For those unfamiliar, August 1st is Yaoi Day! 8 can be pronounced “ya” in Japanese, so 801 can be read as “yaoi”. So what does “yaoi” actually mean?? Here is an except from James Welker’s “A Short History of Shonen’ai, Yaoi and Boys Love” chapter from Boys Love Manga and Beyond (p. 55).

“By the early 1980s, the term “yaoi”—in recent years a truly global label for male homoerotic manga and anime—was beginning to be used in the amateur comics sphere to name these amateur homoerotic works. The word is an acronym for “yama nashi, ochi nashi, imi nashi,” or, roughly, “no climax,
no point, no meaning,” an apt description of the relatively plotless original narratives and parodies replete with implied or roughly depicted male-on male sex. Its coinage and initial use had little specifically to do with the genre, however.”

Though “yaoi” was originally created and used by doujinshi creators, the term was used in some commercial BL magazines in the 90s. But eventually, boys love/BL became the main term in Japan. While yaoi fell out of use in Japan, its use by English publishers when they began licensing BL manga in the early 2000s means it basically became synonymous with commercial BL for Anglophone readers. Many Anglophone BL fans know and understand it’s an old word, but enjoy using the term. (Me included!) However, some people think yaoi specifically means explicit BL while shonen’ai is focused more on romance and has no sexual content. (That’s a whole other conversation though.)

I’ve been pretty busy wrapping up my summer classes, but I still want to include some recommendations in this post! While many BL manga is only a single volume, it often means a story has a quick development. That is why my personal favorite type of short BL titles are ones that are 2 volumes long, which gives the story a bit more breathing room. These titles often have 上 (jou) and 下 (ge) to mark volumes 1 and 2 respectively.

Stigmata: Love Bites by Hidebu Takahashi
Publisher: SuBLime
Rating: Mature
This story was the first one I’ve read from Hidebu Takahashi, whose unique artwork is very captivating. I thought the premise for this was so interesting, as Asako (left) can feel the pain and obtain wounds of victims when he is near a crime scene… So what happens when you feel the emotions of your superior’s ex-wife who was murdered? I loved how both Kuroiwa (right) and Asako struggled to navigate their feelings, trying to figure out if it’s only because of the case or not.

Before its print release, Stigmata:Love Bites was released digitally on Futekiya. For Yaoi Day, Futekiya announced that Hidebu Takahashi’s work Psychedelia, which also centers around detectives, has been licensed for print! So excited to see another work have a physical version.

Haberdashery Ginmokusei by Mamita
Publisher: KUMA
Rating: Mature
Note: Currently only volume 1 has released! Volume 2 is slated to release in October.

When I first started getting into BL manga a few years back, Haberdashery Ginmokusei was actually one of the first manga I purchased in Japanese! Like Mamita, I too love suits and thought the idea of a BL set in a tailor shop was so cool. When Ubuki (left) is struggling to keep customers at the tailor shop he inherited from his grandfather, Theo (right) suddenly appears and offers to help improve business. Learning why Theo decided to help Ubuki was very sweet, and I’m excited that there’s a sequel serializing in Japanese!

I’ve read most of Mamita’s works, and I can say that this one is still my top favorite. I’ve enjoyed all of them to be honest, so you can’t go wrong with any title! Many of Mamita’s works were licensed in English last year are now releasing this year! Natsume Wants to be Trained will actually release later this month from Seven Seas.