LET’S START WITH PUDDING (Yosono Yosomi)

It’s not often that I get my hands on a truly obscure English BL – as in, something so obscure it doesn’t even have an ISBN. My friend Shinami let me borrow this one; it was an exclusive release as part of a BL-subscription box called Yaoi Crate that was around in the early 2020s. Despite its obscurity it’s probably not all that rare yet since it hasn’t been too long since it came out, but no doubt it will be one day. Shall we…start with pudding? *badum tisch*

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SPRING FEVER (Yugi Yamada)

I thought ‘Close the Last Door’ was the last Yugi Yamada in my collection yet to be read, but this one snuck under the radar. This makes what, at least six or seven individual titles she had localized in English? Those ain’t rookie numbers. I do think her work we have is a bit of a mixed bag (worth mentioning that we don’t have any of her newer stuff, which is more polished), but I thought Spring Fever was one of the better ones in that group. This comes with the ‘Yamada caveat’ though – she’s got a weird art style that doesn’t vibe with everyone, me included – but I can look past that for great stories.

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CIGARETTE KISSES (Nase Yamato)

If you love nothing more than the idea of hot salarymen smoking cigarettes plus smoking each other’s poles, Deux Press has a manga for you. Maybe the only manga for you, at least in English. Cigarette Kisses may *seem* like bad BL trash, but let me subvert your expectations: it’s good BL trash. Totally different thing! It’s not really that trashy though, it’s actually a serious drama, with gay sex. Let’s go with that.

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MANIC LOVE + FAKE FUR (Satomi Yamagata)

Guys, get ready for a surprise – two obscure old June titles from the mid 00s that DON’T suck. I don’t say that lightly either, ya’ll know I’m a cynic. If you like serious stories and don’t mind some minimalistic art, these two books with linked stories are easy to find cheap copies of and nice little reads. There’s also slutty sex, in case you needed a little push. 

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KISSING (Sasaki/Takaku)

‘Can you still call someone ‘just a friend’ after kissing?’ this book asks. Why yes, you can do exactly that – surely they know what friends with benefits are? Or, you can kiss someone and decide ‘yeah, no,’ which was the experience of my first kiss. I was 14 and he was 16 which I remember mattering (oh, he’s a ‘junior and you’re a freshman!’ my friends cooed). He invited me to the movies after class and we went to see the terrible sequel of an already-terrible romcom and then we sat there watching the credits roll kind of waiting in anticipation to see if the other was interested in this mouth touching thing people seemed to like. We were both shy naturally but finally the whole theater was empty so we went for it. I don’t think he knew it was my first kiss and for that I am very grateful. I remember hating it – eww, boy tongue – and watching a guy who worked there sweeping popcorn out of the corner of my eye and I felt weirded out that he was smiling at us and then it occurred to me that maybe I was supposed to close my eyes anyway. Don’t worry, the kissing in here is much hotter than that…

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STAR (Keiko Konno)

I have never dated anyone I’ve worked with, though most of my coworkers being women probably has something to do with that. I still don’t think I’d be able to do it though (unless I worked with Tom Hiddleston dressed as Loki, in which case I’ll come back and edit this) as it never seems to go as well as it does in fiction and having to work with an ex seems like it would suck. Either way I really love the workplace romance trope in yaoi, especially when it isn’t the standard “boss seme and secretary uke.” I liked that in this story, the two main characters don’t really a power imbalance, they just happen to be coworkers and feel like equals rather than one being tiny and whiny.

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JIHAI (Toshimi Nigoshi)

On the off chance that someone out there has not only read this series but is also thinking that this isn’t technically a yaoi or even a shounen-ai, well, you’re right. However, it’s closer to being a shounen-ai than two roaches on a bacon bit, and the proximity about as “ugh!”-inducing – albeit for totally different reasons. But the main reason I’m reviewing it is that it’s a hidden gem of a release that needs more attention, which is my favorite reason to review anything. Are you into shojo sci-fi with BL subtext that’s heavier than metal? Well frens, read on…

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JAZZ (Maeda/Takamure)

This series made me genuinely curious if, in ‘real’ doctor/patient romantic relationships, the ‘patient’ continues to call his partner ‘Doc!’ during sex even after they’ve been together for years, like the couple in this book. I’m just wondering if it’s an anomaly. I would think that’s something you’d get out of your system relatively quickly if you date them long enough (and thus presumably care about them as a person enough) to call them by their actual name when balls deep in their asshole. Granted, when I fantasize about [entering serious judgment-free zone] General Hux from Star Wars, in my head I mostly call him by his title, but that’s a fantas- well…ok, maybe I answered my own question.


I’m not sure if Jazz was ever a super-popular yaoi series (if it ever had momentum it’s most likely because it was in the right place at the right time) but it’s certainly a widely circulated one, in that if you are new to the genre and discovering what’s out there you will probably come across this one sooner rather than later. It’s a four-part patient-x-doctor story that manages to overcome its flaws by the end – if the backwards seme/uke age dynamics don’t bother you that is, and gratuitous rape in the first two volumes notwithstanding (more on that later). The art is lovely to look at and the story runs the gamut of emotions from happiness to hopelessness, silliness to seriousness, and heartbreak to healing. Don’t tell me that alliteration didn’t excite you.

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SOLFEGE (Fumi Yoshinaga)

Surprisingly, this is my first Fumi Yoshinaga title. I never actively sought out Antique Bakery although I somehow still own it, and it’s among her most well-known works (you know you’ve written a hit when it gets made into a Korean live-action movie). Though not yaoi itself, she made a lengthy catalog of yaoi doujinshi to go with it that I am going to go out on a limb and guess is probably a bit different from Maki Murakami’s Gravitation dj, but one can dream.

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RED (Sanae Rokuya)

I think I speak for everyone when I say that the first thing that comes to mind when one thinks of feudal Japan is homoerotic tension. No? Ok, samurai first, but homoerotic tension is definitely second. Still no? Ugh, fine, samurai then Scientologist robot dinosaurs, jeez, making me say the obvious one. But thankfully we have unsung heroes like Rokuya here who take a period of history and add a dash of spice from their magic man love pouch to make a whole different recipe. Who can say for certain it didn’t originally taste this way, anyway? Ain’t historical fantasy great?

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