Two boys fighting over a girl is far from being a new premise. They probably take up a fourth of all shoujo manga. What I'm looking for is two boys fighting over a girl only to find that they also have some interest in each other. The girl should be the main character and remain the main love interest. It doesn't have to end with them together; even very vague subtext would satisfy me.
The only example I can think of is Cipher. Anise's love interests are platonic twins, but they make out enough to count.
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Love Triangle with Shounen-ai
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2:48 am, Oct 23 2009
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Bara no Tame ni. Kind of,
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Spoiler (highlight to view)
in the middle (toward the end ?) of the story, the brothers fall in love with the main girl (but the little brother is still in love with the big brother at the same time he develops feeling to the the main girl). Though I don't know if the scanlation has already reached that part or not.
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Namehage
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6:04 am, Oct 23 2009
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The only one I can think of isn't shounen-ai - it's yaoi - not subtext.
Koi no Kawaki
I'm not sure the guys like each other so much as use each other for comfort, though.
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If you've ever thought or said "Nice Guys finish last" and really meant it, then you should probably read this LJ post by DivaLion. It's incredibly insightful whether you're male or female.
From a bumper sticker I like:
"If you're gonna ride my ass, at least pull my hair."
Koi no Kawaki
I'm not sure the guys like each other so much as use each other for comfort, though.
________________
If you've ever thought or said "Nice Guys finish last" and really meant it, then you should probably read this LJ post by DivaLion. It's incredibly insightful whether you're male or female.
From a bumper sticker I like:
"If you're gonna ride my ass, at least pull my hair."
Member
6:59 am, Oct 23 2009
Posts: 1354
@yuuri097, yeah, it's reached that part. 
Happily for me! 
There are more yaoi titles than shounen-ai titles with this layout, I'm afraid. (Two guys fight over a girl and subsequently get together or at least contemplate doing so.)
The Love Letter is the one shounen-ai title I can recall. It's a short story about a girl confessing to Guy A and getting rejected by him, only to have Guy B (who's actually in love with her) pick a fight with A and end up in a weirdly subtextual - albeit entirely platonic and slightly antagonistic - "friendship" with A, and one that lasts for many years. No actual gayness here, but plenty is implied. Neat little role reversal somewhere in there, too. (Won't say what it is, so as to not spoil it for you.)
"The Ugly Duckling and the Prince," which is the third story in The Door to the Closed Mind, qualifies as yaoi. In it, the protagonist is a shy guy who resents the popular "prince" that had once captured the heart of the girl the protagonist loved. But the prince seems more interested in him - or is he?
Silence has something similar; the lead guy keeps getting his girlfriends stolen by an ambiguously gay "friend" who eventually (predictably) makes a move on him instead.
50x50 is a comic take on two competing womanizers, both adamantly "straight," who sometimes end up going for the same women (not always, 'cause their types are different - but enough times to cause some friction). They're sworn enemies and fierce rivals, and yet they inexplicably end up in bed together whenever they make the mistake of getting drunk... Which is quite often.
Tonari ni Iru no ni, Tooi has, again, a protagonist whose good friend is a popular playboy. This "good friend" sleeps with the protagonist's ex-girlfriend, who has so little tact as to remark that the new guy is better at sex. (OUCH!) The protagonist immediately resents this remark, but is his resentment all that it seems?
I'm sure there are a few others... I'll return with more.
Edit: Oh! Here's more.
Atashi wa Bambi - SO TOTALLY WHAT YOU ARE LOOKING FOR OMG. And it's not even shounen-ai, technically... Just really subtexty shoujo.
The Sun and the Moon - again, SO TOTALLY WHAT YOU ARE LOOKING FOR. Is officially classified as shounen-ai as well as shoujo, though, so the lead's a little more gay here.
I think Oyayubihime Infinity has a weird sort of triangle going on that actually qualifies, with two guys and a girl, but keep in mind that this only works because of rebirth. I'll refrain from saying anything more, in case I spoil the rather convoluted plot, but the manga is awesome even if it is very, very strange.
The same mangaka as OI has also written Shibutani-kun Tomo no Kai, which has a similarly curious set-up - Guy A loves girl loves Guy B loves Guy A, with A only being a grudging friend of B's, as B is his "rival". B would rather make it with A than with the girl, though. Although, possibly in an effort to keep the girl away from A, he sometimes leads the girl on as well...
Peter Panda is showing signs of developing in that direction. Crazy mad subtext between the male "friends," as well as building romantic sentiment towards the female protagonist.
Sweet Blood has subtexty hints of this.
My Barbaric Girlfriend may qualify because of the bizarre gender-switching, but the leading "man" is now a woman and the woman is now a, er. Man. And she's getting it on with a former female friend of hers, while the boy-girl finds himself winning the unwanted affection of a male friend of his, even though he loves the other gender-switching girl - gah, too confusing. But I think it qualifies? Maybe. Uh. If a guy can be his own rival in someone else's body? Oh, wait. @_@
Last edited by tartufo at 7:27 am, Oct 23 2009
Happily for me! There are more yaoi titles than shounen-ai titles with this layout, I'm afraid. (Two guys fight over a girl and subsequently get together or at least contemplate doing so.)
The Love Letter is the one shounen-ai title I can recall. It's a short story about a girl confessing to Guy A and getting rejected by him, only to have Guy B (who's actually in love with her) pick a fight with A and end up in a weirdly subtextual - albeit entirely platonic and slightly antagonistic - "friendship" with A, and one that lasts for many years. No actual gayness here, but plenty is implied. Neat little role reversal somewhere in there, too. (Won't say what it is, so as to not spoil it for you.)
"The Ugly Duckling and the Prince," which is the third story in The Door to the Closed Mind, qualifies as yaoi. In it, the protagonist is a shy guy who resents the popular "prince" that had once captured the heart of the girl the protagonist loved. But the prince seems more interested in him - or is he?
Silence has something similar; the lead guy keeps getting his girlfriends stolen by an ambiguously gay "friend" who eventually (predictably) makes a move on him instead.
50x50 is a comic take on two competing womanizers, both adamantly "straight," who sometimes end up going for the same women (not always, 'cause their types are different - but enough times to cause some friction). They're sworn enemies and fierce rivals, and yet they inexplicably end up in bed together whenever they make the mistake of getting drunk... Which is quite often.
Tonari ni Iru no ni, Tooi has, again, a protagonist whose good friend is a popular playboy. This "good friend" sleeps with the protagonist's ex-girlfriend, who has so little tact as to remark that the new guy is better at sex. (OUCH!) The protagonist immediately resents this remark, but is his resentment all that it seems?
I'm sure there are a few others... I'll return with more.
Edit: Oh! Here's more.
Atashi wa Bambi - SO TOTALLY WHAT YOU ARE LOOKING FOR OMG. And it's not even shounen-ai, technically... Just really subtexty shoujo.
The Sun and the Moon - again, SO TOTALLY WHAT YOU ARE LOOKING FOR. Is officially classified as shounen-ai as well as shoujo, though, so the lead's a little more gay here.
I think Oyayubihime Infinity has a weird sort of triangle going on that actually qualifies, with two guys and a girl, but keep in mind that this only works because of rebirth. I'll refrain from saying anything more, in case I spoil the rather convoluted plot, but the manga is awesome even if it is very, very strange.
The same mangaka as OI has also written Shibutani-kun Tomo no Kai, which has a similarly curious set-up - Guy A loves girl loves Guy B loves Guy A, with A only being a grudging friend of B's, as B is his "rival". B would rather make it with A than with the girl, though. Although, possibly in an effort to keep the girl away from A, he sometimes leads the girl on as well...
Peter Panda is showing signs of developing in that direction. Crazy mad subtext between the male "friends," as well as building romantic sentiment towards the female protagonist.
Sweet Blood has subtexty hints of this.
My Barbaric Girlfriend may qualify because of the bizarre gender-switching, but the leading "man" is now a woman and the woman is now a, er. Man. And she's getting it on with a former female friend of hers, while the boy-girl finds himself winning the unwanted affection of a male friend of his, even though he loves the other gender-switching girl - gah, too confusing. But I think it qualifies? Maybe. Uh. If a guy can be his own rival in someone else's body? Oh, wait. @_@
Last edited by tartufo at 7:27 am, Oct 23 2009
Monkey. :B
Member7:15 am, Oct 23 2009
Posts: 1966
Gerbera
But I'm not sure if it fits...
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Monkeys, always at your service.
But I'm not sure if it fits...
Spoiler (highlight to view)
The two protagonists (male) are best friends. Boy A likes the girl, while Boy B already *kinda* likes Boy A. They do fight over her, but not really for her, more like she's the cause of the fight. And then they realize their feelings for each other.
The girl isn't really the main character, she is important for the first few chapters though. If it helps, Boy A doesn't realize his feelings for the Boy B until later chapters. I still recommend it, such a great read. :3
The girl isn't really the main character, she is important for the first few chapters though. If it helps, Boy A doesn't realize his feelings for the Boy B until later chapters. I still recommend it, such a great read. :3
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Lol, sorry for the spammy comments but I figured that if I edited my previous comment any further, it would become so huge as to be unreadable...
Several popular shoujo series have what you're aiming at, and you've probably already read Fruits Basket (subtexty male rivals after the female lead) as well as Ouran Koukou Host Club ("platonic" and yet playfully homoerotic twins pursuing the girl, not to mention the so-called "husband-and-wife" pair of the other two male leads who are interested in her). Then again, the focus is very obviously on the girl(s); the friendship/rivalry between the guys is secondary - except perhaps in the case of the Ouran twins, because, well... They're twins.
Edit: There's also a really bloody twisted love triangle in the one-shot known as "Secrets and Lies" in Like as the Time Will Come When it Will Rain, which is a brilliant anthology that you should read anyway. It's just... I really don't want to spoil it for you, but suffice it to say that even though it doesn't initially look like a triangle or a male-male rivalry, trust me, it is.
Continuing with the yaoi theme, both Dear Green: Hitomi no Ounowa and its sequel Dear Green feature as their main couple two guys that got together thanks to a common female friend - to be more accurate, the girlfriend of one of these guys. Awkward, huh? Well, all's well that ends well.
Last edited by tartufo at 7:58 am, Oct 23 2009
Several popular shoujo series have what you're aiming at, and you've probably already read Fruits Basket (subtexty male rivals after the female lead) as well as Ouran Koukou Host Club ("platonic" and yet playfully homoerotic twins pursuing the girl, not to mention the so-called "husband-and-wife" pair of the other two male leads who are interested in her). Then again, the focus is very obviously on the girl(s); the friendship/rivalry between the guys is secondary - except perhaps in the case of the Ouran twins, because, well... They're twins.
Edit: There's also a really bloody twisted love triangle in the one-shot known as "Secrets and Lies" in Like as the Time Will Come When it Will Rain, which is a brilliant anthology that you should read anyway. It's just... I really don't want to spoil it for you, but suffice it to say that even though it doesn't initially look like a triangle or a male-male rivalry, trust me, it is.
Continuing with the yaoi theme, both Dear Green: Hitomi no Ounowa and its sequel Dear Green feature as their main couple two guys that got together thanks to a common female friend - to be more accurate, the girlfriend of one of these guys. Awkward, huh? Well, all's well that ends well.
Last edited by tartufo at 7:58 am, Oct 23 2009
Namehage
Member
4:33 pm, Oct 23 2009
Posts: 1619
There's subtext between Yuki and Kyo in Fruits Basket?
News to me.
________________
If you've ever thought or said "Nice Guys finish last" and really meant it, then you should probably read this LJ post by DivaLion. It's incredibly insightful whether you're male or female.
From a bumper sticker I like:
"If you're gonna ride my ass, at least pull my hair."
News to me.
________________
If you've ever thought or said "Nice Guys finish last" and really meant it, then you should probably read this LJ post by DivaLion. It's incredibly insightful whether you're male or female.
From a bumper sticker I like:
"If you're gonna ride my ass, at least pull my hair."
Member
2:59 pm, Oct 24 2009
Posts: 1000
How could you not see the subtext between Yuki and Kyo? Isn't every scene they have together absolutely brimming with tension?
And thank you for the many recs, tartufo! ^^ You're amazing!
And thank you for the many recs, tartufo! ^^ You're amazing!
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8:53 pm, Oct 25 2009
Posts: 78
8:53 pm, Oct 25 2009
Posts: 78
Quote from akari_mizunashi
How could you not see the subtext between Yuki and Kyo? Isn't every scene they have together absolutely brimming with tension?
And thank you for the many recs, tartufo! ^^ You're amazing!
And thank you for the many recs, tartufo! ^^ You're amazing!
Tension does not always translate to subtext. In Fruits Basket's case, no matter how much the guys are squabbling, it's very, very clear Yuki and Kyou are both fighting over Tohru for her attention, even if for different reasons. Both Yuki and Kyou have their own female love interests, their rivalry was there for a very important reason, and besides... didn't the mangaka express at one point that she was unsatisfied with the amount of slashing from the yaoi fans? I'm not entirely sure about that, but I do recall hearing something like that along the lines. Hmmm.
Yuki-Tohru-Kyou would fit the requirements for a love triangle, but not one with shounen-ai.
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Kurofai Otaku
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9:04 pm, Oct 25 2009
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Quote from akari_mizunashi
How could you not see the subtext between Yuki and Kyo? Isn't every scene they have together absolutely brimming with tension?
I think that's the basis for a lot of fanfics.
I'm very close to being a yaoi fangirl, but I wasn't feeling any sexual tension between them... honestly. (As awesome as that would have been.)
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9:31 pm, Oct 25 2009
Posts: 991
Ai Daro (ODA Mitsuki): The heroine's brother was once in love with her boyfriend. Or was he in love with her? I was a little confused because initially I was getting strong incest vibes, but later it was revealed that the brother and the boyfriend met at a gay bar, so... um... It's not a great manga, but it seems to have the undertones you're looking for.
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