Reading mangas is one of my preferred pastimes. Reading Yaoi mangas is my favourite way to relax. So here are five mangas set in high school that I quite like. Just a warning that some of these can get quite graphic and gratuitous. Yaoi mangas tend to be all with the sex and heavy content regardless of being set in high school. I’ve provided warnings for triggers, mature content and off-the-wall gorgeousness for each of them so that you can decide on your own which ones you’d like to try.
Why these five?
I’ve probably literally read hundreds of mangas, but I’m very particular with my yaois. There tends to be too many sexual assault story lines in the genre, which I dislike. I picked these ones because they generally don’t use those tropes and focus more on the relationships and character developments. Also, be prepared for slurs. Mangas don’t seem to be shy about calling someone a “homo” or having a gay character refer to themselves as a “homo”. I have no explanation in this, only that it makes me uncomfortable but it could be a translation issue as well. I also selected these because I really liked the artwork for most of them. I tend to be finicky about these things, which I realise makes me a manga snob, but if shit is ugly, I really don’t care how good the story is.
So, with that said, let’s go!
Seinen Wa Ai O Kou (The Youth Yearns Love)
by Hino Garasu
Rating: Mature (for sexual content)
Genre: Drama
Synopsis:
Carefully hiding his orientation, high school student Kaede kept his love for his best friend, Okuda, for years! If he decided to keep it forever… when would the two hearts become one…?
My Thoughts:
This is the sweetest story about a boy trying desperately to hide his orientation from everyone. But when his best friend Okuda accepts and loves him, his whole attitude changes. This isn’t a long manga and there isn’t too much happening in the events department but it’s heart touching and nice. There’s at least one sex scene which I thought was delicious.
Cut
by Touko Kawai
Rated: Very mature (lots of sexual content), violence, trigger warnings for cutting and self abuse + an abusive relationship between one of the characters and his step father.
Genre: Drama
Synopsis:
Sakaguchi is in a sexual relationship with his stepfather that is abusive, but he enjoys the pain because it helps mask darker memories from his past. He then meets another student with a troubled background, who may be the person to help him stop his self-inflicted pain.
My Thoughts:
I love this story, and I love the artist’s style despite the fact that it’s not been inked well and it’s not the best drawn of Kawai’s work. However, I love the storyline of healing between these two boys and their transformation as they care for each other and learn to grow in a healthy, positive way. Also they’re both so goddamn cute together.
Elektel Delusion
by Nekota Yonezou
Rated: Mature (Seriously – quite a bit of sexual content)
Genre: Romantic Comedy
Synopsis:
Shunpei and Fumi are best friends and neighbours. One day, Fumi tells Shunpei he might be gay and has agreed to go out with another guy in school. Shocked at this sudden confession (but very accepting), Shunpei questions Fumi about all sorts of things regarding his newly-discovered homosexuality – subtly aware that he’s disappointed that Fumi picked someone else over him – and, upon meeting the boyfriend, cannot take that Fumi chose someone who was more or less normal… like Shunpei!
My Thoughts:
I actually haven’t finished reading this one, but the first volume was super cute between Shunpei and Fumi. Not only that, it was actually romantic and hilarious. Shunpei is passionate and not very bright, yet Fumi loves him anyway and… and… I want to hug them both! The art is lovely and the humour is pretty cute. But it’s also pretty explicit in the sex thing.
Kare no Tokubetsu Na Kare (His Special Boyfriend)
by Narusaka Rin
Rated: Parental Guidance
Genre: Romantic Comedy
Synopsis:
Despite being good looking, all Hiraoka Tatsuya ever wanted was to lead a peaceful and ordinary life. However his life turns upside down with the addition of a new student, Suruga Daichi, a famous actor. As the Student Council President, he is assigned to looked after him. What will happen to him now…?
My Thoughts:
I remember as this being one of the more tame yaois I had read. I don’t think there’s anything too intense in the sex department. But it is cute, sweet and funny which any romcom manga should be. It’s also a little bit silly and good for a fun read.
Honoo no Mirage
by Kuwabara Mizuna
Rated: General – Some violence.
Genre: Action/Adventure
Synopsis:
Parts melodrama, historical romance, and supernatural fantasy. Japanese history predominates a heavily structured plot, which mainly involves the continued aggression between magic using guardians, or “possessors,” and the denizens of a “feudal underworld.
My Thoughts:
This one has much less sexy times in int and focuses far more heavily on the mystery and narrative of the story, plus the emotional connection between the two characters. It’s also much older than the others listed, so the style is more dated and the artwork less flashy. But it’s also an interesting story, though possibly a tough read for those not used to reading manga and not familiar with Japanese storytelling.
Roro
Great recommendations kat . I hate assault tropes and why are there a lot in Yaoi mangas/anime?
Kat Kennedy
I don’t know, Roro, but I find it really frustrating. It’s become a very big feature in the genre now. Lack of consent is a big issue as well as straight out rape.
Roro
I hope it changes soon . I don’t know them personally but there are lovely popular gay couple you tubers that have loving relationship. Again i don’t know it just how they come across
*hugs*
Expy
The trope has always been a big feature in the genre since its inception (to the best of my knowledge). Moreover, the trope is a kink element. It’s like how in western mm-romance there are bondage, dub-con, and non-con stories. Some people hate them; some people love them. The people who hate them are not the target audience; the people who love them are (I’m one of them).
Ina M.
Gah! I have only one question – wherever did you find Mirage of Blaze?????!! I want to read it soooo badly! Also, many thanks for the other recommendations, they sound good and I’ll certainly check them out! Yay for yaoi! \(*o*)/
Kat Kennedy
I can’t even remember. I just remember I know it but since it was one of the first I did. Sorry!
Holly Letson
Nice selections. I haven’t read any of these. I don’t read as much yaoi, anymore. But, I watched most of the anime of *Mirage of Blaze*, back when it was on Encore, forever ago. I enjoyed that one.
Is there a yuri list in the works as well?
Kat Kennedy
Holly, I would LOVE to do a Yuri list – if there were a Yuri list I could possibly compile. There are few Yuri mangas – most of them not to my taste. They’re either flagrant fan service directed at men, or so stagnant and invested in the emotionality of the characters without any action, adventure, real drama or plot that I find them hard to read. It’s definitely a genre that needs more blood in it.
It makes me wish I could draw so that I could make mangas of all the Yuri stories I want to write.
Natalie M.
I’ve never read yaoi before (yes, I know. You have full permission to pelt me with orange peels) but I’ve been meaning to give it a try. No manga experience is complete until reading one!
Elektel Delusion looks cute—the artwork looks like Ouran High School Host Club which I absolutely adore. And I’m with you on the artwork issue. I’m sure I’ll miss out on a lot of awesome manga this way, but I can’t stomach art I don’t like. That’s why I’ve never read Nana even though I’ve heard it’s really good.
Kat Kennedy
Natalie, I so agree. Nana was one of the ones I compromised on and I really loved it. But I usually won’t bother unless the art is good.
Elektel Delusion, since I’ve read more of it now, can be pretty explicit.
Sierra
I started reading Elektel Delusion back when it first came out (read: when scanlations first became available), but I haven’t read any of the other ones! And silly me, thinking I was one of the few and far between who read manga, much less yaoi manga. My favorite is actually a shounen-ai: Loveless. Have you read?
Kat Kennedy
I haven’t read, simply because if there’s no sex in it, I lose interest quickly! 😉
Cayce
CUT!!! I loved that manga. It was one of the first shounen ai mangas I read (waaay back then in high school) and I still <3 those characters. And I also love Ano Kado wo Magatta Tokoro by that mangaka.
Seinen Wa Ai O Kou… Elektel Delusion… hm, I don't remember reading them but I have read so many that, unless they have something that makes them really stand out, they are all sort of blurring together 😉
But I do remember Kare no Tokubetsu Na Kare and Honoo no Mirage. Though, I only watched HnM, the anime.
Kat Kennedy
Same. I’ve read so many that I can’t remember all the ones that I’ve read or not. Oh well!
kerry bean
Thanks! I’d love to hear about some of your other manga recommendations!
Kat Kennedy
Sailor Moon. Nana. Skip Beat. I dunno.
Sarah
I need to have like a fangirl moment and be jealous at the same time! I love yaoi manga, but never get to read/buy it. However, I LOVE Cut.
Michelle @ In Libris Veritas
Great recommendations! I haven’t actually read any Yaoi manga before, mostly because I have no where to buy it except online now. When we actually had a bookstore with manga I was still in high school and there was no way I was making my dad pay for Yaoi, lol.
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[…] Kat recommends 5 young adult yaoi mangas. […]
Christina (A Reader of Fictions)
Obviously, I will read these. At least the ones I’ve not read. Also, I love that you are publicly embracing yaoi. No guilty pleasures, here!
Caitlin
Have you read Sekai-Ichi Hatsukoi? It’s still ongoing but I’m so obsessed with it haha.
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Edward Cameron
Such a great collection Kat ! these all Adult manga’s are really awesome. I love to read manga but only in English. In above list, I like Kare no Tokubetsu Na Kare and Cut manga. Cut is really awesome manga for Adults. This is very painful story of girl who suffering from sexual relationship with his stepfather.