The Kono BL Ga Yabai magazine announced their top 5 BL manga for 2021 at a special screening titled held on December 13, 2020.
BL Manga Rankings
1. Haru wo Daiteita Alive 6 by Nitta Youka
The original series, Embracing Love, is licensed by Sublime.
Summary: Iwaki Kyousuke and Katou Yoji are two hugely popular adult film stars looking for a way out of the industry. Their chance arrives when they’re both invited to audition for a new erotic film. Imagine their surprise when the director decides the only way for him to choose who will get the coveted lead role is for them to perform one of the film’s love scenes on the spot—with each other! Things get even crazier when Katou decides to take drastic measures to ensure he can continue seeing Iwaki after film production wraps. How will Iwaki respond to Katou’s impulsive act?
2. Old Fashioned Cupcake by Sagan Sagan
3. Happy Kuso Life by Harada
4. I Didn’t Mean to Fall in Love by Suzumaru Minta
I DIdn’t Mean to Fall in Love is officially licensed can be read in English on futekiya.
Summary: Yoshino is gay, thirty, and definitely not flirty – he’s never even dated anyone. He seems to have accepted the fact that he’ll die alone, until one night, in a gay bar for the first time in his life, he meets young, charming silver-haired Rou and grabs some drinks with him. Yoshino is drawn to Rou’s mysterious charm and they spend the night together talking…one thing leads to another and suddenly that’s not the only thing they’re doing tonight…? A sloppy, happy love story between a handsome college student playing the game of love the easy way, and a working adult who has yet to know what love is.
5. At 25:00 in Akasaka by Natsuno Hiroko
At 25:00 in Akasaka is officially licensed can be read in English on futekiya.
Summary: Yuki Shirasaki finally lands a huge role in TV drama Afternoon Dreams after years of toiling in theater. With popular actor Asami Hayama as his costar, Shirasaki plays a gay character in a relationship. But, Shirasaki has zero dating experience with either men or women. Shirasaki struggles to express his character’s feelings and takes drastic measures. To better embrace his new role, Shirasaki goes to a gay bar to find someone to sleep with for the experience. There, he runs into Hayama. How will Shirasaki react when Asami offers him his body?
BL Novel Rankings
1. Tsunaide Yes ka No ka Hanbun ka Bangaihen by Ichiho Michi
The first volume of this series is licensed and translated by Seven Seas Entertainment.
Summary: Kunieda Kei is the up-and-coming Prince Charming of the evening news. Inside, he’s the opposite: brash, hot-tempered, and prickly as can be. For years, Kei has successfully juggled his private and professional personas—until a chance meeting with a stop motion animator threatens to bring it all crashing down. But is that really as frightening as the possibility that someone might love and accept both sides of who he is?
2. Buddy DEADLOCK Season 2 by Saki Aida
3. Public School by Higuchi Misao
4. His Royal Secret by Lilah Pace
This is the Japanese translation of the English m/m romance novel by Lilah Pace.
Summary: James, the handsome, cosmopolitan Prince of Wales, is used to being in the public eye. But he’s keeping a king-sized secret…James, next in line for the throne, is gay.
He’s been able to hide his sexual orientation with the help of his best friend and beard, Lady Cassandra. Sometimes he feels like a coward for not coming out, but he daren’t risk losing the crown. If he did, the succession would fall on his deeply troubled younger sister, Princess Amelia. To protect her, James is willing to live a lie.
While on holiday, he meets Benjamin Dahan—a rugged international reporter with a globe-trotting, unattached life—who catches far more than James’s eye. And when Ben is transferred to London, it seems fate may finally be smiling on James.
But what began as a torrid fling grows into something far more intimate and powerful. Soon James will have to decide who he is, what he wants from life and love, and what he’s willing to sacrifice for the truth…
5. Romance Fuzen no Bokutshi wa by Tsukimura Kei
The full rankings of Kono BL Ga Yabai 2021 will be released on December 16, 2020.
What do you think of these results? What are your guesses for the other ranks? Let us know in the comments or in the forum!