Not-stereotypical yaoi?

Thats hard because they're written for straight women, often by straight women for their entertainment. So most of them are fanservice galore and floppy plotted... I feel like I've stumbled across some with some real story that didn't jump into fanservicey action but I cannot remember what they were for the life of me. Tbh most yaoi I read was as a young pervy teenage "straight" girl so yeah, I was pretty happy with what I was finding being aimed right at me haha. But I've grown up since then so I do hope someone has answers. I will return if I remember the name of this one I'm thinking of... Any girls who have the same question about yuri I will direct to Prism by Higashiyama Shou which I loved sooo much. Pretty basic cute high school romance but actually done beleivably.

 

I know this post is old but still xd

Try Doukyuusei, it's actually pretty realistic, idk if it would be considered as something cliche but give it a try :3

 

No show is stereotype-free, and this is especially true for anime and manga. Really, you will find SOME yaoi stereotypes in whatever yaoi you watch or read- it's just a matter of which ones annoy you the most.

There are a lot of good undiscovered yaoi mangas out there, but the vast majority of mangas do appeal to a female audience and will use cliches quite heavily. I don't mind this, but if I had to say a manga without these stereotypes... Eh, maybe a few Korean comics I've read? I forget the name for Korean comics, but regardless you can find a few good ones if you search. The only thing about them that irritates me is the way the art is drawn- I find it too simplistic, and that's coming from somebody who loves the manga "House of Five Leaves".

My favorite yaoi, if I had to say, would be either Sekaiichi Hatsukoi or Love Stage!!, though both use plenty of cliches and stereotypes. I like Love Stage!! just because I read the manga and thought it was a lot more light-hearted than most yaois, going through the fun parts of life as well as the stereotypical romance, and I like Sekaiichi Hatsukoi for no reasons other than I love editing with a passion, so anything involving books is an instant-win for me, and the character Kisa Shouta just took over that "cute" part of my heart. XD You know, the part of your heart that makes you obsess over kittens and puppies and rats and snakes?! >_< I admit, I do have a bit of an addiction to cute things, though what I find cute is not what other people usually find cute... :/ Anyway, yeah- there are some good yaoi stories out there, but honestly yaoi by its very nature is supposed to be a genre for women who have a bit of a fetish for gay men. It's perfectly fine of course, and I'm not saying you need to be a woman to enjoy it- me and a lot of other gay men I know find it entertaining- but finding a genre that's main focus is erotica and excluding stereotypes? Sorry, but that's like lesbians in a porno suddenly doing each others' nails instead of having sex or discussing how they don't like scissoring. XD It just doesn't happen.

 

My favourite is FAKE, but there's only really a manga (and an OVA movie based on the second book, so it's not the greatest). It also might trip the "cisheteronormativity"? But it doesn't feel unnatural. Both men are detectives and have some trouble in their pasts, so they have a tough guy thing, but they aren't always like that. Dee cries a lot and is unapologetically bisexual. Ryo is a big softie. It's cute and just as much about their jobs as their coming together.

If you want an unhappy ending, I also recommend Tokyo Babylon and X/1999. TW for abusive relationship, violence, character death, and age gap. They're written by CLAMP, which says just about everything. Tokyo Babylon takes place in 1991 and X in (obviously) 1999. Tokyo Babylon focuses on two characters that appear on opposites sides of a war for the fate of Earth in X. Tokyo Babylon is cute and innocently romantic (despite the age difference, but keep in mind, age of consent in Tokyo is 14) until it isn't and X doesn't make it better. Still one of my favourites though.

 

I've heard these mentioned when I strolled through Yaoi/Shounen AI on kissanime:

Embracing Love
Winter Cicada
Super Lovers
Doukyuusei


Gonna have to check them out myself. Anyone here see World's Greatest First Love? Thinking about it but I love pretty much every yaoi I've seen(I like what I like, Love Stage, Gravitation, Junjou, No 6). I'm pretty easy to please when it comes to yaoi but I was looking for something less stereotypical too.

 

I love the Sekaiichi Hatsukoi manga!

Actually, it might fit the OP's wishlist, at least for Takano/Ritsu's story. Kou/Kisa is pretty stereotypical, even though they are my favourite.

 

Sweet, I may have to check it out thanks.

 

I believe you just described every Yaoi ever...

 

The fan-service is kind of hard to avoid... I've found that No.6 is a really good anime and manga!!

A few people would say that Karneval has some underlying shounen-ai in it, but I'm not sure. ^^;

Here's a few manga to start out with:

Seven Days
Bagjwi Sayug
Endou-kun no Kansetsu Nikki