I'm looking for yaoi/BL with 'pure' love! (Actually, I'll accept yuri/GL, too!)

Too often, lust/sex plays a very important part in yaoi/BL romances. But I want one that is 'pure', innocent, intense, deep and yet beautifully light - LOVE in the sweetest, headiest sense of the word, in which they fall in love with each other's souls, each other's hearts, before even beginning to feel anything like a physical attraction. Basically, they're already in love before they even consider touching each other. I'm not saying that the couple should never have sex, but sex shouldn't be the main point or even a major point - and even if it's there, it should only be there very briefly, and it should never be 'smutty' sex. Even the sex, if it's there, should be infused with PURE LOVE. <3

Examples: The Color of the Clear Blue Sky and The Paradise on the Hill. Tenzen Momoko's really good at portraying 'pure' love, where the characters fall deeply and sweetly and innocently in love with each other long before they even begin to think about kissing or being otherwise intimate with each other. The focus is always on the tenderness, the growing mutual awareness, the subtlety, the little romantic doki-doki moments, and the pleasant (if slightly anxious) thrumming of two hearts just learning to beat in time... Mmmm. Lovely.

Lol, I want to read a manga where the characters think it's far more important to know whether their crush takes sugar in their coffee than whether they take it up the ass - and where they think it's far more important to know what their crush is like when they're happy than what they're like in bed. Pure love, people! You know what I'm talkin' about!

Recommendations, please?

La Esperança is a beautiful shonen ai you should definitely read. It's more center in feelings than sex so I think you will love it XD

________________
"I exist, that is all, and I find it nauseating" -Sartre

Some of my fav: Puchi Puri by MISHIMA Kazuhiko and Little Butterfly by TAKANAGA Hinako


Last edited by Version at 12:06 pm, Nov 12 2010

Yeah, I don't think it's a very realistic scenario (the whole pure love thing), but I'll give it a go.
I mean, I like romance as much as the next romance liking gal, in my opinion, physical attraction and compatibility plays a very important role in a relationship.
But yeah, sometimes it's nice when the characters get to know each other before they smut their brains out. =)

Anything by [m]Yumeka Sumomo[/m], of course.
For those who aren't familiar with the author,
she rarely puts much sex in her stories and it's never explicit.
There's tenderness and a lot of drama.

Sono Yubi Dake ga Shitteiru - one of the earlier BL titles I've read.
It's really sweet and pure. The two boys - just trying to make it work.

Soba ni Oitene - sweet, and pure to a point.
Calorie

I second LIttle Butterfly. It's not just about the sex! XD.

As for yuri - I think Fu~fu would fit, to an extent.


Edit:
Just remembered Blue Wars. I think it fits nicely to your request.

Last edited by NightSwan at 3:46 pm, Nov 12 2010

________________
Hrodulf and Bjornolfr, you will not be forgotten.

And if the world were black and white,
you would be my rainbow in shades of grey.

Click 'n Play!

If I had a fantasy self, it'd be a tentacle monster.

Birthday- a beautiful and sad story ( shounen-ai, this one you should definitely read!)

Not sure if it can be considered "pure" but they surely develop a sweet relationship before even touching each other.
Sorenari ni Shinken nandesu

Every time I think of pure love [m]Seven Day[/m] comes to my mind, but this is only shounen ai.
In that area you might also like New Beginnings and a lot of Yamamoto Kotetsuko's mangas have that pure air to them.

________________

My Reviews

Thank you SO MUCH, everyone! I really appreciate your recommendations!

I'd like to add one of my own: Café Latte Rhapsody. EXACTLY what I'm looking for... A romance so pure it makes my heart hurt!

i second Sono Yubi Dake ga Shitteiru

i THINK Kimi Dake ni Focus fits, but i dont remember, i remember i really liked it though XD
caffe late isnt my fav, i didnt like the seme that much XD

________________
"It's so warm that, Before the snow has a chance to stick, He melts it for me."

Shounen-ai -
Komatta Toki ni wa Hoshi ni Kike! should fit, I think. But of course it's only shounen-ai so there's no chance of there being anything impure in it...

And I think maybe Hana wa Saku ka. The age gap is huge (18 years) - but don't let that bother you 'cause they're both adults anyway. By the end of the 1st volume, the romance is still entirely unrequited (though will surely be reciprocated eventually since it's BL we're talking about here ^^). I hope to goodness it doesn't become yaoi! That would ruin the quiet atmosphere which makes this story so charming in its simplicity.

Tsuki to Mizu no Yoru - But this is only implied BL and there are no actual confessions or displays of affection. So while it's very chaste and sweet, it might not even count as an actual relationship...

Shoujo-ai -
I'm going to be really obvious and say Pieta. Very lovely romance that is so sweet and platonic! Why can't someone write a BL like this?

Clover (OTSU Hiyori) - They fall in love pretty quickly but it's not remotely 'physical' or 'smutty' - so I think this counts.

The Caged Miko and the Whimsical Witch - Didn't like this very much because of the cheesy, sappy, 'happily-ever-after' ending - but the purity of their feelings is very obvious.

Oh - and sorry for only recommending shounen-ai / shoujo-ai; but I don't read yaoi / yuri

Last edited by calstine at 10:49 am, Nov 17 2010

Soredemo Mata Asa ga Kute Koiwosuru is my favorite pure-love romance, even moreso than Seven Days, which is saying something! It has a lower rating because of the art -- but if you can get past that, the characters and the story are both amazing.

When I think about it, the thing that really Gets to me is the way the characters respect each other. Wah... so pure! The amazing thing is that their relationship develops realistically, and that they both act like grown-ups. This manga will have you thinking that it's based on real people -- who just happen to be totally adorable by accident.
^.^

OH MY GOD I LOVE PURE LOVE

Here's all I've read:

Shounen-ai:
Mister Mermaid
Thomas no Shinzou
Poe no Ichizoku
Koi no Hanashi ga Shitai
Kuimonodokoro Akira
Tsubaki Biyori AHH<3

Shoujo-ai:
Double House
Hatsukoi Shimai
Maria-sama ga Miteru
Mizuiro Cinema
Paros no Ken
Sakura Namiki
Girl's Ride
Kono Negai ga Kanau nara
Nekomedou Kokoro Tan
Solfege - Sweet Harmony
Ameiro Kouchakan Kandan
Ebisu-san and Hotei-san
Girl Friends
Tenbin wa Hana to Asobu
Kawaii Anata
Yozora no Ouji to Asayake no Hime
Applause
Sakura no Sono (YOSHIDA Akimi)

Okay, pretty much every shoujo ai is like this.
And also every single thing ever published by Yuri Hime and Yuri Shimai.
They're pure-love fetish magazines.

@akari_mizunashi... ISN'T IT LURVELY?

Thank you so much for the many rainbow-colored recs!

And YES, Tsubaki Biyori is LOVE. <3

oh yesh... little butterfly <333 loved that manga
or A Relation is Still a LV.1

I can't believe I forgot to mention Sasameki Koto. 6 volumes already and they haven't even kissed once!

Edit - Remembered another one I'd forgotten; Flower Flower.

Last edited by calstine at 4:02 am, Dec 19 2010

umm maybe Hanamatsuri? I think it was quite beautiful >< The second story especially. There isn't any kissing though, as of now in the 2 chapters out.
I'd have to say definitly Komatta Toki ni wa Hoshi ni Kike!, one of my favorite shounen-ai. You can feel their relationship, and it's not exactly explicit but shown through their actions. I really love this one.
Maybe you've already read both of these though XD

________________
"The are some things you can never get back,
no matter how much effort you put in.
And there are some feelings of despair,
that you can never shake off."
-Ciel, Kuroshitsuji