BL must-reads (an ultimate retrospective)

star x fanboy has long been my favorite webcomic. as someone who never really read much shounen-ai, there is certainly something to be said that this one has captured my heart time and time again.

there is NO manga/manhwa/manhua/comic/media/ANYTHING that i return to as frequently as star x fanboy. it is the cutest, sweetest, palette-cleansing experience, and if there's anything you should read, it's this one 100 times over.

i love star park!!!

harada is a well-known mangaka in the yaoi community, and for good reason. her stuff is toxic and often disturbing - she certainly does not shy away from unethical relationships and extremely cruel characters!

still, if you're in the right mindset for it, her work is some of the best out there. i don't know if this is her best one, but i reread it recently and really enjoyed it. i think it's one of her happier endings as well. warning for chapter 5 - it's intense stuff.

a lot of times, mangakas neglect the plot to focus on sex, and i certainly understand why. with translation error and cultural differences, plots that aren't well-fleshed out can turn confusing in an instant. but i can appreciate a yaoi that tries.

this one balances that line really well. its focus may be on the BDSM relationship, but there's some really moving dialogue and the loving side of the relationship develops very nicely. i think it's a really beautiful time.

i'll always love sign; i'm a shallow person and the art, humor, and embarrassed little sex scenes are up my alley in a way almost nothing else is. i can't speak much for season 2, but the first ~60 chapters are genuinely some of the hottest BL i've ever read which is an achievement any mangaka should be proud of.

i'm not sure if others will get the same enjoyment out of it, but for me this is one of my favorites and a high, high recommendation.

killing stalking is a webtoon zeitgeist, and while it might not necessarily deserve that title, it would be impossible to sweep its cultural significance in the BL sphere under the rug. i am not ashamed to say that this is THE media that got me into yaoi (as in, korean/japanese gay comics) and i think the same can be said for many others.

while i feel that it being referred to as a yaoi is perhaps not accurate, and the quality overall can be debated, it is still a valuable read.

i'm sure this one could be controversial but it's one i think about often; the plot is almost nonexistent and while it is definitely gay, it lacks any real substance in that regard (at least it did for the hundred-whatever chapters i read). but it's very comedic and easy reading, and i hope it goes on for many, many days.