Sign by Ker

 

Kang Soohwa's day is not off to a great start. He desperately needs a part-time job to pay his bills, but while chasing after free wi-fi, he gets soaked by a hose and faints shortly after. When he wakes up, he is greeted by Go Yohan, the manager of Cafe Goyo; and his employee, Oh Gyoon. After Soohwa begs the two men to hire him, Yohan sympathetically agrees despite Gyoon's protests.

Gyoon hands Soohwa a guide for sign language, which he will need because Yohan is deaf. Although Yohan was not born deaf, he prefers to communicate using sign language since he cannot hear his own voice. Even more shockingly, Soohwa discovers that he is aroused by Yohan's deep voice! Due to this predicament, Soohwa resolves to master sign language by himself—but when Yohan offers to be his teacher, their relationship is about to become far more tangled than Soohwa could imagine.

My Rate: 9 (amzn.to/478GrwF)

I'm not 100% convinced by Sign, meaning that there are a little too more points left hanging (like the boss and her secretary) but all in all, this was a nice romantic comedy, more fun than drama. There was a villain, but in the end the villain was more like a bully, and his bad actions were not without reversal. Actually the only one really suffering a loss is Yohan. But Yohan is sort of this Gandhi like character, who doesn't seem able to be angry with anyone. I'm not sure if the love story between Yohan and Soohwa is born out of feelings or more out of sexual tension, nevertheless, it evolves quite fast but in the right direction, so I'm satisfied.

A Tail's Tale by Mizu Sahara

 

Nachi Hiyama plays softball, but hates how she never tans like her teammates. Feeling alone and discouraged, she struggles to fit in. That is, until she meets Utsumi, a quiet, shy boy at her school, and discovers his secret; he has a tail!

They might be different, but they can be different together.

My Rate: 8 (amzn.to/4kwRqW3)

I Can't Get Through the Night Alone by You Matsumoto

 

Japan, 1950s. Seishiro is unable to sleep alone at night due to the trauma of the war, and lives a dull life.

The year 1950, Japan.

Traumatized by the war, Seishiro is unable to sleep through the night. That is, until he meets Jim, a friendly American soldier stationed in Japan. Seeing the opportunity to change his life, Seishiro suggests they become a couple! Jim is smitten with Seishiro right away, seemingly oblivious to Sei's ulterior motives.

At first, Seishiro only sees their relationship as a means to an end. But night after night, as he falls asleep in Jim’s gentle embrace, the heart that broke on the battlefield slowly begins to heal...

My Rate: 8 (amzn.to/4mx51yy)

I Was Reincarnated as the Heroine on the Verge of a Bad Ending, and I'm Determined to Fall in Love!

 

A dating sim enthusiast wakes up in the body of Reine Waynewright: an adorable otome heroine in a fantasy game! Reine discovers that in this world, she's a lowly F-rank student at the magical Heartfelt Academy, bullied by her classmates and snubbed by her love interests for her lack of talent. Determined to avoid a Bad Ending, Reine resolves to study hard, practice her magic, and pass the exams to increase her rank!

If she grinds hard enough, she may be able to change her fate: make new friends, improve herself, and maybe even fall in love along the way!

My Rate: 8 (amzn.to/3YZnx8L)

Love on the Horizon by Machi Yamashita

 

A sweet, poignant new BL series about a college student's crush on his upperclassman and next door neighbor, perfect for fans of My Ultramarine Sky, Number Call, Given, and The White and Blue Between Us!

Art university student Nagi Kitagawa is hopelessly in love with Yuu Yamasaki, his senpai in the folk song club who also happens to be his next door neighbor. Yuu seems to have it all--good looks, a great personality, and he’s also super popular--so Nagi can’t help but think he’d never fall for a shy, innocent country bumpkin like him. One night, after drinking too much at one of their club get-togethers, Nagi helps a drunk Yuu get home safe--but before he can go back to his own apartment, Yuu wraps Nagi in his arms and falls asleep, trapping Nagi in his embrace. Nagi sneaks out the next morning, careful to not wake Yuu up, and vows to keep the incident a secret. But when Nagi finds himself growing closer and closer to Yuu, his unrequited feelings only grow stronger...but could it be his love isn’t as one-sided as he thinks it is...?

My Rate: 9 (amzn.to/43ILyDA)

My Classmate Ren-kun Is Kinda Scary by Kusege

 

The blossoming relationship between these boys is too cute to handle...!

The aggressive Ren and serious Tadaomi have been inseparable since elementary school. And even though Ren is kinda scary, he instantly melts when he's with Tadaomi. Everyone around them knows how they feel about each other... except for the two of them!

Don't miss this BL comedy!

My Rate: 8 (amzn.to/4k5wyW8)

Palace of the Omega by Fumi Tsuyuhisa

 

The omega prince of a poor nation has been sold off to a wealthy alpha king for political and financial gain, but all is not as it seems.

Ilia, the 13th prince of a small kingdom, was born an unexpected—and very much unwanted—omega whose birth brought shame upon his royal family. As the lowest-ranking member and an omega, he is destined for a political marriage meant to improve his kingdom’s standing.

Resigned to his fate, Prince Ilia travels to his new faraway home. Upon entering the king’s gilded palace, where he’s expecting to meet his future husband, he instead finds a mysterious young boy with an unsettling message. 

My Rate: 8 (amzn.to/4dsQKyE)

Love Is a Poison (2024)

 I had my radar on Love is a Poison for a year at least. It was on Netflix, but not for the Italian market, and I did wonder which level of BL it had, considering it was distributed in a mainstream platform. Indeed I wasn't expecting much, maybe something on the line of Fermat's Cuisine, obviously a love story between the two male characters, but all in the fantasy of the viewer and nothing on plain view. I was wrong. Not only Shiba and Haruto confesses their feelings, they even exchange rings and make their relationship public. Sure, the level of intimacy you have is the same of a regency romance: meaning, everything happens behind closed doors, and you are not invited inside the room but that doesn't matter, I liked the same that they were affectionate enough to make it clear they were a couple. Nice one. HEA. You can see it on Netflix and Viki. Heat Level: 3/6.



Heat Level:
1/6: glances, caress, hugs, no kisses
2/6: kisses, closed mouth or camera angles
3/6: full kisses, clothes on
4/6: full kisses, some clothes off, hands above the waist, pants stay on
5/6: most clothes off, they have sex, but it’s masked, no sexy sounds
6/6: full nudity mostly hidden by camera angles, they have sex, sexy sounds

10 Things I Want to Do Before I Turn 40 by Mamita

 

A man’s birthday bucket list could lead him to a brand-new love in this sweet Boys’ Love story. From the creator of Wanna Be My Dress-Up Lover? and Natsume Wants to be Trained—both also available from Seven Seas!

Suzume Tōjō is just three months away from turning forty and realizes there’s so much he hasn’t done with his life! So, he makes a plan: create a private list of things he’s always wanted to do and check them off before turning the big four-oh. It’s a rather simple list, filled with goals that should be easy to accomplish, like a takoyaki party, enjoying a parfait out in a cafe, and spending his birthday with a lover. Except, that last one comes with a major problem—Tōjō hasn’t had a lover in ten years! But when Keishi Tanaka, Tōjō’s handsome junior at the company, discovers the secret list, he’s determined to help Tōjō check off every single item—starting with the “lover” part!

A fun, sexy BL romp between an assertive junior colleague and a senior past his prime!

My Rate: 8 (amzn.to/45rB4K6)

I admit it, I have a soft spot for office romance involving older men. Now, 40 and 30 are not really so old, but apparently for Japanese office worker going over 40 is reaching the end, and that is the reason why Suzume makes a buket list that Keishi, his younger colleague, discover. It so happen that both Suzume and Keishi are gay, and when Keishi discover that, decides it's the time to turn his crush on Suzume into a real relationship. He is like a avalanche, not leaving Suzume any place to hide. A real sweet and good comedy, not drama, and I like the little tidbit, like having Keishi being almost blind without glasses, making him a little less perfect, but still so handsome.

Gal-kun Will Definitely Fall in Love! by Akasaka

 

This volume comes with an exclusive Animate Bonus Manga!

No one would ever expect the extroverted Yoshi and the introverted Takayuki to have anything in common. However, they actually meet up after school to go on dates in secret! Though these dates are "practice" to help Takayuki get out of his shell, Yoshi is secretly harboring feelings for the stoic gentleman...

If Takayuki finds out how Yoshi feels, then these practice dates might end, but it's not easy for him to keep his infatuation under wraps! But Yoshi's been unlucky in love before, so he knows that being friends is better than nothing... Right? Don't miss this sweet opposites-attract love story!

My Rate: 7 (amzn.to/3F8uLk7)

This one was really sweet, not at all the usual naughty stuff you are accustomed to when dealing with high school japanese boys love. The funny thing is that Yoshi is actually a sexual active teenager, but there is basically no smut in this story, and when we arrive to the deed (because, yes, they arrive to it) it's very chaste, barely the glimpse of naked skin and no x-rated panels. It was unexpected but refreshing. The story itself wasn't nothing new, but I liked how the story maintained its interest and the graphic was cute too. These boys were way more ordinary than expected, but nevertheless cute.

Mitsuka by akabeko

Leo is host at a nightclub, and he always thought he had no interest in men ― until he slept with Takahiro, a sex worker who introduced him to pleasures he'd never felt before. Now, sex with women doesn’t satisfy him, and after begging Takahiro to sleep with him again, they agree to a “friends with benefits” arrangement.

But just when Leo thinks he may be falling in love, one of his best customers asks him to sleep with her. Takahiro catches him in the act, and things take a dark turn…

My Rate: 7 (amzn.to/43ghTSd)

Mitsuka was one of the first BL manga I read after a hyatus of, more or less, 20 years. Maybe that is the reason why I liked it so much at the time, I was used to the stories to be more patinated, all about beautiful boys, perfect men with perfect bodies, and indeed the sex was quite rushed and not so romantic. Now I'm not saying that the sex in Mitsuka is romantic, not at all, quite the opposite indeed, but I sort of like how these men are basic, sometime even too faulty. Takahiro is indeed quite a beautiful speciman, but he is also weak when dealing with feelings; and Mareo is so naivee that you wonder how he survived as an host. So in retrospective, Mitsuka is nothing special, but it has a special spot in my list of BL manga.

My Beautiful Man by Yuu Nagira and Megumi Kitano

 

The manga adaptation of the popular boys love light novel series, perfect for fans of school life romance, interpersonal drama, and underdog protagonists.

Kiyoi and Hira have lived separate lives since that fateful high school graduation day kiss, but when they reunite again after so much time has passed, it's like no time has passed at all. Hira, once again worshipfully obsessed with his king Kiyoi, is now dedicated to following him at a distance for the rest of his life. Kiyoi, on the other hand, is bitterly coming to the realization that he wants Hira to want him... romantically. With Hira's lack of emotional comprehension skills and Kiyoi's stubbornness and pride, will the two of them be able to actually communicate their true feelings?

My Rate: 7 (amzn.to/4jlotf0)

I love so much this story that I saw the drama (2 series and 1 movie), read the novel and now reading also the manga. The reason why I love it so much is because these two boys are so sweet and innocent, despite the bad world out there. Hira and Kiyoi seem to live in their own world, and nothing is able to interfere in their bubble. The drama, and the manga, are really beautiful from and aesthetic point of view, the novel is more raunchy indeed, but nevertheless, I like them all. I'm not sure how many time I have seen the drama, and I have read the novels at least three times. It's sort of my comfort stuff, when I want to be satisfied, I know what to put on view.

Pink Heart Jam and Pink Heart Jam: Beat by Shikke

A drunken dare turns into a college student’s chance to confront his own sexuality—by visiting a male brothel!

For college student Haiga, starting school in the big city is a chance to make new friends and try new things. On the first day of classes, he spots an impossibly gorgeous upperclassman named Kanae strumming a guitar and decides to join the school’s rock band. But later, when a drunken dare gives Haiga the opportunity to visit a male brothel, he finds his crush employed there as a sex worker!

Haiga lets Kanae introduce him to gay sex, and afterward his innocent crush on Kanae is replaced with a whole new type of attraction. Even as their bond outside the brothel strengthens, Kanae will only be intimate inside its confines—and only in certain ways. What will it take for the two to go beyond experimentation and forge a real relationship?

My Rate: 8 (amzn.to/4kyLqMD)



A drunken college dare to visit a brothel leads to serious romance when a now-former brothel beauty and his younger college boyfriend move in together!

College student Haiga, now a senior, has finally moved in with his boyfriend, Kanae, a former classmate and brothel beauty who’s since graduated and joined the workforce. And although they’re living together, that doesn’t mean they aren’t both still busy with their own lives—Kanae with work and Haiga with his career aspirations.

Noticing Haiga’s job search hasn’t been going well—and that they haven’t been on a date in a while—Kanae decides to take him out to cheer him up. Unfortunately, even that doesn’t go well, and Kanae falls ill. But as the seasons pass, the two affirm and reaffirm their relationship, and before long, it’s time for Haiga’s final college performance—his graduation concert!

My Rate: 8 (amzn.to/4jmRp61)

The main reason why I picked Pink Heart Jam was because the cover was super pretty :-) I will admit it, there was no other reason, but behind the pretty cover I discovered a nice story too. I was quite impressed how they managed to make romantic a story about sex workers, but they dealt with the matter in such a unattached attitude that made it like any other job. There was no dark stuff, no dirty details, Kanae is working at a brothel like if he was working behind the counter in a drugstore, and Haiga is not judging him less for it, actually I think Kanae could do even worst things and Haiga would still consider him sort of a semi-god. Yes, this one was this sort of mix of TMI details (like the condom for the fingers, first time I read about it) and beautiful panels that I couldn't avoid with falling for these guys.