Iyada’s Dear My Killer Tune first caught my attention the second it was brought to Renta!—not because of the great art or the eye-catching cover or the intriguing description. No, when it was brought to Renta!, Sou sent me a screencap of one of the main characters, Haru. “This looks like something you’d like,” they said, referring to his pretty face and giant floofy hairstyle. And they were right.
Dear My Killer Tune is the story of Harutaka, a 26-year-old hair stylist who’s been obsessed with the rock band The Lazy Rats since he was a child. He’s in their fanclub, and he goes to every show. And, while he loves all the members, he’s particularly obsessed with their guitarist, 43-year-old Himemiya. So when, the day after their concert, Hime suddenly shows up at the salon where Haru works, Haru can barely handle it—especially since, while Hime was originally there to have his hair done by Haru’s boss, he ends up asking Haru to do it for him. Pleased with the haircut and enamored by Haru’s skill, enthusiasm as his fan, and awkward allure, Hime can’t help but continue to think back on him every time he touches his hair. As fate continues to push the two together, though, as much as Haru is ecstatic to be closer to the man he’s idolized for years, he can sense his emotions for Hime taking a turn for the more intense—and more greedy. But public figures belong to all their fans, so what is Haru supposed to do?
It’s back to school season! While most people reading this might not be in school anymore (and I hope the one who are still in school are in college… /stares), we can all still enjoy this wonderful time of change and growth and new experiences (and the back to school section at the store, which always smells nostalgically like pencil shavings and freshly-cut paper…) in the form of… BL recs about teachers! We’ve picked seven great titles that run the spectrum of sweet, soft, sad, and spicy, so there should be a little something for everyone!
This early Hon Toku masterpiece sums up what makes Hon Toku great: stunning, sensual art, incredibly dirty sex scenes, and incredibly light on the plot. The himbo gym teacher Mr. Yamano can’t keep his eyes off the super sexy math teacher Mr. Kiyono, so when Mr. Kiyono comes on to him after a couple drinks during night duty, how the hell is he supposed to resist? There are some small side plots, like a love rival and Mr. Kiyono’s supposed husband. But I know why you’re here, you pervert. You can’t lie to me. We’re both ass men, here, you and I—and from one ass man to another, you really need to read this manga. Hey, if he was my teacher (in Minecraft), I’d probably be a weird pervert about him, too.
Math teacher Mr. Miyata hates jocks, so when he meets gym teacher and kendo coach Mr. Samehara, he makes a bunch of snap decisions about him—that he’s arrogant, strict, and likes to boss people around. However, the more he gets to know Mr. Samehara, the more intrigued he becomes—Mr. Samehara is easy to get along with and to be around, but it always seems like he’s hiding his true self behind a wall. Not one to back down from a challenge, Mr. Miyata makes it his goal to break that wall down. But while this is all in good fun for Mr. Miyata, he’s threatening to unravel an entire lifetime of Mr. Samehara’s decision to remain eternally closeted and avoid his sexuality, something he feels a remarkable amount of shame over. This one’s more bittersweet and plot-heavy, which is in line with Jiro Kawaii’s other work, so I highly recommend reading this if you’d like to have your heartstrings tugged. Just in the first two chapters I found myself feeling an intense protective instinct toward Mr. Samehara, and I’m sure you will, too!
If you’re on the lookout for something a little more dark, a little more sadistic, this one might be right up your alley. High schooler Leo hates homemade food—he’s weird about germs, and doesn’t like not knowing how sanitary the giver’s kitchen is, or if they washed their hands. He’s spent much of his adolescence distancing himself from other people, because he’s ashamed to be tossing people’s good will in the trash. Sick of him lashing out, Leo’s new school counselor Mr. Sakashita uses Leo’s secret against him to have his way with Leo’s body. Mr. Sakashita has his tender moments, however, so Leo finds himself slowly trusting him more and more. This one leans a bit into Dead Dove territory because of the imbalanced relationship between Mr. Sakashita and Leo, but it caught my interest since usually teacher/student BL has the student topping, so I still wanted to rec it to those who might be interested!
High school teacher Toma has been dating his highly capable businessman boyfriend Rei since they met back in college. As both their careers ramp up, they need to find new ways to make time to love and support each other. This one is pure fluff, and shows the difficulties both men face: Toma struggles to connect to his students and find his place as a teacher, and Rei overworks himself and forces himself to shoulder things alone due to past trauma. But, whenever they’re together, Toma and Rei are able to talk through their problems and find comfort with each other—and they fully intend on being there for each other for the rest of their lives. This story is just pure comfort—Toma and Rei love each other tremendously, and it just so nice watching two adults talk things through and be there for each other when they’re having a hard time. It’s rather short and simple, but a wonderful manga for those who just want something light and gentle after a hard day.
Get ready, class, ’cause we’re goin’ on a feels trip with this one . Hiyori’s a cheerful high schooler who’s a people pleaser to a fault — desperate to make those around him happy even if he gets burned in the process. When this leads to him getting dumped in the most mortifying way, he’s understandably upset and seeks solace in a dog cafe. There he meets the kind and encouraging Makoto, who offers him some much-needed words of comfort, giving him the strength to move on from his heartbreak. Their chance encounter doesn’t end there, though… the very next day, Hiyori’s shocked to find out that his new student teacher is none other than Makoto! And he’s got his heart set on making the gentle and hardworking man his. This series is a bit of an emotional rollercoaster from start to finish, and really develops Hiyori and Makoto’s relationship in a way that’s heartwarming and touching — emphasizing just how much they care for one another. Plus, it has some valuable life lessons sprinkled in along the way, so you might get even more than an adorable love story from it too! Who said BL couldn’t be educational?
The answer is yes. Yes, he can . The titular demonic teacher, Tsuzuru Toujou, has earned a reputation among his students as being incredibly strict and merciless. Little do they know, however, that the relentless hardass Mr. Toujou likes to get dicked down at a gay brothel in his free time! Tsuzuru’s looking forward to a night of fun with a new cute guy when he’s taken aback at the discovery that his top for hire is Miyamoto, a former student of his! Upon hearing that his now college-aged student has taken up the job in order to earn some extra money, Tsuzuru’s inner teacher can’t help but want to watch out for his former student — so he decides to do so by ordering his services as much as he can! But as they spend more time together, some feelings beyond those of client and worker start to bloom… The series does a good job showing how Tsuzuru’s hard exterior is a result of his genuine concern for others, and doesn’t paint Miyamoto’s choice to do sex work as an inherently foolish or despicable thing, which is refreshing. Plus, there’s plenty of smut featuring a skilled younger top and a cute, nerdy bottom — so if that sounds like fun to you, check it out for yourself!
We opened this list with a pick for all the Ass Men (of all genders, ofc) out there, so I think it’s only fair we close it out with one for all the wonderful Titty Folks reading. This one’s a little unique in that it features a beefy, buxom guy on the bottom, and to great effect. In this story right out of a hormonal teenager’s wet dream, Riichi is known as a troublemaker at school, but his new teacher Mr. Oshima is determined to set him on the right path. After being mamboo(b)zled by Mr. Oshima’s attempts to give him some extra attention at school, Riichi comes across a gay porn video starring a buff bottom who looks eerily familiar… Confrontation leads to some good old-fashioned blackmail, with Riichi promising not to spill his teacher’s “secret” if Mr. Oshima will let him enjoy that naughty body of his a bit . Spicy scenes of a bodacious himbo getting railed by his extremely enthusiastic student aside, this series is silly and surprisingly sweet at times, which makes it a pretty fun read. Plus, it features the elusive and highly sought-after (by people…. it’s me, I am people) BL titty fuck . So there’s that too.
The recorded Citrus Con panels have been posted to their official YouTube page! You can check out the live drawing with Tsutako Tsurusawa here, and here is the link to our industry panel on localization, working at the BL Factory, and our finishing Q&A! I know I’ll now be spending the rest of my workday listening to all the panels I missed due to timezone constraints.
While we’re still incredibly happy about how our Citrus Con panel went, our only regret was that we didn’t have as much time to answer everyone’s questions, and also weren’t able to read the main chat as we were doing the Q&A. So we went through the video recorded by our wonderful coworker in Sales (which had the chat visible) and took down all the questions we missed so we can answer them here!
Some of the questions here are continuations from questions asked during the Q&A, to make sure to watch the Q&A first (timestamp: 39:40)!