Banana Fish

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are you sick of high school plot lines? me too

Shoujo manga tends to have a reputation for telling the same kind of stories over and over - romances, magical girls, cute animals, fujobait involving a cast of hot guys (often flocking around a hapless female lead), and slice-of-life series starring characters doing mundane things. They tend to be full of fluff or melodrama and are generally low on violence. But not every shoujo title fits into the "usual" categories meant for teenage girls. This list features atypical titles that you probably wouldn't guess ran in a shoujo magazine.

A list of the earliest manga series and one-shots with a focus on mlm relationships. 👨‍❤️‍👨 These series are often notable for the social and political factors that motivated a lot of these stories, and one of my goals in producing this list is exposing others to the world of different themes and ideas being explored in early series. While some of these approach mlm relationships from the perspective of second-wave feminists expressing their sexuality in a time where women being overtly sexual was looked down upon, a large amount of series listed do tackle issues faced by many gay and queer men throughout the world during the 80s and 90s, such as prostitution, drug abuse, homophobia, and the AIDS epidemic. Besides this, while many stories here have difficult subject matter, there is a lot of hope in these narratives and many examples of genuine queer romance sprouting from the developing genre.

For the sake of preservation, the list will be ordered on release date and will only include works that have been either officially released in English or have received unofficial scanlations. For simplicity sake, I won’t be including outright pornographic series (yaoi or bara), but series that present sex but are not focused on titillation are absolutely fine.

Yankees, yakuza, and other bad boys have a reputation for being... less than cuddly. But there are some you just can't help loving!

manga with queer relationships and minimal to no sexual content that i found likeable + felt not as fetishizing as most others
(not that there's anything wrong w sexual content but it's hard to find stuff in these genres that aren't mostly written for the smut)

stack created by a sex-repulsed biro ace :)

+ manhwa, webtoon, novels, etc. but it's easier to keep the title simple lol

honourable mentions not on MAL:
Fugue Across Worlds (GL, Historical)
I Love Amy (GL, Psychological)
The Best Smell/ The Scent of You (BL)
The Story About You x Me (BL)
Robber x Lover (BL)
Adding You to My Cart (webtoon with MLM charas)

NSFW series mentions (i’ve been branching out):
Oh! My Assistant (BL romcom, this one is filled with a ton of smut but it has one of the healthiest and sweetest relationships i’ve seen if u can get past the few misunderstanding arcs! and refreshingly realistic lgbt representation)
Exit’s that way! (GL, also filled with smut but still very engaging story-wise, unfortunately discontinued)

Only japanese manga with delinquents/yankees or yakuza characters

Manga set largely outside East Asia, but on Earth.

All of these are Shoujo, there isn’t a single shounen piece in here. These can vary from fantasy Shoujo to action Shoujo. They are not all romantic in nature. None of these are one-shots either, though some are more short than others. Please enjoy these and I hope you find some interesting things in here. I’ve read all of these and loved them so I’d be honored if you’d do the same.

This is a list of manga that cover heavy and emotional topics like anxiety, disability, depression, and suicide. Blanket content warning applies.

Manservice delivered on a Silver Platter. This list contains queer male-oriented representation, ordered by how I rate the manga in general. Some of the content is straight-up Bara while other entries merely have great manservice or gay representation.

Manga that will break you. Sad comics with terrible endings have their own appeal, and fans adore them.

By the way, by the word “break”, I don’t mean they’re going to beat you. It suggests they will make you exceedingly sad or heartbroken.

Thought proving manga that will leave you feeling hollow or wanting for more after you’re done reading them.

Academically inclined bunch. These are the studious or smart characters that:

1. Love and seek knowledge.
2. Academically gifted or inclined.
3. Excels in studies or experts in the field they pursue.
4. Passionate and talented in their work.
5. Status: Students, Professionals, etc

The characters must show their skills, knowledge or expertise in the manga or anime.

Keywords: Academia, Academic, Study, Smart, Studious, Genius

Brb with better manga description 📖

Manga with LGBT+ characters that do not focus on romance—some have romance in them, but it isn’t the main focus of the story.

Manga & Manhua & Manhwa + novels in the bl drama or psychological category that are AMAZING reads. I would highly recommend all of these.