Something like a month ago I came across a crunchyroll clip on Youtube for a show called "Go For It, Nakamura!". I was highly intrigued by the art style and synopsis, so I found myself watching it as episodes were released. Additionally, I saw another video about a compilation of clips of Kurosawa from Cherry Magic on that same day. What the both of these have in common is their genre being Boys' Love, and that led me to get interested in more and more of it. At the moment, I have read/watched 6 BL anime, and in this blog post I hope to talk a little bit about all of them!
#1. Go For It, Nakamura!
Go For It, Nakamura! is centered on a shy and gay highschool student named Nakamura Okuto (last name, first name) trying to become friends with his classmate and crush, Hirose Aiki. Nakamura doesn't have any friends of his own, and he is extremely awkward, but he tries his best. Will he succeed in his mission, or does he end up failing miserable?
The series has an anime and manga, with the manga being somewhat incomplete due to the mangaka's hiatus. I adore the anime a little more than the manga because of its original segments and the cut-out parts from the manga. These include a fantasy Nakamura had about Hirose while they were holding octopi in a cooking class (iykyk) and how Hirose had a very interesting relationship with his homeroom and math teacher (to be honest, it seemed like they would be the ones getting together in the manga).
One could disagree with me by saying "Oh no! Hirose and Otogiri-sensei weren't even in a relationship and the octopus panel was a once-off thing that wasn't even explicit at all!" but honestly? That's weird. Students having crushes on their teachers is relatively normal but with the way the mangaka was moving made it seem like they wanted us to ship Hirose and his teacher. In short, I don't support pedophillia folks. Sorry (not really).
The exclusion of those scenes in the anime made it incredibly wholesome. Each character is lovable in their own way and Nakamura is one of the most relatable protagonists ever for a lot of people. The ending was also done very nicely and in my opinion it doesn't even really need a season two. The opening theme (Sudden Spark - Kento Nakajima, Yasuyuki Okamura) is such a vibe and the ending themes with little repeat animations of Nakamura in his room studying, dancing or some other activity always felt like a farewell gift to keep while waiting for the next episode release. I highly recommend this one!!
#2. Cherry Magic! 30 Years Of Virginity Can Make You A Wizard?!
Adachi Kiyoshi's world becomes slightly more interesting when upon turning thirty and still being a virgin, he gains mind-reading capabilities! By touching another person he gets to hear their inner thoughts. He initially finds this annoying, but when he discovers his star coworker, Yuichi Kurosawa, has a really fat crush on him, he quickly finds that his life could probably never go back to normal again...
The manga has been adapted into both a live action series and an anime. I haven't watched the live action at all but it's probably really nice too. The anime is also really great! The dub is incredibly funny and the voice actors are very fitting. I watched it in sub and it was also really great. The manga will hopefully be getting its (final?) volume soon. Perhaps next year or late this year?? I don't really keep track of these things...
The characters are all given distinct personalities and are all relatable in some way. It's really hard to hate any of the characters since they're all so funny and wonderful !!! There is also an additional mlm couple between Adachi's college best friend Tsuge and his delivery man, Minato. I love their struggles with navigating their relationship hehe.
My only warning for this manga is that well... notice how the title says "30 years of virginity..."? The anime and live action are completely safe to watch but the manga contains intercourse between Adachi and Kurosawa. Please be warned about that.
#3. I Cannot Reach You
Yamato Oohara and Kakeru Ashiya have been childhood friends for basically forever. However, Yamato has also had a really big crush on Kakeru ever since he was a little kid. Unlike Yamato, Kakeru believes he is extremely average in terms of his looks, grades and personality, so he thinks there's absolutely no way Yamato could have a crush on him! How will Yamato allow his feelings to reach Kakeru?
OKAY NOW THIS ONE IS LITERALLY MY FAVOURITE EVER!!! It has been adapted into a live action and has 10 volumes at the moment. I found this BL through an edit of the live action I saw on pinterest and watched that one first. The art is beautiful and the live action casting was also really awesome.
But BOY do I have a lot to say about the live action...
The first issue I had that almost made me not read the manga was Yamato making advances on Kakeru at this one scene where they were in Kakeru's bedroom (Yamato's living room in the manga). Kakeru clearly was hesitant/did not want Yamato to make any advances on him, but this is all forgiven later when Kakeru says "It's not like I didn't like it" (I also just want to quickly clarify that NO, Yamato was not touching Kakeru in a sexual manner, but it was definitely leading into romantic gestures). This excuse was so odd to me and it was also wrongly placed. In the manga, Kakeru says that dialogue after Yamato hugged him at the mall. I strongly believe the placement of that dialogue is incredibly important and cannot be carelessly thrown wherever.
I also just want to mention that this scene in the manga was supposed to occur when Kakeru is angrily venting about how he doesn't think he's as amazing as Yamato makes it seem and that he doesn't understand at all why Yamato would possibly like him. I don't recall that being the case in the live action.
Next is the circumstances of Yamato's confession. The live-action provided zero explanation as to why Yamato forgot all about it. I will not lie to you, I genuinely thought Yamato died when he fainted (made me laugh too I can't lie). The manga states that Yamato had a fever while confessing (it was also raining that time, compared to the live). Now this isn't as big of an issue for me compared to the previous point, but it does give a really poor reason for complicating the plot. Like yeah, you collapsed for some odd reason, but why can't you remember that you confessed to Kakeru?
The last short thing I want to talk about is just the use of the same song for like every development between the two of them. Sometimes it was warranted, but others? I felt like it would have been better to cut it out entirely...
But of course I completely understand any disagreements about that last point! :0
Moving along...
The manga has some really gorgeous art! I adore the side characters (Amamiya and Hosaka my beloveds) and everyone has a unique personality. I also don't hate any character here except for the most recently introduced antagonist Fujiwara. I'm sure the mangaka, Mika-san, has some plans for her character. She might change... probably.
The moments between Kakeru and Yamato are very sweet and wholesome. Their desires and insecurities are all very familiar or understandable in some way. It's a very well-written and well-drawn manga. I highly suggest checking it out!!
#4. Sasaki and Miyano
Miyano Yoshikazu , a secret first year fudanshi*, bonds over BL and sweet conversations with his senpai, second year Sasaki Shuumei. Their friendship however very quickly turns into a BL romance itself! How will Miya and Sasaki navigate their growing feelings?!
When I first heard of this when I never originally knew the synopsis so I didn't watch it as soon as the other, but it's SO GOOD. Sasaki and Miyano has both an anime and manga (I watched the anime and have been reading the manga as well) and both are a great choice since there aren't many differences between the two. The manga's art is so lovely and I love the extra bits between a character Hidano and his roommate. They're wayyyy too cute...
As for the anime, THE DUB VOICES ARE SO GOOD! There is so much thought put into every dialogue line and OH MY GOODNESS SASAKI'S VOICE ACTOR DID AN AWESOME JOB!!! His voice really reflected his character (I'm sure it was deliberate). Miya's voice is also really adorable. Once again the art and various scenes were all really nice to look at. The character's are all so funny and lovable and moments between Sasaki and Miyano are so sweet. Definitely give this one a try as well !!
#5. This Boy Caught A Merman
Shima Kawauchi finds himself at the beach after his grandfather's passing. He nearly drowns, but is saved by a merman he calls Isaki. The two end up living together, and Isaki helps Shima combat his loneliness, while they both also gain feelings for each other.
Okay now this one is quite different to all the aforementioned manga or anime. This 2012 OVA (Original Video Animation) is around 29 minutes long and the style is very interesting. The animation sucks, but that's all made up for by the art. Reader, the art is GORGEOUS. The colours and everything for the water and Isaki's hair and the "Aishite" (love me) scene was beautiful. I feel like the only subpar quality of the hole film as just the animation, because the story was also really sweet.
I don't have much to say on this one due to its length and my desire to not spoil much (sorry about ICRY...) bu t if you're bored and wanting to watch something short and sweet then definitely watch this one!
#6. Classmates
Doukyuusei (or Classmates) is a film/manga about Kusakabe Hikaru and Sajou Rihito, two high school boys with differing interests and personalities who fall in love. It's a wonderful representation of youth and the rawness of it in an all boys' school.
Classmates has both a manga and a 1hr film. There is a sequel and spin-off for Classmates, but I only watched the movie and currently contain no desire to read the manga.
So suprise, but this one was my least favourite out of all the ones mentioned. I'll explain the reason later, but first allow me to glaze the STYLE OF ART AND ANIMATION WOW. The characters and backgrounds are drawn in this watercolour style reminiscent of The Tale of Princess Kaguya by Studio Ghibli, and each movement perfectly captures every character's personality. This and Kusakabe's horrible posture are why I decided to watch Doukyuusei. Alongside that, the music always makes every season end up feeling warmer than the conflict that took place in it. I'm sure anyone who watches it is bound to enjoy it!
Why is it my least favourite though? You are allowed to judge me for this, but it's just something that kind of made me stop watching it the first time I tried. Hara-sen or Hara-sensei is a teacher of Sajou and Kusakabe's. He made advances on Sajou (who deeply admired him/had a crush on him prior to becoming friends with Kusakabe) and I guess Sajou and Kusakabe... don't talk about that at all? Or at least that's what happened in the film. It just really bothered me because Sajou was quite emotionally vulnerable that time, and any kind of romantic relationship with Sajou and Hara** would automatically become pedophillic. Once again, I don't vibe with pedophillia.
At least Sajou punched Hara when he found them both ♡
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That's all from me on all the BL I have watched so far. I hope my reviews were helpful and just maybeee convinced you to watch them. If you have any recommendations, you can also definitely drop them down below and what you loved about them!! :]]]
* - A fudanshi is a male individual who loves reading or watching BL.
** - When it comes to Japanese honourifics, the use of -sensei (or -sen) is to address someone seen to be a master of what you are already doing. This can apply to teavhers, professers or some kind of creative job like wood-working or something I dunno. The lack of an honourific can indicate familiarity or when used with strangers it can be viewed as an insult.
I am insulting Hara I do NOT like that guy.
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