What BL means to us…

For those who don’t know, 801 can be read as ya-o-i in Japanese so, among the otaku masses, August 1st is known as Yaoi no Hi or Yaoi Day. While the phrase yaoi has mostly outstayed its welcome, slowly shifting over to “BL” even in western fandom as yaoi begins to feel more and more antiquated, it’s still a word with a lasting impact so it still feels fitting that this day be referred to as Yaoi Day.

In honor of this joyous occasion, the four members of Renta!’s BLog team have decided to write small personal snippets about our history with BL, and what BL means to each of us!

Like “the real meaning of Christmas,” but make it BL!

ALICE

Out of our entire motley crew, it would not be false to say that I have had the least contact with BL. I never specifically seek out a genre. What draws me in a manga is well-written characters, an interesting story that makes sense, development that is not a disservice to what the characters stand for—when a manga that fulfills these parameters falls into my lap, I’m all for it, regardless of genre. So, it’s difficult to talk about what draws me to BL in particular—perhaps, since it’s romance-adjacent, I can probably say that it’s mostly stories about relationships with several dark layers, angst, sacrifices to be made, character development to (not) be attained, dead-end scenarios, twisted love (can you even call it that?), etc. etc. etc. 

My BL journey starts like this: around fifteen, I rediscovered my love for Yu-Gi-Oh! through its original Japanese dub; my conviction that Yami Bakura and Bakura Ryo made the most interesting but underappreciated couple (known in the fandom as ‘Tendershipping’) led to trying to find more content about them; cue discovering a treasure trove of doujinshi. 

Then come the video games of NitroChiral, which hit the sweet spot of the highly questionable relationships I like in fiction. Consequently, 2016 rolls around with one original BL that took the internet by storm and my mind with it. And now, come 2023, not only am I lucky enough to be surrounded by people with a very intimate knowledge of the genre who can educate me about it in a deeper level, but I also get to have a variety of BL assigned to me at work. Several have stood out so far, but the one that I’m OBSESSED with at the moment is “The Foxy Mouse’s Romance” by HANASAWA NAMIO. It might seem cute, adorable, fluffy, and it IS, but there’s this layer of danger under the surface by default, since it’s a relationship between a predatory fox and his mouse prey. Mouse Sachio’s feelings turn masochistic, with him almost WANTING to be eaten. And, Ukano seems devoted and loving, until his personal thoughts reveal an obsessive, coercive, forceful side to him that he’s smart (read: foxy) enough to hide. 

This definitely won’t be the last BL that will make me buy its physical copy (I needed to re-read chapter 8 an unlimited number of times, you see). Perhaps the greatest advantage of the genre is that creators feel free to let their imaginations soar uninhibited, therefore cultivating a genre that satisfies every reader. BL doesn’t follow any strictly set patterns. There’s something for everyone. Do you like fluff? You could fill a public library. Do you like angst? Angst galore. Something in between? Ditto. Something extreme? Seek and thou shalt find. 

All in all, happy celebration day, BL. I’m sure you will forever be the diverse genre that provides each reader with a story that resonates with them and each creator with the space to explore and express themselves freely.  

CL

Like many fans, my BL roots were formed in fandoms for anime and manga. I was drawn in by the forbidden appeal of relationships that broke conventional norms. My earliest exposure to BL was through classic titles such as “Ai no Kusabi,” which has aged rather poorly, but it was ground-breaking at the time. I also love the overarching message of love shouldn’t be limited by gender or status. I’m always surprised by new BL titles I read and hope the momentum will continue for ages to come!  

Sou

BL has been a nearly constant and increasingly large part of my fandom for as long as I’ve been into manga and anime. I grew up in a rather conservative household where discussion of anything LGBT-related was considered “inappropriate” — luckily, my family is much more open-minded now, but as a young’un with little knowledge of the outside world, my first impression of “yaoi” was that it was taboo and a little scary — which only served to pique my interest.

I probably encountered M/M content for the first time in the form of Naruto pairings (NaruSasu FTW, amirite?) in fanart and AMVs in the early days of YouTube. Back then, due to my upbringing and my rebellious nature, I thought I was doing something forbidden by viewing it, which was pretty exciting. Still, the general consensus of the internet seemed to be that M/M shipping was something done either ironically or by “weird” fans, something to be kept on the down-low with a huge trigger warning for the “normal” fans. At some point, though, it became more than an “ironic” interest for me, despite any risks it could involve (I remember my sister once ordered us a Loveless anime DVD online, and we were so afraid our parents would find out about the single guy-on-guy kiss scene, which seems ridiculous nowadays).

Around when I started high school, I got introduced to Tumblr and dove deeper into the colorful world of “shipping.” It was the age of Free!, Attack on Titan, Haikyu!!, and so much more. While some aspects of fandom I encountered there are best left in the past (shipping wars, anyone?), my time in the Tumblrsphere exposed me to lots of different fanartists, fanfic authors, and other enthusiastic fandom creators, and gave me the chance to share my own creations with a welcoming community. Most of all, it taught me that M/M shipping is nothing to be ashamed of, and that seeking queer representation even in works where such relationships aren’t explicitly confirmed is valid. But after a while, I sought more concrete representation where M/M relationships were at the forefront of a work, explicitly and shamelessly — unfortunately, at the time, most original BL works weren’t readily available in the States. They were, however, slowly making their way over. My mind was blown when I was introduced to the anime adaptation of Sekaiichi Hatsukoi — a full-blown TV anime about two guys in love who actually kiss (and maybe do a little more 👀)? I was instantly hooked. And thus, my deep dive into original BL began.

Over time I discovered more original BL manga, such as works by Shungiku Nakamura and Hinako Takanaga, and devoured all the modern anime and classic OVAs I could find (🌽… if you know, you know). My friend and I even had grand aspirations to become a manga artist/writer duo of an epic BL tale that never quite got out of the planning stages but nonetheless will always hold a special place in my heart (shoutout to you, Llama).

After coming to Japan, I was amazed at the sheer volume of BL manga available in bookstores — it was like I’d discovered a whole new dimension of the genre that I’d never been exposed to back home. Browsing the BL section of Animate became a hobby of mine (and it still is — unwinding from a long week of working on BL with more BL… ironic, isn’t it?). I noticed my bookshelf gradually fill up with BL more so than any other genre, and I followed more and more BL creators on Twitter (learning Japanese had finally paid off!). I jumped at the chance to work at Renta!, a digital home to all sorts of BL stories just waiting to be adored by fans outside Japan.

Nowadays, I’m involved in BL fandom in a few different ways — I attend doujinshi events to support independent artists and contribute to the ever-robust shipping culture, I draw the occasional ship fanart or my original BL characters, I go to cafes and pop-up stores for my favorite series, and I’m pretty sure the employees at the Animate closest to my home recognize my face and BL preferences. I think it’s pretty neat that introducing BL works to a worldwide audience is my job now, but it’s only a part of the puzzle that is my BL fandom. I’ve come a long way from sneakily browsing slash art on my family’s home computer, and I couldn’t be prouder.

Every BL fan has their own reasons for enjoying the genre, and I think that’s wonderful. I personally appreciate BL in a few different ways mostly independent of each other: as a female-oriented manga genre with a rich history, as an art form fueled by creators’ passions, and as a place to find queer stories besides the more “mainstream” western sources. As a Renta! employee, I’m currently more involved in the BL world than ever before — but I know that though my interest and participation in the fandom may ebb and flow over time, like the slogan of this BLog states, “BL is forever”!

AMES

I’ve had many fandoms over my lifetime. When I was a wee child, it was pretending to be Power Rangers with all the neighbor kids. When I was in elementary school, it was Disney movies about cats. Then I suddenly found out about Sailor Moon, and next thing I knew I was obsessed with anime: Pokemon, Digimon, Gundam Wing… (I’m really aging myself, here.)

And it was through Gundam Wing that I discovered BL. Or, more commonly known back then, yaoi. Hidden politely in a tiny section of someone’s Gundam Wing Geocities page was a list of fanfiction of the main male cast. Spicy fanfiction. “Lemons,” if you will. I was quite young at the time, so this felt like a treasure trove of forbidden fruits.

Anyway, that’s now ancient history. Those were the days when “fansubs” were distributed by purchasing recorded VHS tapes off private IRC servers and receiving them in the literal snail mail to secretly watch while your mom was still at work. Scanlations didn’t exist—you read “fan translations” written in script format and just tried to imagine what was happening on the actual manga panels you couldn’t see, because it was assumed you were ‘reading along’ with the book in your hands. That was how I ‘read’ the first few volumes of Gravitation. It was a wild time.

Nonetheless, ever since that moment years and years ago, I was a goner. At first it was shocking and felt oh so taboo, but over time that was really all I wanted. Every time I was looking for new anime and manga to consume, I was like “but is it BL? Because what I really want to read is more BL.”

Yami no Matsuei? Yes, BL. Fruits Basket? Hm… BL vibes, but not quite there. Prince of Tennis? Not BL, but we can DIY that shit.

That is to say, you learn very fast that most content that makes its way over to the States isn’t BL. I could turn non-BL series into BL, the same way I did with Gundam Wing and then Yu Yu Hakusho and so many others, but I needed more. It wasn’t as satisfying to always rely on fanworks. So I started learning Japanese, hoping that would help. And it did—it opened a whole new world of BL.

From there, I started consuming BL manga. I spent entire paychecks from working retail on importing BL, around 12 volumes a month, physical books that cost twice their price to ship from Japan. I blogged about it, opened Tumblr and Twitter accounts to try to share my love for the genre and it’s artists. I did (and still do) some shipping on the side, but original BL continues to be my bread and butter. I’ve been reading it through much of my formative life. It helped me come to terms with my own sexuality, and helped me realize there can be many different stories about sexuality, many lived experiences, both realistic and fantastical, that you can lose yourself in.

Wanting to do something with BL is also a huge reason I uprooted my quiet life in the midwestern U.S., went back to school, and left for Japan. I wanted to work a job where I could focus on BL, or at the very least something that was working alongside BL, so I’m living my dream. Every day I get to proofread BL manga from a variety of artists with different art and storytelling styles. I get paid to scroll Twitter and track BL trends. I can use the content I read in my spare time to contribute to my work, write about the events I do to, and share all my favorite series and artists. And daily, I get to connect to other fans in both my coworkers as well as our readers.

To me, BL feels like “home.” No matter how many other fandoms I get into and then shelve, it’s the one thing I always go back to. I have a lot of respect and sincere admiration for mangaka who dedicate themselves to the genre, other fans who shamelessly love it even as others denigrate it, as well as the industry—I  get to contribute to—that keeps providing that beautiful gay content.

Happy 801 to all those who celebrate. Yaoi isn’t a phrase that anyone uses anymore in Japan outside occasions like this, and the occasional silly reference (i.e. pointing out to your friend that your ticket number is 801—wink, wink) so it’s a fun chance to look back at how far BL has come as a genre—how many more voices and stories the genre has grown to contain over the years.