BL Fantasy/Supernatural Manga Selections

I’ve been kicking around the idea of a list covering favorite BL fantasy and/or shoujo/BL fantasy manga ever since I started my blog. But I always dismissed it as not very useful. What changed was that I actually felt like reading some new fantasy BL manga. So I peeked at those genre searches on MU/MAL and was met with a cesspool of horrific manga (most of which I already knew about). That’s no good. So installing a filter should prove somewhat useful to fish out any gems you might have missed hidden in that sludge.

Just like my previous lists, this is stuff that I like, so it’s not all inclusive (thank god). It’s a mixed bag: there’s old and new titles, popular and obscure, translated and untranslated. Some are new, possibly passing fancies while others are definitely tinted by rose-colored glasses. But even those titles are part of the experience, so if you skipped one, think about going back to see what it was about. I had to poke my fuzzy memory and ran out of patience while creating this baseline list, so it’s somewhat incomplete. I’ll add to it as I read, discover, and revisit more relevant manga. Particularly that last one–sometimes I just don’t remember titles or if I actually liked them. I’ve also been wanting to renew my hunt for good fantasy BL manga and this will let me record the stuff worth the paper it’s printed on.

So here’s some recommended fantasy/supernatural BL manga in no particular order. Unless I’m modding on MAL, I don’t bother differentiating between the two: if it’s weird shit that can’t happen in real life, it’s fantasy to me. There’s so little high fantasy stuff that it’s a moot point. So you’ll find angels, demons, dragons, magicians, spirits, and supernatural phenomena all listed below. Titles, artists, and a tidbit of information are given for each manga. If one catches your attention, begin your hunt for more information or feel free to ask questions here that Google can’t answer.

Kamikakushi Ryou Kitan by Tojitsuki Hajime

Kamikakushi Ryou Kitan

BL = Bozu Love

I had a rough start with Tojitsuki Hajime.  Several of her earliest manga struck me as very bland, very forgettable.  At some point, either she matured artistically or gained enough freedom to draw whatever she wants (probably a bit of both!) because her recent manga are refreshing additions to BL.  Kamikakushi Ryou Kitan revolves around the supernatural occurrences and tasks undertaken by the resident monks.  This isn’t your average Shinto shrine or priests.  It’s an unremarkable employee dormitory, but the residents have some pretty remarkable (if somewhat random) styles that are heavily influenced by skater, street, and hip-hop cultures.  There’s even some “bozu atama” or shaven heads that you’d associate with monks and/or punks! Kamikakushi Ryou Kitan is a collection of occult stories that feature these modern day monks.