What’s Your Yaoi?
I’ve created a long list of my favourite
mangakas, some of who have also produced mangas in other genres and
doujinshis, but for now I’m strictly concentrating on their gay fiction. I’ve
chosen different tropes and sub genres to separate them, which isn’t to say that
any one is better than the other, it’s just my way of distinguishing between
them. Art as with writing is purchased and
enjoyed based on opinion—one man’s junk is another man’s treasure. And these
are their stories I treasure the most.
List 1 to 5
1. Smut:
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Bousou Kareshi |
If you’re looking for smutty no-brainer
plots with lots of sexy man on man action with buff guys that cause the reader
to suffer from constant nosebleeds, look no further. Not only is Sakira damned awesome at drawing the male physique, she’s cornered the market
on dirty humour. Honestly, I don’t think there’s a taboo she’s missed from
twisted tales of BDSM to a cross-dressing university student and the sadistic
teenage son of a yakuza boss giving it to an older man. Many of her works are
one-shots. My favourites are: Pure-Hearted Lies, Absolute Love Tyrant, Lovely
Lover, and The Moment of Excitement from Bousou Kareshi, which continues with
more stories about Ran and Keitatsu in Hatsujou Kareshi (Boyfriend in Heat).
2. Older Man with a Younger Man:
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Harem Days |
There are a number of mangakas that have used the ‘older man with a younger
man’ trope and it was really hard to decide which was my favourite. But in the
end, I kept coming back to Naono Bohara. If my memory serves me correct, I
read somewhere Naono Bohara liked using this trope because she’s involved with
an older man. Well, whatever the reason, she’s nailed it on the head. My
favourites are: Harem Days, Itsuka no Himitsu and Confession. And I’ve got to
say, I love writing these types of stories myself, considering I’m with an older
man and have dated many in the past. Hmm…could it be art depicting life?
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Itsuka no Himitsu |
3. Soap Opera Series:
According to the dictionary a soap opera is a television or radio
series that concentrates on the daily events in the lives of the same group of
characters. Well, in this case, I’m referring to a pair of yaoi series written
by the same artist Nakamura Shungiku. And I think everyone will agree Sekai-ichi Hatsukoi and Junjou Romantica are total soap operas. With multiple
characters involved in various relationships, both are full of laughs, romance,
angst and drama to a perfected combination.
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Sekai-ichi Hatsukoi |
4. High School:
This is a setting that has been used to death with tropes like:
senpai falls for student or student falls for senpai, or one student’s been in
love with his best friend since he can’t remember when (childhood) and when
they get into high school he goes crazy. And, of course, there’s the private
school setting where the rich young man falls for the lowly poor kid, et cetera, et cetera. And in many cases the love interest carries on into college.
Again, this was a difficult choice with so many yaoi to pick from. But, I found
Kazuma Kodaka’s Bad Teacher’s Equation, a five volume series, best defined the
trope: student falls for his teacher and it takes until he graduates for his
love to be reciprocated.
Bad Teacher's Equation |
5. Seme on Seme Action:
There are countless yaoi with ukes that equal their counterpart in
one way or another, for instance, when it comes to wits or personality. And in
some stories the uke is the verbally dominant one, feisty and even rude, while
the seme is the strong silent type. But when it comes to seme on seme action,
the stories aren’t so abundant. Akira Norikazu has drawn some pretty buff ukes
that give the impression of being a seme, but they are still ukes. The best
yaoi I’ve found so far is TxS, art and story by Takatsuki Noboru. Both guys are
cops, both are crazy about one another, sexy and buff, but both are also semes who
constantly argue over who’s going to top.
My list will continue on Thursday!
Happy Yaoi Hunting!
Blak Rayne
Agree with Junjou Romantica and Sekai-ichi Hatsukoi. Haven't read the others. Some of my other favorite yaoi are Yellow, Fever, and Love Control.
ReplyDeleteThanks for stopping by, Pamela. Great to hear from you. I've heard of Yellow and Fever, not Love Control. I'll have to check those out. :)
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