Tag: B.Pilz

Muscle Supremacy: Mojio Ikejiri’s “See You Again Tomorrow, Mr. Policeman”

~ ames ~ Leave a comment

Read on Renta!:
See You Tomorrow, Mr. Policeman by Mojio Ikejiri

Japanese title:
Omawari-san, Mata Ashita
お巡りさん、また明日

Links:
Mojio Ikejiri Twitter
B.Pilz Twitter
B.Pilz Website

Haruto’s an incredibly kind and hard-working neighborhood policeman with ten years on the force. He’s well-known among the locals for being incredibly selfless, and he’s always there to help. This self-effacing attitude of his, however, is starting to negatively impact his personal life. His most recent girlfriend grew cold since he was always working, and he tries his best to never rely on others, which keeps people feeling distant.

When he’s assigned to work the local town festival, he’s more than happy to serve his community. One moment of letting his guard down is all it takes for his life to be at risk, but security guard Sakura—assigned to protect the idol who’s there to perform—steps in and saves him in the nick of time. Haruto wants to thank Sakura, but Sakura’s gruff and distant. Having dealt with plenty of this kind of attitude during his time on the force, however, Haruto isn’t deterred. After Sakura goes on to save the idol from a stalker fan, Haruto approaches him again and is able to break down his walls a bit.

Continue reading “Muscle Supremacy: Mojio Ikejiri’s “See You Again Tomorrow, Mr. Policeman”” →

Renta! Staff BL Awards 2024

~ Admin ~ 4 Comments

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!

Continue reading “Renta! Staff BL Awards 2024” →

Publisher Showcase: Brite (Tulle & B.Pilz)

~ ames ~ 2 Comments

As you may have gleaned from our previous publisher showcase on KiR as well as our Citrus Con panel about the ins and outs of BL localization, when it comes to manga, paying attention to the publisher (and the publishing lines within) matters not just in terms of the type of content on offer, but also how easily a license request can be fulfilled. Different companies have ties with different publishers, either through long-standing relationships and trust building, or simply because they may be the subsidiary of a larger company. So it’s useful to pay attention to what publishers a localization company already has in their roster, because if they’ve licensed from them once, chances are the process of doing it again will be much smoother.

As I mentioned in the KiR showcase, we’ve had a long relationship with them as a publishing line, and frequently release their content. But another publisher we have a good relationship with is Brite Publishing, the larger company behind the two BL lines Tulle and B.Pilz . Our long-standing relationship with Brite Publishing is a major reason we’re able to bring you guys so many of their wonderful titles.

As you can maybe tell, we at the RentaBLog love Brite Publishing and the mangaka who release stories under them. I’ve discovered many of my more recent favorite mangaka through getting to work on Brite Publishing stuff through Renta!, and it’s made me really want to help push their BL out to a wider audience.

One of the things I love about Brite is that, as a medium-size publisher, they work with a great mix of established and newer, lesser-known mangaka. This not only means getting to experience lots of new art and writing styles, but since the artists are newer to the scene, they bring a fresh new take on established tropes and stories. Because of this, you might see a lot of youth culture references (which also makes them fun to translate—we live for the challenge!) or themes that previously didn’t show up in BL much. It makes it so there’s always something new and exciting releasing under Brite!

For that reason, we (me, and our newest BL Team member Yomogi) decided we’d showcase a handful of our Brite Publishing favs! (Aside from, you know, the many, many, many we’ve reviewed on the BLog already… hehe★)

Continue reading “Publisher Showcase: Brite (Tulle & B.Pilz)” →

Unbreakable Bonds: Bond Mitsuya’s “He Calls Me Every Night”

~ sou ~ 1 Comment

Read on Renta!:
He Calls Me Every Night
by Bond Mitsuya

Japanese title:
よばうよもすがら
Yobau Yomosugara

Links:
Bond Mitsuya’s Twitter (author)
B.Pilz’s Twitter (publishing line)

This is one of those BL that’s stuck with me long after I first discovered it — not only because I have fond memories editing it, as it was one of the first longer-running BL series I was ever assigned to work on here at Renta!, but because the characters and storytelling have that lasting impact (and, well, it’s got the kind of smut scenes that just never get old). I’ve reread it a couple times now, and the attractive art and gripping story make it feel fresh every time.

I can strongly recommend this series to fans of fantasy BL, but also to anyone who enjoys hurt/comfort, excellent character writing, beautiful twinks, and very pretty smut scenes.

Continue reading “Unbreakable Bonds: Bond Mitsuya’s “He Calls Me Every Night”” →

Sweeter Than Expected: “Kabukicho Cat Honey”

~ ames ~ 1 Comment

Read on Renta!:
Kabukicho Cat Honey by Nekojita Udon & Toriumemaru

Japanese Title:
歌舞伎町キャットハニー

Links:
Nekojita Udon Twitter
Toriumemaru Twitter
B.Pilz Twitter
Brite Publishing

Part of me wonders if I even have to post a review for this series, as it already seems incredibly popular. It really doesn’t need an extra push from me—the cover and description already seem to be doing the trick. However, there’s no rule on the blog that says we can’t talk about things we love that are already extremely popular, so I’m still gonna go for it anyway.

Kabukicho Cat Honey is a BL manga by writer/artist duo Nekojita Udon and Toriumemaru. This is actually their second book together, their first being My Private Love Actor (プライベート・ラブマイアクター) which is also released by B.Pilz and localized in-house. While it’s hard to say going off just two releases, it would appear the two mostly work together on BL projects, though Toriumemaru has also done some illustrations for a couple BL novel series and is currently working on a horror josei manga.

The story of Kabukicho Cat Honey follows a young man named Haru. Haru works in Shinjuku’s gay district as an escort, and is popular as a specialized top since he’s quite tall. He’s not just popular with the men, though—the hostesses who also frequent the bar his escort service runs out of love him as well, and so one night they invite him along to a host club with them. Haru doesn’t understand host clubs—he doesn’t get the appeal of being lied to with sweet nothings—but is forced to go by his boss since he was invited by paying customers.

There he meets Shinya, the number two host. His first impression of Shinya is that he seems arrogant and far too friendly, but they quickly bond when they realize they have the same phone case of an indie band they both love. Just as Haru lets his guard down, though, Shinya starts asking him about his work as a prostitute—and why he specializes in topping when he’s so obviously the perfect bottom. Lean build, slender hips, slim neck, beautiful face, soft hair—Shinya makes it clear he would gladly ravage Haru and make him squirm.

Continue reading “Sweeter Than Expected: “Kabukicho Cat Honey”” →

2/22 and Bottom Supremacy

~ ames ~ 6 Comments

Happy Cat Day! Or 猫の日 (neko no hi) as it’s called in Japan! As we’ve discussed previously on the blog, Japan loves to play word games with numbers (i.e. 8/01 or Yaoi Day, 11/29 or Good Meat Day, etc.), and 2/22 in Japanese can sound like nya-nya-nya, or the sound a cat makes. So, everywhere you look in Tokyo is currently covered in cats: the convenience store has tons of cat sweets and snacks and cat-related campaigns, department stores are hosting pop-up shops for cat-themed goods and toys and accessories, and shelters are obviously taking advantage of the cat festivities with fundraisers and adopt-a-thons! The weeks leading up to 2/22 are a very good time to love cats in Japan.

Family Mart mofusand cat coffee cups for Cat Day.

“What in the world does this have to do with BL manga?” you’re asking? Is this going to be a special about cat boys? How about beasts? Cats who can shape-shift into cute boys and fall in love with other cute boys? Or maybe about boys who love boys but who also love cats? BL where cats are heavily featured?

BZZZZT. You are incorrect.

Highly in-the-know people will probably already see where this is going: this is a post about bottom supremacy.

https://twitter.com/namiohana/status/1628226689246572545

As quite a few of you may know, the slang for someone who bottoms during gay sex, which originated in gay circles before slowly meandering into the BL consciousness, is neko (ネコ)—or, cat! Well, we actually can’t be certain if cats are the one-to-one reason for “neko” being used. When preparing for this post, I was reading quite a few theories online as to why neko is used to refer to bottoms. This article about gay slang points out the two most common reasons: it could come from pussycat/pussy (as in… women’s genitals… lovely), but it could also come from the Japanese word for a wheelbarrow, nekoguruma (because this is the way you might hold someone’s legs while you’re… umm… y’know). This article by drag queen and TV personality Mitz Mangrove about cats (in general) also discusses how cats are often seen as feminine in Japan which possibly is what led to neko having become the universal phrase for a man who bottoms.

https://twitter.com/kumakuma564/status/1760507204229058695

It appears the true reason neko has turned into the slang for ‘bottom’ is unknown, but the fact still remains: cats and bottoms are now linked.

As the resident number one cat lover and bottom absolutist in this town, I figured I would celebrate Cat Day by discussing uke archetypes, my favorite uke characters that are available on Renta!, and slip in a little cultural/language lesson for good measure.

黒猫黒猫黒猫

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Awkward First Love: Jimi Fumikawa’s “I Seriously Can’t Believe You…”

~ ames ~ Leave a comment

Read on Renta!:
I Seriously Can’t Believe You…

Japanese Title:
君ってやつはこんなにも
Kimitte Yatsu wa Konnanimo

Twitter: @fumikawajimi
Publisher: @BPilz_Label
Link Tree: Jimi Fumikawa / B.Pilz

They say young love is the purest. I firmly believe it’s also the dumbest, silliest, and most awkward, and nothing captures that truly absurd “first love” feeling to me quite like Jimi Fumikawa’s I Seriously Can’t Believe You… with all its cuteness, cringe, and yearning.

The manga starts out with a ridiculous and innocent, but nonetheless cruel, joke that truly highlights how dumb and young these teenage boys are, with them not even considering the consequences of their actions until they’re already happening. Kon, our adorable main character, and his friends are wondering why the incredibly hot and popular Iida rejects every girl that confesses to him.

“Is he gay?”
“Wanna look into it?”
“What? How?”
“There’s only one way.”

Next thing Kon knows, he’s been suckered by his friends into confessing to Iida just to see how the other boy reacts. However, rather than accepting him—but still not offended or rude about it—Iida replies that he supports Kon’s inclination toward men but can’t return his feelings.

Continue reading “Awkward First Love: Jimi Fumikawa’s “I Seriously Can’t Believe You…”” →