New key visuals for Luckydog1 Stageplay -Bet and Run-
Yesterday the official Luckydog1 stageplay account shared a new promotional image for the upcoming stageplay production Luckydog1-Bet and Run-. This new stageplay will feature the same cast as last year's stageplay Luckydog1 on Stage and the performances will start on May 22nd. Earlier this month, the account also released new individual pictures of the actors which I've also included in this blog post. I think it’s still a bit unclear how much this version will differ from last year’s stageplay, though the original 2018 stage adaptation also had several retellings of the same story, so this stageplay might follow a similar approach. For the schedule and more information please check the official website!
I respect this warning and think it's cool that there's a toggle, but given the CGs on the store page I feel like "moving bugs" are a very minor inconvienience in the grand scheme of things
Honestly, I should be putting any of this lb on my lb side, but I can't leave this trifecta of gold to melt away into obscurity. It's such a low chance, but I've got slightly larger reach on my main, and this game definitely deserves more love!!
Lucky Dog 1 is such a fantastic game, managing to run the gamut of emotions fairly effortlessly. I probably won't have a dedicated lb here, but there will be times where my son (precious, precious Ivan Fiore <3) will have to be recognized!!
Tennenouji's Lucky Dog 1 Launches on MangaGamer and Steam!
MangaGamer has released the English language release of indie developer Tennenouji’s magnum opus, Lucky Dog 1! Lucky Dog 1 on MangaGamer and Steam, and customers who purchase during the launch window can save 15% off of $34.95.
Official Site (EN)
Official Site (JP)
Get the game on MangaGamer
Get the game on Steam
It all starts with the slam of a prison door. Four captains from the same Mafia…
“If you try to threaten me...I’ll fuck you right in the ass.”
Suddenly, the leg hair Koushirou hated so much back in elementary school which he named Gouda, appeared in front of him in the form of a human!
Review Proper
HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA
FUCK!
I can’t believe it! This! This is early 2000′s yaoi! My goodness. This is exactly “山なし、落ちなし、意味なし” embodied! There was no drama, no romance—just straight up porn. Man, I knew that Yura was illustrating this, but I can’t believe that they also got Saitou Iri to do the story, too! It’s literally a Miracle No-Ton revival! Oof! I’m so old! 😂
I honestly expected “Mudaero” to mean “meaningless eroticism”, but it turned out to mean “useless hair eroticism”!!! I remember making the synopsis for this for my January 2018 releases clearly because it was the first one I ever made. I really can’t say that my Japanese has considerably improved from back then (because I was really at a loss while listening to this), but at that time, I still didn’t know how to read their websites, so I really had no idea what this CD was about. 😂 It took me two years to finally understand what kind of gijinka Gouda was! A gijinka is a thing that has managed to transform into a human. In this case, Gouda was Koushirou’s stubborn leg hair back in elementary school that turned into a human many years later after seeing how much of a trashy life he was living. Idk, I just can’t help but picture Dr. Pimple Popper pulling Gouda out of Koushirou’s leg and then Gouda transforming into a human right after! HAHAHAHAHA
As I understood it, Gouda was given a human form in order to help Koushirou get his life and decency back—by force! You know, after a decade, my opinion on certain plots changed as my morals developed, but Mudaero isn’t something that you should view with a modern or moral lens because there really isn’t a point in doing so. It’s made to be senseless, so it wouldn’t be fair to judge it with sense. Think of judging Kirima Moccori’s Kowaku with sense. 😂 Also, can I just say that there was never a single cringey moment during the whole of the CD even though it was complete horseshit? Damn. I’m listening to Nyushitsu Knock as I’m typing this, and although it is funny to an extent, there are still many things that make me cringe big time. I was loudly cackling while listening to Mudaero even. 😂 I also loved the many references Koushirou made!
Koushirou: “Akuma de shitsuji ka?!”
I WAS ON THE FLOOR if you didn’t get that, I don’t know what to say to you
Moving on to the voice work,
I’m gonna say it. This is by far, the best masterpiece that Shingaki Tarusuke has ever delivered. I never thought that he could ever go that low unstrained. Hara-san is the lowest I’ve heard Shingaki Tarusuke in a BLCD (Kite Eishirou in an anime), and y’all what went down with that. I think that Shingaki doesn’t get enough recognition that he gets! He has been in the general industry of voice acting for a long time, but he doesn’t really have a lot of lead roles in anime (just six and two of those are for BL anime) and he only started landing leading roles in BL and R18 Otome CDs from 2015. I mean??? I personally have never heard Shingaki Tarusuke in a bad role before except Hara-san??? BLCD!Hara-san was just a big fat mistake made by Brilliant Prin. And although he will perpetually be in a lower register, the range of tones he can do is so vast and all of them are so distinct of each other. I think that this is exactly why he is so sought after here in the BL industry, and it would be very devastating to see him go.
As for Shirai Yuusuke, yo, had I listened to this back in 2018, I sure as hell would’ve had a better impression of him. His performance here is also his best! Although, I did hear him struggle with the timing of his pitch changes sometimes, it was still nothing short of amazing. The tone he used here kind of reminds me of Fukushima Jun’s performance as Akira in Miracle No-Ton! Idk if that’s a brand, but Tennenouji has a knack for finding voice actors that FIT their characters. And it’s funny because Miracle No-Ton’s Akira, Lucky Dog 1′s Gian Carlo Bourbon del Monte (it has to be in full), and Mudaero’s Koushirou are not really similar, but they do kind of sound of similar. They’re all screamers/shouters and all of them from Fukishima Jun, Suzuki Tatsuhisa, and now, Shirai Yuusuke has got that down to a T. Man, Tennenouji is such a g when it comes to casting really. I refuse to acknowledge that Lucky Dog bad egg is part of the franchise.
The plot, however stupid and short it was, was executed seamlessly with good pacing. They never really got Gouda to have sex with Koushirou, but the chemistry was there regardless. Can you believe that Shingaki Tarusuke and Shirai Yuusuke’s best work has zero plot??? 😂 Also, it’s weird ‘cause despite how sexual this was, I was more focused on the comedic non-existent plot more than anything. If you’re into a meaningful plot, then this definitely wouldn’t be for you. However, if you’re super bored and want a good laugh without thinking about stuff much, then I’d definitely recommend this. I’d super recommend this if you’re an UtouxTakaba shipper, too.
Anime Expo 2018: MangaGamer to Bring Lilycle Rainbow Stage!!!, Luckydog1, and More to the West
Note: This post contains links that may lead to NSFW content.
MangaGamer announced four titles for fans of the boys’ love, bishoujo, and yuri visual novel genres!
For those hoping for more otome game announcements from MangaGamer this year, do not fret! A fan present at the panel asked John “Kouryuu” Pickett, MangaGamer’s head translator and PR director, the following question (Source):
Attendee: "Any plans for future 18+ otome games?"
Kouryuu: "Absolutely. The year isn't over. Wait and see what we've got in store."
According to MangaGamer’s 2018 convention schedule, the publisher will have a panel at Otakon this August and another panel at Anime NYC in November so stay tuned!
Lilycle Rainbow Stage!!! (Yuri)
Developer: Particle
Release Date: TBA
Platform: Windows
Age Rating: All-Ages
Lilycycle Rainbow Stage!!! is based on a series of yuri drama CDs by Particle. The game features character designs and art by Sakura Miwabe, one of the illustrators for Fire Emblem Heroes.
The game will be available on MangaGamer and Steam.
Relevant Link:
Official Site
Synopsis:
Yuno loves Tamaki’s smile, and wants to her witness her dreams coming true.... though having not seen much of Tamaki lately, Yuno’s been feeling somewhat down. She depends on Saeka a lot, and since the latter always comforts her in times of need, Yuno can feels as though she can talk about her problems without a care in the world.
Tamaki wishes with all her might that she could keep watching over Yuno, who’s always been number one in her heart... but the circumstances around her are changing, little by little. It's not only one girl she has to keep watch over now, after all. Saeka has always been dependable and supportive, and Tamaki's has begun to feel confused...
“Sigh... Looks like she always needs someone by her side too...”
Saeka still has a crush on Yuno, but has been enraptured by Tamaki's aura, and finds that she can’t leave her alone. Recently, she's been mulling over whether or not she wants to try and change the way she is...
As they chat, grow closer, become jealous, get embarrassed, and laugh...
The crisscrossing emotions of these three girls allow this warm yet slightly bitter story to unfold...
Luckydog1 (Boys’ Love)
Developer: Tennenouji
Release Date: TBA
Platforms: Windows, Mac, & Linux
Age Rating: 18+
Luckydog1 features writing by Jinnai, the director of Fashioning Little Miss Lonesome, as well as art and planning by Yura. Yura was the lead artist and director for Absolute Obedience and Enzai - Falsely Accused.
The game will be available on MangaGamer.
Relevant Link:
Official Site
Synopsis:
It all starts with the slam of a prison door. Four captains from the same Mafia family, the CR:5, are taken out in one fell swoop and left to rot behind bars.
Lucky for them, our hero’s already there.
Gian’s just a run-of-the-mill wiseguy, passing his time doing petty jobs for the family when he’s on the outside and living the lazy life when he’s in the slammer. But those easy days come to an end when he gets word from the boss: if he can break the captains out, Gian will earn a spot at the top of the hierarchy.
Can he pull off a job this big, or is it more than even Gian’s fabled good luck can manage?
Rance IX: The Helmanian Revolution (Bishoujo)
Developer: Alicesoft
Release Date: TBA
Platform: Windows
Age Rating: 18+
As of July 7th, Rance IX: The Helmanian Revolution is “close to done” with the translation. However, MangaGamer will not release the game before they release Sengoku Rance or Rance Quest MAGNUM. (Source)
The game will be available on MangaGamer.
Relevant Link:
Official Site
Synopsis:
The oldest nation to still exist on the Continent is the militant Helmanian Empire. A country with a long history, and once the most powerful nation in the world, Helman has experienced years of decay under a corrupt regime. A civil war, an invasion by a neighboring power, or perhaps both could happen at any moment. Amidst fears of such turmoil by no small portion of the population, a man who was once exiled from Helman rises to action.
Years prior, Prince Patton Misnarge fought to prove his worth by invading another country, but failed and disappeared from the public eye. Swearing to take his country back, Patton trained and returned a strong and admirable man. He sought to make use of the peerless champion he met on his journeys to fight to revolutionize Helman. Yes, the key to his plan was to get the assistance of the strongest and most brutal warrior, Rance.
Rance X: Showdown (Bishoujo)
Developer: Alicesoft
Release Date: TBA
Platform: Windows
Age Rating: 18+
Rance X: Showdown is the final title in the Rance visual novel/RPG series.
As of July 7th, no localization work has been done for Rance X. Like Rance IX, MangaGamer will not release Rance X before they release Sengoku Rance or Rance Quest MAGNUM. (Source)
The game will be available on MangaGamer.
Relevant Link:
Official Site
Synopsis:
Humans and monsters shared the Continent in a delicate balance for over a thousand years, but it all came crashing down.
The most powerful fiend, Kayblis, seized power over the Monster Realm and led a colossal army on an invasion of the Human Realm. Unable to stop quarreling amongst themselves, the human nations were trampled.
Two weeks after the war began, the death toll for humanity reached approximately 12,000,000.
Yet mankind still couldn't unite, and the turmoil between the world's leaders continued. Just as the demise of humanity, the worst case scenario, weighed heavy on everyone's minds...
"Everyone should just work for me. I'll crush that Monster Army no problem."
It was Rance, back from an adventure with his companion, Sill.
There was an uproar among the world leaders:
The Kingdom of Leazas's Queen, Lia Parapara Leazas.
The Kingdom of Zeth's Viceroy, Magic the Gandhi.
The Republic of Helman's President, Sheila Helman.
The Free City Alliance's Representative, Copandon Dot.
The eastern island of Nippon's Lord, Kou Oda.
The world's largest religion, Alicism's Pope, Crook Mofus.
...And they were also Rance's women, so they all agreed. Rance became humanity's supreme leader, and their final hope.
Over 6000 years a minuscule creature called Kayblis fought and slaughtered his way to the very top of the Monster Realm. A conceited man named Rance who declares all woman to be his lived a carefree life and found his way to the top of the Human Realm. Both men put the survival of their entire race on the line in an inescapable struggle to the death.
This is a bit of a recap of what I talked about during my Citrus con panel on Augustus 24th, so for those who missed it or who wanted a list of all the visual novels mentioned during the panel, you can find most of the information in this blog post! Japanese BL visual novels have been something I’ve been interested in since 2010-2011, and even these days many people in English speaking fanbases are familiar with games like DRAMAtical Murder and the other Nitro Chiral titles. I've played many older titles which I've previously reviewed on this blog, and in this post I will be looking at some of the very first BL visual novels and how the industry has changed throughout the years.
Before the very first "official" BL visual novels were released, some visual novels already existed in which a male protagonist had romantic or sexual scenes together with one of the other male characters. Some examples of this are games like Sotsugyou Ryokou (1996) and Ko-Ko-Ro (1998). Most of the other love interests in these games were girls, so they were not promoted as “boys’ love” games.
The oldest visual novel I could find that was promoted as a game which focuses on love between boys, is a game called Sei Valentine Gakuen, released by a company called B.M. in early 1999. This is a game in which you can name the protagonist, and none of the characters are voiced. While checking their old website through Waybackmachine, it seemed like the game had a lot of game-breaking bugs which they attempted to patch out, however the website quickly shut down within what seems like only a year (or maybe a few years) after its release date. Since there's not a lot of information about this game available online, I was surprised that someone bought the game second-hand and made a youtube video about it, so I recommend checking that out! You can watch it here. Despite being promoted as a game that focuses on love between boys it seems like there’s not really romance in the game, so I am curious why they marketed the game in this way.
Next is a game called BOYxBOY, released a few months after Sei Valentine Gakuen in April 1999. This is one of the games I actually got to play myself, and I was surprised to see this game was released by King Records (the record label) as I didn’t know they used to publish games, let alone BL games. The protagonist has a face and a name this time, but even though all the other characters are voiced, they decided to leave the main character unvoiced for some reason. This game does have romance elements, like confession scenes, but it's still quite minimal. There’s only one character who actually gets a kiss scene for example. This game did get a fandisc a year later, but it seems to be more of a collection of extra materials and minigames rather than something that really adds something to the story of the game.
Another BL visual novel that was released around this time in July 1999 is a game called Graduation (or Sotsugyou) by Joinac, which as the title suggests, focuses on the protagonist spending time with people at his school right before his graduation. This one actually got translated, so it's probably the first BL visual novel to ever get an (official) English translation. Unlike most other games from this time, this one can still be easily accessed too, as a digital version is available for purchase on DLsite.
Entering the 2000s, game developer AliceSoft created their own BL game brand called AliceBlue and released their first BL game called Kakurezuki in 2000. Even though AliceSoft released 18+ rated titles in the past, this first BL title was actually also all-ages. Some reviews mentioned that they don’t really consider the game BL at all, pointing out the lack of romance, and I can definitely see where they’re coming from. Pretty much all the other games I mentioned so far take place in a modern-day school setting, however this game is more of a historical fantasy game (although the plot still only focuses on the protagonist and his daily interactions with those around him).
A lot of the games during this time period still highly resembled the typical dating sim-style game, which was quite popular in the mid/late 1990s. This kind of gameplay means that usually, the player decides what the character is going to do that day, for example, what subjects he takes in school, which club he joins and which locations he visits. In games like Kakurezuki, it’s a bit different you decide what magic skills you want to strengthen that day. This kind of gameplay kind of limits what kind of story the writers can explore, as the plot mostly focuses on the main character’s everyday life and their interactions with other characters, and eventually also became something that’s not commonly used in BL visual novels anymore.
Later that year, in August 2000, one of the most well-known early BL visual novels was released. This was Sukisho (short for Suki na Mono wa Suki Dakara Shouganai) by Platinum Label. The company promoted this game as the “first 18+ boys love game” though Graduation also seems to be rated 18+ on DLsite. Sukisho gained a big fanbase, as many fans really liked the art (drawn by Tsutae Yuzu) and the characters. Even though the plot still focused on boys going to school, some characters do have a darker backstory. The company even created official forums where fans could discuss the plot of the game and fan theories. Some other boards also encouraged fan meetups at local conventions in Japan. It ended up getting 3 different sequels, a PlayStation 2 port, an anime adaptation, and various drama CDs and novels. These days a lot of BL visual novels get drama CDs, but back then this game really got a lot of extra content compared to other games. Like many others, I personally discovered this game through the anime many years ago, but I played the visual novel later as it has also been fan translated and was quite accessible back then.
Another visual novel that stood out, and which also got an anime adaptation, is Angel's Feather (2003). Unlike the rather confusing anime plot, which adds a new character that isn’t in the game, I think the plot of the visual novel is actually much better. Initially it does seem like another game about high school boys, but in reality it’s more of an RPG game that focuses on the characters learning more about the world they’re living in, and their own magic abilities. I think just like Sukisho’s artstyle, compared to many other games that were released at the time, the art of this game quite unique. The artist is Yamamoto Kazue, who worked on many visual novels, and is still active nowadays. This game also got a sequel and drama CDs, but sadly the third game they were working on was never released. The studio was also working on a completely new game called White Shadow, however this one also remains unreleased to this day. If you want to read a little bit more information about this game and other unreleased titles, I wrote a blog post about that too here!
The inclusion of RPG elements I briefly mentioned just now in visual novels was not something only Angel’s Feather did. For example, some of these other screenshots are from Ouji-sama Lv1, Teikoku Sensenki, and Apocripha/0. The gameplay varied from a simple battle system to complicated dungeons and hard to beat enemies, depending on the game. One downside of this is that it’s quite a time-consuming process if you want to see all kinds of different endings, as these parts of the game were usually unskippable. Gradually, this is also something that slowly became less common in BL visual novels.
Generally, a lot of older games were quite difficult to replay as most games only had a limited number of save slots, and sometimes there would be no preview images next to the save files either, so it was quite difficult to remember which save file you were supposed to load. Some of the oldest BL visual novels also don’t have a skip button, which means you have to play through all of the dialogue again if you want to see a different ending. The pictures below are my screenshots from Angel's Feather and Kannagi no Tori, a game that was released in 2001. Luckily both of these games do have a skip button, but there were never enough save slots!
Other than changes in gameplay and artstyles, something that has also changed quite a lot are the dynamics between characters in adult scenes. In most BL visual novels, the protagonist is either a top or a bottom, and this doesn’t really change throughout the whole game. For example, if the official website mentions that the protag is a bottom, that means he’s a bottom with every single one of the love interests. Something I noticed while playing older games is that this order wasn’t always fixed. In games like Laughter Land and Kannagi no Tori for example, the game would often let the player decide. A game that was released a bit later which also has this option is PIL/SLASH’s game Shingakkou -Noli me tangere. In every route, no matter what character, you make the decision. I think it’s kind of fun when the game gives you choices like this, although I’m not sure if they will ever bring it back.
Terminology and target audience
When I talk about these games I use “BL game” and “BL visual novel” as these are easily understood when communicating with an English-speaking audience. However in Japanese these games are usually only called “BL game” or "AVG" which just stands for adventure game. In the early 2000s some official websites would refer to these BL visual novels as ''boys games'' to distinguish them from a genre called “girl’s games” or galge, which are games that would typically be for a male audience. Even though the term “yaoi” was becoming less common, some developers would also call them “yaoi games” on their website, as you can see in some of the screenshots below . It’s not like the term “visual novel” is something completely unknown to them, but it’s also not a term I ever see them using to promote their games.
As for the target audience, similar to a lot of BL manga, the target audience for many of these BL visual novels was also women. A lot of websites stated that these were games “made by girls for girls”. However, it’s better to not generalize the whole genre as something exclusively targeted towards women, as some games like Hotaru (released by Tarutaru in December 2000) and its sequels were specifically advertised as games "made by gay men for gay men". One of the games I mentioned earlier, Graduation, was also made by a doujin group that calls themselves the Gay Artist Support, and like the name suggests, they support gay artists and alleys. Therefore it can be concluded that even during this time period, it wasn't just women creating and reading BL.
Marketing and sales
Some might be wondering; how did people discover these games back then? Around the year 2001, multiple websites were created by fans that kept track of new BL game developers, as well as any updates provided by the companies that were already established back then. A lot of these websites also gave fans the option to chat with each other in their forums. Some examples of these websites are BOY'S STREET and Boyslove Kenkyuujo (which translates to BoysLove research institute). They kept track of both commercial and doujin game releases. Companies and doujin creators would both sell their games at events like Comiket, Super Comic City and J-Garden too, where they would promote their games and chat with fans. Their games would also be sold at stores like Animate and Toranoana, which is not too different than how creators sell their BL games nowadays, as both of these stores still exist. A lot of BL game creators in the early 2000s were quite close to each other and collaborated. For example, some doujin groups like Anubis Label, Ritz, Moon Parrot and more created their own magazine called B-GAME, which featured information about their new doujin games, corporate games, survey results, game reviews and more. The picture below (on the right) is a picture I found on the website of doujin group Moon Parrot, promoting and selling their game Kuro no Tsuki at Super Comic City. Of course official BL game magazines also existed, but I think I will make a separate blog post about that (update: you can read it here!).
Well-known developers throughout the years
Next I made a list of some BL game creators that established their brands in the early or mid 2000s, and who continue to be active nowadays. I will mention some newer games as well. There's way too many BL visual novels to include all of them, so I apologize if I missed some that were quite influential!
Langmaor/Tennenouji: The first game Langmaor released was a game called Enzai in 2002, illustrated by Yura. This game focuses on a boy whose name is Guys, who gets sent to prison as a result of a false accusation. In one interview, Yura mentioned that she was almost afraid that the plot of the game would be “too dark”, as the main character experiences a lot of abuse, but she concluded that at least the game would be unique. In 2004 Langmaor released Teikoku Sensenki, and a year later they released Zettai Fukujuu Meirei (or more well-known as Absolute Obedience). This game had a kind of unique system which focused on not one, but two protagonists. The final game this brand released was a game called Laughter Land (2006. The illustrations of this game were drawn by Yuzuki Ichi who had previously worked on Kannagi no Tori. Yura was also part of doujin group called Tennenouj, which already released their first BL game in 2000 called Sei Crain Gakuen, a BL game that you could play by opening HTML files in your browser. They released their second BL game in 2006, which was Miracle No-ton, a game about a notebook that could grand the protagonist’s wishes (horny wishes only though!). In 2009, Luckydog1 was released, which ended up becoming one of the most popular and well-known games in Japanese speaking BL visual novel fanbases. The game is about the protagonist Giancarlo, who’s a low-ranking member of the mafia and currently in prison, who receives the task to free 4 important members of the mafia from prison. Some BL gamemagazines like Cool-B have an annual popularity poll, and for years, LuckyDog 1 and its characters ended up in first place. On BL information websites like ChilChil it continues to be the highest rated BL visual novel to this day. Two years ago, Tennenouji also released the game Friendly Lab, of which the mobile version is still being updated, so even nowadays they are still very active.
Nitro + CHiRAL: Or just called “NITRO CHiRal” these days. They released their first game, Togainu no Chi, in 2005. In the early interviews the director stated that they wanted to create something different, as a lot of visual novels around this time focused on schoolboys and modern-day settings. So instead, they wrote a story that takes place in a futuristic version of Japan, devastated by a Third World War. Only a year later in 2006, they released their second game, Lamento -BEYOND THE VOID- which also takes place in a fictional world. Even though the characters look similar to humans, they call themselves Ribika and have cat-like characteristics. The characters in this game are struggling to survive, as a mysterious force called “The Void” is slowly destroying their world. Because of their unique stories and beautiful illustrations, Nitro Chiral quickly gained a big fanbase in Japan too. In some articles published in Cool-B magazine, they mentioned that they were taking even bigger risks with their next game, as the plot would be anything but happy. This was about their third game, sweet pool. Despite that, I think fans already expected dark and serious stories from the company, so it was still well-received. Before releasing DRAMAtical Murder, they released two more visual novels called Itsuwari no Alkanet and World’s end Nightmare, though these were only available on Chiral Mobile, an app that could only be downloaded on certain Japanese phones. These days these games are considered lost media, but I wrote a blog post about what I could find about them some years ago. Afterwards they released their more well-known games DRAMAtical Murder in 2012 and Slow Damage in 2021.
Pil/Slash: This is a BL visual novel developer that is well known for writing dark stories, with themes like abuse, noncon, physical and emotional torture. Though of course this is not too uncommon in BL visual novels, as all of the developers I’ve previously mentioned include themes like that in their games too.Their first game, Masquerade ~Jigoku Gakuen SO/DO/MU~, was released in 2006, followed by Koibito Yuugi a year later. In 2011, one of their most well-known titles, Shingakkou –Noli me tangere- was released. This game is about protagonist Michael who’s enrolled in a seminary. However, his school life is anything but peaceful, as his family gets murdered and he also discovers a secret society of devil worshippers in his very own school. At the moment this is the second highest rated BL game on ChilChil, after Luckydog1. After this they released Pigeon Blood in 2014, which was also a horror-themed game, and Paradise a few years later, which was quite popular in Japan too. In 2021 they released their newest game, Dystopia no Ou. This game focuses on protagonist Kiriku who dreams about becoming a rock star. Initially, this seems quite different than PIL/SLASH's previous games, but I promise the story still gets pretty dark. The writer credited for Paradise and Dystopia no Ou is Kyuuyouzawa Lychee, who's also the creator of doujin game group LOVE&DESTROY and games like CAGE OPEN and CAGE CLOSE.
Spray: This company’s first game was Saikyou Darling, released in 2001, but I think they are probably more well-known for their Gakuen Heaven series. The first Gakuen Heaven game was released in 2002, but since then they have released a few newer versions of the game, console versions and a second game. This is another one of these games that people might know because it has an anime and manga series. Spray has released quite a few different games like Soshite Bokura Wa, Piyotan, STEAL! and more recently Tsumi naru Rasen no Ori, but I think other than Gakuen Heaven their most well-known title is probably Kichiku Megane, released in 2007. This game focuses on protagonist Katsuya, a salesman who seems to be failing at everything in life. Just before he’s fired from his job, he receives a mysterious pair of glasses from someone. Whenever he wears these glasses, his personality completely changes. He suddenly becomes very skilled at everything, but also very sadistic. In recent years fans have started organizing fan events for this game at local conventions again, so it’s interesting to see how popular it still is.
Holicworks: Also known as LoveDelivery, as that’s the name they used to release some of their very first games, like Tsukigami (2007) and Beniiro Tenjou Ayakashi (2008). Their most well-known title Taisho Mebiusline, released in 2012. This game is a historical fantasy game which takes place during the end of the Taisho period, in 1923. The protagonist, Kyouichirou, moves to Tokyo in order to go to university. However, he runs into trouble soon after his arrival, as the Imperial Military becomes interested in his ability to see spirits. The writer of this game, Nakajo Rosa, is often praised for the historical research she did in order to write this game. The story covers all kinds of political issues, international affairs and military activity, and combines it with religious themes such as Shintoism. This also means that even for Japanese speakers, the game can be a bit difficult to read, as it tends to use difficult words and kanji. However, I think with a bit of research it’s not impossible. They also released games like Tokyo Onmyouji, Tokyo 24ku, and more recently Tokyo Satsujinki Gakkou no Kaidan, though the only game that has an English translation is Tokyo Onmyouji, which takes place in a more modern-day setting, but still focuses on supernatural themes like ghosts and spirits.
Karin Entertainment: Another developer that has been around for a long time, who released their first BL game series called Bois in 2002. Afterwards in 2004, they released the game Animamundi Owarinaki Yami no Butou~ (Animamundi: Dark Alchemist), which I’m not sure if I should be calling BL game as there are also a few female love interests. The games they released after this aren’t BL games, but instead they created a new branch called Karin Chatnoir Omega, which released the game Omertà ~Chinmoku no Okite~ in 2011. In this game the mafia controls the government, and the protagonist J.J. is a hitman who’s taking all kinds of assassination jobs. In 2016 they also released the game Omega Vampire, which is the first omegaverse BL visual novel.
Parade: This is a game developer known for creating games in which the protagonist is exclusively a top, or seme, which is also something that was not super common in the past. In a lot of other games almost all of the love interests are younger guys, so I think it was interesting to see at least two of the other main characters in NO THANK YOU!!! were over the age of 35. Even though most Parade games have a lot of 18+ content, like NO THANK YOU!!! and their second game Room No. 9, one should not underestimate the plot, as the writing is really good. My favorite game is probably their latest game, which is Lkyt., a historical fantasy game and my personal favorite.
CORE: This is the BL branch of a company called Orbit, and their most well-known game is Messiah, which was released in 2006. Though their first game was a game called Ever Loyalty in 2001, followed by Fanatica in 2004. Most of CORE's games only have 1 or 2 characters the protagonist can end up together with, although sometimes other characters in the game also have their own bad endings. In Fanatica, the protagonist only has one true love interest, but a lot of the other main characters are also paired up with each other, so even if they don't have their own route, you do get to see different scenes with them. Even though CORE released their last game in 2008, which is the Messiah fandisc Messiah ~ Paranoia Paradox. It was announced that they are actually working on a new BL project called Tokyo Gentou/Tokyo Phantasmagoria, under the new name Procyon.
Adelta: Not really 2000s as their first game was released quite some time later, but I think still important because they've gotten quite popular in recent years. This is a doujin game group created by Kurosawa Rinko. The first games this group worked on were Cocoon and Cocoon Black Noise, released in 2014. The game they’re probably most known for is Koshotengai no Hashihime (Hashihime of the old Book Town). This game is quite well known for its references to literature and real writers, and the story also takes place during the Taisho period. Originally it was advertised as a time-loop murder mystery. In 2020 Uuultra C was released, which is a completely different kind of game that takes place during the Showa period and focuses on heroes you’d typically see in a Super Sentai Series, or Tokusatsu movies in which the characters fight kaiju. Adelta is currently working on their newest game, Ooe.
Conclusion
Of course there are many more BL visual novels which left a big impact on people, even less serious games like Gakuen Handsome which still get referenced a lot to this day. Another well-known title is Mada Koubou's Hadaka Shitsuji, which was mostly created by artist and writer Togo Mito. It kind of difficult to determine how many BL visual novels currently exist, but BL information website ChilChil currently lists 345 titles in this database. This does however include fandiscs and games that aren't technically BL games, and also doesn't include all doujin games ever released.
The early 2000s was a good time for BL visual novel fans and a lot of developers were making BL games back then, which also meant that there would be many new games to play. These days the number of active developers has significantly decreased, so most of the time you get about 1 or 2 big releases every year. Of course, there are still doujin groups and individual creators who make their own games, but the number of commercial releases is pretty small nowadays.
Some games that were released earlier this year however, are Tokyo Satsujinki Gakkou no Kaidan and Haiiro no Arcadia. I am personally also looking forward to the release of Adelta's new game Ooe, and Procyon's Tokyo Gentou/Tokyo Phantasmagoria, so I recommend checking those out when they're released!
