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!!