BL Manga for Beginners Main Page
Part 04: BL Events in Japan✧ Part 06: Recommendations for Teens

Last year, I wrote a blog post on BL publishing in English, which has some outdated information now. This is essentially a new version of that post, with a narrower focus on Japanese BL manga. These publishers mainly print commercial BL, but I have included a few who work on indie BL as well. The post will cover some additional information as well.

Who is Publishing BL Manga in English?
US-based publishers mainly print their titles, with some offering digital, and even fewer being digital- only. Japan-based publishers of BL manga in English are mainly digital, though there have been some print releases. Print releases from these publishers are limited, often restricted to specific stores and more difficult to purchase outside the US .

While print publishing is more popular in the US, digital is vastly more popular in Japan. However, digital publishing has also been growing as well. Digital publishing gives more flexibility and offers chances to titles that may be more difficult to license in print. Some are also released by chapter, similar to Japanese serialization. 

The following lists are broken up by where they are based and then listed in alphabetical order. Note that there may be mature content on some sites, mainly with the digital platforms.

US-based Publishers
BluPetal Media: A media company that focuses on BL, GL, and shojo/josei. They haven’t licensed any BL manga yet.
Blush Club:  BL imprint of indie publisher Crossed Hearts. Their BL titles haven’t been unveiled yet.
Glacier Bay Books/Star Fruit Books: Following the passing of Star Fruit Books founder Matt Haasch, the publishing line being transferred to Glacier Bay Books. Both Star Fruit and Glacier Bay focus on independent manga.
Juné: BL imprint of Digital Manga Inc. and one of the oldest publishers of BL in English. Unfortunately, DMI in general has not been active online since 2024.
J-Novel Knight: BL imprint of digital publisher J-Novel Club. While focused on more novels, they currently have one manga. Some of their titles are printed through a partnership with Yen Press, but currently all the BL ones are digital only.
Kuma: BL imprint of independent manga publisher Denpa.
Kodansha USA: The US division of the Japanese publisher. It also includes titles from Vertical, which was acquired by and integrated into the publisher.
Seven Seas Entertainment: Was the largest independent manga publisher in the US until it was acquired by Japanese company Media Do International in March 2026. /
Square Enix Manga and Books: The US of the Japanese company. Several of their BL titles were initially published by chapter on their app Manga UP! and released in tankobon volumes later on.
SuBLime: BL publisher created through a partnership between Viz Media, Libre, and Animate.
Tokyopop: A longtime US-based manga publisher that had shut down around 2008-2011 before returning. Its old BL imprint was called Blu, and current BL titles are part of their LoveLove imprint.
Yen Press: A publisher co-owned by Hachette Book Group and Japanese corporation Kadokawa. 

Japan-based Publishers
Animate International: Primarily releases works digitally, though some have made it to print. Their printed titles are primarily distributed by Animate USA. The company actually focuses more on licensing and importing goods from outside Japan.
Futekiya: Originally a digital BL manga publisher and platform from Japanese company Fantasista. It was eventually merged with the parent platform Manga Planet until the closure of the site in March 2026. It now focuses on print releases, which are primarily distributed in the US by Kinokuniya USA. 
MangaPlaza: An online platform and publisher owned by NTT Solmare, the multimedia company behind the Japanese e-book site Cmoa. They have also printed a few tiles from Cmoa’s digital manga labels. Their printed titles are primarily distributed in the US by Kinokuniya USA. 
Red String Manga: A publisher that focuses on independent manga. Their titles are distributed in the US by their partner Manga Mavericks Books.
Renta!: A digital platform and publisher owned by Papyless, a long-time Japanese e-book distribution company. The English version of Renta! focuses on BL, GL, and shojo/josei manga.

Some Japanese publishers also have digitally published in English independently, with their titles distributed on various digital platforms. Some examples include Takeshobo, Kadokawa, and Compass

License Suggestions
There are multiple ways manga can get licensed, including looking at readers’ suggestions. Many English-language publishers have license request forms readers can fill out. Some are perpetually available (often posted on the publisher’s site), while others are only offered at certain times. For example, Seven Seas releases license requests monthly. Some publishers also look at social media, whether they’re tagged in a post or if a post goes viral. For more history on the process of licensing manga in the US, I recommend checking out chapter 4 of Manga in America by Casey Brienza.

What titles that are ultimately licensed depend on multiple factors, including relationships with Japanese publishers. Last month, BL fan Court created a license request guide for print publishers, which shows data on Japanese publishers and magazines/labels of print licensed titles. It’s interesting information!

Wrap Up
Since the early 2000s, BL manga has been translated into English. Since then it has greatly expanded. While I focus on manga on this blog, BL novels, webcomics, dramas, games and other media from Japan and other countries have grown in popularity over the years. I hope the list is helpful for those looking for BL manga!

I also wanted to talk more on manga publishing, but ended up not having a lot of time to go into the topic in the end. I mentioned Manga in America already, but The Cambridge Companion to Manga and Anime have a few interesting chapters about manga/editor relationships and manga distribution in Japan. For those who have the opportunity, industry panels at in-person and online conventions may have publishers discuss the topic. There are also a handful of interviews, posts/articles, podcasts and more featuring industry professionals available online. I love learning about behind the scenes work, and learning about translation, editing, lettering, and more is super interesting. I think learning about the different jobs that go into releasing manga in English is worthwhile, especially with the rise of AI in manga localization, such as translation or lettering. For me, it really helps me appreciate the work localization staff do.

In the next posts, I’ll finally be introducing a few title recommendations I would recommend for beginners. One will be geared for teens and the other for adults. My lists are written more in mind for librarians looking for BL manga for their collections, but I hope it can be useful for others. See you next time!

As usual, please let me know if there are any errors too.

Further Reading/Resources
Manga in America: Transnational Book Publishing and the Domestication of Japanese Comics – Casey Brienza
The Ultimate BL License Request Guide – Court
The Cambridge Companion to Manga and Anime