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Yaoi to Avoid

The following chart lists titles to avoid as recommended by the various members of The Yaoi Review in this discussion. Reasons to avoid range from poor translation to themes that may be more than a newbie can handle or would even want to see. Some additional variables to consider when shopping for yaoi would be if a title is out of print, contains young characters (shota), is an incomplete series or is an anthology (not always a great intro to yaoi). When in doubt, ask a fellow fan!

**Titles to Avoid**
Novels	Anime	Manga	M/M Erotica
Only the Ring Finger Knows	Blue Wolves	Black Sun	Katana Duet
Ai no Kusabi	Boku no Pico	Viewfinder
Desire	My Sexual Harrassment	Level C
Little Darling	Enzai	Man's Best Friend
	Papa to Kiss in the Dark	Ruff Love
	Earthian	Vassalord
	No Money	Acid Flower
	Sensitive Pornography
	Ai no Kusabi

Yaoi To Get Excited For!

Now that you know what to avoid you may be wondering how to know what's safe to buy? Again the members of The Yaoi Review have come to the rescue and compiled a nice list of titles they would recommend for anyone new to the genre. To see the entire list you can check out the original discussion here. Since there were so many, I tried to keep the list to those titles recommended more than once. Of course, every person's tastes differ so no list is going to be perfect but if you know what you're looking for as far as type and explicitness, this list should have something for you.

Yaoi Novels: The Guilty (4 volumes), "S" (4 Volumes) and Caged Slave (www.junemanga.com)

Yaoi Manga: Yellow, Age Called Blue, Red Blinds the Foolish, Little Butterfly, Brilliant Blue and Future Lovers. If you already know you're ready for hard yaoi, check out Crimson Spell (2 Volumes)

Global Yaoi Manga: Games with Me by Tina Anderson found on eManga.com

Webcomics: Starfighter (www.starfightercomic.com) and Lucky Lottery (www.luckycomic.net)

Manhwa: Totally Captivated and U Don't Know Me, both available from Netcomics (www.netcomics.com)

Anime: Junjou Romantica, Embracing Love and Gravitation

M/M Erotica: Blue Ruin & Sleight of Hand by Katrina Strauss; Soft Focus by Jaye Valentine & Reno Macleod; Pawprints V1 & V2 by Anne Cain; Heaven Sent by Jet Mykles

Gender Bender: After School Nightmare (not "technically" yaoi but highly recommended, long series though) (www.gocomi.com)

So far there are 10 comments on this post - join in and add one!

Becca says:

January 8, 2010 at 5:56 AM

What! Only The Ring Finger Knows, Thats A Good One, Me And My Friend Loved That One!!!

[Reply to this comment]

Jennifer LeBlanc AKA Asami's Girl Reply:
January 8th, 2010 at 8:11 AM

Keep in mind, this list doesn’t necessarily mean these are “bad” stories, just not good choices for someone who has never read or is very new to yaoi. OTRFK has a really bad translation and as a first pick, someone may think ALL novels are poorly translated and never pick up yaoi again. Lots of people love OTRFK but do not recommend it as a first or early read.

Tara Reply:
January 14th, 2010 at 8:14 AM

I second the OTRFK novels, at least the first one. I read that volumes and deemed as CRAP.

Unfortunately, that also turned me away from yaoi novels from DMP/June. I have seriously not touched a yaoi novels since I read that horribly done book.

Jennifer LeBlanc AKA Asami's Girl Reply:
January 14th, 2010 at 8:16 AM

If you like the idea of yaoi novels, then I would try them again. They are much improved. Now I may only catch one or two typos in the entire novel if that. Just don’t read the old stuff and you’ll be fine.

Kira Takenouchi says:

January 24, 2010 at 11:30 PM

OMG how can you not like Ai no Kusabi? I mean I never actually read the books because I couldn’t get into them…but still…the concept, the OVAs, there’s a beautiful story there, which I was happy to completely corrupt in my own BDSM-based Taming Riki series.

*comment edited by site administrator*

Jennifer LeBlanc AKA Asami's Girl Reply:
January 24th, 2010 at 11:37 PM

It’s not on the list because it’s bad, it’s on the list because it’s not a good read for a new yaoi fan. I have all 6 volumes and it’s a tough read even for a seasoned yaoi vet.

Tina says:

February 10, 2010 at 10:52 AM

*googled my name and found this–oh my EGO!*

You know me, I’m all about the Global. ^_^

I appreciate the nod for Games <3, thanks a bunch – but I would rec ANIMA by Dany/Dany. Good story, follows all the 'yaoi' rules; and is drawn well.

As for what GloBL to best avoid? 'Only Words'. Depressing ending, art isn't on par with 'popular style'; OW is something you can move on to eventually – but don't start out with it.

^_^

cecile Reply:
February 28th, 2010 at 7:53 PM

Funnily enough, I started out with Only Words and really liked it! It made me excited to try more yaoi. I guess I love a depressing story, though, hehe.

U Don’t Know Me was the third yaoi I read, but I couldn’t get into it because there were too many blond characters whom I couldn’t tell apart. Perhaps I’m not very attuned to the style of Japanese art yet. I may have to try this one again sometime.

christina says:

August 22, 2010 at 9:52 PM

i disagreed with the gravitation anime because it honestly sucked(compared to the manga) in my opinion.i loved most of the yaoi animes on the list to avoid but if its ur first time watching/reading yaoi, i can understand why its there.I honeslty didnt really like yellow and i found little butterfly boring at times. ofcourse this is just my opinion.:)the first yaoi i read was gravitation and i instantly loved it.

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