Boys Love, or BL for short is a genre that depicts romantic and/or sexual relationships between men. It’s a rich genre with stunning variety in its themes and due to its popularity, the English market gets a satisfactory number of localized titles. The trends and tropes change and evolve over time, however, certain broad strokes or fan favorites remain.
The word ‘trope’ has a negative connotation among anime and manga fans, but it is merely a tool whose outcome depends on its implementation. The romance genre especially runs on tropes, but it’s either a setting or a dynamic that helps the reader decide whether to invest in a series or not. In this corner, I want to highlight 5 Boys Love VSC that share the same trope. Today’s Boys Love for Life setting is high school!
Between the Stars
Writer/Artist: Sri
Platform: Tapas (All-ages)
Byeol is beside himself when he hears the news of his brother’s hospitalization. Their parents have passed away and ever since, Hyesung has been taking care of the two. Byeol rushes to the hospital, only to find Hyesung in a private room they clearly can’t afford. Finding out he was pushed down the stairs by another student in Byeol’s year and he was the one compensating them, he’s off to face this bastard Woon who dared to hurt his brother. What he discovers is a side of his brother that he finds impossible to believe in.
Between the Stars is Sri‘s second work to become available in English and it’s completed with 108 chapters. The first series Susu, Han was available on Pocket Comics. However, it was recently announced that the platform will be shutting down by the end of October. What will happen to its license is yet unclear.
I’ve been reading Between the Stars since its addition to Tapas till the end, and it was one of the sweetest, most comforting and emotional journeys ever! There are a lot of events or themes in this series that would feel heavy otherwise. Passing of parents, having to act as a caretaker as a high schooler, chronic illness, strict and restrictive parenthood—Between the Stars has it all.
However, Sri has excellent pacing and manages to keep the tone rather light while crafting characters, situations and feelings tangible. From laugh-out-loud moments to emotional, touching scenes, Between the Stars offers a fresh and fulfilling time during your stay. Not only with Byeol and Woon, but with its second couple too! While I’m still salty that the version on Tapas is, despite some chapters being tagged as mature, missing the sex scenes and are heavily cut, still 100% worth your time & ink!
Countdown to Love
Production: Manta Comics
Localization: Manta Comics
Platform: Manta Comics (All-ages)
Imagine one day, out of the blue, a timer that’s embedded into your life appears. It hangs in the sky, is only visible to you, and you have no idea what it’s counting down for. A calamity? A blessing? Your death? Hoon decides it’s the last option. He’d even welcome it, since after an injury, he had to give up on the one thing he so desperately wanted: to play basketball professionally. One day he gets involved with Haedam, another student from his year. They get off on the wrong foot and are forced to work together, but it may turn out to be a blessing in disguise!
Countdown to Love stole my attention with its cute key visual, and when I reached the end I was more than glad I gave it a shot! No specific writer or artist was credited on Manta‘s page and the series is complete.
This series is quite short with only 23 chapters, so the plot or the characterisation isn’t extremely deep. But it doesn’t have to be! The series does a good job of introducing its characters and their pasts or circumstances, their connection is heartfelt and I felt compassion towards Hoon and Haedam. It does what it sets out to do, and sometimes that’s all you can ask for!
Another aspect of Countdown to Love is the coloring. I love the usage of bright, neon-ish colors when shading. They truly pop on the screen and contrast nicely with the rest of the palette. The character designs are pleasing too, and there’s a cute, orange cat Haedam is feeding on the school grounds. Consider me sold.
I’d recommend this series to readers who are looking for a complete, short series to invest in! It’s fully available to Manta monthly pass holders, so perfect for a weekend read!
Plum Candy Love
Writer: Yun_Camellia
Artist: Domong
Original Novel: 500M Under the Sea
Translator: JeanieS
Editor: Kimmie
QA/QC: Jen Lee
Graphic QA: Yoom
Platform: Tappytoon (All-ages)
“Damn, I didn’t think you’d be so f*cking old-fashioned.” This is the line Yeonghyeon is hit with on a forced date with the rumored school bully Daehan after trying to reason with him by arguing they are both guys. Yeonghyeon was simply on his way back home after experiencing heat stroke, but instead, he’s forcefully taken to a cafe, has to sit in front of his intimidating schoolmate and sip on his cold drink. He expects Daehan to take his money, beat him up, come after his family and loved ones, but not ask him to be his boyfriend! Well, it’s less of a question than a statement, and he continues to follow Yeonghyeon around to the point where people think the poor boy is bullied. What’s Daehan’s deal, really? Does he truly like Yeonghyeon?
With 42 chapters, Plum Candy Love is a VSC adaptation of an original novel written by 500M Under the Sea. The adaptation was done by Domong and Yun_Camellia. It’s currently completed.
Plum Candy Love is your run-of-the-mill high school BL where the kind and sweet boy gets tangled with the scary classmate who looks like he could kill, but is a cinnamon roll. In the first 2-3 chapters, Daehan does seem a little forceful, but soon after, you get why. It isn’t spelled out (at least up until the point I’ve read) but Daehan reads as a character on the spectrum. He isn’t very good at reading social cues, as a result, he asks a lot of questions, isn’t super expressive and speaks bluntly. He shows his feelings through acts; buying food, walking with him to and back from school, shielding him from the sun, etc.
As a neurodivergent person myself, it’s always an immense joy to read non-conventional types of displaying affection and love in fiction. I don’t necessarily need any condition or medical category mentioned, it doesn’t even need to be a conscious depiction on the creators’ part. Yeonghyeon quickly picking up on Daehan’s intentions and affection is enough. And for now, it makes a pleasant and satisfying read.
I’d recommend Plum Candy Love to readers who love a giant puppy that can’t control its strength when playing and blunt characters who actually have a personality besides being blunt.
The Mingling Phase
Writer/Artist: SOOYO
Translator: yw740030
Editor: Sally
Graphic QA: Amelié Ko
Platform: Tappytoon (All-ages & Mature)
Dojin and Yeonwoo have been friends for what feels like forever. Both of their moms are single parents and close friends, so as an extension, Dojin and Yeonwoo have been side by side at every corner of life, no matter how small or grand. Yeonwoo is in love with Dojin, watching him silently from the bleachers as his object of affection hops from one girlfriend to another.
The Mingling Phase is a part of Tappytoon’s recent, currently-running event Midnight Snacks where they introduce short series with less than or around 10 chapters. I’ve previously highlighted short series in this column, hoping for other platforms to introduce more of them and who knew Tappytoon actually heard my pleas?!
The Mingling Phase is… well. From the very first chapter, you know what’s going to happen and everything unfolds exactly how you expect them to. It’s only 5 chapters and there isn’t a lot of exploration or room for maneuver. But it does scratch a very specific itch!
When you love a trope, you know you’ll eat it up whatever form it’s in and you’ll chase after new series that will give you the same, or at least, a similar high to what you can’t get enough of. The Mingling Phase is centered around the good old conflict where one character falls in love with a childhood friend and when a third party enters into the equation, the friend is finally forced to face his true feelings. I have previously written about this fan-favorite trope and its shortcomings, and in The Mingling Phase‘s case, your enjoyment will be directly linked to your love for this particular dynamic.
That being said, it’s a short and straightforward series so no harm in at least checking it out!
The Egg Project
Writer/Artist: Amyahue
Editor: Sonia Tagari
Assistant Editor: Kole Hunsinger
Platform: WEBTOON (All-ages)
Every parent wishes their child to grow up healthy and loved by all. This is especially the case for Riku and Cherry’s moms who’s become close friends during maternity and raised their kids practically together. But no matter how much they may have tried, these kids just can’t get along! Whether it’s by pulling pranks or getting into fights, Riku and Cherry can’t see eye to eye. After one such prank that goes wrong and a physical fight that follows, the two barely escape detention. The condition is for the two to never get into a fight again and complete The Egg Project where they have to co-parent an egg successfully for the Psych class they’re taking together.
Say hello to the OG enemies-to-lovers couple. Riku and Cherry hate each others’ guts since infancy! I discovered The Egg Project a couple of days ago while I was looking for a title to discover for today’s column, and I’d like to offer my congratulations to the creator! This series has just started serializing anew as a WEBTOON Original, hence the chapters available on CANVAS are taken down. As a result, I could only read the three available free chapters.
So you might wonder why this old fujoshi is recommending a series they only just started reading. My answers are simple. Because it’s super cute! And so much fun! And it’s my column! Jokes aside, while I obviously have no idea how things will progress from here on, I enjoyed the chapters available and fervently went to CANVAS to read more but alas… I have to be a good fujoshi and wait for weekly updates. If you have spare coins, however, the better!
Although the trope is called “enemies-to-lovers” oftentimes either the stakes aren’t that high to earn themselves an enemy badge, or the parties are simply rivals aiming for the same spot or on the opposing sides of an argument or a group, for example. So it’s refreshing to see two characters who are at each other’s business since before they could even speak! Sometimes it’s out of spite and for no apparent reason, or there are times where they provide a reason for the other to keep the tension going. So I can’t help but want to accompany these two trying to take care of an egg! And fall in love in the process, of course.
I’d like to conclude by saying how much I love the dynamic linework and bold colors in The Egg Project! Our pink & black-coded main characters are a feast for sore eyes as well. I’d recommend this series to readers who are looking to get into a new series and would enjoy reading about two high schoolers who share a single brain cell raising an egg!
Boys Love: When growing pains hit you like a truck
Don’t quote me on this but high school setting may be the most popular (or used) theme in the Boys Love genre! So I admit I’m being basic this week, but I tried to spice it up by trying to recommend new or not-as-popular series to compensate! High schoolers running rampant on their hormones may be annoying in real life, but they are adorable (and more tolerable) on screen!
As always, I hope this list was to your liking and you were able to discover your next favorite BL. Don’t forget to add your favorites in the comments and see you next time!
Catch up with previous entries in K-Comics Beat’s Boys Love for Life series by clicking here!
