Japan BL’s Appeal to Gay Market

When they do, the publishers will market…oh yes. The result is a crop of new titles with immense crossover appeal. Think BeBoy Gold with muscles.

I posted a thread at the DMP forums some time back about Gay Comics and Yaoi, so I am going to elaborate here because I see many novices out there comparing Gay Western Comics to ‘Gay Manga’ in Japan that isn’t really ‘Gay Manga’ at all. The titles they are using as examples [and I did also before learning otherwise] are anthologies written and drawn for women, ergo they are ‘muscle-yaoi’ and not pure eGay Mangaf.

First off, most gay comics fans who are men in the West are not into manga all that much, so comparing ‘yaoi’ for women to ‘gay comics’ here in the west is like comparing apples to bananas [I know I am fond of saying this!]. Western Gay comics are galvanized in tongue and cheek and entrenched in superhero dogma. There are many gay comics creators, but they are by no means manga and nor do they try to be. Tim Fish hands down is the Gay comics leader with his funny and realistic Young Bottoms in Love series and Cavalcade of Boys. But these are not manga nor are they meant for manga fans. The most popular ‘gay comics’ seller is still Patrick Fillion whose appeal has now spread to Europe. His newest anthology Rapture features shorts from his own original stable of well young hung super heroes. His company, Class Comics, is taking a bold step in crossing over to women and young gay male fans of ‘BL’ or ‘Yaoi’ by endorsing a doujinshi based on his popular character Camilicat character created by efan circlef Studio Plug’n Play. It is set for release at the end of August.

But crossing over to capture the new middle ground began in Japan a few years back when Japanese publishers noticed the trend Gay manga fans reading ‘BL’ titles and many female ‘BL’ checking out Gay manga. This gave rise to anthologies like Kinniku Otoko which is FOR WOMEN but loaded with crossover appeal because it’s all muscle manga, for ladies who like that sort of thing. It’s got massive gay appeal because the men are beefy, and even though the stories are pretty much standard in terms of ‘BL’ plotting they showcase artists like Matsuzaki Tsukasa, Horii Jingorou, Matsumoto Inaki, Hibakichi, Matsu Takeshi and so on in order to sell their books.

Another anthology is OTOKO DAMASHII from G’z COMICS – this one might set you back a 10 spot if purchased through a re-seller because it’s quite popular. Then there are titles like Bakudan, newcomer DanDan and more and more popping up each month.

Amarythia said in my DMP thread When the anthologies first came out, I didn’t seem them as “gay-manga-not-BL”–but rather, I saw them as a whole new *alliance* between BL and gay male manga.

I agree completely. These anthologies can be seen as a merge between gay manga and ‘BL’ manga, and will likely find an audience here in the west because there are many young western gay men who enjoy yaoi. But get ready for the gouging! JPQueen is offering the newest Gay manga anthology DanDan which retails for about 6$ in Japan for the inflated price of $17. Ouch.

-Gynocrat