RG Veda *
CLAMP (10 vols complete published by Wings) plus OVAs
For the bishounen connoisseur... RG Veda. Lots of stereotypical bishounen, a little gender confusion to ignite the fantasy/fanfic interest, preexisting homosexual relationships with preexisting angst and preexisting plot holes to be filled, easily available in English even if Ashura was femmed, lots of doujinshi and fanfic and fans. (Nora)
All you need to look at is Taishakuten and Ashura-ou. Unfortunately,
little to nil dojinshi on this. Any dojinshi at all were gags. What a
waste. (Susan)
Tales of the Supernatural from the Capital * IWAZAKI Youko; 11 vols complete
My favorite. I think I have talked enough about this series. So go and read the excerpt on the site if anyone's curious. (Mimi)
Historic series set in Japan 1000 years ago about a real person, Abe no Seimei, reputedly a magician; here a white-haired exorcist with a couple of complicated relationships with his best friend and his former fellow-student. (Jeanne)
Have bought the entire set while I was in Japan. The art is gorgeous.
You can spend hours staring at the historical details.. A very good series
to digest since the main charas were extremely beautiful or handsome so
you wouldn't be too bothered with the fact that you don't really know what's
going on. Plenty of UST though. Too much, in fact. But I suppose Seimei's
throat slashing scene could be interpreted as something yaoi.... (Susan)
Touring Express KAWASO Masumi
Yes, Charles and Dean are now lovers. It happened about half-way through the series which is still running in Bessatsu Hana to Yume. It has more spy, relationship, and romance than sex. Not graphic, no fluids. Lots of hugs. (Mesnoo)
Seimaden * by HIGURI Yuu
Fantasy series about the demon king of hell, the woman he loves, and the angel who loves him. Hell hath no fury like an angel scorned. Also a bunch of other guys doing this and that- a little rape, a little torture, etc. (Jeanne)
Eye candy. The storyline seemed to be chasing its own tail after the story arc on the mad king who wants to possess Lawless dies and the beautiful, angsting demon/angel gets de-winged...and the annoying girl is still alive. (Susan)
Ludwig II *
HIGURI Yuu, 2 vols
About the mad King of Prussia who built lovely castles and, according to Higuri Yuu, buggered a number of people. (Jeanne)
And rode more than just the horses from his royal stable. (Susan)
Cutlass* by HIGURI, Yuu (2 vols so far)
A pair of bishonen step-brothers gets teleported to an alternate world of pirates and chaos. The younger Shindo brother, Tsubasa becomes the proverbial harlequin-like, object of obsession by men and pirates instantly. He was kidnapped and shipped off to be sold off as slave whilst the older brother Takimaru (who has hints of having the hots for Tsubasa) gets recruited into a gang of pirates called Cutlass. There's more to the story than this, of course. There's a high priest who kept Tsubasa's birth mother prisoner and has the eyes set on her offspring as well. The leader of Cutlass is a gorgeous man by the name of Captain Shiyurado who has a thing for Takimaru. There's a cross-dresser in Cutlass. (I don't think he's important but I thought I'd mention it anyway.) There's a sadist noble kept the Shindo brothers hostage and tortures them for sexual pleasure (in volume 2). The Shindo brothers has gotten closer to each other than legally allowed. Fun series to follow. Not as depressing as her Zeus series--which I'm still upset with the ending. (Susan)
Lumen Lunae by OUKAMI Mineko
It's interesting, to say the least. Very, very sharp artwork, and the story is quite confusing... but wow, that kid has to give it up to a whole lotta people. (Monica)
Kai, the main chara, is the child of a human mother and a demon father. He was imprisoned by his father in the underworld, until he escaped to look for his mother in the human world. A twisty and twisted fantasy. Not very explicit by any means, but I like the artist's ability to suggest incredible depravity and eroticism with perfectly innocent scenes. (Mimi)
Banana Fish by YOSHIDA Akimi Flower Comics, Vol 1-19; translation running in Viz's Pulp
In my opinion, what made this series interesting were the characters-Ash, brutalized and street-wise, but with his sense of honor and right and wrong mostly intact, genius level IQ, and great-looking to boot (if you've only seen the first book or so, have patience-he gets better looking-once the artist saw River Phoenix, that is..., a mixed blessing as it later turned out..), and Eiji, a totally normal Japanese kid, from a normal home, far more innocent than most American boys of his age would be. Their friendship is the glue that holds the series together-it's instantaneous and deep, and takes them through a large number of trials and tribulations. and always with the sense that it could go sexual at any moment...
The basic plot is that of a running battle to control the drug known as Banana Fish, which makes all other brain-washing techniques pale in comparison.
The supporting cast is also strong- good allies and villains you love to hate. Tons of cliffhangers, although you don't get quite the same sensation as if you were reading the series from month to month. Great action, tons of angst, incredibly moving scenes, hurt/comfort out the wazoo-what more could you ask for!? Oh, alright, there's not much graphic sex. Trust me, in this series, you don't need it. (Mary)
From Eroica with Love (Eroica
yori Ai o Komete)
AOIKE Yasuko; Princess Comics.
The gay aristocratic international art thief Dorian Red Gloria falls in love with the straight, puritanical, buttoned-down and zipped up spy from NATO, Klaus von dem Eberbach (he of the dweeby pageboy bangs) and pursues him fruitlessly for 20-some volumes.
The series began as shoujo romance, with Dorian as hero. Then the artist fell in love with Klaus' prototype and turned the series into a shoujo drama. It was revived after a hiatus of ten years with everyone older and fatter. Fan translations of the first 8 vols exist. There are Japanese women who have never married because they couldn't have Klaus, which is probably a good thing from the point of view of the gene pool. (Jeanne)
Cain Series * by YUKI Kaori (4 vols published by Hana to Yume)
Wasurerareta Juliet/ Forgotten Juliet; Shounen no Fuka suru Oto/ Sound of a boy hatching; Kafka; Akai Hitsuji no Kokuin/Mark of the Red Ram 1 and 2
Victorian Gothic thriller about Cain Hargreaves, English aristocrat, poison connoisseur, and the abused child of an incestuous union. Not a nice man: goes about uncovering the skeletons in proper Victorian closets while the corpses pile up in the parlour. Has a devoted valet called Lif. Cain's passing love interests all die but Lif is always there. Kafka and Red Ram, which have the silver-haired biseinen Dr. Jezebel Disraeli -yes, he's a guy- are especially fun. (Jeanne)
The daddy and doctor are... well, if you're into that, it can be quite fun, especially considering what the canon is. (Monica)
Unexplained, is what the canon is, because the artist then got caught up in Angel Sanctuary. But suggestive, oh my yes. It goes with the artist's style: you expect perverse decadence (incest, whippings, pedophilia) even when they aren't there. In Cain, happily, they are. (Jeanne)
Angel Sanctuary * by YUKI Kaori, 13 volumes to date in Hanato Yume
Angels and demons and the returning Messiah all battling through the levels of heaven and hell; a very non-western take on what angels and demons are all about, done in Yumi's lush and detailed (or difficult and cluttered, as per taste) style. (Jeanne)
Roshiel will probably float some people's boats (wings, long hair, a penchant for leather... has a slight obsession with his sister who is now a boy, not to mention that oh-so-nice Katan...) Kira-sempai (*sob! K!*) is fun fun fun... actually, most of the guys in the series either have some confirmed sweetie (girl) or seem to be mysteriously bound to a veddy veddy bishonen guy =P Take that as you will. (Monica)
Facade * by SHINOHARA Udo in Wings
About a mysterious man, Facade, who gets tossed about in time and space, and who contains four other personalities inside his own body, several of whom have bodies of their own which manifest physically. Angst, a fair amount of June emotion and the requisite UST. The action again is all in the dialogue, though the pictures are pretty gorgeous. (Jeanne)
This series was in hiatus for a while, but has resumed in Wings. 6 volumes so far. The art and the storyline have gotten even better in the last 2 volumes. (Mimi)
The Joker series byˇ@ MICHIHARA Katsumi
One that I think should be on the 'standbys' list. Espionage, conspiracies, a pretty shape- and gender-changing hero/anti-hero (Joker), and a very, very confused little cop (Riin). Joker can take a female form but is more often in a male one or an androgynous one. I would say that without the relationship between Joker and Riin, the espionage would be a little... tedious. The tension in the series arises from Joker's involvement in said conspiracies and Riin's undeniable attraction to Joker despite it -- and Joker's obvious attraction to Riin. Definitely, in what I've seen, no explicit sexual content (I don't have all the volumes). (Kat-chan)