I'm looking for mild/low-key shounen-ai manga. So nothing explicit/hardcore, and it doesn't even have to be explicitly romance (e.g. just some non-platonic subtext). Essentially I'm looking for shounen ai recommendations for newbies. Bonus points for non-yaoi/shoujo artstyle (you probably know what I mean by this).

Examples:

• Kimi ni wa Todokanai
• Ashita wa Ieru Kana
• Otoko Yamome mo Hana ha Saku
• The Manga Where a Crossdressing Cosplayer Gets a Brother
• Ganbare! Nakamura-kun!!

Thanks!

Stigmata - Seikon Sousa and its sequel - the series started out as seinen but was revived as BL
Mainichi Seiten - Basically about a family of gay guys, this series as much about family as it is about romance
Labradorescence - Low-key BL with nice art
Canis (Vol.1-3 only; excluding volume 3 extras) - Oof one of my favorite series with romance as a subplot; very unique art
Umibe no Étranger - Soft, slow and realistic romance
Sen - Rasen no Jou - Supernatural period drama w/ very seinen art
Koimonogatari (TAGURA Tohru) - Nice high school story that deals with friendship and sexuality more than actual romance; the art is reminiscent of a shounen manga
Also... anything by Hayakawa Nojiko (except for Ten Ten Shiro Shiro) is nice and mild, both story and art-wise.

(Some of these are tagged as yaoi, but as far as I can recall they're not explicit...?) Hope this helps 🙂

Awesome. Thanks!!

OOOOOOH SUBBING TO THIS THREAD BC THIS IS EXACTLY MY KINDA MANGAAAAA >xD

also some recs~!

doukyuusei and sotsugyousei by nakamura asumiko
(or classmates and graduates in english~!)
there's actually four in the main series (in order: doukyuusei, sotsugyousei, o.b., blanc), but i think doukyuusei can stand alone. i also rec sotsugyousei because if doukyuusei leaves you hanging, sotsugyousei can leave you a little more satisfied. the character models feature elongated limbs but nakamura's style is actually quite atypical for most yaoi (if not manga in general) i find. generally about two boys falling in love in high school with typical bl tropes but handled very genuinely/believably. after sotsugyousei the series does get much heavier, but the first two volumes are quite light imo. doukyuusei even has a movie, and the series is finally being licensed in english!! basically i can go on forever about doukyuusei lmao ;w;

negative-kun to positive-kun by hideyoshico
a manga where nothing happens and it is blessed. just a sweet story about a very upbeat, optimistic, sunshine-y boy and his relationship with his gloomier, pessimistic, four-eyed boyfriend. snippets of their every day life in high school. has a bit of a sketchy style but it's not typical yaoi/shoujo and i quite enjoy it.

seven days by takarai rihito
ultimately about two boys challenging themselves in their first same-sex relationship. this one ended up with more depth than i expected, but i really liked it. has a bit of the typical yaoi style with elongated limbs and pointy faces, but nothing too extreme.

doutei nana-kun foreign love by mike nako
the manga page's summary says it all really. though the story is very yaoi from its premise to the fact it includes porn at the end, it's a light-hearted read. the style is simple and easy to follow, so if you're not looking for anything of substance apart from fail-y college boys going on dates, this is a good read.

hope this helps!!

mistakes were absolutely made, my dudes (u-u)