Henlooo :3
It’s been a while! Our last BLog post was back in 2025, which feels like ages ago by now. I know we’re starting to sound like a broken record, but the reason for the silence here as of late is… we’ve been busy! A good busy for sure, but it nevertheless pains us to leave the wonderful readers of our long-form BL ramblings hanging… so we figured we’d share a quick update on the things we’ve been working on lately, and reassure you that we’re still alive and kicking (our feet at cute ukes/size difference/problematic age gap yaoi).
Valentine’s BL Couple Dynamic Duel
For Valentine’s Day (or, rather, the week leading up to it since it fell on a Saturday this year), we decided to hold another daily poll event over on Twitter!
The theme this time? BL Couple Dynamics.
Similar to last year’s Trope Tourney, we collected some fan-favorite BL tropes to pit against each other — just for funsies! — this time putting the focus on specific relationship dynamics found in yaoi couples. After a 24-hour voting period, we announced the winner for that day along with a few Renta! recs that prominently feature the winning dynamic. In case you missed the rec threads, I’ve compiled them here to check out at your leisure.— along with the recs we’d prepared for the “losing” dynamics but didn’t get the chance to share, because LBR; there really are no “losers” in the world of BL. Asides from pathetic wet cat loser semes/ukes who are all the more adorable for it.
Day 1 Matchup:
Alpha x Omega (or Omegaverse in general) (WINNER)
Recs:
The Top-Ranked Omega Doesn’t Believe In Destiny by Sakae Matsubara
The Alpha’s Bride -Love’s Resonance- by Kaoru Iwamoto & Kanae Yukimura
What We Do When the Curtain Comes Down by Same Zarame
I Wanna Love You, Kiss You, Bite You by Sakana Tojo
Alpha Held Down By A Hungry Sigma by wakke
Omega Megaera by Maki Marukido
Beastman x Human
Recs:
Indulging The Insatiable Pup by Zutsuuyaku
My Fluffy Moody Crush by Nayuta Nago
The Solitary Beast And The Dumb Delinquent by hijiki
The Beast Brings Forth The Spring To Melt The White Snow by Akira Sasayama
Day 2 Matchup:
Threesome/Throuple (WINNER)
Recs:
Requesting Shiro and Kuro – ♡A Threesome Experience with a Faceless Character♡ by FKRfactory
You Love Both Of Us, Right? by Ando Yasu
A Straight Guy’s Three-way -Two Guys Are After Me- by Inai Naka
My Neighbors Are Unruly Alphas -The Fumbling Omega Doesn’t Stand A Chance- by Keita Nishihara
Stepbrothers
Recs:
Brotherhood Failed Successfully by Nakagawa Kaneko
Brotherly Love by Akino Shiina
Familia by Miu Otsuki
This Is Taking Brotherly Love Way Too Far by Yuita Honda
Day 3 Matchup:
Roommates (WINNER)
Recs:
Pittosporum by Shino Mikami
He Is My Supreme Playmate by nocori
Pedigree by Michi Tange
Living With Him by Toworu Miyata
Classmates
Recs:
100dB Pouring into You by Toworu Miyata
Honey Bunny Boy by Kurage
The Boy With The Secret Account Wants The Innocent Boy’s Love by Ayame Erica
Wanna Be Number One? Then You Gotta Beat Me! by Haruna Haru
Day 4 Matchup:
Kouhai x Senpai (WINNER)
Recs:
Wrapped Around Your Little Finger by Ito Agata
My Senpai is Bad for My Heart by An Momose
Be Rough With Me by Kou Mizutani
What if I Undress Usaka After Work…? -My Hot and Cold Superior’s Dirty Secret- by Tamako Hanamori
Senpai x Kouhai
Recs:
Love on the Horizon by Machi Yamashita
Shot-Through-The-Heart Romance by Non Nanato
My Cutie Pie -An Ordinary Boy And His Gorgeous Childhood Friend- by Kana Riyuma & Yomayoi
Beaten By The Baddest by akatsuki amama
It was fun to watch the votes pile up for each category, and we always enjoy getting some numerical insight into what’s popular among our users as well as the BL fandom at large. Thanks to everyone who voted throughout the week! 💗
Citrus Con 2026: Tight (schedule) and Thicc (programming)
We were a little surprised when Citrus Con announced last year that the following Citrus Con would be held in WINTER for the first time ever in 2026. It makes a lot of sense — summer is already jam-packed with fandom conventions and events, making it difficult for extra-busy potential guests and fans alike to squeeze Citrus Con into their schedule. And now that Renta! is looking to ramp up our IRL con presence moving forward, we’ll also appreciate the extra months in between major fan outreach events that demand the full attention of the BL team. Don’t get us wrong, we love planning and attending these events — meeting other fans of the manga we work on is one of the most rewarding parts of this job! But it takes a lot of time and energy, and (contrary to our silly BLog icons) we’re all only human here.
However, in exchange for a more relaxed annual con schedule from 2026 on, we were faced with the daunting task of putting together our Citrus Con 2026 game plan on a tighter schedule than usual. With 8 months and a dream, we banded together to make this first winter a success…
And just a couple days out from the con now, we’re very hopeful! We were given the chance to sponsor the convention again this year, and the Citrus Con staff has been lovely to work with as always 😘 Our licensing team worked their magic reaching out to BL mangaka and author of It Was The End Of Spring Guri Nojiro’s team, and Sensei graciously agreed to record an exclusive drawing video for us to premiere at the con AND answer fan-submitted questions through Renta! for a Q&A. Our Special Guest announcement understandably got quite a bit of fanfare on social media, and we’re excited to finally unveil the BEAUTIFUL illustration Nojiro-sensei created in her signature soft, ethereal style this weekend!
As for our staff-centric panels, we’ll be holding our Industry Panel as usual, with some time set aside in the second half for the three of us on the Renta! BL team to tell you all about working with BL in a professional environment (and the not-so-professional shenanigans that ensue). We hope you’ll check it out if you’re interested in the manga localization industry, or just wanna hear some funny/embarrassing stories from the behind the scenes here at Renta!
In addition to our Industry Panel, we’ve noticed in past years that we tend to get a LOT of audience questions during/after the Industry Panel, and we’ve had trouble getting to answer all of them during the panel time — so this year we’ve added a dedicated Q&A panel where the three of us on the BL team will answer questions we received in advance, as well as audience questions if time allows. We’ve already gotten quite a few interesting questions, so we’ll try not to ramble too much in our answers, but it should be a fun/informative yap session!
Citrus Con is ALWAYS a blast, so we’re super pumped for this weekend. We’re looking forward to seeing lots of you there~!
Renta! Discord: (Almost) Ready to Launch!
One other major development at Renta! that’s been in the works for a few months now is… we’re officially joining Discord! The official Renta! Discord server will be a place for Renta! readers to gather and talk about their favorite series, share recommendations, and interact with Renta! staff directly. Our lovely group of beta testers has helped us create channels tailor-made for manga fans — particularly the BL community — and the chats are quite lively already. We’ve really enjoyed interacting with users on Twitter, Bluesky, etc. in the past few years, so we’re hoping this more laid-back and social platform will be a friendly and welcoming space for everyone who enjoys BL manga. The Discord server will officially launch during Citrus Con this weekend, and we’ll promote it on our other social media afterward, so stay tuned for updates! 👾
And so, here we are at the end of February, weary from the pre-con and pre-Discord-launch preparations, yet very optimistic about both. But our Big Announcements don’t end there… We weren’t lying when we said we had a LOT of exciting things planned for 2026, and while it’s still too soon to reveal all, rest assured we are working hard (heh) behind the scenes to bring them to fruition. We’ll keep you updated when we can, and in the meantime keep pumping out the delicious BL that brought you all here. We appreciate your endless patience and kindness 🥰
rentaBLog 