High-Quality Yaoi Manga Must-Reads

Breathtaking. Poetic. Brilliant. Powerful. Yuu Watase at her best. Every chapter felt like poetry to me. Everything was so stylistically written and the 1920's noir feel was gorgeous. And I've seen many sadistic and possessive semes but Souma is on a whole different level. This story really scared me to be honest. It's dark, emotional and everyone's fucked up. This probably the most beautiful yaoi piece I had ever taken up.

This still haunts me up to this day. It's so beautifully drawn and written, it sends shivers down my spine. It's in a post-world war Germany setting with a very possessive and sadistic younger seme.

I am personally in love with this manga. The story does have its dark side--primarily with rape and prostitution--but it's very sweet and fluffy. You'll fall in love with the yukatas and historical costumes, and the bishounens are absolutely beautiful! You won't find a lot of yaoi mangas like this. PLUS THIS IS A MANGA FOR EVERYONE WHO LOVES LONG-HAIRED BISHOUNE

BDSM in it's highest and truest form. The whole manga revolves around chains, whips and leather. Literally. It's violent, intense and explicit. At times, very brutal and pushes a lot of boundaries. There are moments where I wanted to turn back but there is strangely something that draws me back into it. Amidst all the brutality, the story is entrenched with so much emotion, sadness and sentimentality. The feminine and old-school art may turn you off but it's really worth it. Howev

This was actually my very first yaoi! I used to be repulsed by the idea of boyxboy love but god...this manga captured me so much. It's psychological side was artistically done. It felt more like poetry to me than a manga. And the art is very avant-garde. There's always something deep, dark and polarizing about Nakamura-sensei's works and her characters are very warped and eccentric. It's not a manga everybody will like.

Crossdressing done properly! The seme might be too creepy for me, and the art kind of turns me off, but the story is so lovely. It's one those one-in-a-million yaoi manga you would ever encounter. If you want something different from the usual yaoi you read, read this one.

Read this with an open mind. This is the FIRST yaoi manga to ever get published in Japan (around the 1970's), and set the tone and standard for every yaoi manga to come later on. The art and storytelling is so old, but it is poetic, intellectual and completely brilliant! People who want to understand the yaoi genre more turn to this as reference.