I have decided to try mangas from this genre for the first time, and would like to read good yaoi/yuri stories. For yuri tales I would like a school tale, and yaoi I do not want an older/younger relationship. I also don't want any doujinshi.

Beside that, please recommend any completed ones you think would be a good read.
Thanks.

________________
Nulla in mundo pax sincera
"Always go too far, because that's where you'll find the truth." - Albert Camus

Sasameki Koto
Girl Friends
Hanjuku Joshi

I've read a vast amount of yuri, but I think these are probably some of the best for just getting into the genre.

Thank you for the recommendations; I like that two of them are shoujo ai and not fully yuri.

________________
Nulla in mundo pax sincera
"Always go too far, because that's where you'll find the truth." - Albert Camus

Be careful - a lot of the time with these genres people don't differentiate them like that. For example, I call all of the above works "yuri" regardless of whether or not they have sexual content. You'll probably get your meaning across more clearly if you specify like "BL, and sexual content is fine" or "yuri, but no sexual content please", etc.

Also, I believe Girl Friends does fit a sex scene in there at some point, though it's not really graphic. Whether that makes it shoujo-ai or yuri or whatever, I'm definitely not the person to say.

I'll just add that Morinaga Milk's Kisses, Sighs, and Cherry-Blossom Pink is also a good place to start. It's much shorter and more episodic than Girlfriends.

For boys love I would.recommend Cello Mellow for a firsty a shounen Ai
For a more yaoi one Totally Captivated

Girl friends was my first shoujo-ai manga and I still return to it every now and then because it's too frickin' cute. Clover (Otsu Hiyori) is a volume of oneshots that focuses on a different pair of characters each chapter. It really emphasizes a separation between "shoujo-ai" and "yuri" with the absence of sex and just a focus on their individual "feelings". It's by Otsu Hiyori who also did Orange & Yellow which takes place at school. Blue friend is centered around a school with no physical relationship but, again, more "feeling". My all time favorite is Husky and Medley since it's based on a true story And last I'll say is Sleeping beauty's dream which is a more goofy one. ^^

Ending note: I gave my recs on some series but there are loads more oneshots that fit in that category. And the community approved list can be found HERE

Last edited by caozhi at 9:12 pm, Feb 1 2012

This is my Extremely Obvious Yaoi for Starters list. Here are a few that I think are least likely to scare off readers new to yaoi:

Yami no Matsuei by MATSUSHITA Yoko has been called "the gateway drug to shounen-ai". It's not yaoi or even shounen-ai, no sex or kissing, but there's an awful lot of hugging going on. Filled with beautiful yet masculine men.

FAKE - more shounen-ai than yaoi. New York City detectives

Gravitation - MURAKAMI Maki — very popular story of a pop musician struggling to make it big and his relationship with a tortured writer. Funny, cute, sexy, some drama, not too graphic. The art isn't that great to start with, but it gets much better. Also an appealing anime.

Haru wo Daite Ita, long-running series by NITTA Youka, about two former porn actors trying to make it in legitimate acting and at the same time maintain a relationship. Nitta-sensei draws men who look like men, albeit fabulously gorgeous men. This is the one everyone reads.

ViewFinder series by YAMANE Ayano. Another one everyone reads. Bit hardcore for my taste, but my god are these guys gorgeous.

Kizuna - haven't read it yet myself, but this is an important work. I very much liked Mezase Hero!, also by KODAKA Kazuma

Totally Captivated - already mentioned, this is what it says on the tin - captivating. A college student gets involved with a charismatic Yakuza boss.

Toiki Yori mo Yasashii, Uso to Kiss, the story collection Mijuku na Kareshi or anything by MINASE Masara.

Make Me Happy, a one volume work, and Name of Love, a short story collection, are good introductions to the work of MIYAMOTO Kano. Her stories are slice-of-life, usually touching and sometimes bittersweet. She has several long multi-part series, my favorite of which is her Rules universe (which starts with Hydra). You can usually find a chronology as a contents page in her stories.

Rakka Sokudo, a great story about two straight men who don't know what to make of their attraction. Just about anything by FUJIYAMA Hyouta is good; another one you might try is Honki Ja Nee Kara

Wild Rock by TAKASHIMA Kazusa. Prehistoric shounen-ai romance. Hunky main character falls for feminine uke. Awesome.

Hachimitsu Darling - adorable.

Most are yaoi because I just don't see the point of shounen-ai.

Thanks for these recommendations.

I also would like the series to have GORGEOUS art.

________________
Nulla in mundo pax sincera
"Always go too far, because that's where you'll find the truth." - Albert Camus

They ALL have gorgeous art.

today's top disturbing comment, really? usually it's the totall opposite, i don't see the point of yaoi, i dunno, most people prefer shounen-ai, and i'm one of those people.