shounen, shounen-ai with romance and plot. impossible?
17 years ago
Posts: 846
Quote from havoccc
Wow that's a lot to be checking up on... Heheh... oops, I got wayy too carried away with my list.
I've read Wild Rock before, it's nice. It was excellent and touching, huh? 🙂
Saiyuki I read a long time ago too, it looks good and had something going for it but it never really went all the way there. Hmmm... I share your sentiments. And I feel bad saying this but I felt Saiyuki was a disappointing adaption of the Chinese classic "Journey to the West". It was like all the characters I'd loved had been reduced to some 2-dimensional characters and it was crushing how much of the psychological intrigue and other aspects were wiped off the story. The original series was really good, Saiyuki was very flat and typically shounen and the world building was not too satisfying(too many loose ends and problems with the plot and characters).
It takes a very accomplished writer, I think, to surpass the problems that many epic series have and face and write something which can successfully combine characterisation, plot, etc. and not lose the feel along the way.
I tried reading Koori no Mamono no Monogatari after your recommendation, it was good and it tore me up better than Silver Diamond... It's good indeed and I can't wait for Storm in Heaven to continue from where Essence of Purity left off! 😀
And after trying to read Last Portrait, which felt way too stiff and I couldn't really get over the art... I think I figured out what was lacking...
Comedy. The shounen style comedy... And the art. LOL... oh well. 🙂 It's good to have a feel for the boundaries of your tastes, huh? I didn't mind the art myself and actually loved it but everyone has their likes/dislikes. 🙂
Getting back to Air Gear again as it is a kind of nice series, but... I don't want to continue reading it in hopes that Itsuki and Akito would get together for real, because that won't happen... But it would be awesome if they did, or at least threw some more focus on the two in the series, is my point... What I'm looking for. Hmmm... I never managed to get into Air Gear 'cos after having read Black Cat, HxH, Naruto, Bleach, FMA and a load of other shounen series, I was like totally tired of that genre. Was it really that good? 😛
And a clarification regarding sex: I don't mind it at all, I can enjoy reading and watching explicit sex scenes between two guys no problem. It's when it gets smutty and just plain gratuitous, as in no plot just jump to bed or even bathroom stall with the slightest.
I don't know if I'm making any more or less sense as I try to explain...
Nope, I understand what you mean. I often used to read BL manga just for the sex but as of late, I'm getting particularly irked at boring sex scenes 'cos well... now, I look for a certain "erotic" feel for manga with sex scenes: whether it be hentai, seinen, shounen, shoujo, josei, yuri, shoujo-ai, or BL or something else. And now, I also crave stuff with good plot 'cos I'm getting too frustrated with many series: all the tropes, stereotypes, etc. are annoying. In good BL, I feel the male character isn't flattened or compressed and feels very human. Plus, there're so many types of plots, one could never really get bored.
So, I'm guessing you're looking for a certain quality or level of sex and not just plain "xxxing" 'cos big bro feels like doin' it in some room.
And you're probably craving characters and sex scenes which're inter-connected with at least some meaning? Hmmm... then the first series I suggested might be worth a look. Though it might not have the kinda shounen-esque humor you're looking for as it's fairly serious yet it has some funny moments. Yet, I think it's a lot better than the typical BL couples where the emphasis is often on their interactions than on other aspects.
If you're looking for crazy humor... try Mossore. It's pretty witty though the plot is a bit thin so far. However... the jokes are just too crazy to pass on! One of my friends who didn't like yaoi, was left cracking up at some of the scenes which I emailed her. 🤣
Chintsubu might be kinda cracked up... too. It's typical Yamato Nase crack.
And if you don't mind very hardcore yaoi(but with plot), try:
Under Grand Hotel
The Map of Tokyo Savage (think there's shotacon... though, so you might want to skip this series if you dislike that) and the related series called Tokyo Savage Sidestory: A Passage from Servant Boy
17 years ago
Posts: 4764
Found some more that seem to fit what you're lookning for^^
Wild Adapter
And maybe Detective Bluecat
I haven't started them yet, but I think at least the first one is good...
The second is strange.... ...
And maybe, just maybe Tsukiya...
@yuri21 underground hotel was kind of.. To say the least hardcore yaoi>.<
Shame the art wasn't something..
Hrodulf and Bjornolfr, you will not be forgotten.
[img]http://i411.photobucket.com/albums/pp199/SyberAngelGabrielle/couplesig.jpg[/img]
[color=black]And if the world were black and white,
you would be my rainbow in shades of grey.[/color]
If I had a fantasy self, it'd be a tentacle monster.
17 years ago
Posts: 846
Quote from NightSwan
Found some more that seem to fit what you're lookning for^^
Wild Adapter
And maybe Detective Bluecat
I haven't started them yet, but I think at least the first one is good...
The second is strange.... ...And maybe, just maybe Tsukiya...
@yuri21 underground hotel was kind of.. To say the least hardcore yaoi>.<
Shame the art wasn't something..
Hmmm... yeah but for quite a few people, Sadahiro Mika's stuff is extremely hardcore. So, I always prefer to stay on the safe side lest someone gets majorly shocked. 😛 Still, I felt that was one of Sadahiro Mika's best works.
I second Tsukiya... it's too bad no one's scanlating it any further!
Oh and 3 more suggestions:
Crimson Spell (fantasy stuff... but surprisingly good!)
You're my loveprize in Viewfinder: The first volume is errr... a little flaky on the plot but the story gets much better as the series progresses. It's about the mafia: Japanese, HK, Russian, etc. The good thing is that there're no lengthy gun battles or crazy things like... after a character has been shot more than 30 times, he expels all the bullets using some special attack while screaming the name in a voice that'd freak out his gf. Expect a lot of personal drama and tension... the action scenes aren't too shoddy and it's pretty exciting.
New york new york(It's a pity the project is not been scanlated further but it's pretty good)
17 years ago
Posts: 4764
Yeah.. yamane ayano's manga are really good.
Although I wasn't sure about them...
They are mostly smut 🤣 Although they do have a story, and a good one. It just that it's
rape then love sort of thing...
Hrodulf and Bjornolfr, you will not be forgotten.
[img]http://i411.photobucket.com/albums/pp199/SyberAngelGabrielle/couplesig.jpg[/img]
[color=black]And if the world were black and white,
you would be my rainbow in shades of grey.[/color]
If I had a fantasy self, it'd be a tentacle monster.
17 years ago
Posts: 846
Quote from NightSwan
Yeah.. yamane ayano's manga are really good.
Although I wasn't sure about them...
They are mostly smut 🤣 Although they do have a story, and a good one. It just that it'srape then love sort of thing...
Hmmm... is it? I can't remember about Crimson spell's beginning but it sure didn't seem like rape. lol..
Oh another series:
Zense to Gense to Kimi to Ore by MIZUKAMI Shin is pretty good!!!! It's got some interesting fantasy elements in it. And jewelled mirror was kinda sad but so sweet.
Same for many of the other series by this mangaka(MIZUKAMI Shin)... which are rather interesting and good. However, one warning about Aigan Shounen (Anyone wanting to read this is advised to be very careful of this series... it's got stuff like rape, sadism, necrophilia, torture, etc. If you can't stomach that kinda stuff, stay away from it or you'll be mentally scarred.)
17 years ago
Posts: 4764
[quote=yuri21]
Quote from NightSwan
Yeah.. yamane ayano's manga are really good.
Although I wasn't sure about them...
They are mostly smut 🤣 Although they do have a story, and a good one. It just that it'srape then love sort of thing...
Hmmm... is it? I can't remember about Crimson spell's beginning but it sure didn't seem like rape. lol..
The demon inside Val possed him and Hall, erm... How can I put it... f***ed him?>.<
Doesn't that count as rape? 🙄
Hrodulf and Bjornolfr, you will not be forgotten.
[img]http://i411.photobucket.com/albums/pp199/SyberAngelGabrielle/couplesig.jpg[/img]
[color=black]And if the world were black and white,
you would be my rainbow in shades of grey.[/color]
If I had a fantasy self, it'd be a tentacle monster.
17 years ago
Posts: 1705
@yuri21
No offense, but there's a BBCode at the top when creating topics/replies with you can use especially for manga and author tags. I've noticed you often just copied and pasted the links to the series, but using the tags would probably be far more easier for you and everyone else.
[mangatag]series name[/mangatag] <== just remove *tag for usage.
Member17 years ago
Posts: 9026
Wüt? But I always used it the hard way, as in copypasta all the links. ;_; Youth is so lazy nowadays~
... Anyways, what am I doing in a Yaoi thread? >_< leaves
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Join SRoMU Scanlations or visit #SRoMU at IRCHighWay.
17 years ago
Posts: 4764
Quote from Dr. Love
Wüt? But I always used it the hard way, as in copypasta all the links. ;_; Youth is so lazy nowadays~
... Anyways, what am I doing in a Yaoi thread? >_< leaves
Exploring, maybe?^^ 🙄
Hrodulf and Bjornolfr, you will not be forgotten.
[img]http://i411.photobucket.com/albums/pp199/SyberAngelGabrielle/couplesig.jpg[/img]
[color=black]And if the world were black and white,
you would be my rainbow in shades of grey.[/color]
If I had a fantasy self, it'd be a tentacle monster.
17 years ago
Posts: 846
Quote from CatzCradle
@yuri21
No offense, but there's a BBCode at the top when creating topics/replies with you can use especially for manga and author tags. I've noticed you often just copied and pasted the links to the series, but using the tags would probably be far more easier for you and everyone else.[mangatag]series name[/mangatag] <== just remove *tag for usage.
Hmmm didn't know that since I don't post much or read the boards much. Thanks anyways. 🙂
And eh... Yatteraneeze! is quite good as well. 🙂
Yatteraneeze!
And its' sequel
Halfmoon Emotion
Oh and also:
menkui
Caged bird(kinda depressing and sad... based on a real-life story)
Also anything by Homerun Ken is pretty good including Maigo
Homerun Ken
Okane Ga Nai(I think it's a bit shotacon? Hmmm... but it's got pretty good action scenes and the main characters are kinda interesting!)
Sakura Gari (Set in Taisho era... I think. The plot is pretty interesting but kinda twisted and dark)
Love story in the isolated island
Over dose (very good... kinda sad but excellent!!!)
Les Sciences et les Fantaisie(Yup!!!! BL with science... as in... real physics... like smart materials, locomotion, gravity, etc.)
Sono Kuchibiru ni Yoru no Tsuyu
There's still 1 more series I wanted to recommend but.... but... I can't find it anymore. Alas!
17 years ago
Posts: 470
Oh man, I feel you on this. I read a lot of yaoi and get tired of it a lot of times because it's often just like shoujo manga but with two guys. (I like shoujo quite a bit too, but it does get tiresome on occasion with all it's unbreakable cliches.) My true love is shonen manga and I often find myself wishing that I could read a real shonen manga but with a gay relationship. (The hint that the male lead might have actually ended up with Haru was what kept me reading Fire Candy too!) At any rate, here's the only shonen mangas with gay romance potential for the male lead that I know of:
No Bra - It's an actual shonen romance manga where one of the two major love interests for the male lead is, in fact, another male. (That would be Yuki, the "no bra" title character.)
HEN - What I've linked you to is the yuri version, but before that version ever existed, apparently there was a (much less popular) version done with two MALES instead. I have no clue where to find this other version--I've been looking for a while now--and don't know if the two guys end up together or not, but if you've read OKU Hiroya's other works (Gantz being the most famous), you'll know that for such an ecchi-loving shonen/seinen mangaka, he doesn't have much problem with homosexuality.
Bremen - In all honesty, I don't really care for this manga. Nevertheless, many people do like it and you might as well. It's a shonen action manga about a band. One of the lead characters (Ryo, if I remember correctly) is a gay crossdresser. She looks like a hot woman but actually isn't. In addition, she has no problem flirting with the other male characters, (especially the main character), who are genuinely a bit tempted by her.
Naruto - What the hell, I'll add in this one. The majority the readers think that the relationship between Zabuza and Haku at the begining of the manga (only the first 5 books are worth reading IMHO) was a gay one. It's never made explicit, but it certainly seems that way. Also, in my opinion, the obsession the two male leads have for one another is the most questionable I've ever seen in a shonen manga (which is saying something). At least these two have the dubious distinction of having actually kissed, however accidentally it was.
Aoi Destruction! - Someone already mentioned Midori no Hibi, I think? If you're already familiar with that one, then Aoi Destruction, the shonen-ai side-story to it will probably interest you. The story expands on a character who shows up once in Midori no Hibi: a guy who is known as an unbeatable fighter, but whose fighting ability comes from the fact that he constantly has to beat other men off of his father (who looks just like a cute teenaged girl). There are a number of humorous scenes where even the son gets swayed by his father's devilish charms.
17 years ago
Posts: 1705
Quote from brid
Naruto - What the hell, I'll add in this one. The majority the readers think that the relationship between Zabuza and Haku at the begining of the manga (only the first 5 books are worth reading IMHO) was a gay one. It's never made explicit, but it certainly seems that way. Also, in my opinion, the obsession the two male leads have for one another is the most questionable I've ever seen in a shonen manga (which is saying something). At least these two have the dubious distinction of having actually kissed, however accidentally it was.
Also, did you know that there's actually a YAOI scene later in Naruto. But honestly, I think you have to go through at least 150 chapters to get to it... XP
17 years ago
Posts: 846
Quote from brid
Oh man, I feel you on this. I read a lot of yaoi and get tired of it a lot of times because it's often just like shoujo manga but with two guys. (I like shoujo quite a bit too, but it does get tiresome on occasion with all it's unbreakable cliches.) My true love is shonen manga and I often find myself wishing that I could read a real shonen manga but with a gay relationship. (The hint that the male lead might have actually ended up with Haru was what kept me reading Fire Candy too!) At any rate, here's the only shonen mangas with gay romance potential for the male lead that I know of:
No Bra - It's an actual shonen romance manga where one of the two major love interests for the male lead is, in fact, another male. (That would be Yuki, the "no bra" title character.)
HEN - What I've linked you to is the yuri version, but before that version ever existed, apparently there was a (much less popular) version done with two MALES instead. I have no clue where to find this other version--I've been looking for a while now--and don't know if the two guys end up together or not, but if you've read OKU Hiroya's other works (Gantz being the most famous), you'll know that for such an ecchi-loving shonen/seinen mangaka, he doesn't have much problem with homosexuality.
Bremen - In all honesty, I don't really care for this manga. Nevertheless, many people do like it and you might as well. It's a shonen action manga about a band. One of the lead characters (Ryo, if I remember correctly) is a gay crossdresser. She looks like a hot woman but actually isn't. In addition, she has no problem flirting with the other male characters, (especially the main character), who are genuinely a bit tempted by her.
Naruto - What the hell, I'll add in this one. The majority the readers think that the relationship between Zabuza and Haku at the begining of the manga (only the first 5 books are worth reading IMHO) was a gay one. It's never made explicit, but it certainly seems that way. Also, in my opinion, the obsession the two male leads have for one another is the most questionable I've ever seen in a shonen manga (which is saying something). At least these two have the dubious distinction of having actually kissed, however accidentally it was.
Aoi Destruction! - Someone already mentioned Midori no Hibi, I think? If you're already familiar with that one, then Aoi Destruction, the shonen-ai side-story to it will probably interest you. The story expands on a character who shows up once in Midori no Hibi: a guy who is known as an unbeatable fighter, but whose fighting ability comes from the fact that he constantly has to beat other men off of his father (who looks just like a cute teenaged girl). There are a number of humorous scenes where even the son gets swayed by his father's devilish charms.
Thank you for the recommendations... though I've read almost everything you suggested except for Hen. 🙂 Hmmm... both the Hen series sound interesting, too bad it won't be possible to find the one with the gay characters since I can't read Japanese lol.
And eh... No bra, the "guy" is known as a transsexual: not a crossdresser(most of whom are straight males, though some of them are gay) but a guy who identifies as a female. I don't think he's gay either 'cos he doesn't identify as a gay man.
17 years ago
Posts: 14
I tried to find stuff that fit "romantic shounen BL"...
Shounen-ai (with plot!):
Golden Days -- Protagonist is thrown back in time to 1921.
Tengujin -- Dunno if this has been mentioned but it's sort of shounen-ish with fantasy elements.
I say, sink of Dark -- About a fledgling detective.
And here I veer off and just suggest particularly good mangas...
Racier stuff (with plot!):
Kamakiri -- Psychological + one of my favorites. (Probably the only reason it's here.. It's not very action-y at all..)
Ore wa Warukunai -- Amazing character development. About a Film Research club. Nothing gratuitous.
I dig in my heels.
17 years ago
Posts: 4764
Quote from CatzCradle
Quote from brid
Naruto - What the hell, I'll add in this one. The majority the readers think that the relationship between Zabuza and Haku at the begining of the manga (only the first 5 books are worth reading IMHO) was a gay one. It's never made explicit, but it certainly seems that way. Also, in my opinion, the obsession the two male leads have for one another is the most questionable I've ever seen in a shonen manga (which is saying something). At least these two have the dubious distinction of having actually kissed, however accidentally it was.
Also, did you know that there's actually a YAOI scene later in Naruto. But honestly, I think you have to go through at least 150 chapters to get to it... XP
What, really?!
Where? 🙄
Hrodulf and Bjornolfr, you will not be forgotten.
[img]http://i411.photobucket.com/albums/pp199/SyberAngelGabrielle/couplesig.jpg[/img]
[color=black]And if the world were black and white,
you would be my rainbow in shades of grey.[/color]
If I had a fantasy self, it'd be a tentacle monster.
