I'm almost sure I made a similar topic before, but I can't find it, sorry ><''' But this one will be longer and more detailed...

In my manga recommendation requests I usually write that I "don't mind shounen-ai, but no yaoi, please", or something like this. I also filter out yaoi from my releases list, because I'm generally not a person who gets excited over BL scenes.
However, titles with only "shounen-ai" tag are usually stories about very close friends or with romance that is just hinted, and sometimes I want to read something with a more developed relationship.

So, I would really appreciate it if someone recommended me some titles I would like. I know that this and this topic (and probably some others) may be similar to my request, but not exactly.

What I would like the manga to include:

• the characters going further than just kissing
• nice art
• interesting story (in the meaning that it would be good even if you cut out the BL part), it would be good if it had some action
• it would be nice if it was longer than 2 volumes, but shorter ones are ok too. I'd prefer it wasn't an one-shot (or collection of one-shots), unless it's very, very good.

What I would NOT like:

• explicit scenes
• rape, incest, things like this
• a big age gap
• very manly looking characters (I had to drop Hachimitsu Darling because of how one of characters looked)
• very heavy, angsty, dramatic atmosphere (it's good, but in reasonable amounts 🙂 )
• a guy-guy-girl love triangle (I'm reading a manga like this now and it's very annoying, especially when the guy wants to choose the girl)
• doujinshi
• something that is not scanlated ^^' It doesn't have to be complete, though.

Some BL titles I've read and liked:

• G-Defend (a very good example of what I'd like to read)
• Keep Out (Kisaragi Hirotaka)
• Liberty Liberty (although Yaichi was sometimes a bit annoying)
• Gorgeous Carat and the sequels (I love Higuri You's art 🙂 )
• Aitsu no Daihonmei (I don't like the BL parts, but it's very funny 🙂 )

What I've read but didn't like very much:

• Fake (the art and the last volume...)
• Komatta Toki ni wa Hoshi ni Kike!
• Wild Adapter
• Switch
• Aegis

Sorry about any mistakes in my post, I feel too lazy to check it now ^^'
I hope that my request is not too detailed to find any matching title ^^'
And sorry about making you read something so long ^^'

Border - has action and plot.
There're some explicit scenes, but they've been few so far,
and mostly in the form of flashback stories.
Nice art.

SUGIURA Shiho writes nice, plotty BL stories, but they're pretty long.
There's Silver Diamond and Koori no Mamono no Monogatari .
I remember liking both, but it's been quite a while since I read them.
The art is an acquired taste, I guess.

Totally Captivated pretty art and a nice story, with a relationship that includes sex - but not too much, if I remember correctly.

If you liked Keep Out (Kisaragi Hirotaka), you should read the author's other BL works.
Especially Innocent Bird.
Points that you would not like: Very dramatic.

Demian Syndrome lots of drama going on, and later

rape as well .
But I think it's worth a try.
If not, you might enjoy the mangaka's other works.
I personally enjoyed Jadou - Tenmou Yatan a lot.
And they do have sex at some point, but it's only implied. Sort of.
Let's just say that they don't just kiss. 😀

That's all I have for now...
Good luck with your search!

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]

Click 'n Play!

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

@Hanae: It seem like we have some common in BL taste. (ur likes & dislikes) 😀
Those BL you listed there, I will check out soon. 😀 thank you.
I haven't read so many BL, but if I come up with some suitable titles, I will add here 😐

[img]http://i799.photobucket.com/albums/yy272/flower_of_life/Indigo_Blue_Chapter_10_148-1.jpg[/img]

I second Totally Captivated -its one of my favourites ^^
maby Rules - a nice story and not to explicit if I remember correctly
Rin! and seven days are also really good

Thanks a lot 🙂

I browsed through the first volume of Border and I like it 🙂 There are some scenes, but nt many, I can skip them. And the art is really nice 🙂
I love manga by Sugiura Shiho, especially Silver Diamond (too bad that the English publisher doesn't seem to continue it and there are no scanlations after volume 8 🙁 ).
I've had Totally Captivated on my "nice art, but it's yaoi 🙁 " list for a long time, I probably wouldn't start reading it if you didn't recommend it... It seems to be very funny and interesting, thanks 🙂
I started reading Innocent Bird some time ago, but I didn't like it - it has Christian elements and I don't like it in manga. But maybe I'll pick it up again.
I haven't checked the manga by Oki Mamiya yet, but I definitely will (the art looks very nice).

Rules and Rin also sound very interesting, they have a high user rating and I rely on it very much. Seven Days is one of these mangas I tried to read a few times and I always dropped without any reason... I have to read it 🙂

Thanks for all suggestions 🙂
I'm still looking for manga like this, so if you have any ideas, I'll be very happy 🙂
(I know I use too many smileys, sorry about that)

I'd like to clarify on Innocent Bird.
Although the manga does have religious themes,
it has an interesting take on what happens in heaven.
I would have enjoyed it much less if it weren't for that.

Oki Mamiya writes interesting stories.
If you haven't checked her out yet, you definitely should!

The reason why I didn't recommend Miyamoto Kano
was because her stories are VERY dramatic, and although it's good drama,
the plot doesn't go further than relationships.

Oh, and there's a lot of plot in Vassalord.
It's a good manga on its own, and the BL plays almost a secondary role,
but it's always sweet. :3
Has lots of action which tends to get bloody (ya know how vampires are).

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]

Click 'n Play!

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

I wrote a reply and then accidentally deleted it 🙁

Sometimes I come back to a manga I didn't like only to find out that in fact it's very good... Maybe it will be the same with "Innocent Bird".

I read whole "Totally Captivated" in one evening and I like it very much 🙂 It has very interesting characters and this is what I like in manga (books, movies etc.) the most. At first I thought it would be the "I hurt you because I love you" type of manga, but later it turned out to be quite cute 🙂

About Miyamoto Kano - for some reason (I don't really remember why I added it) I have "Nemureru Tsuki" on one of my wish list... It seems to be very interesting, so I'll try to read it.

Vassalord is another manga I started a few times and couldn't read more than a few chapters... Maybe I should create a separate list for these? 😀 But it has vampires and master-servant relationship so I'll definitely read it... I'm just not sure when exactly...

Yay, even more things to read, thanks ^^

Totally captivated is not yaoi, u wont see any explicit scene there, is a good read...(ive read it more than once)
i second vassalord and Demian syndrome even with the spoiler alert swan gave u... great manga imo, and is not something u see right away , a lot of things happen.. and is just worth the read
and i second 7 days D:

ill mention Bokura ni Matsuwaru Etcetera
kiss me princess
Running on Empty
is not easy to give something but not too much,, at the end u will want to see more and more XD
just try.. i started like that no yaoi nooooo 🤣
and these titles wont corrupt ur eyes

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

Quote from juls91

Totally captivated is not yaoi, u wont see any explicit scene there, is a good read...(ive read it more than once)

That's another thing I liked about it - there are no very explicit scenes, but we know that 'explicit' things happen 🙂
Bokurani Matsuwaru etc. - I read the first story and I liked it. Usually oneshot collections take me more time to read than ordinary manga, but I'll definitely finish this, thanks for reminding me 🙂
And the other two also look very interesting, I'll read them as soon as possible. Thank you very much 🙂

Again, I feel like reading an interesting BL manga, which would fit the criteria I stated in the topic, more than a year ago... Perhaps someone could recommend me some more titles? I read all the previous recommendations and I really liked them 🙂