#Japanese Manga Series

[morganhopesmith1996]

The Major by Shirow Masamune

[banyun-gong]

《不徳のギルド》（不道德公會）作者: 河添太一 日本漫畫

[savage-kult-of-gorthaur]

"... LIFE IS BLOODY; SO, TOO, OUR MYTHIC HERO."

PIC(S) INFO: Mega spotlight on the first English language collection of "Lone Wolf and Cub," published by First Productions in 1988. Dustjacket artwork by Frank Miller, painted by Bill Sienkiewicz. Foreword by Eric Van Lustbader.

MINI-OVERVIEW: Join renegade samurai Itto Ogami and his infant son, Daigoro on their quest for revenge and redemption. "Lone Wolf and Cub" is considered by many to be one of the greatest epic tales of its kind.

OVERVIEW: "The Ronin -- the masterless samurai -- is perhaps the most familiar figure striding through the mythology of Japan. He is, in that fascinating pantheon, the most tortured of all heroes. Invariably, it is his honor that has led him into an untenable position. This is the inherent sadness of his nobility that makes him so appealing -- and so heroic. To his last dying breath, he struggles against the tide, enduring uncounted instances of hardship and suffering, never for a moment wavering from his righteousness. His purity of heart makes him enviable. But his spirit is far from pure. Only the man who has never lifted his hand against another is pure. But the man who has never lifted his hand against another cannot achieve even one victory. Life is bloody; so, too, our mythic hero."

-- FIRST PUBLISHING (Chicago, Illinois, USA), c. 1988

Sources: https://forum.sanctuary.fr/t/page-s-de-pub/185608/225?page=9, Stuart Ng Books, various, etc...

[nerdarena2]

Are You A Bleach Fan?

Are you ready to dive into the world of Soul Reapers, Hollows, and epic battles? If so, then you're in for a treat because today, we're delving into the captivating universe of Bleach. Created by Tite Kubo, Bleach is a Japanese manga series that has captured the hearts of millions of fans worldwide with its rich lore, intricate plotlines, and unforgettable characters.

The Story of Ichigo Kurosaki : At the heart of Bleach lies the story of Ichigo Kurosaki, a seemingly ordinary high school student with extraordinary abilities. After inadvertently acquiring the powers of a Soul Reaper – a spiritual being tasked with defending the living world from malevolent spirits known as Hollows – Ichigo's life is forever changed. With his newfound abilities, Ichigo embarks on a journey to protect the innocent and uncover the truth behind his mysterious powers.

The World of Soul Society : Central to Bleach's narrative is the intricate realm of Soul Society, a parallel dimension inhabited by departed souls and governed by a strict hierarchy of Soul Reapers. As Ichigo navigates this enigmatic world, he encounters allies and adversaries alike, each with their own agendas and secrets. From the noble captains of the Gotei 13 to the menacing Espada of Hueco Mundo, Soul Society is a realm teeming with intrigue, danger, and untold mysteries.

Unforgettable Characters : One of Bleach's greatest strengths lies in its diverse cast of characters, each with their own distinct personalities, backstories, and abilities. From Ichigo's loyal friends – such as the hot-headed Chad, the spirited Orihime, and the ever-loyal Rukia – to formidable foes like the cunning Aizen, the enigmatic Ulquiorra, and the relentless Grimmjow, Bleach boasts a rich tapestry of characters that captivate and inspire.

Epic Battles and Intense Action : But perhaps what truly sets Bleach apart is its exhilarating action sequences and jaw-dropping battles. From high-speed sword fights to explosive displays of spiritual power, Bleach delivers adrenaline-pumping action on an epic scale. Whether facing off against monstrous Hollows, battling rival Soul Reapers, or confronting the forces of darkness themselves, Ichigo and his allies never fail to impress with their bravery, skill, and unwavering determination.

Legacy and Impact : Since its debut in 2001, Bleach has left an indelible mark on the world of manga and anime, captivating audiences with its gripping storytelling, dynamic characters, and stunning artwork. Its influence can be felt across various media, from anime adaptations and video games to merchandise and fan conventions. Even years after its conclusion, Bleach continues to resonate with fans old and new, proving that its legacy is truly eternal.

So, are you a Bleach fan? Whether you're a seasoned veteran or a newcomer to the series, there's never been a better time to immerse yourself in the captivating world of Soul Reapers and Hollows. With its rich lore, compelling characters, and pulse-pounding action, Bleach is sure to leave a lasting impression on anyone who dares to venture into its depths. So grab your Zanpakuto, summon your Bankai, and prepare for an adventure like no other in the world of Bleach. Below are prime characters you can see in the hashira training of Demon Slayer :

Prime Character Of The Bleach Series

Below are one of the prime characters of the bleach series:

Ichigo Kurosaki 

Ichigo Kurosaki is the main protagonist of the manga and anime series "Bleach." He is initially introduced as a high school student living in the fictional town of Karakura Town. Ichigo possesses the ability to see ghosts since he was a child, a skill that leads him to encounters with Shinigami, or Soul Reapers, who are responsible for guiding departed souls to the afterlife and battling evil spirits known as Hollows. After an encounter with a Shinigami named Rukia Kuchiki, Ichigo gains her powers and becomes a substitute Soul Reaper to protect his friends and family from Hollow attacks. As the series progresses, Ichigo embarks on various missions to defend the human world and the Soul Society, a spiritual realm where Shinigami reside, from powerful enemies and conspiracies. Ichigo is known for his strong sense of justice, determination, and willingness to protect those he cares about, often putting himself in danger to ensure their safety. He is depicted as a skilled swordsman, proficient in combat techniques, and possesses immense spiritual power, which he continuously refines throughout the series. Despite his brash and impulsive nature, Ichigo demonstrates remarkable growth as he faces numerous challenges and confronts his inner demons. If you wish to purchase these anime figurines india then you can find them at dragon ball z action figures.

Genryusai Shigekuni Yamamoto 

Genryusai Shigekuni Yamamoto is a prominent character in the anime and manga series "Bleach." He serves as the captain of the 1st Division in the Gotei 13, the Soul Society's 13 Court Guard Squads, and holds the esteemed position of Captain-Commander, making him the highest-ranking official in the Soul Society. Yamamoto is depicted as a stern and disciplined leader, embodying the traditional values of the Soul Society. He is known for his unwavering sense of duty, strict adherence to rules and regulations, and commitment to maintaining order and justice within the Soul Society. As the Captain-Commander, Yamamoto is responsible for overseeing the operations of the Gotei 13 and ensuring the safety and security of the Soul Society and the human world. In battle, Yamamoto is an exceptionally powerful and skilled combatant, wielding the Zanpakutō (sword) known as Ryūjin Jakka, one of the oldest and most powerful fire-based Zanpakutō in existence. With his mastery over fire-based techniques, Yamamoto can unleash devastating attacks capable of incinerating entire armies and obliterating his foes with intense heat and flames. Despite his strict demeanor, Yamamoto deeply cares for the well-being of his subordinates and the Soul Society as a whole. He is fiercely protective of the Soul Society's traditions and values, and he is willing to make difficult decisions and sacrifices to uphold its principles, even if it means resorting to extreme measures. If you wish to purchase these anime figurines india then you can find them at dragon ball z action figures.

Apart from the above anime action figures, there are many other action figures. If you are looking out for such action figures then Nerd Arena is a one-stop solution for such kinds of action figures. 

To know more: https://nerdarena.in/products/bandai-s-h-figuarts-bleach-thousand-year-blood-war-ichigo-kurosaki-bankai-tensa-zangetsu-action-figure

[yumedoca]

So yeah, 'Ranma 0.5' or something like that..

[oldbrain]

Art by Macoto Takahashi (高橋真琴), scanned by Ju on Flickr

[mahatka]

ねぇねぇ？　笑って串刺しにするの？

[heretherebedork]

If only I'd known what he'd meant. I wouldn't have had so many regrets.

Bonus: Directly out of the manga.

[bcbdrums]

[remindmenot]

` Family 💐

[morganhopesmith1996]

Robotics Nurse by Shirow Masamune

[absolutebl]

Top 10 Great BLs That Are REALLY hard to find (but worth tracking down)

You may want to go hunting anyway!

Seven Days

Seven Days: Monday-Thursday

Seven Days: Friday-Sunday

Japan 2015

Never doubt my ability to recommend this show. One of the best live action yaois ever made, with perfectly structured angst, fantastic characters and acting, and no problematic tropes (rare in Japanese BL). The leads have excellent chemistry although it’s low heat there’s still some really cute mutual kisses.

Cherry Magic AKA 30-sai made Dotei Da to Mahotsukai ni Nareru rashii

Japan 2020

The sweetest fluffiest magical realism BL, packaged as a pinning office romance, very low heat (practically chaste) but the cutest. It’s truly great.

Cherry Magic Thailand

Thai 2024

A soft charming warm hug of a show about crushes and mind reading and self worth, with no-fuss execution from a consummate team and an OG lead pair proving why they remain eternal and deserve to grow up. Look, here’s the thing, Cherry Magic is a great Thai BL in its own right not comparing it to any other iteration. But even when I do compare (and I've seen all the Cherries and read the manga) it still stands. I personally like it slightly better than the Japanese live action, but I think that’s because I just really like Thai BL and I LOVE TayNew. Also all the kissing was both present and better than any other iteration. As it should be from Thailand.

I Feel You Linger in the Air

Thai 2023

IFYLITA is an exquisite BL, from filming techniques to narrative framework (much like Until We Meet Again). Steeped in history and family drama it edges into lakorn (but no as much as To Sir With Love and with way less scenery chewing). This is an elegant and classy BL... from Thailand which normally doesn't even try for classy. The main couple (both as a pair and individuals) were excellent, particularly Bright (Yai) whose eye-work acting style is a personal favorite of mine. Pity about the ending. Oh it wasn’t that sad but it wasn’t good either. This show could easily have earned a 10/10 from me except that it fumbled the… erm… balls in the final quarter. Argh. Whatever.

All about the ecstasy and the agony here.

Restart After Come Back Home AKA Risutato wa tadaima no ato de

Japan 2020

Atmospheric study in rural Japan meets complex family dynamics built on a romance framework of city boy meets country boy, grumpy/sunshine. It’s beautiful and icy sweet. Slow moving in places but ultimately worth the patience, low heat, low angst, and stunning.

Given

Japan 2021

Boy joins band, falls in love with other boy. The singing is terrible, fast forward through that but with the possible exception of the hair styles, this BL could have been made in 2015 and no one would be surprised. As such, it wasn’t ground breaking, but it didn’t disappoint either.

Make a Wish

Thai 2023

A doctor who can see the dead strikes a bargain with a wish-granting irreverent tree angel - naturally they fall in love (from Sammon: Manner of Death & Triage). Stars Fluke Natouch opposite not-Ohm, but who tf cares because Fluke has chemistry with everybody. Once again the Thai afterlife is incredibly bureaucratic but I enjoyed the premise and the unfolding of the story (it’s not predictable but still satisfying and with nice little twist). I like that the doctor is just gay AF - fag hag bestie and all the swagger. The cast is excellent even if the comedic stylings are a bit overblown and tonally off. It had sad parts and did make me cry but is ultimately happy with a great sex scene, good smiley kisses, and all the agency. Definitely recommended.

2 Moons The Ambassador AKA 2 Moons 3

Thai 2022

A Thai pulp that felt like it came out 5 yrs prior, with many of the flaws inherent to that time and studio system, including manufactured angst and convoluted plot, but an ultimately sweet main couple that (as a pairing) feels a bit more modern and satisfying to watch than they started out. This will probably go down in history as one of the few BLs where I genuinely didn’t care about any of the side couples. All that said, I find this show oddly appealing and rewatchable and I have no excuses for that except, I enjoyed it probably more than it deserved. Nostalgia & d**k, it's what's for dinner.

I Want to See Only You AKA Kimi no Koto Dake Mite Itai

Japan 2022

This is a beautiful well acted piece of cinema, about two boys who are opposite personalities and grew up together. Gifted and serious Sakura pines after outgoing eccentric manic pixie dream boy, Yuma. It is very pretty and this is the kind of atmospheric elegantly performed BL that only really comes from Japan (complete with dead fish kisses - what you though Korea invented them? oh no). If you want something stylish, this is it.

Triage

Thai 2022

BL does Groundhog Day featuring a doctor stuck in a time loop who must save a poor little rich boy from death by seducing the stuffing out of him, then PLOT TWIST, poor little rich boy must do the same for the doctor! Unfortunately... stuffing keeps leaking. I thought the plot was engaging if a little redundant and occasionally exhausting. The pairs were all well done, low heat but with decent chemistry and the support characters were likable (or unlikable, as required). If anything, the romance arc detracted and distracted from the main plot, but that doesn't stop this from being a genuinely good show.

HONORABLE MENTION

Great Men Academy

Thai 2019

Bodyswap involving unicorns turning a teenage girl into a boy makes this questionable as a BL (because, ya know, gender). But the fact remains that James is killer in the lead, and I (who do not like bodyswap) loved this damn show. Look, there is actual plot, hotties at boarding school, "bully the one you love" trope, some weird VR shit, very bad CGI, and yes, the boys end up together... whether they boys or not, so to speak.

Some of these shows may appear on a smaller streaming service, like WeTV, or they may be on a legal platform in your territory. I hope it goes without saying you should check there first.

(source)

This list updated Spring 2024, not responsible for cool stuff that went missing (or was added to a platform) after that date.

It's it last in a series the rest of which are:

[pinkrosealice]

CLAMP's legacy as originally starting from doujinshi circles is really fascinating and makes a lot of sense when you understand that a lot of their manga are just straight up loose adaptations or spiritual reinterpretations of some of the most iconic pieces of 20th century japanese fiction, especially literature.

In many ways a lot of their storytelling is best described as "derivative" but I don't really like using that word because it has such a negative connotation. I think CLAMP's genius is actually their ability to iterate on the themes and ideas and character types and other inspirations that they derive from, especially in their ability to translate those elements to a visual/aesthetic format and to add themes of queerness into those stories or highlight the already present elements of queerness.

Like Tokyo Babylon is inspired by Teito Monogatari (and also Peacock King but that in of itself is a subject for a whole other post). And it's not just limited to the quick one-off comedic reference to Yasunori Katō that we see in the beginning of the manga. The title itself is a reference to the first manga adaptation of the Teito Monogatari. And that title choice for the adaptation was itself probably a combination of a deliberate reference to the Book of Revelation which was culturally relevant in Japan at the time for reasons I'll explain in a little bit, as well as the fact that the author of Teito Monogatari based Katō in part on Aleister Crowley. But Teito Monogatari and Tokyo Babylon are fundamentally stories about the exact same subject matter, that is the City of Tokyo itself.

X aka X/1999 is pretty self evidently a loose adaptation of the Digital Devil Story novels, the ones that would go on to be adapted loosely into the Megami Tensei video games. An apocalyptic battle for the fate of the entire world fought in Tokyo between two ideologically opposed groups of super powered beings, one of which is literally called The 7 Angels. There is a magic sword associated with the death of a female loved one, there are references to a whole bunch of religious and occult concepts from both the east and west, and one of the key locations for the plot is an elite private high school. X and DDS/ Megaten are both quintessential examples of media born from the Japanese Occult Boom. Bad Japanese translations of the prophecies of Nostradamus in the '70s that inspired the Book would become mixed with the social and economic chaos that was the Japanese asset price bubble and other late stage capitalist nonsense and then the financial collapse in the '90s is why you have in both Tokyo Babylon (and by extension the manga adaptation of Teito Monogatari) and X this weird obsession for the Book of Revelation in a ostensibly non-Christian cultural zeitgeist. Tokyo was both "Babylon" as in Rome or any sort of other hypothetical city / civilization that represented decadence and degeneration, and it was Tel Megiddo in the sense that it was the place where the end of days and the battle heralding the Apocalypse would commence.

And then Gate 7 is literally just one of dozens upon dozens of fanfic/ rip-off / adaptations of / works inspired by Makai Tensho which came out in the '60s and sort of is kind of the cultural grandfather of novels like Digital Devil Story, Teito Monogatari and the Onmyoji series. It's the modern source of basically every piece of Japanese pop culture that treats the notable historic figures of the Warring States Era as more than just badass warriors but literal demigods, sorcerers and super powered beings. Mirage of Blaze(which also has some pretty clear inspirations from Tokyo Babylon and it sort of exists in a trifecta with TB and Yami no Matsuei in their relation to the Onmyoji novels by Baku Yumemakura but again, that is the subject for another post), Samurai Warriors and Sengoku Basara, pretty much all of the Fate series but especially the original Stay Night and especially especially Redline/ GudaGuda and Samurai Remnant, and a whole bunch of fighting games and Ninja OVA'S are all examples of Makai Tensho's influence.

[thisqueerlove]

Our Dining Table (2023)

| Japanese, BL, Drama, Romance | 8/10🌟

1 Season, 11 Episodes, 20+ minutes each.

Watch on GagaOOLala (or dailymotion for free)

Starring: Hiroki Iijima and Atsuhiro Inukai

Synopsis: "Eating around other people is a struggle for salaryman Yutaka, despite his talent for cooking. All that changes when he meets Minoru and Tane--two brothers, many years apart in age--who ask him to teach them how to make his delicious food! Yutaka soon finds himself having a change of heart as he looks forward to the meals they share together."

My Thoughts:

This is the cutest fucking thing I've ever seen! I myself have had issues with food and eating in front of others so I related to Yutaka a lot in that way. Now I don't know if the actors were allowed to improvise anything but a lot of moments seemed so natural as if they were improvised and I love that so much. The actor for Tane is so good and absolutely adorable! Minoru and Tane's brotherly bond seemed so real. This is also another series that's perfect for winter! If you want wholesome this is it!

This series has a happy ending.

[soulja-boi]

“Cool Doji Danshi”

really short yet really funny anime with a dash of really wholesome in the mix lol

episodes: 24

genres: slice of life, iyashikei

premiered: fall 2022

status: completed

studio: Pierrot

rating (MAL): 7.86