Five BL / BL-adjacent works that changed the way I think about intimacy
I’ve read a lot of BL, but some works stay with me for a reason.
Not just because they are moving or beautifully made,
but because they make me rethink how people form relationships,
what we call love,
and how desire is shaped by the society we live in.
For me, these five works do that.
Saezuru / Twittering Birds Never Fly
This is a work that makes me think about why so many women readers continue to be drawn to it so strongly.
Violence, control, care, desire, self-destruction.
So many things are tangled together here that cannot be easily called “romance.”
And yet readers cannot look away.
I keep wanting to ask: what are women seeing in this work?
Heaven Official’s Blessing
To be honest, I’m a little skeptical of the word “love.”
Love changes. It shifts. It takes many forms.
But with Heaven Official’s Blessing, I can say this without hesitation:
this is love.
That is the strength of this work.
What strikes me about ENNEAD is how it depicts patriarchy.
Myth, power, violence, bloodlines, domination.
It uses all of these elements to show the structure of patriarchy in a very raw way.
It can be painful to read, but that is also where its force comes from.
With Coyote, my first reaction is honestly:
what is this dangerously attractive man?
Ranmaru Zariya’s bodies, gazes, tension, and sensuality are overwhelming.
It makes complete sense that readers fall for this work.
This is one of those BL works where reading the body itself becomes part of the pleasure.
Smoke Blue no Ame Nochi Hare
This feels like a kind of bible for adults.
For people who have worked hard, kept running, and one day realized they were completely exhausted.
For adults whose work, relationships, and daily life have slowly become heavy.
This work picks up that kind of adult life with real care.
I want adults who have tried hard to live to read it.
As far as I know, it is currently only available in Japanese, which makes it even more frustrating that it is hard for overseas readers to access.
