Boys Love used to be a dirty little secret fujoshi and fudanshi enjoyed in the dark recesses of their bedrooms—and I will admit that there was a time when I wouldn’t dare admit that I liked anything even remotely related to the genre. But, times have changed and BL media isn’t the taboo it once was—hell I remember the days of watching BL OVAs on YouTube and reading poorly rendered manga scans on questionable sites. But, now BL media is readily available with series like Dakaichi and Given getting full anime series and publishers like Juné and SuBLime licensing entire series for English speaking audiences. And, a lot of that has to do with the gradual shift from the smut heavy boys love stories to more wholesome romance stories.
Don’t get me wrong, there are plenty of boys love series that glorify sex, but more and more series are striving to tell more realistic romances. This de-sexualization of boys love media makes them more accessible to folks outside of the target demographic. Even, as a seasoned fujoshi, I welcome this change, because it opens up the genre to more varied stories and proves that relationships between men are more than the stuff of rampant fangirl fantasies. So, I’ve compiled a list of some of my favorite wholesome boys love manga series to add to your reading list!
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