What We’re Thankful For This Year

It’s never a bad time to take a moment and appreciate all that yaoi has given us…

It’s that time of year again — at least for the folks who celebrate Thanksgiving 🦃 — where we fill our bellies with all kinds of festive delights, spend just enough time with family for some sort of decades-brewing drama to surface, and promptly retreat to a secluded space to continue reading that BL you’ve been meaning to get around to.

Sou after Thanksgiving dinner, or after a large serving of big tiddy BL

Whether it be personal relationships or developments in the world at large, there’s never a shortage of sources of stress and despair. Luckily, I’ve found that BL is a reliable mood lifter in both the good times and bad — it’s just the thing I need to make me go, “Maybe this Chungus life isn’t so bad after all.” (Well, that and pumpkin pie piled high with Cool Whip, but sadly neither of those things are exactly common in our corner of Japan.)

When I proposed this post theme to my fellow BLog members, they asked whether “things to give thanks for in the BL sphere” meant BL tropes, changes in trends, specific BL series or characters, or recent BL news. I decided not to limit the theme so as to release as much BL gratitude from the depths of our hearts as possible — so get ready for our unfiltered gracious yaoi ramblings.

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Renta! Staff BL Awards 2024

It’s already that time of year again, and boy howdy was 2024 a wild ride here at Renta! We changed our logo! We opened a Bluesky! There was much emotional (and physical) edging to be had! We participated in our first ever actual panel! The dongs were unleashed! We collected some samples! We saw beastmen in heat, many a delinquent on the brink, and men impregnated chivalrously! We released our very first cakeverse! We fostered brotherly love! We saw some knot-y boys and some nice ones! And many a popular series saw its end!

As we get ready to make 2025 an even more successful and exciting year filled with tons of great manga, we still wanted to look back on our favorite BL of 2024! That’s right, it’s once again time for our BL Staff Awards!

This time we have the usual Ames (hello), Sou, and Yomogi from the localization team, and then the wonderful Pochi, Snow, and Ann from our sales and marketing teams! So if you want to see what we enjoyed having the opportunity to work alongside this year, please read on!

Same as last year, we have the following categories:

Favorite New Series
Favorite Continuing Series
Favorite Seme
Favorite Uke
Favorite Up-And-Coming Author
Amazing Art
Favorite Renta! Title
Favorite Cover
Favorite Couple

Feel free to click on each category to go directly to that section, or you can meander through from start to finish to get that full 2024 BL experience! We also decided everyone only had to fill out the sections they have an actual response for, so just know you’re getting our true recommendations!

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“Dear My Killer Tune”: A Look At Falling For Your Idols

Read on Renta!:
Dear My Killer Tune by Iyada

Japanese Title:
ディアマイキラーチューン

Links:
Iyada’s Twitter
Iyada’s Pixiv
Animate International Twitter
B-BOY P! Twitter (JP Publisher)

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?

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The Dongs Are Free – Uncensored BL Now on Renta!

Well, RentaBLog readers, on this Yaoi Day of the year 2024, have I got an announcement for you.

Via Platinum Blood by Mor Ichigaya

Last year, I made a post about censorship in BL manga, breaking down the legal restrictions and cultural precedents that have led to scribbled out assholes and light saber dicks galore in Japanese BL.

I also briefly touched upon the fact that, unfortunately for fans hoping to peep a fully rendered peeper in their BL, at the time of the post we had no uncensored manga available on Renta! due to, let’s say, ample caution (we are located in Japan, after all). However, it’s been a continuing discussion, as we’re always striving to provide BL fans with the Content they Want — and a sizeable portion of the fandom has spoken loud and clear: “Free Those Dongs.”

It’s been a long, hard battle, but internal discussions finally reached a climax, and a decision was reached that we think many of you will be pleased with: Renta! will now offer uncensored BL series!!!! Alongside the “censored” BL we’ve been dishing up since our early days, we now have a selection for the fans who’ve been wanting a little something “more” — a special treat just for overseas fans, because it’s too spicy to even sell in Japan!

And, what better day to unleash the hogs onto the Renta! sales floor than the day fans all around the world celebrate “yaoi” and all the gifts it’s given us?? I think it’s poetic, reallyRelieved

Jump to Dong

Uncensored BL tag on Renta!

How to Access The Dongs

First, let’s go over the simple steps to viewing our Uncensored selection, so that you don’t find yourselves forever asking, “Where’s the Dong??”

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Roji’s “All About My Two Dads” (Happy Father’s Day!)

Father’s Day has rolled around once again, and as we shared last year, we at RentaBLog love some daddies around here パーティの翌朝

I figured Father’s Day (which also falls during Pride month! 虹) would be the perfect occasion to introduce this series that recently hit the English market, centered around a pair of loving fathers and their adorable son.

Read on Renta!:
All About My Two Dads by Roji

Japanese Title:
ぼくのパパとパパの話
Boku no Papa to Papa no Hanashi

Links:
(Author) Roji’s Twitter
(Eng publisher) Animate International’s Twitter
(JP publisher) Libre’s Twitter

As you can probably guess from the title and cover alone, this is an extremely wholesome story about a perfectly normal family which just happens to consist of two dads and their son. It’s still a BL, though, so expect plenty of romantic scenes between two pretty boys in love to make your heart flutter — with a healthy serving of baby antics and “kids say the darnedest things” moments to brighten your day!

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Artist Spotlight: Toworu Miyata’s Soothing BL Series

Links:
Renta! Author tag
Author’s Twitter

We’re in the heart of winter here in Tokyo, and the days are cold and… wet, with little snow but plenty of rain 傘. What with the cloudy skies and frigid air, I think it’s the perfect weather to snuggle up inside with a cup of hot cocoa (or your beverage of choice) and some good BL. My BL tastes lean towards the feel-good and fuzzy-inducing, so anything on the fluffy side would probably be my go-to for days like these.

One BL artist in particular that comes to mind when I think of soft, comforting, and heartwarming BL is Toworu Miyata — a quickly rising star in the BL manga world, some of whose works have just recently become available in English through Animate International. I couldn’t be happier about this, as I’ve been a fan of theirs for a while myself, and I’m sure there are plenty of readers across the world who will adore Miyata-sensei’s cute and touching manga.

Today I’d like to spotlight two of their works — plus a fun bonus chapter — which are now available in English. Hopefully by the end you’ll understand why I think reading Miyata-sensei’s manga feels like drinking a nice, warm cup of cocoa on a cold day. If fluff is your game, you’re in for a treat!

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