Five influential BL manga to read

Starting as a series in a manga magazine that primarily publishes Boys’ Love stories, ‘Otona no Mondai’s’ protagonist is actually a heterosexual guy. The story follows a straight couple going through a divorce after it emerges that the husband is gay, as told from the perspective of the family’s university student-aged son.

The narrative can be comical, often interspersed with the hetero protagonist’s rather insensitive comments and attitude, which can make for uncomfortable reading. But overall, the father’s marriage to his younger boyfriend and the love life of the mother (challenging Japanese society's tendency to judge mothers who dare to have one) are depicted in a refreshingly candid manner.

This series, which launched in 1995, wasn’t published in a BL-centric magazine, yet it still made a considerable impact on BL and gay readers alike. At a time when realistic gay love was rarely depicted, it broke new ground by taking gay life seriously through highlighting social issues such as prejudice and the AIDS epidemic. Even though it is set in New York, it became the main vehicle for the gay community in Japan to imagine what their life could be like if things were more liberal back home.

This ongoing series by BL author Fumi Yoshinaga depicts a middle-aged gay couple, mostly through their eating habits. It’s more food manga than BL; of course, it features elements unique to gay life, such as the complicated relationships with their parents, but these themes tend to be addressed in the background. The protagonists’ sexuality is depicted as very common.

Currently published as a series through a manga app, this work is set in the Japanese countryside. The author, known for ninja manga which were later animated, declared themselves as being of third gender; this is their first work to deal with homosexuality properly. It hits at the heart, following a mid-pubescent hero who is helped by a range of strange characters, an awkward path to which anyone who has struggled with their gender identity can easily relate.