And A Merry 801 Day To You, Fellow Fujoshi!

Above: a bunch of my yaoi/BL collection!

It's hard to believe it's 801 Day already. August seemed to creep up on this blog out of nowhere, and over half the year is gone in the blink of an eye. One of the first proper posts on this blog was about 801 Day, which shows you the BL roots that Nagareboshi Reviews has come from and is still proud of.

801 Day, for those who need a reminder, is also known as Yaoi Day, mainly because in Japanese, 801 can be read as yaoi. You can look at my first ever 801 post for more background information, currently sitting pretty on the left hand sidebar as it is my most popular post to date. Good job, fellow rotten girls and boys!

I thought it would be nice, this year, to share some important resources for yaoi fans that are in English. Hopefully, yaoi fans can use this post as a reliable list of places to read, buy, and learn about the boys' love genre.


Where To Read

I have to admit, we still don't have a Netflix for electronic manga online. Sites have risen and fallen in an attempt to fulfill that role, but only a few come close, and even fewer of those have BL/yaoi manga.

Your best bet will be eManga, the online manga-reading arm of Digital Manga Publishing. This means all their titles are DMP licenses, but considering how large a percentage yaoi makes in their library, that gives a fujoshi a lot to choose from.

As for anime, we have so many streaming online choices this days, it's hard to pick just one. Crunchyroll is currently streaming the Love Stage and Dramatical Murder anime, both BL titles. Other places to find BL anime will be Netflix and Hulu, although availability may be limited based on what you're looking for and unlike Crunchyroll require money if you want to access the good stuff.

OASG has a complete guide of places to watch anime legally; not all places will have yaoi/BL, however.

Where To Buy

As usual, Digital Manga has the lock on this. Their Akadot Retail shop carries not only all of their BL titles but imported non-translated materials and related merchandise from Japan. Plus, they are usually pretty good about having regular sales, including bundle sales and seasonal sales.

Right Stuf is another place to buy BL, as they have books and DVDs and materials from all North American companies, not just Digital Manga. Plus, Right Stuf has weekly sales, a massive bargain bin, and a special place on the website just for the naughty stuff.

If you can stomach the shipping, J-List can be your number one resource for merchandise straight from Japan - untranslated doujinshi, body pillows, explicit visual novels, even racy mousepads built with dude pecs for your fujoshi wrists to rest on. Just make sure you stay on J-List and not J-Box, as J-Box will not have the more 18+ materials you'll no doubt be looking for.

Where To Learn

Let's be real: Anime News Network is the biggest, most relevant and up-to-date resource for otaku of all stripes - and that goes for yaoi fans. They'll always have the big news when it comes to yaoi anime and manga, whether it's announcing the latest BL adaptation or if a manga title is ending or becoming an anime itself.

For sites that are specifically fujoshi-friendly, there is the Yaoi Review; since the runner of it has gone to work for Viz's SuBLime imprint, it hasn't been updated lately, but it's still filled with useful and entertaining articles and reviews. Otaku Champloo has quickly become a personal favorite of mine; there's a BL-centric podcast and regular posts about yaoi culture and being a foreign fujoshi in Japan.

I'm sure there's a lot more out there. This is just an introductory list! Feel free to provide lots more in the comment section.