BL or Boys' Love is a genre that comes with varying degrees of intimacy. Fujoshi who are reading this will understand, but for those dipping their toes into this genre for the first time, here's a brief rundown. BL is primarily comprised of two categories: Yaoi - homoerotic relationships between male characters, and shōnen-ai - a romance between male characters geared towards a female audience.
Yaoi is steam certified, while shōnen-ai is warm and fluffy. We know what we're getting into when venturing into a BL anime, but even the most hardcore of us can be caught off guard. See what BL anime moments will make even the most experienced Fuijoshis do a double-take!
10 Haru & Makoto (Free!)
This shonen-ai is full of bonds between the boys on the swim team. It's a sports anime that's all about the competition, even if it's between friends.
Haru and Makoto have been friends ever since they were kids and that friendship has lasted straight into highschool. It's clear their friendship is one of complete trust as Haru takes Makoto's hand to help him out of the bath. It's just that Haru loves swimming and the water so much, that he'd rather wear swim trunks 24/7 instead of bathe in the nude or wear normal clothes. Skinship and innocence is the name of this ship!
9 Kashima & Toyohi (This Boy Is A Professional Wizard)
8 minutes of shonen-ai bliss awaits in this four episode anime. That means we get to watch the sweet buildup between a wizard and a wanderer. Kashima is a wizard who meets Toyohi, a freeter who earns enough money to wander to his next destination, a bar. When the two build a bond between them, it comes crashing down.
Kashima has a complex about being a Wizard as magic is the only thing he's excelled at since he was a child. After feeling down about this, and drowning those feelings in alcohol, Kashima wakes up to Toyohi's threat - or more like a promise - of a kiss.
8 Izumi & Ryōma (Love Stage!!)
Izumi Sena is a hardcore otaku and aspiring manga artist. He has no talent for drawing but refuses to follow in his family's footsteps and become a part of the acting industry. He'd rather blend into the shadows than achieve celebrity status. However, he concedes to starring in a commercial, where his partner falls in love with his cross-dressing self. It's a marriage commercial after all, and Izumi looks great in a dress.
Ten years later and Ryōma is still in love with Izumi. He's an actor that is on the lookout for that girl he starred with all those years ago. Even when he finds out that Izumi is a boy, those feelings remain. As seen, Ryōma pushes Izumi down to test those feelings out. There's nothing quite so scandalous as performing a hands-on experiment when it comes to matters of the heart.
7 Tamari & Onihara (This Boy Suffers From Crystallization)
This animation is one episode long and only 30 minutes at that, but nonetheless it possesses a spicy scene that we can all appreciate. The unique art style draws us in and exemplifies a syndrome that turns Tamari's skin to crystal when he's stressed, depressed, or anxious. He has trouble fitting in because of this and is overly self-conscious when he crystallizes.
His teacher, Onihara Koya, loves crystals, stones, and minerals, and thus is attracted to Tamari's ability to crystallize. He also comes to care for Tamari in his own way but is scared to trust his heart. Tamari has no such misgivings. In fact, he's bold enough to ask this sensei to touch him!
6 Haru & Ren (Super Lovers!)
This yaoi anime may prove too taboo for some. It illustrates a "more-than-family" relationship between Haru and his younger adopted brother, Ren. It begins as an innocent quest to bond as brothers and to accept each other as family, but with Haru's doting ways and Ren's attachment, the bond between them begins to skew.
In the second season, the bond between them is apparent, but Ren questions it and the definition of love. Ren is desperately trying to understand what he means to Haru, and more importantly, what Haru means to him. This need to understand the complexity of love and what they mean to each other guides them into interesting situations. After all, being adopted isn't the same as blood-related!
5 Victor & Yuri (Yuri!!! On Ice)
A tentative bond between Victor and Yuri is formed when Yuri decides to recreate a rendition of Victor's ice skating performance. This video sparks inspiration inside Victor that prods him into traveling to Yuri's house and declaring himself his coach. The bond created between the two steadily grows as they face anxieties and obstacles within the ice skating world.
As the story progresses, it's clear that the feelings between these two are more than just those of a simple friendship. It's an anime that falls into the realm of a shōnen-ai genre. Fans everywhere were grateful to see the implication that Victor's lips successfully attached themselves to Yuri.
4 Mafuyu & Ritsuka (Given)
Recently aired, Given is a show that's split between two goals: the lead up to a live performance, and the build-up to their first music festival. The first focuses on the relationship between Mafuyu and Ritsuka, while the second focuses on the relationship between Akihiko and Haruki.
This yaoi revolves around the building of a band named Given and the members that make up this band. As they create material together, the bonds between them grow. Kissing takes courage too, or maybe it's all the adrenaline from the music. After their first live performance, Mafuyu and Ritsuka give in to their desire for each other and decide to date.
3 Ritsu & Masamune (Sekai-ichi Hatsukoi: World's Greatest First Love)
Unlike what the title may suggest, this anime does not necessarily imply that the couples featured in the story are the object of a great first love. The plot follows three different couples, but we'll focus on the main one between Ritsu and Masamune, who were a couple long before they meet up again at the same company, working in the same division.
Ritsu never got over his first love, even though he tries, which makes Masamune work all the more to re-establish this lost connection. With a ton of misunderstandings, Ritsu does his best to fend off Masamune, while he tries to secure Ritsu's affections once again. And, by the looks of it, Masamune's winning. Those eyes don't lie, Ritsu.
2 Misaki & Usagi (Junjou Romantica)
Be still our beating hearts! In an anime where the main purpose of exposing the hectic yaoi relationship between college student Misaki and famous author Usagi, there is an endless onslaught of erotic moments and sensual encounters. What really sets this anime apart from other yaoi productions is the introduction between the main characters. It's a bit unconventional, but it definitely grabs our attention from the get-go.
First impressions are everything after all, and Usagi does a grand job of making Misaki feel welcome in his home by pinning him down on the bed. For those new to the yaoi scene, this is not necessarily the norm. However, it's an unexpected development that deserves our attention.
1 Saijyo & Azumaya (DAKAICHI -I'm being harassed by the sexiest man of the year-)
The theme of this anime is steam, steam, steam! You can practically hear the fan-girls panting with this yaoi. A veteran and rookie actor find themselves in the next best scandal of the acting industry. After (affectionately) blackmailing Saijyo, Azumaya gets his wish: a chance to hold Saijyo.
As the title suggests, Azumaya does harass Saijyo, but it's in an endearing way that makes us root for him to achieve his heart's affection. With a variety of exceptionally steamy scenes, it's hard to decide which caught us off guard, but this one definitely takes the cake.