shounen, shounen-ai, romance is the closest I guess I could describe what I'm looking for, with the genres given...

Consider Fire Candy, or the more popular Air Gear, which are both shounen but with shounen-ai characters (Haru and Akito). What I would like to see is the exploration of the relationship with those characters... Simply bump off the big-titted girl that was made for the spot, and make the main character realize just how much more genuine and caring the guy would be instead.

Another idea that would be really interesting to see is seinen, action, shounen-ai... Notice I put shounen-ai instead of yaoi, I don't really care for smut, I don't mind sex implied or explicit but I'd rather it wasn't gratuitous. Like having Akumetsu with Shou having a boyfriend instead. This would be interesting.

Examples of what I've read and liked; Dear Myself, Oasis Project, Kaze no Yukue, Boku wa Kimi no Tori ni Naritai, Croquis and a few more but I'll leave it with this for now.

So! Any suggestions for what I should try reading?

From your post I'm thinking that you're not really looking for shounen-shounen-ai rather you're looking for a straight hetero male character and there's another male character who's homosexual in the manga or something along those lines...

...and that's where I'm gonna base my suggestions.

Hana Kimi
Monochrome Factor maybe...
Kyou Kara Maou
After School Nightmare
Oyayubihime Infinity not really sure though

Last edited by blakraven66 at 3:25 am, May 3 2008

Thanks for the quick reply.

Hana Kimi I have read, and it is one of my all time favourites.
After School Nightmare I have also read up to v3c9, but I am slightly annoyed by the main characters and it doesn't really have that something I am looking for...
Oyayubihime Infinity Also read, but I can't remember if I completed it, going to get it and read since I remember it was alright.

As for the other two left, I'll check them out.


edit:
also you may be right about that one is hetero- and the other is homosexual, but the thing would be that the hetero guy would eventually go along with the gay guy's oncomings/confession/crush. Actually that's the best part, at first rejected, the kick in the gut feeling where he gets rejected and avoided. Still hopelessly in love, maybe brushes it off with feigned cheeriness... until something makes the hetero guy start accepting little by little... damnit sounds like I've read this already but I can't remember...

Edit again:
As I began reading Monochrome Factor I realized I had tried watching the first anime episode the day before... And it had way too much of the swooshy mystical fantasy crap. But I'll read the first three chapters I found.

Last edited by havoccc at 4:06 am, May 3 2008

Maybe try Silver Diamond?

Uncontrol maybe?! it's just a oneshot though

________________

I definitely second that! ^___^

From Eroica With Love. Unresolved Sexual Tension (UST) goes on for 30 volumes and counting.

Also consider Petshop of Horrors. While not canonically shounen-ai, it's got enough tease that it might as well be.

Thank you all for the suggestions!

I realize my suggestion request has kind of split into two, but that's alright I've gotten some good reading.

Silver Diamond has been pretty good so far, read up to vol 6. It has some Angel Sanctuary vibes but it feels a bit shallow, and the jump into the alternate world detracted a little from the enjoyment since I'd rather stay in this world.

Uncontrol was a bit too short, but otherwise a good idea, except for that the other guy was a tad bit too young (14 ehh) for me to get into it properly. But otherwise yes this would be very close to what I would like to have more of.

Kyou Kara Maou ehhh I don't really like these king/kingdom/prince in another world kind of stories, it just makes me lose all connection and I get annoyed by the logic in them.

Shibutani-kun Tomo no Kai may be sort of what you're looking for. The plot's a bit haphazard, and the straight guy is into a girl, but ... dunno, give a couple of chaps a try.

Actually anything by that author has sort of fluid sexuality in it.

CLAMP's a good source for shounen-ai with a plot (Tsubasa Reservior Chronicle probably has a shounen-ai ship, Tokyo Babylon is shounen-ai, X has chars that are, so does Cardcaptor Sakura)



Last edited by story645 at 6:56 pm, May 4 2008

Stigma I

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Why protect them? Why miss them? Why love them?

Nabari no Ou
I simply love the characters and design, shounen-ai very subtle. KInda reminds me of KKM without the 'king/kingdom/prince in another world kind of stories.'

Since Clamp was already mentioned, how about Legal Drug and xxxHolic with I both enjoyed.

Also I noticed you mentioned Air Gear, so why not try Midori no HIbi? I read both series before, and personally like MnH better (it even has several gay character in it! XD)

If you liked Hana Kimi, maybe you would like Boku ni Natta Watashi too (has a gay character too!)?

Oh yea, try Shinkuu Yuusetsu too.

For something VERY subtle, how about trying Saiyuki or the mangaka's other works.

Would you be interested in the 'straight guy/gay guy' paring type of stories too?

(Hey, does anyone know it Monochrome Factor is as subtle as KKM or almost non-existent like Saiyuki? It looks interesting, and I would love to know more about it...)

edit: I suppose They Too Love would be one too.

Last edited by CatzCradle at 8:52 pm, May 18 2008

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superior D It's shounen but the love plot makes it seem like romance/shoujo......but it has a little to much killing to be shoujo...

________________
Your mom goes to college.
1. Superior
2. Gintama
3. The bride of the water god
4. Chevalier D'eon

Maybe this one: it contains some explicit sex but it's not PWP. It's about a gay man chasing after a straight guy... and about painful longing and how their feelings change as time passes. And eh... it's pretty convincing for a relationship where you learn to treasure the person you love. It's called The cornered mouse dreams of cheese


Or how about the Walker series or Rules series?
Walker: It's about a guy named Bun and his relations with others.
First volume is Are You Enemy?

Rules

Or how about the Last Portrait?

(Update: If you liked the Last Portrait, then try this series: The Judged.)

Madness: eh, the plot is kinda shounen-ish. But if you don't like reading about what someone intends to do with said body parts... don't touch this!

Or how about this? [m]Otodoma[/m] by [a]Niita Youka[/a]

There's also the Koori no Mamono no Monogatari series. Some favoured this series over Silver Diamond

Also Komatta Toki niwa Hoshi ni Kike if you don't mind stuff about school life.

Also Wild Rock(I'd recommend this mangaka's other series but it seems they all are on hiatus... not sure why... maybe sickness or something. A pity since her stories were all pretty good)

Virtuoso Di Amore isn't too bad if you don't mind a story about music and piano.

Concrete Garden(totally shounen-ai and very interesting stories. Very sci-fi and the concepts are pretty neat.)
http://www.mangaupdates.com/series.html?id=1974

And if you liked Concrete Garden, then try [m]Dogla Magla[/m] by the same mangaka too.


Hmmm... that should be all for now.

Update: The summit might up your alley too. Though I haven't read it yet, reviews state that it's really good:


Update #2(Not sure if these will be your kinda manga or not):
Oh wait... okay this is kinda yaoish but it's pretty interesting, if you like action and interesting stuff. Think of it as something along the lines of a bit of CSI and a thriller set in the future, and private detectives. So far, there's some sex but it's only in the first chapter and the first page only.

Border

Yakumo Tatsu... not too sure if it'll be up your alley or not since I'm not sure how the shounen-ai is going to occur. It's only got 1 chapter scanlated so far but it looks very promising for a work which combines a lot of interesting things like the Chronicles of Japan, shamanism and the descendants of a swordsmith and a swordmaster.


Kaze to ki no uta (Very tragic but extremely good in terms of psychology, etc.)

Slight shounen-ai stuff... Himitsu (It's kinda gory and violent and sick. Well, it's nowhere as sick as MPD Psycho but some of the images aren't for the faint-hearted either.)


Update #3:
Nagaraja: hmmm... it's got some fantasy stuff.

Wild fangs + Wild rose: nice fantasy element

Three wolves mountain (there's quite a bit of sex but ... well, you might like the story)

Oh and before I forget!!! [m]Otono no Mondai[/m] (the side characters really do care about one another.)

Kusatta

Reverse(Oh it's just too funny sometimes)

Yume wo Miru Hima mo Nai (It's about airplanes.)

Akai Koi (I think the mangaka... is a guy and it's more like reading about a slice of life manga)

Itoshii Yubisaki

Mossore

Junjou Karen

Koi ga Bokura wo Yurusu Hani

Koi no Kawaki

Ore wa Warukunai

Ushirosugata no Natsu no Neko

The poet who buys words ((OOOpss... wrong title... it should be this one:

Poet was Not Built in a Day )

Niresaki Kyouju no Hirusagari no Kenkyuushitsu

Haru Jo On(About a blind man and a boy)

Brother x Brother(Yes... it's pretty good and the mangaka is a guy)

If you liked Brother x Brother, try Innocent bird(by the mangaka of BxB)

And oh... a lot of the stuff by [a]Sakura Haji[/a] is pretty good

Last edited by yuri21 at 3:26 am, May 25 2008

Wow that's a lot to be checking up on...

I've read Wild Rock before, it's nice.
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.

I tried reading Koori no Mamono no Monogatari after your recommendation, it was good and it tore me up better than Silver Diamond...

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.

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.

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...

I'll try... you want shounen-ai with a touch of shounen? like action?...

Tenki Yohou no Koibito - no shounen here, but it has comedy and nice relationship...

[m]Uchi no Tantei Shirimasen ka[/m] I think it fits...
And maybe Keep out (KISARAGI Hirotaka)

Vassalord- shounen-ai and... Vampires^^ and syborgs anyway, I really love it.

Maiden Rose action and yaoi and some romance maybe..

If those are fine, I might check out for some more... I'm just not realy sure what you want...^

I second the summit and rules
And some more...^^


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you would be my rainbow in shades of grey.

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