Gold Standard (BL) Manga

This is my list of manga that are not only my personal favorites but also works that I consider to be objectively excellent. 

This means the manga on this list will be 1., on the longer side; 2., mostly about adults (don't personally care for school life stories); 3., dub-con and non-con is minimal if present at all; 4., have characters slightly less generic than your run of the mill yaoi.
All(29) / manga(29)

What can a LIST do?

You may feel your favorite manga should be gathered together into distinct categories for your own reference and, now, you can do this with a LIST. After you've created your list or lists, you can proudly recommend them to other manga fans to showcase and share your taste in manga.

Messages

heloise August 21, 2020 10:46 pm

Ooooh! Thank you for this list <3 And for your really nice reviews! We have a lot of mangas in common <3 (Like Raiatea and I can't even breath without you <3 My god, I just love these mangas <3 and I have this impression that not enough people know them :x so, I'm really happy to see them here in your list ^^) But you also have a lot that I just don't know so, mmh, I gladly trust you and read them! ^^ One more time: thank you for the sharing <3

And I'd like to share some suggestions? Maybe you don't know them...

- http://www.mangago.zone/read-manga/only_you_only/

- http://www.mangago.zone/read-manga/sayonara_heron/

- http://www.mangago.zone/read-manga/yoru_ga_owaru_made/

- http://www.mangago.zone/read-manga/yoru_no_rakka/

- http://www.mangago.zone/read-manga/bokura_no_shokutaku/

- http://www.mangago.zone/read-manga/canis/

And now I've become your follower aha!

Heuristic August 24, 2020 5:07 pm

Thanks for the lovely comment and the recs! Those two manga are some of the absolute best in the genre IMHO. I will say that my "gold standard" list is a bit uneven tbh - there are a number of manga that probably should be on here that are on my 4-5 star list but I just neglected to add them. If you run through these and are looking for a longer list with more titles, definitely check out my 4-5 star list. :)

Sayonara Heron has been on my to-read list for aaageees and I'll bump it up to read next. I have read EVERYTHING available by Nishida Higashi (probably my favorite BL mangaka), but I've refrained from putting their titles in this list because all of their best work has stuff that may make readers uncomfortable. But OMG I loved Yoru ga Owaru Made. Bokura no Shokutaku is also one of my favorites (you have excellent taste!). I liked it so much I bought a hard copy of the English translation.

Ok so quick question about Canis: I've been waiting for it to finish before I start reading. Is the story satisfyingly concluded, or is it truly ongoing? I know sometimes the main arc(s) are resolved more or less but additional volumes sometimes come out.

Sorry for gushing a bit. Anyway, thanks again. <3

heloise August 29, 2020 1:55 pm
Thanks for the lovely comment and the recs! Those two manga are some of the absolute best in the genre IMHO. I will say that my "gold standard" list is a bit uneven tbh - there are a number of manga that probab... Heuristic

Oh yes I've already checked it ahaha :D <3

And for Canis, it's a saga, so the first story, declined in 3 books, "Dear Mister Rain " (1 book) and "Dear hatter" (2 books), is complete. So you can read this one. You will follow the beautifuuuul and sweet looove between Kutsuna and Kashiba <3
In fact, this is the spin-off wich is still ongoing, "The Speaker" (2 on 3 books I think; and it's about the previous mafia boss of Kashiba).

heloise August 29, 2020 1:58 pm
Oh yes I've already checked it ahaha :D <3And for Canis, it's a saga, so the first story, declined in 3 books, "Dear Mister Rain " (1 book) and "Dear hatter" (2 books), is complete. So you can read this one.... heloise

"Sorry for gushing a bit." ahahahaha no worries, we are between fanatics sooo

CamBp May 31, 2020 1:41 am

Thanks for the list! Looks like I'll have something to read to pass time by during quarantine :)
As thanks I'll pass on these gems to consider
1.I didn't mean to fall in love by Suzumaru Minta
2.Given ( idk the author )
3.Long Vacation
4.Momentum

Heuristic June 8, 2020 8:08 pm

Ooh thank you so much for the recommendations! I am always on the lookout. ^.^ Given is on my to-read list, but I want to wait until it's finished. I'll certainly check these out.

I should add that this is a somewhat arbitrary list of my personal favorites and so is rather limited. If you run through these and still want more recs, I've two lists of stories I rated 4-5 stars here (they are updated more often too):

http://www.mangago.zone/home/mangalist/189190/

http://www.mangago.zone/home/mangalist/386203/

jarta February 16, 2017 9:15 am

#3, 9, 10 though by this time I 've read no. 10 and enjoyed it lol. No.1'is sort of familiar but I'm not so sure I've actually read it since I read a lot of BL manga but tend to jump from one series to another it all becomes a blur to me lol. Anyway I'm looking forward to more, even if it's something I've already read because I enjoyed rereading some on these lists. Doushitemo furetakunai and sorenari ni shinken nandesu are both a fav of mine. :)

Heuristic February 18, 2017 4:46 am

Ah, most of those are ones I have not written proper reviews for yet. Need to re-read them. :)

Heuristic February 13, 2017 3:32 am

Awesome! I know that since my standards for inclusion are pretty rigid, as a result most of the manga listed here will probably already be familiar to most folks. Might I ask which of the ones I included you hadn't read before? Hopefully as I continue to read this list will be expanded and updated. :)

jarta February 3, 2017 10:33 am

I just saw one of your reviews in one of the mangas you've read and I just had to check your profile out and you didnt disappoint with this list. I've read some of them but there are still a few that I certainly would like to check out so thank you for this list!!!