the moments of horror are bizarrely beautiful.

Level of Spiciness: Yoshiki’s “raw chicken and marinade” comment; so, I won’t spoil it, but the equipment room scene left me feeling like in ways that were like…

There’s so much deliciousness to unpack, and puts me right back to my repressed adolescent days of wishin’ and hopin’ and thinkin’ and prayin’ for a peek of my “straight” friend’s abs when he stretches, or an “accidental” brush at a sleepover. Have I mentioned… repressed gays?

BLog reviews recent boys love, yaoi and LGBTQ+ English translation manga.

Golden Sparkle
Story and art: Minta Suzumaru
Translation: Adrienne Beck
Publisher: SuBLime Manga
Release Date: March 14, 2023

How’d you get your sex education during your grade school years?

In my small town middle school days, maybe around thirteen years old, I remember the dreaded and unavoidable SEX ED. We got grade 7 sex ed from our art teacher, who I remember telling us to get all our “teehees” out before we started. Then in grade 8 it was our homeroom teacher, a middle aged woman who went to my family’s church. I have a vague recollection of a black and white diagram of a vagina projected at the front of the class, and the “bad girl” in class getting yelled at for making a snide comment, and me sinking down in my seat wishing I was anywhere else. That’s about it, and this was all baseline heterosexuality.

So needless to say I didn’t pick up much in school.

Then, in those formative years, a kid I was close to showed me Digimon yaoi and I lost my damn mind. High school was a rabbit hole of Wikipedia deep dives and websites I very much should not have been accessing on my family’s desktop, and hunting for other gay boys to dirty talk to on Habbo fucking Hotel. Good God, I hope I made a habit of clearing my search history… I somehow got away with doing a sexuality survey for a high school sociology project; I was a grade 12 Alfred Kinsey, I still have the binder filled with surveys, grades 9-12. Probably not the most academically rigorous (or ethical), but I got a good grade on it. All that to say, my sex education came very haphazard, self directed and maybe not the emotionally healthiest it could have been. Which explains a lot.

Anyways, how about that boys’ love manga…

Golden Sparkle introduces one of the more unique protagonists in the annals of BL in one Uehara Himari. Himari never really got girls. When dropping him off for kindergarten, his long absent father explained it was up to Himari to protect the girls in his class, before he witnessed a little girl bully his classmate, which shocked him to his core. As he grew up, he died his hair blond and tried acting like a delinquent so people would leave him alone, mostly so he wouldn’t be drawn into the grade school intrigues of guy talk (JUGS) and romantic advances from girls. He skipped his junior high health class because it wasn’t graded, and at home he only has his older sister and mother, so by the time he reaches high school, and puberty, he’s completely ignorant to all matters of sexual health. At the start of the manga, we find Himari cleaning his boxer briefs, concerned about his nightly… emissions.

Enter tall, broad-shouldered, easy going and babely Asada Gaku. The two quickly bond, and after learning about Himari’s… predicament, Gaku gives his new friend some… PRACTICAL sexual health education.

By teaching him how to jerk it. And not just teaching, but by pulling Himari into his lap and giving him a HANDS ON demonstration.

A premise as ridiculous as it is weirdly romantic and sexy. I saw “high school” and a “M – Mature” rating on the back and we can typically make some assumptions about the sexual politics of said manga. Much like I’m Looking For Serious Love, I almost gave Golden Sparkle a pass because of this–the last few years were rough, I don’t need jarring sexual violence in the middle of my sweet, fluffy, romantic manga. But as they get going on their makeshift sexual health adventures, Gaku talks Himari through it, “This is foreplay, helps set the scene. Can I take your pants off? This is a handjob. This is mutual masturbation.” Etc. Weirdly consensual for BL manga about sexual innocence. The two develop a relationship beyond the purely academic; they hang out, they mess around with their classmates at school, Gaku gets Himari to read his junior high health textbooks. Himari’s education and development is important to Gaku in an atypical and lovely way.

The tension of the manga comes from precious little pure Himari not understanding the mix of pleasure from both their educational field trips (to Gaku’s dorm room) and his overwhelming feelings for Gaku. Meanwhile, Gaku was popular in his junior high days but labelled a “player” from a string of girls he dated, though he never felt much when things got physical. His friends abandoned him when he felt girls should be… you know, afforded basic respect as human beings, so he shows up to high school looking for a clean slate. They both chose an all boys high school where no one would know them, and where they wouldn’t have to worry about girls. Little did they know… THEY’D HAVE TO WORRY ABOUT BOYS!

I really loved Golden Sparkle in a way BL doesn’t typically resonate because it illustrates–in a fairly ideal and romanticized way–the fumbling way that teenagers come (no pun intended) to their own sexual education. Soap box moment: At least coming from my experience, school is probably the worst possible place to give young people sexual health information only because adults are way too precious about sexuality. Just look at all the bullshit and hypocrisy going on in the states at the moment, an authoritarian, fundamentalist movement using gender and sexual diversity for scapegoating their way into power. Adults in these positions of power tend to treat sexuality as black and white. Theres “good/normal” sexuality and “bad/deviant” sexuality. Kids don’t give a shit, they’re going to make their own mistakes and, because they don’t have anyone to talk to, might land themselves in vulnerable situations. Being able to name the testes and fill in different terminology for the vagina on a shitty photocopy is maybe the barest amounts of helpful, but doesn’t really do much for lived experience. Young people mostly come around to sexuality one way or the other, but I just think back to some Digimon yaoi fanart (MattxTai, my OTP) where I realized for the first time, “Wow! Boys can kiss?!” If someone had handed me something like Golden Sparkle as a teenager it would have been its own kind of education, and not actually the worst one.

Educational politics and religious fundamentalism aside… If you’re looking for a sexy and cute manga that hits all the right notes–the “home sick with a fever” visit, the pained separation, the tearful confession, their friends cheering them on–then Golden Sparkle will give you the good stuff with some fun variations on the standard high school romance fare.

Level of Problematic: The ol’ BL bait and switch; Ah yes, the character profiles at the back of the book that remind you the main characters who you just watched bone… are both in their first year of high school… and are fifteen… Thanks, Minta Suzumaru, I wanted to feel like a total pervert today! For some comparative literature, though, that’s the same age as gritty reboot Archie Andrews in Riverdale, and doesn’t he take off his shirt a lot and bone his teacher or something? To be honest, Golden Sparkle could have been set in their first year of college and it wouldn’t have changed much, if you need a little plausible deniability. Oh, the places you’ll go and the porn you’ll read!

Level of Adorable: The ol’ BL best friends who bone; There’s a fair amount of sex, and the last sex scene is pretty saucy, but for the most part it’s the boys’ relationship that’s the focus in spite of the manga’s entire premise and, like I said, hits all those sweet, sweet BL notes.

Level of Spiciness: The ol’ BL helpful handie; Helpful handjobs are actually a bit of a BL trope, come to think of it… The whole, “It’s not gay if I’m doing this to help you calm down.” I’m pretty sure that’s the foundation of the entire omegaverse concept.

BLog reviews recent boys love, yaoi and LGBTQ+ English translation manga.

Go For It Again, Nakamura!
Story and art: Syundei
Translation: Amber Tamosaitis
Publisher: Seven Seas Entertainment
Release Date: July 5, 2022

Oh, the horror stories I could tell of my high school crushes.

The pining, the elaborate fantasies, the borderline stalking, the tortured confessions, the absolute conviction of how much I was meant to be with someone I’d spoken to about five times. We look back on it now and laugh… because of that old saying about time plus tragedy. Plus counselling. Nakamura Okuta is the patron saint of every cringe, introverted, loser high school disaster gay in puppy dog love.

In the 2017 one-off Go For It, Nakamura!, we are introduced to the titular hero, an awkward, introverted, closeted high school gay boy head-over-heels in love with his classmate, popular, extroverted mega-cutie Hirose Aiki. The only problem is that Hirose barely knew Nakamura exists, so our hapless hero spends his days fantasizing about all the ways he’ll get closer to his crush… from afar.

If you were (or are…) an introverted, emotionally confused, completely hopeless gay boy, you will recognize yourself in Nakamura immediately. Nakamura the first is easily one of my all-time favourite manga, be it his misadventures trying to politely and cooly introduce himself to Hirose going awry, or his ultimate triumph when Nakamura gets the chance to ask Hirose if they can be friends, and Hirose responds, “I thought we were already friends!” So how does the second stack up?

Nakamura #1 was originally serialized in a magazine as a series of shorts, whereas #2 began after the success of the first. Maybe this is what gives the two a different feel. The first collection felt tighter, maybe because the artist didn’t see it going beyond the pages of the magazine? Go For It Again, Nakamura! definitely has a looser, more laid back feel, like the artist was just chasing their bliss. Some of the stories land better than others. In one, Nakamura is conscripted into being a sacrifice to summon Satan by the president of the school’s Occult Horror Research Society–Riverdale could never–before being saved by the school’s resident film director, who’s shooting a documentary-style horror film in the school after hours. If that sounds convoluted… it is, and merely feels like setup for the punchline of the sequence.

The more emotionally effective plots are always what hit better. There’s a fantastic chapter where Nakamura is losing his mind over the fact that Hirose is sitting on the lap of and–GASP!!–holding hands with one of the his male classmates, who seems to be playing up the relationship toward Nakamura. Of course, all is not what it seems. Another favourite is when Hirose starts dating a girl from another class. Nakamura is equally elated that his longtime crush has found lifelong happiness with her, while being utterly heartbroken that it can’t be him.

“Uuuwah… I do want him to be h-happy…” he says, crying into his pillow at home. “But I had no idea when that day finally did come… it would hurt this much…”

Like, actually heartbreaking seeing poor, hopeless Nakamura sobbing into his pillow. Of course, the relationship is fleeting and Hirose ultimately confides in Nakamura that he doesn’t get girls, and that a guy he could really talk about things with might be better than a girl with too many expectations, which tantalizes our hapless high school hero.

Come to think of it, without giving anything away plot-specific details from Go For It Again, Nakamura!, maybe the thing I stumbled over is that there isn’t “the moment.” In Nakamura #1, “the moment” was the aforementioned final scene, when Hirose says that he thought they were friends. If there’s going to be a sequel–Go For It Once Again, Nakamura, maybe?–I’ll be a little more forgiving of that, but there’s not that conclusory moment, just a couple of silly little endings that feel more like an ellipses than a “to be continued,” so the manga doesn’t feel as satisfying; even if they’re a bit closer by the end of it and there’s a couple of great, adorable moments on the way, it just doesn’t feel like their friendship (or relationship?!) is moved forward. Of course, if they ended up together that would very much change the emotional timber of the series… Still, if you show up to see Nakamura being completely hopeless, still plenty of that.

Level of Problematic: Go For It Again, Hot For Teacher!; In #1, Nakamura is confounded by Hirose’s boy-crush on their attractive, cool, smoker teacher, Otogiri. That’s definitely heightened a little bit in #2, especially when Otogiri offers Hirose a ride home after the kid gets dumped, and there’s a farcical conversation where Nakamura overhears them talking and misinterprets a the conversation as about their (nonexistent) sexual relationship. That’s about as bad as it gets, not even any tentacle hornies in this one!

Level of Adorable: Go For It Again, Disaster Gay!; May not have hit all the right notes for me, BUT THIS SERIES IS SO CUTE I COULD DIE. (And obviously the fact that I maybe see myself as Nakamura a little too much…)

Level of Spiciness: Go For It Again, Tentacles!; NO TENTACLES. If you read #1 you’ll know what I mean…

BLog reviews recent boys love, yaoi and LGBTQ+ English translation manga.

Dick Fight Island Vol. 2
Story and art: Reibun Ike
Translation: Adrienne Beck
Publisher: SuBLime Manga
Release Date: March 8, 2022

Imagine the training montage in Rocky, but instead of a sweaty Italian it’s two twunks boning.

The Boy from Pulau Yong’unda is back in this series of shorts following on the quadrennial Great Wyrm Tournament of volume 1. While the stories are mostly set after the first volume, the first section is a prequel; the story of protagonist Hart (or Harto in volume 2?) and his Oxonian roommate turned “training partner” turned lover, Matthew. The others mostly look into the lives and ensuing relationships, fallout from the anally fraught drama of the tournament.

Quick recap from where we left off with some of the boys (so obvious spoilers for volume 1):

the Jewel Clan’s chosen Hart was deemed “too green” and given a four year “extension” to study abroad… so he can keep “training” with Matthewchildhood friends, Sun Clan’s Pisao and Warrior Clan’s Judah (my OTP) decided to shack up despite Sun Clan traditionsHealer Clan’s occasionally spirit possessed chosen Vampyr defeated Dragon Clan’s sexy, one-eyed Sicolenga, who are also into each other

So, you know, standard boys’ love; if standard BL also had dick armor and orgasm-based tournaments that decided the rulership of a federated monarchy.

Funny enough, volume 2 is actually a little more standard BL with the robust and madcap Dick Fight Island lore already built in. Early on in their life together, Hart struggles to understand why men of the outside world don’t bare their buttocks, while Matthew wonders how he’s going to survive living with a young man with a tight ass and precious few pairs of pants.

I have some unexpected quibbles with Dick Fight Island volume 2. For one, the naming inconsistency is a little distracting for a diehard dick fighting fan such as myself. Hart or Harto, Pulau Yong’unda or Pulau Yang Indah, Lolo or Bolo, Judah or Yuhda, Sicolenga or Naga, and so on. I assume it’s all to do with kanji and phoentics, but it’s the same translation/publishing team, so I’m confused why the inconsistencies are so… consistent.

The second quibble is story-based, a personal preference. Jealousy does nothing for me in general, so as Hart and Matthew’s carry over from volume 1, “I don’t want to train with anyone but you.” At one part, Hart crashes a conversation between his roommate and “training partner” and a guy asking him out for dinner, claiming that Matthew is already having dinner for him. I guess weird boundaries and jealousy are romantic for some people? I mean… we are talking BL here… unfortunately not surprising…

Finally, if you’re showing up to volume 2 for more dick fighting, you’ll walk away disappointed. Other than Hart and Matthew’s “training,” the tournament takes a back seat to further exploration of the relationships. That being said, in the same way that volume 1 was a delightful excuse to draw hot anime pinup guys wearing very little, volume 2 uses the Great Wyrm Tournament as an excuse to take those guys and put them in every sexual position imaginable. For Hart and Matthew, it’s an excuse to “train” and lead into their developing relationship, for the rest of the Pulau Yong’undans it’s an excuse to follow up on their developing relationships. Hart and Matthew are actually my least favourite story in the bunch. OTPs Pisau and Judah get an adorable story about family strife with the Sun Clan as they plan to build a house together. And also lots of sex. Sicolenga, who loses the eyepatch for a sexy scar after getting healed by his lover deals with his terror for Vampyr’s horny spirit possession, of course by topping him from the bottom on a beach as the waves crash over them. So lots of sex.

You may be surprised to know that in most of the stories there’s a lot of sex…

The stories are cute and fluffy, and we get some hits of that sweet, buck wild Dick Fight Island lore we know and love. The art is next level, aside from being crazy buff anime boys getting fucked every which way it’s absolutely gorgeous. I’m more of a fan of serial, as opposed to episodic manga, so the fact that this was… let’s say a masturbatory–to keep on theme–series of shorts was a little disappointing, but the ending has Hart promising that the eight chosen will battle once again is enough of a tease to keep me invested. I’ll obviously pick up the next volume because, of course, we read Dick Fight Island for the literary experience. Of course.

Level of Problematic: Exclusive “training” partners; again, the jealousy thing, meh, I could do without. Plus see the following…

Level of Adorable: Live in underwear model roommate turned “training partner” turned boyfriend; they may not be the most elegant and sophisticated romances, but a literal buttload of gorgeous guys, so even with my quibbles I’m not complaining. Sad there wasn’t more of twinky Taling though, other than a weird “consensual date” with his… uncle…

Level of Spiciness: Bulk lube as wedding gift; YOU GET BUTTSEX! YOU GET BUTTSEX! YOU GET BUTTSEX!

BLog reviews recent boys love, yaoi and LGBTQ+ English translation manga.

I’m Looking For Serious Love!
Story and art: Shoko Rakuta
Translation: Christine Dashiell
Publisher: TOKYOPOP
Release Date: February 15, 2022

I’m Looking For Serious Love! is proof that you can’t judge a BL manga by it’s cover.

After the highs and lows of a saucy and gorgeous but ultimately disappointing recent boys in a band BL title, I was bracing myself to be hurt once again. Just look at the signifiers we’re working with on the cover:

forceful top: checkuncomfortable, unwilling bottom: checkuncomfortable, unwilling bottom literally holding forceful top off: checkCONDOMS: check

With the “Mature” rating on the back, the plastic wrap, I figured I knew what I was getting into.

Instead, I got a delightful, adorable, sexy and well written BL manga that not only doesn’t fall into the more toxic tropes of the genre, it actively works against them. What a rollercoaster.

Kyouhei Miyazawa is a shaggy and dark-haired, short and slim, innocent country boy who wears his heart on his sleeve. When moves to the big city of Tokyo, at his beloved grandmother’s beckoning he decides to introduce himself to his neighbours, since they’ll be taking care of him. When tall and muscular Tomohiro Takara opens the door, shirtless, a scantily clad woman behind him getting ready to leave, and teases the country bumpkin, Kyouhei decides he’s encountered a debauched city slicker playboy and flees, vowing that his neighbour is nothing but trouble.

That is, until Kyouhei hears screaming through the wall. Deciding Takara is getting murdered by the spurned woman, he rushes to save him. Takara answers the door and calls on Kyouhei to save him… from a bug.

This is the first trope turned on its head. Maybe not the most radical twist–the manly man who’s afraid of bugs–but there’s more to come. After an incident involving thank-you-noodles, a strawberry-flavoured condom and Takara helpfully jerking off a boned up Kyouhei (oh BL), the flustered country boy decides his neighbour is teasing him and tells Takara to never come near him again.

I spend an inordinate amount of time in my illustrious career as a BL blogger (a BLogger?!) deconstructing the genre’s… complicated relationship with consent and (gratuitous) sexual assault. Even when sexual violence is avoided, it’s often a white knight situation, the top swooping in to save the weak, vulnerable bottom.

Early on in I’m Looking For Serious Love!, Kyouhei is invited to his university’s “surfing club” (?????) mixer by some enthusiastic but kind of sketchy older students. Takara sees the invite and tells Kyouhei not to go, but their antagonistic relationship inspires the country boy to do the opposite. The bar the club meets at just so happens to be a favourite hang out spot for Takara and his friends, so he’s there to notice the sketchy older students trying to serve some girls orange juice spiked with something. Of course, thinking it’s the OJ he ordered, Kyouhei happily slams it and proceeds to get fucked the fuck up. Takara slings him over his shoulder and takes him home to look after him, but when Kyouhei gets overwhelmed by the hornies (so E, then?) Takara once again helps his poor neighbour out. Kyouhei feels Takara get hard against him, and worries about what that means, but then his neighbour says:

“There’s nothing worse… than a guy who takes advantage of others.”

Again, it’s kind of sad that’s exceptional for a lot of BL with sexual content… but it is. The fact that Takara is actually just a decent guy was a huge surprise to me. He saves the girls because it’s the right thing to do! Not because he expects anything of it. He jerks off Kyouhei because it’s the right thing to do! Not because it’s his in to wreck that adorable twink. Wholesome.

Sexual politics aside, I’m Looking For Serious Love! has some other delightful surprises. Kyouhei’s granny is an important part of his life, and visits the city to attend, to his surprise, an idol group’s performance. Fantastic character, along with her Tokyo stand-in, Murachin, a chubby, even-headed fellow small-towner Kyouhei met during orientation. Even Kyouhei’s childhood best friend–and teenage experimentation partner–Yuuta, who we learn has an unhealthy fixation on his friend, is ultimately dealt with sympathetically. This leaves plenty of room for the naturally developing relationship of Kyouhei and Takara, and lots of sex. Kyouhei gets to be the mewling, blushing, moaning bottom, and we don’t have to feel bad about it!

So pants off and strawberry-flavoured condoms on for I’m Looking For Serious Love! and TOKYOPOP for a breath of fresh air and a sexy little boys’ love one-shot!

Level of Problematic: Inspirational idol-loving granny; Honestly, if the worst a BL manga gets is an obsessive childhood best friend and some tertiary college boy creeps, we’re doing pretty good.

Level of Adorable: Helpful handies; I think my favourite genre of BL is definitely M-rated wholesomeness. Honestly, nothing hits quite as hard as a top who’s afraid of bugs, and then turns his bottom into a drooling mess.

Level of Spiciness: Strawberry flavoured condoms; all I’m going to say is this…

And this.

BLog reviews recent boys love, yaoi and LGBTQ+ English translation manga–and occasionally non-manga LGBTQ+ media!

Writer: Andrew Wheeler
Artists: Travis Moore
Colorist: Tamra Bonvillain
Letterer: Aditya Bidikar
Publisher: Image Comics
Release Date: June 29, 2022-Ongoing

“… acts of defiance are their own reward.”

Within the first few pages of Sins of the Black Flamingo #1, the titular anti-hero breaks into a Nazi memorabilia museum owned (in Florida, of course), burgles the soul of a holocaust survivor’s queer lover inscribed in Hebrew letters on a stone, and nicks an ancient note about a collar designed to contain powerful entities. He then proceeds to resurrect said queer lover as a sexy clay golem, meets a malevolent god and frees a sexy collared angel from said malevolent god’s literal chains.

I should’ve picked up on the “sins” part of the title; its inclusion is not in any way, shape or form superficial. We are excavating some queer religious angst here, folks.

Much like my review of Bonds of Brass, this is mostly going to be a love letter to this series. Sins of the Black Flamingo is as tight and titillating as a circuit party gay’s abs. Even the protagonist alone hits all the right notes; Sebastian Harlow, the Black Flamingo, flamboyant, sarcastic, catty, caring, narcissistic, nihilistic, misanthropic, anti-racist, anti-colonial, sensitive, sexy, slutty, horny, melancholy, tortured. Dream man.

By day, a stylish antiquities dealer with a predilection for the occult, arcane and mystical; by night, a doubly stylish, misanthropic gentleman thief who steals from the rich “because the poor have nothing worth taking.” While attending a party hosted by an obscenely rich, white prick living in a gaudy seafront mansion–in Florida… now why does that sound familiar?!–Harlow realizes his host is something dark and evil, who has a sexy, winged, scarred twunk collared and captive… But, as it turns out, the presence of this angel is the only thing that lifts the veil of a curse that forces Harlow to see existence for the Boschian, fallen world, rotting, corrupted living hell that it is.

Jon Kent. Dick Grayson.
The 2nd half of our Nightwing and Superman crossover is out in March in #Superman: Son of Kal-El #9. Both issues drawn by the awesome @Bruno_Redondo_F.
Beautiful Variant cover by Travis Moore and @TBonvillain. pic.twitter.com/R06bOd0MzQ

— Tom Taylor (@TomTaylorMade) December 17, 2021

Sins of the Black Flamingo is an ongoing five-issue series, currently waiting on #5 coming out at the end of the month. I’ve followed series before where even with such limited space for storytelling some shots, or action, or exposition feels like filler, flabby, like they’re just taking up precious space on the page. Not so with this unabashedly queer, hot and horny series. On top of industry icon Travis Moore’s exquisite art, the most impressive thing about Black Flamingo is the storytelling that is both rich and dynamic, extraordinarily well paced. Even the shots that are unapologetically fan service–like the several times in the first three issues that Harlow is running around naked or next to naked, bless the creators–are woven into the story so well that they don’t feel gratuitous… just sexy!

Gods, I really can't wait to buy this comic book in its collected paperback next year. (Sins of the Black Flamingo by Travis Moore) pic.twitter.com/PZuMNndLo9

— SchizoidArt (@schizoid_art) October 7, 2022

Despite worshipping Moore’s talent–and the many, many pretty boy superheroes he’s given us, see Twitter sidebar #1–I honestly almost gave Sins of the Black Flamingo a pass for completely superficial and hypocritical reasons. In my mind, with precious little knowledge about the series beyond Moore’s drool-worthy art, Black Flamingo was little more than the proverbial and thematic circuit party gay; beautiful but vapid, sensual but surface, visually appealing, but not a lot going on upstairs. A gorgeous, thirst-trap postin’ gay boy I don’t mind ogling from afar, but (judgementally) write off as shallow and boring, of no substance. Aside from my social media feed, guys with abs are not my world, so I figured there wouldn’t be anything in the pages for me. Luckily thanks to a two-page centre spread posted by a horny Twitter artist (see Twitter sidebar #2, mild spoilers) I follow, I decided to check out the series… “for science.” You know… like a total hypocrite!

I couldn’t have been more wrong. The depth of the story both surprised and delighted me. I mean, I’m a recovering Catholic, so there’s already that. Even in the sexy gay parts, the circuit parties, the sex, there’s a desperate melancholy, like ours truly is a fallen world, and the gays are just trying to party our way to something better. Even just digging into some of the queer signifiers, conventions and tropes that are turned on their head would give Jungian psychologists a field day. For example…

MILD BACKSTORY SPOILERS !

In issue #3 we learn that Harlow was initiated into the occult by his older archeology teacher–a dead ringer to be played by David Harbour in the screen adaptation I will be screaming for. Their relationship was sexual in nature, they attended “black masses that were sex parties… and sex parties that were definitely black masses.”

Hot.

However, in their kinky, queer, Satanic Indian Jones-ing around the world plundering ancient dig sites they discovered a dark artifact that revealed the “true beauty of the world.” The truth. When Harlow touched it, the curse showed him the world was fire, poison and corruption, bankrupt of divinity or grace. He spent three years in a psych ward, and by the time he got out his teacher was dead, leaving the artifact as his sole inheritance of their relationship.

So let’s dig into THAT. Already right there you have the classical gay initiation, the senex and puer, the older gay man passing on knowledge to the younger, arcane knowledge in every sense of the word. Only the knowledge is ultimately corrupting, driving the young gay man to insanity. Every homophobic, conservative fear come to life. Badass.

For protection against the dark masculine forces, Harlow turns towards insular feminine powers, witchcraft passed down through the ages by the colonized but not conquered, black, latina and indigenous–he also has a kickass witch friend and conspirator, Ofelia, excellent character, I’d read a whole series about her. So there’s definitely an animus/anima thing going on, which rocks.

Then the cursed young homosexual discovers a literal angel–Ezekiel, named for the prophet, hmm–ageless, eternal, a blank slate, innocent… or so we’re led to believe. The puer aeternus. The perfect lover, the only man who can temporarily lift the dark, mad veil from the eyes of the bitter, cynical, cursed homosexual. Again, so many delicious, cerebral and symbolic layers to dig into.

MILD BACKSTORY SPOILERS END HERE!

Sins of the Black Flamingo, like the titular protagonist, hits all the right notes. Heavy on the religious angst, if I haven’t made that abundantly clear, but not particularly bogged down by it. Exquisite art, excellent story, and sexy as all hell. Amen.

And if you can’t track down the individual issues, not to worry! It looks like Image Comics will be releasing an omnibus in the new year!

Level of Problematic: Sins of the Gym Bunny; Almost every single guy on these pages is slim and muscular with a six-pack. Progressive-me rolls his eyes, horny-me sneaks off to my bedroom with a couple issues in hand. Because I’m a horny hypocrite, okay?!

Level of Adorable: Sins of the Speckled Pup; Between Harlow, Abel (the golem) and Ezekiel (the angel), there’s more than enough gorgeous eye candy to go around. Good God. Please let Travis Moore do this kind of work as often as he wants. I could pitch a few things… ideas, that is.

Level of Spiciness: Sins of the Playful Otter; There is just so much sexiness. and sex on these pages and I want more. More, damnit! If prints of any pages of these pages exist I want them on my horny art wall–yes, I obviously have a horny art wall. I’ve said it before and I will say it again, over and over, Travis Moore, you draw queer masterpieces.

BLog reviews recent boys love, yaoi and LGBTQ+ English translation manga.

The Song of Yoru & Asa
Story and art: Harada
Translation: Mike Wolfe
Publisher: Kuma
Release Date: March 22, 2022

(◑_◑) CW: Discussion of sexual assault (◑_◑)

SPOILERS

Save for ten pages, The Song of Yoru & Asa might have been one of my favourite BL manga of all time.

The keyword there being “might have been.”

The manga follows quiet, dopey, tall, long-haired and painfully attractive frontman turned bassist Yoru and hotheaded, horny and hardheaded shorty singer Asaichi. Yoru’s singing and beauty was central to his first band’s popularity, so when he joins the band of Asaichi and his friends the insecure frontman teases and belittles him constantly. One night after their first solo concert together, after taking some groupies back to their hotel room, a drunken Asaichi slips into bed and has sex with a besotted Yoru.

Oh, actually, did I mention the intro of Yoru… with the thug-type, morally dubious “businessman” and his host sister? How the morally dubious “businessman” falls in love with Yoru? If you’ve read any BL, you may see where this is going.

In fact, as I was reading this manga, I started coming up with a BL Trope Bingo card just to put The Song of Yoru & Asa to the test. Play along at home!

So already we’ve crossed off a couple there: tsundere and, my personal favourite, inexplicable yakuza/organized crime involvement–Bad Boys, Happy Home anyone? The second organized crime’s involved in a BL manga, you can be pretty sure we’ll tick off “gratuitous rape,” with a little lite kidnapping/blackmailing thrown in there for good measure.

But before we get that, let’s start with the good: The Song of Yoru & Asa is one of the hottest manga I’ve read–save for those ten pages. After his “convoluted entry into homosexuality”–Ehh? Ehh?–Asaichi protests his virile heterosexuality perhaps a bit too much. This is exacerbated when he hears Yoru sing, which heightens his obsession, and then immediately proceeds to fuck his sweat-drenched bandmate in the bathroom in between the closing number and the encore. I thought that was a really fantastic moment, great use of the band setting. The sex is hot. Like, crazy hot. It’s always nice to see sex in a manga not be this tender, vulnerable thing, but just… filthy. The manga is explicit, nothing is censored, and the sex is just sweaty and nasty and hot. The fact that the art is utterly gorgeous, the story and romance decent, maybe not great, but it kept me turning the pages, just makes the ten pages that much more jarring.

The bad: the most harrowing rape scene I’ve ever seen in a BL manga, and that’s saying something. I actually had to put the book down and walk away for a few minutes, I almost didn’t finish it.

I’ve written ad nauseam about my feelings of depictions of rape in media/manga and, as I usually call it, mangaka/Japan’s somewhat cavalier attitude towards sexual assault. In brief: I think being able to explore sexual assault in art and stories is extremely important. If it serves a purpose, a depiction of sexual assault can be warranted. If that’s someone’s kink, hey, people get off to stranger things; as long as no one’s being hurt against their will, live and let live. I suppose if there’s a redeeming quality about the extreme rape scene in The Song of Yoru & Asa is that, at least at first, it genuinely depicts the horror and devastation that one would reasonably feel after being raped.

And then it kinda just laughs it off. Ding dong…

So it’s gratuitous, violent, extreme, thematically jarring–even the nasty sex at its nastiest is all consensual–and doesn’t really mean anything in the end. Victim just kind of has to get over it and the perpetrators get to traipse around without consequence. The rapists actually show up to the band’s next show and meet up with the victim and kind of just go, “Oh, ha ha, remember that time we quite violently physically assaulted, tortured and raped you? That sure was a time, huh?” Again, if any of what’s on those ten pages is someone’s kink, go to town, but in the story it was a device of cruel punishment, and as a romance trope to bring Yoru and Asaichi closer… through shared trauma, I guess. How romantic. It turned what could’ve been a favourite horny manga into a frustrating, eye-rolling, complicated, jarring experience.

That and they very explicitly do the whole, “Neither of us are gay, except for this one guy” throughout the entire manga, clung to until the bitter end. Commit to the bit, you disaster bisexuals.

So BL Trope Bingo. How’d we do?

Ooh, so close. Should’ve popped in an age-inappropriate relationship for good measure.

As I was writing this I realized they never talk about a band name throughout the entire manga. “Inexplicable Yakuza Involvement” would make a good one.

Level of Problematic: The Song of Violence & Violation; Ay yay ya…

Level of Adorable: The Song of Tol & Smol; THAT’S THE WORST PART. I SHIP YORU AND ASAICHI HARD. WE COULD’VE HAD IT ALL.

Level of Spiciness: The Song of Sweat & Sin; Like, nasty, filthy, dirty, sweaty, aggressive, primal, obscene sex. Woof.

BLog reviews recent boys love, yaoi and LGBTQ+ English translation manga.

The Summer With You: My Summer of You Vol. 2
Story and art: Nagisa Furuya
Translation: Jocelyne Allen
Publisher: Kodansha Comics
Release Date: February 15, 2022

Think of all the stories in the mainstream recently without villains.

Somehow, at least at the highest levels of pop culture, Pixar is dominating with movies like Encanto and Turning Red—Coco, Luca and Wall-E are clear test runs of the concept–where the bad guy isn’t so much a moustache twirling villain, but a concept or a repressed truth. There are still clear antagonists; Abuela Alma in Encanto believes the only way to keep her family safe in a world that killed her love is for them to be perfect and exploit their powers, even if it is in service to the greater good, while Mei’s Grandmother from Turning Red has continued a harmful, repressive tradition passed down through her daughters to her granddaughter. But neither Abuela Alma or Mei’s Grandmother are evil, just human. While drastically different films, they’re both actually quite similar structure-wise; a matriarchal grandmother and her rigid expectations, intergenerational trauma, beliefs that aren’t to be questioned and a new generation breaking away from the status quo for the better of all.

This is something BL’s always done well. Again, there’s a difference between a villain and an antagonist or narrative tension. A story like The Summer With You may not have a villain, or be blasting words like “homophobia” or “fear of intimacy”, but they’re the tensions at the core of this quiet little love story.

At the end of volume 1 we left film nerd Toda Wataru in a new relationship with the beautiful and talented Saeki Chiharu, cemented after the latter attempted to break the relationship cleanly and run away. Wataru and Chiharu are both at different universities, Wataru working at a movie theatre and living with his family while Chiharu lives on his own. They’re both busy, so they try to make the most of their time together.

That’s about it.

Seriously, there’s maybe occasional hints of jealously, and plenty of insecurity between the two of them as they settle into their year-old relationship, but no more than could be expected from a normal relationship–BL or IRL. There’s no jealous ex, or callous crushee trying to force a wedge between them, or blackmail, or threat of cheating. There’s just two guys in a relationship that’s new and strange for both of them. Wataru, our dark-haired film nerd, doesn’t think he’s worthy of Chiharu’s love and has trouble being affectionate with his boyfriend. Tall, light-haired hottie Chiharu clearly has strong (sometimes very physically-based) feelings for Wataru that he tries to reign in, and struggles with how much he should reveal for fear of pushing his boyfriend too far. What we’re left is that classic BL “I love you but I have no idea how.”

Part of that is indeed homophobia, both societal and internal: that classic BL “but we’re two guys” thing. There’s moments that Wataru might think about taking Chiharu’s hand, or kissing him, but they’re in public, or he stops and second guesses himself. He also struggles with intimacy and affection, both receiving and giving. A significant moment, and one of the most adorable scenes, is after Wataru misses the last train–again, classic BL–so he sleeps over at Chiharu’s, passing out immediately from a long work day. He’s apologetic in the morning and wants to thank Chiharu, who asks his boyfriend for a kiss but, not only that, to be the one to initiate it. Again, a small moment drawn out over a few pages, but conveys so much while being so cute and lovely.

Boys’ love benefits from the genre in this sense. It can get away with being a bit slow and slice-of-life-y, or being low action because we buy the movie ticket to see boys… in love. All the ensuing conflict or tensions floweth forth from that pure BL spring. But a story with no driving force is fluff at best, or boring at worst. While very little happens, at no point does The Summer of You feel boring, because what does happens is executed so well. We get to go along with Wataru on the trepidatious journey into intimacy.

Nagisa Furuya’s storytelling strength is in two characters who feel fully formed and could stand on their own, but by putting them together we get to learn about them as they learn about each other. There’s a fantastic moment when Wataru gets approached by an English-speaking tourist, and is saved by the arrival of Chiharu who, of course, speaks conversational English. Later that day, after attending a director Q&A for a new film together, handsome Chiharu, of course, gets approached by an industry talent scout. He has no interest in acting, so Wataru asks about directing. Chiharu explains that he has aspirations to translate Japanese films to open up his favourites to a wider audience, and how good translation includes the subtleties of language, meaning and feeling. That’s such a lovely moment, and a fantastic detail about a character who’s very quiet, cerebral and sensitive. Similarly, at the requisite fireworks festival scene Wataru helps a lost child, without thinking, and gets separated from Chiharu. When they manage to meet up again, Chiharu tells his love that he doesn’t need to apologize for getting separated because helping a lost kid is exactly like him, and that makes Chiharu happy. Again: lovely, and communicates so much with so little.

Like any media, good BL can (and does) still have villains; Bad Boys, Happy Home quite literally has a drug-smuggling, human-trafficking, laundry-obsessed criminal syndicate, doesn’t get more villainous than that. But at the end of the day it’s hard to tell a good story without great characters that can stand on their own even if all they’re doing is helping their family set up for a party or sweeping a temple. It’s astounding to me how good the My Summer of You series manages to be with so little action. At the centre of it, and the driving force, is two boys in love. Primo BL.

Level of Problematic: Marriage Story; proof that BL can be compelling without jealous (female) exes, suicidal gay fathers or sexual assault.

Level of Adorable: Call Me By Your Name; again, Nagisa Furuya does so much with so little, that’s really the strength of this one. So much of the story is told in these small moments, even glances or words that aren’t said. And it’s so frickin’ beautiful.

Level of Spiciness: Lost in Translation; just the barest hints of spice. Just the barest…

BUTCHLog           BUTCH (◔◡◔)
BLog reviews recent boys love, yaoi and LGBTQ+ English translation manga.

Boyish²
Organized and published: Mutsumi Natsuo
Translation: Ayumi Shinozaki
Release Date: January 31, 2022

CW: brief mention of suicidal ideation within a story, otherwise all delightful butch fluff

I’m the person who, when walking down the street, will be eyefucking the hottest guy in sight. Rain or shine, trans or cis, winter, spring, summer, fall, big or smol, I am boy crazy.

Often it will occur that said hot guy turns around, and I see that they’re a butch woman, or maybe a masculine AFAB non-binary person. I’ll shrug and go, “I’m okay with that.”

So let’s just say Boyish² (click through for the ebook) was ready made for a lesbian/androgyny enthusiast like me.

No preamble needed, Boyish² delivers what it promises, butch on butch stories. The delightful thing is it runs the gamut in so many ways, a total grab bag; art style, genre, tone, length, narrative, spiciness… There were definitely stories I enjoyed more than others, but unlike other manga short collections or anthologies, thoroughly enjoyable from start to finish, not really a dud among them. That’s why it’s such a fantastic anthology, there’s probably something for all yuri and butch lovers in here.

So instead of one big review (and by review I mean gushing, pun intended), I’ll do three spoiler-free mini-reviews of my favourites.

Beware the Wolf

I haven’t read enough girls’ love/yuri to make any major comparisons between that and boys’ love. What I can categorically state is that artist Jackie’s “Beware the Wolf” has serious boys’ love vibes, and I am here for it.

High schooler Yori–nicknamed “Bunny” by her friends, probably because she’s small, floppy and docile–is sent to get drinks from the machine for her friends, who sometimes take advantage of her kindness. When she drops a bottle she’s helped by the school’s lone wolf, Oghami. A gym class accident, a nosebleed and the requisite trip to the nurse’s office (as well as a requisite kabedon) gives them a chance to get to know one another and cements their friendship… and maybe something more!

Probably the most traditionally manga art style of the entire anthology and, again, the BL vibes are real. You’ve got your light-haired uke and your dark haired seme–I mean, literally a bunny and a wolf. Light hearted and tender. *chef’s kiss*

We’re Just Close, is All

This is a hotly contested favourite for me against “Bad Butch Bad Boy”… but more on that later.

Jackie’s art may be the most traditionally manga, but I think Edakichi’s style is my favourite from the bunch. I’m a sucker for manga with extremely expressive characters that just pop off the page; between blonde shorty Haru Fajino’s peppy, happy-go-lucky disposition, tall, dark-haired Nozomi Maebara’s cool, slightly melancholy facade, and Edakichi’s huge expressive eyes there’s so much to love.

“We’re Just Close, is All” is your requisite unrequited love story–you may have guessed from the title–but like a couple of the other stories in the manga it actually depicts the gender journey of Nozomi as she decides to cut her hair short and start wearing guy’s or unisex clothes. The story starts with a kiss between the two of them, but we learn that happens every time Haru gets drunk. Adorable with some feels, if Edakichi continued with these characters I would be the first in line.

Bad Butch Bad Boy/Coffee Time

I’m rolling these two into one because they’re by the same author and I do what I want. Both, as it would happen, by the anthology’s organizer Mutsumi Natsuo!

“Bad Butch Bad Boy” ticks all the boxes for me. Bee is a bratty, feral shithead boi in skinny jeans (check), Iori is a smooth, cool, handsome, dominating and punishing butch woman (check and check). After some impolite behaviour in Shinjuku Nichome (Tokyo’s gay village), Iori takes Bee under her wing… in a manner of speaking… with sexy results (and some light S&M, check)! A delicious and hot little short, and always so cool to see manga stories set in Shinjuku’s “special ward”.

“Coffee Time” is pure and delightful fluff, and a fantastic depiction of a black woman in manga as a bonus, I legit think the first I’ve ever seen! Shy, freckled blushing and boyish Akira is a regular at their university’s “Starbooks” (AHAHAHA), and handsome, bespectacled and stylish locks-with-an-undercut Gray is the requisite hot foreigner and their favourite barista. Cue the squeeing. Art-wise these two stories are a cool comparison between the previous two, especially Jackie’s more traditional look. Mutsumi Natsuo is definitely very manga with a bit of a webcomic twist, looks-wise, very clean lines and simple shading, compared to the very manga cell shading in “Beware the Wolf”.

I just realized I picked the most straightforward of the bunch, definitely looking for those classroom BL vibes, but there’s a little fantasy and sci-fi thrown in for good measure! A few small editing issues and a couple instances of clunky translation is my only criticism, otherwise smooth, very butch sailing. I am just so thankful and impressed they got this translated and out in English so quickly, it went out in Japanese last December! I was so excited for this anthology and thought I’d be waiting a year for it!

I flicked through the manga to pick my favourites and it was almost impossible to decide–hence the two-for-one in the last. There’s so much to be said about some of the other stories I’d just be going on, but a couple of honourable mentions include:

“Moon In the Water”, probably the most honest depiction of depression I’ve seen in manga–they don’t USE the word depression, but main character Nadeshiko is discovered, by love interest Toki, drinking alone, struggles with her identity, is shown to be so sad it hurts and talks about how she wants to die–if it looks like depression and quacks like depression…

“I’ll Sculpt My Abs!!”, as well, I can’t believe I left out of my favs. Muscled butches in crop tops and midriff abound. Woof.

The three (okay four…) above may be my favourites, but Boyish²‘s strength is in its variety, whether you’re a veteran yuri reader or just want some adorable stories about cute butches in love, there’s something in here for you. Boyish² is an incredible cultural artifact, as well, there are very few pieces of media I can think of that depict butch/masculine-leaning women in love, which obviously needs to change.

I kid you not, before I had even got half way through I was inspired to write some butch on butch smut. And no one can stop me. In the immortal words of anthology organizer Matsumi Natsuo in an afterwod: “Blessings and love to all butches!” A(wo)men.

Level of Problematic: “Little lady, this is an adult establishment.”; honestly, the worst it gets that I can think of is a non-consensual kiss and… something else, but I don’t want to ruin that surprise. And it’s a pretty hot one that leaves the bratty, feral shithead boi in skinny jeans blushing and drooling. I’ll take another.

Level of Adorable: WOLF & BUNNY; one of these stories would have given me the warm fuzzies, but a dozen of them… I was not ready…

Level of Spiciness: The S&M Queen; SADLY maybe rated 16+ at worst. I would gladly read Boyish² 2: Butches Gone Wild XXX. Or Boyish² 2: Bigger, Badder, Butcher? GLADLY.

Manga Reviewed in 2021: 21

One of my favourite hobbies is reviewing manga, so to celebrate I wanted to do a little year end roundup to cheer on some of my favourites.

So to that end… WELCOME TO THE BLog INAUGURAL EXTREMELY SUBJECTIVE ANNUAL AWARDS! I’m picking my favourites from the 2021 releases that I reviewed–there’s obviously some I didn’t get to, or didn’t even have time to read, or didn’t have any interest in reviewing, so these boys are mostly the cream of the crop making the choices EXTREMELY DIFFICULT. We have a special girls’ love honourable mention and eight awards to give away to the boys, so let’s get started!

Category: The I Put the Tablet Away Before I Remembered to Make This One Honourable Mention Award

Recipient: semelparous Vol. 1

Honourable Mention: Donna Summer On the Radio: Greatest Hits Volumes I & II, on repeat as I worked on these awards!!

This is one I thought I would enjoy, but didn’t think I’d love as much as I did. They had me at yuri kaiju fighting manga, but I wasn’t ready to be so invested in yuri schoolgirl kaiju fighter tiddy manga. What can I say? I’m a big fan of high concept trash. The fact that I’m eagerly awaiting volume 2, which doesn’t even happen with every BL series, makes this one of my favs, and if I read enough GL/yuri, it’d probably sweep the competition. Aratsugu Yorina would be here to accept the award, but she’s too busy killing kaiju in her combat skirt.

Category: The Horny Strangers on the Internet BLog Most Reads Award

Recipient: Dick Fight Island Vol. 1

Honourable Mention: MADK Vol. 1

My blog gets two kinds of clicks, fresh manga reviews and then the juggernaut momentum of a live action series anime announcement. This award goes to the first. The power of a good, eye catching title cannot be denied, so it’s no surprise this goes to my favourite manga title of all time. If you’re looking for something absurd, or filthy, or absurdly filthy, take a trip to the tournament that quite literally decides who’s on top. Here to accept the award is Hart, chosen of the Jewel Clan, and his dick fighting armor.

Category: The b-big men … with big tiddies … p…pretty Best Art Award

Recipient: Fang Vol. 1

Honourable Mention: MADK Vol. 1

A synthesis of sexy, cute and all-around beautiful, the Best Art Award takes into account the overall artfulness of a manga. While MADK, with it’s lush, exquisite, often frightening descent into hell is probably some of the best art I’ve ever seen in a manga, the cute, fashionable, hot vampire boys were ready made for this award. Single frames of Fangs would make beautiful pieces of art on their own, so this one easily clinches the title. Here to accept the award is baby fang En and Darwin the Aldabra Giant Tortoise.

Category: The Hero’s Journey With Dicks Best Story Award

Recipient: MADK Vol. 1

Honourable Mention: Restart After Coming Back Home

Not to ding it, but if this was for overall series (I’ll have to add that one in next year…) I probably would’ve given the award to another, I wasn’t super thrilled with MADK Vol. 2, I found it just lacked the insanity and dark sexiness of the first volume, but that’s a minor comparison because volume 1 absolutely blew my mind. Dog-boy Makoto is here to accept the award on behalf of Archduke J. A much gentler Restart After Coming Back Home takes an honourable mention, there were a few similar bucolic rural BL I loved, but this one was one of the better told stories of the subgenre.

Category: Super Kawaii BLog Top Adorable Category Award

Recipient: Thigh High: Reiwa Hanamaru Academy Vol. 2

Honourable Mention: My Love Mix-Up! Vol. 1

Perhaps one of the harder categories to pick in an overall painful selection process, and yet I knew Thigh High was going to take it, especially volume 2 with such hits as Kitahara (here to accept the award) in a sweet shop maid costume, or the boys of class 2-A’s trip to the hotsprings… or Kanda… I could go on… Unique, hilariously, sexy and painfully adorable, Thigh High beats out honourable mention My Love Mix-Up!, another painfully adorable entry that sees two dumbass high school boys falling for each other in a delightful comedy of errors.

Category: The Whited Out Dicks, Censor Bars and Convenient Cropping BLog Top Spice Category Award

Recipient: Birds of Shangri-La Vol. 2

Honourable Mention: MADK Vol. 1

The naked, tattooed, slutty boy with a tragic backstory, Phi, is here to accept the Spice Award for the utopian brothel story from SuBLime Manga. I accidentally put the cover for volume 1, but I like it better than volume 2’s cover, so whatcha gonna do? A story that’s fun, interesting, well written, emotionally fraught and, most of all, extremely spicy–bonus points to anyone else (like me) with a straight boy fetish. MADK Vol. 1, being one of the only stories in existence that can be hot while also depicting cannibalistic throat-fucking, easily takes an honourable mention.

Category: The “the Judge Clearly Has A Type” Judge’s Favourite Award

Recipient: My Summer of You Vol. 1 and Bad Boys, Happy Home Vol. 1

I was like, “I should probably just pick one and pop the other in as a honourable mention…” But then I realized I’m the judge! I am the supreme ruler of this blog! I CAN DO ANYTHING I WANT! So this one’s a tie between two of my absolutely favourite reads from 2021. In My Summer of You we have a gentle, sweet, slightly melancholy slow burn romance with film-buff Wataru and popular hottie Chiharu. Wataru is here fighting over the award with Aisuke Akamatsu from the hilarious, horny, slightly melancholy dark comedy BL Bad Boys, Happy Home.

Category: The Squeeing Out Loud OMG THIS IS GIVING ME SO MANY FEELS Award, or; The Cutest Couple Award

Recipient: My Summer of You Vol. 1

Honourable Mention: Bad Boys, Happy Home Vol. 1

I love the hornies, I love the pretty anime boys, but more than anything I read BL for the feels. From the last category you can probably guess my favourite picks from the year but, while I adore Aisuke and Seven, it’s Wataru and Chiharu in the quiet, subdued slow burn romance that I remember finishing, placing against my heart, and wishing I could forget it to experience again for the first time. SO. MANY. FEELS.

Category: The Precious Little Cinnamon Bun Too Good For This World, Too Pure Best Boy Award

Recipient: Aisuke from Bad Boys, Happy Home Vol. 1

Honourable Mention: Kitahara from Thigh High: Reiwa Hanamaru Academy Vol. 2

For better or worse I’m a mom boyfriend, so for this award I asked myself which of my many, many favourite boys from 2021 I would wear this shirt for:

I’m glad I got to draw best boy in a skirt Kitahara for the Adorable Award, because he is a close second to cinnamon bun who deserves nothing but happiness: Aisuke Akamatsu. This little dumbass feral trash boy stole my heart. If you’ve read volume 2 of Bad Boys, Happy Home, maybe you felt like me where I remember being absolutely gutted because I want nothing but his happiness. Let my idiot gay son be happy. Please.

Of course, an almost impossible decision when this is also on the table:

Alright, that’s it from this utter weeb and the boys! Thanks to all of the folks in translation and localization for giving me the bounty of BL in my life! And thanks to everyone who checked out my reviews, from the bottom of my nerdy heart!! Adios, 2021!!