Please, help me find something decent to read in Japanese! I don't care if it's translated or not, posted on web or published novels. I don't have an access to the actual paper copies, so it would have to be available digitally on Amazon Ebooks or any other site where I can buy it. The thing is, most of Japanese BL novels are hella trashy for me. They just can't compare to the diverse and original Chinese, or even Korean novels. The only author I dearly love is Konohara Narise, I can read just about anything from her. If anyone could recommend a novel, written on the level of this author, I will probably tear a bit from gratitude. o I would like to read a novel that: Is decently written; Is original in terms of setting; Characters are not plain stupid, cringy and just boiling inside over minor stupidest things they could have just, you know, discussed among each other (I just can't stand it when the whole story goes around personal tragedies which started from the silliest misunderstandings, stemming from being unable to humanely COMMUNICATE); Shou/uke is not a pathetic, sniveling moron; Doesn't have unnecessary, out-of-nowhere rape. I have to say, I read all kinds of kinky shit over the years, and I could probably be judged by the whole NU community for my guilty pleasures. But still, Japanese novels have so much meaningless rape I can't just stomach it. For example, the novel I hated the most is Shounen wa Kami no Hanayome no naru. I, an adult woman, actually started crying while reading this shit. I like emotional rollercoaster novels, the feels must flow strong. Strong attachment, obsessive love - I want to feel the connection between main characters. I am sorry for being so picky and spiteful, somehow my ask for a good novel just turned into a pit of frustrations and disappointments, which just kept piling up over the years. Hope someone can relate to my pain out there.
The Show Must Go On - A Prime Minister remembers his past life and that his world is a game. In addition of his daugther being the villainess. Making use of his memories and cunningness, he turns the tables on the capture targets with amazing schemes and traps.
My favorite Japanese BL authors are Ichiho Michi, Nagira Yuu, and Tsukimura Kei. Tsukimura-sensei is more gentle angst, while Nagira-sensei and Ichiho-sensei tends towards more heart-wrenching angst. How much are you in the mood to cry? Have you read Oyasumi Nasai, Mata Ashita yet?
I'd say The Show Must Go On (Hehe I'm just shamelessly promoting. But it's good) Kiss the Black Cat (Another shameless promotion. Very fluffy) Yes, No Maybe Half (super cute) Violant of the Silver (It's a little slow on the romance, but the plot more than makes up) Moonlight On the Snowfield (This one is a 50/50. You either love it or hate it) Konohara Narise is my fav author too hehe
Unfortunately, never read a good Japanese BL. They just tell about s*x, even I don't know what the story tell me, so I just read Chinese or Korean BL. For Japanese I just read BG, especially shoujo.
Chill-chill's rankings are generally reliable. A few of them are obviously more smut oriented, but you can tell from the cover most of the time. Top 20 BL novels 2020 The only one I've read from this year's list though is Bon Apetit. It's quite wholesome and full of feels.
Thank you guys for so many replies! I appreciate all the feedback! Thanks for the list. I've been surfing Chil-Chil site for a while and bought a few top-novels. To be honest, I absolutely hated some of them. It seems due to the differences in the mindset between Europeans and Japanese people, their kinks are just not acceptable to me (it is always a wonder though, how similar chinese mentatily is to mine). But I also found out about Konohara Narise on Chil-chil, so I keep this site in a high regard nonetheless. I will look up Bon Apetit as well, thanks a lot. Yeah, the same! I am glad I am not alone to think like that! If you don't mind, could you, please, recommend me some shoujo novels? I've been itching to read something in Japanese, because i love the language, but can't find literature suitable for me. Thanks for the recs, I will look them up.
I am actually reading it right now, but I am not too impressed, to be honest. The setting is too black and white, the path is cut out for the MC, his schemes are not even explained most of the time. For example, there was a situation, when Juliette and Sigurd came to the Temple premises to play with the orphans or something. Turned out, Prince and Nasha also came to see Mary. They came without warning, so how did MC know about it to be able to stage a conflict between Nasha and Juliette? Not explained. Then Nasha suddenly went all crazy, saying stuff like "Since Juliette is going to die anyway, let her be Dragon Priestess instead". How should MC know it would happen? Not explained. Mary suddenly overhears Nasha and decides to assassinate(!) Juliette and MC. How did MC foresee all this? UNEXPLAINED. And then when all this burst out, MC goes like "It was all I. My machinations always lie undetected for I am a master of deception... blablabla" (insert a self-important face here). Me: WUT JUST HAPPENED?? I mean, almost every damn situation goes like that. Things just happen without MC's input, or they just don't get an explanation, and we just have to admire MC's wits for... what? That remains unclear. Characters, who were supposed to be good and righteous, suddenly blacken, and main villains get their past deeds washed clean and suddenly become white lotuses. Those, who read "Quickly wear the Face Of the Devil" would understand my reasoning, since in that novel every single action is controlled by MC, every situation is monitored and explained, and here... we are welcome to admire the main character JUST BECAUSE, no questions should be asked. I am reading it since it is not a worst Japanese bl out there, but I am not sure I will be able to finish it. I hope there's some unexpected twist in the end which could justify all the plot holes and unreasonable characters' behavior.
Thanks a lot, I am especially interested to read Violant of the Silver and Moonlight on the Snowfield! Thank you very much! There are a lot of names to look up! By the way, I am a fan of heart-wrenching works, so throw it at me, I am in the mood to cry. XD I didn't read Mata ashita, the description sounds interesting
The book that most recently wrecked me the most is Fusaide by Ichiho Michi. It's Book 3 of a spinoff series, but the books can mostly be read independently. I just finished translating it, and it was good to have other people cry with me over it. I seriously sobbed over this one. There are a bunch of reviews on Goodreads from the authors I mentioned, so you may want to browse/screen stuff there. Since you can read Japanese, I'll let you read the synopsis and reviews, and I'll try to point out some gray areas you may want to be aware of. Kiss and Futtara Dosshaburi were listed as mentions for best tearjerker, but I wouldn't call Futtara Dosshaburi a tearjerker. Futtara Dosshaburi (When it rains, it pours) - This one gets high praise for Ichiho-sensei, but personally, I didn't find the chemistry there between the MC and ML when the love scene that I was expecting hits. This also has a rape scene, but not between the MC and ML. Hmm, if you're not a fan of lack of communication... The ML can't seem to really talk to his girlfriend about why she doesn't want sex with him. But he still respects her feelings and doesn't blame her for it. Same for the MC and the crush that he has on his friend that he's living with. This lack of communication is acknowledged, and their feelings about it are also explored. All the consequences stem from out from it, and they each have to deal with their decisions. Kiss (And the sequel Love) - This one was not for me, due to the excessively negative mindset of the MC. But I am glad that I read it. However, the ML does coerce the MC into a physical relationship, and the MC stays with him because the ML wants it and the MC doesn't particularly care. The sequel Love deals with the MC and ML as they start over again, and the ML giving the MC time and space to decide if he what he really wants. He's been waffling about his feelings until they're forced to live together again. But this series is a rollercoaster ride of a relationship. These aren't very tearjerkery, but they have various degrees of angst: Bon Appetit - Down on his luck MC until he meets the ML. There's one MC/ML interaction that's kinda meh for consent, so watch out. But it's mostly soft and healing. It's cute enough, but I wouldn't call it a ground-breaking story to warrant listing it on a Top 10 list. Like I can admire the story crafting in Kiss even it's not for me, but Bon Appetit is fairly straightforward. Kokoro o Hanbun Nokoshita Mama de Iru - Amnesia story where the MC tries to find his lover M based what he reads in his journals. There's infidelity in here, but not between the MC and ML. Okashi no Ie ~un petit nid~ - I'm translating this now. It doesn't have rape in it, but MC struggles through past emotional scars and the violence and rape that he committed against his ex---it's something that he doesn't want to do again when he finds someone new to love. It's a story about his redemption. If you dislike lack of communication, I would say avoid the Utsukushii Kare series despite the high ratings. I can deal with lack of communication if the reasons for it are explored or if there's character growth to fix it, but it's like running into a brick wall with that series. I feel like there's not much build-up or tension in the webnovels that I've tried. And most of them are written in 1st person POV, which I'm not really in the mood to read. Anyway, I like discussing JP novels, if you ever want chat. I have a few Konohara Narise novels on my list I want to read, but I haven't gotten to them yet.
Not many shoujo novel i read, coz i like BL so i read Chinese novel, just some of them i think. 1. Drop!!～A Tale of the Fragrance Princess～ 2. Observation Record of a Self-proclaimed Villainess’ Fiance 3. The Sweets Prince’s Search 4. The White Cat That Swore Vengeance Was Just Lazing on the Dragon King’s Lap 5. Otome Game no Hametsu Flag shika nai Akuyaku Reijou ni Tensei shite shimatta... 6. Reijou wa Mattari wo Goshomo 7. Akuyaku Reijo No Tsuiho Go! Kyokai Kaikaku Gohan De Yuyu Sister Kurashi I forget some of them, and some were drop by the translator i think, coz not update for a few months so i didn't put them here
Oh God, You are sooo great! I can't express enough my appreciation for your post! When I wrote this thread, I wasn't even hoping to get such an amazing feedback. I saw some of the novels you mentioned while surfing Chil-Chil or Amazon, however I inexplicably got turned off by the covers... I didn't expect some pinky flowery pictures of the lovey-dovey highschoolers or something to be followed by rather deep descriptions. I should know better than to make judgments based on the covers alone, since I bought countless books with amazing covers which turned out to be absolute shit. Your post is so amazing, it actually makes me want to discuss things, I hope, you don't mind if my half-rant-half-complaints get a bit too long. Maybe, I am just bad at choosing novels, but I really want to use this chance to share my reasoning and getting all the disappointments of the chest. As I complained already, I have quite a few things which turn me off in the Japanese BL, like meaningless rape or miscommunication... The thing is, I don't mind them if they are described decently, as a part of the plot or to develop relationship between characters or something. Shoot, it is really hard to explain with such dubious content like these. For example, I read a novel like Fragile by Konohara Narise (https://www.chil-chil.net/goodsDetail/goods_id/15042/). It's one of the most hardcore novels I have ever read. Two dregs of society destroy each others' lives, which results in the painful experiences and traumas. The MC is the despicable, overambitious person with average abilities, but cunning and slippery personality. He goes to any lengths to reach his goals, even if it means he has to walk over other peoples' lives and careers. ML, talented and promising young man, who is regarded as a threat for promotion by the MC. Unfortunately, ML gets completely enamored by the MC's cute facade, so when he gets completely destroyed by the MC, it becomes a huge blow he couldn't overcome and eventually got blackened. He kidnaps MC and tortures him in every way possible (not sexually though, until the very end). The suffering of the both characters is so intense it keeps you on your toys until the last page. The setting is extremely dark and excruciating. However, it is an essence of the whole novel, which illustrates how an unhealthy, hurting relationship would develop under such sick experiences. Love-hate, obsession, unhealthy need for the other person, unability to let go. For me it was not just a novel to pass the time, but a delving into the fragile human heart under layers and layers of darkness and hurt. After finishing this novel I was in a heavy mood for a while, but I don't regret it in a bit. I also have read quite a few chinese novels, which quite often have blurred lines between acceptable and rather dubious themes. There's this one novel, which sounds completely crazy and kinky due to the description, but it doesn't actually do it justice (https://www.novelupdates.com/series/turns-out-im-crazy/). It explores fragile psychological state of a person, who is about to fall apart. In short, MC gets transmigrated into the body of his loved one after he (rather unintentionally, I would say) let the guy to a complete ruin. MC is so obsessed with his lover, that he kept him by his side against the will, unable to let go even while being hated to bits, which resulted in a series of tragic experiences and eventually death of them both. So, when gets reborn as a man he loved like crazy, being seized by his younger version, he almost loses his mind. Bit by bit, he starts to see everything for another's point of view, gets to experience and understand what hurt his lover the most, all those little things which led them to ruin. This is also a lot about redemption, contemplation, ability to accept and how little changes could lead to a whole personality turnaround, developing somebody into a whole new person. MC gets influenced by the new body, conditions, experiences and third person's point of view on his past actions, which also greatly affects the younger version MC, leading them to adapt to the new relationship dynamics. This is so beautifully thought out I have reread it a two times already, and will definitely reread again in the future. But once again, if you do not delve deeper into the story, the premise is that MC gets captured and confined by the ML and would get sexually assaulted quite a few times. Can't really say i hate rape if I loved a novel like that, right? While on the other hand, the novel I mentioned earlier - Shounen wa kami no hanayome ni naru - disgusted me so much I felt a bile rising in my throat. If you don't mindThe MC, a boy 16 or 17 years old, accidentally stumbled onto the hat, where the ML, a loved and hugely respected prince, would bring his whores from time to time. So when prince found a boy in this hut, he just raped him despite all the struggles, protests and pleas to let go, and after he just went "Oh, sorry, kid, I thought you were a whore, ma bad", without actually feeling any remorse. It was their first meeting. So a teenage boy gets assaulted just like by a complete stranger, without any regard for his feelings, identity or repercussions. The rape here happened not because of some deep feelings, psychological trauma, shared experiences or plain need in that other person, but JUST BECAUSE, BITCH. I dropped this series, marinated in my anger for quite a while, but then picked it up again, 'cos of the soaring ratings of the japanese community, and somehow finished the first book. Plot actually turned out to be interesting, the ML is starting to chase MC (while behaving like a smug ass, but, well, I tried to ignore it) so I purchased the next book of the series, and then I got a HUGE slap again. Prince is like "lets fock", MC says no, and prince goes "Oh, okay". And asks a pimp, who conveniently was passing by, to send him some whores to pass time. MC gets enraged after all the courting by the ML to turn out like this, prince says something in the lines of "Well, you said no, and I am not going to restrain my precious urges. If you are against, you should satisfy me in the whores' stead". And then he forcefully lifts boy to go and... bring him to the very same whore's hat. He didn't even deem it worth to bring a boy he actually courted to his rooms in Palace or renting some other place, he brought him directly to the place he would bring prostitutes he would buy for cheep. This is so humiliating for the poor teenager, who has lost face yet again, but actually went along with all this under the pressure of an adult, authoritative figure, who obviously don't care about real him in a little bit. The setting of their relationship is that the MC is in the role of a priest who is (falsely) prophesied to bring a prosperity to the kingdom if he somehow bears a child of the royal family (however, in this kingdom no man can bear a child, so it's a staged myth, thank god). The prince who gets to knock him up will receive a throne, so ML has an ulterior motive to court MC. When they briefly spoke about their feelings, ML directly said, that he would marry MC and make him an Emperor alongside, if MC bears him child. What went unspoken - "Otherwise sorry, dude, no hard feelings. Imma go to play with whores, bye." No respect for the MC whatsoever. This is so vile and disgusting, it horrifies me how japanese ladies hail ML as an Alpha man of many virtues, Unfortunately, things like that happen a lot in the japanese bl. Getting raped on the first meeting, without deep ties to each other, any love-hate motives, any justification for needing to possess somebody in every way possible, but violating someone without giving much thought, and shou being snively morons who don't have enough self-esteem to make the offender pay. There's yet another novel I bought for outrageous amount of money, which sounded so promising with glorious reviews and everything, that I started to read it with sparkling eyes. In the end, MC, uneducated cave man, gets raped by a prince on the first meeting. Why are they together? Due to some prophecy or something, I don't remember already, but MC happened to be the only man out there prince could have as a lover. So the two men completely different in the upbringing, social status, mindset, essential needs - basically, different in every single aspect on the point of not having a single common ground to hit it off at all, have to be together. And what is the better method to make them fall for each other and become reliable companions for life? Something like helping the cave man to get education, to somehow develop his character so he could stand on the equal ground with the prince, to get respect and love of his future subjects, have the main characters engage in conversations and throw them into the different situations to let them learn more about each other so they could progress their relationship? NO, IT IS ALL RAPE. MC is a dull man, scared to death by his new surroundings he has no understanding for, he can't even speak, partly out of fear and mostly because of his inadequate upbringing, and ML just visits him to rape him from time to time, and somehow, due to all that they should eventually develop a relationship based on NOTHING, but I will never learn about that because I dropped this piece of shit while bawling over the spent money YET AGAIN. I am sorry for such a long rant. I am also sorry for making my reasoning sound strange, it looks like I am trying to glorify one way of raping, while condemning the other, but I don't mean it in this way, I am just not good with words, so I hope you can understand me to some degree.
Thank you, the description is awesome, the MC also doesn't sound like a weak girl who will lie die to win thanks to the efforts of her harem alone. I am eager to try it out.
Thanks a lot! That's a lot of recs, I will look them up one by one. Well, both English and Japanese are foreign languages for me, so I don't really have a preference for a language, you can share dropped projects as well
Okay, here some that i forgot yesterday and some that translator drop (idk if other translator continue translating them) : 1. I quit being a noble and became a commoner 2. Haikei Heika, Nidome no Ouhii wa Okotowari! 3. I Swear I Won’t Bother You Again! 4. I Am Troubled That My Fiance Is a Villain 5. The Me Who Wants To Escape The Princess Training 6. I Don’t Want to Become a Villainess, So I Aim at Becoming a Perfect Lady Together with the Prince 7. Hero suddenly proposed to me, but.. 8. I’m Not a Villainess!! Just Because I Can Control Darkness Doesn’t Mean I’m a Bad Person! (LN) 9. Kenkyo, Kenjitsu o Motto ni Ikite Orimasu 10. Villain Heal: The Villainess’s Plan to Heal a Broken Heart. 11. A Sequel for the Villainess? 12. Otome Game no Akuyaku Reijou o Tanoshimitai! 13. Okitara 20nen Nandesukedo! Akuyaku Reijo no Sono Ato no Sono Ato 14. I Will Quit the Entourage of the Villainess 15. Akuyaku Reijou ni Nanka Narimasen. Watashi wa『Futsuu』no Koushaku Reijou desu! 16. The Bride of the Serpent Prince 17. The Villainess Is Being Doted on by the Crown Prince of the Neighboring Country 18. I am a Witch Requested by My Crush to Make Love Potion 19. Slow Prison Life Its a good thing that u aren't ask about Japanese BL to me or i will send u some blades ha ha ha.. Really, i like BL novel but till now none of Japanese BL that i like, near 90% their content are s*x, so how about the story? They sink under the sea or burn in hell. I like smut but i around 5-10% of the story. I don't want to read horny novel Btw my main language is not English too nor i understand Japanese, Chinese, or Korean.
I'm glad that my post was useful! I was like, hmmm, I'm not quite sure what they're looking for, but I can comment on contents that someone might want a warning for. But yes, I get that it's just easier to give us a quick list of what you're not looking for. You don't know us, and we don't know you well enough to understand where your boundaries are, so it's easier to save yourself the grief by avoiding it all together. I will probably say my boundary for the use of rape as a plot device in stories is similar to yours, but I think my boundaries are slightly fuzzier? Just to give you a rough gauge of my assessment between your tastes and mine for that particular aspect. I understand the desire for a deeper exploration of mature themes versus something that bandied around for shock value and/or laziness for a quick hit of emotion porn. Especially when the bad behavior is glorified or justified. I've heard about the Shounen wa Kami series, and I stayed away because I had heard about the first part. (And also because I was a hardcore BBC Merlin fan, I don't want my image of Arthur tarnished.) But I haven't heard about the other things you described, and I am 100000% staying away now. I've read Yakou Hana's new series Rekka no Ketsuzoku, and I feel similar mixed feelings about it. I read the first volume, and I absolutely love the worldbuilding in that book, but the ML is an ass, and although he does get a bit better, he will act like an ass again. I keep giving him chances to get better, and there are some amazing moments, but the author is hellbent on making him say the most offensive things as possible, but like barely pulling him back. I had to drop the translation for pseudo-underage content in Volume 2 (the MC is under a de-aging spell but he is normal inside), but like we're supposed to think it's okay because he didn't get aroused for the MC, but he still touched him against his will? It would not change the story one bit if it was left out, which frustrates me all the more about it. And all the lip service the ML gives to consent bothers me more than usual because he willfully ignores the MC feelings as long as he got the first okay from him. It hasn't descended to Shounen wa Kami levels yet, so I'll keep reading, but I am scared of future volumes now that I know. God, there is so much potential that I see in the series for something I want to read, but I can't help feeling I'll be disappointed. I read the first two volumes of Sora ni Hibiku wa Ryuu no Utagoe, but it was a side story about a side couple that made me want to throw my phone. The name of the chapter is called Hatsukoi. And what happens in the side story? A noble forces a servant to have sex with him, even there's no way that the servant can refuse him. I'm like seriously? You call that love? Especially when I thought that noble was pretty decent before that side story. It also means noble has been chasing after the servant ever since it happened too. And we find out like that in a side story in the second volume. -_-;; The series already had a whole list of storybuilding problems that I had issues with, but that was the last straw that made me drop it. So yeah, we all have different things that can cause us to rage quit. If you end up liking Nagira Yuu, Okashi no Ie is a spin-off from another story of hers, Yoake niwa Yasashii Kiss o. Since you mentioned that you can handle dark stories, you might try to look up reviews for it on Goodreads. I haven't read the previous story since it seems too heavy for me, but it could be a potential candidate for you. Is there anything you might be checking out, you think? I am having the worst time finding a decent fantasy story that I like enough to translate. I just keep striking out! Either they're too bland, or there's too many themes that I don't care to tackle, or they take a weird turn in the middle and I just go WTF??? In one book, the MC accidentally falls naked and sits on the ML's face while he's sleeping. And doesn't get off. Like seriously???? It wasn't a crack novel when I first started reading it. My head, it hurts. OTL