In a few of my posts, I mentioned some titles have ranked in the 2025 Chill Chill BL Awards. So today I’ll finally talk about them!
In short, Chill Chill is a database and community site dedicated to BL. (Please note the site is all in Japanese.) Users can browse recent releases, rate and review them, discover titles through extensive filters, read author and artist interviews, log your bookshelf, and more! Users can also choose their favorite authors, artists, and works. This information in turn can be used to find recommendations through their BL Sommelier service, which does utilize some type of AI. Chill Chill also has several social media accounts outside their main site.
Please Note: Chill Chill has non-explicit mature content on the site.
On their front page, they list the top 10 rated works over the last 10 days, with options to change the time range. This ranking is determined by how many ratings the work has received in that time. While there’s a primary focus on commercial BL manga, Chill Chill’s extensive database also includes novels, drama CDs, and doujin/self-published works. It also includes some non-BL works and works translated into Japanese, such as M/M novels like Captive Prince.
Licensed manga titles include:
β‘ Our Dining Table: Seconds, Please! (#1) – Seven Seas
β‘ PUNKS TRIANGLE stitch 1 (#2) – this sequel actually isn’t licensed as of now, but Seven Seas licensed the prequel
β‘ Kitayama and Minamiya 5 (#5) – Seven Seas
β‘ My Beautiful Man 5 (#8) – Tokyopop
Now, the BL Awards is an annual event that ranks the top works of the previous year, primarily focusing on manga. This only includes commercial BL works that were released as a volume/tankobon. For 2025, they also have categories for best webtoon, novel, and drama CD. Ratings on Chill Chill determine which works are nominated, and then users vote over the course of about 10 days. The results were then released in April, showing the top 20 for most categories. As long as they have a Chill Chill account, anyone can vote! The page is mostly in Japanese, but there are some parts of the site that have translations available.
π₯ Noumi-senpai no Benmei – Not licensed
π₯ You Should be the One to Come Kiss Me – Renta! (Digital only)
π₯ My Noons and Midnights are For You – Tokyopop; Releases Nov 2025
While I mentioned the BL Sommelier service earlier, these people can actually become a Chill Chill certified BL Sommelier through an exam! This exam is in two parts and offered once a year! The exam has a 1.4% pass rate, with only 36 of 2,508 test takers becoming certified BL Sommeliers as of 2024. The next exam takes place in October of this year. Sommeliers work with Chill Chill for a variety of online projects and events, now including the Chill Chill BL Awards! The BL Sommelier Recommendation category was a new category for this year, where Sommeliers nominated and voted on works. As this is not based on general popularity in comparison to the other categories, I hope they continue to have this category in future BL Awards.
β‘ My Instructor Won’t Yield (2nd Place)- Kodansha; Releases Aug 2025
β‘ Yotsuya Ghost Night – Tokyopop; Releases Oct 2025
β‘ My Cute Teacher – Renta! (digital only)
While Chill Chill is primarily for Japanese audiences, they have begun to connect with international fans. Their English X (Twitter) account has been growing over the last year. It’ll be interesting to see what they’ll do in the future! Japanese and international audiences in general do have different tastes, but Chill Chill and the BL Awards is still a valuable resource to those who are interested in the Japanese BL world.
To be honest, I would adore an English version of Chill Chill. But with the cost of hosting a database and website and then maintaining, it is rather costly. There was a project called Ouendan Blue that was similar to Chill Chill for English licensed BL but unfortunately ceased updating a few years back. (The site seems unreachable now too.) General English manga and anime databases like anilist and MyAnimeList already exist, so I am unsure of the need. (I personally would love to participate in making one dedicated to BL manga…)
To end this post, I will refer to two more blog posts from Renta!’s BLog for further reading on Chill Chill. Renta! in Japan is a well-known e-book platform, and the English version of Renta! differs a bit from the Japanese site, as it’s not only a platform but a digital-only English publisher as well. And while the Japanese site has all genres, the English site focuses more on romance and BL. The BLog is run by the localization team and a neat resource for information on BL culture within Japan, which I feel is rarely available in English! Note: There may be discussions of mature content on the BLog.
ChillChill BL Awards 2024, and their Importance in the BL Landscape
β‘ Gives an overview and history of Chill Chill and the BL Awards
We Attended the ChillChill Fujoshi Seminar!
β‘ Introduces Sandias, Chill Chill’s parent company and their BL market research
β‘ Discusses Sandias’ seminar that focused on international fans and BL
Last edited: 2025.07.16
Stacks of BL 